PUBLIC MARKET

Two days in Singapore is quite a difficult time frame. We don't have tonnes of time to do all the touristy stuff but we also don't have very little time where we can prioritise it. I knew Singapore was known for its business and creative arts, the Gardens of the Bay is an example of the creativity within the city but also its markets, galleries and museums are extremely popular. Similarly to London, fashion students within Asia would make it their mission to visit Singapore and other places like Tokyo.

Choosing not to do an internship and travelling instead meant that I was going all summer without learning about the world of fashion communications. So I decided to develop my learning by making the most out of the creative industry in Singapore. We had previously been to loads of markets in different countries, but for Singapore I wanted to look for a different kind of market, perhaps a flea or a textiles market. When researching I came across a website that showed different arty events on throughout the month of August. Public Garden had an indoor market event on on the 21st August.

Public Garden aims to bring together independent businesses and creative individuals to interact, engage and learn, this is done through workshops and markets. The market displays a collection of entrepreneurs within the creative industry and allows the general public to wonder around and admire (and purchase) their work. On the weekend of the 21st, the market was held at Chjmes Hall, an historical church. The location was absolutely stunning, all painted white, the church stood on the grounds of Chjmes, a complex which combines entertainment, architecture and history. The area has a range of restaurants, bars and cafes which all surround the hall.

The instant you walk into the hall you are overwhelmed by the choice of stalls. We started from the right side as it was the least busy and snaked our way around to the left. I remember the first stall we visited, my eyes were drawn to the necklace of one of the girls behind the stall and thats when I noticed, Asians have a passion for statement accessories! As we continued round you could see the majority of the stalls were either accessories, stationary or food.

I think it is fair to say there was a lot of talent at this market and a lot of businesses which deserve the recognition.

LAST LEG OF THE TRIP

So weird to think nearly 9 weeks has passed already! After an awful journey, we eventually arrived in Gili Trawangan, an island just off of Bali. But it didn't get much better today... My stuff got soaked while it was on the boat and when we arrived we found out the head of the island had closed all the hostels. A favoured local was complaining that he wasn't getting enough business as all the other hostels and backpackers had taken all the business away from homestays and hotels etc. So for now they shut all the hostels. The owner of Mad Hatters, where we booked to stay, moved us to another homestay that he owned, however we were greeted by several cockroaches so I refused to stay there. Eventually he gave us a cockroach free room but it wasn't the best we've stayed in and unfortunately we did have 5 nights here!

The next morning we awoke to a power cut on the whole island, instead of letting this ruin our morning we headed straight to the beach, on the way we witnessed workers sawing at the cables and wires in the power box, can't say it looked too safe! We were pleasantly surprised by the beach, it was beautiful! White sand, totally clear water and warm sun and sea! We spent the day here, followed by the next few days as well. As the days went on we moved further up the beach as we found it got quieter the further you went. On the first night we visited the night market for some food. At the time, I've heard this was really good and extremely cheap, I agreed. However the day after is when I got ill, and I can't decide what it was from. But its all fun and games I guess...

Another highlight of Gili T was definitely the sunsets. We'd heard and we'd also seen the photos of people who had been here prior to us, and the sunsets looked stunning. We attempted to visit the swing one day but realised it was much further than we thought, so before it set, we took a seat on the beach and watched it from there. A few days later we left extra early to make sure we got there in time for a picture on the swing and it was worth it.

After an eventful and crazy 9 weeks, it was a shame that it didn't end as well as it could of, I got really ill and was worried about travelling on the boats and then the plane and I think also we were both very homesick and couldn't wait to get home. I think next time, I would consider how long I travelled for and would choose places that I'm desperate to visit but overall I can 100% ensure you South East Asia is beautiful!

HEADING TO BALI

Today was the day! Before we even got to Asia we had pre booked our flights to Bali so we had a date to look forward to from the start! Our plan was Kuta, Seminyak, Ubud and then Gili T, as we only had two weeks! So first up was Kuta, this was the closest to the airport and it really was close! We arrived in Bali at our hotel and had some lunch there before heading to the beaches. The beaches in Kuta and Seminyak were nothing special, in fact they looked similar to the beaches at home but obviously the weather is much better and the waves are 10x stronger. We spent the majority of our time in Kuta on the beaches, just sun bathing and dipping in and out of the sea occasionally. On the second night we went to Sky Garden which was recommended to us by Jenny. It's 100,000 rupiah which converts to £5 for unlimited food and drinks between 5 and 9.30pm. The food was amazing here, the have a buffet every night and each night is usually themed, plus BBQ food every night. We ended up going here a couple of times, but later regretted it when we ran out of money and it cost 100,000 rupiah to withdraw money from ATMS!

The next day we headed to the beach again but during the afternoon, we walked up to the Turtle conservation where they do a daily release of baby turtles into the ocean. After a briefing, you queue up and collect a baby turtle in a pool of water and head to the beach where there is a line drew for you to stand on. Once everyone has a turtle, you kneel on the line and after 3 you let the turtle out of the container and crawl towards the ocean. It was so adorable, especially for kids!

Another thing we planned to do in Bali was visit the waterpark, its recently been voted #3 in the world and #1 in Asia and it was so much fun however its quite pricey for a travellers budget! We got there early and you hand over your information and receive a ticket and a wristband which allows you to put money on as there is no cash handled inside the park. We then put our stuff away in the lockers (which you also had to pay for) and topped up our sun screen then headed towards the rides. The park was rather overwhelming as it was huge and so were the rides! They have a lazy river, which we headed to first, as we were familiar with it from visiting waterparks in America. This went all the way around and through the park so you could stop and get off and on at different exits. The one thing I'll never forget about this day is being dropped from a platform 25 meters down a slide, it was sooo scary!! If you are in Kuta, you have to go, it's a 10 minute walk from the centre of Kuta, however I wouldn't recommend it for smaller children!

A couple of days later we moved on to Seminyak, we'd heard its much nicer than Kuta. We had found a really nice hotel in Seminyak for only £7 a night so we were excited to get here! Whether you've been to Seminyak or not, if theres one thing you've heard it would be thats its great for shopping! Its full of little boutiques and nice stores but they aren't afraid of prices here! That night we were both feeling a bit homesick and down so we went to an Italian that had an offer on, buy a normal sized pizza, triple the size and only double the price. IT WAS HUGE! We had two slices and were totally stuffed, so saved the rest for lunch the following day. I think this turned out costing only £3 each! The next day we tried Seminyak beach and the same goes for here as it does for Kuta. Its very similar to home, the waves are huge, the water is a bit colder and the sand is a bit muddy but it was just nice to enjoy the sun shine!

After a few days around the coast we travelled inland to Ubud where we planned to do the rice terraces and monkey forest. We eventually got there after our rude taxi driver found it, so we wonder around the market and had a cheap dinner. The next day is when we pretty much explored the whole of Ubud. We visited Monkey Forest in the morning. I can't say I was a big fan of this, the monkeys freaked me out a little, especially after Holly got bit... 4 times! But later that day, we did much more cultural things. We paid the taxi driver 100,000 rupiah each and he took us to a temple, coffee planation and the rice terraces. It was really nice as it wasn't packed with tourists, it was quite relaxing and the taxi driver was lovely! This day we also booked our travel to Gili T, which I am still annoyed about!

We paid around £25 each and it was a horrible journey! The mini bus there took twice as long as it should of and the air con barely worked and then the boat, sorry the fast boat, also took twice as long but still went just as fast. A poor woman opposite us was throwing up the whole way as the sea is extremely rough in Bali and then some even more unfortunate women who were sat up top who drenched head to toe because there was no seats left! I would really NOT recommend Wahana Fast Boat, pay the little bit extra!

KUALA LUMPUR & SINGAPORE

After Phi Phi we sailed back to Krabi to spend a night there, so we could get to the airport for 5.30am. We arrived in Kuala Lumpur around 10am ish and got a bus to the train station and the sky train to the area closest to our hostel. The sky train in Kuala Lumpur made life so much easier for the next couple of days. It was so cheap and efficient to get around, sort of similar to the trams in Nottingham and tubes in London. Like Krabi, we booked a nice place to stay as you never know what to expect from a city and it actually turned up to be really nice. We had a huge double bed which was on a top bunk and under was a sofa and TV. The bathrooms were shared but immaculate and had the most amazing showers, so powerful! It was called Travel Hub and was located near Chinatown, although I can't say I was a fan of Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur, it was extremely rough and tacky!

The following day we got breakfast, which was the only down side to this guesthouse, it was just toast, although it was unlimited... We then had a nap, which I felt really bad about because we weren't in the city for long but we were just so tired and after went to lunch at a Mexican fast food place, yes guilty! I suggested to Holly that we got to the central market as I'd heard its a must do and it seemed pretty close to us on the map, turns out it was literally right around the corner and we spent hours there! Again it was another HUGE market but this time it had much nicer stuff, handmade and better quality but still very cheap! After a few hours of wondering around we went back and got ready then headed towards Bukit Bantang, an entertainment district. This was supposedly the times square of Kuala Lumpur and it was by far my favourite part. We really enjoyed wondering around that evening, that we decided to go back the next day as we were a bit short for time the previous evening. I managed to buy a bargain top in Zara which converted to £8 and then some converse which turned out to be £20 cheaper than at home (yes, they are real.) We then went and had a cute little raspberry cheesecake in a huge cafe that we spotted the night before, called Tour Les Jours! After a busy day, we headed back but had a quick change and freshen up, then we were back out as we'd booked the Petronas towers! They were stunning, better from the outside than inside I'd stay. I love the look of the sky bridge in the middle.

Before we knew it, our time was over in Kuala Lumpur and we were flying to Singapore. It was nice we got to visit both of these airports as they are suppose to be two of the best airports in the world. When we got to Singapore we couldn't check in so we walked to the nearest mall and had some food. Later that evening, after we'd showered and settled in, I did some research on flea markets and stuff around Singapore and I came across Public Garden. They're a company who hold workshops and markets once a month in Singapore for independent, creative businesses. It was such a lovely evening. The venue was incredible, it was an historical church which had been converted and painted white and the stalls were lined up in rows, each having their own individual theme which related to the brand. I ended up purchasing a little white and grey marble notebook, which is almost too pretty to write in!

The next day we wanted to head towards Chinatown and then in the evening stroll around Marina Bay. Instead of just walking around Chinatown, we wanted to do something and be a bit more productive. I've heard Singapore is a city which you have to visit when studying creative subjects, it was apparently really inspiring, and I could't agree more. We found a museum called Red Dot Design Museum which is located just outside of Chinatown, you can't miss it, its bright red! The museum holds products which convey unique concepts and ideas, something which my course is passionate about. We spent a good couple of hours here and then additional hours in Chinatown before heading back to the room to get ready to go to Marina Bay. As we did the skybar in Bangkok and it was amazing, we weren't overly bothered about doing the Marina Sands Sky Park, but now I've seen the building, I would probably do it next time. We also gave the Singapore flyer a miss as we've seen many cities from above and it was nice to wonder around the bay and actually be on ground level admiring the city rather than in the air.

I would visit Singapore again in an instant, its such an amazing and beautiful city and so inspiring for students who are aiming to be in the creative industry.

THAI ISLAND PARADISE

After a rough couple of days in Koh Phangan, we were ready for paradise on the other islands. We were impressed with the facilities at our resort but we soon realised Koh Tao is a bit pricier than what we were use to. We took advantage of the sun and spent the morning sunbathing then went to grab lunch and it started chucking it down. We chose to stay by a more remote beach instead of Sairee beach (more going on there) because we were expecting nice weather and wanted a this to a relaxing part to our trip. However once it starts there, it leaves you very restricted to what you can do, so we took a nap then later went to get some dinner.

Our second day in Koh Tao and it was still a bit cloudy but we were up early and went to get breakfast. I'd strangely been craving porridge so we found somewhere that had some porridge with banana and it wasn't badly priced either! The sun finally decided to make an appearance so we made the most of that and then planned to walk up to one of the viewpoints as we'd heard they are meant to be good on Koh Tao. But of course it decided to rain that evening and there goes that plan! Luckily the next morning the weather was stable but not good enough to sunbathed in, so we made the most of it not raining and went to John Suwan View point there, its south of Koh Tao, literally a 10 minute walk from us! We were exploring by the view point and came across Freedom Beach, which turned out to be right next to our beach with some boulders, rocks and the ocean splitting the two beaches apart. Despite the two beaches being split we found a way we could get back to our resort without having to climb all the way back up near the viewpoint and back. We climbed over the boulders and walked through a bit of the ocean and we were back to ours!

We wanted to meet up with Jenny that evening but she was staying on Sairee beach which isn't just a walk away! We decided to hire a quad, they're a little safer than the bikes out here! We met Jenny and some friends we'd met there and went to an amazing BBQ place which I'd so annoyed I didn't take a picture of. For just £4 I got a huge chicken skewer which had chicken, pepper, onion, pineapple and tomato on, then a side salad with a dressing, bbq sauce and a jacket potato. It was well needed! We were quite lucky with the weather the next couple of days, it definitely stayed on our side. We made the most of it and sunbathed pretty much the whole time, dipping in and out of the pool and ocean! Next up, was Phi Phi, so we packed our bags and got an early night. Well this was until Holly led on a hornet/bee/wasp (some asian bug) and got stung!

The next day was filled of travelling. From Koh Tao to Koh Phi Phi it takes 10 hours and unfortunately this is the only way you can get there! Its expensive too! We arrived in Phi Phi, and i've heard its paradise here! Jenny had a couple of days before us, before the weather got better (v. unlucky as she only had a week or so left!) so we decided to meet her for dinner and she took us somewhere called Cosmics! Its a chain on the island and there are three, however one is much cheaper than the other two and you can get strawberry daquiris for 50 baht (£1.) We made the most of these cheap drinks as 1) there tasted amazing and 2) Jenny planned on getting her tattoo that night so wanted to be a little tipsy before... She had been travelling for 4 months and always wanted to get one so she finally did it two days before she left!

Thursday 13th, the following day, was A level results day, and my friend Holly was due to get hers. It ended up being a successful day and she got into Portsmouth uni! So we spent the day and night (of course) celebrating! It ended up being a messy night for my friend Holly as she fell on some rocks in the ocean and broke her toe then later lost her Birkenstocks! After results day was over, it was time for Jenny to leave, she was heading home after 4 months, well first meeting her family for a holiday in Zante! But as strange as it was, as one friend left, the others arrived. The boys from Trent were coming to Phi Phi and we were both as surprised as each other!

We had already booked a boat trip for the following day so unfortunately they couldn't join us. This boat trip was up there with day with the elephants as one of the highlights of the trip! We snorkelled, went to Maya Bay, saw monkeys on the beach, kayaked in the ocean and sunbathed on the boat. We later met the boys and had a few drinks as we were leaving the day after the next day and wouldn't meet up with them again. Its strange how you come across people you've already met, everyone in asia seems to do a similar route where they either work their way up or down.

FULL MOON PARTY

A quick hour or so flight and we'd arrived in Krabi, still on mainland Thailand but closer to the islands and often a stop off point for Phi Phi. After the hassle in Chiang Mai, we booked in advance for a hostel here in Krabi, and it was a nice one! Pak Up hostel is right in the middle of Krabi town and literally 50 meter walk to the pier where the boats go to and from Railay beach. We met some girls that night, who were unfortunately leaving the next day but they recommended to go over to Railay beach for the day, which is what we ended up doing for the next two days! The beach was huge and the sea was so calm and clear. We spent hours just sat in the sea as there were no waves and it was so warm! Pak Up hostel put on different games every night for travellers and we ended up winning the pub quiz on our second night! (Think it was probably because the majority of participates had has a few drinks but going to pretend I am really intelligent!)

Krabi was kind of a stop over for us as well but not for Phi Phi, we stayed a couple of nights and then were heading to Koh Phangan for the Full Moon Party on the 1st August! The morning we left we had problems with our tickets. The woman made a fuss about us not printing our ticket and almost said we couldn't get on the bus, I did not take this too well and ended up being fairly rude to her, which I felt very guilty for after! We got the ferry and arrived in Phangan, the taxi driver led us to a shuttle mini bus, put our bags on, then for some reason we ended up getting kicked off as we apparently weren't staying near the beach (which we were!!) In the end, we got a taxi with two boys, who we had briefly spoken to at the bus station with the rude woman, and they ended up being from Trent! What are the chances!

We got to our hostel and it was horrific, after finishing the trip I can definitely confirm this was by far the worst place we stayed and we paid the most for it (hostel wise.) I would recommend booking months in advance if you plan to go to the full moon party as they completely rip you off! After I'd got over how horrendous the hostel was, we headed down to the beach to wonder, and guess who we bumped into... the trent boys from our taxi! We ended up having a free drinks and deciding to go to the Jungle party... yes the night before the full moon, probably not the best idea we've had! It was an amazing night though, the jungle party was probably better than the full moon party!

The next day, due to the full moon party being that night, we had another long lie in that lasted until 3pm, got some food and then got ready for the Full moon party. We planned to meet the boys and their friends that night (who were also from Trent) so we walked to one of the couple's hotel for pre drinks! The Full Moon party is definitely a bucket list thing but I think now its been ticked off, I probably wouldn't do it again. It was so busy (45,000 people I think) that you couldn't really meet people and have a good time! It was a crazy experience to party on the beach though!

We had booked another day after the full moon because we knew we wouldn't want to travel on a hangover, so we ended up lying in until late the day after the full moon aswell, yes I know, it seems to be becoming a bit of a habit now! We kind of just spent the day recovering and chilling and planned to go to the Amsterdam bar, but decided to do that the following day. So the following day we met up with Jenny, the boys and their friends and headed to the Amsterdam bar where the view was meant to be incredible, which it was! Unfortunately I got no pictures as it wasn't very clear and I held out because I thought the sunset would improve, but then missed it!

We were meant to leave the hostel that day but when we packed up in the morning there was no staff to be seen, so when we returned from the Amsterdam bar, we planned to book another night. We arrived back and still no staff... We manned up and decided to just sneak in and stay there another night and if we got caught we'd just pay for that night. Woke up in the morning and still no staff but with no staff, came no water, awful wifi and no cleaning, so after a free night of accommodation we decided it was time to leave! The boys and their friends were leaving the island that day. Ourselves and Jenny also planned on leaving to Koh Tao but after checking booking.com and hostel world, we discovered all the accommodation was booked. So a quick tip, after full moon party everyone heads to the other islands like Koh Tao or Koh Samui, so make sure you book that too! We decided to spend another couple of nights in Koh Phangan but by this time I was getting a bit fed up of the island to be honest!

With all the fuss and excitement about the Full Moon party, I totally forgot that Angthong National Marine Park was close to Koh Phangan and that would mean we could get off this island for a day! We booked a trip and spent the day on a boat where we snorkelled, swam, trekked and cave climbed around the 42 islands in the national park. Besides the weather being a bit iffy to start with, it ended up being a really nice day. However I did end up twisting my ankle after I fell down a bit in the caves, not fun!

The following day we FINALLY got the leave Koh Phangan and it honestly had felt like we'd been there months! We checked in to our tiny little fan room in Koh Tao, but that didn't bother us as we had a pool and the beach was right on our door step!

CHIANG MAI LOVE

After nearly missing our flight and splashing out on a hefty £24 each just to get to the airport, we eventually arrived in Chiang Mai. But the day didn't get much better as the hostel we planned on staying in was fully booked (typical!). So another hour or so was spent wondering around looking for somewhere to stay, when we met this nice girl who suggested the one she was staying at, and it wasn't too bad after all. We were desperate to shower after all of this hassle, so we got ready then headed out to wonder around the night market. By this time we'd seen a few markets, but nothing like Chiang Mai night market, it went on and on and on, and was full of more interesting goodies and souvenirs.

The next day started off fairly chilled as we were both exhausted from barely any sleep on the night market and a hectic day yesterday, so we took a lie in... a long lie in and decided to book a Thai cooking class for the afternoon. From 2-6pm we cooked 4 dishes and made a curry paste, I chose to make: Pad Thai, Spring Rolls, Soup and Yellow Noodle curry with we made the curry paste for first. If you visit Thailand, this is a must do! We did our class at Baan Thai cookery school and I was very impressed! They were organised, spoke good english, very friendly and helpful but obviously the facilities lacked as we are in Thailand, but we had what we needed! After returning from the cookery school, we strolled down to the market and somehow ended up watching a Lady Boy cabaret, it was interesting to say the least!

To follow yesterday, we booked to see the elephants the next day. The elephant sanctuary was probably what we were both looking forward to the most and now after completing the whole trip, it was certainly one of the highlights. We spent some time researching different sanctuaries as we knew there was a recurring problem of animal cruelty at some but after a while we found a sanctuary where you spent the day with a group of elephants and could feed, wash, bath and play with them until you leave. The elephants in the sanctuary had been rescued and were allowed to roam free around the jungle but we always accompanied by one of the staff, who were a tribal family.

We were picked up early that morning and on the truck met a British girl, Jenny who was from up north, we actually ended up travelling with her for a fair while after Chiang Mai! The journey took nearly 2 hours, 1 hour of it was off roading through the jungle up huge hills to get to the sanctuary, poor Jenny suffers from travel sickness, so this wasn't the smoothest journey for her! We got there and hopped off the truck, put on a tribal top and started to walk up the hill. To my surprise, the elephants were literally right there! I don't think I expected to see them so soon and I also don't think I expected to quite literally be roaming around the jungle. We spent some time feeding and meeting the elephants, where we could also grab a few pictures and videos of them. Then walked to meet go and find the others, where there was a baby one!!! After all this excitement, we had lunch and they definitely fed us well!! There was a curry, pad thai, veg and all sorts of drinks and other snacky bits. After lunch we got changed and headed to the mud bath where we scrubbed them and played with them again, then strolled along to the waterfall and washed the mud off. Overall, it was an amazing day and an experience I'll never forget! Although I absolutely loved Elephant Jungle Sanctuary next time I would go somewhere else so I could get a difference experience with the elephants. For under £50 we spent the day here and it including food and free pick up/return.

After a whirlwind of a day yesterday and a busy day the day before as well, Sunday we wanted to do something a bit more chilled. We went out to get some lunch and noticed locals putting up stalls, then we remembered the Sunday market was on. You know how I just said I thought the night market was huge, well the Sunday market took it to the next level! It went on for streets and streets and I managed to grab some bargain vintage denim shorts for £2! We even returned back there later that night as Jenny hadn't been!

We were generally very impressed with Chiang Mai and it has to be up there with one of my favourite places. The city centre is built around a moat and the whole atmosphere feels much more cultural and laid back than other cities like Bangkok or Siem Reap. We also probably favourited it as we did complete a lot of things off the bucket list here!

The next day we were back on the road and travelling down to Bangkok to the airport, AGAIN! Instead of booking another flight, we booked a night sleeper train and I've never experience anything so bad! The train itself was old and very grotty, the toilet smelt horrific and it lingered through the cabin, the fan barely worked and the bed was tiny so I was sweltering the whole night! By this time, I has kind of got use to having little sleep, and found that I actually slept better on the airport floor during our 8 HOUR WAIT for the plane! We live to tell the story though ay!