The best of Southeast Asia, so far.

We are mere weeks away from having been here for 2.5 years. This quarter decade anniversary has prompted to me look back and think about all the amazing things we've seen, done - and eaten since our arrival here. This list is perhaps a bit pre-mature, we've seen but a tiny sliver of what this part of the world has to offer - and we haven't even been to Vietnam or Sri Lanka yet - and we've barely scratched the surface of huge countries like Indonesia (although we are adding another drop in that bucket in about two weeks time).

So, I'm going to look back at some of the best stuff we've done over the last 2.5 years.  I am excluding India from this exercise partly because India is not technically part of Southeast Asia - but mostly because India just overwhelms everything - it is a category unto itself.  Obviously these opinions are my own, but I'd love to hear alternative suggestions and thoughts from those who have done similar and different excursions in the region. Here's a few of the 'best of's' I've decided to look at:

• Best food
• Best beer
• Best beaches
• Best scenery
• Best temples
• Best wildlife
• Best city
• Best markets
• Best museum

I'm going to start with a couple of the easier ones in the hope that maybe we'll have completed our next Indonesian adventure before I pass judgement on a few things!

Anyway, let's get started:

Best beer: Beer Lao - no doubt about it. This beer, with good reason, is the pride and joy of Laos.  It lacks the high sugar content (as well as accompanying hangover associated with other Asian beers - I'm thinking Tiger and Kingfisher) and is reminiscent of a quality Eastern European pilsner - which isn't surprising considering Beer Lao started out as a joint-venture between the government of Laos and Czech brewers. Beer Lao isn't nearly as available outside of Laos as it should be (although I've now spotted it in Thailand and Myanmar) but if it does pop up at your local liquor store make sure you try it.

Best food: This is extremely difficult - and easy.  Cambodia and Myanmar both did their level best to kill me, they are not in the running.  Despite a genuine love for Javanese bakso and tempe goreng, Indonesia barely ranks.  I had a genuinely delicious $7 steak in Laos, but again, not enough to earn to the top spot. Perhaps rather predictably, this is a dead heat between Thailand and Malaysia.  In the end I'm going to swing to Malaysia just for the sheer diversity of the food available here.  The Malay/Chinese/Indian combo is pretty much unbeatable and I've developed a deep, deep love for the Chinese-style seafood that you get here (and yam baskets).

If I was going to narrow it down to a single place, I'd probably even bypass Penang and go for Kuching - the area is home to dozens of family-run seafood restaurants which aren't much to look at but they have some the freshest and tastiest seafood I've ever encountered (this is coming from someone who spent four years in Scotland guzzling the world's finest oysters - I love my seafood.)  More sophisticated options are also in abundance, if you ever happen by there an evening spent at Bla, bla, bla is totally worth it.

More favorites in the next installment.

Leeched

Back from our second attempt to conquer Borneo, I'm pleased to announce that we've all returned decidedly un-head-hunted, but there was still plenty of blood-shed thanks to the local leeches.

The sun shining, we set off on an excellent hike into Kubah National Park that ends at a lovely, extremely slippery, two-tiered waterfall. The ranger at the station told all about how clean and clear the water was, recommending that we be sure and remove our boots for a quick soak and not even hesitate to drink the water (something which I met with great scepticism - 'drink the water' isn't something you hear a lot in this part of the world.)

After walking at a steady clip for about an hour and a half in 90 degree heat with 100% humidity, the hiking boots were shed immediately upon arrival.

A few minutes later my mother noticed that blood was streaming from my ankle.  I knew I hadn't cut it and noticing that the blood was flowing in a steady trickle from a tiny hole, I grimaced, said 'leech' and shrugged.  They're gross, but harmless.

Leeches are also remarkably sneaky.  They latch onto your undetected, getting into the most bizarre places (hours after we returned Thomas found one in his armpit and Ian located one settling in his belly button!)  They inject their victims with anaesthetic that prevents you from feeling the bite as well as an anti-coagulant  to ensure a steady stream of blood (which often continues long after the leech is done feasting and has fallen off of you in a blissful blood coma).

When we returned to the car, I noticed a red patch of liquid slowly creeping across the sleeve on my mother's shirt.  I paused, looked her up and down, and she - quite literally, looked like she had just been shot.  There was blood streaming down her leg, arms and chest. Fortunately, she's a nurse so the sight of blood doesn't really phase her. Examining her wounds (and more concerned about the state of her shirt than the leeches), she told us quite happily of how they actually still use leeches for medicinal purposes.

Ian cheerfully announced that at least we'd be free of consumption, the vapours and all other medieval disease.

The whole thing was a bit like that scene with the leeches in 'Stand by Me' only featuring a calm fifty-something woman rather than a passel of panicky teenage boys.

Clearly, I had underestimated my mother. She took it in stride and as we headed back into Kuching it was decided that an immediate need for beer(s) superseded the need for clean clothes.  We spent a happy hour slurping pork noodle soup and downed a few beers, while mom happily built a beer can tower before sauntering off for a long overdue shower.

Back to Borneo

We made our first trip to Sarawak nearly two years ago and now we're going back . . . with my parents in-tow (they'll do fine, really).

To get everyone prepared for our journey, I have been re-reading and insisting that everyone else read Redmond O'Hanlon's book, Into the Heart of Borneo.  This is one of my all time favourite non-fiction books and is essential reading for armchair adventurers and hardened travellers alike.

Redmond, his poet-sidekick James Fenton and their three charming and resourceful Iban guides all set off on an incredible adventure deep into the jungle in search of the Bornean rhinoceros. Pumped full of tuak (native rice wine), arak (a lethally strong rice brandy), hoards of sticky rice and boney river fish they have many (mis)adventures - particularly with the local wildlife, which includes:

• 166 species of snakes: including 2 species or python, 50 venomous snakes including, aggressive sea snakes which have been known to swarm in the thousands, three kinds of cobra, pit vipers and river snakes.  Let's also not forget the flying tree snakes.
• leeches: giant leeches, up to two feet long and tiny leeches that live in rivers and streams only as wide as a thread that patiently wait for you to drink them down so they can feast on you internally.
• mosquitoes. Enough said.

Less scary native species include the elusive clouded leopard, cranky sun bear, big-eyed tarsiers, tiny slow loris, agile gibbons (they can swing from branch to branch for distances of up to 50 ft at speeds up to 35 mph), mighty orang-utans and countless species of birds including the revered hornbill.

Although parts of Borneo are now as developed as anywhere else in Malaysia, deep in the jungle there are still unruly natives prowling about with lethal blowpipes and who were reportedly head-hunters up until the 1960s. Despite ever-increasing development and the devastating destruction of huge swathes of primary rainforest for ever-expanding oil palm plantations, Borneo still possess a slightly wild edge.  It's not New Guinea, but it sure ain't a tourist-packed Thai island either.

We won't be hitting the jungle quite so hard as Redmond and James, but we have every intention of spotting a few orang-utans, visiting a Dayak longhouse, squeezing in a few jungle treks of our own, relaxing on the beach (hopefully without sea snakes!) and no vacation would be complete (especially with Thomas Galli) without a few beverages.  I can't wait to be back in Borneo.

Borneo: Part 6

After our few days relaxing at the beach we packed it in for Bako National Park. Getting there was quite a battle. We returned to Kuching to catch the bus that takes you to Bako village, from there it is a 25 minute boat ride to access the park proper. The bus ride was a nightmare. It was supposed to take 40 minutes, but 40 minutes after departure we had not even made it out of Kuching. Was this due to traffic? No. Our driver decided to make a pit stop at the betting shop so he could get in a bit of gambling.

After we finally made it to the boat terminal, we went through a bizarrely long and over-complicated registration process and got into a boat. It looked seaworthy enough, but I was not particularly impressed by the number of signs warning of crocodiles. We didn’t see any.

We arrived in the positively baking heat and were shown to our basic, and I mean basic accommodation for the next two nights. You could see straight through the floorboards of our room and they creaked ominously every time you took a step (arousing the macaques snoozing underneath). The furniture was held together with scotch tape and glue and the ceiling fan so dusty and dirty that it was a minor miracle that it even worked. The shower unsurprisingly had no hot water (not that it mattered in the heat anyway) and no light bulb. We were really roughing it.

We didn't have particularly high hopes for the food, but it was pretty disappointing, especially after Buntal. The food sat out all day everyday and was exactly the same for all three meals. A couple kinds of noodles, fried chicken, fried eggs, greasy rotis . . . you get the idea. At least they were well stocked in beer and water.

As it was only about 1pm we decided to get in a quick hike. We set off for a beach that was a 2.5 km hike with an estimated 1.5 hours one-way. The first 400 meters were pretty much vertical and then it flattened out, but you were shot out of the jungle into the baking heat and glaring sun. We persevered and after a very steep descent reached the beach. It was a small cove, completely surrounded by lush jungle. There were a few monkeys hanging about which scattered upon our arrival. We went for a quick swim to cool down and started back. We were running dangerously short on water it was pretty grueling. I marched straight into the canteen and downed a can of 100 plus and a 500ml bottle of water in about 3 minutes flat. I then and had one of the best showers of my life.

The next day we had big plans to take on one of the longer trails that was about 8km return. We stocked up with plenty of water this time and got an early start to beat the heat of the day. It was mercifully cloudy which really helped to keep the heat down; I’m not sure we would have made it in the blazing sunshine. We completed the hike and made incredibly good time, it took us about 5 hours which included a long break on the beach and several water breaks. It was probably some of the most difficult hiking I’ve ever done (only the great Pilatus descent, Switzerland, 2009 compares).

The flora and fauna in the park is amazing. We saw several kinds of carnivorous pitcher plants and all sorts of flowers, ferns and palms. The park is also home to monitor lizards of which we saw one that was about 2 feet long. There are also loads of wild pigs that hang around just snuffling in the grass. They come remarkably close to you and frequently block the way on the paths.

The most famous residents of the park are the proboscis monkeys. These monkeys are rare and only found in a few other places in Borneo. The Proboscis monkeys are quite large, with red-gold fur, long white tails, massive pot-bellies and very odd-looking, long, pointed noses. We were lucky enough to spot several of them twice as they come in early in the mornings to feed on the mangroves.

Two days was all the jungle I required so we packed up and returned to Kuching for the final day and half of our holiday.

Borneo: Part 5

I awoke refreshed, stiff and sore and then remembering my massage managed to drag myself out of bed. After a quick breakfast I marched over the little hut by the beach collapsed onto the massage table and let the masseuse work her magic. It was potentially the best 45 minutes of my life. She massaged nearly every square inch of my body from my pinky toes to eyebrows; when she was done I nearly said just do it again.

Reluctantly I departed and went to tell Ian all about it. After my ravings he decided that perhaps he would have a go after all, but upon finding out that he could only have a male masseuse he chickened out, saying that was too weird. I said he was ridiculous and missing out and spent a great deal of the rest of the day reminding him how amazing my massage was.

We logged a few more hours on the beach and had fun splashing in the waves. We sadly made our final trip to Buntal and enjoyed an absolutely divine meal of salt & pepper prawns, butter crab and steamed rice. We went back to the first restaurant we had tried in Buntal as it was quite easily the best.

We noticed that the girl who seated us spoke remarkably good English, we asked her if she had spent anytime in the UK and she told us that she had been living there for the past 11 years and just returned home two days ago.

We found this pretty remarkable; here was this young girl from a tiny fishing village in North Borneo whose parents own a tiny local restaurant and don’t speak so much as ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in English and managed to send their daughter off to the UK to study of all things, ballet.

It was pretty clear that her parents were beyond delighted to have her home and as we were backing out of the parking lot she was doling out gifts from the UK to what I assume were her younger cousins, nieces and nephews.

Borneo: Part 4

I bet you all thought I was done with Borneo, alas there are still more adventures, just been slow in getting them posted!

After a night of positively torrential rain, I was certain that we were in for another day of rain. But miraculously it cleared after breakfast and we enjoyed a lazy morning on the beach, it even got sunny enough for Ian to sustain a mild sunburn.

Unable to sit still for too long we packed up and decided to test out a hike we had spotted not far from our hotel. We parked the car and signed the sheet at the start of the trail marking our start time and leaving our mobile number (that probably should have been our first clue). The information board at the start said the total trail was 3.1 km and took about 5 hours – with it already being nearly 2:00 when we set off we had no intention of climbing Mount Santubong to the top (it did look pretty daunting). We settled for about halfway where there was a waterfall marked on the map. I will also note here that we were appropriately attired; hiking boots, trousers, bug spray etc.

We started and after a couple hundred meters the trail went more or less vertical. The trail was fairly well maintained but largely just followed streams running down the side of the mountain. It was hot, wet, muddy and steep. In fact, I have never been so hot in my entire life, it must have been well over 90 with the humidity at about the same. My shirt was soaked (in fact 36 hours later, it’s still wet) my hair dripping, I was miserable. Then I slipped and landed my foot in water just deep enough to come over the top of my boot; ten minutes later I swear to god I was suffering from trench foot.

The path was largely composed to twisted roots which provided an absolute abundance of excellent hiding places for any of the 115 species of snakes found in Borneo (don’t even get me started on the six types of flying tree snakes). The vegetation was dense and the mosquitoes the size of houseflies.

After an hour and a quarter of tough going we had barely completed a kilometre and there was no waterfall in sight. We came to yet another particularly steep bit and I put my foot down. I told Ian he could continue but he was just going to have to leave me here to die. With uncharacteristic energy he sprinted up the side of the mountain and 10 minutes later called my mobile (I was thrilled to discover we had reception) to inform me that he indeed had found the waterfall. I mustered the energy up the steep bit and then discovered that you had to virtually rappel down to the waterfall. Brave soul that I am, I managed.

We spent 10 minutes or so relaxing by the falls and then started back for the return journey. The return was far easier, but that didn’t stop me from complaining. I fell in again and could feel jungle water squelching between my toes, trying not to think of leeches I bravely carried on. An hour and a bit later when we emerged from the jungle the woman who runs that café at the base actually laughed at us. Laughed and pointed to the nearby stream, apparently suggesting that we were dirty, bedraggled and that we could do with a bit of a wash.

I had the best shower of my life, had a gin & tonic – purely medicinal as an extra layer of protection to fight off the malaria I had probably just contracted, booked myself in for a full body massage at 10 am the following morning and bade Ian take me to dinner and fill me with seafood until bursting point. After a delicious meal of kway teow, midin, red snapper and butter prawns I crawled back to the car, rolled into bed and slept soundly until I was awoken by another bout of torrential rain.

Borneo: Part 3

We awoke to more rain but unable to do anything about it, packed our bags for our next destination, Damai Beach. We took a wrong turn on the way driving past a woman with a several large tubes of bamboo roasting a fire.

Ian’s curiosity got the better of him so we pulled over to check it out. The tubes were filled with rice that had been soaked in some sort of green liquid and then roasted over the fire. We purchased one which the woman removed from the fire and then she peeled away the bamboo with pliers leaving the rice intact and held together by a very thin almost paper like layer of bamboo and then sliced the tube of rice into segments, just like sushi. The rice was tasty and I cannot begin to describe it or think of anything with which to compare it. Ian greatly enjoyed the novelty of the whole experience.

We made our way to our resort which is lovely, but the rain makes even the most impressive resort seem downright depressing. So we dropped our bags and went to explore the area. We drove through a couple of local villages ‘kampungs’ and found our way to the little gem that is Buntal. Locally quite famous, Buntal is a tiny village full of nothing but homes, fruit and veg stands and seafood restaurants.

We picked a restaurant at random for our lunch and were richly rewarded. The crab was clearly a local speciality so we asked the woman at the restaurant which was best, she didn’t speak much English but knew what we meant so she pointed to crab with egg. We also ordered some salt & pepper prawns and sat back and waited for our food to arrive. Shortly thereafter we received a huge pile of prawns fried and served on a heap of sea salt and the famed local Sarawak pepper.

Our crab came next, a mountain of cracked crab stir-fried in some sort of sauce which definitely contained egg and 5-spice, but after that I’m lost. It was delicious and messy. Fat and happy we returned to the hotel to digest and have a quick siesta. When we awoke it wasn’t exactly sunny, but there was at least a large patch of blue sky over the beach so we took a stroll and spotted some sea otters and decided that we should most definitely return to Buntal in search of our dinner.

Borneo: Part 2

Well despite a rainy day our impression of this place is not diminished and our spirits remain (mostly) intact. As yesterday was Ian’s 30th, we thought we’d make it extra special by going and paying a visit to the Orang-utans. The sanctuary here in Sarawak is home to about 20-odd orang-utans which have been rescued or were formerly kept as pets and have now been rehabilitated and roam freely within the reserve.

While we were waiting for the feeding area to open three orang-utans obliged us with an early visit. One juvenile, who plainly enjoyed showing off came crashing through the trees and was swinging around from branch to branch and hanging upside down. A mother with a tiny baby clinging to her also came along and the three of them came quite near, no further than 10 meters away and at one point were more or less overhead. Although later one of the park rangers piped up with this warning, ‘If they throw a small thing this is lucky, sometimes they throw a branch, sometimes they throw a snake, sometimes they throw a beehive.’ Thankfully, nothing was thrown.

After mother and baby departed another mother and baby came along and gave us a second photo opportunity. We were then allowed into the feeding area where we had to walk a couple hundred meters into the jungle. In there we found another young male who was greedily gobbling up fruit. At one point he had an entire bunch of bananas stuffed in his mouth and a mango in each foot. There were only about two dozen people there but easily must have been at least $50,000 worth of camera equipment. Needless to say it was a pretty special experience and amazingly only cost $1.00 each.

After the orang-utans we went Anna Rias which is a traditional Dayak village which welcomes visitors that sits right on the Indonesian border. On our way the gas tank suddenly dipped to near zero and started flashing. With no other option, we pulled over at a shack that had a motor services sign (no gas pump in site) and asked the barefooted, bare-chested proprietor if he had any petrol. I’m pretty sure he thought we were as strange as we found him. From nowhere he produced about five 1.5 litre Coke and 100 Plus bottles that had been refilled with gasoline. After Ian took a quick sniff to confirm it was indeed petrol, the man began emptying the Coke bottles into the gas tank and we were on our way.

We went and had a wander around the village and were offered a sample of their homemade rice wine (it was surprisingly good). The entire village is more or less on giant, rambling longhouse built about 15 feet off the ground and the floors made of strips of bamboo lashed together. The village was an odd collision of worlds, plenty of people were sitting around milling grain and weaving baskets and rattan mats whilst the place was dotted with astro satellites, children were running around with their Nintendo DS in hand and there was even a banner announcing their presence on Facebook.

We then returned to Kuching and had a delicious dinner of crispy soft-shell crab, Thai-style tilapia, midin which is a local jungle fern that looks like a bit like samphire but tastes like a slightly more bitter version of spinach and some rather boozy margaritas. Dinner was delicious and our lady-boy waitress took a very keen interest in Ian. She wouldn’t even look at me. We then had a few birthday beers and calling it a successful day, made it home in the pouring rain.

Borneo: Part 1

We’ve made it Borneo and Ian is greatly reassured by being back on an island. He doesn’t understand land borders and doesn’t like living in a place that has them. In any event, we’ve arrived and although we haven’t really even done anything yet, this is quickly shaping up to be one of my favourite trips.

We landed in Kuching around lunchtime after a lengthy delay due to crashed computer systems in KL and a bumpy ride over the South China Sea. The airport was full of Malay, Chinese, Sarawak natives and a handful of tired, hardened Western travellers with mud-caked boots and dripping with jungle-gear all getting flights either back to civilization or into deepest, darkest Borneo.

I had fairly high expectations for Kuching, as I had (as always) done my homework before coming. My expectations were further heightened when just days after sorting out the final details of our trip I stumbled upon a massive spread in the NYT about Borneo in which the author (a writer for Lonely Planet) had recently not only done a trip that included our exact itinerary, but also stayed in the same guesthouse that just days before we had booked ourselves into.

After a quick taxi ride in from the airport we arrived at our guesthouse and were greeted by Eric, the now-famed guesthouse proprietor from the NYT article. He set us up asked where we were from and proudly displayed for us the recent article that someone had been kind enough to send him from the States.

Our room was just what we required. Luxurious for having it’s own bathroom and AC, but basic in a thoroughly charming way and an absolute bargain at $25 a night. We are a short walk into town, but far enough away to not attract a lot of backpackers and it is mercifully quiet; more or less an adult hostel.

We set out to explore Kuching and it was instantly a refreshing break from KL. Quiet, clean (as little garbage as I have seen anywhere in Asia, save Japan) and we quickly found that drivers even use turn-signals here. Apparently, you come to Borneo for a bit of civilization.

The waterfront along the Sarawak River is incredibly picturesque. Renovated in 1993 it has a wide cobblestone path that winds along the river where there are a few scattered food-stalls serving satay and fruit juice with plenty of locals milling about chatting and relaxing on park benches. Local boats, that look like canoes with a little roof on them ferry people back and forth across the river, including loads of school children. A few fishermen also dot the river and from nearly every point along the path you have an unimpeded view of the impressive Sarawak state capitol building which not totally incongruously alongside little scatterings of traditional Malay homes built on stilts. At sunset the sky went several shades or pink, purple, yellow and orange and little fairy lights came on, lighting the way along the waterfront.

Sarawak is well-known as a place to buy native hand-crafts. Souvenir shops line the streets behind the waterfront, plenty of them selling corny t-shirts and factory made versions of traditional items. Carry on though and you quickly learn to distinguish the tat from the real deal. There is plenty of cool stuff to be had here, local medicine pots, swords, statues to keep away evil spirits and hand-woven textiles. Even better, you can go into these places and the store clerks don’t stalk you and walk around telling you they’ll give you ‘best discount.’ You can browse in peace.

Which brings me round to the locals themselves; we had been told by friends before coming that the locals everywhere in Borneo are incredibly friendly. We believed them but clearly didn’t grasp just how friendly. People constantly say hello to you, not in a pestering way, but genuinely just to say hello and welcome. Little children who can muster up the courage to overcome their shyness love to say hello and give you a vigorous little wave.

There are of course, as everywhere, plenty of other Westerners about, but on the whole this place feels remarkably un-touristy. No crowds, no queues, no hassle. In many ways it’s like a smaller, quieter Melaka.

The food here is absolutely amazing. Everything has the same name as in peninsular Malaysia, but tastes quiet different. Ian had a beef rendang yesterday that was clearly cooked in the same method – melt in your mouth tender with plenty of coconut milk, but the spicing was completely unlike anything we’d had before. We also had the best Kway Teow (which is essentially the Malaysian version of pad-Thai) that we’ve had yet and even our chicken satay was just that little bit different. Perhaps best of all, an ice cold can of Tiger will only set you back about $1.50.

Melaka

On Saturday we packed our bags and headed south to here:

Melaka is certainly one of the more famous and more popular tourist destinations in Malaysia.  Our Rough Guide gets a bit down on it for being touristy (and then devotes 20+ pages to it), but despite all the tourists we found it quite pleasant and a nice break from KL.  Melaka (also sometimes spelled Malacca) is one of the oldest cities in Malaysia (14th century) and at one time was certainly one of the most important both in cultural and economic terms.  It was originally founded by a Sumatran prince in exile who got on well with the locals and Melaka quickly became an affluent trading outpost between India and Indonesia.

Thanks to its strategic location and wealth Melaka proved irrestible to the Europeans and as a result Melaka has a particularly long and varied colonial history.  The Portugese cruised in about 1500 and then 100 years later the Dutch relieved the Portugese of their duites.  The Dutch hung on for nearly 200 years but they were no match for the Brits who, save the Japanese occupation during the Second World War, hung onto it until Malay independence in 1957.  On top of this the Chinese have been flocking to Melaka for a couple hundred years as well.  The result, is a bizarrely coherent yet wonderfully diverse little town that deservedly (I think) achieved UNESCO World Heritage status 2 years ago.

Aside from the wonderful architecture, Christian churches, Buddhist temples, mosques and Hindu shrines sit quite happily next to each other, the food and the markets are the real highlight.  The standout food of Melaka, commonly referred to as Nyonya cooking is based on Chinese ingredients and cooking techniques with local Malay and Indonesian (and occassionally Indian) herbs and spices.  The result is amazing.

As for the markets you can buy all the usual tat that you can get at any market anywhere in the world but there are some standout shops particularly in terms of furniture and antiques.  It is a reprint, and after some mediocre haggling Ian picked up an amazing map of British Malaya ca. 1834 for about $15.00.  Borneo appears almost entirely blank with the following note:

'Borneo produces gold, tin, diamonds, camphor, spices &c.  Interior unknown but inhabited by the aboriginal Dayaks, & the coasts by Malays & Chinese.  Borneo is three times larger than Great Britain & divided into several independent states. Probable population 3,000,000.'

Our House

I sit writing this entry from here:

Today Ian and I made our first proper (ie non-Ikea) furniture purchase as a couple.  We bought a very lovely teak table and chair set for our patio.  Since moving here I have discovered just how (comparatively) cheap beautiful teak furniture is in this part of the world and I'm determined to kit our whole house out in it piece by piece. Sadly, this is going to take awhile, but it does give me plenty of time to shop around and so Ian knows what to get me for Xmas and birthday the next couple of years. 

Beyond our patio, this is about as furnished as our condo is at the moment:

But nevermind, our stuff from England should be with us in a few months and in the mean time I'm sure I can nag Ian plenty about using coasters and not scratching the new table.

On another note, we booked tickets to Borneo today for Ian's 30th.  We are going to Sarawak for 10 days at the end of February and early March to see the Probiscus monkeys and other wildlife in Bako National Park, visit some indigenous villages and hopefully not get malaria. But more on that as the time gets nearer.  Needless to say, both I and American Express have had a very good day.