Tea, glorious Tea

A good nights rest was welcomed by some fantastic pancakes with coconut sugar and home made honey fort breakfast. Mouth watering isn't it?

We took a tour of the Munnar tea plantations taking a peek at the various spice plantations in the area too. It was surprisingly interesting to learn about how they make tea and different variations of tea, and did you know when they pick the trees they only use the top two leaves and the tip..? Well it was news to me too. Tommy taught us so much when he took us through the spice plantations, breaking off leaves here and there asking us to smell them. You never really think which plant all these spices come from and i felt like i was in school again, taking all this knew knowledge. Tommy studied botany at university and has his own nursery and plantation in his backyard behind the homestay, so i say he's is about the best qualified guy in the area to show you round the plantations.

Lunch and dinner were again no small matters. The curries in south India are really fantastic, so much flavour and not too spicy at all. When i asked Tommy why the food is like this, he reckons the curries you get in Europe is Punjabi food cooked by Bangladeshis passed off as Indian food. Point taken.

We also manged to get a real taste of what third world can be like. They live so far from the main electricity exchange that when there are loads of people using their power, theirs cuts out and during the worst instances they even sit in the dark. Writing this i realize it doesn't sound too dissimilar to SA these days..

All in all we had a great time in Munnar, walking along the waterfalls and seeing the villages. One thing i hatet was the leeches that feast on your legs and between toes when you walk through the bush. So vile... if you do not notice them when they bite, by the time you look again they have sucked so much blood they are the size of a jelly bean... just searched whether leeches can spread HIV cause i was worried... for the next guy, no seriously - looks like i have nothing to be concerned about.

It's not about the taxi

We arranged a round trip of Kerala with our homestay. So he organized us a taxi to take us round as all the tour bus prices were exorbitant. Biiig mistake. Our taxi driver could not speak a word of English so when he arrived at a place where we wanted to go to let us know by saying "yes". Celia and I by the third time of asking were as well trained as the Elephants we were going to see, so we knew to get out the car.

We stopped off first at this Elephant training camp, it was amazing to be able to see fully grown Indian elephants at such close range and we even fed them coconuts. The trainers ordered them to lie down on the banks of the river and with the left over coconut shells, we gave them a good body scrub. Celia's index finger clamped to the camera shutter release (gotto get that thing checked). It was really exciting and the young elephants were really cute too. The one adult loved you playing with his trunk so much and used to sniff away at anything you wore on your wrist, trying to grab it with the tip of his trunk.

This is about where the fun stopped because when they were turning them over to wash the other side if they did not listen they would whip them and poke them with this massive brass hook. Did not enjoy that, but they ensured us it was all for training. This carried on for a while and the elephants were calling out in distress so we left.

We left early and went from there to the training center where in this cage at the entrance they had 2 baby elephants separated from their mothers, apparently "lost from the herd", not older than a couple months. Their trunks not longer than my forearm. It was horrible, they were crying out when the trainers hit them... it's disturbing just writing this.

There happened to be a TV crew there from some Indian channel, obviously seeing Celia and I visibly distressed, asked us if they could interview us. We both gave our strong opinions. Mine obviously more elaborately expressed than Celia's (still want to be a TV star) and went on our way. Taxi driver bleak that we ditched this place without even going in (obv. a gem of a place to him) so service getting increasingly worse.

From here we headed off to Munnar, but first a couple introductory facts:

Munnar its nearly 1600 metres above sea level and happens to be the highest tea plantation in the world. Adjacent to the tea fields is Anaimudi, the highest peakin South India, standing there at a massive 8 842 ft.

Now back to my story. Just passed Munnar town is Eravikulam National Park and home of the Nilgiri Tahr, an endangered species of the wild goat and the only one to be found south of the Himalayas. Its really amazing to see, and the trek up the single windy mountain road def worth it albeit a bit expensive.

By the time i got out the National Park it was pretty late and time to find our accommodation, with the driver already starting irritating us, i wanted to get to my room as soon as possible.

The story of this evening could use another blog post but it's so tiring and so old i will not bore you. Basically I sent the idiotic driver home on the evening of the first day because he was trying to cheat us out of money and get home early the following morning, therefore ruining our time.

Now that he was gone for good we could enjoy our dinner at the Rose Gardens homestay with, Tommy, Rajee and their fantastic children.

I sat back with a cold Kingfisher, chapatee in hand and enjoyed the fresh mountain air Kerala was offering me.

Cherai Beach

So last night we went to see some tradional Kerala dancing which is not really my thing at all and were gonna leave halfway after the best parts were over, but surprise, surprise it wasn't bad and i actually stayed till the end. Just love watching these South Indians bobbing their heads from side to side and all.

No rain on this day so we decided to take a day trip down to Cherai beach as my tan needed some topping up after my shower. We hired a rickshaw for the day and had a fantastic driver, when the Indians hear you are South African all they want to do is talk about cricket which is fine by me. They are so passionate and their lack of language is made up by colourful facial expressions and head bobbing (love it).

Cherai beach was not all that it could have been. There's been a lot of rain here and they were experiencing a very high tide, so no swimming on the rocky beach as it was pretty dangerous even for a Baywatch veteran as myself.

Memories of Mauritius soon came flooding back to me as the local men found out about this white female lying on the beach. All taking turns to come and stare, young and old, eyes almost bursting out the sockets. I had to put a stop to this, getting seriously bleak. One guy was taking the mick so i told him where to go, in the most polite way i could muster at that point.

The drive back was just as enjoyable, you can take in so many sights and sounds on a rickshaw and this guy was willing to stop whenever we wanted to take a photo. We saw a large male Elephant on his way to temple walking down the road. This is very strange as everyone just carries on as per normal. This nation really do have wild animals in their backyard unlike the rest of the world believe us Africans do.

On our way back in Fort Cochin we stopped off in the local bazaar to get Celia a sari, i splurged on the most expensive one there, a whole 900 Rupee. Celia chose while i got malayed by mozzies coming out of the infested drains, it was worth it. The sari is beautiful and im sure Celia will look lovely in it.

The rain in Kerala...

So we've been in Kochi for the most of a day and we've been fortunayte enough to be stuck in major storms which is why i am on the internet again. It's either that or Bollywood movies in the hotel room.

Just a quick one: Asking Celia this morning what the exchange rate is from the pound to the rupee, she says and this is not a lie... " 31 pounds will get you 2500 rupees", I still look at her in disbelief. You would expect someone to say "1 to 10 or 1 to 270..." but her answer was special enough to add to this blog...

Yogya

We arrived in Yogyakarta after a crazy 6 hour travel journey (minibus ride). The area where we stayed, Marlioboro, is a street of batic stalls, street vendors and sidewalk eateries Indo style.

We found a nicish hotel, but again, as always in Indo, it required lots of haggling. It was still overpriced in my opinion, but we were both too tired to care. Hardest thing in the world is to find a restaurant that serves beer in an Islamic dominated city. Celia and i walked the streets flat looking for that elusive Bintang to quench our thirst. We eventually ended up back at our hotel and smashed a couple in record time.

Can't really remember what we did on the second day there, but a lot of our time is often spent trying to get flights to our next destination or try sort out odds and ends, Internet, blah blah. Very time consuming. I'm glad people actually read this. Oh yes.... we went to pizza hut for lunch. A nice change from nasi (rice) but as usual we ordered too much and totally stuffed our faces swearing to never go back there again. Pizzas these days are hilarious, you get a thick based pizza which obv. has melted cheeze on top, a base which contains cheese and these cheese finger type things around the edges loaded with extra cheese... (Borat: What is this.....???)

The evening ends up with a trip to the Sultans palace and the bird market. Apparently the Yogya people are very proud of their pet birds. The cages and local birds are very beautiful, some people also sold exotic reptiles and mammals - not sure how legal it is, but it made for some interesting photos. When we got back to the hotel room i turned on to one of the very few English channels we have there and was treated to one of the worst movies i have ever seen - "Frankenfish", can somebody please hire it one day, pleeeaaaaassseeee??

We end up at Bourbadour (think that's how one spells it) on the last day which is the biggest Buddhist temple in the world, yes you heard it, the world! It's a registered world heritage site and looks truly impressive from afar, just as the pyramids do, but when you get on it there's not too much to it if you don't really understand Buddism and all that. Sorry to sound so uneducated... i will try read up on it at a later stage.... NAAAAAATTTT!

One really funny moment, you had to be there though, was when our Indonesian driver was trying to call these passengers in the bus, they never heard him, so he shouted "Hey Japanese..." Was rolling off my chair laughing, only in Asia could someone get away with that.

Evening arrived and we set off on our 8 hour (supposedly) train journey to Jakarta Executif class. I am writing this now so we did survive the bumpy ride home, but oh my word...

Anyway I love Singapore airport..

Nerves!!!

The two women at the reception are from the Compassion project and are as nervous as we are. It is the first time anyone has come to visit their sponsored child in this area. apparently the translator was up all night practising English dialog.

The hired car drops us off at the families home, i am first out the car, and there is a wierd moment as I greet the mother as we cannot realyl communicate in English or Indonesian. The father, the grandparents and the lovely Kathryn all come out of the house (it's still wierd).

Kathryn was very nervous and she has a cute little 5 year old pout on her, refusing to smile :) The morning went really well, they made is this fantastic Indonesian food, and we chatted (through the translator and the fathers broken English ) and played with their dog Manis and goats. The family dis seem to warm to us and i managed to make a frind for life by giving their 7 year old son a football and pump. We kicked it around all afternoon until the sweats got the better of me - not as young as i used to be.

They really are a fantastic family and are so thankful for our support through Compassion as it provides Kathryn as well as the family with benefits they would have never had :(

It's tough to say goodbye (you know me, i'm never good during these times), there's a chance will will never see the family again and we seem to already have a bond due to our support and love for their daughter. Its tough to see people in such need when you were brough up having so much more. All you can do is bless them with as much as possible.

We visited the Compassion project in the afternoon. This is where they feed the children, teach them and give them fun activities to do. They made a big fuss of us and even made us get up on stage for them. Once again i own the stage and that rendition of "I love you Jesus (deep down in my heart)" will be remebered longer than my rugged good looks and golden tan.

We get to spend the evening with the family at the arcade (without Gabriella the 14 year old daughter as she has to stay home with the grandparents). They have never been to a mall or arcade before which in itself is astounding, but knowing how much money they have is truly believable. The kids were in heaven, staying on the trin ride until the last millimeter of movement, playing the racing games and anyting they could fit a coin into. I played a couple of games of fussball with the dad and he loved it. Celia played air hockey with the mom and it seemed nobody wanted to leave but the kids needed to go to school in the morning so we went back to our hotel said some teary goodbyes and got some good sleep.

Compassion

What an experience! We flwe into Surabaya from Bali, having no real idea how to get to Blitar where we would visit one of our sponsored kids.

3 bus trips.. where you have to watch what the locals are paying so the conductor cannot charge you his own dream price, plus a trip on on the bicycle / rickshaw type taxis , poor guy had to cycle Celia plus a grumpy German and 150l of baggage. This all equals 6 hous to get to our lovely hotel. Not sure what day of the week it is, but Celia ensures me she took the pill that said Monday so therefore it is still the 22nd. We get a good noghts sleep as the following day we are going to visit Kathryn, one of out sponsored children.

3AM rugby - 10 AM surf

With Celia booked in for a 10Am surf lesson, sleep time was short. I finally mastered all the waves Kuta beach had throw at me that day so next time i am here i will venure out a little further above my category ( Kelly Slater you need not worry). Celias lesson went very well and i believe she has been converted. A couple more days of this before we head to Blitar in East Java will be just fine. Especially now that the hordes have gone home after Ramadan

World Champs!!!!

Having a pretty uneventful day by normal standards, but a pretty peachy day by Bali standards (surf; breakfast; beers; late lunch with beers; snooze; sunset with beers; dinner with beers ) Celia and I start talking up the the evenings rugby over a few more Bintangs. A few more later and a decision has been made where we will watch the 3AM kick off, we head to bed for a well earned power snooze.

The alarm goes, leaving me enough time to psyche Celia and myself up witha few "come on Bokke" and telling Celia about the time Jake White and I discussed rugby tactics after a Sharks game at Loftus. I put my pristine white away Springbok jersey and head for the bar on foot to Kups Corner. The game is an entirely tense affair with scoring oppotunities falling to both teams, but its the solid defense of the South Africans that pulls us through. A special mention must go out to Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, Butch James, \percy Montgomery and out Captain John Smit for allowing me the pleasure of seeing the irritatingly loud English we were watching the game with, walk out sans pride walk out before the end of the game!!

Ingriss

I know my ability to speak Indonesian is non existent, but as a tourist it is my right to laugh a bit at the locals take on English. I have seen loads of menu faux pas in my life but "Chicken Garden Blue" has to take the cake. We also have classics like "Japples" - coming from their inability to say "f" which also means i been "surping" every day. Old stereotypes like "flied lice" pop up their funny head occasionally too

No time, no blog, no pics

Hey all that read this, i wonder how many... I am stuck in places with very slow internet connections, unable to upload pics and only very limited access to writing my blog. Will try catch up tomorrow when i have a bit of time.

Still thining of yu all and can't wait to tel you about the beautiful sunsets, awesome waves and general life in Bali.

chat later :)

They have just started playing 'Make it all for one, all for love' by Bryan Adams in this dingy internet cafe and i didn't even feel like dancing, clearly not enough Bintang in my blood stream. Wheres that wife of mine, need to get outta here.... xxxx

The Endless Sunset part troix

So with the bike trip out out the waybut the memories still as fresh as the deep scars on my toes and the schoolboy exhaust burn on my calf, Celia and I set out to find another perfect sunset.

With the beautifule Canggu beach already negotiated( about 60 pics) , and Legian beach shown us its best end of day pose ( about 55 pics) we head off to the famous Uluwatu. This is one of the best surf breaks in Bali with some of the buggest waves on the island. Note: My surfing bravery has not reached thgis level of stupidity yet. The board stays home.

Uluwatu also houses one of the most impressive Hundu temples in Bali. I know this as the local Kwiki-mart has a fine array of post cards. Once we arrive at Uluwatu and negotiate the Macaques in the parking lot we realise the temple will have to stay on out to-do list. I assume the position. Camera round neck, Bintang in hang and a plate of Gado-gado on order. The scenery is breathtakin and the surfers down below make a mockery in my mind of my limited surfing ability. So many good pictures of them to prove it too. We snap away once again at the ama zing sunset andset off on the now infamous bike. Done

A long way round

So Celia and I saddled up for a trip to Ubud, which is meant to be about an hours trip by bike, there are meant to be great stalls there where you can buy loads of nice paintings, silver and various other crafts. The traffic was really heavy and we rode like mad, let me just add that this was my first proper experience riding a motor bike, when we checked the map again, we had gone way past Ubud and were headig straight for this mountain (Guning Batur). So we decided not to head back and drive on as we were having such a blast and seeing such amazing sights (the rice fields are amazing) and see where we would end up by nightfall.

We stopped off at Batur lake which is the major source of water for most of the island, had some lunch whicle we fought off the flies, and headed on, Celia humming the A-Team tune in my ear for the next hour.......? Don't know why..? Oh yes, and occasioanly the star wars tune.

This guy who took us to the restaurant gave us directions on how we would reach the north coast, but we had to leave soon and swiftly or we not get there before nightfall. These road signs.... we got a little lost to say the least and ended up on this tiny gravel road riding through this village. What an experience, the villagers carrying their food on heads and shoulders just staring at these crazy tourists as they drive through.

We arrived at the north coast after many a detour and stopped off at this small village on the beach. The old woman were busy planting the rice in the fields, the men were building something and the children just fascinated by us and our motion capturer, they laughed as we shoowed them the pictures we had just taken of them. We stopped off for a drink and to rest our weary asses as by this time we had been about 5.5 hours in the saddle.

OUR MISSION
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Find a place to stay as night was hastily approaching, we did not know how lucky we had it in Kuta as the second place we stopped at (the first was full) asked us $120 for a room which is a joke... We settled for something way out of our price range, only because it was gettgin late, but we did get what we payed for. Absolute bliss. Only one problem, we were surrounded by Germans... again. Where do they all come from, no exxxxxxageration but there must be more Germans outside the fine land than in it. Celia happened to be the only non German speaker there out of about 25. I chated a bit to the owner, Werner, who settled there many years ago and built that magnificent resort. It was one of the most beautiful places i have ever stayed in.

We relaxed for the morning and set off on our next journey round the coast. The coastal road was beautiful and quiet, giving me chance to open up that 100cc bad boy i was riding to an almighty 90km/h, with Celia still humming the A-Team tune in my ear, i was loving life. We stopped off at a cuople spots for kodak moments and set course for the east. We stopped off at this amazing water palace that belongs to the last king of Bali and a couple good surf spots before ending up in Candisasa for a well earned lunch.

Lunch at the spa and a swim in the pool was ama-zing, on our way out and back to Kuta we got chattig to this lovely Austalian woman Amanda who just asked us if we'd like to stay at here house for the night free of charge instad of hitting the traffic. Yes please!! We got to her place and not only was it a nice house, it was a lovely villa overlooking the ocean. We had the upstairs honeymoon suite (sweeeeeeeeet) with open lounge, outdoor bathroom, and just pure relaxation all over it. Celia and i watched some DVD's 'You, me and Dupree' and 'Hotel Rwanda' , although i fell asleep in the second, i do really want to watch it.

The food, hostpitality and setting were perfect and just what we needed before setting off to the hectic Kuta. We stopped off in Sanur for some mealies (corn to the non Saffers) and a Bintang (Bali Beer) on the beach and drove the highway home to Kuta.

What an experince. 3 days on the road taking in the scenery, we could have done more but we had the surfing to attend to. I would reccomend it to all that go here as you can easily get stuck doing nothing on Bali which would be a shame as it is a beautiful island with more to offer than great waves

Indo so far

Hey, so we been in Jakarta for a couple days which was an eyeopener to say the least. Was very interesting to go there, its amazing just how poor some of the areas are. I'm sure we'll get to see loads of that all over Indo. We just ended up spending our time in shopping malls, thanks for all the tips Sam. We had a great sushi in Talan Anggrek shopping center!!!! The touristy areas like Jalan Jakse are not all that during the day and pretty seedy, maybe at night it would be a little different. So my advice, stay in the malls.

We are now in Bali and it has been a pleasure. first night we had to stay in a dodge place as the island had no accommodation because of Ramadan, but we are now staying at the Suka Beach Inn in Kuta, which is lovely, looks like a temple :) . Kuta is this really wild surfing town with a busy nightlife and loads of street stalls selling knock offs of surfing gear. Have not been tempted yet as my boardies are still in one piece.

I've been out surfing every morning which is awesome and finding my feet but i still look at the local kids in awe, they are younger than 10 and ripping up the waves like crazy. Been thinking of gettting a board as the next 3 months we will be following good surf in India, Aus, NZ, US and Mexico. Board hire does add us and getting tired of the haggling for prices. It takes away from good surfing time.

Food here is so good and cheap and beer is fantastic too. Watched the Bokke win the rugby this morning at 03hoo and am thrilled we are in the final. Celia and I have hired a scooter and are off exploring tomorrow. Can't wait. The scooter has a little board rack so wherever you find surf on yout bike you can just stop off and jump in the water.

Well i'll chat you soo and hopefully have time to upload photos of some of the beautiful sunsets we have seen!!!

Bako National Park

Today we just got back from Bako National Park which was absolutley amazing!!!!!!! I cannot tell you enough.

Bako is situated on this peniunsula on the north west coast of Sarawak province. Screeu vir my 'province'. The higlights there being the rare Probiscus monkeys, Bearded Pig, Flying Lemur, Silver leaf monkeys, Pit Vipers and the various types of pitcher plants on offer.

Well we saw them all. I'm an old spotter i tell you, even managed to fit in a couple shy kingfishers, stick insects, killer ants, ninature bees and stick insects to name a few.

We set off yesterday afternoon with this german couple we met, Thorsten and Stephanie from Frankfurt, in search of the elusive Probiscus monkey. The search did not go well as we reached the end destination (the beach) without a monkey in sight, we styarted the walk back after some rock climbing antics and i assured them i would find them a monkey. 28 years Kruger Park grooming anf i couldn't find thema glorified Baboon... Well we got back to the start of the trail and again nothing. I was about to start my apologies when out rhe corner of my eye about 400 hundred meters away high up on a cliff obscured by trees i caught a glimpse of one of them. They were playing in the trees and we were all happy, checked that one off the 'to do' list.

We also spotted the silver leaf monkey which as its name siuggests is silver, but has orange babies so they are easily spotted. Incredible!!

Our night jungle trek was very interesting. We spotted this beatiful kingfissher sleeping, Pit Vipers, Tree frogs and various other night owls (but no owls), we also saw the flying lemur crouching against the tree trunk. We thought this was strange - more to follow.

The morning arrived with the Macaque's running around on our roof (glorified Vervet's) and so a new day. We set off pretty early on this trail to see birds but never say any, only another troop of Probiscus. This made Celia happy, so i was happy. We snapped away until the camera was overheating and wounding more like a semi automatic rifle. With intermittent bursts of me saying, 'Surely thats not a good photo'. the jury is still out.

We made our way back towards the jetty where the evening before the guide had told us the Probiscus chill out there chowing leaves and other stuff at low tide when low and behold we spot an entire troop up close, and i never even had to use my eagle vision.

We took many photos, Celia and I interchangably. When her index finger got cramp she handed the camera to me and we worked in tandem like a team. We do have some amazing shots of them, they became so comforable with us that we were even able to move within a couple metres of them. I believe it was my foresight in not having showered in 4 days in order to blend in with my natural surroundings. Incredible!

The rest of the day involved taking more jungle walks, seeing amazing Pitcher plants, a quick dip in the warm South China Sea and a extremely bumpy ride back to Kuching. Which leaves me here at Singasana Lodge waiting for the morning when we leave for Jakarta, Indo. Wish us luck!!

Semengogh Orangutans

We wake up all excited as this morning we are about to see Orangutans for the first time in the wild. I have a little wobble because we almost miss the bus which would have meant missing it altogether but we arrive inh Semengogh Orangutan Rehabilitation Center after our first Malaysian bus ride.. not looking forward to indo if it was this bad here..

Now this park is a rehabilitation center but it is still wild as they do not see the orangutan for months on end even though there is a daily feeding time. There isd enough food in the jungle to sustain them all. On the day we went the mother we saw had not been seen for over 3 years.

We were greeted by this young male who put on a display for us before we went to the main feeding area of the reserve. When we arrived the abovementioned mother was there with newborn baby eating the fruit they had on the buffet. It was amazing to see them but after a couple moments i dropped to the floor as it sounded like we had come under AK-47 fire, I looked around to see the RUF fighters but only saw Celia and about 5 others snapping away furiously at their cameras, i brought myself to my feet again and began to enjoy the lazy yet powerful way they move around. We managed to see another mother and baby before we had to leave after the hour's visit. We had seen enough and left with biiig smiles on our faces talking about the photos the entire bumpy trip home.

Kuching

So we have based ourselves in Kuching for 3 days so see the sights, smells and sounds Sarawak has to offer. Its been pretty amazing here, we have experienced so much in these few days from amazing wildlife to very dodgy hostels, but all worth it and worth another story. I'll tell you more about the wildlife we say in Semengogh and Bako later so that is all from Kuching, the city of Cats.

Sibu

So Just spent a night in Sibu as we wanted to head down to Kuching. It was good fun for what it was and we enjoyed walking throught he market and trying different types of Malay / Chinese food available. We met this guy at on stall who happened to be a travel agent. He said it was the second time in 20 years that he had met a South African. Neizz.

The evening ended off with us spending lying on the bed in our hotel room watching scary movie 4. Was worth a giggle. Turned the lights off pretty early as we had to be up around 6ish to catch the ferry to Kuching. Ferry trip was very interesting as we went through the river we saw all the logging companies along the baks and realised how much of the forest they cut down every day. Unbelievable...

The trip took us 4.5 hours but it was good fun, i sat out on the deck reading my book my wife bought for me from Starbucks on this child soldier. Gripping read, did 98 pages. The ferry ended up taking us out to sea which i did not know about until i saw the map when we came back, scary sheeaaat. the funniest thing is that when we were the furthest away from anywhere i saw these rickity wooden fishing boats.... thats pretty hardore.

Oh yes, i forgot to tell you at Sibu airport i ate cattle lungs. Nice!!! Tastes good, just don't look at it

Tioman Island

Off to Borneo in a couple mins to see the Orangutans and i'm sure it'll be as amazing as the last stop. We spent 4 nights at Salang Sayang resoirt on Tioman island and wow what a pleasure. It was the most beautiful idyllic place i have ever been to and yould not hesitate to recommend it to anyone. Sadly my camera has packed up so i cannot show you any photos right now but take my word for it.

The island it covered by these massive lizards (not Komodos) and they swim up and down the river looking for food. Wow!!

We went fishing every day for dinner in our kayak with hand line. Celia, Tim and I all caught good sized fish which we'd bring back tocthe resort and they would prepare for us. tim being the chef he is made a fich curry for the restaurant to sell last night and it was amezing.

The resort found this orphaned monkey about a month ago and now they look after 'King' like he is one of their own. The cutest thing you have ever seen. It even took a lking to Celia, pooin and weeing on her several times. Lucky girl.

Anyway i have to go check in now.

Miss you all

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NOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTT

Mad shopping

So we have just wrapped up the fist part of our tour. 3 days in the lovely Singapore. Fortunately Carin hooked us up with a good friend of hers - Mr Tim Ross-Watson. He has showed us around and we have loved every minute.

Singapore has so much more to offer than the shopping but every day we managed to end up back on Orchard St buying something at one of the huuuuggeee shopping centres. Eastgate what...

Night Safari was superb, sadly there is no flash photography allowed so not many pics but i managed to sneak a great one of an owl (above right) which pleaseed me immensly.

Bought a new digital slr cause it was so cheap and i would have regretted not buying it. Still in th box after 2 days cause i still love my current camera so much.

Eaten the best food her and dirt cheap too. The singapore chilli crab is as good as they make out in the movies and the different types of fruit are astounding as well as delicious.

We eventually booked the next part of our trip and are off to Tioman island on the east coast of malaysia, that leaves in 40 minites at 5:30 in the morining. Have had no sleep tonight, just been sitting round the pool with Timand Celia thinking about my new found appreciation for Sapporro beer.

We went to snow city today thinking to was somewhere to go ice skating and cool down from the 40+ deg heat but it turned out to be an indoor snow slope. Today was sadly tubing day so we slid down the slope on tubes. So much fun!!!!

All the best till the next installment