Malaysia

---

Not very good at finding the time to do this. By the time I get round to it Rachel has already told all the good stories and I can't remember most of what's happened.

However if you are sitting comfortably then I will begin.

We decided that we had given enough money to Air Asia without taking anything in return and that we would actually take the flight to Kuala Lumpur. This took us to our first hostel where we stayed in and 8 bed dorm for two nights. In hindsight it really wasn't that bad but a bit depressing that we'd stayed in fantastic hotel rooms for the same price.

The first off putting thing was a French guy who was having an argument with himself in his sleep. The second was a guy who had some strange format of burp which I had not encountered before which apparently he had to perform every 30 seconds in order to survive. The place was pretty cool and some of the people were ok (some weren't) but if the truth be told, if we have an opportunity to have our own room with our own bathroom then we're going to take it (we're staying in a Hotel in Singapore www.goldenlandmark.com.sg).

Kular Lumpur was very much like many other cities, yet immediately distinguishable from Thailand. The people actually have places to go and jobs to do which don't revolve around providing for tourists. On our first night we went up the the KL tower which was good fun. They have some pretty impressive binoculars in those towers yet Rachel and I were unable to locate anyone committing a murder or having sex. I also had a man put a bird on my head so that Rachel could take a picture and wanted 5 RM for the pleasure. I didn't give it to him, it's only a pound but I didn't like his attitude.

The next morning we really struggled to work out what to do next. We almost went to some more islands but given we had just spend the last few weeks doing that in Thailand we weren't too keen on the idea. Thankfully we found the Cameron Highlands and it was recommended by some people so we went to the bus station to by our ticket. Having been cheated out of an orchid farm in Ko Lanta (we looked for it for some time and then discovered it closed down two years ago) we were determined to go to the one in Kuala Lumpur. It was kind of lame but we had to fight our way through an awesome storm to get there which was probably better then the flowers.

That night we decided to treat ourselves and head back to the KL tower for dinner. On arrival the nice lady behind the counter looked at my like some kind of idiot and advised that advanced booking was a necessity. The obvious alternative was to take a stroll along the most expensive street in the city then dine at an Indonesian all you can eat restaurant instead. The food was not great, we were not allowed to have the all you can eat and unfortunately we could only attributed this to the colour of our skin.

At around 5.30 the next morning I was awoken from my hostel slumber from a delightful series of stomach cramps. At that point the Indonesian buffet seemed like a clearly shit idea. (I neglected to mention that we only picked this place in a hurry because I really needed a wee (Yes that's right, I needed a wee and not Rachel)).

After a visit to the toilet at around 7.00 Rachel greeted me with the good news that our hostel booking had been accepted which meant we had a bed for the night to which I could only reply 'I've just been sick'.

After getting on the bus and having a bit of a snooze things started to brighten up a bit (until Rachel needed a wee and the stop was some way in the future). The drive into the Highlands was really nice. we were winding up roads for some time which makes sense as we are now some 5000 ft above sea level.

We arrived at the Fathers Guest house only to find that they still sell Chang here and I am yet to have my last one. We had a walk around the town which is fairly small and spent the afternoon in the common room of the guest house watching movies and the rain and drinking beer.

The following day we attended a half day countryside tour. In hindsight it was kind of more for Rachel than for me. By 1 o'clock she had had a strawberry milkshake, some lemon cake, some local tea and she had seen some bees (she likes bees). The highlands are the most bizarre place. All the buildings are painted up to look like old tudor houses and they basically have three things, bees, strawberries and tea. Any of the small shops you visit will have an array of strange strawberry merchandise.

That night we met our new friends, couple by the names of Wayne and Emma. Wayne is a BT engineer so we started having exciting telecoms chat. There are plenty of walking trails around here and Emma very cleverly suggested that in the interest of safety in numbers we go for a walk together the following day (the hostel are kind enough to post warnings on the wall of families going missing in the jungle a few weeks ago).

The trail did not disappoint. The place looked strangely like One Tree Hill at Sevenoaks until we began to climb and it really was a climb. I sweat in places that I would previously believed impossible. after successfully reaching the viewpoint we took the road back and stopped off for a cream tea and a roast beef sandwich at Ye Olde Smokehouse. To say it was surreal would not really cut it. We were in a mountain in Malaysia sitting in a pub garden.

That night (last night we and our new team mates) went to try the local specialty, The Steamboat. Emma being Swedish advised that it's very much like fondue, the only difference being that you have spoons not sticks and soup instead of oil. We had two broths on a hotplate in the middle of the table, one chicken and one spicy then further plates of uncooked meat, fish and noodles, the idea being that you throw the stuff in the broth and pull it out when you're convinced that it's not going to kill you. It was actually some of the best food I've had for a while and seems to be one of few things that my stomach was entirely happy with. Wayne was not so impressed and ran down the the Marry Brown after dinner to get himself a chicken burger. In his defense we went back there a couple of hours ago and it is a tasty burger. The rest if the night consisted of beer and Thai Rum. This guest house is ok but they are a bit money grabbing and very strict. you need to pay to access the Wi Fi, you need to pay to put a film on in the common room and at 11 o'clock they lock you outside and do the rounds telling everyone to be quiet as other people are sleeping. most bizarre.

Today the four of us took another walk to see some more tea. I hate tea. And our going out for dinner tonight. The other guys are joining us on our bus back to Kuala Lumpur tomorrow and have very kindly offered to let us store our bags in there hotel for the day before we catch the night train to Singapore at 9 pm.

I'm most excited about Singapore. We will have spent 2 nights in an 8 bed dorm, 4 nights in a guesthouse with a shared bathroom and 1 night on a train. We're not gypsies yet and we can afford a hotel so we're damn well going to stay in one.

After three nights there it will be goodbye Asia and hello Australia, the beginning of our next adventure.

---