Hindu Festivals and Sky Bridge's

Hello again, its been 5 days since my last confession...I mean update.
Yes we've done a lot recently. As mentioned on the previous update, Saturday was the Hindu Festival, "Thaipusam" (for those of you who don't know what that is check the link to the right).

The first order of business on Saturday was to meet up with a University buddy of Kendra's, Nigel Goodwin and his girlfriend Furee (sorry if the spelling is wrong guys). It was based on their recommendation that we stayed in Singapore to watch this amazing festival, and let me tell you it was more than worth it.

I'll let the pictures do the talking.

He's carrying what's called a "Kavida"

Yes those spokes are piercing his skin.





This man is walking on Nails driven through wooden shoes.

Pretty amazing isn't it. The whole festival is a 3km procession between two Hindu temples in Singapore. We started at the end and made our way back up the route watching as the participants, danced, winced and hobbled their way to the finish. When we got to the start we were able to get to the staging area where people were getting pierced, and speered with many different devices. There was constant music, drumming, and singing, along with plenty of burning incense and human odour. The strange sights, poignant smells and general atmosphere are something that neither of us will soon forget.

The night before we left Singapore (Sunday) we spent an evening with Nigel and Furee. We had a great dinner at the Boat Quay where we were pleasantly suprised by Fireworks over the Quay in the middle of dinner (Nice touch Nigel, wink). Next stop was the famous Raffles Hotel on Beach Road, which is the very place that some intrepid bartender came up with the Singapore Sling. We went to the bar and ordered a round for the low, low price of 15 Singapore Dollars each (~$11 Can). They were exquisite if not a little over the top (actually I think thats the first one I've every had).

From L-R: Furee, Nigel, Me and Kendra (and Singapore Slings)

Monday was a train ride to Kuala Lumpur. To get to the hostel we had to take a short LRT ride to the heart of Chinatown and walk to the Hostel. This is what we found when we got there.

Thats what it looks like from the street, hard to see, but I'll just say that it makes it more secure.

We explored a little today and visited the famous Petronas Towers, walking along the Sky Bridge, between the two towers (see picture below).

Two hours earlier and the background would have been a blue sky.

Tomorrow is a short 8 hour trip by bus and boat to the famous national park "Teman Negara" (come on I'm sure you've all heard of it). It's an old growth rainforest where we can do canopy tours, jungle treks and rafting. We aren't sure what we'll do yet but, yes, (for the parents) it is very, very safe.

We'll catch you on the other side.
Cheers,
Mike and Kendra

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