Yup...I'm a slacker

So I just realized its been over a month since I last blogged! I really have no idea where the time has gone.
When I last checked in I was in Chaing Mai Thailand with two other friends, and had one of the most amazing experiences. I know I say that every time, but this really was amazing. I spent a day with my girlfriend Kim at an Elephant Mahout Camp, which is a training camp for Elephants. We spent most of day learning about these amazing animals and learning how to speak a bit of Thai so that we could get them to lift their feet to get on them bareback, walk them around and have them go left and right.  Did you know a full grown elephants eats 200 kilos (450lbs) PER DAY!!!!! I couldn't believe until I realized that at not point of the day with them did they stop eating. We also got to take them to a pond and bath them, which really ended in us getting soaked as our Elephant sprayed water on herself to cool down while we were on her!
The rest of the trip was really nice as well. My friends and I took a Thai cooking class and I can actually cook some Thai food now! Ill have to experiment on my family when I get back to see if its edible :)

After that trip I took a trip two weeks later to Bankok, and Phuket (an island off Thailand). I was with Kyle so the trip was fun, but honestly, I wouldn't suggest either of those places to visit. We did rent a motorbike for 3 days while in Phuket and visited the largest Buddah statue I have ever seen, and found an amazing waterfall. This waterfall actually puts Seven Falls in Colorado to shame. Mostly because unlike in the States, Thailand doesn't seem to care if you happen to fall in. We were able to climb about a mile up the waterfall and play in the water, nothing was off limits, and we were the only ones on the 'trail' until the very end!

I also happened to be recovering from food poisoning a day before we went to Phuket and happened to catch an infection almost as soon as we landed. If my parents taught me one very valuable thing about traveling it has been to carry drugs with you that you can read the instructions on. Well, I didn't listen. However, thanks to them, it is easier for me to remember drug terminology. Its amazing how easy it is to walk into a pharmacy (without first seeing a doctor) and ask for antibiotics if you can just remember its Azithromycin (Eyrithromyacin in Thailand). At least if you don't speak the language of the country, drug names always work.

After this, Kyle and I came back to Singapore and took the ferry over to Batam Indonesia with some friends for one night. This was another flop. There was absolutely nothing on this Island, and of course true to my form, I got sick again. I guess after visiting 6 countries and twice as many cities in Asia, I was destined to find at least a few places I don't like, right?