Andy Oakley

Taken from Lauren’s diary of our trip to South East Asia

Got up and had breakfast in the hotel. Checked out. We got the MRT to City Hall and wandered around Raffles City shopping centre and went for a walk to see a War Memorial, Cenotaph and Raffles’ landing site. Then we went to Raffles Hotel. We wandered around Raffles Arcade (posh shops) and then went to the Long Bar and had a Singapore Sling. We went back to our hotel on the MRT, showered and went to the airport in a taxi. We checked in.

Taken from Lauren’s diary of our trip to South East Asia

We got the MRT to Orchard Road and finally bought a JVC digital video camera. We came back to the hotel and put the camera battery on to charge. We went to the McDonalds in the Singapore Post Centre (a shopping centre and post office) for lunch. We picked up the camera and got the MRT back to Orchard Road. We had ice cream in a Haagen-Dazs store. Andy videoed Lauren a bit. We walked down Orchard Road and on to Little India and did a walking tour that we found in a tourist leaflet. We bought two little wooden Buddha carvings. We had dinner in Pizza Hut and came back to the hotel on the MRT. We did a bit more videoing too. Andy played with his new toy.

Taken from Lauren’s diary of our trip to South East Asia

We got up at 6am, checked out, had breakfast and got a taxi to KL station. We got on a train to Singapore and passed through Customs & Imigration at the border where we had to get off the train and pass by a series of men and dogs. We met a man on the train on his way to Singapore to go to an old-peoples home. He was born in Penang and was a British soldier in WWII. He recommended the hotel we had booked (coincidence). We got a taxi to the hotel which was nice. We went to Orchard Road on the MRT and looked at digital video camera for Andy. Came back to the hotel. Andy reconfirmed our flights home. We went to the Coffee Bean near our hotel for tea. Hotel, shower, TV.

Taken from Lauren’s diary of our trip to South East Asia

Got a train to the Sultan Ismail station and walked down Jalan TAR. We went into some shops and went to McDonalds for lunch. We looked at the confluence of rivers from which KL gets its name, and at a Malaysian mansion (now a bank). We got a train back and went to our hotel. There was thunder and lightning (lots). We went shopping in the centres near our hotel. Dinner in McDonalds. Hotel and shower. We went to the bar in our hotel Cafe Rosa and had some beers (free nuts).

Taken from Lauren’s diary of our trip to South East Asia

We walked a bit to a Star train station and got a metro train to Merdeka Square. We went into the Masjid Jamek Mosque where Lauren had to wear a robe and headscarf. We walked around Merdeka Square and saw the Royal Selangor Club and the Sultan Abdul Samad building. We then trained to the Petronas Towers (the tallest building in the world) and walked around the Suria KLCC shopping centre (nice). We taxied to the KL Tower and went up it – there were good views. We walked back to our hotel. We booked train tickets to Singapore for Thursday in a booth at a shopping centre. Hotel. Went to Pizza Hut for dinner. Sent an e-mail home. Came back and watched "The Astronaut’s Wife" on TV.

Taken from Lauren’s diary of our trip to South East Asia

We got up, had breakfast in the hotel, checked out and caught the bus to Kuala Lumpur (5 hours). We taxied to our hotel, The Capitol which was nice. We went for a walk, cashed some travellers cheques and ate in McDonalds. We wandered around a shopping centre and had some Haagen-Dazs ice cream. Back to the hotel. We went to a pizza restaurant near the hotel for dinner. We sent an e-mail home, returned to the hotel and watched "The Green Mile" on TV.

Taken from Lauren’s diary of our trip to South East Asia

Got up and had breakfast in the hotel. We went on a bus tour around the area. We visited a tea plantation (and bought some Boh tea), a butterfly farm, a bee farm, a strawberry farm and the Chinese Buddhists Temple. The butterflies were nice, and one landed on Lauren’s back. Back to the hotel. We went for a walk and bought some souvenirs. Back to the hotel and watched some Olympics. We went to the Bunga Suria restaurant for dinner and had a traditional Indian meal served on a banana leaf and eaten with the right hand. It was good. We went to the Ranch bar for a drink and watched some more Olympics. Back to the hotel and had some vodka.

Taken from Lauren’s diary of our trip to South East Asia

Got up at 6am, had breakfast, checked out and taxied to the bus station. We had a six hour bus trip to the Cameron Highlands (a rather hairy journey in parts). We walked to the Cool Point Hotel which isn’t very nice, but will do. We went out and bought some junk food and our bus tickets to KL for Monday. Hotel. Ate our food. Steve Redgrave won his fifth gold medal as part of the British coxless IV in the Olympics. We watched the 100m sprint finals on TV – Marion Jones and Maurice Greene won. We went to an internet place and set e-mail home. Then we went to the Orient restaurant and had a steamboat (like a fondue Chinese). Afterwards we bought some vodka and drank some on our balcony.

Taken from Lauren’s diary of our trip to South East Asia

Got up and had breakfast in the hotel. Booked bus tickets to the Cameron Highlands. We went out and walked to the seafront and Fort Cornwallis. We walked around it and then got a taxi to the Penang Hill Fernicular Railway which we took to the top. There were very good views of Georgetown and the Melaka Straits. We bought some bombay mix and some Coke that tasted like medicine. We came down again and got a bus back to the Komtar centre (after some confusion). We went to McDonalds for a snack, walked around, and then back to our hotel. Lay down for a while. TV. For dinner we went to Pizza Hut in the Komtar centre. We bought an electronic mosquito repeller in a supermarket. Back to the hotel. We went in the steam room and jacuzzi in the hotel (meeting some naked Japanese business men) and then to bed.

Taken from Lauren’s diary of our trip to South East Asia

We got up at 5.15am. Checked out, and the hotel bus left us at the train station. We got on the Bangkok-Butterworth Express (it didn’t actually go very fast). We passed through Customs & Imigration and the Malaysian border and arrived at Butterworth. The Eastern & Oriental Express was there. We got a ferry to Penang and a taxi to our hotel, the Cititel. It’s nice. We have a good view over the Melaka Straits from our 11th floor room. We walked to the Komtar centre where we ate at McDonalds and sent some e-mails. It was very hot in Penang today. Back to the hotel, showered and washed some clothes. We had some dinner in the restaurant in the hotel (next to the exclusive "Foo Ling Men" restaurant).