Bangkok, Thailand and Siem Reap, Cambodia

July 23rd-26th

Three days after leaving Bali, I returned to Singapore's airport to fly out again for my next adventure, passport in hand. By the time we got to our hostel in Bangkok around 9 pm, we were ready to eat and explore. My first meal in Thailand? Pad Thai of course. After that we walked around and realized that our hostel was actually incredibly close to many of the amazing things to see in Bangkok, including Khao San Road, the Grand Palace, and many of the museums and government buildings.

Only one other person from our group and I got there Thursday night, so after scoping out the area, we got some sleep and woke up early in the morning to wait for the rest of our group to arrive. Once they got there, we left for the Grand Palace. It was incredible, and pictures really can't show it properly, but it was so ornate and beautiful.

Adjacent to the palace was the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, which was even more spectacular in my opinion. The huge, solid jade Buddha inside the temple is replaced every season, and the other three were on display in the museum nearby. Unfortunately, I couldn't take pictures of any of the Buddha statues because it's considered extremely disrespectful in their culture to take pictures of Buddha, get tattoos of Buddha, or buy or sell Buddha figurines as decoration.

After leaving there, we walked around a lot and saw several more of the famous temples, including Wat Arun, which we got to by taking a boat across the canal. The cost of the ride was 3 Baht, only 9 cents.

After that, we walked back through this park overlooking the canal. There was an old fort and some big trees, and it offered a good place to sit for a few minutes after a long day of walking.

We went to Khao San Road for dinner where I got another Thai staple, green curry with chicken. In the streets, there are a ton of vendors for clothes and I was able to buy two tank tops and a pair of shorts all for about 10 USD combined. After shopping for a long time, day had turned to night, and the street became crowded with people. We picked up an after-dinner snack from a vendor. It was a scorpion. I totally ate a scorpion. There were a bunch of carts with what I like to call "Fear Factor" food, and I'll be the first to admit it's a total tourist trap to eat a scorpion or a cricket, but I couldn't quite pass up the opportunity.

Khao San Road

The next day was all about the floating markets. First, we went to the small one in the city in the morning, the Taling Chan floating market.

Later in the afternoon, after a leisurely lunch and the best blueberry smoothie ever, we went to the big floating market an hour outside the city. There, we rented a small boat that took us through the canals to the other boats who were selling everything from noodles and fruit to clothes and souvenirs. We also took the boat by a coconut and sugar farm, and it was beautiful to see the farm and houses from the water. It was a more rural look at life in Thailand than our experiences the day before in the heart of Bangkok.

Riding around the floating markets.

This is the coconut farm, as seen from our boat. 

Afterward, we had to get straight to the airport to catch our Saturday night flight to Siem Reap in Cambodia. I'm going to tell you right now, Cambodia is one of the coolest places I've ever been. I was there for less than 24 hours, and I was running on no sleep and carrying a heavy backpack, but I loved every second. I've been to a lot of places on this trip, but Siem Reap was probably my favorite. Nonetheless, I still had trouble getting into the country. Even though I had applied for a tourist visa, I had been issued a business visa back in Singapore's Cambodian embassy. I figured I would be able to slide under the radar, but after handing the immigration officer my passport, he caught on immediately. "Are you here to work?" he asked.

"Uhhh, no, I'm only here for one night."

"One night? Why do you have business visa?' [laughing and motioning to another immigration officer who walks over]

They then proceed to have a conversation in front of me in Cambodian and laugh at me. Luckily, after they had finished, they let me into the country.

Our hotel was so nice (and only 9 dollars a night). As soon as we got there, they brought us iced lemon tea, homemade banana chips, and sticky rice that we could snack on until we were ready to be taken up to our room. We went out to dinner on Pub Street, where the night life had already begun when it was 9 pm. We had a delicious dinner and watched a small Cambodian girl win a break dancing battle against an incredibly inebriated man who fell over repeatedly. After taking it in, we turned in for the night pretty quickly, knowing that we were getting up before 5 am in order to make it to Angkor Wat at sunrise.

We rented a tuk tuk for the day to take us to Angkor Wat and two other temples in the area, and they met us in the dark at the hotel for the ride to Angkor Wat. We were running on about three hours of sleep and no food in our stomachs, so it was pure determination that carried us through the day. We climbed steep, uneven steps and made our way through the temples that probably inspired Temple Run.

Just after the sunrise at Angkor Wat!

One of the central towers at Angkor Wat.

This is the gate into Angkor Thom, the second temple we visited. 

This is Angkor Thom.

This is Ta Prohm, my favorite temple of the day. There were trees growing out of it everywhere. 

Our group at Ta Prohm. 

After we were done exploring Angkor Thom, it was time for our tuk tuk to take us back to the airport. Things quickly got complicated when it started pouring rain. Although the tuk tuk has a roof, the huge drops came in the sides, and we knew it was trouble. Our driver slowed to a stop at the side of the road and put his helmet on the ground. We looked at each other and at the road with very little traffic and no taxis and shared a silent moment of panic. There was no way we would make our flight if he couldn't drive us through the rain. Without speaking, he reached up and pulled tarps down the sides of the tuk tuk so that we wouldn't get wet, put on a poncho and his helmet, and he kept going! Although we had to move at a creeping pace, we still made it to the airport with time to spare and happily paid our driver.

We landed back in Bangkok around 4 pm, and we were flying out at 11, so we left the airport to explore the surrounding residential area and markets. It was fascinating to see this less touristy part of Bangkok. We were the only people who weren't Thai in the market we stopped at for dinner. We ordered a ton of food, from whole fish to watermelon to fried dough with sauce, and it was all delicious. Where the people around the Grand Palace were primarily trying to scam you, these people were very kind. One man saw me struggling to eat my giant slice of watermelon and handed me a spoon, which I readily took. Side note: at this market, I saw no locals eating or selling scorpions or crickets.

It was hard to talk myself into going back to the airport to fly out. Both Bangkok and Siem Reap were incredible, and I loved every minute of my weekend. I can only hope that one day I'll be able to return some day for a longer visit.

Bali, Indonesia

July 17th-21st

We flew out of Singapore for Bali on Friday, and after getting picked up by a couple of drivers we hired, our group of twelve was en route to the villa we'd reserved in Canggu. It turned out to be even more spectacular than we expected. The house had day beds outside everywhere along with the spacious bedrooms within. The pool overlooked rice terraces, and we even had our own cook and security guard.

 The rice terraces

We didn't leave the villa the first evening because they cooked us a delicious dinner, and by then we were ready to get into the pool and having a relaxing night. In the morning we hit the beach after a great breakfast. The waves were so strong that I got knocked over and slammed into the sand enough times to cause a few bruises. It made body surfing super fun though.

That night we went to Uluwatu to see the temple and the traditional fire dance, both on the side of a cliff.

Representing Clemson!

Fire Dance at sunset

The fire dance was incredibly unique. It follows a four act sequence of events similar to a ballet, where the story is told only through wordless music and dance. The music was not instrumental though; the guys sitting around in a circle up there were doing a sort of humming/beatboxing thing that went on throughout the performance and charged it with energy until the end of the performance. 

Sunday morning, we got up early for some elephant time! It was pretty much the best day of my life. 

 Riding the elephants bareback through the water

Just chilling with the baby

Then, after a lazy afternoon of pool time, we went out to a great dinner by the water at a local place with really fresh barbecue seafood and saw the sunset by the water. I think I speak for everyone when I say that we were all sad to see the sun set on our last day in Bali.

Week 7

Friday night, we went to Singapore's national art museum because it's free on Friday nights. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the museum had primarily modern art, which I find to be more interesting anyway.

This piece, called Air Pollution, is made out of old exhaust pipes from motorcycles. 

They also had some really cool photography, including this picture that is reminiscent of the feeling I have after a long day of being a tourist. 

Saturday morning, we got up early to hike some trails around the MacRitchie Reservoir. The highlight of the hike was the Treetop walk where we got some amazing views above the trees.

As usual, there were also some monkeys hanging around. This is a mother with her baby that we saw. 

After that, we headed straight to the National Museum where we learned a lot about the history of Singapore. Example: I had no idea that at one point the island was almost given to Alexander Hamilton as a gift. It's great that I was able to learn about the country where I'm living for two months. I only wish I'd gone earlier.

After that, we were off to catch some fireworks and the largest light and water show in Southeast Asia, right here at Marina Bay. It was spectacular, and there was a jazz band playing nearby that we enjoyed while we were waiting.

Sunday, we went island hopping by ferry to three of the Southern Islands (still part of Singapore). There wasn't much to do at St. Johns Island, but Lazarus Island had a beautiful beach. At Kusu Island, a Chinese temple and a turtle sanctuary took up most of the island. We walked out on the rock pilings and got some beautiful views of the water. It was a relaxing Sunday.

Also on Kusu, a Malaysian Temple on the hill had a huge painted rock where people wrote their prayers. It was beautiful. 

Monday afternoon, we went to Haw Par Villa, this super creepy abandoned amusement park based loosely on Chinese mythology. I'll spare you from some of the weirder pictures, but this should give you some idea.

Wednesday, we went to two soccer games at the new national stadium here. It was amazing. We saw Everton vs. Stoke and Arsenal vs. Singapore. In the first game, no one scored, but Everton won in a shootout thanks to a fantastic block by Everton's goalie and fellow American, Tim Howard! Seeing Arsenal play was also impressive. They beat Singapore 4-0.

Tomorrow morning, we leave for Bali! The volcano erupted there last week and disrupted some of the flights last weekend, but luckily the air is clear, and we should have no issues. Next week I should have an update about laying on beaches, riding elephants, and watching fire dancers.

Week 6

Friday night, we went on a river cruise at night around Clarke Quay, Boat Quay, and Marina Bay. Clarke Quay is one of the places we frequent often, as it's just a ten minute walk away, and it's beautiful lit up at night.

The next morning most of our group went to a cooking class to learn how to cook onde-onde, a seafood dish with rice noodles, and chili crab, all staples of a traditional Singapore diet. It may seem odd that we were cooking Singaporean dishes on the fourth of July, but, I promise, we properly celebrated the holiday later on in the day. 

Onde-onde is a boiled ball of glutinous rice flour with nectar inside (imagine solid honey) and coated in fresh coconut. It tastes particularly good when it is hot and fresh, with the nectar inside melted. 

This is squid, prawns, chicken, onion, bean sprouts, lots of peppers, and herbs cooked in a wok with freshly prepared rice noodles. It was delicious and spicy!

Chili crab is essentially the national dish of Singapore. Everyone we meet says that we had to try it while we were here. The spicy sauce coating the crab is also a perfect dip for steamed rolls.

This was definitely the best meal we've had since we've been here. The boys we went with declared it to be the first time that they've felt full since they got here. It also didn't hurt that the woman teaching us to cook had the class at her adorable house with her adorable cats. The environment was so relaxing that they practically had to kick us out forty-five minutes after our time slot ended.

After that, the fourth of July celebrations began. We went to an American bar called The Beast. There, we drank apple cider and ate chicken and waffles, bacon mac-and-cheese, and the biggest burger you've ever seen. Even better, there was a live band playing American songs, including Wagon Wheel, one of my favorite country songs. We even did a little bit of swing dancing there and got a shoutout from the band! The only regret I have is that we never saw fireworks, but it was the best American holiday in Asia that we could have hoped for. 

Sunday morning, we dragged ourselves out of bed to the Singapore Zoo, one of the best zoos in the world, and it lived up to the reputation. We saw countless animals up close and even got to see the feeding of the white tigers. 

After that, we went straight to Gardens by the Bay, one of Singapore's biggest attractions. There, we went into the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest, both completely enclosed in huge glass buildings. The Flower Dome was impressive, but the Cloud Forest was by far my favorite part. It was a mountain of vines and flowers, and it was spectacular. I don't think my pictures will do it justice, but here are a few.

After that, around sunset, we went to the main attraction at the Gardens, the super trees. These giant, tree-like structures produce enough energy to power the light shows that happen every night. We also went on the skywalk between them so that we could get a closer look. 

Then, the light show started just as we got down from the trees, so we laid in the grass and watched it. It was incredible and unique, with the lights set to music. It was the perfect way to end our hectic day of sightseeing. 

After the show was over, we wandered around Marina Bay for an hour desperately searching for Llao Llao, our favorite frozen yogurt place here. Once we finally found it, we scarfed it down and happily called it a night. 

Tuesday night we went to Holland Village, a somewhat westernized area, for dinner. I enjoyed a good burger and a nutella milkshake, and we scoped out a Mexican restaurant for the next time we get tired of Asian food. 

Wednesday, a few of the girls and I went to Orchard Road to eat and shop. Orchard is kind of the Champs Elysées of Singapore. After eating at an upscale hawker center, we shopped for a couple of hours and got street ice cream for one dollar. Interesting flavors include sweet corn, yam, and durian. Mocha chip is my personal favorite though. 

This weekend coming up is our last full weekend in Singapore due to a couple of trips to other places while we're here, so it should be packed! 

Week 5

Friday morning (at 5:30am no less), we left for Malaysia. In order to get to our destination, Tioman Island, we had to take a three hour bus ride to Mersing, Malaysia, followed by an hour long ferry. Getting across the border into Malaysia was a breeze that early in the morning with our student passes and passports in hand. After crossing the short bridge connecting the two countries, we almost immediately hit the rural countryside of Malaysia. We watched as jungle, farmland, temples, and towns whizzed by until we arrived in the sleepy beach town of Mersing.

Unfortunately, due to some bad luck with the tide schedules, we had to spend most of the day there waiting for the ferry. We sat down at a breakfast place where I got black coffee and banana pancakes, which were sweeter and more crepe-like than American pancakes. After our leisurely breakfast, we strolled through the shops, and I bought myself a pair of sort of Ray Bans that cost about 4 USD. Nearby, there was a small rocky beach where we found beautiful intact shells, the likes of which you would normally only find in a Myrtle Beach gift shop.

Then, we walked through the small downtown area to buy water and the cheapest Magnum ice cream bars that I'll ever see. After, we settled down for an extremely lengthy lunch at a local restaurant where there was free shade and free wifi, two things incredibly appealing to exhausted college students.

Once we actually got on the ferry, I almost immediately fell asleep, so I really can't tell you too much about that. What I can tell you is that what we saw when we got off of the ferry was incredible. The water was crystal clear, and the beaches gave way to a mountainous tropical forrest towering above the small restaurants and resorts.

Once we took the five minute walk from the pier to the Impiana Inn, we became, if possible, even more excited. We were staying in small, individual bungalows connected by paths dotted with hammocks hanging between coconut trees. Needless to say, we changed into our swimsuits upon checking in and hit the beach.

One of our bungalows at the inn

That night after watching the sunset we went out to dinner at a small family-style Chinese seafood restaurant where the food was incredibly fresh and delicious. Most of the places to eat on the island were closed until sunset because of the large Muslim population observing Ramadan. For this period, they fast from dawn to sunset.

The next morning, we rose early to go on a fishing trip led by a couple of the locals who work at the inn. Unfortunately, I don't think many of us are cut out to be fishermen. After two and a half hours, and several people getting seasick, we headed back to the shore empty-handed. Luckily the boat ride was still beautiful.

Our happy group before the seasickness set in

We spent the rest of the day at the beach, and while there, we met a group of college students from Malaysia on their celebratory graduation trip and talked with them for a long time. It was the off-season for tourism, so they were one of the only groups we ran into the entire weekend. They also were kind enough to take a cheesy jumping picture of our group with their nice camera, and here's how it turned out. 

The next morning we boarded the 6:30 am ferry back to Mersing, where we dutifully waited for our 4:30 pm bus. Once again, we had a leisurely breakfast followed by an even more leisurely lunch. After napping a little bit in the streets (sorry, mom) and avoiding getting robbed (you're welcome, mom), we boarded the bus, happy to get back to Singapore. 

This is where things get a little bit more interesting. After crossing the bridge back into Singapore, we were told by the bus drivers that they would only wait for thirty minutes for us to get through customs and return to the bus on the other side. The lines were extremely long, and only half of our group (and half of the bus for that matter) made it before the bus left. I was lucky enough to have picked a fast-moving line, but my less fortunate friends caught a public bus and took a lengthy ride on the MRT back to Chinatown. 

From there we all ordered takeout to the hostel. We do this frequently, but with mixed results because most of the time the woman on the other end of the phone can't understand what we're saying, or vice versa. So when we order takeout, we actually are just telling our friends at the front desk what we want so that they can call for us. After the food finally arrived, we all crawled into bed early to get some sleep before lab in the morning. 

Monday afternoon, Taylor and I got out of lab a little early, so we decided to take a short side trip to the Botanical Gardens. We wandered around the rainforest section, the national orchid gardens, and the evolutionary garden. 

 The National Symphony's stage on Symphony Lake

 The orchid gardens

 The rainforest

The evolutionary gardens, which follow nature through time, starting from 300 million years ago and going up to present day as you walk along the winding path

On Tuesday, we went to Arab Street late after lab because we had heard about a Ramadan Food Festival. In an ironic twist, the food festival was only from 2 pm to 8 pm (despite that fact that no one who participates in Ramadan could eat during this time), so most of the stalls were closed by the time we got there. I can only assume that it must have been primarily for tourists because of the odd timing. 

Wednesday night, instead of having no food, we ended up having quite a bit. A large group of people staying at the hostel grilled chicken, fish, hot dogs, and fake crab meat on the porch outside and had so much food left over that they gave it to our group in the lobby. After eating all of that, we found that the girls working at the front desk had bought us four pints of ice cream (chocolate, caramel, blueberry cheesecake, and rum raisin), and we promptly ate that as well. All of this food we shared with a British couple who were staying for the week. They were incredulous at all of the free food we were getting, but it's actually not unusual for the people working at the hostel to give us food. In fact, Thursday night, they gave us a tub of frozen yogurt. At first, our hostel seemed cramped, but now that we've gotten to settle in and become friends with the staff, it's actually a very nice place to be after a long day in lab.