KL August 08

Has it been a month already? Oh my, what have I been doing? All work and no play makes Ellie a dull girl.

Let's see, I've been to Singapore again for work and have found a fab little boutique hotel to stay in called the Naumi. I finally ate chili crab in Singapore too. They are large crabs which are called mud crabs and look a bit like Dungeness crabs and taste delicious. You can eat the backfin and they typically are served in a chili sauce or black pepper sauce. I think everyone was a bit surprised at my crab eating prowess.

My biggest social excursion is now the Kopitiam Yut Kee on Sunday afternoons. What a fascinating way to spend Sunday afternoon. The Yut Kee is over 70 years old and has been owned by the same Chinese family the whole time. It is a hang out for people to sit and drink coffee or beer and eat yummy food. I have now been invited to join a group of men there who sit and chat on Sunday afternoons discussing everything from A to Z. It is really fun. A couple of the men are retired civil servants and one is a lawyer. That is really all I know. I am the token mat salleh of the group which is otherwise a mix of Malaysians of Chinese, Indian, and Orang Asli descent. They are really funny and I get to laugh and take in some real culture...LOVE IT!

I've been doing this detox diet in preparation for my Bail trip and today is day 3. It is pretty severe but the drinking TONs and TONs of water and having ZERO alcohol has definitely made a difference. At the moment I have a splitting headache and have decided the no caffeine bit is not for me. Anyway, it is only a four day thing and today is day 3 so I will finish it and feel detoxed...I'm sure. I know I must have gone to the loo at least 20 times yesterday so something is sure getting flushed out.

Pictures posted include more of Singapore, KL bird park (battery died early on), and Istana Budaya (concert hall in KL). The Bird Park is very interesting. It is in a huge netted area so you can walk around with the birds. There are tons of gorgeous big and little birds. I really love the aqua blue parrots of some sort. They were so cute. The same bird was also yellow and salmon coloured. Very cool. I went to the concert hall to see the national symphony perform. It was very nice, there was a violin and soprano soloist. They had a nice variety of pieces they played as well.

http://picasaweb.google.com/hellokittyinlondon

Two more days and I am off to Bali. YIPPEE!!! I am very excited! I'll be spending 2 days in Legian, the north end of Kuta beach, one of the most famous surfer beaches in the world, 5 days in Ubud at a yoga retreat, and the last two days in Candidasa on the east coast.

Namaste!