Singapore, Singapore

I arrived to Singapore where I got picked up by a girl from couchsurfing who nicely enough was willing to show me around the city during the day. She took me to some highlights such as the war memorial, colonoral district, little India, their 15 floor library!!! (Alice), other seights I don't remember the name of and orchard street since I really need to get some more shopping done before entering expensive Australia. A private local guide was exactly what I needed to get as much out of my short visit her as possible. And she was happy to share the historical stories as well. 

We said goodbye to each other by the evening as I was meeting up with my host for the night. Since Singapore is a lot more expensive than the rest of Asia, I decided to try some couchsurfing while I'm here. The Indian/Norwegian guy who let me sleep at his couch got a big flat at the 39th floor in the central part of Singapore. Imagine that view. Amazing. We went out for one drink, but ended up back at the balcony of their 39th floor flat, since the price to go for a beer is about the same as back home. 

I woke up quite early the next morning since all the flat mates were heading to work. I decided to hit the road as soon as it started to rain, shitloads of rain. I waited for it to stop for a while, but it seemed to continue raining all day so I went out anyway. I got myself straight to orchard street and H&M where I spent at least 3 hours trying to build my luggage back up. (Yes, I'm traveling across the world just go to the same shops as back home). Funny thing about Singapore is that they got Malls everywhere, And I really mean everywhere. Every 50th meters was a new mall, but not a single one of them got a sportshop. Which was one of the things I really needed to find.  Singapore is also one of the cleanest city I've been to and you can get a fine if you put garbidge on the ground, which is weird since I nearly couldn't find any bins. 

After my massive H&M shopping I went to Chinatown, since the rain cooled down a bit. Chinatown is really nice but a place to get lost. Especially when you'r like my who unlucky got my mothers local mind. I spent some getting lost, finding my way throughout the tine streets of Chinetown before taking the train back to little India and Burgis village, which as I mall who feels more like a market with their cheap prices and small shops. I hate shopping, it was nothing I enjoyd while the day passed by, I felt more sorry for myself. I managed to find my way by walking from Little India back to the apartment, which I'm very proud of. I spent some time with my host before he headed for football training, and went to the airport 4 hours to early. Everyone always been talking about Singapore's airport as one of the best, and that they easily could spent a whole day there. I would never spend a whole day there but a few hours was okay. Got massages and cinemas there but it was a bit to expensive for me. Spent most of the time at the free wifi and netflix, and some more shopping for my last Singaporean dollars until bording time.

Kuta, Indonesia

Me and Katie  cached a bus that morning to get her to the airport and myself to Kuta. I met up with Cornelia the same night, who I met during my open water course in January and a few other times during our travels. She and 3 of her friends just arrived from Sweden on their way to Australia. We went out for dinner and beer to celebrate their arrival and our first night together. The next morning I moved in to their room, and we spend the day at our hostel pool before going shopping cause one of Cornelia's friend lost her bag as well (at the airport so she'll probably get it back). Later on we met a few local friends who brought us back to their place where they'd cooked us a typical local meal. We played some games together for a few hours before heading back out. 

I tried surfing for the first time, in which I did very well. Managed to stand up on my second try and it was good fun. After a few hours on the beach we met up with Elis who finished his open water diving course, and arrived back to Kuta. We met another Swedish guy in the bar the same night so in the end it was seven of us hanging out. We headed down to the beach again the next morning to go surfing again. This time we got ourselves a teacher to be sure we're doing it the right way. It wasn't really necessary to be honest, since the only thing they did was to give us some more speed by pushing us through the waves. I do like it better to learn by myself even if a did get some good tips. The waves was very big and the currents really strong which makes it a bit harder for us beginners. We tried it again the next day as all seven of us headed down to the beach again. The waves wasn't too good though so none of us were doing very well compared to the last days. Can't wait to try it in Australia too. 

That night we went out for drinks again since it was about to be the last opportunity for all of us to go out together. The Swedish guy've been here several times before and know the right places to go too. After a few beers and a late night we woke up with a hangover that wasn't able to take us back surfing. Instead all of us went to the beach sleeping and playing beach ping pong. We went out for dinner buffet and card game at the hotel before saying goodbye to eachother since I was about to catch an early flight to Singapore and the girls heading to Ubud. I'll meet them and Elis down in Australia in some point. Looking forward to that. 

Ubud, Indonesia

Since my 13 hours journey to Gilli's was such a nightmare, It wasn't a hard decision taking the fast boat back to Bali. My easy night before paid well, since this was a ride of blood, sweat, tears and vomits.  It didn't get better by this old weird American man behind me kept poking me and the English girl next to me, asking us stupid questions.  If I'd have open my mouth in that moment, I'm pretty sure there would've been more than words coming out. 

I've heard a lot about Ubud, as a place you can't miss, and my expectations were pretty hight. I guess that after being at Gilli's every other place would've been a disappointment. Its a nice town. it got a few temples, a market, monkeys and a ricefield but thats pretty much it. You're done by the end of the day. Me and English Katie from the boat stay'd at a homestay where we shared a room. Together with an Australian girl we went for a walk around (in the rain), and ended up at a local music/dance/theatre show. It was ridiculous, and hilarious at the same time. Good entertainment and experiences. We went down to the Monkeyforest and monkeytemple in the morning. I hadn't even entrenched before I got into a huge fight with a crazy monkey who just didn't want to get off my neck. They where everywhere. We spent hours in the forest before we went for a tiny trek up on the mountain to reach the rice fields. 

Celebrating Katie's last night traveling seemed like a great idea, which took us down to the bar to meet up with two English guys that Katie been traveling with before. Turns out it was the same two guys me and Elis were chatting with for a while in the bar back at Gilli's.  Ubud is not really famous for it's nightlife, but with our good company we managed to have a great night. 

Gilli trawagan, Indonesia

I spent so many days at Gilli that I might have a hard time separate them since they all look quite alike. I fell in love with this small, beautiful island, with an atmosphere to keep every single soul to stay. No roads or traffic, no crazy 'trying to sell you stuff' thing. It remember me a bit of Railay, my favorite spot in Thailand, and I loved it just as much. 

My way to get here from Bali was pretty tough. I said goodbye to the French girls to catch a bus at 6am to Padang bay, a slowboat to Lombok,  another minibus to sengiggi bay and a llongtailboat to Gilli. It Took me 13 hours and included the fact that I got my backpack stolen from me in Padang bay. The man I showed my ticket to, told me that he would bring my bag to the boat for me. But apparently, he didn't. Hope he'll enjoy my dirty, girly clothes, make-up and 35 sized shoes .. 

I wasn't in my best mood when I finally arrived at Gilli island and had to accept the fact that my bag was gone. I felt a lot better when I met my friends from Penang after running into Terry on the street. He brought me back to their room, which he shared with Amy (who I also met in Penang), another English guy, Norwegian guy and American girl. They where all very supportive and buy'd me beer cause the felt sorry for me. Probably more sorry for me than I did. The Norwegian and American left back to Bali the next morning. The rest of us hanged out a lot with two other English guys for a couple of days, who where on holiday from their life in Australia. We spend the days on the beach and the nights in the bar. In the in between time, I tried to find myself some new clothes. The guys left one by one. First Terry after a few days, then the two English guys after another few days and In the end it was pretty much only me and Amy left. 

One day I decided to go for a fundive which was amazing. 4 turtles and one reefshark in the same dive. the water wasn't too clear though, but it was still an incredible cool experience. That day I ran into my second cousin Elis on the street, who happens to have the same travel plan as I. We decided to meet up for dinner and ended up having a few drinks in the bar, where we met Amy with more english friends as well. Me and Elis decided to meet the next day as well, my last one, and we all headed to the 'sunsetbar' for sunset. We had a quite early night though since Elis was starting his diving the next morning, I was catching my boat and Amy just blamed her age. 

From Java to Bali, Indonesa

Together with a bunch of Levian/Portugieses, the four of us (me, Sofia, Kartum and Nicole) where heading for Mt Bromo, an active volcano. All three of them are speaking French, frenlish when I'm around, which usually ends up with Nicole or Sofia translating for me. Then it's always subject including either relationships, babies or 30-year krises  (since they're all in about that age), and I might be a bit to young to understand parts of It. They would love to meet my brothers though!  We have good fun together anyway and after a full day driving, including card games, stories, jokes and laughter we arrived to Lawang in the evening, just next to Mt Bromo. 

Next morning we woke up at 3am, probably my earliest morning in many years, to hike to to top of Mt Bromo for sunrise. Nothing about this tour trip turned out to be as I expected. I  wasn't really prepared for the cold, high up in the mountains, but I turned out to be fine.  The jeep came to pick us up at 03.30 to drive us to the first 'mountain' where we got the view over Mt Brono on a hight about 2400 metres over sea. The 'mountain' turned out to be a viewpoint restaurant, and the 'hike' a 15 minutes walk along the road. The sunrise view was  still amazing, even if you did have to share it with hundreds of people who all was fighting over the best viewpoint spots. The crowd was just as big as if the president where expected, just another way to use nature as a way to earn money on tourism. But yeah, the view was still breathtaking, beautiful. We went down the jeep who drove us to the end of Mt Bromo where we now got the opportunity to a actual hike to the top, where you could se right down into the volcano. We had to walk through ashes, sand and stairs to get to the top. The view wasn't as impressive as the last one, but the feeling meant so much more. 

We said goodbye to Nicole, who was suppose to catch a flight from Jakarta in a few days, and continued our travels to Bali, to leave Java behind us. We arrived to Kuta in the middle of the middle of the night, but managed to find a hostel who kindly let us stay for the night. The following day we headed straight to the beach where we spend all day. The girls went to bed quite early while I was meeting up with some Couchsurfers. I saw on the website that they where having drinks just a few block's from mine, so I decided to join them.  Couch surfing is more about meeting people than finding a place to stay. To learn from each other and sharing worldwide experiences. Half an hour later I saw myself hanging out with Swizz, US, holland, Norway (which meant I had to use my Swedish for the first time in weeks), Germany, UK and a few locals. Crouch surfers in generally are really relaxed, easygoing and welcoming in every way. I loved every moment I got to spend with them, chatting the night away .. 

 

Yogyakarta, Indonesia

I've been telling you my trip to Jakarta didn't start very well, neither did my travel to Yogyakarta. I arrived to the little city in the middle of Java about 5am after a 8hours train ride in business class. I got 2 French girls I met in Jakarta as company, Sofia and Kathun. I used my last Rubiah to buy a bottle of water and went to the ATM to get some more. I tried every each of ATM's nearby but none of them seemed to be willing to give me any money. They french girls felt really sorry for me, probably more than I did, and tried to help in every possible way. We walked down town to try to find a hostel, which wasn't too easy at 5-6 in the morning. As soon as western union was open I went over there to ask for some help. They felt sorry for me too while they tried to explain that Indonesian bank don't accept visas. I could walk down to this one and only special bank office where it hopefully might work. It was quite a bit to walk, but after all, I was in a good mood and didn't mind a little walk around anyway. I walked in to several bank office's along the way before I finally find the right one who, luckily enough, gave me my money. I always knew I would work it out, some way or another. I was never that worried, really even if it was a quite interesting morning.

Sofia and Kathun was happy to share a room with me, to get the price down. After a shower we went to the art centre where we could see and be told how to produce this fantastic paintings made of wax and color. How to see the difference of handmade and fake ones. It was interesting and really good, hard work. I kind of regret not buying one but I just didn't want to carry it when I'll be gone for so long. And I'm on a budget as well. We took a walk down to Karton temple, where we met Italian/German Nicole who was happy to join us. The temple was not that special, really, so we moved on to the water palace which was more interesting. Even if it was more like a temple, with a pool in it. We tried to walk down to the bird market but ended up taking I pushpush (quite alike a tuk-tuk but smaller). We stayed at the market a few minutes before we left again. Nothing to do there but watching animals in cages. Just not my thing. Since we just had a few hours uncomfortable sleep on a uncomfortable train we had an early night and fell asleep like at 7pm. 

After a really good 13hours sleep, the four of us went to the temple of Borobudur. We rented a private car to take us there and back. The temple were actually really good. I'm trying to forget being on the temples of Angkor cause my expectations are really high since. But I wasn't disappointed this time, even if it was a little bit smaller than my imaginations. It was still beautiful with a great mountain view. 

That evening we all sat down for hours with our lonely planets, iPads, laptops and notebooks to really seriously sharing all of our travel experiences. As Nicole is heading to Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam I gave her all usable information I possibly could. And she shares her australian experiences with me since she just spent a year there and told us everything we need to know about Bali, Gilli and Lombok which is where we're heading next. 

Jakarta, Indonesien

My impression of Indonesia so far haven't been too good. Starting off with me almost missing my flight from Kuala Lumpur when I got really lost at the airport. Running around like a fool having no idea what i was doing finally made me find the right bag drop about 5 minutes before they closed. After a two hour flight I reached the airport of Jakarta finding out that i was suppose to have a visa and a outgoing ticked with me to enter the country, which the lonely planet never told me. Finally sorting that out I managed to get even more lost, jumping on the wrong shuffle bus. In my imagination I was sure this was the one taking me to the city, but apparently this was the one running between all the different terminals, which took me a good 45 minutes to realize. I did found the right one after all and about an hour later I saw myself standing in the city centre of Jakarta. I was sure I could find my way by walking from there to the budget hostel backpackers area I read about in my magic book, but after getting even more lost I ended up taking a motocab (seriously, it wasn't even that expensive from the beginning, after all my trouble this morning I should of realized). I found out that most of the places where full booked or crazy expensive, which made me end up staying in the worst place ever. I litterly just got one bed and a fan. Like a prisoner's room. As soon as I was all checked in I went for a little wonder around before ending  up at the free wifi bar across the street, being to tired and to hungry to do anything of matters. An Australian guy invited me to his table with an Indonesian guy, where we had a long chat about Java's and Australia's special highlights. They gave me some good tips to carrying during my way of travels. 

The next day I checked out as soon as I woke up, obviously (I did have a shower first even if it didn't make me feel much cleaner). Thereafter I took a local train to Kota 'the old city of Jakarta' to book a train to Yogyakarta the same night. I've heard, or read, that Kota is the historical and cultural part of Jakarta, which I thought might be interesting. I saw one good museum thing in the old square before I had enough. Traffic got way to crazy with cars, motorbikes and busses everywhere, even on the walking's area. No way to cross the road without getting pulled over and with a noise that made you think you where in the middle of a world war. To much for me to handle which made me take the first taxi back to the main square and the national monument 'monas'. This 132 m-towering had been dubbed 'Soekarnos last erection', and if you got some fantasy I guess you can make it look like an giant penis ... The little park called 'freedom square', surrounding the monument really lives up to it's name by the harmony and peacefulness. At least I thought so before  I got hunted down by locals trying to sell me stuff, Which made me leave. I went pass the presidential palace, and a mosque as well before heading back to my street. 

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

A 6 hour bus drive took me, Tim and Terry to the Capitol of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. We stay'd around china town and spent the evening on the central market. The next day we planned to go all in for a big sightseeing day in the big city, as we all got only one day here. We walked along the river where they got more of amazing street art. We went past the big KL mosque as we catched a train to the main station. After getting the guys train ticket to Singapore booked, we were off to the big KL Menera Tower. Was a bit of an disappointment thought, we litterly just took the elevator up, had a walk around, took some pictures and then head back down. The wether wasn't very good which didn't make it a very good view either. Should probably have gone there by dark instead. On our way to the twin tower it started to rain really bad with massive thunder, which made us hide in a bar nearby for a few hours before it calmed down. When we would be able to walk down the street without swimming, and we claimed our second beer, we decided to hit the road again. Which took us to twin tower. Two huge identical towers. It's not possible to go up in this one thought so we were happy with the pictures from the ground. We waited for the sun to go down so we could see it when it's all lightened up. Which looked so much better than during daytime. That night Tim and Terry where off to catch a train to Singapore while I had another walk around in the central market, and getting ready for leaving the country tomorrow. Malaysia's been a bit different to what I'm use to, with a little more relaxed people. No body who's screaming at you, hunting you down to make you buy sunglasses or go with their, and no one else's taxi - like they do in Thailand. Instead they got good local transport with trains and busses that takes you anywhere around town, for less than 5 kr. And if you do want a taxi you have to fight for it!  It's a shame I didn't get more time here, but I do really want to spend it all in Indonesia this trip. I'll get back for Malaysia's east cost some other time.