A relaxed day

Not THAT great though - that's $1 an hour.

Today's biggest achievement was a delivery of fresh laundry - how happy was I! There are free washing facilities here but they were being used so I just took them down the road to the laundry. "Hang the expense," I thought, and then discovered that it was RM3.50 per kilo and I had 3 kilos. Yep $3 to have them washed, dried and folded. Sweeeeeet! I did have to beg her though not to put my bathers in the dryer. She said "is ok!!" and I said "no... is not ok..." and she said "Ah is cheap just buy new ones!" I attempted to explain that the chances of finding a swimsuit in this country to fit me is nil but it was lost on her... anyway they came back wet so all good!

I really just relaxed most of the morning and then went for a walk down the street. Paul (the bartender) was sitting at a cafe and flagged me down so I sat with them for a while, finally getting the tourist information I needed! Armed with ideas I went to the parks office to book my accommodation at Bako national park for Saturday night. I also went to a little aquarium which had some very interesting fish from the rivers, as well as a couple of crocodiles. One had coins all over him which people had thrown at him. I thought that was a little strange. There was a group of school girls there next to me and one was aiming for his eyes...

Soho Bar - my tourist information centre.

Back at the bar in the evening it was Ladies Night - which meant RM10 ($3.50) for unlimited gin, whiskey or vodka. What the hell... I still drank beer. As I walked past a table a man flagged me down and said "Miss Swinburne, hello!" I assumed Paul had introduced us at some point and he said "would you like to join us?" Sure, I went and got my drink and sat down - only to find as I sat that my obnoxious Hungarian boat buddy was sitting opposite. Groaning on the inside I tried to ignore him but he kept talking to me. He did get a couple of surprises though, having written me off as boring and inexperienced. Yesterday I heard him lording it over someone that he was a dive instructor and I quietly told Sky in conversation that I was one. He immediately told Mr Obnoxious, who looked a little annoyed that I should share his status. Then, in a move that really was purely showing off, I texted a song request to the DJ only to see Mr Obnoxious drop his jaw that someone who had walked into town yesterday was already friends with everybody. HA! I win!