Easter Break

I actually don't have the time to be writing this...but I'm procrastinating as usual. I have a biology presentation, Cantonese presentation, two papers, and another biology presentation all due within the next week and half. They're big on presentations here....

April sucks!! The semester will be over in 3 weeks - so fast! Then it's party time in Southeast Asia :-)

Easter break was super fantastically fun! I had a great time in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. I tried some new food, and definitely saw a lot more of the culture of different areas. AND I learned how to travel on my own :-) With a Lonely Planet in hand, I can navigate anywhere! LoL ^^

KL is quite cheap. Even though it's only 1 USD for every 3 RM (ringgits), you can pretty much bargain for anything (except food that is). No one in KL uses the meter on the taxis. The average price for a taxi ride was 5 RM - and that was for a 20 minute ride. Food runs on average 7 RM if you get a drink too. I wish HK was that cheap in terms of food.

There are plenty of Hindu and Muslim mosques in the area to feast your eyes on. I went inside the oldest mosque in Malaysia (it recently had its 100 year anniversary). I really do feel for Muslim women who have to wear headdresses. It is extremely hot in KL and yet, they have to wear scarves to cover their hair. I definitely perspired ALOT in those 10 minutes.

I also went to the Hindu temple in Chinatown. I could have bought garlands for prayer for Vishnu, but I felt it was unnecessary since I am in no way a practitioner of Hinduism. But I did pay my respects inside. I felt it was disrespectful to take pictures since it was a holy place - even though some other tourists were taking them. The only place I did take pictures was the Batu Caves because it was quite a touristy area and very few worshipers were there...In my opinion, the tourism takes away from sacredness of the caves.

Singapore was fun. Reminds me of Canada in that no one really ever bothers with Singapore. LoL The Merlion was quite neat - kinda cute. There's really not much to say about Singapore, only that it is quite clean (cleaner than HK, that's for sure)....and it's sort of like suburbia. It was nice and relaxing. But the Singapore government spends so much money on the streets - there's even a road tax.

I suppose I should finish my Sacred Geography of India paper. Oh finals...fun times.