In the summer of 2007, during the month of August, the Nguyen family went on another exciting adventure to Asia. They visited modern Singapore, historic Malaysia and cultural Indonesia. They experienced new things and learned new facts of the many different cultures lying in these countries.The Nguyens' adventure will be written in this journal document. Enjoy
August 5, 2007 On the Way
We spent our morning enjoying our Wii games and cleaning the house. At 3 o’clock we left the house in our van to drive off to Buffalo, New York. It was a drive of approximately and hour and a half but because of the long weekend the line to get into the US were extremely long delaying us about 3 hours.
When we finally got into Buffalo we saw the new Buffalo airport and then to our hotel, Best Western. We checked in, settled in and ate some of snacks and noodles for dinner. We then tried to sleep less to get used to Singapore time, but still we dozed off.
August 6 & 7, 2007- Still On the Way
We woke very early at 3:30 because the flight was at 6:00. We packed our few taken out possessions, checked out, grabbed a bit of breakfast at the hotel and went on the shuttle bus to the airport. The airport was nice and modern. We checked into our airTran flight to Atlanta. It was a quick 2 hour flight.
T
hen we transferred to our next flight to Los Angeles, but first we ate Burger King for breakfast. After a 4 hour flight we arrived in LA; there we changed airlines to Singapore Airlines. Checking in the luggage was a long and much unorganized system. We finally got out of that, but then had to go through another long line-up for security.
When we finally were free, we went to the gate and boarded the aircraft. It was a nice airplane with personal TV and helpful stewardesses. There were recent movies such as Spiderman 3 and Shrek the Third. The flight first stopped by Tokyo and it was 10 hours to there, but we didn’t mind. When we finally arrived in Tokyo we
ate sush
i! It was delicious (even for airport sushi). We boarded the same airplane again and went through another 6 hour flight.
The immigration at Singapore was quick (Hooray!), so we grabbed our luggage and took a taxi to our hotel, the Novotel Clarke Quay at midnight. It was a really nice place with a modern room. Mom was desperately hungry so she bought noodles and samosas by room service (Dad had old Burger King). We weren’t used to the time but we managed to sleep eventually.
August 8, 2007 - Singapore
Singapore is a small island that is its own country and capital city.
This morning we woke up early at 6:00 and left at 8:00 to go grab breakfast. We walked around china town looking for some dim sum but none were open. We ended up going to the Chinatown Point mall and found a dim sum that was opening soon. So we walked a bit more and bought durian; then we went to the Coffee Bean (a café) for a drink. We met a lonely Greek man that befriended us. When the dim sum opened we went in and were greeted by rude service (like in Hongkong) and average dim sum.
After our meal we walked to a Hindu temple and had to pay 3 SGD to take pictures. We moved on and visited a Buddha temple. Afterwards, we tried to walk back to the hotel but we took a break for drinks (healthy, doesn’t taste good) and ended up taking a cab back.
We rested a lot and then swam a bit at the Hotel’s pool. We washed up
an
d set off for dinner at Jumbo Seafood. Jumbo Seafood is a popular seafood restaurant along Clarke Quay. We ate the famous Singapore chili crab, but it was really messy and hard to enjoy. We cleaned ourselves up at the hotel, and took a free boat ride (from the hotel) along Clarke Quay. The ride was really nice and we saw the Merlion, (a well-known tourist icon in Singapore) it was beautiful. We then returned to the hotel for the last time today to rest for another exciting day tomorrow.
August 9, 2007 - Singapore
Today is Singapore’s 42nd national day; it is celebrating its anniversary of independence from British rule.
We woke up early once again today. We slowly got ready and grabbed a cab at our secret taxi s
tand at the side of the hotel (instead of the expensive limos at the hotel). The driver suggested a good Asian food court so he dropped us off there. It had a wide variety of Asian special. Alex and I had delicious glutinous rice (sticky rice) and a bit of dim sum (ume ume good).
We then walked a long distance to a Singapore Airline hop on, hop off bus that will transport us around Singapore. We stopped at the Botanical Gardens for a little bit. We went to only the Evolution Garden that shows the evolution of plants (a lot of fake prehistoric trees). We sensed rain so we went to the entrance to wait for the bus. It quickly poured heavily and we quickly boarded the bus.
We hopped off at Little India (an area where Indian immigrants would settle in the past); there were a lot of I
ndian shops, restaurants and well… Indians! We walk a long way stopping every few seconds to look at cheap souvenirs.
Eventually we arrived at Mu
stafa, (a very crowded and tight wal-martish store that has everything and is huge) where we navigated to the games department to check out the Wii game price (same price as in Canada).
When we finally managed to get out of Mustafa, we took a taxi to the Malaysian Heritage Museum. We went in and discovered a bit of the history of Malaysia. We got out and went to look at the sultan’s mosque (a huge mosque with a golden roof) but we didn’t go in.
We then walked to the Golden Mile Complex but we went to the wrong building. When we got the address right we tried to buy bus tickets to Malacca (a state in Malaysia) but we didn’t because all the rides were too early. So instead we went to another bus station and managed to get a decent timed bus ride.
We then caught a cab and went to a Vietnamese restaurant, but it was cl
osed so we had to walk a long time to get home (Dad was freaking out). We rested and showered at the hotel. We set off again to eat dinner at another food court, where Mom and I had the famous chicken rice (it was okay).
We took another taxi to a place near the Merlion, but it was very crowded because of National Day (there was going to be a show) so we had to go through the trouble of walking out of the crowd and take another taxi home.
We watched the National Day show on TV instead, but Mom and I fell asleep early only after it started and slept the rest of the night.
August 10, 2007 - Singapore
Once again (hmmm) we woke up early (leading to early bed time) this morning. We went to our secret taxi stand and took it to the Old Market (food court) where it didn’t have much choice. I had some delicious dim sum and Mom and Dad had noodles.
We then walked to the Merlion and took many family pictures and angles of the inspiring figure. Then we walked a lon
g walkway to St. Andrew church that we didn’t go in or take picture of.
Next, we went to the Asian Civilizations Museum (a.k.a. the Empress place). It was a fascinating and huge place with detail of many Asian civilizations. There was a very good exhibit called “Beauty in Asia” with many painting of the artist’s and media’s view of beauty; also freaky pictures of women with tiny squished feet and long neck (artificially made). After touring the museum we walked another long walk back to the hotel to nap and rest until early evening.
When time to go we grabbed another taxi and went to the Night Safari. The Night Safari is a zoo opened only at night to view nocturnal animals in their natural habitat during the night. When we arrived we first ate at the food court which had succulent satay. Later on, we watched cultural performance and tribal dances with performances of fire eating and blow darts. When the trails open we walked through all three of them seeing many interesting animals (Mom loved the mouse deer).
After our walks we took the tram tour to see other animals explained by luckily, a not boring tour guide. When we returned we just missed the Creatures of the Night show, so we had to wait for the 10:30 show (Alex and Mom left me with a sleeping Dad). When we joined again we waited a long time to get in and the show was bad (too short, not enough animals). We finally got out of the Safari and took a taxi to Novotel to await a long rest.
August 11, 2007 - Malacca
This morning we had to take a bus to Malacca. Malacca is the third-largest state in Malaysia.
When we finally got into Buffalo we saw the new Buffalo airport and then to our hotel, Best Western. We checked in, settled in and ate some of snacks and noodles for dinner. We then tried to sleep less to get used to Singapore time, but still we dozed off.
August 6 & 7, 2007- Still On the Way
We woke very early at 3:30 because the flight was at 6:00. We packed our few taken out possessions, checked out, grabbed a bit of breakfast at the hotel and went on the shuttle bus to the airport. The airport was nice and modern. We checked into our airTran flight to Atlanta. It was a quick 2 hour flight.
T
hen we transferred to our next flight to Los Angeles, but first we ate Burger King for breakfast. After a 4 hour flight we arrived in LA; there we changed airlines to Singapore Airlines. Checking in the luggage was a long and much unorganized system. We finally got out of that, but then had to go through another long line-up for security.When we finally were free, we went to the gate and boarded the aircraft. It was a nice airplane with personal TV and helpful stewardesses. There were recent movies such as Spiderman 3 and Shrek the Third. The flight first stopped by Tokyo and it was 10 hours to there, but we didn’t mind. When we finally arrived in Tokyo we
ate sush
i! It was delicious (even for airport sushi). We boarded the same airplane again and went through another 6 hour flight.The immigration at Singapore was quick (Hooray!), so we grabbed our luggage and took a taxi to our hotel, the Novotel Clarke Quay at midnight. It was a really nice place with a modern room. Mom was desperately hungry so she bought noodles and samosas by room service (Dad had old Burger King). We weren’t used to the time but we managed to sleep eventually.
August 8, 2007 - Singapore
Singapore is a small island that is its own country and capital city.
This morning we woke up early at 6:00 and left at 8:00 to go grab breakfast. We walked around china town looking for some dim sum but none were open. We ended up going to the Chinatown Point mall and found a dim sum that was opening soon. So we walked a bit more and bought durian; then we went to the Coffee Bean (a café) for a drink. We met a lonely Greek man that befriended us. When the dim sum opened we went in and were greeted by rude service (like in Hongkong) and average dim sum.
After our meal we walked to a Hindu temple and had to pay 3 SGD to take pictures. We moved on and visited a Buddha temple. Afterwards, we tried to walk back to the hotel but we took a break for drinks (healthy, doesn’t taste good) and ended up taking a cab back.
We rested a lot and then swam a bit at the Hotel’s pool. We washed up
an
d set off for dinner at Jumbo Seafood. Jumbo Seafood is a popular seafood restaurant along Clarke Quay. We ate the famous Singapore chili crab, but it was really messy and hard to enjoy. We cleaned ourselves up at the hotel, and took a free boat ride (from the hotel) along Clarke Quay. The ride was really nice and we saw the Merlion, (a well-known tourist icon in Singapore) it was beautiful. We then returned to the hotel for the last time today to rest for another exciting day tomorrow.August 9, 2007 - Singapore
Today is Singapore’s 42nd national day; it is celebrating its anniversary of independence from British rule.
We woke up early once again today. We slowly got ready and grabbed a cab at our secret taxi s
tand at the side of the hotel (instead of the expensive limos at the hotel). The driver suggested a good Asian food court so he dropped us off there. It had a wide variety of Asian special. Alex and I had delicious glutinous rice (sticky rice) and a bit of dim sum (ume ume good).We then walked a long distance to a Singapore Airline hop on, hop off bus that will transport us around Singapore. We stopped at the Botanical Gardens for a little bit. We went to only the Evolution Garden that shows the evolution of plants (a lot of fake prehistoric trees). We sensed rain so we went to the entrance to wait for the bus. It quickly poured heavily and we quickly boarded the bus.
We hopped off at Little India (an area where Indian immigrants would settle in the past); there were a lot of I
ndian shops, restaurants and well… Indians! We walk a long way stopping every few seconds to look at cheap souvenirs.Eventually we arrived at Mu
stafa, (a very crowded and tight wal-martish store that has everything and is huge) where we navigated to the games department to check out the Wii game price (same price as in Canada).When we finally managed to get out of Mustafa, we took a taxi to the Malaysian Heritage Museum. We went in and discovered a bit of the history of Malaysia. We got out and went to look at the sultan’s mosque (a huge mosque with a golden roof) but we didn’t go in.
We then walked to the Golden Mile Complex but we went to the wrong building. When we got the address right we tried to buy bus tickets to Malacca (a state in Malaysia) but we didn’t because all the rides were too early. So instead we went to another bus station and managed to get a decent timed bus ride.
We then caught a cab and went to a Vietnamese restaurant, but it was cl
osed so we had to walk a long time to get home (Dad was freaking out). We rested and showered at the hotel. We set off again to eat dinner at another food court, where Mom and I had the famous chicken rice (it was okay).We took another taxi to a place near the Merlion, but it was very crowded because of National Day (there was going to be a show) so we had to go through the trouble of walking out of the crowd and take another taxi home.
We watched the National Day show on TV instead, but Mom and I fell asleep early only after it started and slept the rest of the night.
August 10, 2007 - Singapore
Once again (hmmm) we woke up early (leading to early bed time) this morning. We went to our secret taxi stand and took it to the Old Market (food court) where it didn’t have much choice. I had some delicious dim sum and Mom and Dad had noodles.
We then walked to the Merlion and took many family pictures and angles of the inspiring figure. Then we walked a lon
g walkway to St. Andrew church that we didn’t go in or take picture of.Next, we went to the Asian Civilizations Museum (a.k.a. the Empress place). It was a fascinating and huge place with detail of many Asian civilizations. There was a very good exhibit called “Beauty in Asia” with many painting of the artist’s and media’s view of beauty; also freaky pictures of women with tiny squished feet and long neck (artificially made). After touring the museum we walked another long walk back to the hotel to nap and rest until early evening.
When time to go we grabbed another taxi and went to the Night Safari. The Night Safari is a zoo opened only at night to view nocturnal animals in their natural habitat during the night. When we arrived we first ate at the food court which had succulent satay. Later on, we watched cultural performance and tribal dances with performances of fire eating and blow darts. When the trails open we walked through all three of them seeing many interesting animals (Mom loved the mouse deer).
After our walks we took the tram tour to see other animals explained by luckily, a not boring tour guide. When we returned we just missed the Creatures of the Night show, so we had to wait for the 10:30 show (Alex and Mom left me with a sleeping Dad). When we joined again we waited a long time to get in and the show was bad (too short, not enough animals). We finally got out of the Safari and took a taxi to Novotel to await a long rest.
August 11, 2007 - Malacca
This morning we had to take a bus to Malacca. Malacca is the third-largest state in Malaysia.
We went to the bust station where we bought our tickets yesterdy and boarded the bus (the ride was 4 and ½ hou
rs). We stopped once in a while for eating and bathroom (at a squat-squat toilet). When we arrived there it was very hot; there was a storm of taxi drivers and we took one that was hot and sm
all (so much worse than Singapore taxis). We got dropped off at our hotel, Hotel Puri, the best hotel in the city (the best but only 3***) and it had many bird nests in the hall. We had to lug our luggage up the stairs and the room was okay but there was a green light (from the green windows). We explored the hotel, we saw a mini museum and then tried to use the internet (we gave up, it was too slow).
W
e went out and walked to a café, but it was too cro
wded. We walked around a little more to look for food, but we gave up and went to eat at the hotel’s restaurant. The food was not that good; we returned to the room and napped for a couple of hours.
Mom woke us up at about 8:00 pm to explore the night market (Jonker Walk). It was very crowded with cheap products. Mom bought magnets, and Alex bought an ugly beach bag for Nicole. We stopped by a café and bought coconut juice in a coconut, that wasn’t good at all (not cold and the meat was hard). We also saw people dancing (weirdly) and karaoke singing (also weird) along the streets.
Mom and Dad sat down to eat won ton noodles which they thought were absolutely delicious. Alex and I escaped early and went back ourselves to shower (which we didn’t because we couldn’t find the shampoo). Mom and Dad shortly returned and after showering and packing, we quickly settled down to sleep.
August 12, 2007 - Kuala Lumpur
Today we would be going to Kuala Lumpur. Kuala Lumpur is the capital and largest city in Malaysia.
We ate breakfast at the hotel this morning, and after that we set off around the city to explore a few sites bef
ore we leave for KL. We saw a fort,
a couple of churches an
d the Sultan’s house. The Sultan’s house has been converted to a museum of Malaysian stories and history. We took two cycle rickshaws (with a friendly driver that attempted to speak Vietnamese to us) to a place to eat. We ate chicken rice balls and then moved on to see a Buddha temple and a Hindu temple.
We nearly got lost trying to find the hotel, but we used a stage that we saw last night, to guide us back. When we returned we grabbed our luggage, checked out and took a taxi to the bus station. We bought tickets on a bus and it was a two-hour drive to KL.
We hit traffic in the city itself, and the bus was moving at a very slow pace. We eventually decided to get off 
early and take a taxi, but most of the taxis were priced unreasonably . We gave up and just took any taxi to our Sheraton Imperial. The Imperial is very fancy, and the room is nice and luxurious (Mine and Alex’s room was not ready yet, so we crashed at Mom and Dad’s for a while).
We went out to look for a Vietnamese restaurant using the monorail. It turned out the restaurant was closed so we ate at a Chinese restaurant instead. The food wasn’t that good and it gave Alex, Dad and I diarrhea later that night.
After our bad meal we went to a mall specializing in electronics (to try and find cheap games because the currency is low). There was only one stand that sold games and I couldn’t trust the 100 in 1 DS game cartridge. After a hopeless search we headed home, but dropped by an internet café to send emails. We then took a taxi home to take a long rest in our beautiful rooms.
August 13, 2007 - Kuala Lumpur
This morning Alex and I woke up cold because the room was still cool from the air conditioning. We changed and were surprised to find that Mom and Dad were just getting up, so we had to wait for them.
We ate breakfast at a Malaysian café where Alex had some delicious banana roti. We took a meter taxi (finally) to the Petronas Towers. The Petronas Towers were the tallest towers from 1998-2004 being 450 m tall. It is a first come, first serve ticket system to go to the top, but surprisingly the towers were closed on Mondays and so was the oil history museum in the tower’s mall.
We then went to Merdeka Square by taxi (there is the tallest flagpole in the world standing there. I wasn’t feeling too well (most likely because of the cold a/c in the room) so we moved on to a museum displaying Malaysia’s history through the ages.
From there we walked to a small shopping center, with many stores selling cheap souvenirs. After a bit of souv
enir shopping we ate lunch at a food court where Alex and I ate white man food (it was okay). Again we had to walk a long wa
y in the blazing heat to the National Mosque, and we didn’t even go in. Instead, we went to a Muslim art museum. It had many paintings, artifacts and statues of Muslim traditions, but I was too tired of walking to enjoy them.
rs). We stopped once in a while for eating and bathroom (at a squat-squat toilet). When we arrived there it was very hot; there was a storm of taxi drivers and we took one that was hot and sm
all (so much worse than Singapore taxis). We got dropped off at our hotel, Hotel Puri, the best hotel in the city (the best but only 3***) and it had many bird nests in the hall. We had to lug our luggage up the stairs and the room was okay but there was a green light (from the green windows). We explored the hotel, we saw a mini museum and then tried to use the internet (we gave up, it was too slow).W
e went out and walked to a café, but it was too cro
wded. We walked around a little more to look for food, but we gave up and went to eat at the hotel’s restaurant. The food was not that good; we returned to the room and napped for a couple of hours.Mom woke us up at about 8:00 pm to explore the night market (Jonker Walk). It was very crowded with cheap products. Mom bought magnets, and Alex bought an ugly beach bag for Nicole. We stopped by a café and bought coconut juice in a coconut, that wasn’t good at all (not cold and the meat was hard). We also saw people dancing (weirdly) and karaoke singing (also weird) along the streets.
Mom and Dad sat down to eat won ton noodles which they thought were absolutely delicious. Alex and I escaped early and went back ourselves to shower (which we didn’t because we couldn’t find the shampoo). Mom and Dad shortly returned and after showering and packing, we quickly settled down to sleep.
August 12, 2007 - Kuala Lumpur
Today we would be going to Kuala Lumpur. Kuala Lumpur is the capital and largest city in Malaysia.
We ate breakfast at the hotel this morning, and after that we set off around the city to explore a few sites bef
ore we leave for KL. We saw a fort,
a couple of churches an
d the Sultan’s house. The Sultan’s house has been converted to a museum of Malaysian stories and history. We took two cycle rickshaws (with a friendly driver that attempted to speak Vietnamese to us) to a place to eat. We ate chicken rice balls and then moved on to see a Buddha temple and a Hindu temple.We nearly got lost trying to find the hotel, but we used a stage that we saw last night, to guide us back. When we returned we grabbed our luggage, checked out and took a taxi to the bus station. We bought tickets on a bus and it was a two-hour drive to KL.
We hit traffic in the city itself, and the bus was moving at a very slow pace. We eventually decided to get off 
early and take a taxi, but most of the taxis were priced unreasonably . We gave up and just took any taxi to our Sheraton Imperial. The Imperial is very fancy, and the room is nice and luxurious (Mine and Alex’s room was not ready yet, so we crashed at Mom and Dad’s for a while).We went out to look for a Vietnamese restaurant using the monorail. It turned out the restaurant was closed so we ate at a Chinese restaurant instead. The food wasn’t that good and it gave Alex, Dad and I diarrhea later that night.
After our bad meal we went to a mall specializing in electronics (to try and find cheap games because the currency is low). There was only one stand that sold games and I couldn’t trust the 100 in 1 DS game cartridge. After a hopeless search we headed home, but dropped by an internet café to send emails. We then took a taxi home to take a long rest in our beautiful rooms.
August 13, 2007 - Kuala Lumpur
This morning Alex and I woke up cold because the room was still cool from the air conditioning. We changed and were surprised to find that Mom and Dad were just getting up, so we had to wait for them.
We ate breakfast at a Malaysian café where Alex had some delicious banana roti. We took a meter taxi (finally) to the Petronas Towers. The Petronas Towers were the tallest towers from 1998-2004 being 450 m tall. It is a first come, first serve ticket system to go to the top, but surprisingly the towers were closed on Mondays and so was the oil history museum in the tower’s mall.
We then went to Merdeka Square by taxi (there is the tallest flagpole in the world standing there. I wasn’t feeling too well (most likely because of the cold a/c in the room) so we moved on to a museum displaying Malaysia’s history through the ages.
From there we walked to a small shopping center, with many stores selling cheap souvenirs. After a bit of souv
enir shopping we ate lunch at a food court where Alex and I ate white man food (it was okay). Again we had to walk a long wa
y in the blazing heat to the National Mosque, and we didn’t even go in. Instead, we went to a Muslim art museum. It had many paintings, artifacts and statues of Muslim traditions, but I was too tired of walking to enjoy them.When we got out Mom insisted we walked to the monorail instead of a taxi. We walked a very long distance because we followed the wrong train rails (Dad’s fault) meaning we walked a circle around the actual monorail instead of walking straight to it. We were extremely tired of walking when we finally made it back home. We swam right when we got back at the magnificent pool with fish fountains spraying water at one end. When it started to rain we went back in, showered and dressed a little nice for dinner.
By the time we were ready it was pouring outside, so we took a taxi to a restaurant called Saloma that was a dinner show. We got there in time before the show started and started at the buffet. The show was boring, while the food was not that good, except for the garlic bread. After the dinner I had diarrhea so we rushed home for me to relieve myself, and then called it a day.
August 14, 2007 - Kuala Lumpur
This morning we went to eat at the same Malaysian café we ate at yesterday, but this time I had the banana roti.
We took the monorail to a subw
ay station and bought tickets to the end of the line. From there we took a taxi to the Batu caves (a Hindu shrine at the top of a hill that is 272 steps high and has a 42.7 m statue of Lord Murugan at the bottom of the hill). When we got there we snapped a few pictures and started the vigorous climb to the top that Alex and I easily managed, but Mom and Dad struggled. It was interesting with many monkeys running around and a temple doing a small ceremony. We climbed down, bought souvenirs and took a taxi back to the subway station to take a subway back to KL.
We went to Berjaya Times Square, which is a huge shopping center with a movie theatre, bowling alley and indoor amusement park in it. It took us a while to find the amusement park because for some strange reason no one in the mall knew where a huge park is even
if they work there! When we finally stumbled onto it Alex and I went in and went on only a few rides (the rollercoaster, bumper cars, and spinning cyclone) and exited the park.
We ate sushi at a conveyer belt sushi restaurant (the best system) and it was really good; plus it didn’t cost too much. Since this mall didn’t sell any DS games we went to another mall and were once again greeted by disappointment. There were a couple stores that sold DS games but they were also bootlegged with 100 in 1 cartridges.
By the time we got out Dad wanted us to venture out and buy some tropical fruit, rambutan, mangosteen and durian, in the rain. We bought the fruit and quickly ran to the monorail station. We returned home exhausted so we showered, rested and took pictures of me acting rich in my bathrobe.
Mom and Dad were too tired to go out and eat dinner so Alex and I called on Mom and we went to eat at the hotel. We had mixed international food and after our food we returned to the room to pack for our departure tomorrow to Bali and to go to bed.
August 15, 2007 - Bali
This morning we are heading to the exotic Bali. Bali is an island located in Indonesia, and is known for its beaches and scenery.
We had to take a very crowded monorail (people going to work during rush hour) and with suitcase too. When we finally could get off the monorail we went to a bus station to go to the airport. When we got there we checked in for the Air Asia flight to Bali and quickly ate breakfast. It was pouring rain outside, so we had to borrow umbrellas. We boarded the plane last and got no seats together (it was a first come first serve system).
When we arrived in Bali, we had to wait in a long line-up for immigration. Mom advised us not to swallow the water because it is not that decontaminated well and that there is a 50% chance of diarrhea if we do.
Whe
n we finally got out we took a cab to our far away resort. There was a lot of traffic and the road was only one lane. We finally got to our Meridien Nirwana Golf resort (even though we never played golf) in Tanah Lot (which means land in the middle of the sea). We were greeted with leis and juice. We got our rooms that were far apart and then set off to explore the resort. The resort was 
big with a nice pool with a slide.
Dad abandoned us through our walk to swim. Mom, Alex and I sat at the pool grill for a quick snack of fries (Mom had pho). We went down near the water under the Tanah Lot temple to watch the sunset, but it was too cloudy.
We returned to the room to shower and change for dinner. We argued what to eat and ended up eating at an Indian buffet. The food was okay and the dancing was boring. After our meal we relaxed and watched the stars. Then we went back to the room where Alex and I stayed a little up to watch movies on STAR MOVIES.
August 16, 2007- Bali
Today was all about relaxing and p
laying at the resort. We woke up at a normal time and joined with the parents. Dad stated that he wasn’t going to eat breakfast to lose weight this morning. We went for a walk around the resort to look at the tennis court (you had to pay) when we stumbled onto a private temple that seemed to risky to go in. We were really hungry when we got back (even Dad, told you so) so we went to the breakfast buffet that had a delicious wide variety.
After our go
od start we spent a lot 
of time swimming and going on the slide. Eventually Alex went to relax at the manmade beach, while I was forced to play ping-pong with Dad. I later joined Alex, and figured out that Mom went for a walk a long time ago and didn’t come back. Dad came to us, and I joined him in flying a very nice kite in the shape of a bird. I returned to find Mom, and she ordered me and Alex fries while her and Dad relaxed in a cabana.
When it was almost evening we returned to the room and showered. We walked to a couple of temples on the cliff viewing the ocean (for the sunset. It was a path with many locals selling junk to tourists. We reached the end of th
e path where there was a restaurant, but we didn’t eat there because Mom didn’t exchan
ge enough money.
So we returned and instead ate at a delicious Asian barbecue buffet. Dad stated it was the best dinner of his life (he loved the lobsters), there was also sushi, and other barbecue delights.
We played a little billiards (on an improper snooker board table) and then returned to our room to sleep.
August 17, 2007 - Ubud
Today we would be leaving the resort and, with Harry, touring around Bali. We didn’t eat breakfast, and joined Harry, a nice guy that we hired to drive us around Bali. We headed in the direction of our next resort (that was far away) stopping usually to view attractions. We first stopped by a bakery to buy pastries to eat.
We moved on to watch a traditional Indonesian dance – the Barong dance- with a confu
sing story line. The show was okay, and interesting. We moved on and saw many different sites such as a traditional Bali house (owned by an old man that allows people to view his house) and the terrace rice fields. At one point we stopped by the Batur Lake Volcano, which is a volcano next to a huge lake, the sight is magnificent.
We moved on and
eventually got to Ubud (a town
in central Bali) and went to see the monkey forest. The monkey forest is a nice place where monkeys live and temples are. The monkeys were fun to watch and there was even a family grooming each other.
We then checked into our hotel, the Tegal Sari Hotel and there we would leave Harry until another day. In the area of the building of the rooms, there were rice fields stretching a long while with what seemed to be portapotties or storehouses. The room was okay but a huge window looking into the room was there.
After a long time laying around and cleaning ourselves up, we took the free chauffeur rides to the Blue Lotus Café, but we couldn’t eat there because it was fully filled and we didn’t have any reservations. So instead we went to eat at another café that had white food. After our less enjoyable meal, we took the called the hotel and they drove us back, and we returned to the room to rest after our long day.
August 18, 2007 - Ubud
This morning we didn’t have to move to get breakfast; we had free breakfast delivery. The food was simple but the watermelon juice was tasty as always.
W
e once again took the free chauffeur rides to town. We got dropped off 
at the Ubud market and didn’t buy anything except for a couple cheap magnets (also we saw a dog poo right on the middle of the pavement). We moved on to see the Royal Palace; it was worn down with many scary statues (I stuck my hand in many!).
We tried to get reservation at the Café Lotus for lunch, but already it was fully reserved. We shopped a bit more, Dad talked to many motorcycle salesmen, and we ate lunch at an Oriental café.
W
e then returned to the hotel for Alex and Mom to split from Dad and me, so that they can go to their famous Balinese massage. While the ladies were being pampered, Dad and I rented a motorcycle from the hotel. Since you had to drive on the left hand side, I was a little frightened of my safety until Dad got used to it. I led us on a map up north where not too many people lurked. We eventually did a 180 and headed back. Mom and Alex thoroughly enjoyed their massage.
Dad took Mom for a ride while Alex and I chilled. When Mom got back, Dad and I went on another ride, but to the supermarket first to buy snacks (we stored it conveniently in the trunk under the seat). When Dad and I returned we ate dinner at the hotel, went on the internet and then Dad took Alex for a ride. When she came back I went on one more ride with Dad around the town with the little gas we had. We returned the motorbike and went back to the room.
August 19, 2007 - Kuta, Nusa Dua
A
gain we ordered breakfast from the hotel. The poor waiters had to bring our food to us in the morning rain. After another typical meal, we rejoined with Harry and drove in the direction of Nusa Dua, where our resort is located.
We stopped many times along the way to see the sights, we saw: a memorial dedicated to the victims to a bomb in Bali (suicide bombers blew it up on a tourist street near Kuta beach, killing himself and 202 people along with 209 injured), Kuta beach (Alex and Mom were furiously attacked by hair braiding women), lunch at a delicious seaside restaurant and finally the resort (Westin Nusa Dua Resort). The resort was very nice, but offered bad, tasteless elixirs as a greeting. Also there were strict security with German Shepherds and Golden Retrievers to sniff for bombs. The room was nice and it offered a free bowl of fruit with many tropic delights. We didn’t get to explore the resort yet because we had to go back to Harry in a half an hour to watch a show (the Kecak dance).
We first went to another “special” beach (Dreamland Beach) that soon was going to have a resort in that area and they
already built a gigantic statue of Garuda (a mythical bird) in the front of the area.
We moved on to the Uluwatu temple area for the Kecak dance. To enter the temple everyone had to wear something that went past the knees (I was lucky with my long shorts, but Dad had to wear a veil to cover his legs). There were many thieving monkeys ther
e that worried us (one women had a monkey jump on her head and steal her sunglasses). We explore the temple and enjoyed the spectacular setting with the cliff and the ocean.
When the sun started to set, we then walked to the Kecak show which was another traditional dance with a surprising twist. There were many men that were on the stage repeatedly saying “cha cha cha”. Apparently they are a substitute for music (for a more traditional feel); I was distracted by these men that I didn’t notice that the story had been going on for a while. The show overall was kind of boring, but bearable.
We went with Harry back to the Westin resort. We explored the resort a little bit: walking along the beach and the gigantic pool with a small but steep water slide, spotting a pool table in a game room and not eating dinner. Dad and I were planning to play pool after we changed and showered but he was too tired and hungry so we didn’t.
Dad already finished his fruit bowl so Alex and I went over to give him ours and eat the remaining chips from Ubud and returned to our room. Also in our room there seemed to be water dripping in me and Alex’s bathroom; we called maintenance and it turns out that it was too much air conditioning condensing the pipes (whew! I thought it was from the toilet above us). We eventually slept after watching bits of movies.
August 20, 2007 - Nusa Dua
Today was going to be all about relaxing and swimming. We slept in and eventually I went to the parents’ room first. Dad and I went first to play pool which was on the way to breakfast. Our game was cut short due to Alex and Mom’s quick arrival.
We headed together to breakfast; breakfast was great, with a wide variety around a comfortable environment. We got seats next to the pond and we were able to throw bread to the many fish in the pond (one time a bird swiftly swooped a piece of muffin before it hit the pond). After our long breakfast, (while Mom, Alex and I were gone, Dad ate a bit more, while he got some food the waiters cleaned the table up; so when Dad came back he demanded that they reset it) we were prepared to swim.
We first found
a spot at the beach and then Alex and I swam in the gigantic pool. We went on the slide a few times; the slide was steep at one point, making a scary feeling, Alex didn’t like it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Nex
t, we rejoined with the parents at the beach and dipped in the Indian Ocean.
While on the beach many Indonesians tried to persuade tourists to buy cheap souvenirs or participate in water sports. We got suckered in and the man took us to the water sports area. We took an interesting glass-bottom boat and we could see the ocean floor, but there were no fish. When we got there we rented a jet ski for half an hour. In the beginning Dad and I drove for ten minutes and then Alex and I went crazy driving.
After the excitement of the half an hour was over, we returned to shore and joined
Mom and Dad. They surprised us saying that we could go parasailing. We were very excited, but it turns out that Mom got ripped off! The ride only lasted less than 2 minutes. When we returned to the resort, we swam a bit more and then showered back at our rooms.
Next, we set out of the resort to eat a cheaper dinner. We walked all the way to Café Lotus, where we got so-so food and dessert. We walked back looking at the many shops along the way where we bought chips and a gigantic water bottle cheap (cost less than the water bottles at the resort). When we got back we played a little bit of pool where all of us had to wait for a family that played three, count it, three games! Alex and Mom passed the time by playing a “Sorry!” type of game. When we finally got the table, I was on a roll until I accidentally hit the 8 ball in (argh!!!!!). We then separated to sleep after our active day.
August 21, 2007 - Back to Singapore
Today we would be leaving Bali later this evening to go back to Singapore.
Once again we slept in a little bit and then joined together to eat break
fast. We ate at the buffet again, but weren’t sitting next to the pond. I originally planned not to swim, but when we got to the beach, I went back to the room to change and swam with Alex for a while.
Eventually, about 3 hours before we were going to leave, we showered, changed and played around for a while (I lost my shirt as I was walking to the room and we couldn’t find it). Dad and I played pool for about 1.5 hours and we ended up with a tie (2-2).
We stored our luggage with the hotel and went out to eat a quick dinner before we left. We ate a bland restaurant with okay samosas but as Mom said it was sucky food! We quickly returned, got our luggage and took a taxi to a run down airport. We checked in, but Mom and Dad wanted to chill out in a Singapore Airline room for special booking. Once they were kicked out, we went to our gate, went through security and went through the sleepless flight (for me anyway).
When we finally got to Singapore, we grabbed our luggage and took a taxi to our 4* hotel called Changi Village Hotel conveniently built near the Changi Airport. When we arrived it was midnight, so we checked in and separated to our own rooms (our room smelt a little like smoke and Alex was a little sick) and went to bed.
August 21, 2007 - Sentosa Island
Today we would be heading to Sentosa Island. Sentosa Island is a island resort in Singapore, it is a major tourist attraction with many activities and experiences to do.
Before going to Sentosa Island, we ate at ano
ther food court where I, once again a
te delicious dim sum. When we were ready to go, we took a taxi to the island instead of taking the expensive cable car. We were dropped off at a bus stop of the island and instead of viewing the underwater world we took the red line bus to the main centre of activities.
By noon was when we got to the station and it was already crowded with tourists and locals trying to enjoy the rest of the summer. We bought combo tickets (you have to pay for individual attractions and it is expensive for me and Alex to go to the Sentosa 4-D Magix (it’s 4-D because it has 3-D effects and physical effects) and Cineblast (a cinema ride in stationary motion machines moving in sync with the picture). The 4-D had amazing 3-D effects but the story was too kiddish and some jokes got to repetitive. The Cineblast wasn’t that good because it didn’t have the thrill of going on an actual rollercoaster.
Next we went to ride on the sky rail and luge, which is a sled/go-cart ride originating from New Zealand) that slides down a hill. The experience itself is very fun, but short. At the end of the ride we could take the sky rail back to the top and either ride again or leave.
N
ext off the list was to see the Images of Singapore, which in all wasn’t too bad. We explored the Singapore history from beginning to the present with a couple interactive activities and a holographic presentation in the beginning. At the end of the tour we bought souvenirs and ate some gourmet cream of mushroom soup.
It was about 5 pm, so we could enjoy a couple more attractions before heading to a show later tonight. We decided to go to the mini golf course there, but we were greeted with really bad service (a grumpy woman) and a strange but fun golf course. Once we finished, we were shooed out by the woman running the course, but I had to go back to the place because Dad forgot his hat at the course, so I was rejoined with the grumpy lady .
After my lucky catch, we walked over to the stage to watch the holographic show called Songs of the Sea. It had a few people that lip synced, the show was cheesy, but in all it was okay because of the unique images shown on the mist of the ocean.
We took the monorail in Sentosa back to the mainland and tried to catch a taxi. We had to wait so long at the taxi stand because so many other people had just returned from a day of fun or rip off (also it was ladies’ night so taxis were elsewhere). We finally got a taxi and returned to the hotel; Dad left his hat in the car so I wasted my effort to retrieve it when it was destined to be lost.
We returned to the room to rest after our day of an expensive tourist trap that is not worth our money (except for the luge).
August 22 - Back to Toronto.
Today is our second last day (the last day will be on the plane) before we return to our final destination: home. We ate at the same food court as yesterday (I had dim sum once again) and then packed up all our stuff to wait for a shuttle bus.
When we got to the airport we check
ed in with ease. We could go through security so fast compared to other airports, not to mention any names (LAX). When we got through quick security we were greeted with a sudoku station. Since we were early Alex and I left Mom and Dad to play a little (I taught Alex how to play). On our way to Mom and Dad, we took a little time to go on free internet (I love this airport) and then return to the parents.
The plane was just as good as before and the flight to Taipei didn’t take long. Taipei was only a short stop-off, so we didn’t have time to do anything in the airport. We boarded again and took another long flight to Los Angeles. When we arrived we said goodbye to Singapore Airlines and hello to bad airports. We had to wait very long for a simple immigration that took only 5 minutes in Singapore. When we finally got out we grabbed our luggage and checked into our airTran flight. From here we would go to Atlanta and eventually to Buffalo. The flight felt long because I couldn’t sleep and there was no personal TV.
Once we arrived to Buffalo we took a Best Western bus to Best Western to pick up our car where we were greeted with the old Venture (the windshield covered with cardboard). At the border to Canada, even though it was Thursday, there was absolutely no line to Canada (though the US line was still huge). After a quick ride from there we finally reach the best spot on earth, home.
Conclusion
This trip was a great, fun experience. I got to explore many new places in Asia and got to explore the unique cultures of the Malays and Indonesians. In all, I like Singapore the best because of its clean streets, and modern technology, while Malaysia I liked the culture and Bali the sensational scenery. This trip is not better than any other trip because I love all my vacations the same because it brings my family and me together.
The End For now…
By the time we were ready it was pouring outside, so we took a taxi to a restaurant called Saloma that was a dinner show. We got there in time before the show started and started at the buffet. The show was boring, while the food was not that good, except for the garlic bread. After the dinner I had diarrhea so we rushed home for me to relieve myself, and then called it a day.
August 14, 2007 - Kuala Lumpur
This morning we went to eat at the same Malaysian café we ate at yesterday, but this time I had the banana roti.
We took the monorail to a subw
ay station and bought tickets to the end of the line. From there we took a taxi to the Batu caves (a Hindu shrine at the top of a hill that is 272 steps high and has a 42.7 m statue of Lord Murugan at the bottom of the hill). When we got there we snapped a few pictures and started the vigorous climb to the top that Alex and I easily managed, but Mom and Dad struggled. It was interesting with many monkeys running around and a temple doing a small ceremony. We climbed down, bought souvenirs and took a taxi back to the subway station to take a subway back to KL.We went to Berjaya Times Square, which is a huge shopping center with a movie theatre, bowling alley and indoor amusement park in it. It took us a while to find the amusement park because for some strange reason no one in the mall knew where a huge park is even
if they work there! When we finally stumbled onto it Alex and I went in and went on only a few rides (the rollercoaster, bumper cars, and spinning cyclone) and exited the park.We ate sushi at a conveyer belt sushi restaurant (the best system) and it was really good; plus it didn’t cost too much. Since this mall didn’t sell any DS games we went to another mall and were once again greeted by disappointment. There were a couple stores that sold DS games but they were also bootlegged with 100 in 1 cartridges.
By the time we got out Dad wanted us to venture out and buy some tropical fruit, rambutan, mangosteen and durian, in the rain. We bought the fruit and quickly ran to the monorail station. We returned home exhausted so we showered, rested and took pictures of me acting rich in my bathrobe.
Mom and Dad were too tired to go out and eat dinner so Alex and I called on Mom and we went to eat at the hotel. We had mixed international food and after our food we returned to the room to pack for our departure tomorrow to Bali and to go to bed.
August 15, 2007 - Bali
This morning we are heading to the exotic Bali. Bali is an island located in Indonesia, and is known for its beaches and scenery.
We had to take a very crowded monorail (people going to work during rush hour) and with suitcase too. When we finally could get off the monorail we went to a bus station to go to the airport. When we got there we checked in for the Air Asia flight to Bali and quickly ate breakfast. It was pouring rain outside, so we had to borrow umbrellas. We boarded the plane last and got no seats together (it was a first come first serve system).
When we arrived in Bali, we had to wait in a long line-up for immigration. Mom advised us not to swallow the water because it is not that decontaminated well and that there is a 50% chance of diarrhea if we do.
Whe
n we finally got out we took a cab to our far away resort. There was a lot of traffic and the road was only one lane. We finally got to our Meridien Nirwana Golf resort (even though we never played golf) in Tanah Lot (which means land in the middle of the sea). We were greeted with leis and juice. We got our rooms that were far apart and then set off to explore the resort. The resort was 
big with a nice pool with a slide.Dad abandoned us through our walk to swim. Mom, Alex and I sat at the pool grill for a quick snack of fries (Mom had pho). We went down near the water under the Tanah Lot temple to watch the sunset, but it was too cloudy.
We returned to the room to shower and change for dinner. We argued what to eat and ended up eating at an Indian buffet. The food was okay and the dancing was boring. After our meal we relaxed and watched the stars. Then we went back to the room where Alex and I stayed a little up to watch movies on STAR MOVIES.
August 16, 2007- Bali
Today was all about relaxing and p
laying at the resort. We woke up at a normal time and joined with the parents. Dad stated that he wasn’t going to eat breakfast to lose weight this morning. We went for a walk around the resort to look at the tennis court (you had to pay) when we stumbled onto a private temple that seemed to risky to go in. We were really hungry when we got back (even Dad, told you so) so we went to the breakfast buffet that had a delicious wide variety.After our go
od start we spent a lot 
of time swimming and going on the slide. Eventually Alex went to relax at the manmade beach, while I was forced to play ping-pong with Dad. I later joined Alex, and figured out that Mom went for a walk a long time ago and didn’t come back. Dad came to us, and I joined him in flying a very nice kite in the shape of a bird. I returned to find Mom, and she ordered me and Alex fries while her and Dad relaxed in a cabana.When it was almost evening we returned to the room and showered. We walked to a couple of temples on the cliff viewing the ocean (for the sunset. It was a path with many locals selling junk to tourists. We reached the end of th
e path where there was a restaurant, but we didn’t eat there because Mom didn’t exchan
ge enough money.So we returned and instead ate at a delicious Asian barbecue buffet. Dad stated it was the best dinner of his life (he loved the lobsters), there was also sushi, and other barbecue delights.
We played a little billiards (on an improper snooker board table) and then returned to our room to sleep.
August 17, 2007 - Ubud
Today we would be leaving the resort and, with Harry, touring around Bali. We didn’t eat breakfast, and joined Harry, a nice guy that we hired to drive us around Bali. We headed in the direction of our next resort (that was far away) stopping usually to view attractions. We first stopped by a bakery to buy pastries to eat.
We moved on to watch a traditional Indonesian dance – the Barong dance- with a confu
sing story line. The show was okay, and interesting. We moved on and saw many different sites such as a traditional Bali house (owned by an old man that allows people to view his house) and the terrace rice fields. At one point we stopped by the Batur Lake Volcano, which is a volcano next to a huge lake, the sight is magnificent.We moved on and
eventually got to Ubud (a town
in central Bali) and went to see the monkey forest. The monkey forest is a nice place where monkeys live and temples are. The monkeys were fun to watch and there was even a family grooming each other.We then checked into our hotel, the Tegal Sari Hotel and there we would leave Harry until another day. In the area of the building of the rooms, there were rice fields stretching a long while with what seemed to be portapotties or storehouses. The room was okay but a huge window looking into the room was there.
After a long time laying around and cleaning ourselves up, we took the free chauffeur rides to the Blue Lotus Café, but we couldn’t eat there because it was fully filled and we didn’t have any reservations. So instead we went to eat at another café that had white food. After our less enjoyable meal, we took the called the hotel and they drove us back, and we returned to the room to rest after our long day.
August 18, 2007 - Ubud
This morning we didn’t have to move to get breakfast; we had free breakfast delivery. The food was simple but the watermelon juice was tasty as always.
W
e once again took the free chauffeur rides to town. We got dropped off 
at the Ubud market and didn’t buy anything except for a couple cheap magnets (also we saw a dog poo right on the middle of the pavement). We moved on to see the Royal Palace; it was worn down with many scary statues (I stuck my hand in many!).We tried to get reservation at the Café Lotus for lunch, but already it was fully reserved. We shopped a bit more, Dad talked to many motorcycle salesmen, and we ate lunch at an Oriental café.
W
e then returned to the hotel for Alex and Mom to split from Dad and me, so that they can go to their famous Balinese massage. While the ladies were being pampered, Dad and I rented a motorcycle from the hotel. Since you had to drive on the left hand side, I was a little frightened of my safety until Dad got used to it. I led us on a map up north where not too many people lurked. We eventually did a 180 and headed back. Mom and Alex thoroughly enjoyed their massage.Dad took Mom for a ride while Alex and I chilled. When Mom got back, Dad and I went on another ride, but to the supermarket first to buy snacks (we stored it conveniently in the trunk under the seat). When Dad and I returned we ate dinner at the hotel, went on the internet and then Dad took Alex for a ride. When she came back I went on one more ride with Dad around the town with the little gas we had. We returned the motorbike and went back to the room.
August 19, 2007 - Kuta, Nusa Dua
A
gain we ordered breakfast from the hotel. The poor waiters had to bring our food to us in the morning rain. After another typical meal, we rejoined with Harry and drove in the direction of Nusa Dua, where our resort is located.We stopped many times along the way to see the sights, we saw: a memorial dedicated to the victims to a bomb in Bali (suicide bombers blew it up on a tourist street near Kuta beach, killing himself and 202 people along with 209 injured), Kuta beach (Alex and Mom were furiously attacked by hair braiding women), lunch at a delicious seaside restaurant and finally the resort (Westin Nusa Dua Resort). The resort was very nice, but offered bad, tasteless elixirs as a greeting. Also there were strict security with German Shepherds and Golden Retrievers to sniff for bombs. The room was nice and it offered a free bowl of fruit with many tropic delights. We didn’t get to explore the resort yet because we had to go back to Harry in a half an hour to watch a show (the Kecak dance).
We first went to another “special” beach (Dreamland Beach) that soon was going to have a resort in that area and they
already built a gigantic statue of Garuda (a mythical bird) in the front of the area.We moved on to the Uluwatu temple area for the Kecak dance. To enter the temple everyone had to wear something that went past the knees (I was lucky with my long shorts, but Dad had to wear a veil to cover his legs). There were many thieving monkeys ther
e that worried us (one women had a monkey jump on her head and steal her sunglasses). We explore the temple and enjoyed the spectacular setting with the cliff and the ocean.When the sun started to set, we then walked to the Kecak show which was another traditional dance with a surprising twist. There were many men that were on the stage repeatedly saying “cha cha cha”. Apparently they are a substitute for music (for a more traditional feel); I was distracted by these men that I didn’t notice that the story had been going on for a while. The show overall was kind of boring, but bearable.
We went with Harry back to the Westin resort. We explored the resort a little bit: walking along the beach and the gigantic pool with a small but steep water slide, spotting a pool table in a game room and not eating dinner. Dad and I were planning to play pool after we changed and showered but he was too tired and hungry so we didn’t.
Dad already finished his fruit bowl so Alex and I went over to give him ours and eat the remaining chips from Ubud and returned to our room. Also in our room there seemed to be water dripping in me and Alex’s bathroom; we called maintenance and it turns out that it was too much air conditioning condensing the pipes (whew! I thought it was from the toilet above us). We eventually slept after watching bits of movies.
August 20, 2007 - Nusa Dua
Today was going to be all about relaxing and swimming. We slept in and eventually I went to the parents’ room first. Dad and I went first to play pool which was on the way to breakfast. Our game was cut short due to Alex and Mom’s quick arrival.
We headed together to breakfast; breakfast was great, with a wide variety around a comfortable environment. We got seats next to the pond and we were able to throw bread to the many fish in the pond (one time a bird swiftly swooped a piece of muffin before it hit the pond). After our long breakfast, (while Mom, Alex and I were gone, Dad ate a bit more, while he got some food the waiters cleaned the table up; so when Dad came back he demanded that they reset it) we were prepared to swim.
We first found
a spot at the beach and then Alex and I swam in the gigantic pool. We went on the slide a few times; the slide was steep at one point, making a scary feeling, Alex didn’t like it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Nex
t, we rejoined with the parents at the beach and dipped in the Indian Ocean.While on the beach many Indonesians tried to persuade tourists to buy cheap souvenirs or participate in water sports. We got suckered in and the man took us to the water sports area. We took an interesting glass-bottom boat and we could see the ocean floor, but there were no fish. When we got there we rented a jet ski for half an hour. In the beginning Dad and I drove for ten minutes and then Alex and I went crazy driving.
After the excitement of the half an hour was over, we returned to shore and joined
Mom and Dad. They surprised us saying that we could go parasailing. We were very excited, but it turns out that Mom got ripped off! The ride only lasted less than 2 minutes. When we returned to the resort, we swam a bit more and then showered back at our rooms.Next, we set out of the resort to eat a cheaper dinner. We walked all the way to Café Lotus, where we got so-so food and dessert. We walked back looking at the many shops along the way where we bought chips and a gigantic water bottle cheap (cost less than the water bottles at the resort). When we got back we played a little bit of pool where all of us had to wait for a family that played three, count it, three games! Alex and Mom passed the time by playing a “Sorry!” type of game. When we finally got the table, I was on a roll until I accidentally hit the 8 ball in (argh!!!!!). We then separated to sleep after our active day.
August 21, 2007 - Back to Singapore
Today we would be leaving Bali later this evening to go back to Singapore.
Once again we slept in a little bit and then joined together to eat break
fast. We ate at the buffet again, but weren’t sitting next to the pond. I originally planned not to swim, but when we got to the beach, I went back to the room to change and swam with Alex for a while.Eventually, about 3 hours before we were going to leave, we showered, changed and played around for a while (I lost my shirt as I was walking to the room and we couldn’t find it). Dad and I played pool for about 1.5 hours and we ended up with a tie (2-2).
We stored our luggage with the hotel and went out to eat a quick dinner before we left. We ate a bland restaurant with okay samosas but as Mom said it was sucky food! We quickly returned, got our luggage and took a taxi to a run down airport. We checked in, but Mom and Dad wanted to chill out in a Singapore Airline room for special booking. Once they were kicked out, we went to our gate, went through security and went through the sleepless flight (for me anyway).
When we finally got to Singapore, we grabbed our luggage and took a taxi to our 4* hotel called Changi Village Hotel conveniently built near the Changi Airport. When we arrived it was midnight, so we checked in and separated to our own rooms (our room smelt a little like smoke and Alex was a little sick) and went to bed.
August 21, 2007 - Sentosa Island
Today we would be heading to Sentosa Island. Sentosa Island is a island resort in Singapore, it is a major tourist attraction with many activities and experiences to do.
Before going to Sentosa Island, we ate at ano
ther food court where I, once again a
te delicious dim sum. When we were ready to go, we took a taxi to the island instead of taking the expensive cable car. We were dropped off at a bus stop of the island and instead of viewing the underwater world we took the red line bus to the main centre of activities.By noon was when we got to the station and it was already crowded with tourists and locals trying to enjoy the rest of the summer. We bought combo tickets (you have to pay for individual attractions and it is expensive for me and Alex to go to the Sentosa 4-D Magix (it’s 4-D because it has 3-D effects and physical effects) and Cineblast (a cinema ride in stationary motion machines moving in sync with the picture). The 4-D had amazing 3-D effects but the story was too kiddish and some jokes got to repetitive. The Cineblast wasn’t that good because it didn’t have the thrill of going on an actual rollercoaster.
Next we went to ride on the sky rail and luge, which is a sled/go-cart ride originating from New Zealand) that slides down a hill. The experience itself is very fun, but short. At the end of the ride we could take the sky rail back to the top and either ride again or leave.
N
ext off the list was to see the Images of Singapore, which in all wasn’t too bad. We explored the Singapore history from beginning to the present with a couple interactive activities and a holographic presentation in the beginning. At the end of the tour we bought souvenirs and ate some gourmet cream of mushroom soup.It was about 5 pm, so we could enjoy a couple more attractions before heading to a show later tonight. We decided to go to the mini golf course there, but we were greeted with really bad service (a grumpy woman) and a strange but fun golf course. Once we finished, we were shooed out by the woman running the course, but I had to go back to the place because Dad forgot his hat at the course, so I was rejoined with the grumpy lady .
After my lucky catch, we walked over to the stage to watch the holographic show called Songs of the Sea. It had a few people that lip synced, the show was cheesy, but in all it was okay because of the unique images shown on the mist of the ocean.
We took the monorail in Sentosa back to the mainland and tried to catch a taxi. We had to wait so long at the taxi stand because so many other people had just returned from a day of fun or rip off (also it was ladies’ night so taxis were elsewhere). We finally got a taxi and returned to the hotel; Dad left his hat in the car so I wasted my effort to retrieve it when it was destined to be lost.
We returned to the room to rest after our day of an expensive tourist trap that is not worth our money (except for the luge).
August 22 - Back to Toronto.
Today is our second last day (the last day will be on the plane) before we return to our final destination: home. We ate at the same food court as yesterday (I had dim sum once again) and then packed up all our stuff to wait for a shuttle bus.
When we got to the airport we check
ed in with ease. We could go through security so fast compared to other airports, not to mention any names (LAX). When we got through quick security we were greeted with a sudoku station. Since we were early Alex and I left Mom and Dad to play a little (I taught Alex how to play). On our way to Mom and Dad, we took a little time to go on free internet (I love this airport) and then return to the parents.The plane was just as good as before and the flight to Taipei didn’t take long. Taipei was only a short stop-off, so we didn’t have time to do anything in the airport. We boarded again and took another long flight to Los Angeles. When we arrived we said goodbye to Singapore Airlines and hello to bad airports. We had to wait very long for a simple immigration that took only 5 minutes in Singapore. When we finally got out we grabbed our luggage and checked into our airTran flight. From here we would go to Atlanta and eventually to Buffalo. The flight felt long because I couldn’t sleep and there was no personal TV.
Once we arrived to Buffalo we took a Best Western bus to Best Western to pick up our car where we were greeted with the old Venture (the windshield covered with cardboard). At the border to Canada, even though it was Thursday, there was absolutely no line to Canada (though the US line was still huge). After a quick ride from there we finally reach the best spot on earth, home.
Conclusion
This trip was a great, fun experience. I got to explore many new places in Asia and got to explore the unique cultures of the Malays and Indonesians. In all, I like Singapore the best because of its clean streets, and modern technology, while Malaysia I liked the culture and Bali the sensational scenery. This trip is not better than any other trip because I love all my vacations the same because it brings my family and me together.
The End For now…
