A promenade in KL

It's 2.30am and I am wide awake!!

After settling in my room at the Traders hotel, freshening up and changing from my travelling togs I set out on a familiarity recky.

Then hotel is just by the famous Petronas Towers, a very impressive twin tower structure which I believe was once the tallest building in the world.
It is indeed impressive, with a look reminiscent of the Chrysler building in New York, it sits there,resplendent dressed in glass and chrome. The KL Conference Centre is a huge complex that connects the hotel, the towers and the massive 'Suria' shopping centre. The concierge at the hotel suggested the complementary buggy service to the centre and towers. It did not look too far away but what the hell. I was speaking to an Australian chap who said be had walked but never again having been caught in a tropical storm.

The Malaysians like their buggies! In January I stopped over at the Pan Pacific hotel at KL airport for a night and recall being almost chased through the airport by a chap in his buggy, insisting that I take the 400 metre ride from the baggage reclaim to the hotel reception. I insisted not, after 2 x 7 hour flights my legs needed a stretch. As I sat in this little conveyance I did feel a bit of a fraud. The ride was no more than 800 metres.

The buggy dutifully discharged me at the entrance to the shopping mall with the towers 'towering' above.
The humidity and heat in KL is quite striking. You are hit smack in the face by the Air Con as you enter the centre. I'm sure it cannot be that healthy moving from the heat to the cold regularly.

The 'Suria' shopping mall is just huge, housing all the western brands. And I am taking all!! Top Man, M and S, Chanel, the whole shooting match. I'm not a mall shopping fan at the best of times so I avoided wandering in many shops...












One for you there Mr Paget........


There are 5 levels, with shops on every level, it did remind me of the gigantic malls in Dubai. Popping into a bank to withdraw some money one of the ATM machines was being filled by a security guard. By his side was an assistant closely watching what was going on around him, armed with a shot gun. Clearly they don't mess around here.

I was getting a little peckish by now, the food on the Dubai to KL sector was crap (and given the lady in front of me was practically laying in my lap, I would have probably ended up wearing it had attempted to try and eat it).

Inside the mall was a huge food court, apart from the McDonalds, KFC, Subway etc. there was a section specialising in the local fayre. I settled on a Chicken Mee with Miso. Miso is a kind of clear soup with dumplings in it, the Chicken Mee was a dish of noodles, chicken and a sort of green vegetable, it was delicious, quite replete I headed outside to take a few pictures of the Petronas tower.

























Feeling rather tired (I'm not sure how long it is since I last slept, but it must be some considerable time) I headed back to the hotel. I did decide to walk this time though. Dropping off at reception, I picked up a brochure of potential trips I could do in the morning and headed for the SkyBar on the 33rd floor for a night cap.

The SkyBar is quite famous in KL affording spectacular views of the city, especially the Petronas Towers. It is unusual as it is situated around the indoor swimming pool. My intention was to have a beer and peruse the booklet of potential tours for the morning. I had to abandon that as a plan. The lighting was so 'ambient', you could barely see your hand in front of your face. I just had a beer and then turned in to bed, completely knackered. As I wandered out I did wonder how many people had ended up in the pool as they had tried to stagger out of the venue pissed!!!!













Note to self before falling asleep. Try and get rooms with Wi Fi for the rest of the trip. Will make planning the next day easier!

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Location:Jalan Binjai,Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur - first day

If the flight from Manchester to Dubai was a dream (which it was) then the flight from Dubai to KL was a nightmare.

For a start the plane was packed (how dare they sell all the tickets!,). Some people seem to attract the local nutters on buses. I seem to attract those who think they have bought a fully reclining seat and want to place themselves in my lap.
For the whole trip, seven hours and 35 minutes, I was squished in my seat while this inconsiderate woman played poker on her seat-back entertainment system from an almost horizontal position. Mine was broken, it was just flapping there in my lap! I had to wedge my folded up menu so I could see anything.
The food was shit, not that I could get it into my mouth such was the lack of space. Usually it is flying etiquette to at least raise your seat a little during mealtimes and the Cabin Crew assist in this. Not this time, cabin crew were not particularly attentive at all. There were also dozens of babies on the flight who also decided a crying chorus would add to the inflight entertainment. Thank god I had bought some ear plugs at Manchester. They were unceremoniously rammed straight in.

I'm fuckin' grumpy!

Lack of sleep, lack of nicotine, lack of personal space, although I guess if this is the most uncomfortable I get in the next 3 months, I will have done well!!!!

But I'm still fucking grumpy!

When originally planning the trip I had all sorts of plans.
One of those was to only book into hotels or use companies that were local so my money goes back into the local economy.

It is with regret that I have to confess that I have fallen at the first hurdle (that's if you don't count the wine on the flight to Dubai).
I will be staying at Traders Hotel tonight and Friday.
I'll do the sustainability bollocks later, I have plenty of time.

The magic of the inter web knows no bounds. In my dressing gown at 2am, the night before I left, I actually booked the train from KL international Airport to KL Sentral railway station.

I have done a considerable amount of research around the countries that I will be visiting over the next few months. One thing that was consistent was the need to protect oneself from mugging and street crime. This is essentially a back packing trip. I have brought as little as possible in terms of clothes but I do have my Camera and iPad together with cash, credit card and passport which I would rather not have pass into the hands of the South East Asian criminal fraternity.

There are several products on the market aimed at protection of one's personal belongings. As usual, I went overboard. In the end I purchased three, what are known as PacSafe products.

1) A product that allows you to tether your backpack to something that is static hopefully preventing it from being stolen while you are not there. The 'tethering' cord is reinforced steel cable!

2) A product that, again is reinforced steel cable in the form of a net into which you place your backpack and secure to said 'tethering' cord above.

3) A product that's purpose is to protect your passport, money etc. It is an elongated wallet type affair that you sling around your neck. The cord is again reinforced steel cable claiming to be 'slash proof'.

I strongly suspect that, should I be unfortunate to become a victim of street crime that the said reinforced 'slash proof' cable will serve it's purpose well and not break, fracture or otherwise. I also strongly suspect that the BBC news will carry the story of a 50 something year old British tourist decapitated by a South East Asian bag snatcher.

It remains to be seen whether I make use of these security products. It seemed such a sensible idea at the time. But then, a bottle of red and access to e-bay don't mix too well sometimes..

The transfer through the massive KL airport was smooth and I headed for the express train to KL Sentral station and then a taxi to the traders hotel.

I know a few people who have stayed there and in UK terms it is very reasonable for a 4 star, £130 for two nights.
The room is very nice, I did have to wait for over 60 minutes for my luggage and no WiFi in the room.

A quick freshen up and I'm out exploring.........



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Location:Persiaran Petronas,Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia

First stop United Arab Emirates - Dubai

I'm not pissed. Honest!!!

I actually only had the two bottles of wine and then took full advantage of my three seats and had a small power nap.

I had a small panic attack when I did wake. The groin area of my cargo pants was wet through. Fuck!
No drama, I had been leaning on the mini pack Boots handy wipes (with Tea Tree) and the rather embarrassing damp patch was Tea Tree juice rather than urine. Panic over, I am told that incontinence creeps up on us retirees so I don't feel that unjustified to have been concerned.

So here I am in Dubai again. Only a three hour transit stop. Two and a half hour too many is a view. I'm not fan of the airport or the city.

I've only ever stayed in Dubai once, why would you? It's plastic, expensive and pretentious. It was on the way back from Christmas in the Maldives. To be fair I did have a nice time, but that was more down to Bill and Katrina's company rather than the city. It's promise as an Aladdin's cave of electrical goodies was unfullfilled. A huge shopping mall inside and a huge building site outside in the city. My snot was black for days after that city tour on the open top bus.

I may venture back to the city one day. Perhaps when it's finished !

The three hours in the airport feels like three days. It's 2.00am and the place is swarming. It's rather like stroking a cat backwards too. Everyone is going in the other direction.
It's been a long day so far and I'm knackered. I'm really hoping there is some room on the flight to KL to get some sleep.

As we travel through more time zones I will arrive in KL at around 3.00pm.



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Location:Dubai,United Arab Emirates

The adventure begins

Well, here I am, sat in the super duper, mini cooper, double decker, fuck off A380-800 Airbus being whisked across the skies at great speed towards my first stop, Dubai. We are just passing over Dusseldorf and I am sitting in a window seat with two free seats beside me (thank god I didn't pay the extra for Business Class) sipping a gin and tonic.
The flight is 7 hours, I have a couple of hours in Dubai before the next sector which is on to KL.


I was up early this morning to catch the train from Chesterfield to Manchester airport. Check in was hassle free as I had in my possession an 'E' Boarding card. Isn't this inter web thing a fantastic tool.

When I learned that you could check in on-line 24 hours before the flight was due to leave I was in there. Going on the brand spanking new plane is an experience and I wanted the best seat going.

My middle name is 'can't wait won't wait!, I'm that one who will touch the wet paint just to see if it really is wet. Consequently a tad before the 24 hours I was on the Emirates web site trying to check in, just in case.

'The computer says NO! The computer says NO! then, spot on the 24 hours, I was in and picked myself a prime seat ..Result! Even better was the fact that the seats beside me are vacant. I will be able to have that afternoon siesta that I have become so used to in the last few months after all.

Take off was an experience, this thing is just HUGE. As the engines kicked in at the end of the runway you would not have known. It was so quiet. As we passed the hoards of planes spotters (what is that all about then?) it did cross my mind that we were not going to leave Terra Firma but thankfully I was wrong and we soared gracefully and almost silently into the air and on our way.

I will now take advantage of the Emirates hospitality, careful not to abuse it as in did in January, I was practically poured off the plane in Dubai after I was plied with red wine (just the 6 bottles you understand). The rest of the journey was a haze....... I've decided, no wine on this flight.....

I know it's all relative and I wouldn't thank you for inviting me to dinner and serving me some of the shite that passes for inflight catering (especially the portion sizes).
That said, Emirates is, in my opinion one of the best. I actually enjoy most of the food I have had on their flights.

Today's delights were, prawn and smoked salmon cocktail, lamb curry and rice, chocolate and praline mousse, cheese and biscuits...

'would you like some wine with your meal sir?'

'yes please, I'll have a glass of Red'

I'm so fucking weak.

Now then, for the last four or five years I've flown with Emirates at least once a year, always on the way somewhere (or conversely, back from somewhere).

It always puzzled me that on the UK to Dubai or Dubai to UK sectors you always got plastic cutlery, the next sector was always metal, much more civilised.

I'm only assuming that the plastic cutlery is something to do with the fact that we could or may use them as weapons to take control of the aircraft, not that we may stab or cut ourselves.

Today on the UK to Dubai sector we have a metal fork, a metal spoon and a plastic knife.
That did make me smile.

I reckon spooning someone's eyes out and forking them in the throat is more effective than trying to saw their arms off with a blunt serrated knife. They usually won't even break the skin of a cherry tomato.

'would you like another drink sir?'

' yes, another glass of red please'

So hopelessly, hopelessly weak.....


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Location:Dubai,United Arab Emirates

Nice but.........

No Mortgage, Nice car,(not quite true but a nice Ducatti motorbike!) great friends but no stories.
Actually, again, that is not quite true. Lost in the Himalayas on a Royal Enfield motorcycle (thanks Mr Chris Billington for saving my life).
Two near death experiences in consecutive years in the Maldives (Ditto Mr Bill Paget) and near dysentry in the Peruvian Andes (with no insurance) are just a few of my claims to fame in recent years and doubtless I could dine out on them for a few months.

This trip however will hopefully create a few more stories. Come wendesday I will be boarding the new 'double decker' A380-800 series aircraft bound for South East Asia and three months of adventure. I will be travelling alone and aim to do at least 8 countries by the end of November. While I will be visiting some of the capitals I will also be be going off the beaten track and using all modes of transport. I am planning to keep air travel to a miniumm.
Keep up with the blog on www.soloartwork.blogspot.com
Aided with my iPad I will be updating regularly, hopefully on a daily basis (if it goes more than three days please call the Foreign and Commonwealth office and report me missing ;-)
Rucksack is packed. Currency obtained and a first aid kit and meds to raise a few eyebrows i'm sure. I am now getting more than a little excited.
Next stop Dubai !

Here we go again

This weekend I'll be mostly baking and manning a market stall at the famous St.Georges Market in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Since closing the Deli in July, little Sis has been doing the Friday and Sunday markets. Under the name of ' The Cakery' she has been going from strength to strength. I wanted to see my little nephew before I headed off to South East Asia so agreed to go and help out for the Bank Holiday weekend.
I had been warned it was exhausting work. I was catching the early flight from East Midlands to Belfast City. That was never the intention. I was planning to get the afternoon flight but in my eagerness I pressed the wrong fucking button on the Ryanair website so found myself getting up at 4.00am on Thursday morning.
I would have quite fancied a bit of shut eye on the short flight over but had some annoying kid sat behind me thumping the seat. Twat !

I was picked up at the airport at 8.35 and off we set for Carrowdore.
A cup of coffee and a bacon sarnie later, apron on and the production line was in full flow.

The plan for the weekend was bake on Thusday, market stall on Friday, bake on Saturday and the Sunday market on Sunday. Three months of rising in the late morning, pissing about, having a late afternoon nap (I am retired!) had not prepared me for this at all. Starting at 10.00 with a couple of coffee breaks and a quick pizza for lunch, we were still at it at midnight. Shaved chocolate got the better of me and I had to retire. Paula was at it for a further two hours.

The fruits of our labours was bloody impressive. A full land rover stacked up with cakes and muffins. There were more cakes than you could shake a stick at.

Any thought of respite was short lived! We had to be at the Market by 5.15 to get a stall. The car was packed up the night before so a quick shower at 4.30 and we were on our way to central Belfast.

The stall looked a treat! Call me biased but it was the best in the market. Brimming with goodies. We had our first customer before 6.00am and it never stopped till 2.00 in the afternoon. All sold and a wad of £ 700 quid in our till. We were back at home by 3.00 and I was so knackered I had to turn down a trip to the pub, make myself a small nest and crash out.













Before......

I did manage to get out of my pit for some supper and a glass of wine but I was nestled down again by 11.00 having dreams of giant muffins and carrot cake slices. Not healthy!!!

Saturday was pretty much a repeat of Thursday baking, baking and more baking. We did have a pretty efficient production line going, but it was still another 12 hours in a rather warm kitchen.
We did get a chance to relax at 10.00 when all was baked and dressed but I quickly flaked out and crawled into my pit by 11.00. No afternoon nap today and it was telling!

The Sunday market starts a little later but, unfortunately finishes a little later too. The land rover laden down again, we headed back to another full on day of hard selling. It was interesting to observe the other market traders. Most sat behind their stalls and waited for people to buy. We however were out there in front of the stall. Banter was flowing with the visitors and throughout the day it was unusual not to have a queue a couple deep. We are inexpensive and our objective is not to take anything back. £1.00 per cake or a box of 6 for a fiver. My sales strategy today was quite simple. If the punter looked overweight I made a bee line for them, box in hand. It worked every time!

I have to say it was great fun. There is a real camaraderie in the market. I met some charming people and although I feel like I have plastic ankles, knees, hips and hands it was a most satisfying weekend.
The photo's below shows the before and after. You can be forgiven thinking that a swarm of locusts had descended on the the capital of Northern Ireland. We sold out again and totalled around £1250 for the weekend. A great result.










After...








Peppermint Cream and Chocolate Orange Muffins...








A fuck off chocolate cake, we raffled it off. The lady who won it was so chuffed she spent anther £10 quid on muffins.





I will be back!


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Location:Main St,Carrowdore,United Kingdom

I love it when a plan comes together.......

Well, after a few months of planning the itinerary is set......
I leave the UK on 8th September for KL via Dubai.
I intend to spend a couple of days in KL sightseeing before heading for Borneo and a few days with my sister before the adventure starts in earnest.
The map shows the trip.....






I will fly back to KL and then connecting flight to Singapore. A couple of nights in Singapore taking in the sights and then the overnight train from Singapore. Where practical I am avoiding air travel (my bit for the green cause).

The rail infrastructure in many parts of South East Asia is very good,and cheap. My intention is to get a series of overnight trains from Singapore, right through to Chaing Mai in northern Thailand. I will stop off for a couple of days at Butterworth for the Malaysian island of Penang and also Bangkok (political situation allowing).
After a few days in Chaing Mai I will be heading to Laos and the capital, Vientaine. I'm not too sure how I will be getting there yet, it is likely to be via bus and a land crossing of the border across the Friendship Bridge.

After Laos I will be flying to Hanoi in Vietnam. Although I want to limit my flights on the trip this appears to be the only practical way of getting into Vietnam. I can't arrive before the 1st October as that is when my 1 month visa starts.
I will spend a few days in Hanoi before travelling by bus and overnight train down the coast to Saigon. Again I will be stopping on route for a few days and having a few days in Saigon before travelling over the border by bus to Cambodia and Phnom Pehn. Another couple of nights and then hopefully a boat to Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor Wat. This, while highly visited is said to be well worth a stopover. That done I fly back to Miri on Borneo via KL before travelling up to Koto Kinabolu for a few days with my sister and the kids.

This trip takes in about 5 weeks. As I don't go back to the UK till the end of November I need to decide where to go next. Bali, India, China or the Philippines are on the list of possibles. I will decide while I am away.

As I will be travelling alone I would quite welcome some comments via the blog. I intend to take my trusty Canon SLR so there will be plenty of photographs.

Location:Main St,Carrowdore,United Kingdom