Even though everyone always tells you to approach any situation without having expectations, well, we all know that’s hard to do. So, let’s just say we were expecting the chance to do lots of great Vietnamese cooking at the Red Bridge Cooking School, seeing as we got countless recommendations that this was the place to go (friends, hotel, wikitravel all talked highly of it).

First off, we were informed we’d be picked up at 8 am and taken to the meeting point, even though we had argued we could easily take ourselves there on our own. So we’re waiting and waiting and no-one comes. The hotel had to call to remind them to get us– two frantic girls arrived and we jumped on the back of their scooters and pedaled real fast to the Cafe. Jason and I sauntered into the Café with all 20 other people in the class there waiting. Oops! (Guess we were “those people” in the group today)

We’ve come to learn that many times a cooking class begins with a trip through the local market to peruse the local goods and maybe even try a thing or two (in this case we got to try mangosteen, which are quite a delicacy of a soft, white fleshy fruit). Even with splitting into two groups of ten, trying to maneuver through the busy marketplaces in a group that size is just a nightmare. We struggled to keep up with our guide -- at one point Jason got stuck behind a wheelbarrow full of dirt which put us way behind, but we managed to catch up.

Nothing too special about this market– you’re run of the mill fair of ladies squatting close by their goods, their bare feet precariously close to touching their delicacies, lots of fresh seafood and fresh vegetables and fruits all over, and of course many smells I’d rather not recount. This place was very tame compared to our experience in a Chinese market, thank goodness for that.

Next thing we know we’re boarding a boat to cruise down the river to where the school is located. A beautiful 30 minute ride and we were there. The cooking facilities were gorgeous, located right along the bank s of the Hoi An river with an open air eating area and kitchen. A fresh herb garden covered most of the 2 acre property in the back, and it was just a perfect place to relax and cook.

Our excitement had mounted at this point and we were ready to jump in the kitchen and begin cooking. Unfortunately, this was really set up more as a school classroom, where we sat in seats, watched as the head chef who was freakin hilarious prepared dishes, while we mainly just observed. We got our chance to “cook” a couple things like chop an eggplant and put it in boiling water, and ladle some pre-made rice mixture to make a fresh rice paper. All and all, there wasn’t a lot of cooking we did ourselves – mainly we just pushed around prearranged and pre-chopped ingredients into the appropriate places, which wasn’t that exciting. BUT, we did learn some great cooking advice from our chef like “no cook with MSG, or you die!”

None of that really mattered since we know that the true enjoyment of the day came from me and Jason competing to see whose dishes came out better. I’ll just put it out there and say Jason should certainly not quit his day job. You can check out the cut throat competition and be the judge of who the real “Top Chef” was!

Our favorite part of the day ended eating our delicious concoctions (of course we weren’t really sure whose food we actually got once we sat down) with the wonderful company of Damon and Marie, a couple we sat with. Jason and I both agreed that had we not had such a great hands-on experience at Cloud 9 cooking school in China, we probably would have thought this was top notch – but, we just didn’t get down and dirty like we would have liked to in this cooking class. Still, it was an enjoyable day that most importantly ended with good food and good company.

This town is what Jason and I would consider to be a quintessential perfect place to spend some time. In fact, we fell for this area so much we’re trying to convince my family who take an annual “family trip” to make this the next destination. We ourselves loved it to the point of extending our time here by two nights, and we could have easily tacked on more.

Where to begin with wonderful Hoi An? It all started with arriving to the beautiful Life Resort, located just a 5 minute walk from the central marketplace and old town. The grounds of the resort were spectacular, right on the banks of the Hoi An River. The spacious rooms, outside open air library, and gorgeous pool all made this a very comfortable retreat.

Immediately we set out to explore the town, and the first thing we noticed was how few vehicles were on the road – not near the congestion and onslaught of scooters we had experienced anywhere else, which actually made it possible to walk around without fearing for your life. This was automatic bonus points!

The town has a thriving artist colony so there are tons of unusual works of art you can check out and of course purchase. This is also the place to get yourself a new wardrobe, with over 400 tailors in the city that in two days can whip up a new outfit for you. Unfortunately, we didn’t indulge in this treat, but someday we’ll be back for our new custom-made getups.

The amount of character and personality this town has is difficult to describe. It has maintained a historical quality with its blend of Japanese and Chinese architecture; as well it also has a French colonial feel to many of the buildings. The winding small streets and alleyways are filled with wonderful local restaurants, most of which offer cooking classes, tons of shops to peruse, and most importantly lots of friendly people who just want to say hi. Unlike many other cities that have become built up and over run, this town has no high rise buildings, as well lacks the often times tacky bright neon lights that can take away from the natural beauty and authenticity of a place.

This town is so special that it also has its own food specialty called a “white rose” that it’s known for – it’s a type of shrimp dumpling made from translucent white dough bunched up to look like a rose that is absolutely delicious. We definitely had our fare share of the white rose.

Hoi An is a great place to share a wonderful meal with newfound friends, as we did with Marie and Damon.  We feasted on a 5 course meal at Brother's Cafe overlooking the Hoi An River.  Although the food was way over-priced and just okay, the company was superb, and setting beautiful. 

So, not only to you have a beautiful river that cuts through the area, a quaint town to wander, eat and shop around, tons of things to do (we ourselves did the Red Bridge School Cooking Class one day), BUT you also have a beach located about a 5 minute drive away. We spent one day lounging on Cua Dai Beach, eating some fresh seafood, swimming in the water, and watching the sun go down - that was a perfect day.

There truly is nothing not to love about this unique town of Hoi An, except for the time it comes to leave it. We will certainly return someday to this special place!

Halong Bay is one of those “must do’s” if you ever visit Vietnam – everyone we met who had been to this country put this at the top their list. Halong Bay is made up of over 3000 small barren limestone islands, that dot the horizon and appear to go on forever. The best way to see this Unesco World Heritage protected area is sailing aboard a “junk boat”. Not the classiest of names for the boats used to sail the region, but they certainly are not “junky”.

Three days and two nights aboard the Annam Junk Boat was the absolute perfect way to see the area. Since some of the smaller inlets and grottos can only be accessed aboard a kayak, we opted for the “sea-kayaking package” where any chance possible we were able to jump on the kayak and explore the vicinity.

From the moment we arrived to Annam Junk, we weren’t disappointed. First off, we were informed that there would only be 4 of us on the sail, which considering the boat typically carries 12 passengers was pretty sweet. For the mere four of us passengers, there was a crew of 7– not too shabby! Next, we got introduced to our suite room that had windows on two sides and yielded amazing views, as well a normal sized bathroom (which on a boat is pretty unusual). There was a lot more room to maneuver around then when we sailed the Whitsundays aboard the Pacific Sunrise.

Our first lunch was an 8 course meal of varying seafood’s including whole crabs, steamed fish, grilled calamari, and clams. Unfortunately, this first lunch was the best meal served, and the food slowly degenerated into some pretty unappetizing dishes (good thing food was not the primary focus on this sailing trip).

We jumped in right away this first afternoon to sailing to Hang Luon Cave and kayaking around this serene grotto. One of the most spectacular parts was being in these gorgeous areas with very few people around. It was just us, and the Italians (Roberto and Jackimo --the other two on our boat) kayaking this area. You could hear every bird chirp and every cricket humm in the complete solitude of this area. This was a very special place to be, and for a while Jason and I just sat there floating on the kayak lost in our thoughts absorbing all the beauty around us.

A hike straight up to a scenic look-out yielded some of the most amazing views of Halong Bay that late afternoon, and was a perfect place to watch the sun begin to set. We sat on the beach for a bit, and then it was time again to set sail into the sunset and have dinner.

Dinner and the entire evening festivities this first night could be a whole post of its own, so I’ll give the abridged version of the fun we had (and let the video clip speak for itself). I will say it involved a couple bottles of wine, two bottles of booze, some karaoke spearheaded by our fearless leader Mike, a major dance party with the whole crew (all men – I was the only female on the boat), and one of the crew members getting so drop down drunk he had to be carried down to his room. It was amazing being able to bond with some of locals – even though we didn’t speak the same language, we were able to have so much fun together.

The next morning we were all hurting a little, but that didn’t keep us from waking up nice and early and exploring the Surprise Sung Sot cave. This cave was incredible – it was absolutely humongous, with incredibly interesting formations, most of which Mike had pretty interesting descriptions of.

We said good-bye to our Italian friend’s who would be heading back home that day, and we boarded our own private boat to explore the bay and do a lot more sea kayaking. This time we really were the only people in some of the grottoes we paddled into, which was too beautiful to even put words to. The water was so clear you could look straight through and see the coral sparkling below the surface, as well little fish swimming around. Jason even jumped in and took a dip in the secluded grotto.

From sailing through the floating fishing community, to checking out the little local floating museum, and even laying out and swimming on a secluded beach, we certainly had a full day. We crashed by 9 pm that evening, barely able to sit through dinner we were so exhausted.

Now, we’re about to dock at the port and say farewell to Halong Bay. The exquisite visions of the towering karst limestone islands, the beautiful secluded grottoes and inlets, and the complete serenity of being in the Bay will never leave us though (and this is yet another place we’re already making plans to return to again!)

We had heard very mixed things from many travelers about their experience in Hanoi, so we came into this town with some pre-conceived notions. However, we immediately were able to judge for ourselves upon driving into the city and getting a flare for the gorgeous French Colonial architecture and frenetic energy of the town, that we’d like it here.

The first thing we noted, was similar to Saigon the motor-scooter traffic was insane. I think probably because we have become somewhat desensitized to just how intense the crazy flow of traffic is, we took to crossing the street through the constant sea of motor-scooters as a challenge rather than a chore. Jason actually seemed to be trying to find reasons to traverse to the other side, just to have that feeling of accomplishment that he did it – I wasn’t quite on board with his enthusiasm there.

One thing that drove us crazy about this town was in the old quarter it was near impossible to walk around -- the sidewalks were absolutely covered with either parked motor scooters, goods that were for sale, or little restaurant plastic tables and chairs. So, basically you had to pretty much walk in the street in this area, praying and hoping that you wouldn’t get hit. I was definitely not a fan of this, and even Jason wanted out on this little challenge.

Hanoi has some great restaurants, which we definitely took advantage of. Emperor is a well known institution in the city when it comes to good Vietnamese food, and was a great place to spend an evening drinking some wine, playing some darts with the bar tender (before it got crowded), and then eating a really nice, bona fide Vietnamese meal. Everything about the place seemed pretty authentic, minus the $100 price tag – a family of 8 could probably feed themselves for a month on that kind of money in this country.

One thing we found and are now hooked on, which we can’t believe it took us to the last couple days we were in Vietnam to discover, was the Vietnamese coffee. The small cups of concentrated coffee, topped off with condensed milk are really to die for. The flavor is so intense, and the sweetness of the condensed milk complements it perfectly.

Lunch at Bobby Chinn one afternoon was probably one of the best meals on our entire trip. It was so good we actually made a reservation to come back that same evening for dinner after the Water Puppet Show. We ended up deciding on another joint, but still the food in this town is A+.

Now you’re probably asking yourselves, did she say water puppet show – what’s that? This is definitely one of the most popular things to do in Hanoi, and no doubt the epitome of touristy, but well worth checking out this cultural performance. The traditional Water puppets are world famous puppets, made of wood, and which dance on the water conducted by puppeteers who are wading in the waist high water from behind a curtain. This is definitely something unique to this country.

Although not more than a couple of days is needed to check out Hanoi, it’s definitely worth a visit to experience the diversity of food, culture and attempts at crossing the street it has to offer.

It’s a mouthful, but that’s where we are at the moment. We had very few preconceived notions about Laos (pronounced like Matt “Lauer” without the “er”). Frankly, we didn’t really know that much about the place. I figured since it lies between Thailand and Vietnam it would just be some sort of combination of the two. As it turns out, this country has a completely unique culture – and it’s awesome.

First and foremost, the food. It’s all about fresh herbs and simple flavors. There’s a major French influence but no creams or sauces. Because the Lao people eat with their fingers, they prefer sticky rice which can kneaded between the thumb and forefinger and used to scoop up the meal. We’ve had some of the finest meals of the whole trip already, including our traditional lunch of sticky rice and dips today.

Another highlight has been a trek to the local waterfall which we hiked all the way up to the top of. It was pretty grueling, only to get to the top and not be able to get to the other side to go back down. Turns out it actually could be done, as luckily we ran into a guy on our way back down who had done it before and showed us the path over the top of the waterfall. 

Everything was going wonderful until a leech attached itself to Joy's foot. Pulling it off was pretty hard - that sucker (get it?) just didn't want to let go.  At the bottom we decided to take a dip in the pool under one of the falls and were soon joined by a troop of monks. It was honestly one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen as they swung on the tree rope and jumped off the falls in their full orange robes.

With not too much left to do before leaving for the airport a little later today, we decided to take a morning hike up to the top of Phou Si mountain. It’s in the center of the town and provides a beautiful 360 degree view of everything around for miles. Shortly after starting the climb we came across an old lady selling birds in a small woven cage. Apparently the idea is to release them at the top to symbolize your love. Well, I’m just making the love part up since we don’t speak Laotian and don’t know what she was saying, but it obviously must symbolize something so why not make Joy happy. We released the birds and headed back down and were shocked to see IT WORKED! Right in our path back down were two lizards making hot and heavy whoopee.

You’d think that the capital city of a country would be a hub for activity and excitement and interesting sites, but sad to say Vientiane really didn’t have too much to offer. Thank goodness we only had one and a half days in this town, since really that was more than enough time to see it all.

The main venues to check out within the town are the temples – we dutifully explored Pha That Luang, the national symbol and most important religious site in Laos. Like many of the temples we’ve visited throughout Asia it was quite opulent and beautiful, covered in gold paint that reflected in the sunlight.

Another “must see” in town is the Patuxai (Victory Gate), a take off of the Paris Arc de Triumphe. Apparently it was constructed from concrete donated by the US that was supposed to be used for the new airport. We climbed to the top, strangely discovering on the middle floor lots of t-shirt vendors.

Our meals in this town were very sub-par compared to our excellent dining experiences in Luang Prabang. The restaurants didn’t have near the cozy ambience like they did in Luang PRabang, nor was the food remotely as fresh and fragrant and tasty as in the small town. No doubt, if we were to come back to this beautiful country, I think we’d bypass Vientiane, and head straight up to Vien Viang, which we hear is supposed to be quite amazing, then on over to Luang Prabang.

You have to be nuts to come to Cambodia in May. It’s hot. Sadly it did not stop the hordes of tourists from descending en masse onto the ancient temples regardless. At 100 degrees and 100% humidity you’re best off pretending you’re at a beautiful spa sitting in the sauna. Although, maybe Jason wouldn’t have had a “heat temper tantrum” if we were in one.

We opted for a private tour, which was probably the way to go. For $30 you get not just a car and driver but a separate English speaking guide. Add that to the $40/pp for the 3-day pass and you’re in temple nirvana for a mere $70. Unfortunately our guide Tea was a bit overly knowledgeable, ranting on and on about ever little “Bas Relief” depiction in the place. I kept waiting to hear “Bueller…. Bueller…” while I was dozing off.

Things got much better when Tea released us on our own to climb to the top of the central Angkor tower. I understand why he let us go solo on this part, since it was a straight up vertical climb of stairs. Getting up was no problem – the hard part was getting down. The “easy” way down using a railing had a line of about 200 people, and Jason and I had no patience for that. We decided we’d face our fears and eventually built up enough courage do descend the North West side as you can see in the video clip.

We thought a sunset over one of the temple complexes would be a great way to end the day. However, we got more of a hike up a mountain, and then had to jockey for room on the temple to watch the sunset go over the horizon. So, basically we were just sitting on the temple watching a sunset – cool in some ways, but not what we were looking for. The best part was Jason making friends with a monk – hmm, maybe that’s his real calling in life.

Why we had never heard of this “Angkor” is beyond me – seems like Angkor Wat has undeservedly stolen the thunder of what I thought to be the most incredible temple I’ve seen yet on our travels.

The Temple of Many Faces was an absolute thrill to explore. Forget the fact there were way less people, being morning the temperature was much more tolerable, and that we ditched our verbose tour guide from yesterday - this temple was just much more interesting to look at. With the hundreds, maybe even thousands of faces carved out of stone seemingly staring straight at you, how could we not be enthralled!?!

“Ladeee, buy postcard, one dollah!” almost began to put me in a trance-like state hearing this over and over as we wandered around the temple area. It’s a heart-breaking site to see the young children that have been sent out by their parents beg for money – it was just so hard to know what to do. Repeatedly telling them “no thank you”, as politely as possible, usually did the trick. Luckily Jason had a piece of candy, which got one little munchkin off our heels.

We ended the day at the jungle temple, which was pretty neat. The branches and roots of trees have become intertwined with the structures here, and are really amazing to check out. Unfortunately the Asian tour groups had made it to this complex by the time we arrived, making it almost impossible to get a decent photo. They’re notorious for lining up in groups of 30 and hogging the photo opps! We did manage to get away from them by accidentally wandering into the “keep out” area. Bonus points to us for seeing hidden treasures.

I don't know why, but I've always had a fascination with tall buildings.  I'm in the right place for that since our hotel is connected to the 2nd and 3rd tallest buildings in the world.  We've spent most of the first two days in Kuala Lumpur exploring the ginormous mall that connects the two towers together.  It is perhaps the biggest and best mall I have ever seen, and coming off of nearly two months of traveling where malls do not exist it is quite refreshing. We’d almost forgotten what it’s like to pay at a cash register instead of arguing at a stall in a market over the price of a toothbrush.

Last night we had the best meal we have ever eaten. And since our tagline is “Eating and Drinking Our Way Around the World” I think that’s saying a lot. It was not just the best meal of our trip, but the best ever. Frangipani, a French nouveau concept, is located in an ultra hip area of KL (as we locals call Kuala Lumpur) and made a definite statement from the outside. Not overdone, but clearly defining itself. Which is the same thing that can be said for the two story open interior which boasts a tastefully done pool of still water in the center.

The meal started off with our waiter telling us about the two specials of the day, an asparagus dish and a sardine dish. We picked the asparagus. A moment later a panicked waiter comes out apologizing profusely that they just ran out of the asparagus. We say no problem and don’t give it another thought until Chris Bauer, the head chef, comes out to personally apologize and offer us the sardines on the house. Not huge fans of sardines we graciously accepted so as not to offend. Turns out the dish was one of the finest things I have ever tasted, with imported sardines rubbed with fresh sea salt and prosciutto.

I’m not going to bore with some overly wordy and pretentious description of the courses to follow, but let’s just say that each was brilliant. There was not one single ingredient or garnish that wasn’t the best I’ve ever had. As a Jew I’ve had my fair share of smoked salmon, but nothing has ever compared to the tea smoked salmon starter. When it was time for dessert Chris returned to our table (as he had a few other times throughout the evening to make sure everything was ok) to see what we wanted. To say everything on the menu looked tempting was an understatement, so we told him to pick something and surprise us. Next thing we know he’s marching out with half the wait staff to present us with the most beautiful sampler I have ever seen. Our very first 10/10 on the Wandering Walkers Restaurant Rating Scale (or WWRRS for short).

We got dropped off by our taxi driver in Chinatown this day. We figured by the looks of it on the map it would be an easy walk over to the park in the center of town. Maps can certainly be deceiving not clearly defining railroad tracks, or the large gulches of water blocking passages. Over an hour of winding our way through the streets at mid-noon in about 90 degree heat, 100% humidity we stumbled onto the park. I saw the Islamic Arts Museum from afar, and figured this would be a perfect time to capitalize on the fact that museums are always air conditioned to freezer like temperatures. Jason took the bait and we were in.

The feature exhibit “Spice Journeys –Taste and Trade in the Islamic World” was perfect, seeing as we’re eating and drinking our way around these countries. This was certainly no SF MOMA, but it did the trick. More than anything I was amazed to see Jason in a museum seeming somewhat interested in it all – I guess a food based exhibit will do that to him.

With no set plans in place after wandering around the park for a while, we decided we’d make it our mission to get to the KL Tower (the tallest building in KL). We thought we don’t need no fancy maps, we’ll just look up in the skyline and track it as we go. In theory this is a wonderful idea, although not sure if you’ve ever tried to get to a tall building merely by following where it appears to be. Let’s just say 2 hours later, drenched not only from the sweat dripping off of us, but also from the rain that ensued, we found it.

The view from atop this 287 meter structure was pretty amazing – you could see a 360 view of everything in a 50 km area. They also give you an audio tour to guide you through what you’re looking out at – more than anything Jason was into the ambient Moby music playing in the background. By far the coolest thing was the insane lightening storms that opened up from the sky. Bolts were literally illuminating in the horizon, and the rains turned from a trickle to a full-fledged downpour. That’s when we knew we’d be taking a taxi home to end that adventure filled day.

It didn’t hit me until yesterday at the Kuala Lumpur bus station just how difficult it could be to travel alone. The scene   at this bus station was insanity – people everywhere, to the point we could barely roll our bags through the crowds.   Each time we moved in any direction our backpacks seemed to knock over the person next to us. It was easily 90   degrees, and there was no air-con in the lovely station. Our bus to Melaka was leaving in 10 minutes, and the 3 hour bus ride would have no pit-stops.

This is where my respect for the unaccompanied traveler comes into play – just the feat of going to the bathroom with your entire fleet of luggage gets major props. I luckily had Jason to watch my big bag, and stupidly decided to keep my large backpack on. I could barely squeeze through the turn stall to get into the bathroom, on top having to scrounge for money to pay for the entry. Then came the task of jockeying for a stall with that large thing on my back, since people don’t line up in many S. Eastern countries – you kind of have to fight for a stall. The constant stream of ladies pressing into the very crowded bathroom was a claustrophobic’s nightmare

The thought of adding a rolling bag into the mix would have been unheard of – not to mention the floor was sopping wet and I felt like I had to disinfect my shoes just from standing in the puddles of bathroom water. So, what would you do if you were all alone, with all your bags, and no-one to watch your stuff? WWJD – what would Jennathan do? I must admit, I think I would have had a nervous breakdown in this moment!!!!

My Malaysian experience falls squarely between The Best Country I’ve Ever Been To and The Worst Country I’ve Ever Been To. A perfect five if you will. While there were certainly plenty of great things about this country and plenty of not-so-great, nothing really stands out one way or the other. It’s a schizophrenic culture of equal parts Malay, Chinese, and Indian that don’t really meld into any single identity.

As I mentioned previously though, if you like big buildings this is a good place for you. Even though there’s really only the two twin towers and one large communications tower to marvel at. The rest, again, fall right smack dab into thirty-story mediocrity. It was great to be reminded of what a mall is like, and it was nice to know we had the option of going to Chile’s if we wanted to. Not that we ever ever would of course.

Malacca (or Melaka or Malaka – there’s a zillion ways to spell it apparently) was a pleasant surprise. We didn’t have the bar set all that high, but the Dutch influence was neat-o and it was obvious they spent a good deal of effort maintaining the original facades. A very walkable town, although as you can see in the video I decided to try my hand at driving a Trishaw. Much to the amusement of Joy and the normal driver. There was a nice night market (although we’re starting to find these all too common) but what set this one apart was stumbling on a room of Malay Line Dancing. Yeah, you heard that right.

There is also an old Portuguese Settlement in the southern outskirts of the city. We decided to trishaw it over there, but our first guy was too old to make it the distance. So he pawned us off onto another guy who just barely made it. We nicknamed him El Gordo as at first we thought the locals were laughing at us for riding in one of these stupid things. Then we realized they were actually laughing at how fat our driver was. But it was all worth it because we had the best crab of our lives caught right off the shore we were eating on.

Now we’ve seen a lot of bats on our travels thus far -- although never a fan, I’ve never been as scared as our interaction with these little beasts on the Night Safari at the Singapore zoo. I guess we were probably asking for a little thrill, since the sign denoting the enclosure of fruit bats read “Beaware of low-flying bats:  Enter at you're Own Will”. I thought if the zoo had an open enclosure where you could be around free-flying fruit bats, they’d probably be off doing their own thing.

WRONG! All I know is one minute into our walk (mind you it’s night and dark out) I feel a “woosh” by my head, and low and behold a fruit bat has just side-swiped me. Jason was behind me and saw the whole thing. This is of course when my fear of being infected with rabies started to surface, to which Jason replied he’d keep his eye on me. Although I was ready to bolt from the enclosure, Jason was taking his sweet-old time, getting as close as he could to these non-caged creatures hanging off the trees.

The night safari is quite a unique experience, providing close encounters with animals you don’t typically get to have interaction with -- sometimes to close. There are no cages or bars, just enclosures that are natural to the environment (most of the time we were asking ourselves if there really was anything keeping the animals contained). The crazy thing is as you’re walking through the zoo, many of the animals are freely roaming (mainly deer). There is no doubt the night safari is a must see while in Singapore, and it certainly got us in the mood for our African Safari’s in just a couple weeks!

This is how our new-found friend, John, described Singapore. After spending four days there it’s easy to grasp this. The ease of everything in this land is what first comes to mind – effortless access to shopping, efficient public transportation, not an over-abundance of people (relative to most other Asian countries), and food venues for every taste.

With American fast food restaurants on more corners then we have in the Bay Area, a California pizza kitchen (that we ate in our first night craving the familiarity of home), strip mall after strip mall (even more insane than Scottsdale), and most everyone speaking English, I would have thought I was back in good ole CA. Let’s just say this was a great place to recharge our battery without the struggles of trying to figure out a foreign culture.

There were some areas that made the country feel distinct, just not unique to Singapore. Little India and Arab Street were two neighborhoods we walked around and had meals in – lovely food, great atmosphere, but I felt like I was in India or the Middle East. This eclectic feel seems to sum up some of the culture we experienced in the country, being that of a melting pot of many different ethnicities.

The stereotype of Singapore being a very clean country was certainly true, although not to the point where I was scared of a flogging for littering. I was expecting litter police on every corner, or some sort of disciplinary sense to the country, which thank goodness we were far from experiencing. AND, gum chewing we did all we wanted.