Up early and checked out with Wayne and I madly searching for baby formula and towels (the things that our guide had mentioned by email I should try to bring along to the Elephant Santuary). No luck with the formula (it turns out this was not a problem as the sanctuary had plenty and they are beginning to wean some of elephants off it) and Wayne managed to grab towels from a hardware store (many shops and stalls do not open till after 10am so this was a win). Our driver Mr Zul arrived and we began our drive out to Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary (drive to sanctuary, storing our bags all day and getting us to the airport on time MYR600). Mr Zali had given instructions for us to stop at a petrol station and ... read more

A train from Kuala Lumpur station at around got us to the Batu Caves (MYR2 each - about a 20 minute ride) nice and early before the crowds. We walked up the 272 steps behind the giant golden statue. The temple was interesting and the naughty monkeys were amusing. We ate breakfast in Restoran Rani an Indian restaurant by the caves. Most of us had pancakes - Jesse had chocolate, Tash chose banana and Wayne had caramel and mayonaise. Tasha got her hand hennaed (MYR10) but was not feeling great as her asthma was playing up so her and Jesse headed to the hotel for a rest whilst Wayne, Nic and I went adventuring. We wandered past the national mosque, butterfly farm, bird park and through the lovely botanic gardens that provide a nice green, calm ... read more

We started our day with a visit to the Swift Discovery museum where we learnt how this magical combination of bird spit and feathers is made into soup, drinks, etc = yuk. To escape the heat for a while we headed to the Mega Mall. Did a little shopping. Aced the indoor carnival complete with ring-toss, poorly sited air rifles, chocolate wheels, darts etc. Ate lunch in the mega food court then split up. Nic and Jesse went to the cinema to watch the new hobbit movie with delicious caramel popcorn. Tash and I got manicures and pedicures back at the Baba House. Wayne continued his self-guided walking tour and lined up (along with people from Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and even Korea) for the best Chicken Rice around. If you are interested in trying it for ... read more

Up for an early morning swim. We checked our bags in with the concierge then grabbed a couple of taxis out the front of the hotel to take us over the other side of the island (SGD27-30) to the zoo. Breakfast was a buffet. A quick diversion to feed some elephants who literally purred with appreciation. As breakfast continued a few of the zoos orangutans chose to visit - they have a fairly large area in which to roam and this cafe is part of that so as fruit and seeds are provided they come across and deign to sit around whilst the silly humans gawk at and photograph them. The zoo as a whole has fairly large and well maintained enclosures and we spent a few hours there. As luck would have it the flashest ... read more

Getting excited! I am just typing this to test the blog link to share with everyone.... read more