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02/11/07 - I did it! I got my course! I had my interview by phone early Monday morning, where I spoke to a western woman at the British Council in Kuala Lumpur, who told me about the course, then I found out by e-mail on Wednesday that I had been accepted. So now I have to wait to find out if Victoria and Reuben are coming to the UK, then I'll need to organise my flights and visas from there. If they're coming, I'll be going to Malaysia when they do (at the end of the month), but if not, I could be going by November 20th...

My business cards arrived this week, so I'll be giving some of those out before and during my trip. Been celebrating a few things over the past couple of weeks, firstly both my parents' birthdays (which are only ten days apart), and also the Pastor and his wife's wedding anniversary and the birth of their granddaughter at Palmers Green. It's a shame that I'll be missing Emily and Sanju's wedding now that I have my course. I would love to have gone and met some of the former Gappers again, but unfortunately it's too late in the year to attend, but of course, I send my best regards to everyone...

09/11/07 - The countdown's slowly getting lower, my date of depature from the UK is November 21st, so not a huge deal of time left to get ready. Victoria told me that she won't be coming over here, so I don't have to extend my time here waiting for them. I just slowly need to tick everything off my check list, I'm glad I don't need a student visa for my course in Malaysia (it being only ten weeks), as getting one would be an extra bit of hassle, but I still have to get one for India.

But booking tickets to go to India has been a bit of a hassle so far. When trying to book my flights (which I still haven't done, I must do it tomorrow) from KL to Chennai, Indian Airlines was the cheapest (and also had the best travel times), but when I tried to order it, it ended up deleting my order and putting the price up next time I tried to book it (from £200 to £300). So I'll be using Sri Lankan Airlines from KL to India, and Emirates from London to Malaysia (with a lengthy transit in Dubai on the way back!).

Still about India, Sam (Malaysia Gap Challenge) and her friend came back this week, after spending a month with Elisha, travelling round Tamil Nadu and Kerala and visiting the God's Garden orphanage. I'll be going to Palmers Green this weekend for what's likely to be my last visit before my travels. I'll be making a photo album for them as my parting gift. It has been a blessing being able to spend time with Tamil people whilst being in the UK, I'll need to make sure I say goodbye to the Tamils in Ashford before I leave too...

16/11/07 - It's been a week of goodbyes, which will be followed by even more next week, then a few reuniting from there. On Saturday I said goodbye to the Tamils in Ashford. It's a shame I haven't been able to spend so much time with them, and I was just starting to pick up Tamil off Saran. He's been talking to me through saying single words reptitively (like Ranjita does), which makes it easy for me to learn and understand. I haven't learnt much Tamil over the past several months I've been back in the UK, but hopefully from next week I'll be learning a lot more.

On Sunday I said goodbye to the Palmers Green church. Most of the people had just found out that day (during the announcements) that I would be leaving, and some people are asking me to come back next week too. I gave them a photo album as my parting gift, which everyone seemed to appreciate, especially the Sunday School. All of the class and teachers thanked me for helping out, and I received a card signed by some of the church members. I'll have to try and make it for the end of the service next week, as I have to have my final family Sunday lunch too.

And finally I said goodbye to SBE, after eight months there. I haven't done any overtime there since July, which is a shame, but I just lost the motivation to do more hours. I don't think it was the work itself, just a lack of motivation in my home life. But I still enjoyed my time there, and the staff were great, I think they're going to miss me too. I'm not sure if I'd ever go back to work there, but I'll pay them a visit some time when I get back from my winter migration.

So, that will be last update from the UK for the next several months. I'll be leaving Wednesday evening, transitting in Dubai, then arriving in Kuala Lumpur Thursday night, and will see my friends again Friday morning. I've certainly had a much better time in the UK this year than I did last year, and I thank the people mentioned above (and my family, who I haven't spent as much time with this year, working opposite hours to them) for that. I just have to pray the next several months in Asia are my best yet too...

23/11/07 - At long last, I'm finally in Malaysia! It feels so good to be back, and it's so nice to see everyone again. The flight wasn't too bad, stopping over at Dubai along the way (where I'll get a long trasit via on the way back). I'm so happy to see Ranjita again, and she's so happy to see me. And Dinesh, Sutha and Velan have a new little sister, Karthika, who's a really cute little girl. I seem to receive either a love or hate relationship from babies, and it seems like I can make Karthika smile.

My last week in the UK was nice. On the Saturday I met another new cousin, which was also another Oliver (this time on my mother's side), pictured with Lucy on the Photography site. I also went back to Palmers Green again so people had another chance to say goodbye. They also gave me a Christmas present and a £50 donation from the church. I'll have to tell the Taman Wahyu church all about Palmers Green...

I stayed with Prathees' family on the Sunday night, so I could go early to the Indian Embassy to get my visa sorted. I managed to get it done by 1:30pm, things seemed to get a lot quicker and smoother than last time. Also, my black Puma bag, which I've been carrying with me everywhere the past two years, has now gone into retirement. Unfortunately I couldn't find the same one again; my new bag is OK, but it doesn't have many pockets inside.

This will be the only update from Malaysia this month, as I'll be going to India on Tuesday to Elisha's ministry in Tamil Nadu, with a long transit through Colombo, Sri Lanka. I've only had four days to readapt to my 'second lifestyle' and I'm already off again (but that's my own fault for wanting to do everything so fast).

30/11/07 - Vanhakkam... I've eventually made it to India, after three short, yet tedious, flights and a good lack of sleep. I've had a nice first few days in Malaysia, looking after Ranjita and visiting people. I was asked when I took her to church whether she was my adopted daughter, she certainly feels like it. She's gotten very attached, so attached that she ended up punching one of Velan's teeth out after getting scolded whilst playing with me...

I'm now staying in Petaling Jaya with Anna David, a relative of Annrita's (who's left our church now), who praised me in how well I could look after one of her relatives we visited in hospital, as I could understand his body language quite well. I'm glad to have settled in a house now, as I couldn't bare lagging that suitcase around the first few days I was here. And it's good that I can go to the church in Petaling Jaya easily too, they have a nice ministry there.

My brief visit in Sri Lanka on the way to India was good; Sri Lanka is just how I expected it to be, more developed than India, but not as developed as Malaysia. It was a shame I didn't get to visit Colombo city (I just went round neighbouring Negombo), but as there were two bombings that killed 20 people the day after, I think my time exploring Sri Lanka is over for now. There's also been news of Tamils causing riots in KL over unfair treatment. Unfortunately I was at the service in PJ at that time, so I couldn't go and see anything...

The first thing I noticed in my first day in India was the amount of Vodafone logos there are now. I was told they took over a company called Hutch, and now Madurai and Chennai are full of Vodafone logos. Also, Tesco have taken over Makro in Malaysia, so there's now a giant Tesco right outside the Taman Wahyu church...

My time in India is going OK at the moment, I flew from Chennai to Madurai Wednesday morning, only to drive back to Chennai again 24 hours later, as Elisha is doing some preaching around the area. I'm currently alone in Chennai, but I've made friends with a rickshaw driver, Raju, who's been taking me round the city. I'm just finding money to be the hardest thing at the moment, some people settle for Rs 10 when they give you a service, whilst others ask for Rs 100. I really have to keep my head in the game here, I ended up paying almost £2 for a can of coke today. I can't let an economy lower than Malaysia's get the better of me...