I flew to Singapore a couple of days earlier than normal as it was two days travelling and I wanted to have a couple of days to get used to the heat, it is five or six years since I was last there and I really had forgot just how oppressive the climate is, one of the days it was 35 degrees with 100% humidity! I stayed on Sentosa Island to the south of the mainland, in a nice room with a great view of the water overlooking one of the entrances to the port, which is one of the busiest in the world. One day we had visitors on the balcony, monkeys, they didn?t find anything on our balcony but they didn?t seem to like the cigarettes they found on one of the other balconies as they pulled them out and crushed them!

On Monday and Tuesday I practiced and played the course, as it was so hot it was about quality practice, as you couldn't stand hitting balls all day. I took Wednesday off and went into the city to sightsee, the highlight was a trip to Raffles, I didn't have one of their famous Singapore Slings, but I did have a drink in the Long Bar which was inspired by the Malayan plantations of the 1920s, I think I was the only one in there that didn't have one of the cocktails!

The whole of the tournament was interrupted with thunder and lightening delays, this made for long days. On Friday I played 27 holes, fortunately there was a delay mid way through the day to allow us an opportunity to get into the air conditioning and cool down. It was my first visit to Sentosa GC, it is a great course and one of the toughest I have played that doesn't rely on the weather to defend it. The clubhouse and locker rooms were first class and the service was exceptional, nothing was ever too much trouble. You could see the containers on the docks across the water from one end of the course; they looked like giant Lego blocks all stacked up. The course was one that I thought might suit my game and I played well all week hitting lots of fairways and greens but I really struggled to read the grain on the greens, especially at the weekend, it seems to be an art and the guys who grew up on that type of grass really seem to cope better.

I was exhausted when I finished and stayed in my room on Monday to try and recover, you really can't explain what those temperatures and levels of humidity do to you. I stayed in the air con until I went to catch my flight to Koh Samui, Thailand in the evening. One of my friends, Thai golfer, Tongchai Jaidee arranged a room for us as his friend owned the hotel. We had a good time relaxing on our resort, the weather this time of year can be unpredictable and it rained for a couple of days but after the heat the week before it wasn't the end of the world. One day we went on an Elephant trek through a rainforest, which was quite fitting as it rained all day. The roads were flooded and it was quite amusing to see people riding mopeds through a foot of water with one hand holding an umbrella!

I flew to Hong Kong at the weekend and had a couple of days sightseeing, including a trip to the 10,000 Budhas Temple, I wasn't quite prepared for the "hill" that the guide book described, it was more like climbing Everest! It was well worth it when I got to the top to see the temple, rows and rows of tiny gold budhas. No trip to Hong Kong would be complete with out going to the waterfront; this is the stereotypical image of Hong Kong, standing on the north side looking across to the south, I got the Star Ferry across the shopping district and spent the afternoon looking around.

Royal Fanling GC is a very old fashioned club with lots of colonial elements, the club has 54 holes and we play a composite of them. The golf course made a pleasant change from the 7500 yard courses we usually play, as there were a number of 3woods and irons off tees for positioning. The course itself was the venue for the 2008 Beijing Olympics Equestrian events; just to the left of the 9th tee they have left one of the jumps in place.

I got off to a really good start and was five under par through twelve holes, but was disappointed to only finish three under. The second day was cooler and breezier and this was reflected in the scores. I didn't play great and hit a few slack shots while not holing those all important four footers. I ended up missing the cut, which was extremely disappointing; I flew out of Hong Kong on Saturday night and after a nine and half hour flight to Dubai and a seven hour flight to Newcastle I eventually got home Sunday lunchtime. I am writing this after waking up at 2am on Monday morning! I am sure it will take me a few days to get my body clock to normal.

Hong Kong was the last event of the 2009 season for me, I finished 119 on the order of merit which would only have just have been good enough to keep my card, fortunately I had my exemption and didn't have to worry going into the last event. The year has been strange; I feel I have played reasonably well all throughout the season although my results would say otherwise. The second half of the year gives me some hope and renewed my confidence, contending in some of the biggest events and seeing my name back on the leaderboards can only help.

No rest for the wicked though as I am off to South Africa in three weeks time for the start of the 2010 season. I am going to have a few days off and do some Christmas shopping and then I will be getting myself fully prepared for the season ahead.

I want to wish my coach John Harrison the best of luck as he is playing at European Tour Senior Q School this week, it will make a change for me to be glued to the internet watching his scoring. I hope he gets his reward for all the hard work he has put into his preparation. Fingers crossed.