Right son, get them Reeboks on, we's goin' chav huntin'

If I peek up past my computer screen in this internet cafe I am looking directly at Hyde Park, except for when the double decker buses block my view. The Clash is telling me to rock the casbah, but I think that I'll need to go and find a nice warm coat before I go out in search of this casbah.

It may be summer in London, but don't be fooled into thinking that its hot. The sun is nice and warm, but the shade is cold and British.

I know I know I know that I am behind (as always). In fact, I probably owe about 10 new posts - a summary of the US wouldn't go astray, then I need to update everyone on the beauty of Malaysia before launching into a grande description of the glorious MotherLand (and unfortunately I'm not talking about Mother Russia - hopefully I will make it there soon). And photos! I have so many photos!

The unfortunate news is that I didn't end up buying a laptop in Malaysia. I'm all talk apparently. Well, not all talk - just a slow mover. I talked about my overseas trip for about 3 or 4 years before I finally left. And if you think about it relatively (with regards to financial output), I should have a laptop within a few weeks. Although I might wait till I find work before I make that sort of financial committment.

In any case, I do have more regular access to the internet here in the UK, so you can expect a few more posts. If you're interested, please start logging in a little more frequently, and if I am falling behind, send me an email to get me moving.

Thanks to everyone who has been patient enough to persist with reading this.

Time to run for the tube!

No computer, ok lah?

My sincerest apologies for the sudden stop in blog postings - I have literally had a total of only 10 minutes of internet time since I arrived in Malaysia.

I am currently sitting in the offices of the best law firm in Klang. Thankfully it is pleasure that brings me to these offices, and not business.

In fact, Malaysia has been nothing but pleasure since I arrived. Spending time with the people here has been the closest thing I could possibly have to being with my immediate family (whom I miss very much).

Thus far most of my time has been spent with family and eating. Eating before I go somewhere, eating when I get there, and then eating again when I get back. Anyone who knows me well would also know how much I am loving this sort of lifestyle. The food is superb. The only thing better than the food has been spending lots of time with such a caring, close-knit family. It is an honour to be considered a part of it.

I hope to spend the next week and a half exploring a little further - go to Kuala Lumpur, Melaka, maybe Langkowi or Penang. And eating lots more.

Unfortunately, I don't have enough time for a more substantial update. However I do hope to purchase a laptop while I am here and the Australian dollar is strong, which means that posts might become more regular.

I'm not promising anything.

What I can promise to you is that I am having a wonderful time in this country, and feel very much so at home.

A picture's worth

Rather than spend my last few hours in LA writing furiously, I thought that perhaps I would finally put a substantial number of pictures online. They aren't perfect, I am yet to even rotate some of them, but you'll get the idea pretty quickly of where I have been and what I have done.

Enjoy!

http://s283.photobucket.com/albums/kk313/hamishbr86/Baltimore%20and%20the%20Preakness/

http://s283.photobucket.com/albums/kk313/hamishbr86/Boston/

http://s283.photobucket.com/albums/kk313/hamishbr86/Chicago/

http://s283.photobucket.com/albums/kk313/hamishbr86/Graceland/

http://s283.photobucket.com/albums/kk313/hamishbr86/Los%20Angeles/

http://s283.photobucket.com/albums/kk313/hamishbr86/New%20York/

http://s283.photobucket.com/albums/kk313/hamishbr86/New%20York/Mothers%20Day/

http://s283.photobucket.com/albums/kk313/hamishbr86/Roadtrip%20South/

http://s283.photobucket.com/albums/kk313/hamishbr86/Seattle/

http://s283.photobucket.com/albums/kk313/hamishbr86/St%20Louis/

http://s283.photobucket.com/albums/kk313/hamishbr86/Vancouver/

http://s283.photobucket.com/albums/kk313/hamishbr86/Washington/

Rollin' rollin' rollin'

My Amtrak review is a very mixed one. It would be better called my Train Travel Review, because my review of Amtrak is far from shining.

Of 8 train trips I took, 6 were significantly late. Lowlights of travelling with Amtrak include the terrible food, the occasionally strange conductors, and St Louis station (if you can call the muddy ground beside the tracks a station). Highlights include the fact that their employees don't check dates on rail passes, so I was still travelling on mine almost a full week after it expired.

Removing Amtrak from the equation, going by train is actually a decent way to get around. Granted, it takes a really long time to get from place to place (I left New York at 4pm on Tuesday afternoon, and didn't arrive in Vancouver until 4pm Friday afternoon, and spent all but 4 hours of that time either on a train or in a bus where the train from Seattle to Vancouver wasn't running). I'll also concede that there isn't always a lot to see out the window (the endless states of North Dakota and Montana come to mind).

But you see a lot more than you ever would by air. The long trips are conducive to (mostly) interesting conversation, bringing people closer merely because we are all confined to the same space for a significant amount of time.

There are no seat belt signs confining you to your seat, and lounge cars tend to be a reasonably social place, should you choose to engage.

Its also an economical way of travelling, particularly with the savings on accommodation. Thankfully, there is sufficient room on the long haul trips to spread out and get some decent sleep. Make sure you get the window seat.

In short, I would recommend train travel for anyone with time to spare (allow extra if travelling with Amtrak), a book to read, who enjoys looking out a window, and has a good tolerance for crazy people.

Just my kinda thing.

There's no place like...

I can now fire off a reasonably substantial list of American towns and cities that I have visited: Boston, Chicago, St Louis, Washington, Roanoke (VA), Knoxville, Nashville, Memphis, Baltimore, Seattle, Los Angeles, New York and then add in the Canadian city of Vancouver. And that is just on this trip. I probably have every right to add cities like Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Francisco, San Diego, New Orleans and Miami from the previous family trip that we took to the US.

In short, I have seen a lot of what this country's city living has to offer.

For me Seattle and Vancouver both appeared to be the most livable cities. I could easily see myself buying a modest home in North Vancouver somewhere, nestled at the feet of the mountains, just a short drive away from one of the inlets, surrounded by the lush green forests that give Vancouver a lot of its character. Seattle could accommodate me with a cosy apartment somewhere around the downtown area, or somewhere around the harbour where I could happily ride a ferry to work each day, but still be close enough to everything that I can smell the coffee.

But there is no place that draws me like New York City. Not quite the hideous concrete jungle that is Los Angeles (and don't worry Alane, I'm not talking about the beautiful Chino Hills area, nor am I implying that the people of LA match the city's ugliness - quite the opposite), New York really only has snippets of aesthetic beauty. To get out of the city and into some greenery, you need a car and a full day. Living is expensive, the climate can be extreme and the people have a reputation for rudeness.

Perhaps ignore that last comment.

Nevertheless, I would love to wake up in the city that never sleeps. I have never felt more at home, relaxed and comfortable anywhere outside Sydney as I do in New York.

Perhaps what draws me is the honest dichotomy (an oxymoron?). I never thought I would say that about the financial capital of the world, where market traders regularly ruin lives daily, where business can be horribly cut-throat, where image can be everything. But there is something honest in there.

There is an acceptance that emanates from almost every New Yorker - this is what the city is, and we still love it. We make every pretension when it comes to our image - we are the best in the world, and will never be made to look otherwise. But we also make no pretensions with regards to the inner workings of this place - New York city can be an ugly beast, which is perfectly capable of swallowing people whole. Its a dog-eat-dog world out there, so if our dogs fight in Central Park and mine loses, that's the way of the world. C'est la vie, as a cousin's boyfriend so delicately put it.

But I will file suit against you. Because its a man-eat-man world in New York City.

And I love that.

At a time when I am near-obsessed with seeing the importance of acceptance in all facets of life, New York both embodies this spirit and crushes it.

And it accepts that this is exactly what New York is.