Tauranga, New Zealand (AKA Surf City)

After landing in Auckland and spending a few days of walking around and having the occasional night out I decided I had my bearings enough to leave the biggest city and head a bit south in search of work. After a three hour bus ride of absolutely breathtaking scenery, although I could have sworn I was at home, I reached Tauranga where I decided to hang my hat for the next couple weeks. Tauranga is a city of about 100 000 people right on the east coast of the north island which is suppose to have some of the best surfing in the country. So far I have been here for about 4 days and don't really have anything new and super exciting to report cause I am working now and the surf is pretty crappy right now. And yes that's right I am working! I sure didn't miss this having to wait up at 6:30 and work all day thing. I think I was quite enjoying haven't absolutely nothing to do from the time I opened my eyes till when I went to bed but oh well a guys gotta eat. So far I am just picking kiwi fruits for about 10 hours aday which let me telly you isn't an exciting job to say the least, but it does make me money instead of me spending it amusing myself all day. So that's what is happening here and this blog is sure going to loose some excitement now that my traveling is put into slow mow for a few weeks but of well I will report anything new as soon as I have something worth writing about.

Welcome To Auckland New Zealand

Hey everyone just letting you know I made it to New Zealand safe and sound. Havent been doing to much just organizing work visas, making new bank accounts, and starting my new life here in New Zealand. I am going to be headed up to the northern tip of the island in a couple days to work for abit. Just thought I would let you all know whats going on and Happy Birthday Ryan and Melissa, and congradulations Alice and Justin the Langlois "male" curse has been broken!!

Welcome To The world Ava Jade Langlois and to the Bestest Family Ever!

The _______ In The World!!

Look Out From The Sky Bar In Singapore

The Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Well here I am again packing and getting ready for another adventure but this time I get to do it in style. That's right this trip doesn't involve minibuses, ferries, taxis, or tuk tuks. I get to have the pleasure of being papered on a jet for the first time in a long time. In 4 hours my flight leaves Singapore at 10pm and will be arriving in New Zealand at noon the following day. I am so excited to be in a place that isn't quite as hot for a change. I am a complete summer person and love hot weather but once in a while a guy needs a break. I mean when it doesnt drop below about 32 day or night, rain or shine, a person just wants to have to put on pants and a bunny hug. Its strange that I am flying to a new country and thats what I am excited for.
The last few days have been quite rushed and I haven't spent more than one night anywhere but have been really good and got to do and see quite a few things. The first night was in Kuala Lumpu, the capital of Malaysia. This city was sure a change from the rest of Asia I seen. There was no garbage laying around, no taxis hassling you, and skyscrapers as far as the eye could see. In my two days I spent there I got to see and go up onto the sky bridge of the Twin Towers (The highest in the world), watched the sunset over the city from the observation tower (The 4th tallest est in the world), and went in search of a bargain in the Night market in China town. Then just like that it was time to leave again so we jumped on a night bus to Singapore to spend our last 48 hours in Asia.
The night bus to Singapore was alright but it dropped us off in a deserted downtown Singapore at 5 in the morning. But all went well we found a room after about 3 hours of searching and spent the day at the Singapore Zoo (One of the Best in The World) As you can see it doesn't matter what you are as long as your the best at it in the world your a huge tourist trap, for the last three days that's all I have seen. That brings us to last night which one one of my favorite nights I have spent in a city in a very long time. We set out from out hostel just before sunset and went to the sky bar were you can enjoy a amazing cocktail while watching the sunset over the city from the 70th floor for a mere 12$ a drink, as you can see that kind of blew the budget out of the water. Then walked to the "Fountain of Wealth" (and as you may have guess its the biggest fountain in the world!) and watched the laser and music show then finished off the evening walking along the harbour in this picture perfect city. It actually seems strange how clean and perfect everything looks here, it is definitely one of the nicest and cleanest cities I have ever seen.
That brings us to today our last day in Singapore ,and Asia for that matter, where we decided to beat the heat and spend it at the water park lounging around in the sun and riding some water slides. Well that's all for now and the next time I write I will be hanging out in the land of the Kiwi's!

The "Fountain Of Wealth" In Singapore

Just Me Hanging Out Singapore Airport

Countdown To New Zealand!

So I haven't updated for quite a while but I have just been very busy and have found it hard to find to find the time in between buses, taxi's, Ferries, and new country's. We left Ko Phangan the day after the night after the full moon party on a night ferry to Ko Lanta. We were just going to go straight into Malaysia but decided to make the best of the "cheap cheap" Thailand and spend my remaining days on my Visa on a beach. Once we got there though we realized that there is basically nothing to do on the entire island so we made the best out of it by paying way more than we are used to to stay in a resort with and pool and whatnot for a couple nights to try to amuse ourselves. So besides laying by the pool in the sun and the odd dip in it to cool off we did absolutely nothing but eat and sleep which pretty much sums up those couple days. We woke up on the morning of

the April 8th to catch yetnother transportation combo when the dreaded Thailand sickness hit me. After spending almost three months here I thought I was going to be one of the few the escape but no on my last day the country gave me a going away present. Needless to say I spent one of the most uncomfortable day traveling in my life down to Pulua Langkawi, Malaysia. When we first arrived there I was very impressed by how clean it is compared to Thailand. Its very strange that you can jump on a hour ferry and you seem to step into another world more than just cross a border. The second you see Malaysia you can sure tell its a much more wealthy country and there are actually people out cleaning the streets and picking up garbage. WOW! I pretty much only seen as much of this island as it took to drive from the pier to our guesthouse because once I got the I was honestly bedridden for the next two days and only stepped outside to have a very occasional smoke. After three days of nothing but H2O it was Easter and I decided to treat myself to food and finally started to recuperate slowly. The last day there I did get out for a few hours and do some exploring with a motorbike and took a cable gondola up the biggest mountain on the island for a fantastic view (the picture is the suspension bridge on the top of the mountain) and an unreal ice cream (it could have been so good because it was pretty much the only thing Id had eaten.) And just like that we were off again to Penang. Penang is another island in Malaysai but its not the little tropical Paradise most people picture. It is home to the second largest city and skyscrapers lining the ocean for as far as the eye can see. Sara, Stacey, and I decided that we would get our full of the city life in the short days to come so we headed north of Georgetown (main city on Penang) to a more resorty area, found a decently priced guesthouse, and again threw down our bags for a couple days. Once again as on any island in Asia there isn't an over amount to do if your working on a backpacker budget and seeing as my stomach wasn't quite up to par yet we did a lot of relaxing in the day and shopping at night. The first evening we were there we just went for a little walk for something to amuse us and stumbled upon a goldmine for cheap anything and anything ripoff. It was great seeing as I was in need of some new digs and a few other things. This market was by far the cheapest place I have seen thus far here's a list, for all you back home, of what I bought just to give you an example:
2 Billibong Tshirts
1 Quicksilver Tshirt
2 Quicksilver Board Shorts
1 Billibong Board Shorts
2 Quicksilver Belts
1 Billibong Camera Case
1 Rolex Bling Bling Watch
Oakley Sunglases
D & G Non prescription Glasses
Lacoste Cologne
Timberland Leather travel bag
Billibong Leather Wallet
Total: About $85.00 Canadian
So thats what amused our three nights there just wondering around and bargaining with the local Malay people was a blast. Besides me being sick the only minor mishap we had in the last couple weeks was while Sara was taking a swim in the ocean she got stung by a jelly fish on her leg but shes a tough girl and after a little tea tea oil and a couple uncomfortable hours she was good as new. And now that brings us to today which is Friday the 13. After waking up at 5:45 am and walking about a kilometer in a pouring tropical rainstorm with all of our gear we arrived in Kuala Lupur which is the Capital city of Malaysia. As for tonight I am not too sure what we are going to do but I am sure we will find something to amuse ourselves. We have a very limited amount of time here because we have to be in Singapore on the 15 but we will have just enough to see a few things, do some laundry, and be off again. Well that's all for now but I will be sure to make more time for updates on here cause this short novel made my eyes hurt. Talk to ya all soon!

Life On The Road

Sara and Stacey Laying on the sidewalk outside 711 waiting for another bus

Ko Lanta, Thailand

Sunset over Had Rinn, Ko Phangan

Hey everyone! So I survived the famous Full Moon Party at Ko Phangan, and let me tell you its not like any other party I have ever been to. We arrived to Had Rinn (thats the beach the party is on) at about 11:00 to be welcomed by about 10000 other people packed on a beach shoulder to shoulder as far as you can see. Its quite a sight and as the night went on it just got bigger. It was quite fun but totally not what I am used to or not my scene, it was mostly all either trance, house, or drum and bass music but it still was entertaining. I hung out on the beach for a couple hours then went for a walk and found a pub that had a live band so that was alot better in my opinion. The band was great it was about 6 Thai people rocking out and playing our western songs from ACDC to Green Day with a bit of Thai accent thrown in and made for a entertaining night. As the night went on and my fun little pub closed I couldn't handle the dancy music anymore I made my way home around 5 AM and I am pretty sure I was the very first person to leave. One of the girls I am rooming with got home at about noon and said it was still going strong. Now I am just going to have to pack because today is our last night on the island and we are headed to Ko Lanta for a couple days of relaxing before continuing our journey down to Malaysia and then to Singapore to catch our flight. I am excited to get to New Zealand in a couple weeks but I am definitely going to make my last few days in Asia something to remember!

Todays Weather:
+37 C
93% Humidity
Feels Like: +42C
WAY TOO HOT!!!