Singapura City

Location: Singapore

NP: Antiloop - Nowhere to Hide

Mood: Blissful

The MRT slid into view from behind the concrete pillars at Aljunied Station. The station was all polished stone and metal and glass. And it was clean. Far cleaner than I was accustomed to by now in all the slums they called cities that I had visited. On the way there it had rained a little. This was in Geylang, one of the shadiest districts in the city. And still it was clean.

A vast urban metropolis with futuristic skyscrapers, strict rules and cleanliness surpassing any other Asian city. This is Singapore, the "nicest place you'll find in Southeast Asia" according to Lonely Planet. I was to spend just two short days here and meet an old friend.

She sat on the bench at City Hall Interchange and smiled at the sunset in Marina Bay. This abstract landscape of skyscrapers, water and park seemed calm and fragile like an illusion that's ready to pop. On the background flocks of tourists failed to capture on film the beauty of their surroundings. And the gay mermaid lion stood as a proud icon of the bay area.

It may be expensive by Asian standards, but Singapore is also efficient, safe and modern. For a large metropolis, it is surprisingly smooth and relaxing. It is a dashing urban monument for future generations of corporate leaders - efficient, strict and to the point.

Epic Gear at the basement of Sim Lim Square in Little India was a tiny computer shop where I'd been invited to meet an old friend I'd met on the Internet over 15 years ago, when I entered the enchanting world of MUDs as a teenager. One of the owners is another friend from the same game, from a time so far away that it seemed almost unreal to meet them.

Blackice and Marlboro in all their glory at Epic Gear.

The name Singapore is derived from the sanskrit words of siMha and pura, meaning "lion" and "city" respectively. With a population of about 5 million this single city-state holds almost as many people as my entire home country, all packed into an area of 697 square kilometers, which is only 0,2% of the surface area of Finland. Yet somehow, apart from a few select places, this enormous population density did not seem overwhelming.

Singapore had much left to offer and much more to be explored. We'd had far too little time, but oh how I had enjoyed it. I left her there on Aljunied station, torn to leave so quickly, so abruptly. The ease of the MRT was something worth noting. Perhaps they could learn a thing or two about this system in Tokyo. Stepping off at Tanah Merah station on the green line, the MRT to Chanqi Airport was already there, waiting. The airport was just two stations away.

Goodbye Singapore. One day I must come back and see you again.

Getting into Singapore

Location: Singapore

NP: Metallica - No Leaf Clover

Mood: Disgruntled

We took the bus from Malacca straight to Singapore for 24 ringgit (6 euros). The bus made a brief stop at Johor Bahru and then continued straight to the border checkpoints. This is how it's supposed to work: You have to disembark the bus at the Malaysian checkpoint, pass the checkpoint and get a stamp on your passport, get back on the bus, step out of it again at the Singaporean checkpoint and board it again for a ride to town. Getting out of Malaysia was easy and without hassles, but getting into Singapore was far from it.

We arrived at the Singaporean checkpoint at about 7 PM. Clearing immigration took us about 30-45 minutes (we had to fill an entrance form and queue), after which we went to declare one bottle of booze per passenger in the toll office (required for those entering from Malaysia). It took us another 30-45 minutes and they wanted us to pay nearly 12 SGD (7.5 euros) of taxes for the two bottles we had.

It was more than the bottles had cost. Thus we wished to leave the bottles at the customs, which also seemed problematic. We couldn't just leave them there for them to dispose of. Instead we would have to wait for this to take place, I suppose, which the official estimated would take 10 minutes. Then, when we seemed hesitant to accept this, another official, probably of higher status, came by and told us it would be okay to take the bottles through customs this time without taxes, but we had to open them up there in the office. Fine, no problems there. Though I was tempted to take a gulp of Sangsom as I opened the bottle.

The problem with the border checkpoint is that there aren't any currency exchange points or ATMs and you are required to take a bus out of immigration - you may not walk out. This would work out well, if the same bus with which you'd come from Malaysia would wait for you.

Ours had not.

It wasn't really surprising, seeing how long it took for us to get past the checkpoint. We noticed most of the buses waited for just 10 minutes before moving on after arriving. So now the officials adviced us to wait for the next bus from the same company. That should take us into the city.

So we did.

Singapore's strict rules - a sign by the river in Singapore.

After about an hour of waiting, a bus from Starmart (which was the company that had taken us to the border from Malacca) arrived. We asked the driver if there was room on the bus for us. He asked us to wait for his original passengers to board first. So we did. After about 10 minutes, the driver went in to see how many seats were left on the bus. There was only one, so he could not take us into town. He told us to wait for another bus from Starmart that he claimed would be there in just 10 minutes.

We waited for an hour.

I went to ask the customs officials for advice again and they said they didn't know the schedules for the buses and had no idea if another bus from Starmart would be there today. They suggested we use a taxi that would cost us about 30 SGD (18.7 euros) or wait some more. We asked if we could get a ride on one of the other companies buses to which they responded by telling us the other companies usually didn't allow this, but that we would be welcome to try and bargain with the drivers for passage.

A notice at Chanqi Airport.

We decided to wait for a while longer. The whole experience was getting on my nerves.

When less and less buses started appearing at the border (with none from Starmart), we decided to try and bargain with the drivers. The first driver declined, but the second one agreed to take us into the city for 20 SGD. We told him we had no local currency. He then accepted Malaysian Ringgits. 50 of them would do (about 12 euros). The price was far more than the entire bus trip from Malacca had cost us, but it seemed a cheaper option than a taxi.

The bus took us to town and dropped us off at Novena at 2 AM. In the end we had to take a taxi (costing 8 SGD) anyway, because the locals in Novena didn't know where Little India was nor could they point north or south for us...

Tired, disgruntled and sweaty we arrived at the hostel we'd planned on staying at only to find out it had closed its doors two years ago. There was another, much more expensive hotel in its place from the same hotel chain. The receptionist kindly pointed us to a nearby guesthouse with dormitory accommodation on Dunlop Street (costing 28 SGD per night) that, as we later in the night found out, was filled with cockroaches.

Ahh, the pleasures of travelling... But at least we had beds and a roof over us. It would do for the night.

The Sad Goodbye

Location: Malacca, Malaysia

NP: Mors Principium Est - Into Illusion

Mood: Wistful

Malaysia was supposed to be a relatively short stop for us, but here we are, still in Malacca after 15 days. The city took us by storm when we had little expectations. Perhaps this, as it is with movies, is the correct way to experience new places. With no expectations there are no disappointments, only surprises.

This time our focus was shifted from nightlife and drinking to food and limited exploration. Part of the reason is the high price of beer, but also this city seems ill-suited for the young and reckless. It can be enjoyed much more by the mature and cultured.

We have not even visited the Pure Bar, which I hear is the only real nighttime stomping ground in the city. No, this city requires a different outlook.

Most of our exploration has been focused on Chinatown, which is really close to the hotel after we found the shortcut through a building I mentioned in an earlier post. They have a big night market on Jonker Street every weekend and the Chinese karaoke on a stage at the end of the street is both amusing and loud.

Yesterday we also visited Little India, which is very little indeed, and tried some Nyonya Nasi Lemak - a dish of rice cooked with coconut milk, chicken, peanuts and small, crispy fish. This time, unlike the first time we tried it (Ipoh Nasi Lemak at Mahkota Parade's food court), it was very good. There's not much to be said about Little India here though. It's too small to merit a visit and the best local Indian restaurant (Pak Putra) is not located there.

It must be said that the food court in the Mahkota Parade mall is quite poor. Though there are many vendors and I've eaten four dishes there, none of them have been good. Otherwise the mall is quite nice, though it could use more free seating (there are many massaging chairs around that cost to use and make a sound if you sit in them without paying for the massage function).

Small amounts of culture have also trickled through our daily eating frenzy. Apart from the European architecture and fortifications, there are some sights to be seen from earlier inhabitants. One of them is the Cheng Hoon Teng Temple (Green Clouds Temple). Being built in 1673, it claims to be the oldest functioning Chinese temple in Malaya. It is open to visitors daily and some of the altars are engulfed with serene chanting.

Malacca had been good to us, but tomorrow we will be saying goodbye to the city. We will be saying goodbye to our friendly receptionist and the taciturn but lovely Chinese nightman at Kota Lodge, to the game-playing son and the serious mother at the Kappan House and the pretty Vietnamese waitress at Far East Cafe, to the bats that shriek in the night over Jonker Street, the staff of How Kuai and the elderly lady at the gym, to the lady at the laundry house just across the street, the Chinese man who taught us how to dine in the local Chinese restaurants and the many vendors on the night market every weekend.

Mika and Maymay, the receptionist at Kota Lodge.

Thank you. See you again soon, I hope. Or perhaps never again.

Tomorrow we leave for the futuristic expanse of Singapore's urban sprawl where I'll be certain to reap some new experiences, first of them being the wonder of dormitory accommodation...

I am cautiously optimistic.

The Running Man

Location: Malacca, Malaysia

NP: Guns N' Roses - You Could Be Mine

Mood: Energetic

The sun was up and the rugged road felt harsh under my slim soled Binsin sneakers. Cars lined the parking lots and filled the streets. It was difficult to run among such commotion so I steered to the smaller, bleaker streets. They lead me into a residential area by the river. Locals stared at me from the shade of their restaurants as if I was a madman. As if only madmen ran at this hour of the day.

It seemed so safe here. It was getting familiar. Getting lost seemed difficult, if not impossible. The lady at the reception had hollered a cheerful "hello" and "good morning" as I'd passed her.

Cars. They were everywhere. Even on these smaller roads you had to keep an eye out for traffic. Through the headphones of my mp3 player Axl Rose claimed I could be his.

My Sansa Clip+ mp3 player had been essential on this trip. It would keep me entertained through long rides and packed flights, through hours of road and crowded airports. It had told me of the troubles of Honor Harrington on Basilisk Station and articulated Stephen King's opinions on writing. It would switch off the noise of the world when that was what I needed.

Two large, crazy dogs of brown and black barked at me as I approached their den by the road. One was in a cage, but one was free, taking shelter from the merciless sun under a car. They barked and growled and bared teeth. I kept approaching. A local man parked his car at a neighbour's house next to the dogs, but decided to remain inside the car and just honk. Someone appeared on the balcony.

The caged dog slammed against the rickety chain-link fence, growling furiously. And I approached with all the brash abandon Pretty Maids' "Eye of the Storm" playing on the mp3 player could muster. Which was not much. Wild eyes glared at me from under the car and the beast's ferocious barks sounded like thunderclaps in my ears.

And then I was past.

The water of the shower felt cool on my sweaty skin. For a moment the water stopped abruptly, leaving me abound with soapy ooze, but after a minute continued again as if nothing had happened.

Nothing had happened. Nothing needed to happen. To be and to breathe it in was all that was required. There were no worries.

Still in Malacca

Location: Malacca, Malaysia

NP: Metallica - One

Mood: Spirited

What a strangely attractive city Malacca is. It hides many little things unnoticeable at first glance. I'm not sure I'd care to leave, though I know that soon we must move on. This is my tenth day here.

I'm still discovering new things about this place every day. Just this morning I finally realized the inner workings of a place called Pasar Taman Kota Laksamana, which is a bazaar across the street from our hotel we'd never seen open. Today I noticed that it's open early in the morning and closes at midday or even before! Many customers visited the place today, but they're all gone by the time we usually wander outside the confines of Kota Lodge, our hotel.

Today I noticed them because yesterday we finally switched to a room with a window and a balcony.

Last evening we visited a gym located at the far end of Jonker Street. We had always had to walk a route that was nowhere near as straight as we would've liked, because tightly built buildings blocked direct access to Jonker Street from here. Yesterday, when on our way to the gym, we noticed an elderly Chinese woman with a bicycle and a red helmet moving through a secluded building with an open iron gate in front. She stopped by the gate and looked at us. We were still staring at her, looking puzzled. What was that building? Could we get across from there?

She said something to us and pointed on the other side of the building, to the direction she'd just come from. I asked something similar to "Can we pass through there?" to which she responded by beckoning us over. So we went through the gate, thanked her, walked through a building which housed a private parking lot and appeared on Jonker Street! Thank you, Chinese lady with a red helmet!

We've also already found no less than three favourite restaurants here: Far East Cafe, How Kuai Restaurant and Pak Putra. Each one serves excellent food that has a decent amount of meat in a portion. Far East Cafe has a Vietnamese cook, we learned, and the slightly expensive (13 ringgit - 3,25 € + extra for rice) pork dishes there are superb.

Pineapple pork and rice at Far East Cafe.

How Kuai was a strange find - it's small and often closed, but if you manage to get in, try the black pepper chicken chop. For just 5,5 ringgit (1,4 €) you'll give your tastebuds a bit of peppery heaven.

Black pepper chicken chop at How Kuai.

Pak Putra is a well-known local eatery (it's even mentioned on Lonely Planet) just on the other side of the block from our hotel. It's pretty packed every night, but the combination of chicken dishes (8,5 ringgit - 2,1 €) and nan bread (about 2,5 to 3,5 ringgit) is delicious.

Also, don't forget to try the local specialties: Nonya food (which you can get at Far East Cafe), pineapple tarts (delicious! But get them from LW Nyonya Pineapple Tarts House on Jonker Street because quality varies a lot) and Cendol (though not my favourite, it was alright and different, like a mixture between icecream and milkshake with odd bits).

I notice I'm getting hungry as I write this. Maybe it's time to wake up my snoring travelling companion and wander outside for a bite to eat.

Damn it - I forget. None of these restaurants opens before 5 PM.

Meeting the Locals

Location: Malacca, Malaysia

NP: Eppu Normaali - Näin kulutan aikaa

Mood: Relaxed

The friendly mother and daughter at Sea Garden Resort & Spa's reception.

The people that you meet among your travels are many and range from the sneaky tuk-tuk driver to the burly fisherman by the pier. As a traveller, the people you meet most by far are those offering some sort of public service, such as waiters in a restaurant, barkeepers, shopkeepers, hotel receptionists and taxi drivers. At times you might meet students or band members at a pub or some local hangout.

Like the most entertaining tuk-tuk driver we met in Bangkok, or the singer we met at Post Laser Disc in Hat Yai.

The singer of Post Laser Disc in Hat Yai.

And then there are the other travellers - people that are just passing by (or live there for now) and spending their time at the same haunts you choose to spend yours.

Like a Dutch man and her Malaysian wife with whom we watched football in a bar in Malacca.

We've been fortunate enough to run into some locals during these past weeks of travel. The most common way for us at least has been meeting people more than once by visiting the same spots more than once, which makes it more natural to engage in conversation, for them or for us.

Like the girl who claimed to have seen me walk by every day on Koh Pha Ngan, or the owner's Indonesian father we met at Far East Cafe in Malacca.

What ever the occasion, it is always a small treasure meeting and talking to the locals. These will certainly be some of the moments I'll think back on after the trip's over.

The Charm of Malacca

Location: Malacca, Malaysia

NP: In Flames - Metaphor

Mood: Bittersweet

So it is that I keep running into the same patterns of thought, of likes and dislikes, here in Malaysia as I did in Finland. Preferences are not and should not be country-specific. The surroundings do not adapt to you nor do you adapt fully to the surroundings. And so your likes and dislikes remain mostly unchanged, only slightly diluted, and at times convoluted, by the journey and the local customs.

In this instance it means my preference of cities over jungles, but not the biggest cities in particular. No, I've enjoyed the smaller refuge of Malacca far more than I enjoyed Kuala Lumpur's vast hordes of people and large landscape. Perhaps it's because it's easier to get to know within a short period of time and most things are within walking distance.

The locals call this place Melaka. It's a silly thing to translate such a name into Finnish as Malakka, or into English as Malacca, when the original name is easily pronounced with both languages, especially Finnish. In Malaysia everybody speaks some English.

Jonker Walk in Chinatown.

This city has history. After the rule of the Malacca Sultanate in the 15th century it has been conquered by three European empires (Portuguese, Dutch and British) which shows in architecture and the center has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008. It has a silent character with loud and bizarre bicycle rides, a red christian church and large shopping malls. A muddy river of brown and dark green, where large monitor lizards prey on snakes, runs through the center of the city.

Dutch Square with the red church.

Having spent the last five days here, I am already a little fond of the place. The narrow set of streets near Jonker Street (in Chinatown) enjoy a frequent stream of cars and though Jonker itself is geared toward tourists with its souvenir shops and restaurants, there is something enjoyable in dodging bodies on the tiny sidewalk and peering at the wares of local art shops. What the city lacks in nightlife it makes up for with excellent local Nonya (or Nyonya, as they seem to spell it here) food and the tasty Indian and Pakistani dishes Pak Putra serves.

Butter Nan and Bombay Chicken at Pak Putra.

This city, perhaps, might even be appealing enough to live in for a time. Perhaps, if only the beer wasn't so expensive (8 ringgit ie. 2 euros for a small bottle has been the cheapest price I've seen)...

Playing Favourites

Location: Malacca, Malaysia

NP: Sash! - Encore Une Fois

Mood: Cheerful

One custom has arisen from the chaotic non-routine of lengthy travelling. This is playing favourites with some place that we've found pleasant for some reason. Restaurants are the most typical of such places. When you find one you like, it's hard to justify not coming back for a second time. And a third.

You call this macaroni with shrooms?! We spent too little time in Istanbul to find a favourite.

I've been wondering if it's good or bad to keep going back to the same place instead of trying a new one every time. I used to hate it when my parents stuck to a single place over and over again, never exploring what else is out there. Yet, we try new spots every day despite playing favourites, so perhaps this can be forgiven.

On the third visit a place becomes a local favourite. This is the official rule that can be bent but only a little. On this trip we've had several places like this.

In Bangkok our favourite was a place called The Flow. It's a small, family-run restaurant in Banglamphou, next to a bridge on Thanon Samsen, a few blocks north of Khao San Road. They serve several nice dishes of fried rice, though you can find cheaper street food nearby. Service was appealing every time.

The heart-shaped plates of The Flow.

In Cha-Am swimming was the thing to do, so it's not unnatural that our favourite place was Nirandorn 3's swimming pool. Perhaps the sea would've been fine for a swim as well, but there were many stray dogs there, the pool was so near and you could enjoy it by yourself at this low-season. Though small and mostly shallow, it was good exercise too.

On Koh Tao the place to eat at was Mo Nat Thai Food & Sea Food. The elderly lady there is extremely friendly and has travelled the world. Though the restaurant is just off the street and built in a hovel with decaying cardboard floors (that's what they feel like, anyway), their food is very good and inexpensive, and you'll seldom experience friendlier service. This may just be my favourite place of all so far on this trip.

In Koh Pha Ngan our favourite place would probably have to be the beach of Haad Rin in general. It was the place to relax at by day and drink at by night. We didn't manage to find a particular restaurant we liked that much, perhaps apart from a small, cheap roadside eatery on one of the side roads we visited twice.

Sunset at Haad Rin.

Drinking Chang at Haad Rin.

In Trang it was Wunderbar Restaurant for its friendly service and the tourist info it offered rather than the decent but not spectacular dishes. And in Hat Yai it was perhaps the bar Post Laser Disc or The Pubb, but it's hard to distinguish between the two.

Jumping on the Malaysian side, in Kuala Lumpur our favourite was a little roadside eatery in Cheras called Nr Hayati Seafood. This was mainly because of its low prices, but the dishes weren't bad either.

And finally I have to mention my home city of Oulu, because of a single restaurant I've enjoyed more than the others. Though it has good competition from the Greek restaurant Crecian and the excellent pizzas of Pannu, my best experiences are from a little Chinese restaurant called Sheng Long, located on Post Square. The food's tasty and inexpensive (in Finland - in Thailand or Malaysia you'll eat several dishes for the price). A recommended place to check out when travelling in the cold north.

No Protein for the Weary

Location: Malacca, Malaysia

NP: Entwine - Surrender

Mood: Bereft

The gym was quiet apart from the hum of spinning fans and the funky music from the speakers. Weight lifting and cardio equipment were scattered along the mirrored walls and the windows were open to the darkened street. In the middle of the gym stood a Thai boxing ring. It was hot. Apart from us, there were no customers. The man behind the desk was lean with only a little muscle, probably more into muay Thai than lifting weights. Towels were on the compulsory equipment list. We would soon understand why.

Jungle Gym on Koh Pha Ngan in Thailand was the last time we'd worked out. That was about two weeks ago. But the little training was just as well, because the Asian diet doesn't seem to include too much protein in it. In fact, it has far too little.

Breakfast at d'Garden Hotel consists mostly of carbs.

This was the reason why every now and then we opted for the omelette dishes at restaurants and liked eggs for breakfast (the included breakfast at D'Garden in Kuala Lumpur only had eggs once). At least it was one source. There was too little meat on the main dishes usually to enable any kind of regular training regime, so we'd given up on training and it was beginning to show. Also gyms weren't that easy to find here, and tended to cost quite a lot.

The best omelets I've had were served in Trang, Thailand.

Mika is affected by all of this more than me. Whereas I only dabble in exercising at gyms (back home I went once or twice a week), for him it is more of a lifestyle (three or four times a week). He complains about it often and profusely and claims his shorts were starting to feel too large for him and the shirt he'd bought from Bangkok was no longer tight across the chest and shoulders.

Looking at the mirror I could see his point. A smaller man with scrawny arms peered back at me. At least the belly was still there, as big as ever. Though some weight must've come off, it seemed to be departing from all the wrong places.

We'd only been on the trip for a month now. There were two more left. I wondered how much of me would make it back home.

First Impressions of Kuala Lumpur

Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

NP: Alphaville - Big in Japan

Mood: Conflicted

Sweated in the bustle of Masjid Jamek today. Experienced the crowds of Chinatown on Petaling Street. Visited the Petronas Towers. Enjoyed the ease of transport via LRT. Ate two USA gorengs and a strange piece of street food (dough, corn and something a little sweet) bought off a man that looked very Indian. Accidentally ate tofu (bean curd) yesterday.

This is not Thailand. The first thing that separates the two countries is something we noticed immediately upon arrival: People here don't smile as much and are not as eager to help or serve. To the Thai this seems to come naturally. Of course there are exceptions, but Malaysia has definitely inherited a somewhat Finnish style of customer service - though luckily not to the same extent as Finland.

To those in need of a reminder in good Finnish customer service, I suggest visiting Särkisalmi and its only bar. Try ordering a drink right after some locals and pay attention to the bartender's expressions. Who am I kidding? You don't need to pay attention - you'll notice that sour scowl for certain! I think of the place fondly. I'm sure Artsi does as well.

A second thing we noticed was that the shape of people here is not as thin as it is in Thailand. There are curves and bellies abound, though not as much as in the West. Still, easier for two beer-bellied outlanders to blend in. They haven't even called me "big boss" here, as they did in Thailand. Here I'm simply "boss".

The reason for these shapes is at least partially explained by the bakeries we see around often. They are very popular and sell a variety of sweet pastries. Yum. But they are sorely lacking in the salty pastries department.

Unfortunately I've been feeling a little under the weather for the past two days, so excursions have been limited to light duty. Chinatown was a little overbearing with its aggressive merchants and repetitive stalls in the heat. I didn't feel like dealing with any aggressive marketing, so I immediately moved on once a merchant started to stuff his or her merchandise down my throat. Until that happened, I might peer at the wares.

This tactic worked well. Apart from food, I bought nothing from Chinatown. Didn't much see anything either...

Just before daylight faded we managed to get to the Petronas Twin Towers. They were enormous. What else is there to say about them? Suria Shopping Center at the foot of the towers is filled with classy stores mostly out of our daily budget range, but it had a Kinokuniya book store on the fourth floor which had a selection of my favourite manga... that I chose not to buy anyway. It had reached the 24th book already. Wow.

Ah well. This is Malaysia. Adapt and feel welcome.

Lost in Thailand

Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

NP: Mika - Relax, Take it Easy

Mood: Longing

Took a ride to the end of the line
Where no one ever goes
Ended up on a broken train with nobody I know

The topic of getting lost in Thailand had come up on our travels. Mind you, here getting lost doesn't mean physically losing your bearings and wandering the streets in desperation, but rather in a mental way where a single place or activity appeals to you so much that it's worth giving everything else up for. For a time or for good.

There were a few places I'd seen where this would be possible.

The bustling activity of Bangkok where options are many. The city is huge and seems alive. A little culture, inexpensive shopping, tasty food, cheap beer and beautiful women could be a killer combination. I had a feeling the Australian traveller I'd met there could tell me a story or two about the latter two.

Cha-Am with its beautiful beachline and quiet charm. Filling your belly with seafood, waking up near the sea and going for a morning swim. Watching the clouds roll by or taking shelter from the rain in some cozy corner. This town moved to a different beat that, in its own way, was just as enchanting as Bangkok's.

Diving on Koh Tao could be one. Diving by the coral reefs and clear waters, swimming like a fish among the fish, and enjoying the silent nights in a bungalow by the beach. Changing islands for some more diving would be easy, too. Tunna would be happy to dive naked here.

Relaxing on the beaches of Koh Pha Ngan or taking part in a massive party by Haad Rin. This island's little villages may have transformed to cater to tourists, but not at all in such an unappealing way as somewhere else in the world. The sun, the sea and techno are the only ever-present constants.

Trang and the reprieve from more vibrant places it offers. Simple and becoming. Has a certain appeal to it with its night markets and friendly townfolk. May grow to feel like home.

And finally, I admit it, even the bizarre Hat Yai has its ups. At glimpse it's strange and overwhelming, a relatively big city with little that is familiar. You could get lost in the unfamiliar and love it. Visiting the same places, especially the bars, on the second day, the place grew on us. The people there took notice of its strange visitors, spoke to us and made us understand. It's all in the head. Well most of it, anyway. The Odean food court did still close at 5 PM while the rest of the store stayed open, as if that's the last time anyone would eat in a day. And I still don't know how to use the common restaurants there!

I realize I've mentioned almost all of the places in Thailand we've visited on this trip. In so many ways this country is amazing. It's not perfect, for nothing is, but it's good enough.

The same in the words of Captain Colby: Sell the house. Sell the car. Sell the kids. Find someone else. Forget it! I'm never coming back. Forget it!