SEPTEMBER 28 – 30 – KUALA LUMPUR

• I arrived from Dubai late and caught a taxi from the airport to Simon and Lindsay’s apartment in town where Karen and Joel (two Aussie’s working in the boys’ company over here are living). The Proton WAJA taxi was somewhat different to the Audi A8 L I had in Dubai! I’m also certain it will be much better than downtown Bali;
• After a restful day, we took off to see some of the sites. Karen and Joel have fallen comfortably into the ex-pat lifestyle which means they know all the great places to go!
• We had champagne in the Sky Bar which overlooks KL city and the impressive twin towers. From here we went to dinner in China Town at one of their favourite, local restaurants nick named the ‘Mickey Mouse Club’ due to the rather large number of displays of the mouse himself;
• KL is an interesting city which appears to be heavily ‘under construction’. The ‘monsoonal climate’ means most evenings result in an impressive lightning storm and from the apartment (23rd floor), it’s amazing. I love lightning storms and these are the BEST!

SEPTEMBER 22 – 26 UAE

• Dubai is an exhilarating place. It has the shininess of Las Vegas, the magic of Disney and the ‘bling’ of the French Rivera (perhaps without the class);
• I’m staying at the Hilton Jumeriah Beach which is a beautiful five star hotel with a private beach and all the trimmings;
• Yesterday, I did a private tour (with a driver in an Audi A8 L, a personal tour guide – Janine) which I would highly recommend. We began at the Burj Al Arab (the world famous ‘sail inspired’ building), the palaces of the Royal families, the old Souks (markets) of spices, gold, perfume and a ride in a Dhow across Dubai Creek. From here, we visited a Mosque (perfectly timed for the Muslim third out of five prayers per day), had a tour of the different zones of the city and had a look at Dubai Mall and watched the fountain display in front of the Burj Dubai (tallest building in the world).
• Given that Dubai only began serious construction in the late 1960’s under the vision of a previous Sheikh (who wasn’t an ‘educated’ man but a true visionary) it really is an amazing city of extreme wealth and zero crime. The service everywhere is amazing too (so good in fact it’s a little unnerving). There is somebody to do everything and everyone is doing something. It does make you wonder if Australia had a similar visionary with an astute business mind who utilised our resources then manufactured and developed them and kept the vision going, what would we look like right now??? There’s a few bottles of wine in that question isn’t there!!
• This evening was a desert safari experience. After being picked up in a V8 GMC 4x4, we quickly met about 20 other 4x4’s and absolutely ‘FLOGGED’ them up and down the sand dunes in the Dubai Desert Reserve. Our driver, a mad Lebanese man, told me the re-sale vale of the GMC is not great in Dubai. I know how why!!! It was amazing fun and having grown up four wheel driving, there is no way on God’s earth, my father and his mates would treat their 4x4’s like this! After a somewhat terrifying ride, we took photos of the sunset, had an Arabian feast in the middle of the desert and we were entertained by belly dancing and of course henna tattoos. I got a Scorpion for my star sign. It was a heap of fun and I met two ladies from the Central Coast – Sydney (Cheryl and Janine) and they had done a similar trip to me!

SEPTEMBER 12 – 16 (FUN IN THE SUN – MORE OF MYKONOS)

• Here are some more photos of the last few days. Finally my tan is coming back!!
• Heading to the beach every day to do an ocean swim with the local fish followed by relaxing lunch on the beach, a bit of a read and more swimming.
• At night, there are plenty of lovely bars to head to. ‘Kastro’ (swing and jazz music), ‘Sunset Bar at the Elysium Hotel’ (terrible drag shows but good sunset view), ‘Jackie O’s’ and ‘Babylon’ (more club atmosphere) have been some favourites.
• The food has been great too (lunch is brought to you on your deck chair on the beach) and dinners have involved plenty of good old Greek food. YUM!
• Met some lovely guys from London (Dave, Owen, Paul & Sam) and took some photos of them from the speed boat on the crazy shark (ski biscuit). It’s very good fun and you can’t help but laugh out loud for the whole trip!!

SEPTEMBER 9 – 11 – AN INTRODUCTION TO MYKONOS

• After arriving via ship to the Island, I was taken to my studio flat (Ortensia Villas). It’s quite close to Chora (main centre of town) but on top of the hill looking at the harbour so I quickly rented myself a quad bike to get around. By bike, it’s only 5 minutes to town.
• My friend Kosta, his cousin Nic and partner Geo are staying here for 3 days so it’s been good to have some great company and they’ve been before. So far, I’ve been to Paradise Beach, Super Paradise Beach and my favourite, Elia. Elia is a bit quieter and more relaxed than the other two. Nic and Geo have rented a beautiful villa in Elia and have been kind enough to invite Kosta and I to the pool and bar area at the end of a hard day at the beach (which is divine)
• The camber of the day is roughly as follows. Wake up at 10 am, go and get a coffee, go to the beach by 1.00 pm, swim and relax until 6 pm, have a drink, go home by 8 pm. Dinner at 10 pm then a drink or two in one of many bars until 2 am. We’ve repeated this the last three days.
• Today we took a 15 minute ride on a giant ski biscuit around Elia beach towed by a speed boat. It was amazing fun and the four of us (who asked for ‘no mercy’ from the ski boat driver) got what we asked for!

SEPTEMBER 6 & 7 – ATHENS

• After magnificent weather in Ireland (we were very lucky), we left Dublin early (it was cold, windy and pouring with rain and drizzle).
• Flying into Athens is beautiful. The blue skies and ocean mixed with the ‘harsh’ terrain is beautiful to see from the aircraft.
• A friend of mine Kosta is living here and we wasted no time in having a drink and a bite to eat followed by a day of seeing the sites of Athens.
• We met at my hotel in Plaka and took off to see The Acropolis Museum followed by the Acropolis and the Parthenon, the National Garden, Zappion, The monument of the Unknown Soldier, the Theatre of Dionysos and plenty more.
• The weather is nice and hot and so no more coat!

SEPTEMBER 3 – 5 – BLARNEY TO KILKENNY BACK TO DUBLIN

• Unfortunately I had a head cold, so didn’t get to acquire the gift of eloquence from kissing the Blarney Stone. Bugger – hehe. However, I did get to see the castle and a quick walk around the lovely grounds.
• Upon arriving in Kilkenny, we quickly realised the All Ireland Hurling Championships between Kilkenny and Tipperary was on the following day. The whole town of Kilkenny were dressed in their yellow and black supporting colours, flags, jerseys and carrying the Kilkenny Cat mascot - the cars done up likewise. Apparently 20,000 people will make their way from Kilkenny up to Dublin to join the other 70,000 people to watch the final – traffic should be interesting!
• From Kilkenny, we took some detours (good considering the traffic heading north) to see Baltinglass (County Wicklow) where my godfather Sean and his clan are from. We also then drive 20 minutes to Ballymore Eustace (County Kildare) where my mother’s family (The Eustace family) is from. Both small towns with their own charms. I was taking some photos in Ballymore Eustace where a kind local said welcome back to the Eustace Clan. There’s quite some history involved here and apparently the Eustace Clan were Lords and as such had quite a lot of land here.
• From Ballymore Eustace, it was a gentle drive back to Dublin and I’m catching up with some friends for a drink after the hurling final (of course).

SEPTEMBER 1 – 2 – ENNIS TO KILLARNEY

• From Galway, we stayed a night in Ennis then onto Killarney.
• It’s been a magical part of the trip seeing the beautiful landscapes of the Cliffs of Moher (Irish - Aillte an Mhothair). The views attract millions of travellers per year and I was pleased to be one of them. At their peak, they are 702ft above sea level. Apparently Dusty Springfield’s ashes were scattered off the cliffs.
• The other piece of magical landscape has been the Ring of Kerry (Irish - An Mhór Chuaird) and this really takes a full day to enjoy properly. The scenery is breathtaking and the driving is interesting through the narrow, windy lanes. It’s best to follow the tour buses rather than try to drive against them (which we did thankfully).
• The photographs do not even come close to representing the beauty of these two sites