I spent a heap of money today. I've finally got myslf a helmet so I can be marginally protected on the back of a motorbike - the guy who takes me to work has a helmet that doesn't actually fit so I decided it was time to buy my own. Then I picked up a bunch of stuff from a cool shop to send to people for their birthdays and spent ages in the shop eyeing up all the pretty things. I managed to resist tho and didn't get anything for myself.

Next I headed to the old quarter and went to my favourite cafe to get some of their amazing eggs benedict whilst waiting for the Vietnam Airways office to re-open after their siesta. I finally booked myself a ticket to Malaysia on the 17th! I'm glad thats done as I was getting fed up of all the faff involved in buying the damn thing. In England you can just call up an agency like dial a flight and they tell you all the different prices with the different airlines. Not here. Any agency here could be one of the rip-off merchents who overcharge you and pocket the difference so the best thing to do is go direct to the airline offices. They are spread out all across the city though which is a pain in the ass. Plus even with the offices the price is never the same when you go back the next day. Prices are also different online which just adds to the confusion but in the end I just gave up and got a return with Vietnam airlines. I could have gone round to Air Asia to compare their prices but no doubt the tickets would have cost more with them, then Vietnam Airways would have booked up in the meantime or something lame like that so I just got the ticket there and then. My flight is at 6.30am (!) but VA are generally a bit more reliable than AA. Plus I think I get a meal on that flight whereas AA is basically Easyjet for Asia. I get into KL about 1.30 then have an onward flight with AA at 6.30 . From what I remember of KL the transport network isn't hideously bad so I can probably pop into the city for a few hours before going back to the airport for my flight over to Boneo. I am flying into a place in the north which is by the sea and has some islands and national parks nearby so I'm gonna spend a bit of time there before getting a ferry down to Brunei and spending a few days there. After that I am flying back to KL for a couple of days, mainly o shop. I've been there before so I probably won't bother with the sights, other than the Petronas Towers - they're free to go up, plus they're right next to some of the decent shopping centres. Possibly I might go on a trip out of KL to some place with caves but I might be too busy shopping and eating nice food to do that! I'm excited to have a holiday!

I also went to view a house today and so I have somewhere to live when I get back from my trip! It's pretty close to where I work and its down a quiet (for Hanoi) lane. It's really nice inside with a decent kitchen and three bathrooms, plus a lounge, three bedrooms and a rooftop area. There is cable TV and Wifi, plus a housekeeper who cleans, sorts out bills, does laundry, cooks random meals and buys in basics like bread. It's only $200 a month plus bills - bargain! The two girls I will be living with seem really nice as well. Yay!