Well, I went on a big-ass vacation. My boss was nice enough to let me go for 5 weeks and I definitely took advantage of it. I went to India first, then Malaysia, then Singapore, then Australia. I have family in all of those places except Singapore. I did so many things! Here is a quick summary of my trip. Just to let you know, I will be referring to my family members in a way that seems distant, but actually the purpose of that is to explain to you who exactly I visited in my family.
In India I went to Bangalore, where my dad's sister and her daughter stays. Another daughter of hers stays in Mumbai where she is married with two children; sadly, I did not get the chance to see her this trip. During my stay we took an excursion first to Mysore, where we saw Mysore palace and many beautiful temples. We drank some sugar cane juice, which I suspect may have been the cause of a gastrointestinal illness which I had to take ofloxacin to treat (I had water projecting out of both ends of my body, if you know what I mean). I recovered very quickly. Then after a couple days back in B
angalore we took an overnight train to Hampi, where we trekked all day and took an overnight train the same day back to Bangalore. The pic to the left is part of Hampi. Click here to see what it's all about. We ended up getting an excellent tour from a man who works for the archaeological society that maintains Hampi, because my cousin's husband's sister knows the head of the society. During the tour we got taken to places that regular tourists do not (through locked entrances, and to newly excavated grounds). It was amazing and I feel blessed to have walked on grounds that have been celebrated for centuries.
After India, I went to Seremban, Malaysia. My dad's mother stays there with one of her daughters, who also has two sons who live a distance away. Also in Malaysia are two of my father's brothers, and their families. It was so good to see my grandmother, and it was the first time I had seen her since her husband's death in October of 2009. My grandmother is such a purely good person. She had had a rough childhood and swore to herself that she would raise her kids well, and she did (my father and all 6 of his siblings). I have similar aspirations and I can only hope to be a fraction of what she is, when I become a mother/grandmother. During my stay, one of my cousins took me to Melaka, where we saw the Portuguese Fort A Famosa and educated ourselves about Malaysia's independence in the Museums. We also visited glutton square, which is basically a night time food market that has stalls for longan drinks, chicken satay, all kinds of mee and other soups, and tofu and noodle dishes. Later on during my stay in Malaysia, I snuck out for one day to check out Singapore, since it is just a train ride away. Singapore was awesome! I started off by doing a Duck tour in an amphibious vehicle, which gave a great view of the Singapore skyline and its newest buildings. I went on to walk around the different Quays which are a tourist attraction, and then I left the city to go to the Jurong bird park. The variety of species there is very impressive. After the bird park I ended my day with a ride on the Singapore Flyer, which is pretty much Singapore's answer to the London Eye. I captured some sweet panoramic shots using the camera my boy graciously allowed me to borrow for use during my trip. After an overnight train back to Seremban, I spent quality time with my grandmother and said a sad and tearful goodbye to her before departing to Australia. As luck would have it I ended up on the same flight as my father's brother's wife, which was sheer coincidence as I had no clue she was going to visit her daughter who lives in a small town there called Toowoomba. We bonded during the flight, talking about all sorts of things. After some shut eye we landed in Coolangatta airport where my father's sister and her husband fetched me. Directly from the airport we went to Surfer's Paradise in the Gold Coast. The beach there is amazing!
Crystal blue waters and high waves, and all kinds of small wildlife for non-surfers like myself to find themselves caught up in watching. I spent a few days in Brisbane with my family, exploring the city and getting to know my family better. I visited Lone Pine koala sanctuary and held a koala (small and smelly but oh so adorable!), pet a python and fed kangaroos.
I took a ride on a CityCat, which is a catamaran that ferries Brisbanites around town via the city's central river. It's kind of like the Water Taxi/Staten Island Ferry of NYC except it has a bunch of stops. I had made this big whole elaborate plan to hop around Australia while I was there (without my family) because I don't know when I will get the chance to go back there again and I attempted to do everything I wanted to, all in the same trip. Here goes. I left my family in Brisbane and flew off to Cairns, where I spent just two days and had the extraordinary opportunity to snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef. It was amazing and it kind of made me remember the days when my dream of being a marine biologist was fresh and actually attainable. I saw reef sharks, parrot fish, sea turtles, all kinds of bioluminescent corals, and giant clams. It really is amazing what is under the water surface and I am glad I got to see it before the oil spill in the Gulf gets a chance to wipe out everything. 
Sadly though, I was unable to scuba dive into it because their strict regulations forbade asthmatics who were uncertified divers from diving. I am determined to return at some point in my lifetime after getting certified here in the USA so I can experience it in a whole new way. From Cairns I went to Melbourne, where I met up with a family friend and her husband and buddies and went out drinking. After lunch the next day with them I flew off to Sydney, which I was actually disappointed in because it is so much like NYC that I felt I could have gone back home a few days earlier and not missed a thing. The only extraordinary thing I did there was take pics of and with the world-famous Sydney Opera House. While in Sydney I stayed in King's Cross, which is famous for its red-light activities, if you know what I mean. I tried to do stereotypical Australian things that tourists should try to do, I guess. For example I had a fantastic lamb gyro from a Turkish shop (apparently Australian lamb is fantastic) and bought an opal ring in Sydney's Chinatown. I walked all around and through Sydney's downtown area and wharfs, and caught my flight back to the USA on June 8th. I was so jet lagged upon returning, I got like 4 huge migraines within a 2-week span and showed up every night thoroughly exhausted for work even after getting proper amounts of sleep. It was so worth it though. The trip was actually the first I have ever taken that gave me one true revolution around the world, since I flew back from Sydney to Los Angeles to New York. To say it was the trip of a lifetime is an understatement.
In India I went to Bangalore, where my dad's sister and her daughter stays. Another daughter of hers stays in Mumbai where she is married with two children; sadly, I did not get the chance to see her this trip. During my stay we took an excursion first to Mysore, where we saw Mysore palace and many beautiful temples. We drank some sugar cane juice, which I suspect may have been the cause of a gastrointestinal illness which I had to take ofloxacin to treat (I had water projecting out of both ends of my body, if you know what I mean). I recovered very quickly. Then after a couple days back in B
angalore we took an overnight train to Hampi, where we trekked all day and took an overnight train the same day back to Bangalore. The pic to the left is part of Hampi. Click here to see what it's all about. We ended up getting an excellent tour from a man who works for the archaeological society that maintains Hampi, because my cousin's husband's sister knows the head of the society. During the tour we got taken to places that regular tourists do not (through locked entrances, and to newly excavated grounds). It was amazing and I feel blessed to have walked on grounds that have been celebrated for centuries.After India, I went to Seremban, Malaysia. My dad's mother stays there with one of her daughters, who also has two sons who live a distance away. Also in Malaysia are two of my father's brothers, and their families. It was so good to see my grandmother, and it was the first time I had seen her since her husband's death in October of 2009. My grandmother is such a purely good person. She had had a rough childhood and swore to herself that she would raise her kids well, and she did (my father and all 6 of his siblings). I have similar aspirations and I can only hope to be a fraction of what she is, when I become a mother/grandmother. During my stay, one of my cousins took me to Melaka, where we saw the Portuguese Fort A Famosa and educated ourselves about Malaysia's independence in the Museums. We also visited glutton square, which is basically a night time food market that has stalls for longan drinks, chicken satay, all kinds of mee and other soups, and tofu and noodle dishes. Later on during my stay in Malaysia, I snuck out for one day to check out Singapore, since it is just a train ride away. Singapore was awesome! I started off by doing a Duck tour in an amphibious vehicle, which gave a great view of the Singapore skyline and its newest buildings. I went on to walk around the different Quays which are a tourist attraction, and then I left the city to go to the Jurong bird park. The variety of species there is very impressive. After the bird park I ended my day with a ride on the Singapore Flyer, which is pretty much Singapore's answer to the London Eye. I captured some sweet panoramic shots using the camera my boy graciously allowed me to borrow for use during my trip. After an overnight train back to Seremban, I spent quality time with my grandmother and said a sad and tearful goodbye to her before departing to Australia. As luck would have it I ended up on the same flight as my father's brother's wife, which was sheer coincidence as I had no clue she was going to visit her daughter who lives in a small town there called Toowoomba. We bonded during the flight, talking about all sorts of things. After some shut eye we landed in Coolangatta airport where my father's sister and her husband fetched me. Directly from the airport we went to Surfer's Paradise in the Gold Coast. The beach there is amazing!
Crystal blue waters and high waves, and all kinds of small wildlife for non-surfers like myself to find themselves caught up in watching. I spent a few days in Brisbane with my family, exploring the city and getting to know my family better. I visited Lone Pine koala sanctuary and held a koala (small and smelly but oh so adorable!), pet a python and fed kangaroos.
I took a ride on a CityCat, which is a catamaran that ferries Brisbanites around town via the city's central river. It's kind of like the Water Taxi/Staten Island Ferry of NYC except it has a bunch of stops. I had made this big whole elaborate plan to hop around Australia while I was there (without my family) because I don't know when I will get the chance to go back there again and I attempted to do everything I wanted to, all in the same trip. Here goes. I left my family in Brisbane and flew off to Cairns, where I spent just two days and had the extraordinary opportunity to snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef. It was amazing and it kind of made me remember the days when my dream of being a marine biologist was fresh and actually attainable. I saw reef sharks, parrot fish, sea turtles, all kinds of bioluminescent corals, and giant clams. It really is amazing what is under the water surface and I am glad I got to see it before the oil spill in the Gulf gets a chance to wipe out everything. 
Sadly though, I was unable to scuba dive into it because their strict regulations forbade asthmatics who were uncertified divers from diving. I am determined to return at some point in my lifetime after getting certified here in the USA so I can experience it in a whole new way. From Cairns I went to Melbourne, where I met up with a family friend and her husband and buddies and went out drinking. After lunch the next day with them I flew off to Sydney, which I was actually disappointed in because it is so much like NYC that I felt I could have gone back home a few days earlier and not missed a thing. The only extraordinary thing I did there was take pics of and with the world-famous Sydney Opera House. While in Sydney I stayed in King's Cross, which is famous for its red-light activities, if you know what I mean. I tried to do stereotypical Australian things that tourists should try to do, I guess. For example I had a fantastic lamb gyro from a Turkish shop (apparently Australian lamb is fantastic) and bought an opal ring in Sydney's Chinatown. I walked all around and through Sydney's downtown area and wharfs, and caught my flight back to the USA on June 8th. I was so jet lagged upon returning, I got like 4 huge migraines within a 2-week span and showed up every night thoroughly exhausted for work even after getting proper amounts of sleep. It was so worth it though. The trip was actually the first I have ever taken that gave me one true revolution around the world, since I flew back from Sydney to Los Angeles to New York. To say it was the trip of a lifetime is an understatement.
3 comments:
5 weeks around the world!
totally envy u!
hi seema,
seems like you had a lot of fun...good going,you deserve it!!
Dude that was awesome :) I so need one of those.
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