Having had plenty of time to relax during my previous weeks in Thailand, I was now eager to begin some proper traveling again. India had taught me that a faster pace with greater challenges generally provides for a more satisfying experience, especially when solo. Then some time to relax in Bali.

Ko Samui airport is one of the best I've had the pleasure to visit. Wooden walkways lead through palm trees from check in to departures. And soft sofas offer a comfy place to sit whilst you wait for your plane. Slightly unnerving when the air conditioning doesn't work until the engine starts, but I guess that's small Firefly planes.

A few hours later and we touched down in Kuala Lumpur. A short taxi ride to bustling Chinatown and I found a place to stay at the rather appropriately named, Backpackers Travellers Inn. This was just outside Jalan Petaling, a huge Chinese market with allsorts of cheap clothes, electronics and food. I started the walking tour past the Central Market and Masjid Jamek which stands at the confluence of Klang Gombak rivers. This is where KL's founders first set foot. Onwards through Little India and stately town houses. Then back to Jalan Petaling for some noodles and sleep.

The next day I started at Merdeka Square, where the Malaysians declared independence from British rule in 1957. This is next to the Royal Selangor Club, a Malay elite hangout and St Mary's Cathedral. I walked past the Ginatt Pitcherplant fountain and back into Little India to find the Masjid India market. Then it started raining, so I jumped onto the subway to the PetronasTowers at the KLCC shopping centre. This is easily the most iconic feature of KL and is really striking. The big visitor attraction is walking across the sky bridge, between the two towers (170 metres above the ground) but it was now afternoon and so all tickets had been sold for the day. The rain continued to pour down as I tried to explore the park and the rest of the golden triangle. But I gave up and traveled back down the metro towards the LakeGardens in the south west corner of the city. The rain having now subsided, I was still determined not to resort to taxis so climbed over several railway bridges to eventually find myself outside Butterfly World. Walking along these hilly roads reminded me of being in the jungle, as the recent rainfall had made the tropical atmosphere wet and the air humid. I came across the BirdPark, featuring the worlds largest walk-in aviary, but pushed for time, carried on to the Islamic Arts museum. This featured Islam textiles, jewelry and calligraphy from across Asia. But the best exhibits were intricate models of temples. As is often the case with the best museums, I wasn't allowed to take photos! On my way back it was difficult to miss the 73 metre high minaret towering above the Masjid Negara, KL's most attractive mosque. Normally with temples you have to be wearing trousers to be able to enter. But luckily, there were huge robes available to borrow so I wandered around the minaret and the star shape dome, featuring 18 points that symbolises the 13 states of Malaysia and the 5 pillars of Islam. That was all quite enough sightseeing for one day. I had dinner at the Old China Cafe and chose the Piee Tee (meaning top hats) which are crispy rice flour pouches you stuff with minced chicken and vegetables. So that was KL and the next day I caught the two hour coach ride to Melaka.

Now I grew up thinking of Malacca as a commonly grown variety of wheat! But it is actually thought of the cultural centre of Malaysia. The bus station is rather inconveniently located on the outskirts of the city, so I took another bus into the centre. After struggling for a while to find decent accommodation, I began exploring once again. Stadthuys, next to the town square was constructed from Dutch pink bricks.I walked passed many Malay and Chinese influences houses and temples including the Eng Choon Association, Leong San Throng, GuanyinTemple, WahTeckKiongTemple, GuangfuTemple.But the most elaborate was ChengHoonTengTemple, opposite XianglinTemple.Finally I saw Kampung Kling Mosque and SanduoTemple.After a spot of roast pork with rice balls for lunch, I went back over the bridge and up the hill to the ruins of St Pauls Cathedral, nicknamed Our Lady Of The Hill, which was built in 1521.During their occupation, the Dutch had built this, before the British took over and used the place to store gunpowder!It was only Sir Francis Raffles who saved it from complete destruction, who we will hear more about later on.The Porta de Santiago, once the main gate still stands at the bottom of the hill and is all that remains of the Portuguese fortress A'Famosa.Almost adjacent is the Sultanese Palace and the Dataran Pahalwan, a huge modern shopping mall that opened just a few weeks prior to my visit.I made use of the brand new cinema in the evening by watching Public Enemies, Obsessed and the following day, the latest Harry Potter film.That day was mostly spent relaxing as all the sightseeing becomes tiresome after a while.And I wanted to be ready to hit expensive Singapore.

A mere four and a half hours coach ride, including a brief stop at the very modern customs facility and I was dropped off in the middle of the city.Footprints Hostel turned was just a few blocks away so I checked in, grabbed some Singapore dollars and headed out.First stop, the famous Raffles Hotel where the Singapore Sling cocktail was first invented.Of course this is far too expensive for a traveler's budget so I casually walked through and visited the small museum, where there's a book by Noel Coward describing his stay.A short stroll and I found the Esplanade, known as Theatres on the Bay, which resembles two giant fly's eyes and is Singapore's attempt at creating a Sydney Opera House.Walking along MarinaBay, I came to the AsianCivilisationsMuseum told the story of how Sir Francis Raffles first saw Singapore as having a great location of trade and shipping and so colonized the island.The British helped the development of the city but it was really the hard work from the Chinese and Japanese immigrants that made Singapore such a brilliant and modern city as it is today.Walking through the city and along the SingaporeRiver, the skyscrapers and towers began to light up as night descended - making for beautiful views.There are many rules in Singapore which the inhabitants seems to adhere to - there is virtually no litter, there are fines for jay walking (crossing the road without a pedestrian crossing) and as I found out the following morning, no eating or drinking is allowed on the metro lines (known as the MRT).A station guard politely explained to me that there were fines for bringing a drink down into the station.However, he would let me off providing I go back up the escalator, out of the station and place said drink in the litter bin.I duly obliged!

I was on my way to Changi - where my grandfather had served in the RAF and hence where my Granny, Father and Uncle had lived for a few years in the 1960s.Another bus took me close to Turnhouse Road and it wasn't long before I found house 329 - now a pink building being used as a holiday bungalow.I could have stayed there that night for about £50 but after many photos, I walked along the beach towards a popular peninsular for sunbathing and headed back into the city.It was now a Saturday and so the CBD was very quiet - most of the shops and cafes were closed as there were no business people around.I walked around Chinatown, visited ThianHockKengTemple (which amazingly used to stand by the marina until Singapore reclaimed a whole load more land) and through the food market.It was then onto Orchard Road which is the centre for shopping.Some more noodles then I took a bus to the Botanic Gardens.I was dead tired by now so only spent a short while exploring before heading back to the hostel.The idea was to get some sleep, but this is virtually impossible when staying in a 10 bed dorm.So after a few hours I gave up and easily persuaded a Dutch guy and German girl out for a few drinks.We found a great spot by SingaporeRiver, similar to the previous evenings view of enlightened skyscrapers.Jugs of beer were the order of the evening.I found talking to the German girl (whose name I can't remember now!) as she was only 18 and just starting out on her traveling adventure.The different perspectives people have on traveling are truly amazing!I had an ulterior motive though, because I had always planned to visit Zouk, a famous nightclub in Singapore.The other two were too drunk to come along so I took a taxi (my first since Bangkok) to the club.Having expected virtual nobodies to be playing, I walked through the entrance to find Hernan Cattaneo DJing!The club definitely lived up to its reputation - the sound and layout were superb, similar to that of a small Pacha Ibiza.But the lasers were the best of all - I'd never seen anything quite like that before.I chatted to a few locals and danced till around 4am.I would've like to have stayed longer but had to catch a plane to Indonesia in the morning!So it was back to Changi via the MRT, though this time to the airport.