Alright, so it's been a month since our India trip, but I've been soo lazy... Jacky and I are at the half-way mark of our big journey, and it's been amazing so far. I'll try my best to make frequent blog posts, but my netbook died last week :( Which means.... I won't be able to upload photos/blog until I either get it fixed, find an Internet cafe (like now), or return home.
Anyway, the first official leg of our Asia trip began on June 29, 2011. We had a brief one-day stopover in Kuala Lumpur, but I'll talk more about it later. It was both of our first times in India, so we though it'd be wise to go with a tour. That was seriously a smart, smart decision. We booked with a company called Friends Travel Services, and they helped us arrange accommodation, transport, and guided services in New Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.
We started off with a city tour of both old and new Delhi. I was really surprised at all the attention we attracted... There was constant staring and gawking. I thought that in a ginormous city like Delhi, there would obviously be many tourists and unfamiliar faces, but I guess not. After a couple of days, I got really tired of all the photos (most of the time without permission)... I felt like a total zoo animal. Well, not anyone's fault really.
Jacky and I at the India Gate. We used my tripod to take this photo, and at least 5-6 men were standing around my camera in some sort of trance... Seriously.
Us at the Lotus Temple (gorgeous!)... Same deal with the self-portrait.
Our driver took us to relatively "expensive" restaurants. Jacky and I (incorrectly) assumed that food would be cheap, but obviously there are different classes of eateries. Anyway, that was fine by us. It's always nice to know that your food is clean. I had butter chicken at least every other day... One of my favourite dishes ever!
After Delhi, we drove 6 hours to Jaipur city. The drive wasn't supposed to be so long, but traffic was horrendous. This is one of the attractions we visited, a beautiful mosque that is largely frequented by the locals.
As it was a mosque, it was very important to cover up your shoulders and everything below the knees. They gave me something to wear that looked like a kimono, very cute!
Jacky had never been on a camel before, so he was very excited to see rides being offered at nearly every tourist attraction.
I, on the other hand, was more interested in smaller, slithery animals ;) I always thought that snakes were attracted to the music, but apparently they just mimic the charmers' movements.
The following morning, we went on an elephant ride at Amber Fort and it was lovely. It was different from my experience of riding elephants in Thailand because some of the elephants in India are painted :) 
The Taj Mahal, simply put, is gorgeous. We left our hotel at about 7am, but it was still relatively busy. Apparently tripods are not allowed past the gate, but I didn't see any signs indicating that, so I spent a good 10 minutes arguing with security. I finally gave up when he showed me a teeeeny tiny sign with that as it's fine print. Lame.
Anyway, it was freakin' hot! We were boiling by the time it was 9am.. I don't think I could ever ever get used to 40+ weather. We tried to do some jump shot poses but got tired after 5 mins. Haha...
Wheee!
OMG, the McDonald's.... Hehehe. They had some cool items on their menu, like McSpicy Paneer and Chicken Maharaja Mac. Most Indians don't eat beef, so I was interested in what the McDonalds there had to offer..
Vegetarian Pizza McPuff! It tasted like a pizza pop.
On our fifth day in India, we flew to Leh Ladakh, an area in the region of Kashmir and Jammu. This province is one of the most controversial regions in India because of its conflicts with Pakistan. Leh is in the northernmost part of India, very close to Tibet. the whole area is very mountainous and beautiful, but it took a while to get used to the altitude.
Leh is popular place for backpackers. The region is full of culture and has an aura of mystique surrounding the whole town. We visited several monasteries and religious monuments... good way to soak in a lot of culture ;)
Leh is a town of many faiths, and it is a great example of how people can coexist peacefully despite differences in beliefs. Really lovely.
On our last day, we drove all the way up to Khardung la - the highest motorable pass in the world. In other words, the highest drive-able road... ever.
The views were amazing, but never ever again! The ride up was horrible.. At 18,000+ feet above sea level... Omg, some people can die up here.
We lived really close to the markets, and I bought a really nice pair of "alibaba" pants, as the storekeeper put it.
This is going to sound totally creepy, but the kids were soo cute! Leh is not only occupied by Indians, but also migrants from neighboring areas such as Nepal, Tibet... We got to see people of different ethnicities. Typically, I don't like to take photos of people looking directly at the camera, but upon arrival at the airport, I was told to ask for permission before taking anyone's photo.
People were very friendly and happy to pose for me :)
This kid was cute. I asked if I could take his photo (as if he understood what I meant... haha), and he immediately started sucking his thumb as a pose.. Hehe.
Cute Tibetan girl in a traditional costume :)
Overall, it was a fantastic trip. We were very grateful that we chose to do tours, because it would definitely be difficult to get around if it weren't for our awesome driver. I don't know when we will be in India again, but we'll definitely be back to check out southern India.
Next post... Singapore!
Next post... Singapore!
Earlier in the year, Jacky and I both applied for London 2012 Olympic tickets. Unfortunately, he didn't get any, but I totally lucked out.. I SCORED MY FAVOURITE EVENTS!!! 
Trying to order and eat as much as we can... 
Group photo of the new teachers :)
Conch! My favourite seafood :D
We visited a local mosque... We seriously would not have known it was one though, because of the architecture. It might as well have been a Buddhist shrine. 
The female dancers were absolutely stunning. The costumes are gorgeous!
Our second day was really busy. We booked a full day tour that included visiting a neolithic village, the much-anticipated terracotta warriors, lunch, the first emperor's mausoleum and then the Big Goose pagoda. 
Finally.. the terracotta warriors! I've been wanting to visit since I was a kid, and I was so glad to be there. Below is a photo of one of the farmers who discovered the warrior remnants. We bought postcards so we could take a photo with him -_-
The warriors were found in shards and pieces, and each one takes approximately 2.5 years to piece back together. Below is a warrior that was pieced together and put on display for the museum. 
Wheee! :) Group photo in front of the biggest exhibit of the warriors. 
Every single warrior has distinct facial features and/or hairstyles. There are approximately 8,000 of them in total, but the majority of them have not either been excavated or/nor pieced back together. 
Anddd another one! 
Overall, it was an amazing trip - short and sweet! In my opinion, two days is more than enough to see the tourist-y areas of the city. Check out my 
Expo 2010~ Too bad we missed it.
We had sooo much Starbucks...
I was so excited to find a A390 in Shanghai! It's basically an airplane-themed restaurant chain from Taiwan, but it wasn't the same :(
The interior.. Pretty cool huh?
Had amazing sushi :D Haven't had it in soo long...
Ahmed and Dena finally arrived! Yay... We went to O'Malley's to check out the weekly pub crawl, but it was pretty dead 'cause it was the day before New Year's eve.. Oops.
Ahmed and his Haagen Dazs craze -.-
Ahmed & Dena in the gardens.
After a couple hours, Katelyn joined us along with my cousin Steven and his girlfriend. We had amazing shao long bao (pork buns).. Mmmm mmm!
Katelyn & I. We don't look that tired, do we? ;)
We brought Ahmed & Dena to the Bund, and we took a bunch of photos of the Shanghai skyline.
We went to check out Dongtai Street, which is an antique market. We loved it! Katelyn & Dena both got some souvenirs.
The last thing I remember doing in Shanghai is standing outside in the blistering cold trying to capture the "I 