java, the "you-are-very-brave" trip

I came back from Indonesia yesterday morning, after an amazing and very adventurous trip. This time we were only two of us (Alba and me), and even everybody warned us of how dangerous Indonesia could be for two young women like us, we had so much fun!! We spend 5 days there and visited 2 cities: Bandung and Yogyakarta.

In Bandung we visited an active volcano, where we even used the mud for a face-mask, where we nearly burned ourselves with the boiling water and the hot vapour and where we did not see any other tourist. We were only the two of us, observed by the locals living there. Because we could not resist to the very low prices, we also did some shopping in Bandung (t-shirts for one euro and shoes for 6...).

In Yogyakarta we saw two impressive temples that can be perfectly compared to those in Angkor Wat: a Buddhist one (Borobudur) and an Hindu one (Prambanan). In places like those it is easy to start wondering how people lived when these huge temples were used actually as worship centres (unlike now, when they are swarming with tourists).

The trip was full of curious and unforgettable anecdotes, from getting lost in Bandung at sunset trying to find a hostel, until the dangerous journey between the two mentioned cities (in a van driven by a driver who felt like Schumacher). 

During the whole trip we hardly saw any other occidental people, in fact, I think we were kind of exotic, since every few meters people asked us our names, took pictures with us and wanted to practice English with us!! It was quite fun at the beginning...

After a quite eventful journey we arrived home (Singapore really feels like home now!!) safes, after having slept in a "hostel" for 0,75 euro (with cockroach and mouse included in the pack), after having bought more souvenirs than ever (and still having spent less money than in any other trip), after having improved our bargaining skills, after having became used to arabic toilets (a commendable task) and above all, after having laugh and laugh and laugh. I have again fallen in love with this until now undiscovered country, and I can't wait to go back after exams, this time to Bali.

singapore - melaka - singapore

As one month of our exchange period had already gone with Bangkok, Krabi and Cambodia trips, we thought it was about time to spend some days in Singapore!! So for the last two weekends we have just relaxed a while, explored the city, visited some nearby towns and get prepared for our next adventures (Indonesia, Vietnam and Hong Kong).

On the first of these two Singapore-weekends we manage to get involved in a Chinese New Year parade (a completely new experience for us), enjoy the final match of the Australian open tennis championship (yeah!! Nadal won!!), go for a walk around the business district (rain included) and party with other exchange students.

Next weekend we decided to go on a short trip to Melaka (Malaysia), a very nice town, especially at night. We had a great dinner: satay celup (a Melaka adaptation of satay steamboat) followed by a walk around Chinatown (with fishy pedicure included!).

Once back in Singapore, we joined the SMU sailing trip for an open sea session, where we both learned and enjoyed a lot. After the hard work we just relaxed in the Raffles Marina swimming pool before going back into town just in time to see the Thaipusan procession (an Indian celebration).

Overall, these weekends have been quite intensive, although I'm really looking forward to setting out to our next destination!