The end of Southeast Asia, the beginning of our time with the convicts... Plus our thoughts on Southeast Asia

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Well folks, the boy's time in Southeast Asia is about to come to an end. After an enjoyable, yet extremely expensive couple of nights in Singapore, the boys made their way to Kuala Lumpur. So far KL's been a hit, offering very much the same experience as Singapore but everything is at least half the price. Not only that but the boys made their way to the Petronas towers (look them up) this morning and were really really impressed. There are few new buildings that catch the boys eyes, but the Petronas towers are something to behold. Plenty of shopping has gone down as well, as knockoff clothes, dvds, shades, etc. are healthily on offer in Chinatown where the boys are staying, so they figured that they'd better get in as much as they could while they were still in Asia. $20 down the boys managed to pick up a couple ralph lauren polos, 3 pairs of sunglasses, a wallet and more. Amazing. Anyways we thought that we'd take the time now after 2 and a half months (how time flies when you're having fun) in Southeast Asia to give our devoted readers a runthrough of our thoughts on this crazy, amazing continent. Here goes...

1) The poorer the country in Southeast Asia, the more old women tend to run things in shops, restaurants, hotels etc. Regardless of how important the man feels he is to the family or the business, Grandma will have him cleaning the toilets with just a few well placed shrieks in some faraway language. This is of course overruled if the man is in possession of a whistle, which seems to be the Asian equivalent of Moses leading the people through the Red Sea.

2) Communism is dead. The number of Hummers, 7-11's, KFC's, and Coca Cola found in countries like Laos and Vietnam prove that Marx, Trotsky and Lenin could very well be rolling around in their graves.

3) The best quote we have ever read to describe backpacking was found in our hostel in Koh Phangan and it went like this, "When preparing to travel pack your clothes, gather all of your cash together, then take half the amount of clothes and twice the money". Never has a sentence been more true, our lack of jeans and shoes is testament to that.

4) The buckets of booze that you buy in Thailand and Vietnam never turn out pretty, but that doesn't stop you from getting them the next night out.

5) Chang beer is a timebomb. Not only is there preservatives in it such as formeldahyde, but they actually have no idea what the alcohol percentage in each bottle is. I'll have a Singha please!

6) Sit as far away from the firedancers that they have at beach bars as possible. Jordan's singed leg hairs prove this point.

7) How can so many countries based so close to eachother switch the side of the road they drive on and what power outlet they us so often and still get by?

8) There are more Israelis in Southeast Asia than there are in Israel. We've met more Israeli's on this trip than any other nationality by far.

9) Although English is pretty prevalent here, they might need a dictionary or at least someone that spoke it fluently to edit. Example found on a store in Ko Tao, "All comers are treated like God", take from that what you will.

10) No matter how much the touts bug you, how dirty the streets are, how much crime is prevalent, or how slow the transportation is, India is worse. Apologies DG, that doesn't mean we didn't like it there.

11) Any menu items in restaurants (most legitimate establishments) that include magic or happy, usually are magic or happy (ex. Happy Pizza in Cambodia).

12) Singapore is the most expensive city in the world, hands down.

13) Fair skin and Western clothes automatically grant entrance into nightclubs, offers to go to the 'boom boom room', and calls from every hawker, bar girl, or ladyboy within a 2 mile radius. Unfortunately Dave didn't get as many offers as Jord (milk man?).

14) Crosswords are a godsend. Watch your back Harold, we're getting good.

15) Air conditioning is one of man's greatest inventions. The salvation provided by shopping malls, restaurants and 7-11's is proof of this fact.

16) Dave's sweat glands weren't made for humid countries.

17) Jordan really does look like Gary Glitter, it's been verified 100 times over by fellow travellers and even the Thai and Vietnamese authorities (just kidding).

18) Dave is Irish, Dutch, English, American, Australian, Welsh, German, and Swedish, according to people trying to figure out his accent (DAMN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL!).

19) Regardless of how much strife the people of these Southeast Asian countries have been through, they've given us the most enjoyable two and a half months we could ever ask for, and we can't wait to come back.

20) Thank God we learnt the Swedish national anthem...

Hopefully you enjoyed our thoughts, don't take them too much to heart. Comments and messages would be greatly appreciated. Anyways we're off to the Gold Coast tomorrow to see Carl Carlsson, Matt Stefura... the list is endless. We miss you and love you all, except for Mark Hoffmann, thats right, you Mark Hoffmann, we said it. Oh and once we get our Aussie phone numbers we'll post them on here if any of you wanna chat. Peace, we're outta here.

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