Reflecting on Shanghai

Why hello, I've made it back to the States in one piece. Ok maybe more like 3 pieces if you include my two suitcases

Here I am at 6:30 AM wide awake and recovering from a cold that I brought from Shanghai (no I did not catch SARS or the bird flu so please don't treat me like the Plague). I don't have a job to return to, or any other significant reason to stay on a regular sleeping schedule so I think it will take a while before I overcome the worst jet lag I have ever had coming back from Asia.

I guess this blog is a bit of a misnomer now that I am including Shanghai but I ended up spending about 2.5 weeks there, in and out of other countries and cities so it makes up a pretty significant portion of my trip. I still have mixed feelings about Shanghai, I was glad to have at least become acquainted with the city but not sure if I would ever want to spend an extended amount of time there again. As I mentioned earlier, as far as population and land mass goes, Shanghai is enormous, trumps Bangkok and even New York City. When it comes to navigating your way around, you need to know exactly where you're going otherwise you will definitely get lost and in some areas, people are not exactly the most helpful for directions. Shanghai is too big of a city to walk around trying to guess where things are, so it's good to have a map. My mother scolded me for calling Chinese people mean in an earlier post and even though I have met some nicer individuals in Shanghai, I still think it is still one of the least friendly countries I have visited but now I understand more why they are like that. I would compare being in public places in Shanghai to being in class with a bunch of ambitious, med school bound students. There are a lot of you gunning for a few spots (or goods, whatever the case may be), every man or woman for him/herself. If you aren't aggressive enough, someone else will have no problem taking it from you.

I should note that my parents came into Shanghai when I got back from Hong Kong which was a relief because they could relieve me of my Chinese speaking duties. A good thing because I didn't have to struggle so much but maybe not so good because then I wasn't practicing my Chinese as much anymore? They were under the impression that my Mandarin was really weak (although I would too if my daughter dropped out of Chinese school at 13 years old and barely passed Chinese in college) but I think I really surprised them when I actually did speak. I still have a long way to go but it is nice to know that I can at least engage in conversation with a native speaker and not sound like a total idiot.

This leg of my trip was really different from the SE Asia portion because instead of having a set plan of which sites to see in what city, I was living with my relatives who are obviously well integrated with the locals. While I was able to see the vast majority of the tourist sites in Shanghai such as the Bund, Jing'an Temple, the Yuyuan Gardens, Xi Tian Di, the shopping district of Nanjing Road, and so many other places that I can't even name at the moment, I also spent a lot of time hanging out near where I was staying in Pudong eating cheap noodles and getting cheap massages. We went to the massage parlor so often that the employees started to recognize us and would request to work on us so they could ask us questions about the U.S. Since the cost of about 10 massages in Shanghai could probably equal 1 decent massage in the States, I probably won't get a massage here for a long, long time. My muscles will definitely miss the special treatment.

Also in any typical Asian relatives fashion, I spent a lot of time in Shanghai EATING. Anyone who knows me knows that I like to eat. A lot sometimes. But even this became overwhelming at times. There is a lot of good food in Shanghai because you can find a range of cheap local eats to high end dining and I was fortunate to have access to this variety. Everyone knows about the delicious xiao long baos (soup dumplings) so I'm going to rave about their underrated cousin, the sheng jian baos (raw fried buns) instead. Unlike the xiao long baos which are wrapped in thin sheets of dough much like wonton wraps, sheng jian baos are soup dumplings inside a flour dough bun (those white bread-y buns like the tsa sa baos) and these buns are pan fried until they are crispy, seasoned with sesame seeds and scallions and dipped in vinegar. You have to be careful when you eat them though, the soup inside the dumplings take a while to cool down so you usually have to bite a small hole in the bun to let the hot soup vent. They are so delicious and I have little hope that I will find them in the States but if you are in Shanghai, be sure to search the local food stands for these mouthfuls of delight! I also really enjoyed the noodle shops near our apartments. They are run by a Muslim Chinese group and the noodles are stretched and pulled by hand so they are called "La Mien", meaning "pulled noodles". They cook very quickly so they come out hot and fresh.

We were able to visit the 2010 Shanghai World Expo while we were there and also visited the cities of Nanjing and Yangzhou but I will talk about them in future posts. Overall despite my mixed feelings, I still had a good time in Shanghai and was able to see many different sides of the city. Good to be back home though, I'll actually have time to put work into my blog posts!

Hong Kong Kid Tour

I don't know about you guys but when I think of Hong Kong, I think of urban, globalized, commercial sophistication. A lot of top businesses are concentrated around here, people in general dress pretty nice, the shopping is decent, and there is supposedly a nightlife worth checking out.

Well, I don't have any stories about that side of Hong Kong because I totally did not do that here. If I were to summarize my trip in HK, I went to preschool, visited Disneyland, and played in the best kid's funhouse/obstacle course I have ever seen in a country club. Between my two cousins, there are four kids ages 7, 4, 3, and 1. We went to Hong Kong's wonderful world of Disneyland yesterday which is much smaller than the ones in the U.S. but since I hadn't been to Disneyworld since I was 10, I didn't notice much of a difference. We went on Space Mountain, It's a Small World (as cute as it was, my Women's Studies eyes made me look at the displays in a different light), a Buzz Lightyear shooting game-ride, and Donald Duck's 4-D screening. We even got to see the daily Parade where the announcements and some of the songs were sung in Cantonese but still entertaining. Today I went to a country club my cousin Vivian belongs to, which has the sickest obstacle course for kids. Much like Playspace, except a hundred times better! There were so many ropes, ladders, and cushions to climb, tunnels to crawl through, firepoles to swing down, and rotating tables to jump over. The best part were a series of huge slides, one of them requiring a potato sack and had bumps along the way. Another one had a vertical drop before ending on a slide. I don't know how little kids just went down this slide without any hesitation but my cousin-in-law Will had to push me down because I was too scared at first. It's like a 5-10 foot free fall before you land on a slide... so scary but fun! We ended the day going to the Wan Chai Market for some shopping, had some good eats and bought a Halloween costume which are so much cheaper here and they sell them year round and some leggings.

I will be leaving Hong Kong to go back to Shanghai soon and even though it was a short trip, I enjoyed seeing my cousins again and their young but growing families. If anything, I got to see what I get to look forward to in the future perhaps. No nightlife stuff this time but going down the scariest slide of my life was definitely worth it :)

Sorry no pictures this time, my computer is not reading my camera at the moment. And I will try and break the great firewall of China when I get back but it is likely I may not get to update this again when I return to the States which will actually be in less than a few weeks, yikes!

Hello from Hong Kong

So as it turns out I can't access my blog in Shanghai, which means I will update during my short time in Hong Kong! I'm mainly here to see my two cousins, Vivian and Livia and their families since this is my third time in the city. There won't be much sightseeing on this trip, which is fine because the exhaustion of traveling through SE Asia has finally caught up to me and I've been tired all day today.

I've spent my first few days back in Shanghai with Jaimie, who just finished a month long internship in Singapore and has been living in Taiwan pretty much since she graduated from college. The weather has been pretty sad and gray so we have been taking sightseeing pretty easy so far. We've visited the Super Grand Mall to eat some xiao lon bao, Shanghainese soup dumplings and walked around The Bund on the Pudong side to see the French Concession on the opposite side of the Huanpu River. It's pretty foggy out so we couldn't get the greatest view of the skyline but I can only imagine what it could look like. Shanghai has been gearing up for the World Expo 2010 starting in May so they have been doing some heavy duty landscaping and cleaning of the city. Haibo, the adorable little blue Expo mascot can be spotted at pretty much every corner and block of Shanghai, and now people on the street are selling stuffed and keychain Haibos.

The architecture in Shanghai is modern and glorious. The buildings just keep getting taller and more extravagant, definitely a sign that this city is growing and developing at a crazy pace. Maybe that's why the people here are rude. Yes, I said it. I don't think the people in Shanghai are very nice at all. I realize its part of the city's culture and I am uncomfortable with it because I am obviously not used to it but I've only been in Shanghai for a total of 4-5 days so far and I'm already sick of people cutting in line, refusing to help with directions, and walking around like they have a huge stick up their you-know-what. The most frustrating part is feeling helpless about it because my Chinese is not advanced enough where I can express my disdain for the rudeness (or at least tell off a person who just cut in front of me). I suppose it's not my place to say anything but isn't it also a universal thing to treat one another with respect?

Other than that, Jaimie and I have been able to practice our Chinese. We've known each other for a really long time (about 19 years!) but I don't think we have ever heard the other speak Chinese before. The first night we decided to go out the other night to the Jiang Temple train stop to grab dinner and check out the nightlife. It was a bit difficult to find a bar for some reason but we went into a club called Fame which had really good American hip hop music but no one spoke English there. Instead we sipped on Long Island Iced Teas and sort of talked to a friendly bartender who tried to teach us this dice game, which I still don't understand the rules to this day.

So no concrete plans in Hong Kong, except to spend time with my cousins and their little kids. It's supposed to rain for the duration of my stay so I'm not sure how much we will be able to do but I did leave some room in my luggage which means, I should go shopping at some point!

Snorkeling in Ko Maa

I can't believe this leg of my trip is almost over! We left Ko Pha Ngan this evening and back in Bangkok. I was sad to leave our little beach paradise but if I believe in fate, then all signs pointed to leaving the island....

The day after the Songkran celebration, I cut my heel on a sharp rock (same foot as the first cut from the water fight) probably because I was trying to stay off my original cut and put more weight on my heel as I walked on the beach. Still following me? With two cuts on the same foot, it was hard to walk in the sand because bits of sand would get stuck. Yesterday we took a songthaew up north to Ko Maa, an small island connected to Ko Pha Ngan by a strip of sandy beach known for its nice beaches and snorkeling. What should've been a 5 minute walk to Ko Maa from where we were dropped off turned into a 20 minute walk because I couldn't walk properly. It was well worth it though, my first snorkeling experience was.... eventful. We definitely saw a lot of colorful fish swimming and sea slugs, sea urchins, and possibly a sea cucumber hiding in some amazing geometric shaped coral. I felt like I was in the fish tank of some fancy Chinese restaurant and we didn't even have to swim out that far. We turned around to return to shore and I noticed the sea floor was getting really shallow so I put my hand down on a rock to stand up and ended up slicing my index finger and the side of my left hand. I didn't expect the rock to be sharp so I'm guessing I cut it on coral? My finger was bleeding quite a bit so our snorkeling adventure had to come to an end. Fortunately I brought a small bag of medical supplies so I was able to clean out my cuts and cover it with a band-aid but that meant no more trips to the ocean for me.....

Nevertheless we were sad to leave Harmony Beach Resort and its remote beach, yummy food, and awesome staff. We took a boat to Ko Samui from Haad Rin and had some time to kill so I got a really great Thai massage while Haj continued to read The Kite Runner (I basically shoved the book on to him when he arrived) next door. Fast forward a couple of hours and now we are back in Bangkok, where we are far from the protests and had a delicious dinner on the street. There are several street food vendors on our block and we came across a noodle cart with a friendly older man who was more comfortable speaking Mandarin to me since his English was shaky. He gave us egg noodles in soup with wontons, slices of bbq pork, fried pork belly, crab meat, bok choy and scallions. This dinner is worth mentioning because it was SO delicious, even though the portions were very small. I love wontons and this was one of the best ones I had ever had, it had a peppery flavor that was just right and texture was tender (weird but I think the stuffing of a lot of wontons can be too gummy sometimes). And Dad, it looked like the meat was prepared ahead of time and they just cooked the noodles and cut the meat up and added it to the soup. I wish we had more time to eat more street food! Oh yeah, then I walked across the street to get some mango and sticky rice. What a perfect last dinner in Bangkok...

Tomorrow's our last day in Thailand and we are still trying to figure out what to do so I'm not sure if I will be able to update this blog after today for a while. I would like to keep up this blog in Shanghai but I'm not sure if the internet in China will allow access to Blogger. We will have to see but if I can't update from Shanghai, I will definitely write some new posts in Hong Kong, where I will be from 4/21-4/24. Jaimie will be in Shanghai when I return so we will be hanging out for a few days, who knows what kind of trouble we will get ourselves into!

Happy Songkran!

Yesterday we engaged in the biggest water fight I had ever been in my life because of Songkran, the Thai New Year. Throwing water on the streets is the biggest and most obvious form of celebration of Songkran, and Ko Pha Ngan was no different. A bunch of us staying at the same resort piled into a songthaew to make our way to Thong Sala, the Southwest region of the island where the biggest water fight took place. The 4 km drive already had us soaked from people on the street spraying us with water guns, hoses, and dumping by the bucketfuls. Since it's pretty warm out, the water was quite refreshing, except for the occasional chilly water that gets thrown on you. Once we reached Thong Sala, we bought some water guns at a convenience store and joined the crowds. There were large buckets of water in front of most stores so you could refill and you just hit anyone from locals to fellow tourists, everyone was pretty much involved. I felt like I was living a childhood dream I never achieved, except this was ten times bigger and better than any water fight that I could ever imagine. Some of the locals had buckets of flour or colored baby powder that they would wipe on your face, another Songkran tradition.

Why throw water? Like I've mentioned before, April is one of Thailand's hottest months and while the water relieves us foreigners of this heat, water throwing originated from a way to pay respect to your loved ones, particularly your elders. People would cleanse Buddha images at home or at monasteries with water as a "renewal bathing ritual" then use this water to cleanse each other for the start of a new year. Somehow this evolved to young people throwing water at each other in the middle of streets and at passing vehicles but you know, whatever gets everyone involved right?

Unfortunately none of us took our cameras to Thong Sala because they would not have survived this soak fest. Towards the end of the festival, I cut the bottom of my foot on either a piece of glass or sharp rock. It's pretty shallow, like a paper cut but I couldn't really walk after that. For the New Year, there was a Black Moon party, located about 2 km away from where we were staying and I was worried about my foot but we couldn't miss a beach party while we were at Ko Pha Ngan! There was techno music blasting, black light artwork scattered, and fire dancers entertaining us by the water. I was bummed I couldn't be more active last night but at least we got to people-watch and check out the party scene.

My foot feels a lot better now, we'll see if I can stick it in the water today! Those of us back at home, we should really think about organizing an epic water fight this summer....

Island in the Sun

We are now at our last stop of the Thailand leg of this trip, Ko Pha Ngan, the backpacker's getaway island off Ko Samui in the Gulf of Thailand. It was sorta rough getting here, our speedboat from Ko Samui to Pha Ngan was delayed by almost an hour, then 13 of us were crammed in a songthaew to get to our hotels. We were a bit grumpy by the end of the night but looking out the window the next day to see that we are about 20 feet away from the beach totally made up for it. We are located between Haad Rin and Thong Sala, a remote stretch of beach and bungalows and for some reason, no one was at the beach today so Haj and I literally had an entire beach to ourselves! Maybe because it was way too hot out today? Every time the sun poked out from the clouds, I felt like I was in an oven. We spent most of the time in the crystal clear water, which was actually pretty warm. I'll admit, this is not the nicest beach I've ever been to (that would have to go to Miami Beach or Cabo San Lucas in my opinion) but the absence of other tourists and peacefulness makes this experience a winner.

Not sure if the rest of you have been doing this, but we've been following the protests in Bangkok all day. There is definitely some concern for returning to Bangkok since violence has taken place at this point and it looks like neither side is backing down. With the most recent news of the Democrat Party failing to report substantial funding for its election, I wonder what the PM will do but I hope no one else gets hurt in this protest.

No Timetables

This is the fourth day in a row that I've updated this blog, you're welcome!

No major tours planned for today. We met up with Stacey and Brittany to visit Wat Umong, a temple built in the form of tunnels underneath a large chedi (another term for stupa commonly used in Chiang Mai) around 1380 inspired by a monk who loved the forest. The Wat lies within a park of other forms of community gathering. We almost walked into some ceremony held for monks wearing white robes but there were living quarters for monks and a library on the compound.

In the middle of the heat, Haj convinced me to see Wat Chedi Luang, another one of Chiang Mai's most well known temples. There was a dazzling temple housing a large gilded Buddha but the real sight was the large pink brick chedi perched on a set of steep stairs. Half of the roof has been destroyed by an earthquake in 1545 and while it is not exactly known when the chedi was built, it has been estimated that construction began sometime in the 14th century. This chedi also used to house an Emerald Buddha, but since the earthquake this Buddha has been moved to Luang Prabang.

With nothing left on the itinerary, I decided to get my first Thai massage. I attempted to get one at the Chiang Mai Disabled Center but they happened to be closed today, I wasn't really sure of the reason but I was really disappointed as I had waited all day for the massage center to open (hours were 5pm-9pm). I just walked in another massage parlor and hoped for the best. I tried not to laugh when the masseuse pressed on my leg (I was really ticklish there) and I think Haj tried not to laugh when I was engaged in some wrestle-like position. I really enjoyed my massage overall, I feel like I got a good stretch out of it in addition to rubbing out some knots in my shoulders. I can't wait to get another one, but it'll probably have to wait until we reach Ko Pha Ngan.

Almost forgot to mention a dish that I really enjoyed today. Khao Soi is a bowl of egg noodles in a coconut Thai curry sauce, meat, pickled vegetables and onions, topped with a layer of deep fried egg noodles, a popular dish in northern Thailand. I can eat noodles every day if I had to, especially noodles in soup and I definitely tried something new and delicious today. If you are wondering why I talk about food all the time on this blog, it's mostly because my dad always wants to know what I'm eating over here. Except for the period I was sick in Vietnam, eating has been of the best parts about this trip, I wonder if I can call myself a travel foodie at this point...

As we returned to our guesthouse, we were sprayed by water by fellow backpackers, who had no idea that we were only trying to get into the guesthouse. Correction: water was sprayed AND dumped on us by the bucketfuls. It's still warm out and the New Year over here is coming up hence the water fights. I usually have a good sense of humor about this but the water was dirty and I was wearing a white dress. Thanks guys.

Elephant Walk

Today we went on an "Elephant Safari" tour at the Mae Taeng Elephant Nature Park, another must-see event outside of Chiang Mai. This day long program started out with a welcoming Elephant Show where dozens of Asian Elephants bathed in a nearby river and marched on the stage together. They performed various tricks for us such as carrying their handlers by their trunks or legs (we even saw a few handlers standing on their tusks!), kicking a soccer ball or putting a golf ball, and finishing off with a few elephant artists painting for us. The nearest elephant to us painted an elephant, go figure. It was pretty impressive though, the elephants seemed pretty pleased with themselves.

After a rickety ox cart ride up a hill, we loaded on to an elephant for our hour long elephant ride. The elephant that Haj and I rode on was one of the bigger elephants with large ears, very uncharacteristic of an Asian elephant. I had heard about this in the past but didn't realize how bumpy elephant rides really were! We had to get used to the constant shifting and held on for dear life when the elephant walked downhill, I almost slid out under the bar. We went on quite a walk though, through a river and up hills. Thank you Elephant.

After lunch we went on a bamboo raft ride down the river. They gave us rice hats which now I can see why everyone in Vietnam wears one, they really give you shade. April is supposed to be the hottest month of the year in this area so the water level is very low, which resulted in the raft running over rocks on the bottom of the river and getting stuck. Our raft rower let each of us row the raft for a while, I'm sure he was entertained by that. We got to see more elephants crossing the river or in their pens as we made our way down. Our tour also took us to an Orchid Farm, which was nice but nothing too special then finally took us back to our hotels.

Haj and I tried to meet up with some friends for dinner but couldn't find the place. Instead we noticed a very cheap Pad Thai stall crowded with locals and went in there, after giving up on our original destination. The cooks didn't speak any English and I'm not even sure if the water they gave us was clean but the Pad Thai was soooo good. I've also been enjoying the banana roti they make on the street carts. I've always enjoyed roti since my trip to Singapore and Malaysia but eating it as a dessert gives it a whole new dimension. We've had the banana roti with honey and with chocolate, both very decadent but the honey is the best. Since my sickness in Hanoi I had been a little hesitant to grab food from street vendors (and Ali can tell you how I look at their food so longingly during our entire trip) but at this point, I think I can tolerate a lot more than before and Thailand has a good reputation for keeping their cooking facilities clean.

I am about to finish my third book on this trip, Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult. Anticipating that, I picked up The Lovely Bones which recently came out in theaters at a used book store and I can't wait to read it since I really wanted to see the movie. A small reason why I enjoy traveling is because I can catch up on reading and so far I've read My Sister's Keeper by Picoult, The Kite Runner & A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, and now finishing up Handle with Care. I'm totally getting into Jodi Picoult's novels, so Lifetime but I love reading about bioethical drama and families. Anyone have any other book recommendations? I bet I can get a lot of reading done on the beach later this trip.....

Zippy Lining

Today we went on a zip-lining tour through Jungle Flights (whose advertisements are just as common around here as Flight of the Gibbon). A van took us about an hour outside Chiang Mai, although I'm not sure which direction it is because I was asleep on the way over there... and on the way back. This "tour" consisted of zip lining through 22 platforms in a forest, repelling down up to 40 m from a tree, and walking across 2 rickety sky bridges way above the ground. It was quite exhilarating to zip down a rope in a harness and our tour guides were hilarious and kept things interesting. They would entertain us by hanging upside down on their zip lines or shake the rope to scare us while we were on the ropes. It's pretty funny that this is part of the Chiang Mai experience even though we were not in Chiang Mai to do this. The scariest moment for me was dropping down 40 meters above the ground, I begged the tour guides to drop me slowly in Chinese since they had discovered that I was Chinese and kept speaking to me in Chinese. They definitely let go of the rope a few times to let me free fall for a couple of seconds but I managed to keep my eyes open to experience everything. A large insect also decided to fly in my eye earlier during the day, and my blinking effectively killed it but then I had a bug in my eye. That was entertaining.

We finished off the day with a nice lunch but then we were driven to some random hot springs right outside the forest. I'm not sure why they thought it would be appealing for us tourists to see hot springs in 100 degree weather, especially if the springs itself were too hot for us to touch the water. We walked around the fence surrounding the hot springs the size of a large table, cringed at the stench of sulfur, and walked to a coffee stand to get some shade. The driver realized we were not really enjoying this so we went back to the van and went back to Chiang Mai.

Later that night, we returned to the Night Bazaar where I snagged yet another dress and some souvenirs while Haj continued his quest to find the perfect t-shirts (we have already found some really funny ones). We bumped into Brittany and Stacey at the Night Bazaar and walked to Brasserie Restaurant east of the Ping River, where we had some beer and listened to some decent live music. Probably a good idea to get to bed since we have an elephant tour to wake up to tomorrow morning!

Slowing Down in Chiang Mai

We made it to Chiang Mai in one piece from the train thankfully, which was quite an upgrade from the train from Hanoi to Hue. A second class sleeper train will give you two levels of bunks (as opposed to three in Vietnam) with clean sheets and curtains. You are also out in the open rather than being crammed in a cabin with 5 other people. I think the worst part of the train ride was having two little cockroaches skittering inches from my face, but it was decent overall.

14 hours later we arrived in Chiang Mai. There were an endless number of things to do and see in Bangkok but I was ready to leave the capital. I can see why everyone who has visited Thailand loves Chiang Mai, it is big enough where there are plenty of activities to keep tourists busy and entertained but doesn't have the crazy traffic and city rush of Bangkok. The next few days will be pretty busy so we decided to take it easy today. We ate lunch at The Funky Dog Cafe, where the owner looks like he belongs in the age of Hippies and was telling us how art is his medicine and that his children are his teachers (and that computers are bad), it was pretty entertaining. The way that the city of Chiang Mai is structured is that the old quarter is set within a two km square moat, with more commercialized and tourist spots sitting outside the moat. It is an easy walk over the bridge to leave the old quarter and there are many opportunities to leave the city for trekking, zip-lining, elephant riding, bungee jumping, etc etc etc. We walked down Ratchdamnoen Road, passed by a several temples and reached the end of the road for Wat Phra Singh, Chiang Mai's must-see temple. I was surprised that we didn't have to pay an entrance fee to get in but even more confused by the elder monk meditating among a dozen shrines and didn't move a muscle. Haj and I debated whether he was real, I guess being deep in meditation can make you do extraordinary things?

I felt like I couldn't do much today because it was so hot. I never know what the actual temperature outside is (I don't make an effort to find out because I don't want to know) and I don't know what it's been relative to the other cities we've visited but I think my tolerance for heat is plummeting because walking has been more and more miserable as the days go by. I've been really good about staying hydrated and my fitness level was decent before this trip (always could be better I know I know) so I don't know if I am just getting mentally worn out from traveling or if the temperature really has been climbing in April.

Fortunately we were able to make it back out in the evening for the Night Bazaar, where scores of street stalls line up on thanons Chang Klan and Loi Khro selling everything from jewelry to obscene t-shirts and Hmong embroidered handbags. We were able to pick up some goods and made a mental note to take advantage of the Thai massages offered on the streets at a later date. Tomorrow we arranged for a jungle zip-lining tour which I think will be fun but I'm hoping for some shade under the trees!

Computer Challenged

Hello! As you can see, I've managed to upload some pictures on this blog but as you can also see, I am having issues formatting them so I have just limited each post to one small picture. I don't know why I'm having such a hard time with it, it's not easy to pick just one picture to summarize one destination!

Haji just got into Bangkok last night so I am excited to explore Thailand with him. I took him over to the Grand Palace (he went in while I read a book in a cafe) and we also saw the largest and heaviest solid Golden Buddha at Wat Traimit. We ended our day with a visit to Jim Thompson's House, Thailand's most loyal American expatriate who mysteriously disappeared in Malaysia in 1967. He left behind an authentic Thai architectural charm of a house with gorgeous works of Thai, Chinese, and Burmese art displayed in each room. I loved the silk paintings the most, as he was interested in the Thai cottage silk tradition. We will be leaving for Chiang Mai tomorrow on a sleeper train so if it's anything like the train ride from Hanoi to Hue... well then this should be interesting.

I also wanted to elaborate why I enjoyed the Muay Thai Fighting so much. I felt like I was actually getting a glimpse of something very important in Thai culture and it definitely helped that I love watching sports in general. Even as what appears to be a brutal sport, there was something artistic about the kicking and blocking movements and I loved the live Thai music that accompanied the fights. I also found the rituals the fighters performed before their match to be really interesting. The whole atmosphere in the Lumphini Stadium was a hit overall.

The Jude Law Effect

Sawat dii ka, we made it to Bangkok two nights ago! I have about 12 minutes left on the internet before it dies on me so I'll make this quick (sorry for the brief posts!)

Back track to Siem Reap, we toured the Angkor temples for the second day, checking out less well known but equally as neat temples Preah Khan, Neak Pean, East Mebon, Pre Rup, Banteay Kdei, and ending with a failed sunset viewing at Phnom Bakheng (sky was cloudy so we couldn't really see anything, much like the sunrise at Angkor Wat). The best story from this day was when we checked out East Mebon, I bumped into an old friend from high school, Jack! It was pretty surreal since it's been somewhere around 4-5 years since we had seen each other and running into each other at an obscure Angkor temple (out of dozens of temples scattered around the area) is pretty crazy. Other than that, my favorite temple that day would have to be Preah Khan, which actually served as a temporary residence for King Jayavarman VII while Angkor Thom was being repaired after a Siamese attack in the 12th Century. For a temporary home, this place was not too shabby. There were all these chambers with wonderful carvings on the outside and I'm not sure what they were used for, perhaps for some kind of sacred ritual? There were also trees growing out of the walls and it was a relatively shady temple so that was nice. We ended our time in Siem Reap well and ready to take on Thailand....

Ali's mother has arrived in Thailand, which I know Ali has been really excited about. We have split off a bit, they are in the Lumphini area while I am staying on Kao San Road. I met up with Jack, his friend Jesse, and two of their friends Stacey and Brittany to tour the Grand Palace yesterday, which was very glitzy and well decorated. That night we attended Muay Thai Fighting matches which I really enjoyed.

First Tour of Angkor Ruins

We woke up bright and early at 4 AM to catch the sunrise at the Angkor temples which we heard was a must-see. We arrived at Angkor Wat at around 5 AM to get a front row seat and waited for the sun to make an appearance. Unfortunately it was slightly cloudy, even rained a little so the sunrise was a bit underwhelming. It just went from not being able to see the temple at all to being able to see its outline, no cool colors or anything like that. If you ever see the temples during sunrise, bring a flashlight! It was pitch black when we arrived at the gates and luckily I had a keychain flashlight in my bag (thanks Haj!) so we were able to get to the temple without tripping over anything or falling into the moat, haha.

Angkor Wat, not to be confused with the collection of Angkor Temples was massive and complex. I loved the carvings on the walls that told traditional stories popular in the Angkor period and the layers of corridors that would make this place the perfect site for hide and go seek. There was a lot to explore at this temple alone, we spent about 4 hours here. Next, we went to Angkor Thom which is a collection of structures built by King Jayavarman VII in the late twelfth century. We saw the quirky multi-faced Bayon, the endearing Terrace of Elephants, and the mysterious Terrace of the Leper King so there was a lot of walking and a bit of climbing up the steep steps. It was getting hotter during the day but we still managed to finish out our small tour by visiting the height-happy but otherwise not so notable Ta Keo and the jungle-esque Ta Prohm where Tomb Raider was filmed. Really fun but tiring day, we have more temples to see tomorrow.

Apologies for a brief post but my traveling partner is getting hungry and impatient so more updates later! Hehe.

Teachings of Cambodia

Today was a traveling day from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, where Ali is currently working on a Fulbright essay. We spent the last two days in Phnom Penh, where another friend of Ali's from the Fulbright program has joined us. For a capital city, Phnom Penh is still under development as a lot of the sidewalks are a mess and there is a lot of construction left to finish which I'm guessing the city is still catching up from the events in the last 3 decades. There is a river running next to the many of the restaurants and bars the tourists frequent so it makes for a nice walk and there is still the occasional landmark or monument that may take you by surprise.

We visited the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda which reflects the finest of recent Khmer architecture and is similar to the wats in Laos. The roofs are stunning and the inside Buddha displays are eye-catching. All the monuments are within an organized but pretty garden and the palace is still used by the monarchy. There are also exhibits containing royal clothing, the seat the king was carried in during his coronation, and gifts to the royal family from other countries. There are many stupas in the courtyard which must have served some significant purpose or memory of the royal family but we chose to not follow a tour so we're not really sure of the specifics. A block away the Royal Palace was the National Museum which houses numerous ancient relics and sculptures of the pre-Angkor and Angkor period. The building itself is beautiful as well as the open courtyard in the middle of the museum, but the exhibit was ok, very heavy on the ancient works of art.

I should also mention our first dinner in Phnom Penh. Ali and I walked into what looked like a nice restaurant by the river and sat near the patio under a fan. The food was great, I had a chicken amok, which is a mild sauce of coconut milk, lemongrass and egg that I was totally enjoying until I noticed that there were several black beetle-like insects trying to crawl into my food. I felt crawling on the back of my neck and swatted another insect on my lap. What started out as an annoyance turned into disgust as we figured out that these insects may have been falling on our table (and in our hair) from the ceiling. We asked for our check and peaced out as quickly as possible. Of course as we walked outside, Ali noticed one more bug in my hair, yuck yuck yuck.

On a more serious note, we spent our second day in town visiting sites significant to the Khmer Rouge. We started out at the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, a secondary school turned prison and interrogation center turned museum. The classrooms were turned into individual and group cells or torture chambers and we were able to walk into each room and see the bed frame, leg shackles, and the occasional photograph of a former victim. This visit was initially overwhelming, since I had a few of these rooms to myself I tried to imagine what had happened and had my breath literally taken away just thinking about it. Once other tourists joined the room, I could snap back to the present but took note of the red stains on the floor and cracked walls. The museum displayed many photographs of the victims and more helpful information on the Khmer Rouge such as the leaders, the philosophy, and some of the horrific acts towards the Cambodians. We could spent more than a few hours at the museum but had to move on to our next site: Choeung Ek, aka The Killing Fields. Our tour guide was a survivor of the Khmer Rouge and he told us he lost his parents, sister, and uncle along the way. There was a lot of hurt and anger in his voice which really let me know that this was real. He encouraged us to take many photos of the mass graves and trees where beatings took place so we could show our family and friends at home what had happened. The photos will always serve as a reminder to myself what happened but it will never compare to actually being at the site. One of the hardest parts was standing on the mound of dirt and still being able to see bone fragments poking out of the earth. This was a place that I will never forget and words that I write won't be able to fully describe what I was feeling or thinking about but again, something that I think is good to talk about in person.

So we left Phnom Penh by bus this morning and arrived in Siem Reap this afternoon where we will be waking up at sunrise to see the Angkor Wat ruins and as many of the temples around that we can fit in during the day. We are still sweating like crazy over here but I can't believe that we only have a few days in Cambodia left.

But again, don't worry we are doing just fine!

Saying Goodbye to Vietnam

So it's been a few days since I've been able to update once again. We actually just got into Phnom Penh, Cambodia about an hour ago by a long bus ride and I am already missing Vietnam...

Our last night in Hoi An, Ali and I decided to live it up and go out dancing by the Cua Dai Beach, which is about 4 km away from the Old Town. We got to the Hoi An Beach Club (my guide book called it the Seamile Beach Club but I think it's all the same) around 11 pm and it was pretty much dead. The drinks were weak and overpriced and the most exciting thing I saw was a couple of crabs in the sand. We ran into some college bound Brits who wanted to leave as well but then we were told that this place comes alive around midnight so we waited instead. Sure enough, a shuttle came in around 12:30 AM and more people strolled into the bar. The music was decent and we met even more kids from England (where were all the Americans?) who had been traveling for weeks going the same route as Ali and me, except in the reverse direction. We had some friendly discussions about American and British music (I excitedly told them about how I listen to Lily Allen and Goldfrapp all the time), who had an accent (they do!), and why we should all visit each other's hometowns. Some kids jumped in a nearby pool but we danced until around 4 AM. Fun night overall.

We picked up our tailored pieces the next morning and were happy with what was made for us. I was so excited about my new sun dress, I wore it right out of the shop! It's a white fitted sleeveless top with a light yellow eyelet skirt, with white lining underneath, if you cared to know. Had one last lunch in Hoi An, where I finished off my list of Hoi An specialties with a plate of banh khoai, a crispy yellow pancake with shrimp and bean sprouts and basil, wrapped in rice paper and dipped in peanut sauce. It was sad to leave Hoi An especially since we didn't have time to hit the beach during the daytime but a trip to Vietnam wouldn't be complete without going to its capital city, Ho Chi Minh City, aka Saigon.

Our flight to Saigon was delayed by a few hours so we arrived later that night. Unlike Hanoi, it is much more westernized and urban with all its street lights and much wider roads. Since we lost time from our flight, we had only 1 full day in Saigon so we used it to visit the Reunification Palace and the War Remnants Museum. First, we went to the Reunification Palace first, where we saw a replica of the tank that stormed the grounds to symbolize the fall of Saigon during the Vietnam War. The inside has supposedly been untouched throughout all these years, since its use up until the 1970s so the furniture and walls definitely reflect a time capsule of this period. Many of the conference rooms were notable but the basement had the most interesting display of old American radio equipment, maps for strategic planning, and several other communication devices, it was so crazy.

I am really not handling the heat over here very well so we refreshed ourselves at a cafe during all the sights' closing lunch hours then headed to the War Remnants Museum. It starts out with an outdoor display of some of the American war vehicles, such as a howitzer and a helicopter then inside are rooms of photo galleries depicting the horrors of the war and what had happened to the Vietnamese people, including the following generation affected by Agent Orange mutations. These photos hit us really hard and I think we looked at the photos more thoroughly than the average viewer so we could let it sink in. I know that I went from sadness to anger to sadness again then just numb by the end. I don't really think that I would do myself justice to post my feelings online but I would really like to discuss them in person with anyone if they'd like. I would definitely have to say that any American visiting Saigon should make it a priority to visit this museum. Ali and I had some heavy discussion about what we saw over a bowl of pho at Pho 2000 (photos of Bill Clinton eating there all over the walls haha) then we walked through the market. We decided to check out the nightlife in our last night in Vietnam so we went to GO2 bar after dinner. There weren't many people there but we talked to a few Vietnamese workers who were eager to practice their English with us, they were good! You can't ignore the neon sign on this place, but we went across the street to Crazy Buffalo, where we danced among what appeared to be groups of high school aged foreigners. Oh well.

I should point out that I have been getting a lot of questions about where I'm from, from locals and fellow travelers. I always respond with that I'm American, but I've learned that answer doesn't suffice except for other American travelers, which we have met very few of on this trip. Even though I was born and raised in the U.S., my follow up question is, where am I REALLY from? I think they want to know what Asian race I belong to, because sometimes they guess that I am Vietnamese or Korean so then I elaborate my answer by saying that I'm Chinese American. This is just we noticed on this trip, I'm sure I'll be getting a lot more of it the rest of this trip. After all Ali's students in Thailand thought I was Thai....

Anyway we are looking forward to the last leg of our trip in Cambodia, sorry still no photos I think they will most likely be up when Haj gets to Thailand and I use his laptop, none of the computers at these internet cafes can read my USB cord :(

Hoi An Old Town

Hello, I'll keep this brief because we are getting dinner soon. Ali and I got a late start but were able to catch all the sights of Hoi An's Old Town, which has been wonderfully preserved as another UNESCO World Heritage Site. There is a mix of Chinese, Japanese, and European architecture that now serve as stores and restaurants and colorful paper lanterns line the streets. We visited the Japanese Covered Bridge, a Cantonese Assembly Hall with a temple dedicated to a sea goddess, the Historical and Cultural Museum, a merchant's house, and observed a traditional music performance. Hoi An is also known for their many clothing and silk tailor shops, where you can get an entire wardrobe made. I had a sundress tailored while Ali got 2 skirts for teaching, I can't wait to see them tomorrow morning! I had a Hoi An specialty for lunch today, a shrimp dumpling known as White Rose because the dumpling is bunched to resemble a rose and Ali and I enjoyed a Banh Bao stuffed with vegetables and a tiny hardboiled egg from a street vendor. So good! Anyway it's been a really hot day so time to shower and grab some dinner. We will be leaving for Ho Chi Minh City tomorrow afternoon by plane.

Ha Long Bay/Hue/Hoi An, Vietnam

Hello all, sorry for the disappearance, I've had a hard time finding a computer to go on, and an even harder time accessing Blogger from here. We've covered a good bit of ground since my last post so we are now in the adorable port town of Hoi An and I'll backtrack to Ha Long Bay.

I had really been looking forward to our trip to Ha Long Bay based on pictures that I had seen in the past and hearing stories from other people but was totally dreading the bus ride because I was still getting over my sickness, which had left me dehydrated and weak. Once I ate a little on the boat and went upstairs to check out the bay, I felt so much better. I don't know what it was, the salty sea air, the emerald green water, or the clusters of rock islands surrounding us but my spirits were back up and I took many, many, MANY pictures of the strange rock formations. I felt like I was in one of the paintings in my parents' house (the ones that included Chinese folklore in calligraphy on the same scroll) and our boat just went for hours into the bay. We enjoyed the company of the other travelers on the boat, who had come from Germany, Scotland, Canada, Singapore, and Malaysia as we explored the limestone caves and trudged to the top of one of the islands together. I could go on about this but Ali and I were definitely sad to leave Ha Long Bay when it was time to go the next morning.

We returned to Hanoi and took a 13-hour sleeper train to Hue that took off at 7 PM. Ali and I were in a cramped 6 person bunk and we had each reserved the two top person bunks so we giggled to ourselves from our perch. Fast foward to 8 AM, we arrived in Hue, where twenty minutes into arrival at our guesthouse, we were whisked away to an all-day tour of Hue. Hue was quite a change from Hanoi in that it was quieter and smaller but not short of historical sights. Our tour took us to 3 Royal Mausoleums: the tombs of the weak but poetic emperor Tu Duc, one of the more recent emperors Khai Dinh, and the thoughtful but authoritarian Minh Mang. In my first real look at Vietnamese historical architecture, I noticed a lot of Chinese influence and imagery surrounded by gates or lakes. I really liked the dragon images wrapped around the columns and mosaic pieces on the tomb walls. We saw the once-mighty Citadel whose layers of gates surrounded their Imperial City. There was a lot of construction going on and I could only imagine what the citadel had once looked like when all 148 buildings were still intact. Then we made our way to the Thien Mu Pagoda, a seven tiered structure that once housed the monk who burned himself to death in Saigon in 1963, protesting of President Diem's repressive policies toward religion. The tour finished off with a boat ride down the Perfume River where we concluded sightseeing the lovely city of Hue.

Which takes us now to Hoi An, the most charming little town next to the Thu Bon River. I can now see why I have only heard good things about this place from other travelers. It's size and traffic makes it easy to walk around and there is a mix of sightseeing, shopping, and going to the beach. We've only been able to walk around the Old Town and along the river, but it's been nice eyeing the clothes and imagining the beach which is about 4 km away. We will be staying here another full day tomorrow so we will get to slow down our trip a little and enjoy Hoi An even more!

Under the Weather in Hanoi

Hello all, I'm able to write this a little earlier today because I am feeling a little under the weather so I've been taking it easy today while Ali has done more sightseeing on her own. With a bowl of pho for breakfast, we officially booked our trip to Ha Long Bay this morning through Hanoi Legend Hotel (thanks Ryan!) and I went back upstairs to rest and write some postcards while Ali wandered off to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum complex which consists of Ho Chi Minh's embalmed body on display and his large but simple house that remains untouched. We grabbed some lunch at the Tamarind then walked around Hoan Kiem Lake, the heart and center of Hanoi. We had to brace ourselves crossing the busy street but once we made it, witnessed a wedding photo and adoring couples strolling around the lake. No worries though, I'm feeling better as the day goes on so I'm really looking forward to tomorrow.

One Night Stand

Yes, and by that I mean Ali and I had what we call our one night stand with the Mixot Guesthouse in Vientiane. Everyone has their preferences for accomodation but we learned that $3/night/person will get you a room with a shaky ceiling fan (we made a bet who it would fall on at night), scratchy sheets, rotting walls, and shared bathrooms where the toilets didn't flush half the time. I know you are all so proud of us, and now that we survived the night, we can laugh about it over some Tiger beer.

But focusing on the finer things that Vientiane had to offer, we spent this morning sightseeing. We started out in That Louang, an immense golden stupa that represents Laos's most important religious building and serves as its national symbol. The main spire is surrounded by shorter spikier stupas and lotus petals, which all serve a special Buddhist meaning. This stupa is surrounded by other various Khmer temples and since we beat the usual tourist rush, we were able to enjoy these landmarks peacefully. Then we took a tuk-tuk to Wat Sisaket, the oldest wat in Vientiane built in the early 1820s and is the only wat to survive the Siamese invasion ten years later. When you look at this temple, you can tell that it has been through a lot. The coloring is faded and it no longer has that gilded shine that all the other wats in Vientiane have. The most interesting part about this wat was its collection of Buddha statues surrounding the wat and the little niches covering the walls of the temple containing two tiny Buddha statues in each niche. We passed by the glorious Presidential Palace and headed to our last destination, the National Museum. Ali and I were definitely moved by the information and photographs on the Lao Nationalist Movement, and have had some intense discussion about American foreign policy ever since (more discussed by Ali, I am still taking this all in).

We said goodbye to Vientiane as we flew over to Hanoi. From what we have seen already, I can say that Hanoi is a busier, crazier city and not as laid back as some guidebooks suggest. We can already see the differences between Vietnam and Laos in terms of climate and vegetation but we are excited about spending the next week here.

Sorry still no pictures, I uploaded them but this computer freezes everytime I try and add an image here. I'll try again soon!

Beginnings in Laos

Hi everyone! This marks my first time ever blogging so I am nervous but excited to share my trip to Asia with you all! I spent the first few days adjusting to the time zone in Shanghai while my Aunt Joanne, Uncle Ben, and my Grandma stuffed me silly with delicious Shanghai food and cheap massages. I left Shanghai on 3/13/2010 and after a 4 hour flight to Bangkok, 12 hour layover at the Bangkok Airport, and a 2 hour flight, I finally reached Luang Prabang a dusty but charming city in the north half of Laos. I was in a state of shock and awe as I exited the plane and took a minivan to our guesthouse, but then quickly turned to pure joy when I saw Ali in our room. Ali has been in Chiang Rai, Thailand since October on a Fulbright scholarship to teach English at a boarding school. It was really great to see her again and I look forward to our long but epic adventure in Southeast Asia.

We spent all day yesterday sightseeing in Luang Prabang, starting out early in the morning ascending the steep climb up to Phou Si, a major hill that overlooks the city also dotted with small religious buildings such as Wat Pa Houk (Wat = temple) and Wat Pha Phoutthabat which included a small shrine dedicated to the Saquatch-sized imprint of "Buddha's footprint". There were also multiple gold Buddha statues in many shapes and sizes and an abandoned aircraft cannon. At the peak is a stunning gold stupa, which can be seen almost anywhere from the city and from the airplane. Ali and I caught the Royal Palace Museum right before lunch time to check out the now-extinct monarchy's former digs and we were blown away by the wall artwork, which consisted of scenes of mosaic-like shapes of people in war and at labor, depending on the wall. The pieces were made of Japanese glass and looked like colorful mirror shards, I hadn't seen anything like it before.

After a quick rest of lemon fruit shakes and A/C, we walked over to the famed Wat Xiang Thong, the oldest standing monstary in Luang Prabang and definitely one of the most eye catching. I loved the low sweeping roofs, and the dragon-headed gargoyle like creatures lining the roof. The walls of the main temple had the same mosaic scenes we saw at the Royal Palace Museum so we were now able to take pictures of these images. The courtyard also had a small belltower, some smaller religious fixtures, housing for monks, and a golden chamber containing the the funeral chariot and urn of a former king. Every angle of this wat showed me why Luang Prabang was worthy of a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation.

Throughout the day, we had walked by quite a few monks in their orange shrouds, which I was quickly told that females should not make the slightest contact with them so when they walked by, I stood out of their way and made eye contact with the ground. From afar though, the presence of monks gave us a sense of calmness and inspiration and I'm not sure if it's because of the shade of orange they wear or their simple appearance but there is definitely an intangible force that makes monks so special in this community. Ali sees monks on a weekly basis in Chiang Rai and still feels this way, so there is definitely something powerful about their presence.

We ate a delicious Lao dinner by the Mekong river that night and strolled through the night market, buying some souveniers before closing time. I was really glad that we started out our trip in Laos' national treasure.

A bumpy but brief plane ride has brought us to Vientiane, where we have missed the sightseeing hours so we walked to the U.S. Embassy because Ali needed to get more passport pages. We reached the embassy, and surprise, Ali left her passport at our hostel. She says I can give her a hard time here and remind all of you of the good old Ali I get to spend lots of quality time with :) But no worries, I think we can accomplish everything we need to get done tomorrow morning before we leave for Hanoi.

In contrast to Luang Prabang, Vientiane is a more developed, laid back city with French influenced buildings and tree lined streets. We witnessed a minor accident during lunch where both parties handled the back-end calmly and quickly. There are wats dotting the streets of Vientiane but they look so different from the ones in Luang Prabang, as they look more extravagant and bold than the designs on the exterior of the Luang Prabang temples. I look forward to checking out what Vientiane has to offer tomorrow.

By the way, I can't post pictures quite yet because I didn't bring my USB cord to upload photos but they will be up soon! We took a LOT of pictures yesterday.

Also, if you were wondering about the title, I came up with it because I had so many worried comments before leaving on this trip. This will be a constant reminder that Ali and I are doing great over here so please don't worry!