Visited Countries

create your own visited countries map

OK, so I ran into this on flickr and it looked interesting. You can do it, too!

The comments are pretty funny though.

Near Monkey Attack

So the menacing monkey appeared again on my roof near the mango tree. He was banging away on my kitchen roof when I decided to climb the stairs outside to get a better look and confirm my suspicions.

Ah, yes. There he was, squatting on my roof looking for another place to terrorize. He caught my eye and gave me the monkey face for stay back: opening his mouth and showing me his teeth. (Thank you Jeff Corwin for your experiences on Animal Planet.)

I stared back thinking, "I'm the bigger animal." Not good. He scurried forward to my horror. I scooted as nimbly as a person can down a unevenly tiled staircase as he came leaping at me. My scream drew the attention of my Pilippino neighbor who asked what was wrong.

"Close the windows and doors! There's a monkey afoot!"

Thankfully I survived with no bites or scratches. The monkey climbed up to the second story house for more mayhem I suppose.

Singapore Swing

Dropped in on Singapore for a few days last week. I always love coming to this island cause everything is so modern compared to Cambodia. Things run so much more smoothly and you know what exactly to expect.

I stayed in the Little India District which is one of the more colorful areas, and pungent, of Singpore. Although Chinatown is brilliant (US meaning) at night with all the lights and lanterns lit up. My favorite here is the BBQ Pork, which are these flattened squares of BBQ'd pork which are so succulent and addicting that of course they're bad for you.

The other thing that's great about Singapore is the shopping. I swear Singapore is set up with that single purpose in mind. There are so many shopping malls, it's incredible. One even runs underground for a couple of city blocks. I have a particular favorite on the famous Orchard Road mall stretch called Urban Warehouse. Inexpensive clothes that are fashionable and comfortable. I stocked up on my favorite brand of fashionable T-shirts called Patch. Plus I found a great new denim skirt. Yay! New life in my school fashion selection.

I stay at a great hostel called The Inn Crowd, where they are very hospitable and the facilities are superb (furnished by IKEA). There's an open kitchen that hostellers are welcome to use. I did and cooked up a storm. I even had the opportunity to share my Cambodian Lok Lak with one of the staff. She graciously in return went out and bought some Singaporean Laksa to share. It was spicy and was full of raw cockles (a kind of shellfish) and prawns, so not my favorite, but nice thought. The noodles in it were great and the flavor had a really satisfying aftertaste.

So the great Singapore Adventure ended with an evening stroll about town along the waterfront and canal. Daytime is just to boiling to wander around. It's a city dedicated to celebrating art.

It's Raining, It's Pouring

So, it's the rainy season and yes, it's raining a lot these days. I don't really mind it so much cause it's really refreshing. I just have to time my leaving of the house so as not to get caught in the rain, or get caught in the house waiting for the rain to stop. It has a tendency to rain in the afternoon when I need to go to school. Thankfully it's only a short jaunt to my school: two corners and I'm there!