Singapore: Little India, Wanderlust & Marina Bay Sands

I am sorry I know I have been slacking, but I do not have my computer with me, and I have been traveling since the start of the month. And with few days in each place, taking time to write a post about each place has been difficult. But now that we are in Brunei and there is not much to do here (I will explain in a later post), I figured I should try to play catch up and write about our time in Singapore this morning.

We arrived in Singapore on July 2, after taking one flight from Chiang Mai to Kuala Lumpur, and then flying from there to Singapore. The flights were not too bad but it was a long day. First I am going to tell you about our awesome hotel we stayed in. When looking up hotels, we were slacking, and a lot of the cheap but clean places were booked. We decided to stay at a place a little more expensive than we had planned, called the Wanderlust. It was worth it. It was situated in Little India, and every room was different. The 2nd floor were the Pantone rooms, each done in a different colour. Ours was the Purple Haze room. It was pretty cool. The complimentary breakfast at this place was unreal. The first morning I went by myself, as Ryan was too tired to get out of bed, and had cinnamon, banana pancakes. They had a menu to choose from and I am glad I chose those. Delicious. The hotel was decorated pretty cool and we loved it.

Ryan playing ukulele in Chiang Mai airport

Purple Haze room

Purple Haze room from the door

Over top the bed

Our hotel from the outside

Oh Little India, what can I say? It was the perfect location to stay in to get around. We were central to everything, close to a MRT station and it was always buzzing around our hotel. The downside, I have never been stared at so much in my life, which I would soon come to realize that would be a theme on this trip. The men in Little India were not subtle about it either. As Ryan would say they would look at my face, then their wife, then my tits, then their wife, then eventually just stare at me. Or my ass as I walked by as well. It was rather annoying after awhile. But other than that, we had some food at a restaurant there called Lagnaa. The food was delicious. The service was excellent (which is hard to find in South East Asia).

Our first night was great cause we had a quick rest, and got ready, and took the MRT to Clarke Quay. We grabbed some food and wandered around. It was quite a lovely area. We met up with a friend of mine whom I had met in Australia, who was now teaching in Singapore. We grabbed drinks at a really interesting bar called The Beer Market, where the beer prices changed every 30 minutes according to how many beers were bought in the last 30 minutes. It was there we started to realize Singapore was a lot more expensive than Thailand. We had a great night out, and I enjoyed catching up with Megan.

Clarke Quay

One thing Ryan really wanted to try was the Flowrider at Sentosa Beach. So we hopped in a cab and went over to Sentosa Beach and Ryan got to surf on the Flowrider for an hour, while I snapped pictures. I now wish that I had tried it too. But I was wearing a bikini that would have easily come off doing that. Another thing we had wanted to do, since Ryan is all about photography, was check out the Marina Bay Sands. One night was spent in front of the buildings taking pictures, the next we went up to the observation deck for some sunset pictures. It was an amazing view. We both got some great shots.

Sentosa Beach

Sentosa

Ryan on Flowrider at Wavehouse in Sentosa, Singapore

This guy wanted a picture with Ryan, cause of his tattoos

All in all, Singapore was an amazing city. We loved the sights, the skyline, the beach, but there were also a lot of weird rules like no chewing gum/spitting on sidewalk. And we felt the people weren't as friendly as we were used to. Though Ryan could have taken pictures for weeks, we were ready to move on to Malaysia...

Skyline

Skyline from observation deck at sunset

Skyline

Skyline from above

Me checking out the view

Me on the observation deck

Marina Bay Sands

Skyline

Last Few Weeks: Chiang Rai, Muay Thai & Last Day of School

So my last couple weeks in Thailand are coming to an end. Today was the last day of teaching. Not that any teaching really happened; pizza party and movies instead. It was a great day, but an emotional one. Many of my female students were in tears, as they know I am soon to be heading back home to Canada. I got the most amazing compliments from them and had a lot of them sign my yearbook. It was lovely. Made me tear up.

But before this, a couple weekends ago, Ryan and I went out one night with my friends  Anna, Lynn, Leah and Megan. We had a blast. We hit up the night bazaar for some cheap foods, and then headed to the lady boy cabaret. It was a lot of fun. And I will definitely miss nights like that when I go home.

I had taken the Monday off of work, so Ryan and I went up to Chiang Rai on Sunday afternoon. I really wanted to show him the White Temple, one of my favourite things I have seen in this country. We took a 3 hour bus ride from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai. The bus ride was not too bad, but we decided to have a nap when we got to our hotel. All of the sudden, mid-nap, Ryan woke up and opened his camera bag. He had forgotten his camera battery in the charger, at our apartment in Chiang Mai. The whole reason we came to Chiang Rai was for him to get some pictures of it. We quickly hopped into a tuk tuk and headed to the mall to see if we could find a battery for his camera. Unfortunately not one of the camera stores or department stores carried the right battery for the model he owned. But Ryan realized that he could buy a battery grip (which he wanted anyways) and use AA batteries in it. So we searched and found one, for cheaper than he would get at home as well. We hopped in another tuk tuk to take us back to the hotel to pick up Ryan's camera gear, and then he took us to the White Temple. Apparently I put one of the batteries in the wrong way to the battery grip, which Ryan figured out and eventually got to take some really good pictures. Meanwhile I took my usual iPhone pictures, but it was amazing to see it again. We wandered the night bazaar in Chiang Rai that night and headed back to the White Temple again in the morning, as we were not able to actually enter it the night before. After an hour or so at the temple, we caught the bus back to Chiang Mai.

Pylon at White Temple

On the gate at the White Temple

White Temple

White Temple: Wat Rong Khun

Pylons at White Temple

Painted on the inside of the White Temple

Painted on inside of White Temple

White Temple

Ryan at White Temple

Last weekend, we went out to a rooftop bar in Chiang Mai on the Friday a met a lovely couple from the Netherlands. We ended up staying out for awhile chatting with them and waiting out the rain. We met up with the couple the next day, and we were all going to ride up to Tiger Kingdom. A lovely man with a 'minibus' gave us a good offer ($6 CAD) for all of us, to take us there, and anywhere else we wanted along the way. So we hit up a crocodile show. It was pretty cool, as the people put their head in crocodile's mouths and such. They asked for volunteers to come in and get their pictures taken with the crocodiles. So I went in and got some pictures posing with one. Then we headed to Tiger Kingdom. Ryan and I picked the package where we got to go in with three different sized tigers. He got a lot of pictures of me, him, and both of us, with the tigers. It was amazing. So cool. Then that night I finally got to see a real Muay Thai fight at the Thapae Boxing Stadium. Bridget and Leah met up with us, and after we hit up the bars for some live music and dancing. My favourite little boy selling flowers was there, as he usually is. We gave him a few hundred baht, cause he is so adorable. It was a great last Saturday out.

Sitting on the crocodile

Tigers fighting over the water hole 

Tiger sticking its tongue at me

So excited about tiger cubs

Petting the tiger

Ryan and I with the baby tigers

My favourite kid, Jack, with ridiculous bracelets

Muay Thai fight

Ryan arm wrestling Thai kids

Last night Ryan and I went on a shopping spree for everything we wanted from the night bazaar, as well as souvenirs for people we hadn't bought anything for yet. We scored some sweet deals and got some pretty awesome things. Saturday morning we leave for Singapore and I am super excited!

Catch-Up: Ryan Arrives, Bangkok Travels and Koh Phi Phi Again

Sorry for the lack of updates since my island hopping trip. With Ryan's arrival in Thailand, I have been admittedly a tad bit preoccupied. So much anticipation had built up before his arrival, and I spent the weekend before he came hanging out with Megan, Leah and Bridget, which was wonderful. Full of infinity pools, foods and drinks, and all around good times.

Infinity Pool

Infinity Pool

Orangeness at the Infinity Pool

View from Infinity Pool

View from Infinity Pool

On May 1st, I moved into an apartment that Ryan had decided to rent for us for the month of May. And I cannot tell you how wonderful life has been since that day. Finally having my own space and not feeling the way I had been feeling the past few months has been wonderful. Then finally I met Ryan in Bangkok, where we spent time just relaxing, getting him adjusted to the time difference and buying a few things from Khao San Road, of course. Then we headed back up here to Chiang Mai to settle into the apartment and spend a day or so relaxing before I headed back to work. Thankfully, I had the Monday off due to a make up day for Coronation Day being on the Saturday. It rained quite a bit, so the most we did was relax at home and met Megan at the mall for some eats and to find Ryan a ukulele of course. To no avail though, as the guy selling ukuleles under the escalator has disappeared. But didn't stop Ryan from buying some camera gear. We eventually found a cute lil kiwi painted ukulele at the Big C super store one night.

Look who I found :)

Eaten by a shark on Khao San Road

My dessert/breakfast

View from new apartment

New Apartment

New Apartment

Cooking bacon eggs for Ryan and I in our apartment

Flying to Chiang Mai

Driving Ryan and I on my scooter

Doing what he does best

Visited this temple again so Ryan could get some pictures

My days last week were spent at work, and Ryan explored Chiang Mai only a little bit, due to his debit card being lost on the weekend and his lack of funds until a new one is sent to him. But with a little cash supplied by me, he was able to get out and take pictures and meet some new friends. He is always good at meeting new people. I envy that. One night we met up with Leah, Bridget and Megan for some Indian food. It was great but it started to pour, so we decided to wait out the storm at the pub next door. Eventually we all gave up and went home.

This past weekend, I took Monday and Tuesday off work, and Ryan and I flew down to Phuket Friday night. Stayed over in Phuket at a hotel close to the pier. In the morning, we caught a ferry over to Koh Phi Phi. We went straight to our hotel to check in. We had a great time in Phi Phi. It was a completely different experience than the first time I went, only a month ago. I mean this time was with Ryan, so obviously it was bound to be different. But it was more than that. The island itself was not as busy, as it is the start of low season now. The weather was lovely, though a few rain clouds brought brief moments of rain. But it never lasted long, so it was nothing to complain about.

Due to Ryan's nature, it was not long before we made friends with the local guys who worked at the bar across from our resort. Or I should say Ryan made friends with and I tagged along. The guys who work at the bar Carpe Diem were quite wonderful. Always striking up conversation with us whenever they saw us, getting us to come up and participate in the fire show they put on at night and hooking us up with a long tail boat driver to take us to Maya Bay for cheaper than I had paid last time around. We spent our down time hanging out with them, and our last night at another bar with Jack, who was part of the fire show there. This time we skipped with a skipping rope lit on fire and Ryan got to try a bit of the fire show action. It was a great time.

Ryan on ferry to Phi Phi

Koh Phi Phi

Fire show

Me learning to play with fire with our new friend

Jack lighting Ryan's cigarette for him

Viewpoint

Ryan playing keep ups with one of our new friends

Koh Phi Phi

Koh Phi Phi

Maya Bay was completely different as well. First of all, this time the water was a little rougher. Because of this, our driver was not able to take us around into actually Maya Bay where Maya Beach is. But he took us behind, where you can snorkel and then climb up stairs and walk through a camp ground, to get to Maya Beach. Last time we were not able to go on Maya Beach so it was nice to be able to stand on the actual beach this time. But this meant Ryan could not bring his good camera, luckily he had his Go Pro in the waterproof case so we were able to take a few pictures still. After that our driver took us to Monkey Beach, where this time we had no food to feed them, but Ryan took some pictures and we watch monkeys attack two people. They were fine. And it was funny.

Ryan on boat to Maya Bay

Me on boat to Maya Bay

Ryan and I on boat to Maya Bay

The only downside was leaving. Not just because it was a great weekend away, but because the boat ride back to Phuket was awful. The water was rough and the boat moved around so much that they had to pass out plastic bags to everyone in case of sea sickness. At first I didn't think it was necessary, but then it hit me. All of the sudden I became extremely nauseous. My body started to sweat all over, but I felt cold. My stomach was turning and I felt like I was going to be sick. Like a baby, tears came to my eyes cause I felt so ill so quickly. Ryan fished out some Gravol from the luggage, and I laid across the seats on his lap and tried to sleep it off. Eventually we got to Phuket, took the mini-bus transfer to the airport and waited for our flight (3 or so hours). We eventually got back to Chiang Mai and our apartment at 10:30pm and crashed hard. And I was back to work this morning.

All in all, my life right now could not be better. I am the happiest I have been since I got here.