TFA Internship

I also thought I would add or let everyone know that I finally got an internship for the summer!!!

Cambodia? Can-la!

Last week Saly and I set off on our journey to Cambodia.  We were really excited for this trip, but even so, Cambodia completely exceeded every expectation I had.  Along with exceeding my expectations, the trip also tested and taught me a lot.  I have never been so hot in my life, not to mention unable to escape the sweltering heat.  In the end we were exhausted but so glad that we went to Cambodia.  

We had to fly in a sort of round about trip through KL first as it was cheaper, so it made for a long day of traveling beginning at 4AM.  When we finally got to Phnom Penh we were tired so just grabbed dinner, dropped our backpacks off at our hostel, and snooped around the city a bit. I really liked the capital. The people were really wonderful.  Most of them speak English, making it easy to communicate, and get around.  There was a lot of poverty in Cambodia and it was not uncommon to see things like men sleeping on hammocks hanging off their tuk tuk bikes in the streets.  It was so crazy to see that they use those bikes for a bed, transportation, and to make a living all in one.  The children there played in the streets with the sand from construction sites, tossed around birdies, didn't wear shoes, and begged tourists to send them to school.  One even talked Sally (she is such a sucker) into buying them baby formula for their baby brother he was holding.  Five yards down there was another kid doing the same thing.  Clearly it was a scam.  All in all though, they were all so friendly and wanted to take pictures with the tourists--but only for a hefty price of a dollar.  

We woke up early the next day and rounded up a tuk tuk for the entire day to take us around to all of the sites in Phnom Penh.  We went to Tuol Sleng genocide museum or S21.  It was an old high school that during the Khmer Rouge Regime of Pol Pot was turned into a torturous holding area for men, women, children, and babies until they were taken to the "killing fields" to be executed and thrown into early graves.  We also visited the killing fields and various memorials around the city.  It was an awful thing to see, but very enlightening.  Just walking through those places it was both unsettling and creepy that one person can turn his followers into killing monsters.  It was unbelievable that people were capable of such atrocities.  Needless to say, we weren't really laughing and smiling all day.  

At the end of the tour, we just went to an air-conditioned coffee shop, got a smoothie, and sat down to relax our minds and legs.  The food in Cambodia was amazing.  Lots of curry (I am learning to make it so I can bring it home!) and veggies.  Yummy!  My favorite was yellow curry and coconut milk chicken with vegetables.  Luckily, neither Saly nor I got sick while we were in Cambodia, while most of our friends who have been there have gotten quite ill.  

The second night in Phnom Penh Saly and I were eating in our hostel for dinner.  There was no one in the restaurant so we didn't think anything about putting our wallets on the table right in front of us, in fact we thought it was the safest place.  A man came in selling newspapers and waving them in everyone's faces.  Next thing we know my wallet is gone (credit card, id, money, and all..thank goodness no passport!) as well as our hostel owner's cell phone.  I was able to take care of everything without any trouble, but it was just crazy how fast it happened.  I didn't want to ruin the rest of our trip with a bad taste in my mouth though, so I took it as a learning experience.  Saly, being the great girlfriend she is lent me money for the rest of the trip and we budgeted hard core.  In the end, everything was fine, and I'm sure that man needed the money more than I did.  

After a couple of days in the capital Saly and I took a 6 hour bus to Siem Reap,  another big city in Cambodia.  When we got to Siem Reap we hired a tuk tuk for the next day and then got started on our tour of the city right away by going to Angkor Wat to watch the sunset.  This was one of the many temples in Siem Reap, built in the mid 12th century!  It was so amazing to walk through places with that much history!  The next day we started early--really early, and watched the sunrise at Angkor Wat.  There are two things everyone should do in Siem Reap and that is watch the sunset and sunrise at the temples.  

We also visited three more temples that day--Angkor Thom, Bayon, and Ta Prohm.  They were all so much fun!  Saly and I, in all of our sweatiness, climbed, hiked, ran, jumped, and played through the MASSIVE temples and ruins.  The artwork in each one was breathtaking not to mention the architecture and enormity of them.  Bayon was my favorite with lots of maze-like halls and steep stairs to climb up.  We were like seven year olds, really.  Bayon also has cool faces all over the temple that made it fun to look at too.  We had a blast but after leaving the hostel that morning at 4:45AM, and trekking through all of the temples in the INCREDIBLE heat, we were ready to go home at like 3.  10 hours though, not bad.  

When we got back to the hostel we grabbed some curry and a fanta (pretty standard for the two of us) for late lunch.  While we were eating, a German guy came and asked us if we wanted to save some money and go with them to the floating village that night.  We wanted to go, but we were planning on going the next day.  With our limited budget, though, we couldn't turn down the group rate, so we packed up, despite our exhaustion.  It ended up being two families, one German, one crazy-haired Lebanese girl, and one annoying earthy Brit.  After a long and bumpy ride through the village area of Siem Reap, we made it to the floating village.  As the name suggests, this village was made totally of houses that were essentially boat houses.  They had everything they needed on the water from gas stations, to pig sties, to mini-marts.  It was really incredible to see, but Saly and I also felt bad because we were tramping through their neighborhood on our motor boats full of tourists staring at these people like animals.  It felt a little weird but was eye-opening.  I even saw a woman showering in that dreadfully dirty, smelly, lake water.  After such a long day, we came home and slept.  The next day we woke up and went to a couple of markets to shop and just hang out.  We donated some clothes to children there.  It was such a nice trip, but we were tired by the end of it, and ready to get back to home base--Singapore.

Cambodia was, to say the least, a culture shock and unlike anywhere else I've been in Asia.  It was still pretty touristic, yet somehow unaffected.  It was really neat to see, and one of my favorite trips I've taken so far.  It was also really nice to travel with Saly.  She got a little more than she bargained for I think when she asked about my family one night, haha, but we really got a lot closer on this trip I think.  She has helped me through my mom's surgery, missing home, she's seen me cry, and made me laugh.  She is not only an amazing travel buddy (she's the one with the map and guidebook all the time) but also a great friend. I am so glad that I have met her, and really hope that we continue this friendship after exchange.  I've already asked her to make a page for me for my birthday!  To a truly inspiring girl, I owe Saly much more than the $150 that she lent me in Cambod. :)

Until next time. 

Spring Break 2009--Who said you can't hit four cities in 11 days!?

February 18 I set off on my journey with my friend Saly from Chicago, and Rafael (Rafa as they call him) on our spring break trip.  Our recess, which we are pretty sure was supposed to be a time that NTU students are supposed to catch up on schoolwork, have group meetings, and study, consisted of hitting four cities over the course of 11 days.  We wanted to change it up a little bit, so we decided on the Philippines, specifically Boracay Island, for some water sports, beach lounging, and sun bathing.  Then we would head over to Hong Kong to experience true Asian city life, and end in Macau--the Vegas of Asia.  

We flew out of Singapore on Wednesday afternoon into Manila, the capital city of the Philippines.  We took a bus from one airport in Manila to the center of the city for some good Filipino food--specifically Gerry's grill.  When we arrived, thanks to our taxi driver who tried to charge us three times what we actually ended up paying him, Gerry's was closed.  So we decided to hit up the neighboring bar and grill where we ate Sisig--a local cuisine later to be found out was pig face...and chilled out to the local band that was playing.  It was late when we got finished, and we didn't want to pay for a hotel, so we decided to rough it like the true backpackers we are, and wait in the airport overnight for our 5AM flight from Manila to Boracay Island.  The only problem we faced was, when we arrived at the airport (budget terminal of course) you could only wait outside the terminal until two hours before your plane departed even though we could clearly see that no one was in the airport at 1AM.  Regardless, we hit up another 24hr fast food joint across the street, and ordered a few cokes until we could go back to the terminal.  

We arrived in Boracay, found housing (usually a bigger task that it may seem...), and headed straight to the beach for a day of relaxing and napping on the powdery white sand.  We chilled out all day, got tanned, swam in the crystal clear at 15 feet waters to cool off, and enjoyed ourselves until dinner.  Boracay is becoming more and more touristic, so it was a little more expensive than we are used to seeing in Asia, but still cheaper than the US.  The next day, Rafa caught a weird eye infection, and had to go to the emergency clinic.  Bear in mind we were a little skeptical since the Philippines is still very under-developed in areas outside of the touristic beach places.  It had to be taken care of though.  When we walked into the office, the doctors were all wearing board shorts, jeans, and t-shirts.  Rafa got some meds, and Saly and I talked to one of the doctors who ended up giving us TONS of great places to eat and check out on the island.  

Over the course of our week there we went snorkeling, swimming, boating, jet-skiing,  watched the sailboats float by, and just hung out enjoying our time on this gorgeous island.  The beaches were beautiful!  We saw some really amazing fish and coral snorkeling...after the guys driving our boat took us to a snorkeling place that wasn't wave-ridden.  The first place we went Saly and I literally hung on to the side of the boat as the waves were going over our heads.  If we let go, we were washed far out to sea.  Granted we of course had life jackets, but it was still difficult to see much of anything when you were worried more about keeping your head above water.  As we were fighting to stay close to the boat, there were guys in sea kayaks trying to sell us ice cream and coconuts...like we'd be able to drink a coconut in this weather.  The last few places we snorkeled though were very nice, and made the trip worth it.  

A popular thing for us to do at night after dinner was grab a drink or two, maybe a chunky monkey dessert (my new favorite--chocolate and vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, bananas and peanut butter..yummy!), and go play some cards on the beach.  The sand fleas appreciated that I'm sure.  One evening we got some sangria, a bag of ice, and dug a hole in the sand as to make a  sort of makeshift cooler for chilled sangria.  It was so yummy and very creative thanks to Saly!  Night swims were also a must.  We met up with some friends from NTU there on Saturday, had dinner with them, and went out for a few drinks.  Our favorite place for breakfast every morning was called Real Coffee, recommended by our doctor friend.  They served the best sandwiches, drinks, cookies, and AMAZING lemon muffins!!!  The woman who owned it was from California, her daughter and she having moved to the island about fifteen years ago.  Another local favorite of mine was Ensamada (Ensay) with cheese.  It's a pastry thing with cream cheese as well as Pansit--a pasta sort of dish.  

Watching the sunset was there was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.  We watched it set every night.   It only lasted about ten minutes, but it was gorgeous.  The Filipino people were truly outstanding people.  I already mentioned the doctor who helped us find our way around the island, but everyone else as well.  We made so many local friends who helped us throughout the week, all very willing to assist another person.  The children were very sweet, and mothers would even ask us to take pictures with their babies.  The only thing I didn't like was at night a lot of children could be seen out begging which was a little heartbreaking.  In general though, we found the island life to be amazing, and the people to be so fun and willing to help us out even though we were foreigners.  All in all a really great experience in the Philippines.  

We left Boracay for Hong Kong ready to experience some city living.  Once again, we didn't want to pay for a hotel, so we slept in the Manial Intl. airport.  This time it was a little more legit and they let us in the terminal.  When we arrived in Hong Kong, we hit up an internet cafe to find some housing.  When we got to our hostel, we basically showered, threw our bags down, and hit the city.  Saly knew some students who had studied in Hong Kong before, including her brother, so we had some sort of idea of the things we wanted to do.  We ate really great, cheap food, experienced the tech center of asia, and experienced first hand the language barrier of Hong Kong.  

The city itself was such a lively and fun city to be in.  It reminded me a lot of western cities, but just Asia, haha.  The skyline was gorgeous (including the building from the Dark Knight!), and the culture was booming all around us.  We ate great food, went to the art museum, saw the light show on the buildings of the business district, and hit up local shopping centers.  The ladies market there is a shopping market where you can buy cheap but really cool local things.  We met some friends from NTU in Hong Kong as well--Natalia, a french, polish, canadian girl and her boyfriend studying in Hong Kong.  We went out with them one night for sheesha and drinks.  When we went to the club, Saly and I got turned down because the bouncer claimed he, "knew how it worked in the states and all of our fake ID business" and accused us of buying our "fakes" because they had barcodes on them.  Keep in mind you only have to be 18 to get into a club in HK...once we got in it was FULL of westerners.  There were so many westerners in Hong Kong.  

Saly and I had a craving for desserts our whole time there, so we hit up the local Maxxims Bakeries all the time!  We went to the Big Buddah and got to see some of the countryside in Hong Kong..literally.  There were cows just grazing around the roads and in the mountains.  It was beautiful up there on the mountain though, and a nice change of pace to the hectic lifestyle of HK.  The villages there were nice too.  The three of us also took the tram up this huge mountain in the middle of the city to check out the view from Victoria's Peak.  The Hong Kong fog caught up with us though and when we got to the top, we couldn't even see our hands in front of our faces because the fog was so thick.  Sometimes during the evening you can't even see halfway up some of the skyscrapers.  

We also met up with a guy we randomly met in Boracay from the University of Illinois (Saly's school) who is studying in Hong Kong for the semester.  We went out to the popular Lan Kwai Fong--this street full of clubs and bars. It was so fun with people just hanging in and outside of the bars, listening to music, and just having a good time.  It was really cool to see so many people out--again a lot of westerners.  Right before leaving on Friday, we picked up my camera from the Kodak Center there in Hong Kong.  We had to look everywhere for that place, but when we finally found it, they thank goodness said they could fix my camera that broke in the Philippines.  Saly decided it was a good idea to put my camera in the sand haha.  Luckily we were able to get it fixed though.  

 Saturday we went with Natalia, and her boyfriend to Macau by ferry.  It only took about thirty minutes and was very cheap.  The city was once Portuguese, and you can definitely see the influence.  It looked SO European it was crazy.  The streets were full of people in all of the open markets and bakeries.  I nearly made myself sick off of the almond cookie samples they gave out at each one.  haha.  The historical district in Macau was really incredible.  We saw lots of cool Cathedrals, The City Centre, churches, ruins, and old castles.  It was really neat to see a totally different side of Asia completely.  At night we went to the famous casinos of Macau.  There was a Venetian, just like in Vegas!!!  We went there and watched rich men gamble their money away, but it was so cool just to be there.  The casino had even painted and constructed and entire Venetian village with a river and boat rides!  Pretty hard core.  We then made our way to the more affordable casinos where Adrian and Rafa did some gambling.  They didn't win anything, but it was a good time.  We woke up the next morning after hitting the casinos until the wee hours, and headed back to Singapore.  

 Traveling with just three people was a really nice way to travel.  The small group made everything easier.    However, traveling with a guy like Rafa, who may be the most metro, man's man I've ever met.  He is such a boy sometimes, but so metro too hah.  I loved hanging out with him though, and of course, Saly is always a joy to travel with.  We discovered throughout the trip that she is the motherly, caring, and tolerant one.  I was always saying to her, "Saly, it's okay to get pissed, just get mad!"  haha.  We had a really good time on our trip, and I'm really glad we were able to see so much, and such different cultures.  

I am settling back in, and school is really starting to pick up.  I have group projects, presentations, and finals coming up fast.  That said, I am really starting to get to know some of the locals well.  Most of whom I have gotten to know because of my annoying group work, but they are really great.  I really like the people in the Comm school, and find myself getting closer to them.  One of my groups loves giving me episodes of TV shows as they feel bad that I don't have television in my room.  The other group takes me out to dinner sometimes just to talk about things like the states and life there.  I am really getting close to Singapore, and love it more and more each day.  

We had a great weekend this weekend, even though a lot of us just stayed here.  Alex's cousin was visiting, so we showed her around the sites of the city, went to Chinatown, and tried out some new local cuisine.  The next night a few of us made our way to Arab street for some sheesha, a glass of wine, salad, and a great jazz club called Blu Jazz.  It was so nice to meet up with friends, and just hang out.  I met some new exchange that I had never met or hung out with before as well.  Alex and I also got admission by way of a friend of a friend to this really exclusive and expensive VIP club.  We were so underdressed, but we really had an amazing time!!!  I am finding that these are experiences--going to dinner with locals, listening to jazz music on the streets, and finding your way in to swanky clubs and having a great time even though you're not in designer shoes--that I may not remember specifically in ten years, but experiences that are making my time here.  Not just the big things, like traveling to other countries and cities, but getting close to the people around you, and making yourself at home in a place that you're not comfortable in.  This is what is making my experience here.  I am enjoying my exchange more and more each day, and can't wait to have more to write.  Until next time.