this is my last 17 hours in a foreign country! what an awesome trip this has been...going through something like this really does open your eyes to a lot of things. it literally is a life changing experience.

i dont have much time left on my card here in singapore so this is short and to the point. i'll blog my final entry after my return to the states!!!

thank you to everyone for your support, i couldn't have done this without you :)

what a way to start off the morning...a good vietnamese almost knife fight! we are thinking it started becasue we asked for butter for our toast (it probably wasn't that but who knows) so yesterday we all went to the war remnants museum and it made me sick to my stomach. i now know why none of the vets want to ever remind themselves of what happened. however, we did find the museum extrememly one sided, but i guess that's to be expected. there was also a book that you could sign in the building that showed some of the tourture devices and tiger cages and needless to say there was a lot of anti-american comments.

im speechless

however, we did find a place last night were some of the vietnamese women and there husbands (american/english) who told us that the vitnam people harbor no ill feelings towards american's because of what happend. they basically are trying to move on like im sure the vets are still trying to do. they (vietnamese) dont even like it when people like big rock stars come over for concerts and start apologizing for it. that made me feel a little better, but that muesum was hard to deal with. it took all my willpower to keep from crying. just thinking about it now makes me tear up.

but on a better note, i did eat some really amazing KFC the other day! i know i know, but vietnamese food makes me sick...and i am craving the heart clogging goodness of greasy McDonalds food! (so american!) ok, in less that 24 hours my booty will be on a plane back to singapore and then....HOME! the postcards should be rolling in and im probably gonna beat the ones from phuket, cambodia and vietnam home (plus i havn't really sent em yet) hahaha, ok till next time!

cheers

we are now in the capital of cambodia, called pheom phen or p^2...we had a 6 hour bus ride to the captial and seriously i have way too much stuff. i broke down and bought dvds for like 2.50 a piece and then i bought somethings for gifts and now i have too much shit!

we got here around 1:00 and checked into the blue lotus? something to that effect and we had tuk-tuk drivers that were so incredibly nice. they wanted to know what our plans were for the day so they could take us. we had decided eariler to go to the killing fields and then the genocide museum. well i hadn't done much reading about the killing fields but when i heard the story i was sick to my stomach...what made it worse was the fact that as we were walking and looking at the mass graves, we were actually walking over the victums bones! i felt horrible and opted out of the musuem that showed actual pictures.

before the killing fields however, payne, dave, trisha and i went to a shooting range. it was so awesome, they actually had a menue of what you could order! how much a magazine was for each gun (AK 47s, M16s) that is what the boys shot...trisha and i went for the smaller but still fun K54 which is a chineese hand gun!

and then tonight we will sleep and get up at 5:40 am to catch another bus to vietnam...ho chi man city...and we will spend a few days there. i have been hearing that there is no internet in vietnam, so please nobody panic if i don't write for a few days! i can't wait to come home and mom...thank you for my dinner request! your the best :)

i have the worst luck ever! i didn't pull any money out of the ATM in KL because we were only staying for one night and i didn't want to have a ton of ringet (that is what they call their money) and of course i didn't have any US money on me because it has all been exchaged! the cambodian visa is 20 american dollars. and i knew this. as the flight landed we all went into the terminal and filled out our visa forms and jumped in line. on the wall behind them was a sign that said "cambodia prefers visa" how exciting for me, i do have my bank card that is a visa! well they lie because they do not take visa...cash only. plus nobody could understand what i was saying, so big lanugage barrier. that wasn't the hard part...the stern gentleman behind the desk wouldn't give me my passport until i obviously paid for my visa and i was told that a line a little farther away took visa. so i got in it realizing that i was the only person with no passport, but i couldn't get my passport until i paid for the visa...so i get up to the counter and explained myself to two men who spoke extremely broken english. they told me that i couldn't pay with plastic and i needed to sit for a minute. well by this time, i was getting a little scared (i dont mind saying that i almost cried) the group came together for me and pulled enough money for me to get my visa! AND no tears! HA :)

we are wisked away in our private van to our guesthouse called "the villa" it is owned by an aulstrailan couple, fiona and anthony. the rooms are big, the showers are hot and the beds are comfy! we got to go out late to ta phrom temple and have a look around and then watch the sunset while drinking wine and eating cheese and olives! it was so amazing! then next day we got up early to go exploring again, we did about 3 smaller temples, and then back to the villla for lunch. fiona and anthony have connections with other hotels around and we were able to get pool passes at this really luxurious hotel. they had an infinity pool and the water was just right! we swam all day and i am so dark now! dinner that night was a dinner/show deal and it was pretty cool. it was buffett stlye and the dancing looked a little like thai dancing.

today we got up around 8:15 and got to the temples at 9-ish and rode elephants! payne and i were on elephant #2 and it was really neat. at first i was scared becasue you are really high up but the elephants are so sturdy that once you get going the only thing you can think about is "how many people can say they have ridden an elephant through temples!" we walked over victory bridge and along this dirt path to the bayon temple. it is famous for all the faces carved into it. oh, and the temple ta phrom was where they filmed the first tomb raider and indiana jones! bayon was pretty sweet, of course tons of pictures! and then we went for lunch.

we sat under a tree in front of ankor wat, the largest religous building in the world. now you havae to understand something about cambodia. they thrive off of visitors coming and blowing a ton of money on nik-naks...so when the van pulls up to a temple, it gets swarmed by little kids saying "lady, you buy from me!" and they are sooooooooooo adorable and sweet and you really dont want to say no, but the second you give in all of them expect you to buy from them too. today however, our feelings changed about feeling bad for them. payne and dave had to hide in the van to get away from the little girls and had pursched some hats to make them sort of go away. as they (the girls selling things) saw that we girls were walking to the van, of course they went after us. well you learn quickly to grow a thick skin and say "no thank you" and just walk away. plus by this time, we were sick of it so when we were all in the van and still not making eye contact, trisha pulls the curtian so that we dont have to look at them and one of the girls mouthed "f**k you" and then another girl flicked us off! we all busted out laughing. so no longer do we feel bad for saying "NO!"

this time tomorrow i should be on my way to vietnam via bus and i will continue from there! i miss everyone and i can't wait to come home :)

phuket is amazing! we got in last night and went straight to bed...well after some desperatly needed room service :) we got up around 9:30 today and caught the bus to the beach. we were not prepared for how incredibly intense the sun was. i got burned on my face, chest, and top of my legs...ouch! but i did get some really great pictures so i'll show everyone when i get back! we have to wake up early to get to the airport for our flight to cambodia and im really excited because that means that im a little bit closer to flying home!!

i miss everyone!

GREATEST QUOTE OF PHUKET
nikki "i heart crabs!"

today we are going to the beach!!! we are flying to phuket and staying the day and then we are back on a plane to KL, malaysia and then another to cambodia! there i will pick up with the blog, proablby after ankor wat!

cheers

the last few days have been a little different. when jamie and i woke up on tuesday, we decided to actually so and see things rather than shop! we decided on the grand palace. so we hopped on the sky train and took a ferry boat...which ran out of gas! so as the boat was sitting there gasless in the water, a nice gentleman told us that the palace was only a short walk from where we were! sweet! we got off the boat...and he was partly right, you could walk to the palace, but it took about 15 mins. once we arrived at one of the side gates another nice man told us that the palace was closed until 3...it was about 2ish i believe...so he hailed a tuk tuk for us and told the driver to take good care of us and show us the sitting buddha, lucky buddha, and the standing buddha and then to this shopping place and then right back to where he was and the palace should be open. jamie thought it was sketchy and i thought it was cool so we jumpped in the back of the tuk tuk and off we went. jamie still had her doubts so she kept her map out. and sure enough, we ended up going to a place that wasn't marked on the map. we walked in and it was pretty decent. i liked it and realized that we were probably going on a wild goose chase, but hey it was pretty neat. well jamie was having no parts of this adventure so she told the tuk tuk driver to take us back to the palace. tuk tuks have this funny thing were they will keep your price down if you go to a place their friends own and just look around for a few mins. well we didn't want to do that so the driver basically said that he couldn't drive us anymore and he wouldn't take our money!

so we get off in the middle of this city and we have no idea where we are! finally we decided to walk back to the palace after another guy tried to get us to go on the same trek. this time i didn't fall for it. finally we get to the front gate and surprise surprise...its OPEN!!! there was never a time that it wasn't open! so in we go! this was the most amazing place i have ever seen. as we are walking, we notice that all the tiles are hand-painted! and all of the buildings are so colorful and bright and just amazing. we wanderend into the temple of the emerald buddha and when you go in you can't point your feet at the buddha so we had to sit on the floor on our knees. as we were sitting reading about the buddha, i overheard a tour-guide telling a man how to pray to the buddha, so jamie and i tried it! it was the most amazing feeling to be sitting in a buddhist temple. nobody cared that we weren't exactly the best at the art of praying or the fact that we were having a really crappy day, they just went about their business and smiled and left! it was so nice. outside the temple was holy water with flowers that you dipped in the water and then tapped your head three times with. 3 the number for perfect balance in the universe. so of course jamie and i partook of that as well. after the emerald buddha, we walked around and saw the throne of the king himself! the walls in the throne were hand-painted and the throne looked like it was pure gold...clean, sparkly, and just amazing. we couldn't take any pictures and i don't think they would have done it justice anyway.

the hunger pains were creeping up on us slowly. we found a resturant and ate and then realized that we didn't know how to get back. the harbor was closed becasue the country is getting ready to celebrate having their king for 60 years! so basically we were screwed! we stopped a few cabs to see if they would take us to the sky train...they said "no, too far" see they don't get tipped here so the cabs make their money by turing lots of fairs...so we again were out of luck. and so we looked at the map and figured that it wouldn't be that bad to walk to the closest MRT station (subway). so off we went on foot. 3 hours later, we finally navigated our way from the grand palace through chinatown across a few major roads to the beginning of the MRT. and the train station and MRT are in the same building. we didn't know that, and this walk was no picknick...nothing was written in english (go figure right?!) so we had to sit and decipher the signs...i was about to cry! i was fed up with walking, i was sick of everyone in the city becuase we must look pretty stupid that they kept trying to pull the same shit they did around the palace. so i walked up to the info desk at the train station and i pointed to the MRT and they smilied and pointed around the cornor and down the stairs...i have never been so happy to spend money on transportation in my life!!!

wed. was the day of our fitting!! we were awaken by trisha telling us that we had to be downstairs for a meeting with Ogilvey Thailand. that was pretty cool. except she basically insulted us right to our faces for being American by saying that she knows that Americans don't take the time to be open minded about international differences! (wow...ok) i understand that might be true for some people but not all Americans and im am 10,000 % that statement can be applied to people all over the world...not just those from the US. as the presentaion went on, we found out that Boeing jets were one of their clients. and of course they keep track of when planes go down becuase if it was one of their clients, they obvioulsy need to get started on a crisis response. well she made a snide remark about 9/11 and i personally didn't appreciate it. she said she recalled that day...they got the call and pretty much the jist was, that she was more woried about her clients image than the actual lives that were devistated!! sometimes its a blessing to not speak your mind...all i wanted to do was say a few choice words, slap her in the face and walk out. oh well!

after the meeting jamie and i decided to stay around the area becasue we had to go for our fitting at 5 and it was about 3..so we tried to get to this mall that was recommended to us by a localish guy. (hes english but works here...long story, and i'll share that at home) so we tried for 30 mins to get a cab...but once again, we didn't speak thai, they didn't read english...so we were stuck. finally we found someone that could help us! the mall was a bust, it looked like it was going through a liquidation. we did find some hand made shirts for about $5 amaerican! and so we went back to the mall we knew, MBK. we have NO clean clothes! so i bought a short skirt and jamie bought long skirt and we felt so much better and once again jumped in a cab and headed to the fitting that i had been freaking out about for 2 days (like having anxoity over). we got there early and went upstairs to the dressing room and it was the first time today that we were around people that understood what we were saying and he asked if we need anything for drinks or food as when he left and came back...i was in tears from the stress! hahaha...so! the clothes come in the room...and i just smiled :) they look awesome. i tried them on and i kept the coat the same, and i made my skirt a little shorter and my pants a little longer. they promised us delivery by thrusday night! and they delieverd...I LOVE MY SUIT AND MY COAT!! needless worrying :-D

today our group went to bangkok university. it was "freshie" day. much like radfords quest and so it was neat to see that. and we walked around a bit, the campus was amazing and the stuendents were so nice. we got to see the communication and arts department, and got to see all the media they use to produce there mock news shows and radio shows. their equipment was soooooo nice and clean and expensive! and then we had a little good-bye dinner with the group becasue we are officially done!!! it sounds weird to say that out loud...amy, katie and christy are leaving tomorrow for home...meg and john are leaving for europe...and trisha, jessica, trey, dave, and payne left for phuket after dinner...melissa, nikki, jamie and i are leaving for phuket tomorrow evening. i'll try to blog as much as possible while in cambodia and vietnam!!

I MISS EVERYONE AND I CAN'T WAIT TO COME HOME!!

i do have a dinner request...chili with a ton of meat!! please no rice (i can't eat anymore rice) and a glass of iced tea, with a lemon, ice and free refills!!!! -thank you momma, i love you forever!!!