Gosh, so here I am in Brunei. Its probably a good thing that there are only 2 things to do here – visit a mosque and look at another market – because I had some quite important things that needed doing. Like painting my toenails (twice: tangerine splash and grape-berry crush. I settled on the latter); reading 1.5 voluminous books; washing my shoes that had grown some sort of fungus on them after climbing the Pinnacles last week; checking my horoscope (a miracle will befall me on Friday: hooray!) and taking a test on facebook to see what kind of wife I will be (”domineering” apparently. Ha! The computer must be broken!).

Its not all that bad here, just slow and unexciting. I tried to buy some beer last night (really, I was lusting after some red wine), but was told the embarrassed shopkeeper that it is illegal to sell alcohol in Brunei. And so he should be embarrassed! What kind of nitwit chooses to live in a country with no alcohol?!

Ah, I’m being harsh I know, but I leave tomorrow for Sabah, the other bit of Malaysia on Borneo which sounds more like a great big jungle gym than a state. A mountain to climb, a beach to snorkel off and lie on, a river to sail up and an endless horde of leeches to befriend – can’t wait!

The shiny-domed Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque