Singapore is a stunningly clean city. It is also very nice, with large skyscrapers lined up along the harbor and riverfront. Everything is very scenic. All of the parks and public areas are very nicely groomed, and even the subway system has that special museum-like feel. Since this would be our last stop on our very long trip (yes, we are sad...), we wanted to stay someplace nice. We checked in to a nice hotel that not only had a beautiful view of the skyline and a swimming pool, but also air conditioning, hot water, and toilet paper!

It took most of the day to get there on the bus and go through passport control, and we arrived in the late afternoon. On our first night we walked down to the riverfront area for a nice seafood dinner. We had some scallops that were so tender that they fell off of our forks. Can you believe it? We had forks! After dinner we walked down the river, which was more like a small bay. The area is lined with nice gardens surrounded by tall buildings and outdoor restaurants. We walked even further and found the very large Opera House building, which was designed to look like a very large durian (a durian is a large fruit that smells horrible, but tastes very nice). After that, we walked over to the Merlion, half lion, half fish, and the symbol of Singapore. It is a large statue that shoots water out of its mouth into the ocean.

The next day we first went to Little India. We saw a lot of small shops selling interesting Indian items such as Sarongs and silk. Then we had lunch at a local place which was great. Next we went to Chinatown and of course did some shopping. The Chinatown area is very scenic, there are many old English style rowhouses that have been restored and are all painted various colors. And then more shopping... There are many many shopping malls in Singapore. We found that there were not as many as Hong Kong, but still a lot. They also sell clothes that we see at home. Since it is winter at home, all of the stores are selling winter clothes and coats. I have no idea who buys these clothes because Singapore is so close to the equator. That night we went back to the river for a dinner at a seafood restaurant overlooking the water.

Following the shopping theme, the next day we went to Orchard road. This is where most of the shopping malls in Singapore are located. We were hoping at first to find some authentic Chinese, Indian, or Malay souviniers, but again it seemed to be more western-culture oriented. And the prices were not as cheap as other places either. For dinner we enjoyed the riverfront area so much that we decided to go back. We went to another section this time and found even more interesting restaurants. Later we found a public park where some guys were flying remote control airplanes with strange lights in the dark. It was very weird.

The next day would be our last day in Singapore, and the last day on our trip. It was also raining. The monsoons came just in time for us to leave. We cant complain though, because we have had great weather all through our whole trip. Anyway, in the south of Singapore there is a large island named Sentosa, and the whole place is a large park oriented around the beach and lots of gardens. We saw another large Merlion, some gardens and the beach. It was still raining a bit so we didnt swim. Then, we went over a little bridge to the southernmost point in continental Asia. You cant go any further without taking a boat on the continent of asia. Then, back to downtown Singapore to have some food and a really good dessert. We had a few more hours so we walked around the river area one last time before heading off to the airport.

From Kuala Lumpur it was a short bus ride to Melacca, a former Portuguese colonial town on the west coast. There are many historic sights in the town, including some very old churches and an old fort. And, of course, there is a great little Chinatown.

We found a nice little family run guest house to stay in. Then, on the first afternoon that we arrived, we explored some of the historic sights of the town. After a few hours we were overcome by the heat and decided to explore the shops and air conditioning of a local shopping mall. We had ice cream at Diary King (not Queen) and then weaved our way through an overwhelming number of Christmas decorations in the mall. It is also interesting to see all of the Muslim people "Christmas shopping", or at least buying things that are on sale because of the holiday. We found a great little chinese restaurant for dinner. By this time, however, most of the shops and restaurants had closed. Most of the town is muslim, and as we had found out before, this means that nothing is open.

The next day we explored chinatown and did some Christmas and souvenier shopping of our own. We dont want to ruin any surprises though, so everyone will just have to wait to see what we bought. We saw a lot of antique shops and other places selling interesting Chinese and Malaysian items. Then we went by a place that makes pinapple cookies, and saw the worlds largest pinapple cookie. It was about 3 feet in diamater. So then we just had to buy some for ourselves.

Kuala Lumpur is a very modern city with pockets of historical Asian and European neighborhoods. All of Malaysia has a very mixed culture. About one third of the population is Indian (Hindu), and another third Chineese (Buddhist). The national religion is Islam, and a fairly large number of the women we see on the streets wear head coverings. Despite all of this, Christmas has hit this country full force! Everywhere we go, we see Christmas decorations. The malls have Santa for kids to take photos with. Christmas trees are in the lobbies of buildings and hotels. Despite the different religions, it is also very strange to have Christmas here because it is so freaking hot! We were wearing shorts and t-shirts, dripping sweat, and walked by a store blasting I`m Dreaming of a White Christmas. Do they even know what snow is?

We arrived in the evening and could see the skyline lit up. After taking the very modern monorail from the bus station to Chinatown, we found a neat hostel to stay in for a few days.

The first morning we headed to the Petronas towers, formerly the tallest buildings in the world. We were unable to go to the top, but it was still fun. Then we explored little India, not far from Chinatown. After a good Indian meal we shopped for some Christmas presents in little India. That night after dinner we went back to the Petronas towers and saw them lit up at night. We also saw a nice little park and a nearby mosque. Lots of other people were milling about in the park and at the nearby mall (Christmas shopping?).

The next day we went to the historic colonial area of KL (KL is what the trendy backpackers call Kuala Lumpur). The city was once a Portuguese and then British colony, and many buildings have an old European feel to them. Afterwards, we explored Petaling street, the main market street in Chinatown. It is full of random shoppes and stall selling knock-off clothes, shoes, and all of the usual asian knock-offs. We have become very adept at spotting the real deal from the fake. You should be weary of false merchandise if any of the following are true:
-The store has no roof or walls
-The man at the store grabs your arm when you try to ignore him
-The product costs a one-thousandth of the real price
-The product is already broken
-Everyone runs away very quickly when you pull out your camera

We had some great Chinese food in Chinatown that night, too. And off to the next town. Only two places left! Its kinda sad that our trip is almost over.

A scenic minivan ride through the mountains of Malaysia brought us to Kuala Tahan, the small town outside of Taman Negara national park. The jungle here never had an ice age, and it is like 300 million years old or something like that. Our guidebook says, "Taman Negara is awesome, the stuff of legends." From some other travellers we heard many of these legends. In the interest of time, I will summarize the legends: there are many leeches!

On our first morning we set out for a hike through the jungle, and we were well prepared. Some people had told us to wear pants to keep the leeches off, and others said to wear shorts so that you can see the leeches if they get on you. We had pants and long socks in our bag, just in case. We also had bugspray which some said would work on leeches, too.

We crossed the river from the town to the park entrance on a small boat (there is no bridge), and then hiked up the main river to the Canopy Walkway. This is a scary looking set of narrow bridges strung from ropes high in the trees. From here we could see the tops of the trees, and we heard lots of strange bird noises. I think we were too concerned with where our next step was placed to actually look at them, though. At the end of the walkway, coming down to the ground, we saw a pack of wild boar, but then they ran away. Our leech repellant bugspray must have scarred them away. From there we hiked up a nearby hill to get a good view of some of the surrounding jungle. Stepping over many trails of strange looking ants and other bugs, we finally made it to the top. But no leeches. We didnt see any.

That night for dinner we ate at one of the floating restaurants. Along the river, several buildings built on small barges are tied up near the shore. These buildings seem to be the only real activity that goes on in the small town, and the atmosphere along the river is very rustic and fun.

Later that night it rained. When it rains, all of the leeches in the jungle get together at some sort of leech pow-wow where they party, multiply, and prepare for the upcoming feast.

The next morning we took the small boat across the river again to enter the park, this time to a different trail. At first the trail was flat, but then it became very hilly. Within several minutes we could see several leeches on our shoes. We pried them off with leaves (you should not touch them with your hands), and went on our way. After another few minutes, we did this again. And then again. The hilly terrain made it too hard to really avoid them. Finally we got so fed up that we turned around. We felt like failures. We had been defeated by the leech army. But luckily we did not have any attached to us.

We went to another flat trail and managed to walk along its entire length. The whole time we had to remove leeches from our shoes and socks, though. But aint no leeches on us! When we got back to the town, we saw another group of English hikers and talked to them about where they had gone. One girl was carrying her bloody shoes, and a guy showed us a movie clip he took with his camera. It showed a leech attached to her leg just above the ankle, and they were pouring salt on it. After a moment a bunch of blood squirted out as the leeched slithered away. It was pretty gross, and the guys were laughing, but the girl wasnt. She still had blood on her leg. Another Portuguese guy told us about his experience. He didnt know that he had any leeches on him until he took off his clothes to take a shower. Then he counted six or seven, some on his stomach. He had no idea how they got there.

This is the most romantic honeymoon ever!

From Georgetown we headed to the much cooler mountain areas of Malaysia. The Cameron Highlands is an area with small towns and many farms and tea plantations. We immediately noticed the cooler weather, and decided to stay for several days. We found a great hostel, with plenty of other travelers to swap stories with. This was the perfect place to chill out and explore for a while.

Although the vast majority of the area has been deforested for farms, it is still a beautiful place. The first day we hopped on a local bus and went up the road. Most of the farms are fairly small, and we explored a few by walking down the mountain road that connects all of the towns (they are all free and open to the public). Like the "highlands" of every other country (Panama, Vietnam, and now Malaysia) these farms maintained that tacky, childhood fantasy feeling. The first place we went was the Honey Bee Farm (picture large, cartoon-like bees). The Orchid Farm had a much more natural feel and great views of the mountains. For my birthday we had a Chinese Steamboat, which is a do it yourself soup which is very similar to fondue. It was so good we went back the next night.

The next day we took the bus and then hiked up to the Boh Tea Plantation. The walk itself was very beautiful. The hills forming a valley were all covered in tea bushes, and we walked for about an hour down into the valley to the small village at the bottom. The tea factory was in the village along with a small restaurant where we were able to sample the tea. Laurie did not drink her tea.
Bryan: "Why arent you drinking your tea?"
Laurie: "I dont like tea."
Bryan: "Then why did you order it?"
Laurie: "Because we are at the tea plantation!"

The next day we walked through town to a hiking trail that led to a waterfall. We had some trouble finding the trail, but it allowed us to see more of the town. Once on the red and green tiled trail, we were able to view the beautiful waterfall. Farther down the trail (after the red and green tiles stopped) we were able to walk through the jungle, and saw some great views and unique wildflowers.

That afternoon we went to see an Orang Asli village. Orang Alsi is malay for "native people" and the villagers all still live in their stilt houses surrounded by farms. The children came out to great us, and we had some of their tea and tapioca. It tasted like potatoes which was a nice change from rice. We played with the kids. They told Laurie that she was beautiful, and then told me that I had hair on my face. Another kid tried to pull some of the hairs off of my leg. I think I am developing a complex about it (especially after a guy in Cambodia kept staring at my legs for a 6 hour bus ride!).

On another note, the Christmas decorations are going up here, which is a little bizarre since its so hot, but we are getting excited about the holidays.

We made multiple bus connections to cross the border into Malaysia and finally get on to the island of Penang. The last leg was a short ferry ride to the island. From the ferry we could see the town of Georgetown on the island lit up at night. It was much more urban than we had imagined it to be. But then, everything in Malaysia is modern. We could see the difference as soon as we crossed the border.

After getting off of the boat, we walked through the vibrant Little India section of Georgetown. We wanted to stay awhile, but we had our big bags with us. So, we went on a few more blocks into Chinatown to find a hotel. It was getting late, and we found a place, and then it began to rain. After a long travel day we wanted some good food, and we stumbled into an Indian restaurant. It was delicious! About one third of all people in Malaysia are from India, and another third are Chinese. Supposedly Georgetown is the place to go to get good food.

The next day we ventured out into the town and went through little India. We wanted to see more of the vibrant neighborhood that we had briefly walked through the night before. There were many shops and stores selling a mix of Indian clothes and Bollywood movies and music. For lunch we went into a very hectic place and were seated at a long table next to a large Indian family. Everyone was eating their food off of large banana leaves with their hands. It looked very good, but we soon found out that we were expected to know what we were doing. They did not even bring us menus before asking what we wanted. Being the only white people in the place, the manager soon took pity on us. He recommended some dishes and chatted with us for awhile. He was very friendly, and he even brought us forks! The food was great even though we had no idea what most of it was. It was the most authentic Indian food we have ever had. (Sorry to those we know in India, but we have not been there yet.)

That night it rained again. (We are now aware of the trend of evening showers this time of year.) We went out later to find some dinner, but had trouble even finding a place that was open. Because most of the population is Muslim, they close their businesses at sundown.

The next day we took the local bus out to a fishing village on the other side of the island. We walked around for a little while, and then walked to a nearby butterfly farm. There was a large greenhouse filled with tropical butterflies and other interesting insects, lizards, and scorpions. We had Chineese food for lunch, the first time in a few months or so. And we just had to return to that Indian place for dinner again. This time we did better at ordering food and managed to eat off of our banana leaves without looking too much like tourists.

Thailand is very beautiful, but also very touristy. We wanted to get away from the herds, and one of our guidebooks had a short paragraph about a national park in the south. Since we were headed that way, we had put it into our plan. The more we talked to people, the more we realized that nobody had heard of this place. This would either be very bad, or very good.

First we took the bus to Satun, a town in southern Thailand. Satun is ready for tourists. They have some nice hotels, a decent number of tour agent shops, lots of shops selling western snack food (Pringles!), and a lot of English menus in their restaurants. However, there are no tourists in Satun because there is just plain nothing to do here. But since there are no tourists here, it was very interesting to see how the locals live that are not involved in tourism. They are all very friendly, and were more than willing to help us. The southern part of Thailand is predominantly Islamic, so has a very different cultural feel than the rest of the country (this is part of why they are struggling for their independence in the south).

We needed to get to the pier of another town to catch the ferry to the island that was the national park. With the help of some locals, we were able to get on the right local bus to a nearby town, and then another short pickup-truck bus ride to the pier. You know you are in a nice place when a taxi driver tells you where the bus station is! The whole time we were travelling with the locals, and it was a lot of fun. It reminded us just how touristy some of our recent destinations have been.

Finally we got on the ferry to the island, and when we arrived, we were probably two of about ten tourists on the island. The park area was a mix of campsites and small bungalows, all lined up on a very large, empty, beautiful beach. We had finally found our own deserted piece of Thailand.

We stayed two days. On the morning of the second day we hiked down the island about 5km to another even more secluded beach. Here we snorkelled (we found Nemo again) and lounged in the water without even seeing another person.

Because it was so perfectly empty, we are not telling anyone where we went. We do not want anyone else to find it and ruin it.

From Phi Phi we took a ferry ride to Railay Bay, a beach area near the town of Krabi. There are actually 3 beaches. The land is a narrow penninsula that ends with some limestone cliffs. There is a beach on each side (east and west) and a third at the end of the penninsula. All of them seem to be cut off at the ends by tall cliffs, and it is very scenic. We continued the "honeymoon" portion of our honeymoon by staying at one of the nicer places on the west beach. Even though it was partially under construction it was very nice, and had a great pool overlooking the beach.

We actually arrived on Thanksgiving day. Our dinner consisted of cashew nut chicken, stir fried crabmeat, fried rice, watermelon shakes, and hot bananas in coconut cream for dessert. It was good, but there was no turkey.

We spent most of our time doing nothing. We hung out at the pool and the beach, and then got into major arguments over whether to go to the other beach, the pool, or the first beach again. And then they had the nerve to put a seed into my watermelon shake! Life here is very hard. We suggest all of you stay there, and let us deal with this place on our own.

From Phang-Nga town we took a short bus to Phuket, then the ferry to Ko Phi Phi, an island southeast of Phuket. The terrain is very mountainous, and the water was clear and blue. Large and small beaches can be found around the island, and we headed to one of the better ones to find a place to stay. On our first night every hotel and resort was full, and we stayed in the cheapest place on the island: a little bamboo framed hut just big enough to hold the bed that was inside of it. The walls were made of basket-weaving. Since this is our honeymoon, we had decided, before arriving here, to make it proper by staying at a fairly nice place once we made it to the nice beaches of Thailand. So, the next day we moved down the beach to a nice little resort that is perched on top of a hill at the southern tip of the island. The views were amazing and the bungalow was nice. It had solid walls, air conditioning, and even hot water!

That day we walked down to a small secluded beach and went snorkeling. The water was very clear, and we could see a lot of fish. Almost immediately we saw a black and white striped sea snake. Ironically, just a few days before we were watching Animal Planet on TV (one of the only English TV stations here) and they were doing a show on the deadliest snakes in the world. And of course that is the very snake we saw. (Mom - do not worry, its mouth is too small to bite a person.) Around the corner of the island we went snorkelling in a few other spots and saw even more fish and very colorful coral. We even found Nemo.

The beach next to our resort was not too crowded, but we saw a trail leading over a hill. We followed it for about 15 minutes to the other side of the island and found a beach that was probably one of the most beautiful we have ever seen. Yes, we will upload photos soon.

One morning we went scuba diving. The water was much more clear than at Ko Tao, and the surrounding waters are part of a marine sanctuary. We saw hundreds of fish before we even got into the water. Once down, we saw a leopard shark and a small turtle, too.

The next day we went on a day long snorkelling boat trip around the main island and several nearby islands. Our boat man took us to some very scenic parts of the island where the cliffs come straight up out of the water. We had lunch at a very nice secluded beach. At one point, we went through a narrow opening of 2 very tall cliffs to get into a cove. We snorkelled there, and in addition to the many fish we saw some squid. The trip also took us to the beach where they filmed The Beach with Leonardo DiCaprio. It was nice, but somewhat crowded with tourists.

We ended up staying five nights at Ko Phi Phi. It is the longest we had stayed in any one location since before we got married! It was the closest thing we had yet found to a tropical paradise.

Phang-Nga bay is a marine sanctuary and national park area north of Phuket. We took a local bus (no more tourist buses for us!) to Phang-Nga town. For a price very much lower than those offered in Phuket, we had a local man take us around the bay by longtail boat and we were able stay at the Muslim fishing village of Ko Panyee for a night. It was about 3 or so in the afternoon, so we would head to the pier and get a boat to the fishing village first, and then do the tour the next day.

Ko Panyee, the fishing village, is entirely built on stilts above a tidal area of sand which is mostly underwater. A very large limestone peak sticks up vertically from the water, and the village seems to be a giant dock that sticks off of the side of it. There are small sidewalk "roads" that weave throughout the town, and all of the people seem to mill about in these close quarters. The children ride their bikes around and play with the large population of cats. The local rowing team seems to have races every afternoon and morning next to the village, and a lot of young men build their own small, colorful, and very fast boats by hand.

Many tour companies bring people to the island for lunch, but we were there at dinner. Our guesthouse was also a large restaurant. They have a huge dock full of tables to handle all of the tourists, but since we were the only ones there, they had set up one of the tables for us with a tablecloth and 2 place settings for our dinner. It felt like they were going out of their way to treat us so well.

The next day a boatman picked us up in his longtail. His English consisted mainly of grunting and pointing, but it added to the experience. The landscape was amazing. More large limestone peaks came up out of the water everywhere, forming vertical islands in the clear blue water. Our first stop was an island with a very large cave. There were some very old native cave drawings in there somewhere, or so the sign said. But in order to get there we had to negotiate with a dock that was almost completely rotten and missing most of its planks. Our boat man must have been laughing on the inside as we tiptoed our way accross. The cave was very tall and open, and we even managed to get back onto our boat.

Our next stop was the highly advertised "James Bond Island" where The Man with the Golden Gun was filmed. It was overrun with tourists and a large market on the small beach selling junky souvineers. Oh well.

Next we went to a small beach on one of the larger islands. Our boatman handed us two flashlights and grunted and pointed into a cave. So we went in, and it was really cool. The floor was flat and sandy, and we felt very safe.

At the next stop, we were at another small private beach, and we had lunch. After lunch the flashlights came out again, and we were sent into another cave. This one had some water at the floor, and after a few minutes of walking in the dark we could see light ahead. The cave opened up into a huge opening on the inside of the island. It was low tide, and a little water remained but we could walk all around.

For the rest of the day we were taken on the boat to various other islands with sea caves and strange shapes. Everything was very surreal looking. We decided to stay a second night at the fishing village on Ko Panyee, and were rewarded with another private dinner in a huge array of empty tables.