Back to the grind

Well, I'm back in Canada after 3 flights (over 21 hours on the plane and 6 hours in transit) and a delay of 2 and a half hours in Los Angeles sitting beside a Christian Volleyball team from Ohio (3 of which had heat stroke and were throwing up the entire time). What a day! Overall though I had an awesome trip in Asia and am so happy to have seen another part of the world. Thank you so much Steve!!!!! I had a great time! Well now I am back in Canada for a while and am dreading these next few months....it's back to school time for me! This week I have to pack, get organized and move. Ahhh! When is my next vacation?

Adios muchachos!

Ok well this is my last blog for a week since I am off to Bangkok, Thailand to shop and Koh Samui, Thailand to lie on the beach. We have package deals at both places which include tours, SHOPPING, elephant trekking, snake farms etc., so please pray for good weather for us cause I need to get a tan so that I am not bright white anymore and so that I can shop in good weather!! Anyway, I won’t be checking emails so if any of you want to write for my Birthday please wait until the 26th or when I get back to Canada and we can celebrate!
The plans are: On the 21st we are flying from Penang to Kuala Lumpur and then to Bangkok. On the 23rd we fly from Bangkok to Koh Samui and we return to Penang on Thursday. So, this means that I will be on a plane on my Birthday....I hope I don’t die on the same day that I was born!!!! I will be back on the 26th at night (Malaysia time) so you guys probably won’t hear from me until Friday morning for me and Thursday night for you guys. Bye for now. Maika

Dumb keyboard!

Ok I wrote a huge blog but it got erased and seeing as the 'g', 'h' and 'backspace' keys are not working on this computer and I have to 'edit paste' everytime, I don't really feel like re-writing the entire blog that took me 30 minutes to write! The sum up:

• I've been relaxing these past two days...isn't that what vacations are for?
• Iris moved into Steve's apartment since Ingrid is leaving today (both of them are from Austria)
• We (Steve, Baptiste, Ingrid, Sudhir, Iris and I) went out for dinner with Steve's landlord and her family. They ate seafood that they picked out of containers while Ingrid and I had chicken fried rice. Iris was sick the next day!
• I developed 3 rolls of film since it's cheaper here and Steve wanted the doubles of our trip (Ema and Allison I have some good ones of our Waterloo/Wonderland trip)
• I am getting new glasses (I got my eyes checked and picked out the frames yesterday) Steve is getting prescription sunglasses (we pick both pairs up tomorrow)
• We went bowling with Baptiste, Clement and some Malaysians yesterday night and afterwards we played some pool and went out for supper. I ate something really spicy....ouch!!
• We leave for Bangkok on my Birthday (the 21st) and we will be gone until the 26th so I will have no internet until we get back

The End

Singapore

I'm back from Singapore! We left Friday night from Penang and took the overnight bus to Singapore. We arrived Saturday morning around 8am. We spent the first two hours looking for a money changer and for a travel agency (you have to buy a one way ticket in Malaysia and the return in Singapore). In the end this crazy but nice old man took us to an agency and right next to it was a money changer. Thank you old man...whoever you are! After we got our money and our return ticket we set off to find the hotel. Steve being the clever one that he is did some research on the net and found out about the subway system (MRT) and which stop was closest to the hotel. Our hotel ended up being next door to the minister of Singapore. Anyway after we dropped our stuff off we set out to explore the city. On Saturday we headed to the shopping area of the city and in the evening we went to Little India and Chinatown. On Sunday we went to the business area (I made a wish in the fountain of wealth!) and we ended up staying indoors due to rain (luckily there are thousands of malls in Singapore). In the evening we went back to Chinatown. On Monday we went to the island of Sentosa. It seems to be a man made area that is full of resorts and stuff (basically for the rich) but there are beaches and restaurants there and you can ride the monorail for free. We spent most of the day on Sentosa island and in the evening we went back to the hotel to get our stuff and then to the bus station! We arrived in Penang today (Tuesday) at 8:30am, Steve had to go straight to work and I went back to bed! Fun trip!

Hi Tali

Wednesday night we ended up going to a bar not too far from here with a few other french people. We sang, we talked and some danced. The music is basically the same as in Canada or France. Thursday I slept in and then I got up and showered and ate. After Steve got back from work we went to the mall but we ended up waiting forever for a taxi!!! At the mall I bought 24 dvds and some fun stuff for my cellphone...again!!! At 9:30 we were suppose to meet Ingrid and her boyfriend Sudhir cause we were going to go to the movies with them but Ingrid ended up going to the hospital because she was having pain in her stomach so Baptiste and two of Steve's other friends met us instead. We went to see 'The Village'...not as scary as I thought. It only cost like 2 dollars to see a movie but you have to put up with Malaysian and Chinese subtitles on the bottom of the screen and you can already buy these movies at the store for 2 dollars. But it was a fun night out! Today I am going to mail some of the dvds that I bought to Canada so that I don't get caught at customs with them in my luggage and then tonight we are off to Singapore for the weekend (so I won't be checking emails or writing blogs!). Apparently it is very expensive in Singapore, I'll let you all know!!!

Hi Tali, I miss you lots and can't wait to see you at the end of August! Hope you have lots of pictures to show me cause I have lots to show you! Hope your having fun and staying out of trouble. Be good! Love Maika

We shopped until we dropped....literally!

Steve and I went to the travel agency yesterday at noon and I found out about all the trips he booked for us while I am here....holy cow! We are going to Singapore this weekend!!! Then on the 21st (my B-day) we are off to Bangkok, Thailand by plane and we are there until the 23rd. On the 23rd we leave for Koh Samui, Thailand, one of the most gorgeous island's of the world (located in the South of Thailand) where he booked the 'Around the Island and Shopping Tour'. Wow! Ok so after I found all of this out, we headed to the mall where I bought lots of crap and had a hard time finding some shoes (Asians have small feet) but after a few hours (poor Steve), I did manage to find a pair!!! We bought some groceries and then we headed home by bus (that was an experience and a half!!!). In the evening we went for a swim cause it was so hot. Tonight we are going to a bar cause it's ladies night (I am excited to hear what music they play there). I'll let you all know how it goes tomorrow!

In Malaysia

Well I made it to Malaysia! I landed on Saturday the 7th at 2pm in Kuala Lumpur after a 21 hour flight and 10 hours of sitting around in airports. I am now in Penang where Steve lives (it's an island in the north of Malaysia) and it's absolutely gorgeous here. It's really hot though and I am sweating up a storm (hopefully I can lose weight this way). The shopping is everything I expected and more....lots of fake stuff but good quality and very cheap. Yesterday I ate at KFC and the ketchup was so spicy that I burnt my tongue. You gotta watch out for that here! They like their spices. Anyway other than that I am having a nice relaxing time and I am so happy to not be working hahahahaha! I am taking lots of pictures....again....but this country is so beautiful and so different from North America and Europe. Well, I am off to the travel agency with Steve and then....shoe shopping!!!!! Miss you guys!

FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN!

What a fun time! Ema and I left on Tuesday and spent the day shopping in Waterloo/Kitchener/Cambridge. We ate at Chuck E Cheese! Fun times!!! (Ema stole tickets from a kid and broke two games!!!). We slept over at Allison's place (had a nice swim before bed) and the following day we set out for a fun filled day at the happiest place in the World...WONDERLAND!!! And boy was it ever fun! Allison, Jessy, Ema and I had such an awesome time and we are glad that JUST the four of us went cause it made for a perfect amount for the rides and we got to catch up on girl talk and gossip and we even ate at 'You go Grill'. The highlights of the trip were: 'Part of your world' in the car, 3 hours in Unionville with wrong directions, girl stuck on 'Top Gun' ride, fat woman whose bum didn't fit on 'Tomb Raider', dirty boy trying to pick me up in the lineup AND getting lost in Unionville AGAIN! YAY!!! Thanks Allison, Ema and Jessy for the fun times and the great memories!!
Well, I am off to Malaysia today (actually leaving in half an hour!). I will still be able to check emails and I will try to keep up with my blogs. Well, gotta run..........

Me wants! Eh Rachie?

My day started off very nicely today cause I got a phone call from RACHAEL!!! (Thanks for calling from work! I miss you! You REALLY have an English accent!). Well, today was officially my first day of summer vacation so what did we do? We went to the beach!!!! My parents, Adam, Ema and I went and ate fries at the beach and then we all swam (except my dad cause he didn't bring his bathing suit). Once we got back we went for a swin in Gerry's pool (next door neighbour). Gerry, Suzanne, David and Joanne (and their baby Julia) were in the pool too so we had some pool fun! After that I showered, fell asleep on the couch and ate supper. Now Ema and I were just planning our trip to Waterloo and Wonderland (Tuesday-Wednesday) cause I just got off the phone with Allison and Brad! Should be fun...... Other than that I am almost done packing for Malaysia and I only have 3 days until I leave (2 of which I will not be in Sarnia!) !!!

Last day as a Timmy Ho

Well, today was my last day at Tim Hortons.....tear! I managed to go out with a bang cause I spilled all sorts of stuff on my uniform and all over. Overall it was quite sad to go though cause I have made some friends there. I promised to have a party once I get back to celebrate my Birthday and my return so they all said that they would come. Oh, one funny thing, Clint got fired today (ironic...cause we trained together and it was both of our last day today...who knew? haha!). I guess he got on everyone's nerves especially this girl Laura D. who he hit on all the time! So long sucker! Other than that I slept a bit once I got home and then I ate supper around 6:30. This evening I cut my dad's hair (my mom cut Adam's). I guess the men wanted makeovers!!! Now I am just chilling and I am heading to bed soon cause I am all tuckered out! Zzzzz!