Malaysia & Singapore.

The last two destinations in Asia were a bit of a disappointment, compared to the fabulous time I had in Thailand, but it was still good fun. The experience was a far more mellow one, and it culminated in a brilliant night in Kuala Lumpur . Walking down the street, an Indian man stopped me and asked if I had accommodation. I said yes, I did, but we continued talking and he invited me to his hostel where he was putting on a buffet dinner for his guests, and I was invited, free of charge. I thought why not, and went for it.

At seven that evening I walked to the place he'd described and found the hostel name that matched his business card. As I entered it looked like an essex council flat with rubbish everywhere and iron shutters, with that dim blue glow they have, expecting a herroin addict in the corner. I continued, and walked up the stairs until I reached the roof, where there were lots of people laying out on stone deck chairs and eating this fantastic food. And the mood was not what I expected: it was alive. The top characters I met that night were a travelling musician who was ripping CDs from his laptop to give to people as sample music. He was a "Lyrical beat-boxer" as he called it. He was pretty cool. The other was a man, 45, who had grown up on the streets in Byron bay from the age of 11 and now lived in an Aboriginal collony when he was not away travelling. Boy did they have some stories.


Finally, some cracking quotes from the people I've met in this stage of my trip, that I simply had to write down:


Harley, a raw vegan who had been cycling around Asia for 5 years with his two raw vegan friends, Freeleya and someone else (not as chatty):

" Most people work in a job they don't want, to buy things they don't need, to impress people they don't like. Don't be one of those people; follow your heart."

Azzai, the grown up aboriginal street kid:

"My spiritual beings I call Mom and Dad. I take their guidance through life like a coin: they are both oppisite faces of the coin, often telling me completely different things, and I am the rim inbetween them, blending the two together."

Sean, the travelling beat-boxing American:

"The universe has a way of looking after you. We're all made from the same stardust; everything is. We're all brothers before we're even born."

Some random indian guy:

"Travelling is not about 'finding yourself', it is about creating yourself."

Diving and Koh Pangan

June 23rd:
After a heavy (and eventful) night before, I was up at seven for an early morning scuba dive. I walked up the bay and it started raining. Great. Missed the taxi to the pier. Great. Climbed onto a motor bike and raced down, only to find the diving boat had already left. Great! But... some people are genuinely kind: I climbed aboard a fishing boat that sailed out and dropped me onto the right boat. I was on my way. The skys cleared and the sun beat down on us as we prepared for the dive. And blimey was the diving good! It was exquisite! Visibility was strong and we went to some of the top sites: shark island and Hin Ngaam Bay. We saw snappers, blue-lined groupers, angel fish, bat fish, barracuda, tiny shrimp and a 2 1/2 foot cloudy grouper. The most impressive were the trigger fish though. The other divers weren't as friendly as the fish though: everyone else was training for dive master and knew each other very closely. Shame, but at least a batfish took a liking to me, staring me in the eyes around ten inches from my face!


June 24th:
Caught an early morning ferry to Koh Pengan; a more built up version on Koh Tao but still pretty chilled. Had a very lazy day. On the beach, in bars, swimming, meeting people... the usual. We had planned to watch a film at a bar that night with a canadian girl, but walking up the beach we were suckered into a cocktail bar called Drop In Bar by the temptation of free drinks. For three nights in a row we went there and I spent 100 baht in total (two pounds). I didn't understand it, they kept giving us free drinks! I was happy. There was a massive fire show going on and I tried my luck with the fire Poi and fire stick with everyone at the bar watching. I did well! Only a few slight burns. lol. Some people filmed it so hopefully I'll get those over the internet some time :) Anyway, a few burns and a lot of Kudos later I met A group of girls and guys from London and we hung out for most of the three days I was on the island. Before long the bar pulled out a flaming skipping rope that they spun from raised platforms... COME ON! I had to give it a go, I was on an island!.. best night so far :)