Transylvania

From Bucharest, we went out to the countryside to follow in Count Dracula's footsteps. Bram Stoker based Count Dracula on Vlad the Impaler, a 15th century count who was nicknamed "Dracul" meaning devil. He was as charming as the name suggests. He once set fire to a sealed castle filled with the poor and sick "to rid them of their troubles." He also liked to set up banquets so he could eat while he watched people die. Vlad is still something of a hero in Romania because he beat the Turks in battle. A lot of other character flaws can be forgiven here so long as you beat the Turks.

We went out to Bran Castle, which is nicknamed Dracula's Castle. Vlad was never actually here, but the name is great for tourism. The castle is gorgeous!

We spent the night in Brasov, which has declared that it is “probably the best city in the world.” (That’s taken from the Carlsberg beer ad- “probably the best beer in the world”).

 In the hills over the town, “Brasov” was spelled out in huge white letters, just like the Hollywood sign.

The next morning, we went out to see a fortified church. Back in feudal times, when the town was attacked, people would move inside of the church walls into these small compartments surrounding the church. 

On the way back to Bucharest, we stopped at Peles Castle, which looks like a fairybook castle. The inside is incredibly ornate and beautiful. They make you wear these ridiculous cloth booties over your shoes and then attempt to walk down the long flights of stairs. Miraculously, I managed not to faceplant.

Bucharest, Romania

I've been having a great time in the EU's newest member country. Contrary to what I expected, the streets of the capital, Bucharest, are not overrun with gypsies and gymnasts doing backflips on the sidewalk. The city likes to think of itself as the "little Paris of the east." There is a lot of French architecture and people say "merci" for thank you. Then, alongside these French buildings are concrete monsters from Ceauşescu’s communist "rebuilding" phase. (Not unlike Northwestern's campus really.) Then the National Village Museum transported dozens of homes from the countryside to this large open air museum to show how people live in different parts of the country. I was really impressed by a 300 year old church built entirely out of wood. There were "no smoking" signs everywhere.

The Palace of Parliament, Ceauşescu’s 1984 3.3 billion dollar behemoth,  is the world's second largest building after the Pentagon. Apparently, all marble production in the country for five years went to this building. The starving citizens were not amused by this, and Ceauşescu's rule was ended by a firing squad on December 25, 1989. I wonder if "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was playing in the background? 

There's  monument to those killed in the 1989 revolution. The locals refer to this modern art piece as the Impaled Potato.

Singapore

Singapore was the last stop on my 10 country tour. What a great place! Very modern, clean, and easy to get around. I arrived the day after the Grand Prix. The Singapore Grand Prix is the only race that is at night. The city was transformed into a racecourse and the cars zoomed past all the major landmarks. When I arrived, most of the racecourse and stands were still set up. It meant that most of the streets were closed which was great for me, since I was walking around. I took the Singapore Flyer, the largest ferris wheel in the world, for a great view over the city. The Flyer calls itself an observation wheel rather than a ferris wheel, which I imagine implies that it was not assembled by carnies. 

Instead of riding on seats, you ride in these enclosed pods with glass on all sides. Great panoramic views!

(If you can't tell, I'm loving my reunion with my laptop and my ability to add pictures easily.)

Then I checked out Merlion, the symbol of Singapore tourism that was dreamed up in the 1960s. It is half Mermaid, half Lion. Like I said, imagined in the 1960s...

I also explored Chinatown and the old colonial district. Mostly, I decided to follow the guidebook's advice on the two most important things to do in Singapore- eat and shop. I bought a new shirt to wear on the plane, since I hadn't done laundry since KL. (Yeah over 2 weeks). I was worried that I might be quarantined at customs in any of my other clothes.

I'm back home now with some really terrific jetlag. I woke up at 6 pm yesterday. Brutal. On Saturday, I leave for Bulgaria. Then I'm off to Romania, London, Chicago, and Alaska. I'll post some updates then! I've finally purchased a dslr camera so I'll post pictures from that :)

I put up the last of my pictures from my southeast asia trip. For anyone not on facebook, the links are:

Taipei: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.898358649925.2358845.2407552&l=4087949d50&type=1

Singapore: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.899141246595.2358999.2407552&l=99866070da&type=1

Palau: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.892361198865.2357586.2407552&l=fcd506c725&type=1

Taipei

Taipei was a blast! On the plane ride here, I read up on the etiquette. Here are my faves:
3. The number four is unlucky because it sounds like the Mandarin word for death.
2. Do not give shoes to the elderly as a gift. This is interpreted as urging them on their way out of this life.
1. do not whistles or ring a bell at night. This is an invitation to ghosts.

Chris and I went up to the observation deck of Taipei 101, the world's second highest skyscraper. It is designed to look like a bamboo shoot. It really is pretty. On the 87th floor there is a 660 ton suspended damper, which is a large ball that helps stabilize the building in case of earthquakes. This being Asia, they have spray painted it bright gold and made it into a mascot- Damper Baby. Damper Baby talks on the videos in a piercingly high voice and graces every souvenir imaginable.

Taipei is a great city- good food, friendly people, and an airport that doesn't require you to take cabs between terminals. Glorious.

I'm on my way to Singapore tonight and then home on Tuesday!

Boracay

Boracay was an adventure. I arrived into Caticlan airport and then took a tricycle (a motorbike with a side cart), a ferry, and then another tricycle to reach Boracay. My favorite part of the tricycle ride was that the "slow, school zone" signs were placed in the middle of the traffic lanes rather than on the side of the road. This caused the cars and tricycles to have to swerve into the oncoming traffic lane to avoid the signs. Somehow they seemed to achieve this without actually slowing down. So much for that idea.

The first day, I went out diving to a shipwreck. I saw four purple pygmy seahorses! Then when we got back to the boat, it would not start. This was not surprising. The real surprise was that the rickety old wooden boat had ever started in the first place. Eventually, another equally unpromising looking wooden boat passed by and towed us back in with a plastic rope that someone on each boat held onto. Welcome to the Philippines...

The beaches in Boracay were stunning- beautiful white sand and clear water. Unfortunately, it is rainy season now so I spent the time split between the beach and the Starbucks when downpours started.

Manila airport is the worst. I had a 2 and a half hour layover and still barely made my flight to Taipei. Such a mess. You actually have to pay a taxi to switch terminals which are far apart and most taxis refuse to take you since they want to wait for a fare into the city. Disastrous.

Luckily, I made it to Taipei!

Palau

Once again, I've been terrible about keeping this blog up to date. Luckily, it is because I've been having such a great time rather than because I've been eaten by sharks etc. Palau is absolutely beautiful with lots of limestone rock islands. Palau is actually a collection of tons of small islands. Diving in Palau was amazing. I must have seen hundreds of sharks in my six days of diving.I saw loads of turtles too. One of the coolest things was a lake filled with stingless jellyfish. You can't dive there because the water is toxic below 40 feet, but snorkeling with the jellyfish was really incredible. There are millions of them in the lake! Naturally, the Asian tourist groups were taking great joy in throwing them at each other, even though you're not supposed to touch the jellyfish.

Since Palau played a big role in the Pacific battles in WWII, I got to visit a fair bit of the Japanese navy underwater. (USA! USA!... I tried not to chant that during dive briefings). My favorite story: An American submarine torpedoed a large Japanese ship halfway between Palau and the Philippines. The Japanese through some heroic efforts managed to get the ship hundreds of miles so that they were within sight of land in Palau. The US then sent in an air strike. The ship burned for three days on the surface before finally going down.

Among the other cool things I saw: snake eel, giant Napoleon wrasses, nudibranches, and a red leaf scorpion fish. My favorite fish were the giant tuna that would be freshly caught and turned into sashimi by the dive shop.

I absolutely loved Palau. It is on the short list of places I really want to visit again asap. Leaving was especially difficult because I had to go back to Manila, which is such a mess. Luckily I only had one night in Manila and then an early morning flight to Boracay. It is stunning here- absolutely postcard perfect with white sand beaches and turquoise water.

I've posted some pictures finally:

Manila: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.892347341635.2357584.2407552&l=2e000f6130&type=1

Brunei: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.892345784755.2357583.2407552&l=a9c3d0f8ed&type=1

KL: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.887874505235.2356477.2407552&l=42a10414c2&type=1

Brunei and Manila

Brunei was so shiny! There is an amazing mosque there with golden domes and beautiful stained glass windows. A bank attempted to build a building that was taller than the mosque and the sultan ordered that the top floor of the building be removed. It must be nice to be sultan. There is also a Royal Regalia museum. The entire first floor is taken up by a recreation of the sultan's coronation parade, complete with giant chariot. There is also a recreation of the sultan's Jubilee parade, including an even larger chariot. Once again, it's good to be sultan. On the second floor, there are displays of the gifts that other heads of state have given the sultan. If you're wondering  what to get a guy who has everything, the answers range from a gorgeous silver miniature of Angkor Wat (from Cambodia) to a colorful shield with your own picture in the middle.

I was ready to leave by the end. Having 9 pools and no chance for a Bloody Mary (Brunei is Muslim and there's no alcohol) was too depressing. When I asked the hotel how early I needed to get to the airport, the woman asked me if my flight was international. There's one airport in Brunei...

I'm now in Manila. I spent last night in an 8 bed dorm listening to karaoke from the bar downstairs. Who knew Celine Dion was still so popular. Apparently my heart will still go on.

I spent the day sightseeing in Manila. It's a much more charming town than I expected. I leave tonight for Palau, an island country east of the Philippines. I'll be diving there for a week. So excited! The diving is supposed to be amazing.

I come back to the US two weeks from today. It is hard to believe that 6 weeks and 6 countries have already flown by!