der weg ist das ziel

it is quite interesting how movies are rated in different countries... in malaysia, either everyone can watch a film, or you need to be 18. one grounds for rating is "religious, social or political content"... anyways, we went the watch (the very bloody) sweeney todd. first, there were three anti-drug-commercials. all of them also ending in death, and bloody... but to top that off, there came a heinecken commercial. so crazy! being in a muslim country, seeing the anti drug campaign, then an alcohol ad?!
anyways, we're back in thailand now, in chiang mai. we're in a hostel with kitchen, which we really need now. being able to cook! it's one of the things we miss most!
we also visited the malaysian rainforest, which is actually 130 million years old! we liked it until we got attacked by leeches... but it was really nice otherwise, we saw monkeys, 1 meter long lizards and big insects!

we came to singapore to take a break from traveling. we've indulged in going to the cinema numerous times, eating western food, and even shopping a little. singapore is definitely a place for shopping - in total i would estimate singapore to contain some 80 to 100 shopping malls of extravagant proportions... and most of them have their own medical centre - loads of private doctor's offices for treatments ranging from stroke therapy to plastic surgery...
but the real highlight of our week in singapore was today - the zoo. i realize this sounds weird coming from me, but this is one of the best zoos in the world. the animals actually have space, it's designed according to their natural habitat. the orang utans, for example, have a big canopy stretching over the the walkways - we saw one orang utan peeing on the wooden "boardwalk"... but the best part of the zoo was the "fragile forest" - an enclosed area with animal such as mouse deer, tree kangaroos, sloths, lemurs, bats and numerous birds and butterflies. the bats were really amazing to look at so close up, with their huge wing spans and claws. bit the best part was the lemures. there were two adults and two young ones, the young ones playing around with each other, running / rolling over coco's legs and nibbling on my skirt. i expected to feel some sort of claw, but their tiny hands have very light and gentle fingers. so amazing! coco is in the process of uploadign photos and videos, so hopefully you can see the wonderful creatures soon!

anyways, we're back in kuala lumpur now, splurging a bit on a nice hotel with a swimming pool :-)

I realise some people might call this blasphemy, but I want to get away from the beaches right now... I need something to do. Not just sitting around on a beach all day. And watching other tourists completely ignorant of any cultural sensitivity walking around topless or in thongs. Apart from the fact that they are in Southeast Asia, a part of the world where people generally dress more conservatively, a lot of the population on this island (Ko Lanta) are muslim.
We're heading to Krabi tomorrow to drop off our mother at the airport, and then we're going to fly to Kuala Lumpur on the 14th. Fly, because we don't want to change busses in Hat Yai (in southern Thailand), where there's been a lot of trouble; last May there were 7 bombings there...
But we went on a snorkelling trip to Ko Phi Phi, which was great. We saw a porcupine fish and a leopard shark. And I realised that I do really miss diving, but when Luise get's her certification in Thailand in February I'll be able to dive with her :-)

tomorrow we finally leave for koh mak! i am looking forward to the beach A LOT!! finally out of the craziness that is bangkok. i have never seen shopping malls/complexes as gigantic as here. it's celebrate capitalism there...
anyways, i went on a visa run to cambodia last week, 12 hours on a 3rd class train, somewhat uncomfortable. between the thai and cambodian border posts are two huge casinos. for people coming from thailand on weekends...
i probably won't be in touch from ko mak due to high internet prices, so HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! :-)

I hate airports. I was hoping not to have to deal with them during this trip, but I hadn't factored in bringing people to and picking people up from them... The two hour journey back from the airport to my hostel by public busses was far more enjoyable than finding my way through the airport past starbucks and such to the bus station...
The reason I was going to the airport was Coco going to Kathmandu for 5 days. Her best friend lives there, they hevan't seen each other in years and this was probably the closest (geographically) that they'll be for a while. And now I'm alone in Bangkok for those 5 days. It's very strange being apart from Coco now. We had been together 24/7 for 3 months...
But my hostel has a pool, so all's good ;-)
Anyway, if anyone feels like calling me, here's my thai cell phone number: +66 8 3573 8494.