thaipusam!

this weekend, thaipusam is being celebrated in KL. thaipusam is a hindu holiday in which they pray for their sins, and celebrate murugan. millions of tamils flock to the large statue of murugan here in KL, and the party lasts for three days! it's very interesting. i didn't want to go, because i don't like crowds, but then i went and am happy i did.



as is typical for me, i got henna'ed. only i paid $3 versus the $20 it'd be in america...



the men all shave their heads. okay, not all. but many.



the henna takes concentration.




lots of preparations before the final ascent to the top of the caves.




the piercings are known as kavadi, or a burden placed upon oneself to show your dedication and ask for something from the Gods in return. it can happen in a few other forms, but the piercings are the most extreme.





i didn't figure out the purpose of breaking all the coconuts, but it was interesting.



balloon men were everywhere. also i think the man on the right was auctioning kitchenware.



a mini theme park was set up in the area. there were a LOT of rides, none of which existed when i was there in november. so of course, an unnerving ferris wheel ride was necessary.



i don't know where the theme park came from, or why it had harry potter painted on one of the rides.



from the top of the ferris wheel, we could see the petronas towers and the kl tower!



looking down on the festivities.



the other rides actually looked pretty cool. but pretty crazy.



i got to play around with my new camera's settings, so this excited me.



there were lots of mini shops set up with dresses and jewelry, and of course food. lots of food. i had a "magic ice cream" which was actually just frozen milk, but nonetheless interesting.

so that was my experience at thaipusam. fairly tame compared to what i see, but it just so happened we left at a good time because soon enough the storms came and it rained all evening. and now i get to relax and enjoy the third day of my weekend!

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home time.

my time at home was a month ago, but it feels like yesterday. january has been an exceptionally slow-moving month, so here's what happened not-yesterday:



firstly, i had a super long layover in seoul. it's now one of my favorite airpots for super long layovers. there's a huge lounge on the second floor with lots of places to just sit and relax/rest. i got my nails done, and then i found the hello kitty cafe! it was a pretty perfect layover. i also got totally caught up on my shows.



after some time in california (in which i took NO pictures, so unlike me!), i had just over a week at my home sweet home. and with that came a white christmas!! yes. my two trips home now have been timed so perfectly that i got to experience justenough of the four seasons. i'll skip spring, but that's okay.



i got this magical disney princess bag for christmas, and i got to spend so many days with my favorite person!



the little dog was, by all accounts, her normal little dog self.



i also brushed up on my jenga skills.



coming back, i went through amsterdam. the airport of cheese. and yes, that means i did do my first around-the-world trip. magical.



eventually though, i made it back. and once i got back, christmas was gone and chinese new year decor has taken over!




my mom got me a cookbook for christmas, so now i have been trying to cook more at home. for starters, some star wars pancakes. and then sweet and sour chicken! the churros, however, were delightful and came from la boca, a restaurant here. someday i'll make my own churros!

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