We did our paperwork and checked out of Indonesia at Belitung so we were able to skip the last official rally stop. It was meant to be a big city and we had heard it could be expensive and tiresome to check out. In Belitung it costs us approx. $35US but that was to pay an agent to do all the work for us. It was a good choice because some of our friends who went to the official exit stop paid $150US and spent a week dealing with heavy handed officials who made it most difficult for the rally to leave Indonesia. I do not know why they want to play these games but we are on to Malaysia. In all fairness the people of Indonesia were wonderful, welcoming and generous, it is only the government that is a pain in the butt.

From Indonesia we need to cross the Singapore Straights to the Malacca Straights. The Singapore Straights are the busiest shipping channels in the world so we decided to anchor in one of the last islands of Indonesia and and go through in the day with Allure and Dream Maker. They both have AIS and it seemed to make sense. It wasn't really necessary because it was all straight forward and with the highly regulated traffic regulation zones of the straights made it easy enough. We went through together like a flock of ducks. It was all good until Jason picked up a plastic bag in his rudder and had to dive in to free it. The straights are very dirty and lots of trash floating through. We were not able to stop in Singapore as we do not have an AIS system, which is fine because Singapore is super expensive. We have just found out that Thailand is now enforcing their AIS rules and we will have to purchase one if we want to visit Thailand, which we do so there goes 1 B.O.A.T. unit (break out another thousand.) An AIS gives position reports on other boats and gives your position and pertinent info to other boats. In 3 1/2 years we have never felt the need to have one although friends tell us they love theirs.

We have joined the Sail Malaysia Rally, it was cheap and it is fun to sail as a group, who would have known? So we pulled into Puteri Harbor Marina. There are not a lot of berths so for about $6US you can anchor in the harbor and use all the facilities, think long hot showers! We needed to check into the country and the marina handled everything and even provided a bus to take us to customs which would have been a 3 minute walk. Full service and super easy here, not a single question asked about the boat or crew. Hand over your passport and it is run through the computer along with your fingerprints. As long as you don't show up on Interpol or whatever source they check you are in.

We wanted to spend a couple of days in Singapore but hotels are so expensive that we decided to head over and see if we could find a cheap hotel in one of the back alleys of Chinatown or Little India. The trip over is a nightmare or so we have heard from other cruisers. We got an early 7am start onto the bus. You need to switch busses at the main terminal and then off to check out of Malaysia. You go thru Malaysia customs and then back on the bus to go to Singapore customs to check into Singapore then off to the train station so you can get into the heart of the city. All and all with waiting for busses and customs it took us only 2 1/2 hours which from what we have heard is pretty much record time. Fortunately the train system in Singapore is excellent and you can get anywhere cheaply and easily. We split up with the group because they were heading to the 6 story electronic store and we did not want to spend hours doing that. So off to Chinatown for us. We spent a couple of hours walking around sampling street food and having some lunch. We visited an amazing Hindu Temple and then headed to Little India. It was mid afternoon so after a bit of walking around we decided to go to the Botanical Gardens and return to Little India for dinner. The Botanical Gardens were lovely with a great display of orchids. It was a bit late so as we were on the train back to Little India we decided to just eat at one of the train stations and head back to Malaysia. We were not able to find any cheap hotels or hostels. We started back to Malaysia at about 7pm so as to make sure we could catch a bus on the other side. There were lots of commuters heading back as well and by the time we cleared customs on the Malaysia side we had missed the last bus back to the marina. We did not however realize this until we has sat and waited for the bus for over an hour. It was a bit of a dilemma because we did not have a working cell phone and so no way to call a taxi, also no phone number and no address to give a taxi company which in this area of the world means you are not getting a taxi. There was a mini van loading in some passengers so I approached him for help hoping he would just drop us off. It was wishful thinking as his van was full and there were 4 of us. He did however try to call a taxi for us. He spent almost 20 minutes trying to get us a taxi, all to no avail. He did volunteer to drop off his passengers and return for us in one to two hours. We declined and decided to walk down the road and see if we could find our own taxi. We started out but the road looked deserted and dodgy so we turned to go the other way but it was just a major highway. We decided to get on any bus that was next in hope of finding a better spot to catch a taxi. We talked to some people in a bus line and decided that it was our best hope. We got on the bus and David tried to ask the bus driver to help us but he was not so interested. A young guy standing next to him overheard him and said he would tell us when to get off. We got off the bus at a taxi stand and were approached by one of the drivers. We told him where we wanted to go and he said he would have to charge us the midnight rate because it was so late. It was 11:30 and taxi rates go up after midnight but we were not in a position to argue so we got in. $45 RM later (12US) we were back to the marina. Our 5 hour trip home pretty well canceled out our record 2 1/2 hour trip over. We can however say we have been to Singapore.

It was Maria's birthday so Maria, Angie and I headed off to the mall to do some grocery shopping. We got side tracked and spent the day shopping and getting haircuts which was fun at a giant super modern mall. It was great to have a girl day. We did get our groceries and made it back to the marina in time for Maria's party. There is an Indian restaurant which has great food. We have been eating there almost every night because the food is great and super cheap. Monday night was ladies nights with free margaritas for the ladies. It just happened to be Maria's and another cruiser, Cynthia's birthdays so what better place to celebrate. We got frocked up and headed in. After dinner and a margarita I headed back to the boat to finish up the cake I had started. I missed the best part of the party and was glad I did. When I got back the bartender was pouring shots down the ladies throats. I'm not much of a hard alcohol drinker and so it was good timing. Some of the cruisers were hurting the next morning when we pulled out to head for Port Dickson and I was really glad that I was not one of them. Poor Maria was so bad off that I had to make Jason breakfast and toss it over as we motored down the river. That's how you know it was a successful birthday party! As we were heading back to the boat from the party we came upon some young local guys on what looked like an electronic skate board. It was wild looking and Jason asked if he could have a go. It's called a Swagway and is a not really a skate board at all. It is sort of a combination skate board and Segueway. You stand on it sideways and lean to move forward, backwards, and it turns on a dime. All the kids had a go and Zack got it straight away. He has good balance from all the surfing. Well, guess what Zack wants for Christmas? He was totally into it. So we asked where to get one, Singapore! That is not going to happen! We will have to see if Santa can pull this one off, but it does not seem so practical on a boat. Luke and George were really into it as well so who knows.