G'day Australia!

"I think the dingo ate ya baby!"

Yes, it is statistically proven: there are more species in Australia that can kill you than any other country in the world.  The land "Down Under" -- can't beat it my friends.

A 5 1/2 hour flight from Singapore landed us in Perth on a Saturday night.  We stayed with a Couchsurfing friend (again, Couchsurfing is simply AWESOME) and spent a few days navigating the city.

As most know, Australian weather is seasonally opposite to most of the world's population.  So as we approach Christmas and one of the coldest periods of the year for Americans and Europeans, it is sunny and dry in lovely Perth.  It makes it very hard for me to get into the proverbial Christmas spirit.

But I must say, after living in 90%+ humidity weather for the past 9 months, it was quite nice to sit it dry weather.  The landscape was so different than Southeast Asia; it was a breath of fresh air.  The unending rows of eucalyptus trees brought back memories of the little eucalyptus forest I played in growing up.  Between the people, the weather, the surroundings, Perth had a "home" feeling for me.

Perth is on the Australian coast, located in the Southwestern part of the country.  It is the largest city of the state of Western Australia and has a population of nearly 2 million.  The people are very friendly, down to earth, laid back and social.  It was easy to strike up conversation with bus drivers, people in the park, at the store, etc.

Perth has a growing economy with many job opportunities.  The biggest boom in Australia, which Perth sees much of, is the burgeoning mining industry supplying resources to China and India's insanely booming economies.  Accompanying that boom is an increase in minimum wage and thus many other things, namely, food and day-to-day expenses.  So if you are planning a trip to Perth or any part of Australia for that matter, pack some change.

The main target in coming to Perth was to get a job shortly after arriving.  Within just 3 days, we had a job fully secured, starting the very next week.  Australia in general is very traveler oriented.  People visiting Australia for the first time can apply for a working holiday visa which allows a working opportunity for up to 12 months for an unlimited number of visits in and out within that period.

Before leaving for our job (which will be thoroughly detailed in my NEXT blog post), we wanted to see as much of the city as possible.  Below are some shots from around downtown Perth, King's Park and the Swan River.

Walking along Swan River.

Shot from King's Park.

I know I mentioned in my last post that I had something very exciting to tell you about.  Sadly, I am going to postpone that because I feel it needs a blog post completely of itself.  It relates to what we're now doing for work in Australia -- and it is quite adventurous and unique!

Until then my friends!  Thanks for reading!

Majulah Singapura!

"Majulah Singapura" means "Onward Singapore" in Malay, one of Singapore's 4 major languages spoken throughout the island-state. 

Singapore is unlike any city -- and country for that matter -- in the world.  It has some very interesting socioeconomic statistics that are both impressive and very distinct from any other country in Southeast Asia.

Let's take a look at a few: 

- Singapore consists of 63 different islands, many of which are uninhabited.  The main island, however, is only 253 square miles, which to put in perspective, is 4 times smaller than the size of state of Rhode Island. 

- Singapore is one of the four Asian Tigers, a classification given to only three other Asian countries for their economic strength, income per capita and a few other economic factors.  The other three are South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Surprisingly, Japan is not on that list. 

- Singapore has the 5th largest port in the world. 

- The World Bank notes Singapore as the world's easiest city to do business with. 

- Singapore comprises nearly 5.1 million people, of whom only 2.9 were born locally.  Most are of Chinese, Malay or Indian decent. 

- The main language spoken in Singapore is English.  All business is conducted in English.  Because of the diversity of the population however, there are 4 major languages spoken: Malay, Tamil (Indian), Chinese and English. 

Singapore was under British rule for over 120 years from the 1800s into the mid 1990s.  It became united with the other former British territories and became part of Malaysia in 1963.  In 1965, it became an independent state. 

The national newspaper, The Straits, is published by a company which the Singapore government owns 100% of, making "Freedom of the Press" a little challenging. 

Singapore has the largest airport in Southeast Asia.

From the facts above, it's safe to say that Singapore is very much a business-centric country.  Just in walking through the streets, riding the metro, observing the surroundings, it is very clear that this country is designed to produce, produce, produce.

We arrived in the beginning of November.  Within a day, we had arranged to stay with a Couchsurfing host who welcomed us into his home as if we were family. Couchsurfing (www.couchsurfing.org) is a fantastic way to a) meet and befriend people from all over the world, b) introduce others to your culture and way of life and c) travel with virtually no concern for accommodation expenses.

Our wonderful host, Fauzi, a native Singaporean firefighter -- easily one of the nicest people I've met.

I'm not going to inundate you with the proverbial "blow by blow" my blog post are usually like.  We were in Singapore for over 3 weeks so that would simply take too long.  I'll give you the highlights and share with you some of the best experiences.

Lui and I did just about everything in Singapore while we were there, excepting only a few things we regretfully missed, their zoo and night safari being one of them.  Oh well.

Here are some shots from around VivoCity, one of their major shopping areas lining the beautiful Singapore harbor.

Another friend was kind enough to take us out to dinner, then show us around Sentosa island later that evening.  Sentosa is an international amusement park destination.  Think of it as the Disney World theme parks for Asia.  And while it doesn't have a Disney World (though I'm sure one will be there in 10-15 yrs), it does have a Universal Studios that opened only last year.  It also boasts a very large casino, several beaches, a museum and much more.

Here are some shots from Sentosa that night, then our Universal Studios experience a few days later.

In front of the Lake of Dreams; the casino and convention center in the background.

Universal Studios was pretty cool.  It's maybe half the size of the one in Los Angeles, but it packs a fair punch with enough solid entertainment for a day.  We went on The Mummy ride (which is much like the Indian Jones ride at Disneyland, just a little scarier), the Battlestar Galactica roller coaster (easily, the highlight of the day), saw the Waterworld stunt show, Shrek 4D show and a few other bits and pieces here and there.

Preparing ourselves for the Battlestar Gallactica roller coaster.  For you BSG fans, this coaster is the REAL deal.  There are two tracks that run simultaneously: one for the "Humans" and one for the "Cylons."  I'd recommend the Cylon track, it's far more insane.

At the Waterworld stunt show. 

Just a dawg taking care of some business in the "New York" sector of the park. 

I'd say one of the major highlights of the trip though was our invitation to Marina Bay Sands, Singapore's premiere casino hotel and one of the most impressively designed structures in all of Asia.  Marina Bay Sands, or MBS as it's called by the locals, is a 57-story, 3 tower casino hotel situated right at Marina Bay, giving one of the most aesthetic skyline views EVER.  It looks like something out of a futuristic Hollywood movie.

Right at the top is a bar and a massively long infinity pool that overlooks the whole of Singapore.

The whole area of Marina Bay is stunning.  We took a walk later that evening and were completely blown away by the sights.

A few weeks later, Fauzi invited us to join him and his two kids at Sentosa during the weekend.

One of their attractions is the Luge ride.  This is where you sit in a cart and travel down a long, windy road, similar in a way to bobsledding.  It looks like this.

I took some photos from the view we got taking the lift to the top.  The two of us with Fauzi's 9-yr old son.

One of the beaches on Sentosa.

Reaching the far corners of the world!

A few days before leaving, we took a walk through one of the national forest areas in the northern part of the main island.

We found our way to an old quarry that the government had converted into a nature reserve with a beautiful wetlands.

I'm going to stop right there.  This has been a pretty long post and I'm glad you've made it this far :)

To sum it up, I think no tour of Asia -- or this part of the world -- is complete without visiting Singapore.

Where am I as I write this...?

PERTH, AUSTRALIA.  We've been here 4 days now and I'm totally in love.  I'll leave it at that for now.  But...but, some very exciting news to come about future adventures in my next blog post; something I'd say is probably one of the most adventurous things I will have done to date.

So stayed tuned!!

Bye, Bye Bangkok

Thailand treated me well.  But times change, plans change and life changes.  And no, it wasn't as simple as jumping on my motorcycle.

I'd been teaching for close to 8 months.  There were a few reasons for my decision to leave, one of which was the impending floods that would eventually hit the areas I worked in and taught in.  Now the outlying areas of Bangkok are seeing the worst flooding in 50 years.  The government has taken many measures to direct the water around the business and shopping districts of Bangkok but the result has been an even higher volume of water to the outlying suburbs.

All of the schools and most businesses closed down -- and are still closed.  The last I heard, schools will start up again on the 7th of December, depending on how well the flooding has receded.

These are some shots within kilometers of my house.

We had been given various warnings when the flooding would hit our village.  Most had been incorrect for weeks until finally it really came.  When we knew we had a matter of a day or two, we got out of there stat! 

And so our journey began.  Lui and I had been talking about traveling to Singapore for nearly a month.  This was the perfect opportunity.  Within a day we had our bags packed and a long, arduous bus ride booked for Singapore.  We left the next day. 

We were originally told by the travel agent we booked through that we would change buses only twice in the whole trip.  Oh boy, was it quite the contrary.  After 8 different bus or van changes, we finally made it to Singapore.  Length of trip...42 HOURS.  Ouch.  Both of us can't sleep on buses or planes so to say we were zombies after reaching Singapore is a definite understatement.  We will never be doing that again. 

But we arrived...ahhhhhh.

Singapore is a beautiful place.  I would highly recommend making a trip here to see the city skyline and some of the other fantastic sights.  

So we are here now seeing the city, making new friends and enjoying a little time off from work.  Where we go now is being decided as I write this.  How liberating.  

My next blog will be entirely about the city state of Singapore.  For now, I'll end with a few pictures from around the city and some miscellaneous ones taken before leaving Thailand.  Yes, I kept this post a little short this time, but there's plenty more to come in my ever-continuing adventures around the world :))

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That's how we roll in Bangkok for Halloween.  Amanda was Tom Cruise from Risky Business, Tyler was a "business-like" pirate and I was 1990s French weightlifting hipster.  Just cruisin' down Soi Cowboy for a good time.

Hanging by a port in Singapore.

Lui's first time ever being in a Forever 21 store.  They don't have them in Deutschland :(

Thanks for reading folks!  My next post will be just around the corner!!!

Gettin' Kicked Out to Malaysia!

A forced vacation.

That's right.  

You see, there are upsides and downsides to any country.  But sometimes there are downsides that can become upsides.  It's all how you look at it.

Why, you may ask, do I get a "forced" vacation?  For a complete answer, you'll have to ask Thai Immigration.  To make a long story short, in applying for my 1-yr business visa, me and the company I work for were taken for a ride through a spool full of red tape.  In the end, I had a day to leave the country before my visa expired. The easiest country to renew my visa was...

MALAYSIA!

Beautiful Malaysia: the southern bordering country to Thailand.  An eclectic mix of Malaysian natives, Malay-Chinese emigrants and their progeny, fantastic Indian culture and a large Muslim religious influence replete with mosques, attire and tradition. The country runs the gamut.

The closest Thai embassy was on the island of Penang, which is just off the coast. The island is quite large and boasts malls, museums, national parks and a UNESCO World Heritage Site called Georgetown.

I was accompanied by the lovely Luise Neumann -- the best company I could ask for.

The bus ride from Bangkok to the island was about 20 hours.  And sadly for the both of us, we simply cannot sleep on buses (or trains or planes, for that matter). Needlessly to say, when we arrived, we were completely wiped out. We spent the first day recovering.

After taking another day and a half (basically) to purchase a new camera, we were finally on our way to capturing some of the beauty of the Malaysian culture.  Oh, and if you ever plan to come to Malaysia, just be careful with your credit cards.  Malaysia is on the top 10 list of worst credit card fraud countries in the world. Don't ever let your card leave your site.  And only trust reliable vendors.

Here are some shots we captured from one of our first nights there.

As we made our way toward another beach, we stumbled upon this eerie, abandoned Chinese school.  There were trees growing through it and all kinds of other funky things about it that completely piqued our interest. 

The following day we drove around Georgetown, made a few stops here and there, then made our way to the national park at the end of the island.  Here are some shots from along the way.

I think one of the coolest encounters from the trip was the abandoned 1800s graveyard.  Graves from 1864, 1859, even 1806!

We also stopped by a mosque, built over part of the ocean.  They call it "The Floating Mosque."

Inside the mosque.

Our arrival to the national park and along the beach. 

As we continued hiking, we noticed a sort of village of houses floating on the water about 500 meters or so from the shore.  It was really interesting. 

Here are some shots from the next day and our visit to the Little India area they had in Georgetown.  The food was amaaaaazing. 

Here are some miscellaneous shots from the trip. 

Stayed tuned next time.  I've gotten a little backlogged on all the blogging.  Plenty more excitement to come!!