Fish heads, fish heads, rolly polly fish heads

I'm going to have to blog more often if I'm gonna get through two years of content in the next week and a half. Holy what? Yes, I did just indicate that I only have a week and a half left of school.

Anyhoo, this is going to be a picture mania post. The topic? My 10 day trip to South East Asia during the second semester of my first year. The reason? A field study HR consulting project for a major company. (Hint, if you look hard at some of the photos, you might be able to figure out who...like you care.)

So, to begin we went to Hong Kong. Begin pictures now (click to enlarge):

At the Hong Kong Airport

Okay, so we didn't actually go to Hong Kong, but because there was a 14 hour flight involved in getting there (of which I slept 13 hours straight), and also because I happen to have a picture of us there waiting our connection, I get to count that we went there.

In the picture above you can also see 3 of my 4 travelling companions, one being our professor and advisor on the project. Bet you can't guess which one he is...

Next stop, Singapore. We did actually leave the airport and begin our journey there. Singapore is amazing and I can say without any hesitation that I'd live there in a heartbeat if given the chance. It is super clean (thanks to stringent laws), super safe (thanks to stringent laws- see: caning), and incredibly beautiful.

Singapore Airport

A bunch of random photos including;

kids rolling around in bubbles in the water,

the LDS church, a child fashion show in the mall,

a lot of architecture, and durian fruit,

which is not allowed on any public transportation because it's so smelly.

Next up: Bintan, Indonesia. Because of security reasons we were not allowed to stay in Indonesia, but we did get a chance to tour one of the company's facilities and the place where their workers lived. We took the ferry from Singapore to the resort side of Indonesia, then drove another hour and a half into the middle of nowhere for the visit. I can't explain what a crazy kind of different world Indonesia was (at least the small parts that we saw), but it was an awesome experience, even if I they did serve us fish heads for lunch.

Pictured here: our ferry, lots of beach dwellings,

the outside of the barracks where the workers live,

the kitchen shared by about 18 people in those places,

motorcycle parking stalls, and a view of Singapore from the ferry.

Next: Penang, Malaysia. We boarded a plane from Singapore to Malaysia, which caught on fire before we took off. Don't worry, they got us off the plane, took care of the problem, THEN PUT US ON THE SAME PLANE and sent us on our way. I don't think I've ever spent a more nerve wracking hour and a half of my life. However, we arrived safely and spent another couple of days doing our work in this really cool city. Behold, Penang...

Seen here: city views, my hotel room, a delicious green drink,

the bus we would take for our final

destination - complete with amazing green curtains,

crazy motorcyclists, some landscape, and a view of Penang

from the other side of the island.

Final destination: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We finished with all of our work in Penang, and decided to catch a bus to Kuala Lumpur to enjoy our final two days of our trip. KL was FANTASTIC. Please go there. Please? And please take me with you.

Now showing: The Petronas Towers (tallest twin towers in the world),

views from the skybridge between them, random graffiti,

multiple pictures with posters, a sick travel companion,

a crazy looking tree in the park,

our swanky hotel, and bartering in the market.

Since I'm including Hong Kong, I guess I'll include Japan as well, even though it was only a layover. Still, I did manage to eat sushi there, so count it!

Freaking awesome experience. What else can I say? If a picture is worth a thousand words, I've just written a novel.