Day 24,,,Almost 25

Hey guys, so I am wired the night before a trip so I thought I'd take a second to blog and hopefully calm myself down. Haha. Sidenote, I sadly don't have any pictures for this post.

So anyway its around 11:30 pm on Thursday, the 28th and I have to get up at 6 am tomorrow because we are taking a bus to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. I've heard mixed reviews of KL from other exchange students, apparently its a city similar to Singapore but not as cool? (not very descriptive but I have legitimately heard almost those exact words from more than one person). But KL does boast the Petronas towers which were the tallest buildings in the world from like 1998 - 2002, so that is noteworthy (however, like my mom and my brother Tom, I'm pretty scared of heights, so that should be interesting). This weekend is also the January full moon (for the record its the second full moon in January as there was one for the New Year, which I learned is called a 'blue moon'), which means that the annual Thaipusam festival will be held at the Batu Caves (in KL). You have to check out the link because I really don't know that much about it, but it sounds amazing.

Anyway, expect a KL update on Monday night. Also, I have found out that Terri Donohue (for anyone reading this who doesn't know, Terri is my mother...although I'm not sure how I feel about someone reading this who doesn't know who my mother is), is coming to visit in the beginning of March, so I'm really excited for that.

I guess I will include a picture (but I didn't personally take this):

So this is a picture that I snagged from wikipedia, and it is of the Durian (known as the "king of fruits" in Southeast Asia). To give you an idea of what it is like, it has been banned from public transportation systems in Southeast Asia because its odor is so strong. People generally either love or hate durian, I don't think there really is a middle ground. We tried this on one of my first days here and my experience was not pleasant at all. So you will be able to tell if you are within probably like 30 feet of a durian because it will smell like a gas-leak. As if that is not enough, in order to eat it, you have to pick up one of the large seeds which is covered with something that looks like raw chicken, and eat the raw-chicken-looking substance, only to find that the texture of the durian is also like that of raw chicken meat. The smell was so overwhelming that I honestly could not tell you what it tasted like, only that I want no part in durians ever again (although I hear that 1. it is an acquired taste and 2. that if you put it in the freezer it is a lot better to eat because it subdues the smell). For anyone reading this that likes durian, I apologize for my awful description -- I will certainly try durian again at least once before I leave and I'll let you know how it goes.

So anyway, expect a post on Monday night my time, Monday morning EST.

Love you all!!