Civil Unrest in Bangkok

Despite all the civil unrest, Jason and I have been in Bangkok since last Thursday. Jason has had several meetings with clients that he had to attend to. I have stayed in the hotel the whole time, since it is safe. A couple of kilometers away, the civil unrest demonstrations are being held. Just since Thursday, 32 people have died and 230 people have been injured. What I'm sure the news has not told you, the demonstrations are in a designated area that is barricaded. We are in a different area of Bangkok, so we are safe. I am very glad that we will be leaving in a couple of hours though. The city that was once prosperous has been like a ghost town since we've been here. There are many military guys walking around the city with M16s, which has definitely frightened me as well as other tourists. Unfortunately, I am sure that things are going to get worse here before they get better. I am glad that we will not be here to see it. Continue to pray for everyone in Thailand, as it is a very scary time for them.

Beach Stripper

On Saturday, Jason and I made our way to Hua Hin Beach, Thailand. We wanted to get away from the civil unrest in Bangkok, so we made our way to a nice beach since we were only a couple hours away. For lunch, Jason and I ate at the resort's restaurant that was located right on the beach. It was the nicest beach restaurant we've eaten at and we were the only patrons... even better. As we were eating our meal, we noticed a woman who was walking on the beach stop in front of the restaurant. It was a very hot day, so we figured she wanted to take a dip in the water. She appeared to be a European in her 40's or 50's. All of a sudden we see her take off her shorts and her underwear, turn around to see if anyone is looking, and then puts on her bathing suit bottoms. I could not believe my eyes! She changed in broad day light. Needless to say, we nearly lost our stomachs. I'm sure she would have gotten caned for that in Singapore. To be nice, I spared you a picture for this post. Haha! Oh the things we encounter...

Jack

I'm really missing my little man, Jack, today! I can't wait to see him when I visit home in June!

It's Like Christmas!!

Yay!! Our boxes finally arrived today! It only took a month! ;)

Penang, Malaysia

We spent the last several days in Penang, Malaysia. Although Jason worked the first couple of days, the weekend was ours.

On Thursday, Jason took a half day and we decided that we would visit Monkey Beach with his co-worker Mike. We talked to a local and he had a trip for sale so we could go fishing, go to Monkey Beach, and have a BBQ. We were all in. At the top of the hill on Monkey Beach, there was a lighthouse. Jason wanted to walk up the "hill" and take pictures, since he loves lighthouses. So we first went fishing were we caught only bait fish. It was still a lot of fun. And I must brag and say that I, by far, caught the most fish (maybe it's because I didn't bait or unhook the fish, but those are just technicalities). After fishing we went to Monkey Beach. This is where I began to realize why it is called Monkey Beach and not Monkeys Beach. We only saw one. LOL! We then started our 1.5 hour trek up the "hill". It seemed like a harmless trail to begin with, but in 100 degree weather, I was about to pass out. It took 45 mins (or longer) to get to the top. I've never seen so many stairs in my life. I'm still not sure why we had to pay for that, with all the sweat and work we put into it. LOL. But when we finally made it to the top, OMG what a view!! It was gorgeous and made it all worthwhile. After we walked down the hill we had our BBQ that the local made for us. There was hamburgers, hotdogs, tons of chicken and fish along with pineapple and a salad. We drank pepsi and didn't have any utensils to use. It was surprisingly very tasty!















Friday, Jason went to some meetings so I laid out by the pool and walked on the beach for 1.5 hours. It was gorgeous. It's funny because the whole time I was walking, many different men took my picture. I must be a hot commodoty, being a redhead and all. LOL! Friday night a bunch of Jason's co-workers and I went out to The Hardrock Cafe and watched some fire throweres and some live music. Jason and I even took a lit up tuk tuk home. It was a ton of fun!








Saturday, Jason and I went to the pool and beach for a little while before we went shopping. In the afternoon, Jason, Mike and I got a cab and went shopping and then to the Botanical Gardens by Penang Hill. What is it with all these hills? LOL! We first went into the Gardens where we saw a bunch of cute monkeys! Many people were feeding them peanuts, so they were running around all over the place. Thankfully, we took a truck up the hill (over 3 miles) to the top where we took pictures of the sunset. It was beautiful!





Sunday, Jason and I went to the pool/beach for a couple hours before we had to check out of the hotel. It was a nice, relaxing day. We caught our flight last night at 6pm and finally made it home sweet home.

Overall, I had a great time in Penang. Malaysia is such a beautiful country with such nice people. I can't wait to go back in a couple of months.

Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Preface
There is a 12 hour time difference between Atlanta time and Singapore time. We are 12 hours ahead. All times displayed in my blog are in Singapore time, not Atlanta.

Moving on...

We arrived in KL late Sunday night. Jason wakes up early for meetings, so we tend to go to bed pretty early. During the day, Jason is in meetings and I keep myself occupied in the hotel or in the area. People often ask me if I get lonely. To be honest, sometimes I wish I had a friend or someone to experience all these new places with but overall it is nice to be alone, take it all in, and experience the culture. I have read more here than I did in high school and college combined. I love it.

Today was very hot. I went to the pool for 2 hours (I was proud of myself because it was so hot, I wanted to go in well before then) and read. I even saw a gecko by the pool. After I melted, I decided to go to the mall across the street and get my nails done. The malls here (and all throughout Asia) have everything. They have grocery stores, nail salons, gyms, designer stores, fast food, restaurants, pharmacies... the whole nine. I went to lunch at TGIFridays and it was great. I really miss American food and it really hit the spot. The chicken on my salad was seriously the best chicken since I've been here. After lunch I went to get a mani and pedi. I wish I could have taken a picture in the salon because it is very different from nail salons in Atlanta and they are soooo cheap! I went shopping for a little while and then went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We ate at an awesome Italian restaurant in the Petronas Towers. One of Jason's clients ordered a bottle of wine and when I looked at it, it was from Montepulciano. I was in heaven.

Here are some pics from my day today...

Here's a view from our room on the top floor of the Westin




The pool


My gecko friend


The mall






Fountain outside the mall


The Petronas Towers





Tomorrow we are off to Penang, Malaysia. I'll keep you posted! :)

Therapy

They say that sometimes it is best to get feelings out on paper, rather than holding them in. It's supposed to be therapudic, or something of the sorts, which is why I have chosen to do so.

No matter how old you are, it is always hard to lose a good friend. I should be so used to this process by now; I am surprised I am not already immune to it. Obviously, it gets so much harder the older you get because you put so much more heart into it.

But, I have realized that you can't make someone believe something when they've been told another and you can't make someone apologize if they're not sorry.

So here's to moving on and becoming stronger than ever!

"Never explain yourself. Your friends don't need it and your enemies won't believe it." ~ Belgicia Howell

"I'm not even going to get mad anymore. I'm just going to learn to expect the lowest out of the people I thought the highest of."

"Maybe you were put into my life for so long and then left without warning to show me that even though I needed you for so long, I can get through life on my own. Maybe it was all about finding out how strong I really am even alone."