From the Perhentians we all headed back together to Zubin's parents house in Kuala Lumpur which, to be honest, we didn't want to leave. I could quite happily live out my next 6 months of travelling in that house. James and I hadn't realised quite how much we were missing the comforts of home, but the delights of a home-cooked meal, a fantastically hot shower and the amazing hospitality of Zub and his parents certainly served to remind us.

Food formed a big part of our stay – I think on average we were eating once every 3 hours, which means James and I are both now back up to our fighting weights again. Malay food is absolutely delicious – we enjoyed local specialities including Char Kway Teow (flat noodles with chicken and prawn), Pau (giant dim sum buns filled with pork, chicken, or bean paste) Lam Mee (the birthday noodle dish), Pork Char Sui (Malay style pork) and Banana Leaf Curry (curry served on banana leaves which you eat with your hands). But the absolute highlight had to be the Malaysian mangoes, which were the yellowest, sweetest mangoes we've ever tasted. I am not sure UK mangoes will ever taste quite the same – fortunately we can buy a version of the real thing in Tooting Bec, so I think my Saturdays will soon be spent making pilgrimages there to satisfy my mango cravings.

But we did a lot more than just eat whilst we were there. Zubin gave himself over to being our tour guide and chauffeur for the duration of our stay, and we definitely saw the best that the capital has to offer. A highlight was the Islamic Arts Museum, built by a reclusive local millionnaire who has spent a fortune creating miniature models of the grandest mosques of the world, including Mecca and the Medina. It made me realise just how little I know about the Middle East, and also how interesting it would be to visit – our previous experience of Islamic countries being limited to Morocco. But that's for another trip.......

We did the obligatory tourist thing and went up the KL Tower, to see the cityscape as the sun was setting, including the magnificent Petronas Towers. The area around the Tower has been turned into something of a 'tourist attraction' and as part of our ticket, we also got to ride in F1 simulator cars, and I went on a pony ride around the car park, much to the amusement of the boys. I think they were just jealous as they were too heavy to ride themselves.

On Wednesday Zubin's parents, Rada and Jessie, very kindly took us out for a morning's sightseeing whilst poor Zub had to work. We had a guided tour of Putrajaya, the new administrative district, which was created by the former president, presumably as a sign of his great wealth and power. It currently covers some 46km squared. Rada talked us through all the different government departments – there are many, a brand-new building for each one, all lined up along the same road. And at the top of the road stands the Presidential Mansion, giving the big man a great view of his domain. The mansion looks more like an Ottoman Sultan's palace, or a mosque, so grand is its exterior (and presumably its interior too). The mosque is actually next door, and there is also accommodation onsite for all government employees – flats for the administrators, and large multi-roomed homes for the big cheeses, making it very clear to all when you've made it.

No visit would have been complete without a big night out, and Zubin did us proud. We started with martinis at the SkyBar on the 33rd floor of the Traders Hotel, which had an epic view across to the Petronas Towers. The bar was amazing - comfy booths with amazing views around an indoor swimming pool (sadly not for night-swimming) – and they had an 80s night on whilst we were there, much to my delight. We also met up with Eil, who has recently moved back to KL, so it became something of a Hertford reunion! After that it was on to Rootz, a new rooftop superclub, where all the young and beautiful people hang out. KL seems to have adopted American 'bottle service' style clubbing in a big way – you have to buy a bottle at the door in order to beat the queues. To James' eternal shame we duly bought our bottle of Smirnoff, which Zubin held aloft as we headed inside. Once inside we enjoyed dancing to the best of R&B from now and the recent past, including some classics from the uni years, which went down very well. However, the highlight of the evening was a conversation with some Kazakh girls that Eil and Zubin met over the course of the evening, who then joined us to share some late-night Chinese food (because 3 main meals a day no longer seems to be enough!). Of course the conversation turned to Borat, as Todd (quite genuinely) said,

'The only things we know about Kazakhstan in the UK are from Borat, but obviously that's all made-up. So tell us one thing we should know about Kazakhstan.'

Kazakhstani girl (after a thoughtful pause): 'We eat horsemeat.'

Amazingly, we managed to keep straight faces at the time, but have since been quoting it to each other ad nauseum. Hopefully it will be more or less out of Todd's system by the time he gets home, although James and I are still laughing about it.