Selamat Detang from Sensational Singapura!

Singapore is by far the best city I've visited so far...its an eclectic mix of Malay, Chinese and Indian culture and absolutely incredible! I know I've been saying that about everywhere I go lately but I really really mean it this time!! hehe. It is so clean because there are fines for everything -- littering, chewing gum, not flushing, jay walking, feeding birds, picking flowers -- anything you could possibly imagine! But these rules make it a fine city - excuse the VERY dorky pun.

Yesterday morning we got in after a great overnight trip on an Executive Class bus from Jerteh to here. We are staying in the heart of Little India and I feel right at home! Our hostel is amazing--eggs and toast and coffee every morning and nice airconditioned rooms. We have a little balcony where we dry our clothes and can look over the bustling Little India, bobbing our heads to bollywood oldies and smelling wafts of wonderfully pungent Indian food through the air. Yesterday we hopped on the City Buzz which takes you around the city at a minimal cost and you can get off and on as you please. We saw the Sultan Mosque which was beautiful and looked just like the Palace out of Disney's Aladdin! Then we walked to Arab Street and had some great Moroccan food in a little gully with cool little shops, galleries and cafes. Smells of incense added to the exotic feel and I felt as though I was on the other side of the world! Then I realized...I am on the other side of the world!After Arab St we saw the Raffles Hotel, which is crazy beautiful and super expensive! 132 suites starting at $800/night and it is the oldest hotel in Singapore or something like that. It is also the birthplace of the Singapore Sling so of course we had to go to the very bar where it was concocted and indulge in one (very expensive) Singapore Sling! It was quite rich. We had to wear nice shoes just so we would be let into the place! Then we saw the parliament - which was so very Victorian, the Fullerton Hotel, and the Esplanade where I finally got to try Max Brenner chocolate fondue (Chocolate by the Bald Guy -- all over Australia but one of those things we never got around to doing!). Then we had some famous "Chicken and Rice" only found in Singapore...it has a more fancy name - Ho Nan Ghai Phan (oh ya I'm learning Cantonese...So far I know how to say "do you want to go to the mall tomorrow?" and "I want to buy ____(insert English word here, ie boots)____. " And I actually ordered Chicken and Rice yesterday by asking for it in Cantonese...yaaaa everyone loves a linguist! Oh ya and I know how to count to 10 in Romanian). Anywho we ended the night by trying to plan out Thailand stuff...leaving tomorrow morning and trying to make the full moon party in Ko Phangan the day after...it will be a tight squeeze but we'll see!

We were going to go to Sentosa Island today, which is like a man made beach and tourist trap, but we decided against it so that we could explore more of the city because we loved it so much!! So first we walked to the Merlion which is a symbol of Singapore....it is half lion have fish. In my opinion it symbolizes the unity of the Malay and Chinese culture in one country but I'm not sure if thats what it actually stands for!
Then we visted Singapore's oldest hindu temple called Sri Mariamman and went through the bustling Indian market beside it.
Then off to Chinese Gardens which was just beautiful and serene. Turtles, pigions, and Asian towers. Pictures in the Garden of Abundence, and Turtles in the little river.
From there we made our way to Orchard Street, the shopping district, and got some great food. All I keep eating here is oily oily roti pratas soooooo gooood!! T - 16 till I'm back home! Happy Stampeding everyone!

Pulau Perhentian Kecil

Got back from the Pulau Perhentian Islands this morning, it was absolutely stunning! Although it was a bit missionish to get there (bus to jerteh, bus to kuala besuit, ferry to the island Kecil, then a hardcore trek across the island), it was well worth the trouble! The islands are on the east coast of Malaysia, near Thailand and are just beautiful! White sands and the clearest, most beautiful torquoise water I've ever seen in my life! When I say clear i mean i would sit in the water and see schools of zebra fish swimming around me! (We named a specific one "Alpha"...for the greek letter...cuz it looks like a fish...thats what you get when you travel with a Mathie and another Engineer :P)

We decided to stay on the small island Kecil and we had a little chalet at this place called Mohsin. Met some awesome people and did a lot of reading and relaxing on the beach. Lots of fresh organic fruit and yummy malay food, including a lot of roti canai!! At night we usually had a great dinner and then chilled at Lily's and drank fresh fruit cocktails (mango, orange, etc). Just yummilicious!!

The small Island Kecil is split up in 2 sides, one side is the quiet one called Coral Bay and the side that we stayed on has about 10 chalet places and it is called Long Beach. Lots of things to do along the each including play beach volleyball, sit under coconut hut roofs and umbrellas and watch fire shows at night. The first night we slept on the beach, which was definitely something i've never done before! It was amazing, the sunrise woke us up. Met lots of malays and lots of foreigners. There are so many ppl on the island that just went to visit one day from different countries and never went back home. Some work there as staff and some own chalets...what a life! We were quite sad that we only got to spend 3 days but we needed at least 2 in Singapore. Will try to get pics up soon :)

Salaam from Kuala Lampur

Flew into Singapore on July 4th and got to take a quick look at the city...it seemed very Hong Kong-ish, very clean, very nice people, very commercial. We grabbed some food and then headed for an over night train to KL. The train basically had beds, and although they weren't the most comfortable we all were so tired that we didnt even notice when the train arrived in KL the next morning! We got woken up in the middle of the night for customs/immigration checks which wasnt too fun...but we got there alright!

Malaysia is so interesting...really neat to be in a place that is completely Muslim. For the first time in my life i heard azaan called over the whole city...what an amazing feeling. Yesterday was a very tiring day...it was quite difficult to get used to the sticky hot heat after crisp cold New Zealand. We started off in the morning by going to Masjid Jamek which is the city's oldest masjid and is also a train station hub. Then we saw Central Market which is in the heart of China Town and went to Masjid India which is in the heart of little India. Colorful bazaar full of everything you can imagine and nothing you need! We also saw Masjid Negara, or the National Mosque and also the Muzeam Negara...the National Islamic Museum. Very beautiful architecture everywhere in that area!

Then we retired back to our qaint little hostel, it is the cutest thing. It only houses about 15 guests at a time and it is right in the Golden Triangle, a central area. Very clean and super cute, great breakfast included, and only 27 ringettes! (27/3 = approx 9 CAD!!) I love it here, such friendly people, stacks of books and lonely planets, cozy rose lighting and comfy thai decor. Everything in this country is so cheap...like everything is how it would be priced in Canada but if it is converted it is 3 times less! For example, an Orange Julius is $3.90 MYR, which is only about $1.00 CAD! Food is the price it should be!

Went to Chinatown yesterday night, along Pateling street. Ate food at some hawkers, so amazing, only 4 MYR!! Still need to try durian, but i've tried jackfruit, starfruit, etc. Also had some sugar cane juice with lychees, quite yummy! The market was almost overwhelming...dirty, bustling, lots of colors, brain overload!!

Today we went to the Petronus Towers and spent a lot of the day in the mall studying the expensive purses for our purchases in Thailand! It was nice to be inside and we almost forgot about the suffocating heat awaiting us! Got to check out some of the Islamic architecture in the tower main area...8 point stars, domes and the like. Then we went back to Little India to try some Roti Canai and Lime Juice...its the best here and for 20 cents CAD it was WELL WORTH IT!!! After that we went to the Manera KL tower...communication tower that looks like the Calgary Tower. 360 degree view of the city including the towers.

Tonight we are taking a night bus to Kuala Besuit which is the gateway to the Parentian Islands on the eastcoast. I'm really looking forward to getting out of the city and relaxing on a beach!

Last Night in Melbs

Well it's now 1:20 am and I am leaving for the airport at 6 am...I'm going to try to get some sleep soon. So this is it, the goodbye of goodbyes. This trip made me stronger and more independent for sure...but most importantly I made a lot of absolutely amazing friends along the way. I reckon I'm really gonna miss it here...I'm sure i'll be back -- i was never good at goodbyes. Trying not to be corny but I must end off with a quote...

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." - Anais Nin

And so continues my stint as a backpacker...

Goodbye marvelous Melbourne! Malaysia here i come :)

ps: t - 22

Last Night in Auckland

New Zealand has been incredible...apparantly this is what Tassy (Tasmania) is like so I feel better about the fact that I didnt go. I really wish we could spend more time here...I would love to backpack this country (North and South Island) for a good 4 weeks...there is just so much to see. And i'm loving the culture of the Maoris...I'm trying to refrain from buying huge wooden statues...I'll save that for a time when I have my own place!!

After the natural hot springs in Taupo we headed up through Rotorua again and I finally got to Zorb! As I mentioned previously, I saw it on Amazing Race years back and thought it was the coolest thing. It was created in New Zealand and the franchise is extending all around the world...they are making one in Whistler. Anyways they give u zorbing clothes and you take a ute (pronounced "youte" short for suv or truck or anything other than a car...anything thats a "utility vehicle") up the hill and then you wait for the Zorbalator to bring a zorb to the top. The zorb is this huge ball like thing. You can go in it wet or dry, so we chose a wet one and they filled it with warm bathwater and we dove in like supergirls (me and jen). Then you stand up like you are a big hamster in the ball and when he gives it a tap you start running to up the momentum...and then you cant keep up and you are sliding around in this ball with water splashing on the inside while it rolls down the hill...it was soooo much fun! I would definitely reccommend it!! We were soaked after!



We have been blessed with great weather through the trip, and although its cold, its not rainy like it was last week. This country is full of green rolling hills with beautiful mountains and sheep everywhere. Much prettier than Australia! I think everyone out there needs to see this place at least once! From Rotorua we drove north to Mt. Maunganui, which is this beach town built around a mountain.

We didnt get to spend much time there, because this morning we left for Auckland. Realized it was Canada Day! So we are going to get some patriotic spirit going tonight and celebrate like true Canadians! I'm sad about missing stampede but with my recent riding experience and cowboy hat and boot purchase I am more of a cowgirl than I ever was! Really missing home...1/4 of my backpacking experience is now over and I can't wait to come home!

Love Free Natural Beauty!!

Well we are still in Taupo...so glad we got an extra day here! Today we had a great day...I got some really cool New Zealand products made out of the very mud we saw in Rotorua! As you all should know, mud has lots of excellent detoxifying, renewing and healing proporties! So i had to pick some up of course! Anyways, then we hiked to some random beautiful natural hot pool...it was right out of a movie. Its been pretty cold outside...the nights go to -2C and the days are between 9 and 11 degrees celcius so we were hoping the water would be hot...and was it ever! So we got into our bikinis and entered this beautiful oasis in the middle of lush green ferns and a crystal clear warm steaming waterfall. And I have pictures to prove it! It was just incredible...and the best part was that it was free! Wish I could put a picture up but I dont have my computer cord. Then we just walked around Lake Taupo, climbed a tree and chilled in it, and drank a yummy cappaccino. Life as a backpacker is great!

Kia Ora from the Land of the Long White Cloud!

Kia Ora! (That is a Maori greeting meaning hello!) Currently in Taupo, New Zealand and I am absolutely in LOVE with this country! It has been incredible!

We flew into Auckland and left for Waitomo the next morning on the Magic Bus. When we got there we decided to do a Black Labyrinth Cave Tubing experience in a cave called Tia Amo. We passed cows on the road and trekked to the caves in gumboots and wet suits...I wasnt really sure what to expect! We decended into the dark damp cave and it was just wild...first we trecked through navigating our way through mud and rock, in knee deep water. Then we got into a lot deeper water and got into little tubes...then in the pitch dark we navigated the caves in tubes and looked at the glow worms all around us...they looked like tons and tons of stars in a pitch black sky...it was almost romantic...except we were in freezing cold water in a random cave instead of on a picnic blanket and we were looking at worms not stars!! I jumped backwards over a little waterfall and even went down a waterslide in the cave...it was definately an amazing experience!






That evening we drove into Rotorua and warmed ourselves up before going to a traditional Tamaki Maori Haka and Hangi. We got to see a Maori Village and eat food that had been cooked under the earth, and hear their songs and dances...it was so facinating.

Rotorua is a place of extreme geothermal activity and is right on the pacific rim plate...most of it is on volcanic area. So in Rotorua you walk around and see random areas of geothermal activity, meaning holes in the ground with steam coming out and violent bubbling mudpools! So i went to Wai-O-Tapo lonesome which is a geothermal wonderland and I saw tons of craters, sulpher pools of beautiful colors and lots of mudpools. I also went to a ropes course and jumped off of a 50 foot podium thing and swung around...it was free fall for a couple of seconds and it was an awesome rush! I feel like i've found my second wind here in New Zealand...

From Rotorua we came to Taupo, and yesterday we checked out some stores and nightlife. Today I decided to do a horse trek and I was the only one doing it so it was more like a private lesson. It was absolutely incredible...i think i really am a cowgirl at heart! I picked out a rugged pair of cowboy boots and my horse was a lovely chocolate brown wild breed named Mokai. We trekked along the country side and i got a breathtaking view of Lake Taupo...which is the largest crater lake in the world. We also had a little entorage of fantails following us! Tomorrow we are going to hike to a random hot spring river in the area and relax before taking a trek around the lake!



Then its off to Mount Manganui, Thames and Auckland!

Bye Bye Australia!

Well this is it... eating my last australian salad (spinich, avacado, tomatoes, feta) and taking down pics. i was never good at goodbyes! Heading to New Zealand tomorrow and doing a whirlwind tour of the North Island...
The description of the tour is here, it should be quite interesting. Not really sure what to expect yet! I'm excited for a Polynesian mudbath and some soul-healing hot springs! Taupo is the cheapest place in the world to sky dive (it was invented there), but I'm not going to be sky diving. I may try zorbing -- I saw it on Amazing Race once! And i'm going to try to do some Glow worm Cave Tubing! I'm excited to experience some Maori culture...the British colonization of NZ was a lot different then the colonization of Australia. The aboriginal Maoris were a warrior group and fought back so most colonialists have assimilated into the Maori culture, unlike in Australia where the Aboriginals were meant to be assimilated in British culture.

Anyways, gotta get back to packing!

Travels Downunder

Here is a map of the places i've been in Australia thus far! [Click on it to enlarge] We pretty much saw all there is to see up the Eastcoast, with backpacking and road trips combined. We also saw lots of little towns that arent' on the map! When I come back, I want to see Perth, the Red Center, Alice Springs, Tassy and Darwin. Man, I think I blog more than I study!!

It's happened.

I'm studying right now, and i'm craving a cappaccino. Not a French Vanilla, not a double-double, but a good, bitter, cappaccino. Or a flat white, skinny. I just went to the school store and bought my sister a jumper. Not a hoody, a jumper. I bought a hot pink regulation size footy the other day and I plan to play it in Calgary. Heck, maybe I can even start a minor footy league in loo. You reckon i've become too ozzie in this short time abroad?

Glob

You know that studying for your Reactions Eng exam this Friday is completely and utterly useless when....

YOU ARE LEARNING ABOUT GLOBS IN A REACTOR!!!

I think this one really takes the cake on useless information they make us learn. Damn the institution of engineering! Who's with me?!

globs! bah.

23eena

I am now an honorary member of the "It's Cool to be 23" Club!

Firstly, thanks for all your birthday wishes guys! Very sweet of you all! Birthdays when you are overseas are great...you get a whole bunch of messages from people who remember you are a day earlier and wish you for your "Australian Bday", then the next day when all the celebrations are over you get other people who forgot about the difference wishing you for your "Canadian Bday"! So its like 2 days of birthday, what could be better??

Well the day started off great, right at 12 Ioana and Jenn surprised me with a card, some pictures of our trip, and presented me with the much hated caustic flowsheeting assignment to burn as my candle! So we proceeded to go out into the courtyard with a box of matches and the assignment, attempt to burn it and sing happy birthday. Except for some technical difficulties (the assignment just wouldnt burn...it was kind of freaky, like it had some satanic caustic coating on it or something and Hoadly (choad) was whispering in the air: you are goign to have to repeat this course, i would keep that if i were you...) it was way better than cake!


Then me and jenn just watched movies...Mean Girls, A Walk to Remember...gotta love teeny bopper movies!
The next day got a bunch of mail, which is always nice! Bday cards that arrived right on time and a wonderful parcel my boo put together, with cards signed from my Al-Mustajeeb kids and councillors, and a bunch of our friends and family from back home. Great card from my family, with a picture of a moment in my childhood that brought back vivid memories...drinking milk in my kitchen in Castleridge...making popcorn in the popcorn maker...watching Annie and Alice in Wonderland every single day...my mom painting the back of the closet with our names...only the best of times.
That evening after massive public transportation problems, we got to the place where I was having a little bday dinner. It was at Cafe Sienna, a cute little cafe on Chapel Street, which is a funky boutique part of town. It was fun...good friends, good cake! And i got these hot hot aviators from Maya! After Cafe Sienna we went to Prince Alberts, then Acadia, then to the Crown Casino at this club called Odeon. Didnt get home until 6 that morning! So I basically partyed through to my Canadian birthday :)

The table at Cafe Sienna

Also hung out with the curry friends i go clubbing with. The only good that came out of joining the Indian Students Association that day I got ambushed! (ya they call brown people curry's here! it took me a while to get used to but now it feels odd to refer to a curry as being "brown")

Woke up that next morning and went straight to the mall, and had some yummilicious brekky at the Pancake Parlour...amazing place...they dont serve you eggs with butter, they serve you butter with some egg...and the most amazing blueberry pancakes with artificial Canadian maple syrup...(that stuff is in high demand here!). Anyways then i bought part of my bday present from my boo, a backpack for backpacking! I am in love with it, it is the hottest thing ever! Although it is the size of me, I am soooo excited to go on my travels now and sew on patches from all over the world! AND i got cowboy boots as part of my present, they are SO hot!! I had to confirm with one of my fashionistas from Canada to see if they were in style there ...apparantly cowboy boots and skinnys are in mags at the moment so it will be perfect for fall!

Overall it was a great bday. I usually hate bday's away from home, because its those times that you miss your loved ones the most. But, alas, the friends that I've made here helped me to make the transition to 23 in style, and it was a bday I wont forget! So again, thanks to everyone here and everyone there for all the well wishes, luv ya all :)