Summer Adventures: Highlighter and Holiday Maker in Singapore

So, where were we? Ah yes, Raffles Hotel. For those of you who don’t know (I was not in the know until we went to visit the pretentious hotel). It was incredibly snazzy, oozing with old school glamour, and smelt like plumerias- EVERWHERE. And of course, it was the birthplace of the infamous Singapore Sling. Needless to say, they had the absolute best public bathroom EVERR.

I am going to attribute this next anecdote to the fact that Emma is a pureblood BRIT. But it honestly felt like she lived in Singapore her entire life. She took a .2 second look at the map and just knew what train line to take, what direction, how many transfers, the train timetable, and the current wind direction. I just blindly followed her everywhere like a useless leech until she decided it was time for some “Tube” mentoring. She would say “Ok, we need to get to Little India. Get us there” and then watch as I would talk out loud, shooting nervous and doubting glances at her. I only lead us astray a few times…

After my mentoring session, we headed back to the hostel to prepare for Emma’s college friend’s birthday/”H” themed party. Confused? PLUS, we were backpacking for the past four weeks. We (strangely) were not prepared for any sort of theme party. We made it work and had an awesome time

Emma and her college friend, Kris

 When we went dress shopping for this trip, I found this neon pink dress. Emma habitually talked me into it. I called it my “high lighter” dress. And BOOM! “H” themed costume. Emma got her best “holiday” stuff together and a “Holiday Maker” was born.

Everyone was incredibly nice and friendly. I usually revert to being a recluse in social situations, especially when I don’t know anyone. But within no time, I was doing my fake British accents, laughing and joking with the Brits and avoiding a toss in the pool.

Holiday Maker, Highlighter, Hannibal, Helen, a Hipster... and Abu?!?

The next day, we had one thing on our minds: The Singapore Zoo. We both love animals, and it made the “We absolutely MUST DO THIS” list. 

I actually had it (the Singapore Zoo experience/breakdown) as one horrendously long blogpost but decided to separate it into two. For next time minions. It's a story not to be missed...

Summer Adventures: Singapore- The start of RAIINNNN

So we were on our way to Singapore. As usual, random bus dropped us off in the middle of nowhere. We managed to exchange money somewhere and wandered around for the MRT station. And wandered and wandered and wandered.

It felt like we wandereddd foreverrr with 283,713 pound packs so it was only natural that it started to rain.

Four weeks and it rains in our last country

That was only the start. We didn't get the room we were "guaranteed" when the hostel owner called to reserve it at his "close friend's" hostel. We had to spend twice the amount we budgeted on a hotel. And then I starved and regressed to a pissy, walking lump. Being mildly damp from the rain, sore from the pack, and starving made for grumpy company.

Singapore has THE cleanest metro stations. Ever. Cleaner than Japan

Things turned up from then. I found my long lost Frito Lay BBQ Chips (if you know me at all, you know that I protect and love these chips much like "a fierce Mama Praying Mantus").  We plotted our days in Singapore out to the minute, which brings us to the next set of photos and videos.

We started the next day with the Singapore Flyer, which I will state for the first time is the world's TALLEST Ferris wheel (541 feet people).

{don't mind our colorful commentary}

My favorite Emma quotes... 
"It's just like a giant fairground wheel". EXACTLY WHY IT'S TERRIFYING
"Tango brought her whole family along. They're speaking as loudly as possible the whole time"
And again, my knowledgeable tourist comments "Some impressive building over there..." 

Me and my "family" that I "HAD to bring along"

Singapore skyline

Top of the flyer

 Meanwhile, we were counting down the days till our stay at the RITZZZ. Emma practiced peering into fancy rooms while we fantasized about the classiness and royalty-ness of the Carlton. 

We walked over in search of the Merlion, the symbol of Singapore. And on the way, we found the World's WORST Tourist. She operated four cell phones at once... and screamed into all of them. All the while, pushing people taking pictures and being an overall annoyance.

Merlion 1, Merlion 2, and the Singapore Flyer in the backdrop

We grabbed a glass of wine to cool down, headed over to the "Largest Fountain in the World". I purposely put quotes around that one. While it was certified by the Guinness Book of World Records in 1998 and there are some impressive things in Wikipedia, we stumbled onto this...

 There was something posted about walking three times around the fountain with your right hand in the water to get three wishes. OBVIOUSLY we did it. Well, I did. Emma did two circles.

My wishes coming trueeeee

Literally my face when Emma didn't finish her three circles. BUT your wishes!

After that, we sweated through more Singapore streets and found the legendary Raffles Hotel. But more on that later.

Thanks for reading minions!! Until next time!

Summer Adventures: Video Fever in Melaka

First go at dinner: too spicy. Second try: even spicier. Melaka is SPICY

After the video of the Langkawi cable car, I decided that videos were the way to go. Every chance I got, my answer was always "turn on the video!!!" And Melaka seemed to be the pinnacle of video-worthy moments.

The oldest functioning Protestant church in Malaysia

Us with the owner of the Chinese restaurant who ushered us into her store for the most authentic and surprisingly tasty lunch on Jonker Street

The chef took the picture... he realllly wanted that restaurant sign in there

Took a ride in a infamous trickshaw

They blasted Spice Girls for us and everything. Not sure if it was because of Emma's British accent or because we were just that lucky, but our 15 minute trickshaw ride was nothing short of amazing

At the hostel, it was recommended to us to catch a sunset from St. Paul's church. Besides, there is also an important fortress there anddddd where we had the privilege to meet the most offensive man in Malaysia.

I stood there like an idiot, while Emma documented the scene.

I actually made a list of things he called us:  

• Ruler- Head (me)
• Apple Nose (Emma)
• Racoon Face (me again)
• Razor Nose (Emma)

 The two things I wanted to do really badly while in Melaka was Jonker Street and take a Melaka River Night Cruise. Check andddd CHECK! [ps. I posted a lot more pictures on Facebook... which you can check out HERE]. So we sat at the top of a hill (watching a Bridal photoshoot go down in a St. John's Church- which was a little creepy. There were gravestones and everything- NOT my idea of bridal romance), were insulted by a harmonica player, and watched the day turn into night WITHOUT a sunset. Somehow the humidity just sucked out any chance of a sunset, we got to go on a River Cruise

On our last day in Melaka, we ran into our good friend, the Harmonica player AGAIN. He tried to play us some songs from our "home country" but decided on a cigarette break instead (thank GOD). We decided to give a Malaysian Sunset a second chance and took a ride on the Taming Sari Tower.It was another fail, but proved to be good ground to do another video :)

And now for the good stuff... Let's set the scene.

It was our last night in Melaka, which meant one thing: Re-packing the dreaded backpack. We both hated it, we both procrastinated like there was no tomorrow. So during the re-packing marathon, Emma came across her poncho. A poncho that was taking up precious space. Once Emma decided to toss the poncho, she became oddly attached to it. Think of the possibilities!! And what a fashion accessory too! Hence... this video came into greatness

 Annnddd then came my turn. Much like a child, I fought the poncho. I adamantly refused a video. Andd that's how THIS greatness came about.

These videos became the source of much laughter, usually during a 10 hour bus ride. When silence fell, one of us would start snort laughing, causing ripples of laughter to circle again. This is probably the pinnacle of videos, but that is my own biased opinion.

It is now my goal to finish blogging about "Summer Adventures" before the month of December! Ridiculous, eh?

Summer Adventures: Penang, Malaysia

Seriously, we got directions here from a street vendor who made my necklace. He gave us everything from landmarks to bus ticket prices to ferry times... and it was all correct. Forget you, expensive (yet somehow outdated) travel book! It was incredible.

Downtown Chinatown (hey, that rhymes!)

So after a long journey full of rude, pushy people and third world smells, we finally arrived to Penang. We ventured down to Chinatown- the backpackers' area and found residence at a family run hostel. It was awesome there, except for the fact that the power was out our last 24 hours there. Definitely got good use out of my 100 yen flashlight.

First dinner: cold {gross} Malay food from a hawker stand

Second dinner! Pizza Hut!! Muchhh better

We spent the next day hiking to the biggest Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia.

Caught the local bus with school kids and the monks

"Liberation Pond" Pretty sure this is the exact opposite of liberation

Adorable stone benches

Emma placed a prayer ribbon for health and safety of her family

 Another installment of the video series!! Our second lift on the trip, this one was much more to my liking ;)

We had many misunderstandings of American English to British English translations (Me asking Emma if she saw that girl "eat it, like five times" and Emma responding "No, what was she eating? But I saw her fall a bunch of times"), my favorite was when Emma turned to me and said "Oh, that guy is cute!" Me being the ninja photographer that I am, smiled and very sneakily took a picture of Emma and her "cute guy"

Turned out... what she ACTUALLY said was "Oh, there's a guy in the queue". Right.

Stopped to refuel at a Hawker Stand. Actually legit and AMAZZZINGGG food. Top #3 favorite meal of the trip

Hawker food with freshly squeezed sugar cane juice

Ended the day at a ghetto salon.

Newly purple tinted hair

Leaving Penang! Onto Melaka!!

Summer Adventures: Cable Car death adventures

 

Well there has been about a month of radio silence. 

I took a some time off for life. For laundry, for doing piles of dishes, for taking day time naps, for reading fluffy chick lit novels. 

(our first dinner in Langkawi)

I even wrote this teenage angst-y post about my fears and insecurities, and not being funny enough for the six readers out there. And then I deleted it. Because as boring as I can get, no one wants to read that amiright?

SO LANGKAWI!

It was a beautiful island, very reminiscent of the island of Hawaii (The Big Island). Huge, very green, very cultural, and very green. Although Langkawi has a couple things that Hawaii does not.  

1.   A very pugnant sewer system. A very well-ventilated sewer system. Meaning… about every two feet on every sidewalk, there was a sewer vent. And 24 hours a day, hot, vomit/poop/rotting food smells were spewed out into the world and made a very hot Malaysia even HOTTER. Another plus? The grates were made of plastic. Plastic+hot steam+hot Malaysian sun+ overall summer weather= THEY WILL CAVE UNDER YOUR WEIGHT. One of my true fears was coming true. Every two feet, I would walk entirely around a grate. 
2.  Prayer hour. At sundown every night for about two hours, some sort of chant/song was blared over the loudspeakers across the island. The first night, it was cultural and interesting. The second and third night? Pretty much downright annoying. I know that sounds insensitive and politically incorrect (although according to John, I am always politically correct. Unlike my hilarious and awesome parents), but Emma and I would scream at each other across the table trying to have a conversation. 
3. Men who will stare rudely and obviously at your boobs and then take pictures of you. Your face may or may not be in them. Now this didn’t happen to me (hello, I still have the body of a prepubescent 12 year old), but Emma is more gifted than I am and therefore attracted MUCH more attention.
4. A cable car that will make you whimper and squeal and momentarily contemplate upchuck.

Our incredible seafood BBQ dinner, Night 1 in Langkawi

Fried rice in a pineapple boat and we each picked out our own fish

Finished with drinks at a cocktail bar

Onto the good stuff… 

More than once, Emma would turn to me after seeing some random billboard for a tourist attraction and say "OOoooohhhh Tango!!! Can we pleasseeeeeee do that?!??" So when she suggested cable cars, I said "Sureeee Emma!" Not the biggest fans of heights where you can DIE but I rock climb, you know and what's life without a little danger? 

We arrived to Oriental Village (PS. "Oriental" is not offensive in England. Emma went about three weeks referring to Asians as "Orientals" before some light shone through), paid our fee, and boarded the glass capsule of death. I'll let the pictures/video tell the rest. 

death drop while you are enclosed in a tiny box.

 The motivating factor to start blogging again: sharing this video with the world. To accurately show you HOW much I was freaking out, I present the first of The Summer Adventures- video series...

 And yes, apparently stress impairs my vocabulary ("really" "really" "really"...), math skills ("6,500 feet? Or meters?" Nope, both wrong), and British accent ("If you want to?"). I will not be pursing a career in reporting, clearly.

At the top... 700 meters high (2,296 feet)

Glass all around for maximum view/ scare factor

Horseback riding through the jungle!!

Emma's turn to freak out a bit. And our guide looks thrilled about life

Overall, Langkawi was awesome... although I'm not quite sure I'll miss it. Next stop... Penang, Malaysia!!