Pictures!

Yes, while I have been bad about putting pictures on this blog since I was in Europe (not always my fault, some computers are just finicky), I have downloaded almost all to a photo album on Walgreens.com. I think you can view them if you click on this link: http://photo.walgreens.com/shareereg/p=97261159254209379/l=10347695/g=8725405/cobrandOid=1009/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB/pns/share/p=97261159254209379/l=10347695/g=8725405/cobrandOid=1009/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB
Sorry, you'll also have to become a Walgreens member to view them, I know thats annoying, but I guess you'll have to decide how bad you want to see my pics! I hope this works!
And! It is still under construction- pictures out of order, captions not finished, etc, but I'm working on it!
Okay, so it isn't working yet, but check back! I'm working out all the kinks! If it doesn't work when you become a Walgreens member, try signing on as me- username: jpisakick, password: soccerball (yes, I just gave out my password! so don't mess anything up:))

September 24, 25

After not sleeping much on the couch at Gentry's I was pretty tired, but Saturday afterI got back to the city I walked around Kings Cross- a sleazy area that also has most of Sydney's hostels (I'm so glad I didn't end up staying in one of the hostels there!) Saturday night two really inconsiderate German girls stayed in "my" room. They kept turning on the bright overhead light and talking and then when they finally went to bed they snored! So, Sunday, when I got up early to go on a jog I was very tempted to turn on the lights and rustle plastic and zip and unzip all my zippers- however, I did the "right" thing, and quietly slipped out. When I got back they were packed up and I was so glad to find out they would only be staying one night. I got ready and walked around some little areas of Sydney- Surry Hills, Chipendale, etc that I hadn't been to yet. Around 3pm I went to church to meet Kristine (the Dutch girl from last week). I was going to help set up for the "Backpackers Barbeque" the church was hosting, but it was already all done, so we just chatted for an hour waiting for the bus of backpackers to come. Hillsong took a bus to the Kings Cross area and got backpackers to come (the free meal attracts a lot of backpackers). Most of the people were of various European origin. I met some Swedish girls and some Estonian girls. The barbeque consisted of those big nasty sausages, but most people seemed glad to get the free meal. We sat around and listened to this guy from Florida sing and play his guitar. Then we all went into the church service. From the girls I talked to they had no idea what they were "getting themselves into" coming to the church- they knew nothing about it, but afterwards, they seemed to have enjoyed it. The guy who preached is Australian, but he has been living in Virginia Beach for years and has a thriving church there. He even said that the governor of Virginia came there and became a Christian, so thats pretty great! His sermon was about poverty being a curse because God wants us to prosper and I thought that was an interesting message and it made me wonder what the two random homeless people that came on the backpacker bus thought about it. After the service, I had coffee with this random girl from New Zealand before making my way back to the ho(s)tel.
When I got back, I was minding my own business watching TV in the common area, when this Canadian guy comes and sits down by me and tells me his life story. He's from this tiny country town, hunts (moose, rarely deer), (ice) fishes, and he totally reminded me of guys from home (except that he is Canadian). He is in Australia on vacation (and I later found out to visit his girlfriend), but he was with four other Canadian guys and one Cali guy and two Canadian girls. The other Canadians are in some teaching grad school program on the Gold Coast. The guys were all going on a 6 day surf trip the next day and the girls are just in Sydney until Wednesday. So, we ended up all going to eat dinner at this Thai restaurant and we had a great time. They were a really fun group. So, yesterday, the boys left for their surf trip, but the girls, Kaiti and Sarah were here, so we went to Manly beach. It is up the coast and you take a ferry to get there. It was a pretty chilly day, but the beach was still pretty packed with people laying out and of course some surfers. There is a really scenic walk that I enjoyed until the flies wouldn't stop attacking me and then I went back to the city. After freshing up and watching Australian Idol, Kaiti, Sarah, and I went to "Below 5", this bar that is made entirely of ice. It is way over-priced, you pay $30 to get in for 30 minutes. They give you parkas, Uggs, and gloves before entering. Then you have half an hour to "explore" the ice sculptures, sit on the benches made of ice, and have a drink from a glass made of ice. Thirty minutes was definitely enough time, though. We met two other Canadian girls and a guy from Minnesota in there. We laughed about how all of them could have similiar experiences any day of the week in their backyards in the winter. It really is freezing in there! We left and went to the Opera House cafe and hung out there for a while before calling it a night.

September 18-23

Monday I met up with Gentry and we had a bus adventure getting to Bondi Beach, where we stayed about an hour and then she headed to night class and I went home. We made plans for Friday.
I don't think I've explained who Gentry is, so let me take a second to do that. It's a cool story! So, five days before I leave to go on this trip, I find out from Sydnee that she is going to go home two months early, so I'll be "alone" in Australia. I was shocked of course, but then something amazing happened that night. I went to the movies with a friend, Davey, and we were the only ones in the theatre and I was telling him about my trip, including going to Sydney and wanting to visit this church, Hillsong (which was random that I mentioned that because I don't always bring it up in reference to the trip). Right at that time, two girls were walking in the theatre (Gentry and her sister) and they hear me say "Hillsong" and tell me that Gentry is going there in August and also doesn't know anyone on the continent of Australia. So we swap email addresses and have just kept in touch since then. Isn't that so neat? God is definitely watching out for me!
So meanwhile, I have jogged every morning, walked down Oxford street (great shopping), shopped in Westville mall, and "explored" some of Sydney, which is still a city I think is wonderful! For my 23rd birthday I went to the premier of "Talladega Nights"- which was pretty cool because Will Ferrell and John C. Riley were there. Other than that my birthday was pretty uneventful, except getting tons of facebook messages and a phone call from my parents. It was those little things that really made my day- so thanks! This was the first birthday in my life that I didn't remember it was my birthday for a whole hour! Usually I have that giddy feeling of "it's my birthday today!" but this time it took me an hour to remember- sad!
Friday I went through the ordeal of Sydney's public transportation to get to Gentry's house (which involved a train, a walk to the bus stop, a bus ride, and then about a mile walk through this random neighborhood to her house). She shares the house with four other girls who are also attending Hillsong's college. I met her roommates and one happened to ask me when my birthday was and when I told her it was yesterday they were like "why didn't you tell us?!" (which why would I tell them if they hadn't asked?). But they were so nice and after they Friday night worship service they threw me a birthday party. We had jello instead of cake and sparklers instead of candles, but I did have people singing "Happy Birthday" and they even wrapped up this random picture so I could open a present. It was soooooo nice!!!! Wasn't that sweet of them?! So I spent the night at their house, which is a really nice house in a normal Australian neighborhood. Then, today, Saturday, I got up and made the trek back to the city. It's such a pain to travel back and forth, it takes about 2 hours, costs about $15, and can be frustrating. So, next time I go back to visit them, I am definitely going to make it a longer stay, just so I don't have to deal with that two days in a row. They offered to let me crash on their couch, which is really nice of them, but I don't want to over stay my welcome, and more than that, there isn't a whole lot to do in their area. There is a Coles (grocery store) and a Gloria Jeans (a coffee shop better than Starbucks) and thats about it! I do think I'll go back for a few days next week, though.
So, that's pretty much all I can think of that has happened to me in the past few days.

September 14-17

G'day from Sydney!
I am combining the past few days because they aren't super exciting (not that all my days are or anything). The day I got in (6 am), I checked into my awesome hostel/hotel that is owned by the YWCA. It is in a perfect location, right by Hyde Park, the Botanical Gardens, in the city centre, and about 2 Ks from the Opera House. I talked/cried to my parents about being alone, but most of the emotion was due to lack of sleep. After their pep talk I walked around my area which is very corporate, but also loads of shopping (and parks)- just very central. Then I actually went to bed at 4pm and slept for about 15 hours. Since then I have just been jogging in the park across the street and walking around the city. The weather is perfect and the scenery is amazing. If there is anywhere that I could be sent alone, this would be it! In fact, I am really enjoying myself and I'm in no hurry to see other parts of Australia.
I have a room to myself, although I'm meant to be sharing it with three other girls (hotel isn't full, I guess). I had a funny experience my first full day, when I had just got back from my jog and this big American guy walks in my room and says he is to be staying there too. Although he was very nice (and we ended up walking around one day together), I talked to the front desk and found out I was in a male dorm room accidently, so I got moved (yeah, I know some people may think: Why did you move??? but, really, I'd prefer a girls room).
Today I woke up really early and joined several thousand people in the Sydney Marathon. It started on the north end of the Harbour Bridge (the city center is on the south side) and I ran about two miles with them across the bridge, and then checked out because I am so out of shape (I was just worried I would have to start walking in the first mile of a marathon-on the bridge-and that wouldn't look good would it?) I walked the 2 or 3 Ks back to my room, showered, and went to Hillsong Church, where I am hoping to get involved. Straight-away when I got there I met the "backpacker ministry" which was composed of two nice foreign girls (Danish and Indonesian, not foreign, as in Australian). Hillsong has two locations, and apparently, city, which is where I went, is the smaller of the two, at least smaller venue-wise. It does have 7 services, but the room it meets in isn't that large. I am hoping to go out to the "hills" sight soon and maybe I can meet some people there. The service was VERY high energy, I had forgotten just how charismatic it was! It was a great day, though (including finding out about the Auburn's victory!!!)

September 13

We were supposed to meet up with one of my friend's girlfriends that lives in Seoul as an english teacher, but we missed eachother and weren't able to communicate because our cell phones don't even get service in South Korea. So Syd and I set out on our own to a market we had seen from the city tour bus the day before. The market was very crowded with pushy Koreans and the seamingly pedestrian streets were occasioned by honking motorcycles. The market seemed to sell a lot of junk (sorry, can't think of a nicer word) and we couldn't get back on the metro fast enough. We resorted to walking back up and down the street near our hostel, that is less crowded and has much better local shops. Syd bought a really cool stamp with "Cleveland" in Korean and I bought (I actually bought something, yes) a wallet with a Korean drawing on it (may sound lame, but I really liked it). We also tried a few Korean street food items that were largely disappointing and overpriced (compared to a sit down restaurant where Syd ordered a wonderful noodle soup for a similar price). We headed back to the hostel in time to get our bags and catch the hour-long bus back to the airport. I'm afriad I wasn't introduced to the best Seoul has to offer. The airport, although new looking and spacious, wasn't great either (if judged solely on pre-flight distractions such as neat food stalls- even familiar food stalls- or good little shop/bookstores). On the flight we each got two seats a piece by windows (always a plus!) Korean Airs does not mess around with putting on your seat belt during turbulence, many times throughout the flight lights flashed and announcements made to be in our seat with our seat belt on!
Well, I will let you know I did make it safely to Sydney, although this is where my trip becomes a solo journey, as Sydnee and Blake will travel together for a few weeks and then head home to get married.

September 12

Seoul's got soul. Just wanted to try that title out. Our Korean Air flight was a little bumpy, including waking us up during our evening nap to tell us to buckle our seat belts (which I don't really understand, if there is ever turbulance enough to knock me out of my seat, I think there may be bigger problems, but anyways). Our "breakfast" was chicken and rice, at least their was coffee.
Sydnee and I were both exhausted after the flight because we got so little sleep on it and the night before we had been subject to inconsiderate roommates in our hostel. We got on a bus that took us to some street about 400 m from our "Seoul Backpackers"- thank goodness Sydnee had written down impecible directions from the web. We went to our room and Syd crashed and I took a shower, which invaribly woke me up, so I did some laundry, went to the post office, and used the computer. Right as I was about to run out of things to do around the hostel, Syd came down ready to go. We walked to the tour information office and from there found an authentic Korean tea house for a late lunch. I got barbeque beef and Syd got rice and vegetables, the waiter then began bringing out many small plates of many unknown items, leaves pulled from a tree and sardines were the only two I recognized. I tasted a very small lick of everything and stuck to the beef and rice.
We finished in time to catch a Seoul city tour bus, which was a fair deal at only 5,000 Won ($5). I mainly dozed, which is fairly predictable of me, since I've done that in a few other city tour buses. I roused myself enough to see a very neat looking Palace and the bustling shopping streets of Seoul. I am beginning to think all of Asia is obsessed with shopping. After our bus finished its two hour loop we walked down a street near our hostel that has many little shops and street food vendors. There were many locals out and I saw few other "western" faces. Since many of my entries are filled with complaints of the heat, I must mention the amazing weather we experienced here- absolutely perfect. Back at the hostel, we chatted with some English blocks and a guy from Jersey before I managed to climb up into top bunk and fall fast asleep.

September 11

The five year anniversary of September 11 was marked in Singapore by a tribute in their newspaper, Straits Times, and an abundance of policemen, often groups of four or five, looking underworked but commanding attention (they were also on duty because of the World Bank meeting being held in the city at the moment). Sydnee and I started out our day full of plans: a cable car to the island, the Orchard Botanical Gardens, Teh Tahrik (the "pulled" tea), Satay (meat skewers, Malaysian style), back to Orchard road to pick up can't-do-withouts, and then a performance at the Esplande Theatre. We managed about half. Of course, the food and drink plans were non-negotiables, and we carried through with them at two different "hawker" food stalls. Both were very satisfying. Due to a torrential downpour (granted, it only lasted about 10 minutes) we scratched plans to do the cable car and gardens and got two much needed pedicures (Sydnee is about to see Blake, and my last pedicure's polish had faded severely due to the sand and surf and cheap nailpolish).
We got tickets for "Forbidden City: Portrait of an Empress" and went back to the hostel to pack our bags get ready to leave (our flight left "that night" at 1 am). Just in time, we checked our backpacks at the cloak room and went to our "limited view" seats, which we were luckily able ot upgrade mid performance and really enjoyed the musical. We then took the MRT for $2 to the airport (cheapest city to get to the airport I've experienced yet). Changi Airport in Singapore is amazing! It has rest areas for layovers, a pool, malls, 24-hour food areas. According to sleepinairports.com it is THE best airport to have an overnight layover in. We, however, did not, and did our best to enjoy our hour before boarding.

September 10

Little India!
Syd and I went on a self-guided food walk today. But we do that unofficially everyday if we are honest. First we went to this Chinese coffeeshop with famous hot cross buns with kaya (egg) jelly (tastes like custard). We also watched and sampled these rice dumplings being made in bamboo leaves (at another place down the street). Then we walked to the MRT and went to Little India. We walked around that area and tried Lassi (a yogurt drink) and then went to an Indian restaurant. Everyone ate on banana leaves and with their hands. I tried to eat with my hands, but rice and various curries are hard to eat by hand! And you can only use your right hand because the left hand is considered unclean. Their is definitely some skill involved to eating with your hand. I like Chinese food better with chopsticks, but I will stick to some sort of utensil if possible, food all in your nails gets gross (I think). Also at that Indian restaurant we got to try this "pulled tea" that has sweetened condensed milk and is airated by hand (hard to describe). It was good, but we were so full, so we are going to get some tomorrow to enjoy. We rolled ourselves back to the MRT and walked off our food by shopping at some Asian department store that is in New York that I had never heard of before, but Syd had.

September 9

Syd and I explored Orchard Road, a main shopping street. We went in some stores and some five star hotels. The most famous hotel here, Raffles, is known for their Singapore Sling, which we drank while throwing peanut shells on the floor at the bar (like at Logans Steakhouse). We also sampled about a million mooncakes, some Chinese celebration features them this time of year, whenever we passed any of the many mooncake sellers. I'm writing this while sitting at the computer in the hostel and the music is blarring and I'm having trouble remembering if we did anything else. However, I am really enjoying the music, all the shops here play Top 40s music that I love, so its okay.

September 8

So we made it through the night, including boarder crossings and we were dropped off somewhere in Singapore early in the morning. We had no desire to wonder around looking for our hostel, so we took a taxi and got settled into "Bettle Box" our hostel. It is a very friendly place. After taking a much needed shower (after 26-hours straight of travelling and did I mention the rest stops only had stand up toilets?), Syd and I walked around our little neighborhood here and found some lunch. Then we joined about 10 people from our hostel for a tour of Chinatown. A girl who works here took us all over the area and then down to the river front. Although the sights were nice, talking to our very unique and distinct hostel-mates was more (shall I say) entertaining. Syd and I crashed pretty early, but I think I'm going to like Singapore!

September 7

What a day!
We woke up in time to catch a "shuttle van" from our bungalow on the island to a big charter bus that took us on a ferry back to mainland Thailand. From the ferry we got back on our bus. The bus ride was totally sketchy and involved drop-offs and pick-ups of packages and money. This bus then dropped us at a "rest stop" and Sydnee, me, and a French guy got into another 12-passanger van. This van took us to a shady-looking tour office where we were jipped into over paying for tickets to Singapore (but we wanted to stick with this French guy so we wouldn't be "on our own.") We even made the French guy come with us to an ATM to get money out to pay for changing our ticket to Singapore (not just to Hat Yai). This van then proceeded to drive through southern Thailand and pick up "locals" on the way. Within an hour the van was full of locals, including a baby and two children. When we crossed into Malaysia we were taken to another shady tour "office" that ripped us off again and made us pay more to get on a bus to Singapore (it was about 7 or 8pm at this point and they said the bus that was about to leave wasn't with their company if we didn't pay extra we would have to wait to leave until midnight). It was a pretty frustrating ordeal, but it worked out fine. The bus we got on in Malaysia went straight to Singapore and had the nicest seats of any transportation we have taken yet (big, reclining, included a blanket, footrest). So Thailand was nice, but we were definitly ready to go. We had enough of all the people who try to talk to us "where you going? where you from? what are you looking for?" but not knowing their possible alterior motives. Singapore should be a nice change with English speakers!

September 6

We just did the same thing again today, except Syd got a Thai massage and I got my hair cut (only an inch and only $4- it felt like it was getting too long and it had been about 5 months).
The only difference from the DR is that the Thai food is better. We've had some great curry and Pad Thai. Also all the fresh frozen juice drinks are so good.
I went on a little walk down the beach today. There are hardly any waves. The water is pretty clear, but more light blue than dark blue. We saw a model shoot going on down the beach from us. The island is pretty hilly and there are some really pretty waterfalls and Elephant "safaris" you can take around the mountains to see the waterfalls. We leave tomorrow for an epic bus/ferry/train journey to Singapore, so I'm not sure when I'll next blog.

September 5

Today we just layed out at the beach and sipped on fruity drinks.
This place reminds me 100% of Dominican Republic. Pretty beaches, sauna temperatures, European holiday destination, people selling fruit and cheapy souvinears on the beach, motorcycles, jet skis to rent, probably a higher percentage of prostitution than other places (a little sleezy).

September 4

We were dropped off from the bus about 6 am and waited in this "restaurant" for about an hour in a half until we caught another bus to take us to the ferry to get to the island. On the ferry we at least got to watch "Pirates of the Carribean" on their TVs, so that help pass the time. We then took a taxi to our bungalow we are staying in the next three nights. It was a bit of a hassle to get here, so we are hoping the beach will redeem it! We layed out at the pool for a while and then crashed from no sleep on the overnight bus.

September 3

We slept in as long as we could with out missing breakfast and then packed up until check out. Then we left the hotel with our backpacks and took the shuttle to a nearby metro stop that the "Nice Massage" place is near. I kinda didn't feel like having anyone touch me, but Syd got a Thai massage and I just got a 30 minute foot massage so I could use the internet until Syd got done. After that we took the metro to MBK to use the internet for a while. Syd tried to go get a microderm facial but she couldn't find it (because MBK is so huge) and probably also because it is so annoying to walk around with a backpack in that chaos. After we were done there we went to the Grand Hyatt for Afternoon Tea. It had the yummiest icecream I've ever had. Syd finally got to try her mango and sticky rice dish and it was all she had been hoping for! Then we took a taxi to the tourist office where we would be catching an overnight bus to Ko Samui (an island on the southeast coast of Thailand, where The Beach was filmed). Waiting for the bus we met a nice Australian guy and his Danish wife. They live in Sydney and gave us all there contact information, and even drew a map of how to get to their house. They offered us both the spare bed in their house if we ever need it while in Australia. Isn't that nice?
The overnight bus was fairly miserable, but I blame my dress choice on part of the uncomfort.

September 2

8 am wake up call! We hurried to get out of our hotel by 9 am, to meet our cooking instructor. We had signed up for a day at Silom Thai Cooking School. It was so fun! Syd and I were the only students. First, we went to a market to buy all the ingredients. Then we came back and washd all the produce we had bought. It was a very hands on experience. First, we made Hot and Sour Prawn Soup. Then we sat on the floor- Thai style- to make the rest of our 4 dishes- except for when we would stand at the stove and cook in the wok. After each dish, we got to taste our yummy creation. I'm so glad to know how to make Pad Thai and Green Curry and sticky rice now! After cooking school we started walking down the street and stumbled upon a 250 Baht ($7) facial, so we stopped in for one. From there we walked to the Four Seasons, where Syd found a store she loved called Jim Thompson, he introduced Thai silk with patterns to Thailand. We also stumbled upon the coolest couture-tailor that can make any design dress based on pictures in less than a week with your exact measurements (Can I come get my wedding dress made here, please?)
But back to Jim Thompson, so we needed to go to a bigger store that is in a mall- supposedly, the biggest mall in southeast Asia and probably the tenth mall in a 2 mile radius we've seen. We went in it and one across the street and spent some time wishing all the beautiful clothes, purses, shoes, and other wonderful accessories were ours. I can't put into words the over-the-top amount of shopping here. Today was the first time I really actually wanted to buy some of the stuff, though. Then we did the whole MBK internet routine and came back to the hotel.

September 1

Wake up call- 9am- there's so much to do! After our buffet breakfast (which we have now perfected our choices), we took the metro and skytrain to Somdet Phrachao Tak Sin Bridge on the Chao Phraya River. We caught a river express boat up the river to the Grand Palace. The river is so dirty! It is really gross. Our trip to the Emerald Buddha Grand Palace was so annoying. It was super hot and stinky outside, for one thing. But most annoying were all the scammers along the way telling us the Palace was closed and to come see the "Happy Buddha"- we luckily aren't so easily tricked, although they are very official looking and convincing. We found the proper entrance. We saw the Palace, which certainly was grand, but all the buddha stuff started creeping me out and we were hot because we had to cover our shoulders with shirts we brought. We caught a taxi to this other HUGE mall- Siam Paragon. Its size is truly undescribable. Consumerism is alive and well in Bangkok. I don't know how a city like this sustains all the shopping and eating it offers. We first stopped at the food floor. I have never seen so much food or such options in my life. A lot of food is sold in individual pieces, so 1 chicken skewer, 1 spring roll, 1 gelato, and several free samples of fruit (dried and fresh) later, we went up to the "luxury goods" floor and looked in all the designer stores. From there we went to our "Nice Massage" place and I had a $9 hour long massage and Syd got a Thai massage. Feeling very relaxed, we went to MBK to use the internet before heading back to the hotel at closing time.