The flight from Bangkok to Singapore with Air Asia lasted around 2 hours and I arrived there on Friday 22nd November. I booked food on the board in advance, it was chicken in pepper sauce and rice, but the food was so spicy that I had to order a bottle of water to be able to eat it. I slept for a while, then we landed and I had to find a way to my host's place in Eunos. It was already late in the evening but I managed to catch the last train from the airport. My host was an Indian guy working in Singapore. We went to a Chinese restaurant where I ordered fried noodles and then we went to this place. The following day my host had some work to do so I went out around noon, I walked to the metro station. It was not particularly hot, around 30°C that day, but the humidity level was extreme which made the weather unpleasant. Singapore was the most humid country in the South East Asia which I visited and it was difficult to adapt to this kind of weather. It was still a rain period while I was there, the first night I was there it rained and then it rained also in the morning, but the afternoon was sunny. I visited the Arab street, I went inside the shops with Arabic clothes, there were many kinds of beautiful clothes and outside I saw many women wearing hijab, but I wondered how they could wear veils and long dresses in such a humid weather.

There was a climatized shopping center nearby and I waited for my host there, then we went to the little India and we found a Spanish restaurant where we had a lunch. Afterwards we met his friend, a girl from Singapore, and we all went to the Sentosa island. My host met some other friends there and they played volleyball while I swam in the sea. The beach was artificial and there was a harbour nearby, but I was happy because it was the first time during my trip when I had the opportunity to swim in the sea. We watched the sunset on the beach and when it got dark we left the island, we had dinner and we went to a bridge in the center.
The following day my host was also busy in the morning and I went out to the hotel Marina Bay. It was a sunny day firstly, but when I got to the hotel the rain came very fast, it was raining heavily for one hour and there was lightning. I had to wait until it stopped raining and then I went to the gardens by the bay. Then my host and his friend came, we had a lunch in a shopping center and we waited for his Dutch friend who worked in the Marina Bay and she took us to the Infinity pool on the rooftop. The view on the skyscrapers was amazing, there was also a jacuzzi on the other side of the rooftop with the view on the gardens. We spent some hours there and we took many photos, then it got dark and lights on the buildings were turned on which was also astonishing. After we left the Infinity pool we had dinner and I drank a coconut juice and then we went to my host's place. I had to go to sleep early because my flight to Kuala Lumpur was on Monday morning.

When I got on the plane in Hong Kong I was already so tired that I fell asleep already before we took off, but I managed to sleep only one hour because of the flight attendants serving food. The flight to Bangkok took 3 hours and we landed around midnight. Because the Sunvarnabhumi airport was far away from the city I decided that it was better to book a hotel nearby and continue travelling to the city the following day in the morning. I wasted around one hour at the airport in order to get a shuttle bus to the hotel, its name was Convenient Resort Bangkok Sunvarnabhumi airport and one night costed around 15 Eur. Finally I had to take a shared taxi to the hotel, I paid 150 Baht (around 4 Eur). I got there late at night, it was around 1:30am. The staff at the reception desk looked friendly but either they didn't speak English well or they spoke with such a strong accent that it was difficult for me to understand them. I appreciated a lot when I got to the bed after such an exhausting journey. I was satisfied with the room, I ever had an air conditioning there but I turned it off because it disturbed me. 

When I got up and I had to connect on the internet to find out a way to my host. There was a woman at the reception desk who spoke English well, but she was very unfriendly and every time I asked her something she made it clear I was bothering her. I was going to the Pinklao shopping center to meet a couchsurfer there for lunch, I wanted to take a taxi, but the driver told me that the price was 800 baht which I didn't agree with so he took me to the airport and I found a bus there. I spent more than one hour in order to get to the Pinkalo shopping center, I had a lunch there with a couchsurfer and then I took a bus to the Silom area, I stayed with an Indian couchsurfer in the hotel Mahonra. I got there in the evening when it was already dark, we didn't have any plans but we got some food in the local restaurant nearby and then my host introduced me his Indian friend and we went to see the ping-pong show. Regarding the fact that it is a sensitive topic I am not going to give much details (most people who have visited Thailand know what it is about or they can find it on the internet). My host told me there were a lot of scams but we chose a relatively good place where we paid the entrance 300 baht and then we were supposed tips for each performace. However, it didn't really leave any impression on me. I read reviews where people claimed that they found this kind of performace shocking or humilitiang, but I didn't find anything particular there, the lights were dim and I didn't get to see much as well as there were many people around and it was noisy.

The following day my Indian host was working but his friend took me to the Grand Palace, the ticket costed 500 baht. It was a beautiful place, we took many photos and afterwards we went to a vegetarian restaurant. The Indian guy, who accompanied me, told me he never ate meat, but in this restaurant I can find many vegetables prepared like meat. We ordered something which was supposed to taste like crab, but the taste actually didn't remind the taste of meat. The food was too spicy for me, but I ate it because I was hungry, however it was a mistake because I was sick for the rest of the day. Then I returned to the hotel to meet my host, he invited some couchsurfers there and later we joined a couchsurfing meeting and we played pool.

My host and his friend were both busy on Thursday, so I ventured out by myself, I found a tuk-tuk, the driver took me to the shop with clothes and jewellery and then I wanted to go to the China town to get durian fruit. I got a lot of attention while eating durian, some tourist made a comment that I was brave, but I found it delicious and I didn't mind the smell at all. Here is the video of me eating durian fruit.

When I got to the port I took a ferry on the other side of the river, I walked aimlessly for some time but then I decided to take a tuk-tuk to the Kao San Road because someone told me that I could find a fried scorpion there. When I got there I bought a scorpion for 50 baht (it was overcharged price, the proper one would be around 20 baht). I also got a lot of attention there, this is the link to the video where I am eating fried scorpion. The taste was nothing special, it was just salty. Then I bought fried noodles also for 50 baht and I found other kinds of fried insects for 20 baht, I also tried that one. I returned to the hotel then and my host took me to a meeting in some disco club, where he introduce me a film-maker. 

On Friday I had still some time in the morning because my flight to Singapore was leaving around 6pm, so I wanted to some other temples but the taxi driver didn't speak English well and he took me to some remote area of Bangkok. There was nothing interesting, only a market and a shopping center, so I spent some time watching fruit, vegeatables and sea food on the market and then I had to take a taxi to a hotel. My flight was leaving from the Don Muang airport, I was afraid I wouldn't make it on time due to the traffic jam but it took only one hour to get there because we were driving on the highway. 

The flight from Dubai to Hong Kong lasted 7 hours. The plane was half empty and I had two seats for myself so I hoped that I would be able to sleep during the flight, but at the end I managed to sleep only 2 hours, because the flight attendants were serving dinner and then also breakfast and they woke me up. I was worried because it was already the second night when I slept only a few hours and I had all day to visit Hong Kong. We landed at 5:35am on Monday November 18th, then I spent some time at the airport, there were many people waiting in the line at the border control so it was already after 7am when I passed it. I changed my clothes, I had bought Chinese clothes in the oriental shop Kokoro before I left Prague, but I didn't see anybody else in Hong Kong wearing traditional clothes. When I met Ernest he told me that this kind of clothes were worn only for celebrations there but I shouldn't jump ahead in my story.
I found a taxi which took me to the Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car, but I got there before 8am and it was opening at 10am so I had nothing to do for 2 hours. I walked around a bit, I saw people on the street exercising tai chi, but it was a bit cold in the morning so I went to the big shopping center nearby. I found groceries, I was surprised to see dried fish and sea food there (I could smell it already before seeing it), I bought some bread with cheese and I went to shops with clothes. I got back to the cable car before 10am, but there were already too many people standing in the line. It took me around 45 minutes to buy a ticket for the crystal cabin, the return ticket costed 213 Hong Kong dollars (around 20 Eur). The journey in the crystal cabin was exciting because the bottom was made of glass, it was scary to look down and see trees and a river. There were around 6 or 8 people with me in the cabin, I met two girls from Philippines and after we reached the top we walked together to the Ngong Ping Village and then to the Buddha statue. There were many stairs and it was difficult to go up. When we got there it was already around noon, the weather was beautiful and warm, 25°C, we had a good view on the mountains surrounding the statue and also on the monastery. I took many photos and a video, here is the link: Buddha statue.

Then we walked to the Wisdom Path with wooden steels with carved Chinese signs. After we returned to the Ngong Ping Village where I ate fish balls and I had to go back to the cable car because I was supposed to meet Ernest (a friend of someone from CS). During the ride back the cabin was empty, I took some more photos, then I went to the metro station and I met Ernest at Tsim Sha Tsui promenade. While we walked to the Avenue of stars I admired the skyline of Hong Kong, thinking it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I regretted a bit for the rest of my trip that I didn't spend more time in Hong Kong because it was more much more beautiful than most of the places I visited afterwards (but Siem Reap in Cambodia was also a wonderful place). We took a ferry to the Hong Kong island, but two almost sleepless nights started to take their toll on me, I was becoming very tired and I felt pain in my legs and back. When we got out of the ferry I was shocked because I saw a young woman begging there, her face and ear looking badly burnt, but Ernest told me it was some kind of fungus that disfigured her face. Then we walked to the Hong Kong Park and after we took a narrow old-fashioned tram to the cable car which was supposed to take us to the peak, but there were so many people waiting in the line that we didn't have time to wait. It was already around the sunset and I was so exhausted that I almost couldn't walk, so we went to some small restaurant where Ernest ordered some vegetables and also a big plate of soup. It was almost the same soup which I used to eat sometimes in the Vietnamese market in Prague, with spice, meat, vegetables and noodles. After the dinner I pulled myself together a bit, we walked to the metro station and I had to return to the airport to catch my flight to Bangkok. I returned to Hong Kong again on the way back to Prague on December 1st, I visited Mong Kok, but I will describe it later in order to keep my posts in a chronological order.

My trip in Asia started on Saturday November 16th when I took a flight from Prague to Bangkok. I decided to fly with Emirates although it was not the cheapest option but I liked the itinerary because it provided me with the possibility to visit additional two countries. I left Prague around 4pm and the flight lasted 6 hours which means that I arrived to Dubai at 1am. The flight attendants served food, I had chicken and we could choose free drinks, I was surprised that also the alcoholic ones were also free. I got a transit visa for 3 days with Emirates and I passed the border controls smoothly, the officer didn't have any questions about my stay in Dubai but he asked me about the Czech football player Pavel Nedved. I found a host on CS and he picked me up at the airport. We were driving in the city, then we stopped to have a drink in some fast food, my host ordered French vanillla coffee, I usually don't drink coffee, but this one was good. Then we drove to the hotel Atlantis in the Palm Jumeirah. The guards didn't want to let us enter the hotel but my host told them that we were going to book a room there so we were allowed to go in. There was a huge aquarium with many kinds of fish, we took many pictures and I also made a video.

After visiting the hotel Atlantis we went to my host's home in Discovery Gardens. It was still warm although it was very late at night, the temperature was around 25°C. We went to sleep very late and I managed to sleep only 3 hours. When we got up in the morning my host took me to the Ibn Battuta mall which was close to his home, there was some Indian and Chinese architecture inside. We took some photos but my host was in hurry because he had to go to Abu Dhabi and I had to take a metro to the Dubai mall. I booked a ticket to Burj Khalifa in advance which is the highest building in the world but unfortunately there was a sand storm that day so the view from the top wasn't good and I could barely see the hotel Burj Al Arab in the distance.

I spent around one hour on the top, but I didn't find the view amazing due to the bad weather. Then I went back to the mall, there were many shops, waterfall, aquarium, skating ring and also the ski slope. I walked around for some time but then I had to take a metro to the airport because my flight to Hong Kong was leaving at 18:30. When I was in metro a woman spoke to me, she asked me if I was a crew, I said no and she said she was from Egypt and she was a crew. When I gave her my flight number she was able to see the details of my flight on her phone. I arrived at the airport two hours before departure. I felt a bit embarrassed about my stay in UAE, I admit that one day in Dubai is not sufficient to know it well but I found it overrated. It might be worth visiting for the people who want to spend a lot of money there and enjoy the megalomania of this city, but in my opinion it doesn't have many things to offer to a common traveller. Although there are many skyscrapers it is still a desert with a very hot climate for most of the year. However, my next destination Hong Kong was one of the most beautiful places which I have ever seen.

After I returned from Mallorca I didn't stay in Prague for a long time because after a few days I travelled to Budapest. I left Prague on 27th September around midnight, I took a night train to Budapest and I arrived there around 8am on Saturday. I walked from the Keleti train station to the Wombat hostel where I stayed one night with a friend. The weather was wonderful on Saturday, it was sunny and around 20°C. We walked in the city center with my friend and then we had a dinner in a restaurant. The following day my friend left Budapest and I met a Pakistani guy Usman from couchsurfing at the train station. I thought I would leave Budapest on Sunday and go to Slovakia but I changed my mind and I stayed in Budapest 2 days longer. We went to the castle and to the center and then to a Turkish restaurant. Usman was working on Monday so I visited the city alone in the morning but in the afternoon we went to the thermal baths Szechenyi. There were many pools with hot water, especially the outdoor pool with the stream was exciting. It got colder and it was only around 13°C that day but the water in the pool had 34°C . There were some French high school students with their teacher so we had some conversation with them. I left Budapest on Tuesday and I returned to Prague by the Student Agency bus.

I travelled to Budapest again with my mother on Thursday 23rd January 2014. We stayed in the Animation City hostel next to the Vaci utca. It was good to stay in the center, the hostel was cosy and the room for two people costed around 70 Eur for three nights. We used to eat in the Turkish restuarants, there are many of them in Buapest and the food is cheap and tasty. On Friday and Saturday we went to the thermal baths Szechenyi. On Friday it was slightly above 0°C and on Saturday it was -4°C. The outdoor pools were amazing but crowded, there was a lot of steam going out from the pool. The baths were very crowded on Saturday and there was ice next to the pool so I slid there and fell but nothing happened to me. On Sunday we returned to Prague with the Eurolines bus.

Last year I had a hard time to decide where to travel because I couldn't take holidays from work during summer. I wanted to visit Greece at first but then my trip was cancelled and I decided to go back to Mallorca. I left Prague on September 17th and I returned on September 25th. I stayed in Arenal with the same host who I visited already in November 2012. My stay in Mallorca was good, the weather was nice and warm, around 26-28°C, my host lived next to the beach so I went to swim every day. I used to visit Palma often and walk around the city. My host was very busy working in his travel agency and I decided to travel to Ibiza for 2 days. I took a ferry from Palma on Sunday 22nd September at 8am. As I had to be there one hour before departure I had to get up around 5am, catch a bus to Palma and then take a ferry. I couldn't find a host on couchsurfing in Ibiza therefore I had to book a room in the hotel Piscis Park which was in the north of the island.

After arriving to Ibiza I took a bus to the city and when I was walking towards the castle I met an Indian guy who lived in USA. We took some photos and he accompanied me to the castle. It was a hot day, around 30°C. We wanted to find a beach but we were told by the locals that there were no beaches around so we went to eat something and after we found a bus which would take us to the beach.

When we got to the beach in the south of the island we found out immediately that it was a nude beach, but the sea was full of dirt. There were many sea plants and small pieces of wood. I went inside for a little while but it was almost impossible to swim in it. So we just sat on the beach for some hours and took sun and then we went back to the city where we had a dinner in an Indian restaurant. I ordered Pokhara butter chicken which was chicken breast in curry sauce and it was very tasty. Then we took a bus to the north of the island to go to my hotel, but the security guard didn't let my friend enter the hotel so he had to take a bus to his hotel. I walked alone along the beach in the night, there were many people partying in the clubs but I didn't feel like going there alone so I returned to the hotel. One night in the hotel Piscis Park costed 23,70 Eur which I found adequate. The breakfast was included in the price. In the morning I walked around the city and I swam in the sea next to the port. The sea was clean and I stepped on an octopus while swimming which scared me a bit. Then I went back to the south of Ibiza to meet my Indian friend and we walked to the castle again and he accompanied me to the bus which took me to the ferry. The ferry left Ibiza at 8pm and I returned to my host in Mallorca late in the evening.
The following day I took a flight to Madrid where I had to stay during the night. I had a host from Sri Lanka who studied PhD. in Spain. We went to a Chinese buffet all you can eat for 10 Eur and I took enormous amount of food, including shrimps, noodles, sushi, fish, different kinds of seafood and also a dessert.

We spent a pleasant evening walking around the city, I already knew the places which we visited because this was my second time in Madrid, I had already been there in February 2012 for 2 days. Then we drank sangria and we returned home around midnight. The following day I took a flight to Prague.

It has been already one year since I last posted to my blog. I was quite busy with my new job and I didn't travel anywhere until September 2013 except one short trip to Slovakia at the end of April, then I went to Mallorca and Ibiza for one week in the middle of September, then I spent 3 days in Budapest at the end of September and in the middle of November I took vacations for 2 weeks and I crossed 6 countries in Asia during this time. I visited many interesting places while some others I found rather disappointing. I spent one day in Dubai, one day in Hong Kong, 4 days in Bangkok, 3 days in Malaysia and Cambodia and 2 days in Singapore. I returned to Prague at the beginning of December and it was hard for me to adapt myself again to the climate because in Asia it was around 30°C while in Prague there was snow and the temperatures around 0°C. I will give more details about my travels in my next posts. Now I am in Prague, I still have my job, I work as a phone operator in an assistance service in an insurance company, but now it is not so interesting as before, it is more about routine and stereotype. However, it is difficult to tell how long I will still work there because I haven't decided yet where I would like to move in the future.