Lots of rice and noodles!

Well, our time in asia is going very quickly. we only have 3 measely weeks of travelling left now! everywhere in asia is very different to all the westernised places we've visited - not suprising really. very sick of rice and noodles, but coping with it. here's a rundown of our asian activities so far...

bali - quote from email "went to 3 main towns - kuta, ubud and sanur. all of them had many people on the street hassling us 24/7 - do you want transport? you eat in my restaurant? you want to but this wooden carving? you want massage? etc etc. was very tiresome and we were glad to escape at times.

the main island is entirely geared towards tourism with fake knockoff stalls everywhere as well as markets and local produce. did a tour off quite a few temples, with some of them being very impressive with the rice terraces surrounding them. and also went to a cocoa plantation where we saw the people actually making the coffee/choc etc and we got to sample quite a few of their drinks and fruit they grow.

the guys did a day diving on a ship wreck which they have been raving about - said it was their best dive ever! we went for day to some smaller islands off the SE coast on a very fast boat ' the ocean flyer' razzing it aloong at 30knots we were clinging onto the boat trying not to fly off. a poor little american girl was sceraming and crying all the way there (for 45mins!) but seemed perfectly fine as soon as we got there with no voice lost! did some snorkelling and had a yummy balinese lunch followed by a trip in a glass bottomed boat and banana boating! tried quite a bit of the local food between us at dinnertimes. its strange going out every night for dinner and not having to cook for ourselves!"

singapore - quote from email "the more westernised world of people in suits and masses of shopping malls here in singapore - dont know how they manage to use all the shops and theyre still building more! been on a hippo bus tour of the city - to see the shopping malls lining orchard road, little india, chinatown, sentosa (the party resort island where we saw a pretty cool light and water sidplay last night - still not as good as bellagio though!), and we're off on the night safari at the zoo tonight. off to kuala lumpur tomorrow hopefully, so seen you real soon chris -will come find your hostel. singapore is a very nice city and all very compact so easy to get around."

malysia - such a green country. there are palm tree type things everywhere. arrived into kuala lumpur to the stiffling heat and traffic congestion. didnt really think much of this city - not much to see and rup lost his passport (whoops - all sorted now though!). did go up the patronos towers to take in the view and made it out for my birthday to a couple of irish bars, followed by some malaysian karaoke in a very desserted bar! luckily not many people to embarress ourselves infront of and i think we managed to clear out half the people that were there! oh well, we enjoyed ourselves singing along to the beatles, brittany and atomic kitten!

next up was the cameron highlands - excellent mountain retreat. nice and cool after the city, plus lots of tea! being a former british settlement they seem to have taken some devonshire traditions and serve tea and scones everywhere! yummy! went on a tour of the tea plantations and to the Boh tea factory to see it all being made - mmm smelled like tea! then a bit of jungle trekking with our excellent guide telling us all about the plants and history of the area. also visted the honey farm and strawberry farm for a delicious fresh milkshake. also met my friend chris here (doing medical elective in KL with her friend abbie) and all went for dinner - a traditional steamboat. a pot of soupy stuff and a plate of lots of eggy and crab stick tasting stuff to dunk in and cook - not that great tasting, but a good experience, plus we amused chris and abbie for the evening whilst pulling faces eating it!

from here headed to taman negara national park. got a longboat into to the town, a nice cruise up the river. did the rainforest canopy walk and a big trek around the jungle.

our last place was the perhentian islands. gorgeous islands off the NE coast. stayed on longbeach with beautiful warm waters and white sands. just chilled out for a few days and ate lots in the many restaurants. went on a day snorkelling trip and saw a couple of huge turtles and a shark! now in kota bharu for the night ready to depart early into thailand tomorrow morning!