THE START OF MY ASIA ADVENTURES!!

I am currently in the capital city of Thailand, Bangkok, where my family are originally from. I have been here the last few weeks catching up with family I haven't seen in years, as well as family that I had never met before (cousins, aunts and uncles).

Before flying to Thailand, I visited Malaysia and Singapore:

MALAYSIA

The Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia is home to many religious groups and, as a consequence, I saw different kinds of temples:

I visited the Island of Penang in the North of Malaysia but unfortunately, was struck down with a severe case of food poisoning for the majority of my time there :(

Penang is home to the largest Buddhist temple in South-East Asia!

SINGAPORE

Singapore is a tiny country to the South of Malaysia. As it is on the coast, there is a bit of a breeze around the city which really helps as I have been struck down by the extreme heat since arriving in Asia.

Singapore is known for being a beautiful and extremely clean country (you are not allowed to eat, chew gum or drink [even water!] in certain places such as on the railway system). The crime rate is the lowest in the world but it also tops lists as being one of the most expensive places in which to live.

Merlion statue in the Marina Bay Harbour:

The city looks even more incredible at night!

I happened to be in Singapore on the night they were celebrating the country's 50th anniversary!

Rooftop views:

THAILAND

I have spent the last couple of weeks in Thailand with my auntie and grandma doing a bit of sightseeing here and there. However, I have devoted most of my time to relaxing and catching up with family before I begin to explore outside of the capital city (I plan to head North to Chiang Mai to celebrate the Thai New Year [Songkran] in April) and into the neighbouring countries (Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia).


picking mangoes in our garden:

On my uncle's rice farm 4 hours outside of the capital:

The Bridge Over the River Kwai - a famous bridge built by prisoners-of-war during WW2 under terrible conditions in order to allow Japanese troops stationed in Burma to be supplied by train.

One of many extravagant temples:

In the next few weeks I will be making a brief detour to fly to Kota Kinabalu on Borneo for a friend's wedding, before flying back to Thailand to meet up with some friends to explore the Northern part of the country.