Last Weekend: Langkawi Malaysia

Instead of spending my last weekend in Singapore, Stephanie, Lena, and I went to Langkawi Malaysia - a beautiful island. It is funny because it is actually somewhat close to Koh Lanta Thailand, where I went earlier in my six weeks.  The nice thing about Langkawi is that it is only a 1 and 1/2 hour plane ride and the hotels are right there, so it is very convenient from Singapore. Our big outing was sailing on a catamaran with Rampant Sailing. It was amazing! We flew back to Singapore on Monday, and I left for my 30 hour travel time back to the US Monday night at 11:55pm.

View from our hotel

Hotel pool bar!!

s

Found a sea monitor on the beach at the hotel. He was very shy, and I had to chase him to get this picture. 

Our room

I was so excited to see monkeys These were the first wild monkeys I have ever seen. They were hanging out outside our hotel room. 

Below are pictures from our Sailing Day.  We went out at 9:30 and got back around 5pm. The boat was amazing, as was the married couple who were the crew (more about them later). As part of the day, we stopped at a bay to swim, kayak, float on noodles, etc. We also had lunch on the boat. It was delicious. Then we cruised around the islands. We stopped at one for a jungle walk and beach time. 

Hanging out

The saltwater Jacuzzi 

Kayaking in the bay

It was hazy when we first started out and so beautiful.

Langkawi is actually made up of 99 islands. They were truly amazing.

Jumping off our sail boat. 

We stopped at this beach and went on a juggle walk. The guide, Bea was great. She told us a lot of fun stories. As a note, the caption, Carel, was also fantastic. They are a married couple that have sailed around the world. 

Well, that's it for my second trip to Singapore. It is very good to be back home! 

Leaving Singapore

Well, I am sitting at Changi Airport- getting ready to make my 30 hour trip back to the US. If you have to be at an airport- this one is probably the best in the world. This airport has everything: free movie theater, a koi pond, massages, a pool, and even a butterfly garden. I checked out the butterfly garden before my flight tonight. It was night time- the flight leaves Singapore at 5 till midnight. It seems the butterflies were asleep :)

When I get back, I will hopefully be able to post pictures from our lovely sailing trip in Langkawi, Malaysia. For now, these pictures from the butterfly garden will have to do.

Signs, Sings, Everywhere a Sign

Things are really westernized in Singapore - lots of similarities to the US. There are also differences, and they are usually small. For instance, in the elevator, floors are listed vertically instead of horizontally (which in a building with 70 floors makes it difficult to find your floor). Also, people don't go to one side when walking at you - some people go to the left, some go to the right. This has resulted in me colliding with more than one person here. Now, when someone walks toward me, I just stop and stand still to let them chose where to go. 

Here's a big difference - the squatty toilets (and, yes, I believe that is the technical term for them). They are not everywhere, but this one was at SIM where I taught. There were western toilets in the same bathroom. 

Also, for some reason, they do not have lawn mowers here, so they use weed wakers to cut the lawn -even huge lawns. 

Another difference is all the signs here. It is too funny. Below are some of the ones I have seen around town.

This is probably my favorite sign. This is essentially a no trespassing sign. I don't think I would want to trespass! 

They love cartoon signs here - this is a cartoon in Ft. Canning Park about the founding of Singapore

Don't stand on the boat - you'll hit your head on a bridge!! 

No Segways in the Singapore Botanic Garden! 

I've already put this one on the blog, but it's still funny. 

This was in the elevator at SIM. I was on the 7th floor and the stairwell was not air conditioned - so I always took the elevator.

How to properly use the bathroom.

A cartoon about how to use a western toilet (do not try to stand on it and squat).

Hahaha- Flush thoroughly!

Lovely poem about giving up your seat for passengers in need.

This was a banner at SIM out side the office. 

Don't steal!

Saw one of these last year too. 

The following are actually from Thailand. 

Not so much funny, as scary. Koh Lanta was hit in that horrible 2004 Tsunami. I don't think it was as damaged as Phi Phi or Phuket though. 

This was at the hotel pool :) 

Real fight Every Math- hahaha!

Well, I am off to Langkawi Malaysia for the weekend tomorrow. I will try to post some pictures before I get on the plane for my 30 hour trip back to Buffalo on Monday.

Singapore Botanic Gardens - finally!

Well, I've only been here a total of 12 weeks over the last two years, and somehow I haven't made it to the Singapore Botanic Gardens until today that is. Keep in mind that Singapore is only 272 sq miles of country, but they sure do pack a lot into it.

The botanic gardens were beautiful and huge (183 acres)! I took 118 pictures, so narrowing them down for this post was tough. Below are some of what I thought were the best.

The entrance- which I guess is somewhat obvious...

I was obsessed with these things...I never did figure out where they came from

There were two swans that were not supposed to be fed, but there was a maid and toddler feeding them anyways...

I don't know what these are- but they are interesting- pink puffballs 

For a minute, I thought I was at the beach!

Turtles! There were a ton of turtles in this lake. I love it! 

I don't know what these are, but they were interesting and pretty

They had a desert- in Singapore. Too funny! They have a ton of cacti.

Some sort of hanging root plant...neat