When Kate came to visit...

Well, after a very long time apart the day was finally here. Kate, along with the majority of her wardrobe, had touched down in Kuala Lumpur to come and get a taste of what Malaysia is all about (and to collect quite a few overdue cuddles!). She had come via Dubai, with her Mum and Dad, and we had 10 days ahead of us to cram in as many sights and delights that Malaysia has to offer. Here are a few of the highlights from the amazing holiday....


It had been decided that the holiday would be broken down in to a little city sight seeing for the first few days (in KL), followed by an island retreat for the remaining week. The first 'full day' we had in KL was actually Annette's birthday (Kate's mum). Whilst they slept off a little jet lag with a casual lie in, I ventured over to the Petronas Towers - nice and early- to purchase tickets for the tower tour. After a lovely breakfast at the hotel, we ventured out into the midday heat to explore the city a little.

We started at the towers visit, and then wondered a little around town. I took them to see; Pavillion, Bukit Bintang, A hawker lunch stop, Lowyat Plaza, the MRT, Chinatown (Petaling Street) and topped it off with a beer at Reggae bar. Needless to say, Kate and her mum loved the knock-off goods (they are actually really good copies) in Chinatown, whilst I helped Rich - Kate's dad - as much as possible by limiting the damage to his back pocket with my finely tuned haggling skills. After this, we took a taxi back (at rush hour - nightmare) to the hotel, freshened up, had a lovely dinner and topped off the day with drinks at Skybar. A really busy birthday!

The view from Skybar

For our second day in Kuala Lumpur, Kate and I decided to go and see the elephant sanctuary at Kuala Gandah. The hotel had a package that we were able to book ourselves on to at short notice. We had a lovely Indian fella chauffeur us around all day in his Mercedes E class... Really wasn't expecting that! We went via 'Deerland' which was actually quite a laugh.

Feeding the deer

Very cute

Amazing rainforest plants

We are not having  a bunny rabbit!

From here, we went to the elephant sanctuary for a quick bite to eat, before meeting the elephants. We spent the afternoon stroking, feeding and riding the elephants - a good time was had by all.

Baby nelly

Rich an Annette also had a good day exploring the history of Kuala Lumpur, with various walking tours. We shared stories over a lovely dinner at Gobo chit-chat, Traders hotel.

Before we knew it, it was time to check out of the lovely hotel (it was so nice to have a few hot baths, after months of cold showers!) and board a plane to Langkawi - a small tropical island at the north-west of peninsula Malaysia. It was a short flight, followed by a taxi ride to our hotel for the week.

Heaven is a place on earth

Such a contrast to the hustle and bustle of city life, Langkawi was a just perfect and the sun didn't stop shining all week! On one of our first night's we ventured over to Eagle Cove and found a really nice Chinese for dinner. We ordered a selection of Malay-Chinese dishes and feasted as the sun went down.

The view from our dinner table

After a day of sun bathing, it was dinner time again! Me and Kate took a stroll and found a lush restaurant that we had all to ourselves. The food was amazing and the scenery was really pretty - perfectly lit under a canopy of Longan trees.

Say cheeeeeesssseeee!

The next day, we decided that we would hire a car and go exploring! We went to see waterfalls, beaches and the highlight of the day for me was the Skybridge and cable car. We also had a really nice tapas style lunch at the marina.

Panoramic view of the island

The rest of the time on the island was spent sun bathing, relaxing, sharing laughs and genuinely having a great time in each others company.

Once we got back to Kuala Lumpur, we had an evening to kill so I showed the guys around Villa Flora and took them to my favourite Indian eatery - which I think went down a treat. After this it was time to say goodbye. This is always the hardest thing and a few tears were shed. The only upside is that this would be the last goodbye of our year apart.

It was such a good 10 days, and there are many memories that we will be able to cherish forever.

Thank you Kate, I Love You x

Chinese New Year 2012

So what next after an amazing 'Christmas back in the UK' and ' A New Year to remember'...?

Well we get an email on our work outlook telling us that in 2 weeks time, for Chinese New Year, the company will be shutting down operations for the week. Brilliant. Absolutely no problem with that at all!

So then the mad brainstorming sessions begin, trying to decide what to do, where to go, who was available etc. to take advantage of the only compulsory leave given in the year. Turned out that myself and 3 other lads were to book up a holiday of a lifetime. Here are a few concise highlights our week away.

We started by heading to DaNang in Vietnam. Here we hired motorbikes for the day and explored around the city.

The guys on the bikes

Native fishing boat

We had lunch in a cafe with a very cute old lady who grew up in an American camp during the war. Some shocking stories were told of the fierce and menacing battle with the Vietcong, and how she became an orphan very quickly.

All that today's generation remember of the war

After a bit more zooming around and exploring, we pulled over for a live fish buffet supper. You literally picked what you wanted, weighed it up with the waiter, paid up front an then slung it to the chef. All in with some rice, standard soy fried veg and some tiny birds eggs - it was actually a fantastic fishy meal.

Take your pick!

The prawns, the biggest I have ever eaten.

We then dropped the bikes off and from here we then hitched a ride to the railway station in a reclaimed American war Jeep. Driving through DaNang, in this vehicle, on the eve of Ket whilst the streets were lined with 10,000's of people, with fireworks overhead - was really quite something.

Open top war Jeep

The mad 'nam streets on the eve of Ket

We bundled on to the train, and found our 4 man cabin. It was a bit of a squeeze but was very cosy for our scenic journey north, to Ha Noi. It was a sleeper train so we got some kip and then mixed gazing out the window with some card games for the second half of the journey - when we awoke.

So we arrived in Ha Noi with no idea where to head. We found a little shop that sold us a map and we asked about for where is best and cheapest to stay. We headed there, in a very dodgy taxi (the guy claimed he was the mafia and over charged us by about 3000% - no exaggerating). We finally got there and bartered  with several places to stay until we found an absolute beauty for a cheap cheap price. That evening we booked a trip to Ha Long bay for the following day, smashed some local BBQ for dinner (the beef WAS dog) and then literally drank a bar dry.

Spelt wrongly, 'Ga' can also mean: Chicken, to marry, to pawn or literally 'a bloke' 

The train we took for 15'ish hours

Tidy hotel room

So getting up for the 8am minibus after the previous nights antics was a little difficult. Over the 3 hour journey to Ha Long, the mix of dog, beer and whisky in Harrison's stomach just wasn't sitting. Less said about that the better. So we arrived in Ha Long....!

.... And it was bloody freezing! As you can see House and Harrison managed to find knock off matching hoodies for a dirt cheap price, but Myself and Godders struggled (as always in Asia) to find clothes for the larger gentleman. He purchased a jumper from a tramp for $2 and I just backed myself with a long sleeve shirt. Other than the weather, the bay was beautiful, and I definitely recommend a visit if you are over that way.

Our boat for 2 days, 1 night

We slept on the boat that night, and enjoyed an evening of awkward karaoke with a group of German girls who were also on the boat. Harrison's rendition of gangsters paradise, and Godders with the all-time classic that is 'Ghostbusters' had us all in stitches. We went to sleep shivering, but all very happy.

The next day we headed back to Ha Noi. Same as before, we found ourselves a nice room, and took a wonder around the city. We decided to avoid dog and beer, as the next day we were to travel to Cambodia. We found a nice little Italian instead and fetched a reasonably early night.

A bit raw and graphic, but by the time you have read this, it is probably to late

The gardens in the city centre

The matching hoodies, and the tramp jumper

So off we went to Cambodia, bye bye cold Vietnam. To keep it short, we had to go via Bangkok (Thailand) as Harrison's "Ah I've looked and the flights between Vietnam and Cambodia are really cheap" during the planning stage actually turned in to - "S**t! the only way to get there is via Thailand, and it is quite expensive". Ah well, we get there in the end, and it was lush!

Bangkok airport

The sun greeting us in Cambodia

It looks more like Africa, than Asia

We were headed for a little beach town of Kep. Nobody had heard of it before, but we backed ourselves an booked ahead at a little place called Kep Lodge. They had arranged for a driver to take us from airport to the hotel, and 3 hours later, we were indulging in paradise!

Our private cabin

We all felt a bit shabby and under dressed for such a venue

A poolside paradise

Whilst staying in Kep, we had a lot of great food, visited beaches and went to 'Rabbit Island' for the day.

Draught, cheap, decent beer. At last!

The pool table just  put the cherry on the cake

Only transport to the Rabbit island

The local population. About 40 people live off the island.

After Kep, we headed back to reality. All round it was an amazing week, that felt like a month as we did so much with our time. Cheers to work, for the week off, cheers to mum and dad for keeping me afloat and cheers to 3 good travel buddies for keeping the banter juicy at all times!