Gili T, Singapore take 2

From Kuta in Bali we took a coach to mainland Bali to Ubud. I was excited to go there as the cafe from Eat, Pray, Love is there, and it was really beautiful. We sat on cushions around a small table and ate chocolate cake that was so dense it nearly killed me. Surrounded by exotic plants, palm trees and water fountains, it became a popular place to spend our evenings. We weren't allowed to wear our shoes even though it was all outdoors, and the toilets even had baths with rose petals in them. The cafe opposite always seemed to have a live band playing and on the first night they sang Another Day in Paradise by Phil Collins which reminded me of my family.

We spent a couple of days in Ubud and on the first we went to a monkey sanctuary. Outside the gate, ladies were selling bananas to feed the monkeys with, next to the signs warning you about how dangerous they can be and how you should not hide any food as they will smell it and attack you. Heidi and Matt sensibly refused the offer to buy any bananas whereas Nathan and I split a bunch. Nathan's bananas didn't last past the entrance and my last one was snatched from me about 2 metres into the sanctuary. The funny thing was that the monkeys weren't attacking us but there was a massive adult male who just kept slowly walking towards me and I really didn't want him to climb on me so pretty much all my bananas went to him! The experience was brilliant and we laughed our way pretty much around the whole place. We dressed up in robes to visit a temple in the sanctuary that was crawling with monkeys swinging around, playing with each other and climbing the temple. I was extremely thirsty by this point but I remembered the signs at the entrance warning us that the monkeys were likely to steal food and drink. As soon as I opened the zip of my bag I had a gorgeous little monkey climbing up my leg to sit on my shoulder. Although this meant I couldn't quench my thirst, it became I game and Matt and I would pretend to get something out of our bags which led us to get monkey cuddles!

After the sanctuary we sat down at a restaurant for some lunch. I was just browsing through the menu that consisted mainly of noodles or curry when I looked up at Nathan who was bright red, swollen, and very blotchy. Turned out he had been bitten by a caterpillar (well that's what we reckon) which would have caused a reaction, but also he was allergic to it. We all laughed a bit because he was so calm about it despite the fact that half of his face and all of his neck was now twice the size. If it had been me I would have been hysterically crying!

While Nathan deflated back in the hostel, Heidi, Matt and I explored the rice fields which Bali is known for. We had to climb up a little incline which left Matt and I sweating so much we looked like we had just showered. Surprisingly the houses by the rice fields were beautiful and massive although rice farmers earn so little. We found out that every 4 months (the amount of time it takes to grow crop) rice farmers earn roughly £140.

It was on this day that my iPod died (RIP) which I actually think I dealt with very well considering I was heartbroken. My  2 litre water bottle that cost me about 20p didn't real properly and spilled all over all my amazing (Justin Bieber) music. The ironic thing was that when I went to pretty much all of the shops situated in Ubud, not a single person knew what rice was, sold it, or knew anyone else who sold it. How this is even possible when this tragedy happened on the way to a rice field I have no idea. Quite funny really but no Bieber or Miley for me for a while.

From Ubud we went to Padangbai and stayed there for just one night. Unfortunately the scorching sun was replaced by rain while we were there so we pretty much ate and slept. We did take a little trip to the white sands beach which was an absolute trek to get to. The rain had enticed millions of the largest snails I have ever seen out onto the path and I am afraid to say that I heard a crunch under my foot on the way down to the beach. The small piece of beach was perfectly named and was beautiful. It was lovely as we stood there as it started to get dark and took in the view and the transparent water. Matt couldn't resist having a little swim and had to run away from a massive wave that crept up on him because of the weather.

We took a boat to Gili T which we were promised would last an hour but actually took about 3. Using transport in Asia is nothing like in England. We were crammed into a tiny boat (which had an inside part this time) like sardines and I nearly stopped breathing because it was so hot. We stopped off at Lombok on the way to Gili to let some people off, and after about 5 minutes after departing from there the boat turned around and went back. 2 backpacks from the boat had been unpacked onto Lombok by mistake and their owners were travelling to Gili and were still on the boat. Thankfully they realised but anything could have happened.

The water was absolutely beautiful in Gili, a greeny transparent colour. We went straight to our apartments, dropped off our bags and raced to the beach where we spent all of the day. Everyone in Indonesia was just as relaxed as the staff on the boat as when we arrived to our apartments we weren't given the family room as we had booked because people were still asleep in it and so we were upgraded to more expensive rooms for a night while the group of 4 in "our" room slept off their hangover. It was all a bit chaotic but we were used to it by then.

Because I had been so sunburnt in Kuta and had to spend a good few days in bed I decided to buy a massive hat to cover my face from the sun. I look truly ridiculous in it but it actually works and I haven't been sunburnt since! Nathan keeps saying I look like Julie Andrews in it but I like to think I look more like Julia Roberts. While we were in Gili we had a few nights out that consisted of Heidi breaking a local's bike basket by sitting in it, hungover induced days caused purely by smirnoff ice, and getting Indonesian men to "slut drop".

The best part about Gili, however, was the snorkelling. We spent a whole day snorkelling by ourselves and saw an array of fish and sea creatures. While I was sunbathing I heard Matt shout my name from the sea and call me over. I didn't know what I was expecting but it was not a 3 foot long turtle. We called the others over and followed it for hours. Every 15 minutes or so it would gracefully swim to the surface and take 3 gasps of air and swim back down to the bottom again where it was eating coral off the rocks. As we followed the turtle, it suddenly started to swim much faster and we thought we had scared it. However, as we watched where it was going, an even bigger, golden coloured turtle emerged from the depths of the water. I heard Nathan swear in awe through his snorkel as we couldn't believe how close we were to cool of them. A few days later we paid for an all day snorkelling trip where they took us to different parts of the surrounding sea to see different animals. We saw more turtles and fed fish underwater with bread. It was so cool watching them swim up to us and nibble from our fingers. Nathan put a piece of bread in his mouth and got a fish to "kiss" him by eating the bread out of his mouth.

After Gili we took the boat back to Bali and all sat on the top deck sunbathing and chatting. All of a sudden the boat stopped and someone shouted and pointed and we saw 2 whales swimming across the sea and spurting water out of their blow holes. 5 minutes later, Heidi, Matt and Nathan looked up in shock as I overexcitedly screamed and pointed as I saw a few dolphins swimming in and out of the water. It was magical!

We flew back to Singapore for a few days before flying to Sydney. Ironically (and I suppose luckily due to Singapore's cleanliness) Nathan and I got Bali belly and often had to run back to the hostel in haste. We were surprised that this was the first time we had properly been ill, especially after travelling through Thailand. We had a better hostel here, with a 4 bed room instead of the 20+ one we had before, and found an amazing street food court which sold sweet and sour chicken and fish for £1.50. I am going to miss Asian food a lot!

We spent a day in Gardens by the Bay which was a beautiful futuristic garden that you could walk around. There were architectural trees made out of metal, hedges shaped into animals, and a statue of a giant baby that looks like it's floating. This place was so cool (photo below) and I found out that my friend Jen knows the daughter of the genius who designed it all. We also went into a shopping mall which offered boat rides inside it and felt very out of place next to all the designer shops.

Another day we spent on an island just outside of Singapore where their Universal Studios is. It was so magical and we felt like we were lo Disneyland. I got a bit confused and kind of thought we were in a magical land where they made dreams come true and provided lots of entertainment as I thought that the sea wasn't real and they used a wave machine to create the effect, that the small open top cable cars would take us on a ride back over the sea to Singapore (when they just took you to the top of the go-kart track) and that there would be snow on the "festive walk" despite the fact that we were on an island where it was about 30 degrees.

And that is it for Asia :( I've absolutely loved it and would recommend it to anyone. Most of all I will miss the people as everyone was so friendly and we made lots of local friends. I will definitely also miss the food, how cheap it is and in  beautiful it looks!

Singapore and Bali

Okay so I've been a rubbish blogger recently and since the last time I posted we have been to Kuala Lumpur and had an amazing time with my friends Hannah and Josh, moved onto Melaka, a small historical town similar to George Town, Penang, and visited Josh again in JB. I will post a blog about that time in a few days but I want to fill you in on the recent events that occurred in Singapore and Bali.

So Heidi and I decided to go on a 2 day juice diet after Josh over-fed us on the amazing food from Johor Bahru (Malaysia). Well, I say that Heidi and I decided, but in reality Heidi coaxed me into it during a moment of pain from indigestion and it then became a matter of pride as Matt did not believe I could do it. Day one of the juice diet equalled day one of Singapore and we were met with some of the most delicious looking food that we had experienced so far. Sod's law. I had been craving mashed potato for the entirety of our stay in Kuala Lumpur and of course the 7 Eleven shops in Singapore sold hot mashed potato and gravy for about a quid. What made it worse was that Nathan loves mashed potato too, and fizzy drinks, and chocolate, all of which I had to enviously watch him eat while I sipped on a freshly squeezed orange juice. On the second day of the diet we went to a shopping mall and a stall selling my favourite foods, pasta and hot dogs, was ironically situated next to a stall selling Heidi's favourite food, toast and coffee. It was difficult but we did it and felt better for it!

Anyway, Singapore itself was very very clean and also very modern. We went to the main street where the shopping malls were which consisted of topshop, h&m and Abercrombie & Fitch. The prices in the shops were the same as in England which we were disappointed about. Overall it was pretty expensive in Singapore so we tried to spend as little as possible especially as we are returning there before we go to Australia. Singapore reminded me a lot of London because it is a built up city and when we left at 5 a.m. to catch our flight to Bali, the early morning fog settling on the city was breathtaking and gave me flashbacks of winter mornings in England which I never thought I would miss. 

Singapore is very strict in its cleanliness and safety. For instance, chewing gum is not allowed into Singapore and you can only smoke next to green bins which are spread out on the streets. You also cannot take cigarettes into Singapore unless you pay extra tax on them and our passports were stamped with "death for drug smugglers" as a reminder of the punishment. These rules all seem a little OTT but make sense and encourage a clean and healthy city. However, the signs on the back of the toilet doors telling you how and how not to sit on the toilet, and the video playingon repeat about being safe on the escalators in the train station were a bit too much. Plus the fact that you cannot eat and drink on the street. Matt nearly got arrested as he took a photo of the customs building as we entered Singapore right next to the sign that said no photographs (items containing any photographs would be permanently confiscated and disposed of) and Nathan thankfully hit him pretty hard to stop him just as the security guard started running over.

Ironically, although Singapore was very clean and modern, our hostel was disgusting. We stayed in a 22 bed dorm and shared it with some vile people. Although they were nice and greeted us with smiles, the constant burping and farting  was very off putting, especially when I already felt a little sick from lack of food! The smell in the room where all 22 of us slept was also not very nice and I was very glad to leave after 2 nights.
Singapore airport was hassle free and actually a pleasure to be in. Once we got to Bali we were surprised to see how organised the taxi rank was. We went up to a counter, told them where we wanted to go and they provided us with the number of the taxi we were to get in which was waiting for us in the carpark with the taxi driver standing next to it. This was a complete change to the chaos that met us in Thailand where open backed baht buses would be waiting in a heap and we would be shoved on with 9 other people not knowing if the driver was even aware of our intended destination.

We stayed in Kuta for the first 5 nights and spent every day on the beautiful beach. Nathan and Matt surfed while Heidi sunbathed and I bodyboarded. One day I got shouted at by a surfing instructor telling me that I was using a baby board which was then followed by a collection of different strangers laughing at me in the sea. This made me determined to learn how to surf and so I hunted down the best looking, most tattooed Indonesian surfing teacher and got him to give me lessons. Of course I was rubbish and Ramon (the teacher) told me that I didn't have enough "power". He found it very funny that we had spent 2 and a half ours in the sea and I still couldn't stand up for longer than 3 seconds. This was more irritating because nearing the end of my lesson my attention was drawn to a toddler who was surfing with no problem at all - how come a 3 year old can do it and I can't?! Naturally I got sunburnt after spending so much time in the morning sun getting frustrated with the surf board whilst trying to look cool in front of Ramon and ended up getting sunstroke which I am now paying for! This, however, did not put off Ramon as he invited us 4 out with him that night and took us to his local pubs. On the night out Heidi and I were harassed by 2 Chinese Malaysian women who wanted multiple photographs of the 2 of us. We felt like celebrities but it was very strange. Every time we thought we were free to enjoy the night and dance we would feel a tap on our shoulder and a polite "excuse me miss, just one more?" Ramon said it was because we look so different to the other people on the island so people think we're pretty. I was still looking extremely red at this point which was probably why I looked so different! 

I am finding it hard to get the hang of the Indonesian money as everything seems to be so much money but actually isn't. I withdrew 2 million rupiah from the cash machine which is actually about £100 and £1 is roughly 18000 rupiah. I'm so bad with the money that when I was hiring a surf board the man had to take my purse and show me what notes to use as I was taking so long to figure it out. The sad thing is that Ramon and one of his friends told us that they haven't been able to see their families in over 8 years because they live on an island 5 hours from Bali. The cost to get home and back would be 4 million rupiah which actually only equals to not much more than £200 and yet they cannot afford to go home for Christmas. Hearing this made me even more grateful that my parents are coming out to Australia and made me think about how lucky we are.

Bali is where Eat, Pray, Love is set and we are just about to make our way to the cafe that was in the film. As promised I will add a blog about Malaysia soon. x

Koh Tao, Full Moon & first day in Malaysia (19th-22nd October)

We arrived in Koh Tao, which is infamous for its diving, by ferry and checked into our hostel. Ironically our hostel was the most expensive so far and by far the worst. We were sharing an 8 person dorm for the first time and were anxious to find future who our roommates would be.Fortunately for Heidi and I, all of our roommates for the first 2 nights were girls and roughly our age. 3 of them were English and were teaching for a year near Bangkok. They all loved Koh Tao and had been back many times during the school holidays. My opinion of the small island, however, was very different. It had its perks, we went snorkelling on the last day and saw some amazing fish. I have always loved swimming and snorkelling and so spending 5 or so hours in the water was very enjoyable. We saw some parrot fish which were massive and really looked like they had beaks. There were some smaller blue fish that kept swimming towards my body and biting the scab off my burn on my leg which was both disgusting and painful. Nathan bought a snorkel and mask so that he can use it through travelling and Matt and I hired one each so all 3 of us swam underwater together, pointing out hermit crabs and colourful looking fish to each other. The beach was called Tanotu and really was beautiful but it was the only beach that I liked on the island. The main beach was very small and very dirty and although the others liked spending time there, I didn't. We went to a pub called Lotus Bar which had live music from and Australian dude who sang unique covers of songs that we knew. The bar quickly turned from a relaxed bar where we sat on cushions drinking beer and listening to music to a chaotic club filled with fire dancers and loud music. It was a brilliant night and for over an hour we watched 4 Thai guys aged between 18 and 24 playing with fire using sticks, yo yo type things and a spiral instrument that they took into the sea and span round to make a massive Catherine Wheel effect. I really fancied one of them but he looked young, he had plenty of tattoos and wore a bowler hat and converse and I harassed him a couple of times during the night. He said his name was Bill! It was a really good night and we met a couple of people as well the 3 girls from the hostel who were very drunk and were throwing each other in the sea.
I think that by the time we got to this island I was missing city life and just wanted to be around proper buildings and concrete!!! I was happy to leave the island after 3 days and we travelled on the ferry to Phangan where the Full Moon party was! Ironically (again) the hostel we stayed in on this island practically promised to be a dive but in fact it was one of the best hostels that we stayed in. It was very cheap and we stayed in a 22 person dorm! We made friends immediately with a group of 5 guys from England who were travelling for 3 weeks in Thailand and then 3 weeks in Vietnam. They were proper lads, discussing girls every minute and preparing to get wasted at the party but they were very nice. We also met 2 Australian girls who live in Brisbane who gave us some tips for when we get there. We arrived in the morning of the Full Moon party and casually got to know where everything was in the day to reserve our energy for the evening. The party would start at dusk and finish at dawn. We all bought some tshirts from a market by our hostel to wear for the night out and spent the start of the evening playing games with our new friends and painting ourselves with fluorescent paint. Use alcohol in Thailand tastes so disgusting and I was sick drinking beer so hadn't really drank anything by the time it got to 2am, which was a good thing considering what happened next. We took in the sights of many tourists dancing crazily and swimming in the sea, enjoyed the music and new people that we were meeting and watched (from afar) the fire dancers who were not as good as the ones from Koh Tao as this one lady kept setting innocent bystanders on fire!
Anyway, we spotted what looked like an exciting slide that started on top of a building and ended on the beach with a very small beanbag breaking the fall. We climbed up to the top of the slide and Matt went down first, bouncing off the beanbag onto the rock-hard sand and was in agony. He proceeded to catch Heidi and me as we reached the end of the slide as he later told us that he didn't want us to ever feel the same pain as he did. Hero ;) The next couple of hours consisted of a trip to 2 doctors practices, a lot of crying a pain from Matt's end, Matt passing out from the medication and then coming round acting very drunk due to the drip the doctor had given him. I then had to look after him for a few hours as we walked back to the hostel and went to bed because he was so hyper and upset about missing the rest of the party! He work up at 8am and started singing to me, despite the fact that we were in a 22 bed dorm. It was like looking after a child but it was just so funny. Of course it was also a massive relief to be told by the doctor that he had not broken anything and would be fine soon, as the first few hours after it had happened were filled with worry.
When we got back to the hostel we saw the English guys from our dorm and they had been minesweeping (drinking abandoned drinks) that had been left on the beach and 2 of them had been spiked pretty badly. Matt's hyperactivity did not help their attempt to calm down and come down but that just made me laugh even more - oops!
We spent the next day relaxing on the island, I bought some more shorts and got 2 pairs for just less than £7, not bad! We walked along a very rickety bridge on the beach and sat down on a large rock overlooking the sea and all 4 of us just chatted for hours. The next morning we woke up at 5.15am and got a taxi, ferry, and a few buses to Malaysia and arrived at about 9pm. We met a very Essex guy called Russel who had been travelling through India and then Thailand for the past 3 months and is now travelling through Malaysia. We've kind of adopted him now as he's staying in our 10 bed dorm here in Penang as luckily there was a bed spare. He had injured himself at the Full Moon party too, by stupidly jumping over the limbo stick that was on fire and burning the whole of the inside of his thigh. We're walking round like a bunch of old men now with Matt hobbling and Russel limping! When we arrived in Malaysia we had no Malaysian money so all 5 of us had to exchange our baht into ringgit. Russel and I were saying how we'd only just got the hang of baht so we're likely to pay extortionate amounts for things and think it's really cheap! The money here is more like at home, with 5 ringgit being near a pound rather than 50 baht being near a pound!
Malaysia is so different to Thailand and I'm absolutely loving it. The main roads look like English motorways and there is quite a lot greenery and a few parks. It seems that Penang has elements of Thailand, still some street food, although mainly at night, and some of the housing is the same. However, it's a lot cleaner, there are more police, there are also more concrete/built up areas and it resembles more of a city. We saw a difference in the hostel here in Malaysia to the Thai hostels straight away as it is cleaner and has plants and water features in it. It looks like the pictures of Chinese gardens that I have seen and definitely has that feel about it. Here the food is a mixture of Indian, Chinese and Thai and we bought some samosas and onion bargies from a street stall today and they were delicious. Because there is a lot of Indian food though, some of the street stalls look disgusting. We passed one today which was serving goats stomach curry and the meat looked like tyre. We found a delicious Mandarin Chinese cafe that serves a fresh version of a McDonald's breakfast with sausage, egg and cheese in a bagel so I was very happy! We spent the day walking around, looking at some street art that Penang is known for, playing with the American football in the park and visiting a mosque.
Later this week we are planning on taking the bus to Kuala Lumpur and seeing my friend Hannah from university and our friend Josh who we met in Samui. Can't wait :)

Koh Samui (8th-18th October)

It's been a long time since I last posted, partly because we've been so busy doing things but mostly because I've had my head in a book that Mickey gave me. I've just finished it and was a bit disappointed by the ending, but was transfixed by the rest of it! All the Falangs (English people) here seem to be reading murder thrillers!
Anyway, we moved on from Sumat and got the tiny ferry back to Pattaya. The men running the boat were very lovely as they carried Heidi and my bags down the rickety, portable ramp that they positioned from the ferry onto the dock. I would have fallen in if they hadn't because of how steep it was! We were all in fits of giggles as I tried to get up onto the taxi (an open roofed van) from the dock to the mainland with my bag on, falling over and landing on my knees. The 3 Malaysians that we shared the taxi ride with were not impressed with me! We then got a minibus back to Pattaya to stay at Mickey's for one more night. Daa cooked us our last meal of Thai pork chops and rice which was delicious and probably the only Thai meal I could have stomached at that point. The Thai food is lovely but the herbs are so distinctive and I can't get used to them! We watched some more Thai tv and went to bed in the comfort of a house that we had grown to know. I slept on the floor as we had all been taking turns but I was so glad not to be sleeping on the beds in the bungalows on the beach because they felt like massive sand bags. In the morning Daa cooked us Thai breakfast which is food that the English would eat at lunch or dinner, it was a massive plate of rice with onions and carrots in it. I couldn't get enough of it! I had to pass on the pork and vegetables that she cooked because I had just woken up and it felt weird, but the others told me those dishes were equally delicious. Mickey then dropped us off at the bus station so we could start our 13 hour bus journey, starting at 4pm and after getting the ferry to our destination, Koh Samui, we arrived at where we wanted to be at 8am. The guys left me in the hostel to sleep a bit while they checked out the beach.
The beach - beautiful. The best beach we have been to so far. The sand was white and the sea was a transparent blue/green. It was what I imagined Thailand to look like. On top of this, the weather was like it was in Bangkok with no rain at all and a heat that made only sunbathing bearable. Of course I stayed in the shade because of my ginger genes (thanks gpa!!) but still it felt like paradise. The hostel was also lovely, a 4 person dorm for £3.75 a night which was very clean and with our own en suite. 2 of the beds felt like concrete but we swapped around to make it fair and we couldn't really complain.
We took motorbikes out one day to see the whole of the island which was a lot bigger than Sumat and so had proper roads and lots of Falang. We went to numerous beaches and travelled to see a giant Buddha. We hadn't visited any religious places since Bangkok so we all really enjoyed that as it took us back to the first place we visited. The view from where the Buddha was took my breath away as you could see all along the shore and it was getting dark.
Here it gets dark at about half 6, which we were surprised about, so we went for dinner at an American restaurant and met the owners. We were brave to go back on the motorbikes considering the massive gash I got in my leg the first time round but the roads were like in England, plus the crazy driving of cours. If you drive "too slow" some crazy motorbike driver will keep beeping at you to drive faster but you constantly hear beeps along the road anyway. Taxi drivers will beep at any pedestrian to get them in their cabs so you just have to ignore them and keep walking. We also visited a butterfly farm which I surprisingly enjoyed and got some good photos which I know my Grandpa and Dad will enjoy ;)
We met quite a few friends whilst in Samui as we went to a bar called lipsmackers that was run by a few crazy people, one called King who looked like he was always on drugs and probably was. You would spot him one minute and the next he would have disappeared. It was here where we met a lovely Malaysian called Josh who was very intelligent and great to have a conversation with. Matt and I ended up having an hour-long friendly debate about religion which was more interesting than anything else. He had 2 tattoos on his fingers; Roman numerals. One was V. for the film V for Vendetta, which was the film that inspired him to become a film maker, the other was I. to remind him of when he was Catholic.
Heidi and I also met 2 Israeli guys who were equally as nice but not quite as good at English. It was extremely interesting listening to what their life was like in comparison to ours. They had both served 3 years in the army in order to get their further education at university at a discounted price. The guy I spoke to is now in construction and although it is considered a good job, he is paid a considerably lower wage than he would be in England. Whilst in Sumat, Heidi and I spoke to a Thai who owned a pub on the island. He informed us that he had visited England and said he hated it because it smelt like cheese! There isn't much cheese around in Thailand due to the bad grass and so he was not used to it when he visited the UK. He also had a 2 year old baby with his American girlfriend who he met when she was holidaying on the island. His child and girlfriend both lived in America because the schools are better there, and it was sad to hear he could only see them every 3 months. He was happy to show us photos of them and they really were both gorgeous. He offered me and Heidi some food that we had never seen before and I was happy to try it. I am still not entirely sure what it was but I think it was semolina and coconut in sugar, as you can see in the photo. I enjoyed it because it was so sweet, but after one mouthful Heidi refused the rest.
In Samui we went out a couple of times, starting the night at lipsmackers and ending it at Ark Bar. The latter consisted of fire throwing and dancing on the beach which allowed the club to be seen from miles away. On the "dancefloor", a collection of young girls between the ages of 3 and 12 would walk around trying to sell flowers to the men to give to the ladies. The sad part about this was how young the girls were, and how they were working in a space full of drunk young adults. I had not experienced a place like this until I was 18, and they were working every night there from such an early age. One young girl selling flowers, however, showed her mental maturity by completely out-smarting Matt. As he had refused to buy me any more flowers, because he bought me a rose in Pattaya for a laugh, the young girl became very annoyed with him. Why she didn't pick on Nathan I don't know. She then challenged him to a thumb war, at which he refused, but was coerced into through physical force. Of course the young girl won because she had been doing this all night every night for a very long time. When Matt outright refused to buy these flowers she took Heidi's beer to smash on top of Matt's bottle causing it to foam out of the bottle neck. For the rest of the night this girl followed Matt around making sure he wasn't causing trouble. This included taking some glow-in-the-dark glasses off him and tearing them to pieces once checking with her friend that Matt had found them rather than purchased them. The next night I rewarded her for her good judgement by giving her a bracelet that a random man had bought me. I also made deals with the girls that allowed me to get a hug off them if I managed to get people to buy flowers! I told many of them how pretty they were, and the young ones loved it, although to my dismay some refused to accept the compliment as truth. I don't know what their lives are like, and their job was not particularly unsafe, but I believe all little girls should be told how pretty they are so I said it and genuinely meant it.
One of our friends from lipsmackers told us that the island of Samui was quickly becoming less backpacker friendly and was expanding its market to more wealthy customers. We saw many extravagant and expensive looking hotels as we went around the island, and it seemed that these places were quickly replacing hostels and pubs. The 2 lipsmackers bars will soon become only 1 as the owners have been forced to shut down the one in the street (the other being on the beach) to make a grand entrance into the town.
After one night out, Matt and I got a motorbike taxi ride back to the hostel, with both of us on the back. It was such a funny experience as we were driving so slow, this made it safer which made me happy, and I had my arms wrapped around the driver's stomach and Matt laughing in my left ear.
We have now left beautiful Samui and caught a ferry to Koh Tao where we will stay until Saturday morning when we will take yet another ferry ride to the full moon party!! Wooo!! Oh, also, the burn on my leg is healing nicely and I don't even think it will scar :)

1st October-7th

We stayed in Pattaya for a week and took a ferry from the mainland to an island called Koh Sumat. Heidi and I were shocked to see how small the ferry was because we naively assumed that it would look like the ferry you take from Dover over to France. In fact it was just like a bus but for the sea as you can see in the picture.
We're planning on staying here only for a couple of days as it is a very small island and it's not been that sunny here over the past few days.
This brings me onto the storms in Pattaya. Almost every night that we've stayed at Mickey's there has been a massive thunderstorm in the evening and all through the night. The second night in Pattaya was the worst as the storm cut out the electricity and we were stuck in the dark for hours. At first it was so scary as we were in a massive house that we didn't know well with no light to guide us around. Every time there was lightning you caught a glimpse for less than a second of what everyone else was doing and looking at. Matt took an amazing video of the lightning

 and you can see and hear just how bad the storms are and yet how beautiful they look in the Thai surroundings. We lit candles so we could see what we were doing and all 4 of us got into our swimmers and swam in the pool in the heavy rain. I wasn't expecting it to be so cold but it was freezing! Such a good experience and Mickey and Daa thought we were crazy.
We had a night out in Pattaya which was so much crazier than Fever in Nuneaton ;) Heidi and I had to use our first toilet that was a hole in the ground and Heidi found it very difficult. I was laughing so much that I nearly wet myself before I even got into the cubicle! The music was English music and we stuck to beer because we've heard bad things about Thai spirits. Heidi and I danced on the stage in the club while Matt and Nathan looked like our biggest fans. A taxi back to Mickey's was only £2 each which was pretty good considering how far away it was. We spent the next day watching American Pie on Mickey's tv and went to the Outback pub where Daa works for some English food. We tried some street food whilst at Mickey's although we're being very careful about what we consume. We have discovered banana pancakes which are cooked on the side of the road or the beach using a cooker. For 20p they fry a pancake, put bananas and scrambled eggs in the middle of it and pour condensed milk on top. Really really delicious. I'm still eating Thai food but am glad to have English food every now and then although the beefburgers here are so tiny and Nathan had one that was green!
Koh samut is such a beautiful island. We found some accommodation for £6 a night, they're little bungalows on the beach which are so handy. Once Mickey and Daa dropped us off here we went exploring and found a litter of puppies on the beach. It goes without saying that we've visited them every day. This island is what I imagined 'travelling' to look like. We've been swimming and cloud bathing here and we're now on our third day. We went out on the first night and went to a crazy outdoor pub and made a few friends. Me and Matt crashed a party in another pub and made even more friends. They love Maroon 5 out here which we're all enjoying as it takes us back to our teenage years. Me and Matt stayed at the party until the lights came on, in true Nuneaton style, and went late night (or should I say early morning) swimming. It was so much fun and the sea was so warm.
Today we've hired motorbikes and are driving around the island. The main road is a dirty beaten track and the island is much more hilly than we thought!! The ride is a bit bumpy but it's all part of the fun and we got soaked in a downpour of rain. We've all got cuts and bruises from the ride on the bikes, the road is just so unstable that it's impossible not to crash. We managed to bike all the way to the end of the island, which is the photo with Heidi in it, so we have been from the top to the bottom.
We're now looking up where to go next and whether we can make a full moon party on another island but we need to be out of Thailand in 2 weeks. It's lovely being able to choose where to go whenever we want to.

27th-30th Sept

Since the last time I blogged we have taken a 2 hour bus journey from Bangkok to Pattaya. The bus was about £3 each and even had air con. I had imagined the bus to be the size and design of a coach but in fact it was a mini van and there was only 11 passengers including us 4! When we arrived in Pattaya we were greeted by Mickey, Nathan's family friend who moved out here 8 years ago, and were driven to his amazing house where he lives with his partner and her daughter. His house is beautiful, built from scratch 5 years ago, with a spacious lounge with a sofa so comfortable that I accidentally fell asleep on it last night, 3 huge bedrooms with en suites, and his own pool. Us 4 are sharing a bedroom that doesn't have air con but has 2 fans in it to keep us cool. On our first night here Mickey took us to his local where his partner works and where a lot of his friends were drinking. We've discovered our favourite beer called Singha and we drank quite a bit of it that night! Mickey and his partner took us to a lovely Thai restaurant where I had the nicest noodles I've had so far. Me, Nathan and Matt always seem to order the same meal which I think makes us look very English but at least it's easy to work out the bill! We saw the most obvious lady boy that we had seen so far working at that pub. It was his masculine shoulders that gave it away and Mickey was more than happy to keep making funny remarks to us about what a "lump" the waitress was. After a swim in the pool and staying upup until the early hours of the morning with Mickey and Daa we had a lovely night's sleep.
Yesterday we went into Pattaya with Mickey and sat in a pub watching the world go by. He says that he loves people watching out here because it's all so different. After a walk through the dirtiest street in Pattaya, according to Mickey, where a ladyboy latched onto Matt and escorted him to the end of the road, we were welcomed back to Mickey's with Daa's amazing cooking. She cooked us prawn omelettes which were amazing, with fish curry and rice. She didn't eat any though because she said she gets sick of looking at her own food and never fancies it once she's cooked it. Afterwards we played cards and went for a swim as well as discovering our new favourite hobby - watching Thai music videos and guessing what the songs are about! Some of them are so catchy and we've been walking around singing gibberish to the tune of the new Thai pop hits!
Today we went back into Pattaya and visited a very posh hotel/restaurant ironically called cabbages and condoms. The transport system is different here as the baht buses travel in a loop and you get on at off at whatever destination you want along that route for a fixed fee. In Bangkok the Tuk Tuk driver would charge depending on the destination and would take us anywhere. The baht buses here are also much bigger. You can see the view from the bus on the photo, it's like an open van. We are currently sitting on the beach enjoying the sun and listening to the sound of the waves. Loving Thailand!

25th-26th

Yesterday we went to China Town to see some temples. Because it's the rainy season here every now and then it pours down with rain and suddenly stops, the sun comes out, and it's as if nothing ever happened. Because it's so hot everything dries really quickly and me and Matt are often grateful for a bit of cool rain. Everywhere we go we get asked by the locals where we are from and they welcome us to Thailand. They also tell us where they think we should go and do rather than pointing us in the direction we actually want to go in. One man who we saw numerous times down the same street kept calling Matt superman because his rain coat looked like a cape! I think that's the nicest thing anyone has ever called him ;)
We got a tuk tuk to the first temple we visited which was small but very peaceful. We learnt how to meditate there as the man who was in charge liked us because he had recently visited London. We also burnt some incense and prayed to the massive Buddha statue, although of course I prayed to God instead and thanked him for all the amazing things he has created. We then got asked by our tuk tuk driver if we could take a short trip into the Thai factory as it meant that he could get free fuel. We were more than happy to help him out as he drove us around all over the place for only 20 baht each, which is like 40p! The people in the factory were annoyed that Nathan wouldn't buy a suit from them and mumbled something about us as we walked out of the factory!
We then went to see the Golden Mount (a temple) which was absolutely massive. Our driver drove us through a part where monks and locals were praying and chanting together in a massive outside hall. It struck us all how touristy this place was even though it was a religious building. The final temple that we went to was our favourite. The Buddha was absolutely massive, as you can see in the picture, and it was so cool and peaceful inside. We all practised our meditating in there but I got distracted by a monk stopping his prayers to check his iPhone that was stored in a phone sock the exact same shade of fluorescent orange as his robe!
Our final tuk tuk driver was made and tried to fit through spaces I really didn't think we'd get through. They don't take any notice of the lanes in the road and even drive on the pavement to avoid traffic jams. We then returned back to our hostel to get ready for a meal and a few drinks.
Ironically and disappointingly we ended eating in mcThai which, as you guessed it, is a Thai McDonald's. Matt actually had a Thai meal there but the rest of us didn't. I did discover strawberry fanta though which has become my new obsession. Don't judge us too much on the choice of restaurant though as all the local cafes were shut by the time we left our hostel due to the busy day we had had. We then embraced the Thai culture to make up for the lack of during our meal and sat outside in a beer market and listened to a live Thai band. The male sax player hit on Nathan publicly through the microphone and we all found it very funny. There are so many market stalls selling weird food on the streets and this place was full of them.

Today we had a lazy morning and then went into the centre of Bangkok. We visited a Japanese shopping mall in Ekkamai which was full of really cute things like giant pink dolls houses and umbrella trees. We then went to Chid Lom which seemed like a really wealthy part of Bangkok and looked around some of the streets. At one point a loud song started playing from speakers all around us and everyone we could see stood up and stopped moving. At first I thought it was the start of a flash dance but it turned out to be an anthem sung to the King. Nobody warned us about this!!! Then we went to Asok where we had an amazing meal. I chose phad thai which I have at waggamamas at home and of course it was more incredible.
The next thing we did has probably been the best part of our trip so far, purely because it was such a new experience. We walked towards a street full of flashing lights and loudmusic only to be greated by groups of ladies dressed in almost nothing shouting "sir, sir" at Nathan and Matt. I immediately realised where we were but it wasn't until we got to the end of the street to sit down at a normal-ish bar that Heidi informed me that many of them would not have been women. You honestly can't tell at all.
We've decided to stay in this hostel until Sunday because it's so clean, the pool is so handy, and it's right by the bus station that we'll be going to in order to travel to Pattaya. We're going to visit the floating market on Saturday but we have no plans for tomorrow yet. We still haven't quite got the hang of asking for no ice in our drinks and completely avoiding salad and fruit as Matt and Nathan bought a fruit smoothie at the temple yesterday and had to throw them away when we remembered! As for the toilet situation, they have all been proper toilets apart from the one Heidi used in the beer market last night. I really hope all of Thailand is like this but I know it's wishful thinking!

First day! 24th September

I have just woken up from our first day in Bangkok and still can't quite believe we are here. The flights went really smoothly and pretty fast seeing as they had Dexter and Friends on the tv. Dubai airport was massive and very extravagant, Heidi said it reminded her of some of the hotels in Vegas (which I will see in April!).
As soon as we left the airport we hopped onto a train that cost 89p to take us into the centre of Bangkok and, not knowing where we were going or where our hostel was, we decided to have a look around. This trip was very easy to do but the weight of our backpacks made it much more painful than it should have been. In the end we were hysterically laughing at both one another and ourselves as we struggled to maneuver with such weight on our backs. At one point Heidi had to dive to the ground to avoid being knocked out by Matt swinging his backpack over his shoulder. The weight of our backpacks and the heat of the city made us all sweat more than we had ever experienced before, so much so that by the time we reached the hostel we looked like we had all been in a water fight. Heidi fell to the floor in order to be blasted by the cold air of the portable fan that was in the lobby!
Before we got to the hostel we walked around Bangkok for a little while, meandering through the market stalls positioned on the side of the road. At first I embraced the new sights and smells of Bangkok but after only a few minutes I started to feel quite sick. I can't even begin to describe the scents coming from the 'foods' that were being sold other to say that there was always a lingering smell of smokey, fishy, sick. In the end I walked through the market stalls not breathing through my nose and even averting my eyes from the food on display. Bear in mind that I had had very little sleep and had just got off the plane, I am not expecting to always feel that queasy and I still thoroughly enjoyed looking around. At one point though, my eyes caught a glimpse of a fish bowl type thing filled with a milky substance with what looked like different coloured maggots floating around in it. The lady in charge of the stall was using a ladle to portion this vile mixture into small plastic bags in order to sell. I didn't pint this out to Matt, Nathan or Heidi because I knew that would mean I had to look at it for longer!

Once we got to the hostel we jumped into the pool on the roof and sunbathed for a while. We couldn't believe our luck when we saw that we had air con in our room and when we realised how clean everything was. We are paying £4 a night to stay in this hostel and I really had prepared myself for the worst. No doubt we will experience much worse than this later but we're all making the most of the cool temperature and the proper toilets!
We went for our first proper Thai meal last night and all had a coconut curry (no nuts!) which was delicious. Nathan thought he was being clever when he ate half a chilli but he nearly exploded and had to grab my drink to relieve his mouth of the pain. There was a very mini thunderstorm on the way to the restaurant so we walked in the rain with our umbrellas and took in the hustle and bustle of the nightlife. We're not staying right in the centre of Bangkok so I'm excited to see what it really is like in the evening. There are lots of stray dogs around which we've been avoiding and life here is so different. Can't wait to see what more Thailand has to offer.

The beginning.

My life so far:

I have recently turned 21, graduated from The University of Reading, and am back home working over the summer to save up some funds for my first travelling adventure. The small town that I call home, many call Nuneaton, and some call Birmingham's car park, is situated on the other side of the world to the destinations that I intend to visit. I cannot begin to imagine how different my quiet and uncomplicated life in Nuneaton is in comparison to the new one that I am about to start. The longest flight I have ever been on lasted 3 hours, and I have only visited 2 countries outside of the UK, both being in Europe. Call me crazy, and I may be slightly in denial, but I like to see it as adventurous. At university I met many amazing people including my 3 best friends who will be joining me on my trip around the world as I travel through Asia, Australia, New Zealand and America. 

Preparation:

I currently have a list of over 50 things that I need to do before I leave, and my flight is under two weeks away. As out of character that this is for me, I am not stressed yet and am just hoping everything will come together in time. All the main things have been done of course; flights, visas, backpack. It's all the little things that I am slowly discovering will be helpful as I read travel blogs and advice websites, that are left to get. Things such as sleeping bag liners for the budget hostels, photocopies of important documents in case they are misplaced, and rehydrating medicine.

On top of this long list of items that I need to purchase, I have had to have many jabs to protect me from diseases that I could pick up while I am away. It has been particularly difficult to find helpful advice about these vaccinations as everyone I have been to see about these, and I started looking over 8 months ago, have fobbed me off onto somebody else who has then done exactly the same. I never realised that there was a grey area when it came to whether taking antimalarial medication is necessary in particular places. After the experience I have had (I still haven't got my antimalarial tablets and still do not know if I need to take them for my trip from Bangkok to Singapore) I really do wish there was a black and white answer to which places antimalarials should be taken. One of the 3 uni friends that I am travelling with was advised that she did not need to take them, however, the other 2 were told to get at least 2 weeks worth. Very helpful. 

More importantly though, I am most worried about having my hair cut. I, like one of my uni friends who I am travelling with, get hot even in rooms where the temperature isn't even particularly high. This means that my long hair will not only get in the way but will cause me to overheat to a greater extent. I am, however, distraught at the idea of cutting my hair but I guess it's just one of those sacrifices I will have to make! Along with saying goodbye to family and all that ;)

This blog will be a place where I can share a collection of photos, videos, and crazy experiences as I, along with my 3 best friends, set off to travel the world for 8 months fresh from University. 

I will keep you updated as I travel through the most exciting time of my life.