10 December 2010 Ubud was not going to become our base (in truth, it never was, but we did think that we might stay there a few days whilst the surf was lacking and Gregg would want to be closer to the coast) and we therefore needed to make a plan. After a bad night’s sleep last night neither of us wanted to spend another night in the same hotel and I had seriously had enough of Kuta. There are many beautiful parts of Bali and Kuta is not one of them. It is busy and dirty, but on the upside, it is generally easy to find what you need as there are shops a plenty. It is now even more developed than it was when we were last here (warungs have been replaced by ... read more

Many things about these two days were great but they are also two days where quite a few things went wrong. 6 December 2010 Today is our last full day in Singapore as tomorrow afternoon we fly to Bali. The plan was to visit the Botanic Gardens and the Orchid Gardens and to visit the harbour. If we had time, we might pop over to Sentosa island as there is a flowrider (surf) machine that Gregg would have rather liked to have a look at. We didn’t set an alarm, deciding that we deserve to let our bodies and the sun, rather than electronics, tell us when it was time to rise. Our room has a very narrow window that runs almost from floor to ceiling and, in the absence of a curtain, we were gently ... read more

The pink view I had no preconceptions of Malaysia. Since this was the 6th stop on our trip and we didn't know how long it would take us to get there, I hadn't given it much thought before we arrived other than absently mindedly flicking through the guidebook that we bought in Bangkok from time to time. It is a beautiful country and one which provides many contrasting destinations for the traveller. We risked a visit to the East cost (it is Monsoon season there) but only really heard rain during the night. We were, I think, very lucky. The coastal destinations are chilled out places where as the towns and cities, and Kuala Lumpur in particular, are modern pacey places which are miraculously easy to navigate. Malaysia is, undoubtedly, easy to travel in independently. ... read more

30th November 2010 After a couple of lazy mornings getting up early to make our bus was not pleasant. The alarm sounded at 6:30am and although I got up swiftly and got in the shower, I can’t say that I was particularly fond of that alarm! Lou did pretty well considering how bad she is in the morning, and as we had done the packing bar the minimum washing essential items the night before things moved swiftly. We had planned a schedule to leave the hut by 7:00 and checking the watch as we walked away we were bang on target, a minor miracle it has to be said. The short walk in the early morning light to the bus stop was uneventful, and very peaceful - I for one was slightly sorry to be ... read more

26th November 2010 Our first full day in Kuala Lumpur, so we got up and headed, as I’m sure many tourists do, for the Petronas twin towers. Having been the night before and the “we are full” sign not being displayed but tucked behind another sign we had decided we wouldn’t rush but instead go when we got up. We also had to post yet more stuff home (it seems a never ending task - yet we don’t seem to have anything less?). We got to the mall under the towers and located the post office, which wasn’t hard. The friendly guard armed with a pump action shotgun pointed us to the counter for parcels, we queued and when we were seen we were told that they don’t have packaging materials. (Surely fairly fundamental for ... read more