Shopping and Party Time

Everyone surfaced at a reasonable time on the second day determined to try and get over the jetlag without suffering too much. There were still some very tired eyes but a quick game of badminton (for the more energetic members of the party) and a swim soon woke everyone up. We had decided to hit the local shopping centre for some food and to check out the shops and so we called a couple of cabs and headed out.

The shopping centre is pretty big and filled with a combination of international stores and local shops. We decided to eat first and I tucked into a plate of chicken and prawn fried noodles with cockles. Again the food was really good and prepared me for an afternoon of shopping. A lot of the stuff you can buy in the shops over here is not a lot cheaper than in England particularly in more well know places. There are still bargains to be had though and the girls certainly managed to find them. By the end of the afternoon the men had retired to a coffee shop for a drink where we decided to have a bet on how many bags the three girls would come back with. Rich had the highest amount, fifteen, and he was still six bags short. Even more unbelievable was the fact that they quickly pointed out that they would have to come back as they had only managed to get round just over half the centre in the three and a bit hours we were there. I have no idea how they do it.

Doug managed to get hold of some of his friends while we were shopping and we had soon been invited to the sister of a friend of a friends birthday party that evening. Some of the crew were feeling a bit tired by the time we got home and so myself, Rich and Doug headed off to make an appearance at the party with Doug's friends Shirley and Sam.

The party was at the home of Indian family and was quite different to any party I have been to before. There were caterers and waiters making sure you never had to move too far from your seat, and we were fed and had our glasses refilled constantly until it was time to leave. You'll get bored of me saying it but again the food was amazing particularly the Lamb curries and a tofo and cockle curried noodle soup. Doug's friends are some of the nicest people you could ever meet and by the time we'd been there an hour Rich and I were chatting away like we'd know them our whole life. I'm sure we were also of amusement to them especially when we started asking them about some of the weird and wonderful things we'd already seen since entering the country. The thing they found most entertaining was the fact that we thought the builders residence on the local building site was some sort of shanty market. The place these builders live has to be seen to be believed especially since we are in the middle of monsoon season. Any UK construction worker who has ever complained about the standard of their porta-cabin should be thankful for what they have!

Shirley's boyfriend Carl gave us a lift back to the flat and we managed to get our first look at the Twin Towers in KL centre in the distance. Apparently you used to be able to see them from the balcony in Doug's flat but they have recently erected a huge new complex a couple of miles away and so you can't anymore. Carl is a half Chinese half Danish kickboxing instructer and apparently gets called "The Viking" by a lot of his mates. He and Shirley were trying to convince us to go for some sparring with them next week but with no martial arts or boxing experience there is no way on earth I am risking my teeth against people who train three times a week, especially not when I'd seen Carl shadow boxing and talked to him about it a bit. Doug is probably going to go down though and we're all looking forward to watching him put his training into practice in the ring.

The jetlag has kicked in hard by late evening and most of us were still up and about after 4am. Rich and I headed out to get some more food shortly after four and tucked into some chicken and rice at a local cafe while watching Sale vs Northampton egg chasing on the telly. We finally started to feel a bit tired after that and went to bed at about 5ish. Another busy day!

Just a couple of things that I don't know where to fit in anywhere else. Firstly for all you Lost viewers out there the final episode of series one is a must see although Doug and I are now very disappointed that we are going to have to wait a while to see the second series. Also, the internet cafes over here are crazy. I am sitting writing this with shouts of "Monster Kill" and "Killing Spree" ringing out accompanied with excited shouts and a lot of gunfire. To say these people like their online gaming would be a massive understatement.