We knew we wanted another massage before heading back to England so found the time for it this morning. We went to our usual place and got a 45 min foot massage at around 11. The place plays relaxing music and offers cups of tea: small details that really create a relaxing ambience. In fairness, it probably wasn’t our best massage but it was still pretty good! Our first massage was more akin to torture than anything else; couldn’t believe people were sleeping through it! After just a few massages in two months it has become really quite enjoyable but I still couldn’t sleep through it, not because of the pain but more because of the social circumstances…

Back to the Sahabat with some supple legs, we got the warmest welcome from Yam! He was the one who agreed to let us stay at the Sahabat for a reduced price (Thomas has since admitted, very honestly, that if he had been on the desk that day he definitely wouldn’t have been so generous…). Yam’s father is not so well, which, on top of his various work commitments, led to him not making it the night before. So glad he made the effort to come and say bye. We talked for ages, particularly about Yam’s love for tennis, over many cups of tea. In retrospect, it seems amazing how easily we all got along! The time finally came for us to say our emotional goodbyes. Claire cried.

We knew that Lucie and Bertin would be around the Sahabat to say goodbye to us this evening and that was a gentle comfort. We were, in fact, anxious about our goodbye with Thomas – didn’t know when he would suddenly leave to go home. Having spent the most time with him (including the Perhentians and dinner at his house), we were building up for something big… His shift finished at 3ish so we braced ourselves but he stayed and chatted with us instead. We even went out back to Jalan Alor for a late lunch of grilled stingray and other malay food. In the end, it wasn’t until hanging around for 5 hours that Thomas finally said goodbye! Not the climactic goodbye we hoped for but he gave us his entire afternoon for which we were eternally grateful. Claire cried.

It took us a while to regain our composure but Lucie and Bertin were quick to help us up on our feet again. They have been craving the chocolate fondue set again since we last took them and it wasn’t like we needed much encouragement! We first took them to the Heritage Food Village of Lot10 for a feast of dumplings and satay. Will miss the occasional dumling treat when we are back in England. Back to the Pavillion for the last time (we wonder how many times we have walked up and down to it) and to our chocolatey farewell. The fruit was really fresh and juicy, our best one yet!

Made it back to the Sahabat just in time for our taxi at 11 (far to the airport but actually cheaper than using trains!). Lucie and Bertin invited us to sit with them in their room, whilst we waited for the taxi. The suite is massive! Looks incredible (to be honest, we have only seen Lemongrass – the smallest one). Bertin showed us his collection of flutes, which he had picked up on his travels around the world. He described the charcter of each one with loving tenderness, which felt really special. Lucie and Bertin have always been lovely but Bertin’s evolution has really made us smile – he used to only communicate in very french, comicly timed grunts but now his confidence in speaking english has really flourished! The chinese flute definitely impressed us the most! Time ran out and the taxi arrived. We said our final farewell to Lucie and Bertin, who waved us off. Claire cried.

Quite a long journey with a sleezy driver. He asked a lot of questions and basically criticised every decision we had made on our trip… He told us we probably wasted our money at the Sahabat and we could have got a bigger room elsewhere. Maybe, but we don’t have the slightest regret about staying there and it was actually the best thing we did all elective!

So yesterday was Thomas’ day off so we couldn’t have our usual breakfast routine. In fact, we scurried around a fair bit – doing some packing, looking up last minute travel details so were a little stressed. Found time for breakfast with Lucie of course and chatted to a Kiwi as well. Poor Bertin is a little under the weather so didn’t join us… The guesthouse seems to be doing really well (#2 on tripadvisor in just 6 months!) and is actually very busy, so has a great atmosphere about it.

We spent the morning at the cinema actually, after dropping off some last minute laundry (needs cleaning but they also do a decent job of folding clothes…) and indulging in some ‘uhuhu’. Despite our bad experience with City Under Siege, which was well and truly awful (I really think this reviewer is trying to restrain themselves), we decided to try our another Cantonese film – Legend of the the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen. The film was awesome. Its basically a superhero movie set in post WW1 China, when China faces invasion by Japan and struggles to unite its various provinces. Chen Zhen is a war hero (with exceptionally bad-ass martial arts skills), who returns to China to oppose Japan and, in particular, one evil General. Like any superhero/action movie, it was camp in places but really delivered in setting the context of the resistance and how ‘The Masked Warrior’ fitted into that. There were some interesting political musings, which gave the film some good depth, though at times I was afraid I would get lost in the plot, having to read subtitles and distinguish unfamiliar yet similar looking names and faces… I think the bad guy and hero were really believable but the female lead, Shi Qi, who was also in City Under Siege, was a bit rubbish… Great action scenes, with a crowd pleasing nunchuck fight scene. Really found myself emotionally involved (there had been a surprising number of deaths in the film). Anyway, the point is, we loved it.

We planned to eat at Jalan Alor but most of the stands weren’t set up yet so we went to the breakfast noodle bar for our regular. Back home we chatted with Lucie and Bertin. Iez was around as well so we caught up with him, which was nice. After some more packing (by Claire), we headed back to Jalan Alor to get some stingray – we loved it in Singapore and Thomas told us we could get it here. There is a sad sense of finality about everything we do so we were eager to eat as much of our favourite foods as possible. The stingray, which is surprisingly meaty is cooked in a bananna leaf with some curry paste – delicious. We then went to Claire’s foodstall of choice – Theobramas for some waffles and ice cream. It may be available in the UK but not for these prices!

Back to the Sahabat for more cups of tea with Lucie and Bertin, before Iez drove us to a restaurant to meet Thomas and Yam. I think Thomas was trying to call Iez during the drive but he couldn’t pick up. When we got to the restaurant, it became obvious why Thomas was calling so frantically – the place was shut! After a quick discussion they decided on another Chinese restaurant not too far away. Was nice to drive in Iez’s car, we have been driven by Yam, Lupo, Thomas and Iez now – the complete set! The restaurant was in the middle of nowhere and there was no English on the menu. We have tried to eat as much honest Malaysian food as possible but, at the end of the day, we are still tourists and there is no substitute for having a local guide.

Thomas ordered a feast – a garlicly vegetable dish, chicken and cashews (Claire devoured the yam casing!), beef with ginger and spring onion and chicken with mushrooms. The highlight though has to be the prawn curry, a specialty of the restaurant. Iez described it as a cross between a curry and a tom yam. Whatever it was, it was like nothing we have ever tasted before – so good! Claire and I ate and ate, even after Lucie, Bertin, Thomas and Iez had stopped… Yam couldn’t join us unfortunately but we hope to see him before we go. We talked and laughed just as we always did – we found out that, according to traditional reflexology beliefs, the reflexologist absorbs trapped gas and will then burp on their behalf – that is why Claire’s massage lady in KK was so gassy, it was all of Claire’s trapped gas… Such a great evening, we stayed till it was closing and headed back to the Sahabat.

We spent the next few hours sorting out bits and pieces, before we headed out for lunch. We couldn’t remember where our usual lunch spot was… Will have to check the blog/diary – the Suria and Warisan were our stalwarts in KK so I guess in honour of that we went to the Pavillion Food Court. Had some chicken and duck (not had much duck here actually?) noodles with wanton soup. One of the best things about Malaysian food for me has been the chilli sauces – each shop has its own unique homemade sauce and they are always delicious. My taste for chilli has really skyrocketed over the last few weeks!

After lunch we wondered around BB Plaza for hours. We were confident enough to even go to different floors. Its such a big mall (continuous with Sungei Wang Plaza as well) and I cannot imagine people actually getting to know the layout of it all. We saw one of the toilet themed cafes of Metro newspaper fame – completely bizzare. The seats were shaped like toilets and there were shower curtains separating the tables. We were still really full from lunch but even then the food wasn’t particularly appetising – there was a whole page on the menu for cheesy rice?!

Back to the Sahabat in time for Lupo’s arrival. He came upstairs to the computers and we gladly followed him down to the kitchen area to sit and chat. I can still remember the first time we met him, when he kept his cards very close to his chest – Claire and I really didn’t know what to make him back then! He enthusiastically talked about his new K:Yren product, which was a real joy to watch. Sounds like things aren’t going quite to plan yet but we have no doubt that they will take off very soon. Lupo will make it a success – cannot deny that ambition. Was so sad to say goodbye (Claire cried). Lupo was very calm about it, confident that we would meet again, but I think we both feel a little more emotion from him would have given us better closure (especially after Nora…).

Soon after we regained our composure, Lucie and Bertin returned from their trip to the travel agents – booked up for their trip to Borneo. So jealous of their continuous travels – but maybe this is just our fear of final year talking… Bertin brought down his laptop and showed us some of their art, which he had photographed. So cool to see Bertin’s computer geek side – obviously we knew about his blogging and photoshop expertise (he wants a new alienware computer!) but was nice nonetheless. We really enjoyed seeing their art and the progression of certain pieces – such a romantic aspect to them! Was also great to see their pride in what they had done.

Hunger set in so we went out for some dumplings at the Heritage Food Village. Took us a while but we finally found the stall. Will miss these dumplings – the frozen ones from home are good but nothing like these… We then took the monorail to Chinatown. Forgot how cheap the monorail was – saved us a lot of money in KL; the taxis really drained us in KK… Petaling Street in Chinatown at night is meant to be one of the top attractions in KL so we thought we had better check it out! So busy – stalls crammed next to other trying to sell fake goods to tourists – watches, bags, shoes. Can imagine it feeling a bit overwhelming – so claustrophobic and such aggressive salesmen but we quite enjoyed the atmosphere. Don’t think we have such big targets on our back anymore, or maybe its just that there were bigger and better targets other than us? Was interesting to see how different people haggled – we saw some hopeless efforts by the poshest British girl (will definitely get ripped off) and some really aggresive haggling from an arabic couple (will be surprised if they don’t get shouted at back…). We managed to haggle down a tripod, which we were happy with – after two months, we might have cracked it! Problem was that there was nothing of real value at the market to haggle for…

Back to the Pavillion and straight to Dragon-I. We ordered some braised beef and veg, garlic kailan and pancakes with mince. Was one of those meals where my hands couldn’t keep up with my tastebuds. It was all so delicious – could have easily eaten another portion of all that! To top it off, we saw Trainee No. 5 (but was thankfully not waited on by him – Trainee No. 2 impressed us).

Finished the evening by revisiting Athena, which we visited months ago, one of the first places we went out too. We ordered a creme brulee, which looked a complete disaster but, when we confronted the waiter, he was quick to pull the ‘maybe its different in your country card’… Cheeky. Nice to sit and chat about everything – we have been rather reflective the last few days in KL and I’m sure its no coincidence that we found ourselves drawn here once again. I think we had hoped to spend the evening with one of the other couples but actually it turned out to be a lovely intimate evening to ourselves.

Lucie and Bertin then came down for breakfast too and so we chatted with them. We laughed and we talked even more – they are regular readers of our blog, which is nice to hear. Already we can think back to customs and immigration and laugh about it. They really helped us put it all in perspective! We had endless cups of tea and were sat in the kitchen till around 1! We didn’t even notice how hungry we were!

We left for lunch, heading all the way to Pavillion. It’s a walk we don’t even have to think about anymore – it comes so easily to us. Maybe though, we’re a bit more aware of our surroundings, we’re so excited to be back, so we keep noticing things we didn’t see before. Ironically, this is a little unsettling. Our walk across Jalan Bukit Bintang, past Lot10′s techno music and Zara’s amazing aircon is a walk we have done a million times before but then Farenheit88′s sudden appearance knocks us a bit… Anyway, I think I’ve probably complained about change enough now… We got to Pavillion and marched straight to Madam Kwan’s for some delicious Nasi Bojari – feels like there isn’t enough time to eat all our favourite foods before we leave…

Picked up a new diary for Claire to write in (we have filled two already), collected our laundry and finally got back to the Sahabat. We had completely lost track of time and didn’t want to miss Lupo. Thankfully, we had a few minutes to spare. Was so good to see him again. Could only chat for a little while, as we had arranged to go to the cinema with Lucie and Bertin. Lupo dropped us off at Pavillion and we were overjoyed to hear that he and Thomas would be joining us for dinner afterwards! Our little gang!

Bertin, it turns out, is a real fan of Resident Evil?! Who would have thought it? We would never have decided to watch this film ourselves so thought we would try something different. I really enjoyed the Tron trailer in 3D but the film was inexplicably bad… Can’t deny we enjoyed the ride though!

Our timing was great and we met Thomas and Lupo outside Lucie and Bertin’s restaurant of choice – Din Tai Fung. We shared some delicious dumplings and then had some La Mian noodles. My stewed beef was mouthwateringly tender and Claire had the nicest wantons in her soup. Lucie and Bertin seem younger and younger, the more time we spend with them and Thomas and Lupo also let their silly sides come through their professional veneers. We are such a strange collection of people but somehow it all seems to work. All four of them make us laugh hard (Claire complained all day that her mouth hurt from smiling so much) but they can also be so insightful. After our two months of travel experience, I think we both feel a bit more comfortable contributing converation but it’s difficult not to sit back in awe sometimes.

We moved on to Theobrama’s Chocolate Lounge for dessert and shared some chocolute fondue fruit sets. This went down a treat, though we all seemed to be making a little bit of a mess. Was a great way to end our meal. It was one of the first places we really enjoyed by ourselves in KL so it was nice to bring our friends to it at the end of our stay here.

Thomas and Lupo went home to tend to Sammi, whilst we had to brave it back to the Sahabat through the rain… Will miss the rain here… Some more cups of tea with Lucie and Bertin before we finally came to bed. We couldn’t have hoped for a better day.

Eventually headed off to Orchard Street – the Singaporean equivalent to London’s Oxford Street. Rather than full of shops, the stretch was full of shopping malls, side by side. Much greener than Oxford Street but Matt said he found it claustrophobic. I guess the tall buildings and overhanging roofing for shade might do that, though, to be honest, we were in tourist mode and in complete awe. It was a much nicer day today and the sun was shining through and off the tall glass structures. The city looks brand new…

We eventually settled on 313 and went to their foodcourt for lunch. We chose this mall purely because they had waitresses who drove around on segways! Food was delicious as ever and the tables were cleaned immediately. Going back to KL, we’re definitely going to miss the cleanliness, especially with regard to the toilets… Was interesting just looking around at the advertising here – much more provocative than Malaysia with a more ‘sex sells’ attitude. This observation is probably more a reflection on Malaysia actually – hadn’t noticed it too much before but it really is that little bit more conservative. That’a not to say Malaysia is backward or anything but definitely, having been therr for so long, we were a little shocked by it all!

Headed over to the Novena bus station and struggled to find the ticket office. Disasterously, they were already booked up but they told us we might have a chance to make it to their other bus terminal and get the bus from there. We raced over in a taxi and, after some frantic searching, booked ourselves on that bus. That could have been pretty awful… Sad to say bye to Matt – he has been a complete legend looking after us these last few days. What a hero.

Much nicer bus than on the way down but we now had to go through immigration and customs… Got through immigration without too much fuss – though there was some conferring amongst staff, which was unnerving to say the least. Next: customs, which, though particularly busy, let us through without any hassle as well. Such relief! It was all so easy this time…

Roads in Malaysia not as smooth as Singapore. There are a million fold more motorcycles on the roads here (in Singapore there were a good number of cyclists), all weaving in and out of cars – insane! We stopped off at service station and recognised those differences between Malaysia and Singapore – toilets, level of service and clothing.

Arrived back in Subang Jaya, where Sunway Lagoon is. We were actually dropped off at a really nice hotel. The hotel staff were very helpful and arranged a taxi to take us back home, as the trains were not running anymore. In fairness, even if they were running, based on our last experience, we might still have opted for the taxi anyway… Taxi driver was nice and dropped us off at the Pavillion. We had used up all our singaporean dollars on the bus tickets and spent the last of our cents on some water so were a bit proud of ourselves. Got out some ringgit, which we felt much more comfortable with. Even in Singapore, we would convert dollars to ringgit!

Claire (and I to be honest) really craved some morrocan food. The kebabs and couscous really hit the spot, as did the garlic sauce. Stuffed, we were able to stroll home – we had been rushing around Pavillion, such was our hunger. We were greeted by a new face at the Sahabat – Raymond. He was very friendly, in typical Sahabat manner, chatting to us about our travels and his travels too… Lemongrass awaited us in all its glory and we so we showered and fell into bed!

We had a leisurely breakfast of cereal and yoghurts. The cereal and milk both taste much more familiar than the ones in KL and it was nice to lounge and watch TV. I would say it felt homely but it was a lot cleaner and better decorated than I was used to! Everything about the place oozes style, from the comfortable sofas to the beautiful pieces of art adorning the walls. We were so lucky to be able to crash there for a few nights…

The sky looked a little overcadr but we still decided to leave for Sentosa Beach (‘Asia’s favourite playground’) and so took the taxi to the nearest MRT (mass rapid transport) station. The tube again felt familiar – though that might also be due to all the english signs. It doesn’t go as far underground and it feels less dark and dingy. Bizzarely, the cheesiest song came over the speakerphones telling us ‘the train is coming, train is coming, train is comingggggg. So please queue!’. It was so cheesy, we almost couldn’t believe it. Anyway, the tube was airconditioned and took us all the way to Marina Park, with just one change.

It had started raining, which was unfortunate but we were optimistic it would pass. Feeling a bit pekkish, we stopped off for some dumplings and finally tried some ‘bao’ – not convinced. Still the prawn dumplings were delicious. The rain had stopped so we hopped on the tram over to Sentosa Beach. The tram gave us a great view of the port on the way over. Matt turned out to be full of nuggets of information, churning out facts and figures all day. The port is massive, never seen anything like it except in Grand Theft Auto games…

The island has its own Universal Studios and various other rides. We started with a little stroll by the beach. The weather wasn’t ideal for showing it all off but the golden sand still felt good on the feet. What was really interesting was that you could still see the docks and ships not too far away. Obviously, it was a view completely contrasting those we had enjoyed in KK. Sentosa beach is also littered with bars and really felt american, like any moment Spring Break might set off!

We headed back towards the main part of the beach, past a long queue of teenage girls. They were all incredibly shy but said something about a fan meeting of some pop star… We decided to try the Sentosa Sky Ride and Luge before lunch. The skyride was basically a cable cart carriage, which was cool. We were a bit on edge about our flip flops falling off our feet but enjoyed the views all the same. The weather had picked up and we could see almost all the island, the docks in the background and the city just beyond that. It only took a few minute to get to the top, which is where the luge starts. It wasn’t what I thought a luge was but a go kart, which we raced down to the bottom. Was so much fun winding down the track. We tried both the Jungle and Dragon track and loved it. All the staff had tshirts reading ‘once is not enough’ – we didn’t want to get conned into buying too many tickets but really twice didn’t feel enough either…

All that excitement had worked us up an appetite so we got some lunch at the foodcourt. We had lunch just as it had started to drizzle again, so felt lucky. We waited out the rain, which didn’t last too long, and were back outside.

There was a beach ultimate pick up game down the beach, which Matt and I were eager to play in. We both felt unfit and were afraid to be matched up against uber-fit singaporeans… Sure enough, we found a group of topless men throwing about. Pick up was lively – we played 5 on 5, rolling subs with a group of at least 18 people. Once again, there seemed to be little value placed on the force. Man marking would even break down randomly… So frustrating – was really surprised that this would be the case even here in Singapore. The standard was still much better than Sabah, with more confident disc skills and a couple of really good players. I tried to match up against a FreakShow player, who wasn’t particularly friendly but a good rival. Got a few scores, assists and ds so was happy but, without a doubt, the most fun was playing with Matt Tow. Having been taught the same systems, it was great to have someone so completely on the same wavelength on such basic things as striking. Matt was great too – couple of handblocks and some nice discs, though he was far too modest to admit it. We played for ages but left when some fat american tried to impose himself a bit and it became difficult to tell apart the teams of buff, topless singaporeans in sunglasses…

Back to the mainland for some dinner at the foodcourt and then straight to the Night Safari. It had already turned 7.30 and Matt said we might as well shower afterwards… Got the taxi over and bought our tickets. It was now really dark outside and the bamboo decorations, dimmed lamps and firedancers were setting the most amazing atmosphere! We just missed the first show and had decided against the train ride around the park so walked around on foot, along the various trails. Everything was halloween themed and they had really gone all out – animatronic giant jack-o-lantern at the entrance, ghosts dotted around amongst the trees and even decapitated and bloodied dolls strung up…

Spent the next two hours wandering around. So many animals to see. We saw a tiger eating some meat not 10m away from us (behind a glass screen), which was incredible. It looked so lean and graceful when walking perpendicular to us. Could go on listing all the animals we saw but some of the other highlights were the otters swimming as a couple, the bear tentatively trying to get down from a rock, the beautiful clouded leopard and the bat cave, with massive bats hanging just a few cm away from us and our peripheral vision in constant motion from all the smaller bats flying around us! There were quite a few animals we hadn’t even ever heard of before so that was at least educational. Once again though, Matt Tow proved to be a fountain of knowledge.

Finished the night by watching an animal show in the ampitheatre… The lady told us to turn off the flash on our cameras in at least 5 different languages, which was impressive to say the least. After that, we didn’t see too many animals and the ones we did were a bit mischievous. Some idiots still unashamedly used their flashes but it was nevertheless a decent enough show. Was again impressed by the lady, this time in her ability to react and entertain, even when things were obviously going wrong…

Thoroughly tired, we headed back to Matt’s for a shower and watched the football highlights. Doubt Claire enjoyed this as much as I did – really looking forward to watching Gary Linekar and Alan Hansen on Match of the Day when we get back!

After we had had our fill, we checked out and started exploring the streets again. Oddly, shops were still not open, which was a little frustrating… Nevertheless we continued on our aimless wandrerings, admiring the colourful buildings, aromas from the various cafes and watching people use bicycles. We strolled into one temple, which was dark and dingy so quickly left – fortunately our temple experiences would improve that day.

We strayed from Jonker Street, careful to keep our bearings relative to the river, and found a massive Buddhist temple. It was burning hot outside already so the cool marble flooring was all the more refreshing. The streets were busy outside but it felt quiet in the temple – very peaceful. Across the road is the Chook Chen Temple, one of the oldest temples in Malaysia. It was very busy with tourists so didn’t have the same peacefulness as the previous temple but is by far the most beautiful and ornate building we have ever seen. Every step gave you a new angle by which to admire the gates, tablets and statues.

We then found a small art gallery, which sold the work of one particular Batik artist. Batik is a traditional artform in Malaysia and involves using molten wax and dyes on cloth/silk. They explained some of the techniques and tried to entice us into buying a few of the bigger pieces. Some of the coy fish ones were fantastic but unfortunately beyond our price range…

We continued our random walkings and stumbled upon the mosque and Hindu temple. The mosque was interesting, as it was very clearly influenced by Indian and European architecture. It boasted an amazing fountain, which I think might be used for washing before prayer, but still felt foreboding and not as welcoming as the Buddhist temples. The Hindu temple was a bit similar – dark and secluded, it didn’t seem to want the attention of visitors…

We finally found ourselves back by the river and once again admired the scenery. It was much easier to see the old dutch buildings on the other side, painted all in red. We headed up to the Stadhuys, the former government office now turned museum. It was actually really quite informative and described Melaka’s various occupiers – Portugese, Dutch, British and Japanese. This is what gives the city its rich history. We tried to absorb as much information as we could but the midday heat was starting to take its toll. We had also been carrying our bags all day so were feeling really drained… We stopped for a quick drink and were back on our trail. Headed up the hill to the A’Famosa Ruins and explored some of the other landmarks up there before giving into our hunger. Bizzarely, in our zombielike state, we started waving back at someone who was waving frantically at us from a rickshaw. It was only when we heard her shout ‘Kinabalu’ that we recognised her as Bahvina. The rickshaw couldn’t stop so she disappeared around the corner very slowly… Weird and also a real shame we couldn’t catch up with her.

We crossed the bridge and went back to the Cafe 1511, which had been closed the night before. Claire must now be an expert on ginger and spring onion chicken, having enjoyed it in every city we’ve visited. I tried the Nyona Laksa, which, though very spicy, was incredibly delicious. We ambitiously left and began exploring Jonker Street again but after a few shops had to stop and find a cafe for a cold drink. Suddenly Bahvina and her friend appeared again! They were down for a day trip and heading back to England on Sunday. She is really friendly and we were glad to sit and chat with her! What are the chances…

We went our separate ways, arriving at the Baba-Nyona Heritage Museum. We were greeted by a very direct woman, who was very clear about the rules of the museum. She would be leading a tour in 15mins so we decided to join that. Baba (male) and Nyona (female) describe the descendants of chinese travellers, who married malay women. This particular house belonged to one such family and showcases various cultural influences in Melaka. The lady either didn’t have a sense of humour or had a very dry one. She seemed especially concerned that someone might fall over one of the small steps and constantly warned us about them. It was a good little tour but we had to miss the last few minutes to get a taxi to the bus terminal.

We made it just in time to book our tickets, top up our mobile and pick up some water. Was a much longer journey than we had anticipated – estimated time of arrrival was 9 not 7.30… As it turns out, that was the least of our problems…

At around 7.30, having been on the road for three hours already, our bus driver told us that to get to Singapore we had to change busses – this was news to us but, as everyone was in the same boat (so to speak), we followed the crowd. It was in the middle of nowhere and the busdriver seemed to be flagging down any old bus. We worried for a while about whether we were on the right bus to be honest. After just half an hour we arrived at immigration. We stepped up to the desk but had left our departure cards in the pink folder, which we left at the Sahabat! Disaster! They were pretty understanding and we played the ‘first time in Malaysia’ card… We had to fill in the departure cards once again and that was it.

The consequence of our delay in immigration dawned upon us as we headed to an empty bus departure lounge. We could see none of our fellow passengers and no busses to Singapore that we recognised. We spent the next few minutes getting mixed advice but soon had to accept that our bus had left without us… Another bus driver came to our rescue (but at a price – 20RM). He agreed to drive us in his bus, which was already full – Claire sat on a cushion on the floor while I stood on some steps. I texted Matt Tow to apologise for our delays…

After 10 minutes we arrived at customs. Once again, we had problems. For some reason I was singled out, as it was my first time in Singapore, and had to be escorted to the office upstairs. Claire, who I assumed is also a first time Singapore visitor, had no such problem and so we were separated… The security guard wasn’t a conversationalist and we had to go through several doors and lifts requiring his password and fingerprint. At the office, I was summoned to the desk and told nothing. I was pretty worried, not that anything would be wrong, but that we would miss our replacement replacement bus… My passport was stamped with no questions asked but I had to wait for another security guard to arrive to escort me down. I had to wait 20 minutes, all the while not being able to contact Claire or do anything about the bus. I guessed the bus had ditched us so wasn’t too stressed about that but I was completely in the dark about where Claire was… The guard was in no rush and I knew that asking anyone to hurry would only delay things further so had to patiently follow. Got past baggage checks with no problems and was relieved to see Claire safe on the otherside.

We had each other but our bus was gone. We were stranded in the outskirts of Singapore with no bus and worse no money. All we had were ringgit – hadn’t counted on being stranded so thought we would use the ATM at the bus terminal.

At least our phone had adapted to Singapore and found us a network to join. Texted Matt and then spoke to him when he called back. But then, as if things couldn’t get any worse, we found that recieving calls drained our credit. The situation was this – no bus, no money, no credit. It wasn’t fear as much as sheer frustration and the guilt of messing Matt about. We somehow managed to trade our defunct bus tickets for a ride on yet another bus to the terminal. It would get there in 30mins but we had no way of telling Matt that. Fortunately, the legend that he is, he was there when we arrived and not the least bit fussed. We were in safe hands now. All was good again.

It took us a while to regain our composure and view Singapore with open eyes – the last two hours had been a bit of a nightmare… Our first impression of Singapore, on the bus, was of how smooth the roads were and how flash the cars were. We walked past the bustling Arab Street, with its shisha bars and restaurants, towards a more Gotham-esque part of the city. We could hear the F1 cars in the background – we were in a completely different world. And of course everything was clean. So clean.

Matt took us to a food court, Mentosa Square, and stuffed us with food – noodles, veg, satays, chicken wings and stingray. Delicious! Sat and chatted, thanking him periodically. Got the taxi back to his and, after a brief tour, crashed into bed. What a day…

Photos below completely skip the customs and immigration stuff… There is a photo of Matt Tow though.

We regrouped around the breakfast table and just chatted. We heard all about Bali and Neil, who got that dream job he was so nervous about it! Sounds like Lucie and Bertin had a great time and it was especially lovely to hear them retell it in their french canadian accented, energetic, double act style. We had so looked forward to effortlessly chatting with them, like old times. Another couple tried to join us for breakfast but, unfortunately, we were too busy chatting amongst ourselves to give them the appropriate attention… We chatted for hours – till 11! We had to check out by 12, otherwise we would have chatted for longer…

Felt it was a bit awkward with Thomas though. Maybe he was letting us 4 chat again and/or it was very busy that day but it felt like he was very quiet/shy again. Hopefully we can get him to open up again when we get back.

We frantically packed our stuff and sorted out travel and accomodation for the next few days, leaving the guesthouse at 12.30ish. Dropped off laundry and had lunch at the Dragon View restaurant on Jalan Alor (breakast noodle bar), which was almost too flavour packed… I managed to splatter sauce on my only shorts for the weekend… Sad to have left our friends behind us, we were still excited about our little trip – monorail to Hang Tuah and train to Bukit Jalil. We had to fight out way through people offering cheap bus tickets before we finally made it to the ticket counter. We would have been overwhelmed and swept away by the offers a couple of weeks ago but were now confident enough to dismiss them all. Used the worst toilets ever and waited for the bus under shelter from the torrential rain.

Weird pockets of sun and rain on the bus journey. Saw some pretty nice landscapes but nothing like in Sabah! We eventually arrived at the Melaka Sentral Bus Station pretty hungry so had some Roti Canai (not had any since the Perhentians). Got a taxi to the historical centre of the city and found our hotel for the evening – Hotel Puri.

Melaka is a World Heritage Site (awarded in 2008) and rightly so… The city is beautiful and so full of charm – each building has its own character. These buildings are generally either temples or shops.

Our hotel is right next to Jonkor Street and has maintained its heritage face. The grand entrance shows off loads of ornate relics from the past, has ponds, fountains and even a little museum. Breakfast tomorrow morning will be served in the Hibiscus Garden… Our room has a small window overlooking one of the gardens. Its not that impressive but very very clean. Should be a comfortable nights sleep!

Didn’t spend too long at the hotel; headed out straight towards Jonkor Street. We stopped by a Buddhit temple and were reacquainted with the smell of incense. The shops tend to sell antiques so it was nice to explore the few shops still open. Didn’t matter what the shops sold, they always had beautiful interiors, sometimes more impressive even than the merchandise! Along our walk we were invited to make our way down to the Zheng He Tea House. We had to find our way through a small alleyway overgrown with vine like plants and past a well. The lady’a directions were to “turn left past the giraffe” – sure enough there was a giant plastic giraffe and just past it an amazing courtyard.

An elderly lady introduced herself and sat down with us around a small wooden table with a chinese tea set. She recommended we try Low Cong tea, as we hadn’t eaten yet, and proceded to demonstrate the proper rituals. We were completely enchanted by the ceremony of it all and the little nuggets of information she gave us via her slightly broken english. The courtyard was just as you might imagine from a storybook and the music was so relaxing. Apparently, the second to eighth servings are best… We chatted for a long time, whilst she constantly kept ‘topping up’ our tea cups. We really started to struggle to drink so much to be honest… As lovely as the tea was, we were glad to be finished with it.

We had to quickly head back to the hotel to pick up some camera batteries and we were out again. The sun had set so it was now getting dark. Surprisingly the whole city really seemed to have shut down – we found it tough to find an open restaurant. We eventually found a posh looking place called Raffles and ordered some chicken satay burgers, which were really good. Our plan for the night was to hop on the river cruise so we skipped dessert and hurriedly reserved our tickets before it was too late. We got the tickets but had to wait 40 odd minutes so went back and got those desserts! Banana fritters were great but the chocolate brownies were minty so not so popular. Got back to the jetty just in time but were unfortunately in the middle of a drizzle… We weren’t detered though, the city looked incredible by night and we knew the river cruise would promise so much – Melaka is often referred to as the ‘Venice of the East’. Never been to Venice but if its anywhere near as nice as Melaka I would be amazed. The shops and houses along the riverfront are so so beautiful – each looks so individual and historical. The lights beautifullu illuminated the trees and buildings. It was only when we got to the other jetty and turned back that the guided tour began. A taped voiceover (by a bizarre George Takei impersonator) basically promoted the government for half an hour… The views were so good but our camera wasn’t up to the task. We were eager to get back so we could walk along, take better pictures and try and absorb the beauty of it all… So stunning.

Back to the hotel, tired but energised. Watched a few crappy films and headed to bed.

The journey with Jenny was a big awkward, even with the country and western radio playing. We were a little surprised that she offered but grateful for her kindness – shame we didn’t get to know her better. The route to the airport takes us close by the hospital, Shangri-La and frisbee pitches so evoked loads of memories. I remember first arriving in KK and everything feeling so alien… I think we are both happy to have explored the KK city centre as much as possible. Feel like we really got to know the place.

We thanked Jenny for the lift and went to check in. Spent a lot of time waiting around at the airport to be honest. The flight was uneventful except, of course, for the usual budget airline problems – delayed boarding, take off and baggage reclaim. Actually, the flight was also unusual for its dry ice effect inside the cabin, whilst people were still boarding – what’s that about? It was pouring with rain in KL when we arrived – really pelting it down so not the welcome back we had hoped for!

We were starving and by the time the baggae arrived it was 4… We had held out for a return to Passage Through India -the vegetarian deli, which we fondly remembered from our Tune Hotel days right at the beginning of the elective! The biryani set meal was absolutely delicious – 4 curries of lentils, okra, chickpeas and potato, which were worth the wait. The bus back to KL Sentral was annoying because of the loud music over the radio, though Claire still managed to get some sleep…

As we got closer to KL, we started to recognise some of the landmarks – the TM building from on the way to Thomas and Lupo’s, Sunway Lagoon and then, in the distance, the Menara KL. From KL Sentral, we walked over to the monorail station, without having to take a moment to orientate ourselves. Was great to buy a train ticket again – to be able to use public transport rather than become reliant on taxis, as we had been in KK. The monorail arrived within minutes and we remembered its awesome airconditioning. Actually, KL felt a lot cooler than KK but that might be because of the time of day and/or bit of rain that had now stopped. Going past all the monorail stations was so comforting – they seemed like old friends!

We arrived at Bukit Bintang and really enjoyed the walk to the Sahabat. We walked past the street performers, past the BB Plaza and over the road, past Jalan Alor and all the cafes we had eaten at, before reaching the foot of Jalan Sahabat. We were carrying massive backpacks but didn’t feel tired at all – must be all the mountain climbing… The blue face of the Sahabat was so welcoming – we were excited to be back. Quickly checked in (no Thomas on the desk, as we had hoped) and fell into our old bed in Lemongrass. The Sahabat has tweaked a couple of details here and there but is still the same clean place we remember.

Before getting too comfortable, we headed out for dinner. There was only one place we could go – Favourite Place. Got really excited when we saw Tache Guy and Big Guy in there. They recognised us as soon as we walked in and smiled as much as we did. We ordered our regular, which tasted better than we remember, and enjoyed being back. It’s a bit of an old man pub really – has its own regulars and laid back owners, serving drinks and just chatting. We watched some nature programme on the TV, which was a little surreal. Wish we had the camera for the best photo opportunity of the whole elective – Tache Guy, Big Guy and Mullet Guy all standing in amazement watching the TV, whilst chomping on some mixed nuts… So glad we ate there tonight and saw them – nice to see their happiness at seeing us too!

Decided we should walk over to the Pavillion for old time’s sake. Walked our familiar route, knowing where everything was, where and when to cross the roads… So comforting! Suddenly, however, we were confronted by a new building, Farenheit 88, a new shopping centre, just between Lot10 and Pavillion. Unbelievable how many shopping malls there are in Malaysia… Just crazy. Almost as crazy as how quickly it has been constructed – literally nothing more than a metal skeleton when we arrived in KL.

Being back at the Pavillion wasn’t as reassuring as we had hoped… The changes to advertisments and temporary stalls, which were subtle when we visited everyday for a month, had built up whilst in KK and threw us – just those small details… Walked around the food court with more open eyes – we have tried so many more foods and drinks now. Anyway, we found some waffles and then some ice cream, though not as cheaply as Centrepoint. Waffles were awful, prepacked ones that were reheated but the gelatto was awesome. Bizarrely, it might take some time to reacquaint ourselves with the Pavillion.

Back home via the BB Plaza. Claire’s sandals had finally given way, after all our walking these last few weeks. Back to the Sahabat but still no sign of Lucie and Bertin. Look forward to seeing them and Thomas at breakfast tomorrow.

We took seeing Tosai Guy yesterday as a sign that we had to see him today again for lunch. Our walk towards the Suria has unconsciously become a comforting routine. From the Lodge we turn right and walk up the main road, past the taxi rank (we always have to refuse the overeager taxi drivers, which is actually a little annoying), past the bad music shop, city hall and various little shops, which, like features on a face, though not individually memorable, feel like important features of a whole – if that makes sense? Anyway, we walked up to the Suria, by which time the heat, as is usual, started to become too hot so the promise of the aircon was especially sweet. The cold air, as the automatic doors welcome you in, is such a relief.

Tosai Guy waved his hand, happy to see us. We ordered some tosai from him, as we had the first time we met him. Some new kid took over making one of the tosais – not as effortlessly done as Tosai Guy… We told him this was our last day in KK and shook his hand. I could feel in his handshake that he was fighting back the tears… Tosai was delicious – the various sauces were particularly good today.

We had decided that we would reminisce about KK with a tour of our favourite places to eat. Next stop was the Wisma Merdeka, where Ross first brought us, for some dumplings and kit chai ping. The dumplings are homemade, so not the same size and shape but that only adds to the charm of it. The foodcourt is really cool here, with a weird collection of traditional malay style and american pop art.

Having enjoyed indian tosai and chinese dumplings, it made sense to then stop for some malay satay sticks. We hadn’t actually eaten at this particular shop before but the satay looked and smelt great. It didn’t have a food hygeine letter on the wall so we suspect it was a C but the satay is cooked on a grill in front of us so we thought it would be okay (time will tell…). Should have ordered more beef satays, they were mouthwateringly good.

At the time, it seemed to make sense for us to visit King Sushi to finish our culinary tour, though it doesn’t actually fit the malay food theme… Nevertheless, prawn, tuna, and free green tea, all went down a treat! Don’t need an excuse for good sushi! New guy serving us clearly had no clue what he was doing…

Back to lavender lodge, feeling very full. Daniel was keen to take us out to some park so we waited patiently for him to arrive. We had a good chat with Nora, talking about her eclectic music collection and gossiping about the LL owners! Daniel finally arrived in his huge 4×4 and we headed off to Taman Tun Fuad Stephen (a park).

We chatted to Daniel and found out more about the elusive character over some ABC, a malay dessert of shaved ice, fruits and syrup. It also has sweetcorn and red beans it in to give it texture. I quite liked it but Claire was really struggling… Turns out Daniel went to boarding school in England and worked for a long time in electronics, including some time in Singapore.

The park itself was beautiful. Unlike in England, where you expect large open fields from a park, the ones in Malaysia are typically forests with footpaths and a lake. We walked along, listening to ciccada mating calls and came upon the lake, in which there seemed to be a feeding frenzy. People were throwing in stale bread to tortoises and fish. We saw some slices being furiously nibbled on by a group of small fish, who would swim to and from it at great speed for each nibble. The tortoises looked a bit slow in getting to the food, paddling away with their tiny feet. Finally, there were these huge carps which would surface suddenly, grab a whole slice then violently turn back towards the depths of the lake. Amazing!

Past the lake, we approached the foot of a hill. Apparently, this hill has been developed into a training ground for people climbing Mt Kinabalu. Daniel took us half way up and insisted we go on all the way to the top, whilst he rested. The views from the top, overlooking the city, were, as promised, worth all the sweat. The city looked colourful, interspersed within all the trees. We could even see the sea and various islands dotted on the horizon. People were exercising up here which is pretty inspiring.

Back to meet Daniel, we chatted more about how KK grew and headed for the car. He was kind enough to drop us off at the beach so I could play my last game of ultimate in Sabah. Was excited to see 7 on 7 but when I joined in I quickly realised that half of the guys were complete beginners… Again, found it tough to play without a force – completely messed with my defensive positioning. Managed to get out a few good hucks, a hammer and push pass score but was disappointed to misjudge a few of my jumps… Still, really enjoyed playing with them all – really nice people. Look forward to coming back some time to see how they’ve evolved.

Back to LL for a desperate shower and out for dinner at the BBQ place. Chicken, prawns and chips. The prawns were so well cooked they beat the night market. Really delicious BBQ flavour. The band playing tonight was again awful. The guy was self-loving himself a bit when singing ‘Hero’ and the girls tend to sing (as if they are Cher impersonators) sounds rather than words… We requested ‘Without you’ by Mariah and ‘Pina Colada’ and waited 30minutes without any luck, all the while listening to clasics being murdered. We had high hopes when they started singing Cher but alas, it was again awful…

Pretty good last day – real sense of completeness to our KK chapter. Really looking forward to getting back to KL.