Seasons Greetings!!

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Seasons Greetings to one and all!!

So, the last 10 days have been spent in Malaysia and we've loved every second! We spent a week on the island of Langkawi (off the west coast of Malaysia) and then headed down to Kuala Lumpur. As some of you will know I haven't been very well, it's probably easier to say what wasn't wrong with me rather than what was, but I've put my symptoms down to exhaustion and poor diet (Mat and I are very much over the whole rice and noodle thing!) We've travelled for over three months and the longest we've stayed in one place is four days. It's my own doing because I want to do everything, meet everyone and go everywhere and my body just needed to stop for a while! So Mat refused to let me off this lovely little island until I was better! The whole time was spent chilling out on the beach in the thirty five degree heat!! Some days I was more drained than others so I just relaxed at the hostel. With rest, recuperation and a ton of fruit I was on the road to recovery. Mat threatened that if I wasn't well by Singapore then we were going home - I perked up pretty quick!

Langkawi was beautiful as were the Malay people. It was a breath of fresh air post Thailand. We also spent most of our time with three lads; Craig, Jason and Ryan which was a really good crack. Ryan is from Selby so Mat had a fellow Yorkshireman about! We've been travelling with other couples for most of SE Asia so it was nice to have a different dynamic, they had me in stitches a lot of the time and when I was feeling sorry for myself Mat could still go out and play! It was actually Craigs birthday when we were there and we went to the only club in town - Sunba. It was empty at first but later it filled up and we had a really good night. Our taxi driver there actually tried to rip us off and charge us ￡3 instead of ￡2. At home you probably wouldn't contest it but out here you find yourself arguing over 10p! So our taxi driver threatened to call the police (standard) and in the end we paid it but were a bit dissappointed and made comparisons to Thailand. Then when we were in the club the strangest thing happened - he came over to me, apologised profusely (nobody apologises in Asia) and gave me the extra money back he'd taken from us! I was shocked. This has never happened - someone admitting they were wrong, apologising, and rectifying the situation. We love Malaysia!

After a week in Langkawi we decided it was time to head to the capital, Kuala Lumpur. There are loads of places I wish we could have visited on the way down but on this trip it just wasn't feasible to hop from one place to the next and it gives us an excuse to come back! We arrived in KL at 5.30am and got a taxi to Chinatown where the cheap accomodation is. We stumbled across Wheeler's Guesthouse which looked uber grotty from the outside but when you go up the first set of stairs it turns into a haven of typical Chinese decorations, potted flowers and fish tanks! Although there wasn't a room available until 12 midday the receptionist took us to a spare room where he said we could sleep until a room was ready for us. Again, this has never happened to us in Asia! Mat was desperate to find the Petronas Towers and we were just wondering around the city when the spires peeked through over the other buildings. Before I knew it I was trying to keep up with Mat who was running towards them! They are unbelievably spectacular! We enquired about how to buy tickets - the Skybridge is 41 stories high, it connects the towers, and you can walk across it. We then headed to the six story shopping centre at the bottom of the towers.

It really hasn't felt christmassy at all out here and we haven't even seen a proper tree yet - until we went into the shopping centre. They had such beautiful decorations, huge trees and even a Santa! When we walked in 'Silent Night' was playing and I was so overwhelmed I started welling up! It's the first time it's felt like Christmas and I think it hit home how far away we will be from all our family and friends. Not to worry because as soon as I saw Topshop I'd forgotten about you all and was completely lost in the world of pretty dresses and platforms! When we returned to our hostel we were told that on Fridays there was a free buffet for all the guests. FREE food!! And it was some of the best food we'd had. Good times!

The following day we tried to get up at 5.30am to go to the Petronas Towers to buy our tickets (we'd been told to be there by 7 so Mat wanted us there at 6.30!) but we'd had such a bad night sleep on the night to KL that neither of us budged when the alarm went off! We spent the day exploring Chinatown, the colonial district of Merdeka, and then we visited one of the largest mosques in SE Asia. Merdeka was stunning with a cricket field in the centre (for the ex colonialists) and surrounded by multi religious inspired archeticture. One of the tallest flagpoles in the world stood flying high which was raised in 1957 once independence had been gained from the British, it was the biggest "f#@k you" i've ever seen! In the evening we ventured to 'Little India' where I bought some beautiful material for 20p and Mat polished off enough food to feed a family of four... for a week!

The following day we did get up at 5.30am and were on the LRT (the underground - it excited me a lot having to get the LRT around the city) for 6am and stood in line for 6.30! At 8 they did a head count and put the "no more tickets available today" sign up. Mat and I did laugh at some of the people arriving at 8.30! We were in the first group that went up to the Skybridge and actually the first two people to walk on the Skybridge that day. Smug? Yes! We watched a video first about Petronas and its national petroleum headquarters which was very inspiring - I said to Mat ''The next time I come to these towers it'll be on a business trip", he laughed! Then we went up to the 41st floor. It took about 30-35 seconds in the lift and then we were up! The views were absolutely incredible! Mat came to the conclusion that he could live in the Petronas grounds as there's the shopping centre, concert hall, science museum, cinema, hotel, post office, food hall... But at some point we had to leave and after eight hours there it was time to head back!

Today is the 13th and we were up at the crack of dawn again and on a bus to Singapore. Malaysia has been amazing, the people have been very friendly and helpful and we've loved our time here. KL is really multicultural, it's like a little microcosm of the world! Unfortunately for Hanoi, it's been relegated to second position in terms of our favourite capital city and KL is now top!

Three days in Singapore and then flying to Melbourne on the 16th for Christmas. Bring on the barbie on the beach!

Sending festive love to all our family and friends,

Amber and Mat xXx

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Photos

Sunset
Pantai Cenang Beach

Christmas Decs
KLCC shopping centre

Babylon VW
Babylon was the only bar on Pantai Cenang Beach

Gecko Guesthouse
All decked out!

Mat in Ambers sunburn hat!
Amber bought it but refused to wear it!

Comments

[Paul Hannam]

That looks familiar!!
Ok there Samson!!