5 /fahyv/

Apologies for the longest wait, for the last post about the final stop over of my trip. Spending a total of 5 days in the city of Hong Kong, I definitely did not want to return to reality. A whole 5 days without parents meant unlimited freedom. I don't even know where to start or end. All I can say, is I remember falling in love with the city the last time I was there and renewing my love once again this year. As mentioned, the final part of my trip was definitely 'love'. No, I did not fall head over heels for a local but in fact it was the shopping. I stocked up on cosmetics, as here in Australia we are burdened by import taxes and tariffs. So I went ape, and basically didn't really think. "Don't think, just buy" was my mantra and my credit card was definitely not fond of this concept. One thing I can say is that by the end of the trip, I was definitely sick of department stores and the busy, busy city. A notion that is very foreign to me, but true. It was nice to have escaped the city life and ride around Cheung Chau island with my friends. Nevertheless, I still love the busy city life.

4 /fɔː/

Second country: Malaysia. I was actually really disappointed with my stay there so thank goodness (kind of) I got really, really sick and had to stay all day in my hotel apartment. After being bathed in culture in Thailand, I felt that Malaysia had less to offer. The best thing was the shopping and the cheap, cheap food, but even after my third day in KL I was ready to call it quits. But like I mentioned in the last post, this was a very spiritual stop over. With such a diverse range of religions in one countries, we went to so many! And it was really nice to learn more about different religions. The worst incident was being hungover and going to the Batu Caves. The music and smell of incense just really got to my head, and more world spun evern more! I wasn't really satisfied until we flew over to Penang, a Western island off Malaysia. It felt like a ghost town, filled with many abandoned houses and it was really hard finding big crowds of people. I guess being in 2 big cities prior really had gotten to me. By my second day in Penang, I was begging my parents to change our flights to head somewhere, anywhere. 

3 /θriː/

Greetings from my bed! I'm finally home and definitely think that my 3 weeks in holiday heaven was way too short. My first destination was Thailand. Coming with no expectations, it really was an amazing experience in the end. I think of my trip, as literally - eat, pray, love - based on the novel of course. In Thailand I ate so much food, good quality food too! I don't think I can ever go back to eating Thai back in Melbourne unless I felt the urge to satisfy my cravings. It was just too good. The locals were extremely nice too! I think it was their polite etiquette that really made me feel like royalty, cause most other Asian countries, you get treated like crap (tourist). The weather was another bonus as I expected scorching heat, but the cool winds and sunny days made all activities do-able and less tiring. Cause who wants to travel on a bus for 3 hours to get to a tourist destination in the heat. Below is my photo diary of Thailand and in the next few days, a post of my next destination, Malaysia.