Thailand Time Two

This past week was e-learning week for my classes, which means class is not mandatory. Attendance was not taken and notes were all posted online, that meant only one thing.... travel time!! Kara and I got a great deal on a flight to Krabi Thailand so we headed out bright and early thursday morning. Although we allowed three hours to get the airport we somehow just made it. The flight departed from the budget terminal which is not connected to the actual Changi airport and requires a bus to get to. That slowed us down finding the bus and waiting for it. By the time we go there it was 45 minutes to the flight. Apparently 50 minutes before Tiger Airways closes the desk and shouldn't allow people through. We managed to plea/beg/cry to get on the plane. It was hilarious because security took 3 minutes and we got to the terminal and on the flight within three minutes of that. We then proceeded to sit on the plane for 30 minutes watching everyone else board. We made it there, and that is all that counts. We saw three fellow NTU friends on the plane and made planes to travel together. The flight was about 1.5 hours and due to the time change it is as if we traveled for a half hour. The next decision with the NTU boys was probably the worst of the trip. Instead of splurging 200 baht (about 6 dollars) for a direct cab we opted for the 100 baht bus to Ao Nang beach. Ughhh the bus did not have aircon and we had to wait until it was full. Then proceeded for over an hour to drop everyone off at their hotels. Of course we were the last stop. 

Longest Bus Ride

After the madness we checked into our beautiful Vogue Resort. There was a fabulous deal on agoda.com and the hotel was not much more than a hostel. It was completely worth it, there was a TV (which we severely miss) Aircon, a porch, comfy bed, and a TUB! Little things that only girls would miss hahahah. Kara and I headed straight to pick up some pad thai and then to Ao Nang Beach. The beach was perfect we tanned, listened to music, and drank singha. There was a boy that walked up and down the beach with ice cold chang and singha and would ask us every three minutes if we wanted another. We finally had to just tell him we were done. We took a few laps in our beautiful hotel pool and showered. Then dinner with the NTU boys and our second pad thai meal. 

Ao Nang Krabi

Vogue Resort

Ao Nang Beach

Dinner

We wandered around Ao Nang and went to a few bars, but they were pretty quiet for a thursday night. We ended up sitting on little stools on the sidewalk chatting with locals. The major form of transportation are tuk tuks (motor bikes with passenger carts attached). We experienced our first tuk tuk ride, and they are my new favorite form of transport. Ours was pretty awesome because it had speakers and was blasting some great hip hop  for us. 

Crazy Tuk Tuk

The next morning we woke up early and headed straight to Ao Nang beach to get a long tail boat. We had seen maps of the small islands off of Krabi and we desperately wanted to explore them. We got a longtail boat for a half day and our great driver took us out. The first stop was Koh Poda about twenty minutes from the beach. The island only has one small outbuilding and a bar. Although there were a lot of tourists we got there early and could stake out our spot on the beach. Most of the tourists on the island were asian and they tend to stay in the shadier areas so we had our own private beach for quite some time. The water was unbelievably clear and beautiful. It was probably the most gorgeous beach I have been to in all my travels. Around noon our private beach was starting to be invaded so we headed back to our longtail. 

So Many Longtails

Private Beach- Koh Poda

Poda Island

Stunning Water

Heaven

The next stop was tub island about fifteen minutes away. Our driver brought us to a cave to watch the rock climbers over the water. Tub Island was gorgeous too, the water was about a foot deep for most of the area. This shallow waterway connected two small land masses each with only bars. We adventured down the beach for a little bit but then the intense Thailand sun got to us and we decided to return to the boat. We reluctantly headed back to Ao Nang beach for lunch. 

Crazy Rock Climber

Tub Island

Our Great Driver

One side of Tub Island

After lunch we wandered around and went to all the markets. The great thing with Thailand is it is so easy to haggle prices. You can easily get something for a quarter to half the original price. I got a beautiful braided leather bracelet for two dollars and three great hippie headbands for three dollars. That night we took a Tuk Tuk to a local night market. I am not sure if our driver didn't understand us because first he brought us to one that was closed and then to another that was a little creepy. There was one store that sold everything for 10 baht (about 30 cents). It was funny to look around at all the random stuff, we ended up getting scrunchies. 

Market Time

Cutest Tuk Tuk

Then since our flight was so early we went back to the hotel and relaxed by the pool and caught up on some TV. It is ironic because we have watched real TV three times: In Bintan, one night in Bali, and then in Krabi. Every time the same has been on so we actually know what is happening. The show is called Junior Masterchef Australia, and is a competition show between kids who are somehow amazing chefs all under the age of ten. I don't understand how they are cooking half the things they do! Anyways quality show to catch up on at some point. Until next time...

xoxo

Leah

Frasca Family Takes Over Singapore

Last weekend Kara's parents came to Singapore for a nice visit. They arrived late Friday night and Kara met them at the airport after our dinner. We tried out a new hawker center called Newton's Circus. This areas is considered a "touristy" hawker center because it is filled with expats. Every other stall served seafood and they had any interesting type of fresh fish or crabs one could want. I went for Indian food that night and it was great. I got tandori chicken and luckily also ordered some na'an. The chicken was pretty spicy for my taste but the man at the stall assured me it was not spicy. It was still good, we washed it down with some of our new favorite Tiger beers. It definitely helped to cut the fire in my mouth. Kara was adventurous and tried the oyster omelette. After a few more tigers Kara headed to the airport to meet her parents and I went back to the little dorm. 

Tandori Chicken

Interested Seafood Offered- Cockles, Sting Ray, & Gong Gong

Kara's Meal

The next morning I got up early and hustled to make the trip to the Marina Bay Sands. From door to door the journey took exactly one hour but I was too excited it went by so quick. The Frasca family was so kind in inviting me to join them at the rooftop pool at their hotel. The view from this pool is so well known in Singapore and not many people have actually gone up because it is for hotel guests only. Even though it was a little overcast the view was breathtaking. I actually acquired my bearings around the city by just seeing how close everything was from overhead. The pool was so relaxing and Mrs. Frasca brought some American magazines to read!! 

Infinity Pool

Mrs. Frasca and I

Having Fun looking OVER Singapore

View-too bad it was cloudy

Yayaya Vogue & Infinity Pool

All the Girls when the sun came out!

Kara brought her parents back to NTU but I luckily got to relax by the pool for another few hours and then casually explored the Marina Bay Mall and area around the hotel. It was fun just to walk around with no place to go and no time limit it was quite peaceful. 

Business District

Found ice skating in the Marina Bay Sands Mall

View of the Marina Bay Sands- the pool is on the top deck!

Floating soccer field and the Esplanade theatre on the right

Then I rejoined the Frasca's for a wonderful seafood dinner. They had lived in Singapore for two years when Kara was in preschool, so she doesn't remember too much but MR. Frasca had been traveling here for years. We went to the well known restaurant called Jumbo Seafood on the East Coast Parkway along the water. The meal was so fresh and different. We started off with some prawn and fried noodles and broccoli. Then we had drunken prawns which we watched actually jump around when they poured the liquor in. They were so large and delicious it is my new favorite. Then came the famous chili crabs. They are Sri-Lankan massive crabs cooked in a great chili sauce. This is what Singapore and Jumbo Seafood is known for. No wonder! They were to die for, so messy but completely worth it. I then headed back to NTU for a fun roomie night. 

Does not get much fresher...

Crabs from Sri Lanka for din din

Until next time...

xoxo

Leah

Family Fun in Singapore!

Ready!!

Hall 3A&E

Two weeks ago was a family get together of sorts. On friday my cousin Jim arrived from Australia for a visit. It was so exciting to have visitors come! Friday night I had signed up for a night cycling trip through my hall. I saw the flyer and it sounded exciting to me so I persuaded Kara to do it with me. We did not know it meant an OVER night ride. We started out around 10 pm and headed out with a group of around 60. We made a few pit stops and then ate supper in Bukit Timah around midnight. I tried mixed Indian na'an (similar to pita) and Nasi Goreng Pattaya (Fried Rice wrapped in an omelette)- which are both my new favorites. We ate at a place called Al-Azhar and they offered EVERYTHING from thai, indian, western, and everything in between. 

Friends with the na'an

Great tea!

Nasi Goreng Pattaya with Chili Sauce

Eating my na'an

After supper our next break was overlooking the Marina BAy Hotel from 4-5 am. At this point I was tired from lack of sleep a lot more than the 40k ride. We finished the ride strong in East Coast Park just for the sunset at 6 am. The only problem was the bus was not going to arrive until 7 am! Kara and I were a little crabby so we went to McCafe to get muffins instead of joining everyone in the lively McDonalds. When I arrived home to my dorm it was 8 am and quite bright out. 

East Coast Park when we rode in!

We continued to sleep all day long and decided to meet Jim and Nana for dinner. We went to Geylang 126 dim sum restaurant. Luckily Nana could decipher some of the chinese symbols because they resemble Japanese, because the menu was only in Chinese. We ordered around nine different dim sums, and they were all so great. The meal for four of us was under $35 sing! My new favorite is steamed chicken buns called Gai Bow. They did not look too appealing but I now crave them! The feeling is in a nice sauce and the bun is soft but not mushy. I finished my meal off with some lemon tea with jellies. I am getting used to drinking tea with jellies inside, since it is everywhere my texture issue has been forced to subside a little. 

Dinner at 126 (Gai Bow is lower left)

The next day we explored the Jurong Bird Park with Jim and Nana. Apparently the bird park is the world's largest, and it reminds me of sea world. The park was very fun but unfortunately everything was outside, and it was a very hot and sticky day. Kara and I ended up cooling ourselves off with some amazing Ben and Jerry's! It tastes just like home! 

World's Largest

Feeding the Lories

Awittle Ugly?

Penguin Statue

For dinner Kara, Jim, Nana and I met up with our second cousin David Ansted and his wife Sunny. We went to a world famous dim sum chain called Din Thai Fung. This meal was probably the best that I have had while in Singapore! David is a chef, so I think he aided to the experience because he told the best way to savor everything! Nana is from Japan and Sunny is from Taiwan, so they both had food that appealed to them, so we left the decisions up to them. Good thing, because literally everything I tasted I fell in love with. David showed us with the pork dumplings that you can not just pop them in your mouth. These had a hot broth inside, so you needed to bite a small hole and drink the broth before eating the dumpling. My new other favorites were szechwan prawn and pork dim sum, and crabmeat buns! I can not wait until I get to go back! 

The whole family!!!!

Pork Dumplings

Interesting Dessert

Dessert was interesting but I surprisingly enjoyed it. We had red bean dumplings first- in asian culture it is weird to eat beans that are salty, just like it was weird for me to eat sweet beans. I enjoyed the red bean dumplings, but they probably won't be my top pick, I will stick with the chocolate. As well we tried three various jelly/liquid desserts. I have no clue how to explain them but one had a coconut flavor that I enjoyed. It was so great to catch up with family, even though I have never met David (or I did at a very young age) it still felt almost comforting. Of course Jim and Nana were so nice to see as well, I just had a really fabulous weekend. Until next time...

xoxo

Leah