Singapore

part of the Singapore skyline

a cool building

   I am currently in Singapore. I have been surfing in Kuta and it was quite fun too. Then on Sunday we flew to Singapore. It is like any big city like Chicago or New York. I like it here and it certainly is a big change from Bali. Christmas is also big here and on the main shopping road there are big displays.
   We took the tour bus around and saw the botanic gardens. We are staying at a nice place (with friends) while we try to get a visa for Thailand. I don't mind staying here a while though....

    I am now writing (typing) this from Amed, Bali. It is okay here but I have to say I like Padangbai better. We came here to snorkel and it was okay although the reef was in bad shape. Well, I've been here two nights now and this afternoon I am going to Kuta, in the south, to do surfing lessons. I am excited to learn to surf though I hear it is very crazy in Kuta.. That's pretty much it, so I'll post another blog when I get there.
   p.s. I will add photos later

Padangbai

   I have been in Padangbai Bali for nearly a week now. The time seems to fly! I have been staying at a nice guesthouse with a beautiful garden and a great pool. It almost seems that I spend more time in the water than out!
   I really do like it here in Padangbai. It hardly ever rains and it is small but not too small.There are plenty of nice restaurants and cafes and good Internet. The prices here are not bad and it was nice to stay here.
   Yesterday I went snorkeling. We went out on a boat and went out to a reef. There were plenty of fish although the visibility wasn't great. You could get fish to eat bread out of your hand if you held it underwater, in fact they would positively swarm you. I also learned that fish have teeth, because one bit me when I was feeding them.
   Tomorrow I am leaving Padangbai and going north. we will be staying in Bali for maybe two more weeks before we either go to Malaysia, Thailand or maybe another island.

Balinese Wood Carving

   In Ubud I did a class on wood carving. In three hours I carved a gecko. Geckos are everywhere here and they eat the bugs. They make a gecko gecko sound that sounds like it's spelled.

Bali (again)

Monkey from Monkey Forest

    I have been in Bali for awhile now and today I am going from Ubud to Pandangbai, on the coast. I have done some interesting things here. Once we were out on a rented motor bike and it was raining, no, pouring and in order to get back to our hotel we had to walk our bike through knee deep water on the flooded road.
    We also went to the monkey forest and I fed bananas to the greedy monkeys. It was a quite fun. They know when you have bananas and will literally climb up you to get them.
   

 

Bali

    To start off my world trip we flew to L.A. and went to Disneyland. It was fun riding all the rides like Space Mountain and The Indiana Jones ride.
    We arrived then in Bali, Indonesia. It was a long flight there, 18 hours + a 5 hour layover in Hong Kong. At the first place we stayed in Sanur we were outside and I got like 30 mosquito bites. The next place we went to had AC. It was nice and I spent hours and hours in the pool.

   Bali is really different from America. The streets are narrow and there are lots of little shops and everyone tries to sell you something (at least in the touristy areas). It is also really hot.

   Next we went to Ubud; its a lot different there. It rains a lot more and is a little cheaper. I sorta like it here but sometimes I think I would rather be at home living a normal life with my brand new lap top computer that I wasn't allowed to bring, not to mention my computer game.

Chicago

   A few weeks ago I went into Chicago. We took the train up and headed to Lincoln Park Zoo. If you have ever been to a zoo before, well they're pretty much all the same.... I mean lions, tigers, bears living in small spaces.... same ol'. It's sad to see all the animals in such small enclosures, relative to their natural roaming territory.
     Next we took a walk through the park and along Lake Michigan. It was a beautiful Indian summer day and I enjoyed seeing the cityscape from a distance.
    Later in the evening we met with a friend of my mom's, Paul, at a delicious crepe restaurant, La Creperie. After that we took a walk to his apartment building. The complex was nice but the apartment was only one room. We didn't have much time there before we had to leave to catch the train back to my Grandparent's house.
   Personally, I don't think I could live in such a small space in the middle of a mass of concrete, people, cars, and noise. It's fun visiting but if I were to live in the city, I would like a big, more open space.