A Bit of Luxury at Koh Samui

 

This is the FREE week we won in Surfers on a scratchy!  Scam? or not?

By now you would have read the trials and tribulations we had getting here. It was certainly touch and go for a minute. However we made it late at night and settled into our resort accommodation. Purchased a ‘special deal’ on arrival which gave us 7 cooked breakfasts, two evening meals,  and 2 massages each for about half price. As we weren’t paying for accom we splashed out as we had to eat anyway. We had hardly eaten anything all day on the 17 hour journey, so they caught us when we were really hungry. The massages were a bonus although we found out later they were only $7.00 on the beach.

Woke to a cloudy day and explored the resort after a huge breakfast. It was Sunday and we spent the day catching up with washing, eating, and computer stuff. The Qsignature Resort was probably pretty flash in its hey day, but it is tired now and some maintenance is lacking. Still the staff are very nice and friendly, the food is great and the room is comfortable with a balcony to have our evening drinks on. This’ll do. Have to keep remembering it is FREE. Gotta be saving on the budget here…. Yeah right!

Monday we caught the shuttle into Chaweng township and beach. I was here in 2000 and it hasn’t changed much. The power wires look like macramé strung between the posts, the tourist shops all sell the same things and the beach was packed with tanned bodies of all shapes and sizes. Some were eye-catching, while most were gross. There are a lot of Russian tourists here still ( they have discovered the benefits of capitalism ) so you can imagine the size of some of those bikinis! Cathie even figured she would buy 2 pair herself as she is nowhere near their size. Photos to come. J

Did buy a portable Bluetooth speaker/microphone about the size of a marmite jar though, $32 and very powerful. Connects to phone or computer via Bluetooth and has rechargeable batteries via usb, plays mp3 via memstick and acts as a speaker when on calls or Viber or just for music. It will be very useful in Molly.

This place is not our style really as we both prefer the quieter beaches ( like Langkawi ) not a beach with rows of deck chairs and umbrellas and nick-knack sellers and crowds of people. We did buy a feed from a girl cooking chicken on skewers on a small charcoal bbq on the beach to take home as an evening meal. Cathie got talking to a Thai lady who turned out to be visiting from UK where she now lives with her daughter and husband. We couldn’t believe it when we found out she lives in Cathies old home town of Aveley in Essex! Knew the streets Cathie lived in from age 9 to 16 and the schools. Unbelievable! Small world.

 

We came back on the shuttle by 3.00 as we had had enough of that environment with all the people smoking everywhere. It is really noticeable here with smoking in restaurants and bars still. Fat sheilas walking down the street smoking look so gross. Smoking instead of eating so they don’t get fatter! Also riding motorcycles with a fag in the face is so not cool. Yuk, fugly, stinky and senseless habit. The sooner the price trebles the better.

Weather not that crash hot so just been hanging about the resort and had to do the mandatory 90 minutes with the promotions team to see if we wanted to buy into their holiday programme. To be honest it does sound like something we would like to do, but we are too old to get full benefits. No pressure and not like the old timeshare system. We went to discuss it by the other pool, (which we have only just discovered ) and surprise, surprise….it had a cocktail bar and it was ‘happy hour’! 1.00pm till 3.00pm. Just got the first drink and the heavens opened. The rain came in and was dripping on the bar and our stools, it was wild with thunder and lightning so we just had to wait it out. We did some sums on the Holiday Club proposal and while it is interesting, it is not for us at our stage of things. So we have said no.  Ah well, we are happy to have Molly. She will be our ‘luxury resort’. The English rep accepted our decision and after a free breakfast from him we said goodbye. But he did come back with another cheaper option, everyone loves a trier. J That afternoon we had one of our free massages.  In a private room on a massage table , with soft music and being pampered from toe to head for an hour was just so good. Still not as good as Eleni’s one though.

Next day we walked down to the resort beach but it was not that nice so toddled off around the corner and lo and behold, another world! Resorts, beach restaurants, deck chairs and umbrellas in rows and plenty of massage places!  Cathie wanted her toe nails done so after rejecting a few places she settled on one she felt comfortable with for 150bht. What a hoot. We had so much fun with the three ladies, the jokes were coming thick and fast and after 15 mins I decided to get a back and head massage for 150bht. Well I got more than that, I had my feet massaged as well because she liked my feet.  Cathie was doing ok as well. They massaged her feet and gave her a foot scrub, as well as an arm and back massage. Cunning blighters charged her 300bht for the foot scrub. But it was worth it for the entertainment. However the toenail polish came off in 5 minutes as we were walking in sand and it stuck to the not quite dry polish!

We were to visit this beach a few times over the next few days and even went to one of the restaurants in the pitch dark and had to wade through water and hop over rocks with just a wee torch to see.  Nice cheap meal sitting barefoot at a table on the sand with candlelight. Quite romantic. 

Hired a car for the day and spent the whole day circumnavigating the island.  Stopped at Lamai Beach and had a swim. We visited several places of interest including a waterfall which entailed getting a 4 wheel drive to the top and a 500m walk further up the valley on bamboo pole walk-ways. It was nice, but NZ has plenty of better ones.

We saw lots of elephants back at the base camp but were not too happy to see them tethered by the foot and swaying backwards and forwards. Seemed a bit stressed to me.

There were plenty of people having rides but we had to get back for our second free massage! As we were about half way round the island we decided it would be just about right to keep going round and get back by 5.00pm. With a bit of rally driving and being brave we made it just in time. This massage was a repeat of the last one and after we finished we flopped into the pool as we still had our togs on. A beer on the balcony before tea, and the end to another great day. ( not going to tell you about the clash of the mirrors incident )

Up by 6.30 to be picked up for an island cruise with snorkelling, swimming, kayaking and sightseeing. Damn alarm went off at 5.30 though! Thanks Gary. Mini-van took us to the boat jetty about 45 mins away and we joined hundreds of other tourists doing the same thing! Our boat had about 60 on and is not our ‘cup of tea’ but we made the most of it and actually had a really nice day. 90 minutes later we landed on an island in a marine park where we snorkelled while the fit ones climbed a mountain to see the view. We had to be transferred by longtail boat to shore 30 at a time. Back on board and off to another island to climb near vertical steps to view a crater lake. Coming down was frightful for some, who clung to the rail with both hands and stepped down slowly. It was really hot and got the heart rate going I can tell you. Another swim and snorkel before kayaking through caves and past beaches on a flat calm sea. We came third in our version of ‘the amazing race’ only because we deviated to look at another shoreline. Waited for the big boat to come and pick us up and then another 90mins back to the jetty. Good day all round .

 

Next day we packed and got the shuttle to the airport for our next journey to Pattaya, just south of Bangkok.

So now we know the trip was not a scam and even though we spent a lot on food and car hire and tours, I think we are still ahead on the budget for the week. Behind overall, but ahead this free week.

 

Penang to Koh Samui

So, Penang to Koh Samui. Where shall I start? Alarm set 4.15am for a 5am collection from good old Mingood Hotel for our special, private minivan trip to Koh Samui all booked and paid for a week in advance with reassurances that this will take us directly to the island and if we ask the driver nicely even to our hotel door for a few extra baht - sweet. 5.40am still no van but hotel reception phone and are told it is on its way. 5.45am van arrives already loaded up with people and luggage. Firstly out comes all the luggage onto the road, a quick throw-on repack which includes ours and all we need to do now is squeeze ourselves into the van amongst the already sleeping, snoring backpackers. Well there is a middle, right at the back seat for Gary and a jockey seat for me next to people who are reclining to the max and squishing Gary's legs. A quick dig in the ribs awakens the very apologetic pair who agree to raise their seats so that Gary can at least prise himself into his allotted space between two young men who have their relaxed legs wide open in slumber which forces Gary to sit like the hunchback of Notre Dam between them. YEP I know what I would have done and would have quickly looked the other way!!!! Gary just tolerated the situation and then complained like hell to me at the first stop. But wait there is more........another traveller to pick up?? Well she is lucky she can speak the language and gets a front seat next to the driver - good on her. So off we go and we are now an hour late leaving. The van inside was very hot with all the bodies but my personal air conditioner was working ok so it was not too uncomfortable. The driver was crazy though, hurtling along the potholed highway which fortunately was not too busy at that hour of the morning to the border. The van had no suspensIon and we felt every pot hole. Relinquishing our passports to him on request and very reluctantly at our first and only toilet stop we got them back with neatly filled in immigration forms which just required our signature - 10 out of 10 for efficiency and credit where credit is due. Hopping in and out of the van we successfully passed over both borders and we on our way again this time with no air conditioning as the woman sIttIng beside me turned it off as she entered the van. Another few hours passed and we arrived at an office in a township - what it was called to this day we still have no idea. "Out, out everybody" yells the driver and from there a shouting match ensued whilst we watched our bags being taken out of the van and dumped on the side of the road, between the people in the office and the driver. The driver who purported to speak no English made to leave with no explanation but one of our now fully awake sleeping buddies told him not to leave until we were all certain that we were going to get to our final destinations. A long wait ensued but we finally learned that we had to wait one and a half hours, not 10 mins, for the next van to Koh Samui whilst everyone else dispersed to their own destinations in different vans. We had no Thai money and to be honest could not rely on what we had been told regarding time - 10 mins is the obligatory answer to everything - but Gary took a chance to find an ATM and got some Baht but there was nothing around for us to eat. This is where a very large bag of M&Ms came in which I had bought, being a chocolaholic, the day before. Finally our van arrived and we got a decent seat this time as there was only one person on board and off we went - for 15mins!!!!! Next stop an hours wait, wIth no explanatIon, outside a building we later learned was the hospital, waiting for two patients to be discharged so they could be taken home. This van was not a private minivan at all but the local shuttle service to Surat Thani from where we still needed to catch the ferry to Koh Samui and time was running out. Seemingly in no hurry though, the driver cruised along delivering the patients directly to their homes, one of which was miles into the countryside so we did get a scenic tour, no toilet stops or food stops until a poor girl couldn't hang on any longer and requested he stop. A little panic was beginning to set in for me because we had to get to koh samui on the day and we still had the ferry to get and the trip to the hotel as well. The lovely Thai girl reminded the driver we had to do this and how we were getting concerned and he assured her that all was in hand and that a plan was in place for us to be met and taken to the ferry at Surat Thani. Good news in some respects, at least they were on to it, bad news in others - we were not going to be taken to Koh Samui at all and definitely not to our hotel. So we arrived in Surat thani in the midst of a New Year water festival called Sang Krau and deposited, finally, at another office where a young lad told us, after the driver had fled literally, that there were no ferries running that day at all due to the festivities!!!!!! Now for me this was like a red rag to a bull. We were tired, hot, hungry and had been given the runaround all day and this was the final straw - yes I discreetly, if you can, blew my top. Next thing an older man arrives and says if we give him 80bhat for a tuktuk we can be taken to another bus station where we can catch another bus which, after one and half hours, will drop us at another ferry terminal where we can catch the last ferry to koh samui for the night at 7pm, but hurry, hurry, must be quIck as bus leavIng very soon!!!! Ok let's do this and keep our fingers crossed this is not just another hoax. At the bus terminal a very lovely lady called our Koh Samui accommodation to let them know we would be late which was a bonus and we managed to buy a sandwich there too. The tuktuk driver was happy as he had earned his daily quota in a few minutes because the bus station was just around the corner but it would be another three quarters of an hour before the bus arrived. But it worked and we met another German couple who had been given the same run around on the ferry too. A long, expensive taxi ride later and we arrived at the Q Signature hotel, our 7 night's free accommodation was to begin and we were happy happy. Even though it sounds an ordeal this is what makes travelling worthwhile and exciting. We can look back and laugh and feel that we handled the situation fine and in the end we made it - intact! As much as you all want us to take care we want you all to stay healthy and happy too and our thoughts are with those of you who are not only caught up in the flooding but also those helping those who are. Love to all C&G xxxxxxx

Penang to Langkawi

Well having spent an hour typing this blog I have just lost the whole lot and am having to restart from scratch. This may be a short version as time is running out. Our bus trip to Penang was uneventful once we realised we had been dropped off by the shuttle at the wrong bus station. Very helpful driver bussed us BACK to correct station in time to pick up correct bus to Butterworth where we needed to pick up a local ferry to Georgetown. After a 5 hour bus trip we were deposited within a 100metres of the ferry terminal - excellent. Next challenge was to buy the ferry tickets which is a little harder than you imagine because you require the exact money in coins not paper money. Did we have it.......no we did not! A quick trip for Gary back to the money exchanger (deja vue) and yes!.......we were through and eventually on the ferry. I wonder why I sometimes feel we are participating in the amazing race with all these curve balls/challenges that keep being thrown at us. Quite honestly it is weird but good fun all at the same time. Another taxi ride through the crazy streets of Penang and we are at our new lodgings - the Mingood Hotel. Foo and Neil aren't due to arrive until midnight so we are off to find some dinner from a hawker stand on the streets of Penang as they are plentiful and cheap..........so we are told. For those with a weak stomach best you stop reading here. Our first night in Penang we ate, and food in Penang became our nemesis thereafter, a stack of eggiebread smothered in maple syrup, topped with 2 chicken sausages individually wrapped in a fried egg, topped by m&ms and jelly lollies, once more smothered in tomato sauce and then mayonaisse and finally topped with a scattering of salad!!!!!!!! You like? How this happened we are still unsure but believe me the chef had a lot of fun making it as we did too, watching him. Eating it was a little different though. Foo and Neil arrived on cue and we cracked open a couple of beers to mark the auspicious reunion and headed for a well earned night's sleep on our concrete like bed. I swear that Neil had the only soft mattress in the whole place. Most of the rest of our time in Penang was spent exploring the part of the city that we were in on foot and we seemed to walk for miles. At this juncture Gary and I were greatly in need of good, spicy food and Little India was on our hitlist. Sadly to say we never did find it but I believe Foo and Neil did at a later stage. To be honest Penang was not the type of place we enjoy, it is hectic, crowded, noisy and very dirty however there is a certain appeal there as well which I am still to fathom. To save our feet, on what turned out to be our hottest day in Penang, we hired a driver who took us to places we would otherwise not have seen. We were with him for most of the day and saw beautiful temples, the butterfly farm, the spice gardens the botanical gardens, a very active and busy beach and Penang Hill where we took a cable car that literally ascended vertically. It was awesome and we managed to shuffle ourselves into the very back seats which gave us the most amazing views of Penang as we hustled uphill.....yes uphill I have it right! As I said earlier Penang was not a place we planned to stay for long so we decided to fly to Langkawi in search of Paradise number 2 and yes we found it. Langkawi is a dutyfree island so, first stop the duty free shop. Beefeaters gin, 6 splits, 6 beer, chocolate (plenty) and pringles for $NZ21. Next stop the hotel where our room was 2 mins walk from this amazing, quiet beach. Next stop the sea where we stayed for hours soaking up the luxury of warm sea water, rolling waves and excitement as we watched the locals making piles of money taking endless strings of tourists for 4minute parasailing experiences to the sounds of whoops and squeals from both the tourists in the air and the locals pocketing the money. We had 4 days on Langkawi and as we are all aware the rain has been a bit of a spoil sport for us from time to time so we decided to book a tour of the mangroves by boat. As it happens we picked the perfect day with the perfect people. We fed hawks and monkeys, walked through a bat cave (smelly, very) boated through a crocodile cave (still confused about that one), Gary fed huge fish by hand including putting the fish straight into the mouth of a huge stingray TWICE! ( because CathIe mIssed the photo op, or maybe she wanted to see me do a Steve IrwIn? ) We had lunch at a floating restaurant, the boat took us right out to sea and around the island and it was the best. Memories are made from days like these. We returned to our hotel tired but happy and we celebrated this enormous day with our $NZ8 bottle of beefeaters.... Apart from exploring on foot, buying a few small sticky feet for Molly as we felt we were leaving her out a little bit, relaxing, eating, swimming, drinking and talking to Harry (a very charming gentleman who could talk the hind leg off a donkey and who we eventually tried to avoid because he was so time consuming) we did little else except soak up the sun, kick back and relax. Whoever it was who said we would lose weight travelling through Asia with the heat, exercise and type of food........go wash your mouth out because it is NOT TRUE! Foo and Neil joined us for our last night on Langkawi and mmmmmmm............well we had a bottle of gin to finish and heaps of beers and the rest we will leave to your imagination....We did get our spicy, Indian food though!,,, So next day Gary and I head back to Penang and the good old Mingood hotel where we will be up at 4.15am to get our ride to Koh Samui to suss out our free7 night's accommodation that we won in Surfers! We have booked a van to take us over the border into Thailand and directly to Koh Samui by road and ferry. That, however, is another story in itself so I will leave you guessing as to the outcome and say goodbye for now and post this. To all our families we love and miss you. Stay safe and happy xxxxx

Update on Lumut

Firstly an edit to Gary's Lumut blog. He neglected to tell you about our very interesting night visitor! First night in apartment we slept really well but awoke in the morning to a pile of shredded rubber by the door inside the living room? No evidence of anything else inside until we came to eat our bread for breakfast only to find a smallish section had been neatly removed from inside the plastic package. Further investigation showed that "something" had shredded a large section of the rubber seal at the bottom of the veranda doors. "I'll fix that" says Gary so the following night he pushes a thick doormat under the door to block the hole and spends most of the night tryIng to stay awake waiting for said intruder - was it monkey, rat or what? Next morning, having witnessed nothing during the night, we awoke to find not only more shredded rubber but also shredded mat this time OUTSIDE the doors. (embarrassed about ruined mat). Next night Mcgiver puts large pieces of cardboard through slot, which is by now almost 2 doorways wide, bends the cardboard up inside the room, closes curtains and places a chair in front to secure all in place. KT, owner, suggests we leave outside light on as a deterrant as well. Unable to sleep however, that falls by the wayside and next morning we have a pile of cardboard but no entry. The fix stays in place till we leave and KT determines with a little chuckle that it must have been a rat. (Hell it was destructive, determined and must have had huge teeth). Just thought this should be shared as another experience throughout our travel. Hope the mcgiver fix is made more permanent before next traveller arrives! Yes, I am sure it will be..............

LUMUT to PENANG

For the next stay we have pre-booked in Lumut on the north-west Malaysian coast and two hours south of Penang. It is quite spread out with several towns, old and new merging into one area. There is a huge port for fishing, boat building, oil rig construction and palm-oil export. There are a couple of huge modern shopping malls, each bigger than the whole of Nelson CBD. The rest is typical Malay township and shops. They are all starting to look the same. We have booked an apartment on a golf club resort. Swiss Court Apartments. This was done through Airbnb.com, a website that has private people renting rooms, holiday homes or apartments for cheap prices. The site is easy to follow, and comments posted from other guests, gives you a feeling for the place. This apartment has no bad comments at all so we decided to go for it. On a golf course? With a swimming pool? With wifi available? Luxury hotel on site that had facilities available to us? Can’t be bad.

We have been in contact with our host from Lumut, Kt, who has been so helpful with advice on places to go and see and has now offered to come and get us from the Hotel in Ipoh! The bus is only 19RM. Generally it is just an hour and a half. (10RM Malaysian Ringet =$4.00NZ) but he wanted to show us some places along the way. We had a lazy start to the day and went down for breakfast at 9.00am then packed and waited for Kt. He arrived smiling at 1.00pm and took us to a backstreet restaurant for lunch. It was an amazing cheap lunch and he explained all of the dishes. I think it was 20RM for the three of us. Then he took us to buy some provisions…beer and buns…… at Tescos Mall. Yep just like Tescos in UK. It was massive, clean and pretty much empty. Maybe it was the size and all the customers were spread out, but it was not that busy. Beer 6.5RM for 425ml. We then drove to the apartment about 30mins away. Not sure the isolation was detailed in the blurb, but for the next 4 days we were pretty much going to be stuck here. Hmmmm,,,, 4 days of golf? The apartment consisted of a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen/lounge, with a small deck, 2x air-conditioners and a fan. Basic kitchen, but we didn’t plan on cooking, so checked out the restaurant. No food served from reception anymore… have to walk 1km to the luxury hotel for a meal or go to the Golf Club 1km the other way.  At least we have a fridge and a TV. We are acclimatizing quite well but the heat and humidity saps it out of you. Haven’t had to have a nana-nap in the afternoons yet.

Took a walk to the flash hotel and saw the swimming pool full of Muslims in their clothes, and on down to the beach which was full of plastic. Really dirty for a 5 star hotel which won awards just last year. The next beach was the fun beach with 4 wheel bikes, canoes, volley ball, big BBQ restaurant selling cocktails, fish and chips, and……. It was all closed. Only opens on Friday and Saturday. Just our luck it was only Monday! Found a restaurant that was open and ordered. We were the only ones in there except for 1000 flies that landed on your fork as you put it to your mouth, so of course you would swipe it away, only to have the food flung off the fork as well. The waitress got three fly repellent candles and circled our plates, but that had minimal effect. Most unsettling experience. Cathies chicken was uncooked in the middle and she couldn’t eat it so when she complained they credited the bill.

Next day we took a shuttle to Lumut to see about tickets to Penang, but also wanted to see the old town. The free shuttle took us but as the driver had little English, the young manager, who sort of befriended us and always wanted to chat, took it upon himself to brief the driver. Supposed to say look at Lumut bus station and ferry terminal and then back to old town to be picked up at Tescos at 6.30. Right.  Drove through old town, dropped off at bus station, then had to wait 4 hours to be picked up from a godforsaken place with a ferry terminal, bus station and a market that was only just opening, and a few streets of shops which were mostly closed. What did we do? Found a pub with wifi and sat and drank cold beers and caught up with family. Turned into a pleasant day after all.

Day three Kt called and took us out for the day. What a great bloke. We visited a chook farm which had 140,000 chooks laying thousands of eggs a day and the conveyor belts just transported the eggs to another building where the machines automatically packed them on trays. Huge place and interesting to see. Not allowed to see the caged hens though, hygiene reasons….. or? No smell though and the hens were in air-conditioned cages with plenty of feed. Give me free range any day. The eggs were quite brown and they considered our pure white eggs to be rejects. Next we were dropped off at Aeon shopping mall and were picked up 90minutes later. On the way back we visited a fishing village and got some great photos of a traditional fish market. Next he took us to a restaurant for lunch, another traditional experience which was just fantastic. Especially the price. Local prices for local people!

Next stop was a visit to a turtle sanctuary on the coast. The turtles come ashore and lay their eggs and they are taken and hatched and released back into the sea. Hundreds of them in tanks. There were really small ones and some adults too that were kept as they were sick or needed for research. We were let into a secure area not usually open to the public and allowed to handle the baby ones. The adults had really nice patterns on their shells. Another nice experience we would not have had without Kt. It was getting late so went further north to Kt’s village and ate at his local café. His wife joined us and we had a few beers and a really nice evening. All in all the stay in Lumut was very pleasant, made more so by the efforts of our host Kt.

Caught the bus the next day to the terminal in town and bussed to Penang via Butterworth.

To be continued…….

 

Selemat Jalan

Gary & Cathie

Singapore, Melaka, Ipoh

Saying goodbye to Bali we boarded a plane from Dempasar to Singapore a short 2 and a half hour flight. Missing my evening wine just a tad I splashed out on a small bottle of Marlborough Sav, flying qantas but Jetstar everything has to be paid for, the first wine since leaving Brisbane. Oh boy it was good! Nothing memorable about this flight and now being "porter savvy" our arrival in Singapore was flawless. The only time our concerns were raised was queing at passport control where literally dozens of young gIrls and some men too were havIng theIr passports held and very offIcIally marched In groups by offIcIous ImmIgratIon offIcIals somewhere out the back of the buIldIng. Garys face was a pIcture when It was our turn to go through.A swift but expensive taxi ride to our rather overposh hotel and out on the town for a qick hawker fix to balance our budget.
Wow, Singapore is so, so hot but also so, so clean. There is a lot of money in Singapore but also a great deal of poverty - there is a huge divide unfortunately. Now Gary and I are not one for expensive restaurants, the food is better where the locals eat, and it wasn't long before a gummy, older local was pointing us in the right direction to a basement local food hall. As always we were the only Europeans evident and that makes the locals both hesitant but welcoming at the same time. Language is no barrier as long as you have fingers to point , a sense of adventure and a sense of humour.
We enjoyed the most amazing Indian meal with everything on our plate for $5S - so much food we had to sheepishly ask for a doggy box. Not only was this ok I was called back and offered a bag to put the doggy boxes in. All this and not a word was spoken that either he or I understood. Communication was made though and we were all happy. I LOVE this part of travelling. Anyway Singapore was just a stopover really, a transition between Bali and Malaysia. We made the most of our short stay there exploring Orchard Street and of course Scott Street. A must was a visit to the "Lucky Plaza" to get a new battery for my watch that suddenly dIed. Whilst we were in the watch shop haggling over the $25S charge we met a couple from the UK and got to chatting with them. Amazingly he was born 1 day before me and she 6 days before me all in the same year in the UK. They have the perfect lifestyle spending their time between the Isle of Mann, Germany and Spain on a yearly rotational basis. They'll be at their German base when we are In Germany so they have invited us to catch up with them there. It will be interesting if it all happens and we left with big hugs all around and firm new friends. WIth tickets kindly booked by the lovely concierge at our hotel on an express coach to Malaysia for the following day it was goodbye Singapore, hello, Melaka but not before a final visit to our basement foodhall for our last Indian fix. CatchIng a local taxI to the express bus station we arrived with time to spare to fInd the right counter in a sea of counters and pay for our tickets. ThIs was also good because we then had to walk 2 blocks to the pick up point. It was a comfortable bus with foot rests etc and we were armed with local rolls and treats to carry us through the 5 hour journey. Crossing the border caused us no issues whatsoever, no visas were required, but we were the only Europeans crossing which tended to cause a few giggles and flutterings amongst the locals. Driving through torrential rain on a very boring highway we arrived in Melaka in brilliant sunshine and another taxi drive took us to our concrete block hotel on a busy road with no footpaths quIte a way from the town square!,,,,,. But wait this is fine! Remember we have a restaurant on site, a coffee shop on site, a beautiful garden to walk in, a concierge to tell you all about the local sights etc, a rooftop swimming pool, a jacussi. We have asked for a non smoking room with a view over the water as the website suggests is possible. Mmmmm...... none of that exists! To be fair there is a rooftop swimming pool as deep as our waists but the brown scum mark around it is pretty off putting. All we have is a concrete block building, asphalt and a room that stinks of smoke. A quick room change and the ability to keep our sense of humour alive and we brave the road in search of food. All worked out well and we were to walk that road many times more to discover for ourselves the joys of Melaka. The Dutch and Portuguese ruins that have been unearthed, Jonker Road, the town square, China town, Little India, Fortresses, Palace reproductions built with no nails and full of interesting history, great, refreshing smoothies and very noisy, over the top decorated bicycles with sidecars taking gullible tourists for short rides for exorbitant prices. All good fun. Once again the back roads of Melaka were our favourite places to eat and explore and the walkways along the edge of the river had some exquisite, boutique hotels nestled along it. After 3 nights it was time to move on again as we need to focus on being in Georgetown by 4th April to meet Foo and Neil and want to see as much of Malaysia as possible. A quick trip to the local bus station again and our next stop Ipoh the capital of Perak a state of Malaysia the following day. A 6 hour trip for 35rn ($14nz) on a very nice comfortable luxury coach. Approaching Ipoh the scenery reminds me very much of China. The mountains/hills seem to be made from the same porous rock with sketchy trees covering them and there are small caves high up which I wonder whether people still inhabit. We were not lucky enough to be able to visit these mountains whilst in Ipoh unfortunately. School holidays meant we were unable to find a driver to take us there. Ipoh is a town divided by a bridge. On one side of the bridge is the new town and on the other the old town. I am still confused as to which was which because it all looked the same to me. The shops are kept cool by concrete archways, like cloisters, which are quite efficient and we managed to find the area where all the spices and dried foods are sold. The spice smells were heavenly especially of Cardamon as there is a very strong Indian influence in Malaysia. We saw huge red chilies, dried starfish, small anchovies being deboned, jelly fIsh satay, amazing fungi, food street hawkers making amazing food and the most beautiful dried flower garlands. Lou Wong was our next stop. Famous for it's " chicken chop with beansprouts" - a must have. By this time though the heavens had opened and the rain was torrential. Whilst we were sheltering in a wholesale shop we saw and bought a whole box of Snicker bars for $NZ12!!!!!! That has become our Malaysian stash. So dashing across the road into Lou Wongs and dripping wet we were served with the famous dish. My only requirement was "no bones please" ,which is easier than trying to explain that a breast piece would be nice, and omg it was delicious. This meal cost us 11rm which is $NZ4. Discovering the night market we bought a "Rolex" watch each for $NZ6 and turned down many offerings of foot massages by burly Malay men. I would imagine them to be very painful and only men seemed to be partaking in this torture. Stopping to pick up a couple of large bottles of Carlsburg lager we headed home for a quiet night In front of Malaysian TV!!!!!!!! Our next host in Lamut was mailing us regularly in Ipoh suggesting places we could visit so "beautiful street" took us on our next adventure. You have to remember that every exit from our hotel room is an adventure in it's own way - in fact just crossing the road is one too. Do you think anyone knew beautiful street? No! So with GPS in hand we set off and yes, after much searchIng, we found it. This is a street where local artists have painted on the walls of buildings. Cute pictures of children playing simple games like hide and seek using the buildings, drainpipes etc as hiding places. It was really quite cool. Our last night in Ipoh we had a meal in a very busy open restaurant which was apparently very famous for it's soup (we had no idea at the time) and most restaurants in Ipoh seem famous for something or other. Because the place was so busy we were joined by a lovely young couple who explained all the complexities of eating in "The Best Restaurant" in perfect English. They were both auditors, a common profession here, but whilst he was explaining everything in detail she ate most of what they had ordered. The Malaysian people eat sooooo much and they are all sooooo small! So that was our last night - another great experience and tomorrow KT, our next host in Lamut, is picking us up at 10am to take us to our next abode. Gary and I are bearing up well through the rigours of travel and the heat. We are eating and drinking well so please nobody worry about us?????? Till our next blog Bye for now and love to all xxxx