Sunday, June 26, 2005

sentosa island

26/06/05

Today is our last full day in singapore.

First stop on the tourist route was the bungee rocket. I went on one in Ibiza, so I managed to convince some of the others to join me. Oh my god, it takes your breath away. u are supposed to feel force 5 g-force, and travel up at 200kmph..... Remind me to show you the cd when I catch up with you. Tanya didnt risk it, but she is still keen to parachute jump.

Then we headed to sentosa island. this is just off singapore, and has 100's of things to do, like under water world. botanical gdns, beaches, zoo's etc etc. you could spend the whole day here. Wasnt overly impressed with the beach, as it was very man made, and the water was slightly murky... you could do better at bournemouth.

We decided to head back into the main city, and went camera shopping for tanya's friend. these guys are a nightmare. they wont sell you a camera on its own,. you have to get something with it before they will sell it to you. (mem card or bag etc). Also, you have to know how much you want to pay, as none of them compete against each other. yet there are 100's of shops selling the same thing.

It was definately an experience.

Looking foward to getting to oz tomorrow. Booked a hostel already, at a place called coogee beach (next to bondai beach).

Saturday, June 25, 2005

shopping and safari's

25/06/05

We checked out of our nice hotel, and moved to a not so nice but cheap hostel, as the tour officially ended here. We felt so alone when we were walking around singapore, with no-one to tell us where to go and what time to meet.

We ended up getting together with some of the guys anyway for some dinner.

We went down a road called orchid road, where, oh my god, there is plaza after plaza of shopping. gadgets, clothes, food. and this day, the whole of singapore must have been down this street. Its where the "rich" locals come to shop as well, as all the designer shops are here too.

We met up with the guys for a romantic dinner down by the riverside at boat quay. Ate some ostrich, which was delicious. The fish down here can be picked from tanks as you walk in. lot of crab and lobsters too.

A few of us decided to go to the night safari, which is meant to be the 1st one of its kind. AFter a incident packed journey there, we arrived 2 mins before last entry.

We hopped onto a tram thing, and were guided round the park. Note, there are no fences or anything, so you reach out and touch the animals. We saw lots of deer, birds, and more scarily, an asian tiger, lions, elephant and rhinos. Just yards from the tram we were on. It was very intimidating. It was worth the hassle getting there though.

Didnt end up getting back to hostel til 1.30am....

Friday, June 24, 2005

new asia bar

24/06/05

After getting to bed at 3am, I awoke at 7am to get the bus to singapore. I was definatley still drunk til at least 2pm that afternoon.

Singapore is a sleek and modern city, similar to KL but cleaner. Its bigger than I thought it would be with some impressive buildings. Also, very hot and humid here, so prepare to sweat....

After checking into a funky hotel, I grabbed some sleep. The eve, we headed to Raffles hotel, for the infamous sungapore sling, where the drink was invented. The prices were astronomical. 2.50 for a small water, and each cocktail cost 6 pounds each. but the nuts were free. the weird thing was, you could throw the shells of the nuts on the floor. They all get trampled on and kicked about, yet you are in this really really posh bar. dates back to the colonial times I think.

Headed to an irish bar afterwards for some scran (food).

Then, my mate richard baylis told me about this funky bar on the 71st floor of one of the hotels. Fueled with curiosity, norman and I ventured to find this place. We arrived there, and paid 8 pounds to get in, but you got your 1st drink free.....

There is a bar on the 1st floor, but everyone heads upstairs. After seconds in the lift, we arrived to a real treat. the place was amazing. we headed straight for the window, where we could see the whole of singapore at night. sent a shiver down the spine.

The music was average, as the dj kept alternating between dance, hip hop and cheese every 2 hours, and playing the same songs.

I wont even mention the price of the drinks, but a log island iced tea was 8 pounds a throw......

Despite the music, it was still a really good night out, and definatley the place to be seen on a friday night

Norman pulled a local girl, so I headed off home, thinking about remortgaging the house to pay for the night out.


Thursday, June 23, 2005

award ceremony

23/06/05

Did the tourist bit again today, after a deserved lie in.

Saw a 15th Century war ship, and even got to go inside. not great fun but had to be done. Looked around a shopping centre, and went to a few museams. Went to a beauty museam, where they show you pics of human mutilation (lips discs, piercings etc.) quite gruesome.

The heat was too much, so we headed back to the jacuzzi, and chilled out for a while before dinner.

There was a BBQ for dinner, and I had some norweigan salmon. all you can eat salad bar and desserts. Yummy.

We also had an "awards" ceremony, where people had to vote in different categories for the tour group. I picked up 2 awards, one embarrassing and the other quite cool.. I got the all round nice guy award, which was nice. But I also got the most girlie award..... I was the only bloke nominated for this, and beat off competition from 3 other girls including Tanya.........

Tanya won the best girl award, which was nice..... tony and norman got voted best couple.....aaahhhhhh.

That eve, went a bit mad. It was ladies night, therefore all girls get free cocktails all night. We got Nick dressed up as a girl in an attempt to get him free drinks, and the trick worked.... he got plenty of attention also.....

Cant remember a lot after that, but got pretty drunk, as our tour leader (Rob) was feeding me long island iced teas. Plus I pretty much necked a bottle of Vodka which i sneaked in.........

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

melaka

22/06/05

Today we went to a waterpark on the way to melaka. Just 10 mins outside KL, our mini bus broke down. I had to stop the traffic across 6 lanes so that the other guys could push the van off the road. Very scarey.

The water park was OK, but 4 of the slides were closed and there was not one drop of sun the while day. The 2 kamakazi slides were fun though, and tanya was quite revealing on one of them....

On the way to melaka, I thought it would be appropriate to moon the other minibus at some traffic lights, but didnt realise there was a muslim family within sight... hope i didnt offend.

Melaka is quite small and the hotel we are in is quite nice. the best so far. There is a jacuzzi on the roof, which is outdoors. may check that out tomorrow.

We ate by the riverside for dinner, where we were witness to 2 monitors (lizard type things), mating in the river.

Had a few drinks in the bar and took some interesting pics.

Had a little party in our room, with sophie, chloe, norman and alan joining me and tan. Irish Tony would have joined us but he was being constantly sik through food poisoning. Poor chap.

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

camcorder

21/06/05

Had a bit of a lie in at last, so headed towards one of the many shopping malls. Had my eye on a DVD camcorder. We met up with a few others and went to the petroas towers.

Its 88 floors tall, but we only went up to the walkway on the 41st. Needless to say that there were some impressive views. There were some cool gadgets to play with as well... did you know it took them just 4 days to complete 1 floor, with 2000 people working at any one time.....yawn.

Went back to plaza and purchased a dvd camcorder. cost about 330 pounds for one of the latest sony models. also got bag and a few dvd's thrown in. The camcorder alone was 430 in the uk.

Went to pizza hut for dinner. getting fed up with noodles and rice.

Afterwards, went on the monorail with tanya and norman, then went home for an earlyish night.

I must say, I have been very impressed with KL, and would totally recommend coming here if you get a chance.


Monday, June 20, 2005

kuala lumpur

20/06/05

Travelled to kuala lumpur today, luxury style. we had VIP coaches, which had reclining seats and everything.

When we arrived, it was awesome. back to civilisation. The buildings are massive, and all unique.

Checked into carogan hotel, and then headed towards a fairground. The thing is, this fairground was indoors, and has asia's biggest indoor roller coaster. There were a few other big rides there too. Had a lot of fun for just 3 pounds.

Also had maccy d's....

The group headed towards the KL tower, one of the worlds highest towers. We watched the sun go down, and saw the city lights turned on. Also had a great view of the petronas towers.

Then we had a great chinese meal in china town, and then a look round the night market. I got a cool pair of roy bens (ray bans) sunnies, and tanya bought a lovely chinese style dress.

Norman the german, managed to get us lost in the evening, as we were wandering the streets of kuala lumpur. So i decided to jump in a taxi, and meet the rest of the group. Not much happening on a monday night, and the beer is very expensive here. almost 3 pounds a pint.

went to a quiet irish bar, and an open air bar. tony got mad with a bar lady for charging double the price for a glass of wine. not going back there again.

Sunday, June 19, 2005

its a bugs life

19/06/05

woke up early this morning to see some of the highlands. went to the tea plantations first. miles and miles of tea bushes on hills and in valleys. a real sight to see.

we then proceeded to the highest paved point in malaysia. fantastic views but it was a tad cloudy.

me and irish tony had a stick fighting contest to establish ourselves on the macho man table for the group. I won....!!

then we went for a mini jungle trek. saw some interesting trees......

then it was the tea factory, where all the magic happends. not very interesting but the authentic malaysian tea was refreshing.

Next stop was the butterfly farm. These things were huge (refer to pics). We were also allowed to release some into the farm, which had been captured from the wild. there were some mighty bugs there too, including spiders, centipieds, massive beetles, stick/leaf insects, scorpions and so on..... touched a few of them, but not the spiders...

in the afternoon, we chilled and watch hitch hikers guide dvd. went for a crummy meal in the eve, and had an early night. next stop, bright lights of kuala lumpur.

Saturday, June 18, 2005

highlands

18/06/05

Another day of travelling. This time it was a bug infested, cockroach heap of junk from hell....... even the lorries were overtaking us. Tanya spent 2 hours trying to fight off this cockroach on the bus, which was quite funny coz it was tiny.

We are staying in a guest house, which has a DVD player. this meant we could start watching all the DVD's we bought in Penang.

After eating tandoori chicken, we all sat down and watched team america. Quite funny after a few beers and a curry.

Proceeded to drink rum and coke for the rest of the eve, as we saw out the night.

Friday, June 17, 2005

tourist

17/06/05

Today we did the touristy bit. Penang is quite historic in terms of british and japanese/chinese colonies, so we visited many different historical sights.

One place, was called a clan house, where the chinese would go if they didnt have any familes. They would all have the same surname (khoo) and for each one of them, there is a named plaque. We decided to make up our own clan names : Tanya - Khoo Tan Coo. Me - Khoo Ron Dav and for chloe - Khoo Cho woo and sophie was kho que so butt... you had to be there really.

Saw an old british fort too.

Had one of the best meals so far in asia this eve. Salmon capers to start, then rib eye steak, followed by chocolate cake and ice cream....not so authentic but it was damn nice.

Going onto the cameron highlands tomorrow. its only meant to be about 20 degrees there...... freezing.

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Malaysia

16/06/05

Again, we travelled for most of the day, to a place called georgetown in penang. Staying in a hotel called mingood, but it aint so bad despite the name.

Went for a walk and went to a place called Komtar tower.Went to maccy D's 1st for some food. spent the next hour trying to find the entrance for the tower, which is 67 floors high.

Once we found it, we had a panoramic view of penang, which was spectacular. there is also a resturant there but we didnt bother eating.

In the eve, we went to a cafe style curry house, which had all sorts of interesting and disgusting things. I stuck to lamb and chicken (I hope) and it went down quite well. dont think curried squid, fish, king prawns are my cup of tea.
Our hotel has a rooftop bar, so we had a few beers and played some pool. The mixture of rules that went rouind was very confusing. I did manage to win 4 games in a row (for those who know how I play pool, that is quite amazing for me).

Got beaten by a girl in the end, but she was very good...... no seriously.

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

nothing significant

15/06/05

nothing significant happend today. transferred out of our beach hut to a place called satun. left at 8.30am and arrived about 6pm.....

got caught on the squatty potty's again. knew I shouldnt thave had that curry last night. had my usual supply of tissue though to bail me out.

nice meal in the eve, but we settled on an early night, as it was too tiring for karoke.

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

sick day

14/06/05

Rolled out of bed at 2pm, for a bacon roll and a pineapple juice. Tanya was hungover big style (worst hangover EVER!). She was sick and dehydrated all day. She wanted to go see a doc, but we never made it in the end. not sure they can treat hangovers!

I sat on the beach all afternoon and listened to some chill out music on my ipod. only moving to cool myself in the sea..... this is how a hangover should be treated, but I honestly think I was still drunk.

In the eve, went to a nice chill out ba. somehow managed to consume more beer.

Went into the water at night and you can see all glowy things when you move around. then bumped into some random bloke who had lost his clothes, his mates, and didnt even know where he was staying. beach hammock for him tonight. Rounded the evening off brilliantly..

Monday, June 13, 2005

completely drunk

13/06/05

Spent most of the day on the beach. got burnt big time on my back yesterday, so i worked on my front (work, what does that mean?).. it was so hot, but cooling off in the sea was a real pleasure.

Went to Haad rin in the eve. Took 45 mins in a 4x4 truck over dusty roads, through a jungle and up & down hills that should only been done by abseil.....

This really was a party town. They had 100's of chairs on the beach and stalls with bucket cocktails. Managed to sink quite a few buckets of vodkka and redbull with tanya. Played some drinking games too. there were guys coming round with snakes, lizards, eagles for picture opportunities. Didnt have my camera, but one of the group will give me some pics.

Dont really remember much after the drinking games, but apparantly after the beach, we went to a bar/club for a boogie til about 3am. Tanya was sick on the way back and I held the sick bag for her....so i was told.

she went back to the hut, so I decided it would be a good idea to drink more, and hit the jungle bar with a few others. Had a bit of a boogie, and then hit the beach at sun rise. didnt make it to bed til about 6am. only memory of the night exists on other people's cameras.......

Sunday, June 12, 2005

finding nemo

12/06/05

Felt a bit rough this morning. got up earlyish to go snorkling. when we got there, it started to cloud over a bit and the sea went a bit rough. This made the water cloudy which meant I couldnt take very good pics.

Managed to see quite a bit. loads of tropical fish and corals.

Tanya cut her leg up and had to wear a bandage on the boat trip home. Had a nice lunch on bottle beach (gorgeous), then headed to a small water fall. not quite vic falls but was nice to relax for a bit and sample some exotic fruits.

I managed to fall between some rocks in the little river but didnt damage myself too much.

Had a BBQ for dinner, steak and chips. getting bored of rice and noodles. went for a few drinks in a quiet bar. looks like tom eve will be quite a big night out as we are heading for main town of Haad rin.....

Saturday, June 11, 2005

koh phangnan

11/06/05

The night train arrived at about 6am. got a fair amount of sleep. had brekkie and then went onto koh phangnan.

Quite a trip to get here but arrived about 1.30pm/ The beach hut is a lot nicer than in koh samet. Stripped off straight away and went into the water.

The resort we are in is fairly quiet and remote, which is good.

Went for a few drinks with the group in the eve. everyone seems to be getting on with each other as they seme a good bunch.

on the way back to the hut, I saw a shooting star for the 1st time....incredible

Friday, June 10, 2005

another night train

10/06/05

sat on the night train at the mo, which knocks the spots off the botswana train. Proper beds, aircon and sinks. even a buffet cart.

Went to river kwai today and saw where the prisoners were held during the construction. went on a train journey which had some excellent scenery of thailand. very green, and lots of coconut trees.

went into a cave, where they had this massive gold budda. must be the biggest budda in a cave in thailand!

also went to the cemetry, which was quite overwhelming, seeing 1000's of graves. most of the people that died were about 25.

Tanya bought more stuff when we had a wander round. budget, what budget.

Ate from one of the street carts this eve. hope stomach holds out, as only squatty potty's on the night train.....

Thursday, June 09, 2005

sky train

09/06/05

Went for another wanfer today. we walked for an hour to get to the sky train. this was very modern and efficient, unlike the rest of bangkok.

got some thai silks for us and tans mum. went to huge shopping centre (MBK) which had about 6 floors with massive floor space. Could only manage the bottom floor. had a nice KFC.

Met up with the rest of the group and were told a little about the trip we're taking.. Got talking to a mad irish guy called Tony (Berryl) and a german called norman (Merryl). Apparently, norman has been to Locks Heath in southampton.....

we all dined at a riverside resturant which was actually quite pleasent. Then went down to Khao San road for the last time and went to good old shamrocks again (with more money this time)., Then hit a small blues bar called adhere which was very tranquil.

The group seems like there is a good mix, and thank god me and tan arent the oldest on the trip....

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

back to hell

08/06/05

Had the journey back to bangkok today,. a few hiccups at the port but we finally made it. Checked into new hotel, which is pleasant. Met 2 grils called chlow and sophie who are on our tour to singapore.

Had a nice meal and smoothies, then went to meet ali and jess but they didnt show up.... :( Medt up with chloe and sophie again instead. Went to an irish bar called shamrocks, where they have live music. As I wasnt drinking, i wanted a water, but they would let us have any water unless we oredered some alcohol. Me being the guy I am, I took the hit for the team and ordered a beer!!Turns ourt he brings the biggest one out, and we didnt even have enough money to pay for it!

Bought some clothes today. Von dutch and diesel t-shirt plus a fake thai football shirt for about 6 pounds.

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

more booze

07/06/05

After another hard nights drinking, we managed to wake about 12:30. Met up with Jess and the dutchman. Also hooked up with nick and jess's friend ali.

The weather was cloudy again, but everyone still managed to get burnt. Tanya had a pedicure, which took about 30 mins, and paid about 75p. I also turned metro-sexual and purchased a sarong..... no comments please.

We went to dine at this resturant, where you sit on mats, and relax by the beach. It was all going well, until they bought the wrong meal out for tanya 3 times.. aparantly, its difficult for the thai people to distinguish the word pork and prawn. they pronounce it "puk" - or mo in thai.. for those of you coming here, take note!

Hooked up with our friends again, and had buckets of cocktails for free. These are whiskey and redbull buckets, and we managed to get 4 free. also had 3 free cocktails from guessing the coin.

The canadian (Nick), realised that he got the dates of his flight home wrong, and should have been on the plane, instead of sipping cocktails.... sounds like something another nick I know would do (hey rattley!)

Didnt hardly pay for any drinks, but called it a night at about 1am. early to rise tomorrow to get back to smelly bangkok.

I loved koh samet, but aparantley koh samui and koh pangnan are better, so I'm really looking forward to going there

Monday, June 06, 2005

perfect

06/06/05

The day was perfect. Not a cloud in sight. and the tide had pushed right out which exposed more beach.

Made it up at 1pm after catching up with some sleep. Had a massage too. bl00dy good. only cost about one pound for half an hour.

In the eve, we had some food and then met up with twins again & the dutchman. It was a bit of a mad one i can tell you. The bars have promo's where if you order a cocktail, you flip a coin, and if you guess it correctly, you get it for free!!! Only managed to get it once. Also met up with an american girl called jess.

we all had a boogie and plenty of drink flowing. Just as things were about to wind down, we were "dragged" to another party, where there must have been the rest of the people from the island. Everyone got on so well. The itallians got some canadians, so me and tan hung with the american (jess) and the dutchman.

Didnt get to bed til 4.30am, as me and tan went skinny dipping on the way home...... ;)

Sunday, June 05, 2005

Koh samet

05/06/05

Got up at 5.30 this morn in order to get the coach to koh samet. Still drunk from last night, we took our bags to another hotel, and took little rucksacks to the island.

The journey took about 4 hours & 1 hour on the boat. had to wait for an hour before the boat left as it was being fixed as we waited..... Caught our 1st downpour as well. got drenched within 2 mins, and then dried off very quickly.

We met 2 italian twin brothers, who are living in germany. These two are crazy. Wandered to the end of the beach, where we checked into our beachside bungalow. a bit basic, but fanstic location.

The beach itself is gorgeous. It was a bit cloudy today but still very hot. Went straight into the water and it was like stepping into a warm bath. We stayed in there for ages, and only got out coz we got wrinkly.

In the evening, we went to dine with the twins, and 2 american girls, one of which was chinese and they both live in Japan..... why cant people just live at home????

Went to a karoke bar and made complete fools of ourselves. Had a great night and got very drunk.....

Saturday, June 04, 2005

wat arun

04/06/05

1st full day in bangkok. went on a guided tour but probably got ripped off!! saw some temples -: wat arun (the temple of dawn). quite wierd, as my sister is called dawn!!! Got caught out with a dickie tummy. went on what they call a "squatty potty" toilet. There was no bog roll and it was literally a hole in the floor. Luckily for me, and those that know me quite well, I had some supplies in my pocket.

The temples were pretty amazing and still house monks. Some of the budda's statues are huge,. Went on a canal trip as well. the water here is very murky brown in colour and in some places it is black.

You definately get a real feel for the traditional bangkok as there are many houses that sit on the canal, and probably live off this canal.

Also, there are 1000's of catfish. one of them splashed us, which was really gross. Had to havce a shower as soon as I got back to the hotel.

In the evening, we had a nice meal at a local vegitarian resturant - may kaidee.Then went up to Khoa san road and hit some bars. Still cant spot these lady boys people keep going on about......or maybe I have seen them and just dont know it!!!

Friday, June 03, 2005

thai - 1st thoughts

03/06/05

Well, we have arrived in thailand, and this place is as busy as it gets. Also, a very distinct smell about the place, best to keep the nose shut.

our hotel is quite nice. Its a 5 min walk to the popular Khao San Rd. This road is absolutley buzzing with people, traders, stalls, pets, rats....etc. etc. since I started travelling, I have never seen so many english people.

Our hotel has swimming pool, 2 resturants, 24 hr coffee shop, massage, snooker, travel shop, barbers....it goes on. We are only here for a couple of days, and then we move on.

We have had a walk around. the traffic is something else. there are alot of people on mopeds, and I can see why.

also been in a tuk-tuk. the prices for these things vary widely. one time we paid 60 bhat (less than a pound) to travel for about 20 mins to the other side of town. and to get back, it was double....? and I had to negotiate that....

the food here is quite nice, but when you wander round, and see the backs of these places, you would most definatley think twice.....

all in all, its not a bad place. safer than a lot of places in africa, but the most you could stay here is probably a couple of days...

Thursday, June 02, 2005

losing time

02-03/06/05 - travel

Not much happend in this period, except that we lost some time, and flew for what felt like 3 days.

Flew on singapore airlines, which is totally recommended. Better than that virgin lot anyway. watched about 4 movies, and free drinks/food the whole trip. the stewardesses were 1) fit 2) very helpful 3) fit.......

didnt have hardly any time to spend at singapore airoport, but it looked impressive from what we saw.

not sure if its healthy or not to have nose bleeds, but me and tan both got em......

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

on the move

01/06/05

a day of travel. flew back to joburg, where we checked into a hostel close to the airport.

simon came and picked us up from the hostel and took us out for a meal.

ended up getting quite drunk...on castle lager. cant handle that stuff.

also had my last african fillet steak which was yummy.

on to thailand tomorrow, where further adventures await us......