Selamat pagi Blog followers- another bright and sunny day here in Borneo.

Despite Paul McCartney auditioning the latest hopefuls for his next Frog Chorus in the pond next to our patio we both managed to get to sleep at a reasonable hour. When we woke this morning the cockerels were crowing but the frogs were strangely quiet. Guess the frogs know when they're beaten !

We went across to the local shop for some breakfast goodies and after scouring the shelves and having a chat with the lady there, we came away with a bag of delights . Mosquito coils and a lighter, some French toasties, Panyam kaya, extra supplies of Sprite coffee and water + choc chip cookies to keep John happy - all for about £4. John won't touch the Panyam Kaya 'cause it's green - a bit like the colour of mashed kiwi fruit (but its delicious and it's ALL mine !)

Note for the foodies ** Found out today kaya is made from coconut milk , eggs and sugar - YUM !!

The room here is spacious and comfortable. Being in the Kampung makes you feel you are experiencing real Kuching life. There do seem to be more mossies here though- so have resorted to some Deet and the mossie bands to keep 'em at bay. Apart from the humungous cockroach , in Chow Kit market in KL, we have only seen small insects- mainly ants- for which ow have a whole new respect. (Apart from the stingers in Gemas who remain on my black list)

Yesterday when we walked down to the jetty through the Kampung (aka village for those not keeping up, or new to the blog) we passed a dead rat at the side of the road which was covered in ants. When we came back about 2 hours later there was nothing left. Conclusion - either they have access to any extremely big truck or are voracious meat eaters (NB. When i say extremely big truck i mean in relation to the ants - the rat wasn't giant size). I cant believe they ate everything -that would even beat my eating record. Although on reflection it may have been dragged away by one of the local cats- so the jury's out.

You may feel todays blog somewhat rambling- that's because i have 3 hours to kill waiting for John. We walked to the golf club close to the kampong.. It seems to be the complete opposite of the Gemas golf course. They even have post 2000 golf clubs for hire and operational golf buggies. The landscaping of the course looks beautiful- well its looks so from here (my palatial balcony). This is the first course we have been to where non players aren't allowed on the course, so i am confined to the clubhouse, and john has to go round like Billy Nomates.

An hour gone and just two or so to go, watching the housemartins and learning a few new Malay words.

Air botul- bottled drink

Air tin- canned drink

Air (pronounced aa-yah)- water

Arak - the one john uses most - no prizes for guessing that one

Air kelapan - Coconut juice

Air Tibu - Sugar cane juice

I expect you all to be ordering using the correct terminology next time you are in the world food section of Tesco (NB. Other supermarkets are also available)

Having just read today's notes i realise i may not be selling east Malaysia very well so in an effort to redress the balance i will say it is extremely nice and definitely my cup of tea. Lush vegetation, 33 degrees with a light breeze. People are very welcoming and always seem to say hello - in fact more people say hello here than they ever do in Daventry. By comparison with other countries where Hello is usually followed by those well rehearsed words "and you come look at my shop" . Here people just seem to want to say hello and engage in some English. I could quite easily find a little hut here to run a TEFL business for 6 months of the year. What d'you reckon Linds?