Ko Samui, Thailand

Off to Ko Samui...just a public bus, ferry, minibus, train, big bus, ferry, cab ride, and golf cart ride away....

Getting to Ko Samui from Penang was quite the adventure. 

Step 1:  Take a 10 minute public bus from our hostel to the ferry.  No problem.

Step 2:  Take the ferry from Penanag Island to mainland Malaysia near the Butterworth train station.  No problem.

Butterworth Ferry

View of Georgetown from the ferry

Step 3:  Take a 10 hour train from Malaysia to Surat Thani, Thailand which is near the port where we could catch the ferry to Ko Samui.  Big problem #1.

When we arrived at Butterworth train station we learned that our train had been canceled due to major delays in Thailand.  Luckily, the guy at the ticket window spoke English and directed us to take a mini bus across the border into Thailand.  Unluckily, that minibus would drop us off at Hat Yai, Thailand, the city that had a terrorist bombing a few weeks before. Big problem #2. For the record, I was reluctant to go to Hat Yai...I'm neurotic about my safety.  T on the other hand vetoed my refusal to go to Hat Yai, claiming it was the safest time to go since the attack already happened.  Well, we're still alive so you were right Luke, you were riiight.

Step 4:  Take a 3 hour mini bus with 7 other people (T was the only whitey) across the border to Hat Yai.  No problem.  Crossing the border by foot was actually kind of neat.  T suspected that the women sitting next to him was Korean so he ask her first in English "Are you visiting from Korea?".  She stared at him blankly not understanding a word he said.  Then he busted out his Korean and asked her again.  She got a bit excited and started talking to him in Korean at which point T stared at her blankly not understanding a word she said.  It was pretty cute.

Step 5:  Take the train from Hat Yai to Surat Thani.  No major problems except waiting in scorching heat for a train that was 2 hours late.  Otherwise, the train was pretty fun.  It was my first time on a train where a waiter took your dinner order and then afterwards turned your seats into beds.  Pretty cool huh?

"Hat Yai is the BOMB" by Ted

Yayyyy.  2 buckets of sweat later, our train is finally here!!

Quenching our thirst with $1 cold beers! Beat that America.

Our cheap but pretty tasty train food.

Our dinner table turned into T's bed

My bed folded down from the ceiling.  So fun right?

 Step 6:  By the time we got to Surat Thani it was close to midnight and too late to take a ferry across to Samui so we booked a room for $8 dollars at a place called the Queen Hotel.  Big problem #3.  Its the only hotel near the station and it was AWFUL.  I wish a took a picture of the bathroom.  The sink had a drain, but it drained onto the floor.  You turn on the water to wash your hands...the water goes into the sink and down a drain that empties on the bathroom floor directly under the sink near your feet!!!  You spit your toothpaste into the sink, it ends up on the floor splashing onto your feet!!!!  I know, I know, you get the picture, but I just can't get over it.

Step 7:  We got up as early as we could mostly because I felt like I was getting dirtier by the minute just by standing inside the Queen hotel and set out to find a bus that would take us to the ferry.  Big problem #4.  The bus which was supposed to leave at 7am left at 10.  So there we sat on a NON air con bus for 3 hours before it started moving. And what was supposed to be a 1 hour ride to the ferry was more like 2 because our driver picked himself up lunch along the side of the road, picked up his son from school along the side of the road, and then had to stop at a gas station because 2 passengers had to pee really bad. 

Step 8:  We finally got on our ferry which was about 2 hours and grabbed some much deserved beers.

View from the ferry.  Finally getting closer....

We decided to name our first born Leo Chang Provins.  haha.

Step 9:  Take a  cab to our hotel!  We made it!!! Our hotel was at the top of a steep hill so after we checked in at reception we got into a little resort golf cart to our room.

Our hotel balcony...finally some rest

Hanging at the hotel pool

Our spot on the beach

Exactly where you would find us everyday promptly at 4

The journey to Ko Samui was probably the most interesting and blog worthy event during our time there since we spent most of our week just hanging by the pool and drinking at the beach.  We also spent a significant amount of time looking for a tanktop for T.  Yes, you read that correctly, a tanktop for Ted.  He had developed an unbelievable farmer's tan.  There was nothing he could do about his legs unless he was willing to rock a speedo, but he decided to save his arms by sporting a euro tank top look.  We didn't find one though...there just wasn't one out there that didn't make T look...just wrong.  I suggested cutting the sleeves off his Captain America tshirt, but I think that would just devastate our friend Tom and Jen who just love to see T is that tshirt :)

See what I mean?  I don't normally condone man tanks but drastic times call for drastic measures

Oh and I did a half day tour by myself while T stayed back and did our taxes all day...though I'm sure he managed in some Starcraft time with Brian...the highlight of Ted's time in Ko Samui.  I'll end this post with some pics from my tour.  Enjoy!

The temples and Buddhas I visited...

This guy isn't a Buddha obviously but its a cool statue made entirely of car parts.

 

 

 

 

 

The tour I signed up for also took us to a place called the grandma and grandpa rocks.  I would just like to make it clear that I went only because it was included in the tour and not by choice.

This is grandpa rock

This is grandma rock

And this is their son which they obviously call grandson rock

I also visited the most famous monk in Ko Samui who died 20 or something years ago.  I was told his body did not decompose so they decided to position him in a meditating position to show the world the benefits of healthy meditation.  I had so many questions about this...how did they figure out his body doesn't decompose...did his family keep his body after he died and wait to see if it would decompose?  I mean...how is this possible?  They claim they don't treat the body with any chemicals and all his organs are still in tact!  It doesn't make sense right?  Oh, he sports a pair of classic Ray Bans too.  Maybe its the Ray Bans that have the magical power.

And last but not least, I did an hour hike to a waterfall with the tour group.  Ted would have LOVED it.

 

Singapore & Penang

After Bali, we flew to Singapore for a quick two nights to quickly check this city-state out.  It was a very nice change of pace to spend some time in a modern city with all its conveniences (but not its higher prices).

We arrived at our hostel around dinner time so we just dropped off our bags and headed out to find some good food.  India Town was close by so we headed there to find some good Indian food. It was a Sunday night, so Sharon and I were very surprised at how hoppin' the area was.  The crazy part was that the male to female ratio was at least 100 to 1.  I'd like to know where all the ladies were at.  Anyways, we found a good place to eat and we proceeded to gorge ourselves.  I'm not sure why, but I don't think I ate any Indian food until I was 28 or so, and since then I think it has become my favourite food to eat.  I love Indian food.  10 days and counting and I have all the Indian food I could ever need.

We only had only one full day in Singapore, so we decided to buy tickets for the hop on/hop off tour bus so we could see as much of the city as possible.

 Rocking the Hop-On/Hop-Off Bus in Singapore (aka the Hippo Bus).

One of our first stops at my request, was the Marina Bay Sands which is this recently built hotel/conference center/casino/mall that I first became aware of when I saw it on an episode on Build It Bigger on the Discovery Channel.  The coolest thing about the show, was that it showed how they were going to build a large park on top of the three hotel towers.  So of course being in Singapore, we had to go check it out.

A scaled model of the Marina Bay Sands.

First stop was the observation deck which provided a crazy view of Singapore.  Unfortunately, they had closed off public access to the gardens and pools, so I was a little bit disappointed about that.  Next time we are in Singapore we will have to stay at the hotel so we can get free access.

Some of the views of Singapore from the viewing deck.

This is as close as I could get to the gardens and infinity pool.

Sharon was super excited about the "floating" Louis Vuitton store.

Next stop was of course the casino, but unfortunately you needed your passport to get in, and we had left ours at the hotel.  Huge bummer.  Sharon's plan of winning enough money to buy a new bag at the floating Louis store were dashed.  So instead we decided to go check out the mall which was pretty crazy.  Along with numerous super high end stores, was a canal reminiscent of Venice where you could pay to have someone take you from one end of the mall to the other in a boat, and a sweet fountain which I deemed the "Toilet Fountain".  It consisted of a huge bowl that water was sent into which proceeded to swirl around the bowl until it reached a hole in the bottom where it would then fall into the pool below.

Too tired to walk the 100 meters to the other end of the mall?  No problem, hire a boat.

The "Toilet Fountain".  Where's a giant O'Henry bar when you need it?

After the Marina Bay Sands, we road the Hippo Bus all around Singapore, getting a feel for what the city has to offer.  In the late afternoon, we went to a movie theatre to watch Hunger Games.  Yes, I know, kind of a lame thing to do with only one full day in Singapore, but we had both read the book and were dying to see it, and we weren't sure when our next opportunity would be to check it out.

After the movie, we were pretty hungry, so we went out looking for a good place for dinner.  This was my top choice:

"Come on Sharon!  What screams Singapore more some delicious Hooters wings?"

Unfortunately, Sharon vetoed this idea.  Seriously though, we had made plans to meet an old friend of Sharon's back from her high school days in Chicago for dinner.  For a while now, Sharon has been dying to try some chili crab, so we decided to meet up with her friend Eddie at a top chili crab restaurant.  The crab was fantastic (we preferred the pepper crab over the chili crab though), and we had a really good time catching up with Eddie and hearing all about his adventures in Singapore.  Eddie also picked up the tab for dinner, which was incredibly nice of him to do.  So thanks again Eddie if you are reading this.  We owe you a really nice dinner in the U.S. next time we see you.

Sharon & Eddie, wearing some bibs, and eating some chili crab.

The next day we flew to Penang for another quick two nights before heading to Ko Samui.  Our time in Penang basically revolved around food.  After dropping our stuff off at our hostel in Old Georgetown, we walked a bit around town, checking out some of the old colonial buildings, and then proceeded to try to find us some good street food.  We hit up a bunch of spots, but the most interesting thing we ate was at our last stop of the night where we ordered a rama burger...

Step #1: Fry egg.

Step #2: Place burger on top of fried egg.

Step #3: Wrap burger in fried egg.

Step #4: Add bun, veggies, mayo, ketchup, etc. = DELICIOUSNESS.

The next day we slept in a bit before heading out to grab some lunch at a delicious chicken rice stall just down the street.  This was our first time eating chicken rice, and it has since become one of our go to meals in SE Asia.

Yummy, chicken rice.

After lunch, we looked to rent some bikes so we could continue our search for some more delicious food.  Sharon had read about this supposedly awesome outdoor food center that was about a half hour bike ride away.  We found some pretty decent mountain bikes to rent and were on our way.  We made it to the food center at around 3pm, but found out it wasn't open until around six, so we decided continue riding along the coast to see what we could find.

Sharon braving the streets and traffic of Penang.

We road another 15 to 20km along the ocean until we hit a nice beach where we stopped to grab a couple of cold, refreshing beers.  While we were stopped, Sharon spotted a women who was selling grilled corn on the cob which Sharon had to try.  She was not disappointed.

A happy Sharon eating some grilled corn on the cob.

A nice view to enjoy while drink some cold, refreshing beer.

After our beers, we turned around and headed back the way we came.  On the way back we stopped at the "Floating Mosque" which was a total letdown as it wasn't floating at all, but merely supported by stilts on the shore.  What a ripoff.

Floating mosque my ass.

We finally made it back to the outdoor food center which was now bustling with activity.  The food there is dirt cheap, so we decided to get a sampling of many different dishes.  We made sure to eat up all the calories we had burned during the bike ride and then some.

Can you spot Sharon surveying our food options in this pic?

After dinner we rode the rest of the way back to our hostel so we could get a good night's sleep before our long day of travel to Thailand the next day.  

That's it for now.  Sharon will write about our time in Thailand shortly.

10 days in Bali, Indonesia

We arrived to Bali from Cairns close to 9pm.  I had arranged for our hotel to pick us up from the airport so we wouldn't have to deal with getting a cab on our own.  I have to admit, I was mildly excited about the idea of someone waiting at the airport with a sign that said Mr and Mrs Yun...er I mean Provins on it.  Well, apparently more bad luck followed us from Australia.  There was no driver waiting for us.  The hotel forgot.  Arg.  So after being attacked by 1 million taxi drivers asking us if we need transport, we finally settled on a cab and got in.  By the time we got into the cab, the weather in Cairns decided to show up too and it started to downpour, adding to an already stressful cab ride which consisted of weaving through a sea of motor scooters, many with families of five on them. 

Happy New Year in Ubud
We made it to the hotel in Ubud (central Bali) in one piece and my stress dissolved as soon as the staff showed us to our room. For the past 5 weeks we had been living in small hostel rooms with shared bathrooms and a campervan....finally, we splurged on a real hotel room with our very own shower and toilet.  It was exciting.  We originally only booked the hotel room for 2 nights with the intention to move to a more budget friendly guesthouse for the rest of our time in Bali.  2 nights turned into 4, but it was well worth it and well deserved.  Finally, we had a good night's rest in an air conditioned room with our own bathroom.

the view from our room

After a great sleep in a real bed, we started our first full day in Bali at the Monkey Sanctuary.  I don't have much to say about this, except it was creepier than the penguins we saw in Australia.  There were monkeys everywhere.  The only redeeming thing was watching two female monkeys engage in something called social grooming.  One monkey would pick through her friend's fur for bugs and then eat the bugs.  I don't know why I enjoyed this so much or why I thought it was so sweet.  I guess nothing says friendship like eating the lice off a friend's back.

"What you lookin' at?" (by Ted)

"Awwww yeah...that's the spot." (by Ted)

After seeing the monkeys we grabbed some lunch at a restaurant over looking a rice paddy and decided to walk around Ubud a bit.  I really enjoyed Ubud.  It's a fun city to get lost in with cheap food, cheap beer, and lots of things to see.

delicious fish curry

view from our table

of course i choose the 2 most random flavors..chocolate chili was good!

avocado chocolate chip, delicious

We happened to arrive in Bali during the Balinese New Year, called Nyepi which is also known as the "Day of Silence".  Apparently on this day no one is to leave their homes and tourists are not exempt from this rule.  Tourists are asked to stay on hotel grounds and the only people allowed on the streets are government officials who are patrolling to see if anyone is on the streets! They even shut down the airport! The night before Nyepi the entire island has street parties and parades starting from 5pm to 6am when everyone has to return to their homes for their day of silence. 

T an I checked out the parade which was pretty cool to see...but reminded me a little of the halloween village parade.  Did it once, don't need to do it again.  For the parade the locals create ginormous paper mache demons, and carry them through the streets where they pretend fight each other.  Afterwards, the giant demons are burned and destroyed them.  As creepy as the demons were, you have to give props to the people who made them...they are pretty unbelievable:

Fat, bald demon.

Half-naked, voluptuous demon.

Half human, half wart hog jumping over a head demon.

The rest of our time in Ubud was spent relaxing by our pool and checking out some temples with a driver that we hired for the day for 30 bucks.  Oh and T also go this first ever pedicure!!!!

                                                      Ted: "You better not put this on the blog."

And since I'm already making fun of Ted, here's a picture of Ted and me wearing our stylish sarongs at a temple:

Dolphins and a green sulfur pool in Lovina
It was time to move on from Ubud and we decided to check out a northern island beach town called Lovina.  Lovina supposedly means "Love Indonesia"...I, unfortunately, didn't love Lovina.  It was just aiight.  The black sand beaches are mediocre and it was a bit stressful getting around from where we were because we had to walk along a fairly busy street where your chances of either getting hit by a motorbike or stepping on roadkill was high.

The highlight of Lovina is supposed to be a sunrise boat trip to see dolphins....seeing the sunset from the boat was pretty cool, but seeing the dolphins was not so cool.  Seeing the dolphins entailed 20 different speedboats with tourists on them chasing dolphins around the ocean.  I felt bad for the dolphins.

Waiting for the sunrise and scouting for some dolphins.

The dolphin chase in on!

Dolphins!

The other highlight of Lovina is supposed to be the Banjar hotsprings.  The water is green, it smells like sulfur, and there were a lot of sweaty people in it.  Not quite up my alley but we went in anyway.

The Banjar hotsprings.

Death by Mount Batur (by Ted)

Sharon wanted me to write about the hike because she's too traumatized to revisit the hike again.

After Lovina we headed to Mount Batur to do a sunrise volcano hike.  We had read reviews and also heard from some friends that it was a pretty cool trek so we decided to give it a whirl.  What we didn't know is that the hike that most tourists do and the one that our friends told us about was not the same one we signed up for.

Mount Batur.

We signed up from something called the "Complete" hike which started at 4am.  We began our hike while it was still black outside so we each had a flashlight to guide the way.  Our group consisted of Sharon, myself, a Dutch backpacker, and our guide.  The hike started out pretty modestly, but after an hour or so, it started to get pretty intense, especially considering that the only light we had were our flashlights.  The path was very narrow and steep, and the footing was very precarious as there was a lot of loose sand and rock.  As we neared the top, Sharon lost a bit of her nerve, but we pushed on and made it to the edge of the volcano's caldera where a small shack and modest breakfast awaited us.  It was pretty cloudy at first, but it eventually blew past and we were treated with some great views of the sun rising.

The breakfast shack at the top of the volcano.

Me moments before seriously fearing for my life.

After breakfast, our guide led us on past the shack and around the caldera of the volcano.  This turned out to be one of the scariest things Sharon and I have ever done in our lives.  I should have known what we were in for when I took this pic:

I said to myself, "Why are people walking so close to the ledge?"  We would soon find out.

It started out only moderately scary at first, but soon enough, no joke, we were walking across a path at most 10 inches wide, with a deadly fall to one side, and a break most of your bones in your body but maybe survive fall on the other side.  Making it even worse, there was also a very strong, gusty wind to deal with.  At breakfast I asked our guide if people ever fell and got hurt and he said all the time.  I originally thought he didn't understand my question, but once I was walking the caldera tight rope for my life, I realized he completely understood me.  These pics actually make it look better than it actually was:

It took about 20 minutes to make it around the caldera, but it seemed like it took forever.  We were so glad to see the not quite as scary incredibly steep path down the side of the volcano.  The rest of the hike was much more standard, enjoyable fare.  The volcano is still active, so we walked past many hot vents where you could actually cook some food if you wanted to.  We were back at our hotel a little after 10am and on our way to Seminyak, our final destination in Bali by noon.

Sharon and me glad to be alive and well on our way down Mount Batur.

There's not too much to report on during our 4 day stay in Seminyak as we pretty much just chilled and relaxed by the hotel pool for most of our time there.  We actually stayed at two hotels while we were there.  The first hotel was a bit too high-priced for our budget, so we downgraded to another hotel close by...

We downgraded from this...

...to this.

The funny thing is that I was totally fine staying at the original hotel (mostly because of the awesome buffet breakfast with unlimited pancakes, waffles, and DONUTS!!!) and Sharon was the one who thought we were spending too much.  Unbelievable but true. 

That's it for Bali.