Singapore to Brisbane

Last day of holidays! We had no plans for today, despite obtaining a 4pm check out (9.30pm flight). You can usually secure a checkout late into the evening by paying 50% of the room rate extra, and we often do this when taking a late flight home. Some hotels are well set up for minding bags and have excellent change facilities attached to the pool or gym, and some are not. Our hotel has really limited facilities, so we opted for the latest free checkout time that we could arrange.

A late morning start saw us set off for some last minute shopping in the local area. In the marina area there are 3 shopping centres all linked together, with almost every shop that we like. I finally found my favourite massage centre, Kenko, and had a 20 minute shoulder massage. It sounds like such a short time, but these people really know how to make a difference.

We met up at the hotel pool for a last swim and a set of satays - the best that we've had this trip! We've really been blessed with excellent weather this trip, with only one huge rain storm in two weeks. I like the Singapore rain, but it makes getting around easier when it's not wet.

Bags packed and closed successfully (phew!), we hailed a cab (SGD20, including a tip for getting all the bags in) to Terminal 1 at Changi. We checked in without drama - I thought we'd have to pay excess baggage, but we were lucky - and passed through immigration to the Qantas Club. The Singapore club is huge and serves french champagne - always a great way to finish our holidays. We're both very happy that everything went smoothly and that neither of us fell ill (a big risk in Asia, but one I'm always prepared to take). Now it's all about checking out the duty free at Changi, of which there are literally kilometers, and relaxing in the lounge until our flight home.

I love travelling through Asia. I have done ever since my Mother brought us here in 1980. There's something particularly humbling about the way the asian people live their lives. I love the people, the food, shopping, the ever-encroaching jungle and the heat and rain. I was born in Malaysia and I think that even at such a young age, it still registered as 'home'.

Thank you for reading, and no doubt there will be plenty of travel notes to come. I have three more trips in the planning stages for this year! To my dear Step-Daughters - I hope that you've enjoyed keeping up with us this way. I know that you would have loved to have been every step with us, and we would have liked that, too. Sadly someone has to do the study! And yes, Nik, thanks for the hat!

Singapore, Day 4

This morning we set off by taxi to the Easy Coast Park, a stretch of green along the coast from the airport to the city. I have travelled this road many times, and always thought it would be nice to stop.

It has a magnificent view - hundreds of ships of all shapes and sizes, all waiting at anchor to dock in Singapore. I once was working aboard a ship at anchor here, just like these. I don't know where else in the world that you can see them so close to shore. Added to the spectacle of the ships is the fact that Changi Airport is close by, and jets of all shapes and sizes take off overhead. A plane and ship spotter's paradise! We saw an A380 depart, and the Singapore air force fly circuits in their F18s.

Back to the park - we weren't sure exactly where to go but luckily the taxi driver could understand us well enough to drop us near the bicycle hire place. We hired a bike each for SGD10 for 2 hours. They had brakes and gears, but mostly for show. We were looking for the East Coast Seafood, a highly recommended hawker centre, and so set off towards the airport. The bike way was excellent - wide and alongside a footpath, with clear instructions as to who should be where. It was midday on a Friday, and so there weren't many people about.

There are several eateries, washrooms, a camping area, firepits, exercise area, a huge skate park and a neverending view of the coast and ships, through casuarinas and tamarind trees.

On our ride out we'd found the seafood centre and stopped in on the way back to the bike hire place. Luckily there were some stalls open - only about a third at that time of day - and Dom ordered a black pepper crab and I went with my favourite, Hiananese chicken rice (SGD5.50 today with wanton soup). We both really enjoyed lunch and will definitely come back again. I'd recommend it to anyone visiting - even just to come to the seafood centre on dusk for the food and the view would be fabulous.

I hadn't formed a solid plan on how to get a taxi back out of the park, but lots of people were arriving in them, so it was just a matter of hopping in. Off we went to Arab Street, my favourite place to buy batik and silk. I looked, but didn't buy this time. I have four pieces already from Malaysia, and there's only so much batik I can use at once. I love the silk that's available here, but I am still a little scared to use it at the price.

Our hotel, with our favourite in the background

Much has changed since we were last here. It's sad to see some of it go - Change Alley was an institution, and is now a hotel. They did save the facade, which was decent of them. There was a great dry market (as opposed to wet market, which has fresh meat and vegetables, a dry market has all the other household goods you could name that come in boxes or tins, or even dried out mushrooms and whitebait) near Arab Street that was always worth a look. That was gone this time. For all of their constant development and re-development, Singapore certainly has protected a lot of parks and greenways for their own recreation.

View from the bar

We hoofed it back to the hotel for a swim and a rest. It had been thundering and dark for most of the midday, but nothing came of it. We checked out a little more of Orchard Road, but again, there's a lot of construction going on, meaning some of our favourite shops were out of action. Cab back to Chinatown, and Ann Siang Road, a new favourite haunt after my pre-trip googling. We tried to go to a rooftop bar called La Terraza at the Screening Room http://www.screeningroom.com.sg/fivefloors.aspx the other night, but it was closed for a private event. Tonight we went again and thoroughly enjoyed the view of the setting day over the city, with a mojito and nibbles.

La Terraza

A wander back through the Chinatown markets which have had a facelift since our last visit, to the MRT and home.

Singapore, Day 3

Dom wanted to see the Kranji War Memorial, at the north of the island, so he set off by MRT, leaving me with a few hours to shop quietly.

By the time he returned I had bought nothing, but enjoyed the look. We had a late lunch at a food court at Raffles City (I branched out with roast duck noodles!) and then returned to the hotel for a swim. It's so nice to rest and stretch our tired muscles in the water, whilst deciding on the afternoon adventures.

We looked around the Marina area shops, close to our hotel, and both bought some running shoes. In one shop the shoes I liked were a reasonable price compared to what they'd be in Australia. In another shop, they were 40% off that reasonable price!


I was very tired and lacked enthusiasm to go far from the hotel, so we set out for a hawker centre on the edge of Marina Bay. On our way there we spotted a roof top italian restaurant, that was well populated. We got a table and had a lovely dinner with a view over the lights of the CBD. The hawker centre was standing room only when we walked through afterwards!

I had done some research into the history of Singapore in WWII. This so called impregnable fortress had fallen to the Japanese in a few days of fighting. The collapse of Singapore had been blamed on the troops tasked with its defence. From what I have learned those ill equipped troops fought very bravely and died in their thousands. They were British, Australian, New Zealanders, Canadians, Indians and of course Malays and Chinese. All fighting on the side of the Allies. They were from all arms of the services including a large number of nurses and doctors. Those who were killed are honoured in the Kranji War Cemetery on the Northern side of the island. It is a very peaceful place, overlooking the Strait of Johor to Malaysia. All those buried there are listed on the walls of the memorial as well as on their grave stones,and they are buried alongside one another with no regard to rank, race or religion. It is a very moving place. 

Singapore, Day 2

We set out to do some new things in Singapore and so we caught the MRT to Harbourfront and hiked up the Marang Trail to the top of Mt Faber (an elevation of a 24 story building), from where you can take the cable car to Sentosa. I remember doing this on my first visit to Singapore with my Mother and brothers, at age 10. It is still a fabulous trip - we took it again a couple of years ago. 

From there we continued along the path to the magnificent Henderson Waves, a bridge 36m above the road, constructed of local timber surface in undulating waves. This in turn led to the Forest Walk, an elevated steel walkway through the Singapore jungle canopy.

Henderson Waves

It is much more humid in Singapore than in Bangkok, and almost as hot (high 30's). We decided to return to the hotel for a cool down in the pool. The MRT is easy to negotiate, but sometimes does involve lengthy transits within the station to change lines.

Holland Village was next on the agenda. We've been hearing about this enclave of restaurants and cool shops for a couple of years and decided that it was time to see it. We caught a taxi (easy to do at most times of the day in Singapore) but after a coffee and a wander around, decided that we weren't sure what the fuss was about, and hopped the MRT to Orchard Road, the best place, we decided, to wait out the pending storm. I'll check with my Singapore authority when I get back to work and see if we missed something about Holland Village.

There are many different stores to what is available in Australia, making window shopping quite interesting here. There are quite a few english clothing brands as well as the top end stores from around the world. The most expensive, comparatively, are the Australian stores - Havianas (SGD60 a pair!), Rip Curl.

Storm over, and a quick MRT ride to Chinatown, we found our way to Ann Siang Rd, where there was a rooftop bar that I'd read about on the web. Sadly it was closed for a private function, but a gentlemen who had the same disappointed look on his face told us about a tapas bar down the road. Lacking other direction we took his advice and ended up at La Cicala on Club Street. It was a great place for dinner, with excellent staff and great food.

There were many hip restaurants and bars in this district and we'll definitely come back again to try a few more. We stayed in the area on our first visit together in 2006, at The Scarlet Hotel - a very quirky and comfortable hotel made from renovated traditional shophouses.

Home.

Bangkok to Singapore

Over time I have learnt to make things easier on us by not booking flights for first thing in the morning. Nothing says 'stressful' like a 6am flight to a foreign country. Our 1pm flight still meant a 10am departure from the hotel. There were no dramas with our car or the time it took to get to the new airport (30 minutes). After the traffic we'd seen during the past few days, we'd allotted an hour for travelling.

Check in with Air Asia again was no trouble (I've learnt not to turn up more than 3 hours before the flight as check in for the low cost carriers is not available) and our bags weighed in at exactly the figure I'd allowed!

We wandered the airport awhile, spending and changing the last of our Baht. Incredibly, the food and drink prices at the airport were about 8 times higher than in town. I haven't noticed a discrepancy like that for a long time.

Clear weather all the way to Singapore, where we had to try three cabs before we found one with a boot big enough for our bags. Not that they were ridiculously large, but there are gas tanks in the taxi boots, making storage space very small.

On arrival we were subject to a security check - through the x-ray machines with us and the bags. This has never happened to me before, but it was possibly due to heightened security after the foiled terrorist attack on a plane bound for the USA yesterday.

The view from our room; the amazing Marina Bay Sands and the new Botanic Gardens to the left of it

I was elated to be back in Singapore, although I hadn't realised how I'd been feeling about Bangkok. I did enjoy the experience, but it was so much more difficult to negotiate in all ways than Singapore or Malaysia, or even Bali. You can't drink tap water, even in 5 star hotels. It was quite difficult to get around and we didn't see nearly as much of the place as we'd wanted to. It was difficult to understand the locals, despite trying to learn a little thai on the run.

The business district, with Clifford Pier

Singapore is a delight - everything is easy. Great transport network. The city is close to the airport. The locals speak english well. The local food is excellent and there are lots of places to find it. You can drink the water from the tap. On the downside, it is an expensive place to stay, hotel wise, and restaurant wise. We have spent very few evenings eating in restaurants here, despite this being Dom's 6th trip with me, and my umpteenth trip.

I never tire of the greenery in the city (I think if the men in orange overalls stopped trimming them back, the lush parks would overgrow the city in a year!), the people and the shopping. Plus - there is always something new to see when we come back. This year there is a new MRT (Mass Rapid Transit - their mostly underground light rail system) line, making travel from our favourite Marina-based hotel location easier. Last time we came, the Marina Bay hotel, with it's magnificent cruise ship top level, was finished. They are continuously reclaiming land here. What used to the be docks for cruise ships is now a landlocked bay.


The exchange rate is $1.25 SGD to $1 Aussie. A cab ride is at least $10. A jug of beer (4 glasses) is $17.50. Dinner at the hawker centre is only $4 though, and a ride on the train is usually $1.20.

Bangkok, Day 5

Today was another public holiday in Thailand, meaning the roads were a little quieter than they have been, and we could catch a taxi to Chinatown for a look. Chinatown was humming with industry and markets, selling everything from sink plugs to building materials, motorbikes to lathes. Every now an then we spied a temple down a laneway. The buildings of the temples are incredibly ornate; reds and golds and striking roof lines.

The exchange rate is 30 Baht to 1 AUD. A trip on the skytrain costs $1 and a bottle of water costs between 30 and 50 cents. Lunch is about $3 in a local eatery, and a taxi ride half way across town is about $2.

Skybar at the Lebua

We had a fitting at the tailor in the afternoon, after which he completed the garments and sent them to the hotel for us. The shirts that Dom had made turned out beautifully, but the jury is still out on my suit, as I haven’t seen it without pins and tailor’s chalk. The tailor was a pleasure to deal with, however, and delivered all that he promised, on time.

Being our anniversary we had booked a table at Sirocco, the restaurant on the 64^th floor of our hotel, and featured in the movie ‘Hangover Part II’. The view over Bangkok is spectacular and we enjoyed the sunset and changing sky from our table, listening to groovy lounge beats. There is also a bar that has standing room only for those who come up for the view. 

We drank French champagne and a Californian red, and ate a wonderful Italian meal, attended to by well trained and polite staff, who presented us with a ‘Happy Anniversary’ cake for dessert. In my experience to date, if the view or location of a renowned restaurant is spectacular, the food often isn’t. This restaurant is an exception. It was my favourite dining experience ever. It was also the most expensive dining experience I have ever had – closely followed by our third anniversary dinner in Hong Kong.

If there was anything you ever needed but you had no clue as to where to obtain it, I have the answer. Chinatown in Bangkok! I am sure there are places similar on mainland China, but for sheer volume and variety of "stuff" Bangkok would take some beating. I have been trying to get some 17"  motorcycle wheels in Oz for some time, without success. Today I walked out of a little workshop with 4 brand new items, built and trued by hand in under 3 hours for less than $100. Suzy talked about filling a container with furniture and artwork, but there wouldn't be much room left it I had got in first. One other item of note, if you need to return to a place of business, take careful note of where it is. It took me about an hour to find this place again and I had a map and the address.

Bangkok, Day 4

Today was about getting to the local weekend market, Chatuchak, an easy ride on two skytrains into the north of the city. As we arrived we saw the extent of the market from above - it would easily cover four city blocks, and is definitely the largest that I have ever seen. It was also the best, and a highlight of Bangkok for us. It's on all day Saturday and Sunday.

There are fabulous artworks of all sorts, including Bumblebee and the Alien, human size, made from engine parts, paintings, jewellery and beautiful pottery. The prices all seem very reasonable, and bartering wasn't part of the game. For a few years now we have collected small artworks from each of our travels - it's lovely to pass by them in our hallway and remember the fabulous places we've been.

I wanted to hire a shipping container and fill it up with all the beautiful things. There were clothes, both second hand and new, including camo gear from the Australian and US armies, softened with wear, but all very clean. We bought some levis in wonderful worn condition for $8 each. There were magnificent boots of all sorts, worn and new. In contrast to Australian flea markets, everything in this market was so clean and well presented it is still hard to believe that it was not all new.
We enjoyed a rest at a well decorated bar - it had cowhide stools and a rhinoceros statue, as well as it's own DJ playing lounge music. It was a great location to watch locals and tourists wandering through the market.

I really enjoyed this market, and I can definitely recommend a visit. There were magnificent places to eat, money changers, ATMs, clean toilets and people, people, people.

It is remarkably difficult to get around here, unless it's on the skytrain path, or near the river. I think I talked about this yesterday, but it has certainly limited what we've seen. We could have tried harder, but spending too long in the fumes in a tuk-tuk or walking all day in 40 degree heat seems like too much hard work. I would have like to see the temples, and today would have been the day, as it has been much quieter on the roads and footpaths, but tiredness won out and the hotel beckoned. We did hop in a cab to get to one of the temples at one point, but after 20 minutes we only marginally closer in heavy traffic with a driver who didn't speak any english, so we leaped out again and caught the skytrain home.  In recent times we have tried not to end up back at home after a holiday, more tired than we were before we left. Sometimes it seems as though we should be out seeing everything, but you just can't see it all first go. All I hope to do these days is enjoy my travel and know where I'd like to return to.

I've really enjoyed Bangkok, but I won't be hurrying back soon. When we do come back I think we'll stay a few days in a hotel close to the temples and old city, so that we can see it all on foot.

Bangkok, Day 3

A lazy start again today, with a swim and breakfast. I did a little washing in the bath - it's very expensive to wash using the hotel laundry (almost cheaper to buy new clothes), and we haven't found an outside laundry, although I'm sure they exist. This is one of the minor difficulties of a long trip in asia - you really can't wear the same clothes more than once due to the high temperatures.

Street outside our hotel

Wanting a try tailoring for the first time, we chose one of a street full quite close to the hotel, and were greeted warmly by a young man named Pramod. Dom had brought a shirt to copy and I looked through the books to find a suit style that I liked. When the fabric and styles were chosen, he measured us carefully and wrote all of the details down. The actual tailor himself then appeared with a couple of partially made templates of a jacket, which he then fitted properly to me. As it was Saturday, we were asked to come back on Monday afternoon (we paid a third deposit) for a fitting and then the items would all be ready later that evening.

We are very much looking forward to seeing the outcome! There was enough completed work at Pramod's waiting for people to collect that I feel relatively confident. And how did we choose the tailor? He seemed pleasant and helpful and had reasonable prices. We do a lot of things this way - we'll buy from a stall holder we like, even if it costs a little more. You can usually tell when there is no more movement with prices, as their faces genuinely fall and they become less helpful.

The Lebua is the one with the gold dome on top

Hotel pool

To travel around Bangkok, there are many choices. Taxi, motorcycle taxi, skytrain (excellent light rail system running high above the city streets), ferry, tuk-tuk (3 seater motor cycled powered trishaw), and feet. Taxis seem like a poor choice in the traffic that we've seen, and we were warned that the tuk-tuk drivers try to take you to gem houses and jewellers to get their kick backs.

The ferry is quite close to our hotel, so we decided to travel along the river to see some temples. We hopped on a waiting ferry and waited for 10 minutes, watching other tourists use the ferry to board long-tail boats which came up alongside. Eventually we started off and went across the river, where everyone got off! Arggh. We hopped off then to ask where to catch the ferry that went up the river, and were told we had to go back over the other side. We paid $1 each for the ferry crossing, and then hopped back on to wait again. Wanting to move a little faster and deciding that the local ferry would take quite some time to get to our desired stop, about 6 more from our location, we paid the $16 to take a long-tail boat. I had not been worried about the money, rather about being on such a big, busy river in a narrow boat. These were much bigger than the one we rode at the floating markets, and the driver was an expert at slowing when necessary to avoid splashing us over the wake of other boats.

Upon alighting at Wat Pho, the reclining Buddha stop, we found we had to pay a landing charge of 20 baht. It was worth is to be helped from the long tail boat!

(Dom's going to write a little now; his will all be in italics from now on)

The Chao Phraya river is definitely the quickest way to get around, closely followed by the Skytrain. Road travel can be very slow and frustrating. This makes the option of a motorcycle taxi attractive, if potentially dangerous!

After getting off the long tail boat we headed up to the Reclining Buddha temple. This turned out to be closed for the public holiday. A friendly passerby showed us how to get to the open temples on our map and explained the best way to get there - Tuk Tuk. On reflection this may have been a scam as the driver then pleaded with us to take us to a shopping area where he would get "free fuel". By this stage we had had enough of sitting in exhaust fumes and persuaded him to take us, via every back street, to MBK centre for lunch.

We had a great lunch of thai specialities and accompanied by restorative beer, then wandered off through the weekend shopping crowds to Paragon centre. We were trying to get hold of some decent wine and this place has the best stocked food and booze market I've seen in a long time.

My mission was to get some long pants for tonight as the only pair I brought were being cleaned. Our hotel has very strict dress rules to access the bars and restaurants. Men must have collared shirts, long pants and closed in shoes. I think this is to discourage 'Hangover Wannabees' and it seems to work.

Suzy found herself some nice clothes and then we headed back via the Skytrain to our hotel. After a freshen up we travelled up to the top floor (64th)  to take in the night lights of Bangkok. The view from the top is fantastic; you can see for miles in every direction as the city is quite flat. It was, however, quite windy with a lot of people in a small bar area with standing area only so we went to the bar on the 52nd floor for cocktails. Much more relaxing!

Bangkok, Day 2

We slept very well in our 52nd floor suite but had to wake early for our 7.30am tour pick up. It was a beautiful blue morning for our cycle tour, run by Spice Roads www.spiceroads.com.

Our guide, Tau, and his driver, Sit, collected us in a minibus with another couple, Emily and Dave from San Francisco. The hour and a half drive to the Floating market passed quickly with conversation and watching the changing scene outside. I was amazed at how quickly the view altered from city to countryside and that they produce so much here in Bangkok. There are big salt fields, where they turn seawater into salt crystals. Apparently it takes a week or two for the salt to crystalise, depending on the humidity, and then it is scraped into bags big and small, and transported for commercial sale as well sold in smaller bags at the side of the road.

 The floating market, whilst touted as one of the most 'touristy' in Bangkok, was not as busy as I'd expected. The narrow canal could carry up to 5 or 6 boats across, and each boat is filled with fruit and vegetables, seafood and spices. Some are carrying tourists, and some belong to hawkers, preparing and selling their meals from the canal to other traders.

The markets around the canals were full of clothing and bags and artworks, and we enjoyed our allotted 40 minutes for a look. I thought that the prices were very good, but Tau said that in the markets in town prices were much better.

From the floating markets we boarded a long tail boat and traversed the canals, the driver expertly manoeuvring the long boat around corners (just like road intersections).

There were many other boats in the early sections of the canals, but then as we moved away we were on our own to enjoy the views of temples, fields and beautifully constructed traditional wooden houses on the canal side. I was surprised at how beautifully kept the canals and houses were. Most had gardens on the walkways around the house and often children and the older folk would smile and wave as we passed.

The boat trip took us out into the main river and finally to a large temple, where Tau explained the story of the beautiful carvings on the walls and also why Buddha is depicted in both male and female form (so that no one falls in love with him).

Hopping on our mountain bikes for the first time we set off into the countryside on very quiet, very well maintained roads. I had expected to be a lot more uncomfortable in the traffic or on dirt paths, but the riding was extremely easy and therefor making it enjoyable to look around and observe as much as possible rather than constantly looking at what the bike was negotiating. The bikes, helmets and drinks were all supplied by Spice Roads, and the minibus met us at each stop to refill the drinks and check on us and the bikes.

We passed field after field (really looked like forests) of companion planted banana and coconut plantation. Each row of trees had an irrigation trough adjacent to it, often covered in green water weed. It looked very oasis-like; cool and green and lush.

We made a stop at a temple that had been overgrown by four types of plant and looked very much like the pictures I've seen of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. It housed a large golden Buddha which seemed to sparkle with all the tiny pieces of 24 karat gold that the temple visitors stick on as offerings.

Sit met us with freshly cut pineapple and rambutans, drinks and icy cold towels, all of which we appreciated. The temperature was at least 40 degrees and the sun was searing on bare skin. I do highly recommend this trip, but it was very hot and we cycled 30km in total during the day (all flat and un-technical riding), so it may not be for everyone.

We continued past small townships and plantations, saw a coconut processing plant (plant = many people de-husking and draining the coconuts) and stopped for lunch at a restaurant on the riverside. I am not a great fan of Thai food, but I ate everything that was served to us (Tau ordered as the menus are in Thai) and it was all incredibly delicious. There was coconut milk soup with chicken and lemongrass, wing bean salad with prawns and chili, plenty of rice cooked in stock, chicken and cashews and thai omelette.

View from the restaurant at lunchtime

Only 10 km to go after lunch, and some of this was back on proper roads with traffic. The roads between the fields of coconut and bananas were the best - quiet and often shady, with the only noise our tyres humming on the tarmac. When we returned to the floating markets they had been packed away (6am til midday). The minibus was waiting and we all gratefully clambered into the airconditoning and spent 2 and a half hours getting back to the hotel! It was crazy Friday afternoon traffic (and we left at 2.15pm)  and despite the highways being quite generous, there were toll points at which 6 lanes had to merge to two, and straight after, our highway merged with another. We all admired how the Thais used the roads to the fullest extent - if there were two lanes, they neatly made 3, etc. No tooting or yelling - it was all remarkably quiet and calm.

Elated to be out of the minibus, with a tip and a wave to Tau and Sit, we raced for our airconditioned room and a shower.

Feeling better we decided to walk to the Patpong night markets. We really enjoy walking around as much as possible to observe the less touristy areas and local people at work and play. The aromas in Bangkok are incredible - from hunger-making smells of garlic and chili and charcoal roasted chicken to overpowering rotting refuse in a step or two.

The night markets sell copy label clothes and bags and watches, as well as food. The market street is lined with bars - the scantily clad dancers clearly visible through the open doors.

Very weary by now, we caught the sky train home.

Langkawi to Bangkok

We had to rise early to pack as we'd not done anything to prepare last night, but it was a swift trip back to the airport on empty roads.

Our Air Asia flight departed on time, which was a relief as, for the first time, I'd misjudged the time available for transit. We were due to land in KL 1.5hours before our flight to Bangkok, which seemed like enough until I realised that I'd left only 30 minutes to arrive, collect our bags, walk to the departures area, check in and drop the bags befor eth flight closed! Not so clever. Luckily it all worked out well and we could discard Plan B - catch a taxi to the main KL airport (Air Asia is still operating out of the low cost carrier terminal)and buy a ticket on Malaysian Airlines. I've made a mental note not to run things so tight again.

We've had no problems travelling with Air Asia, either around asia or between the Gold Coast and KL. The only flight I've had cancelled we had decided not to use anyway, and they refunded the fares. I am careful to buy enough baggage allowance as we once had to pay a hefty excess on a London-KL flight and then again on the next leg from KL to Singapore. Whoops.

A two hour flight later we disembarked at a very new airport in Bangkok and took a 30 minute ride to our hotel, the Lebua at State Tower. We were upgraded to a suite on the 52nd floor, with two balconies, a bedroom, bathroom and separate lounge and dining room with kitchenette. Very impressive.

We headed out into the 41 degree afternoon, looking for the sky train to the shopping centre of the city. My senses were assaulted in every way as soon as I stepped out of the hotel - heat, noise, bustle and aromas good and bad.

Whilst I have always been curious about Bangkok, I had not previously wanted to visit. I had expected to be more concerned about my safety than I am. The streets are pleasantly lined with trees, the people are friendly. We've managed to find our way around, although we have had to ask at times when the signs have been in Thai. The locals all seem to speak english, but certainly not as well as in some of the places we've been. We also know no Thai yet; we're working on it!

Langkawi, Day 4

We chose to do very little with our last day in Langkawi and so woke without an alarm to another tasty breakfast and a relaxing swim. The weather closed in quickly, ushering in high winds before the rain, so we took the opportunity to go to the gym. There are also tennis and squash courts here, spa and sauna, and mountain bikes for hire.

After another swim we cabbed into Kuah Town in search of a manicure (for me) and motorbike wheels (Dom) but only found an excellent lunch at a local 'restaurant' of Hiananese chicken rice ($1.70) - one of my favourite asian dishes of rice cooked in stock, served with poached or roasted chicken, cucumber slivers and a chilli sauce.

We then went back to the pool and didn't leave until after the sun set! We met some interesting people poolside, and chatted late into the evening.
The Westin Langkawi Resort and Spa was a wonderful place to spend a few relaxing days. It had beautiful grounds with an interesting view, great facilities and attentive and cheerful staff.

Langkawi, Day 3

Today we elected to hire a car from the hotel. Not an ordinary car, but a very smart mini cooper convertible. It was quite expensive compared to what we could have hired, but worth each penny for having our own funky, comfortable, lockable transport with which to discover the island.

We set off to circumnavigate the island as best we could, taking in the cable car and the other beaches. Langkawi is the most relaxed of asian ports that I have discovered. It's quite a bohemian place. There's a european yachtie fraternity, living the 70's lifestyle. There's a beautiful, blonde, backpacker set. There are dread-locked travellers, enjoying the cheap lifestyle.

Navigation is a little difficult with poor maps and road signs in Malaysian (what else?) but going by direction alone, we found our way. The island seems quite poor, but not really wanting for much. Our hotel appears to be the pick of resorts on Langkawi. We didn't go around to the Datai or the Sheraton, however.

We made our way to the cable car and while Dom stood in line for access, I stood in line for tickets. Once I made my way to the front of the line I realised that there was a better way - an express line. An adult ticket to the top was $10, and a VIP access ticket was $25 each. I took the VIP ticket, collected Dom from about 9 feet further on in the line, went to the front and boarded the cable car. We saved about an hour of waiting in the heat, at the very least.

There were two towers and we naively exited the car at the midway station. It was already a brilliant view from here, but we had to re board for the top station. Unlike us, most people knew to stay in the car. Being VIPs helped us get back in and continue the ride to the top. This is a magnificent chair lift with long legs between the supports. At the top were two viewing decks, with cloud threatening to envelop us at 700m above sea level. The views were breathtaking.

We travelled the same road further into the range to find the Seven Wells Waterfall. It was 600 steps to the top but I can't confirm that. Legend has it that the fairies would bathe and frolic in these pools. It was a lovely place for a cooling dip, and again the view down the ravine was spectacular. We saw (well behaved) monkeys and many locals enjoying the public holiday.

Further on we came to the Craft Complex, which was interesting in the display of newly created batiks and the museum quarter.

On through the rubber plantations and limestone quarries and jungle, back to the resort. I was very happy to step into the luke warm pool under the blazing sun and order beers from the friendly pool bar attendants.