6/26
Got into Beijing and got the bus to the hostel (the one around the corner from the one I'd stayed at previously) I'd wanted to stay at without too much trouble for 1RMB instead of taking the easy way out and getting at 17 kwai cab. Unfortunately that hostel was full, so I was back at my other one, though I don't mind too much- they're the same price and the other one was only marginally better. I got breakfast and wrote for quite a while, got cash out, then walked over to the International Hotel where I bought my ticket to Ulan Bator ($172 USD- but it's a LONG distance and a 30 hour train ride). I'd considered buying it online previously but had heard it was much cheaper to buy in Beijing and it was. By getting it here (which was surprisingly simple and straightforward and took all of about five minutes,) I saved about $200- and keep in mind that's $200 U.S. dollars. I walked back, making it a 5km walk for the morning, checked my facebook and Skyped my Mom and Grandma again- all before noon.
I felt quite smug by the time I got lunch at a place nearby that I knew was at least decent. Most of the things listed above sound so easy, but in China I've had days where getting cash out and going one place took me hours and was incredibly frustrating, so I have to appreciate the things that do go well, even if they're only simple errands. And since it's so rare for me to feel self-satisfied and proud, I'm enjoying it immensely. I even managed to read a few pages of the Motorcycle Diaries (which I'm STILL slugging through), talked to two people in my room, organized my photos and renewed my medical insurance. It's 5 p.m. right now and I'm even considering going for a run, taking a shower and a nap before watching the U.S.- Ghana World Cup game at 2:30 a.m. That, or anything else I could possibly do today, will just be whipped cream on top.
In my room, that night, I met Steffi, a cool German girl, and two very petite girls (one Chinese, one Australian) who lived near Urumqi, in Northwestern China. They invited us to come to dinner with them at a place that served traditional food from that area so we went. The kebabs were good, but everything else was average to disappointing.
6/27
After my super-effective day, I didn't do that much really but I met two girls in my room who I really, really liked and felt like I could actually talk to and really connect with. It was also exciting because one of them was the solo American female traveler I've been searching for! She actually isn't traveling in the same way right now (she's a teacher in Korea) but had previously and was planning to again in the future. The other was a German girl, Steffi, who's also traveling alone and is going on the train the same day I am so I'm going to hang out with her. It just always feels so refreshing to have real conversations because so often it's little more than "whereareyoufrom, whatareyourplans, blah, blah, same old, same old," and it's like you're spending a lot of time talking to people and saying absolutely nothing.
I went with the American (I can't remember her name now and she never emailed like she said she would) to the Donghuamen market (tourist place with weird food) though the only thing I got was some semi-dried shark (at least that's what they said) that I shared with her that was better than expected.
At night, the three of us went out, drank a lot of cheap beer and played a great game of Kings. It was a really wonderful, but still somewhat low-key (though late), evening. It was also nice because the two of them brought out some of the best in me, and I love that person I am at my best- she's fun and interesting and just that girl in the room that everyone adores. Most of the time I'm not that girl, and I don't even always aspire to be her because the calmer, quieter me has her own merits as well, but when I am that higher me it's fun and I'm happy and I love it/life/her.
6/28
All three of us woke up quite late and went for lunch at the decent place I knew nearby. None of us felt compelled to do anything adventurous so we wandered for a while, looking through the nearby hutong tourist market until the American girl decided she wanted to dye her hair blue. So, since I would've otherwise just screwed along online I, and Steffi, went with her. The search took us all afternoon, to several different stores, and two hair salons, but no one had blue hair dye that you could just buy and do yourself. We even saw a group of Chinese girls with bright (and incredibly well-done) blue hair and asked them, but they were cosmetology students and had mixed it and done it themselves. They took a picture with us and we continued our quest, but eventually we gave up and found a place with very cheap peking duck for dinner so they could try it. It was okay, marginally better than my first try, but still not great or remotely impressive. Neither of them had ever tried it though and they both liked it so that made me happy. The American girl left that evening on a train to Xi'an and Steffi and I went to bed early, planning to get up at 5:30.
At 4:20 a.m. I was woken up by feverish whispering from the two petite girls in my room. Apparently the 35 year old English woman who had just moved in that day had gotten drunk, stripped off all her clothes and climbed, naked, into the Australian girl's bed. The Australian girl had freaked out and the English girl had managed to get into her own bed, but not before peeing on the floor. The petite Australian girl and the petite Chinese girl had then decided it was necessary to loudly whisper about it for nearly an hour so I couldn't get back to sleep before it was time to get up for the train anyway.
Showing posts with label Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Life. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Why You Shouldn't Take Photos of Movie Stars
6/19
Oh right. Today. Well, today was the day before Father's Day so I decided to pretty much stay in bed all day and then drink myself to death as much as possible. No more comments.
6/20
So today was my day to go to the Forbidden City. I had to do my laundry, seriously, so I gave that to the people at the hostel and had to walk around in my dress all day. It's not actually that short- it goes almost to my knees- but since I didn't wear shorts for ten years (13-23) I still feel uncomfortable in anything shorter than capris. Anyway, it was a bit disappointing in general. I enjoyed walking under the famous portrait of Mao, and I could say the place was impressive in scale, but it seemed to lack character or much beauty.
Due to this fact, I didn't spend as much time there as expected, though I had to take some extra time to pose with random Chinese tourists who seem to love me. I had this experience a bit while on the Great Wall- because so many of the tourists in China are from within the country and don't see a lot of white people so I'm so strange oddity. This is perfectly fine, but it does start to feel weird. I'd always imagined that if I were a movie star it would be better if people took surreptitious photos of me so I wouldn't have to deal with them, but now, having been in a somewhat similar position, it isn't. Basically, it comes down to the fact that no one will pretty much ever be able to take a picture of you without your knowledge- trust me, I don't care how secret you think you're being, it's obvious, and so it becomes an imposition. Even it you have to respond only by ignoring them, some response is still required so it feels a lot better if they just ask, though of course, you'll agree.
Anyway, afterwards, I headed over to Jianshan park, which was a bit of a climb, but lovely. Some guy hung himself there.
6/21- Left for Xi'an.
Oh right. Today. Well, today was the day before Father's Day so I decided to pretty much stay in bed all day and then drink myself to death as much as possible. No more comments.
6/20
So today was my day to go to the Forbidden City. I had to do my laundry, seriously, so I gave that to the people at the hostel and had to walk around in my dress all day. It's not actually that short- it goes almost to my knees- but since I didn't wear shorts for ten years (13-23) I still feel uncomfortable in anything shorter than capris. Anyway, it was a bit disappointing in general. I enjoyed walking under the famous portrait of Mao, and I could say the place was impressive in scale, but it seemed to lack character or much beauty.
Due to this fact, I didn't spend as much time there as expected, though I had to take some extra time to pose with random Chinese tourists who seem to love me. I had this experience a bit while on the Great Wall- because so many of the tourists in China are from within the country and don't see a lot of white people so I'm so strange oddity. This is perfectly fine, but it does start to feel weird. I'd always imagined that if I were a movie star it would be better if people took surreptitious photos of me so I wouldn't have to deal with them, but now, having been in a somewhat similar position, it isn't. Basically, it comes down to the fact that no one will pretty much ever be able to take a picture of you without your knowledge- trust me, I don't care how secret you think you're being, it's obvious, and so it becomes an imposition. Even it you have to respond only by ignoring them, some response is still required so it feels a lot better if they just ask, though of course, you'll agree.
Anyway, afterwards, I headed over to Jianshan park, which was a bit of a climb, but lovely. Some guy hung himself there.
6/21- Left for Xi'an.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Peking Duck in Peking, Round #1
6/18
I took another rest day today (though without a hangover) and went to the English floor of a large bookstore. I sat there for hours reading "Dead Until Dark," the third or fourth book in the Sookie Stackhouse (True Blood) series. I chose this one because it featured a lot of Eric, who I love. It was good and made me happy, though there were too many silly plot points about random things that didn't matter when it should have been all about Sookie and Eric.
While I was reading, I had two Chinese people separately ask me for help understanding English phrases. Both must've been quite proficient since the phrases weren't logical ones. One was something about a guy who "winds up" doing something, and the guy didn't understand because he only knew winds used as a verb to wind something up (like a music box). The other phrase was even stranger and was something like "there're" so I just told the person it was bizarre and meant there are. Anyway, it was cute that they asked me.
At night, I found a place offering Peking Duck (Peking is the original name for Beijing, and thus, where the dish originated) for a somewhat reasonable price (99 yuan with a Diet Coke, $15 USD) but it wasn't as good as I'd hoped. Really good peking duck is one of the greatest foods in the world, and this was just kind of blah and a bit too oily. Don't worry though, I'll try again.
I took another rest day today (though without a hangover) and went to the English floor of a large bookstore. I sat there for hours reading "Dead Until Dark," the third or fourth book in the Sookie Stackhouse (True Blood) series. I chose this one because it featured a lot of Eric, who I love. It was good and made me happy, though there were too many silly plot points about random things that didn't matter when it should have been all about Sookie and Eric.
While I was reading, I had two Chinese people separately ask me for help understanding English phrases. Both must've been quite proficient since the phrases weren't logical ones. One was something about a guy who "winds up" doing something, and the guy didn't understand because he only knew winds used as a verb to wind something up (like a music box). The other phrase was even stranger and was something like "there're" so I just told the person it was bizarre and meant there are. Anyway, it was cute that they asked me.
At night, I found a place offering Peking Duck (Peking is the original name for Beijing, and thus, where the dish originated) for a somewhat reasonable price (99 yuan with a Diet Coke, $15 USD) but it wasn't as good as I'd hoped. Really good peking duck is one of the greatest foods in the world, and this was just kind of blah and a bit too oily. Don't worry though, I'll try again.
Bitter Chinese Medicine
6/14
Beijing! I slept somewhat okay, probably would've been fine overall if I'd just gone to bed earlier. I went to my hostel and they said I couldn't check in until 2 so I spent a long time in their common room. For whatever reason, or maybe because I kept asking them, I'd thought they'd let me into the room earlier, since check-out was at 12. They didn't. At 2, I tried my key and it didn't work so I checked with the front desk. The man said it wasn't ready- it still hadn't been cleaned. I had to literally force him to get housecleaners to do it, and then while I tried to nap, they took three hours (not exaggerating here- I seriously checked the time on my phone) to clean the room. Admittedly, it had been quite messy, but not that bad- they were just being really slow and lazy. I was not happy and ended up just getting some random street food for dinner and spending a lot of time reading that night.
I really do have to find less depressing books. Here's the body count from the one I just finished (of main or important characters): 1 dead wife, 2 dead husbands, two dead sons and one dead daughter. And that's just from the main characters, not including all the tons of peripheral deaths.
6/15
Besides my general annoyance with it, that hostel was way overpriced, so today I moved to a new one; Forbidden City Youth Hostel, for almost half the price, though in a room without windows (though it does have an ensuite bathroom, hmm).
I also decided to go to a doctor for my headaches/presumed sinusitus. I looked online and in my guidebook and apparently the best place to go was a hospital. Beijing hospital was near me, so I went there (though I had a hell of a time finding it, same with a CCB Bank- Bank of America's (WORST BANK EVER) partner).
For about $15 USD, I received consultations with a general doctor and a neurologist, basic physical neurological testing, blood testing, Tylenol (supposedly special but it didn't have much effect on me), and twelve doses of Chinese medicine, which came in the form of 10 mL bottles that I had to use straws for and tasted horrible, like bitter death and mushrooms mixed together by the trio of Macbeth witches. I drank them as quickly as I could and chased them with soda.
Gross as they were, the combination of those and lots of sleep and rest seemed to put my body mostly back to normal so I felt I'd made the right decision. Otherwise, those headaches could've incapacitated me like they did in Cambodia and Korea and I would've lost valuable time.
That evening, feeling a bit better, I visited the Doghuamen night market, which is completely set up for tourists, but still kind of interesting. Nothing I tasted was particularly interesting and while I considered tasting the starfish (mostly because who knew you could even eat starfish?), I ended up just munching on some pretty normal food. I've gotten to the point that I'll no longer try something to eat just for the novelty of it, but only if I think there's a chance I'll actually enjoy it. Life is too short to eat crap.
Beijing! I slept somewhat okay, probably would've been fine overall if I'd just gone to bed earlier. I went to my hostel and they said I couldn't check in until 2 so I spent a long time in their common room. For whatever reason, or maybe because I kept asking them, I'd thought they'd let me into the room earlier, since check-out was at 12. They didn't. At 2, I tried my key and it didn't work so I checked with the front desk. The man said it wasn't ready- it still hadn't been cleaned. I had to literally force him to get housecleaners to do it, and then while I tried to nap, they took three hours (not exaggerating here- I seriously checked the time on my phone) to clean the room. Admittedly, it had been quite messy, but not that bad- they were just being really slow and lazy. I was not happy and ended up just getting some random street food for dinner and spending a lot of time reading that night.
I really do have to find less depressing books. Here's the body count from the one I just finished (of main or important characters): 1 dead wife, 2 dead husbands, two dead sons and one dead daughter. And that's just from the main characters, not including all the tons of peripheral deaths.
6/15
Besides my general annoyance with it, that hostel was way overpriced, so today I moved to a new one; Forbidden City Youth Hostel, for almost half the price, though in a room without windows (though it does have an ensuite bathroom, hmm).
I also decided to go to a doctor for my headaches/presumed sinusitus. I looked online and in my guidebook and apparently the best place to go was a hospital. Beijing hospital was near me, so I went there (though I had a hell of a time finding it, same with a CCB Bank- Bank of America's (WORST BANK EVER) partner).
For about $15 USD, I received consultations with a general doctor and a neurologist, basic physical neurological testing, blood testing, Tylenol (supposedly special but it didn't have much effect on me), and twelve doses of Chinese medicine, which came in the form of 10 mL bottles that I had to use straws for and tasted horrible, like bitter death and mushrooms mixed together by the trio of Macbeth witches. I drank them as quickly as I could and chased them with soda.
Gross as they were, the combination of those and lots of sleep and rest seemed to put my body mostly back to normal so I felt I'd made the right decision. Otherwise, those headaches could've incapacitated me like they did in Cambodia and Korea and I would've lost valuable time.
That evening, feeling a bit better, I visited the Doghuamen night market, which is completely set up for tourists, but still kind of interesting. Nothing I tasted was particularly interesting and while I considered tasting the starfish (mostly because who knew you could even eat starfish?), I ended up just munching on some pretty normal food. I've gotten to the point that I'll no longer try something to eat just for the novelty of it, but only if I think there's a chance I'll actually enjoy it. Life is too short to eat crap.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Swinging Shanghai
6/6 - 6/8
Didn't do a whole lot for these days. Rested, read, chilled out. I also spent a fair amount of time walking along the Bund, a historical art deco waterfront area. Along the river, I saw my first Mao sculpture, which was pretty cool. The art deco architecture was awesome and it was particularly interesting to see what, to my eyes at least, was the truly Chinese art deco style.
I also walked all around Nanjing Road, a huge shopping area (with a Sephora, which is always a treat for me) that was quite lovely and over to People's Square, which was a really nice park with several museums in it.
I got a haircut (which included a lovely head, arm and shoulder massage) for about $15 USD including tips, in a really nice salon, and when I left, I was very happy with it. Within about fifteen minutes however, I realized that it was too short, the guy had screwed up my bangs and it made my face look fat. It was a good haircut and the guy was very good, but it just didn't work for me so pictures of me will likely be limited until it grows a bit.
Didn't do a whole lot for these days. Rested, read, chilled out. I also spent a fair amount of time walking along the Bund, a historical art deco waterfront area. Along the river, I saw my first Mao sculpture, which was pretty cool. The art deco architecture was awesome and it was particularly interesting to see what, to my eyes at least, was the truly Chinese art deco style.
I also walked all around Nanjing Road, a huge shopping area (with a Sephora, which is always a treat for me) that was quite lovely and over to People's Square, which was a really nice park with several museums in it.
I got a haircut (which included a lovely head, arm and shoulder massage) for about $15 USD including tips, in a really nice salon, and when I left, I was very happy with it. Within about fifteen minutes however, I realized that it was too short, the guy had screwed up my bangs and it made my face look fat. It was a good haircut and the guy was very good, but it just didn't work for me so pictures of me will likely be limited until it grows a bit.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
In and Out on a Slow Train from Guangzhou
6/2
I checked out of the hostel today, while Yves moved into a dorm room once again. We went to lunch at Coyote again (I know it seems ridiculous that I had nachos there three times in just over a week, but who knows when I'll get decent nachos again?) where they remembered my order with all my pain in the ass specifications (no olives, no jalapenos, salsa, sour cream and guacamoles on the side). I helped Yves with his English C.V. and a cover letter for a job he wanted to apply to in Hong Kong (and it was great- he'd better get that job) and he bought me lunch. We were both tired since our schedules were so off we'd accidentally stayed up until 5 a.m., watching Saving Private Ryan and drinking large Tsingtaos that morning. We had a couple of Sol beers and then hugged, wished each other the best and headed our separate ways.
Leaving Hong Kong was sad, but it really was time for me to leave, you know how sometimes you just know?
I don't want to talk about the process of getting to Guangzhou because it was longer and more expensive than it should've been due to my stupidity and exhaustion. On the other hand, once again, the visa guy had a hard time ascertaining my identity because my picture looks so different from me, so that made me happy. Finding somewhere to stay was also very difficult and time consuming, so I just screwed around online for a while before crashing.
6/3
Today was a bit frustrating. I checked out of my hotel, hoping to leave on the 6:11 train for Shanghai but a) one leaving at that time wasn't there and b) the trains for the day were full anyway, so I bought a ticket (the only one available was in a seat, not a bed) for the next day for 12:08 to Shanghai.
I tried to find one of the two hostels in my downloaded guide books Yves had given me for China and Mongolia. Neither one seems to exist anymore and after about three hours of looking I ended up with another hotel in an area very close to the last one for the exact same price.
In between, and for the rest of the day, I walked around a leather area with a market for leather goods, and an area for wholesale leather in large fabric roles. Even the air smelled of leather. I had a very good lunch of cabbage and slightly spicy beef knuckles (I think- beef attached to the bone in chunks) in sauce on a bed of rice in a mini cast iron pot inside a bamboo basket (about $1.50). I rested at the hotel for a while before going out to get dinner, a large bowl of at least ten dumplings that were disappointing, for just under $1. I bought a Pearl River beer, which was okay, a SIM card for my phone and a dragonfruit for tomorrow's breakfast.
6/4
Did you know they have oleanders in China? I'm on the train to Shanghai and currently passing through trees reminiscent of Dr. Suess' Truffula trees from The Lorax, tall trunks without leaves until reaching a big ball of shrubbery right at the top, though sadly, they're not neon in real life. China's rural interior is all this medium-dark green contrasted with dark red-orange dirt that's mirrored by the buildings built from bricks of the same earth. The train has passed through a valley, by green mountains, rock formations, both in vertical red softly sculpted towers and gray groupings, lakes and of course, rice paddies, both flat and in tiers.
However, at this moment, I'm about 6.5 hours into this approximately 18 hour long train ride and regretting this decision and wishing I'd taken a bus instead. Sleeping on a train, even in a seat, didn't seem like such a terrible idea, after all, I'd done it in Japan and it had been okay. But, I'd forgotten to ask for a window seat and now I have an aisle seat. And I hadn't counted on all the seats facing each other in groups of four, meaning that none of them could recline at all. Nor had I realized that there would be no arm rests, only squat toilets, many people standing in the crowded train, a total acceptance of spitting on the floor, and smoking in an area on the end of each car. I'd also been told that an attendant came through about every hour to collect trash and no one has so far at any point. Lastly, from my reading online, I'd been led to believe that hot food was fairly readily available (as it was on the train in Thailand) and so far only one type of meal has been on offer and it looked bland and gross. In short, I'm not thrilled. It's also really loud.
That all said, everyone has been quite nice to me. People do stare a lot, but it's just in a curious sort of way as there really aren't many foreigners around here, and none of it feels rude or lecherous. I'm desperately hoping the couple across from me gets off a.s.a.p. so I can sit over there as I know the guy next to me is going to Shanghai and I don't know how I'll sleep otherwise. One girl, Hualien, and her friend talked to me for quite a while. Her English was quite good, though her accent was very strong. She was very impressed when I told her of my plans and traveling. Her friend had me try this candy that looked like a long, thin round stick of baloney. It was actually dry candy/ appetite suppressant cut into slices about the thickness of Necco wafers that tasted kind of like Sweet Tarts, which are okay, but I'm not hugely fond of. They liked looking at my passport and some photos I had from home and her friend gave me her cell phone charmed once I complimented her on it, which was very sweet. Tellingly, perhaps, Hualien reacted strongly when I said that I'd visited Japan and asked if I was scared there. I said no, that I'd really liked it, which surprised her greatly. She told me she'd heard the Japanese were very cruel. I mention all this because I think it was interesting to hear what she said about them, given past Sino-Japanese relations.
I have some bad news that's pretty irrelevant to you at the moment. China has blocked Facebook and my blog because they think I'm a dangerous threat- how cool is that? Okay, maybe they've just blocked Facebook in general, and maybe they've just blocked all blogs that are .blogspot.com. If you're wondering what a blocked webpage looks like, it's just the page you get when it says "Firefox can't connect to Facebook" or "Not Lost, Just Late is not responding."
It sucks, and what's really weird is that my gmail and google are still working. Apparently, about 10% of websites are blocked in China, including Wikipedia. What this means, of course, is that I can't update this or respond to people on FB so everyone probably thinks I hate them. I promise I don't, unless you're someone I really do hate, in which case, I do hate you.
So I kind of have a plan: Travel to Shanghai and spend a few days there, then take the train to Beijing. From there, immediately catch the Trans-Siberian to Ulaanbatuur and travel around Mongolia for about a week (which is the one country where being American actually helps regarding visas as we don't need one and most other nationalities do), then return to Beijing and go on a package tour.
I've never really done a package tour, though I've done several cruises which I enjoyed very much, and in general, the idea doesn't appeal to me. However, backpacking in China has so far been much more difficult than in any other country and is a totally different experience (especially compared to SE Asia). Part of this is due to the language, but it's so much more than that. China is heavily touristed, but mostly by the Chinese. Thus, there's no backpacker network or beaten pack in that way and it's very difficult to find accommodation or other people to talk to/ travelers.
6/5
I wrote all that last night and since then the scenery changed a bit. The dirt changed to a dusty pink, and the greenery is a bit lighter now. The train took way longer than I'd expected and I ended up spending a total of 23 hours and fifteen minutes on the train to Shanghai which I was really, really not happy about. Fortunately, my hostel (after an overpriced cab ride there) was much nicer than I'd expected and I even made it out to buy a pair of jeans that fit! I've been walking around for the past several months with what appears to be a fairly massive erection, simply because my pants have fit so poorly, so I'm quite happy to appear female once again.
I checked out of the hostel today, while Yves moved into a dorm room once again. We went to lunch at Coyote again (I know it seems ridiculous that I had nachos there three times in just over a week, but who knows when I'll get decent nachos again?) where they remembered my order with all my pain in the ass specifications (no olives, no jalapenos, salsa, sour cream and guacamoles on the side). I helped Yves with his English C.V. and a cover letter for a job he wanted to apply to in Hong Kong (and it was great- he'd better get that job) and he bought me lunch. We were both tired since our schedules were so off we'd accidentally stayed up until 5 a.m., watching Saving Private Ryan and drinking large Tsingtaos that morning. We had a couple of Sol beers and then hugged, wished each other the best and headed our separate ways.
Leaving Hong Kong was sad, but it really was time for me to leave, you know how sometimes you just know?
I don't want to talk about the process of getting to Guangzhou because it was longer and more expensive than it should've been due to my stupidity and exhaustion. On the other hand, once again, the visa guy had a hard time ascertaining my identity because my picture looks so different from me, so that made me happy. Finding somewhere to stay was also very difficult and time consuming, so I just screwed around online for a while before crashing.
6/3
Today was a bit frustrating. I checked out of my hotel, hoping to leave on the 6:11 train for Shanghai but a) one leaving at that time wasn't there and b) the trains for the day were full anyway, so I bought a ticket (the only one available was in a seat, not a bed) for the next day for 12:08 to Shanghai.
I tried to find one of the two hostels in my downloaded guide books Yves had given me for China and Mongolia. Neither one seems to exist anymore and after about three hours of looking I ended up with another hotel in an area very close to the last one for the exact same price.
In between, and for the rest of the day, I walked around a leather area with a market for leather goods, and an area for wholesale leather in large fabric roles. Even the air smelled of leather. I had a very good lunch of cabbage and slightly spicy beef knuckles (I think- beef attached to the bone in chunks) in sauce on a bed of rice in a mini cast iron pot inside a bamboo basket (about $1.50). I rested at the hotel for a while before going out to get dinner, a large bowl of at least ten dumplings that were disappointing, for just under $1. I bought a Pearl River beer, which was okay, a SIM card for my phone and a dragonfruit for tomorrow's breakfast.
6/4
Did you know they have oleanders in China? I'm on the train to Shanghai and currently passing through trees reminiscent of Dr. Suess' Truffula trees from The Lorax, tall trunks without leaves until reaching a big ball of shrubbery right at the top, though sadly, they're not neon in real life. China's rural interior is all this medium-dark green contrasted with dark red-orange dirt that's mirrored by the buildings built from bricks of the same earth. The train has passed through a valley, by green mountains, rock formations, both in vertical red softly sculpted towers and gray groupings, lakes and of course, rice paddies, both flat and in tiers.
However, at this moment, I'm about 6.5 hours into this approximately 18 hour long train ride and regretting this decision and wishing I'd taken a bus instead. Sleeping on a train, even in a seat, didn't seem like such a terrible idea, after all, I'd done it in Japan and it had been okay. But, I'd forgotten to ask for a window seat and now I have an aisle seat. And I hadn't counted on all the seats facing each other in groups of four, meaning that none of them could recline at all. Nor had I realized that there would be no arm rests, only squat toilets, many people standing in the crowded train, a total acceptance of spitting on the floor, and smoking in an area on the end of each car. I'd also been told that an attendant came through about every hour to collect trash and no one has so far at any point. Lastly, from my reading online, I'd been led to believe that hot food was fairly readily available (as it was on the train in Thailand) and so far only one type of meal has been on offer and it looked bland and gross. In short, I'm not thrilled. It's also really loud.
That all said, everyone has been quite nice to me. People do stare a lot, but it's just in a curious sort of way as there really aren't many foreigners around here, and none of it feels rude or lecherous. I'm desperately hoping the couple across from me gets off a.s.a.p. so I can sit over there as I know the guy next to me is going to Shanghai and I don't know how I'll sleep otherwise. One girl, Hualien, and her friend talked to me for quite a while. Her English was quite good, though her accent was very strong. She was very impressed when I told her of my plans and traveling. Her friend had me try this candy that looked like a long, thin round stick of baloney. It was actually dry candy/ appetite suppressant cut into slices about the thickness of Necco wafers that tasted kind of like Sweet Tarts, which are okay, but I'm not hugely fond of. They liked looking at my passport and some photos I had from home and her friend gave me her cell phone charmed once I complimented her on it, which was very sweet. Tellingly, perhaps, Hualien reacted strongly when I said that I'd visited Japan and asked if I was scared there. I said no, that I'd really liked it, which surprised her greatly. She told me she'd heard the Japanese were very cruel. I mention all this because I think it was interesting to hear what she said about them, given past Sino-Japanese relations.
I have some bad news that's pretty irrelevant to you at the moment. China has blocked Facebook and my blog because they think I'm a dangerous threat- how cool is that? Okay, maybe they've just blocked Facebook in general, and maybe they've just blocked all blogs that are .blogspot.com. If you're wondering what a blocked webpage looks like, it's just the page you get when it says "Firefox can't connect to Facebook" or "Not Lost, Just Late is not responding."
It sucks, and what's really weird is that my gmail and google are still working. Apparently, about 10% of websites are blocked in China, including Wikipedia. What this means, of course, is that I can't update this or respond to people on FB so everyone probably thinks I hate them. I promise I don't, unless you're someone I really do hate, in which case, I do hate you.
So I kind of have a plan: Travel to Shanghai and spend a few days there, then take the train to Beijing. From there, immediately catch the Trans-Siberian to Ulaanbatuur and travel around Mongolia for about a week (which is the one country where being American actually helps regarding visas as we don't need one and most other nationalities do), then return to Beijing and go on a package tour.
I've never really done a package tour, though I've done several cruises which I enjoyed very much, and in general, the idea doesn't appeal to me. However, backpacking in China has so far been much more difficult than in any other country and is a totally different experience (especially compared to SE Asia). Part of this is due to the language, but it's so much more than that. China is heavily touristed, but mostly by the Chinese. Thus, there's no backpacker network or beaten pack in that way and it's very difficult to find accommodation or other people to talk to/ travelers.
6/5
I wrote all that last night and since then the scenery changed a bit. The dirt changed to a dusty pink, and the greenery is a bit lighter now. The train took way longer than I'd expected and I ended up spending a total of 23 hours and fifteen minutes on the train to Shanghai which I was really, really not happy about. Fortunately, my hostel (after an overpriced cab ride there) was much nicer than I'd expected and I even made it out to buy a pair of jeans that fit! I've been walking around for the past several months with what appears to be a fairly massive erection, simply because my pants have fit so poorly, so I'm quite happy to appear female once again.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Eating, Drinking and Waking Up in Falsificaso Vegas (Redundant)
5/27 - 6/1
Yves and I did very, very little this week. We ate, drank, watched a lot of movies, picked up our visas and slept. However, we have done a few important things: eating very well and finding great bars. You may know that I have a particularly amazing skill: finding awesome places to eat and drink. Yves did his part in finding Fat Angelo's, an Italian restaurant that made their own fresh Italian dressing that was so good that I even liked it, and I hate all salad dressings (except Blue Cheese). Otherwise, he was very good at following me and indulging my whimsical quests when it seemed like a bar or restaurant didn't exist. Actually, one thing I especially liked about him in general was that he would indulge my crazy (and sometimes they get really random) whims and follow me anywhere. It made him very easy to be with.
Anyway, I don't remember exactly how I found the first place, but it was a place that specialized in Peking Duck, called...Peking Restaurant. He'd never had Peking duck before, which appalled me, and liked it. We were seated at the table with the other two foreigners (an older British couple) who took this picture for us. The duck, hoison sauce and pancakes were very good and I showed Yves how you put the sauce on a pancake then add duck, spring onion and cucumber. It would've been better if the pancakes and duck were hot, but it was still great.
We also went to a place recommended to me by my grandlittle sister, Tiffany, (from my sorority, Delta Delta Delta) whose family is from Hong Kong originally, though she's a native Californian (I know what you're thinking, and no, she couldn't get any more awesome if she tried). She recommended a dim sum restaurant, Din Tai Fung. We actually went to a different branch than the one she recommended (since it was three blocks from our place) and it was fabulous. It also had a plaque outside saying that the N.Y. Times had rated it one of the ten best restaurants in the world. Admittedly, the bronzed article was from 1993, but I was still excited. Dim sum is better with more people, but we were still able to try several fantastic plates.
We started with a plate of steamed spinach and garlic, which was very good (and surprising, since I normally dislike spinach), Spicy Shrimp Wontons (which was recommended by our waitress and was Yves' favorite and one of my favorites) which had an incredibly complex, developed flavor (do you ever wonder if I just make this tuff up by using buzzwords? Because sometimes I do.) but anyway, was really good and spicy without being grossly hot-spicy. Our third starting choice was the Steamed Pork Dumplings, their specialty (and my other favorite) which had a complicated method for eating, which always excites me. You started by picking it up with your chopsticks, then you dipped it in your sauce dish (a combination of fresh ginger threads and as much soy sauce as you wished to add) and then you transferred it to a small bowl where you put it down and poked it, releasing the broth inside which mixed with the sauce. Finally, you used a spoon to gather the dumpling, sauce and broth in a spoon and eat it. I think it probably would've been just as good without that process, but it was fun to poke it and sometimes I just like to over-complicate things unnecessarily.
Once we finished those, we ordered Special Sauce Dumplings (made with shrimp and pork) and Shrimp Fried Rice. Both were very good, but not amazing, as our first picks had been. For dessert, we decided on taro dumplings, which were just slightly sweet but, as Yves noticed as he finished his third and eyed mine, got better the more you ate. We each had tea and a Tsingtao beer with our meal and it came out to $359 HKD (about $47) for both of us, which I thought was a great deal.
At another point, we randomly walked into a sushi place and ended up with excellent salmon sashimi, which I mention because it means that we had great: Italian, Mexican, Japanese, Dim Sum and Peking Duck all in Hong Kong. Of course, we spent a bit more for this than I usually do, and in general the street food was unimpressive, but overall I mean to say that Hong Kong has wonderful food.
But, enough about the food. I want to tell you about the bars! I preferred Soho over the LKF or Wan Chi Red Light District (though a clean, fairly nice one) areas and Yves looked in his guidebook, which recommended V13. He had only to say the words "vodka bar" to describe it and and I was in. It also was on the edge of Soho, not quite in the middle, so it was a bit better, but when we got there the bartender told us it was no longer a vodka bar. They used to be, but had changed about six months ago. We decided to stay there for a drink anyway and I had a vodka-diet, while he opted for a (very good) White Russian). I had read somewhere that Thursday night was Ladies Night, so my goal for the evening was to get one free drink. The bartender told me that it was generally Wednesday night that was Ladies Night, but (I believe because he was bored as the bar was empty except for ourselves and one regular) he gave us all free tequila shots so we stayed there for most of the rest of that night and had a great time just talking to the bartender and the regular. Yves wanted a new lighter, so the bartender showed us the bars collection:
Somehow, that night, I was given a magazine for expats called Brouhaha (with NaNa from Ghana's number written on the back). I obviously ignored the number but read the magazine the next day and it recommended a secret bar (just the idea of which gets me nearly drunk with excitement) called Sense 99, which we went to that night. You went to 99 Wellington, which, due to some odd street signs is hard to find, then looked for the little buzzer button which had Sense 99 written next to it. On our way out, I noticed the unlit sign above, but you'd never know it was there or a bar otherwise. From outside, you couldn't hear any music or see any lights, but after you were buzzed in (by someone who checked that you knew what you were looking for) and went up a flight of stairs, you walked into a great little bar. The first floor had a bar which consisted of a cooler full of beers, another cooler of Coke bottles and a few scattered liquor bottles. The second floor had an outside balcony and a mini stage set up with a piano, bass, drums, guitars, rain stick, bongos, accordian and a few other instruments that were available for anyone to play. I might have tested my skills as a rock star, but while we were there, someone else was always playing, including an actual band that seemed to just coalesce out of thin air. The band was especially fun to watch because it was obvious that they were just jamming out and weren't getting paid. Each one of them just looked like they absolutely loved what they were doing and it's always nice to watch people do what they love, even if it doesn't really mean anything to you.
Yves had really liked his White Russian, so we went back to V13, which had some big party going on with a DJ, though by the time we got there, it was dying down. We went with a few people to some other club after that and called it a night (though way later).
On Tuesday, June 1st, I went alone to Macau. The weather sucked and many of the areas I saw were empty and closed. I was feeling fairly depressed about that and rather unimpressed because so much of the "Portuguese" waterfront area was refurbished, partially by casinos and partially by faux old Portuguese style so it was difficult to tell which parts were authentic and which parts had been built within the past ten years.
Macau itself was strange. It felt like Vegas in complete decline. The casinos were beautiful and glitzy but there just weren't enough people there. I went over to the more historic area: the Monte Fort and the front remains of St. Paul's Cathedral, of which just the facade and base structure was left. On my way through Senado Square I sat down and was quickly approached by a group of Hong Kong Middle School students. The group wanted to give me a brief presentation on the history of Macau and practice their English. Of course, I obliged and they were all very sweet. At the end, I filled out a survey about how well they'd done and gave them highest marks. They were so happy and excited and took pictures with me. I asked them to take a picture and here it is below. Oddly, this was the least happy they ever looked- at every other second they had these giant smiles filling their faces. After their presentation, they gave me a present. I opened it later and it was a bunch of Macau pastries. I actually didn't like them, but it was very sweet and none of the other white people accosted by the several groups of students got a present- it was just my awesome group.
I went to the cathedral remains and the fort. It was a weird feeling because it seemed so much like the areas and places in Mexico, the Caribbean and even parts of the U.S.- the forts in Florida and Puerto Rico (can we call that the U.S. yet?) and the feeling, though not the architecture, of so many of the missions in California. So Macau was very interesting, though felt quite strange.
Spending so much time on the road like this, it sometimes feels like I'm living several lives and the way people move through my life is so much faster that it feels like it just takes the core essence of relationships and misses the rest (good and bad). So, even though I know this sounds stupid and pretentious, in my opinion of myself, I can become a local in two weeks, or go through an entire relationship in that time period and have it actually matter (from the getting to know each other stage, to "dating," through the arguments, to the repetition, to the realization that you're not right for each other, all the way up to the break-up and leaving peacefully, hoping only good things for the other person and thinking they're alright, just not for you.)
More on Yves:
Yves and I moved into a single room together after two days and it's pretty hard to avoid someone you're sleeping in the same bed with. He's a good guy, though very...German. Just in general, he won't compliment me at all, even when I try to prod him by complimenting him. It took me a few days of feeling slightly ugly to get used to that but then I really realized that was just his issue, not mine and that was just the way he was. He's fairly smart and pretty funny, mostly interesting. He's also just easy to be with since this obviously isn't going anywhere and there's no pressure, and he lets me lead him anywhere I feel like (to the History Museum, the Big Buddha, two different restaurants and a bar).
Also, and don't tell anyone I admitted to this, but even though I'm obviously the person in charge when we go out to restaurants or try to figure out where we're going on the MTR (subway), it's nice to feel safe with someone. Walking with him, I can cross odd alleyways and streets, stay out later or even just leave my purse on the barstool with him when I go to the bathroom. It's simply comforting and sometimes I feel like I need a bit of stability, moving like I do.
Lastly, he spends more freely than I generally do and being a guy, eats quite a bit more and I've been somewhat imitating his habits. Terrible for my budget and thighs, but great for my happiness level.
And it sounds weird, but it felt like a real (albeit short and not super-serious) relationship to me. Neither of us was in love with each other, but enjoyed each others company and parted on great terms, like a textbook end to a relationship and I think that's the aspect I'm stuck on. Even though technically, we "broke up" (though I think he'd think it strange that I'd call him an ex-boyfriend) because I left the country (again), it was really because we just weren't right for each other, but still saw value in the other person. It was a very peaceful, mature break-up. Furthermore, I think I can call it a relationship simply because I say it is, since I'm the one considering it, and I say it is; it is, because of my saying so most of all, see?
Yves and I did very, very little this week. We ate, drank, watched a lot of movies, picked up our visas and slept. However, we have done a few important things: eating very well and finding great bars. You may know that I have a particularly amazing skill: finding awesome places to eat and drink. Yves did his part in finding Fat Angelo's, an Italian restaurant that made their own fresh Italian dressing that was so good that I even liked it, and I hate all salad dressings (except Blue Cheese). Otherwise, he was very good at following me and indulging my whimsical quests when it seemed like a bar or restaurant didn't exist. Actually, one thing I especially liked about him in general was that he would indulge my crazy (and sometimes they get really random) whims and follow me anywhere. It made him very easy to be with.
Anyway, I don't remember exactly how I found the first place, but it was a place that specialized in Peking Duck, called...Peking Restaurant. He'd never had Peking duck before, which appalled me, and liked it. We were seated at the table with the other two foreigners (an older British couple) who took this picture for us. The duck, hoison sauce and pancakes were very good and I showed Yves how you put the sauce on a pancake then add duck, spring onion and cucumber. It would've been better if the pancakes and duck were hot, but it was still great.
We also went to a place recommended to me by my grandlittle sister, Tiffany, (from my sorority, Delta Delta Delta) whose family is from Hong Kong originally, though she's a native Californian (I know what you're thinking, and no, she couldn't get any more awesome if she tried). She recommended a dim sum restaurant, Din Tai Fung. We actually went to a different branch than the one she recommended (since it was three blocks from our place) and it was fabulous. It also had a plaque outside saying that the N.Y. Times had rated it one of the ten best restaurants in the world. Admittedly, the bronzed article was from 1993, but I was still excited. Dim sum is better with more people, but we were still able to try several fantastic plates.
We started with a plate of steamed spinach and garlic, which was very good (and surprising, since I normally dislike spinach), Spicy Shrimp Wontons (which was recommended by our waitress and was Yves' favorite and one of my favorites) which had an incredibly complex, developed flavor (do you ever wonder if I just make this tuff up by using buzzwords? Because sometimes I do.) but anyway, was really good and spicy without being grossly hot-spicy. Our third starting choice was the Steamed Pork Dumplings, their specialty (and my other favorite) which had a complicated method for eating, which always excites me. You started by picking it up with your chopsticks, then you dipped it in your sauce dish (a combination of fresh ginger threads and as much soy sauce as you wished to add) and then you transferred it to a small bowl where you put it down and poked it, releasing the broth inside which mixed with the sauce. Finally, you used a spoon to gather the dumpling, sauce and broth in a spoon and eat it. I think it probably would've been just as good without that process, but it was fun to poke it and sometimes I just like to over-complicate things unnecessarily.
Once we finished those, we ordered Special Sauce Dumplings (made with shrimp and pork) and Shrimp Fried Rice. Both were very good, but not amazing, as our first picks had been. For dessert, we decided on taro dumplings, which were just slightly sweet but, as Yves noticed as he finished his third and eyed mine, got better the more you ate. We each had tea and a Tsingtao beer with our meal and it came out to $359 HKD (about $47) for both of us, which I thought was a great deal.
At another point, we randomly walked into a sushi place and ended up with excellent salmon sashimi, which I mention because it means that we had great: Italian, Mexican, Japanese, Dim Sum and Peking Duck all in Hong Kong. Of course, we spent a bit more for this than I usually do, and in general the street food was unimpressive, but overall I mean to say that Hong Kong has wonderful food.
But, enough about the food. I want to tell you about the bars! I preferred Soho over the LKF or Wan Chi Red Light District (though a clean, fairly nice one) areas and Yves looked in his guidebook, which recommended V13. He had only to say the words "vodka bar" to describe it and and I was in. It also was on the edge of Soho, not quite in the middle, so it was a bit better, but when we got there the bartender told us it was no longer a vodka bar. They used to be, but had changed about six months ago. We decided to stay there for a drink anyway and I had a vodka-diet, while he opted for a (very good) White Russian). I had read somewhere that Thursday night was Ladies Night, so my goal for the evening was to get one free drink. The bartender told me that it was generally Wednesday night that was Ladies Night, but (I believe because he was bored as the bar was empty except for ourselves and one regular) he gave us all free tequila shots so we stayed there for most of the rest of that night and had a great time just talking to the bartender and the regular. Yves wanted a new lighter, so the bartender showed us the bars collection:
Somehow, that night, I was given a magazine for expats called Brouhaha (with NaNa from Ghana's number written on the back). I obviously ignored the number but read the magazine the next day and it recommended a secret bar (just the idea of which gets me nearly drunk with excitement) called Sense 99, which we went to that night. You went to 99 Wellington, which, due to some odd street signs is hard to find, then looked for the little buzzer button which had Sense 99 written next to it. On our way out, I noticed the unlit sign above, but you'd never know it was there or a bar otherwise. From outside, you couldn't hear any music or see any lights, but after you were buzzed in (by someone who checked that you knew what you were looking for) and went up a flight of stairs, you walked into a great little bar. The first floor had a bar which consisted of a cooler full of beers, another cooler of Coke bottles and a few scattered liquor bottles. The second floor had an outside balcony and a mini stage set up with a piano, bass, drums, guitars, rain stick, bongos, accordian and a few other instruments that were available for anyone to play. I might have tested my skills as a rock star, but while we were there, someone else was always playing, including an actual band that seemed to just coalesce out of thin air. The band was especially fun to watch because it was obvious that they were just jamming out and weren't getting paid. Each one of them just looked like they absolutely loved what they were doing and it's always nice to watch people do what they love, even if it doesn't really mean anything to you.
Yves had really liked his White Russian, so we went back to V13, which had some big party going on with a DJ, though by the time we got there, it was dying down. We went with a few people to some other club after that and called it a night (though way later).
On Tuesday, June 1st, I went alone to Macau. The weather sucked and many of the areas I saw were empty and closed. I was feeling fairly depressed about that and rather unimpressed because so much of the "Portuguese" waterfront area was refurbished, partially by casinos and partially by faux old Portuguese style so it was difficult to tell which parts were authentic and which parts had been built within the past ten years.
Macau itself was strange. It felt like Vegas in complete decline. The casinos were beautiful and glitzy but there just weren't enough people there. I went over to the more historic area: the Monte Fort and the front remains of St. Paul's Cathedral, of which just the facade and base structure was left. On my way through Senado Square I sat down and was quickly approached by a group of Hong Kong Middle School students. The group wanted to give me a brief presentation on the history of Macau and practice their English. Of course, I obliged and they were all very sweet. At the end, I filled out a survey about how well they'd done and gave them highest marks. They were so happy and excited and took pictures with me. I asked them to take a picture and here it is below. Oddly, this was the least happy they ever looked- at every other second they had these giant smiles filling their faces. After their presentation, they gave me a present. I opened it later and it was a bunch of Macau pastries. I actually didn't like them, but it was very sweet and none of the other white people accosted by the several groups of students got a present- it was just my awesome group.
I went to the cathedral remains and the fort. It was a weird feeling because it seemed so much like the areas and places in Mexico, the Caribbean and even parts of the U.S.- the forts in Florida and Puerto Rico (can we call that the U.S. yet?) and the feeling, though not the architecture, of so many of the missions in California. So Macau was very interesting, though felt quite strange.
Spending so much time on the road like this, it sometimes feels like I'm living several lives and the way people move through my life is so much faster that it feels like it just takes the core essence of relationships and misses the rest (good and bad). So, even though I know this sounds stupid and pretentious, in my opinion of myself, I can become a local in two weeks, or go through an entire relationship in that time period and have it actually matter (from the getting to know each other stage, to "dating," through the arguments, to the repetition, to the realization that you're not right for each other, all the way up to the break-up and leaving peacefully, hoping only good things for the other person and thinking they're alright, just not for you.)
More on Yves:
Yves and I moved into a single room together after two days and it's pretty hard to avoid someone you're sleeping in the same bed with. He's a good guy, though very...German. Just in general, he won't compliment me at all, even when I try to prod him by complimenting him. It took me a few days of feeling slightly ugly to get used to that but then I really realized that was just his issue, not mine and that was just the way he was. He's fairly smart and pretty funny, mostly interesting. He's also just easy to be with since this obviously isn't going anywhere and there's no pressure, and he lets me lead him anywhere I feel like (to the History Museum, the Big Buddha, two different restaurants and a bar).
Also, and don't tell anyone I admitted to this, but even though I'm obviously the person in charge when we go out to restaurants or try to figure out where we're going on the MTR (subway), it's nice to feel safe with someone. Walking with him, I can cross odd alleyways and streets, stay out later or even just leave my purse on the barstool with him when I go to the bathroom. It's simply comforting and sometimes I feel like I need a bit of stability, moving like I do.
Lastly, he spends more freely than I generally do and being a guy, eats quite a bit more and I've been somewhat imitating his habits. Terrible for my budget and thighs, but great for my happiness level.
And it sounds weird, but it felt like a real (albeit short and not super-serious) relationship to me. Neither of us was in love with each other, but enjoyed each others company and parted on great terms, like a textbook end to a relationship and I think that's the aspect I'm stuck on. Even though technically, we "broke up" (though I think he'd think it strange that I'd call him an ex-boyfriend) because I left the country (again), it was really because we just weren't right for each other, but still saw value in the other person. It was a very peaceful, mature break-up. Furthermore, I think I can call it a relationship simply because I say it is, since I'm the one considering it, and I say it is; it is, because of my saying so most of all, see?
Monday, May 31, 2010
Tired Laura Hates Everything And Everyone
5/17- 5/19
Some people work and manage brilliantly without sleep. I am not one of those people. I turned into a crazy, judgmental, mean, bipolar, angry, emotional bitch. It's really bad. Those crazy people you see on reality t.v. that snap because they're sleep deprived and stressed have nothing on me. Physically it feels the way I feel when I'm drunk- exhausted, but usually when I'm drunk, I'm quite happy, though a bit annoying and repetitive. Usually when I'm drunk, I'm quite happy, though I can be a bit repetitive and annoying.
Suffice to say, it's absolutely horrible, and for this reason, I will do almost anything (sleep in odd places, skip out on doing something really amazing, decide something isn't really that important when it is) to make sure I get enough sleep. If I'm just a little sleep deprived, I'm still normally okay, but if I get less than about six hours, the craziness sets in.
You can imagine then, that after a 1:25 a.m. flight from Taipei to Manila, followed by a 5:40 a.m. flight to Hong Kong, I was not a pleasant person to be around. I remained as silent as possible to avoid screaming at an innocent person for walking wrong, for example, and wasn't even especially cheered up by the man at Immigration asking me my name to confirm I was the same person as the girl in my passport since he said my face had gotten much thinner. (Side note- my passport photo is horrendous and somehow managed to make me look much fatter and uglier than I was even at the time, when I was much heavier. I don't know why it's so bad because even though I'm not particularly photogenic, most official photos I have are okay (licenses). I blame it on the fact that the photo was switched to digital and somehow added weird shadows and redness, creating chins and rosacea that were never there.)
Whatever. I found an ATM, thrilled that I could finally take money out on my schedule since BoA (the worst bank ever) partners with China Construction Bank so they don't charge a fee. I bought a Coke Zero, found the right bus to take me to a hostel area, was told to go to another bus (same number, just across the road, I still don't know why) and finally got on the right one. On the bus, I kept falling asleep but I wasn't too worried about missing my stop since it was about 45 minutes away.
I'd looked on Wikitravel's Hong Kong guide well ahead of time so I wouldn't have any hostel issues and it had suggested walking along Nathan Road, between Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) and not booking ahead because there was always room and there were just tons of hostels in this area. So I got off at Mong Kok and started walking South on Nathan Road, towards TST. The area seemed about right for hostels; run down, near a large market, central, but oddly, I didn't see any backpackers or hostels. I do need to mention here that it's entirely possible that there were several hostels I passed with signs only in Chinese, but I sure as hell didn't see any. So I kept walking. And walking. And cursing Wikitravel. And walking.
About 2.5 km later, not having seen any hostels (though later, walking along this same road, I saw one, and only one, I'd missed), I was ready to scream, give up and sleep on a park bench like a homeless person. 2.5 km isn't that far (about 1.5 miles) but it feels like it when you're carrying a backpack that's falling apart and made of crap materials so it feels MUCH heavier than it actually is. It also feels farther than it is when you're exhausted and pissy and homicidal.
I found a little park, that was actually part of a huge park, and sat down. Part of me wanted to go to sleep but part of me thought that was a terrible idea. It was around 11 a.m. and my flight had arrived at around 7:45. Hoping, without any expectations of success, I got out my computer and tried getting Wifi. Amazingly, it came through with a strong, unsecured (meaning open), free, government signal! This actually did help my mood a bit and I felt a little better. Online, I found the name of a specific hostel that Google Maps told me was nearby and headed off. Within a few blocks, several hostel began to pop up obviously and the area became much more expensive and commercial. I passed the Tsim Sha Tsui subway station and it was true that in this area, there were tons of available hostels. I'd only had to walk over 3 km to get there because Wikitravel blows.
The hostel I'd found online was located inside Chungking mansion, which is actually more like a prison. I'd describe it in detail, but I'm doing my best to forget it. I spent the rest of that day and the next two sleeping, walking/wandering around for long periods (seeing a convertible completely covered in crystals on a pedestal in a mall at one point), watching t.v. or movies on my laptop, writing and trying different kinds of ice cream (Dryer's Toasted Almond, which was delicious, and Haagan Daaz Orange Chocolate, which was deeply disappointing).
P.S. This is my last entry without pictures! Thank god, even I was boring myself.
Some people work and manage brilliantly without sleep. I am not one of those people. I turned into a crazy, judgmental, mean, bipolar, angry, emotional bitch. It's really bad. Those crazy people you see on reality t.v. that snap because they're sleep deprived and stressed have nothing on me. Physically it feels the way I feel when I'm drunk- exhausted, but usually when I'm drunk, I'm quite happy, though a bit annoying and repetitive. Usually when I'm drunk, I'm quite happy, though I can be a bit repetitive and annoying.
Suffice to say, it's absolutely horrible, and for this reason, I will do almost anything (sleep in odd places, skip out on doing something really amazing, decide something isn't really that important when it is) to make sure I get enough sleep. If I'm just a little sleep deprived, I'm still normally okay, but if I get less than about six hours, the craziness sets in.
You can imagine then, that after a 1:25 a.m. flight from Taipei to Manila, followed by a 5:40 a.m. flight to Hong Kong, I was not a pleasant person to be around. I remained as silent as possible to avoid screaming at an innocent person for walking wrong, for example, and wasn't even especially cheered up by the man at Immigration asking me my name to confirm I was the same person as the girl in my passport since he said my face had gotten much thinner. (Side note- my passport photo is horrendous and somehow managed to make me look much fatter and uglier than I was even at the time, when I was much heavier. I don't know why it's so bad because even though I'm not particularly photogenic, most official photos I have are okay (licenses). I blame it on the fact that the photo was switched to digital and somehow added weird shadows and redness, creating chins and rosacea that were never there.)
Whatever. I found an ATM, thrilled that I could finally take money out on my schedule since BoA (the worst bank ever) partners with China Construction Bank so they don't charge a fee. I bought a Coke Zero, found the right bus to take me to a hostel area, was told to go to another bus (same number, just across the road, I still don't know why) and finally got on the right one. On the bus, I kept falling asleep but I wasn't too worried about missing my stop since it was about 45 minutes away.
I'd looked on Wikitravel's Hong Kong guide well ahead of time so I wouldn't have any hostel issues and it had suggested walking along Nathan Road, between Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) and not booking ahead because there was always room and there were just tons of hostels in this area. So I got off at Mong Kok and started walking South on Nathan Road, towards TST. The area seemed about right for hostels; run down, near a large market, central, but oddly, I didn't see any backpackers or hostels. I do need to mention here that it's entirely possible that there were several hostels I passed with signs only in Chinese, but I sure as hell didn't see any. So I kept walking. And walking. And cursing Wikitravel. And walking.
About 2.5 km later, not having seen any hostels (though later, walking along this same road, I saw one, and only one, I'd missed), I was ready to scream, give up and sleep on a park bench like a homeless person. 2.5 km isn't that far (about 1.5 miles) but it feels like it when you're carrying a backpack that's falling apart and made of crap materials so it feels MUCH heavier than it actually is. It also feels farther than it is when you're exhausted and pissy and homicidal.
I found a little park, that was actually part of a huge park, and sat down. Part of me wanted to go to sleep but part of me thought that was a terrible idea. It was around 11 a.m. and my flight had arrived at around 7:45. Hoping, without any expectations of success, I got out my computer and tried getting Wifi. Amazingly, it came through with a strong, unsecured (meaning open), free, government signal! This actually did help my mood a bit and I felt a little better. Online, I found the name of a specific hostel that Google Maps told me was nearby and headed off. Within a few blocks, several hostel began to pop up obviously and the area became much more expensive and commercial. I passed the Tsim Sha Tsui subway station and it was true that in this area, there were tons of available hostels. I'd only had to walk over 3 km to get there because Wikitravel blows.
The hostel I'd found online was located inside Chungking mansion, which is actually more like a prison. I'd describe it in detail, but I'm doing my best to forget it. I spent the rest of that day and the next two sleeping, walking/wandering around for long periods (seeing a convertible completely covered in crystals on a pedestal in a mall at one point), watching t.v. or movies on my laptop, writing and trying different kinds of ice cream (Dryer's Toasted Almond, which was delicious, and Haagan Daaz Orange Chocolate, which was deeply disappointing).
P.S. This is my last entry without pictures! Thank god, even I was boring myself.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Lost In the Wild
5/13
Packing up and moving so often (every other day on average, I think), I lose a lot of stuff. It's usually no big deal because it's an eyemask or a lipgloss or an umbrella or something else inconsequential or easily replaceable but today as I was packing up, I noticed that my camera case was empty and my camera was nowhere to be found. I asked at the Visitor's Center nearby if anyone had turned one in, and they said no and checked with the police who also said no. They wanted me to file a report but I told them I was sure I'd lost it, not had it stolen, so I just left my email and a description of the camera. There was nothing left to do about it so I called my Mom on Skype and told her that I thought I may have subconsciously lost it on purpose, as it was old and pretty crappy and I really did need an excuse for a new one. If it really is gone though, I'll have lost all my Tokyo and Taiwan pictures which would be a bit sad.
I sat at the corner by the bus stop, not knowing when it was coming, but aware that there were five daily. I walked over to the shops area and got a Taiwan sausage, which is basically a coarser pork bratwurst and ended up going back to get another, more because I was hungry and haven't eaten enough meat lately than because they were so fantastic. While over there, one of the people I'd seen yesterday said 2 and held up two fingers. Then the man making the sausage did the same. I told them I only wanted one, though I'd had one before- two total. The woman said "No. Hualien?" which is the name of the city I had to catch the bus to before getting the train to Taipei. I nodded and she told me the bus was coming at 2. It was just before 12:30 so I was glad to have this information, but sad that I couldn't write the image of myself I'd conjured while waiting: The girl sits on the corner, waiting alone for a bus that may never come. Oh wait, I did just write it, and no, it's not great, I just liked it- every once in a while I get a bit emo. Deal.
Knowing I had all this time, I decided to walk up the mountain to the temple nearby. Since I had no camera I couldn't take regular pictures, but I got a few with my phone, though of course, I don't have a cord so I can't download them anywhere.
I met a girl from Singapore, Julaina, who was there with her Mom and Grandmother. Her English was perfect and she told me about studying in Toronto and her backpacking trips through Europe. She also recommended couchsurfing and invited me to stay with her if I found myself back in Singapore. I know the idea of couchsurfing with strangers seems extremely suspect but this site has been around for quite some time now and they verify identities and I've heard nothing but positive feedback from several solo travelers, including many females so I'm planning on trying it in the near future.
The temple was nothing amazing, though the setting really is spectacular. The gorge is made of a river running through mountains that rise, often at a 90* angle, up to 3,000 feet. It's not a chasm, so the river flow is level to the basic ground level and the road is just a few hundred feet above it so the mountains block large swatches of the clouded over sky and holds the mist inside its cleavage.
The bus ride back down to Hualien showcases the gorge's dramatic scenery. It's quite amazing, but given the amount of rain pouring down everywhere I go (including here, at the time of descent) and cloud cover, I'm disappointed in the tiny cracks of waterfalls that drip down. One of the best sights is a temple built so that a waterfall rushes out beneath it, and this one, at least, has a decently strong stream.
Eventually the bus winds its way down to the flat area near the ocean, and on highways to the city where I catch the 4 p.m. train to Taipei with two minutes to spare.
Packing up and moving so often (every other day on average, I think), I lose a lot of stuff. It's usually no big deal because it's an eyemask or a lipgloss or an umbrella or something else inconsequential or easily replaceable but today as I was packing up, I noticed that my camera case was empty and my camera was nowhere to be found. I asked at the Visitor's Center nearby if anyone had turned one in, and they said no and checked with the police who also said no. They wanted me to file a report but I told them I was sure I'd lost it, not had it stolen, so I just left my email and a description of the camera. There was nothing left to do about it so I called my Mom on Skype and told her that I thought I may have subconsciously lost it on purpose, as it was old and pretty crappy and I really did need an excuse for a new one. If it really is gone though, I'll have lost all my Tokyo and Taiwan pictures which would be a bit sad.
I sat at the corner by the bus stop, not knowing when it was coming, but aware that there were five daily. I walked over to the shops area and got a Taiwan sausage, which is basically a coarser pork bratwurst and ended up going back to get another, more because I was hungry and haven't eaten enough meat lately than because they were so fantastic. While over there, one of the people I'd seen yesterday said 2 and held up two fingers. Then the man making the sausage did the same. I told them I only wanted one, though I'd had one before- two total. The woman said "No. Hualien?" which is the name of the city I had to catch the bus to before getting the train to Taipei. I nodded and she told me the bus was coming at 2. It was just before 12:30 so I was glad to have this information, but sad that I couldn't write the image of myself I'd conjured while waiting: The girl sits on the corner, waiting alone for a bus that may never come. Oh wait, I did just write it, and no, it's not great, I just liked it- every once in a while I get a bit emo. Deal.
Knowing I had all this time, I decided to walk up the mountain to the temple nearby. Since I had no camera I couldn't take regular pictures, but I got a few with my phone, though of course, I don't have a cord so I can't download them anywhere.
I met a girl from Singapore, Julaina, who was there with her Mom and Grandmother. Her English was perfect and she told me about studying in Toronto and her backpacking trips through Europe. She also recommended couchsurfing and invited me to stay with her if I found myself back in Singapore. I know the idea of couchsurfing with strangers seems extremely suspect but this site has been around for quite some time now and they verify identities and I've heard nothing but positive feedback from several solo travelers, including many females so I'm planning on trying it in the near future.
The temple was nothing amazing, though the setting really is spectacular. The gorge is made of a river running through mountains that rise, often at a 90* angle, up to 3,000 feet. It's not a chasm, so the river flow is level to the basic ground level and the road is just a few hundred feet above it so the mountains block large swatches of the clouded over sky and holds the mist inside its cleavage.
The bus ride back down to Hualien showcases the gorge's dramatic scenery. It's quite amazing, but given the amount of rain pouring down everywhere I go (including here, at the time of descent) and cloud cover, I'm disappointed in the tiny cracks of waterfalls that drip down. One of the best sights is a temple built so that a waterfall rushes out beneath it, and this one, at least, has a decently strong stream.
Eventually the bus winds its way down to the flat area near the ocean, and on highways to the city where I catch the 4 p.m. train to Taipei with two minutes to spare.
National Palace Museum
5/11
Got up at a reasonable time, but didn't get out until about 1 p.m. because I had to do my laundry and go to the train station to get my discount youth pass (free and in the form of a cool luggage tag!) and buy a train ticket for tomorrow before leaving to go to Shilin, where the National Palace Museum was. I got to the right subway station, but couldn't find the bus I wanted for the life of me. I did however, see a place making something described as Chinese Pizza (though it was nothing at all like pizza), which were incredibly good. I still don't know what they're called, but it was basically a very airy bread with green onions, seemingly strings of wheat wound together, with an amazing lightness, then an egg, tons of basil (not sure if it was thai basil, but definitely not italian), pepper and a bit of soy sauce. It was about $1 and so good that later, on my way back, I got another one.
So I walked around, asked someone who gave me particularly heinous directions, but eventually found a sign that had the right number and color. I didn't actually arrive at the museum until about 3:20 so I didn't have tons of time, since they closed at 5. It's a very nice, clean museum and some of the collection was incredible. Unfortunately, so much of it was boring that I felt it really detracted and overwhelmed the worthwhile bits. I actually feel this way about museums often, that they just need to edit their collections better: charge the same price but show half the stuff. Perhaps you're thinking "But Laura, everyone has different tastes- you can't know what everyone will like." This is true, but if it looks like something I could buy at IKEA, I don't care how old it is, it should be kept for admiration by pottery scholars.
Like I said, though, some of it was very nice. They had interesting sections on border maps that were just declassified in 2007 (though for some reason these descriptions were only in Chinese), some of the pottery, some paintings and some truly incredible curio boxes and ivory and wood carvings. It was definitely worth my time, but maybe not more than the 1.4 or so hours I put in. Another interesting section was their calligraphy collection which started to explain the different meanings of particular brush strokes and why it's so much more important in Eastern culture. It's something I'd really like to learn more about and might take a class on in China.
I felt quite tired after catching the bus back to the station, so just did a brief tour around what I thought was the Shilin Night Market. As it turns out, it wasn't, but after enough time, most markets seem to look the same. Even after discovering that I hadn't been at the right place, I just didn't feel like going over to the other so I just went back to my hostel and chilled out for the rest of the night.
Got up at a reasonable time, but didn't get out until about 1 p.m. because I had to do my laundry and go to the train station to get my discount youth pass (free and in the form of a cool luggage tag!) and buy a train ticket for tomorrow before leaving to go to Shilin, where the National Palace Museum was. I got to the right subway station, but couldn't find the bus I wanted for the life of me. I did however, see a place making something described as Chinese Pizza (though it was nothing at all like pizza), which were incredibly good. I still don't know what they're called, but it was basically a very airy bread with green onions, seemingly strings of wheat wound together, with an amazing lightness, then an egg, tons of basil (not sure if it was thai basil, but definitely not italian), pepper and a bit of soy sauce. It was about $1 and so good that later, on my way back, I got another one.
So I walked around, asked someone who gave me particularly heinous directions, but eventually found a sign that had the right number and color. I didn't actually arrive at the museum until about 3:20 so I didn't have tons of time, since they closed at 5. It's a very nice, clean museum and some of the collection was incredible. Unfortunately, so much of it was boring that I felt it really detracted and overwhelmed the worthwhile bits. I actually feel this way about museums often, that they just need to edit their collections better: charge the same price but show half the stuff. Perhaps you're thinking "But Laura, everyone has different tastes- you can't know what everyone will like." This is true, but if it looks like something I could buy at IKEA, I don't care how old it is, it should be kept for admiration by pottery scholars.
Like I said, though, some of it was very nice. They had interesting sections on border maps that were just declassified in 2007 (though for some reason these descriptions were only in Chinese), some of the pottery, some paintings and some truly incredible curio boxes and ivory and wood carvings. It was definitely worth my time, but maybe not more than the 1.4 or so hours I put in. Another interesting section was their calligraphy collection which started to explain the different meanings of particular brush strokes and why it's so much more important in Eastern culture. It's something I'd really like to learn more about and might take a class on in China.
I felt quite tired after catching the bus back to the station, so just did a brief tour around what I thought was the Shilin Night Market. As it turns out, it wasn't, but after enough time, most markets seem to look the same. Even after discovering that I hadn't been at the right place, I just didn't feel like going over to the other so I just went back to my hostel and chilled out for the rest of the night.
Internal Monologue: To Run or Not to Run?
5/10-
Last night, I'd stayed up until about 4 a.m. working on this blog. That sounds like a terrible idea but it actually worked out very well- I woke up at about 12 today, feeling totally rested and energized. Since it's Mother's Day, I called my Mom and talked to her for a while, before attempting to take a shower, and failing since there was no hot water.
For lunch, I stopped at a little restaurant and pointed at a picture (with an English description underneath!) of shrimp won tons in soup. The soup was the same as you get anywhere; basic chicken stock with some spring onions and maybe some other green thing, seaweed or bok choy, but the dumplings were fantastic. The shrimp was chopped but not ground in with breading or other filler crap, and had lemongrass and ginger in it, which made it wonderful.
After lunch I walked over towards the Museum of Contemporary Art and passed an art installation on the way, which was interesting.
Sadly, the Museum itself was closed on Mondays. I wandered around the streets and through market alleyways before going into the D building, where I found a shop where I could "test" nail polish remover by removing the polish from all of my nails. I was trying to decide what to do then and realized that I still had a lot of energy and I didn't have any idea of what to do with it. It was too late to go to another museum, and they'd probably all be closed, and it was too cloudy to go see the Taipei 101 building.
As I was thinking about it, I noticed that the weather was actually perfect for running; slightly chilly and breezy but not really cold. Weather is one of my main excuses for not going running, the other two I use most frequently are: exhaustion and that my stomach isn't right (either too full or too hungry- it sounds strange, but it's actually very hard to find the exact hunger level to run on). I couldn't use any of these excuses as I was energized and my stomach, for once, was at that perfect point. The only problem was that I didn't want to. I tried rationalizing with myself;
"You slightly twisted your ankle a while ago and can still vaguely feel it- you don't want to injure yourself more."
"Yes, but you can only even feel it if you move your ankle in an awkward sideways manner that you wouldn't do when you run AND the pavement here is surprisingly even and good."
"Yeah, but I just really don't want to."
"Stop being so lazy and pathetic!"
"That's mean- you're a jerk."
"I'm sorry, that was out of line, it's just that you'll feel so much better if you do, and you'll sleep better, just put your running clothes on- you can do it!"
"Okay, I'll just change and go. Just change and go before I can change my mind."
So I did. And I was right. I went for a decent run (about 50 minutes run/walk) and it was okay and I did feel better afterwards, especially after a shower. I got some noodles and pork dumpling thing for dinner that looked pretty disgusting but actually tasted okay, and then went back to the hostel where I've been busy working on my blog and relaxing by: painting my nails with clear polish, enjoying another cup of homemade hot chocolate, reading "The Motorcycle Diaries" and using a face mask I bought in Tokyo at Muji, a cool minimalist store. I'd been proud of myself at the time because I only bought two things at Muji, a mini foundation pump for my makeup that I actually needed, and these face masks that came in a set of 5 for something like $1.50. The reason I couldn't resist them was because they came in a tiny bag, each one looking like a large, flat, round white pill. You saturate the "pill" with a face oil, which makes them unroll and then you put it on your face like a regular mask.
Last night, I'd stayed up until about 4 a.m. working on this blog. That sounds like a terrible idea but it actually worked out very well- I woke up at about 12 today, feeling totally rested and energized. Since it's Mother's Day, I called my Mom and talked to her for a while, before attempting to take a shower, and failing since there was no hot water.
For lunch, I stopped at a little restaurant and pointed at a picture (with an English description underneath!) of shrimp won tons in soup. The soup was the same as you get anywhere; basic chicken stock with some spring onions and maybe some other green thing, seaweed or bok choy, but the dumplings were fantastic. The shrimp was chopped but not ground in with breading or other filler crap, and had lemongrass and ginger in it, which made it wonderful.
After lunch I walked over towards the Museum of Contemporary Art and passed an art installation on the way, which was interesting.
Sadly, the Museum itself was closed on Mondays. I wandered around the streets and through market alleyways before going into the D building, where I found a shop where I could "test" nail polish remover by removing the polish from all of my nails. I was trying to decide what to do then and realized that I still had a lot of energy and I didn't have any idea of what to do with it. It was too late to go to another museum, and they'd probably all be closed, and it was too cloudy to go see the Taipei 101 building.
As I was thinking about it, I noticed that the weather was actually perfect for running; slightly chilly and breezy but not really cold. Weather is one of my main excuses for not going running, the other two I use most frequently are: exhaustion and that my stomach isn't right (either too full or too hungry- it sounds strange, but it's actually very hard to find the exact hunger level to run on). I couldn't use any of these excuses as I was energized and my stomach, for once, was at that perfect point. The only problem was that I didn't want to. I tried rationalizing with myself;
"You slightly twisted your ankle a while ago and can still vaguely feel it- you don't want to injure yourself more."
"Yes, but you can only even feel it if you move your ankle in an awkward sideways manner that you wouldn't do when you run AND the pavement here is surprisingly even and good."
"Yeah, but I just really don't want to."
"Stop being so lazy and pathetic!"
"That's mean- you're a jerk."
"I'm sorry, that was out of line, it's just that you'll feel so much better if you do, and you'll sleep better, just put your running clothes on- you can do it!"
"Okay, I'll just change and go. Just change and go before I can change my mind."
So I did. And I was right. I went for a decent run (about 50 minutes run/walk) and it was okay and I did feel better afterwards, especially after a shower. I got some noodles and pork dumpling thing for dinner that looked pretty disgusting but actually tasted okay, and then went back to the hostel where I've been busy working on my blog and relaxing by: painting my nails with clear polish, enjoying another cup of homemade hot chocolate, reading "The Motorcycle Diaries" and using a face mask I bought in Tokyo at Muji, a cool minimalist store. I'd been proud of myself at the time because I only bought two things at Muji, a mini foundation pump for my makeup that I actually needed, and these face masks that came in a set of 5 for something like $1.50. The reason I couldn't resist them was because they came in a tiny bag, each one looking like a large, flat, round white pill. You saturate the "pill" with a face oil, which makes them unroll and then you put it on your face like a regular mask.
Sad and Slow
5/7-
I spent today recovering from my nuclear particle collision speed in Japan by reading "Shadow of the Wind." It's a wonderful book so far, but I had to put it down at one point just because it was so sad. In fact, all the books I've read recently that have been really good have been sad. Between that and all the sad sights I've seen, I have to wonder if I'm being masochistic, but I don't feel sad or hurty overall? Also, it seems like Spanish and South American authors in general tend to write very depressing books, I wonder why that is, and why that makes me like them- because they understand pain and sadness?
The city is drowning today, so I only went outside once to get food, which was forgettable. I'd planned on changing hostels to a cheaper place, but they had a dorm bed available here for the same price, and searching for a random building in the rain sounded terrible, so I'm staying here. I did buy a bar of chocolate and milk, which I successfully combined into really yummy hot chocolate, so I'm counting that as my achievement for the day.
I spent today recovering from my nuclear particle collision speed in Japan by reading "Shadow of the Wind." It's a wonderful book so far, but I had to put it down at one point just because it was so sad. In fact, all the books I've read recently that have been really good have been sad. Between that and all the sad sights I've seen, I have to wonder if I'm being masochistic, but I don't feel sad or hurty overall? Also, it seems like Spanish and South American authors in general tend to write very depressing books, I wonder why that is, and why that makes me like them- because they understand pain and sadness?
The city is drowning today, so I only went outside once to get food, which was forgettable. I'd planned on changing hostels to a cheaper place, but they had a dorm bed available here for the same price, and searching for a random building in the rain sounded terrible, so I'm staying here. I did buy a bar of chocolate and milk, which I successfully combined into really yummy hot chocolate, so I'm counting that as my achievement for the day.
Monday, May 10, 2010
An Extra Hour in the Day, Available in Kyoto
4/21
Finally made it to Kyoto after sleeping for thirteen hours. First hostel I went to, the one I wanted, was fully booked so they told me about a place across the street; Sparkling Dolphins Ryokan. It was basic, but clean and the down comforter was surprisingly comfortable. I walked around a little bit near the station, passing this extraordinary sign on the way. Of course, it would be the Japanese who finally figured out how to squeeze another hour into the day.
I got some forgettable food for dinner, bought a few of my favorite drinks here; a seasonal or at least somewhat hard to find "World Quality" Kirin beer or spirit mix in a dark pink can, and screwed around online and worked on my blog for a while before heading to bed.
Finally made it to Kyoto after sleeping for thirteen hours. First hostel I went to, the one I wanted, was fully booked so they told me about a place across the street; Sparkling Dolphins Ryokan. It was basic, but clean and the down comforter was surprisingly comfortable. I walked around a little bit near the station, passing this extraordinary sign on the way. Of course, it would be the Japanese who finally figured out how to squeeze another hour into the day.
I got some forgettable food for dinner, bought a few of my favorite drinks here; a seasonal or at least somewhat hard to find "World Quality" Kirin beer or spirit mix in a dark pink can, and screwed around online and worked on my blog for a while before heading to bed.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Unsmellable Zombie Tentacles
4/15-
My stepdad has been promising to buy me abalone to eat (as well as California Lobster and teaching me to drive as stickshift) for several years now. I've finally, sadly, realized it's never going to happen, so for my first taste of abalone, I went with abalone porridge. It was rather expensive ($15) but it was fairly good, and new.
I bought my ferry ticket, an overnight ferry with Japanese sleeping areas (similar to the situation in the jimjillbang, but in several slightly smaller rooms) for the next night as the day ferries were all booked. Wandering around the downtown area was vaguely interesting and I went into a memorial I passed on the way that was okay, then walked over to the Busan Tower. The view was lovely but there were huge masses of Japanese tourists there, despite the dull gray day, so I didn't stay for long.
Walking towards the fish market took me through a film festival square with generic mall-type stores, a cheap market and an expensive yuppie market with windows I had to tear myself away from. All four of these markets/shopping areas were within about three blocks of each other, which I found interesting.
This was really weird and worried me so when I got back to the jimjillbang, I looked on webmd and between my slight sniffling, my headaches (about which I'd written "My headaches feel a bit like sinus pressure, sort of like when you can't get your ears to pop and it hurts a bit. Damn, I wish they'd go away," and my lack of smell, I diagnosed myself with sinusitis, which is basically when all your mucus gets blocked up in your head. You cure it pretty much the same way you'd cure a cold: sleep, drink hot liquids, and try to drain your sinuses by steam, though anti-biotics may help. Since I now knew I had a disease, I was especially keen to get back and cure myself by hanging out in a hot tub.
The fish market was interesting though, especially the live octopuses for sale. You could buy them and they would cut it up right there but the tentacles keep moving, at which point, people eat them, as they struggle. Some of the tentacles, unaware they're already dead, continue to resist and poke through peoples internal organs, killing several people each year. I did not try them.
Back at the jimjillbang, the actual name of which I still don't know, I screwed around online and bathed, taking special care to breathe in as much hot steam as possible and put my entire head underwater, and went to bed.
My stepdad has been promising to buy me abalone to eat (as well as California Lobster and teaching me to drive as stickshift) for several years now. I've finally, sadly, realized it's never going to happen, so for my first taste of abalone, I went with abalone porridge. It was rather expensive ($15) but it was fairly good, and new.
I bought my ferry ticket, an overnight ferry with Japanese sleeping areas (similar to the situation in the jimjillbang, but in several slightly smaller rooms) for the next night as the day ferries were all booked. Wandering around the downtown area was vaguely interesting and I went into a memorial I passed on the way that was okay, then walked over to the Busan Tower. The view was lovely but there were huge masses of Japanese tourists there, despite the dull gray day, so I didn't stay for long.
Walking towards the fish market took me through a film festival square with generic mall-type stores, a cheap market and an expensive yuppie market with windows I had to tear myself away from. All four of these markets/shopping areas were within about three blocks of each other, which I found interesting.
These ones are actually properly dead.
Eventually I walked into the fish market. My guidebook had called it "possibly the smelliest place in the world," but I couldn't smell anything. I breathed in very deeply, wondering about this, and was greeted with a slight fishy smell, but when I exhaled, I again couldn't smell anything.
This was really weird and worried me so when I got back to the jimjillbang, I looked on webmd and between my slight sniffling, my headaches (about which I'd written "My headaches feel a bit like sinus pressure, sort of like when you can't get your ears to pop and it hurts a bit. Damn, I wish they'd go away," and my lack of smell, I diagnosed myself with sinusitis, which is basically when all your mucus gets blocked up in your head. You cure it pretty much the same way you'd cure a cold: sleep, drink hot liquids, and try to drain your sinuses by steam, though anti-biotics may help. Since I now knew I had a disease, I was especially keen to get back and cure myself by hanging out in a hot tub.
The fish market was interesting though, especially the live octopuses for sale. You could buy them and they would cut it up right there but the tentacles keep moving, at which point, people eat them, as they struggle. Some of the tentacles, unaware they're already dead, continue to resist and poke through peoples internal organs, killing several people each year. I did not try them.
Back at the jimjillbang, the actual name of which I still don't know, I screwed around online and bathed, taking special care to breathe in as much hot steam as possible and put my entire head underwater, and went to bed.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Jimjillbang! Fun to Say, Fun to Visit, Not Fun to Sleep In
4/14
I'd booked a DMZ (Demilitarized Zone- the border between North and South Korea) tour for today and actually got up on time, but while I was brushing my teeth, I started to feel really sick- to the point that I was hanging out at the toilet in case I threw up, though luckily I didn't. When I was in high school, I used to sometimes get sick exactly like this; I'd try to get up in the morning, but would feel like I were going to throw up or faint and I'd start to see black, with little but very bright points of light pricking the darkness. It's strange and really bad, and now I only get it about once a year and usually because I didn't get enough sleep, but I had, so I don't know why it had to happen today, but it did, so I had to go back to bed.
I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't do it because I'd heard it was really interesting, but, oh well. I stayed in bed until about 12, then went to the corner restaurant to get food. Retro Mama was a burger place, but it was cheap, and when I can, I try to eat meat because I don't get enough protein regularly.
Sitting at the table next to me was a darling old Korean couple who I talked to a little bit, though, since their English was limited, and my Korean was non-existent, it was difficult. At one point, the woman ordered something, went up to the counter and put a drink in front of me. Her husband, who spoke more English than she, told me it was special Korean tea for my health. The woman pointed at me and then raised both arms as if flexing her muscles, indicating that it would make me strong.
So I said thank you and drank it. It was basically just room temperature, regular tea. Nothing remotely special about it, but it was a very sweet gesture so I drank it all. My cheeseburger was quite good though, so I was very happy with my lunch.
Sandra and I couldn't match our schedules up, so sadly I didn't get to say a proper good-bye, but that's okay. I went to the train station, bought a ticket to Busan, and left Seoul. The train ride was fine, rather uneventful, but watching the scenery, Korea looked like quite and ugly country. It was all hills and mountains and more hills, covered in dark, almost black, dead-looking trees.
At around 8:30, I got into Busan and took the subway out to the general area I wanted to stay in. I wanted to try a jimjillbang, which is basically a public bathhouse that's very popular (and non-skeezy) in Korea. I wanted to go to Vesta, one I'd heard was good, so I got a cab to take me there, where I saw that it was closed for renovations. Completely closed. Crap. The nearest jimjillbang I knew of was quite a ways away but I really wanted to try it so I told the driver to take me to one, any one. He took me to one that was much closer, and was totally, truly Korean.
It was quite strange. I took an elevator to the tenth floor of what looked like an office building, paid around $5 and was given a key to a locker, a pair of prison orange shorts and shirt and two hand towels. I had to then put everything in a locker, undress completely and walk into the Womens baths area, carrying only my locker key and a hand towel. It actually wasn't as awkward as it sounds because everyone else was naked too. The only thing different was that I was the only non-Korean there, probably because I'd ended up at this random jimjillbang instead of an advertised one. Some of the women stared a tiny bit, but barely. There were several pool, spa and sauna options: a mild hot tub, a very hot tea bath (though I couldn't smell the tea), a small, hot mineral pool, a very cold wading pool, a cool/mild pool with extremely strong pressure jets for two people to use, a small cold body contoured rock pool, and many, many showers. There were also three saunas with the temperature of each shown outside: 42*C, 67*C and 92*C! On either end of the room, which was fairly small considering everything in it, were rows of vanities, each with short stools and a detachable shower head.
I tried everything out, took a shower and dressed in the prison outfit, took an Ambien and headed up to the sleeping room, which is just a large room with mats. I used two mats, three blankets and my own travel pillow, and still slept just okay, but I guess that's what you get for $5.
I'd booked a DMZ (Demilitarized Zone- the border between North and South Korea) tour for today and actually got up on time, but while I was brushing my teeth, I started to feel really sick- to the point that I was hanging out at the toilet in case I threw up, though luckily I didn't. When I was in high school, I used to sometimes get sick exactly like this; I'd try to get up in the morning, but would feel like I were going to throw up or faint and I'd start to see black, with little but very bright points of light pricking the darkness. It's strange and really bad, and now I only get it about once a year and usually because I didn't get enough sleep, but I had, so I don't know why it had to happen today, but it did, so I had to go back to bed.
I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't do it because I'd heard it was really interesting, but, oh well. I stayed in bed until about 12, then went to the corner restaurant to get food. Retro Mama was a burger place, but it was cheap, and when I can, I try to eat meat because I don't get enough protein regularly.
Sitting at the table next to me was a darling old Korean couple who I talked to a little bit, though, since their English was limited, and my Korean was non-existent, it was difficult. At one point, the woman ordered something, went up to the counter and put a drink in front of me. Her husband, who spoke more English than she, told me it was special Korean tea for my health. The woman pointed at me and then raised both arms as if flexing her muscles, indicating that it would make me strong.
So I said thank you and drank it. It was basically just room temperature, regular tea. Nothing remotely special about it, but it was a very sweet gesture so I drank it all. My cheeseburger was quite good though, so I was very happy with my lunch.
Sandra and I couldn't match our schedules up, so sadly I didn't get to say a proper good-bye, but that's okay. I went to the train station, bought a ticket to Busan, and left Seoul. The train ride was fine, rather uneventful, but watching the scenery, Korea looked like quite and ugly country. It was all hills and mountains and more hills, covered in dark, almost black, dead-looking trees.
At around 8:30, I got into Busan and took the subway out to the general area I wanted to stay in. I wanted to try a jimjillbang, which is basically a public bathhouse that's very popular (and non-skeezy) in Korea. I wanted to go to Vesta, one I'd heard was good, so I got a cab to take me there, where I saw that it was closed for renovations. Completely closed. Crap. The nearest jimjillbang I knew of was quite a ways away but I really wanted to try it so I told the driver to take me to one, any one. He took me to one that was much closer, and was totally, truly Korean.
Picture of the building my jimjillbang was in, showing an ad for the inside- best I could do.
It was quite strange. I took an elevator to the tenth floor of what looked like an office building, paid around $5 and was given a key to a locker, a pair of prison orange shorts and shirt and two hand towels. I had to then put everything in a locker, undress completely and walk into the Womens baths area, carrying only my locker key and a hand towel. It actually wasn't as awkward as it sounds because everyone else was naked too. The only thing different was that I was the only non-Korean there, probably because I'd ended up at this random jimjillbang instead of an advertised one. Some of the women stared a tiny bit, but barely. There were several pool, spa and sauna options: a mild hot tub, a very hot tea bath (though I couldn't smell the tea), a small, hot mineral pool, a very cold wading pool, a cool/mild pool with extremely strong pressure jets for two people to use, a small cold body contoured rock pool, and many, many showers. There were also three saunas with the temperature of each shown outside: 42*C, 67*C and 92*C! On either end of the room, which was fairly small considering everything in it, were rows of vanities, each with short stools and a detachable shower head.
I tried everything out, took a shower and dressed in the prison outfit, took an Ambien and headed up to the sleeping room, which is just a large room with mats. I used two mats, three blankets and my own travel pillow, and still slept just okay, but I guess that's what you get for $5.
Korean BBQ
4/12
I had a slow day today, just wandered around Hongdae, the very cool University area I'm staying in but hadn't had a chance to explore yet and wrote a bit. At around three o'clock in the afternoon, I realized I was starving. (My appetite was very strange from the last few days I was in Cambodia through the first few days in Japan so I wasn't eating regularly.) I didn't want Western-style food so I looked around and when I saw a Korean restaurant with reasonable prices listed outside, I just went in and pointed to the menu and said it was for one person. Fortunately, it turned out to be Korean BBQ which you grilled at your table to desired doneness. I grilled mine with garlic and onions and it was delicious, and I was happy to have Korean food I actually liked. I looked around a bit more and window shopped, finally opening my wallet for a face mask and a really pretty nail polish.
I had a wonderful evening. It was so chill and luxurious and self-serving. I bought a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, watched the final episode of Buffy (which, I'd really sadly missed in Australia, where they have it on t.v. and I'd watched from the end of Season Four through the end of the series, except the last episode because I was kind of busy having a life at that point- I suck) and painted my nails and used my Skin Food face mask. It was fabulous; a bit luxurious, a bit odd, seeing as I was in a hostel, but above all, wonderful.
I had a slow day today, just wandered around Hongdae, the very cool University area I'm staying in but hadn't had a chance to explore yet and wrote a bit. At around three o'clock in the afternoon, I realized I was starving. (My appetite was very strange from the last few days I was in Cambodia through the first few days in Japan so I wasn't eating regularly.) I didn't want Western-style food so I looked around and when I saw a Korean restaurant with reasonable prices listed outside, I just went in and pointed to the menu and said it was for one person. Fortunately, it turned out to be Korean BBQ which you grilled at your table to desired doneness. I grilled mine with garlic and onions and it was delicious, and I was happy to have Korean food I actually liked. I looked around a bit more and window shopped, finally opening my wallet for a face mask and a really pretty nail polish.
I had a wonderful evening. It was so chill and luxurious and self-serving. I bought a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, watched the final episode of Buffy (which, I'd really sadly missed in Australia, where they have it on t.v. and I'd watched from the end of Season Four through the end of the series, except the last episode because I was kind of busy having a life at that point- I suck) and painted my nails and used my Skin Food face mask. It was fabulous; a bit luxurious, a bit odd, seeing as I was in a hostel, but above all, wonderful.
She's Dreaming In Korea, She's Dreaming in Korea
4/11
I got home a little after 6 a.m., when the sun was totally up and people were walking around in suits, and fell into bed. At around 1 p.m. I woke up briefly and decided that I should sleep until 3. I slept until 6 p.m. and called Sandra, who wanted to meet for a drink. We met up at _____ and got something to eat, wandered around a bit more, and then had a black sesame parfait and I had a ____ berry tea, which tasted a bit like I'd imagine blackberry mixed with blueberry tea would taste like, and was great.
I got home a little after 6 a.m., when the sun was totally up and people were walking around in suits, and fell into bed. At around 1 p.m. I woke up briefly and decided that I should sleep until 3. I slept until 6 p.m. and called Sandra, who wanted to meet for a drink. We met up at _____ and got something to eat, wandered around a bit more, and then had a black sesame parfait and I had a ____ berry tea, which tasted a bit like I'd imagine blackberry mixed with blueberry tea would taste like, and was great.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Meh...Headache
4/6
I'd planned to get up and start really doing my touristy stuff today but when I woke up I had a killer headache. It felt like a combination between a migrane and a hangover but wasn't quite either. It couldn't be a hangover because I had literally not drank a single drop of alcohol the day before, and it couldn't be a migrane, because as miserable as it was, I didn't have any particular sensitivity to light or sound, and the one time I have had a migrane before, I did have that sensitivity. I took a couple of Tylenol with codeine and it seemed to help for a while mid-morning, but then the pain returned. I didn't want to eat anything- just the idea of food sounded terrible, but I considered that with how much Coke Light I've been drinking lately it could be caffeine withdrawal so I went to the balcony and had a Coke Light and a demi baguette of garlic bread. It didn't help enough and I spent the rest of the day in bed, getting up just once more to eat something for dinner. I got fried rice, and it was fine, but I still didn't want to eat, so I forced myself to just eat the chicken so I'd at least have some protein.
*I made it to 20,000 words with this post- I wish my book were going this well!
I'd planned to get up and start really doing my touristy stuff today but when I woke up I had a killer headache. It felt like a combination between a migrane and a hangover but wasn't quite either. It couldn't be a hangover because I had literally not drank a single drop of alcohol the day before, and it couldn't be a migrane, because as miserable as it was, I didn't have any particular sensitivity to light or sound, and the one time I have had a migrane before, I did have that sensitivity. I took a couple of Tylenol with codeine and it seemed to help for a while mid-morning, but then the pain returned. I didn't want to eat anything- just the idea of food sounded terrible, but I considered that with how much Coke Light I've been drinking lately it could be caffeine withdrawal so I went to the balcony and had a Coke Light and a demi baguette of garlic bread. It didn't help enough and I spent the rest of the day in bed, getting up just once more to eat something for dinner. I got fried rice, and it was fine, but I still didn't want to eat, so I forced myself to just eat the chicken so I'd at least have some protein.
*I made it to 20,000 words with this post- I wish my book were going this well!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Gourmet Vegetarian Food in Cambodia- Who Knew?
3/30
I meant to get up at 6 a.m. to start going around to the temples by bicycle early in the day but didn't even hear my alarm. I still got up early, about 8:20 a.m., because I couldn't go back to sleep even though I was still tired. After a Coke Light to wake me up, I wrote and messed around online for several hours. Heading out, I ate lunch and bought a Cambodian SIM card so I could call my Mom.
At 4 p.m. I met Chris and Amarita at their hotel to go out to Chong Kneas, a floating village on the Tonle Sap Lake. We were driving out in the van they rented with their guide when it broke down. By the time the guide- who laughs creepily, especially when he doesn't know something or have a good answer for why he screwed up- got another car to come pick us up (about 25 minutes), Amarita and Chris didn't want to go because they would miss the sunset so we just went into the Old Market area to look around and have dinner at the vegetarian restaurant, Chamkar.
It was actually really, really good. It was definitely gourmet food, but cheap. Mains were around $5-6. The spring rolls and sauce were particularly fresh and tasty- I think it was the basil that made it so light. All the flavors were expertly combined and innovative. My Aunt asked to buy a copy of the menu since it was so interesting so the owner, a Frenchman who was no longer the chef but had created the dishes, came out and talked with us for a while all about Cambodian ingredients and told us a good restaurant to go to in Phnom Penh. He also made us a dish that wasn't on the menu but was better than any of the mains we had ordered: sauteed Cambodian spinach with soy sauce and a bit of garlic. I don't even like spinach, but this kind tasted a bit different, and somehow just felt comforting and homey.
From Old Market, we went back to their hotel, and then their guide drove me and my bicycle back into town, as I was uncomfortable bicycling back in the dark along one stretch of empty road, and dropped me off at the Night Market. I'd been by it before and had thought it looked slightly interesting but I now realized it wasn't. It was a crappy, overpriced souvenir bazaar. The part of it and reason I'd thought it would be good was just a smaller food area next door, which was mostly closed at night.
I meant to get up at 6 a.m. to start going around to the temples by bicycle early in the day but didn't even hear my alarm. I still got up early, about 8:20 a.m., because I couldn't go back to sleep even though I was still tired. After a Coke Light to wake me up, I wrote and messed around online for several hours. Heading out, I ate lunch and bought a Cambodian SIM card so I could call my Mom.
At 4 p.m. I met Chris and Amarita at their hotel to go out to Chong Kneas, a floating village on the Tonle Sap Lake. We were driving out in the van they rented with their guide when it broke down. By the time the guide- who laughs creepily, especially when he doesn't know something or have a good answer for why he screwed up- got another car to come pick us up (about 25 minutes), Amarita and Chris didn't want to go because they would miss the sunset so we just went into the Old Market area to look around and have dinner at the vegetarian restaurant, Chamkar.
It was actually really, really good. It was definitely gourmet food, but cheap. Mains were around $5-6. The spring rolls and sauce were particularly fresh and tasty- I think it was the basil that made it so light. All the flavors were expertly combined and innovative. My Aunt asked to buy a copy of the menu since it was so interesting so the owner, a Frenchman who was no longer the chef but had created the dishes, came out and talked with us for a while all about Cambodian ingredients and told us a good restaurant to go to in Phnom Penh. He also made us a dish that wasn't on the menu but was better than any of the mains we had ordered: sauteed Cambodian spinach with soy sauce and a bit of garlic. I don't even like spinach, but this kind tasted a bit different, and somehow just felt comforting and homey.
From Old Market, we went back to their hotel, and then their guide drove me and my bicycle back into town, as I was uncomfortable bicycling back in the dark along one stretch of empty road, and dropped me off at the Night Market. I'd been by it before and had thought it looked slightly interesting but I now realized it wasn't. It was a crappy, overpriced souvenir bazaar. The part of it and reason I'd thought it would be good was just a smaller food area next door, which was mostly closed at night.
Monday, April 5, 2010
As Easy As...Hard
3/28
Though I would've gone eventually, the specific reason I'm in Siem Reap right now is because my Aunt Chris is vacationing here for a week with a friend of hers so I wanted to meet them. I asked the people at the front desk how much it would cost to get a tuk tuk to their hotel, and once they agreed where it was generally, they said $3. I thought this was excessive since it was still a short trip and a couple nearby mentioned that I could probably rent a bicycle for $1 for the day and go out there. This sounded like a good idea to me, despite the fact that I hadn't ridden a bicycle since I was about 16, and even then just once or twice when my mom decided to torture us with a "family activity," which almost always meant time spent hiking or bicycling or climbing lighthouses in Nature, who I just don't get along with. I hadn't regularly bicycled or just gone out for a joyride since I was, oh, maybe 10.
Regardless, I didn't even consider the idea that I'd have trouble. It didn't even occur to me as a thought to brush off. If it had, I know I wouldn't have been bothered anyway because there are so many cliches about riding bicycles: "It's just like riding a bike," "You never forget how to ride a bicycle," "Easy as riding a bike," "If you fall down, you just get back on the bike," etc.
So I walked down the road a bit, saw a sign, "Bike $1" written in black sharpie on a square of brown cardboard and rented a bicycle with a $10 deposit. I thought the seat looked high, but what did I know? so I got on, managed to catch the pedals and force them into motion and wobbled away. I realized that while I could technically ride a bicycle, I couldn't ride it well. My balance was off and instead of traveling in a straight line, my front tire seemed to keep moving sideways so I was going in the right direction, but taking a decidedly unscenic route since I couldn't keep the bike steady. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I made this drawing for you:
You now know how well I was doing, but I was progressing. At least until I saw an ATM. I needed to get money so I pointed the tough, sticky handlebars in that direction. I didn't notice the little trough in between the road and the sidewalk until just before I got there. I had time to stop, and started to brake slightly, but then decided to go for it. Obviously this was a stupid thing to do and had I simply committed to going over it and not braking, or had I fully stopped and walked it over, I'm sure I would have been fine. This inbetweenness, though, did not work, and I realized that about two seconds before it happened. I fell down, but since I was expecting it, I like to think I fell quite gracefully, though it may not have appeared that way to the untrained eye. Or eyes, of everyone nearby; the British couple who stopped to see if I was okay, the tuk tuk driver, the motorcyclist and the bank guard. I was fine, dirty since I toppled over onto the filthy street, but not even scratched.
Moral of the story: You can forget how to ride a bike, it's not that easy, but fortunately, you can get right back on (and speed away from those looking at you pitifully).
I bicycled around the Independence Gardens, by the Royal Residence, went into a temple, then continued through the town in general and the Old Market area, stopping at the Central Market to get some weird egg/fish (paste?)/vegetable pancake thing and a dragonfruit, which I'm starting to love. Most of the food and things in the market were no stranger than anything else I'd seen, except for the crickets and cicadas which looked like they'd been baked, and could be bought by the kilo to snack on. I passed.
In the afternoon I relaxed at the hostel for a while before heading out to meet Chris for dinner at her hotel, where I'd left a note for her earlier. On my way I accidentally passed through a Buddhist monk village place because I had to escape a creepy guy on a motorcycle who was following me, but it was okay, because even just passing though, the compound was quite interesting, and I successfully lost the jerk.
I had a nice dinner with Chris and her friend, Amarita, who lived in Qatar (which is apparently pronounced "Cutter" interestingly enough) and went back to the hostel, had a 50 cent Angkor draft beer at the rooftop bar and set my alarm before going to bed in preparation for an early, very early, day tomorrow.
Though I would've gone eventually, the specific reason I'm in Siem Reap right now is because my Aunt Chris is vacationing here for a week with a friend of hers so I wanted to meet them. I asked the people at the front desk how much it would cost to get a tuk tuk to their hotel, and once they agreed where it was generally, they said $3. I thought this was excessive since it was still a short trip and a couple nearby mentioned that I could probably rent a bicycle for $1 for the day and go out there. This sounded like a good idea to me, despite the fact that I hadn't ridden a bicycle since I was about 16, and even then just once or twice when my mom decided to torture us with a "family activity," which almost always meant time spent hiking or bicycling or climbing lighthouses in Nature, who I just don't get along with. I hadn't regularly bicycled or just gone out for a joyride since I was, oh, maybe 10.
Regardless, I didn't even consider the idea that I'd have trouble. It didn't even occur to me as a thought to brush off. If it had, I know I wouldn't have been bothered anyway because there are so many cliches about riding bicycles: "It's just like riding a bike," "You never forget how to ride a bicycle," "Easy as riding a bike," "If you fall down, you just get back on the bike," etc.
So I walked down the road a bit, saw a sign, "Bike $1" written in black sharpie on a square of brown cardboard and rented a bicycle with a $10 deposit. I thought the seat looked high, but what did I know? so I got on, managed to catch the pedals and force them into motion and wobbled away. I realized that while I could technically ride a bicycle, I couldn't ride it well. My balance was off and instead of traveling in a straight line, my front tire seemed to keep moving sideways so I was going in the right direction, but taking a decidedly unscenic route since I couldn't keep the bike steady. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I made this drawing for you:
Moral of the story: You can forget how to ride a bike, it's not that easy, but fortunately, you can get right back on (and speed away from those looking at you pitifully).
I bicycled around the Independence Gardens, by the Royal Residence, went into a temple, then continued through the town in general and the Old Market area, stopping at the Central Market to get some weird egg/fish (paste?)/vegetable pancake thing and a dragonfruit, which I'm starting to love. Most of the food and things in the market were no stranger than anything else I'd seen, except for the crickets and cicadas which looked like they'd been baked, and could be bought by the kilo to snack on. I passed.
In the afternoon I relaxed at the hostel for a while before heading out to meet Chris for dinner at her hotel, where I'd left a note for her earlier. On my way I accidentally passed through a Buddhist monk village place because I had to escape a creepy guy on a motorcycle who was following me, but it was okay, because even just passing though, the compound was quite interesting, and I successfully lost the jerk.
I had a nice dinner with Chris and her friend, Amarita, who lived in Qatar (which is apparently pronounced "Cutter" interestingly enough) and went back to the hostel, had a 50 cent Angkor draft beer at the rooftop bar and set my alarm before going to bed in preparation for an early, very early, day tomorrow.
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