Home » Thailand Singapore Malaysia Indonesia » Southeast Asia, month 1

Jul - Sep 2002: This is a continuation of my China trip, but includes travels to other countries in Asia.

Southeast Asia, month 1

Jennifer Radcliffe
2005-11-12 10:17:24

Displayed times (last time: )

cities! Many Malaysians are Muslim, so Singapore has an Arab street with a few mosques and shops selling Arabian goods, and there is a colorful, fragrant Little India here as well. I went into a Hindu temple for the first time, it was so vibrant and colorful! As when entering a mosque, you must remove your shoes before going into a Hindu temple. I got yelled at for walking up some steps into a little shrine area to see Ganesha, the elephant god. In Buddhist temples you can walk right up to the Buddha and rub his belly or touch him. How was I to know!

With such a large Chinese population, of course Singapore has a Chinatown as well, but I didn't visit it since I was just in China!

Singaporean food is delicious! I took a boat cruise around some of the surrounding islands, and had my first proper meal on the boat. I wasn't expecting much, but the food was very good! We had some flavorful noodles with peanut sauce, pressure cooked rice squares, vegetables in sauce, and fresh fruit. They also had satay and fish curry for non-vegetarians.

I spent three days here seeing the sights and hanging out with my friend Olga's boyfriend, who lives and works here. After three days I'm ready to move on and hit more of Asia... Java in Indonesia is next!

Mt Bromo, Indonesia

I flew from Singapore to Surabaya in western Java on July 4th. Today I am in Ceromo Lewang, near the Bromo National Park. This morning I woke up at 3:30am and went in a hired Jeep to a lookout point to watch the sunrise over Mt Bromo, an active volcano in the park. It was an unforgettable sunrise! Unfortunately, word gets around and the lookout point was packed with people. I spent most of the sunrise on my tiptoes, craning my neck for a better view. But it was still lovely.

After the sunrise, we went to Bromo itself ...