Singapore/Thailand

Not a whole lot to say about Singapore. Everyone speaks English well. They kind of have to, as the Chinese, Malays, and Tamils that make up Singapore couldn't communicate with each other without it. I stayed in the red-light district area of town. It was pretty seedy, but didn't seem dangerous. I was surprised how seedy it was, given what I'd heard about Singapore before arriving, with the strict laws and outrageous fines...on the customs form coming into the country I had to sign off that I didn't have any chewing gum amongst my possessions.


Spent 3 days in Singapore, which was plenty. Got up to Bangkok a couple days before meeting up with my tour group. Stayed initially in a backpacker area, where you had a bunch of 20-somethings bumming around. Kind of reminded me of some of the dorm complexes as Eckerd where you had bongo drums being hit at all hours of the night and a bunch of long-haired, unshaven drunks buying beads and trinkets. Had a decent enough time there though. Watched the Champions League final till 4 AM with a bunch of Englishmen. Too bad Milan won it.

I, of course, got the Thai massage while in Bangkok...and Singapore, and probably most other places where we'll stop. An hour massage runs about $6, I paid more to have my laundry done. The two massages I've had have been the best two massages I've ever had, by far. These girls are strong, and they use many different parts of their body to mash on you: feet, elbows, knees. The Thai girls are certainly more 'friendly' than the Japanese. They're always talking to you trying to sell you something, anything. I didn't find them particularly attractive; the girls I've seen here in Laos, on the other hand, are beautiful. It took me three days here in Laos to realize we were driving on the right side of the road again, unlike everywhere else I've been. I figured I'd see a lot of bikes in this part of the world, but you really don't...you seen a ton of scooters though. Everyone rides them, 10 year olds, old ladies you name it. I've seen a family of four rolling down the street on one. A motorcycle is a true family car...


Anyway, backing up a bit, met up with my tour group in Bangkok. There are 10 of us, 7 girls and 3 guys. Everyone is pretty cool. I'm about in the middle of the group age-wise, with the oldest being 41 and youngest 18. The 41 year old is an Australian native of Fiji. We tested out the local whiskey last night. I will not make the mistake of trying to keep up with him again....

Being a part of a tour group has made things easy, though it does take some of the adventure out the experience. Don't have to spend so much time organizing and figuring out the logistics of how to get around the countryside, so it's been a pretty stress-free trip. It's also nice to have people to hang out with when you want to. I met some cool people traveling on my own, including a crazy Brazilian guy I met at the Vietnamese embassy in Bangkok that I ended up drinking with until 6 AM one night, but I spent a fair amount of time on my own too.


The tour has organized some pretty cool activities including bamboo rafting in a torrential downpour, elephant riding, floating down the Mekong on a longboat for a couple days, and a Thai boxing match. The Thai boxing kind of caught me off guard when the first weight class was 66 lbs. Those little kids really beat the hell out of each other though. We had ringside seats right next to the gambling corner where the locals were.


The bad English I've seen has been a neverending source of amusement: 'Happiness is living a joyful life' or 'Buy banana to make friendly with elephant'.