Home again. Like all vacations, much too short. To see everything interesting on Borneo would take many months, and require a number of battles with the bureaucracy.
Back in Kuala Lumpur, not much had changed. I still detest the cab drivers, the focus on being a shoppers paradise is blatantly apparent but at least the coffee was better than on Borneo. The availability of Guinness is also considerably higher.
Flying with Thai airlines was a pleasant experience, but that is hardly a surprise when comparing to AA or SAS. The service was quick and everyone was very nice and polite. Quite different from AA, where service is non-existent and SAS with their staff of grumpy old geezers (again, gender unspecified).
To summarize; Go to Thailand, but dont forget to make it clear how unhappy you are about the abundance of prostitution and how it effects your view of the country - make sure to visit Maharlika. Go to Malaysia, but make sure they understand that the point of going on vacation is to get away from the pampered, controlled society you live in and that you need to have personal space and be able to choose to be responsible for yourself and your life. Both nations are extremely sensitive to criticism by tourists, so if a sufficient number of us make the point of pressing these issues, they will change. Or perhaps I'm just naiive.
