I am one exceptionally lucky chap. Did I ever mention that before?
As I write this I am sitting by a pool in Borneo. Here to be precise. The temperature is a cool 28 degrees Celsius and after I finish writing this I might have a dip in the refreshingly cool pool, or I might go and have an ice-cream. Hell why don’t I do both? Check this out…
Okay, its not a great snap but I’m using a Google nexus 7 and it has no back facing camera but you can get some idea of the kind of place I’m in right now. Palm trees, the sea just a stone’s throw away, cocktail in hand. Yup, it’s pretty damn nice.
This holiday is my birthday present from my wife. She’s good like that. Oh wait… Before you go off all ‘lucky sod, I hope you choke on a coconut’, I am paying for something. It’s a self-catering holiday and so I am paying for all our eats and drink. Oh, and souvenirs. I won’t equal the amount she has shelled out, but I’ll certainly feel I have contributed well. In fact, if you consider the fact that I bought her a really nice camera for Xmas then we won’t be far off being equal.
It’s been a truly awesome holiday and I’ll certainly be slinging up a kick ass review on trip advisor in the near future. Ever considered holidaying in Borneo? Stop considering. Just stop and go pick up a brochure. Then book your trip. We’ve seen some amazing sights including orangutans, crocodiles, fuckoff big lizard things and sea turtles to name but a few. Awesome. The landscape is simply spectacular too. You can look at pictures of a rain forest all day long but you’ll never understand what it feels like until your trekking through one – as we have – in search of those wonderful creatures listed above. But on top of all that, what has really been made this holiday great is the people of Malaysia. They are a really lovely, but genuinely friendly people who will go out of their way to assist you in anyway they can to make your visit something special. Alternatively if you are the sort who does not fair well with your space being intruded upon, they understand this too and will leave you to it. Regardless, I have yet to see one Malaysian fail to smile, even in passing. Fantastic people. Many speak excellent English (it is taught as a second language at school here) in fact, most signs and business display their information in English first before anything else. This makes getting around Borneo incredibly easy. They drive on the right too and even have roundabouts. I could easily think of this place as a home away from home.
Anyway, it’s quite clear I’ve enjoyed my stay. But holiday aside, getting away has been good in other ways too. Before coming out here I had been getting increasingly frustrated with my writing – I think mostly through weakness. The call of the procrastinator is a seductive and alluring melody that calls weaklings such as I to spend my time like currency browsing time sinks like YouTube and Facebook or all manner of other forums. I found I frequently had nothing to show for hours of time spent in front of a computer. Out here, I have had no access to Internet (this is actually untrue as I did not discover the free wifi by the pool and in the lobby until the last day of my holiday – which is today) and so I have had nothing to soak up my minds valuable story producing energy or to lead me astray. The result is that I have not one, not two but three stories outlined (on paper lol!) and ready for typing up into a something awesome. Well, it’s a plan. I’ll let you know if they come of anything or if I am actually just riding a high at the moment and dreaming…. again.
Still, it’s hard not to dream with a view like this…
Well, it’s time for me to go. I have this to devour…
* there was going to be a picture of an enormous cheeseburger here, with warm cinnamon apple crumble to follow…. But I ate it before remembering to photo it. It was very nice indeed. *
…. on a balcony overlooking that fantastic view.
M.
Captain's Log 