Borneo

                Tonight we are going to leave on a plane to Borneo. This morning we woke up at brunch time and we set out for some food. Our first stop was "Little India." We always go there because "Little India" is the only place that has stuff going on. Sometimes for a "before breakfast" snack, we'll go to the Rainforest Bakery which is on our street. Dinner time is the only time we really walk around our street. Nothing's going on around there in the morning. There is this juice lady who runs all the tables at the food stands. My dad thinks she is a night mare. All she does is stands around and yells at people. We went to this Indian resteraunt for lunch. It was really cool, but my dad didn't like it as much because you ate with your hands- rice and all. We ate on banana leaves too. Not much to write about today though- a lot coming tomorrow.

Penang

We have arrived in Penang, Malaysia and we are searching for some Penang curry. What's weird is that in Thailand you can order Penang Curry, but in Penang, no one has it. Tomorrow we are flying to Borneo, Malaysia/ Indonesia. Half is Malaysia and the other half of Borneo island is in Indonesia. it's good because we have to be in Indo by September 15 for a friends 50Th b-day! We are flying air Asia which has never been in a crash. Which is good. We are going to leave to Borneo because it has one of the last standing rainforest's in the entire world! We went to "Little India" today and had lunch there. It was really good. I LOVED there mango lassy's which I first had with my aunt at a Indian restaurant in Los Angeles. We also visited a mosque which is a Malaysian, Arab, and Muslim church. We had to cover all our skin to go inside. Not really a lot going on- but I had fun.

Another Tiring Day

Yesterday was by far the worst but most interesting day on our trip. It started with packing everything into our packs once again then taking a taxi to the pier. Thailand's taxis are the most fun, but most illegal. What they do is put benches in the open bed of a truck stuff your bags and you onto the benches then they zoom to wherever you need to go. When we reached the pier we stayed at a free Internet cafe called "Cafe Del Sol" which had pretty good food and nice drinks. We were there for about and hour and a half waiting for our boat. Then we walked (which felt like a long way) to the last pier on the beach. We then waited for a half hour noticing that our boat was a half hour late. When we got onto the boat the man took our bags and had us sit under. There were rows of seats under and so we picked a row of four. As soon as I go to my seat I could feel the throw-up coming. The smell made me want to puke. After I got used to the smell, waves became 3 meters high. I never used to be sea sick but that time we were going up and down up and down on the waves I began to barf in my bag, on my DS case and only some actually got into the barf bag. My throw up was the tomato cheese sandwich I ate which was pretty yummy at the time. When we got off the boat we took a bus to the train station and on the bus I felt car sick. Luckily, I survived the car ride. As soon as we reached the train station we headed to get something to eat. Next door to the station was a nice, cheap

August 3, 2009

Instead of writing about yesterday I am going to copy-paste a email explaining everything I did yesterday. I sent the letter to Madison Shaw and Tabitha Hayworth(two of my friends). The picture for this post is what I also attached to the letter. Here it is-

I am in the island Koh Tao which means Turtle Island. It's pretty, but not as pretty as Koh Nang Yuan which has super white sand and the clearest water I ever saw. They also let you rent their scuba equipment to go snorkeling. They have colorful fish and coral everywhere. The coral is very pretty but when you scratch yourself on it, it hurts like a bee sting! It's supposed to hurt like that though. Out of all people I was the victim to that vicious live coral. Today we might go back to Koh Nang Yuan. Here is a picture of Koh Nang Yuan.

-Maya

Bangkok, Thailand

July 30, 2009

Yesterday we reached Thailand finally, and got a room to stay in for a night. THis morning My dad, my sister, and myself had really really good street food for breakfast. We were up at 5:00 am here because we still haven't gotten used to the time change. Thailand is about 14 hours in front of CA. I would guess. Tonight we are going to take a sleeping train to a boat which will take us to Ko Toa. Soon I'll have a lot to write about. Here you don't get wifi unless you pay. It is still really fun. The picture is of Hin Wong, the place we are staying in Ko Toa.

Leaving Tomorrow morning

July 27, 2009

Last night I ended up sleeping over at one of my friends houses.  I had a lot of fun. I also finished packing everything up today. So at about 5:00 or 6:00 PM  my family and I are going to LA and meeting my aunt who will take us to the airport. We are supposed to be at the airport at 9:30 I think. So when we reach LA we might go out for dinner or something. There isn't much to write about today once again. Although, when we actually get off the plane, I'll be writing a lot.

Starbucks

July 26, 2009

Today we have to finish packing everything in the house. We also have to go shopping for shoes. Yuck! Although, afterward I get to hang out with two of my best, best friends. This morning I am also looking forward to taking a trip to Starbucks. I LOVE Starbucks! They have the best green tea frappucinos with whipped cream on top. Today is a pretty boring day. Not so much to write about...

Getting ready for the Trip

July 25, 2009

This year on July 28 my family and I are going on a big one year trip. We are going around the world. Mostly South East Asia. We are flying first this Tuesday on a 13 hour flight to Taipei at 1:50 am then a 3 hour flight from there to Bangkok, Thailand. After we land we are going to buy train tickets to Surat Thani which is a beachy, white sand, clear water place in Thailand. Then we'll take a boat to Ko Tao, which is a tiny island in Thailand.

We are finishing up packing today. We bought our backpacks a little while ago at REI, so today we went back to get carry on bags. Since we are going backpacking around the world, we have to get good backpacks. The last couple days before you leave really get to you... We have been talking about this for at least a year, and now we are actually going! It's really surprising!