I wasn’t sure what books to take with me on my honeymoon, as you’re supposed to be doing other things rather than reading... However, I knew that we had some long flights and transfers so I ended up taking eight books with me. In the end I had to borrow one of Karen’s as I’d run out, so I managed to take just the right amount for the time we were away.
Here are my thoughts on the books I read:
- From a Buick 8 - Stephen King
- I really enjoyed this book as it’s a classic Stephen King kind of story. I did wonder where it was going though as I’d got about three quarters of the way through and it was still detailing things that had happened in the past. It certainly helped pass the time on the flight.
- The Wee Free Men - Terry Prachett
- An easy read this one that was mildly entertaining. I think the Dicsworld is getting a bit long in the tooth now as I don’t find them as funny anymore; the original few books were amazing.
- Pattern Recognition - William Gibson
- I haven’t read any William Gibson for a while so I was quite looking forward to this one and it didn’t disappoint too much. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was an enjoyable read, if some of it seemed a little far fetched.
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon
- This was a cracking book, if you haven’t read it yet you should. It’s really quick to read, partially due to the writing style, but mostly die to the fact that you don’t want to put it down.
- A Question of Blood - Ian Rankin
- Standard Rebus fare that’s as easily readable as the rest of them. Only one question remains, how long will Ian Rankin keep churning out the Rebus novels...?
- True Crime - Jake Arnott
- I bought this one as the author shares the same surname and was pleasantly surprised to find quite an enjoyable read. He’s obviously done his research into the whole early rave culture as he’s woven real life events into the narrative. I might have to find his other two book and read them now.
- Vernon God Little - DBC Pierre
- I’d been wondering about reading this book for a while and then I saw one of the guys at work with it so asked his opinion. He said it was good, so I bought it and after reading it I agree with him. It was hugely enjoyable and I didn’t really want to put it down, although the ending was a tad predictable once you got there.
- Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
- This was the best book I read while we were away. Karen bought it and implored me to read it; since I was running out of book I duly obliged. Ever since I was little I’ve always wanted to go to Afghanistan, don’t ask me why it just looked like a really interesting place until the Russians and then the Taliban got their hands on it. Again the ending was a tad predictable, but the main bulk of the story was hugely enjoyable and I’d definitely recommend this.
- Dead Air - Ian Banks
- It took me ages to get into this book; Karen tried and failed. Once I’d finally got into it, it was okay in a kind of plodding not going anywhere kind of a way, until the ending. This is when the book finally came alive; it just took most of the twelve hour flight home to get there. An ok read, but not the best Ian Banks I’ve ever read.
Karen and I got back from Malaysia at around nine o'clock last night after a long twelve hour flight from Kuala Lumpur. We both enjoyed our honeymoon enormously and would go back to a number of the places we visited at the drop of a hat. So while we wait on that hat dropping it's back to normality...
Karen and I are now safely ensconced at the five star luxury Pangkor Laut Resort. We’ve been here for a couple of days now, but this is the first time I’ve had the change or want to update my blog with what we’ve been up to. Since I last posted we’ve been up to quite a lot, so here’s a brief summary.
We spent a couple of nights at the Holiday Inn at Damai Beach, which was more than enough as it was a pretty boring resort with not a lot to do. The flight to Kota Kinabalu was interesting as we stopped twice along the way and even had to get off the plane and re-board to the same seats, most bizarre.
Once we got to the Shangri La Rasa Ria resort it looked very nice, the room was quite spacious and they’d marked out a I Love U in flower petals on the bed (not quite a bottle of bubbly, but very nice none the less). We had four nights at this resort so we decided to unpack everything to make it look like we were actually staying somewhere for any length of time.
The highlight of the stay had to be the trip to the Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre. We had to leave really early in the morning to catch the flight to Sandakan where we then transferred by coach to Sepilok. After a small wait we all trooped into the jungle to the feeding station to wait on the arrival of the Orang Utan’s.
We’d been told that only three had been seen the day before and we might not see any; it’s fruiting season at the moment, so they don‘t need to top up their daily diets so much. We were very lucky though as we managed to see ten Orang Utan or various ages coming swinging down a rope to the feeding station. The sight of the rope twitching and then seeing an orange hairy arm appear will live with me for the rest of my life; Oran Utan’s are amazing.
After seeing the Orang Utan we were traipsed round Sandakan to a Buddhist temple and to a water village. Neither Karen nor I were really interested, as we’d come to see the Orang Utan, not some batty water woman who has twenty six cats! We were both very tired after the long day and Karen wasn’t feeling to well, so we had an early night.
The next day we went to see the Orang Utan in the resorts nature park,; they have three from Sepilok who are undergoing rehabilitation. You were able to be much closer to the two Orang Utan that turned up and Karen took some really cool video. All in all I took about five rolls of film over the course of the two days, but I’m not sure how much of it will come out. I took really slow film, but you really need at least ISO400 or a really meaty flashgun to get exposure with a sensible shutter speed.
Karen wasn’t very well on our last day at the Rasa Ria, we think it was some dodgy prawns that did it, so we were quite glad for the late check out. It did mean that we didn’t get to the hotel in Kuala Lumpur until really late, which was a bit of a bummer. However we did have a full day to explore KL’s sights which we did.
Both Karen and I prefer Singapore to KL, it’s cleaner, the people are friendlier and they don’t letch at your wife so much. Karen especially didn’t feel as safe in KL as she had done in Singapore, so we’ll just have to see how we get on our last night there in a few days time. The Pan Pacific in KL also wasn’t as nice as the one in Singapore as they didn’t give us a chocolate cake…
The trip to Lamut to catch the ferry to Pangkor Laut was pretty forgettable and the ferry ride itself was very unforgettable as the t sea was quite choppy. We made it in the end though and are now settled in and enjoying ourselves. We have a few complaints, but we’re trying not to let them spoil things.
Karen and I are currently staying at the Holiday Inn Damai Beach resort, which is on the coast near Kuching. We got here last night after our trip up a river to stay overnight at an Iban longhouse. We’re both quite glad we went to see the way these indigenous people live, but we both felt like we shouldn’t have been there.
It was quite strange to see how their basic way of life is being changed by the on set of technology. Their children are sent to a school down river and only come back every two weeks. Because of this they get to see what the outside world is like and not all of them then want to live the traditional life.
We were treated to a spot of traditional dancing and fed some of their home brewed rice wine stuff; not as nasty as sake, but it would definitely put hairs on your chest. The following morning we all got to have a go with a blowpipe; I was pretty crap, but Karen managed to hit the target. After a quick walk through the jungle we were back off down river and on to the current hotel.
We’ve got two nights here before we head of to Kota Kinabalu to see the Orang Utan’s.
I'm currently standing in the lobby of the Holiday Inn, Kuching, using their free internet access terminal. We arrived from Singapore with out a hitch earlier this afternoon. Kuching is a funny looking place, the guide bok reckoned it was a really nice place, but what we've seen of it it looks a bit run down and forgoten about...
The Hotel is like anyother Holiday Inn you've ever stayed at, except they gave us a suite as it's our Honeymoon. So we've got a three roomed suite with living area, sleeping area and work ares, all very nice indeed.
After a stroll along the river we went out for dinner to a vegitarian restuarant that we'd past. I was a bit shocked when the menu was full of chicken this, prawn that and pork the next thing. As it turned out it was all fake meet and was trully all vegetarian.
Karen had some prawns that tasted suspiciously of bacon, but there you go. I went for the safe option of tofu, which was very nice, although the plain noodles I asked for tunred out to be a meal in them selves with loads of vegetables ands a sauce. It was very good though and made up for our final night in Singapore.
We'd decided to go to Boat Quay, just to the North of the financial district, to have a meal and some beers. We picked a restuarant and had some food, which was decidedly average and very overpriced. They even charged us for the green tea they poiured when we sat down, the sauce to dip the spring rolls in and the face towels, wouldn't recommend them at all.
Tomorrow we're off to stay in a "Traditional" Long House after a walk through the jungle and a dug out canoe ride up a river. It should be quite cool, although there's is the small matter of 225Km in a van before we get to the forest and river...
All being well we'll be installed at another Holiday Inn for a couple of nights after that, so there maybe another update then if they've got a terminal.
I'm writing this on a "Free Internet Access" terminal at Chaqngi Airport in Singapore. We're waiting on our connecting flight to Kuching, which will be leaving in just over an hour.
We've had a great time in Singapore, which is an amazing place. It truly is a cross roads between East and West with loads of different races and cultures present. We've been to China Town, Little India and Arab Street which gives you just a little flavour of what kinds of sights and sounds we've seen.
Last night we went to Harry's Bar, where Nick "Rouge Trader" Leason used to hang out before breaking the bank. We've also had quite a few Singapore Slings at Raffle's Hotel, which are a must if you ever visit.
Don't know when we'll next have 'net access, but hopefully some of the hotels will have it, so I might beable to make some further updates in the days to come. Anyway, we're now off to catch our flight to Borneo...
