Back from the beach

Hi readers :)

Sorry for the lack of recent updates - there's been rather a lot of uncertainty in the air, and it's also really hot here, making me feel very lazy! As I sit here in our hotel (nice place, with WIFI - woohoo) I'm sweating a lot due to the humidity. Time to bring you up to date then! And, if the technological gods allow, I will post a photographic story of our time here so far in just a moment...

We left Juara beach about a week ago (after a month of doing very little indeed :-D ), and after another brief stop-over in Mersing, we are back in KL, and have been here since Friday last week. We had a few things we wanted to do here, which I hope you'll forgive me for not detailing here, but everything has turned out just fine.

So now, Aurelie and I have been talking over what we want to do next, and we haven't quite yet decided where, but I think we'll go and visit some new places on Friday, and we'll probably leave a lot of our luggage here at this hotel. It's only 2 Ringgits to leave a case per day (20 pence) so no problem there. I expect we'll stay on Peninsular Malaysia for now, as there's a great deal to see and do here, and then take it from there. Ah, such beautiful freedom! We may go the Cameron Highlands (mountainous / hilly ex-colonial tea plantation area) or maybe another beach, or Taman Negara, a national park of 150 million year old virgin rainforest. We'll see what the blonde one says.

But, for now, here are some of the better photos I've taken so far, starting all the way back on the 25th March, when I took a photo of Aurelie and I just before we got on the place in Paris CDG. We're a bit browner now!!

Then, after a couple of days here I came across a giant snail which I wanted to give a little kiss.

We then went sightseeing of course. First one here is the lovely Aurelie with both the KL tower and the Petronas towers in the background (just about visible).

Then you have my ugly mug in the same area (I think it's independence square or something similar, right in the heart of KL, where the colonial buildings are still retained. The patch of grass you can just see is in fact a cricket pitch!)

Then on another day we went up the KL tower (expensive but you only live once eh?). You can see La Méduse Dorée (Aurelie - her name is the same in French as a species of golden jellyfish) gazing out over the city.

So then we went to Tioman island. The first pic is Au under a banana tree.

Next is a photo of where we stayed for a month or so. It was called Juara Mutiara, and we stayed in a room amongst a row of chalets, and the garden you see here was just in front. The beach is just on the other side of the brown building (the cafe).

The view from the cafe. Au is thinking about having a swim in the clear blue sea (possibly).

The beach. It was, naturally speaking, absolutely amazing. A long curve of fine sand between headland on either side covered in jungle. First time I've seen something like that. Here is the left hand side. The jetty was in fact more or less in the middle (quite an eyesore, to be honest).

A six-toed cat.

Almost a full moon over the beach.

A monitor lizard. There were plenty around on Tioman island, which pleased me greatly. And of course I love all the little geckos everywhere in Malaysia - I've always liked lizards. In fact, I had a pair as pets once - they both escaped.

My back after the sandflies had their way - Au counted over 150 (see earlier posts).

So we then went to Tekek through the jungle to see the doctor (the first of many such treks). It was very hot, so I wore a teatowel on my head.

A strange looking bug we saw in the jungle.

Aurelie in our room. We had the sign on the door as our tranquility had been invaded by noisy Chinese tourists.

A very large beetle that wanted to nest in my towel - it took me 10 minutes to get him off!

Aurelie with a knife! Run! (She was getting the coconut flesh out after we'd drunk the milk).

A sandfly. After a couple of weeks, another couple told us that if you wore baby oil (or oily sun lotion) then they would die when they land on your skin. So I sunbathed tranquilly after that (not sure ifI mentioned that before). Sales petites bestioles.

Here is a photo of 2 of the kids from the famil who owned the chalets. Kimi and Lisa. Towards the end of our time there, about 50 % of all the kids would say 'Hello Ben' when they saw me. :) Some of them even managed to say "Aurelie"!! (But it sounded a bit like Horegly)

Another wierd jungle beasty. Anyone any ideas what it might be? Does its head hold any clues? Parasitic?

A monitor lizard on the jungle steps (it was very steep) who refused to move out of the way. I had to cajole him / her with a stick.

A beautiful old tree,which has the appearance of a hand over the rock at the bottom.

Me and Aurelie on our 10 month anniversary. I put on my linen trousers and a shirt for the occasion, and Aurelie her skirt. Aren't we pretty! :)

Me with a huge mutant banana.

Juara to the right (the following pictures were all taken at sunrise).

to the left...

the jetty

here comes the sun, doodo - do do :)

A large wasp like creature.

A beautiful smile.

A deserted coral beach I visited on a day trip. Au stayed at 'home' as she didn't want to snorkel.

A carving that Aurelie and I did. Well we had to do something with our time, other than reading and playing chess!!

We then gave it to our friend Nurul, who was the daughter of the owner of the chalets. A lovely sweet girl, always happy and helpful.

Phew! Are you still with me? I have lots more,  but my battery is running low! Let me just give you two we took recently in KL. First, here's me in the Orchid gardens (wasn't all that great).

 

and finally Aurelie near a huge grey palm like plant.

So that'll do for now.I hope you liked them (I also pray that my computer or this website isn't about to lose all my hard work). I'll write again soon, when we know what we're doing. One last thing to note - I had an interesting experience yesterday in the Central market. There was a 'fish spa' where one puts ones feet into a small pool with lots of fish, and they clean off all the dead skin with their mouths. So I had a go. Imagine hundreds of little mouths tickling / sucking / rasping your feet all over - an incredible (not necessarily good) sensation.  Aurelie, perhaps wisely, kept her feet firmly flip-flopped. Oh and thanks for your comment Ewa - good to know someone still reads this!

Comments

[Marga]

Great photos guys!!

[Asia No.1]

Wonderful pictures! I'm impressed by the nature. Lovely your girfriend, Ben:)

[Em]

Hey Ben & Aurelie.... FAB photos, looks lovely there. Lovely to read your news, keep in touch xxx

[mc]

un petit coucou de marie :) jolies photos et tres joli paysage, si vous trouvez du travail je viendrai squatter chez vous à mes prochaines vacances :)
biZouXxxxxxx

[Kati Strong]

Thank you for posting all the photos. And commentary. Apparently, Aurelie tells me nothing! Please tell her she's in big trouble now! :-)
Hugs and Kisses,
Kati