Singapore, Bangkok and Chiang Mai

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ok, so ive not updated for a while... which is a niightmare for me as weve done so much!!!!

Singapore - everyone said that there was nothing much to do in singapore. and they are right - unless you know where to go, or are prepared to bum around all day. Kate and i met a girl in our hostel who had taken the time to go on the hostels website and actually look for walking tours and things to do. she then recommended a walking tour to us. we basically went to a suburb of singapore called toa payoh, and had this interesting substance which we called 'bubble tea'. its basically iced tea with these wierd black balls inside. they give you a huuge yellow straw and you have to suck the tea up through that... and along come the bubbles. they are strangely slimey and really chewy... definately a one off experience!!! we then walked what seemed like Miiiiiles... to a monastery. its the biggest monastery in singapore, and is visited by monks all over the world. it was huge, and our jaws literally dropped when we saw it. it was amazing. its design is based on temples found in southern china. we found the office and asked for a tour... our tour guide Ken explained about some of the customs of visiting a monastery (for example, you cant enter through the middle door as its too close to the buddha - its reserved for important monks etc. if you enter through the right door, you have to step in with your right foot. and so on.) the monastery was actually really quiet, probably because its so out of the way - they dont get many tourists visiting it! whilst we were there, ken pointed to a monk who was walking past and said "thats the oldest monk in singapore".
we spent the rest of the afternoon in the shopping mall (tee hee!) and in the evening we caught the lift to floor 70 of the swissotel for an awesome view over singapore. we didnt stay long... floor 70 has a really posh restaurant and kate and i didnt look like we were about to dine there!!!! we then wandered to china town and went to the night markets there - very cool but we resisted buying things as we are actually going to china.

singapore airport is crazy. definately one of the nicer airports! they have free everything! - internet, movie theatre, massage chairs... tours of the city(for one with a few hrs to spare...) and their security wasnt nearly as tight as the uk, usa, nz or oz! was such a change!

Bangkok we spent the first day looking around the wat po temple and the grand palace. both were absolutely amazing. they sparkled and glittered with gold and bright colours... had some amazing statues and beautiful murals. Wat Po is home to the golden reclining buddha (and the buddha is HUGE) and the Grand Palace is home to the Temple of the Emerald buddha (which is tiny..!) one of the american guys we were with actually didnt see the emerald buddha... we came outside and started talking about it and he was like "so when are we going to see the emerald buddha?" we explained that we had just spent 10 mins in the temple where its sitting... and he said "that was the emerald buddha? seriously? i didnt see it!... hold on two secs while i go and see it..."
admitedly the statue was tiny and there were loads of gold statues and pillars surrounding it... but it just had to be an american to make that comment...*rolls eyes*

Kate and i then went and bought up half of Kao San Road... :S we then went to see Shrek 3! the cinemas were certainly an experience... you have to stand up and pay respects to the king of thailand... ie stand and watch a short film of the kings work around the country. the seats in the cinema are leather and reclining. absolute bliss. i think kate nearly fell asleep!

the second day we went to a huge market... and then hit the malls. kate had a moment of weakness where we went into a bag shop with a sale - everything was 199baht (about 3quid)... in the space of 5 mins, including a run to the cashpoint, she bought three handbags.
we had issues packing the rucksacs :S

night trains are certainly an experience. they had some good food... and the beds were made from the seats... the upper bunk sort of popped out of the ceiling! very comfy considering we were on it for 16 hrs!

Chiang Mai is awesome. mainly because kate and i 'splashed out' on a twin room in a guesthouse... with an ensuite shower and aircon. and the beds are HUUUUGE. its actually bliss. we went to a monastery yesterday... which was pretty cool... loads of monks! and we are going to a few more today (there are 300 in chiang mai). i fear the Tuk Tuk drivers... 3 wheeled vehicles driven by the most insane people around. they weave in and out of traffic... we've only been on 2... but that was enough. no doubt we'll have to catch a few more before we leave thailand! :S they sort of harass you on the street... its hard telling them to leave you alone!!!

anyway. enough of my ramblings...

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