Allison and Amelia's Adventures Abroad

 Hello! I am in Cambodia now, and so far I love it! It is so warm and markets are everywhere with stuff to buy. During my time in Cambodia (5 nights) I have gone to many different places. The first place I went to is Angkor Wat, which is the largest temple complex in the world and has over 1 million carvings! All the carvings were done by hand which was very difficult 1000+ years ago. Angkor Wat was originally constructed as a Hindu temple, but changed to a buddhist temple at the end of the 12th century. The second  place I went was where they used trained rats to sniff out land mines. They were all planted by hand, and have caused over 19000 deaths - over half kids, and over 50000 injuries. The kids think it is a toy, pick it up, and then it explodes. They bring the rats all over cambodia, except farmlands because there is too much food, and the rats would get distracted. They use huge rats and I even got to hold one.  The last place I went to was a circus called phare. ...

    Hello! I am leaving vietnam and going to Cambodia today. Vietnam has been way outside of my comfort zone, and I have not particularly enjoyed that. The worst thing about vietnam is how you have to walk on the street because there are motorcycles parked and food stands on the sidewalks. To make it even worse, there are motorcycles coming from every way and you have to dodge them while walking. I think the best thing about Vietnam though, has been how kind the staff are. All of them love kids and it is always so sad to leave.  I went to 2 cooking classes in Vietnam, and it was totally worth it. For the first one everyone got to cook 1 dish, but some people left at the end. The second one was a private class at a restaurant, and there were 3 things that all of us got to make. The first thing was pho, which is a very common dish in Vietnam. It is made up of noodles, meat (chicken or beef), broth, and veggies (bok choy, cilantro, lime, green onion, carrots). The next ...

 Jan 12 2024 Hello! Today I am in Da Nang, Vietnam and checking out from a hotel. Going to Da Nang wasn’t originally on the list, but the flight to Ha long got delayed. I am actually happy that the flight got delayed because that meant that I could see more of Da Nang. I got to do lantern making, and get gigantic cotton candy! To do lantern making, first you get a lantern frame. Next take 1 square of fabric and glue it on to 3 lines of the frame. Do that on the other side leaving 1 line of the frame clear on both sides. Then, glue 1 square of fabric over each uncovered frame. Cut off all the excess and then you are done! The hotel had 2 main dining rooms and a breakfast buffet with lots of selection like doughnuts, waffles, pho, steamed buns, etc. For dinner I went with my family to one of the main dining rooms. Peking duck was on the menu and we all like that, but it would take 30 mins to prepare. During the waiting time, we ordered fried rice and steamed vegetables. When the peki...

Jan 5-Tour. Hello! Today I woke up at 7am for a full day tour. The first thing on the tour was going to see a pottery village and I got to make a bowl! It is actually quite easy and fun. There wasn’t an electric pottery wheel, so there was someone spinning the wheel with their foot. They do pottery because the base of the river is made out of clay. Then, they brought the group to a world heritage site (My Son) with temples and some of them are still standing 1500 years later! All the scientists in Vietnam cannot figure out what they used to make such strong bricks. Next, they brought the group to a place to see how they make rice noodles and rice paper. It was super cool! They would husk the rice then burn the husks for fire. Then would grind up rice and mix it with water to create a batter, and cook it for 1 minute on a cloth over fire. Then, they would dry it on a cloth in the sun to make it crispy. The noodles that we all learned how to make were served for lunch and were delicious!...

First thoughts of Singapore. Singapore has been fun, but also pretty disappointing. The New Years Eve fireworks had no countdown and didn’t feel special because of that. I went to the ice cream museum but there was not a lot written about ice cream and for the cost, (which was $50 per person) was very disappointing. They give you unlimited ice cream but only a few flavours, and didn’t know if there were nuts in anything. The hostel that I stayed in was pretty nice, and was very close to china town! There were also lots of places to eat while walking around. The only thing that is bad about walking around in china town is the durian smell. Apparently durian is delicious, but one of the worst smelling fruit in the world. While I was in Singapore I also went to the gardens by the bay, and it had an Avatar experience! There was a screen where you could turn yourself into an Avatar person and it was so cool (but also hilarious)! Another place that was pretty cool is the science museum! Ther...

  Hello! I am going to Singapore in 2 days and I am super excited!!! Bali has been nice, but I haven’t been eating a lot of home cooked foods because to be able to get meat, you have to be at the market at 5 am. Also, stuff in Bali is so cheap! You can get 4-5 ice creams for less than 2 dollars (20 000 idr)! There are also lizards EVERYWHERE! I have probably seen at least 50 lizards since I got to Bali! My Christmas was spent in a beautiful, quiet place on the beach, and the snorkelling was spectacular! The water was warm, there weren’t a lot of waves, and the fish were super close to shore so I didn’t need to swim out so far to see them. There were multiple types of fish and I also saw what looked like a bright pink underwater mushroom! I don’t have a photo of it, but I hope that you can visualize what it looked like. I think the difference between the touristy parts of Bali and the traditional parts of Bali are very easy to differentiate. In the tourist parts, there are big store...

 Hello! I am very sorry that I haven’t been posting, as I have been busy with science fair. I got in Indonesia about a week ago and have had some fun adventures since then. I went to a cooking class, and made 5 meals. Everything was so clean and it was super fun going into the garden and picking our vegetables. Did you know that in most of the world you can’t flush toilet paper? There is a garbage can beside the toilet to put it in. I did batik painting for the first time and it was super fun! First, you will pick a design that you want. There are about 30 designs drawn on separate sheets of paper. Then, after you have the design picked out, you will trace it on fabric with pencil. After it is all traced, you will re-trace it with hot wax. If you are a kid the instructor will do it for you, and it you are an adult you will do it yourself. After it is traced with the wax, now it is time to paint with watercolour! Once you are done painting, it will sit to dry for 10 mins. The instru...