Week 25 (Thailand and Malaysia)

12/7

The drive to the border was a long one, but a good one. Felt nice to be on the
road again. Drove to a little town close to the border. Arrived round 7.30 PM.
Checked in and unpacked (which is done in 5 mins now, since i carry less and less
on me). Got something to eat with Canadian Alli (great chicken, with a supermarket
beer (muslim, so no official beer selling)). Good sleep.


12/8

Crossed the border without problems. Changed money, ATMs, sipped coffee and
arrived in Georgetown (on the Panang peninsula in the north west of Malaysia) at
17.00h (or so).
Installed in hotelroom, strolled through china town, little India and ended up in
a nice, fancy restaurant for a cappicino and a splendid  view over the harbor,
where a fantastic thunderstorm started.  It kept on raining for hours, so i
decided to leave, found my way to a great food plaza, eat a great sushi there and
went back to the hotel for a shower.
At 9 i picked up Dennis for a last (err... 2) beers at the same food plaza. He
stayed, i pretended to be wise and slept a good 8 hours.


12/9

Slept in til 9.30 (1 hour time difference), strolled to find a decent breakfast
(rice and some chicken), found a decent wifi connection to do the media and
received my confirmation for my Australian visa. Slept again (!!), strolled, got
lost, but didn't care... got even loster in a huge shopping mall. Found my way
back, thanks to a german backpacker with a map (thanks dude). Showered.
Food plaza again: Big Tiger beer with spicy seafood (wowow, love that). Stroll,
last beer. Now updating. Tomorrow last drive in the truck, but.. leave at 7 AM
so... Arvo Part, star trek and sleep. See ya. (Now i want you to ask yourself:
What the F... is Arvo Part?).


12/10

Drive to KL went really fast, so arrived in KL at 13.00 or so. Settled down in
hostl (dorm), unpacked and made a great trip with Dennis: huge mall, coffee at
Starbucks, monorail train to china town, checking out ho(s)tels for my staying
here after the group left, bought a good aftershave, strolled back to our hotel
area, sipped two chang beers. Then Dave, Greg and Ozzie Alli joined.
Slept for a short while, strolled again (centre of KL is actually one huge
shopping mall)

Had a beer in a bar next door. And a second one since it started
to downpoor like unbelievable. Went to bed at 11 or so, startrekked, but could not
catch the sleep (too warm, bad aircon/ventalation).


12/11

Woke up at 8.30,, booked my ticket to Denpasar (yes, i will go to Bali, but from
KL (and not from Singpore, like the rest)), breakfasted, did the media, checked in my
ticket to get a boardingpass on line (which took ages), then did a long stroll to
my new hostel, reseved and payed for the coming 3 nights, strolled back, had a
great burger at Subways, booked another ticket from Den pasar to Adelaide, got my
laundry, showered, shaved, and went for a beer and food.
Found my way to the Petronas Twin Towers (KLCC as they're called here). Amazing.
And shopping malls all over the place again.

Will go back there during daylight.
Walked back to have a last drink with my travel mates, who will leave for
Singapore tomorrow. Will meet them again on the 15th on Bali if all goes according
to plan. Updated blog and now... ssllleeeppp... <yawn>. Laterzzzz....


12/12

Woke up early to say goodbye to the rest of the group. Hope to see them again in
Bali on the 15th (or early 16th), except for Jean, Ozzie Alli and Greg, since
they're not going to Bali. May see them in Oz though.

Went back to bed to sleep for 2 more hours, did a big breakfast, packed my stuff
and moved to the Stepinn guesthouse, where im now. Basic, but very friendly and
cosy.
Did a long stroll to find the botanic gardens in the afternoon, but got lost. Back
to guesthouse, read Dan Browne book (in dutch ... they had it here), slept a
little, then another stroll ending up in ... a very nice restaurant in china town,
over a fantastic beef fried noodles and a Tiger beer. A huge thunderstorm started
which provided a spectacular view. Moments of complete hapiness. Strooled some
more, drank a coffee at the guesthouse, another beer and an early night of sleep.
updated the media in bed.


12/13

Woke up early, chated with friends, simple breakfast at the guesthouse. Long
stroll to the Petronas Twin Towers (again) or the KLCC (Kuala Lumpur Conference
Centre) as they're called here. Also went to the KLCC Aquaria, which was
absolutely stunning. You literally walked between the sharks (tunnels through the
(huge) fish tanks. Absolutely loved it.

Strolled back, slept for 30 mins, showered, shopped, going to update my blog now.
Too far behind (or is that a dutchism?). Laterz...

And so i did. Week 23 and 24. And this is the last day of week 25, so tomorrow
week 25 too. Had two big Tigers after updating, came back in the guesthouse and
watched the end of the movie "The Escape" with the other guests. Could not sleep
very well. Don't know why. Listened to music and FB-ed for a long time.