Tropical Escape

I spent a winter in Toronto once, but even though the temperature rarely got above zero, the centrally heated houses made it a cozy 2 months. Seoul can bitter in the winter too, but Korean houses all have in-floor heating (on-dul) which is hot enough to dry a load of laundry overnight.

Japan on the other hand seems possessed of a perverse obsession with the cold. Despite being one of the wealthiest countries in the world, none of the schools have heating, and houses seem somehow cunningly designed to actually trap the cold inside (except in summer when they seem to trap the heat), and none more so than my monstrous impossible-to-heat 8-bedroom ex-dormitory of a house. When the cold gets too much, I usually step outside for a walk, where it is invariably a few degrees warmer.

Fed up with shivering, cold classrooms and kerosene fumes, I decided to head south to warmer climes - Malaysia for a five day tropical escape in lovely Langkawi.





It was hard to come back.

Langkawi Photos