The rest of Bali, Singapore and KL

Hello from Malaysia!

Sorry I haven't updated...but to be honest the rest of Bali, nothing interesting happened. I really just layed on the beach and ate mass amounts of ice cream. It was wonderful!

We arrived in Singapore on the 6th (after being heat scanned for swine flu). Singapore was a BEAUTIFUL city. Everyone lives in these giant high rise buildings full of apartments. The city has 4 million people, but doesn't feel like it because it is so compact, and the transportation systems are used by everyone. There are tons of parks and gardens all over the city. The people really take pride in their home! That beaing said, there are some STRANGE rules! You cannot eat or drink on public transport ($500 fine), You can't smoke ($1000 fine), you can't chew gum (I am not kidding...they dont sell it anywhere and if you are caught chewing...$500), and if you leave a toilet unflushed there goes another $500. The city also has cameras EVERYWHERE. You are always under surveilance...so you can never jaywalk, chew gum...etc. It is a bit "big brother"-esque, but overall I think it actually made the city more pleasant (in a friendly/oppressive underlying way?).

We stayed wilth Glenn, a guy we met through Couch Surfing (http://www.couchsurfing.com/), a website where people offer to host travelers and give them a place to stay / show them around. Glenn was an awesome host! He even gave up his bedroom for us! He has lived in Singapore his whole life. He picked us up from the airport, showed us around the city, even payed for all of our food and bus/subway passes, and wouldn't let us pay him back. He really took care of us, and made our trip a million times easier and better. He was such an interesting guy...used to be a body builder, has travelled all over the world, and is moving to Shanghai in a month. It was great to see the city with a local, and we took him out for drinks and got him a present to thank him for his hospitality!

When in Singapore, we saw everything we wanted to...we really packed it in since we only had about 3 days total. We went to the night safari (which is a zoo open only at night and contains one of the only patches of living rainforest left on the island). We went to several parks, several museums (which are all free after 6 pm), saw forts and the battle box, saw the financial district and the Quays (which were beautiful bridges over the river lit up at night). We saw the singapore flyer (the largest ferris wheel in the world, very similar the the London eye). We took the monorail over to Sentosa island, where we rode the luge (you take a chairlift up the the top of a hill then ride a go cart/bobsled down the hill). We went to the Changi prison and China town, and basically rode the buses and subway over every inch of the city.

I don't usually like big cities but I loved Singapore. It was very multi-cultural...people were friendly...it was clean...easy to navigate. Overall a great experience.

Today we arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia after our flight being delayed (partially because of Matt...they found a shell casing he had brought back from Vietnam and questioned him severely in the Singapore airport, and partially because a couple on their honeymoon were found with fuzzy handcuffs in their carry on...no joke...the couple actually got detained longer and missed the flight). KL is gross and big and dirty...most of the hostels look roach and bed bug ridden (ours looks the least bug-infested...yay?) Can't say I love the place so far...but I am trying to get out to the rainforest that you can hike through for a day trip. Tonight we are just relaxing (Scott is pretty sick with either a flu or Dengue fever...hope its not the latter, and Matt just found out that they had to put down his dog)...so everyone isn't exactly chipper...but we're making the most of it. Matt and I just had some indian food out of a suspiciously dirty bin...we will see how that goes in a couple hours.

I will be flying back to Thailand in 4 days...have 2 days there to pick up my stuff, and get some last minute gifts (I am trying to smuggle home a "7 year old egg", and some cobra wine...we will see how that turns out), then, I fly home on the 15th! Hopefully I will update one last time before I head home, but if not...I will update when I get home safely (hopefully not quarantined with this swine flu thing), and will put up the remainder of my photos (be prepared for hundreds!) I am looking forward to going home but will miss Asia and traveling and most of all Scott and Matt!!

See you soon! And if anyone wants anything cool from Asia...speak now! xoxo
-Tami