Friday 14th May - Perhentian Islands to Kuala Lumpur

Up at 6 .30am (after a night kept awake by scratching - ant bites we have decided) had breakfast before catching speed boat back to the mainland. Plenty of taxi drivers waiting to take us to Kota Baru airport. The taxi we had was about 20 years old with no hadles on the back door to open the windows. When we enquired about this a handle was produced from the glove compartment. Derek's window opened but Sue gave up with hers. Luckily it wasn't too hot so the journey wasn't too uncomfertable. Boarded the plane at 11.40am and arrived in Kuala Lumpur airport at around 12.30pm. Airport is about 70km from the city centre so caught the express train in which took about 30 minutes. Looked at about 6 hotels and eventually booked into the Malayan Hotel near China Town.
Found internet cafe across the road from the hotel in a shopping centre and who should be in there but James and Vicky that we had originally me in Goa. So needless to say we met up with them in the evening and ate at an open air retaurant in China Town.

Saturday 15th May - Kuala Lumpur

Breakfast included in hotel price so made the most of that before heading off in the heat in search of the worlds largest covered Bird Park . It was worth the walk with lots of beautiful, colurful birds (yes, of the feathered variety!)to be seen. As Derek was photographing some breed of hornbill, quick as a flash it managed to stick it's rather large bill trough the fence and snap at his arm.
From there onto the Planatarium and then onto the KL Tower. The forth largest telecommunications tower in the world completed in 1996. It is built on a hill and excluding the hill is 421 meters above street level. The lift to the observation deck takes 58 seconds. Despite being a little hazy there were great views of the city from the top. On to the Golden Triangle shopping area where we ended up in Palnet Hollywood for our evening meal.

Sunday 16th May - Kuala Lumpur

The Petronas Twin Towers used to be the tallest buildings in the world with 88 stories and 462 meters above street level. Visitors can go to the skybridge (a bridge joining the two towers) on the 41st/42nd floors. 1300 free tickets are issued daily on a first come first served basis so we were there by 8am to joint the queue . Our tickets were for the 9.15am tour so we didn't have to wait around for long and there is an exhibition to look at while you wait so time soon passed. Views from the top quite good but far better from the KL Tower yesterday. From there we went to Merdeka Square where tudor style English houses surround the green which was once a cricket field. A local man befriended us who turned out to be someone who lived on the streets and to make a few ringits added his own comments to the tourists maps he took from the 5* hotels and then sold them on to unsuspecting tourists (like us!). We got taken in as usual. He was quite amusing to talk to and gave us ideas of a few places to visit so we didn't mind too much.
Walked to the Asean Sculpture Garden and next to it the National Monument. From there to the Butterfly Park.
Spoke to Mum and Dad on the phone for a couple of hours later on in the aftewrnoon. It was great to speek to them properly for the first time since we started our travels.
Went out with James and Vicky again in the evening, to the Bangsar Baru Area and ate in a Thai restaurant after a few beers in an Irish themed pub . A good evening. Great to meet up with James and Vicky again.

Monday 17th May - Kuala Lumpur to Singapore

Walked up to the bus station to catch the 8.30am bus to Singapore. Very nice, comfortable coach. Just three (reclining) seats across rather than the usual four. It was so comfortable that Sue slept until 11am. Reached border at 1.45pm. Signed out of Malaysia, borded the coach for a short trip to the Singapore passport control. Unknown to us we were getting a differnt bus once we got through passport control so we left some books and drinks on the coach. Luckily enough the original coach was still around so we were able to retrieve all.
Got to Singapore city centre at around 2.30pm. Found very nice accomodation in 'Little India' which is remarkably like India to be honest - even down to the smells. We would have thought we were back there had we not known any different. Went to the Ganges Restaurant for our evening meal.