Hi all! We hope you're having a great summer and have been able to get the bbq out?

Life here is going really well, here's what we've been up to...

East Coast Malaysia

We travelled across the country from Langkawi to the East Coast to some very back to basic islands - the Pulau Perhentian's, beautiful turquoise water, very low key and relaxed. We then made our way along the coast to Cherating, a quiet seaside town with great seafood and good views. A pack of wild monkeys were spotted daily getting up to mischief, nearly made it into our room one day!

Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Center, Termaloh

On route to Kuala Lumpur we visited this center which helps relocate elephants away from the rubber/palm oil plantations and re-homes them in the nearby Taman Negara National Park. We were able to get really close to the elephants, bathing them and feeding them, Susie got dunked in the water by one too :o)

Kuala Lumpur

We met up with a mate - Simon, who's hanging out with us for 6 weeks. We had a jam packed week of sightseeing in the city - a bustling place, much more tourist friendly than Bangkok, loved being a tourist! - we visited the Petronas Towers, Menara KL Tower where Brad and Simon did a 'G Force Slingshot' ride, adrenalin junkies! Explored China Town, Little India, window shopped in the HUGE shopping malls, Batu Caves, Orchid Garden, markets etc, we sampled the busy nightlife too, eating some great food off the hawker market stalls.

BORNEO

Sepilok Orang-Utan Rehabilitation Centre

Deep in the Borneo jungle we were able to see some orang-utan's up close in the wild, a brilliant experience watching them play around, got some great snaps! One of the highlights of our trip so far. Damn hot in the jungle though!

Mount Kinabalu - (the 20th most prominant mountain in the world!)

After a night at base camp contemplating what was ahead we made an early start up the first stage of the mountain (to 3,273m - 6k), it was really hard going and very steep, hand over fist at many times, we wondered what we'd let ourselves in for but kept going up, our guide helped us along the way. We rose above the clouds and the air started to get much thinner making it harder to breath. We made it to the summit camp ready for a very early start the following morning - 2.30am! so we could reach the summit and watch the sunrise over the mountain.

We reached the top - 4,095m at 5.30am, after climbing for 3 hours in the pitch dark, we climbed over boulders pulled ourselves up with ropes on sections, made our way along the wet rocks and our torches decided to die on us half way up making it even harder!! The wind was freezing cold but we struggled on. All the hard work was worth it as the view from the top was breathtaking, such a great achievement from all of us, up their with our marathon achievements - the legs are feeling it now though!! A great adrenaline rush too, we're all still on a high for having made it.

30th birthday celebrations

We were able to kick back and help Simon celebrate his 30th birthday yesterday, much drunkeness, a cake with 30 candles, posh nosh at a revolving restaurant overlooking the mountains of Borneo and karaoke songs belted out, great fun was had by all :O)

Next stop... is the Philippines for some island hopping and another sky dive... eek!

Bye for now, keep in touch, Brad and Susie