Malaysia

We took an overnight train from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. We opted to travel in first class on the train which gave us two cabins, each with two beds and a bathroom including a shower. All the personnel on the train wore railway uniforms however our cabin attendant was dressed like a rock star. He had the rock star sunglasses, a popped collar and a gem-studded belt which made me laugh a little. Arriving in KL at 7am, we made our way to the hostel then got tickets to go up to the skybridge of the Petronas Towers. For the rest of the morning we visited the KL Aquarium. On our second day we slept in and worked out scuba arrangements for the Perhentians. We then walked around for a few hours and devided to visit the KL Bird Park. As soon as we went through the gate, a few of the birds took a liking to Neil's shoes. After some time in the park, a downpour started which trapped us a 5 minute run from the exit. We waited a little for the rain to stop but when it kept strong, we decided to run and get out. In hindsight, the running was useless. We were soaked in the first minute and any rain after that did not matter!

Phil's epic breakfast... I believe that it is bigger than him!

The Petronas Towers.

Mmmm, I love shoelaces!

The highlight of our Malaysia experience has been learning to scuba dive in the Perhentian islands. We arrived took an overnight train from KL to the north of Malaysia then took an hour-long taxi ride to a town on the coast. A 30 minute fast-boat ride then brought us to the Perhentians. The 18 hour trip from Kuala Lumpur to the island cost us about $30 each including the sleeper train, 1 hour taxi and ferry.

When we arrived, the owner of the dive shop who we had spoken to the previous day greeted us on the beach. We had decided earlier that we wanted to do the PADI Open Water Diver course. The course takes 4 days and afterwards we would be certified divers. The whole experience was great. In out 4 days we had 2 shallow dives for practicing skills then 4 deeper dives, the deepest to 17m. After our course, we decided we like it so much that we stayed another day to do a deep dive and a wreck dive. We plan on continuing our diving adventures in Thailand and in the Red Sea.

The Perhentian Islands.

Our dive centre - Turtle Bay Divers

Diving facts about Neil:

• Neil is an air breathing machine, he would typically breathe one third more air than the rest of us.
  
• Neil is a buoyancy monster. He is the skinniest and should require very little extra weight but it turns out he needed more than anyone else.
  
• Neil's fins were as long as Melissa's legs.
  Wetsuits don't come in Neil's size. His was loose and baggy.
  
• Neil is incapable of balancing on the floor of the sea. He would slowly drift and fall.