One Life ...

After waking up, our first stop was a noodle bar. We had a mix of shrimp, dry curry, tofu and fish noodles. All delicious. Next we shopped like a local at the Batu Ferrenghi market. There was lots of fish and all kinds of fruit and vegetables. Some we didn't recognise. We returned to our accomodation for a refreshment stop. Ipoh coffee was on today's menu. It was a dark roasted coffee that we drank without milk. Next we took the car to a coastal national park. Here it was possible to trek or take a boat trip to the various beaches on Penang backside. The admission fee for tourists was £10, so we had a refusal. Instead we went to a dam, a durian farm and took a nice long walk through a park. There were some old decorations lying around, one was of the statue of liberty! We couldn't figure out why. For dinner we ate at a sea food restaurant on the beach. It was nice but cost a lot more than we would usually spend on eating. A special treat.

An earlier start than we are used to because we wanted to make sure we had our full or toast before we caught the 9am bus to Ipoh. We definitely did! The bus station was only a short walk but the rain decided to accompany us there. The bus left on time and was full of western tourists leaving the Cameron Highlands for Penang. We however had bought a ticket to Ipoh and were meeting our friend to travel together to Penang. We arrived at Amanjaya bus station on time and had a short wait for our friend to collect us. Our first stop was to a really nice DimSum restaurant where we tried a variety of different dim sum - prawn, pork, steamed, fried. In fact we tried quite a few varieties. We were booked onto a small museum tour in the centre but were a little too late and they had locked us out. Instead, we went on a quick tour of the old town before sitting in traffic. The reason being that the road was partially closed because of a drumming enable practicing for the evening. We did stay and

More toast and tea this morning. We eventually set out to find a trekking route towards Brinchang and the Boh tea plantation. The track was a little tricky to find once again. We followed our map behind an agricultural park, up a steep hill, past some holiday cottages and ... entry to the path was closed! We ignored the first sign and continued until we saw a big read sign stating the possible fine (£1000) and imprisonment! The sign also said that we could get a permit from the 'park office'. However, we had a feeling that no-one would know where this office was. We were right and gave up! Next, asked about another track. We were assured it was open but having looked at the map it took a much longer route so we could have finished walking in the dark. Instead we took another route that was closed on our day of arrival. There was a huge gate blocking the route but this had completely disappeared. We decided it had been ripped down by disheartened backpackers who couldn't fin

A later start today. The easy access toast and coffee seems to slow us down a little. We followed the road to find the start of the trek to Robinson falls but walked straight past the entrance. Eventually, we realised our mistake and turned around. We crossed a small bridge and past an animal park for children. The path of what was left of it took us through fairly dense jungle on both sides but there was a nice opening as we reached the falls. The falls were quite pretty and there was plenty of water flowing down the stream. After the falls we followed a local, older couple along the path. They eventually came to a stop as a big tree lay across the route. They turned around and told us to we could try and continue but they were not sure how far we could get. We climbed over the tree, in fact we climbed over a lot of trees. We took care not to trip over roots, slip in the mud, fall down th collapsing bank and get bitten by all the bugs. The path got harder to follow but eventually we g

Today is trekking day. We had a lot to eat at the hotel. Toast, toast and more toast. We need the energy for our trek through the tea plantations. We set off for the entry point for path 10 only to find a huge half built block of flats in the way. There was no way through but the friendly gate keeper showed us a way around. We were not the only ones looking for the start - so was everyone else too! We eventually made our way up a steep muddy slope laden with tree routes. We climbed for a short time and reached a junction. One way continued up to the mountain top and the other started down towards the tea plantations. The route was very pretty with many carnivorous pitcher plants and giant millipedes. Darryl even managed to stand on a small snake! The route continued down along a stream passing waterfalls and jungle. The only problem was it was muddy! This meant super slippy. There were some fairly awkward climbs down helped by secured ropes. Eventually, we reached a small track and the

We woke up at 7.30 to wave our friend off to work. However just as we reached the bottom of the stairs she drove off and we missed her! She had made a actually made a mistake and today the office was closed. She was soon back with us for breakfast. 2 friendly young men also arrived at the house to join us. They very kindly gave us a packed of pickled mango to try from their recent trip. We all ate roti canai and various sweet rice goodies wrapped in banana leaf. These was also little Cornish pasties, at least that is what they look like and nasi lemak. We also had a nice cup of tea which Darryl made into tea tarik by pulling it. Luckily he did this over the sink as not all of the tea made the cup each time! Our journey to Amanjaya station was so quick compared to using the 2 buses on the way onto Ipoh because our friends dropped us off in the car. The station was busy with people enjoying their New Year break. There were some dragon dancers in costume and even the head honcho from the

We caught the 09.30 bus from KL Sentral to Ipoh.  We were pleasantly surprised by the bus, the seats were like arm chairs, very comfortable! After setting off 15 minutes late and having a comfort break, we arrived in Ipoh almost on time.  We then caught another bus into the centre of Ipoh  as the main bus station is about 10 km out of town.  We then had a 30 minute wait for our next bus out to the suburbs to visit a friend.   When we got off the bus we decided to grab some food at a little cafe.  We chose some vegetable dishes and a very tastey pineapple curry.  The chap who runs the restaurant came over to see us and inisited we try his grilled catfish, at no cost to us.  How could we refuse!  It was delicious and came with a soy, onion and chilli dipping sauce.  After we had eaten we chatted with the chap and his wife before heading off to see our friend. It really didn't feel like 5 years since we last saw her!  The main difference was her 'little boy' is now 8 and she a

A lazy morning on Lunar New Year's Day. It was raining! We started our journey but didnt get too far. We found a great restaurant for lunch. Banana leaf with unlimited refills of various curry sauces! We ate a lot and it was probably one of the best meals we have ever had! After eating far too much we made it to our next stop. We were going to head to Bukit Bintang but the rain diverted us to Nu Sentral. It was best to stay inside the shopping centre rather than outside! We spend a long time looking for one item and we never really found one that was good value. Our friend was collecting us at 6.30 for dinner in a Chinese restaurant. A special tossing Yee Sang for New Year's Day. We had an incredible time. The Yee Sang salad was delicious and tossing it was fun! The rest of the meal was also incredible. Almost as good as the banana leaf meal earlier! After eating we were invited to our friend's family home to meet a lot of people. She showed us her primary school before we

Today we had arranged to go to the Batu Caves with our friend.  We had also arranged to go with her on our last trip to KL, 5 years ago but unfortunately arrived just as it was closing.  Today wasn't looking good as it was pouring with rain!  We decided to go for breakfast first and hope the rain would stop. The place we went to served Malay, Chinese and Indian food. We opted for a traditional Malay meal of nasi lemak - rice, cucumber, peanuts, boiled egg, small fried fish, sambal and chicken... All washed down with tea tarik. Our friend also ordered something else for a to try, this time Chinese. This was a toasted sandwich with butter and a spread made with coconut and pandan.  This was served with a half boiled egg (slightly less cooked than a soft boiled egg) which you mixed up and dipped the sandwich in. Very tastey. The rain  had eased slightly so we decided to head to the Batu Caves.  The caves are within a limestone karst and house Hindu shrines, with an enormous statue of

First stop breakfast.  As we are staying in little India it was easy to find somewhere with roti canai and tea tarik.  We also had some sweet and spicy paneer .. yum! Next on to KL Sentral to catch the free red bus line to Merdeka Square (Independence Square) with one of the world's tallest flagpoles at approx 95 meters.  Here we visited the KL City Gallery and the library which had displays showing the history of KL and also the future eco plans for the city. Next we wandered along the river, past the Masjid Jamek mosque and through lots of little back streets with some pretty street art. We made our way on to Central Market and then for some lunch before catching the bus back. In the evening we went to Thai In Mookata with a group of friends.  This is a hotpot and BBQ restaurant.  Each table has a pot with a reservoir at the bottom which is filled with stock where you cook vegetables and noodles and the top is a small BBQ where you cook meat and shellfish.  We had a g

We needed to check out by 12 o'clock. We had a lazy morning and then left our bags with the hotel to be collected later. We skipped breakfast as we were still full from last night. We caught the red bus, then the purple bus and finally the green bus to the Petronas Towers. We spent sometime exploring the gardens outside. Next we went for a visit to the malls underneath the towers. We followed signs to an aquarium but the ticket price was a little steep so we went to see if we could visit the sky bridge. The ticket price was also quite high and we didn't think it was worth the price for a view of the city.  We caught one bus back and visited another mall. Everyone seems to be shopping as we approach Chinese New Year. They also seem to be shopping in Gucci, Louis Vuitton and many other designer shops. Another bus back took us to the bus station. We ate at an Indian restaurant we had visited on a previous trip. The roti was washed down once again with a glass of milky tea tarek. A

In the Philippines portions of food are small. In Malaysia they are not! Our first stop was a small Indian stall for breakfast. We ate a huge plate of rice and vegetables and washed it all down with tea tarek. Chinese New year is fast approaching and travel may be a little tricky. We tried to book a train but all full for about the next 4 days. We opted for booking a bus online instead. It leaves from KL Sentral so quite convenient. A lot of buses leave from an out of town station quite far away. We explored KL. We found free electric buses that run all over the city. From KL Sentral we took the red route to the National Mosque.There are about 6 different routes. We headed across a network of highways and rivers on sky bridges. First we headed to Petaling Street in China town. We recognised a few places we had been before. However, places we had been knocked down and secret bars  we had visited were closed down too. There was one huge new building you couldn't miss - Merdeka Tower,

We made our way through KLIA 2 and found the airport bus that would take us to the centre of KL. There is a far quicker way but the fancy train is way more expensive. At KL Sentral we tried to find the bus 601 bit failed. The place is huge and super complicated to negotiate. We opted for option B. We caught a train. We were heading to meet our friend outside the city at a residential building called Scott's Garden. The train took us about 1km away from Scott's Garden. We walked past a few restaurants and were tempted by roti chennai and tea tarek. Delicious! We continued and waited for our friend at the designated spot. We visited Decathalon and Mr DIY as her meeting was delayed. At 12 she arrived and explained why we had met there. We assumed it was her new address but no. She has a friend and 2 children staying at her apartment and there was no room for us. She had booked an AirB&B for us here. Unfortunately, they had just cancelled. We didn't fully understand what wa

4.30 am wake up, taxi at 5 am, pickup other passengers and arrive at the airport 20 mins later. We had booked on the Air Asia site but our flight was with Philippine Airlines. The plane had propellers! It took is to Manila airport in about an hour. We could see the huge sprawling city from the sky. Some areas are rich, some are really poor. Manila is the most densely populated city on earth and one we choose to avoid because of the chaos! We had a 12 hours stop over. We had intentionally made it longer than we needed because the simple task of changing from Terminal 2 to 3 can be a real chore. There is a free transfer bus but it is not perfect. We left the PAL terminal 2 and waited outside for an hour for the transfer bus to arrive. It was packed full of people with a lot of luggage! The journey went smoothly and we knew when we arrived at Terminal 3 there was lots of places to eat in the food court area. We opted to leave the airport as across the main road McDonalds could be found. T

Everything in Coron lies offshore. You need to take a boat to all of the WWII wrecks, coral reefs and natural lagoons. At about £20 a day this soon adds up. Our last day in Coron was spent on the land. There were some hot springs that we could have visited but we were already hot enough. Porridge and bananas for breakfast followed by a long walk to McDonalds on the other side of town. The air conditioning is freezing but we suffered for long enough to enjoy our mix and match deal. We grabbed an ice cream from the ice cream man. There are a few of them in Coron who walk around with there little cards. They scoop out about 3 different flavours onto the cone and they are quite nice. We packed our bags for the next days early flight and ordered a taxi. The local council have a fixed price to the airport and it is a complete rip off. In Siquijor the 18km journey to the port costs 50 pesos but in Coron the 18km journey to the airport costs 250 pesos. One thing we will remember from Coron is

Pickup was just after 8 at our hotel. A man in a shiny, yellow tricycle whisked us off to our tour boat. We were shown where to go and joined a group of other people on a tour. We signed our names, were issued life jackets and waited for coastguard clearance to leave. Soon we were off. It was only a short journey to our first stop. We had hoped to make our own tour by kayak but it was just too far to be a relaxing adventure. Twin lagoons. We swam from one to the other, passing under some rocks and the scenery was very nice. Next, we explored a few beaches and coral hot spots before lunch. Lunch was served on Atwayan beach.  A buffet of fresh prawns, calamares, grilled fish, vegetable noodles, chicken adobo and rice, all finished off with fresh pineapple and water melon.  After lunch entertainment was provided by a small puppy who managed to get onto the table, put her nose in a plastic cup and drink the orange Fanta.  She then lifted her head and showed her orange beard .... very cute!

We caught the 8am ferry from Culion to Coron with lovely island views along the way. As we neared Coron we saw all the day boats heading out. On arrival we went for breakfast and then checked into our accommodation and caught up on emails etc as we have been without WiFi for a week. Next we headed towards the water in search of a kayak to rent. We found some but they were way too big and heavy and double the price of anywhere else. We therefore went to check out the boat tours. There are various different options and we eventually settle on one and booked ourselves in for tomorrow. We went for option B - mission accomplished, now it was food time. Crispy fried chicken and rice! We ate in the bus stop or at least we think we did. Everyone else ate there too. We had a quick look around a large 'everything' shop but kept our money to ourselves. We are slowly spending our remaining Pesos hoping to have none left as we leave. We took a long walk into the centre. There were a few