wish you were here.

we have arrived in Malaysia!!! My apologies for not explaining that I would be away for a couple of weeks in Malaysia.. I ran out of time before I left..

We flew down to Singapore on Tuesday? the 13th, and spent Wednesday wandering around the city. This place is so interesting.. I was expecting Singapore to be this sterile environment with no life due to the strict laws (you cannot even chew bubble gum) but it was surprisingly full of life and energy. Our hostel was in the middle of Little India so we were able to take a stroll in the markets and look at all the cool architecture. When we arrived at our hostel around 12:30 AM, the vegetable stands were still open.. and selling OKRA! I wanted to buy some to remind me of home, but I don't have anywhere to cook it. oh well. We spent the rest of the day just wandering around looking for interesting things and buying stuff.


some interesting things to note about this fascinating city/state/country:
- so many laws... no gum, no public speeches, no urinating in elevators, no durian on subways, no honking.. if you are caught with ONE single bullet.. you will be hanged. Same with drug trafficking - zero tolerance.
- the dollar bills are PLASTIC and some spaces are transparent.
- they use the standard measuring system.
- everyone is SO friendly and wears really great shoes.
- the official language is English, but everyone speaks another language.
- you must be "pure singaporean" in order to drive a taxi. oh, and to be the minister.
- just so cleannnnnnnn and it doesn't smell :D


So, right now I am staying in Johor Bahru, Malaysia at this fancy pants resort, and let me tell you I am in heaven. It is so warm that I have completely forgotten what it feels like to be in freezing temperatures (sorry Cindy!). Today we had a free day to relax, so I spent it by the pool eating a hamburger and fries. it was glorious. This place is so lush with plants.. it feels like a completely different world than East Asia, and from what I have seen of Malaysia so far, there is a ton of jungle and tropical plants to get lost in... I can't wait for jungle trekking! (minus the leeches... I'm not too excited about that.)
The rest of my trip will be broken down into 4 parts: city, beach, jungle, train. And so far, I have acquired 8 new passport stamps and will get 6 more and a travel visa on my way back.. YAY!
will fill you in on more excitement when it happens, but for now, I will return to my spot on the porch over-looking the jungle.