I am getting a little behind in my travel blogs for a number of reasons - one of them being that I find I require at least 12 hours sleep a day (preferably comprising of 9 hours a night and a 3 hour afternoon nap). But I will attempt to catch up on what has been happening in the last week or so. Last Tuesday saw us arrive in Ao Chalong where we were eager to catch up with some Thai friends - Tipsy Lee (“Tip”), Wilaiwan, Poie (sp?), Oie ((sp?) - rhymes with Poie (sp?)). Whilst we find their names [View Full Entry]

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The last week has seen us sailing from Malaysia to Thailand. We actually crossed the Thai border on the first day of sailing and spent the rest of the time travelling to Ao Chalong, where the boat is now anchored. On-board, we rely a lot on solar-panels and a wind-generator for power and, given the blazing sun and frequently high winds, this works very well. Navigation-wise, we have a GPS and a back-up GPS so we no longer have to pore over unwieldy charts and plot points manually. Our first stop was Tarutao, an island which, due to its remote location, [View Full Entry]

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We left the boat and travelled to Penang by ferry. You can, of course, sail there yourself but horror stories circulate about Penang harbour (complete with dead dogs and monkeys floating in the water) so the ferry seemed a safer option and it is only a 2 1/2 hour journey. There are a lot of monkeys in Malaysia in general. They often congregate at the road-side looking for a passer-by to feed them bananas. I was quite tempted to try and interact with them myself as they do look very cute but I am not sure I really want a pair [View Full Entry]

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Well, I am back on my travels and have been so for over a week. I am only now getting down to my 1st Far East blog but I will hopefully be more regular in my updates going forward.... The journey over to my parent's boat in Malaysia is quite an undertaking - I flew Aberdeen to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur and then Kuala Lumpur to Langkawi. On arrival, there was a short taxi and ferry trip to arrive at my final destination of Rebac Marina. Thankfully, the journey was all very comfortable and I slept most of the way [View Full Entry]

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After the action-packed weekend in Maine, there were only a few days before I was homeward bound so I made sure to visit all my favourite haunts. I really love America, but there are a few things that do annoy me. One of these is the permeation of "Starbucks' Speak". To give an example, I went to order my coffee and said something along the lines of - "Can I have a small chai tea latte, iced, with skimmed milk, but not too much ice, please" Admittedly, the mannie behind the counter (I think they are called "Baristas"?) looked at my [View Full Entry]

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This is the blog of last weekend's adventures, although, sadly, I am now back home and thus writing from the wrong side of the pond. But back to last Friday and the start of our white-water rafting and camping adventure. The 4-hour drive whizzed by thanks to a diverting mixture of peanut-butter pretzels and N-Sync and, before long, we were further up North in Maine. I was a bit nervous about this trip after hearing a horror story at the previous weekend's party involving a capsize into a whirl-pool. This particular story was relayed by an Irishman so was very drawn-out [View Full Entry]

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I think I mentioned in my previous blog that I love the book shops in America. My very favourite author is Edith Wharton who writes of C19th New York society and I have read most of her novels. So when I spotted a collection of ghost stories by her, I immediately bought it. I am a fan of the short-story genre, although (like a lot of the things I like) I am aware it is not very popular or fashionable. I also like ghost stories, although of the higher-calibre M R James variety rather than any tales involving vampires (what is [View Full Entry]

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Well, it was a busy weekend. On the Friday, we jumped in the car to go to a Kings of Leon concert, which was great, despite a rainstorm. There were about 40,000 people there, mostly drunk, but there was no trouble. From what I have seen, Americans are quite laid-back and friendly; more likely to help a stranger than most Brits with our don't-look-and-you're-not-involved mentality and less likely to initiate a fracas. Leaving the stadium with the crowds I couldn't help thinking to myself that, if this was Glasgow, fists would be flying. On Saturday (after our obligatory exercise class) [View Full Entry]

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Every day when she returns from work, my sister asks me what I have done that day. And I tell her, starting my list (as is only logical) with "Well, I got up....." "Well, you know you aren't busy when you include "well, i got up" in what you did in a day!" snaps my sister. But I have been at least fairly busy - not least with my fitness efforts. The extent of my athletic prowess may be demonstrated by the fact that I judge my success in a class as to whether I am "not the worst" in the [View Full Entry]

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Back in the hotel room, I was desperately trying to conceal the luridly red parts of my skin before we went out for dinner. Unfortunately, my pre-chosen outfit for the evening was a white skirt and white top and it didn't require a colour-me-beautiful consultant to tell me that this and sunburn did not an alluring combination make. "Do you have a moisturiser that won't make me smell like a banana?" demanded my sister. I use a certain brand of fruit-flavoured moisturisers that are fairly pricey and difficult to obtain in the UK but can be bought for $8 in the [View Full Entry]

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