VOLUNTEERING WITH HABITAT IN EL SALVADOR

Our group poses in front of the fruits of our labors.

Insane volcano running aside, El Salvador (and Phil) have been good to us. So good in fact, that we felt like we owed it a little something. And then, just like that, the perfect opportunity presented itself. 

We were invited to join in on a Habitat for Humanity build in the town of Juayua, with a number of US Embassy and USAID staff and friends. We've preached the merits of serendipity in the past, and this is another perfect example. Being hardcore voluntourists, it was an invitation we couldn't pass up.

What was not so excellent was the 6 a.m. departure time. That's 6 a.m. "U.S. time," not "Salvadoran time," which would have been a much more tolerable 7-7:30 ish. No matter. Phil, a McDonald's connoisseur and unofficial Fastfood Ambassador, knew of a great local restaurant where we could grab a quick breakfast on the way (see photo at right).

Once fully fueled, we were all set to grab some shovels and get to work. And there was much to be done. The house was without a floor, and hundreds of buckets of sand were needed to bring the interior floor up to the correct level. And so, we began shoveling.     

And shoveling....and shoveling.

And when we were done with the shoveling, and pouring, and pounding the dirt with paint cans filled with concrete, that floor looked beautiful.

And we were proud of ourselves. But there was still more work to be done.

We pulled weeds, moved rocks, got started on building the exterior patio, and primed the entire exterior and interior, for both plaster and paint.  Not only did we get to help out a great organization, we also got a killer triceps workout, and worked up an intense appetite.

But yet again, serendipity had our backs. The town of Juayua is also home to an incredible weekend street food festival. And this just happened to be a weekend. 

Needless to say, we stuffed our faces with grilled pork, beef, rabbit, and anything else these happy ladies heaped on our plates. Unfortunately, gorrobo (iguana) wasn't in season, so we'll have to come back. Shucks.

Two happy ladies prepping our lunch at the famous weekend Juayua food festival.

SINGAPORE SLINGIN'

We didn't know much about Singapore before we arrived, other than you can get caned for chewing gum, you can get hanged for doing drugs, and for spray painting cars, well, you may remember the American wanna-be graffiti artist Michael Fay. So, we armed ourselves with a brand new pack of Bubblicious (just to tempt the gods) hopped a bus for five hours, and went to see what kind of trouble we could get into.

Singapore is nothing, if not expensive. We made the mistake of booking a cheap room on Agoda.com, the cheap SE Asian traveler's best friend. The online reviews for the "hotel" were questionable, but we figured those people were just high maintenance. We were wrong. Upon arrival we discovered we would be staying in a "by the hour" hotel...that hadn't been cleaned for at least a decade, and that we'd unfortunately already paid for. (Note: When in Singapore, DO NOT stay at the Aliwal Park Hotel). We put down towels on the floor so we didn't have to touch anything, we slept in our clothes, and we found a clean hostel the next night.

So, other than accidentally sleeping in a brothel, there are three things you must do in Singapore:

1) Have a Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel

2) Go to the ATM to pay for #1

3) Have some incredible street food

Seeing as how we'd already covered the pre-requisite brothel incident, we were off to have a Singapore Sling at the incredibly beautiful, colonial era Raffles Hotel. After all, the drink was invented here, plus Rudyard Kipling, Joseph Conrad, and other well-known writers stayed here, so we had to see it for ourselves. We plopped down at the bar, ordered a drink, and got really excited when it arrived!

It was a lovely drink, until we got the bill....26 Singapore Dollars ($18 US) for ONE drink. Wow, glad we didn't order two!

Kip was underwhelmed. For him, the only saving grace was that he got a free appetizer (peanuts), plus he'd found perhaps the only place in Singapore where you could litter without worry of arrest and being caned--the Raffles bar allows patrons to toss empty peanut shells on the bar's floor. 

Having experienced the infamous Singapore Sling, we were off to take care of number three on the list. What Singapore does have is incredible street food. Ask Anthony Bourdain, who's show "No Reservations" has filmed here multiple times. Or ask us! 

We were lucky enough to find a seat at this very crowded "restaurant." Liz was a little apprehensive at the open propane powering every table's stove and cook pot, but this many Singaporeans couldn't be wrong, so we sat down and had some incredible Tom Yam soup, along with an amazing array of things you grill yourself on tinfoil--prawns, salmon, white-fish, chicken, fish balls, eggs, bok choi, and bacon-wrapped sprouts (obviously, since bacon was involved, Liz couldn't get enough of these). 

When we had thoroughly gorged ourselves to well past our stomach capacity, we got some ice cream and waddled home (there were no wheelbarrows available). 

THANKS FROM KUALA LUMPUR

One of the Petronas Towesr at night.

Hello from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We finally made it out of the Philippines (again) and caught a short flight to "KL," as it's known here. Had to see the famous Petronas Towers, formerly the world's tallest skyscraper (it's now the Burj, in Dubai), get a $5 foot massage, and eat some of the city's famous street food.

Happy hour in Kuala Lumpur with a stellar view of the Petronas Towers. Thanks!

Dinner. You pick from a massive selection of kabobs. They grill it for you or you cook at your table. Solid concept.

Carrying a heavy pack is hard on the feet. Really! Not pictured...Kip was just off to Liz's left.

Next stop is southern Malaysia and Borneo if all goes as planned.