20 hours in Singapore

What a city! We ended up with an overnight stay in Singapore because we could get the most ridiculously cheap flight if we did. So sweet, a night out in Singapore! Except...Dionne was still feeling the affects of food poisoning :( Although we were staying in a dorm so I asked some of the English girls (Selena and Zoe) in our dorm if I could tag along when they went out for a 'Singapore Sling'.

Im glad I went with these girls, because they had been in the city a few days and knew their way around! I had no idea where they were taking me :P But we ended up at Raffles which is THE PLACE to get a Singapore Sling, for $22!!! (Around the same in NZD). F*** me Ive never had a cocktail that expensive! :P But it was pretty good...

We then moved on planning to get some food, and went down to the river which is apparently the place to be. It was soo busy because the following day was Singapore National Day and it was also the evening that the Olympics started so everyone was watching the opening ceremony on a big screen. Downtown was so pretty as well, it was so clean and lit really well. We met 2 other girls in town - Lindsey and Ada.
There was a bar called 'clinic' where you could sit in a wheelchair and drink out of a drip!! We were set on going to the biggest Ministry of Sound club in the world though, and after asking some Singaporeans where on earth we were, we found it! Although, I didn't even think to have ID on me and they almost didn't let me in! I didn't even know what the drinking age is...

Anyway, it was $20 to get in but that included 2 drink vouchers, and lucky Emily found another 2 drink vouchers in the Ladies! So I was pretty much set for the evening :) We all seemed to loose each other during the night so met up every hour, but me and Lindsey decided we wanted to stay out later than the others, I mean, you don't get to go to the worlds biggest MOS club everyday right?! Although Lindsey did end up going again the next day haha. The club had a few different rooms but we stayed in the main room where there was a rotating dance floor and much better music :)

We caught a cyclo home with a boom box attached so we sang Pussy Cat Dolls 'When I Grow Up' and Oasis all the way back down Orchard Street. Hahaha. It was a great night!

Next morning I was far too tired to get up for breakfast so we hung out in the hostel until it was time to go to the airport. I was soo not ready to leave Asia, but now Im in Perth and can't wait to be back here in November!

Hong Kong

When we were on the boat to Hong Kong, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Well I kind of could.. I WAS expecting a big city. But my God, did it ever end! There was just high rise after high rise for miles. Some were nice, and some looked like a bomb site. We were staying in Kowloon, and as soon as we got there went for a look around. Every single 'alley' was a MALL! It was insane. We probably never got more than 100metres from where we were staying because there was soo much to see. That evening it started raining and we saw a sign saying 'Typhoon warning 1 has been enforced'. Oh, great.

The next morning when we woke up the weather seemed a bit worse and we were meant to be going to Disneyland so I checked their website and now the Typhoon warning was up to number 8! I checked the HK weather site and warning number 8 meant everyone was to stay inside and not much was open. So, we spent the majority of that day in our room reading and sleeping and watching Chinese Soaps, ha! At that point we were more concerned that the typhoon would still be here when we were leaving and we wouldn't be able to catch a boat to Macau to fly out!

Thank goodness, the next day the typhoon warning was lifted and we could go out! It was a long day though, we had to fit a lot in! We went to Lantu Island and up to see the Giant Buddha and Monestry. The views out there were amazing and no pictures I could take gave it justice. The Buddha really is Giant - and it is situated right on top of a hill. Afterwards we went and had a really really yumm vegetarian lunch at the monestry (this is where the monks live).

Then we went to Disneyland! Where all your childhood dreams become true! Unfortunately we happened to be there during the school holidays and since it had been closed the day before it was PACKED! We spent so much time in lines and most of the rides were all of 30 seconds long. However the 30 seconds were still lots of fun! Its funny how it doesn't matter how old you are, if you've wanted to go on the teacups all your childhood its pretty damn exciting even when your 20 or 50! We watched a parade which was also really cool despite it being aimed at 10 year olds, haha. And at the end of the night we watched fireworks over the castle - in true Disney Style! It actually gave me goosebumps it was so cool. It really was like being a kid again...

There were 2 downsides to Disneyland. First was the kids (and adults) pushing in front of you in line. Now kids, I can understand, because they get excited and dont think about anyone but themselves. But Adults? Argh. Every single line we lined up in, including the ice cream line, someone pushed in front of us. Maybe its because we're foreign? I dont know. But it was really annoying!
The other downside was the food. (apart from the popcorn). We got these grosssss noodles for lunch and they ended up giving Dionne food poisoning, and she has been sick since.

I think I have to go back to Hong Kong, because I don't feel like I saw enough of it. Although I think it would take quite some time!

By the way I have uploaded LOTS of photos to Facebook so if you dont have FB, get it. You can search for me by my name!

Macau - Bungy and Casinos all in one day!

To get to Macau we flew from Hanoi to Bangkok, slept on the floor at the airport, then flew from Bangkok to Macau. What a mission! Somehow though when we flew into Macau I wasn't tired, I was excited. Well, I was about to do the worlds highest bungy jump!

I've never really thought of a city as beautiful before, its not really my thing. But Macau IS beautiful. It's so clean and so varied in everything from food to people to buildings. There are buildings as old as 1500 (which for a Kiwi is like the oldest building Ive ever seen!) and then there are a number of amazing modern buildings. Macau is a mini vegas, except more money is spent there annually than in Vegas! (Thanks to rich Chinese men)

The bungy...was REALLY REALLY high. It was so unreal when we got up there. I watched a girl go before me who had never done a bungy before and there she was, doing the worlds highest one. Apparently 95% of people who do the jump its their first time. And you thought I was mad!
I wasn't overly nervous until I was standing on the platform and felt how heavy the cord was, even if I didn't want to jump, I'd be going over the edge because that cord was so heavy it was going to pull me down with it! I closed my eyes for a second until I was falling and then I realised how awesome it was. I kept my eyes open and couldn't believel how fast I was falling! It was soo much fun. Well, it was fun until Id finished bouncing and hung upside down for about 5 mins. I honestly thought maybe they had forgotten about me as there was no one I could see at the bottom. My ankles were really hurting (and were sore for about 3 hours after) and I was pretty dizzy! Eventually I was lowered to the ground and wanted to do it all over again!

That night we got all dressed up for the first time in a while and headed out to the casinos. We didn't even need to go inside, just looking at them from the outside was awesome enough! We did go in and play some pokies, and watch a show or 2, but we really had no idea how to play any of the real games so we just watched other people lose their money! We ended up at MGM casino, where there was a nice little cocktail bar. While we were sitting there, in walked a group of pornstars! I don't know what is so fascinating about porn stars but we couldn't stop looking at them, and neither could the rest of the room. Although it was kind of funny, they looked really gross to me, and you could tell they all thought they were so extremely hot. Laughable.!

Thats really the end of Macau - the next morning we jumped on the boat to Hong Kong!

Vietnam - Hanoi and Halong Bay

* Im now back in Perth until Wednesday. Hoping to sit here for a few hours and update my blog and finish adding photos to facebook!*

As soon as we arrived in Vietnam Dionne and I were completely confused by the currency. I had no idea how much money I needed so got 600,000 dong out at the ATM, which turned out to be only $35, whoops. Then, in true Vietnamese fashion, we got seriously ripped off by a taxi driver. It didnt help we couldn't figure out for ourselves how much he was actually charging us, but by the time we got to the hostel...after being driven to a different hostel we didnt ask for... I had already spent all my dong. We paid more for the taxi than I would ever pay for a taxi at home, and he was STILL arguing with us for more money. We were like 'You've got to be f**king kidding mate, we've already paid your yearly wages!'. Grrr.

Anyway, shit happens, I was pretty pissed off but really just had to get over it. Thank god our hostel was awesome, and we were greeted by some Aussie guys who made us feel right at home. We booked an overnight tour to Halong Bay through the hostel because it was called something like 'rock hard, rock out tour' and promised it to be a whole lot of drunken fun, with the possibility of nakedness. haha.

We set off the next day for 3 hours to Halong Bay, when we got on our boat I was stoked! I thought it was quite possibly the most luxurious place we had stayed our whole trip...until we got our room... Me and Dionne got the room right above the kitchen and beside the engine. SO it was like an extremely noisy sauna. And our shower head didnt work so we had to use the tap and a cup to wash ourselves. Lol. But to be honest I was more concerned about dying of toxic fumes in my sleep.
During the day we went kayaking, the boat had taken us to a place none of the other boats so it was so amazing because I've never heard a place so quiet! A few of us jumped off the roof of the boat which the boys soon discovered wasn't so much fun for their bits. Although I kept jumping because we all know how much Emily loves to jump off high platforms.

During the day a lady in a little boat came around selling bottles of Vodka for 80,000 dong, which is about $5!!! I don't mean a small bottle, I mean a decent sized 40% vodka.

So, we had to get some of that! Later that night when we started drinking it, we realised why it was so cheap, it was DISGUSTING. And even though I haven't really had Cocacola since sometime last year, I felt it was the only thing to drown out the taste at all. We tried playing drinking games but there was way to many of us to know what was going on. At some stage during the night a few of us, including myself, thought it would be smart to jump off the roof of the boat again, drunk and in pitch blackness, knowing from the day that there are jellyfish lurking. And of course, all 4 of us got stung. I was the luckiest, my sting didn't bubble up like the others.

The breakfast they provided the next morning was not really sufficient enough to soak up all the foul vodka, and most of us went back feeling pretty under the weather.

That night Tom, Mike, me and Dionne went out to find a restaurant that was in the Lonely planet and couldn't find it so ended up at some random place where the boys ordered Pigeon! Yum. Ive got some lovely photos of the boys eating Pigeon head.

The next day we went to see Ho Chi Mihns body but unfortunately it was closed sooo we went shopping and I bought a HEAP of stuff, too much stuff to take to the states so I'm going to have to leave it in Perth :(

Best thing about Hanoi: Hanoi Backpackers
Worst thing about Hanoi: Taxi drivers, the heat and only being able to eat spinach and rice.
Verdict: Done Vietnam twice now, don't need to do it again!

Compared to Thailand...
Best things: Food, friendly people, plenty to do, amazing shopping, easy to travel, beautiful country.
Worst things: The afternoon rain, although I learnt to love this too!

Laos - Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang is the 2nd biggest city in Laos. Although its not really a city... any 'city' like building are really built around tourists. Infact, on the main road, I could hardly tell I was in Laos.
Off the main road though are hundreds of temples. One for every corner of every road. And with temples come monks, making Luang Prabang a very colourful city. Overall I really liked it because of its diversity and the friendly people. Just walking down the road everyone say 'Sabaidee' (hello), and not just because they're trying to sell you something!

We spent a bit of time in LPB because we had heard that the tubing in Vang Vieng (the whole reason you go there) had shut because someone had died. To be honest, I'm not suprised, the rivers were raging! I wouldn't have wanted to swim in one. The day we arrived 2 kayakers had also gone missing. It seemed as though the wet season had come to Laos a but earlier and a but harsher than usual and tourists who thought they could beat nature we're drowning. So, we pretty much stayed away from the tubing.

Chilling out in LPB for 5 days was great though, there is great food, good people, shopping, markets and LOADS of places to get a massage.

We did do 2 tours though. The first one was to a waterfall, which was nice and refreshing considering we were a little tired and hungover. Because of the rain the waterfall was pretty spectacular and you could actually trek through it and right to the top. Thank goodness for my waterproof camera!! I had a few comments on my new tattoo at the time which was nice :)
The 2nd tour was to Pak Ou caves, which is a temple built into a cave about 25kms along the river from LPB. I think we probably had the worlds worst boat driver, for some reason he got distacted along the way and the boat veered off to the side and crashed into another boat. Our driver went fully clothed overboard! It was actually pretty amusing. We drove off leaving the owner of the other boat looking pretty cross. It took a while to get to the caves and they were OK. Probably wouldn't go there again but glad I did while I was around.

For our last night in LPB we walked to the top of a mountain to watch sunset, and as it was recommended in the lonely planet the top of the mountain was filled with travellers. At dinner we ended up sitting with a Laos girl and her friend, and an old German guy. It was an interesting night... they took us to a Laos nightclub and when we walked in it was like any nighclub except there were people line dancing! What?! Anyway that was heaps of fun until it was curfew time (LPB has a 12pm curfew) and we figured we better not piss off our lovely guesthouse owners so we went home. Although it was still a bit late and our GH owner came out in his tighty whiteys to let us in! eeek.

Laos - Bokeo and the Gibbon Experience

We arrived in Huay Xai from Thailand - about 100metres across a river. It was really strange to think that we were already in a different country.We exchanged our money and instantly we were millionaires!

My first experience with a Lao wasn't the best considering spending a month with super friendly Thais. The lady running our guesthouse who we fondly named 'Big Momma' was rude, pushy, never smiled, and did NOT like being disturbed when watching TV in the restaurant despite not having received my dinner in over an hour. In the end I think they mustve gone to Thailand and back to get the mushrooms because I didnt get fed until bedtime!

Big Momma also tried to tell us that the Gibbon Experience wasn't running due to bad weather and that we could just stay at her guesthouse instead of going.

Well the Gibbon Experience was going, but it had changed dramatically. Normally they take you in a 4WD out to a village then you trek for 3 hours. Because the rain had washed away some of the road, we now had to trek 5 hours to get to the village on top of that!
We were advised to buy special rubber shoes to walk through mud which I'm very glad I did!

The first day was some of the most physically draining exercise I have ever done. I was trying not to get fed up but I couldn't help but be annoyed with the fact I was walking through mud up and down hill for 5 hours when normally I'd be sitting in a 4WD. The downhills were fine, but the uphills were killer, they just kept going and going. And it was HOT, I was dripping with sweat, and had pretty limited food. I managed to take a few photos but it seemed to require so much of my effort. Oh and our guides not once took a rest. Machines! So I decided to take my own pace, taking rests when I needed it, and only took about 10 mins longer in the end anyway!

When we arrived at the village everyone was enjoying some Cocacola which looked appealing but still in my anti-coke mind I opted for Miranda which is probably made by Cocacola anyway! lol. With sugar levels back up we headed on our merry way, but oh my God, the next few hours were INTENSE. I have never pushed myself that much ever. When we reached the top I couldnt even talk, just groan.

Part of the Gibbon Experience involves using zip lines over the forest to get from tree hut to tree hut. So we zipped into the first hut. Thank God! I was home for the night! While everyone else in my hut went zipping I stayed back to do some yoga and meditation in a tree hut 150 metres above the ground looking over a valley. Perfect! And can you imagine the view from the shower? It was definitley one of the top 5 shower experiences of my life.

At night we could hear rats running around our beds, BIG rats. But we had already been warned so all our belongings were safe in our beds under our nets.

The next day I could still feel my legs. Amazing! So I walked up to treehut 3 to meet Dionne and walk to treehut 5. I used 3 or 4 ziplines along the way and it was so much fun!! I got some videos of it which are awesome. One of which has a monkey in it that I didnt actually see while I was videoing it but only when I showed the video to Dionne did she see it was spinning around a tree at arms length away! Man I felt stupid.

We chilled out (lakalau! personal joke) in treehut 5 for the afternoon and used a few ziplines from our hut. We were staying with 4 Dutch travellers which was fun, learnt a few dutch words and tried playing card games with them which was amusing.

We went to bed early, the 3rd day was going to be the longest. We were so far into the jungle now and had to walk all the way back! I woke up in the night because of the rain, thinking 'nooooo pleaaaase stop raining', but it continued raining till morning. Which of course meant, MUD!

So for 8 hours we trekked through mud. And for some reason, it sucked, but it didnt suck as much as the first day. Had my fitness increased? With every step we were saying words to motivate us to get back to Huay Xai "good food, clean clothes, clean sheets, BeerLao" and our guide Max let us listen to his mp3 player which mainly consisted of old American country music.

After another 8 hours of trekking. We arrived. Huay Xai isn't much of a town, its just a border town, and pretty much everyone in the town ends up in the same restaurant for dinner. This night everyone seemed to be eating Indian food and so I managed to pick the brain of a few people travelling to India which is definitley going to be in my next trip.

The next 2 days were spent down the Mekong river on a slowboat. Now a lot of people complain about these boats, I dont know why. I mean yes the only seats are wooden planks and most of the time you end up on the floor but for goodness sake you're in Laos people what do you expect. Im sick of people here complaining all the time when they know full well their in a 3rd world country and you're not at home anymore. Oh and please, ditch the mini skirts and crop tops! Have some respect!
Anyway, 6 hours on the slow boat gave me plenty of time to read books, write in my diary, listen to music I never knew was on my ipod, and watch the world go by on the Mekong.

By the way, my opinion of Lao people was soon changed by our friendly guides and the different guesthouse we stayed in when we returned to Huay Xai. The Laos are just as friendly as Thai, if not friendlier!