Back in Thailand!!!

Finally we are back in Thailand!! And we love it!! After our bitter encounter with Malaysia we are happy to be back to a wonderful land where everyone is happy to talk to us and show us around without feeling threatened.



We arrived at the Hat Yai, Thailand airport where there was a little dispute about how we would get to our hotel. Flying was a much better choice than taking a bus-which we initially planned to do. There were a few issues with crossing into Thailand by land: 1) crossing by land gives us a 15 days visa so we would have to pay $250 extra to stay in the country til we depart at the end of June 2) there is ongoing political unrest between Muslim Malaysia and Buddhist Thailand. So the "deep south" of Thailand is considered a no travel Zone by most western governments due to the bombings and beheading and such.

So after a long debate we ended up getting a cheap flight into Hat Yai (the north end of the "no travel zone")


Danielle and I ended up at the bus station and taking a tuk tuk with a guy from Cameroon. We checked into our very nice hotel and decided to stay 2 nights. Hotel was great- very similar to a western hotel so we felt quite comfortable. The town did not have much going on; night markets which were a 20 minute walk away and some restaurants. This is much different than many of the places we have travelled to so far. It appears there is no touristy areas - I think it has to do with the no travel Zone. A lot of places were closes or out of business so it took us about 20 minutes to find a place to eat dinner.

We spent two nights here and today we are headed to Krabi. This is located right by the beach- thank god!!! We are ready to relax and chill on the beach after moving around the last month!!

And below is a picture of a mall haha somehow we always end up at one!!

Malaysia: hmmm, no comment

I'm sorry parents but really the only way to describe this place is as being a massive clusterfuck! And we still aren't sure if its because of the drastic change from the greatness of Singapore or if it just really sucks. 

We won't dwell on it for too long so here is a quick point form summary of our time in Kuala Lumpur.

-taxi gets lost from airport trying to find our non existent crappy budget hotel

-hotel gives us tiny room with one bed and double charges us for our two night stay

-bathroom is literally in the room with glass wall separating beds from toilet

-try to get train ticket out = booked til June

-try to get bus ticket out= succeed to find out that this will not ensure us enough days on our Thai visa for the duration of time we are staying there

-book flight at midnight for 11:45 the next day to get the hell out of here = success

-it's taken the entire day to learn that from the beginning flying was the best and safest method of transportation into Thailand = complete waste of day

*positive note

- amongst the intimidating glares from both men and women, and those who made it blatantly obviously that they were talking about us by snickering, pointing and staring, we managed to get some help and information from kind English speaking locals (the yogen fruz guys, and taxi driver) who could tell we were having trouble. 

- also, some great pics of the KL tower and Petron twin towers which is pretty much the only reason we came here

- mall within the Petron twin towers was worth seeing however

Overall, an interesting experience, but we will be relieved and happy to be back in Thailand! 

Last days in the best city in the world!!!

Yesterday we woke up nice and early--around 10am to be exact. Headed out to take on the world- or Little India. Well that didn't exactly work out due to a thunderstorm so next best thing- we headed to the mall!! -- not just any mall, the best mall ever! There was a store called Shana. And well that was close enough to make me happy! And Singapore has the best nail salons ever! However u pay like $80 to get them done but amazing!!!

After a lot of window shopping we went to see Iron Man - definitely not my choice. Then the weather cleared up after and we headed to the casino in Marina Bay Sands. Danielle is very proud to say her first time gambling and she won $60 off her first spin at a slot machine called "Black Widow".

That was enough excitement for us so took the MRT - best public transportation I've ever been on- to Little India. Ok definitely not all its cracked up to be. I wanted to pick up some henna but then realized carrying black ink in a backpack that's constantly being thrown around may not be the best idea.

We did a lap of the district until we made a wrong turn and ended up in dead fish alley. Totally not the place we wanted to be at the end of a hot day.

Danielle and I decided we needed an early night and grabbed some fresh fruit for room treats.

This morning we departed our hotel for the airport to Fly to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Probably the most amazing airport in the world- had a movie theatre,gaming areas, computers, a number of hotels and spas, restaurants, a bunch of gardens with koi ponds(picture below of the sunflower garden), free foot massagers, and high end stores along with duty free and the usual. That was all we could see in the 2 hours we were there.

The 40 minute flight was shorter than the cab to the hotel which took close to 2 hours.

It started as an interesting drive with a little boy in the passenger seat. We soon stopped at the gas station where our driver pounded on the door with his elbow. The little boy got out to open the door for him. Hmmm faulty door? Just great. Had about an hour and a half drive stuck in traffic to our hotel. The driver asked numerous times what our hotel was called and where it was. I wrote it down for him. Next thing you know we have pulled over 3 times while he asks people where it is and then called twice. Took another 30 minutes to find the correct location. The driver then said he wanted more money - well Danielle wasn't having any of that and told him no as I was reaching for my wallet Haha.


then we checked into an incredibly small room with 1 tiny double bed. Danielle once again wasnt going for that and asked to switch to a twin room. This is much bigger (in comparison, of course )

We aren't huge fans of the city so we are staying a couple of night and heading back to Thailand to become beach bums!!! So excited!!!

Pictures from Singapore below and then the airport!!

Singapore day 2

Today was a nicer day. Woke up early and headed to the botanic gardens. this is pretty much the central park of Singapore. We spent quite a bit of the day here and explored the orchid garden. Pictures included below. There are a few things we have noticed about Singapore. Very friendly people, expensive prices and the city is clean and odorless. It is also clear that the transportation system is impeccable and mostly everyone speaks perfect English. We learned this quick when we would talk Asian to some people (having come from Vietnam, we hadn't adjusted yet) and they would look at us like we were idiots. 

After that, we decided to check out china town. Pretty much looks exactly the same as any other china town, but we decided to get a cheap pedicure then head back to Marina Bay Sands to scope out the place during the day. Definitely not as pretty as night. 

Took a ride on the Singapore Flyer, the largest observation wheel in the world. And boy was that a view. Pics included below also! More pictures of the helix bridge, Marina Bay Sands, the Singapore museum of science tulip and the skyline. 

Dressed up for night time and went out to Marina Bay Sands to check out the rooftop club and patio. Unfortunately most of this area is sectioned off for hotel guests including the infinity pool but we managed to creep enough to get some good pictures. Again, another great view of the beautiful city of Singapore!

Sing-a-pore, I want more!

It was a pretty easy flight to Singapore. 3 hours on tiger airways. Very small seats though. I had a little Vietnamese girl hovering over my shoulder and touching my arm who thought what I was doing was more interesting than giving me some personal space! Shauna had window seat, naturally... and she managed to sleep the entire way. We expected to get off the plane and have a relaxed night, explore the city and chill out. Wasn't the case.... Exactly. We had managed to take the MRT from the airport to our hostel easily enough, but when we got to our hostel, the asshole manager who took our reservation in the first place, gave away our room. After about an hour and a half doing some research in a close by subway restaurant, we booked a hotel, which was cheaper then the stupid hostel anyway. Little did we know we were smack dab in the red light district. And I mean smack dab! Hookers, pimps, street food vendors and locals were what we could see from the view of our hotel window. However, after a night of anxiety, shauna did some scoping out of the scene (yes, lurkingout the   window) and assured me that they seemed harmless and relatively friendly. Regardless of the situation, Singapore is beautiful and extremely clean! 

Next day, weather was crappy and rainy so we went shopping and to see a movie. Fast and furious 6. Not sure if we actually really enjoyed it or if we were just happy to watch a TV again. After this, we went to scope out Marina Bay Sands and  the Singapore Flyer. Went to the top and took some pictures also. Great pictures below. Check them out! 

Last days in Hanoi!!!

We are back in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. This is our last day with our tour group. We headed straight to the Ho Chi Minh moseleum. Danielle then realized Ho Chi Minh was a person. So apparently his dead body is floating in formaldehyde, however our Vietnamese tour guide thinks its a rubber body. Afterwards we headed to the museum of literature. This was the first college in Vietnam -- we think. It was all in old Chinese writing that they no longer use today because the north of Vietnam is heavily influenced by the Chinese-- hence the whole communist thing.

Around 8 Danielle and I joined our group and went to a traditional Vietnamese restaurant called Little Hanoi. Shared some amazing fresh spring rolls!!

Danielle and I met the group at a bar called "hair of the dog". We looked around and clearly the Vietnamese people thought we were totally out of place so they escorted us upstairs which was full of westerns!!! Haha. We had some buckets and said goodbye to our group!!

Around midnight the communist police came in and shut the whole bar down and kicked us out. So naturally everyone wanted to continue partying. A little Vietnamese guy walked us down the street to an underground club. Which meant very expensive drinks!!! Had a great last night with the group!! Miss them all already!!!


And since we don't really have any pictures from them I stole a bunch from emilie--- thanks girl!!!! Most of these are from Halong bay of us jumping!!! And the smallest ikea ever!!

Halong Bay makes me wanna stay!!!

Had a lazy night in Hanoi once we arrived. We had to get ready for our boat cruise to Halong Bay the next day. Totally didn't realize that was going to be another 4 hour drive to get there. But it was good got to sleep the entire way and watch "good morning Vietnam" Movies are so much better when u have a clue about what's going on.

We arrived at the docks and had to take a little tinny boat to get to our giant junk boat aka deluxe cruise. It was actually pretty nice. It all started with an interesting lunch. Literally all seafood - not something I normally eat so it was definitely good. We had prawns, clams, crabs, calamari, seaweed and spring rolls. Danielle and I had quite the experience trying to eat these especially since neither of us have eaten prawns with heads before haha. So our new Aussie friends taught us how to rip it off.

After lunch we went to the Halong Bay cave. This has recently become one new 7 wonders of nature. It was amazing. Had to climb up a bunch of stairs to get in the cave. It was about 42 degrees out so stairs in that heat wasnt ideal. But once we got into the cave ---- it was air conditioned!!! Haha not quite but a lot cooler. Pictures below of the cave and the view from the entrance to it.

We then went to the beach and watched people make human pyramids and then played beach volleyball. Probably the hardest volleyball ever made -- danielle and i ended up with bruised arms wrists and fingers. Danielle wants me to add that her team won. However i disagree. Everyone then decided to jump off the boat into the ocean. We had such a great time watching people do flips Into the water. Pictures of that soon to come once I can steal them from others on the tour.

Then dinner and guess what!!!! We had more seafood!! Crabs and prawns again. But we aren't complaining. However the beef was a little questionable. Apparently in the north of Vietnam many people eat dog. I hear it has a very chewy texture. Hmmmm pretty sure that's what we were eating.

Soooooo Tara our guide said that we are having a pirate themed party --- After the dog meat and junk boat, A pirate party seems about right. So we all put one our best pirate gear and compared. Ended up in a lot of rub on tattoos and shotgunning beers- Canadians vs Aussies. Obviously the Canadians won. Definitely a great night partying on the boat with the group!!

Danielle and I went back to our room and oddly enough our entire room was soaked!!!! Danielle is convinced I showered over the bed and that's why it was wet. Hahaha but realistically I think there was a leak right over the bed.

Woke up the next day and went kayaking in a thunder storm. Raining so much it was crazy. We tried to feed bananas to the monkeys in the caves but they were taking shelter from the rain Unfortunately we didn't see any but Danielle and girl on our tour, Jill were see-sawing on the kayaks and played piano keys. Two of the Aussie boys - some nicknamed them dumb and dumber - sinked their kayak and then lost a paddle somewhere in the open water. Haha it was so funny watching them trying to flip it over because in the end they just ended up sinking it more. Hahaha

Headed back to Hanoi and got ready for our last night with the group!!!

And funny picture below. A kid was rowing the boat with his feet. Quite impressed!! And our attempt to be Canadian pirates haha