Day 6: Krabbi, Thailand (Rock Climbing)

We arranged in advance for a ½ day rock climbing adventure tour for Manone, Alexa, and I.  To our suprize we were the only ones wanting to rock climb at 7:30am on a Tuesday, so we basically had our own instructor.  I still wasn’t feeling 100% better from Bangkok, but didn’t know the next time I would have an opportunity to rock climb in Thailand so I ignored the random chills/stomach pain and started my day.  Although in retrospect, rock climbing probably isn’t something to attempt if you are concerned you may have swine flu… luckily I didn’t!  The negative part of a 7:30am rock climbing adventure in Krabi is that everywhere that serves breakfast doesn’t open until 8:30 am.  So my first day rock climbing was ALSO my first day eating a microwave-oven ham & cheese sandwich from 7-11!

Our instructor drove us from Krabi town where we were staying to a nearby pier then helped us load the boat with all our rock climbing gear.  He took us to Railay Beach (an Island well-known for its beautiful cliffs and beaches) where we exited the boat and walked through the shallow water to the small beach at the bottom of the cliffs.  As he began setting up the ropes it began to rain, not a little rain, but tropical monsoon kind of rain.  Our instructor warned us before it might rain, but he said that the cliffs had an overhang that would protect the area we were climbing.  For the most part he was correct, but there were a few times when I was reaching my hand up above my head, not being able to see what I was reaching for and as soon as I think I found something I could use to pull my body up, my hand would reach deeper and suddenly be soaking in a puddle of rain water.  Other than the surprise cliff rain puddles, it was an amazing experience.  

The rocks we climbed were above a beach and overlooked the beautiful ocean.  After rock climbing we decided to spend the rest of our day at Railay beach instead of getting a ride back from our guide.  Another traveler told us that the beaches on the other side of the Island are supposed to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.  He wasn’t lying.  We walked a short path through the jungle, near the bottom of the cliffs, across the Island to the other beach.  What made this beach “the most” beautiful was that it had white sand then a few yard behind the sand was the beginning of the tropical jungle and the tall cliffs we climbed earlier ran across the Island, through the jungle, sand and into the blue water.  The contrast between the heights of the cliff next to the water below was incredible! 

Day 5: Bangkok & the "160 baht" picture

ONE NIGHT in Bangkok (23 hours to be exact)
We arrived in Bangkok and the first thing I noticed was how polluted the air was.  It was such a drastic difference from the air quality of Northern Thailand.  Our first adventure was to the Temple of Dawn.  It was a beautiful, large temple a few stops up the Chao Phyra River.  What was unique about Bangkok is their mass public transportation system consisted of several express long boats with color coated for flags representing their route.

The “160 baht” Picture
We exit the boat and arrive at the Temple of Dawn, as we walked across the lawn around to the entrance we see one of those cheesy touristy life-size pictures where you stick your head through the hole and walla you’re a monk standing next to your best friend who is now an elephant ready for your picture to be taken.  So of course we threw our cameras to some European tourist standing near by and the 4 of us stuck our face through the cutout holes for a picture.  As we left to collect our camera some Thai women ran out from behind the temple demanding 40 baht from each of us for the picture (that she didn’t take), we questioned her and she pointed out the tiny “40” at the bottom of the picture.  Later we saw that the women had a little lawn chair inside the temple within distance of her cheesy photo-opp where she can spy on who puts there head in the cutout and charge them 40 baht.
After accepting the loss of our 40 baht, we gathered ourselves and walked around to the entrance of the actual Temple of Dawn.  We expected to pay the standard 20 baht to visit the temple, but when I went to pay the women working informed me it was 40 baht, I wasn’t dressed appropriately so that would be an additional 60 baht to rent “cover-ups” and finally another 100 baht deposit for the “cover-ups.”  Exhausted from arguing over baht, we paid and prepared to walk up the steep temple.  That’s when we looked around and no one else required “cover-ups” and as if we didn’t already standout before, we now looked straight ridiculous, but ready for this temple!

After being scammed into overpaying for a few more temples we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. I had been feeling a bit unwell all day, but now I felt extremely ill and had chills. Swine flu-like symptoms and a 13 hours nap concluded my trip to Bangkok.

13 Reasons Why I LOVE THAILAND:

Fall Recess: Thailand

1. Thai food
2. Friendly culture
3. Less humid than Singapore
4. 1-hour Thai massages for $4 US
5. Most beautiful beaches in the world
6. USD$1 = 33.51 Thai Baht
7. Long boats are a common source of public transportation
8. Asian elephants
9. Gorgeous temples
10. Monks with iPhones
11. Worlds largest reclining Buddha 
12. Snorkeling so incredible it makes you bitter you live on land
13. More Thai food =)

Day 1-3: Chiang Mai, Thailand

Thursday: Flight from Singapore to Bangkok, then an overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai (Thursday night)

I wish I could say fall recess began smoothly but in all honesty it was the complete opposite. About 2 minutes into the bus ride to the airport I realized I never booked my plane ticket OUT of Chiang Mai, I completely forgot the 100ml carry-on container policy (goodbye bathroom products), was reported as a missing person (while seated in my assigned seat… long story), but things looked up as we departed from Singapore.

We arrived in Bangkok (1½hr flight from Singapore) and immediately took a cab to the train station where we boarded an overnight train to Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand). The train was surprisingly more pleasant than I had expected and actually significantly more comfortable than my NTU dorm bed. The train trip was about 15hours long, we slept for the first 9hours and had a beautiful view of the country all morning until we arrived in Chiang Mai early afternoon.

Chiang Mai is definitely one of my FAVORITE cities so far it’s located in the beautiful green countryside of Northern Thailand. All the people we met in Chiang Mai were so friendly, helpful, and happy. This was also the only city we visited that didn’t have people constantly trying to sell us something we didn’t need.

Day 3: Our first official full day in Thailand

We signed up for an “Adventure Tour” that begun with a minibus picking us up at 8:30am and driving us an hour out of town to an elephant camp. Seeing an Asian elephant was my number one goal for Thailand, I was so excited! Alexa, Manone, and I all sat on top of a very hungry elephant for a bumpy ride through the jungle. Our elephant snatched the 3 bouquets of bananas we bought to feed it right from our hands, then stopped every few minutes to eat the plants and again would reach its trunk back to us just to make sure we didn’t have any more food. It was cute at first until the elephant exhaled through its trunk into our faces.

After the elephant riding was over we hopped back into the minibus and were taken to a river where we rode bamboo rafts downstream, then a 2hour trek through the jungle to waterfall. During the trek we visited 2 tribes and saw rice fields until it started to pour rain (which made for a VERY muddy adventure back).

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The midnight meals with Malaysian students inspired me to plan a weekend trip to Kuala Lumpur (KL), the capitol of Malaysia. Traveling to KL consisted of bus, to MRT station (4 stops, then another 4 stops on a different MRT line) then a bus to the Singapore border, bus across the bridge to the Malaysian border, and finally a 4-hour bus ride to the city of Kuala Lumpur.  Upon arrival we immediately dropped our bags off and proceeded to find dinner.  I am embarrassed to admit, but instead of getting adventurous with some nice Malaysian cuisine we decided to play it safe with pizza from a reggae themed restaurant down the street from our hostel.  

We began Saturday off to an early start by taking the city bus to the Batu Caves Temple, a Hindu temple built inside a cave that sits 1000 ft above ground level, built in 1891.  I found the entrance to the Batu Caves Temple to be slightly intimidating due to the enormous (approx. 1000ft tall) gold statue standing guard nearthe first step and the fearless wild monkeys who literally grabbed food from visitors’ bags as they hiked 300 stairs to the top. 

The top of the steps made for a beautiful view of KL and further revealed how different Malaysia is from Singapore.  The city of KL appears generously dispersed over miles of flat land, opposite of its neighbor Singapore (the most densely populated country in the world).  Inside the cave we found additional Hindu figures and fearless monkeys.
 
On Sunday we visited the Petronas towers before heading back home to Singapore.  Overall this adventure was a peaceful, air-conditioned nights sleep and escape from our extremely humid campus life in Singapore. 

Six Suppers Across Singapore!!!

A friend of mine from Organizational Behavior class invited me to attend “NTU MSA Supper Hop.”  I tried to ask more information regarding what exactly that was, but he responded in a thick Malaysian accent making his English difficult to comprehend.  Basically I was able to piece together that I needed to meet at 10:30PM near the bus stop and we would be traveling around the country all night eating 6 “suppers” at 6 different signature Singaporean locations until 6:00AM.  I invited my Swedish friend Machala and my friend Emily from San Diego.  We walked to the bus stop around 10:30PM assuming there would be a collection of different NTU students from Singapore and exchange students.  Instead I learned my friend from class was also the president of the NTU Malaysia Student Association (MSA) and we would be joining MSA for supper!  

Initially, it felt a little awkward being on a charter bus filled with 50 Malaysian students who were curious about who we were, where we came from, and what we were doing here (since we obviously we were the only non-Malaysian students with the Malaysian student association.)  All awkwardness was soon gone and replaced with several new friendships.  This was definitely one of my favorite experiences because I truly got to experience a different culture. 

Meals in Singapore have always been a bit of an adventure.  Despite the fact the country’s primary language is English, their culture is a melting pot of Chinese, Malaysian, and Indonesian, so most of the food available in Singapore fall under one of those three cultures.  I am usually not one to shy away from trying new foods because normally (well in America) you can’t go too wrong, I have decided that it is possible here.  By “too wrong” I mean pig organs with a side of rice, fish ball soup, and chicken feet.  I felt a bit better about trying new food, knowing that my new Malaysian friends are recommending them.  My favorite dish was the BBQ stingray and squid.      

My favorite: BBQ Stingray 

Bintan, Indonesia

Bintan, Indonesia was my first trip outside of Singapore.  After nearly 3 weeks of being cooped up inside Singapore, several international students and I planned a last minute trip to Indonesia for the weekend.  Bintan is only a short 1½-hour ferryboat ride from Singapore.  We booked a rooms online at the Nostalgia hostel, a sister resort to one of the nicest resorts on the Island.  Luckily we had access to a shuttle bus and all the nicer resorts facilities, but I would HIGHLY suggest paying the couple extra bucks to stay in an actual hotel or resort.  We reserved a “beach bungalow” that appears as paradise to the untrained eye, but in reality is only a death trap set above the ocean (at least during high tide) infested with mosquito’s, geckos, crabs, in addition to a variety of insects.

 
The hour-long taxi ride to the hostel also acted as a reality check showing me a different side to the Indonesia I had imagined.  I naively assumed all of Indonesia was similar to the vacation spot Bali I had heard so much about.  It was depressing to see that much of Indonesia’s population lives below poverty.  From what I could tell most of these people lived without a proper sewage system ultimately poisoning their own water supply, this was obvious after taking a closer look at the condition of the water near the hostel.  I regret only being 

able to spend 2 days here and due to safety precautions didn’t venture far from either of the two resorts.  Luckily the rest of the trip was more positive.
My absolute favorite part of this adventure was spending Saturday snorkeling off a small Island near Bintan.  For less than USD $25 our amazing snorkel trip included, gear, half day on a boat with a snorkel guide taking us to areas with lots of coral and marine life and back to the main resort.  This was unparallel to any snorkel experience I had ever had in the cold Pacific Ocean.  The water felt like a warm 80 F as I skimmed the water’s surface observing the abundance of fish and other sea life living in the coral.  This little excursion only deepened my need to become scuba certified!