Water fight!

Jason and I got into a huge water fight yesterday morning (our last day in Australia). I was sipping on my water when he decided to take the bottle out of my hand and dump it on my head when I was sitting in bed, watching TV. I immediately retaliated and refilled the bottle and poured it all over him, and the hotel room in the process. I think I lost- oh well. Gotta love rainy days stuck in the hotel. ;)

Werribee Open Range Zoo

We are in AUSTRALIA! We've been here for several days now and it is winter here, yuck! We went from 110 degrees in Singapore to rainy 55 degree weather here. At least I had a nice excuse to go shopping! ;)

Yesterday, I went to the zoo by our hotel. I took 385 pictures... oops! Although I went by myself, I had a ton of fun. The zoo is an open range zoo, which means that all of the animals run around in one big cage. Part of the zoo you take a jeep and go on a safari type ride to see the zebras, giraffes, rhinos and such. The other part of the zoo you can walk through and animals run around right by you. I got chased by an Emu. Go figure! I was the only person in the walking area of the zoo. I didn't have a phone and was praying I wouldn't get eaten, as no one would have known. In case you were wondering, I made it out alive! Pheewwww

My Dad's favorite animal in the whole wide world is the rhinoceros. I took a bunch of pics for you Dad! I'm obviously not going to post all 385 pics that I took, but here are some of my faves! Enjoy!





Here's the Emu that chased me (after he finally turned away!):






















I think he's telling me to kiss it ;)



Our hotel:



View on my walk back to the hotel after leaving the zoo:

Fire!

Last night, as I was dreaming peacefully in our hotel in Sydney, Australia, the fire alarm went off. It happened at around 5am. It took me a minute to figure out what was happening. Jason asked me to turn on the lights, since the switch was by me. Half asleep, I tripped over my luggage, stumbled into the window, and attempted to open the curtains. Even if I did open them, it was still dark out so I am not sure what I was thinking. Anyway, Jason turned the lights on and we rushed to get dressed and to put our shoes on. When I finally figured out what was going on, I was pissed. We walked out of our room and saw some firemen walking in the halls, checking things out, while other hotel guests were hanging out in the hallway. After waiting about 20 minutes, an anouncement finally told us that it was a false alarm. Deep down, I did not really wish for a fire but I was even more upset because some fool pulled the alarm and disturbed my slumber. It took me forever to fall back asleep and by the time I did, I practically had to wake right back up. It's always something, isn't it?

Attack of the Monkeys

Preface: Jason and I went to Phra Nakhon Khiri Palace in Thailand. Outside of the palace, there is the following warning:



Note #3: Do not tease or provoke the monkeys. They may attack you.

When we first arrived, I took a picture of this warning because I thought it was funny. Cute little monkeys attack sweet little me? Not gonna happen.

As we were walking around, we noticed that monkeys were everywhere. I got very excited because they "were" my favorite animal. Jason was taking a million pictures and I was watching the baby monkeys run around and play. I didn't think I was too close but apparently mama monkey did and she sprinted towards me, showing her teeth. And boy what big, sharp teeth they have! I started to run away, screaming (nearly in tears) because this monkey was trying to attack me. When I though I got far enough away, another money popped out at me and showed it's teeth too. And so it went. I think it was my shiny purse or something but these monkeys did not like me. Just me. They didn't bother Jason or anyone else. Just me. As I was running from the first monkey, a police officer saw me in near hysterics, running for my life, and took his sling shot and started shooting at the monkey, making it leave me alone. He was my good Samaritan of the day and I think he saved my life. Needless to say, I am now deathly afraid of stupid monkeys and they are no longer one of my favorite animals.

Here is a picture of the culprit. Notice the death stare.

This Is Not Normal

What is that you ask? That, my dear, is not a normal toilet. I nearly cried when I went to the restroom, already having held it as long as I could. Me? Squat? No sir! To the left, you will notice that there is no TP. That is problem numero uno. Then you see a water nozzle, a basin, and a bucket. In order to clean out the toilet, you fill up the bucket and pour water into the toilet until the dirty water weighs down the stopper and the water washes away. That, my friend, is how you flush the toilet. As I mentioned, there is no TP, so you can imagine how gross it was. As I walked out of the stall, I thought it was over. Nope. I tried to wash my hands and of course there is no soap. From now on, I will be carrying tissues and hand sanitizer. Dear America, I miss your simplicities like your toilets. Love, LC

Water Market

This past weekend, Jason and I were in Thailand and went to the Water Market. It was one of the most interesting experiences we've had while we've been overseas.






When we arrived, we got onto a little motor boat. We decided to pay a little extra, which was the right decision since the boat came with a roof for shade. Boy was it HOTTT out! The other boats are row boats usually rowed by little Thai ladies and they have no cover for its passengers.





The boat took us around the canals where the shops were, dropped us off at a market off the canal, and dropped us off at a Buddhist temple so we could take some pictures.





The shops on the sides of the canals had all sorts of things to sell. They had everything from dresses, photo albums, and necklaces to fruit, handbags, and wind chimes.






At the Buddhist temple, we were given tiny gold sheets of paper that we were to place on the Buddha statue in the back of the temple. We also bought bracelets that were made by a famous monk and that meant goodluck.





On some of the canals are homes that some Thai people live in. They are tiny houses with only one room that several people live in. They did not seem to have running water (since we saw a man bathing in the canal with soap) and definitely no air conditioning. The people do not have much money at all. It was a very humbling experience to see them work so hard for such little money. But, they were the happiest people. It really showed me that money can not buy happiness and to be thankful for what I have.







Overall, we have a wonderful time experiencing the Thai culture. If any of you have a chance to go to Thailand, I definitely recommend making a trip to the Water Market.

Civil Unrest in Bangkok

Despite all the civil unrest, Jason and I have been in Bangkok since last Thursday. Jason has had several meetings with clients that he had to attend to. I have stayed in the hotel the whole time, since it is safe. A couple of kilometers away, the civil unrest demonstrations are being held. Just since Thursday, 32 people have died and 230 people have been injured. What I'm sure the news has not told you, the demonstrations are in a designated area that is barricaded. We are in a different area of Bangkok, so we are safe. I am very glad that we will be leaving in a couple of hours though. The city that was once prosperous has been like a ghost town since we've been here. There are many military guys walking around the city with M16s, which has definitely frightened me as well as other tourists. Unfortunately, I am sure that things are going to get worse here before they get better. I am glad that we will not be here to see it. Continue to pray for everyone in Thailand, as it is a very scary time for them.

Beach Stripper

On Saturday, Jason and I made our way to Hua Hin Beach, Thailand. We wanted to get away from the civil unrest in Bangkok, so we made our way to a nice beach since we were only a couple hours away. For lunch, Jason and I ate at the resort's restaurant that was located right on the beach. It was the nicest beach restaurant we've eaten at and we were the only patrons... even better. As we were eating our meal, we noticed a woman who was walking on the beach stop in front of the restaurant. It was a very hot day, so we figured she wanted to take a dip in the water. She appeared to be a European in her 40's or 50's. All of a sudden we see her take off her shorts and her underwear, turn around to see if anyone is looking, and then puts on her bathing suit bottoms. I could not believe my eyes! She changed in broad day light. Needless to say, we nearly lost our stomachs. I'm sure she would have gotten caned for that in Singapore. To be nice, I spared you a picture for this post. Haha! Oh the things we encounter...

Jack

I'm really missing my little man, Jack, today! I can't wait to see him when I visit home in June!

It's Like Christmas!!

Yay!! Our boxes finally arrived today! It only took a month! ;)

Penang, Malaysia

We spent the last several days in Penang, Malaysia. Although Jason worked the first couple of days, the weekend was ours.

On Thursday, Jason took a half day and we decided that we would visit Monkey Beach with his co-worker Mike. We talked to a local and he had a trip for sale so we could go fishing, go to Monkey Beach, and have a BBQ. We were all in. At the top of the hill on Monkey Beach, there was a lighthouse. Jason wanted to walk up the "hill" and take pictures, since he loves lighthouses. So we first went fishing were we caught only bait fish. It was still a lot of fun. And I must brag and say that I, by far, caught the most fish (maybe it's because I didn't bait or unhook the fish, but those are just technicalities). After fishing we went to Monkey Beach. This is where I began to realize why it is called Monkey Beach and not Monkeys Beach. We only saw one. LOL! We then started our 1.5 hour trek up the "hill". It seemed like a harmless trail to begin with, but in 100 degree weather, I was about to pass out. It took 45 mins (or longer) to get to the top. I've never seen so many stairs in my life. I'm still not sure why we had to pay for that, with all the sweat and work we put into it. LOL. But when we finally made it to the top, OMG what a view!! It was gorgeous and made it all worthwhile. After we walked down the hill we had our BBQ that the local made for us. There was hamburgers, hotdogs, tons of chicken and fish along with pineapple and a salad. We drank pepsi and didn't have any utensils to use. It was surprisingly very tasty!















Friday, Jason went to some meetings so I laid out by the pool and walked on the beach for 1.5 hours. It was gorgeous. It's funny because the whole time I was walking, many different men took my picture. I must be a hot commodoty, being a redhead and all. LOL! Friday night a bunch of Jason's co-workers and I went out to The Hardrock Cafe and watched some fire throweres and some live music. Jason and I even took a lit up tuk tuk home. It was a ton of fun!








Saturday, Jason and I went to the pool and beach for a little while before we went shopping. In the afternoon, Jason, Mike and I got a cab and went shopping and then to the Botanical Gardens by Penang Hill. What is it with all these hills? LOL! We first went into the Gardens where we saw a bunch of cute monkeys! Many people were feeding them peanuts, so they were running around all over the place. Thankfully, we took a truck up the hill (over 3 miles) to the top where we took pictures of the sunset. It was beautiful!





Sunday, Jason and I went to the pool/beach for a couple hours before we had to check out of the hotel. It was a nice, relaxing day. We caught our flight last night at 6pm and finally made it home sweet home.

Overall, I had a great time in Penang. Malaysia is such a beautiful country with such nice people. I can't wait to go back in a couple of months.