Therefore:
I just want to tell you that I’m back in Erfurt at my parents place since last Friday and that I had a wonder-wonder-wonderful trip!

I’ll try to post some more pics of the trip during the next couple of days, but I don’t promise anything… I’m busy as always

^ Chinesische Mauer

^ Birds Nest – Olympia Stadion in Peking (mit Smog)-

^ Terrakotta Soldaten in Xian

^ Grosse Moschee in Xian

^ Reisterassen in Guilin

^ Yangshuo

^Mondberg in Yangshou

^ Das Bauhaus ist auch in Hongkong

^ Alte lustige Strassenbahnen in Hong Kong

^Sonnenaufgang auf Malapascua Island (Philippinen)

^Der Blick aus unserem Bungalow auf Malapascua (Philippinen)

Die zufaellige Begegnung mit dem Praesidentschaftskandidaten der Philippinen

^Mittag mit Jay

^Ich sehe das erste mal wie Ananas waechst

^Indisches Essen (siehe Blogeintrag ueber Singapore)

^Pulau Ubin – Eine Insel vor Singapore

^ SUSHI!

The one week we spent here, was really great (we had to wait so long for our Visa to Myanmar, therefore we’ve been stuck here for so long). Christian was showing me around, we visit his university and spent quality time with the friends of him, who still live here.

What stood out of the week was again the amazing food ( I feel like all my blogs are just about food ). The best experience was the Indian restaurant in Little India, where we where the only non-Indian people and I was the only woman in the whole restaurant. You just ordered some meat at the counter and then you got a banana leaf on your table and the waiters where going around with rice, pratas, all sorts of vegetables and souces and you could just tell them what you want and how much, and they will take a huge spoon an “trow” it onto your leaf. And than you start eating – with your hand… Already this was just so much fun! You where never allowed to eat with your hands as a kid, and now you where allowed to dig in the food as much as you wanted:) And it was sooooooooooo delicious! Amazing!

Other than the food, I also enjoyed seeing the first wild monkeys, snakes and lizards of my life, seeing ridiculous Christmas decoration everywhere, enjoying the view of the skyline and much much more.

Now we are leaving to Kuala Lumpur and afterwards we are flying straight to Myanmar. This is the most “original” country of southeast Asia, where they don’t even have ATMs. So I don’t assume to have ANY internet access over there. We’ll be there for two weeks, so this blog will most probably not been updated during this time. I’m already totally exited for Myanmar… Lets see how it gos

The first day after arriving at the Philippines we spent in Cebu, the second largest city of the Philippine Islands. And it was a very, lets say interesting, experience. We where walking around the town, it was raining, all the wast and water was running down the streets. It was dirty everywhere. We bought a lot of food just of the street in China, but in Cebu you had the feeling of getting sick just by walking though the streets. It was really bad, way worse than we expected!

But I don’t think it was a wasted day, even though it was the worst of our trip so far. It kind of helped to put the following days into the right light.

The plan was to go to Malapascua Island after visiting Cebu city to do some diving. And this island was nothing like Cebu City, it was just beautiful! Palm trees everywhere, long sandy beaches, blue sky, blue water, sleeping in a little hut right at the beach and enjoying a very relaxing life with not many tourist joining us. It was just what you imagine a holiday beach in the Philippines looks like.

While we where there I took my Open Water Dive Certificate and Christian was diving all day long. Diving felt quite wired at first, but after I got used to all this heavy gear and the strange feeling of breathing under water, it was just awesome! You are totally weightless under water, just floating around, looking at fish, snakes, corals, snales,… And I even saw sharks on my last dive! So crazy those creatures!

After we spend 4 (too short) days on this little island, we took a flight to Manila to meet a Philippine friend of Christian in Manila. And it was so worth it! Jay met us in Manila and spent three wonderful days with us! It is so awesome to have a local friend showing you around, bringing you to the local eateries and pubs, showing you how buying fresh seafood and fish at the market and getting it cooked by a local eatery works, driving you to the most random places nobody else would ever find. You can’t pay that off with anything! We had the best food ever on the trip (even if Philippine food is not very famous, we liked it a lot), we got invited for diner to a Philippine families house, we went to remote hot springs in the jungle,… It was just fantastic.

So we where all a bit sad to say good bye yesterday, especially when you know, we won’t see each other again so soon.

Apart from that we are now in Singapore, Chistians temporary home a couple of years ago. So I got the best local information just right from him Lets see what this city has to offer!

1. The 978 arts district in Beijing
   Its a bit outside and unfortunately we did it on our last half day, so we only had one hour to spend there, but it is really worth the effort (you have to take multiple public buses to reach it). There are a lot of galleries and shops selling art and many great sculptures on the Streets. It had been a electronics factory in former times.
2. The Great Mosque in Xian
   Most people go to Xian for the Terracotta Warriors. But we think the Great Mosque is even more worth the trip. Its so old and untouched. And you are nearly the only visitor there with all the Muslims still using the Mosque. Its hard to find, but also the Muslim Quarter around it is definitely worth a visit. And the foot sold on the streets is amazing!
3. The Rice Terraces in Ping ‘an
   The Lonely Planet recommends a hike around those rice terraces north of Guilin and it claims that its well marked and easy to find. IT IS NOT WELL MARKED and definitely NOT EASY TO FIND. At the beginning of our tour we asked two local woman for the way and they stiked to us like glue what annoyed me to hell. But I have to admit that we would have been totally lost without them. You definitely need a guide out there so you won’t be alone. But still you leave all those annoying tourists behind which are only in the villages and have a fantastic view over the terraces and walking through them. Its great but take the first bus, walk fast to reach the last bus home and be aware that you need a guide!
4. The Yulong River in Yangshuo
   We hiked along the Li River as well but this smaller river is definitely also worth a visit!
5. Hiking in Hong Kong
   Believe it or not hiking in Hong Kong is amazing! We hiked in the Sai Kung Reservate up to Sharp Peak today and it was just amazing. The view, the beaches, the countryside… Really breathtaking. But it was really really windy up there and if you leave the paved paths (what is recommended if you want to escape the crowds) you should be aquiped with good hiking gear. The pathes are fun but far from being easy. It was a great day, and I’m totally done now

PS: Since we are going to South East Asia now, I guess we will not have so good interent access there. So I guess I’ll post less….