KL - Thats Kuala Lumpuuuur

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Greeting from Malaysia.

We have been here for around a week now and have enjoyed every minute (kind of) of it. After the hustle and bustle of Bangkok then the tranquility of Koh Tao, driving south into Malaysia and to Penang seemed a good idea.

Penang: Apart from the horrendous journey we arrived in Penang in early evening. From first glances it seemed cleaner than most places in Thailand and yet the old colonial buildings added a bit of charm to our taxi ride. The only full day we had in Penang was spent with Matt our taxi driver taking us to see the sites. The pick of them was Fort Cornwallis, nice place but ruined by loads of kids on a school trip. Also, from someone that lives within walking distance to Fort Nelson, this new fort did not compare. Another one of my highlights was the toy museum. It is the largest of its kind. Except for my parent's house and their loft! There are cabinets full of toys, some have fallen over, but they are from every kind of film/cartoon you can think of. My favourite was the Star Wars collection and some of the storm troopers had fallen in very compromising positions! From Penang we headed to the Cameron Highlands.

Tanah Rata: The Cameron Highlands are beautiful. But apart from the tea plantations and strawberry farms. There is not much else to do. I know you can hike through the jungle but we are on holiday. And we didn't want to get malaria! The Boh tea plantation was good fun and drinking the tea was better. The strawberry farm was boring but the strwberries nice. We also visited a Butterfly Farm (Why farm butterflies?) and Natalie conquered her fear of them as we walked through a big tent with butterflies as big as your face flying at you. After the quiet and boring evenings in the highlands we were looking forward to hitting the muddy estuary, which is what Kuala Lumpur means.

KL: Thats what people call it to avoid the mispronounciation of the captial city. The difference from Bangkok is huge. It is clean, spacious and interesting to look at. Massive skyscrapers flank huge parks and we visited the National Monument which is a lovely tribute to those that died for Malaysia (and the British Empire!) Yesterday we walked and walked but went to the best Bird Park ever. Bill Clinton even visited it! We had an amazing time with the highlights being our photos with some birds and a show with some very talented parrots. We are now sat in a massive mall with a rollercoaster inside, in an internet cafe. Off to Singapore tomorrow having done the Petronas Towers today and we are looking forward to seeing if it compares to, my favourite city so far, Kuala Lumpur. Apparently I say it stupidly.

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