Muesli, thermometers and fireworks

after a good finish in Tonsai- i hit my toe on a rock (it was a big rock) when walking along the beach and got a painful bruise so couldnt put it in a climbing shoe for the last couple of days! its a silly injury that stops you doing quite a lot! anyway we moved on on the 27th, getting one last muesli with fresh pineapple, mango, watermelon and banana and yogurt on top for breakfast and headed for the boat back to AoNang. feeling increadably unstable we motored back to the town and went and found BiRT. a laid back drive day took us across the border into Malaysia. although i had a brief panic when i started feeling a bit feverish about an hour before we reached the border and remembered that almost every country had taken my temperature on the border to clear us of any diseases before entering their soil. luckily Malaysia was laid back enough not to bother with any of that! few!
i was sorry to leave Thailand as the people had been friendly there but also efficient!! but i discovered Malaysians are equally friendly. we stopped close to the border in a town called Bukit Keteri where we parked near a Mosque. the climbing area was a mound of limestone on the otherside of the road and we camped in between two families houses on a small patch of grass. both families were very friendly and some members spoke good English. the kids got very excited and kept trying to talk to us without us understanding! as we arrived at about 8pm, we asked restaurant next door if they could cook us some food and they rustled up some noodles. these were good and cheap so we stuck with their cooking for our evening meals making it nice and easy for the cook dutys (if a bit spicy! apparently 'no spice' means about my limit of spicyness!). the climbing itself was fairly dirty as its not climbed that often but not bad. i wasnt able to climb much becasue of the fore mentioned temperature that seems to be some kind of stomach virus which im still fighting and not feeling quite right.
we have now moved on to Kuala Lumpur today- my last drive day on BiRT today (and last night in my tent last night). i have lugged all my bags and stuff to the hotel to try and sort into some sort of order to get to the airport on saturday! it seems like a big city and of course the most modern and expensive city we have visited on the trip. Malaysia is also the first country on the trip that uses the roman alphabet for its language, which is refreshing to see. there is also a lot of English on signs everywhere and people seem to know English so far.
New Years tonight will involve going for a meal then to a bar then hopefully to see the fireworks at KLCC. then one more day tomorrow which we want to go and see the new film Avatar in 3D if its not sold out.
finally, i will soon me flying home! i am very excited as it feels like i have been away a long time. i will have to remember how to stand still for longer than a few days though!

Muesli, thermometers and fireworks

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia