Woke Up this morning to decide on our plans for tomorrow as we are suppose to depart from singapore to bangkok , we where a little unsure of
plans as we didnt have a set route of the journey we just both wanted to island hop and stay on the beach !
we decided we would go to bangkok and take a bus to phuket , so we booked a hostel that had beach huts to sleep on right on the beach, but after
our day of meeting another traveller from usa are plans took a spin.
we spent the day going to china town to check out outdoor markets but it was raining and we didnt want to go out in the rain, so we decided to head to
douby ghaut to check out some dollar store that other fellow back packers where raving about
, we got to the store that all the other hostelers talked about , but it was no interest to us just full of
trinkets for your house, not really any backpacker stuff. We then decided to go battle box a underground bomb shelter that was used in the war, our new friend
was in the us army so this was alot of interest to him, to get to this place we had to trek through the rain again, it is always raining in singapore
but it still stays hot and humid, but the good thing is though the rain wont hurt your money all the money is plastic and it doesnt even tear i even
tried ripping it! after battle box we we walked to raffles hotel which is a hotel that was built in 1890 and is really fancy and high end, it is a hostorical
point for singapore and it is where the famous singapore sling drink was invented. we decided to have a drink there because the saying is you cant
go to singapore with out having a singapore -sling, We went into the famous 'Long Bar' and sat down when you walked in there, there was peanuts all over the floor
they where serving them to the guests to eat. The drink was 27$ and was really out of my budget but I thought when will I ever have one again, and let me tell
ya it sure tasted good, since it costed so much i didnt slurp this one down and only had one drink! After our drink we decided to go back to the hostel
and along the way get some alchol we where in the mood to party and we hadnt done so the whole trip , we stopped at the liquor store and the cheapest
vodka was 82$ for a two-six we where shocked we asked why and they said beacause all alchol in singapore is imported and that is w hy it costs so much, we
decided not to purchase any but to head down to clark quay and check out the party street. the street was full or trendy bars, even a bar called hospital
and you sat in wheel-chairs and your drinks where served to you through i.v bags, strange but sooo cool. the street and all the bars where really trendy
and so modern and we where upset because i guess on wednesday nights on clark quay girls drank for free ahhh it was thursday and we missed out. since everything
was so expense on clark quay we decided to go back to the hostel. we did pick up some beers a seven elven and you are aloud to
drink on the street, which is so strange because you cant chew gum in singaapore they dont even sell it or you cant be gay all these laws have death
penaltys but you can still drink on the street weird!
after spending a great day with our new friend that looks like matt maconhauy the famous
actor we all decided to keep on travelling south and head to indonsia together. we had our flight booked to bangkok and we needed to change it asap
we changed our flight to open date and will make it into thailand in a month or so after we are done seeing indonesia and chilling on the beach in Bali, our
new friend is really nice but we continue to joke about the movie taken or broke-down palace hopefully and i pray that will never happen.
We left our hostel and said good-bye to our little family there the family of my bunk buddy who is from dubai and has a strict relgion, i am not sure
what he is doing in singapore but i did talk him into that i lived in a igloo and had a polar bear as a pet dog in canada! Josies bunk buddy was from
sweden and he has been in singapore for over a month in search of a job he is really smart and uses the biggest words when talking to you , so strange
and we will never forget the crabby old man who thought he worked at the hostel he would continue to get mad at everything he was 50 years old and
some one must have shit in his corn flakes alot , i did catch him on the web searching out a asian bride lol. we only stayed in the hostel for 5 days
but those people will always make me laugh!
Currently right now I am sitting on a ferry that is going to suktpand indnosia , it is very swaying and i am starting to feel a little sea sick,! i have a
window seat and there are so many off shore drilling rigs all over the ocean and little islands we keep passing, it is sunset so it looks beautiful, we decided to take the
ferry across water as it is a cheap route we are paying 23$ to get to indo from singapore great deal, we may be on this ferry all night though ;(
it was funny though as we had to check our bags for the ferry ride but when we got inside the ferry all our bags where pilled infront of us, josie
had a bag of chips in her bag, i am sure she is going to have a bag full or crumbs.
it is funny how we had no plan yesterday but now are on our way to indonisia pass port stamps are adding up fast and who knows where the rest of
trip will bring us, i am so ready for a adventure of a life time, but time to go now as i may get sick from the swayy sway and victor our usa friend
is craving
a coffee but they are brewing it through a sock in the back as a fliter so he is going to wait LMAO!
We finally reach the indonesia ferry port we head inside to go through immigration and they are asking for fee for
visa which we forgot to bring cash for the nearest atm was 5minutes away there was 3 of us and one of the officer
had to go with our new friend to get the cash, this immigration was like one you would not even imagaine
the customs desk guy looked blind and he didnt even ask for me to put my bag through, and well we waited for
victor to get back we sat and waited well the indonesian immigtration officer was asking for our email and asking
if we wanted a ride after he was done work , the workers where walking around aimiesly and there looked like there
was no professional system. when victor got back he had told us that they where trying to rip us off by 25% by
increasing the fee for the 30 day visa, this seemed really true as it was not organized there and there was no
reciepts for anything, Josie then realized she had 50$ us cash in her bag and that paid for our visa without
any conflicts, after we got out of immigration and easily walked by custums we needed to take a taxi into Nagoya for the
night for we could leave in the morning to head the coast of samutra island. When we walked outside to get
a cab it sounded like a auction every indonsia cab driver was screaming at you trying to get you inside there
cab we just choice the one with the best price, they took us into town we stopped at a atm
and there money here is insane they run in RP i took out 1 Million Dollars that is right I took out 1 million
dollars which is equilavent to 100$ canadian !! that is the only time in my life i will ever have one million
in my hand i had to get a picture\! and we stayed at some dodgy hotel that was 4$ where when you came in the
entrance there was kittens everywhere lucky we are only here
for the night, when we went into our room you could tell it was not that clean so
I am happy i brought my sleeping bag because i was not sleeping on those sheets! and they do
not believe in toilet paper as most of the population is musilm , so i am saving every napkin i can find!
after we checked into the hotel we decided to get something to eat, we walked down the street where there where
cats everywhere and when i walking i almost stepped on a cock-roach! I let out a loud scream eww, the streets
where filled with garbage and the street reacked like shit! I saw some golden arches ahead and we knew mcdonald
was calling our name ! The mcdonalds even served rice and spagetti! after our meal we went back to the hotel
and called it a night,
In the morning we woke up and caught a cab back to the ferry to head to burha we are headed to the west coast of
the island of sumatra where there is suppose to be awsome islands and surf! When we caught the cab we asked spefically
the cost to the ferry they continued to ignore us but he knew we where saying 20,000 which is $2, it seems like
you can drive here for a whole hour for $1 which is insane! After our cab ride back to the ferry port we got out the
cab and he started to demand more money , we did not give in and gave him his money and left,! Again we walked up
the ferry port and the auction started again they where all screaming at you to buy a ticket and trying to
compete with eachother, we bought a 25$ ticket for a ferry and bus ride , we got on the ferry and the air conditioning
was cranked it was sooo cold, the bathroom on the ferry was littering a cement pad with a hole in it, prepare
to squat and bring your t.p!! after the ferry we went to go to our bus , the bus we where looking at was
jammed packed and in indonesia you always read about the chicken bus which means a bus that is packed full of people
people riding beside chickens, goats, kids vomitting, people having sex etc, people riding on the top of the bus
etc, this bus looked like the chicken bus ride was going to come true, lucky enough since we paid a little more
for our tickets we got to ride in a volkswagon like bus, there was 16 people in this van it was packed we awhere
the only white people and where getting stare from everyone, all
the windows where open and we where trying to get as much air conditioning inside! the ride was interesting the road was
gravel and the dust was flying my white shirt turned to brown and every pot hole we hit we where bottoming out,
the view was great it was lush green grass with palm trees for miles, there was peoplee houses along the way
they where above the ground lifted above for water , and there drive pads where 2 by 4 boards scattered every
where ! We did have a little kid puking in the van lucky i didnt smell it! after our long bus ride we settled we
got dropped off at a hotel there was no vacany available but there was indo band outside and they asked us if
we wanted to come and watch them play as they where having a concert that night we wanted to get settedled first
then make our way there , they actually gave up one of there rooms and let us stay there and didnt want to
take any of our money they where super nice and even bought us supper , our supper was rice that came in a bamboo
wrapper that was folded up like a tee-pee, with curry sauce that came in a zip-lock bag i guess if you want any
beverage her in indo it come in ziploc bags and you poke straws through them to drink, we also had som chicken
wings it was pretty good. So that night we went with the band to the concert we got into there van and headed to the
show when we got there we got to sit front row and they served us more dinner with crazy indo food, i stuck to the
rice and bottle water, Josie was actually filling pretty sick and was vomitting so we decided to go in the van
and sleep untell every one was ready to go , when every one came back we headed to the hotel and went to bed, when
we woke in the morning we had to option to find a flight to bali or travel with the band down the coast to
bukkingteng we looked for flights and there was none leaving on the same day so we went with the band, joe was
stilling feeling sick this morning so they made her sit front seat, we drove the coast and got to see wonderful
scenery and they even pulled over a few times for picture moments, one spot we pulled over was on a bridge
and the mountains where really high full of palm trees night like the snow one we have a home below the bridge
was a fish farm you could see all the fish swimming frantickly! the roads up the mountain where really whindy
and i was starting to feel quezzy! here in indo they drive on the left side and the sterring wheel on the right
there are no roads light or street signs and people drive like maniakes and there are bikes everywhere
even 5 people loaded on one seat , with babys hanging off moms arms. We passed alot of houses and small towns
along the way with rosters and ducks and stray dogs everywhere, we did stop for a meal on the side of the
road we had some chicken soup which was so strange! this resturant was on the side of the road and when we went to
sit down we pulled out our chair and there was a cat sitting on there and ants running all over the table.! outside
there 2 small kids and they where laughing at us and where scared we where the first white people they had saw
ever they where super cute, the band we where travelling with wanted us to see true indo people and there culture.
they brought us to there home town bukkingtime we had been travelling in that van all day and got a hotel
and surfed the net looking for flight to bali from padong which 2hours away from here, hopefully we have luck and
get out of here in the morning and to a nice beach, the travel in the van was cool and sights that are hard to explain
this is a 3rd world country and i kinda felt like i was in a world vision video or unicef the sights are true, and
the people are still working in rice paddy fields walking around carry bundle of sticks on there head and living in
shacks, makes me happy to live in canada but great experience to see
after surfing the net for a bit a drunken
group of white people had stummbled by and victor our new travel bud had started talkikng to them, they where
here from all over the world and where helping re-build homes from the tsumani that hit on sept 2009, they had
asked if we wanted to volunteer and to come out to a small village, we where going to think about it .
when we woke up the next morning we went to pizza hut and had a pizza for 3$ yummy and cheap! here the group that
was volunterring was also here they explained to us that the sleeping condition where on the floor and you had
to bring your own work gloves boots and clothing that covereed your skin as we where in a muslim culture and they
dont respect that. We decided not to volunteer as we would have to purcahse alot of stuff and we had limited time
in indosnia as we where here on a 30day visa, we got there card and maybe in the future will volunteer and
help with diaster relief, the group was called 'hands on'. after we decided not to volunteer we needed to book
a flight to bali because driving would take to long we found a flight but it didnt leave tell the next day, so
we where stuck in bukkingteng for another night, so during the day we just walked the streets and checked out the
vendors, we only had summer clothes with us and we where wearing shorts and tanks top which is a big no no here
we where getting stares from all the muslims and we where the only white people around. Even kids would still
stare to see us. The vendors that we say on the street all carried boy clothes as the girls in the culture
all had to wear saris and be fully covered so there was not much shopping for us! We checked back into singalang
hotel for another night, when we woke up the next morning at 6:00 we where waiting for our shuttle to take us
to padang to the airport which was 2hours away, it was 6:45 and th shuttle was still not here , alot of people
asked if we wanted a ride though but we where not climbing into any of those vechiles, when the shuttle did
arrive it was a blue blazer and there was already 6 people inside it was a full car! the blazer also had a
stereo in it and they pounded white club music, which is strange because no speaks english but they listen
to the music. it was 8:45 when we got to the airport and our flight left at 10:00 but i guess here 30min before
check in is ok! the security is ridicioulous people where walking through customs and they where beeping the
siren but no check they continued to walk and i forget in my bag i had saftety pins cosmetics sunscreen, none
of that would have been able to go through in canada, and even at check in we did not need any idenification
nor showing our passport, we where again the only white people on the plane, hopefully when we get to bali there
will be more english speakers.
so we arrived in bali at denspar airport and took a cab into kuta the main tourist place, it was dark when we got here
and we had to find some accomadation we searched the net and they where outragoues prices we where
told to walk poppy lanes and we would find a cheap hotel, sure enough we asked a guy on the street
if he knew of any cheap accomadation he told us he was staying at one for 18$ a night so he should us the
hotel it was like luxury swimming pool palm trees all that you could wish for, so spilt in 2 it was only 9$
for me and joe great deal! after checking in the guy that showed us the accomadation was going out for
dinner we hadnt ate all day so we went with him, on the way there we walked by some many vendors selling
all the knock off stuff you could imagine, after eating dinner we stopped at the internet cafe and called my
parents for the first time in a month, on skype which is a cheap internet phone line, after the internet
we walked past a pirating dvd place and i bought 14 dvd for 10$ and these are movies that are still in
theater!! whoop whoop best deal so far, when getting back to the hotel we found a cock-rroach in our room
it was huge , and now joe is sleeping in her cocoon mosquito net lol , it is like a mini tent all zipped in.
so i woke up this morning giggling as josie was in her cocoon all night and still in the middle night she screamed
a couple a times, lol, i told her about she thought she may have been dreaming about bugs which really freak
her out! when we got up we had to room switch as we where going to another room in same hotel at hotel arena but
for cheaper price so we packed our stuff again and brought down stairs and had a 2$ breakfest buffet! yummy,
so today we where off to the beach we layed there soaked up the sun and played in the bali sea, which really
hurt my eyes because there was so much salt, i am starting to think my eyes are super senstive as i can
not go with out my sun glasses! well laying on kuta beach there is alot of indo marketers trying to sell
you stuff braclets sunglasses food ice cream massages etc, kinda get annoying after awhile , at kuta beach
you are here to learn to surf and there are beginner riders every where, we woke up and had a late start this
morning so we decided to try surfing tomorrow when we can make it a full day event, after sitting on the beach
all day and watching the sunset go down we headed back to the hotel and to get ready to go get a bite to eat
we ate a place called tree house it alright and only costed 4$ with appetizer drink and meal, good deal. after
dinner we decided to stroll the markets around the markets are kids baggin for money or moms breast fedding there
kids and baggin for money, they are every where! well browsing the street we found a massage place that offered
a hot stone aromatherpay full body massage for 1 hour for 12$ we decided to get it done! so upstairs we went
for the massage and i was wearing a beach dress with nothing on underneath lol it was so hot dont blame me! but
any who she gave me disposable panties to wear lol, after laying down on the table it was a great massage but
the stones where really hot and kinda felt rough and it didnt help that i got a sunburn today at the beach and
i came here pre tanned so who knows maybe the bali sun is just that hot! after the massage we walked back to the
hotel and passed by some vendors on the way everything is so cheap you just have to barder!
woke up this morning and had our 2$ breakfest buffet from our hotel best deal ever they make u a omelte and there is
open buffet. after breakfest i rented my first surf board for the day it costed 4$ and off to kuta beach we
went, it is only a 5minute walk from the hotel. when we got the beach i went in and tried the surf board
it didnt seem that hard just paddle and stand up but there was so much sea salt getting in my eye that i had to take
a break, so i laid on the beach again, josie was getting a lesson done at this time so i watched her it was
amusing! after a bit josie came in and we continued to sit on the beach, there was this lady selling fruit
she sold me a whole pineapple that she removed all the peels and it you held it but the stem well you ate
it only cost me a $1. after enjoying my pineapple i was looking at my board i had broke a fin , not sure
how i did only take one good fall in the wave but i didnt think it was enough to break a fin, the fins are
made of fiber glass so that is now in the ocean , sucks maybe some one may step on it but i guess it happens
all the time, but when i did purchase my board he said he would charge me if any thing was broken i swear
i was sold a shitty board with that fin, so i did have to pay 3$ to get it fixed lucky it was cheap , after
we decided to hit the water again this time josie instructor
took me out he kept calling me sexy bum lol not sure why but all the locals seem to call you that, in the d.r
r it was cheapy cheapy all the time here it is sexy bum and money for good luck! the insturctor told me to
keep my legs on the board at all time and it is essential to paddle when the wave is coming in i got up
on my first try with him and then again on the 2nd yeah! but then again my eyes where hurting so in i
went to the beach again, after the day of surfing we had another meal and called it a night
today we woke up and decided to get the famous bananna pancakes that jack johnson always sings about and that
we hear taste soo good, every one serves them here in bali. we ordered the pancake it was only 1$ but it
didnt live up to expections it was just a pancake with bannane slices grilled into it, it tasted good
but we thought it would be some thing else, we will try them again some where else to see if we got the
experience. after breakfest we went to see how much a shuttle would be to ubud, we where told it would be
30$ for a driver to drives us around for the entire day and show us the sites, so we took the offer
up, it felt really cool to sit in the back of this vechile and this guy to treat you like rich white
girls lol which we really are poor backpackers he would open doors etc, on our way to ubud there was a
motor cycle accident in front of us , there was four people on the bike and you could see them fliying off the bike we where
right behind him lucky the driver slammed on his brakes waste because we almost ran one over, the driver
ran out and helped them up and moved the bike off the road, he got back in and we are back on our way, it
was just so a eye opener watching these people fall right in front of us :! after the accident
he took us to a silver shop first that he told us we
would see silver getting made. when we got there was no silver being made it was basically a shop to buy
silver we where like awww this better not be pleys to buy stuff along this day trip. we then headed to a temple
that praised the hindu gods, here they gave you a sarong to wear as you can not enter in a temple with bare legs
and we where wearing sun dresses, in side there was a cool stone carvings, after we headed to see the rice terraces
when we got there we got out of the vechile where i was swarmed by little kids and adults trying to sell you stuff
from postcards to pencils to sarongs, it is like you see on tv where a movie star gets out of there vechile and people are
everywhere over them asking for autographs, but this was beggers asking to buy there stuff you could barely walk with out
10 of them around you, after getting through the bustle we walked down the hill and say the rice terrace it looked
beautiful with perfectly scultpulted hills of rice crops. they had bamboo huts there and you could sit and eat
a meal with the rice that had been farmed from those hills. i ordered a sweet and sour chicken and rice it was excellent
and we also shared a giant cocunt drink, the cocunt was bigger then my head! when we where eating our dinner
it started to rain hard, so we finished our meal in the bamboo hut and headed to monkey forest, the name says it all
moneys in a forest! when we got there we walked down the path and monkeys where running everywhere, i had to stop by one
and get a picture the monkey seemed friendly and it put it hand out and grabbed my boob a few times so weird i couldnt
stop laughing , after the interagation from the monkey it started to rain hard again so most of the monkeys took shelter
we continued to walk in the forest it had cool little stairs ways that ran beside a river. i wish it wasnt raining then
we could have got the full monkey experience. we then headed to the markets in ubud, we thought we would stop at the
interent cafe as he was giving us 1hour to shop and we really didnt want to buy anything, well in the cafe josie was
researching a book she just recently read called 'eat , love, pray' in the book it talked about the town of ubud in bali
where there was medicine healer, and a palm reader that predic this authors life. Josie was intriguied by this book and she
really wanted to find these to people. we headed to bali traditional healing to find dr.wayne , we found the shop tucked in
a small alie where ckickens and roosters where clucking everywhere, we went inside but she said she was to busy and
we would have to come back tomorrow, in her place you could see on the back wall a picture of the author of eat, love , pray and
a picture of julia roberts we new we where at the right place, josie was a little upset because she didnt get to see her but
was happy that she found the place, we where then off to find ketut liyer the palm reader, every one in ubud new of him
and any one on the street you asked could point you in the way of his house, we found his house and we went inside and his
son greated us, he told us that his dad was really tired and would like us to come tomorrow, our driver then told him we
where from canada and we came all this way so he agreed to read our palm, he was this little old man with 2 teeth in his upper
jaw with lots of root exposure, and was sitting crossed leg on his porch, there was one gentlemen ahead of us and he said he
was waiting 2hours, so once it was our time to go we where excited, even opera raved about this book so we thought we
had a fortuniated experience, expect that he read my palm , read my back, and checked my legs, and told me the exact
same thing as he told joe, so it was a total waste of money and we felt ripped as this girl had raved about him andd
people from all over the world cometo him :( what a downer for a rap up of a end of a night.
today we woke up and we where off to dreamland, it was was a beach full of surfers, you couldnt even swim here the waves
where washing in at the shore so intese, but the surfers where amazing they had great talent, at dream land we laid on the
beach under the umberrela as we where still a bit crisp from our first day in kuta! after a few hours of laying on the beach
we where , off to padung padung to another beach here we walked down between to walls of rock close together with small steps
we heard some screatching and we couldnt see what was around the corner of the rock stair wall , but we found out it was monkeys
fighting, after walking down the tight rocks we where welcomed to a beautiful beach with rocks coming out of the water it looked
like paradise, here we took a swim as the water was calm and there was snorkerls fishing for squid! we stayed here for a few hours,
i wanted to take a lot of picutes but my camera died just like in d.r so i hope it is not done for good because i dont want
to have to buy a new one: ( i will never suggest olypus water camera to any one. but anywho after the beach we headed to
oluwatu which was high on the hill when we got there we had to again put on a sarong on because there was temple and no
leg is to be shown for respect! we walked up some stairs and where looking down a rock cliff at the ocean looked amazing, but no
camera for pics :( here at oluwatu there was monkeys everywhere more then at monkey forest they where just everywhere, our
guide then took us to get a seat for the ketuk dance well the sunset went down. the ketuk dance is a culture dance that the music
is created from saying the word ketuk over and over, it is a 70 indonesian men that make the coolest noise ! the dance was awsome
and hard to explain it is a must see for everyone that comes to bali! when we got back to kuta the power was out everywhere
so again we where off to bed.
for a couple days we woke up and just lied at the beach for the entire day and played in the sea worked on the tan, we
did inquire about kite surfing we thought we could try it but i guess it is a course that takes 10hours to do and you get
a certificate for it also, the cost was 250$ i thought for this expense i would save it for a deep water dive course for i
could scuba and save it for thailand!
we did go out last night
and went to a area of kuta called 'the legian' it is where all the bars and night life is. we went to a bar called skygarden because
it was free drinks for ladys but when we got there we found out the time for the free drinks was between 11-12 so we where to late
but there was this bar beside called 'the bounty' and lets say this is a bar full of aussies and not one person sober no one
couldnt even walk straight it was so funny to see because we where not drunk! lets just say the aussies in bali sure know how
to party! we ended up having a few jugs of slushy drinks and where starting to get in the groove the bar had alot of different
levels and different music and even karokee , after our drinks we where feeling a buzz but didnt want to waste any more
money alchol so we decided to go back to the hotel, the hotel was about a 15minute walk and we where feeling lazy
so we hopped on our first motorbike taxi and went home it was so funny to ride on the back down these little alleys, but
i probably just thought it was really funny because i was drunk lol.
december 2-2009 woke up this morning and where off to nusa dusa to do some snorkeling, they took us there in a glass bottom boat which we did not see anything, i remembered this time to have my gear on before getting in the water for the salt didnt hurt my eyes, after getting in we snorkeled around but didnt see that much, and then a guy had a piece of bread and tons of fish where all around us but that only lasted a minute, one day i will find a great snorkel place full of colour and fish hopefully the great barrier reef in australia, fingers crossed, after the snorkel they took us over to turtle island , it is a place where the turtles where protected, they showed us baby turtles and adult turtles we even got to hold them but the best part was that they let us swim in the aquarium with them the turtles where so big and the oldest one was 65 years and was gigantic they all just swan around you, good experience no camera just have to keep that memory for my head another funny thing was that all these indo muslim familys kept asking for pictures of us like we where celebritys as i guess it is rare for them to see a white person i think we got 15 different photos done with different familys they where so excited lol but i was so embarresed:( after the turtle island we got back in the boat and headed back for shore the boat was going so slow because the water was so shallow.
