Seeing Siam.

Boat ride to Golden Mount--Bells

So, my first full day in Bangkok I decided I needed to hit up as much as possible and so my first stop was the laundromat I mean the Golden Mount. Okay, it was the laundromat, but THEN I headed to the Golden Mount via one of the water ferries that scatter the cities rivers. Bangkok is sometimes referred to as the Venice of the East for all of its waterways that surround the cities major areas. Its far easier here, and more enjoyable to grab a water taxi to get to your destination than hopping in a meter-taxi. One of the things I really loved about the boats in Bangkok were the men and women who worked on them. They hang off the side of them in their fli-flops (on the smaller boats) and collect fare from passengers--having to memorize the people that hop aboard and then find them while the boat rushes to its next destination. Furthermore, they have this incredible whistle system on bigger boats to informt he captain how close or far he is from the dock. Its such an awesome system to watch in action.

                            

                                                 

Moving on, I got to the Golden Mount and wandered up its giant pathway (making sure to ring all the giant bells---good luck I think?) in order to get an incredible view of Bangkok from the top.

                           

                   

                           

     

                               

                               

Wires SO MANY WIRES.

This has nothing to do with anything other than the fact that the first day in Bangkok i saw 3 different teams in different areas attempting to put another wire up on the telephone wires above the city and I all I could think was yeah, that's good. I'm pretty sure the best waay to deal with this bad connection is another wire right?

                           

Democracy Monument

Big Swing

I don't know. This was one of those things where they tell you it's important so you take a picture. what is it about? I dunno. It's a giant tall structure, I see no swing. Shrine of soe sort is my best guess. Google it. 

Cabbages and Condoms

And then a friend and I went to this magical restaurant that, based on the name seems like it would be a hooter's-esque joint with cabages about? I dunno. But whatever image you just had is wrong. This place was classy. You could pay with a  CREDIT CARD, the food was amazing, there were chandeliers... it was awesome! They just happened to use a few condoms here and there in the decorating. And, you know, give you one at the end of dinner instead of a mint. 

                         

                         

                

                

The story though is actually a great one. The place is run by a family planning group and the name comes from the fact that the creator once said they wanted birth control to be as accessible as vegetables in the marketplace, hence, Cabbages and Condoms. The proceeds from dinner (well what doesn't go back into the restaurant presumably) go towards programs that teach Thai people about family planning and making give people more access to what they need. And they also help build schools! Woo!

Jim Thompson House

Jim was an American guy who came over to Thailand during WWII but then never saw any action cause the war ended right as he got here. But, he did fall in love with Thai culture and decided to up and move here on his own. He helped make the Thai silk industry a huge deal and his silks were even used in the film the King and I (which btw is not a movie people enjoy in Thailand due to it's disrepectful portrayal of King Rama VI). Anyways, his house is awesome because he took three very old style Thai houses and put them together in order to create a huge open floorplan house. It is right along the river, has an enchanting garden and incredibly beautiful antiques inside from Thai palaces and temples...which unfrotunately you couldn't take pictures of. Also, he disappeared literally without a trace while on a walk in....Nepal (??) when he was 61. To this day they have no idea what happened to him.

                                         

                           

                           

                  

Ayyutayah

Ayyutayah was the second capitol of Siam (Thailand). Then, in some random year that I don't know, the Burmese came in and in an attempt to take over burned everything. Today, Ayyutayah is just a crazy little town about an hour and a half outside Bangkk that happens to have ruins scattered amidst 7-11s and houses in general disrepair. But the ruins are magnificent and include some of the most stunning Chedis that I've seen thus far. It was an incredible to walk through these disintegrating temples and wonder what they would have looked like in their heyday. 

                             

                                                 

                          

                           

                           

                                              

       Actually two of the best things from that day had nothing to do with temples. First: we discovered this AMAZING Thai sweet that I have yet to discover the name of. We kept seeing these stalls where people were making green colored crepe things and then had giant bags of what looked to be straaw or hair. Finally we decided to ask what they were and the woman made us a couple by placing the straw (which ended up being cotton candy-esque pure crystallized sugar) into the crepe, rolling it up and handing it over. OH MY GOODNESS. SO GOOD. I mean, yes, mostly sugar. Overwhelmingly so. But delicious and so glad we asked what they were becuse we then proceeded to buy a bag of each for our journey home. Second: we got caght in a HUGE thunderstorm which forced us to just sit down and chill out at a restaurant for a while and grab lunch...after apologizing profusely for getting water on everything since we were saturated.

                             

The Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha

I can't really describe this place adequately enough to capture the splendour that you see when you walk in. Perhaps it was my excitement over being in a place that felt like I was living in The King and I, but the amount of gold, glitter, glass, and ornate decorations was honestly just stunning. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves though.

                                                

                               

                       

                            

           

                 

                                          

                      

Wat Arun--Temple of the Dawn

This was actually one of my favorite Temples, not so much due to the temple-y aspect, but I loved the shape of it---it was MASSIVELY tall. And also, no other temple has managed to terrify me quite as much as getting up and down this one did.

                        

                  

                 

                  

                     

Sleeper Train to Chiang Mai

KL to Singapore: A World Apart

Well after an absurdly long day of flying....melbourne to sydney and sydney to Kuala Lumpur, I made it to Malaysia! And I'll be honest, given that my first interaction with the country involved seeing my beloved fast food place Wendy's....things were off to a great start. 

Kuala Lumpur is a lot more built up than I expected. But all of the singing and new is still beautifully intermixed with the legacy of the old. In my few days here I've been able to see most of the must ddo touristy things, while still having plenty of time to just hang out and chill at the hostel. The variety of public transport here makes getting around super easy and efficient which is wonderful and the food...well I really can't complain. A mixture of Malay, Indian and Chinese is a pretty great thing to find anywhere, much less for $2, five minutes from where you live. 

 

Anyways here are a few pics of the lovely things I've gotten to see in my time in KL. 

Central Market: a sweet little knickknack market built in 1888 where I was able to get my classic, must-buy-in-every-country goods.

Batu Caves: a Hindu shrine just outside of KL in a beautiful limestone cave found at the top of 274 Steps next to a giant (140 ft) model of the Himdu god Murugan. I'll be honest....wasn't quite as thrilling as it's cracked up to be, but the statue was pretty impressive.

                                   

                    

                                        

Petronas towers: twin towers of KL, they used to be the tallest in the world. But I'm pretty sure they're still the tallest in SE asia. Twin-style anyways. 

                                          

                       

The National Mosque/Masjid Negara: really interesting design of a mosque. And while I didn't find the interior to be anything overly special it did have a pretty open-style design. 

                           

                           

                           

Islamic Arts Museum: cool. Got lots of Arabic reading in due to the large number of Qurans everywhere. Really cool. And stunning calligraphy...as always.

                         

                                                                   ˆˆPlan of Mecca

                                            

Masjid Jamek: beautiful large mosque built in the early 1900s on the first Malay burial grounds.

Sultan Abdul Samad building: housed the administration for the Federal Malay States when it was first built in theh late 1800s, it now houses the ministry of information, communications and culture. But really, let's be honest; no one cares about that. It's just a super pretty building.

Merdeka square: one of the largest flag poles in the world, and where they raised the Malay flag after declaring independence. The fountain in front was shipped from England and assembled in Malaysia. It's like olden-days ikea! 

oh also!! some friends and I ended up doing this game called breakout. Basically you get locked inside a room and you have 45 minutes to figure out how to escape. Guys, we were handcuffed together and the keys were behind another door, and it was insane.  While we didn't end up getting out, we came SUPER close. Totally doing it again next time I have a chance.

SINGPAORE

Singapore ws interesting..in that it wasn't. It is a beautiful city, with lots of greenery amidst the elegant skyscrapers scattered about, but when youre looking for things to do the answers pretty much come to SHOPPING! THEME PARK! EXPENSIVE! Which, if I wasn't travelling on a budget would've been fine, however I was. But I did enjoy Chinatown very much and due to the extensive amount of greenery amidst the beautifully designed buildings, I did really enjoy walking around the city. AND I got to hang out with a friend from UVA, Hong Mun for an afternoon! Which was really great and made Singapore much more fun. And, I got to top off my time in Singapore by drinking a classic 'Singapore Sling' at the place where it was invented....the Raffles Hotel! Super delicious might I add.

pretty Hindu Temple in Chinatown

a Singapore Sling

I've been chilling in Bangkok for the past day, and it's awesome! Will do a Thailand blog as soon as I can!=]

Off to Adventure in the Great, Wide, Somewhere....

Okay sorry, that title was an extremely misleading representation of what is actually occurring in my current life situation. I simply intended to show that my time in Oz was coming to an end. I still can't get over it. Have I ACTUALLY bee away from home for a full year? It feels like yesterday that I left. Oh well, nonetheless. Since I haven't written down any of what has happened during my time in melb, other than of course the rather long update on jobs...here's what my life has been like.

1. Moved to Melbs with a good friend. 

2. Found an apartment with some cool people (who made awesome food) in southbank and moved out of the hostel.

 

3. Got a job as a telemarketer. Worst job ever. On the how much was I losing it scale of 1 to Lindsay Lohan, I was like a Britney Spears 2007 mental breakdown phase. I have so much respect for these people. 

4. Visited St. Kilda...finally.

5. Kept sneaking into the hostel I'd left because all my friends still lived there.

6. Switched jobs to be a host at a German restaurant/beer hall/bar. 

7. Went to be in the the live audience of Family Feud with some friends

8. Won $25 worth of drinks in a dance contest I didn't realize was happening. This might be the greatest achievement of my life.

9. Tried out as many random bars in melb as I possibly could

 

10. Have asked multiple British and Australian friends to marry me only to realize green card marriages don't work as well here.

11. Have met and worked with other Americans! Whattttt?! Two of my managers are even american! Crazy!

12. Went to a Les Miserables exhibit and got to see Victor Hugo's original manuscript!!!! As well as of course unabashedly sing to the continuous songs from the musical playing in the exhibit.

 

13. Continued to go to the awesome Hillsong church in melbourne.

14. Made friends with the leader of a German oompah band.

15. Had a ridiculous night at the Crown Casino

But honestly, as with all the places I've lived here, it's not really the big things that I've done in Melb that made me fall in love with the city. It is all the small day to day things. It is having a few favorite bars to go to with friends. It's knowing which trams and trains to take where and being able to tell people where the markets are without glancing at a map. For the past two months Melbourne has been home. I'm used to its rhythms and have a routine. I know my favorite indian place and it's hours. And most  importantly I have made some wonderful friends. That is what I will miss. 

As always, I'm excited for the next adventure to Asia and beyond, but it is definitely going to be harder to leave Melbourne and Australia than I even thought possible. I have seen so much of this country and made so many incredible memories here. It's going to be strange to have to start over on my own again. But, as I've seen time and time again, God knows what he's up to and I'm sure is just as excited for me to see the next step as I am scared to enter it. So off we go! Next up? MALAYSIA!

Endnote: since not everyone knows my game plan from this point...I'm currently flying to Malaysia and will be in Kuala Lumpur for about 4 days. Then I'm off to Singapore for a day or so then northern Thailand to see Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and a few other places! The goal is to go to Loy Krathong...the lantern festival where thousand of lanterns get out up in the air. Bucket list item? Hell yeah.

Check out the link in the upper right corner to see where I've been and where I am now!