Our tour guide Pat greeted use with Jasmine flowers at the Bangkok airport. This is a traditional offering to the Buddha image. We proceeded to check in at the Millennium Hilton. After we were settled, we headed out for a boat trip along the Chao Phraya River. We got to see traditional Thai houses as well as modern day living along the canals. There were Thai’s in boat that would stop at the various houses to sell food and other goods. Instead of going to the restaurant, it comes to your house! We also visited the temple of the old Royal Palace. The pictures that we took do not do justice to the beauty of the temple.

After going back to the hotel and getting cleaned up, we headed out for dinner. We were met by a Tuk-Tuk driver who was going to take us to the Gallery Cafe, a restaurant recommended by Pat. What was supposed to be a 5 minute drive ended up being a detour to some other restaurant that we did not request. Apparently this happens often to unsuspecting tourists. A lot of these drivers get gas vouchers or other forms of commission from these businesses for dropping off tourists.

Today we noticed a lot of Thai’s wearing yellow shirts with an emblem. Everyday has a color assigned and yellow is for Monday. Bhumibol Adulyadej, the King of Thailand was born on a Monday, so the shirt is worn in his honor. Thai’s love and respect their king, as he has treated them well during his 60 year reign.

-Susan

Susan and I jumped on the Singapore Airlines Hop-On Hop-Off bus around the city to take in the sights such as Sulton Mosque and City Hall. We also headed over to Sentosa to see the beach. There was a beach volleyball tournament going on so we watched that for a while and walked around.

Tonight we went to the Singapore Zoo to see the famous night safari. Before we boarded the Tram, we watched a fire show just inside the entrance. While I was taking pictures one of the people in the show asked me to come up with them. I didn’t know what to do so I just handed the camera to Susan and up I went. I had two tasks, put a flaming stick into one guys mouth and then to put one out in mine! The first task was pretty easy and I was not looking forward to attempting the second one. They ended up putting it very close to my face and taking it away. I was dripping with sweat right after from the heat and nervousness.

We boarded the tram and rode around the zoo. We were not sure what to expect on this “Night Safari”. Essentially it is a tram that rides around the zoo with a tour guide. After the 45 minute tram ride you can walk around the zoo. It was cool to see all of the animals at night. This has excited us to consider booking a trip to Africa soon!

Pictures coming soon. I am taking too many to keep up with the post-processing.

-Allen

After checking out from the Royale Bintang, we departed by car with a stop in Malacca. Malacca has a history of being occupied by the Japanese, Dutch, English, and finally the Malay. We visited the Baba-Nonya Museum to see how the Chinese and Malay traditions blend in to create a unique culture. We then stopped at Cheng Hoon Teng Temple, the oldest Chinese Temple in Malaysia. We walked down Jonkers Street, which should have had the “o” replaced with a “u” as it was a lot of stuff we don’t need. Lastly, we visited the ruins of St. Paul’s Church where St. Francis Xavier was buried. Before we got in the car to head out of the city, we purchased a couple of drawings/sketches from a local artist.

Upon arrival in Singapore we checked into the Marriott which was newly renovated. This hotel was unbelievable. The rooftop pool and basketball court were some of the amenities that we enjoyed as well as access to the Executive Lounge which had plenty of free food and drinks 18 hours a day. Good thing Allen is Platinum Elite!

-Susan

Today was our last day in Malaysia. Susan and I booked a tour (which really ended up being a car ride) to a rain forest at the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM). The driver warned us about leeches and gave us a lighter to burn them off in case one got attached to us. I couldn’t get any pictures inside the rain forest as the camera lens fogged up immediately. We walked around for a while through the forest and then the rest of the land at the FRIM.

The driver took us to the Batu Caves on the way back. This is a Hindu Shrine in a group of caves just north of Kuala Lumpur. The site is also loaded with macaque monkeys, which got seemed to scare quite a few people on the way up to the caves. Susan and I observed some prayer ceremonies after the walk up.

For dinner we headed back into KL, and went to Feast Village which is in the JW Marriott. This place has a wide variety of restaurants from around the world. We stopped over at the Fisherman’s Cove and I must say it was well worth it. The roast duck was by far the best meal I have had in quite some time! The next time I come to this area, I will be staying at the JW!

Check out the pictures from today’s adventures.

-Allen

After many meals, stories, labs, and technical information, it has to come to an end. Today I finished up delivering the Train The Trainer class here in Malaysia. This was my first international teaching experience. Everybody in the class was extremely nice and I look forward to working with them in the future. (Pictured Left to Right: Yudhil, Jakapong, Chung, me, Sanjeev, Albert, Val. Not pictured: Cheng Pei. Click the picture for the full size image)

-Allen