Sawasdee Kha from Thailand!

Hello all! I decided it was about time to update you guys on my adventures. Unfortunately, my free time is limited so this will be just a quick overview... ( i do want to sleep you know)

So we left Singapore Friday (July 6) for Bangkok. The flight was pleasant because we were flying Singapore Air... as always. Upon arriving we were first welcomed by the to say the least, different prices. The Thai Baht is quite different than the American Dollar. Basically, for every 34 Baht spent it is 1 US Dollar. So things easily run 4 or 5 hundred Baht.

Anyways, after collecting baggage (yay mine was there this time!) we headed to Khao Yai National Park. The ride was a little lengthy but when we arrived we had dinner at a steakhouse with Thai students from Mahidol University. They were very nice. After a delicious dinner we headed to the "bungalows" for the night.

In the morning we headed out for a 5 hr hike. It was quite an adventure. A bit tedious but a challenge I am glad I took.

Our guide, Dr. Ramesh...

Yeah... thats fresh elephant dung...

My favorite part was the leeches! Don't worry we had special socks to wear so no bites... but I have to admit I was a bit freaked out after flicking off the 50th leech!

a lake we came across towards the end...


That night we spent more time with the Thai students.

Some of our guys learned how to dance... THAI STYLE!

I enjoyed getting to know them!
On Sunday morning we loaded up and headed back to Bangkok. After unpacking we went to JJ Market with the Thai students. We found some great deals. We got to put our bargaining skills to use again...

Later we came back to the hotel after getting a nice Thai dinner. Hallie, Liz and I went out for massages!

This morning we woke up early (a little too early) and visited the Royal Palace. We began by visiting the temple of the King.

The Royal Army...

The Royal Palace...

Afterwards we headed to Wat Pho... the home of the "Reclining Buddha."

I got a free massage at the school of Thai massage at the temple!

Early diagrams of massage...

And finally... THE RECLINING BUDDHA!

I made a donation and as a result I bought a tile to be put on the roof and be blessed. I was allowed to make a request for the blessing...

Tonight we went the the Joe Louis Puppet Theatre. The theatre featured the traditional Thai art of Hun Lakoran Lek Puppetry.

Well I am off to bed! I will try to add more as I can.

Lots of Love,

Sarah :)

Highlights of Week 5

On Monday (June 25) we visited a local elementary school after classes. While there we were shown around by 5th year prefects. The children were very polite and answered all of our questions (even the hard hitting ones).

On Wednesday (June 27) after our tour of the local arts studio, Theatreworks, a group of friends and I decided to celebrate Hallie's 20th birthday in style. She wanted to go reverse bungy jumping so WE DID! (sorry mom)

Priya, Hallie, and I getting ready for launch...

Later that night we decided to visit Raffles Hotel and try a Singapore Sling. This is on a list of 1000 things to do before you die... so we had to! It was a lot of fun...we all dressed up. :)

Liz and I being goofy...


On Friday we had our second visit with the NUS Muslim Society. We visited Dossalum Mosque to see the school and the Friday prayers.

My favorite part was interacting with the preschool class!

My favorites! they were inseparable...

Later we heard a lecture on Islam...

I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Husna, our guide. We hope to spend more time together before we leave!

Friday night some friends and I went to a DJ battle at a local club. It was actually for Angelo's research on the hip hop culture in Singapore. While there we unexpectedly met a VJ from MTV Asia. He was really cool and even put us on TV!! It was so much fun. Then we were just talking to some locals and found out later they were the friends and family of the winner of the competition! We felt like VIPS that night...

More to come...

Lots of Love,
Sarah :)

From the Rainforest to the City...

After recovering from such an exciting day at Taman Negara we packed up and headed out early Saturday (June 23) morning. Unfortunately, it took a little longer than expected to reach Malacca. Traffic in KL was terrible, but it was worth it to see Malacca. As we entered Malacca the first thing we saw were the Straights of Malacca.

I was really excited because the Straights of Malacca is one of the (few things I remember) places we talked about in my Southeast Asian history class at UNC.

After unpacking at our hotel, Hotel Puri we headed out for dinner. We went to a Portugese fesitval for dinner.

We ate at Papa Joe's restaurant which happens to be owned by our tour guide, Eddie's, brother-in-law. (Coincidence, I think not!) It was lots of fun. After enjoying dinner Papa Joes serenaded us and we celebrated Caroline's birthday.

Rivka and Hallie...

Papa Joe...

Happy Birthday Caroline!

After dinner we returned to our hotel and went shopping at the night market behind our hotel. We all spent too much, but had fun bargaining with the locals!

On Sunday we packed up our stuff and left our hotel. For the next few hours Eddie took us on a walking tour of Malacca. We visited a shoe store where they make shoes from hand and also hand bead. An average pair of shoes takes several months to finish.

We also saw shoes that were once worn by women with bound feet.

Then we visited Harmony St. It is named this because on it is a Chinese/Taoist/Buddhist Temple, a Mosque, and a Hindu Temple. We visited all three. At the Chinese/Taoist/Buddhist temple we learned that this was the first temple of its kind built in Malaysia.

The Mosque...

The Muslim cemetary... note the different shape of the statues. The rounded ones are for the men and the angular for the women.

Then we walked to the Hindu temple.

Before we left Malacca we made one more stop. We visited a Christian church established by the Dutch. Inside children were performing.

Then we climbed a nearby hill to see the first Dutch church in Malaysia. It was pretty much in ruins but still an amazing site!

After a great time in Malacca we headed back to Singapore!

Lots of Love,

Sarah :)