Hello from Georgetown, Penang, a little city on a little island just off the West coast of Malaysia. It's quite the charming place. The other day Aileen and I went to the beach and swam until our hearts were content. We were also daring enough to try parasailing! We were given our equipment and a thirty second explaination about how to take off, what to do when we're up, and how to land and then off we went! It was quite the adventure! Coming down wasn't so easy as they never really told us what to do as we found the beach rapidly approaching, I ran as we touched down while Aileen who was infront of me did not. Next thing you know we we're eating a mouthful of sand as we're on the ground laughing hysterically.

This evening we both weren't feeling our best. I had an upset stomach and Aileen had a fever. We're both pretty sick of curry and other spicy food so we undertook a mission to search out some nice bland food --a noble mission indeed! Shortly after setting out it was obvious my partner in crime was not up for the search as she felt sicker than ever. So I singlehandedly pressed on. After carefully consulting the guide book I found this really sweet English Pub, virtually in the middle of no where.

Upon entering I realized my task would not be an easy one as they did not seem especially receptive to the idea of my ordering Fish n Chips for take away. I knew I had to appeal to their heart strings, so I concocted a gripping tale of how the love of my life was sick to her stomach back at our hotel and that she had sent me to the streets in search for the one thing that would ease her pain, fish n chips. I explained to my attentive audience that if I returned empty handed I would indeed be a goner and that this was an absolute emergency! Slowly a smile grew upon their faces... cut to me enjoying a Foster's while watching Manchester United on the tele awaiting my two orders of fish n chips to go!

Also, they have a Chocolate factory/store here called the Chocolate Boutique (pictured above). You wouldn't even believe the chocolate inside. I may in fact never leave Penang.

After a day which included a bus from Kuala Lumpur to Jerentut, followed by a taxi to Tembeling Jetty and finished off with an hour + boat ride, and two teen dance/musical dramas (Step Up to the Streets and High School Musical) we have made it to Taman Negara National Park! We slept in today. We really needed it. We enjoyed some hiking and a canopy walk this afternoon. Tomorrow we're going to explore some caves in the morning and just see where the day takes us. It's really nice to be away from the city. There was just a big thunder storm about an hour ago. We watched the rain come down in sheets from a floating restaurant. It's nice to be here.

Quick Update: So far no leeches, but I never knew it was possible for a human being to sweat as much as I have. The jungle sure is hot!

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Check out the first video update. It features some footage from around Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia including the Petronas Twin Towers, paddle boats, and some monkey business in the Batu Caves. Aileen and I also let you know how we're doing. Check it out!

Our final day in Kuala Lumpur was excellent, much better than yesterday. We returned to the site that ruined things for us yesterday and went up the Petronas Twin Towers of Kuala Lumpur. Aileen snapped the photo above while we were watching a 3D corporate video before being let up to look over the city from the skybridge. The video itself was bullshit but the view from the skybridge was nice and well worth the price of admission (free). We then made our way to the Batu Caves and hung out with monkeys for the afternoon before making our way back. We shot lots of videos and when I have a reliable internet connection (probably in Penang on the 19th) then you'll see some sweet sweet videos of what we've been up to, and pictures too!

Tomorrow we're off to Taman Negara, an amazing national park in the interior of Malaysia. It's well known for its leeches, it should be quite the adventure! There are other beautiful things too, waterfalls and wildlife, and just a good time away from city life. I'm looking forward to it!

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I'm going to be straight up with you; Kuala Lumpur totally kicked our asses today. Nothing seemed to go our way. Everywhere we went was closed. Skybridge? Closed! Planetarium? Closed! Breakfast place we walked forever for? Closed! Wrong metros, just bad luck all around. It was just one of those days, to quote Limp Bizkit --Aileen and I actually belted out that song if I remember correctly, along with classics such as Nookie and Faith.

Just as we thought all hope was lost... we found boats! And it was glorious. Boats and Mousedeer parks. So, the day ended strong though it looked pretty bleak after starting at 7AM and not having anything to show for the day at 1PM except for breakfast.

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Monkeys Monkeys Monkeys! Today was a really swell day in Kuala Lumpur. We started the day off by visiting the National Mosque just a short stroll from our hostel. It was open for tourists this time so we were able to go right in. We dawned these sweet purple robes and in we went. We met a really nice lady named Fatima who talked to us about Islam for a good two hours all the while overlooking the beautiful interior of the mosque. She was really helpful and informative and even gave us a free Qur'an to take with us! Later on we went to a park and observed some wild monkeys swinging from the trees and a few of them even came down to say hello (pictured above) and cross the road. We also spotted some sort of lizard slip into a pond close to our feet and a wild duck hissed at Aileen. All in all it was a very good day.

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Ahh day one of Kuala Lumpur. The city has this unique charm to it --it's hard to describe. It has this almost gritty roughness to it that actually comes off quite charming. I like it a lot! We spent a whirlwind day exploring our surroundings in Chinatown. You can check out the pictures and see just what we were up to!

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It's our last night in Melaka; this city has really treated us well. Tomorrow we're off to Kuala Lumpur. We hung out with some kitty cats last night. They're really cute. This morning I went for a nice long bike ride to the Strait of Melacca --the body of water which separates Malaysia from Sumatra. It was really nice to explore the area. Tonight we watched a martial arts display in Chinatown where this master chopped through a coconut using only his finger. It was quite impressive!

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Day two of Melaka has been superb. We've been doing so much but at a much more leisurely pace. The highlight of my day was my visit to the historic Saint Paul's Church atop a hill overlooking the city and the Sunda Strait in the distance. The historian in me was definitely peeking through the entire time I was there. Malaysia is wonderful.

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Malaysia has real character. I think I've fallen in love with it to be honest. Singapore was really nice but already I feel like Malaysia will be a real treat. We woke up a little late today, I mailed some post cards and then we were off to catch our bus to Malaysia. The actual border crossing wasn't bad at all. Aileen found us a really good deal on a bus to get across the border and onward to Melaka where we are now.

The historic UNESCO World Heritage site of Melaka in southern Malaysia is a place I feel everyone should visit. It's absolutely beautiful and so rich in this Malaysian flavour I can't quite put my finger on. Pictured above is the Christ Church area just 5 minutes walk from our wonderful hostel. The colours of this city is what truly gets me. Even now as I glance out my hostel window all I can see is this reddish hue. It's remarkable.

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Things are going to be pretty calm in South East Asia but for now we're going at a feverish pace to get all we can out of Singapore. We've been completely blown away by just how much this place has to offer! We started the day by leaving the hostel at 9AM and not getting back until well after 11PM. We enjoyed the downtown area in the morning by going to the fountain of wealth (largest fountain in the world, the espinade (aka 'the circles') and just roaming around taking it all in. In the afternoon we made our way to Changi prison museum which was a real treat. It depicted the Japanese occupation of Singapore during the Second World War from 1942 to 1945. We followed that solumn visit up by spending the rest of the day at the fantastic Singapore zoo. I was really impressed with the zoo and how open the habitats were. They're well known for their good treatment of the animals and not just caging them up but rather creating habitats that they'd have in the wild and avoiding cages at all costs. Finally we finished the day off by eating some rad BONGO BURGERS outside the zoo and embarking on an amazing Night Safari. It's all been great but the Night Safari gets the nod for the absolute best thing we've done in my humble opinion. I'm about to crash, here's a few photos from today!

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I have lots of photos from Jeju Island and Korean travels with Meg that I will be getting up shortly but for the moment I would like to update you on my first day in Singapore. I met up with my dear friend Aileen who I hadn't seen for over a year and a half. We'll be spending the next ninety days or so together as we travel throughout South East Asia beginning in Singapore, then heading up to Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and finishing in Vietnam.

We had a really busy but fun day today. We explored little India and the Arab corner of Singapore, which was really neat. There are so many different cultures crammed into this small city state; I can't get over it. After a bit of wandering we made our way to the downtown area (pictured above) and just took it all in; Raffles Place, parliament, eating stalls, the Asian Civilization Museum (which my 2004 UPEI student card got me a three dollar discount!) and finally Chinatown. Tomorrow we're off to the zoo and night safari as well as a tonne of other things.

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We spent the day along the east coast of Jeju Island. We got started bright and early with a glorious bike ride to Pyoseon beach. We stopped along the way a few times to take in the sights. It was such a relaxing ride. I can't believe our time in Jeju is almost over. We have tonight, tomorrow, and then we're in transit for the next day as we make our way to Seoul and then Meg heads back to Canada and I'm off to Singapore. I sure will miss her.

All day beach days drive us completely mad. There are some pretty insane ones of me too including a not to flattering changing in the bushes shot but since this is my blog I've opted not to post those ones and go for a ridiculously Meghan photo which she is ecstatic about. We spent the day swimming and catching waves in the beautiful Jeju water. I have a pretty rad sunburn on my back. Meghan believes I may peel. We're going down by the water now. We've been on a huge 90's pop music kick lately. We're currently trying to figure out which song goes "How's it gonna be... when you don't know me.... how's it gonna be when......... something something something." If you know which song this is please leave a message in the comment box. Who is it by and what is the song name. ------Nevermind, it's Third Eye Blind. You should listen to Third Eye Blind. More later.

We arrived in the beautiful Jeju Island last night and have been going ever since. We found a really nice cove this morning and swam lots and I almost jumped off of a cliff but thought better of it after seeing Meghan's worried expression. This island is incredible; we drank of coconuts, swam, explored, found nice water falls and fed cute homeless cats with cans of tuna. I'll be posting more pictures soon.