Malaysia

Hello again,

A lot has happened since our last brief update, in particular our current location which has shifted from Thailand to Malaysia. Further good news is that we all passed our Open Water Diving course (with varying degrees of success - I drank half the sea for example).

We took our diving instructor Kung out for a few drinks to celebrate which turned into a mini session by the end. We reckon he hustled us drinks wise, he was struggling with beers but then got us on Thai rum (Sangsem) and coped a lot better. Needless to say we were all surprised by his prowess with some rum, Sprite and small bucket of ice.

After Koh Tao and diving, we got back to the Thai mainland to get a sleeper train down here to Malaysia. As we waited on the platform the Orient Express turned up and they watched us waiting as they ate their over priced dinner - which amused us. Eventually our train turned up and we all had our own bed compartment with curtains and windows and stuff - very nice. Apart from the loud noises and shaking we may have got a good nights sleep but hey ho!

We arrived in Butterworth having gone through immigration some four hours earlier (fairly straight forward affair really) and found the weather in Malaysia to be very hot and humid compared to what we're used to. It wasn't the sort of place to hang around in so along with a couple of American hang-ons (Dan and Justin) we got on a boat to Penang more specifically Georgetown. This was quite a big port once but has floundered (like the Empire).

Georgetown isn't the nicest we've decided, but is ok. Our hostel is cheap and friendly and very ample in headroom. Laura and Locky got a moped today to explore more of the island and found some nice things apparently but also got a bit sunburnt (much to my amusement). I explored Georgetown some more on foot - which turned out to be a bit of an error really - not much to see other than a 5-storey shopping centre which was quite modern and nice - not a patch on the Bullring tho!

Next stop for us is Kuala Lumpur on another sleeper train. We're quite looking forward to this one, with soaring skyscrapers nestled between lush green it should be a nice contrast with our other big city experience of Bangkok.

I know we promised some photos and they're coming soon. We've got a few diving shots (or wetsuit shots) which will please you and we'll also try and get some more stuff on as well. Sorry for another rushed blog - we're all quite hungry now so are gonna shoot off!

Until next time -
Hugs and Kisses,
Woodie (with Laura and Locky perched on each shoulder)