Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia!

Hello from Malaysia!

I really like KL. The city is a mix of old and new, traditional and modern, and is considered a fast-changing super-city. KL is divided into several districts including a China Town and Little India. We are staying in an area called Chow Kit which isn't the nicest, but it's close to the metro so it's great for that! Also, it is SO HOT here. Since we are much closer to the equator now, I can definitely feel the sun beating down on me each day, and I am def wearing sunscreen. It's not rainy season here, so we have been dry for a few days! It actually didn't rain too much in Thailand and Cambodia considering it's monsoon season, I guess.

This is where our hostel is located. The manager said he rarely encounters Americans here, and right now we are def the only ones staying here.

The People:

Malaysia is home to 50% Malays, 38% Chinese, and 10% Indian. It's quite spectacular to see the Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians all living together in harmony. I feel like I could people watch (from a location with A/C of course) all day here. Islam in Malaysia today is relatively liberal. Many women wear headscarves, but there are only some in veils and some in the full garmet where you can only see their eyes. Since it's pretty progressive here, they also have all sorts of interesting clothing combinations. I saw one girl around my age with a bedazzled/sparkly headscarf, Gucci sunglasses, and a nice bag! I don't blame her for dressing up like that. Once you are in the shopping district of KL, it's over. There are hundreds of designers from Europe and Japan, and I just want to buy everything here. (I'm not, though!)

Even though it's more progressive, everyone still dresses very conservatively compared to what we are used to, so we are not wearing any of our little dresses here. Instead, I always make sure my knees are covered, and my shoulders too when I can withstand the heat! Everyone already stares at us a lot here, so we don't need anymore unwanted attention. At least most people smile and say hello! We definitely feel very out of place, though. We haven't seen a ton of tourists yet, but maybe that's because we take public transportation everywhere and are staying in a semi-random area? The Ritz-Carlton is several metro stops away. ;)

The Food:

To be honest, we haven't had too much of the local cuisine yet. It's hard when there seems to be just as many Western food options everywhere! They really like McDonalds and Pizza Hut here. There is also Coffee Bean, Starbucks, and a local chain. I could go on and on about all the similar foods they have. Yesterday for lunch we ate at Pastamania which was packed with locals, btw. They were playing American music like Kanye West too which I found amusing. There is also Michael Jackson music played everywhere here.

Last night, we ate at a local vegetarian Indian restaurant, and it was so good (and much more authentic finally!) We had naan with a masala and 1 other dish I cannot name. Our entire meal was $5 each, including drink, so it wasn't too bad. It's obviously cheaper to eat at the street stalls (like we did in Thailand) but I cannot figure out what anything is here?! There is a mix of traditional Malaysian cuisine, Chinese, and Indian. I'm just doing my best to avoid things with meat. Tonight we are going to explore China Town!

Also, they love to put chili sauce on everything here, and I love it! It's not as spicy as Siracha and it's a bit sweeter, so it goes really well with sandwiches, french fries, noodles, etc.

The Sights:

We took a Hop on Hop off tourist bus yesterday (and used our expired student IDs for a 50% discount) to see all of KL. It's just like it sounds, and you can get on and off the bus at any of the various 23 stops along the way. The entire circuit takes about 2 1/2 hours if you stay on it. We got off at several stops to explore!

The Petronas Twin Towers are a sight to see! They are SO HUGE! I don't remember the exact dimensions, but they are well over 1,000 ft high and the tallest twin towers in existence. (Dubai has them on the tallest building.) The architecture is really beautiful too. They stand out by day and by night. Tomorrow we plan to take the elevators to the bridge that connects them to see the view.

In between the towers is the magnificent KL City Center which boasts over 50 acres of shopping and restaurants! I will be heading back there tomorrow to "browse" Topshop and other trendy stores. :) We actually found an even bigger mall (and better than South Coast Plaza) on the way. I know there are over 2 million people in KL, but do they really purchase all this stuff? Maybe it's big for tourists too, like me! I wish San Diego had some of these qualities! Haha.

We were going to go atop the 5th tallest communication tower in the world, "KL Tower, so we could see a great view of KL, but it was $10/person, and that didn't fit in with our daily backpacker's budget, so we just browsed the area and moved on.

Today we explored the "Batu Caves." I'm proud of us because we took the local city bus to get there and back which saves a TON of money on taxis. We haven't had to take any of those here yet which is a nice break from all their scams.

At the caves, you have to climb 272 stairs to get to them, and adjacent to the stairs is a very large Hindu figure of some sort. Inside there are several Hindu temples where you can worship. We took pictures and got a bit distracted by the monkies. They were everywhere inside the caves! No bats here. Just monkeys who want to steal your food. I kept my distance after one of them jumped on me in Thailand last year!

Tomorrow is our last day in KL and then we are off to Hanoi, our final stop together. Sad. I hear Vietnam is spectacular so you will be hearing from me again soon! Miss you all!

Pictures from Cambodia!

**Angkor What? bar in Siem Reap, Cambodia attracts many tourists, like us! This is Jason. He is also staying at the Rosy Guesthouse and has been backpacking solo since he was laid off from his law firm in May. Talk about a good way to use a severance package!

**We went to a bar called Dead Fish and they wanted to inform us they don't serve dog, etc. Good to know we're not in Vietnam yet!

**Meat on display at a local Cambodian market. Makes me glad to be a vegetarian!
**Nicole and me as chefs in our traditional Cambodian/Khmer cooking class!

**My final product! I made fresh spring rolls, Amok, and a banana tapioca dessert. Yum!

That's all for now from Cambodia. More to come from Malaysia!

Love,

Asia

P.S. I told a Cambodian woman that my name was Asia...She giggled and then she said "same, same!" hahaha

Angkor What?!

Yesterday we spent 7 hours at the Angkor temples and they were amazing!! Some call them the "8th wonder of the world" bc they were apparently runners up to be considered in the top 7. I doubt my descriptions and the images will even do the temples much justice, but use your imagination to picture a scene out of Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider. They actually filmed Tomb Raider at two of the sites!

Our tuk-tuk driver picked us up from our hostel at 4:30am and we took a dark and breezy ride to the temples. Once we purchased our tickets, he dropped us off outside the most famous temple, "Angkor Wat" to see the infamous sunrise. We followed other tourists along the pitch black path and waited by the pond until the sun started to come up around 5:20. The reflection makes it look absolutely stunning! After watching the sunrise, we explored inside the temple which was also very enjoyable and even peaceful.

After our romantic sunrise (haha), we went to find our tuk-tuk driver...It took us about 20 minutes to get to him because we were swarmed with little kids trying to sell us stuff again! They are really persistant here. Remember, this is their job. It's sad to think they make a living scamming and selling to tourists every day. We read that 40% of the Cambodian population is under 15 years of age. I'll get to that later. So, the kids were surrounding us asking us to buy postcards, books, or bracelts. I actually wanted a couple postcards, but once you show interest in something, it is nearly impossible to walk away. I ended up buying 20 postcards for $5! Oops! I didn't feel too bad bc I wanted to give the kids some money, but by the end of the temples tour, I saw they were only $1. I am a sucker for the poor little kids, but I think a lot of us are. In the grand scheme of things, what is $5 to me anyway? After we each bought something (Nicole got a guide book), we still could not find our driver. There were so many! Finally he spotted us, and when we went to get in our tuk-tuk, there was a monkey inside! So cute. He got out and we were on our way to explore several other temples. Hopefully the pictures I upload will be able to show you just how magnificent they all are! They are just so impressive. Huge ancient ruins which are really fun for climbing and exploring. I felt like I was a kid again!

Picture Summary:

- Angkor Wat at sunrise. We had to get up at 4am in order to make it in time! Def worth it

- Me in my "I heart Cambodia" t-shirt posing outside the 2nd temple, one of my personal faves, where they filmed some of the movie Tomb Raider.

- Me on the super steep temple stairs! They were hard to climb down and there were 3 flights!
- Nicole & me at a temple that is engulfed by crazy trees! They are growing all around them. This is another Tomb Raider temple.

I will blog more later...I have been Skyping with Jeremy all morning which has taken priority today! :) :) :)

Muay Thai Boxing & Our Travels to Cambodia

We made it to Cambodia!! Before I go into all that, let me first tell you about the most amazing experience I have ever had in Thailand: Watching Muay Thai Boxing! This was such a cultural experience. Nicole and I got dropped off at the stadium to be greeted by hundreds of Thai men. No women. Few tourists. Just Thai men. Yes! We finally found our way off the beaten path! We made our way to the ticket venue, and it was expensive: 1000, 1500, or 2000 baht. We got the cheapest ticket (approx $30 which is a lot for Thailand), and I'm glad we did because we were IN IT! Not soon after we sat down were we surrounded by shouting Thai men who were standing, placing bets, and making sound effects as everything happened during the match. It was so exciting!!

I uploaded a 30 sec clip of the Thai boxing match we were at. Hopefully this will do it some justice! It was seriously so fun being with all the locals like that, even though they were shamlessly staring. Not only were we tourists, but we were women, in dresses, at a Muay Thai Boxing Match! Haha.

Cambodia is crazy! Our trip via taxi, bus, tuk-tuk, bus, taxi, tuk-tuk to get from Bangkok to Siem Reap was not only stressful and a major hassle, it was long (about 9 hours), but I am so glad we made it here. The culture, the people, the poverty, the scams, all of it is just incredible. It's unlike anything I have ever seen before. We are staying at a Western run hostel/guest house which will be a nice way to balance it all out. It is run by Brits, we have a bar in our hostel, there are tons of friendly backpackers to converse with, and our beds are SOFT! $10/night will get you a lot in Cambodia. Everyone here takes US dollars which I find amazing. I'm already back to using my own currency! They also take their currency, the Riel. Another thing I find interesting is their love for cable tv! They all have hundreds of cable channels, it doesn't matter where you go or where you stay. This morning I had on different reality tv series and I just missed Gossip Girl! Haha. The mix of Western culture here is interesting.

Last night Nicole and I walked to the "bar street" with a couple people we met at our hostel. Hearing all their backpacking stories was so enlightening, and I think it made Nicole feel better about having to travel on her own for a bit after I leave. Not only have we been scammed, so have they, and so has everyone else who isn't a local. It's impossible to avoid it, so you just have to accept it, smile and move on. I could write an entire blog about scams, but maybe I'll leave that for another day. (It took us about an hour to cross the border into Cambodia bc everyone was trying to scam us and wouldn't leave us alone!)

At the bar street, we had the best dinner (see photo at top.) It was a great Cambodian first meal! I had the Amok, their most traditional dish which is supposed to be served w/ seafood but I requested tofu instead! Can you believe it? You won't find that on the street stands, but in a toursity restaurant, vegetarian options are everywhere. $3 for this amazing dish. Next, we walked to a bar to have some local beer. This is when the poverty really hit me. A group of 5-10 children came up to us and started begging. A little boy, no more than 4 years old, grabbed on to me, and held my hand walking with me the entire way. He wouldn't let go, and he was trying to take off my ring!! (Jeremy bought me a plastic ring to wear before I left bc it is not a good idea to wear real jewelry here.) It was so so so sad. Nothing I could read in my travel books could prepare me for this. Maybe picture India on a minature scale? Lots of poverty and beggers. We didn't give them anything bc they don't get to keep it (corruption!!) and when we got to the bar, my boy suddenly got happy and smiled and waved and said "bye bye!" Actors. Wow. They learn to scam at such a young age here, it's unbelievable.

Today, I think we will get a massage and visit the swimming pool to cool off. It is so hot here! Tonight we are going to watch the sunset at Angkor Wat and then go again tomorrow. I can't wait! It's supposed to be incredible. Don't worry, I will be sure to post pictures and I am sure I will have more crazy stories to share with you! :)

Days 2 and 3 in Bangkok!

**Me "cooking" my vegetarian pad thai with a street vendor! 25 baht!**
**Looking down on the Floating Market!**

**Me attempting to eat the super spicy Thai dish on day 1! Can you tell I'm sweating?**

Bangkok is still proving to be super fun. Yesterday, we got a 30 min Thai foot/leg massage for under $4 and it was amazing! Then, today Nicole & I caved and got Starbucks for $4 each...Oops! That just goes to show you how drastically the pricing varies when you try to purchase something American. This Starbucks was a little off a street called "Street of Art & Culture." Hmmm ok. I did try to be as cultural as possible (considering I was at a Starbucks) by ordering the Thai frap with jelly. Yes jelly. They put it in the bottom of the cup and it comes up as you drink it. Not my favorite, but I'm glad I tried it! Nicole thought my drink was absolutely disgusting.

Before our afternoon highlight of the day which was Starbucks (haha), we went to the floating market!! We took a 1 1/2 hour tour bus with 8 others to the market outside of Bangkok. The ride was a great way to meet other travelers, and we have since befriended Anna from Scotland and Mo from Germany. We are all going out together tonight for drinks on Kho Sahn Road (backpacking area.) Yay! What a great way to spend our final night in Bangkok.

The floating market was quite an interesting site. We took a speed boat to the pier which was really fun and reminded Nicole of the Jungle Cruise at Disney Land! Lol. Then, we took a paddle boat in the middle of all the vendors who were trying to sell us everything from fresh fruit, to pad thai, to fans and hats. We all enjoyed fresh fruit and coconut ice cream. :) I also bought a pashmina bc I forgot to bring something to keep me warm in the super A/C areas. (It seriously goes from one extreme to another.) On our speed boat ride to get to the floating market, we saw a lot of shacks where people live on the river. Women were outside washing their clothes in the river. I wonder how all this tourism has affected them. Do they profit from us, or are they just annoyed and upset that we have completely changed their homes?

Some random/funny things to mention...
- I have heard "Bleeding Love" 2x so far. I love that song! It reminds me of my hubby. :) They love to play American music here, and I must admit, it is comforting.
- Last night, we had an amazing authentic Thai dinner. My vegetarian fried tofu + green onion dish on rice was only 25 baht! That is less than $1!! Definitely the best deal of the trip so far.
- I ordered Pad Thai from a vegetarian street vendor and she let me cook it a little bit with her!
I feel like a lot of this trip is revolving around food, but honestly, it is noteworthy. So tasty and cheap!
- Coconut pancakes are amazing. They are teeny tiny treats that look like mini fried eggs.
- Nicole and I have napped for 2 hours every day before we go out. Still jet lagged I suppose?

Tomorrow Nicole and I are taking a bus to Cambodia! Now is when the trip gets even more exciting because the next 3 countries are compeltely new to me! We have a lot to figure out on our way, but I'm pretty sure the trip will take about 7 hours? Eek! Wish us luck! The next time I sign on will be from Siem Reap, Cambodia!

Bangkok Day 1!

Hello everyone!!

Nicole and I made it safely into Bangkok and have had a great time so far! There is so much to blog about that I don't even know where to start. I guess I should begin with customs. Before we got into the line to go through customs, there was a new line I had never noticed before. (Remember 1 year ago I was in Thailand on a family vacation.) There was a camera scanning us and men watching us behind a rope. I assumed it was a terrorist check, but after speaking to a local Thai, he said they were actually checking our body temperatures to make sure we didn't have fevers! Apparently if we did, we would have been escorted to a Thai hospital for a mandatory 3 day watch. Ahhh just one of the effects of the swine flu scare. Needless to say, Nicole and I were healthy and didn't have to deal with that chaos. We got into a public taxi and arrived at our hostel just before midight. Our hostel is definitely not bad for $10 per night. We have A/C, a private bedroom and private bathroom. Our beds, however, are literally hard as rocks and I could not sleep our first night. I was way too uncomfortable! The next morning, we enjoyed a complimentary breakfast before hitting the busy streets of Bangkok.

Our plan was simply to wander and take in the culture. We couldn't walk more than a few feet with our maps out, however, without being approached by the locals who wanted to help us (or scam us.) Two women explained that it was a Buddhist holiday (or a govt holiday, I'm not sure) and that all tuk-tuks received free gas that day, so we could visit all the local Wats (temples) for 10 baht each! $1 US = approximately 33 baht. If you do the conversion, you will notice that we got off really good! (In the end, we decided to tip him bc we felt bad and still ended up paying only 60 cents each for a 3 hour personal taxi!)

We saw a variety of temples in Bagkok, including Standing Buddha, Lucky Buddha, and the Golden Temple. Standing Buddha was huge! Inside one of the meditation rooms here, we saw a monk meditating with chanting music in the background. When I first entered the room, I thought he was a statue. So crazy. There are several people that work inside these temples and some are friendly than others. At the Lucky Buddha, the man that gave us the history on that particular Buddha also informed us that his brother opened a Thai restaurant in West Hollywood Los Angeles. Haha. Everyone loves the fact that we are from California, and a lot of them seem to have friends or friends of friends who have settled down there. One guy asked if we were from Oakland. How random! Aside from the 3 temples, we also did the obligatory jewlery shop and tailor shop where they try to get you to order custom suits and clothing. We politely declined and were on our way.

After our crazy tuk-tuk/rollercoaster ride (they are insane drivers) we took a taxi boat down the river to the shopping/downtown district of Bangkok. We were starving by this point, and honestly had the best intention of eating street food...but by the time we got off the boat, and then off the Metro (we went through several modes of public transportation for about $3 yesterday) we were too hungry to search for something and went to the first cafe we saw.
"Bug and Bee" boasted a vegan selection so I couldn't say no! Nicole and I each ordered noodle dishes and were so happy to rest our feet in a nice, hip, cafe with A/C. When we started eating our food, however, we both nearly cried...It was WAY too spicy!! I completely forgot that my tolerance for spicy Thai food in the US is WAY different that my tolerance of spicy food in Thailand. I ordered a vegan item off the menu that had 2 chili peppers next to it, obviously indicating it was spicy. My eyes were watering, my nose was running, and my lips were bright red after a few bites! I couldn't eat more than half of it. Sad that I couldn't finish my delicious dish, but quite a funny experience.

Next, we walked to the city park. Once we saw the park, it took is over 15 minutes to figure out how to cross the crazy Bangkok streets and get inside without getting run over! Once we made it, it was definitely worth it. This was the first place where we could just be. There were no tuk-tuks, no motorcyles or cars, no street vendors. It was just us, the lake, several park benches, and old Thai men running laps or using the outdoor fitness equipment. We were enjoying our late afternoon stroll when we got our first taste of monsoon season and it started pouring rain on us!! We busted out our expensive and newly purchased rain jackets, but that only kept half of me dry. The other half, including my feet and Rainbows, was soaked! All the Thais were running to shelter to wait it out. Apparently we didn't get that memo and thought we could walk it off. I do not recommend this if you want to stay semi dry. Oh well.

Once the rain passed (only 20 minutes) we browsed the shops and got sucked into a frozen yogurt shop. Yes, even Bangkok has self serve fro-yo, and they call it that too! Mine was about $1. So, it may not sound like we are "roughing it" just yet, but come on. Who knows what the future holds? Cambodia definitely will not have these kinds of luxuries, and Malaysia is supposed to be pretty expensive.

By this time, we have been out from 9-5 and are exhausted, so we make the same crazy public transportation trek back to our hostel and crash for a 2 hour nap. We forced ourselves out of bed and went out to the "backpackers district" around 8pm for dinner and drinks. While it was only a 10 minute walk from our hostel, this street was incredibly different and full of tourists. The street is busy with street vendors, a night market, bars/clubs, live music, American music (think Flo Rider), massage parlors, etc. If you want it, you can find it here. We had a great curry dinner and then sat at a bar to take in the scene. Unfortunately, none of the tourists were very social with us, so we didn't get any traveling tips. This area is really fun, though, and we actually went there earlier today for shopping and lunch. (I had falafel! yum!) However, it is SO LOUD that I would never be able to rest, so I'm glad we are a few blocks removed.

Sorry if this post was a bit too long, but I wanted to get it out there as I remembered it. Our first day in Bangkok was amazing, and our second day is proving to be just as great so far. Tomorrow, we plan to do a half day trip to the floating market and then see a live Muay Thai boxing match!!

Since Internet is less than $1 per hour in Bangkok, I'm sure you'll see me on here again soon.

Love,
Asia

Leaving Tomorrow!

I can't believe I leave tomorrow! I'm very excited, a little nervous, and sad to leave Jeremy behind for an entire month. I don't know what to expect, but I hope it is absolutely wonderful! Here is a funny pic of my backpack and me. I need to figure out how to best distribute the weight before I take off tomorrow!

Love you all, and I'll be in touch from SEAsia!!