goodbye... farewell... until we meet again!

just a fewww hours until i go to the airport. i'm kind of nervous. not really to fly (for 16 hours! have a layover in tokyo but a very very short one), but to be back home. 

i think, i hope, that i'll be back here again someday. i definitely want to come travel around southeast asia more. there are so many great things to see in the countries around here and i'm a little displeased that i didn't take more advantage of it. but i guess it's just a reason to return and begin my adventures around the world. i don't think i would mind working here, living in the city. nothing permanent though. the life of an expat sounds pretty sweeet but what do i know :)

i'm gonna miss 80 degree weather in december. sunny blue skies and a tropical island, with the occasional downpour is really nice. i won't miss being too warm at times though, not a big fan of humidity. i'll miss meeting so many people from so many different countries. singapore is swarming with foreigners. it can get a little monotonous when you ask someone where they're from and it's either norcal or socal (i love california nonetheless!!). i'm a little bit divided on whether or not i'll miss singlish, lah. can?? yes can. i think i'll miss it a little. it's just as funny as spanglish... maybe a little more frustrating. also, i don't know if it's something i'll necessarily miss, but it was different being the minority. a significant minority. not too many mexicans here. there's always something to talk about when you are from a different country. but singaporeans are so accepting of others that it really wasn't inconvenient at all. they do after all have 4 official languages! and tourism is a big industry around these parts (which btw reminds me of bangkok, crazy what's going on there right now!). at home, i've had quite a few people ask me if i'm part asian... i don't really see it? but my brother gets it too sometimes so i dunno. BUT, i can't even remember how many times people HERE and in thailand & malaysia asked me if i had any sort of asian in me. it's like they know that i'm not, but they can't quite figure out where i'm from. apparently i'm exotic looking but it's probably because they've never seen a mexican. very different from southern cali which is like half mexican so i don't feel singled out very often. 

i spent my last day walking around the city, shopping, going to the national museum of singapore again (the stuff there is just so cool!) and just taking in this lovely & beautiful little island. 

i'll probably have more reflections about this 4 month holiday when i get back to the states. gonna have some major yetlag (jetlag). i can't waaaaiit to see everyone! there are just way too many things going on in my head right now....

i'm going back home to the west coast

where did the time go? how is this over already? i miss everyone so much already and i haven't even left yet.

i'm in a hostel right now, all by my lonesome. had to move out of my dorm room today so i'm staying here till my flight leaves tomorrow morning. the hostel is really nice, more of a hotel really.  

but i'm really sad right now. really. i had to say bye to maggie, magnus, asa & martin today. all in one day! i'm trying not to be an emo kid but i can't help it. i think it's highly probable that i am going to have a breakdown when i get to customs tomorrow and have to surrender my student's pass. its really over....

i have a lot more to write. i'll do it later. in a little more than 24 hours i'll be getting on a plane to cross over the pacific ocean. biggest ocean in the world, btw. 

[p.s.] jag älskar dig, you silly swedes!! i love the americans too :) 

thanksgiving

i think it's the first time in my life that i won't be at a family holiday... but i do have a bad memory so i may be wrong. a little bit bummed to be missing out, but not really because i know i'll be there in a few days. and i'm too busy trying to enjoy my last days in Singapore without getting all teary. here's what i'm thankful for:

1. my parentals. they are absolutely brilliant and i couldn't ask for better ones. they support me and love me unconditionally even though I KNOW i drive them mad at times. things get rough but i love them no matter what. they don't judge, they instead express concern. they trust that i'll make smart decisions and that i'll learn from dumb things that i've done. parents are parents but i think mine are quite lovely.... most of the time :)

2. my little broski and sissy sister. i'm thankful for my brother because he does almost anything i'll ask. i try to not take advantage of it. i think it's a mutual relationship though. and my sister... well, i think every girl needs a sis. i'm thankful that she shares her bed with me when i go home. and that she'll let me play my "rock n roll" (most of the time). and that even though i don't always ask she let's me borrow her stuff. they've been pretty cool younger siblings & they make being the oldest pretty easy. 

3. my marvelous friends. my bestest friends at home, my roomies, my 'sisters' (hahaha)- love 'em all. i choose to surround myself with good people whom i respect and they do the same in return. it's that simple & it's worked out rather favorably. i've had the most amazing times of my life with some of these people and i can't wait to get back to them! 

4. my BF(F). nearly 4 and a half years..... why do we still like each other?!? even through the bad & ugly times, i knew we were merely waiting for each other to grow up. i'm so incredibly thankful to have this person in my life. & that's probably an understatement :)

there are of course other things i'm thankful for. my lazy doggie (the only one who will lay around with me alll day when i visit home). the incredible opportunity to live in a foreign country. i'm thankful for the good health and happiness that runs in my family. i'm thankful for all the cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and other 'family' that will be there no matter what... and are always down for a good old -fashion  get together. i'm thankful that i am lucky enough to be so happy. 

unfortunately, i'm not really having any sort of thanksgiving dinner. probably just some indian food like usual. since everyone's leaving singapore in the next couple days, we are going to spend these last couple nites having a good time. a straight-up debauchery festival. 

on an unrelated note- i went to the bird park and the zoo yesterday. i LOOOVED it all. penguins were my favorite- duh. perhaps one day i will have the joy of having one for myself. just a little small one? the white tigers were beautiful, magnificent, and terrifying creatures. last week (NO JOKE), a guy jumped into the white tiger exhibit and got mauled to death. crazy. apparently, the zoo people weren't too concerned because everything pretty much went on as usual a few days later. i mean, it WAS the crazy guys fault for jumping in there. did he think those tigers were just gonna lick his face? the singapore zoo and the bird park are so freakin cool. a lot different from the zoo back home. all the exhibits are so much more open. i guess it's natural since this is a tropical island. it's pretty cool when monkeys and birds aren't caged up. i just felt a lot.... closer (?) to a lot of the animals. not so many restrictions. scary and exciting. 

this kid went from thinking the bird on his head was funny to being absolutely terrified by it. the whole thing, including the kid in the background, was hilarious.

1 week.

that's all i have left. & i've been pretty EMOtional about it. i am not very good with goodbyes (who is?). people are starting to leave. but i'm not gonna think about that right now because i don't want to get sad again. also, that doesn't mean i don't like america (claud!!). i am actually very excited for home. i like home :) it's just too many thoughts and emotions to handle sometimes.

let's see, what's been going on in the week that i've had off....

celebrated Henrik's birthday (one of the SWEDEy pies). i call him Henny. anyway, we woke up him up realll early to sing happy birthday. well, the swedes sang happy birthday- maggie & i just clapped because we don't speak swedish. then that nite we went to KM8, a beach bar at Sentosa Island. it was lots of fun & i think the Henny will agree he had a good birthday. we had a mini-adventure getting back and ended up at a mall looking for food & a way to get back to school. to our delight there was a huge lit up christmas tree and santa sleigh outside! oh geez it made me really homesick. NOTE: i think Singapore starts up the holiday season pretty early. every single store at the mall the other day was playing christmas music. and the have sooo many pretty lights and decorations in the city!! but sheesh i thought you were supposed to wait until after thanksgiving?

maggie, khaleedah and i had our last "ThirstDay nite @ Le Noir" last week.... sad face. we go here almost weekly. i'm going to miss it a whole lot. we knew it was our last nite there together so we bought two bottles of champagne to ensure a healthy celebration. 

this is our security guard. he is here every night. looks pretty scary right? i don't know if he's the security guard because there is relatively low crime (like none) or if there's low crime because he's the security guard. i catch him taking naps. notice the open-toe shoes- very reliable if he ever had to chase down a suspect. 

IKEA is basically the motherland for Swedish people. we went there for dinner a couple nights ago and i had some meatballs and a chocolate ball and some other swedish goodies. the IKEA here is quite different then at home. well, it's exactly the same except for that here there's a whole ton of Swedish food to eat (not just $1 hot dogs) and even a mini market full of imported Swedish treats. i'm pretty sure we don't have that at home! unless i haven't ever noticed it? i'm definitely going to check it out.... 

Khaleedah left back to Atlanta/Miami last night. she had to leave really really early so we decided to stay up all night until she had to leave. instead of saying bye i told her i would see her in Miami for spring break. she is one of the most ridiculous bizarre understanding sensational hilarious person i've met. & i can't wait to see her again!!

  

current mood: happy :)

if you've ever gone through finals at school, then you probably know the wonderful feeling you have when they're finally over. it's almost euphoric knowing that you are freeee and don't have a worry in the world. i just finished my last test. my last school-related event in singapore. i can't believe i got here in july. they don't really have seasons when you live on the equator so my entire time here has kind of blended together. they do finals here the way they do them in Harry Potter- hundreds of people in one huge room in lined up desks. cool. except for that it's so cold in there because the air conditioner is at like 50 degrees so my fingers start to cramp up while i'm writing. though that might also be due to the fact that i haven't picked up a pen all semester... or that i'm holding the pen in a death grip and writing furiously for 2 hours. i would be lying if i said i'm going to miss the classes here. 

so now i have exactly 2 weeks left in Singyyypore. the only plans i have are to get tan and shop because i haven't bought gifts for anybody yet. and go to the zoo. it's like being on vacation while you are already on vacation. & oh yeah, when i get back i'm still on vacation for a month and a half. i have no complaints about my life.... nooo complaints. except that i don't know what i am going to do with it. but i'll worry about that later. i'm just looking forward to hanging out with the wonderful friends i have made here and going home to see the people that i love.

pretty happy right now.  

student plus dying equals studying

studying for final exams is wonderful! not. it's hard enough to study when i'm at home- it's even worse when you are in a foreign country and the last thing you want to do is study for a week straight. add in the fact that students at Nanyang are ONLY about their studies (more than usual) right now. plus, i can't stop thinking how i only have exactly 3 weeks left on this little island. it can be a little detrimental to your stamina. 

have i mentioned before that i have basically been eaten away by bugs & mosquitos since i've gotten here?? i don't know what it is (my blood?) but they freakin attack at all times. i hope i don't get dengue fever. actually surprised i haven't got it yet.   

last friday we hung out with some people we didn't really know and there was a girl there who had been traveling for the past 7 years and was finally on her way back home to New Zealand. she was not that pleasant to be around with but she did tell us this interesting thing about South Korea that we didn't believe until Khaleedah googled it. Koreans believe in Fan Death. Death by Fan. you know that fan you have blowing in your room right now, yeah it could kill you. it's really funny when you think about it, but those South Koreans are not messing around at all.

i haven't put pictures up in awhile, but that's only because i haven't taken any. so i'm stealing some. from daniel mostly. he takes some pretty good photos.

singapore is a fine city. you can't do anyyything here

this is one of our favorite little bouncers... isn't he precious

blahg

today was day 3 of my attempt to start studying. it's not like i have class... i really don't know what i am wasting my time on all day. oh, i know, birthday cards!! :) & other nonsense.

talked to my mom & brother earlier today (btw, the time difference is now 16 hours instead of 15) and that was quite entertaining. we started talking about the internet and how much i LOVE it and my precious mum said "i went on the internet for like 2 minutes the other day and then got off. i don't know what you guys look at. it's boring." oh mom, i can always count on her for a little giggle. but i really do love the internet... once i start clicking i just can't stop! 

the election is today!! obviously very exciting. i know it sounds nerdy but i think it's a very exciting time in history. i already sent in my absentee ballot weeks ago but i hope everyone at home votes (& judging by all of the facebook status updates, there are A LOT of people who already plan to). 

silly billy

***i forgot to add "CHEW A WHOLE LOT OF GUM" to my list of things to do in America. & i don't mean trident or orbit or any of that- i'm talking Bubblicious and Big League Chew. the good, sweet, way too much gum to chew in my mouth stuff. 

we went out for Halloween. i was an Indian. but i realized that day though that i probably shouldn't say "indian" here because Indian here means you are from India. & there are a lot of Indians. also, i guess it's really not politically correct to say Indian in the U.S. either so I changed my costume to Native American. we didn't realize that Halloween was such a big deal to the party people of Singapore so by the time we got to Clark Quay (where all the bars/clubs/restaurants/cool kids are), it was pretty packed. it was hard to get into a lot of the clubs and so we all kind of got separated. but i still had a lot of fun being an Native American... mostly because Maggie was a cowgirl & we had fun toys to keep us entertained all nite. pictures later.  

on saturday daniel & i went to the National Museum of Singapore to see a couple exhibits we both wanted to check out. that place is pretty freakin cool. hopefully i can go again before i leave. my favorite was an exhibit called "Doubleness,"- the photography of Chang Chien-Chi. one part was called 'The Chain' and it's about a mental asylum/temple in Taiwan where the patients are chained to each other. one "less crazy" guy is chained to a patient who is more stable. it's hard to describe but hopefully the pictures can serve it some justice. another exhibition was called "VOOM portraits." the only way i can think to describe this is Harry Potter (with the pictures moving). there were big high-def TV's and it was like looking at a portrait... but it was really a video. it was as if the people in the pictures (including celebs like brad pitt & johnny depp, and even some animals) were posing completely still for a painting but were being filmed at the same time. each "portrait" was in it's own little dark room with music and it was really cool.... and creepy. 

so in exactly 2 weeks i'll be completely done with school and in 4 weeks i'll be on a plane flying over the Pacific Ocean. all i have left for school is a test on the 14, the 17th, and last one on the 18th. & since classes are over (like i said before, november is strictly for tests....) i'm supposed to already be studying for these final exams..... the locals here have been on that for weeks!! GEEZ! i mean, i have like a whole 10 days until my first test- pleeenntyyy of time ;) rite? i'm actually kind of worried. but i think i will be okay.

toys & shutter shades

last nite maggie & i went to see KANYE WEST!! he was here in singapore. i have a maaaad crush on kanye. i never realized it till now, even though i've heard he's kinda douchey. we had A LOT of fun and he is a great performer. the place where the concert was wasn't that big & it wasn't crazy packed or anything. we had quite the adventure after the show when it was nearly impossible to get a taxi and we really wanted to get to the club. we ended up getting a ride from a flower truck delivery person. using "it's singapore, what could happen?!" as justification, we jumped in & didn't have to pay for a taxi! sweet. we were hoping to run into Kanye at the clubs but dat foo' didn't come out i guess. lame. 

last friday i decided to have some "me" time & i went to MINT- Moment of Imagination and Nostalgia with Toys... aka a museum of toys! they had collections of vintage toys from all over the world. there were some really old (like mid-19th century) toys and some of them were worth a lot of freakin money. some little tin robot guy was worth $15,000 U.S. dollars!! geeeez. & they had one of the big wind-up peacocks that was in that movie 'TOYS'. & the very first issue of 'The Avengers.' and just a bunch of really neat stuff. old school disney tunes were playing in the background. i think i was one of 4 people in the entire place. it was a nice little outing.

i've been thinking of all the awesome things i am going to do when i get back to the states. here's what i have so far-

eat:

a block of cheese

in-n-out

burrito bol from chipotle

all forms of mexican food

grilled cheese

pinkberry

real breakfast

(i understand that this is a lot of food, but i'm not going to eat it all at once)

do:

catch up on television & movies for about 5 days straight

use as many paper towels & toilet seat covers as possible

maybe re-learn how to drive

wash all my clothes & put them in the DRYER

if anyone wants to join me, that would be just grrreeat. i won't have school, or a job, for a while so i'm probably going to be pretty useless for about a month. & i will gladly take any offers to help me accomplish any of these things haha

i'm going to miss my daily lunch of naan, tofu, & potatoes from the indian place tho. and endless amounts of cheap fresh fruit. and my Nokia cell phone with snake. actually, i'm probably not going to miss using this phone, it sucks. 

classes for me are done. one presentation to do on tuesday but thats it. after that i have A WHOLE LOT of studying for 3 tests. wowowow. finals here are really intense. & i still have a lot of stuff i want to do here in Singapore! it seems like i have so much time and no time all at once. strange. i have some serious ADD again lately. & a little bit of insomnia for the past 3 weeks. always thinking thinking thinking... what i still wanna do, what i need to do, what i didn't do, what do i wanna buy, what am i going to do when i get home, when do classes at sdsu even start, what was that crazy dream all about, where am i gonna get a job, what am i going to do for new years, am i really graduating from college in may, what's going to happen with Jim & Pam, what is the meaning of life, why is the internet so freakin awesome... you know, nothing important :)  

PiCTURES!!

HERE'S SOME LiNKS :) 

bangkok whoooo hooo

more thailand

bunch of pictures of alll the wonderful people i get to hang out with

more stuff about my life

-------------

we had school off yesterday because of Diwali (celebration of lights). It's a Hindu holiday celebrating the triumph of good over evil in humans. pretty cool. i celebrated by doing homework all day since i was pretty much useless for 4 days before that. 

school is going to start getting hectic. it's pretty much the last week of classes, and all of november is reserved for finals. my last final is nov. 18. not too bad (some people have one on the 28th!). i only have 3 but one of them just might make me cry... i don't want a repeat of finance 323. i CANNOT believe the the semester is almost over. for those of you who are waiting for me to come home- i officially fly into Los Angeles International Airport on December 2nd at 8:52am. can't believe it.

hope everyone is having a great halloween week !!!

"hey what's going on over there"

last nite was the "halloween underground rave" that was organized by this studentpartyplannerguy and it was AWESOME. the name is quite deceiving though.... as it was not underground nor was it a rave. oh but HalloweeN it was!! basically, it was a house party. but a legit one with 700 people in costumes. it was like a scene out of a movie & can say that i had an sufficient amount of fun. maggie & i dressed up like little girls. or a pedophile's dream. (that's not a very funny subject.... i probably shouldn't joke about it...) maggie has all the pictures on her camera so i'll probably put some up later! 

i guess i've been keeping pretty busy since getting back from thailand. i'll just go in the order of the pictures in my camera:

went to the Singapore Art Museum & saw some super cool art. One of the exhibitions was by an artist named Masriadi from Bali, & he had some amazing paintings. i was able to snap a pic before the security guard caught me. I wish i could've captured more of the exhibit cause it was really cool...

this was one of the paintings by Masriadi... in person, the paint colors are so vibrant it literally looks like the picture is popping out at you

hmm.... i wonder who this reminds me of?? :)

mural on a wall 

Boys Noize, a dj from germany was here last weekend at one of the clubs. being the lover of electro music that i am, i had been excited to see him. for those of you not familiar, he's a pretty popular dj i guess & plays all over the globe. he had a unibrow. & the lighting was extremely visually appealing, i was the happiest kid- dancing all nite long & chasing the lights haha. 

mad sexy unibrow

wonderful happy place

on our way out to Clark Quay the other nite we found these cool little statue guys that i never noticed before. we proceeded to have a photoshoot with these faceless sillybills. oh, and the nite before, Tommy Lee was at the bar we always go to!! Yes, that Tommy Lee-Pam Anderson's lover. & of course he was there the like one thursday nite we didn't go out. booo. what he was doing in Singapore, i have no idea. plus, he's from Covina so would've had something to talk to him about.... dangggg it. 

in the mall there's this american diner type place & these life-size cardboard cutouts of Obama & McCain are their promotion. haha. i mailed my absentee ballot last week!!! pretty exciting i think! VOTE. it doesn't just matter for our country, it matters for the world. not kidding, i know i said it before, but the entire freakin globe is following this election. & they let you (me) know. we were eating at mcdonalds at 430 in the morning after a nite out, chatting with someone from i don't remember where, & his goodbye went like this: "byebye, it was nice meeting and eating with you! vote for Obama.... please... do it for the rest of us." uhh, that topic didn't come up once during our conversation, he just decided to throw it in as he was walking away lol.

and for all you californians, 

vote NO on 8... don't hate :)

i miss everyone a lot!! I CAN'T BELIEVE I ONLY HAVE 7 WEEKS LEFT HERE. it's sooo crazy. i can't wait to go home but i don't want to leave either. i love everyone here & i get really sad & bummed that i won't ever see any of them ever again :( i'm already planning on going to North Carolina/Pennsylvania, Miami, and SWEDEN!! haha. it's gone by so fast... there's still so much i want to do. it's going to be really strange being back in California... i left in the middle of summer & when i get back it's almost gonna be christmas! it's going to be a long plane ride home. but, for now, i'm going to try & not think about having to leave this place :)

thailand- part ll

after Bangkok we flew down to Phuket, & already from the plane you could see the gorgeous water in all shades of blue & green. This was the 'spring break in the fall' we were looking for. our plans were nothing more than get tan & have fun. we didn't have any idea where we were really going to stay but luckily our taxi driver had a good recommendation. got there late in the afternoon so we checked out the beach, walked around town, & got ready for the nightly festivities.

sunset when we first got there

this place reminded me a lot of Rosarito, Mexico. lots of people trying to sell you the same things. cheap food. cheap booze. soo kinda like Rosarito... but different cause this was Thailand. We made an amazing discovery. one of the little restaurants right by our hotel was a mexican restaurant- kinda. It was called Thai Taco. they didn't have much to offer, but it was yuuumyy & satisfied my want for non-asian food. we ate here everyday. 

there was a lot of the same stuff being sold here as in Bangkok. and they all want you to stop & look. there was the 'main street' i guess you can call that during the day looked normal, but during the nite turned into a huge party & the host invited a ton of hookers & ladyboys. there were so many bars & clubs though so it was guaranteed fun. the first nite there we met a huge group of australians who by that point were so tipsy they were ordering drinks faster than people could drink them. they were a lot of fun and bought me, maggie, & khaleedah a bunch of unnecessary stuff from street vendors. one of them was on 'so you think you can dance' in australia so he was dancing in the street & keeping everyone entertained. 

the next few days were full of Thai Taco, shopping, beach, drinking, thai massages, & other spring/fall break goodies. the water was so nice & warm, but the waves were pretty strong so it was a little scaries. on the beach there was a restaurant with these super delicious drinks. & they were only 90 baht!! that's like... $2.50. then we got massages rite on the beach too, with our delicious drinks. drink + massage = very very cheap. & nice. we've heard stories of people who went there on holiday & never came back. now i know why :)

that's what i call a mai thai... mmm

had to have a lot! who knows the next time we'll find fresh, cheap, delicious drinks like these

we wanted to see a Muay Thai fight but it was expensive. it wasn't so much in US dollars, but compared to all our other thailand expenses it was a lot. there were kind of a lot of australians there too. besides the huge group we met from the first nite, we met another couple of friends who were Aussies and then some Brazilians who were living in Australia (the brazilians, fyi- wore HUGE fanny packs! i looove fannys!!). guess this was a popular holiday spot? even the Thais selling things spoke with australian accents- but only to lure you into their shops or to try & get your attention. but then they would find out we weren't australian & magically they had an american accent. it went from "ay mate ow are yew" to "what's up man." one of our days there we went to Phi Phi Island. This is where they filmed that Leo DiCaprio movie "the beach." it was really pretty. but personally, i thought that Tioman in Malaysia was way more gorgeous. Phi Phi would've been a lot better if there weren't so many tourists. it was still nice tho. 

(i don't know why the color on these pictures looks like this? i uploaded them to my blog & the colors are all off? i swear phi phi was a lot prettier!)

i felt like mermaids were gonna come out 

it was low tide & the water was soo so shallow

all in all, i couldn't have asked for a more wonderful time. Thailand was beautiful & i wouldn't mind having to travel there again in the future. the 'land of smiles' lived up to its name and was probably the best 'spring break in the fall' i've ever had!!

 all the Thais make this gesture. not sure if it means hi/bye/respect...

THAiLAND... part 1

how do i even begin to describe my trip to 'the land of smiles'.... it was amaaazing & amazingly fun. me, maggie, & khaleedah- wouldn't have been the same trip without them! first, we BARELY made it to the airport on time. it was close. Bangkok for 5 days. Immediately (& not surprisingly) it was verrryy different from Singapore. Same way Malaysia was. There was lots of traffic, it was dirty, & the taxi cabs were hot pink. Taxi took us to the wrong hotel but it was all part of the adventure. we got there late in the afternoon so we spent it getting settled into our hotel, eating, & getting ready to go out & socialize.  the next day we hopped onto the skytrain & went to Chatuchak Market. It was MASSIVE. apparently there are over 15,000 stalls here. & they sell everything. clothes animals homegoods plants & on & on. it was a little overwhelming & kind of frustrating, even after we got a map. we stayed for not very long because there was just wayy too much to look at & it was hot. went to the Siam Paragon after, a mall which is the complete opposite of Chatuchak outdoor market. It was like Beverly Hills status with all the high class shops. still very massive tho. don't have the money to shop there so we continued next to MBK. another HUGE mall. like 7 floors or something. I would say it was a mix between Siam Paragon & Chatuchak. The building itself was very nice, but the inside was nuts. each floor was packed with stores & stalls & department stores & little vendors selling every fake good you could think of. so bizzare. & cheap. cheaper if you could bargain it. perfect. this place was awesome & we spent a good amount of time buying stuff & becoming good hagglers. & they had RedMango there- which tastes just like Pinkberry!! 

waiting for the skytrain...

puppies for sale at the market- it looks like Pikachu when she was a baby & not all chubby!!!

niiiice mall

this long day of shopping & interacting with Thai people led us to this conclusion: Thai people are legit. i want to hang out with them. they just seem like cool people in a cool city. no offense, Singapore is a fine & dandy city-state. but its' citizens seem.... uptight? probably cause you get the death penalty for everything. Thai people on the other hand, they got some swagger. Also, i should mention- there is a king. & he is THE KING. the king of Thailand is a hero to everyone there, and everyone loves him. there are shrines & pictures of him everywhere. from huge billboards in the streets to inside every little store. it's awesome. people wear shirts that say 'long live the king' & have bumper stickers proclaiming their love for the king. bad-mouth the kind & you are in big trouble. no joke. & they don't love him because they're forced too, it's genuine affection. this is quite a difference coming from a country who couldn't be happier to see the ruler of their country leave office in a few months. i would also like the say that the written Thai language is beautiful. no idea what it says or how to read it, but it looks really pretty. 

would never see this in Singapore

so anyways we headed back to our hotel to get ready for some more socializing that night. we're getting some food from a street vendor when an elephant walks by. no worries, there's just an ELEPHANT walking down the busy streets of Bangkok. it was the coolest thing i've seen. saw another one a couple nights later & got to feed it!! Martin & Magnus were also in Bangkok so they came over & we all went out. Next day we all met up again at Khao San Road. This is an incredibly bust street full of shopping & drinking & hostels & lots of backpackers. we did some more shopping & lots of eating. the street food in thailand was allll soo yum. & SOO cheap. well i guess everything was cheap. as fun as it was it was also exhausting. there are so many people trying to sell you things. & there are an unnecessary amount of tailors. you can't walk 10 feet without someone asking you if you want a suit made. or a wedding dress. haha. at night it gets worse. you can't walk even 5 feet without hearing "ping pong show??" i won't describe what the 'ping pong' show is because there might be some underage readers here.       

soo crazy, he was just hanging out

next day we went to see some of the temples. beautiful is the only way i can describe them. first we went to Wat Pho, where the big reclining buddha is. i knew it would be big, but seeing it in person was.... indescribable. it's 150 feet long & 50 feet tall. he's covered in gold leaf with mother-of-pearl designs embedded onto the soles of his feet. the entire temple grounds was so pretty i can't put it into words. the pictures really don't do it justice but you can get an idea. we went to a few other temples and i felt a great sense of well-being at the end of the day. made me feel so.... holy? I've taken a Buddhism class before but seeing its most holiest sights was quite the experience. Our last full day in Bangkok we went to a Thai cooking class. it was SO MUCH FUN. i'm not kidding. probably one of the funnest days of my holiday. (holiday, because no one here says vacation). made some delicious food & i can't wait to try & make it for you guys when i get back home!! i promise it'll come out better than my chicken. actually, i don't promise that. but i'm gonna try really hard! we met a couple here who not only just graduated from school in Alabama, but they just got married in august too. instead of wedding gifts, they did this online thing where they got "gifts" of money for a trip around the world basically. it's pretty much all paid for- what a brilliant idea! when they get back, they're moving to Pasadena, California (like 20 minutes from my hometown) because he got a job there. i thought they were pretty interesting. 

that more or less sums up the time i spent in Bangkok. it definitely is a city where you wouldn't be able to get by on only english. but i had a wonderful time there :)  oh & p.s. there are a lot of hookers & ladyboys. 

& more p.s.- i have soo many pictures! i'm trying to get them all on facebook but it takes forever. i know i keep saying that. here's some from malaysia (finally) and other good stuff

thailand pics will eventually make their way up.....

 

i have A.D.D.... or a "letter combination" as the Swedes call it...

i have a midterm in 4.5 hours and it has been reeeallly difficult for me to sit down & study for it... even with my study music on! i think i need some study medicine or something. i'd say i've done about half of what i need to do. i just get distracted ya know. 

Maggie got a blog yesterday & she LOVES it... really loves it. 3 posts in one day haha. WE LEAVE FOR THAILAND ON FRIDAY!! me, maggie, & khaleedah. also, martin & magnus are gonna be in Bangkok too when we are so that should be loadsss of fun. 5 nites in Bankok at this place and then we're flying down to Phuket (pronounced poo-get silly) & Phi Phi (pronounced pee-pee.... silly) Island for 4 more nites. I'M SO EXCITED (exactly like Jesse on saved by the bell when she's taking caffeine pills). That whole 'State of Emergency' thing got lifted, so that's good. i'm squirming in my chair thinking about how much stuff i am going to buy. i'm thinking about just taking an empty suitcase so i can fill it up to bring back. & i'm ready to buy some legit knock-off purses and so much other stuff. if you're a fed or some kind of government official reading this, then no i am not purchasing fake goods in Thailand. seriously though i can't wait. it's probably why i can't concentrate on anything else... like the midterm i have in a few hours & am not worried about.  

i had a dream about eating mexican food last nite. mmm. i really think the food is starting to get to me here. i was able to handle it before, but now i feel like there's nothing that i would like to eat. we did go to Hard Rock Cafe the other night tho, that was fun & delicious. but i can't eat there allll the time just cause i want a good burger or mac & cheese or a salad with ranch dressing. btw, i really want a grilled cheese. maybe i'm just being difficult... oh well.

i don't think i've written about this before but i feel it must be told. sometimes i feel like i'm in a video game. a shooting one. that's because right next to campus is the military place where they shoot guns & blow bombs. i don't know what that's called. some days, you'll just hear guns shooting off ALL DAY. buuut the worst is when they do the bombs. the windows literally shake. haha it's unlike anything i've ever really experienced before but kinda cool i guess, you don't really live next to military shooting camps back home. we're totally safe though, don't worry :)   

i know i have more to say but like i said, i have a mad case of ADD right now so i've found something else that peaks my interest. & i should probably try to study. bye!

p.s ROSA JUST GOT SKYPE!! like rite this minute. finally geez. I'M SO EXCITED! 

so here we are

last nite was the MRT Pub Crawl. hundreds (520 to be exact) of students wearing orange shirts (looking like convicts) wandering the train stations of singapore. the point was to stop at designated stations & go to the nearest place you could buy alcohol. it was pretty cool. at one of the stops we met this cute lil oldie who was already having a few brewskis by himself & offered to share. he was so silly he kept saying "don't tell my wife she will be mad... i'm so drunk." hey mister i don't even know who YOU are let alone your wifey. 

afterwards everyone went to this club to dance the nite away. outside one of the hotels downtown, there were these asian ladies singing & playing guitar- & they were signing the Killers!! Mr. Brightside. it made me very happy. at the end of the nite daniel & i went in search of food. we wanted to have something that wasn't mcdonald's for once... 7-11 was the only thing open. i was hoping for mashed potatoes (no joke they have a mashed potato dispenser!!) but i guess they didn't have em there. instead i tried this thing called pau. it's a white ball thing with stuff in the middle. they have them everywhere but i've been too nervous to eat one soberly. so this was the perfect opportunity to eat one. i got a chicken teriyaki one & it was YUM. i thought the white stuff was going to have the texture of play-doh... it was just very soft bread. but it wasn't enough to fill my appetite so we ended up at mcdonalds anyway. barf (literally...).

last weekend asa (oh-sah) & i went shopping at Bugis. asa called it 'shopping in heaven.' it's like an indoor swapmeet except with a lot of really cute stuff. we spent all our money in less than a couple hours & didn't even get to go thru the whole place. we WILL be going back for more. i got some shirts a teal scarf sunglasses a fake lil Anna Sui change purse & other stuff i cant remember. oh & i wanted to tell you guys about this place here called BreadTalk. it's a bakery-type place with all this yummy bread & i wish we had it in the states. my favorite thing there is 'potato bread' (of course... i love all things potato) and fer real it tastes like dinner in a bun. its potato & cheese in the middle of a roll & it is delish. all the bread there is soo soft & yummm. on another note, Asa just put up a bunch of pics of what our dorms look like- soo if your interested in where i sleep you can check it out on her blog

i talked to my mumm & lil bro the other day and it made me so happy :) i don't talk to them too often & it was nice because i was getting sad thinking about how everyone is going to forget about me haha. if you don't know (which most of you don't) i freakin love my little brudder. i wish he could live with me haha & not just because he does everything that i ask him to. and my mom is like my best bud cause she's just legit like that. my sister is alrite. jk krist. let's just say we get along best when we don't spend too much time together... i love that lil gangsta. & if it weren't for dad i wouldn't get everything that i've always wanted lol. talked to claud & the rest of the roomies for a few hours last week too!!! pretty sweet. and randy my bff & friendboy who i bug everyday so there's no way he's forgetting me :)   

my sisterr & mum

randly & my lil broski jojomofo

best party hosts EVER. also the people i live with

duhhhhh :)

OH! & here's a couple links to some pictures i've taken. i have a lot more... slowly they'll all make their way online: random stuff and more stuff