I've had some downtime over the past week and took advantage of being in bigger citities, i.e. have English movie theaters, so I've checked out 2 movies that are probably out of the theaters in the States. The first film I saw was "The Kite Runner" based on the novel by Khaled Hosseini. While I normally think that the book is always better than the film production, this movie was better than most movie-book adaptations. While the story feels a bit rushed, the overarching themes of friendship, family, loyalty, culture and love are conveyed well. I highly recommend the book if you haven't had a chance to read it yet.

The other film I saw was Sweeny Todd. I'm a sucker for musicals and while this one drasticly different from any musical I've seen, its quite good. In Tim Burton fashion, its a very dark movie, with lots of singing that makes it kind of light-hearted. Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter do a superb job. It is quite gory, but in the sense that its over the top, blood gushing out, making it seem kind of fake. So two movies to check out if they're still out in theaters.

Anyhoo, I've arrived in Cambodia and waiting at the airport for my friend, Carolyn to fly in. My lodgings are great compared to Singapore, I actually have a blanket and a towel provided! Also, its nice to have a single room, since I was sharing with 7 other people in Little India. I never got enough sleep with people coming in and out. I haven't had a chance yet to check out Phnenom Phen, as I got in kind of late last night. But will update y'all soon!

Singaporsity

I've managed to find a relatively cheap Internet cafe in Singapore, which has the AC AND fan going, bonus! I arrived yesterday and am taken with this small country. Granted I've been complaining and moaning about cold weather so the warmer weather does have an uplifting effect on my mood, I'm enjoying other parts than the weather.

While it is quite hot and I am sweating up a storm, I enjoy strolling along the streets, checking out the architecture which reminds me of the buildings I saw in Macau. Also, the diversity here is refreshing; there's a mix of Indian, Chinese, Malay, Caucasian and other nationalities. Yesterday, I had a great Indian meal and have to remind myself to stay away from those yummy Pakora (veggies deep fried into a ball of goodness) or else I'll gorge myself on them. Its so interesting to see everything in 4 languages and am envious of the citizen here who can probably speaking at least 2/4 languages.

Some of the parts of Singapore that I've check out are here MERLION. You'll have to forgive me since I took a bunch of pictures in the Orchid Garden. I needed to get out of the city, so I headed to a nature reserve and the botanical gardens this afternoon. When I was hiking, I was hoping to see some of the monkeys living there. There are signs everywhere telling you NOT to feed the monkeys. But there weren't any on my trek to the summit or back down. However, as soon as I left the park, there was a whole pack of monkeys. Go figure.

Anyhoo, I'm off to find some cheap dinner!

Massagerific

After pulling ourselves away from scenic Yangshuo, we headed to Guangzhou, where my gooma (auntie) has an apartment. This was the last stop on my trek through China and after seeing the cities in the NE and SE, I can say that I have had my fill of Chinese cities. After a while, they all blend together, apart from the tourist sites, its all the same kind of drab buildings, a plethora of cars, people everywhere, polluted air and Guangzhou was no different. While there was some cool stuff to check out (Groovy sites in Guangzhou), I am glad to be heading to Hong Kong and to SE Asia.

On the flip side, I had the most amazing 2 hours of my life. I had my first full body massage and it was SUPER cheap, 10 U.S. dollars for 2 hours. I've never paid for a massage in my life, but my aunt has a spa-type place near her home and took Letizia, Jenny and I there. (We lost Kevin in Guangzhou). I wanted to stop time and get massaged forever. I think considering the price,when I get back to Jilin, I'm signing up for weekly massages! (We didn't lose Kevin, he parted ways, making his way to Bangkok).

Letizia, my Uncle and I headed into Hong Kong from Shenzhen, which was easy as pie. Hong Kong was our last hope for warm weather, but the theme continues of wet and cold. At least we have great food waiting for us!

Ending my China extravaganza with photo of a freakish 2 colored eye cat:

The Hades Express: Hangzou to Guilin

Hangzhou was kind of a ritzy, little city and according to CCTV 9 (China's English channel) the most beautiful city in China (Check it out!). Nevertheless, I was ready to leave the city for a more rural area and hike Huang Shan (Yellow Mt.), but the Anhui province had other plans for us. En route to the bus station, we found out that there was incredible amounts of snow and the roads were dangerous.

So we had to alter our plans and we decided to take our 18-hour overnight bus ride a few days early to Guilin. I think we were all not really looking forward to this trip, but at least we would have a sleeper bus which would make it a little bit more bearable.

The bus was late, by about 2 hours, we should have taken this to be an ominous sign. As we boarded, we were shocked to see that it was a normal coach bus with NO sleeper beds. D'oh! We were not happy campers. As we sat upright, in much traffic, the originally 18 hour bus ride turned into a 33 hour bus ride! We left at 5pm and did not arrive into Guilin until 2AM, a day and half later. To top if off, everyone and their mom was chain-smoking on the bus. We tried to ope So we smelled like an American Bar from the 90s.

While we probably smoke a few packs on the bus, the trip to Yangshuo (an hour and a 1/2 south of Guilin) was worth it. Yangshuo is a beautiful, almost surreal, place. When I saw the strange hills that randomly sprouted out of the ground, I immediately thought that this could be a scene out of a Dr. Seuss book, like "The Lorax."

If you go to southern China, this is a place definitely not to miss, just try not to take an overnight bus ride there. Seussian hills a click away

Group photo during our bike trip out into the hills

13 hours later, still cold in Shanghai

The four of us took an overnight train from Beijing to Shanghai, hoping for some warmer weather, to find that it was still freezing in this costal city (the translation of Shanghai is "on the ocean"). Nevertheless, I liked Shanghai, even a little bit more than Beijing. Shanghai is a bit cleaner and in my opinion, easier to walk around. The city seemed to be more managable than Beijing and I didn't feel so intimitaded by the buildings, streets, and whatnot.

Exploring a city on foot is tiring, but its the best way to get a feel for a place and hopefully stumble across some interesting things. We strolled along the Bund, which is along the Huangpu river, which has great views of the buildings on the other side.

Letizia and I looking at the Oriental Pearl Tower from the Bund

One of the best things about exploring on foot is coming across street food. I think I can safely say that all of us enjoy it immensely and almost always willing to try anything. Jenny says that she often likes street food better than what we get in restaurants. I like it alot too, although more often than not, its not vegetarian friendly.

Squid and meat kabobs

The gang ordering some dumplings

Explore the sites of Shanghai!