Malaysia...fascinating mix of culture, religion, food, race, terrain

Oh how I love Malaysia! It's got it all! So from Singapore we took a bus to Melacca, Malaysia. It's an adorable Dutch-Portuguese port town. There wasn't a ton to do there, but we enjoyed walking all through the city (Chinatown, Little India, the river walk, temples, mosques). And the food...incredible! After 2 days we took an overnight bus to the northwest island of Penang. We spent 2 days in a sleepy beach village (nothing compared to Thailand's beaches) but it was cool because no one harrassed you. Then we spent 1 short night in Georgetown. It doesn't look like much; run down buildings, some empty, lots of traffic....but it was SWEET! There were tons of food stalls, all KINDS of food, & the people living there are SO diverse! A true melting pot! Last night we were walking around. We left Chinatown and headed to Little India & ate dinner with Bollywood music blaring. Then we walked by a mosque during it's night time prayer, walked across the street to a Chinese temple, then back to our guesthouse where there was a buddhist ceremony going on. The next morning we woke up before sunrise to go to Chinatown for a delicious breafast of dim sum. So yummy! And the people in Malaysia...SO FRIENDLY! Now we are in the Cameron Highlands. We are surrounded by mountains, jungle and rainforrest. It's nice to be where the air is crisp and clean. So we're gonna stay here a few days & go trekking, check out some tea plantations, relax (drink my new favorite; Tea Tarik (tea with condensed milk), read...then head to the bustling city of Kuala Lumpur.
THEN....I'M MEETING MY BRO IN THE PHILIPPINES!!! I can't wait to see him! Although this trip has been so much fun, it hasn't been completely relaxing because I had so much stress with my job when I left. If you ever want to hear about it I can talk your ear off. FYI...if you ever consider teaching english in Korea...NEVER WORK FOR ISPONGE! I loathe that place. I could go on & on...but I won't. I know Megan must be SICK of me talking about it. Poor girl. I've been complaining her ear off about that whole situation. Meg's trip finishes in KL...sad days.
Okay kids, I love & miss you! Shoot me an email & let me know what's going on!
PEACE!!

Fleeting Glimpse of Singapore

So we are in & out of Singapore. We stayed 3 nights. I came in with mixed expectations. Some people told me it's their favorite country! Others said they weren't too impressed. I loved the diversity, their obsession with food, the cleaness (they had workers picking up pieces of trash with tongs). I didn't like how expensive things were. Although we were able to budget by eating at the hawkers (cheap food stalls & courts). We walked a TON!

We went to Chinatown, the Botantical Gardens, Little India (crazy!), walked down Orchard Rd to see all of the christmas lights & ate a lot of food! Pretty sweet. I could totally live here because of it's strategic location.
Our last night in Bali was so much fun. I randomly ran into Kamran & Layla (I used to work with Kamran in Media Plus), they were in Bali for their honeymoon. It was Layla's birthday that night & we went out. It was so fun catching up & hearing about what all the ex-MPer's are up to these days.

So, tomorrow we are headed to Malaysia. One country left with Meg. Then, off to the Philippines to see my bro for xmas! I can't wait! His company flew him to Japan & Guam to get is work visa for Korea. He's becoming quite the travler!!
More later.

xoxo

Thailand & Bali

Wow, the last few weeks have been amazing! I'm sad to say that I think I had too high expectations for Thailand. It's been my #1 country to travel to for about 5 years now. And I finally made it, only to find it extremely touristy. I mean, yes, there are gorgeous beaches, amazing food, etc, it just seemed a little too 'traveled.' Let's see, after we left Cambodia, we headed to Bangkok, stayed on Tao San Rd (crazy street), went to see the emerald buddha at the Royal Palace, then headed to Ko Phangna where it virtually rained everyday we were there. Next stop, Krabi, where we went Elephant Trekking & Kayaking (georgeous!). Next was Ko Phi Phi where we took an amazing boat ride to Maya Bay (where they filmed The Beach) & went snorkeling. Then our last stop in Thailand was Phuket where we stayed 5 days. I went diving there & did a lot of beach stuff.
Now we are in the glorious Bali. I can't believe how incredibly cool it is here! Like, I want to move here! They ALMOST didn't let me IN the country because I ran out of passport pages...but I paid him $40US & he let me in. Yikes. We are staying at a place called Nick's Homestay, it's like half temple half home. REALLY REALLY sweet! The architecture here is amazing, tons of cool, trendy shops. Not sure how long Meg & I are staying here, maybe a week. You know what I keep telling her, we are SOOO close to Australia! Why not keep going??!!
More later:)






















Bali Picts

Cambodia, check....Thailand Bound

So we've been in Cambodia a week now & we are Thailand bound today. We're about to get on a 10 hour bus ride to Bangkok. I'm gonna miss Cambodia! The food, the tragic history, the friendly smiling people, how cheap everything is, the rawness of the country, & more. I didn't really know what to expect when coming here but I assure you that whatever expectations I had, Cambodia far exceeded them. Eventhough Cambodia is a very poor country, they have come such a LONG way in just a short time. Only 3 decades ago, Cambodia was going through a genocide. We will never be able to comprehend the pain & suffering these people have gone through.
Ankgor Wat blew my mind. We went to see the sun set there & then headed out super early the next morning to catch the sunrise. Breathtaking! We spent the whole day there, going by tuk-tuk to each site. Incredible! I can definitely see why it's one of the Seven Wonders of the World!
Well, the bus will be here any minute. Bangkok...here we come! Goodbye Cambodia, you will be missed, but never forgotten.