on the road

it's finally happened. we've begun our grand tour of southeast asia after putting it off for nearly a full two years. before i talk about the trip and moving forward, i need to talk about saying goodbye.
i finished work last week without much consequence. my boss, shao, seemed a little sad to see me go but no tears were spilled. i'm going to freelance for AMC which means no more example sentences, fun with phrases and most of all, no more tests!! so, a few days left in taiwan but no rest for the wicked. lots of last meals, moments and memories to be shared. all the while, we were trying to wrap things up so little sleep was had. our friends organized a going away party for us @ the source which turned out to be a great send-off. it felt sort or anti-climatic because it was all so whirlwind. i s'pose i just didn't think about leaving too much because otherwise i wouldn't have enjoyed myself as much as i did. now, it feels as though we will see everyone again in a few days or weeks when in reality it will be so much longer than that. i guess i will have to work that much harder to make the distance and time between the people and places i love shorter.
that sort of sums up all the things i've been feeling, combined with lack of sleep have made the first few days feel as though i am going through the motions of travel. however, things are beginning to improve.
we arrived in singapore on sunday afternoon and navigated the rather confusing layout after a few missteps and wrong turns. the sterility of the city that everyone talks about was hard to find. singapore was lively, vibrant and diverse. being compact, the little india, chinatown and various neighborhoods were accessible on foot. just soaked in the atmosphere as best we could. the best part of the trip was taking a boat trip down the singapore river at night. the restaurants, shops and nightclubs lining the river is something that taipei is sorely missing.
the next day, we made some arrangements to take a bus to kuala lumpur in malaysia, then off to singapore zoo. we took in a night safari which was alright, but a little disappointing for an apparently world class zoo. the next morning, we boarded the bus for K.L and something a little different.
That first day in K.L seemed like the first day of our vacation. we both started to feel more comfortable with things and our accomodation was first rate. we spent the day traveling through the city: the petronas towers, the aquarium, colonial neighbourhoods and the food! just awesome.
getting a little tired of cities and wanting something different, we booked ourselves on a bus to malaysia's largest national park, taman negara. it took us most of the day to get there, including a 3-hour boat ride up river but it was very chill just moving up the river at a slow pace. once we arrived, we made plans for the next day to take in a jungle canopy walk. there are several hundred meters of walkways suspended about a hundred meters above the rainforest floor. didn't see much in the way of wildlife, but there were some fantastic views. i'll try and post some photos later on so you can take a look. we sweated our asses off, but completely worth the time and the effort. it made me realize that i actually like spending time in nature and that i need to make some more time for this sort of thing. also, the exercise actually felt good. had one of those after-workout body buzzes that i haven't felt in a long time...and here i thought exercise was just a way for vain people to become more vain. who would have known?

today, we arrived back in k.l and checked out the central market for some malay handicrafts. i bought a wicked malay kite that is indescribably intricate but suffice it to say it will look astounding adorned on my wall....well, once i have a wall to call my own again.

tomorrow, we're off to hanoi at the ungodly hour of 6:30 which will be good 'cos we can have the whole day to explore and even take a nap in the aft without feeling guilty. all in all, a great first week of travel and feel thirsty for much, much more.