Monkey business

One of the real highlights of our trip so far - Tioman Island, off the east coast of Malaysia. We decided to upgrade again to a dark wooden raised chalet with a sea view (and most importantly for Stuart, a kettle to make tea-the first time we've enjoyed such luxury).

However, the funniest part of our stay on the island was when we went on another jungle trek (must make a note to stop doing these) to Monkey bay, where we were not dissapointed with the title of our destination. Stuart was about to go out on a snorkelling expedition (30 metres from the beach) and Martine was making herself comfortable for a bit of cooking (tanning) when a very cheeky monkey made a guest appearance. He rushed out of the jungle, heading straight for his target: a blue Eastpack, fully packed and promising. Cheeky monkey didn't even sniff around, just openend the front zip, took out our neighbour's camera (also swimming) (the neighbour, not the camera, that was disappearing in the jungle) and ran off back into the jungle. The whole sequence lasted for 3 seconds and the monkey's confidence was absolutely unblemished by the shouts of its human spectators... so Martine gave chase, in full combat uniform (pink and turquise bikini, barefoot) and ran after the monkey in the jungle, who was calmly unpacking the camera... the monkey seemed so shocked that he didn't even take a picture but tried his luck with the neighbour's sunglasses later. Another sweet monkey later charged at Stuart but was scared off by Stuart's high-pitched screams.
Apart from the monkeys we met some real people, some really nice people as well, Anna and Magnus from Sweden, or Spain, who gave us some good tips for Singapore. Nothing prepared me for Stuart's fantastic visit to a barbar in Singpore's Chinatown (best haircut he's had for ages by the way:)