💦 let's take this poolside 💦 palmtree reflections and sunshine✌️ (at Langkawi)

coconut curry from my favourite thai chicks👌 (at Pantai Cenang, Pulau Langkawi, Malaysia)

au naturale sunset because sweeeet lord what a beautiful time to be alive (at Langkawi Island, Malaysia)

| mellow | (at Langkawi Island, Malaysia)

tried some sand-sculpting today - my naked chick is now 3d 😘 (at Tanjung Rhu, Langkawi)

Today marks my one-month (who knows how many more there'll be?) anniversary of living in Langkawi, Malaysia - an incredible time full of new friends, old friends, teh ice, sand and cheese naans 👐 happy soul 😘 (at Tanjung Rhu, Langkawi)

| lazy sunday | (at Black Sand Beach)

little trip to 'black sand beach'👌 (at Black Sand Beach)

Melaka to Kuala Lumpur to Singapore to Langkawi

Our next stop turned out to be Melaka - south Malaysia and lovely. We spent a few days there, just wandering around, visiting the market which was huge and amazing, and eating lots of delicious food, as always.

We found a public swimming pool and managed to get some sunbathing in for a few hours, which was lovely despite the intense heat.

There wasn’t heaps to do in Melaka but we ended up staying longer than planned, of course, and moved hostels to a street full of temples. My favourite thing about Malaysia, other than the food and weather, is probably the integration of communities - so many different faiths and religions and cultures and backgrounds all mixed together beautifully. The street of temples only proved this further, and we spent a while visiting them.

I visited a mosque for the first time in my life and was amazed to find they have burkas hanging up for visitors to wear during their visits. We also spent some time in a Chinese temple - people were queuing up to get their laundry/ clothes stamped. We were intrigued so queued up too - we got the tops we were wearing stamped with red ink while facing the Buddha, which is meant to bring good luck. We spent some time sat separately in the temple, quiet with our thoughts. I felt very at peace, and ridiculously content with my life, which is becoming a regular occurrence. There’s something so serene and overwhelming about sitting with dozens of other people around you, all with different backgrounds, sharing a moment of spirituality and calm.

While we were sat, they started getting ready for the ceremony so we decided to stay. After a few minutes, the incense began hurting our eyes so much that we decided to leave before we were actually crying - luckily some locals arrived right on time and had nowhere to sit, so we offered our seats up and ran into fresh air. We bought some little trinkets, of course - we both opted for a beautiful bracelet with three Buddha icons on it ‘one for you, one for me and one for our trip together’, according to my friend. Super cute.

Our last night in Melaka was meant to be our last night together - I’d left my luggage in KL and she had to get to Singapore to get her flight home. So sad. She decided to get a stick and poke tattoo from a lovely guy in our hostel, so we headed out into the streets at 1am to look for tools. Somehow we ended up at a local bar that had closed but was open to us - my friend had met a girl in Vietnam who was working there and we’d been a few times already.

We ended up sitting with her, the owner and two British guys, playing drinking games and chilling. They were hilarious, and incredibly kind - I told them I was heading to KL the next morning and needed to book my bus. They told me they’d drive me home and that I could crash at theirs - joy!

I managed to convince my friend to head back to KL with me for the night on the promise that I’d then head to Singapore with her - it worked! What followed was a race to the guys’ hotel, and I somehow lost my phone along the way. We scoured the road to no avail. Devastated. Still, the car journey was fun and full of Fleetwood Mac and good humour.

Arriving at the guys’ flat in KL, my friend threw her backpack down. There was a huge crashing sound and I turned around to hear her say 'is this yours?’ On the floor was my phone! It had fallen inside the waterproof cover of her bag and had miraculously not fallen out! Amazing - we had an emotional, slightly hysterical hug and then headed out for beers. We used the infinity pool the next morning, which was chilly but lovely, and headed to collect my luggage.

As promised, we went to Singapore! I had messaged a friend from uni and asked for recommendations of cheap hostels. Incredibly, she was heading to KL and offered up her flat for us - we haven’t seen each other for years but the coincidence was too much to say no to! So crossed the border at 5am and met her at her lovely flat. A quick brekkie and she headed to KL, where we’d just come from! We spent two days in Singapore, visiting the famous Marina Bay Gardens, a temple, Chinatown and a few other little places along the way.

Next stop: Langkawi island…

Crossing the (first) border

So we ended up staying on Koh Lanta for longer than planned. Every time my travel-wife decided to leave, something would happen and we'd end up staying an extra day. Normally that something would be a hangover, if I'm being honest! In the last few days on the island, we met some hilarious British guys and chilled with them, riding around the island on the back of their bikes and enjoying some amazing views. My friend's plan was to head to Malaysia for a while before going to Singapore for a few days before her flight home. I had no real plans and was tempted to stay in Thailand and island-hop for a while longer. However, the weather was awful pretty much everywhere so I decided to join her in Malaysia, thinking I had nothing to lose. Turns out it was the best decision to make - the day we left to drive to the Malaysian border, it was chucking it down all over Thailand. I've never crossed a border by minivan before but it was pretty cool! You hop out to leave Thailand, hop back in, and the hop back out with all your luggage to enter Malaysia. So odd. Was pretty scary as well, even though I knew I was valid for a free 3 month visa and had nothing nasty with me, aside from a filthy cough. We made it through the border and headed to Georgetown, Penang Island. The island was huge, more of a small country than the little islands I'd been chilling on before, but still amazing. Georgetown is famous for its street art - kinda Banksy-esque and brilliant. We spent a day wandering around taking photos and reenacting the poses, I got some henna done (finally!) and chilling. We visited the botanical gardens, which was pretty cool, despite the sudden downpour, and had a great time with some German guys we met - free tequila and a night that ended with dancing in the street. We decided to head to Kuala Lumpur and, of course, I fell in love. Asian cities seem to be my thing! We stumbled off the bus at 5am and managed to find our hostel after getting confused with metro maps and directions. KL turned out to be amazing - the Petronas Towers are incredible, the mix of cultures is beautiful and the food was delicious. As a vegetarian, I've struggled a lot but Malaysia is a glorious mix of cultures and backgrounds, so I lived off Indian food everyday for less than £1.50 per meal - glorious. We visited a few temples, and my friend's friend lives in KL so offered to take us out for the day. We went to Genting Highlands - up in the mountains, with a beautiful Buddhist temple and incredible views. From there we headed to Batu Caves - a 140ft statue that takes over 200 steps to reach but is well worth it. We were in KL for Chinese New Year so decided to head to a Chinese temple to watch the celebrations. It was ridiculously hot that day but amazing to be involved. There was a big lion dance, where you touch the lions (guys dressed up in a brightly coloured costume) for good luck and they give sweets out to everyone. Next stop: Melaka...

no filter needed for island sunset (at Langkawi, Malaysia)

home, sweet (temporary) home✌️ (at Singapore)

🌸 (at Gardens By The Bay, Marina Baysands, Singapore)

unbelievable scenes jeff👌 (at Marina Bay Sands)

Crossed yet another (unplanned) border with my honey @lunamarkman 👐Arrived in Singapore at 5.30am by bus with no money and nothing but the kindness of strangers - shoutout to the guard who let us ride the metro for free, and to the wonderful @amyelizjones for her generosity in the form of a lovely place to sleep 😘 Proof that the best plans really are no plans, and that the universe will always help you find a way... #thehoneymooncontinues #brazilandbritain #visaonarrival (at Singapore)

Goodbye Malaysia, you stunner. Hopefully see you again soon 😘 (at Jonker Street, Melaka)

It might just be me being lazy, but not booking or planning anything in advance seems to be working well so far... @lunamarkman and I were wandering along the river in Melaka around 1am the other day, looking for a pencil so we could do a stick-n-poke tattoo. Instead, we ended up drinking with a couple of lovely Brits 'til 5am. I mentioned I was heading back to KL and they very sweetly offered me a lift and a place to crash, as one of them lives there. Of course, I managed to convince Luna to come back with me and delay her plans by 24 hours. What resulted was a road trip full of Fleetwood Mac and amazing harmonies (kinda), beers in KL, a comfy bed and an infinity pool in their apartment complex. Absolute legends 😘 Thanks lads @steeladee (at Petaling Jaya, Malaysia)