Islands of fun

After hearing so many good things about the Perhentians we were so excited to get there. The beaches were white sand and the sea was as clear as a bath! There were two main beaches on opposite sides of the island which were just a 10 minute walk apart, and other hidden beaches you could walk to or get to via taxi boat which were really pretty! There is no transport on the island at all other than boats and only about 3 shops, it's not built up at all which was a nice change! 

 

We checked into Serenity huts and were shocked to find out we only had one plug (including for our fan!) and electricity from 7pm -10am! Nightmare!! This seemed to be the case for most places on the island. Of course we had no hot water either... well that's just a given! It's when I saw a rat scurry through our bathroom and heard its consistent scratching all night that I realised quite how bad the accomodation was... 

There's no actual bars or clubs on the island, instead they put out lots of little tables on the sand with candles and there's alcohol stalls on the beach where you can buy bottles of silly cheap rum and arrak. It was such a nice atmosphere and much less magaluf esque than other places we'd been. 

I couldn't resist some mid night snacking!  I even ended up getting engaged to the man who made them. You know how to win my heart... 

We spent the days chilling on the beach and the boiling heat apart from one day when we went on a snorkelling trip. We saw so many colourful fish, sting rays and a giant turtle. I even chased a shark through the water!! 

After night three, after finding that some wrapped up biscuits at the end of my bed had been nibbled at by a rat, I reached breaking point and we checked out! It's only then that we heard from almost everyone how dodgy serenity are and the people that own it. So we got away lightly I'd say! 

We found a much nicer place for only £1 more a night each which felt like paradise! When we checked in we met two Canadian girls and spent the rest of our nights together. 

On my last day with Annie and Phoebe, we had my fake birthday and they even got me a banana came made! 

 

That evening it was coincidentally celebraions for Malaysian Independence Day, so there was a massive bonfire and fireworks and the beach was literally full with people. It was the perfect last night! 

The Canadians taught us a drinking game where you fill a plastic bat with beer and down it whilst everyone counts (of course I took the longest) then have to spin around for that amount of time before running to and from a base then batting the beer can. It was so much fun and every time almost ended with someone falling into the sea! 

I loved the Perhentians, it had such a chilled vibe and was literally paradise! I had a sad goodbye to Phoebe and Annie as they went on to Australia whilst Tristan and I journeyed the shorter distance to the Thai islands. 

Now to face a year without my best friend!!! :( ....

After 3 coach journies and a ferry Tristan finally arrived in Phi Phi! On our first night there was the heaviest rainfall I've ever seen and within an hour parts of the island were like this!....

We checked into Jungle Garden and for £6 a night even enjoyed the luxury of a pool! I thought Phi Phi was the best of both worlds. It wasn't very built up with no transport other than bicycles, but there were lots of little holiday shops and plenty of places to eat. There was a really nice beach and also great nightlife.

On my (real)birthday, I opened my cards and token presents that some of my family and Tristan had got me, then spent the morning on the beach whilst Tristan was on a rock climbing trip.

 

Then in the afternoon we went on a trip on a long boat which was so much fun. There were really nice people on the trip with us which made it even better! 

Our first stop was monkey island and I finally got over my fear! 

....kind of.

Pinching my nose! Bully...

We also went cliff jumping and I braved a 12m jump which seemed so high when I was up there! 

The next stop was Maya Bay where they filmed the film 'The Beach'. It was so lush, just a shame there were so many tourists (like me) wandering around. To save money the boat didn't drop us right at the bay so we had to clamber over sharp reef rocks and through little caves to get there. On our way back the water was unexpectedly rough which gave us quite an experience!! When you see that the guides are concerned, you know it's not a good sign...

We then went snorkelling and I was given some bread to feed the fish, they literally came swarming it was amazing and some had quite a bite! 

On the way back, we watched an incredible sunset then when It was dark we jumped into the water with snorkels and played around with then plankton. It was magical like sparkles in the water. 

In the evening we met up with some of the people from our trip and decided to go all out getting our faces painted! 

It was a really good birthday and one I won't forget! 

The next day Tristan and I went to Phuket where Sid was meeting me and the following day Tristan journeyed on to Bangkok whilst Sid and I went back to Phi Phi. 

It was so nice to be back together! Rather than staying in Phi Phi we went to supposedly paradise island Koh Lanta but unfortunately the weather wasn't on our side! 

The following day we came back to Phi Phi and went out in the evening, we went to a bar where anyone could get up and fight in the ring...and boy did people go for it! 

I let him win. 

On our final day (Sid's birthday) all of his friends came to Phi Phi and we had a day playing challenges on the beach. Knowing how competitive boys are, I was kind enough to purposefully come last in most of the challenges to make them feel good...

In the evening we doned neon outfits and had far too many buckets...

Twins! Our tops are different colours honest.. 

It was such a good night and after only a few hours sleep I had to wake up at 8 to get the ferry back to Phuket to start my long journey to.... Spain!! 

Ciao x

A snapshot of Malaysia

Out first stop in Malaysia was Kuala Lumpa. We checked in at Reggae Mansion hostel which we'd heard rave reviews about...and it definitely lived up to it! The nicest hostel of the trip by far... you could almost call it a hotel (minus the rooms)....

We were in a 16 bed dorm and you eah have a little cubby hole with a mirror, cupboard, plug socket and light. Much better than your standard bunk bed! 

On our first day we explored KL and went to the city museum and independence square.

Out hostel was holding a wine tasting evening which we went along to a wine tasting evening(who would say no to free wine) and Tristan got called upon for his opinion of the wine...something about a woody aroma??

Then everyone headed to the rooftop bar where the absolutely crazy owner insisted on pouring free drinks down everyone's throuts before heading to Bukit Bintang we hung out with a Reggae star (yes we you tube'd him). 

The next day we did A LOT of walking trying to sort out our bus to Penang, and went to the Chinese market where of course I indulged in a bit of retail therapy. 

That evening we headed to the prestigious Sky Bar with two friends from the hostel, which had an absolutely amazing view of the Petronus Towers! 

Taken from the windows at Sky Bar.

The next day not quite all viewed out just yet, we decided to go up the tower (I've forgotten what it's called...)thankfully there was a lift, not stairs...

We almost got just as excited with the parrots that we could hold at the bottom!

 

Looking a tiny bit more natural? Maybe birds are my thing...

When we got to the next place, Penang, we checked into the other Reggae Hostel in the chain. 

Here we met an equally crazy manager called Charlie who insisted on calling us Charlie's Angels (minus Tristan) and told us the most elaborate and peculiar story I have ever heard, revolving around Baby George supposedly being the new Jesus...

We found that Malaysia is a great place to go out for girls, because everything is free! Poor Tristan had to pay for drinks and club entrance whilst girls enjoyed freebies the entire night. Can this catch on more in England please!? 

We met a really nice group of people from Kuwait who we spent our evening with, dancing away in one of the few clubs! 

There wasn't much to see in the daytime, just a museum and the sea front (not the prettiest), but there was an amazing food court which we of course all got very excited about!

YUM! Future business idea...

We then got a boat over to Langkawi and found delightful accomodation called Joe Lankawi's Budget Motel, which felt like we were in a run down council estate when walking up the stairs to the Motel. For less than £2.50 a night though and a duvet covet like this, I couldn't complain....(sorry Sid)

In the day we chilled on the beach and Phoebe and I managed to bag ourself a free ride on jet ski's which was so much fun! 

In the evening we met with our friends from Kuwait and headed to Sun Bar, it was really nice to have a group of us as there wasn't that many tourists about. 

The next day we visited a waterfall which was really pretty and we could swim in. 

We also went on the worlds steepest gondola (and my it felt it!).

Then went off road on segways! And this is no Moors Valley Park off-roading, they do it for real here! At one point I came off and the Segway went wild! (Thank goodness for my safety gear...)

Safety first! 

On our last day in Langkawi, Tristan left us to journey on to Taman Negara whilst  we went on a trip around Lankawi. 

We stopped at a fish farm, with the highlight being fishes that would shoot spit at a piece of bread stuck on a post out above the water, to make it fall into the water so that they could eat it! 

We also watched feeding time for the Eagles, it was incredible the number of them! At least 20-30 were there. 

Much to my joy, we visited more monkeys!! There were tonnes of them and I was wrong to think that I was safe on the boat as they'd just hop right across and join us! 

Lastly we visited a bat cave which contained thousands of bats! The best part though was watching a monkey terrorise a little boy outside the cave, mimicking his every move (I know...cruel).

It was now time to journey on to the part of Malaysia we had all really been looking forward to... the Perhentian Islands! 

Ciao x

Feels like home

I was really excited to go back to Singapore to enjoy the cleaness and western feel of the city. 

We checked into somewhere a little less expensive this time, a £10 hostel (yes there are cheap places in Singapore!).

We went to the harbour which was nice to see in the day and visited the Ritz Carlton hotel to view and iPod guided art tour (how very cultural). We mainly enjoyed exploring the hotel which was amazing and spent a large amount of time longingly looking at the amazing food spread which was just £80 per person for afternoon tea (hence why we just looked longingly...).

We also visited Raffles, but having treated myself to a Singapore sling last time, there was no chance I could warrant a second drink! So instead we explored the (ex) hotel which contained mainly shops now.

Whilst in Singapore we also visited little India and Bugis Street which have us snippets into the not so glamorous side of Singapore. It was interesting how each place was so incredibly different. 

Annie, Phoebe's friend from Uni who we had now met up with, had a friend how is an expat working in Singapore, and she kindly showed us around the town in the evening. 

We went to Marina Bay Sands Hotel, the most go place and splashed out on a silly expensive cocktail. It was well worth it as the view was really amazing and you could see the whole of Singapore. 

Then we went to ??? Quays which had a really good atmosphere and there were loads of westerners about. It sounded like such a great lifestyle with everyone going out for drinks after work.

Chilling at the harbour with an amazing view! 

I really felt comfortable in Singapore and at home and can definitely see why there are so many expats there, it would be an incredible place to live for a year or two. Who knows...

Tara x

Back to Bali

After Gili we headed to Ubud. Driving through the town in the taxi I knew I would love it, there were loads of cute shops which I could spend hours trailing around. The guest houses were also so unusual, like little hidden narnias. We would walk through a door to mini temple/villages inside. I feel we saw almost all the guesthouses Ubud had to offer after being told 'full' time after time! 

That evening we watched a traditional Indonesian dance show and let's just say they have a unique style of dance! Peculiar clangy music and the dances would do very odd things with their eyes. By the end when people dressed in bizzare animal costumes ran around as topless boys pretended to stab them, we began to wonder what on earth was going on! It was very interesting to see although I don't think that style of dance will catch on in Europe any time soon... 

The next day we went to a monkey forest and after my experience of being intimidated by monkeys in Sri Lanka I was a little apprehensive.... quite rightly so! We saw many a person getting nipped by the monkeys and running of crying! Including Tristan....

  

Moments before the monkey let Tristan know he'd had enough of his supposedly covert filming... 

The monkey forest has yet again shown me that I am definitely not at one with animals!

At the temple in monkey forest

We also managed to coax the guys into going to a 2 hour yoga class with us! Tristan was actually quite the yoga guru (huge exaggeration), whilst Steve on the other hand, lets just say I don't think he'll be doing it again.

After an intense class and being put to shame by men in tiny spandex hot pants, after months of almost no exercise I was in pain for days! 

Ubud in the evening was really nice with lots of live music, we ended up stumbling across a band which was quite honestly amazing, the singer could rival anyone in the charts. We had a really nice night dancing (one I'd again managed to coax Steve, I clearly have brilliant persuasive skills) and listening to the band. 

After a couple of nights we moved on to Kuta. It was far busier there with lots of shops, restaurants and bars, a little like a non chavvy and nicer Magaluf.

That evening we went to sky bar where we enjoyed an amazing buffet BBQ and unlimited beer for an hour for under £3! We then went back later that evening for an hour of free drinks. We got a little carried away and actually began timing each drink  and slying two at a time to take full advantage! 

For the rest of our time  we chilled at the beach which had massive waves, and enjoyed watching the surfers. There was also a shopping mall which was really modern and had some really nice restaurants inside. When you've been in South East Asia for so long you come to really love any place that's westernised! 

We decided to treat ourselves to Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant which is based on Run Forest Run. I had some delicious fish and chips and they have a great system where when you want service you flip a card over on your table saying Stop Forest Stop and they instantly come running. Again, when you've put up with painfully slow service for months, it's the little things like this that are oh so exciting!  

After 3 nights in Kuta it was time to say n emotional goodbye to Steve (and decent accomodation...) as he journeyed on to Bangkok to meet with his friends.

A last sad sunset! 

Tristan, Phoebe and I moved on to Pedang Pedang and were sad to find out we'd just missed out on the Rip Curl surf competition! 

It was a very small place with only a beach was really pretty like a little cove.

After a night there we moved on to Ulawatu. It was a really cool place with all of the accomodation, shops and restaurant built going down the side of a cliff with a view of the sea. We spent a lot of time just sitting watching the surfers who were really talented! 

We did however do one trip (much to my dismay) to monkey temple! I thought I'd be lucky enough to come out of monkey forest unscathed, so I was really pushing my luck! 

The location was really nice though so it made the fear worthwhile. 

 

Tristan even braved allowing a monkey on his shoulder! What a guy.. 

Apparenlt the terrified face is actually all an act for a video on vine... Sure. 

We then returned to Kuta for our last couple of nights and spent an evening enjoying the drinks at sun bar, and an evening in the town next door, Seminyak.  It was a really chic town and every single restaurants as completely unique with a really arty design. It's definitely somewhere I'd love to return to when I have a little more money! 

Before eating the best beef pie in the world. 

Overall I really enjoyed Indonesia and after 2 weeks of beaches was ready to move on to a city.... Singapore! 

Ciao for now x