The Extension...

Cool, so I was thinking... Not really feeling like coming back to England anytime soon...

The lure of the sun and another couple of months kicking back like the hobo I am were too appealing to turn down, so after speaking to the Old people back home and with mother fighting back the tears the decision was made and the flights were changed!!

I've had an absolute cracking time so far, have met some amazing people and had some great experiences along the way and planning on making the most of the time I've got left and try to visit as many places as possible!!!

I still miss all you guys back home ad can not wait to get back to see you all, but I'm sure you can wait that little bit longer and understand how much I need this. Massive thank you for everyone that has been supportive over the last few months!! It's been very much appreciated!!

x

Penang...

After Singapore, Melaka and Kuala Lumpur, the need for the beach was growing strong and the tan was fading... Fast!! It had been 2 weeks since being on the golden shores of Bondi and the city life was taking it's toll.

I didn't want to leave Malaysia just yet, so the two options were to either hit the North-east coast and the Perenthian islands or to travel North-west the the small island of Penang. The Lonely Planet was once again up to it's usual standard of not giving much information away, so after a bit of googling and a few recommendations, I made of the decision to give Penang a try. This was also closer to the Thailand border so transport across would be a lot easier.

The coach from KL to Penang was another easy 7 hour journey on a nice luxury vessel - of which I slept for the majority of - and we were soon dropped of in - what I thought - was central Penang but eventually turned out to be the middle of bloody nowhere... After spending 20 minutes trying to communicate with the extremely non-English speaking locals and picking up an Australian 'stalker' we were in a extortionate taxi and on the way to the hostel. The taxi dropped the Aussie off first and I managed to flirt-divert her by giving her the fake name of 'Alex Smith' on Facebook and said that I'm easy to find on there. I was staying in the Reggae Mansion hostel and it really lived up to the name with a very laid back vibe, cushions everywhere, large shelf of different Runs stacked behind the bar and - of course - UB40 banging out of the speakers!!

Ok, so taking the conversation back to the original plan; I wanted the beach!! Researching further, it was here that I think the wrong decision was made... What wasn't mentioned within any of the tourist information is that Penang is pretty much a commercial island, with a large Port many shopping complexes, markets and... not many beaches. The first day in Penang was supposed to be a relaxed and chilled out one of heading to the West side of the island and laying down until my skin looked like leather; however I was woken up at around 11am with a banging crack of Thunder followed by the sound of rain hammering down against the windows. This didn't stop. At all. So after about an hour I met a couple of guys from Reading and we headed out to the main Shopping centre to grab some lunch and then go to the cinema and saw the only film that looked half-decent; This Means War. The evening rain calmed down a bit and we found a few really cheap street food stalls to get some dinner and then found a bar for a cheeky bucket of beers.

The next day was more productive and a bit cultural. The wasn't fantastic; overcast and a good chance of the heavens reopening, so I found out what there was to do and went and done it! The first was to go to Fort Cornwallis. This is a large fort from the 1800s built by the British in the height of the Empire as the East coast of Malaysia was used as a main trading route through to Indonesia and beyond. The Fort wasn't anything to write home about, but was still in a good condition with high cannon lined walls, ammunition storages and jails still in their original state; and it only cost 50p for the ticket: Bargain!

The next hour or so was spent wandering around the city, visiting

more temples and heading into Little India for a Thali lunch of several curries and rice served on a sheet of grease proof paper and without cutlery. It was a great experience trying eat the whole lot with just my hands and making a pretty big mess in the process. On the evening I met up with a Dutch girl called Kristin who I met in KL and we wet out for a couple of drinks and checking the weather report; we planned to hit the beach tomorrow for a bit of sunshine before rolling out of Malaysia.

The next morning, the sun indeed was shining, bags were packed, suncream on and we were heading to the beach. When arriving at what is claimed to be 'the best beach on the island' it wasn't exactly what I was expecting. The sand was mainly shingles and the water didn't look the most appealing; bit of a dirty colour with a strong smell of diesel... Nevertheless, the sun was out, the towels went down and for the next couple of hours we well and truly baked!! The evening was a bit easier. With the lack of entertainment within the town we decided to head back to the cinema and have the crap scared out of us by seeing The Woman in Black. I'm not sure what was more scary... the actual film or the person sitting next to me screaming at every jumping bit. Needless to say the brave Knight act didn't work as I nearly threw a tub of popcorn over the person in front of me when the Woman in Black suddenly appeared out of no-where...

The need for a quick beer afterwards was strong and having for back to the hostel I was only 1 sleep away from the part of the tour that I was waiting for the most!!

So with a 60 day Visa in the passport, and the alarm set for 6am, I was ready to leave Malaysia and venture back to my favourite place in the whole world; Thailand!!!!!!

x

Malaysia...

After spending an action packed few days in Singapore, it wasting to roll on out and into the sixth country on the list; Malaysia.  The first stop in Malaysia was scheduled to be Kuala Lumper; however after speaking to a few people in the hostel in Singapore I had been convinced to get a ticket to the coastal city of Melaka first.

After a fun-filled and exhausting day at Universal Studios it was a massive struggle to get up and ready to leave for 9am to get to the bus terminal and make sure there was enough time before hand to grab supplies.  The coach journey was a nice easy compared to those in SA and Oz, only taking 6 hours from the centre of Singapore including immigration.  It was also one of the smoothest; and managed to get about 4 hours of sleep.

Melaka is famed for being one of the first ports colonised by the British empire within SouthEast Asia and also has a large Dutch and Portuguese heritage.  The coach stopped in the middle of the Dutch quarter of the city and we were surrounded by traditional dutch architecture including a large clock tower and church.  There were 6 of us on the coach and after a short wild goose chase, we managed to find the hostel; get settled and then head out for dinner.  The first thing that we noticed was the distinct lack of people around... especially with it only being around8pm.  The majority of restaurants were closing up for the night and there was also a complete lack of bars within the town.  We managed to find the last place open which was a small local Malaysian place managed to grab a nice cheap plate of Chicken with Ginger, Rice and a nice cold bottle of Carlsberg.

As you'll figure out shortly; within Malaysia there is not really that much to do; and when you read about 'places of interest' etc... what is really meant by it is that you go there, look, take pictures and within 5 or so minutes it's time to head off to the next place.  Which is lucky for me as Malaysia was only supposed to be a quick stop-over between Singapore and Thailand; so the plan was to only stay within each place for a couple of nights at the most.

The hostel in Melaka was actually pretty decent.  Nice 4 dorm dorm and for the first time since the hotel in Rio, I was staying in a proper double bed and not a bunk bed!!  So after a good comfortable sleep I was up bright and early to explore the town and see what there was to offer.

Not a lot; being the simplest answer...  The first point of call was to find an ATM, which as with everything was extremely complicated.  Everybody that was asked gave random looks of confusion and then pointed in completely the opposite direction to the person before.  Half an hour later and I was on track, heading down towards the river and to the Dutch quarter to have a nose around and take some pictures.  The buildings were based around a main market square and we're constructed of red brick with white trimmings, with the centre piece being a large clock tower and fountain with the church in the background.  The whole square was also surrounded by bicycle taxis decorated in brightly coloured flowers

Unfortunately the Dutch museum of Melaka was closed, so the cultural side pretty much stopped there.  The remainder of the day was spent wandering through Little India and Chinatown before retiring to the hostel for a few hours afternoon nap.  The evening was a lot better than the previous.  The streets of Chinatown suddenly came alive and the large weekly night market started with the majority of the stalls being food ones selling all sorts of local delicacies.  My favourite two stalls were the lamb kebabs and a sort of pancake but filled with a chicken curry and then deep-fried.  The remainder of the stalls were cheap and tacky clothes and souvenirs etc... and it was here that I got the first sight of the Asian unhealthy obsession with Angry Birds.  They have balloons, bags, t-shirts, iPhone covers and several people on buses and trains have the theme music as their ringtone.

Next stop in Malaysia was Kuala Lumpur.  After another 6 hour coach trip to the middle of the Country, the first thing to do once in KL was to get lost.  I've quickly come to realise that there's no point asking the locals for help as they just seen to answer any question with a polite smile, a bid and the word: Yes.  So after 3 stops on the train and finally realising that I was going the wrong way, it was time for a taxi.  The hostel was right in the middle of Chinatown; loud, bright and energetic!!  For the first night I planned to take it easy grab some food, relax and plan out the next couple of days.  In reality, after a quick Skype call to the old people I took a quick nap around7pm only to sleep through my alarm and wake up at 4.30am...  I put it down to the flight from Australia followed by a couple of intense days of walking around sight-seeing in immense heat and high humidity.

The next day was a lot more productive!! Having now mastered the complex KL train system (a mixture of overground, underground and monorail; all interlinked) The first point of call was to head to the twin Petronas Towers; which can be seen from pretty much anywhere in the city.  The metro station is directly in front of the towers and the view when stepping out is breath taking.  The towers were formally the tallest in the world and were only recently overtaken by another in somewhere like Japan.  The towers are owned by an oil company and are the headquarters for many of the countries large industrial companies.  At the bottom between the towers there is a large high-end shopping complex and approx. 100 metres above this there is a sky bridge that connects the two towers.  I stayed there for about an hour; taking pictures and checking out Topman inside of the centre before heading back into central KL.  I decided not to take the trip to the bridge as there is another tower within KL that has an observation deck approx. 150 metres higher than that of Petronas.
The Menara tower is one of the tallest communication towers in the world and has an observation deck at approx. 350 metres high.  The views across the city are spectacular; however the day that I went, there was a low cloud coverage, so the distance was very hazy.  The best part about the tower was that the ticket to get to the top is a multi ticket, with a choice of 2 other 'attractions'...  The first was a donkey ride - which I decided to skip after seeing a donkey tied up in the car park and a few cones lined up - and the second was to their 'wildlife park' which was situated beneath the tower.  The wildlife park had a lot of negatives.  There was a large selection of animals; however the cages were very small and the conditions didn't look to good.  The two big highlights though were the parrots and the snakes!!  The parrots were in the open and sitting on a few perches and I had my photo taken with 3 of them; one was sitting on my shoulder nibbling my ear whilst the large one was digging it's claws into my wrist, flapping it's wings and squawking pretty loudly.  The snakes were very impressive.  There were several albino Pythons, grass snakes, taipan... however the main attraction was the enormous 32 foot Reticulated Python.  This thing was HUGE!! The head was twice as big as my hand and it was thicker than my thigh.  When I asked the little Malaysian man if he'd ever held it, he had the look of fear and just said: no... it would kill me!!  There was a large wall with boxes of spiders - which I stayed well clear of - and small cages with tiny monkeys and other strange looking creatures.


After spending the rest of the afternoon chilling around looking at a few more temples I managed to find the posh area of the city with nice bars and restaurants to get a cold beer and sit and watch a few games of football.  I met a really cool New Zealand couple in the bar who now live in Sydney and invited me to come and stay with them anytime I want!! VERY tempting!!


The next day was the last in KL.  I spent the morning walking around Chinatown and the afternoon back into the posh area to get a decent meal and do a bit more shopping.  Chinatown in KL is awesome!!  There is stall after stall of fake watches, handbags, clothes and electronic goods.  I managed to grab a couple of bargains and came away with a couple of New Era hats, 4 or 5 pairs of Ray-Ban shades and a pair of Dre Beats headphones.  The night was spent in a Reggae bar by the hostel and just relaxing before hitting the next part of Malaysia which was supposed to be the highlight... hmmmm, we shall see...


x

Universal Studios...

I'm gonna put it out there straight away... This has been one of - if not the - most fun day I've had so far!  Definitely up there with the Jungle trek, Boca Juniors and the first week of the entire tour.

After spending the previous day wandering in blistering heat looking at temple after temple after temple I decided that I was going to slip away from reality and the cultural side of life and have some well deserved fun.

So, the previous evening I'd decided to instead of searching for the Singapore Zoo, have an adventure to the land of movies that is Universal Studios.  Got a pretty decent sleep in the end and was all energetic and awake for the day ahead!  Nice early start - up at 8am, showered and a big breakfast of toast and fruit inside me before headed out to get the bus to Universal Studios which is located on a small island called Sentosa on the south coast of Singapore.

The first thing you see as you walk up is the huge revolving 'Universal' sign and you know immediately that this going to do good!  The first thing that I walked into after admission was Hollywood!!  The pavements are lined with Walk of Fame Stars, all of the stalls lining the streets are old fashioned carts selling sweets, souvenirs etc... and a large cinema theatre at the top.  The first person I met walking along Hollywood was Charlie Chaplin who pretty much barged me across the street; but also wasn't very camera shy.

I headed straight to the rides, anticipating a busy day ahead of queue after queue and wanted to get in as much as possible while it was still early.  First up was Transformer 3D, which was awesome!! No queue, so stylishly cool 3D specs on... and straight round to the front and on the ride within seconds.  For the ride itself, you are in the perspective of being one and the Autobots and pretty much drive and run around the city and kill Megatron.  There are several HUGE iMax style screens that you drive by with awesome effects; when something explodes you feel the heat and when near water you get sprayed etc... Very cool.  Outside of the ride there are several gigantic Transformer statues to have a photo with, and yes of course I did!

Next up were the roller coasters!!  The two main ones are along the theme of Battle Star Galactic and are completely entwined with each other.  The first one - Human - is the easier and runs along the Red track; whereas the other - Cyclon - is on the blue and is a lot more intense.  First up was Human; thought I'd ease myself gently into it.  There are no loops in this one and it involves being seated in a small rocket looking cart with only a safety bar across the lap ; however there are several large inclines, huge drops and sharp corners.  Cyclon is the much more thrill seeking one out of the two.  The ride has both lap and shoulder safety supports and the legs are just dangling in the air.  I chose to sit front row centre for the first go round and it was such a rush.  The two rides start together and are parallel for the first major incline whereby half way up there is a sudden bolt of energy and the rides accelerate considerably.  At the top the rides go their separate ways, with Cyclon taking and immediate drop followed by loop after loop after turn and rolls and Human darting through the loops of Cyclon followed by several stomach turning drops. Both rides last only 90 seconds and after shaking off the first couple of wobbly steps it was straight back round to the front for a few more trips.

After 4 or 5 rides on the roller coasters I moved out of the Sci-Fi area of the park and into Ancient Egypt. The sight met as entering into Egypt is several last Pharaoh Dog statues lining a long path leading up to the main attraction which is The Mummy roller coaster. – It was at this point that I was talking to an English couple who had also been to the park the previous week and the general vibe was that it does not get busy at all until the weekend, so no queues for any of the rides all day!! Happy days!! – The roller coaster itself was again pretty damn good. It had a basic story of a Mummy trying to still a book to become immortal, blah blah... but the effects were really good. The majority of the ride was in complete darkness with just flashes of light casting shadows etc... across the walls. Half way through the ride there was a sudden drop followed by the next minute or so with the ride going backwards, down several drops – again in pitch black darkness. Definitely one to come back to later!!

One of the highlights of the day was the live show based on the 90’s film Water World. There was a large outdoor water stage with auditorium seating around. There were 3 zones in the sitting. Zone 1: Dry Zone. Zone 2: You may get wet. Zone 3: You WILL get wet. I opted for zone 2... Which didn’t really matter as for the first 10 minutes whilst people were taking their seats, there were actors walking around with water cannons; spraying the crowd, and throwing buckets of water over the people within the front rows – especially targeting the young and the old. The show was spectacular with jet-ski and boat chases, explosions and a large plane crashing through the main wall and exploding into a large fire ball. Needless to say; even in Zone 2; I got pretty soaked...

Lunch came courtesy of Mel’s Diner which is in the style of an American 50’s drive-thru diner, with 4 American classic Cadillac’s parked out front. Standard American food on the menu; so went for the Double cheese and bacon Burger, Fries, Strawberry shake and Onion Rings on the side. The burger was awesome – cooked slightly pink in the middle – and was definitely the perfect way to get re-energised for the second half of the day!!

Part 2 started with a trip to Far Far Away to go the Shrek 4D ride which was a large iMax auditorium and involved freeing the Princess from the ghost of Lord Farquaad. All of the seats moved individually and the 3D effects were amazing. The 4D feature came courtesy of every time Donkey sneezed you were covered in water, every puddle or anything else involving water you got wet and when the 3 Blind Mice jumped out of the screen you could feel them running around your ankles! Defo one for the kids; but all in all I was thoroughly entertained. Also in Far Far Away land was the Donkey live 3D sing-a-long show (I did not sing-a-long...) and several over kids rides that I was sadly too tall for...

Through Far Far Away and into Madagascar – this is solely for children’s entertainment, so ended up skipping that. The main vocal point though within Madagascar is the large shipwreck with is about 4 stories high and absolutely huge!

Next up in the corner of the park is where they keep the Dinosaurs and the large gates entering into Jurassic Park! Walking through the huge gates is awesome and the view beyond is just heavy jungle with the odd Dinosaur just visible through the trees. Again, there are several small rides for the kids; but the main attraction is the Jurassic Park water ride. Kind of like water rapids where I was ushered into a small circular vessel with. The first thing to notice was that there was a considerable amount of water over every seat and the floor. Turning to the attendant; ‘how wet do we get?’ the reply was; ‘only little wet...’ Liar! The only way that I can describe how wet I was is going back a few posts to the Iguazu Falls when Kate and I took a boat underneath the Falls... The ride was pretty cool; follows the same pattern as the first movie where there is heavy rain and the power has failed. Float past where the fat guy gets blinded by the little spitting dinosaur and through the flooding float back into the compound and through the kitchen where the Velociraptors were leaping around and then take a long fast drop down a mountain side, through a small waterfall and into water that completely floods the ride; thus making me soaked.

The remainder of the day – at least for the next few hours – was repeating the rides; specifically Transformers and the 3 other roller coasters. Later on in the afternoon there was a ‘Monster Rock’ performance within one of the theatres which, wasn’t overly brilliant but worth the watch. The last 2 hours however were the highlights of the afternoon. There were 3 performances along ‘Hollywood’ and ‘New York’ which were definitely worth waiting for. The first two were outside of the Diner by a male Beach Boy-esque group singing 50’s and 60’s Roll n’ Roll songs and the second performance was a singing and dancing act called ‘Mel’s Dinettes’ covering again 50’s and 60’s classics.

The third act was a street dance performance by a group of guys who were amazing.

Also met a couple of stars along the way and had my photo with Charlie Chaplin, Beetlejuice and an Oriental Marilyn Monroe; who called me handsome...

x

The beginning of the Asian Tour; Singapore...

The flight to Singapore was again a pretty decent one.  The plane was verging on empty and I had a nice two empty seats next to me.  Still feeling pretty rough from the previous night, there was only one solution.  Find the hair of that dog, sit back and enjoy the next 9 hours flying over Australia, Indonesia and into Singapore.  I arrived into Singapore quite late – around 10pm – and managed to negotiate the metro system and find my way to Chinatown where I’d already booked a couple of nights in the hostel.

The hostel was on the main strip of Chinatown and the whole atmosphere in the area was buzzing with Hawker stalls lining the streets selling all varieties of food and lots of the general tourist-trap shops that you find in any large city.  Sadly, the atmosphere inside of the hostel did not match that of out.  All of the staff were friendly enough and I got a long guided tour of the place; however as a entered the 6 bed dorm all of the other 5 people were all sat on their beds, with their laptops and with their headphones in...  So I headed straight up to the attic lounge area, found a few people about to watch a film and just sat back and relaxed and seeked an early night, ready for an action packed whirlwind tour of Singapore.

The thing that I quickly noticed about Singapore – and presumed that this will be consistent across Asia – is that there isn’t actually too much to do.  The one thing that the guide book points out is the hundreds of amazing temples and mosques that line most streets across the whole city; however, once you are at the temple, have a wander and take some photos, there is nothing else to do there; so onto the next!! I started my walk of Singapore at around 11am and didn’t really stop – except for lunch – until around 7pm.  The first point of call was the Sri Mariamman Temple; which was probably the best of the lot.  This had a large multi-sculptured tower in the middle and ornate gold carvings throughout the inside.  From there it was down to the harbour and across to an area called Marina Sands.  Marina Sands was amazing.   A large marina with a large shopping complex on one side, approx. 20 sky scrapers on the other and then the backdrop is most amazing of buildings; 3 towers with what can only be described as a boat perched across the top of them.

From the Marina, I took a nice long walk along the harbour front, through an area where there is a large War Memorial to commemorate the lives lost during the Japanese Occupation throughout WWII and into Little India; Where I stopped for lunch.  Which was Awesome!!  It was a Thali consisting of Rice, Bread and several different curries of differing spices and flavours, served on a large sheet of greaseproof paper and eaten with just your hands!! It was so much fun and tasted incredible; although I did manage to get it all round my face and left with a variety of grease spots across my t-shirt...  Other points of interest included a temple with a temple known as the 1000 lights temple, which houses a 15 metre seated Buddha, various other temples, and then an early dinner within a Hawker centre – which is pretty much a food court filled with the most amazing freshly cooked food and all for only £3!! – of chicken noodles, soup and a nice large bottle of Chang.

The whole day – as knackering as it was – was really good; however like previously said, there isn’t that to do within the city, so I retreated to the hostel to consider the plan of action.  I didn’t feel that I needed any more time within Singapore, so with 1 full day remaining, there were two options to consider:

a)  Hit the Zoo and the Night Safari

b)  Spend the day at Universal Studios

The decision was pretty easy, and seeing as though sure many an animal whilst in Sydney, it was a no brainer...

x

Last few days in Oz...

After having a nice relaxing week in Byron Bay it was back to Sydney for a couple of nights before flying North to Singapore to begin the Asian leg of the tour.  After a few easy nights I was still in the mood to keep it simple so once back in Sydney I had a wander around taking a few photos and seeing some of the sights that I had had missed out on last time before heading into Chinatown for some cheap and easy food.  One of the more unusual monuments I found was of a dog called ‘Iris’; who just so happened to be Queen Victoria’s favourite dog... therefore outside of the Queen Victoria Building, next to the large statue of Queen Victoria, is a monument just for the loveable pooch.  It’s not completely redundant though, as there is a small fountain where passers by chuck their spare coins which goes to a charity.  The place I found was a little unusual and all of ordering was done via a touch screen computer and there were a few little treats on the menu too... the main one being Spicy Beef Stomach.  I stuck to the Chicken.

I also ventured back around to Darling Harbour to do the geeky tourist thing and went to the maritime museum; which was actually pretty good as it also included going onto the HMAS Vampire warship and also on the HMAS Oslo; a retired Submarine used during the Cold War.  The Sub was the highlight as you got to really experience the cramped and claustrophobic conditions that they had to deal and also saw the defence methods used which included several sonar and radar devices as well as storing approx. 100 torpedoes and missiles onboard.

On the evening I wandered back down to Darling Harbour and whilst having a beer on the front noticed that it was all of a sudden getting very crowded and when 9 o'clock hit a huge 15 minute firework display started, lighting up the whole marina.
 
After a long sleep and lazy morning I had sorted a basic plan for the day; Art gallery to see the Picasso exhibition, walking your of The Rocks at 6.30, back to the hostel for a few hours sleep then at Midnight to watch the Spurs game.

The Picasso exhibition was pretty decent; there were other 10 rooms of drawings, paintings and letters and many of his most famous pieces had been lent to the gallery.  Unfortunately there were very strict on pictures and I kept getting caught and being made to delete them...  Outside of the Gallery on the edge of the Botanical Gardens is a small patch of grass where people go to openly talk about their opinions and generally just rant about whatever they want.  So I lingered for about half an hour listening to a few; with the highlight being from one old boy; ‘Why Australia is better than America’.  I didn’t need much convincing, but listened anyway.

I also took a final trip down to the harbour to have some lunch with a cold beer and watch the world go by for a bit; and managed to find a street performer – that dragged her show out for quite some time... – but did eventually manage to squeeze herself into a small damn small box!!

The plan was going smoothly up until the tour where I met a German girl (so many Germans!!) and we went for a quick drink afterwards which turned into a few, which then turned into getting completely plastered... watching only the first half of the game (and actually glad I didn't watch the rest) and then going to watch a the band that was playing the bar, getting back to the hostel well gone 3am and having to check out in a few hours at 9am.  Lovely!

The next morning was a bit of a sluggish one; involving a lot of ‘Kick My Ass’ coffee - from my new favourite place; Pie Face -, huge full English breakfast and I nice easy tube ride to the airport to begin the next stage of the tour: Asia...

The adventure continues...

x

The morning after the night before...