I've escaped into an air conditioned net cafe to cool down so I thought I'd bore you all with an update! Also the keyboard at this place is better than the one at the hostel so my typing should be better this time.

I forgot how opressively hot Malaysia is. It's taking me some time to get used to it. I did remeber to buy some sunblock this morning so hopefully I won't get burnt. i even remembered to apply it to my feet today! I thought I got a touch of sunburn at the airport yesterday but I think it was just where the straps of my bag were rubbing, thank god. Whilst killing time at KL airport yesterday I ventured outside to sit by a random water fountain for a while but I didn't last too long before escaping back into the air conditioned terminal. Also I was sitting on some concrete steps which were stupidly hot and not at all comfortable. I'm glad didn't get sunburn as that would make carrying my bags around very uncomfortable.

Today I have been walking around Kota Kinabalu trying to get used to the heat and humidity. There was a cool market but I resisted the urge to buy anything. There were a couple of things I eyed up so I might buy them from the night market if they're available there. I saw some pretty fabric butterflies I might buy in pink and red to decorate my room back in Hanoi. All the furniture there is dark wood so I think pink and red will go with it and I'm now on the lookout for pink or red things. I did see a really nice pink pashmina at the market but very similar ones are available in Hanoi so I don't think I'm going to bother buying one here.

I also trailed around the city today trying to find an ATM that would give me money. I tried out a couple of banks and they kept saying incorrect pin entered as pin numbers here are 6 digits long. That souldn't be a problem as its the same back in Vietnam and yet my British card with only a 4 digit pin works fine there but it seemes to cause problems here. I went to find HSBC thinking that had to accept my card but it also failed there. I was working my way towards a phone place to call my bank and ask what was going in and I stopped at evey ATM I found on the way. Eventually one worked and I was able to get at my money which was a relief. I walked back towards the centre and came across a park and the city hall on the way which were cool, and then I headed down to the water front. I checked out ferrys to Brunei and the islands near KK then walked along the sea front for a bit before the heat got too much. I escaped into a shopping centre full of shops like Esprit, Roxy and Quicksilver and was actually slightly overwhelmed by all the shops. i'm used to the random little shops in Hanoi. Even the shopping centres there are full of random shops selling a selection of unrelated goods but here they are like carbon copies of the ones back home.

Once I'm ready to brave the heat again I'm going to head back to the hostel to sort my stuff out and fill in soem tedious police forms to send back to the UK so I can get a police check for my work permit application in Vietnam. I'm going to go check out the hill on the edge of KK later - apparently its a good palce to watch teh sun set over the islands then I might go to the night market.

Tomorrow I'm either going to go to the islands nearby or to Kinabalu national park. I've looked at going on a tour there but they seem quite expensive and need a minimum of two people. I should be able to join a tour but apparently it is pretty easy to get a local bus to the park really cheaply so I think I'm going to do that instead. The advantage to a tour is that they fit a lot in and include some hot springs and a canopy walkway thing but I'm looking at going to a place in Brunei that has a canopy walkway so I might just go for the local bus option. That way I could do what I want and go where I want to go.

It's quite nice being here as I no longer stand out and get stared at all the time!I guess there are a lot of tourists who come here and they're used to us, plus the country is just more used to the whole idea of Other Countries whereas Vietnam is only jsut opening up. Also the locals here are of a similar build to Westerners and I no longer tower over everyone I meet. There is less hunger too so people don't look like walking skeletons the way a lot of people do back in Hanoi. Apparently the average yearly income in Vietnam is somewhere between $100 and $200. There are a growing number of wealthy Vietnamese - foreigners are no longer the richest people in the country - who have a lot of cash to splahs around (for example the 5 weeks IELTS course where I work costs $650, and there are 7 different levels to progree through to get there so if you come in at a complete beginner you end up having to do eight courses to get the IELTS certificate ready to study abroad. That's a lot of money) and so that means that there must be a lot of people who are earning little to nothing each year. These are the people who get up stupidly early to cycle for 2 or 3 hours each day from their shack into Hanoi with a bicycle loaded with goods to try and sell them in the streets, and the people who walk the streets all say trying to sell things like fruit or snacks from their baskets. I guess little money means little food which is why they are all so tiny. That's not the case here though so walkign the streets is fairly hassle-free. I also don't feel at a disadvantage not speakng the local language as eveyone here speaks relly good English. It makes a change to be able to understand everything that's going on!

Right, I'm ready to brave the heat again now so its time to tear myself away from the air conditioned heaven I'm currently in.