Is it weird that I feel guilty listening to Christmas tunes on the pod when I'm laying out in front of crystal blue water, getting my sweat on? Ha sorry.....I had to
Soooo dearest. We did the damn thing in Thailand and have been living large in Indonesia ever since. I have to comment on our one day stop over in Bangkok though....If your any kind of mall rat you should probably check out the Paragon Mall. Me and Melly Belly went and schlepped around the place with a mutual goal in mind. To see HARRY POTTER.....and we did. The whole movie theater experience there was out of this world. A whole floor was dedicated to it. A pseudo class system existed within the theater.Sol let me break it down for you... there's the standard theater for your average Joe.....then the Siam Pavalai Royal Grand Theater...and if your feeling even more snazzy, the Nokia Ultra Screen theaters with reclining seats.AND THEN..... There's also the Enigma, a members-only cinema....yeah.....whatt??
Loved the Potter flick I have no complaints except for feeling really awkward during that whole Harry and Hermione nude scene...Anyone with me? I can't wait for part II. So we flew into Bali on the 10th and set up shop in the Kuta/ Seminyak area. Bone head over here left her camera battery charging in Bangkok so I'm upset to say....I won't have any pictures to recount my time here. There's an UNBELIEVABLE amount of shopping in Bali. It's dizzying thinking about it. Picked up a couple gifts (for whom I shall not divulge). Our first night we were walking around town surveying the place and stumbled upon a place called JP's Warung. They had live music playing (I guess they're kind of known for it) and the charming hostess in the front begged us to join them for their "Free Flow". Basically on Sundays you pay 69,000 rupee (roughly 7 dollars) for 69 minutes of unlimited martinis. We really had nothing better to do and the place was picking up so we went for it. The place was great....a local expat crowd and fantastic staff. We ended up finding a much cheaper room that a friend of the manager's was renting out down the street to stay at for the remainder of the time.
So we stayed with Hans, a friendly German guy with an affinity for piercings tattoos and kitty's. He had two cats he adopted which I got to play with. Definitely a free spirit kind of a vibe and very enjoyable. We laid out our second day and got absolutely fried....woops which resulted in lots of sunburn lotion and a couple days of taking it easy on the rays. We were recommended to a restaurant in Seminyak called Cafe Bali that was absolutely stunning.....really rad decor and great food and along that same street another stretch of shopping. One last spot in the area, swanky as hell , Ku De Ta, a real great spot for people watching and sunset viewing but quite expensive.
After kind of getting Kuta'd out we hired a driver and spent the day checking out Padang Padang and Ullu Wattu. If you're any kind of surfer you know Ullu Wattu, not that I am. So we'd been hearing about this "great secret", a spot that blew Bali off the map because its basically Bali, 10 years ago before the huge building craze there. It's a chain of islands called the Gilli Islands off of Lombok's coast.We couldn't very well ignore the inside intell we'd been getting so we booked a fast boat to spend our last three days here. WOW. BREATHTAKING MAGNIFICENT SPECTACULAR.....this is what I'd been waiting for. We've been on Gili Trawagan for 3 days....white sand beaches, clear flat brilliant blue water, paradise? Its pretty small....you could ride a bike around the entire island in less than a day and the bulk of stores, restaurants, and hotels are all along one main road on the East side. No transportation here....no cars, no motorbikes, no tuk tuks, and believe me.....after Hanoi and Bangkok....this is perfectly fine by us. They only have horse drawn carriages and bicycles here....quaint. Awesome..... SO we've been here getting the last of our rays....eating, reading, living it up.
Tomorrow its t-minus 2 days till home. Weird to think its almost all over....wow. But with the Holidays around the corner I'm definitely ready to be home. So my dear followers....I intend to follow up this blog with a finale. Tie up the loose ends...figure out what it is exactly I've learned along the way....favorite sights, memories, bits of advice for those embarking on a similar voyage....but I'm jumping ahead of myself.....next time...... See you all very soon!!
Xoxo
Gossip girl
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Chang Time
Happy Belated thanksgiving,
Hope you gorged yourself silly...the American way...super size me. Me and Mel had quite a proper feast ourselves thank you for asking. We made buddies with the manager of a restaurant out here called Morava (San Deigo native owned) who, the absolute doll that he is, had the cooks prepare us a pseudo-Thanksgiving dinner. We dined on pumpkin soup, roasted chicken potatoes, veggies, yams, blueberry sauce and gravy.... you get it. I needn't elaborate more. We're stationed in Koh Tao right now, an island in Thailand, and have nestled ourselves in here for the past 9 days...more than we anticipated but I will explain later.
The chronological maven I am, I would like to begin this post giving you the freshest deets on our time on Koh Pha-Ngan. We came to the island just in time for the Full-moon party (high-five). We prudently decided on a period of rest and relaxation leading up to the debauchery that would undoubtedly follow, so the first 3 days there we got ourselves situated in a nice little collection of family run bungalows off the beach called the yogurt house (no they did not have a frozen yogurt shop your guess is as good as mine as to the story behind the name). We went to the beach our first day but unfortunately hit a bout of rain the next couple and spent our time walking around Hat Rin, perusing for gifts and souvenirs. That tropical rain they tell you about....first hand account. As we stood outside a store after dinner I could hear and see a mere few feet in front of us, a wall of rain rushing nearer and nearer. Bizarre.
And then the sun came out right in time, maybe he was a little resentful at all the attention his rival Mr. Moon would be getting that night. We ate our breaky and headed for the beach along with the other Hat Rinners. All along the beach the hotels and bars had erected these huge stages and towering signs in preparation for the night. For about 10 minutes the resort next door turned on some tunes. BASS..... Deadmau5 filled the air and you could feel the beat. Everyone perked up. As corny as it sounds I knew "tonight's gonna be a good night" (sorry I had to). We overheard a group behind us without the typical Australian accent talking about "icing". Americans! Well turns out they were Canadians, our Northamerican brethren and a pair of sassy Swiss sisters. Wow talk about the fates aligning. We ended up hanging out with them all day and deciding to meet up for dinner and go out together. Full-Moon posse assemble! I'm confident my pals at home would approve the caliber of this crowd. I think I may have a whole new vocabulary thanks to Hein and Matt ( prove it, beat it nerd, yeah duh duh yeah). Some Chang's came out and a few people got iced that nooner.
Me and Mel picked up our full moon attire, there are literally hundreds of shirts, shorts, paint, necklaces, and sweatbands all in a myriad of neon colors sold throughout Hat Rin. SO many choices....we double iced Matt on the beach and went to a lovely little lounge called Nicks for dinner and mojitios and went to pick up a bucket (yes stands on the streets mix a literal sand castle building bucket cocktail for mooners to imbibe) and get ready at the hotel. Some tunes, dancing, and artistic body paint followed (Lara, thank you for the sleeve) and we eventually cruised down to the beach. Lights, music, fire, slides, buckets, neon hoards of people. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. We danced all night long, and I mean until the sun came up. One of the coolest experiences ever. What a trip. So that was Pha-Ngan
Koh Tao, neighbor to Pha-Ngan is well known as the scuba diving capital in Thailand. There are two main towns, Mae Hadd where our dive resort was located, and Sairee. Koh Tao has nailed it on balancing the fine line between touristy and islandy. It still has a natural untouched yet comfortable feel. We were recommended to get our Open Water PADI at Crystal Dive Resort, best decision ever. The place is awesome, its right on the beach and has a great little restaurant next door and a bar and outdoor patio everyone hangs out at every night to grab a beer or watch dive videos at. The course was 4 days long, one in the classroom, one in the pool, and two in the ocean. I originally planned to get my Open Water as a check on the list, just to say I did. Jokes on me, we ended up staying another 2 days to get our advanced. Undoubtedly a huge part of this had to do with our awesome group. We had the most lovely instructor, Tina, two Norwegian lovebirds Thomas and Victoria and a Swedish pair Anna and Hannah. We were all super nervous at the start especially when it came to tests involving taking off your mask and clearing the water out of it, all while underwater. But once we all got in the ocean it seemed to fall into place. Its just the most unbelievably calming experience to be that deep underwater. My two favorite in our advanced course were the night dive (all you can see is whatever your flashlight is pointing at) and a deep dive to 30 meters (about 100 feet). I've never seen phosphorescence before but on our night dive as we turned off our lights and moved our hands little green lights flickered all around us. Really magical stuff. We had an interesting dive straight out of The Perfect Storm. Just absolutely terrifying swells lifting us huge distances out of the water at the surface. I'm still suffering from some equalization issues. I feel like I have a pillow over my ears. Totally worth it.
The whole diver lifestyle, as simple yet toiling as it is, pulls some strings in me though. The whole Crystal team is like one big family. Sure they live on an island where flushless toilets are standard, hot water showers are a luxury, and salty and wet is a way of life but the simplicity of it all and the wonderful people they're surrounded with every day and the passion they have for diving is really something special. We've stayed an extra couple of days there to celebrate with Team-O a big Finish bear of a man who helped us on our first dive and is graduating to be a Master Diver tonight. Unfortunately its been raining like crazy here. So much for our tans....wah wah wahhhh. But we're headed to Bali on the 5th and its supposed to be great weather over thar. On our stop over in Bangkok we're planning to hit the cinema for a little Harry Potter action. I'm ecstatic. Shout out to my friends and family at home Katie (skype check!), Barker, Blair, Gevrina (great videos), Brueland, James, Klimmy, Brookie, Thomas, Ashkan, Denys, KK, BFG, Aud Nat and Bri, Mama, Farj, Auntie Cher and Val, Nana, if I missed anyone my dearest appologies. Hope you had a wonderful holiday. Drink a Starbucks holiday beverage for me. Thanks.
The always graceful and never awkward,
King
Hope you gorged yourself silly...the American way...super size me. Me and Mel had quite a proper feast ourselves thank you for asking. We made buddies with the manager of a restaurant out here called Morava (San Deigo native owned) who, the absolute doll that he is, had the cooks prepare us a pseudo-Thanksgiving dinner. We dined on pumpkin soup, roasted chicken potatoes, veggies, yams, blueberry sauce and gravy.... you get it. I needn't elaborate more. We're stationed in Koh Tao right now, an island in Thailand, and have nestled ourselves in here for the past 9 days...more than we anticipated but I will explain later.
The chronological maven I am, I would like to begin this post giving you the freshest deets on our time on Koh Pha-Ngan. We came to the island just in time for the Full-moon party (high-five). We prudently decided on a period of rest and relaxation leading up to the debauchery that would undoubtedly follow, so the first 3 days there we got ourselves situated in a nice little collection of family run bungalows off the beach called the yogurt house (no they did not have a frozen yogurt shop your guess is as good as mine as to the story behind the name). We went to the beach our first day but unfortunately hit a bout of rain the next couple and spent our time walking around Hat Rin, perusing for gifts and souvenirs. That tropical rain they tell you about....first hand account. As we stood outside a store after dinner I could hear and see a mere few feet in front of us, a wall of rain rushing nearer and nearer. Bizarre.
And then the sun came out right in time, maybe he was a little resentful at all the attention his rival Mr. Moon would be getting that night. We ate our breaky and headed for the beach along with the other Hat Rinners. All along the beach the hotels and bars had erected these huge stages and towering signs in preparation for the night. For about 10 minutes the resort next door turned on some tunes. BASS..... Deadmau5 filled the air and you could feel the beat. Everyone perked up. As corny as it sounds I knew "tonight's gonna be a good night" (sorry I had to). We overheard a group behind us without the typical Australian accent talking about "icing". Americans! Well turns out they were Canadians, our Northamerican brethren and a pair of sassy Swiss sisters. Wow talk about the fates aligning. We ended up hanging out with them all day and deciding to meet up for dinner and go out together. Full-Moon posse assemble! I'm confident my pals at home would approve the caliber of this crowd. I think I may have a whole new vocabulary thanks to Hein and Matt ( prove it, beat it nerd, yeah duh duh yeah). Some Chang's came out and a few people got iced that nooner.
Me and Mel picked up our full moon attire, there are literally hundreds of shirts, shorts, paint, necklaces, and sweatbands all in a myriad of neon colors sold throughout Hat Rin. SO many choices....we double iced Matt on the beach and went to a lovely little lounge called Nicks for dinner and mojitios and went to pick up a bucket (yes stands on the streets mix a literal sand castle building bucket cocktail for mooners to imbibe) and get ready at the hotel. Some tunes, dancing, and artistic body paint followed (Lara, thank you for the sleeve) and we eventually cruised down to the beach. Lights, music, fire, slides, buckets, neon hoards of people. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. We danced all night long, and I mean until the sun came up. One of the coolest experiences ever. What a trip. So that was Pha-Ngan
Koh Tao, neighbor to Pha-Ngan is well known as the scuba diving capital in Thailand. There are two main towns, Mae Hadd where our dive resort was located, and Sairee. Koh Tao has nailed it on balancing the fine line between touristy and islandy. It still has a natural untouched yet comfortable feel. We were recommended to get our Open Water PADI at Crystal Dive Resort, best decision ever. The place is awesome, its right on the beach and has a great little restaurant next door and a bar and outdoor patio everyone hangs out at every night to grab a beer or watch dive videos at. The course was 4 days long, one in the classroom, one in the pool, and two in the ocean. I originally planned to get my Open Water as a check on the list, just to say I did. Jokes on me, we ended up staying another 2 days to get our advanced. Undoubtedly a huge part of this had to do with our awesome group. We had the most lovely instructor, Tina, two Norwegian lovebirds Thomas and Victoria and a Swedish pair Anna and Hannah. We were all super nervous at the start especially when it came to tests involving taking off your mask and clearing the water out of it, all while underwater. But once we all got in the ocean it seemed to fall into place. Its just the most unbelievably calming experience to be that deep underwater. My two favorite in our advanced course were the night dive (all you can see is whatever your flashlight is pointing at) and a deep dive to 30 meters (about 100 feet). I've never seen phosphorescence before but on our night dive as we turned off our lights and moved our hands little green lights flickered all around us. Really magical stuff. We had an interesting dive straight out of The Perfect Storm. Just absolutely terrifying swells lifting us huge distances out of the water at the surface. I'm still suffering from some equalization issues. I feel like I have a pillow over my ears. Totally worth it.
The whole diver lifestyle, as simple yet toiling as it is, pulls some strings in me though. The whole Crystal team is like one big family. Sure they live on an island where flushless toilets are standard, hot water showers are a luxury, and salty and wet is a way of life but the simplicity of it all and the wonderful people they're surrounded with every day and the passion they have for diving is really something special. We've stayed an extra couple of days there to celebrate with Team-O a big Finish bear of a man who helped us on our first dive and is graduating to be a Master Diver tonight. Unfortunately its been raining like crazy here. So much for our tans....wah wah wahhhh. But we're headed to Bali on the 5th and its supposed to be great weather over thar. On our stop over in Bangkok we're planning to hit the cinema for a little Harry Potter action. I'm ecstatic. Shout out to my friends and family at home Katie (skype check!), Barker, Blair, Gevrina (great videos), Brueland, James, Klimmy, Brookie, Thomas, Ashkan, Denys, KK, BFG, Aud Nat and Bri, Mama, Farj, Auntie Cher and Val, Nana, if I missed anyone my dearest appologies. Hope you had a wonderful holiday. Drink a Starbucks holiday beverage for me. Thanks.
The always graceful and never awkward,
King
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
The Backpacker Way
Sawadee Kah,
That's Thai for hello. I'm in Bangkok! My 3rd day here after some time spent in Cambodia which I'll first and foremost fill you darlings in on. Well after a night train from hell ride, the sequel, this one featuring the chainsaw like wailing snores of the petite little Vietnamese man on the bunk next to me (I was torn between laughing at the sheer absurdity of it or crying because it was 4 am) we arrived in Ho Chi Mihn and hopped onto a six hour bus ride to Phnom Phen where we stayed the night. THEN we got on another bus ride to Siam Reap (6 hours), thankfully our desired destination. We ended up saving a lot of cash monies traveling this way. Was it worth it? Yeah....I don't know still. I think I loved Cambodia the second we arrived. How Angelina Jolie of me right? I don't know exactly how to share it via text but I can only emphatically recommend everyone to go and see the county for themselves. They are obviously a developing country and a lot of the people are extremely poor. They have also quite recently gone through a horrible civil war during the 70's and 80's during which millions were brutally killed and families were torn apart. I read a memoir called Lucky Child by Luong Ung before we got there just to gain a bit of knowledge on Cambodia's past. The people are incredibly welcoming and warm and the landscape is breathtaking. We took two days to tour several of Cambodia's temples including Angkor Wat (one of the seven wonders of the world), Bantey Srei, Prasat Bayon, and Angor Thom. Our tour guide was somewhat of a photograph savant and constantly directed us to point our cameras towards this temple and that "where the light is hitting the stones just right. A Kodak spot. Hurry and take one while there's no people". I have more than enough shots thanks to our buddy.
The Psar Chaa area of Siam Reap is a triangular area in the center of town that has hundreds of restaurants, bars, massage parlors, souvenir shops, basically a tourist mecca. We spent a lot of our nights here and ate some incredible meals. We ate a Cambodian barbecue, quite similar to the one we had in Laos where you cook the meat and soup on a grill in front of you minus a few highly unusual ingredients. Yep.....we did it. Me and Mel two of the most vegetarian friendly, raw food eating, albeit un-picky eaters. We grilled ourselves up some snake, alligator and frog legs for dinner (they came to us raw and uncooked). No big deal. The snake had to be my least favorite, very muscular, and uh.....chewy.
We also treated ourselves to a couple massages after our arduous tour days, they were 4$ an hour, can you blame us? One of the funnest nights we've had so far was on Pub Street at the infamous Angkor What? one of the original backpacker bars on the street. We started of innocently enough ordering a beer and watching the dance floor from the sidelines. One local, clad in an all white ensemble was really groovin. It was like a magnetic force, I told Mel we HAD TO dance with him. After 15 minutes we'd had enough and it was time to dance. Some PRIME, and I mean FANTASTIC jams came on in the process got adopted into a large group of Australian volunteers, our age who were working in Siam Reap. They were some of the most wonderful people we've met so far and we ripped up the dance floor with them all night long, dancing on the tables, on the floor, breaking into dance circles. We ended up meeting up with them the next night for a reunion and passed around our cameras which captured some amazing absolutely sweaty pictures from that night.
It was quite sad leaving Cambodia but I know I'll return down the road. Anyone want to join? Since we've arrived in Bangkok we've eaten at street stalls, seen the reclining Buddha and walked up and down Koh San road, the infamous backpacker alley, more then 5 times. Last night we took the tram down to eat one of the spiciest meals Ive ever had in my life and stopped into the Saxophone Pub and Restaurant to watch some live jazz over a drink. Music never ceases to amaze me! The way it transcends cultures, its really a beautiful thing. The two sets were great. We saw some truly talented musicians doing their thing, in the front row. The second band's guitarist, an older man with a respectable mustache, kept saying I love you, and it wasn't until the second time around me and Mel realized the comment was directed to us. They said some stuff in Thai and the crowd laughed, I can only imagine.
I really feel like I'm channeling my inner backpacker over here. I bought some Cambodia pants ( the name is quite fitting) and donned them on backpacker alley yesterday. I hope I can get away with these at home, but knowing my friends I'm sure I'll get some grief. Mom, I have this feeling you'll end up stealing them from me..... I read The Beach by Alex Garland, I don't know if I already told you all but it takes place in Thailand starting on Koh San road, where the characters meet and travel to Koh Samui, "The Beach", and Koh Phangan. What a trip actually traveling to these places after experiencing them through the novel. Definitely a dark book but a really great plot and message, the newest on the reading list for those Christina's book clubbers. We're leaving to the southern peninsula tomorrow morning and staying on Koh Phangan for the first 3 days just in time to catch the full moon party. I'm really looking forward to writing about that one, just as much as I'm looking forward to the neon body paint. With that said.....adios muchachos.
-King
That's Thai for hello. I'm in Bangkok! My 3rd day here after some time spent in Cambodia which I'll first and foremost fill you darlings in on. Well after a night train from hell ride, the sequel, this one featuring the chainsaw like wailing snores of the petite little Vietnamese man on the bunk next to me (I was torn between laughing at the sheer absurdity of it or crying because it was 4 am) we arrived in Ho Chi Mihn and hopped onto a six hour bus ride to Phnom Phen where we stayed the night. THEN we got on another bus ride to Siam Reap (6 hours), thankfully our desired destination. We ended up saving a lot of cash monies traveling this way. Was it worth it? Yeah....I don't know still. I think I loved Cambodia the second we arrived. How Angelina Jolie of me right? I don't know exactly how to share it via text but I can only emphatically recommend everyone to go and see the county for themselves. They are obviously a developing country and a lot of the people are extremely poor. They have also quite recently gone through a horrible civil war during the 70's and 80's during which millions were brutally killed and families were torn apart. I read a memoir called Lucky Child by Luong Ung before we got there just to gain a bit of knowledge on Cambodia's past. The people are incredibly welcoming and warm and the landscape is breathtaking. We took two days to tour several of Cambodia's temples including Angkor Wat (one of the seven wonders of the world), Bantey Srei, Prasat Bayon, and Angor Thom. Our tour guide was somewhat of a photograph savant and constantly directed us to point our cameras towards this temple and that "where the light is hitting the stones just right. A Kodak spot. Hurry and take one while there's no people". I have more than enough shots thanks to our buddy.
The Psar Chaa area of Siam Reap is a triangular area in the center of town that has hundreds of restaurants, bars, massage parlors, souvenir shops, basically a tourist mecca. We spent a lot of our nights here and ate some incredible meals. We ate a Cambodian barbecue, quite similar to the one we had in Laos where you cook the meat and soup on a grill in front of you minus a few highly unusual ingredients. Yep.....we did it. Me and Mel two of the most vegetarian friendly, raw food eating, albeit un-picky eaters. We grilled ourselves up some snake, alligator and frog legs for dinner (they came to us raw and uncooked). No big deal. The snake had to be my least favorite, very muscular, and uh.....chewy.
We also treated ourselves to a couple massages after our arduous tour days, they were 4$ an hour, can you blame us? One of the funnest nights we've had so far was on Pub Street at the infamous Angkor What? one of the original backpacker bars on the street. We started of innocently enough ordering a beer and watching the dance floor from the sidelines. One local, clad in an all white ensemble was really groovin. It was like a magnetic force, I told Mel we HAD TO dance with him. After 15 minutes we'd had enough and it was time to dance. Some PRIME, and I mean FANTASTIC jams came on in the process got adopted into a large group of Australian volunteers, our age who were working in Siam Reap. They were some of the most wonderful people we've met so far and we ripped up the dance floor with them all night long, dancing on the tables, on the floor, breaking into dance circles. We ended up meeting up with them the next night for a reunion and passed around our cameras which captured some amazing absolutely sweaty pictures from that night.
It was quite sad leaving Cambodia but I know I'll return down the road. Anyone want to join? Since we've arrived in Bangkok we've eaten at street stalls, seen the reclining Buddha and walked up and down Koh San road, the infamous backpacker alley, more then 5 times. Last night we took the tram down to eat one of the spiciest meals Ive ever had in my life and stopped into the Saxophone Pub and Restaurant to watch some live jazz over a drink. Music never ceases to amaze me! The way it transcends cultures, its really a beautiful thing. The two sets were great. We saw some truly talented musicians doing their thing, in the front row. The second band's guitarist, an older man with a respectable mustache, kept saying I love you, and it wasn't until the second time around me and Mel realized the comment was directed to us. They said some stuff in Thai and the crowd laughed, I can only imagine.
I really feel like I'm channeling my inner backpacker over here. I bought some Cambodia pants ( the name is quite fitting) and donned them on backpacker alley yesterday. I hope I can get away with these at home, but knowing my friends I'm sure I'll get some grief. Mom, I have this feeling you'll end up stealing them from me..... I read The Beach by Alex Garland, I don't know if I already told you all but it takes place in Thailand starting on Koh San road, where the characters meet and travel to Koh Samui, "The Beach", and Koh Phangan. What a trip actually traveling to these places after experiencing them through the novel. Definitely a dark book but a really great plot and message, the newest on the reading list for those Christina's book clubbers. We're leaving to the southern peninsula tomorrow morning and staying on Koh Phangan for the first 3 days just in time to catch the full moon party. I'm really looking forward to writing about that one, just as much as I'm looking forward to the neon body paint. With that said.....adios muchachos.
-King
Monday, November 8, 2010
Eden
Oy Vey,
So first off let me relieve the awkward tension by profusely apologizing for my lack of updates as of late. My B. I do have quite a few news worthy bits and pieces to share. I've left Hanoi for good and am just finishing our central Vietnam excursion this afternoon.
- Our trip to Sapa was fantastic! We took the night train and arrived early in the morning to Lao Chi, an hour ride to our hotel up a windy mountain road. We've been getting hot and humid up in Hanoi so it was a bit of a shock when we jumped off the train into the freezing cold and misty air. Our trip, booked through the hotel, included a night in Sapa and a tour of the Cat Cat village day 1, a tour of Lao Chi Tavan village and a night in a bungalow at the Hmong Mountain Retreat Day 2, and a cooking class our last day.
- All meals were included and we took advantage of this feasting like Kings on breakfasts such as sweet corn and bacon pancakes, pumpkin chocolate muffins, exquisite vegetable and tofu dishes, and one of my favorites, the pumpkin burger.
- The rooms and the staff were so incredibly accommodating and friendly.... Our tour guides for both treks were girls our age who we had a wonderful time talking to and learned a lot about Sapa and the local Hmong tribes from. I admittedly cast a sweeping stereotype on the Hmong village women, who dress in their respective colorful tribal wear, as probably being very conservative, quiet, and very traditional. It was a welcome surprise to meet two girls who were just as free spirited and outgoing as our friends back home. We met up with one of them for a drink and some karaoke our first night and had a blast.
-The scenery there was awe inspiring. There are waterfalls and fresh streams everywhere and the mountains have been molded into tiered terraces to promote rice farming. It was green and lush everywhere you looked and we got some amazing views along the way. One highlight was the village children playing Hulk Hulgan on a "sleeping " water buff-allow on the side of the road (I think he was dying, but they were having a blast).
- I felt like Carry in Sex and the City at our private mountain bungalow. Wow. Wow. There were six rooms situated in the middle of no where on the top of the mountain overlooking the valley and river. We were the only ones at the hotel! They had a communal living room area which was decorated with local textiles where we sat and ate our dinner over a glass of wine. What a life....
- Unfortunately Mel got sick our last night and for the remainder of that week (we had just discussed THAT NIGHT how it was amazing neither of us had come down with anything. Spoke too soon?)
-Our last week in Hanoi we stayed in a lot and tried to nurse Mel back to health before we departed. We got on another night train to Hue....BUHM BUHM BUHM..... the night train from hell. This was about 5 notches downgrade from our previous train with dim lighting....little cockroaches scurrying everywhere....dirty uncleaned bed sheets...ewwwww. Thank god for sleep sacks, what a nightmare.We planned to spend the day in Hue, a day during which it unfortunately was pouring rain....but like the good little travelers we are we didn't let the rain get the best of us and went out to take a tour of the Citadel, the ancient city within Hue.
-Our ponchos broke about ten minutes into the walk and we finally submitted to the bike tour salesmen who offered to take us around the citadel in a covered bike, stopping to take pictures and telling us relevant information along the way. 1968 the Americans bombed Hue during the Tet Offensive on the Vietnamese New Year. We got to see the remnants of bunkers set up during the fighting in the city and the War Museum. It was eye opening seeing a museum from the opposite perspective which described us as the invaders. Me and Mel had quite a bit of fodder for conversation that day on the Vietnam war, what we learn in school, and education in America in general.
- We've been in Hoi An, the most charming little beach side town in Vietnam for the last three days. It rained nonstop our first couple days, so much so that the river flooded over onto the streets and made for very messy sightseeing. The town of Hoi An is renowned for its tailors and shoemakers who are able to make anything fit to you by simply showing them a picture. If you know anything about me and Melissa, that night train from hell was worth every hour (16 hours to be exact) because we were heading to Eden. Wait.....clothes and shoes.....anything we want.....at ridiculous prices.....sensory overload. We'd actually been researching and discussing what we wanted the whole trip.
- An exhausting experience!! But I felt like a princess walking through the tailor shop, choosing fabrics, colors, sequins and leather, getting my measurements taken, going in for fittings and alterations. The sales women we both had were so lovely and made the whole experience really special. We both walked away with some serious goods which were sending home as soon as we get to Cambodia since we have no room for them in our backpack.
So that's that.....my most recent adventures, less detailed since I couldn't possibly fit in everything. I've been a reading fiend and managed to finish a cheesy love triangle book, Love the One You're With, a murder mystery, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and have picked up a book I'm seriously loving, The Beach. This book is so fun to read because it takes place in Thailand and is a story involving backpackers. It's like I'm living the book (and yes this is the same book that was made into a movie starring Leonardo Dicaprio).
Mother Nature has been a real you know what.....earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, Volcano in Jakarta, flooding in Thailand....basically everywhere we've wanted to go has been hit by some kind of natural disaster. Lay off MN! We were thinking we'd have to curtail our trip to Thailand's islands because of the flooding but just got into touch with someone in Bangkok who assured us the floods aren't affecting that area (PHEW) and Bali is still safe from the volcano's damages (PHEW). So we're off to Cambodia for a tour of Siam Reap.
Byyyeeeee
So first off let me relieve the awkward tension by profusely apologizing for my lack of updates as of late. My B. I do have quite a few news worthy bits and pieces to share. I've left Hanoi for good and am just finishing our central Vietnam excursion this afternoon.
- Our trip to Sapa was fantastic! We took the night train and arrived early in the morning to Lao Chi, an hour ride to our hotel up a windy mountain road. We've been getting hot and humid up in Hanoi so it was a bit of a shock when we jumped off the train into the freezing cold and misty air. Our trip, booked through the hotel, included a night in Sapa and a tour of the Cat Cat village day 1, a tour of Lao Chi Tavan village and a night in a bungalow at the Hmong Mountain Retreat Day 2, and a cooking class our last day.
- All meals were included and we took advantage of this feasting like Kings on breakfasts such as sweet corn and bacon pancakes, pumpkin chocolate muffins, exquisite vegetable and tofu dishes, and one of my favorites, the pumpkin burger.
- The rooms and the staff were so incredibly accommodating and friendly.... Our tour guides for both treks were girls our age who we had a wonderful time talking to and learned a lot about Sapa and the local Hmong tribes from. I admittedly cast a sweeping stereotype on the Hmong village women, who dress in their respective colorful tribal wear, as probably being very conservative, quiet, and very traditional. It was a welcome surprise to meet two girls who were just as free spirited and outgoing as our friends back home. We met up with one of them for a drink and some karaoke our first night and had a blast.
-The scenery there was awe inspiring. There are waterfalls and fresh streams everywhere and the mountains have been molded into tiered terraces to promote rice farming. It was green and lush everywhere you looked and we got some amazing views along the way. One highlight was the village children playing Hulk Hulgan on a "sleeping " water buff-allow on the side of the road (I think he was dying, but they were having a blast).
- I felt like Carry in Sex and the City at our private mountain bungalow. Wow. Wow. There were six rooms situated in the middle of no where on the top of the mountain overlooking the valley and river. We were the only ones at the hotel! They had a communal living room area which was decorated with local textiles where we sat and ate our dinner over a glass of wine. What a life....
- Unfortunately Mel got sick our last night and for the remainder of that week (we had just discussed THAT NIGHT how it was amazing neither of us had come down with anything. Spoke too soon?)
-Our last week in Hanoi we stayed in a lot and tried to nurse Mel back to health before we departed. We got on another night train to Hue....BUHM BUHM BUHM..... the night train from hell. This was about 5 notches downgrade from our previous train with dim lighting....little cockroaches scurrying everywhere....dirty uncleaned bed sheets...ewwwww. Thank god for sleep sacks, what a nightmare.We planned to spend the day in Hue, a day during which it unfortunately was pouring rain....but like the good little travelers we are we didn't let the rain get the best of us and went out to take a tour of the Citadel, the ancient city within Hue.
-Our ponchos broke about ten minutes into the walk and we finally submitted to the bike tour salesmen who offered to take us around the citadel in a covered bike, stopping to take pictures and telling us relevant information along the way. 1968 the Americans bombed Hue during the Tet Offensive on the Vietnamese New Year. We got to see the remnants of bunkers set up during the fighting in the city and the War Museum. It was eye opening seeing a museum from the opposite perspective which described us as the invaders. Me and Mel had quite a bit of fodder for conversation that day on the Vietnam war, what we learn in school, and education in America in general.
- We've been in Hoi An, the most charming little beach side town in Vietnam for the last three days. It rained nonstop our first couple days, so much so that the river flooded over onto the streets and made for very messy sightseeing. The town of Hoi An is renowned for its tailors and shoemakers who are able to make anything fit to you by simply showing them a picture. If you know anything about me and Melissa, that night train from hell was worth every hour (16 hours to be exact) because we were heading to Eden. Wait.....clothes and shoes.....anything we want.....at ridiculous prices.....sensory overload. We'd actually been researching and discussing what we wanted the whole trip.
- An exhausting experience!! But I felt like a princess walking through the tailor shop, choosing fabrics, colors, sequins and leather, getting my measurements taken, going in for fittings and alterations. The sales women we both had were so lovely and made the whole experience really special. We both walked away with some serious goods which were sending home as soon as we get to Cambodia since we have no room for them in our backpack.
So that's that.....my most recent adventures, less detailed since I couldn't possibly fit in everything. I've been a reading fiend and managed to finish a cheesy love triangle book, Love the One You're With, a murder mystery, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and have picked up a book I'm seriously loving, The Beach. This book is so fun to read because it takes place in Thailand and is a story involving backpackers. It's like I'm living the book (and yes this is the same book that was made into a movie starring Leonardo Dicaprio).
Mother Nature has been a real you know what.....earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, Volcano in Jakarta, flooding in Thailand....basically everywhere we've wanted to go has been hit by some kind of natural disaster. Lay off MN! We were thinking we'd have to curtail our trip to Thailand's islands because of the flooding but just got into touch with someone in Bangkok who assured us the floods aren't affecting that area (PHEW) and Bali is still safe from the volcano's damages (PHEW). So we're off to Cambodia for a tour of Siam Reap.
Byyyeeeee
Monday, October 25, 2010
Das Beer...
Herro,
Weekends...they're a spectacular thing aren't they? Many of you out there doing the whole 9 to 5 thing cherish those blessed 55 hours we often refer to as F Sa Su. It's usually the days when the real neety greety goes down. I'm gonna for-go a recap of the end of last week and fast forward to the good stuff. Halong Bay....here we go. We booked a 2 day 1 night tour of the bay on a junk boat (google image search...theyre pretty rad). Took a bus for about 3 hours to Halong City. About ten minutes in I heard an audible thud over the noise of my ipod and our car slowly pulled to the side of the road. Turns out some major piece of the engine had fallen off (not so smooth) and we had to wait a bit and transfer to another van for the remainder of the ride. We got to the bay and took a leetle boat out to get to our beeg boat. Halong bay is kind of like Pandora (yes I'm making an Avatar reference)... these huge rock islets covered in foilage shoot up out of turquoise waters all around you. Theres a ridiculous number of them, somewhere around 2000. It was named a UNESCO world heritage sight a few years ago and I highly recommend you visit it if you're ever in Nam. We went to "The amazing cave", swam and kayaked to an island inhabited by theses little monkey nuggets. If I were a monkey I'd for sure set up digs in Halong, monkey paradise. The meals we were served were just stunning, tons of fresh seafood and 8 courses. We went to bed early and woke up for the sunrise, which to our dismay was not visible behind the early am haze. The second day we went on to tour the local floating village and layed out on the deck before shoving off. The villages are literally floating, houses in the middle of the water, tied together all in a row. I can't imagine growing up like that can you? They have batteries as a source of power at night which they use for 3 hours to watch the news or light the house. Nothing like I've ever seen... and speaking of never seen....i caught more than a few of the villagers rowing with their feet? Revoluntionary technique I must say. The bus ride back wasn't completely mundane...we did see two pigs being transported on a motor bike (the first was tied down, alive, and draped over the seat on its back and ....the second was well...dead, skinned, and all tied down and out in the open) Laughed at the first,whimpered at the second.
Here's where it goes a little off the wall. We heard about an event they were having at the Daewoo hotel down the street from our roommate.....Oktoberfest....in Hanoi....
Well....of course...we couldn't quite pass it up. Quite a large affair put on by the German Business Association in Vietnam. Our tickets included a traditional beer mug with Oktoberfest Hanoi printed on it (a real original...I think it may have been the best souvenier I've ever recieved) and an all you can eat and drink spread. I didn't really know what to expect in the food department besides sausage but they laid out the works. Outside by the pool they had set up at least a hundred tables and in the middle was a stage where a live Hofbrauhaus band (from Germany) played all night. For the most part the attendees were Vietnamese business people with your occassional Western looking older business men thrown in. Safe to say we were one of the few attendees joining the party sans business tie. WERE HERE FOR THE party? It proved to be a lot of fun though. We met a very nice Ausie who'd lived in Hanoi for several years and chatted politics, economy, and traveling (its really been a hot topic of conversation everywhere we go). We also made friends with the men throwing the soiree, clad in lederhosen and a guy from Chicago. I think we may have been somewhat of a novelty at the place....people were pretty friendly.We ended up going with the guy from Chicago to a place called the Temple Bar. Before I go on.....Chicago was.....a nimrod. The guy was a nightmare as we soon found out in the cab ride. Opinionated, innapropriate, ignorant, a sloppy drunk, and hard to ditch. A real winner.... (He should be sequestered so he's unable to further any commonly held negative american stereotypes)
Temple Bar. Straight out of a movie.... dark, flashing strobe lights, dancing people, Benny Benassi. At random intervals the dj (a man in his 30's with a shaved head, sporting wire rimmed glasses, a blue kimono, and a cigarette which hung ever so slightly from his lips while he bobbed his head and spun the tracks) shot out huge clouds of glitter covering the dance floor and everyone on it. I woke up the next morning with it stuck to my body, in my hair, and on my bed. I must return! Sunday we flipped a 180 and hightailed it to Joma for brunch followed by a much needed spa retreat and a lovely dinner. Were planning an activity for Thursday with our kids....make some masks out of paper plates and pass out candy in an attempt to teach them a bit about Haloween. Any serious costume plans? I really do love seeing what people come up with every year.....please fill me in with the deets since I can't be there myself..... have fun. Ravage the neighborhoods for some confectionairy treats but beware ghosts, ghouls and the old razor in the candy bit.
Boo!
King
Weekends...they're a spectacular thing aren't they? Many of you out there doing the whole 9 to 5 thing cherish those blessed 55 hours we often refer to as F Sa Su. It's usually the days when the real neety greety goes down. I'm gonna for-go a recap of the end of last week and fast forward to the good stuff. Halong Bay....here we go. We booked a 2 day 1 night tour of the bay on a junk boat (google image search...theyre pretty rad). Took a bus for about 3 hours to Halong City. About ten minutes in I heard an audible thud over the noise of my ipod and our car slowly pulled to the side of the road. Turns out some major piece of the engine had fallen off (not so smooth) and we had to wait a bit and transfer to another van for the remainder of the ride. We got to the bay and took a leetle boat out to get to our beeg boat. Halong bay is kind of like Pandora (yes I'm making an Avatar reference)... these huge rock islets covered in foilage shoot up out of turquoise waters all around you. Theres a ridiculous number of them, somewhere around 2000. It was named a UNESCO world heritage sight a few years ago and I highly recommend you visit it if you're ever in Nam. We went to "The amazing cave", swam and kayaked to an island inhabited by theses little monkey nuggets. If I were a monkey I'd for sure set up digs in Halong, monkey paradise. The meals we were served were just stunning, tons of fresh seafood and 8 courses. We went to bed early and woke up for the sunrise, which to our dismay was not visible behind the early am haze. The second day we went on to tour the local floating village and layed out on the deck before shoving off. The villages are literally floating, houses in the middle of the water, tied together all in a row. I can't imagine growing up like that can you? They have batteries as a source of power at night which they use for 3 hours to watch the news or light the house. Nothing like I've ever seen... and speaking of never seen....i caught more than a few of the villagers rowing with their feet? Revoluntionary technique I must say. The bus ride back wasn't completely mundane...we did see two pigs being transported on a motor bike (the first was tied down, alive, and draped over the seat on its back and ....the second was well...dead, skinned, and all tied down and out in the open) Laughed at the first,whimpered at the second.
Here's where it goes a little off the wall. We heard about an event they were having at the Daewoo hotel down the street from our roommate.....Oktoberfest....in Hanoi....
Well....of course...we couldn't quite pass it up. Quite a large affair put on by the German Business Association in Vietnam. Our tickets included a traditional beer mug with Oktoberfest Hanoi printed on it (a real original...I think it may have been the best souvenier I've ever recieved) and an all you can eat and drink spread. I didn't really know what to expect in the food department besides sausage but they laid out the works. Outside by the pool they had set up at least a hundred tables and in the middle was a stage where a live Hofbrauhaus band (from Germany) played all night. For the most part the attendees were Vietnamese business people with your occassional Western looking older business men thrown in. Safe to say we were one of the few attendees joining the party sans business tie. WERE HERE FOR THE party? It proved to be a lot of fun though. We met a very nice Ausie who'd lived in Hanoi for several years and chatted politics, economy, and traveling (its really been a hot topic of conversation everywhere we go). We also made friends with the men throwing the soiree, clad in lederhosen and a guy from Chicago. I think we may have been somewhat of a novelty at the place....people were pretty friendly.We ended up going with the guy from Chicago to a place called the Temple Bar. Before I go on.....Chicago was.....a nimrod. The guy was a nightmare as we soon found out in the cab ride. Opinionated, innapropriate, ignorant, a sloppy drunk, and hard to ditch. A real winner.... (He should be sequestered so he's unable to further any commonly held negative american stereotypes)
Temple Bar. Straight out of a movie.... dark, flashing strobe lights, dancing people, Benny Benassi. At random intervals the dj (a man in his 30's with a shaved head, sporting wire rimmed glasses, a blue kimono, and a cigarette which hung ever so slightly from his lips while he bobbed his head and spun the tracks) shot out huge clouds of glitter covering the dance floor and everyone on it. I woke up the next morning with it stuck to my body, in my hair, and on my bed. I must return! Sunday we flipped a 180 and hightailed it to Joma for brunch followed by a much needed spa retreat and a lovely dinner. Were planning an activity for Thursday with our kids....make some masks out of paper plates and pass out candy in an attempt to teach them a bit about Haloween. Any serious costume plans? I really do love seeing what people come up with every year.....please fill me in with the deets since I can't be there myself..... have fun. Ravage the neighborhoods for some confectionairy treats but beware ghosts, ghouls and the old razor in the candy bit.
Boo!
King
Monday, October 18, 2010
Cafe Cafe.... Olay Olay
On to the next one,
As my dear friend Jay-Z once remarked. Week 2 here in Nam and after quite a few wrong turns, bad directions, and hour long detours I can honestly say to you my dear blog buddies that me and Mel are getting the lay of the land (and that's saying something). These mishaps have quite certainly aided in our staying so svelt. We almost always sweat out the entire 97% of our water supply by the end of them. We've managed to find a few cafes to inhabit over the next few weeks where we can blissfully indulge in a latte or a cappacino or an Americano or a.....im getting worked up. I apologize. But honestly, cafe finding is almost a passion of mine. I search my habitat for a chic cafe like a botanist searches the desert plains for a rare species of cacti (plural). I get so much joy from it, the discovery, and the subsequent enjoyment of a beverage (frio or caldo) and a solid chunk of book reading time, it's criminal. Here are some of the jems we quite enjoy: KOTO cafe by the Temple of Literature (finding that one was a realllll doozy), Papa Joe's cafe (on our sojurn to the West Lake), and last but certainly not least (its really our favorite) JOMA CAFE!!! There was one of these babies in Laos as well and our discovery of the one in Vietnam almost knocked our socks off. Happenstance, I swear. Its heaven. And.....just wait for it.....they serve Pumpkin Pie!!
We just recently had our first weekend and used it to get acquainted with the different distiricts instead of going on a tour outside of the city. Sketched a psuedo-plan out for what we wanted to see. We were taken out to lunch Friday afternoon by our program leaders to a famous spot that serves up all sorts of Vietnamese traditional foods from the North South East and West. It was a glorious lunch, all kinds of delicious tastes and unexpected flavors. Personal favorite was the green mango and seafood salad....spicyyy. We ordered a traditional "soup desert"....ummmm yeahh..... im going to attempt to explain the ingredients, its a little rough. Rice Milk and cream, black jelly worm things, clear jelly worm things, this yellow corn mush, jellied green and red corn kernals, and ice? I uh dont know if I would recommend it but we had to.....When in Nam. The whole lunch for 11 people....mayybee 60 dollars (and we all had drinks) Its dirt cheap out here!
Afterwards me and Mel searched for "The Four Seasons". Its kind of ugly out here....not much luxury and hey....couldn't we just sit in the lobby and soak in some morsels of richness for free? We thought so, but it turns out that its not really the "Four Seasons Hotel and Resort" It was a community pool. Wah Wah Wah. At least we rounded off the day at Illy cafe with a cappacino. Illy is my favorite (Italian) brand of coffee. I had it several times in Firenze and the cafe here is on the 5th story of a building overlooking Hoan Kiem Lake in the Old Quarter. I put on my ipod and looking out over the city finally felt my first moments of peacefulness. And folks, I think thats really what it takes for me to truly feel comfertable in a new place. Just a spoonful of tranquility makes the alien city go down. Click.
Me and Mel have inacted an in room gym routine every night, just a set of legs arms and abs, no big, but I will divulge (for your entertainment, because I'm sure you'll laugh when you picture it in your thinker) that one set of "legs" the other night was a minute of jumping to Motley Crue's Kick Start My Heart. We know how to have fun.....
Friday night we went out for the first time to Le Pub, our fellow Volunteer's favorite watering hole. I hope to try each Asian beer while out here....I've gotten 3 so far (La Rue, Halida, Hanoi). We taught our group how to play up chickens down chickens and the American tradition of "icing" a pal which was later put into action (they have to learn somehow right?). And I have to hand it to them.....we woke up this morning and opened the door only to find a little bottle of Smirnoff Ice sitting outside our door. Good Morning! We met a large group of Aussies that night and joined forces. They're all here doing residency at a local hospital for 2 months. One of them looked like Pau Gasol's cousin and another a mix of Mark Zuckerberg and Matt Repacz.Very friendly bunch I'm sure we'll run into more than once while we're here. We all left Le Pub and went to the Funky Buddah. If you like nicotine....this is the place for you. Like an opium den....but with nicotine. More C10H14N2 than 02 in the place(my eyes they burnedddd and I walked out with a new fragrance: eau de tabacco) It was a club of locals and a few froeigners....underground sort of, loud house music, and flashing laser lights. We didnt last long though and called it quits after an hour.
Saturday we walked up to Hanoi's largest Lake, West Lake, got coffee, explored some of the nicer hotels in the area and took a toxic cab ride that left us both high from the fumes. The thing about it is....we've yet to have a smooth day out here. Sooner or later something distasteful presents itself to us whether it be a roasted dog, a man throwing up in front of us, toxic fumes in our cab, the plucking of a freshly killed chicken, you get it. We got a lovely manicure for 5 dollars down the street Sunday and saw a movie, M Night Shamlyan's Devil (one of those you know its going to happen but its just a matter of when scary films). And Monday.....we played hooky from volunteering. Woops.We booked a tour for Halong Bay this weekend.....You can't wait? The anticipation is tangible....
Love to my little nuggets,
King
As my dear friend Jay-Z once remarked. Week 2 here in Nam and after quite a few wrong turns, bad directions, and hour long detours I can honestly say to you my dear blog buddies that me and Mel are getting the lay of the land (and that's saying something). These mishaps have quite certainly aided in our staying so svelt. We almost always sweat out the entire 97% of our water supply by the end of them. We've managed to find a few cafes to inhabit over the next few weeks where we can blissfully indulge in a latte or a cappacino or an Americano or a.....im getting worked up. I apologize. But honestly, cafe finding is almost a passion of mine. I search my habitat for a chic cafe like a botanist searches the desert plains for a rare species of cacti (plural). I get so much joy from it, the discovery, and the subsequent enjoyment of a beverage (frio or caldo) and a solid chunk of book reading time, it's criminal. Here are some of the jems we quite enjoy: KOTO cafe by the Temple of Literature (finding that one was a realllll doozy), Papa Joe's cafe (on our sojurn to the West Lake), and last but certainly not least (its really our favorite) JOMA CAFE!!! There was one of these babies in Laos as well and our discovery of the one in Vietnam almost knocked our socks off. Happenstance, I swear. Its heaven. And.....just wait for it.....they serve Pumpkin Pie!!
We just recently had our first weekend and used it to get acquainted with the different distiricts instead of going on a tour outside of the city. Sketched a psuedo-plan out for what we wanted to see. We were taken out to lunch Friday afternoon by our program leaders to a famous spot that serves up all sorts of Vietnamese traditional foods from the North South East and West. It was a glorious lunch, all kinds of delicious tastes and unexpected flavors. Personal favorite was the green mango and seafood salad....spicyyy. We ordered a traditional "soup desert"....ummmm yeahh..... im going to attempt to explain the ingredients, its a little rough. Rice Milk and cream, black jelly worm things, clear jelly worm things, this yellow corn mush, jellied green and red corn kernals, and ice? I uh dont know if I would recommend it but we had to.....When in Nam. The whole lunch for 11 people....mayybee 60 dollars (and we all had drinks) Its dirt cheap out here!
Afterwards me and Mel searched for "The Four Seasons". Its kind of ugly out here....not much luxury and hey....couldn't we just sit in the lobby and soak in some morsels of richness for free? We thought so, but it turns out that its not really the "Four Seasons Hotel and Resort" It was a community pool. Wah Wah Wah. At least we rounded off the day at Illy cafe with a cappacino. Illy is my favorite (Italian) brand of coffee. I had it several times in Firenze and the cafe here is on the 5th story of a building overlooking Hoan Kiem Lake in the Old Quarter. I put on my ipod and looking out over the city finally felt my first moments of peacefulness. And folks, I think thats really what it takes for me to truly feel comfertable in a new place. Just a spoonful of tranquility makes the alien city go down. Click.
Me and Mel have inacted an in room gym routine every night, just a set of legs arms and abs, no big, but I will divulge (for your entertainment, because I'm sure you'll laugh when you picture it in your thinker) that one set of "legs" the other night was a minute of jumping to Motley Crue's Kick Start My Heart. We know how to have fun.....
Friday night we went out for the first time to Le Pub, our fellow Volunteer's favorite watering hole. I hope to try each Asian beer while out here....I've gotten 3 so far (La Rue, Halida, Hanoi). We taught our group how to play up chickens down chickens and the American tradition of "icing" a pal which was later put into action (they have to learn somehow right?). And I have to hand it to them.....we woke up this morning and opened the door only to find a little bottle of Smirnoff Ice sitting outside our door. Good Morning! We met a large group of Aussies that night and joined forces. They're all here doing residency at a local hospital for 2 months. One of them looked like Pau Gasol's cousin and another a mix of Mark Zuckerberg and Matt Repacz.Very friendly bunch I'm sure we'll run into more than once while we're here. We all left Le Pub and went to the Funky Buddah. If you like nicotine....this is the place for you. Like an opium den....but with nicotine. More C10H14N2 than 02 in the place(my eyes they burnedddd and I walked out with a new fragrance: eau de tabacco) It was a club of locals and a few froeigners....underground sort of, loud house music, and flashing laser lights. We didnt last long though and called it quits after an hour.
Saturday we walked up to Hanoi's largest Lake, West Lake, got coffee, explored some of the nicer hotels in the area and took a toxic cab ride that left us both high from the fumes. The thing about it is....we've yet to have a smooth day out here. Sooner or later something distasteful presents itself to us whether it be a roasted dog, a man throwing up in front of us, toxic fumes in our cab, the plucking of a freshly killed chicken, you get it. We got a lovely manicure for 5 dollars down the street Sunday and saw a movie, M Night Shamlyan's Devil (one of those you know its going to happen but its just a matter of when scary films). And Monday.....we played hooky from volunteering. Woops.We booked a tour for Halong Bay this weekend.....You can't wait? The anticipation is tangible....
Love to my little nuggets,
King
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
They should have warning signs for that....
Xin Chao,
I'm anticipating being quite the linguist by Christmas time. So much to share, where on earth does one begin. Last time I left you babes in toyland I was spending my last night in Laos. Well we shopped the night market, ate a big plate of street food for a buck and went down to a little haunt called the Hive Bar. Really great spot. We grabbed a beer and managed to time our arrival just in time to catch some local Laotian teens "freestylin". Break dancing Laos style although the music was imported. They must be local heros or something at 12 years old its safe to say they'll be rackin up some major babe-age over the next 20+ years. One of them in particular, me and Mel's favorite, this skinny little tyke was Kevin Deggelman (if he was a a breakdancer and Laotian). By the way I don't know if Laotian is actually a word but for all intensive purposes I WILL be using it throughout this post. Well me and Mel couldn't stop laughing, great fun was had. We ran into our Aussie neighbors at the Maison Dalabua and had a lovely chat (shout out Edward and Simon). Also met the owner of the bar's mother. Turns out she bought the place and set up shop for 3000. Quite a entrepranureal opportunity if you ask me.....
The next am we woke from our slumber at the early hour of 530 am to see the monk procession from the nearest temple. We bought a basket of rice and some crackers from a woman on the street and gave a little handful of rice to each monk who walked by. The thing lasted all of two minutes. We spent the rest of the day doing the temple stairmaster. The places are spectacular, ancient gems, although I have a sneaky suspiscion there will be more where that came from.
We arrived in Hanoi that evening for the 1000 year celebration (10/10/10....I guess that means Hanoi was founded in 910). Well kids.....Hanoi and Laos.....like man and woman....Venus and Mars .... The city is a madhouse. Probably 100 times the "city" in New York City anddd we arrived the night of the biggest celebration the city has probably ever seen. A) Honking your horn and flashing your brights are not used in moderation here B) I never dreamed it possible to fit 5 people on a vespa C) Highway patrol would have a heart attack at the lack of law abiding drivers and D) Me and Mel remained mouths open and hands clenched for the entire 45 minute ride to the hotel. I just don't wanna go into it....it stresses me out. We put down our bags and walked to the Lake along with the rest of the city. Flying toy light things, stages with performances eddywhere, lights, glamour action....I'm sorry miss Jackson.Wild.....really wild.
Since then we've settled into the house we're staying at for the month and met the other volunteers. We're an international group (France, Germany, Australia, Dutch, and American). The dig has air conditioned rooms so I'm appeased. The city is unlike anything I've ever lived in and its going to take some real getting used to. Wev'e had to do some deep breathing and are desperatley seeking a yoga class....if you know of any, be a doll and hit me with some info. Accidental run in with the part of town that specializes in dog. I'll spare you the details but we knew when we saw and it was NOT OKAY. They should have a warning for things like that.
We had our first day at the place we'll be volunteering at. It's called the Hope center and its a school for children with disabilities. In the morning me and Mel work seperately with different classes. I'm with the littlest tykes. They're amazing I have to tell you. They were so excited when they saw us, little balls of love and its really gratifying just seeing them smile. I'm getting sappy. I appologize. The second part of the day we work with older kids together, helping them do crafts and write letters and numbers. Tomorrow we're going to try to teach them some English. One goober loves a little Ro-sham-bo, just about died from happiness when we played him. We ended the class with a little duet and dance number of "The Wheels on the Bus" for the class. We're natural performers....they're lucky we didn't charge them for the set.
Tune in next time,
Your admirable Kingship
I'm anticipating being quite the linguist by Christmas time. So much to share, where on earth does one begin. Last time I left you babes in toyland I was spending my last night in Laos. Well we shopped the night market, ate a big plate of street food for a buck and went down to a little haunt called the Hive Bar. Really great spot. We grabbed a beer and managed to time our arrival just in time to catch some local Laotian teens "freestylin". Break dancing Laos style although the music was imported. They must be local heros or something at 12 years old its safe to say they'll be rackin up some major babe-age over the next 20+ years. One of them in particular, me and Mel's favorite, this skinny little tyke was Kevin Deggelman (if he was a a breakdancer and Laotian). By the way I don't know if Laotian is actually a word but for all intensive purposes I WILL be using it throughout this post. Well me and Mel couldn't stop laughing, great fun was had. We ran into our Aussie neighbors at the Maison Dalabua and had a lovely chat (shout out Edward and Simon). Also met the owner of the bar's mother. Turns out she bought the place and set up shop for 3000. Quite a entrepranureal opportunity if you ask me.....
The next am we woke from our slumber at the early hour of 530 am to see the monk procession from the nearest temple. We bought a basket of rice and some crackers from a woman on the street and gave a little handful of rice to each monk who walked by. The thing lasted all of two minutes. We spent the rest of the day doing the temple stairmaster. The places are spectacular, ancient gems, although I have a sneaky suspiscion there will be more where that came from.
We arrived in Hanoi that evening for the 1000 year celebration (10/10/10....I guess that means Hanoi was founded in 910). Well kids.....Hanoi and Laos.....like man and woman....Venus and Mars .... The city is a madhouse. Probably 100 times the "city" in New York City anddd we arrived the night of the biggest celebration the city has probably ever seen. A) Honking your horn and flashing your brights are not used in moderation here B) I never dreamed it possible to fit 5 people on a vespa C) Highway patrol would have a heart attack at the lack of law abiding drivers and D) Me and Mel remained mouths open and hands clenched for the entire 45 minute ride to the hotel. I just don't wanna go into it....it stresses me out. We put down our bags and walked to the Lake along with the rest of the city. Flying toy light things, stages with performances eddywhere, lights, glamour action....I'm sorry miss Jackson.Wild.....really wild.
Since then we've settled into the house we're staying at for the month and met the other volunteers. We're an international group (France, Germany, Australia, Dutch, and American). The dig has air conditioned rooms so I'm appeased. The city is unlike anything I've ever lived in and its going to take some real getting used to. Wev'e had to do some deep breathing and are desperatley seeking a yoga class....if you know of any, be a doll and hit me with some info. Accidental run in with the part of town that specializes in dog. I'll spare you the details but we knew when we saw and it was NOT OKAY. They should have a warning for things like that.
We had our first day at the place we'll be volunteering at. It's called the Hope center and its a school for children with disabilities. In the morning me and Mel work seperately with different classes. I'm with the littlest tykes. They're amazing I have to tell you. They were so excited when they saw us, little balls of love and its really gratifying just seeing them smile. I'm getting sappy. I appologize. The second part of the day we work with older kids together, helping them do crafts and write letters and numbers. Tomorrow we're going to try to teach them some English. One goober loves a little Ro-sham-bo, just about died from happiness when we played him. We ended the class with a little duet and dance number of "The Wheels on the Bus" for the class. We're natural performers....they're lucky we didn't charge them for the set.
Tune in next time,
Your admirable Kingship
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