Sorry about that everyone. But there wasn't really much to update with from my last bit of time in Australia, and then I thought I'd wait until I got to Taiwan to update this.
So after my outback trip I spent a few days in Adelaide, Melbourne and Canberra before flying out of Sydney to my next continent, Asia! I flew into Singapore on March 12th and had a few days there.
I really liked Singapore! It was like a cheater's version of Asia. Kind of like the Metrotown area of Vancover... Almost everyone spoke English so I had no trouble with that, and the public rail system is super convenient and easy to use, so I was able to travel around really easily. I met some girls from the UK in my hostel and we went out sighseeing one day and had a good time.
Singapore
I only spent three nights there, and then caught a bus up to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Holy, the busses there are awesome. Way better than Greyhound. There's only three to a row so you have a bigger seat, and they're comfy recliners that go way back so its' super easy to get some sleep. Some of the fancier coaches even have individual TV screens for each seat... crazy.
I didn't really like staying in KL though. It was a lot different of a place than Singapore, and I was really nervous all the time there. A lot more busy and crazy, and my hostel was kind of sketchy. I only spent two days there because I was eager to move on, but I did do a lot of touristy stuff.
I went to the Petronas towers, formerly the tallest buildings in the world until about 2002 or something. It was free to go up to the bridge between the two, on the 41st floor. That was pretty cool, and a great place to take pictures of. I also went out to the Batu Caves, which are three caves in the side of a mountain, and in January and February millions of people make pilgrimages there. The most famous cave has 273 steps to get up to it, and I'm glad I went later in the day so it wasn't so hot out!
Petronas towers and me on the connecting bridge.
Batu caves and the view from the top
Since I wasn't really having a good time in KL, I was eager to get up into Thailand, because my Irish friends Ray and Conor were there, and I wanted to meet up with them again. And since my plans to go on the Elephant Training Course fell through, I didn't have any other plans. So, I embarked on a crazy, stressful, 20 hour journey to get to Thailand. It took two busses, a ferry, a taxi, another ferry, and another taxi to get to my little bungalow on Koh Phangan island in Thailand, but it was all worth it. I had one that had a deck right out on the sandy beach and I spent hours out there every day just reading and enjoying the peace. It was a welcome change from the stress and chaos of Malaysia.
My beach front bungalow and the view from the deck
Thai sunset
It was also good timing, since Koh Phangan is the host to the famous Full Moon Parties, and there was one being held on the full moon, two nights after I arrived there. I also found my friends Ray and Conor, and it was great to see and hang out with them again.
So, the Full Moon party. It wasn't what I expected, but it was still a crazy time. About 10,000 people getting drunk on a beach and partying until well after sunrise. Huge massive sound systems, body paint and glowsticks, and skipping ropes lit on fire... I don't have pictures to show yet, because it's advised you don't take anything valuable with you because it's most likely going to get lost or stolen. So I took a disposable camera with me instead of my digital one, and I still have to get that developed. The fun thing about the party is the buckets. For about $6 you get a little plastic bucket, and they fill it with a mickey of rum, a can of Coke and a can of Red Bull and some ice and throw in a straw... That's trouble waiting to happen! I saved a pink bucket as a souvenir haha. I went to the party with Ray and Conor and their friend Karl, and by the time sunrise came around we'd lost Ray and Conor, but they ended up making it home just fine. All in all it was a pretty fun time and it's cool to say I've been to one of the famous Full Moon parties. These pictures are from a different night when we went back to the same beach. It's a party there every night!
Conor, Ray and I with paint on our faces...
Each of those little stands is selling the buckets of alcohol! They went the entire length of the beach!
Fire skipping rope...
I ended up staying on Koh Phangan for a week because I really, really loved it there. It was so laid back, and the people were so friendly. It was weird to actually be there after seeing all the pictures from when my brother was there a few years ago, and I passed the spot where he was run over by the Thai taxi a few years ago. (For those of you that don't know the story, he was on HIS way to a Full Moon party when he was run over, and long story short, had to come home to recover.) So it felt a little weird to be there!
I had one scary experience there though, which shows why I felt nervous in SE Asia. I had never before felt scared for my safety on my trip, and if I ever go back to Asia I'll definitely go with someone. I had an incident with a taxi (watch out for those Thai taxis!) where the driver tried to charge me four times what we had agreed on. It was a sketchy situation because it happened after he had dropped off the rest of the people that were in the taxi, and I was alone with him on a deserted part of the island far away from a town or any other people. He was trying to charge me more to take me home, and I was arguing with him because we had agreed on a price before I got in. But I was super scared because I was alone with him and had no other choice except getting out in the middle of nowhere. It was pretty scary there for a few minutes, but I never agreed to pay the larger amount and just asked him to please take me home. When we got there I just handed him the amount we had agreed on and took off down the road to my bungalow. I was really worried he was going to come after me for more money because he stayed parked on the road for a long time, but he finally left and I was able to calm down. So yeah, everything turned out fine, but I really didn't like travelling alone through SE Asia.
After my time in Thailand I headed back to Singapore to catch my flight out to Taiwan to visit my brother. He's teaching English to a grade 2 class in Taichung, and it didn't cost much for flights so I decided to go visit. That's where I am now, and I'm having a good time. It's a funny little world here where there's a 7-11 on every second street corner, and the garbage trucks play classical music that wakes you up at 8 in the morning. But it's pretty cool to be able to go out on the street at 11 at night and pick up some dumplings for 2 bucks. The night markets are an overload to the senses, and there is flashing neon everywhere. And I'm not making fun of Ryan not knowing any Chinese after being here for over a year, cause it's NOT easy.
I went to meet his class last week, and they're super cute. Ryan had them ask me questions to find out who I was, and they got really into it. The little girls were enthralled with me and all wanted me to play with them at play time. Ryan teaches them a different song every week, and I got to hear them sing "Don't Worry, Be Happy" and "Walking on Sunshine." They had to write a paragraph about me and draw a picture, and some of them were pretty good! I had a great time visiting, but I couldn't do that every day. I don't know how Ryan does it!
On the weekend we went to Taipei and went up the 101 tower, which is the tallest building in the world. It's 101 floors, and we went up to the 89th floor, but we couldn't really see anything because the pollution is so bad here that there is a huge layer of smog over the whole island. It's because of all those things we have back home that have those little "Made in Taiwan" stickers on the bottom... The factories that make those make a lot of pollution. Half the people here walk around with masks or bandanas over their mouths and nose to stop from breathing in all the crap. I've got a bit of a sore throat already and I've only been here a few days!
Next weekend we're going to a music festival on the south of the island. It's a long weekend here because it's the time when all the Taiwanese people have to clean out their family's tombs, and so all the foreigners get the time off... So we're going to go pitch a tent and party for a few days. I'm going to be here until April 7th, and then I head up to London! That hasn't really sunk in yet....
So, sorry again about the long time between updates. Hope you enjoyed this one. :)
