Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Singapore rocks my socks... I mean sandals
This place is amazing and I never want to leave. It's called "Asia on training wheels" and it has all of the comforts of home.. most importantly Cheerios and hot water. I arrived in Singapore half an hour early and I got a ride in a taxi with a girl that lived around the corner from Eric and Naomi's (my cousin Lori's friends whom I'm staying with). When I arrived Eric and I went to the Museum of Asian Civilisations which was AMAZING. Probably the best museum I've ever been to before, and our tour guide was great so it was really a wonderful experience. Then we went to Naomi's office where we packed her up because it was her last day of work. We dropped off the stuff at the apartment and then went out for foot massages!! After walking around Angkor Wat for three days, one of which without shoes on, it was an amazing treat. We came back to their (amazing and beautiful apartment) and then went out to dinner with some of their friends (a Serbian guy and an Israeli couple, they were all great company). The dinner was the best I've had in recent memory and I got to experience a lot of local Singaporian fare.
This morning after waking up really late (10:30!) we had some breakfast (Cheerios!!) before going out to the American embassy to get me some more pages in my passport. I'm not running out quite yet, but if I decide to go to Vietnam I'd might need it. Singapore is the easiest place to get it done, and if I needed it done at home I'd have to send it to Philadelphia, and considering the craziness going on with people waiting months for their passports to be issued, I'd rather do it here in fifteen minutes and for free. This passport has got to last me another eight years, so I would've needed the extra pages eventually. We came back and went to the movies (whoa! WHAT? the movies?!) and saw Harry Potter, which was great. I'm really looking forward to buying the book when I'm in Bangkok. I really hope J.K. Rowling doesn't kill him in the end. As we were walking out of the movies and looking for a lunch place Naomi started to feel really sick. Long story short, I got to experience the Singaporian hospital and medical system. She's spending the night there, but she should be fine, they're just being really careful because tomorrow afternoon they're supposed to fly out to Europe for 12 days. As for me I'm flying out to Bangkok at 11:30 PM. Naomi and Eric have been so amazing, and I'm a little loath to go back to the 3rd World, my Aunt Karen was right, it's going to be hard to go back. After I do, however, I only have five more weeks before permantly returning to the 1st World, which I'll never take for granted again. I'm having such culture shock being here the past two days, having to comply to rules and laws again, not seeing body guards walking around with guns holstered, seeing animals roaming the streets and poverty everywhere. I got so used to it, it was jarring to not see it anymore, and to realise all that I had become accustomed to in Cambodia. It really is a great place though, and it'll be nice to get everything so cheaply again, as well as be above the law and the like... I was talking about it at dinner last night, and it was funny to see how surprised people were about where I've been living.
Anywho, Bangkok late tomorrow night for the weekend before fortunately or unfortunately, returning back home to Phnom Penh.
This morning after waking up really late (10:30!) we had some breakfast (Cheerios!!) before going out to the American embassy to get me some more pages in my passport. I'm not running out quite yet, but if I decide to go to Vietnam I'd might need it. Singapore is the easiest place to get it done, and if I needed it done at home I'd have to send it to Philadelphia, and considering the craziness going on with people waiting months for their passports to be issued, I'd rather do it here in fifteen minutes and for free. This passport has got to last me another eight years, so I would've needed the extra pages eventually. We came back and went to the movies (whoa! WHAT? the movies?!) and saw Harry Potter, which was great. I'm really looking forward to buying the book when I'm in Bangkok. I really hope J.K. Rowling doesn't kill him in the end. As we were walking out of the movies and looking for a lunch place Naomi started to feel really sick. Long story short, I got to experience the Singaporian hospital and medical system. She's spending the night there, but she should be fine, they're just being really careful because tomorrow afternoon they're supposed to fly out to Europe for 12 days. As for me I'm flying out to Bangkok at 11:30 PM. Naomi and Eric have been so amazing, and I'm a little loath to go back to the 3rd World, my Aunt Karen was right, it's going to be hard to go back. After I do, however, I only have five more weeks before permantly returning to the 1st World, which I'll never take for granted again. I'm having such culture shock being here the past two days, having to comply to rules and laws again, not seeing body guards walking around with guns holstered, seeing animals roaming the streets and poverty everywhere. I got so used to it, it was jarring to not see it anymore, and to realise all that I had become accustomed to in Cambodia. It really is a great place though, and it'll be nice to get everything so cheaply again, as well as be above the law and the like... I was talking about it at dinner last night, and it was funny to see how surprised people were about where I've been living.
Anywho, Bangkok late tomorrow night for the weekend before fortunately or unfortunately, returning back home to Phnom Penh.
# posted by Bethany @ 5:39 AM 
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