Well I never thought I’d be able to say this but I have just completed my 'PADI Open Water Diver Course' and it was brilliant! I've spent the last four days doing it here in Koh Lanta with Palm Beach Divers and they were really great. I was lucky enough to have a private course with an instructor all to myself as it was pretty quite when I enquired. For those of you (like me a week ago) who don't know what this means, it means that I can now dive anywhere in the world down to 18m deep with another person (like a diving buddy). The course itself is broken up into 4 days, with 4 tests, two confined water dives (which I actually did of the beach in the shallow water) and then 4 ... read more

Think they wrote a song about that didn't they... one night in Bangkok??? Anyway as usual I decided to leave my nice little island paradise of Ko Chang and head back to Bangkok again for a few more days. Besides my liver couldn't cope with anymore drinking, if my memory serves me right (and I can tell you its still a bit blurred) I don't think I made it to bed before 4am for about six nights in a row.. crazy times hey but great fun! As luck would have it the same night I got back into Bangkok so did about 8 other people I had met prior and as usual (code of the backpackers and thanks to facebook) drinks were in order... Long story short it was possibly the biggest night I've had yet... ... read more

Hi there everyone. My trips going really well so far and I'm really starting to settle in to this whole backpacking thing. Today it's exactly three weeks to the day and I must tell you it has flown by. Right now I'm sitting in a Starbuck's in downtown Kuala Lumpur enjoying a coffee and some free internet access. I'm waiting for my flight out tonight to Bangkok so I thought I'd take the chance to catch you all up on the last week. I had a really good time in Langkawi, mostly I think because of the new friends I made there at Gecko's. Don't get me wrong Langkawi is a great little place but I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much without the people I met, it really does make all the ... read more

If you ever wanna go and hang out at a cool bar by yourself in Batu Ferringhi one day, this is defiantly the place to do it. It's called the LAB Beach Bar and is part of Ali Ferringhi's Guest house were I stayed. The food's is amazing, the view's are awesome and the music was really good. I pretty much spent most of my five days there hanging out with the staff, in fact it became my second office. The three barman are just brilliant and its worth the trip just to see them and their antics. I dubbed them 'The Beach Bar Gangsters' not because there were bad but they had this cool vibe that only gangsters seem to have if you know what I mean. Don't mind the silly photo's, that’s just them ... read more

Georgetown (in Penangs) is an interesting place and worth having a look if your ever in the region. Like a good little tourist I have been doing all the regular site seeing stuff. Although I must say I'd be lost without my lonely planet guide (which has fast become my bible), it makes such a difference. It’s pretty easy to get around on foot (even without footpaths). The roads seem to be shared by all, the cars, the bikes, the food stalls and the pedestrians! The first day was a bit hairy but now it’s almost become second nature skipping in and out of the traffic and around everyone. The ones you have to watch out for are the motor bikes (scooters), some of those guys are mad racing around on those things. Penang (also known ... read more