ba-ba-bali!

the last few days in singapore were very jam packed - one of the two english girls i met didnt really like me and the other girl -we asked her if she wanted to come to the zoo with us on friday and she declined, saying that she had her whole 6 days planned out and she was going to go on the 2nd last day, then she met some peopel and decided to go to the zoo with them instead! weird. oh well, we didnt like her much either -s he was very neurotic. anyways - when we went to the temple the queue was way too long so we wandered around chinatown and did some souvineer shopping - stuff is VERY cheap in singapore (as i have already said) i think i should be able to come home with a little something for everyone. because it was buddha's birthday they had a celebration going on - night market, some entertainment. i bought some origami paper and made a paper crane for charity (with some help!) and the girls bought some chip things that were kinda like prawn chips. i think i got an allergic reaction to them because after i ate them the back of my legs and bum got really itchy. i got a huge ugly rash now and i dont think i'll be able to wear a bikni for a few days - which sucks. i came here soley to work on my tan (ya right). so trisha and i (english girl) went to the zoo - it was wonderful! i got there too late last time i went so we wandered around and saw a splish splash show with penguins and manatees and stuff - very cute. then we went to the night safari and saw a 'creatures of the night show' and i think it was better then 2nd time around #1 because i got to share it with someone and #2 because i got to take my time with it. no rushing to catch a bus this time. even though by the time we got to the MRT station the one we were supposed to take back to our hostel had stopped running and we had to take a cab. it wasnt expensive though so its okay. then yesterday morning i got up, had breakfast and took the MRT to the airport. Trisha was leaving the same day but later on in the evening. When we were in chinatown she had arranged to have a chinese dress made for her! its going to be so beautiful. only $307 singapore dollars. which works out to about $212 canadian. im thinking about getting one on the way home....we'll see

Bali is nice. my first impression though was not a good one. bought a visa for bali ($25USD) and then got a cab to the hotel. it was 50,000 indonesian rupiah. the exchange is crazy. i think 50,000 rupiah is $6.00 canadian. but anyways, i queued at the taxi stand for a taxi and this guy came up beside me (not the taxi driver) and grabbed my bag - i was like, alright u can carry my bag. so he carried it to the taxi and put it in the trunk. i went to get in the cab and the guy taps me on the shoulder and says 'you give me a tip!' - i told him i didnt have any money and he said 'yes you do! give me the blue one' which is a 50,000 bill - as much as i paid for the cab! so whatever, i gave it to him. just pissed me off that i didnt even ask him to carry my bag, he just picked it up. whatever - im not going to make that mistake again. im sure i'll find lots of that kind of thing around here.

also - on my way to the hotel - the taxi driver was telling me how crap my hotel is - how its too far away from town and far away from the beach. thanks jerk, ive booked my hotel for the next 10 days and you are telling me how crap it is. way to promote your country. whatever.

im thinking about taking surfing lessons here. its about $190 american for a 5 day course. we'll see. i kinda just feel like lazing around. i also am kind of excited to check out the other parts of indonesia (ie. lombok). they sound a bit more laid back and lax.

miss you all so much! a little over 2 months till i get home!

alia