Singapore: Jurong Bird Park

Raph was really excited about the Jurong Bird Park. It was super hot, apparently the same temperature it is all year, but birds are sweet so it was alright.

Pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/113790725575874436353/SingaporeJurongBirdPark

Singapore: Day 2

We woke up early and went out around 9am to go to the mall and buy a cell phone. But it turns out that nothing here really opens until 11. So we found a boat tour and went around the Marina.

We saw a lot of really impressive architecture as the tour boat meandered through the river and marina. After the tour we decided to walk the whole path around the marina.

This is the Merlion, the mascot of Singapore. According to Wikipedia, The fish body represents Singapore's origin as a fishing village when it was called Temasek, which means "sea town" inJavanese. The lion head represents Singapore's original name — Singapura — meaning "lion city" or "kota singa".

This hotel looks amazing! There's 3 towers with what looks like a giant cruise ship perched on top of it. We're going to stay there on our last night here. Pics will certainly be happening.

As we moseyed around the marina, we saw the Singapore Flyer in the distance and thought it'd be a good way to see the city from above.

And it was certainly a great view! On the left is the Marina Bay Sands hotel. The building below it is the Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands. The strangely shaped building to its right is the ArtScience museum. And to the far right is a floating soccer field. Its seats aren't visible in this picture, but they're the multicolor chairs in the previous photo.

In a building in the water outside the mall, and also accessible by underground tunnel, is the Louis Vuitton store.

This mall is incredibly beautiful. I've never seen anything like it. When we approached it, this escalator was standing still. We assumed it was broken. But when we stepped onto it, it started moving. They turn off the escalators when nobody is using them. Genius.

For a light dinnerish snack I had Kaya Toast and a Milo Dinosaur. It's a cold chocolate drink with chocolate powder on top. Delicious.

This is the Lau Pa Sat Festival Market. There's probably 100 different places to eat with all sorts of different foods from around Asia. And right outside is a Wendys.

Pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/113790725575874436353/SingaporeSecondDay

Singapore: Day 1

We left San Francisco at midnight and after 18 hours of traveling, arrived in Singapore at noon. We checked into our hostel, grabbed our beds in the 24 person dorm, and went out to eat. We first went across the street to the big mall and got some chicken.

Raph needed a towel so we asked a bunch of people in the mall where to get a towel. They had no idea what we were talking about. Just about everyone speaks fluent English, but for some reason the concept of buying a towel was ridiculous.

We walked down the street to a different mall, the Funan Digital Life mall (http://www.funan.com.sg/), which was AMAZING! It's a 6 story mall filled with tech stores. There's a store for each phone and computer manufacturer and a smorgasbord of random little stores all selling the same electronics.

They even had a store full of weird little figures. This one was especially disturbing. It seems to be a little boy with a cow hat. And balls.

Across the street from that mall was a historical monument deep within a forest. It was gorgeous and we got bug bites like whoa.

This is a kitty.

For dinner we went to a shop down the street and Raph decided to try a new dish he'd never had. Sadly (or hilariously), he ordered eggplant which is one of the 2 foods he hates the most. But he said it wasn't that terrible and actually ate most of it.

We pretty much conquered jetlag by staying awake for a little while on the plane so when we woke up it was morning. We were still a little tired so we slept around 10.

Pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/113790725575874436353/SingaporeFirstDay

New York

I spent a week in New York and had an amazing Thanksgiving hanging out with my buddiez from CMU. Melissa flew in from Chicago and we both stayed with Laura and Keir in their new apartment in Manhattan. We went to the best restaurant in the world, Max Brenner (SO MUCH CHOCOLATE), started a new tradition of Korean BBQ for Thanksgiving, went to some kickass museums, and ate lots of amazing food. Angel came in for a day and partied with us and Wes, my roommate for all 4 years of college, came down into the city on Sunday and we all gorged ourselves on all-you-can-eat sushi. I spent a few days in Brooklyn with Farah and Mike (adorable!) which was mellow due to sickness but still pretty great. All in all, I kind of love New York.

Fighting in front of a heart!

So excited!!!!

Brooklyn Bridge

Laura and Keir lookin pretty

Melissa kept getting mad at me for all the low angle pictures of her. But this is hilarious.

Open air ice skating in Bryant Park

Hehe panda hats

Keir is always studying, even at the UN

Wes!!!!!!

Farah and Mike

Check out all 108 pictures here: https://picasaweb.google.com/113790725575874436353/NewYork

Hearst Castle

After staying the night in San Simeon I went to check out Hearst Castle. The castle was really cool but the tour was a little awkward since everyone else on it was old and retired. I felt very out of place. After the tour ended they let us walk around and check stuff out so I just roamed around and took pictures.

Hearst Castle

One of the epic rooms inside the castle

The view from the castle was pretty amazing.

More pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/113790725575874436353/HearstCastle

Monterey to San Simeon

I stayed at my first bed & breakfast in Carmel which was a pretty interesting experience. The breakfast was delicious and the other people staying there were pretty interesting. The owner printed me out a list of awesome places to go and I happily did what she said. I drove from Carmel down Highway 1 and stopped at the state parks she suggested and some random beaches. I saw a bunch of signs for a place called Hearst Castle so I went in to check it out but the last tour had left 20 minutes earlier :(. It sounded cool enough that I decided to stay the night and check it out in the morning (see next post), so I walked around random beaches and piers until it got dark and found a hotel.

Bed & Breakfast in Carmel

Whalers Cove at Point Lobos State Reserve

Sand Hill Cove at Point Lobos State Reserve

Nepenthe Restaurant - recommended by the owner of the bed & breakfast. She was so right. The Ambrosia Burger was amazing!

A beach along Highway 1 that had a big sign saying not to feed the animals. People fed them anyway so there were lots of squirrels roaming around. Adorable!

Sunset at my hotel in San Simeon

More pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/113790725575874436353/MontereyToSanSimeon

Monterey

I left San Francisco and decided to take a week to drive down the coast and stop at whatever looked cool. I checked out the Monterey Bay Aquarium and then headed down to Carmel. I made a wrong turn trying to find Carmel and ended up accidentally going into a national park. The gate guard made it sound cool so I just went with it and it was pretty amazing.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

17 Mile Drive

More pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/113790725575874436353/Monterey