Malasya has been nothing short of woodpecker (refreshing change) since I arrived. Had a warm welcome in Langkawi and a great time over there renting out scooters with non working speedos and just riding along the quasi empty roads, good fun except getting stopped by police but luckily they let us drive on! Went to the Sky walk which was real good, a suspension bridge couple of hundred meters up, the cable car up there was bloody scary as it is the steepest one in the world and it felt like it!! Found a market that did burgers fer 20p as well as great, cheap local food & drink. Partied with the locals at a real cool beachbar before jamming along with even cooler locals at a newly opened bar with reggae theme, yamon!!

Took the boat over to Georgetown, Penang and saw a stunning sunset prior to arriving to the island. Found a cheap & 'cheerful' hostel in Chinatown which had the stingiest git ever met, needless to say argued with the owner.. Georgetown is small but beautiful and all was within walking distance so for the next couple of days just walked around hitting some interesting historical places such as Fort Cornwallis, Penang museum & couple of temples. It was bizarre walking from Little India then turning round the corner into Chinatown and then further along into the local area, three countries in less than ten minutes and the smells and sights from each felt like you were actually in that country!!! The Town Hall had a World Press Photo exhibition which was intense & hard-hitting but some great shots in there! Was in an internet cafe when a Roman grabbed my tattoo arm and went Roma or Lazio? I went Roma of course & we became good friends! The last night at the nightmarket was real good having fresh seafood with friends, bumping randomly into a friend from Chiang Mai and having some Paddys day bevvies at the Reggae bar.

It was an early morning get up to get the minibus to Kuala Besut but worth it as by lunchtime took the boat over to the Perhentian Islands which was well worth it, the crystal clear turquoise waters when we approached it were some of the best I've ever seen!! The toughest decision for the next week or so was which part of the beach to sunbathe at! No cars, no atms, no internet for fair bit of the time there but was great to have some time away from it all to just contemplate and the sadness from the Thai losses subdued drastically and was replaced by an inner contentment and gratitude to be on an amazing tropical island. The snorkelling was great, managed to see a baby shark then its mama or papa shark which was mega cool and also saw a giant turtle, the corals were stunning also and were up there with the Red Sea. Island life was really addictive and if had more money with me would have for sure stayed 'another day'.

At the weekend sadly said goodbye to the Perhentians and got an overnight bus to Kuala Lumpur, gotta say best bus been on, slept for the majority of it like a log which for a light sleeper is saying someat!! We arrived in KL at 5am tired and with no accomodation booked on F1 weekend, nearly everything was booked up but luckily found a decent place in Chinatown. Dumped our bags and headed straight for the ticket office, managed to bag a couple of tickets off some Chinese girls that had bought too many, cheaper than cost price, 20 quid fer weekend tickets is a massive bargain! Met some friends at hostel and headed together to the qualifying on the saturday, will never forget when heard the first engine roar, what a sweet & sexy sound!! GP race day was buzzing and got there hours before and sunbathed in the midday heat, it clouded over and the heavens opened pre-race. Even when the race was stopped had a blast doing the mexicano wave. When the race did get back under way was well made up with Alonso's & Ferrari's win.. Some friends wanted to go back early to avoid traffic, I said fook that ain't going anywhere till they play l'Inno di Mammeli!! Monday went sightseeing round KL which was nice walking around and absorbing it all in and did the same on tuesday going to the Petronas towers. It was good to catch up with a friend met in Agra also which feels like a lifetime ago but was only about 4 months in essence!

Today off to Singapore for about 36 hours and then tomorrow night flying to Sydney which am mega mega excited about. Its gonna be sad to say goodbye or au revoir to Asia as had a great time here with great people but its time for new faces & places :D