Back from Pulau Tioman

After two days in transit between planes, buses, trains, a boat, some walking and some swearing, Kev and I made it to Tioman Island, a large tourist island with beaches and what not. The place we had booked to stay at had a few too many resident critters so we moved to a different place that was quite beautiful. We woke in the morning to monkeys playing on our deck. Monkeys are a first for me, so they still entertain me - rumour has it they start to get annoying when they try to take your food. In the meantime though, we've had many more problems with cats trying to steal our meals than with any monkeys. The cats try the cute approach, as well as the abrasive meowing thing to see if we'll feed them. They all look like they're about 2 months old.

Anyways, we had tons of fun on the beach, apparently I don't know how to stand, or handle waves in general. You can imagine the show with me rolling around and drowning in waves while people sip drinks from the shore. We managed - magically - not to get burnt and have not been too eaten by mosquitoes. Oh and the place we ate was right on the ocean, great for looking out at the sunset and relaxing while eating - though we may have interrupted a family watching a soap opera or something. There were a couple lizards walking around like they owned the place (about 4ft with tail) and some geckos for entertainment. Oh and two random goats with rope attached to their neck but not tied to anything...maybe it's a psychological way of keeping them near the home. We came back to the mainland today and are taking a boat to another island, Pulau Besar, in a couple of hours. There were no working phones on Tioman and there won't be where we're going again. The internet was readily available though.

We've changed our plans a number of times because of weather and in the interest of missing monsoons on the east cost. Next up: Melakka, a big historical centre with Old Portuguese, Dutch and Chinese areas. Should be a change of pace.

The people are kind. Besides the excessively aggressive salesman in the streets working on commission that follow you around shouting names of places you may be going everyone is very helpful and understanding.

Well I'm boring myself so I should probably stop. I hope that everyone's well.

Kev has no comment at this time.