on the loose

Bonjour Bundi!

2011-03-07T14:42:00.003+08:00

in Bundi now! 3rd location after Delhi and Agra. Feeling a little peeved because I was transferring files in an internet cafe, blue screen appeared, they directed me to another much better and faster comp, but 1 thrid of my files are still on the other computer and I've already deleted them from my memory card... and now someone else is using that comp and when I asked to switch she just said very shortly they she's e done very fast. Like real! how fast is fast? an hour? checking hotel websites can take forever...

anyway, Bundi looks good even though all I've done so far is walk down the street to this internet place - relatively quiet after the madness of Agra and Delhi, and crafts men working on the side of the road stopping and sayiong hello or namaste... narrow streets old houses.. I've staying in a for real haveli/paying guest house where the family is still living, so I had to walk all the way in and through their living areas to get to my room. Lovely, and it's great to get into one of them and see how the interior spaces are like. Cool, lots of sitting areas all topped by nice pieces of fabric, super old black and white family or personal portraits on the walls (the sort you usu see in museums).

Overnight sleeper here from Agra. Took a while to get used to. there were women around me but they didn't seem the friendly sort. Very noisy, chatting and loud music etc. Once I had figured out the way to sleep, where to position my bags etc, I managed to get some sleep despite the noise, though I kept waking up at major stations, once at midnight to find it quite and lights off and esp Kota at 5plus, when almost everyone got off and were replaced by a trainload of men who all seemed to gather around my berth, all sitting on the seats below so that I felt trapped above. After a while one of them, who had boarded first and had spoken to me before the whole gang came on, saw me looking and asked the guys to move for me, so that I could actually look out of the window and see the sunrise over the beautiful indian countryside. Really really beautiful. Not dirty. I think they only get dirty when 'civilisation' encroaches!

Agra yesterday with hc and pk - gorgeous and awe-inspiring. really beautiful and ethereal. Got more crowded as the morning wore on and the tour groups appeared. The local tourists seem to be there as much to see foreigners as to see the Taj! Quite funny, as long as they don't get too carried away or too handsy. Agra fort - nice as well, very fairytale fortress/stronghold, lovely stories, come to think ofit, attached to each spot. 'Baby Taj' -beautiful, and I met a lovely family who wanted me to take photos of them. Unfortunately the lady's balck scarf didn't stand out on my head =( Red Fort in Delhi, also nice, though seen in a bit of a hurry so can't remember much at the moment. Must look at photos later...

Gah! I don't think she's done yet! I don't want to spend the best part of the day in an internet cafe!! But the photos in there are my Taj ones... =(

Off to India!

2011-03-03T22:01:00.003+08:00

I'm off to India tomorrow!

Hope to be able to have some time for reflection and blogging, unlike the Myanmar trip last year, which was great and lovely and fun in its own way too, and I'm glad I experienced that way (and volume!) of interaction but...

I'm been longing to have the space and freedom of solo travel again I suppose. Just to be able to be what I feel like being at that moment. To be able to make decisions and act on them on the spur of the moment. No fixed plans, no one to answer to, no one to take care of but myself. To be friendly or not. To sit or wander or get lost and take as much or as little time about it as I want without feeling guilty or like I'm missing out. To be able to think. To exercise and at the same time relax my mind. To make my own wrong decisions and suffer the consequences myself, no guilt or blame on me or anyone else. To have people see me for me, whatever I am at that moment, and I'm always someone I like better when I'm travelling alone. My own person. More free and open to what is around me perhaps because I'm more in control of how I can react. I suppose part of the challenge is to just be like that in my daily life, but well, it's a struggle. People call me out or make fun of me when I don't act according to their pre-conceived notions of how I'm supposed to act, or when I actually show what I'm feeling, and it's easier, less tiring and hurts less at least in the short run to just go with it. It's not an incorrect image. In fact it might be my default -the quiet, reserved, nothing-much-to-say, dour, pessimistic, sarcastic, slightly mean, not-life-of-the-party me, but it is just one side of me.

I do realise that perhaps my first foray into incredible India might not be the place for a return to solo travel though. But then, I was scared the first time I ventured out on my own too, even if it was just to Thailand (which was in the safe stable prosperous Thaksin years at that time), and for less than a month. I doubt Rajasthan will be as 'easy' as Thailand proved to be. Right after booking my air ticket, I started searching online for re-assurance but did not come away feeling any more settled than when I started. If anything, the litany of horror stories made me seriously reconsider not joining my 'travel companions'. It has to be said, though, that many generations of women have braved India alone, and loved it despite all the harassment that being a woman alone (foreign or not) in India apparently brings, so it is very do-able, albeit with a large dose of common sense and some bravado. Tell that to my parents though. (Oh wait, don't, 'cos I didn't. Tell them about the possibly going it alone at some parts of the trip part of the plan, that is.)

As it turns out, after a lot of vacillating, my itinerary will largely match that of my friends' so I may end up inadvertently travelling with them again, except for a detour to Bundi while they head to Jaipur, and the last couple of days after they've flown home and I linger to experience the festival of Holi.

Wish me luck! And sorry about the rant at the start... I'm sure India will be beautiful - I just hope Delhi belly doesn't hit me too hard!

home!

2008-05-13T23:41:00.002+08:00

v v quick note to say I'm back in Singapore. Safe, in one piece and nowhere near the Chengdu quake.

2008-04-30T10:24:00.003+08:00

hey! my 100th post!

Unfortunately it's not about anything very eventful. I went to the Summer Palaces yesterday. Maybe I've done too much sightseeing, or maybe I've already seen the best, but I wasn't very impressed.. it was nice enough, but not 'wow'.

Old Summer Palace:
Ruins in a big park. Almost all the pictures I took were of the wild flowers growing by the path, or of the sunset.. ruins wise, it's nothing compared to Rome, which it was like in a way.. 1700s stone structures in pseudo European style. Perhaps fascinating to the Chinese, but there was nothing there to interest me.

New Summer Palace:
ok. big lake. the usu style of buildings. the marble boat that cixi built. But I was still meh... I guess seeing 西湖，网师园，黄山，紫禁城，天坛公园，洪村 all in one trip has spoiled me for pretty much everything else... was not really impressed by much else, baring the usual beauty of nature kind of thing...

Today I will attempt to go wander ard in hutong, and, if time permits (prob not, knowing me, and pending when the cleaning aunty can come in), also go to the 798 galleries again. Both areas seem to have nice cafes I can just sit in for hours... and try not to shop.

I dropped off the dreadfully packed and slow and jerky and super long bus journey yesterday coming back from the summer palaces early - I think I would have puked if I had stay on. Ended up on a street with all the music shops. Some selling both erhu and trombone. People practising with their instruments on the sidewalk, a lao-wai on an erhu being instructed by an old man... it was not far from XiDan, one of the main shopping areas, where I popped into a mall to use the loo, which turned out to be a dressing room.. very nice. Better than sg hotel loos =P

Made the mistake of looking ard the neighbouring mall as it looked like an interesting bldg from the outside, and had a great lighting system over the entire façade. Nice on the inside too. Malls here can really be done very well. Walked into Uniqio. Damm. Lots of things I wanted to get, at prices I wouldn't have blinked at back home.. my debit card couldn't be accepted though. Phew? but being an upscale shopping mall, there was a stanchart atm for foreign cards only (and yes, i felt a bit atas while using it, because the locals before and after me couldn't get anything out of it )... but I managed to tear myself away w only a nice plain black tee =P v tempted to go back though. it's all v comfy, good quality material, fits me well, is classic yet fashionable... >.< I should just have stuck to the far east plaza kind of teenagers' mall across the road... though uniqio and muji are def more me style-wise...

I've seen some nice bldgs here, many of them from the bus or cab so I have no idea where they are, what they are, or who built them.. some nice ideas, some just done well, some just attention grabbing...

ok, i'd better go. my last full day in beijing!

2008-04-28T15:23:00.003+08:00

yesterday: great wall = great!

We went to a relatively quiet stretch of the wall. Great scenery, nice dinner, was brought to a fantastic dvd shop and some high quality but still cheap fake goods shop, nice bar for strong drinks after. Good day.

Also, today has almost gone and I'm still in the house! had to hang ard to deal w electrician fixing the wiring (if not, no dvd nights or internet...)

so, that all for now!

2008-04-27T02:18:00.003+08:00

I did not see the summer palace yesterday as planned. Went instead to the new National Theatre to try for tickets to Red Giselle by the St Petersburg Elfman Ballet, which yes, I have seen before (at the dans fest in sg last year) but would like to see again, and it's of a standard I think my wonderful host lw would like. Unfortunately only 400 and 800rmb tickets were left, I did not have enough cash on me, and forgot to bring the card out. Touts at the counter had apparently bought all the 100/200rmb tickets, and were pushing them, but I just think it's such a bad practice which should not be encouraged, that I refused to even listen to them... they are probably real seats, but it's just so wrong. Sigh. It takes time, I guess. and I can't fault them for trying to make a few bucks - it's in their blood? but it still gets on my nerves.

Then I went to Beihai Park and JingShan Park. They would have been pleasant places to sit or stroll or picnic. if not for the incredible wind and hence chill. That said, it's been getting warmer every day, so I'm feeling much better =) anyway, both places are nice as parks, to see the locals (usu older folk) dancing, singing, taichi-ing, gambling, etc... bldgs not so impressive or especially thought-provoking, but still nice. I think I've just seen too much already...

Then rushed to meet lw, jh and some other uni coursemates here on holiday for dinner, in a little restuarant in the hutong area the american landscape architect working here whom I meet in Suzhou had told me I must go. Really nice neighbourhood. I'll probably have found a hostel in this area if I hadn't already had somewhere to stay... there's a wonderful, gregarious owner who really made the place that bit more special in addition to the good food...

today. brunch, then to the 798 galleries. i def have to spend another day just wandering ard the galleries. so that's my 3 remaining weekdays (before may1/2 and my flight south) taken care of: summer palace, hutongs, and art galleries. After the galleries, we headed for the mandatary Peking roast duck dinner, then the Philip Stark designed lan club (not that fantastic except for the big comfy private toilets), then another club, then back to the aptm. The clubs here are def much more interesting than back home.. more varied, more character, stronger drinks.. =P

Tml, great wall w the group.

2008-04-25T10:51:00.003+08:00

still alive!

yesterday: Forbidden City. Huge. Spaces. Hierarchy. Procession.

Many of the important buildings were totally out of bounds and wrapped in scaffolding and green netting as they get spruced up. I can see why they want to do that. Most of the place is looking kind of scuffed, and though that is the look I prefer - weathered and aged and full of history and stories - it's probably not quite the image they want to portray in such an important symbol of the city/country. But I guess the magnificence of the place lies in its spatial, or processional, qualities. Not just the huge ceremonial squares and architecture, but also in the smaller palaces/compounds behind and around, and in the long relatively dark corridors of the various gates; places that, as in the Suzhou gardens, constrict before expanding into the vast square, so that you truly feel the awed, overwhelmed and relieved by the open space, and by association, greatness of the emperor/empire . The hierarchy within the Forbidden city, and within each of its components... everything has its place and reason...

I barely saw the exhibits, I barely had time to see the spaces, to linger, to understand the place and imagine its rituals.

Of course, I know that much of what I imagine to be life there is very much inspired by that HK drama series from 2(?) years back about the concubines..

shit, it's 11am, and the Summer Palace, which I want to see today, is huge, so I really should get moving!

2008-04-23T11:44:00.003+08:00

written yesterday but had problems w connection so here it is now:

I am.. not really in the mood to write... I can't seem to get myself out of the house before noon (when lunch beckons and tummy starts to whine), but I also realise that each of the city's sights are so huge and my pace of seeing things is so slow that I will need an entire day from early morning till closing time (at about 5-6pm for most sights) to get my fill of a place.. and I still need to run errands today.. sigh..

But yesterday was good. Clear blue skies. Lovely sunset at the Temple of Heaven. A little cold, but beautiful. The sheer scale of the public ceremonial spaces and the ordered approaches to each sight.. truly a masterpiece in experiential orchestration, inspiring awe and respect.. I feel many things when I look at it.. in a way, it's a huge part of where I came from. My people and culture. Things I've been far removed from and have, at times, ridiculed and felt embarrassed about, but now have trying to repossess and understand, as I try to find my place in the world, and to understand who I am and what will make me happy...

2008-04-22T11:00:00.003+08:00

I'm liking Beijing much better than Shanghai already. People seem nicer and more polite and less frantic, there's a bit more space (though still not very walkable as things are very spread out).. not to mention that by now the weather is not as bitterly cold as when I was in Shanghai, though still far from balmy by my standards. It's big, and takes a while to get to know, though the basics of the city layout are easy enough to understand.

In a way, I'm really tired from the past 40(!) days so I'm thinking I should to take it easy, esp considering I have almost 2 weeks here before I leave for Shantou. Also, a bit sick of touristy sights, so I will just see the must-sees (Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Tiannanmen Square, a less developed stretch of the Great Wall, maybe the Ming Tombs? and a couple of museums), then spend the rest of the time walking ard hutongs and going to art galleries...

also, I desperately need to get new shoes (the current pair did not stand up well to the constant rain and scruffs, and walking around the whole day in pointy spiky heels is not fun for the feet) and a haircut (now that it's getting warmer and I no longer need to go around looking like a Neanderthal in order to keep myself a fraction of a degree warmer =P). So far, I have not been to the cheap(er) places and while I don't want to scrimp on shoes, 990RMB is too much to pay for simple ballet flats (and those were the only ones I saw that I sort of like..). Sigh.. I think I am already looking forward to a higher standard of living than I have been experiencing for the past month...

went to walk in Tiannanmen Square yesterday evening, but got there too late to go into any place other than the shopping malls nearby =P It's been raining the past 2 days so I have not really experienced the famed pollution, though the city is now one big construction site (but all must be finished/stopped by July). It's also very convenient to have someone who knows the hutongs and how to find a nice bar or restaurant in the middle of all the dark alleys =)

2008-04-20T08:08:00.003+08:00

Arrived in Beijing. Tired and sleepy because the train was not a sleeper and the guy beside me snored. It's not as cold as expected (phew!). Sky is overcast and featureless, but at least it's not raining... lw's apartment is very nice and big, if a bit difficult to find and not exactly in city centre... the best thing is, I have a room all to myself =)

but I really need to go get some sleep first...

2008-04-19T10:41:00.002+08:00

just a quick post to say I'll be leaving this afternoon on the 3pm train to Wuxi (0.5h trip) to take the 8pm train to Beijing. Sigh. Direct tickets to get to beijing on a weekend were sold out.

Today the street the hostel is on is very happening. and I'm sure, the shopping street is as well. It's the start of the Suzhou Int'l Tourism Festival. Here, there are stages and performances all along the street, crafts and art stalls and artisans and food and snacks, as well as a traditional wedding demo by the canal... quite cool. today's art students are not sketching but painting.

I know i've mentioned that I love this area already, but after yesterday (during which i didn't really do anything but walk ard the neighbourhood) i love it even more, because there are shops where people are weaving rush mat for the old beds, old men sanding wood and making wooden buckets, women drawing water out of the well which can be anywhere (at a village intersection, beside the road, beside the canal) and washing clothes, etc...

I need to check out soon... it seems to be a busy weekend...

2008-04-16T16:45:00.002+08:00

cold wet dreary weather... today i abandoned my itiniery for the day after lunch.. tired.. and it didn't look like it as going to stop drizzling (though it has now that I'm back nice and warm in the hotel. figures.).

went to HanShan Temple today. Because of that damn poem. The temple itself is actually nothing very special chinese temples wise.. I guess it's just to see the setting of that poem...

I've been feeling so tired last few days.. partly cos of the weather, and mostly just becuse I've been travelling too long and have yet to really just take a day off and sit and not go anywhere...

ok, i'd better go next door and get those nice postcards so that I can write and send them asap =)

2008-04-15T08:18:00.002+08:00

sigh.. my photo storage hard disk is out of battery, and it can only be charged by being connected to a computer, and as there's no way I'm going to head out to the gardens without being able to take pictures, I'm stuck here for a bit waiting for it to get just enough juice so it can start up and get yesterday's photos into it...

The weather is not so good today. rained yesterday and still looks quite dreary now at 8 in the morning.. and at the rate this photo thing is going, I'm not going to be able to miss the first of the tour groups by the time I can head out.. The gardens and other attractions all close around 5 or 5.30pm, so sightseeing time is limited. Of course, I could just go another day, 30Y is not much, but there are other day trips I want to go for.. suddenly my time is not as flexible as I wanted.. Will also have to go to the train station today and hope that sat night tickets on the express train to Beijing are still available... and I want a bed, not standing space! sigh.. must rememebr to buy tickets as soon as i arrive in beijing to get me back south to guangzhou so I will be forced to plan my time properly, and can confirm my arrival in guangzhou with friends and family there...

hungry.. the only problem with this hostel is that they don't provide (or I just can't find the dispenser for) hot drinking water, which has been essential elsewhere in making coffee in the mornings, a hot cup of water at night, or instant noodles for those times when I'm too lazy to go out for food.. man, i need coffee.. but I've been getting more stingy now that i know that a cup of americano or espresso can sometimes get me 5-8 meals...

groceries are a bit more expensive here than in the carrefour in hangzhou, but still cheap compared to back home. I need to buy shower foam and shampoo but the shampoo only comes in 200ml bottles, which is too much, and they don't seem to have shower foam, only bar soap.. dang, i had planned my toiletries too perfectly to last me till this past weekend, when i was supposed to reach Beijing (and free lodging!)..

I'm beginning to get a bit tired of travelling.. I think i prob need a day off to just lie in bed or sit in some cafe (there's a sabai sabai cafe down the street, next to an indian incense stall, and the architecture info centre's cafe/restaurant next door/opp0site), but I still really want to see so many things here!! Oh, my portable hard disk, please recharge fast!!

I must be going mad from hunger... =P

2008-04-14T19:01:00.002+08:00

Tomorrow is last day of low season so I'm trying to whack the most impt gardens first, before ticket prices rise by 10-20 yuan.. went to Liu Yuan (Garden to Linger in) and Shi Zi Lin (Lion's Grove) today.. both very nice, but for the tour groups that started appearing after 10/11am.. I love the way they plan the gardens..

Lion's Grove was like a maze of stone caves and narrow passages through which you can always see other parts of the garden/the place you want to go, but which you can never quite reach... great for kids.. and lovers =P

Liu Yuan was also fab. I love that every bit of it is so well designed.. the borrowing of scenery, that every view is a landscape or arrangement of some sort, such that all views are beautiful.. and the flowers!! lovely gardens and bonsai... as if I didn't have a million photos of flowers already...

but the flowers, while sort of the same (as I'm in rel the same region), are changing too, with the seasons.. when I first arrived in hangzhou the plum blossoms were in bloom or blooming, and the floor was littered with their pink and while petals, then came the dandelions (?) floating in the air, and the wisteria and those bis blooms you see in chinese paintings (I forget the name right now) were blooming... today, along with the dandelions, the wisteria petals were also starting to grace the air and the streets, and other flowers are blooming...

food is good and cheap n everywhere =) had rice gruel and yu tiao for 1.5Y for breakfast, 4Y noodles for lunch, 1Y for 4 pieces of fried toufu... went to the I M Pei designed Suzhou Museum today... Nicer than I expected. Bigger too. I think it's because now that I'm here and have seen suzhou's architecture, I can better understand how it fits into its surroundings and culture. There's an old residence (of some impt guy) attached to it that was very quiet and pleasant..

the canals are all very nice in the evenings, when the residents hang out outside.. and throw their day's waste water into it...

but I'm really very tired now, after a whole day of walking around and not much lingering in the gardens at all (it's not very restful with so the constant flow of tour groups). so. ciao! tml: the Humble Ambassador's Garden, and the Garden of the Master of the Nets..

2008-04-13T19:37:00.002+08:00

just arr in suzhou, as usu ppl waiting to use net, so a quick note to say: horrible journey from Tunxi to here, but the hostel and the area its in is so nice that i'm feeling much better. Suzhou is a much bigger city than i imagined, and not very pleasant, but this area is perfect. no big vehicles, still got people living in the maze of old houses and waterways all around, really like the 'venice of the east'. The aki centre/place thingy is just beside the hostel, and it seems a lot of old impt bldgs are all ard this block, so I may just buy the book and take a day to explore. It's very pictureques.
It's also very near the town centre/shopping area, but very far removed in spirit. Fantastic. And I haven't even gotten to the gardens suzhou is famed for! Feeing 100% better than when I first arrived. But still very physically tired... gg to rest tonight and hope the gardens are really places to linger in!

2008-04-12T21:49:00.002+08:00

heh, finally, I am going to try to post a few select photos from the past couple of days.. oh, the joys of the 'countryside'... I only hope this comp can handle it.. starting second attempt *crosses fingers*

ok, i give up. It's taking too long to upload even 1 miserly 700kb photo. Sorry.. hopefully Suzhou works out.. if I get bored I'll try to upload again =P

Anyway, today was spent at Hong Cun, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and 'one of the top ten most senic villages in China'. It certainly lives up to the name, I must say. I was there at the same time as what must be the entire cohort of art students in AnHui. Everywhere I turned, at every obscure corner where at any other time I would have been the only visitor, there was at least one or 2 students, if not a horde of them, perched on their little folding stools w a drawing board in front of them. Ah well. better than the usual tour groups. Some of their sketches/painting were actually quite good. The teachers usu had a big group surrounding them, so there was no hope of seeing their work... But yeah nice. and nice street food.. that's prob part of the reason I liked it =P

And before I forget, I really liked the bus ride to the village as well. The chinese countryside.. through smaller towns and little villages... mountains/hills/rocks/valleys/vegetable patches/rice? fields/fields of heather?(yellow flowers)/village kids/friendly passengers and bus lady/river/passing motor vehicles, one of which was a bike which was buried under a mountian of xiao bai cai... I definately like the less developed places better than the big cities..

Anyway, back to TunXi aka Huang Shan Shi to see the Lao Jie, which is basically a tourist street. I was very very tempted to shop.. made a seal for myself and a handphone trinket w my name (i wanted to make for friends too but i realised I have no idea how to write your chinese names =P ). There's lots of street food and little stalls and snacks! and the normal food is great tasting and cheap and has lots of ingredients too! There was a kind of black seseme paste that has red dates and raisins and nuts and the tangyuan flour mini balls and lots of stuff.. and there was this black tang hoon thing w sausage and vege and tuakwa in ball forn and bamboo shoots and musrooms in a slight spicy beany soup.. and satay and bbq squid on a stick.. and the snacks are great too.. I really like Tunxi and the area its in best out of all the places on this trip so far...

have I mentioned that HuangShan is impressive in my last post? I would like to go again, because my mood was totally spoiled by this woman who just stuck to me and kept talking (or more accurately, shouting) all the way up and on the mountain, and had bad breath, and was just so rushed and so 'scenic spot orientated'. I don't think she very really SAW any of those spots, she was always looking at the map and planning which other spots were to must sees... sigh..

anyway, I will leave for suzhou on the 7am bus. not sure how long it will take, but the trian is super slow and takes 12h and the bus driver from hangzhou to tangkou described it as 'painful'. So the bus it is. The roads are fairly good, the buses are all clean, public transport incl bus are easy to figure out and cheap, new highways makes travel between cities a breeze.. travelling here is much easier than I expected. Though I know that speaking mandarin is a huge part of that.. I have met westerners who don't know a word, and have been here 6months, so I guess it's possible to manage without, but it prob takes a lot more patience, though I guess they get a pass since they are so obviously foreign...

I don't think this blog can really convey what I'm experiencing.. there's too much, and at the same time, nothing to say...

ah well, I'd better go sleep soon in case I miss the bus tml!!

2008-04-09T09:49:00.002+08:00

my posts have been getting shorter =P here's another short one. Yesterday was great. Again, did not go according to plan. found that Six Harmonies Pagoda is nicer than expected (read: not been 'rebuilt/restored') and the peonies they are famous for were all blooming beautifully, and there's a huge park, and hiking trails on the mountain behind connect it to all the other sights nearby (max 2h hikes). So of course, I walked to HuPao Springs, another nice big park, beautiful springs and trees etc..

Then my camera ran out of battery. sigh. Came back and out again, then headed out to dinner and to get groceries for huangshan (next stop!), then got caught in the rain when I decided to take a detour to see the musical fountain another time. So jeans and shoes are soaked again.. sigh..

Today had wanted to go to WuZhen, but I'm feeling lazy, so I think I'll just sit ard and read and gaze at the lake if the sun decides to make an appearance... =)

2008-04-08T11:07:00.002+08:00

Thunderstorms expected today.. Guess the short Hangzhou spring is over and sunner is really approaching.. temperature is hitting highs of 20+ C, but it's also starting to rain a lot after qingming, and the lake is a lot more misty.. Xihu is like a woman I think: everchanging (and quick-changing) moods, but each side of her has a beauty of its own.. I wonder what she's like in other seasons.. she doesn't freeze, even in the last year's bitter winter, and from the various paintings I've seen, she's beautiful no mattr what clothes she's wearing.. I will see her in the rain today I guess. And yes, I remembered to bring the brolly out this time. Will try to hit Liu4 He2 Ta3 (six harmonies pagoda) today, and then back to the city to climb up the north hill/mountain to see the yello dragon cave and baochu pagoda, then sit by the lake and try to regain the inspiration I felt yesterday as I was doing that but couldn't act on as I didn't bring my markers out (for once, sigh).

Went to Bai Causeway yesterday and Gu Shan, wanted to eat at the famous Lou Wai Lou but I was ignored! Plus I realised it's really hard to eat at nicer chinese restaurants when one is alone.. chinese meals are, after all, communal events. sigh. I'm stuck w simple rice and noodle places and streetside stalls/shops I guess.. but hangzhou food is good. Quite happy.

2008-04-06T20:17:00.002+08:00

heh. as usu I didn't go see what I had planned to see. the bus went by LingYin temple/fei lai feng so I decided to just get off there. Did NOT realise that it's a mountain monastary(s). And of course I could not stop myself from climbing Fei Lai Peak as well. Feet are dying. The other temple behind the main one was much better as there were far fewer touts/guides. super irritating and totally spoiled the temple atmosphere. They are working temples, so it was actually quite nice.. esp w all the mountian paths and bamboo forests and roadside flowers all in bloom and the little zen stone lanterns...

ok, need to rest my feet. a hot shower sounds good.. ciao! at least the shanghainese (who I suspect ALL came over to Hangzhou) have all left after the qing ming holiday, so I may be able to upload some photos soon =P

2008-04-06T11:22:00.002+08:00

hmm.. still alive, feeling ok, but not really in the mood to write.. getting lazy.. maybe it's been too many days of dunning around with different groups of people.. having to socialise... need some alone time again.. but now that it's after qing ming it's really starting to rain everywhere so not so nice to stroll and sit and take it in.. today I refused all invitations and will just go check out the north part of Xihu.. and will have to do all the walking and climbing in heels cos my walking shoes are soaked after last night's downpour... sigh.. at least I will look good =P

2008-04-04T17:12:00.002+08:00

went running, or rather, taxi-ing, ard town with the 2 girls before their bus and flight back in the late afternoon.. I've not had to pay for a meal since yesterday, feel quite paiseh.. went to repair the met student girls' cameras then met her friend and his friends for lunch at the zhejiang uni grad student restaurant (they have a mini xihu on campus!) before heading to the silk shops street.. it was very very hard to resist cos things are really cheap for that quality and some are quite fashionable. Been talking to many strangers, drivers, convenience store owners etc who are all very helpful in helping us understand how to tell what is real silk, how to get where, etc.

2008-04-03T23:34:00.002+08:00

Friends!

Had a great time today, even though all my plans for the day were dashed. Ended up spending the whole day and night with my roommates and one of their friends. First brunch at the China Art Academy's canteen (cheapest, biggest meals ever! and quite edible too), the to the Nine somesomething which is a small waterfall with a pool at the bottom. On the way back from there we stopped by Shi Feng Shan's LongJing village for free tea at the villgers' houses but ended up buying a bit of very expensive (but very fragrant) LongJing Tea. It's apparently the top grade of the 5 different kinds of LongJing Tea (from different villages/areas). Had a nice chat w the family. the kid was very cute, as I have found most babies and kids here to be. Well behaved too. Then to a place selling pearls. From XiHu. freshwater. Some special discount period, plus the sales person thought we were students so we got a huge discount =P then to the silk products selling place, where at least we are assured of getting real silk. I got a small silk scarf/big hankie to replace the scarf I lost. So, it was a say of shopping of the 3 products that Hangzhou is famous for... plus very good company =)

In the evening we went for the music fountain on the NE of Xihu. Nice. And as one of my companions said, like a cleansing of the heart (sounds better when she says it in mandarin). Then dinner and a slow walk back to the hostel, marked by much giggling and laughter and trying to climb into the ferries and getting chased by the guards and taking photos of flowers at night (by and large unsuccessful) and getting scared by a beggar woman silently approaching us and suddenly grabbing our arms just as we were crossing a bridge and talking about grave and cremation and death... and then of course I missed my uni hostel friend, who I stood up by not appearing for dinner and getting back too late for drinks =P

So that's a very happy day. It's not often that one meets complete strangers who just seem to hit it off so well (we were all lone travellers/students). Unfortunately they are leaving tomorrow, both for their hometowns in different provinces, so I'll be alone again, enjoying a different side of Hangzhou I guess =)

2008-04-02T21:45:00.001+08:00

Out of the big city and in wonderful, beautiful, relaxed hangzhou!! of course, I felt very different when I first arrived - it's a city, no mistake, and I was overwhelmed at the train station. I was truely a droplet in the sea of people exiting the station.. quite a feeling.. and trying not to stop for fear of getting crushed =P

The hostel is very nice. Great location just by Xihu. Cheap. Wonderfully nice and warm and fun roommates. But when I unpacked I realised that I had left or lost or been robbed of, my nice esprit thin woollen scarf in shanghai. Sign, it was something that kept me warm and made me look more classic/sleek and hence feel much better.. I have another scarf, but it's kind of thick and frumpy.. moped for an hour, then went out, and Xihu hit me, and all was well with the world again =)

didn't go far today. just wandered around a very small bit of the lake, taking too many pictures of flowers and plants and water..

Would like to download some since this comp is much better but there there many people waiting to use the net so I guess that's it for now.. Anyway this is not a place to wax lyrical about, beause it's not enough to convey the atmostphere here.. even photos can't do it justice.. I guess only the paintings by the masters who have lived and passed through here over the ages can do that...

2008-03-31T17:56:00.002+08:00

last day in shanghai today! I'm not quite done with it, and am finally getting the hang of it I think, but it's already tiring me out.. Not used to city travel i guess.. so, went to the jade buddha temple today, then to MoGanShan Road to see quite a big collection of art galleries, then back to people's square (all on public buses) to see a very tiny little bit of the national museum before they closed, and sat in the park after look at and taking too many photos of the doves.. walked around the neighbourhood south of the hostel then back here.. indoors at dusk. i don't know why either.

Shanghai is not a place I love, but I can imagine myself staying here longterm. Liveable, interesting, lots of things to do... but not somewhere I'm at peace in.. though there are many things I'm mightily impressed with here. They are really making an effort to improve the city and its citizens. Its one place where the police and traffic wardens really work and are seen everywhere (though sometimes its just in groups lounging around). Looking at their contemporary art, and at the bestsellers in bookshops, and from conversations with the locals, I find their concerns - about themselves, about the youth about the future - not very much different, if at all, from those in my own society.

So, off to Hangzhou tomorrow! hopefully a smaller place will mean I am better able to relax... and think..

2008-03-30T23:40:00.002+08:00

heh, just want to gloat: you guys would have LOVED the ferragamo exhibition at the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art! They even brought the craftsmen who make the bags n shoes in to sit there and work (and you can touch the shoes on the table), and there's an italian lady there to translate any questions. Someone picked up a scrap of leather and asked to keep it, and the old man making the shoes gave her a real insole w the logo and all, and plucked the scrap out of the hands =) now even I want ferragamo shoes. custom made =P

Also today: peoples's park on a sunday morning. the usual gambling crowds of old men, the lone taichi ppl in varo\ious corners, one wannabe chinese opera singer guy, and the new thing is the hordes of old/middle=aged peopl with handwritten posters looking for marriage or partners, stating stats and what they're looking for. not sure if it's for themselves or their children or what. Another smaller group of young pple practising english nd waylaying unsuspecting westerners.

Akso today: Putong. Very impressed by the huge mall at the mrt station. Huge, and wonderful layout that really makes the huge bulding work very well in bringing people ard, and visibity of shops, and orientation of the place, and making sense of such a huge place, and having different kinds of spatial experience within so ppl don't get tired visually or mentally. of course a mall of that size can only work in a city of shanghai's scale, in china...

less impressed w the rest of pudong, or the view of the bund. they eally should light up the place. also, very cold today.

shall not hog internet. ciao!

2008-03-30T12:00:00.002+08:00

woke up late today! I guess being bundled up nice and warm with 3 layers of clothing and 1 thick duvet on a really cold night really does make one hibernate. I'm off to see the ferragamo exhibtion at MoMA today, then back here to collect and hang my laundry up, then down Nanjing West Road for a nice expat reccomended burger place, then to JingAn Temple, then training it east to Pudong and JinMao tower etc.

can't seem to get through online to check hostels in hangzhou (where I'm headed next) or even read my own blog, though obviously I can post to it just fine...

2008-03-29T16:01:00.002+08:00

it's a rainy day! so instead of going temple and more art enclave hunting I swapped it for tomorrow's programme of the museum rounds near the hostel. Unfortunately the Ferragamo exhibition at MoMA only opens tomorrow, but the Shanghai Urban Planning Centre(?) had 5 levels of related models and stuff, and one level of temporary art exhibitions incl Rembrandt's copperplate engravings/etchings/sketches.

The attention to detail and the time it takes to painstakingly render that on paper.. is a skill few of us have the patience for today, yet is perhaps at the very heart of art (at least in his day): that of understanding the world around. How lights works, how nature and plants grow, how animals move. I've been looking at so much art, of various kinds and from different cultures and times, and I realise, one of the reasons I've been rather stuck creatively is that I haven't been sitting down and not just observing and thinking, but also understanding and recording.

Before I started out on this trip, I had wanted to use it to resume precisely that, and had brought along a couple of pencils and a few copic markers with the intention of sitting in some garden or park or riverside and just drawing and trying to get back in touch with that I love the most - the hands on kind of creating. But the camera is both my friend and my enemy.

It's a tool to keep myself from forgetting where I'd been, the images are my view and impression of a place, and can be used later on to be the basis for other creations, but it is too easy and does not require the kind of effort and contemplation and study that sketching does. It is hard and sometimes intimidating to try and draw though. When there are hordes of people and tourists, it is hard to find the space both mental and physical to sketch, and the thought that there will be countless curious passersby looking over my shoulder at my scratches makes the thought of just taking a moment to snap and think 'I'll just draw from the photo when i get back' so much more inviting. But one never goes through on that promise, of course.

I then caved in and went to Raffles City Mall and ate pasta and warm choc cake at Bakerzin. Felt good to eat good food, though it cost the price of almost 2 nights' accommodation. Tried to go to the national museum after that, but it being a weekend and the museum being free, there was a horrendous queue for tickets, and I decided to give up and head across the road to the Grand Theatre Gallery instead. On the way there discovered that there is an underground shopping centre just beneath the National Museum. The Grand Theatre Gallery looks forbidding, but turned out to be free, and had many lovely pieces.

The thing about the museums and exhibitions here is that while I can't fault the exhibits themselves or even the curator ship, the settings are really not up to par. The lighting is patchy and often obscures or casts lights, shadows and unwanted reflections on the artwork, and the walls themselves show obvious signs of yellowing and even more obvious signs of putty patching up ho;es from other displays. And there seems to be no prohibition against taking photos in the galleries (with the exception of the Grand Theatre Gallery). It is irritating, but I guess I still did enjoy myself, because really, the art is good...

For now, I'll take a break and play with the hostel's resident cat family, and maybe do laundry (though not a good day -it'll never dry in this damp), and see if I can muster uo the energy to go either Pudong or west Nanjing road later tonight.. ciao!

2008-03-28T20:40:00.002+08:00

feeling much better today! getting the hang of dealing with the weathr i guess -stay out of the cold, stop walking around esp by the main roads, use the metro and buses instead of walking everywhere, wear more, use the scarf and the hood of my coat.. still don't have much of an appetite, not sure if it's cos i just don't like or haven't found local food to suit my taste or i'm a bit sick or it's just so cold i just want to bunker down and hibernate...

Today went walking around the French Concession area, saw the Sun Yat Sen Museum/former residence, the Taikang art centre enclave, Xin TianDi... It was a slow relaxing day.. and I like the places i visited a lot, esp Taikang road area - art galleries and little cafes. Can imagine chinnie opening a cafe or retial shop there =) love that its blended in with the old and still lived in neighbourhood. Wrote most of it out sitting at coffeebean and warming up just now though..

XinTianDi is a lot more developed and also smaller than I had imagined though. it was ok. gentrified upscale area. 'Nice'.

Stomach starting to complain. Guess I can't live on coffee after all. (and dang, I'm finding out just how much of a coffee addict I am on this trip... ) Too lazy to go out and search for dinner so I'll just make instant cup noodles tonight.

Hate this keyboard. and also hate that the person using the terminal beside mine is smoking away. Sigh. I'll nbever get used to the smoke.

2008-03-27T18:34:00.002+08:00

tired! loved Yu Yuan, but the walking and traffic and air and the bloodly omnipresent cigarette smoke everywhere and the hordes of people around the gardens gave me a bloody headache by the middle of the afternoon. so I'm back. eating less. not very used to the city other than the parks and gardens. guess I'm most at home in the country after all. or maybe its just the usual fatigue i get 2 weeks into a trip.

I like the parks and gardens. and the flowers. personal hygiene here leaves something to be desired, esp after the extra careful citizens of hk. not really in the go and whack mood, just want to sit in park and rot. will prob go museums tml to break but weather is gg to be super good tml so don't want to waste it.

shall go get some coffee instead of dinner (i had 16 xiao long baos for late lunch/tea all by myself) and may instant noodle it later.

shanghai-ed!

2008-03-26T22:00:00.003+08:00

Not really, sorry for the duh title.

A bit tired from the 20h train trip here from hk so didn't do much today. Just walked east through people's park and various streets till I got to the Bund then walked back along Nanjing road. I like what I see so far. Train trip was good, the locals I met on board and in the rooms here are all very friendly and helpful. Also, I am better at reading chinese than i thought, have no problems getting around. They say my putonghua is good too, haha, maybe they're just being polite. But I cannot catch shanghainese. Should be going to YuYuan Gardens and the Old town tml.

The hostel is very nice, looks like a boutique hotel and they have real coffee, but food sucks.
It's 1 min walk from nanjing road and people's park and all the museums so for 55Y a dorm bed it's very good. doesn't seem much use for all the 1or 5 jiao notes so far. Books here are very cheap and good. and bookshops are really big. perfect weather in afternoon but gets more cold at night - i'm wearing t-shirt and 2 sweaters tonight.

The chanel exhibition on the last day in hk was good though. really good. Nice quotable lines, nice individual installations, good translations from point to point, thought-provoking, fantastic cntianer - alien organic landscapes!, fantastic voiceover - wonder if it's coco chanel's voice or zaha hadid's. really impressed.

oh! I had so much on my mind but somehow it all slips away..

Train trip: like taking a walk through the different industries. nice farmland and rivers, brick making factory with bricks laid out in the courtyard and the brick furnace looming over it all. science-fi like buildings in the middle of nowhere. A whole town with dutch styled houses that would not look out of places if you stick any of them in the middle of amsterdam. flowers. Guangzhou the big city. Super interesting architecture of the in-between. The fringe of the railway tracks. The way the railway officials' uniforms gett from immaculate in hk to messy in guangzhou to neat again in shanghai. Talking to different people on the train. eavesdropping on dissucssions on the train, trying to tune out shanghainese dialect on the train.

what else.. mind's a mess. nut at least I'm getting closer to getting my land legs back - things are not swaying so badly when i sit or slow down anymore. headache's better, or at least numbed by the cool air. Wished I could have gone along with the group os students/fresh grads from hubei/hebei but when i met them I was still carrying all my stuff trying to find the hostel. sigh.

okie, got people waiting, and the light here's not good for typring. ciao till tml =)

2008-03-25T10:53:00.002+08:00

It's my last morning here, and I'm finally getting a proper cup of coffee. The ka fei here leaves a great deal to be desired. Even at Pacific Coffee, my cafe mocha tasted like milo. Thank you Krispy Kreme for decent coffee and great donuts =)

In a short while I'll be heading to meet e1 for the chanel mobile art exhibition, passing by the post office on the way to send some postcards home (btw, anyone who wants postcards from Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Beijing, etc can email me their address, and I'll do my best - it's always fun to send postcards and even more fun to recieve them, no?). On the way back the egg tarts shop should be open and I will get some buns and egg tarts for the long train journey ahead.

Will be getting on the T100 at 1515h to Shanghai, arriving about 11am tomorrow morning. i have yet to read up on Shanghai or plan my itininery there, but then I'll have 20 hours on the train to do that.. on an open bunk hard sleeper (but I've kind of been training up for the hard sleeper I guess -sleeping on the floor on a thick blanket this past week =P)

As anyone can tell by now, I really like HK. It's a one-sided view, to be sure, but I've seen enough to think I can live here. Granted also, I've liked most places I've travelled to, except a few of those that were seen in a hurry (and no country or place really deserves to be experienced in a hurry. Places, like people, take time to warm up to and let you in). Perhaps it is the relative amonomility and hence freedom I can enjoy in a foreign country that is so enticing and not HK itself. It's hard to tell.

Running out of time. I'm still wondering why my backpack is so huge (by my usual standards) and how I can lighten or just downsize it despite my fear of cold weather ahead. I so should write more about HK but my mind is already moving on to Shanghai =P

2008-03-24T22:42:00.002+08:00

I'm not sure I know how to tell time anymore.

It both feels and doesn't feel like it's been 11 days since I arrived in Hong Kong. I'm both still excited by and tired of the city. It's so comfortingly familiar a place, the idea of which has been planted in my mind all through my life: in countless movies, music, magazines, television drama serials, and of course through my own very Cantonese family's speech, conversation, history, cuisine, habits and our way of life. And yet, because of the direction my life has taken back in Singapore, I have drifted away from my heritage and Hong Kong is to me, still foreign in a way. I would dare say I fit in better than the other 2, but I am still glaringly a gwai lau, at least once I open my mouth to say more than a few words.

Today was spent wandering around SoHo (again) with the ETs and taking photos. Memories for e1, of her days here. A nice relaxed walk. There's a cafe here named Antique, but unfortunately the staff were female, not at all like the manga, though the decor was every bit as fancy(?) I would have anticipated. We went to the ManMo temple down the road. It's good to end my trip here as I started it - with a visit to a temple. Then to Cat Street. I would love to have a place here to decorate. All the knick knacks and junk and old toys and furniture and paraphernalia I could collect!

I like walking along the streets, watching the character of each neighbourhood changing and blending into the next, the little narrow streets, sometimes empty, sometimes packed and fully utilised by floral shops and all, the way the shops used very opportunity to advertise - ads on the awning at the back alley facing the mid-levels escalator. I love seeing the decor and interior design of the houses and boutiques and clubs in the area. There seems to be not much space for spatial manipulation, but I think the treatment of surfaces and facades is really varied and exciting and really, one could do years of studies and documentation on just that.

What else do I love...

The escalators and linkway systems, the exquisitely landscaped little parks and sitting areas and playground areas everywhere, the flowers and trees. As much as Singapore makes so much hoo-ha about being a 'garden city' and all, it feels like Hong Kong does it better. Granted, they have the advantage of climate, but their parks seem to me to be more restful, and do a better job of providing breathing spaces for people in the city.

Yesterday e2 and I took the escalator all the way up, then walked to the HK zoo, then to HK park, then to Victoria Park to meet e1 for the HK Flower Show.

But e1 just finished cooking a supper of noodles for me, so I'll ciao first. Next update will be from Shanghai!

2008-03-23T00:42:00.002+08:00

Today (sat) was nice, in spite of the weather.

It started with Appleseed: Ex-machina. Produced by John Woo, a few costume designs by Prada. Could tell the john woo influence in the opening sequence already, and I wished they hadn't done that, because sigh, it's so cliche and in a way unbecoming of an otherwise cutting edge film. I loved everything else about it though. I also like the audiences at the screenings. They're by and large very polite and appreciative, waiting for the credits to finish rolling before leaving the theatre and clapping after every show. It's a respect for filmmakers I wish I could see more of at SIFF.

Stepping out from the Hong Kong Cultural Centre (I wish I had taken a trip here to see their spaces for art and film events before doing my thesis project -the grandeur and glamour and pomp and circumstance that the spaces inspire!) onto the Tsim Sha Tsui coast/broadwalk/viewing platform I realised that it had rained and there was still a light drizzle, which meant that the public spaces were all really really empty for a weekend and I could get some nice aki shots, albeit in a rather flat light.

Had wanted to spent the afternoon lazing in Kowloon Park but the rain made that impossible so I just wandered from Tsim Sha Tsui to Mongkok, stopping by a Pacific Coffee outlet for an hour or so when the rain got really heavy.

Back at 6pm to the HKCC for the next movie: A Land without Baseball. All I can say is: yum. heh. but i would like to note one thing the producer said at the QnA after; that clothes, like masks, are something you put on. I also like that they don't really seem to feel the need to justify or provide anlysis for any of their art. After all, isn;t that for critics and historians to do? Artists should just do what they feel is right for them: in a way, trying to fulfil the roles of both artists and critic (though I admit some art is criticism) somehow pollutes the purity of art (and here i go opening up a whole can of worms - I'm not an academic, just spewing my thoughts, pls don't bash me =P)

Took a walk along the coast, lots of phototaking of the night skyline, ferry back to central, walk and more phototaking up to midlevels and dinner and home-for-the-moment. All in all, a good day, people were nice, tried to make conversation with cleaner aunties and stall helper aunties though rather limited by my dismal command of cantonese. happy.

2008-03-23T00:29:00.002+08:00

the last 2 posts were written a couple of days ago, cos blogger didn't like me... sigh.. and still unable to get the pics onto this comp.

today was good, but its getting late and I think the other 2 want to use the comp, so ciao, updates later!

2008-03-23T00:26:00.001+08:00

sigh. we always get less done than i planned. yesterday was just to lantau buddha and the very short walk around it to the PoLin temple and the wisdom path. So many many tempting hiking routes! Im already thinking that I'll come back to HK someday and do all the things I wanted to do, at my own pace... getting more stressed and mentally stretched thinner everyday.. i need time, and not just a couple of hours in the morning or an afternoon alone. out of the frying pan into the fire. sigh. will go to lamma island today.

2008-03-23T00:24:00.001+08:00

bleh. this laptop doesn't like my photo storage harddisk after the first time they got together. sigh. no photos for today. so. Monday and yesterday. After a very nice brunch of beef brisket noodles, Monday was spent wandering around Soho and sightly west.. we had though it would be e2's last day here so we didn't want to stray too far. It was like Chinatown back home x 100 the number of any one kind of shop. There were whole streets of shops selling birds nest. another street selling dried goods. yet another selling ginseng/medicinal herbs. A line of shops selling joss paper and other paper goods (paper LV ballet flats or top -of-the-line multimedia hi-fi systems, anyone?) There was jade street with small touristy stalls where i bought a 'silver' butterfly ring. As expected of the world's main jade carving centre, the quality and artistry of some of the pieces were a marvel. I liked the name 'chop street': doesn't it just conjure up images of people all in the row waving choppers or even better, chopping? in synchrony? (ok, I just watched sweeny todd on Sunday night). or a gang fight! (go get this gang! but chopping is only to be done on chop street!) It turned out even cuter actually. It was chops as in stamps. or as in your red name seal kind of chop. This is also an area of art galleries, but I find them a bit intimidating at the moment =P I'm not so keen on the antique shops - too many issues about authenticity and the morality/legality of bring those artifacts out of their origin country... though i suppose there's no harm done, as e2 does, to stand at the window and exclaim over them (esp since its equal opportunity - she also exclaims over birds, cats, clocks, jade, jewellery, stuffed toys..). i also love how easy it is to navigate despite the sometimes overwhelmingly tall and cramped buildings. mountain to the back, water to the front and you're set! and somehow there is a sort of balance on the mess, enough so that I can still breathe... there is also a level of civic consciousness here that I wish there was more of back home. In a way, it's more sheep like, but I think its what makes it possible to live here and not explode.. Also also, I like the mtr station designs. Many of them use mosaic tiles. and how at diamond hill its back tiles but with a few silver sparkling ones set around the station name. <3 mosaic is used quite often here, and somehow they've managed to find a million and one ways to make it hip and modern and so full of character and variety. We had macs for lunch, walked around ultra hip IFC mall, then headed back to pack and rest. Ended up on the comp checking prices of air ticket for a week or more later. Later that evening I managed to meet pH (dinner for her, dessert for me) which was really nice for me, hee. ok, I'd better go now so i can see more alone! ciao! Tuesday's thoughts and updates maybe later tonight or tomorrow morning.

2008-03-18T20:36:00.004+08:00

while e2 is showering and I'm waiting for the laundry to be done...

we have flowers in the apartment and groceries in the fridge (e2 was inspired after watching nigella lawson on tv last night)...

I'm stressed and tired physically and mentally...

Will have to try waking up earlier to wander around the city alone... and maybe go out at night after dinner on a few nights....

Today.. we went to the Tin Hau Temple, browsed in the Central Library, had a leisurely stroll around Victoria Park (except for the foot reflexology part =P and we're saving the Flower Exhibition for the long weekend and e1), walked through Causeway Bay and Wan Chai, took in the view from the HK Exhibition and Convention Centre, dropped by the HK Arts Centre, then it was back to Soho to get groceries and dinner and do the laundry.

I tried to buy HK film fest tickets. I'm Not There is sold out but I manged to get seats for Appleseed: Ex-Machina and City without Baseball. Should have just booked tickets online the day I found out about it. Sigh. Anyways, go see the entries for the appleseed trailer remix contest.

Tomorrow morning I will head to the railway station to get my ticket to Shanghai. Should be getting the hard sleeper as the extended stay here and a bit of shopping has left me rather short on HKD =( I should have a bit of time after that to walk around tsim sha tsui before my movie (about a permanent part-timer in Tokyo, haha) at 1230 at the science museum. By then e2 should be up and done with her 'stocking' and hopefully she can find her way to meet me for lunch then we can go see the art and history museums (free on Wednesdays!) till evening, then have dinner and view the skyline and maybe that light show thingy YL mentioned before taking a ferry back to hk island.

I have to say I still do like the place, just have to find the right state of mind... Will try to expand on the what-i-did-today paragraph when I have more time on the comp... now to download/upload the photos and collect laundry!

in HK!!

2008-03-16T02:07:00.003+08:00

I've been here for 2 days already and I'm liking it! It helps that E1 lives in a really nice apartment in Soho *grin* hmm.. where to start...

For one, I like hearing Cantonese, even if I'm not very good at understanding it and even worse at speaking it. It's just a very comforting language from childhood.. And the food!! It's a place I could easily grow fat in =P I also love both the very well designed parts of the city, the attention to detail in the MTR trains and stations, as well as the unplanned but so organically beautiful parts of the city... I supposed I have yet to experience the full crush of Hk crowds or fast paced life or even really spoken to any locals at length, but so far, I love the place.

quick rundown of the past 2 days:

We arrived Thursday night, then had dinner and planned our itinerary for the next few days. On the airport express to the HK island I saw an advert for the Chanel mobile art exhibition, container by Zaha Hadid, which as it turns out E1 had also wanted to go to, so on Friday morning we walked over. Unfortunately you had to pre-book slots to see it, and the earliest available ones were on the 25th. So that's when we'll be going, and that's probably when I'll be leaving Hk as well.

After that we went to Wong Tai Sim where I had my face/palm/fortune read. Very good prognosis overall. In fact, it was too good. Though I was quite impressed with the accuracy of some of his observations.

Another place I love is ChiLin Nunnery which we went to next. The zen calmness of the Buddhist complex was a good contrast to the Taoist temple earlier. It's a place to linger in...

Dim Sum this morning with e1's friend. yum. CKH joined us for dinner and drinks.

Also, I found out just before I left Singapore that HK Architecture Biennale was on till today, so E2 and I hopped over this afternoon. It was a much bigger exhibtion than I expected, and I found myself inspired and excited by architecture in a way I haven't been for a few years... I only wish I had had the chance to visit both yesterday AND today so i could see and digest all the exhibits properly. It was also nice to see some of the exhibits from the local school of architecture and recognise some of the student exercises as similar to what we had to go through in our first year and compare the different approaches they took as compared to us.

HK film fest starts next monday, so I should be able to catch a few shows! yay! They're showing appleseed ex-machina! and I'm not there! I hope tickets are still available...

Have not had much time to sit and reflect and write and blog and upload photos. Prob will be able to do that after monday... g'night!

I will try to upload a few more photos here when i can

out in two

2008-03-11T18:51:00.006+08:00

*glances at archives on right* Looks like been quite a while since I've done any travelling! Once a year weekend trips to either KL or Cameron Highlands in Malaysia don't count, by the way.

Fortunately, I'll finally be on the move again in 2 days. First, to Hong Kong for a week or so, then up north to Shanghai and the Suzhou/Hangzhou/Nanjing areas as well as, hopefully, HuangShan. Then its north again to Beijing for a while. It should take at least a month, depending on how fast my budget runs out or how much I like or dislike the places.

This was supposed to be a go there and look for work kind of trip, but it looks like I've procrastinated too much (as usual) and may not be ready for that. What I am ready for is a real, much needed holiday. So, here I am.

Blogger, as well as my photo-taking equipment, has improved much over the past couple of years, so I should be posting photos as I go along, and I hope this test post works =)

photo above: Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve.
photo below: East Coast Park.

photos!

2006-01-10T12:56:00.004+08:00

group photo! Preah Kahn, on the grand circuit.

Inside Angkor Wat at dawn.

Angkor sunrise!

More photos here

last thoughts

2005-12-19T14:27:00.000+08:00

leaving for the airport in a half hour. I find that i don't really like what bit of cambodia i have seen so far. perhaps the countryside will be better but i don't think i want to ever come back here again. rather sad, as this is the first time i've said that about any country. The fact is, once the temples of angkor have been covered, i find very little else here, be it the people, the attractions/sights, the food or the scenery to be worth my time, money and effort. I know i have also invested less effort while here than in other countries, but honestly, the warding off of touts and trying not to get ripped off too badly by businesses, hotels, guesthouse, drivers, food and drink sellers etc already take up all of my energy. I actually think this trip would have been a lot less pleasant for me had the other two girls not been with me... so, thanks, babes =))

can't wait to get home, though it will be one flight and an overnight train ride away. what a difference from my last foray into indochina!

last night in cambodia

2005-12-18T19:06:00.000+08:00

hmm.. it's been a while since i've blogged, no? guess it comes with having company =) the girls just left for the airport abt 2hrs ago, and i will be leaving tomorrow afternoon too, but for KL to take a train home (this is what comes of booking tickets too early: ie. before the news about jetstar's PHN-SIN direct $126 (?) flights came out. sigh. not to mention the S$60 SIN-BKK ticket i forfeited. ah well.

anyway, i wonder which of the girls scream tourist, because in the past 2 hours of walking around, nobody has really thought i am a tourist or at least nobody who dared to approach me. The policeman at Wat Phnom only stepped up after i took out the big camera and started snapping, and even then he spoke to me in khmer first. The usual huge gang of tuk tuk drivers at the entrance didn't even bother to get up, though the nearest one did ask me, "tuk tuk [something in khmer]?". Nobody at the old market bothered me either, nor on the streets... which, trust me, is a HUGE difference from the experience of the past week... they are normally extremely aggressive, enough to rival those of Java (and that time i was with 2 distinctly chinese/taiwanese looking friends).

what have the past few days been like? hmm.. royal palace is nice, but not half as grand or big as that in bangkok. The city is small, but not as small as vientiane. markets are ok, and i actually bought quite a lot by my standards =P probably because i was with people who do stop and browse carefully instead of just walk past the stalls like i usu do... Genocide museum and killing fields were sobering, and very very sad, and more than a little creepy at sunset. i think.. it's something that has to be experienced, because my words are simply not adequate to describe the horrors of recent cambodian history.

I'm not sure if i like cambodia the country. i don't think i've really seen it anyway, and it would be unfair to judge from the very (bad) tourist viewpoint solely. I can understand their desperation/need to rip tourists off sometimes, but it doesn't mean i have to like it, humor it or put up with it.

4th day of temples

2005-12-12T21:42:00.000+08:00

tired.... a bit bored at times when revisiting the temples i had already seen.. but finally saw a sunset. at phom bakheng, of course. lots of people. too sleepy and contacts too dry to type more. waiting for my cd of photos to burn so i can clear my memory card. which is actually full of pics of mainly yl! haha... me seems to be her official photographer..

anyway, i just want to say thanks to all the people who wished me happy birthday =)) i brought my old phone with only my relatives and a few other ppl's numbers in it, so i don't know who sms-ed me, but thanks, and i'll get back to you when i get home! =P

waiting for friends...

2005-12-10T14:59:00.000+08:00

Got an hour before i have to head out to the airport to pick up the 2 babes =) thankfully internet in the afternoon is so much faster than last night, when every other page refused to load or just took a damn long time, which was why i didn't blog.

anyway, sunrise at angkor: FANTASTIC!! definately worth getting up at 4 in the morning for. A freezing moto ride in the dark, under a clear sky filled with stars, then walking the causeway towards angkor wat with the stars above, the siloulette of the temple towers in front of me, the stars reflected in the moat/pools, and almost nobody there when i first arrived. No birthday could have started any better =))))

unfortunately the tour groups soon arrived in droves, as they would, but i'd already staked out my little piece of real estate on one of the libraries (the one facing the pond filled with lotuses), so it wasn't too bad, and the group that settled around me was a chinese tour group so i could listen in on some of the tour guide's commentary. Actually, I've been doing that a lot. The official angkor guides that many of them hire do notice me and know exactly what i'm doing, but unlike european tour guides who shoot you a dirty look and try to avoid you, those here just smile at me or even talk to me while their sheep are phototaking etc. Helps to know both english and chinese. hee. would have been better to know some japanese or korean though: it seems that koreans and japanese are 2 of the largest groups of visitors to cambodia.

I am a very slow temple visitor and i think i took a very long time at each of the temples. could't even finish the petit circuit. good thing i have 5 days to see everything i guess =P Have not yet seen an angkor sunset because i was so tired by 4.30pm yesterday. Actually i really sped up at the end cos i felt, for no good reason, quite paiseh to be keeping my driver waiting! Maybe would have been better to cycle like i usu do at these places, but i guess i can cover more and feel less tired this way... and the temples are really fantastic. really really.

Today i went to see the roluos group of temples in the morning. Less people, and only 3 temples of any note. The main one, Bakhong , is really very much like borobodur. was supposed to be inspired by it, but boro is in much better condition.. Done pretty quickly (relative to me) so my driver, Polin, took me to see the sights in town (which are all really close and walkable from anywhere in siem reap). Also saw where all the cheaper guesthouses, quieter neighbourhoods and where the locals go to market etc are, ie the kind of places and areas i would normally have stayed on my own, but i guess this is a different kind of experience too! the mid-range no need to learn the local language or change to local currency kind =P

but at least i have found a non-tourist food place and mama-shop in the middle of tourist central here =) phew. no point paying US$1-1.5 for a bottle of water when the locals pay just 1000 riel (US$0.25)!! i mean, i don't mind that price around the temples cos that's expected, but i won't do that in town... and i hate the separate tourist/local menu and sitting areas in most fo the restuarants and even roadside stalls in this area. And don't get me started on the million and one tuk tuk and moto drivers or restuarant touts on the sidewalks asking "lady, you want tuk tuk? angkor? some food? water?". give me the local market where people just ignore me or look at me as a curiousity rather than as a bag of money!!

Cambodia! Siem Reap! Angkor!

2005-12-08T18:30:00.000+08:00

haha.. decided to give today's angkor sunset a miss though it would have been free entry with my next day ticket as i want to save my first view of angkor for dec 9. birthday angkor sunrise!! hee, like a big present to myself =)) hoping it won't be TOO crowded though..

today has been another long day of moving around. Border was surprisingly easy in spite of all the bad reports i'd heard about the Aran - Poi Pet border. Problem was somehow i crossed at a time when there weren't ANY lone tourists going to Siem Reap and waited i think 3-4hs at the bus depot. Thankfully the staff there were very friendly and talked to me almost the whole way.

the one female staff took me aside (away from the rest of the eavesdropping guys) to tell me about her love life and what she should do... i do empathise, but who am i to make judgements on or to influence her future? basically, she had/has a local bf whom she loves but due to family situation/finances, cannot afford to get married. There's a middle-aged american very persistently courting her who she doen't like/love but she wants to jump at the chance to go to the usa and have money and family and be loved... also, this guy wants to sleep with her obviously, and can't understand why she won't (apparently cambodian girls are not as easy as thai ones...). she thinks she is getting old (my age, sigh.) and won't have much chances left to meet a foreigner who will marry her and who she can love... sigh...

Finally a swiss guy came along but before we got our third person for the cab another one came along with a singaporean couple and 1 chinaman in it and i asked to join in. Thought it's shar with them as in pay the s'poreans 1/4 of the fare that they already paid but after they got off the driver told me that their fare was only for 3 ppl and i have to pay HIM an extra $10!! wish eh had said something earlier.. i could have done a lot with that $12, which i will ask the s'poreans for IF i do meet them around (but think they staying more up-market than me leh..)

anyway, the chinaman is quite interesting. Been CYCLING on the road for the past 5 years!! amazing.. the wanted to go to thailand but there are apparently quite a lot of restrictions on chinese passports so he had to turn back and go to Phnom Penh to get the visa. Lots of stories from him. Interesting views too.

I don't really like the look of siem reap so far... the people are nice, but i just don't feel very right here. maybe i just need to get used to it, and get used to paying slightly more for a slightly better room cos i don't have the LP with me and just can't seem to find all the $2/3 places i remember seeing listed. sigh. Or maybe i am just super not an urban/city person. Feeling distinctly unfriendly. guess i won't be sitting anywhere talking to anyone today. shall just go have dinner then sleep!!

Thai border: Aran

2005-12-07T21:48:00.000+08:00

In border town now. Will cross over tomorrow.

hmm... for some strange reason, i took a bloody long time to get out of the airport, missed the 11.30am train to the city, hence missed the one from Hualumphong to Aran and had to go look for the bus station (which turned out to be fairly near the airport). Then the 2.30 bus was full and i had to take the next slower and more expensive one and finally got here only at 8pm, way after dark. (sun set early: it was totally dark by six.) Not fun, being on the road for 13h straight, and another goodness knows how long more tomorrow.

the hotel is nice. not super cheapo, but good value for 230B. was hoping there would be some hangout area at the lobby where i can try to look for people to share cab to siem reap tomorrow, but it looks like everyone just stays in their rooms. or maybe there are not many people around.... will have to try and hang around the lobby or customs/border tomorrow and try my luck. Not looking forward to paying US$45 for my ride!!

I know i promised to re-write last night's message, but i am seriously tired now.. just want to bathe and lie down on the bed.... plus the rates here aren't posted and the guy didn't say anything when i asked and everyone else here is a neighbourhood boy playing computer games. sigh.

ARGH!! stupid blogger!!

2005-12-07T03:16:00.000+08:00

i typed a super long post, then it disappeared when i tried to spellcheck, then i typed another shorter one to explain, then that too disappeared when i tried to post. sigh.

anyway, flying tomorrow. have lost the inclination to write tonight. now to catch a couple hours sleep before i go to the airport...

will attempt to re-create lost entries when i get to Bangkok (wed afternoon) or Aran (wed night) or Siem Reap (thurs afternoon).

let's see if this post gets eaten too..

next trip!

2005-10-14T03:06:00.000+08:00

wohoo! Cambodia trip in december confirmed!! Not all by myself most of the time this time. And probably not more than 2 weeks as I really think i should be getting ready to go back to school soon. I will be heading there overland from BKK and getting a head start on the temples, while 2 more babes will meet me in Siem Reap: LH and YL(as in Bim, not Yarles).

I wish i was on my way there already!!

the meaning of the strings

2005-07-09T16:37:00.000+08:00

no, its not some weird lao bondage thing.

Despite the importance of Buddhism to Lao Loum and some Lao Theung groups, animist beliefs are widespread among all segments of the Lao population. The belief in phi (spirits) colors the relationships of many Lao with nature and community and provides one explanation for illness and disease. Belief in phi is blended with Buddhism, particularly at the village level, and some monks are respected as having particular abilities to exorcise malevolent spirits from a sick person or to keep them out of a house. Phi are ubiquitous and diverse. Some are connected with the universal elements--earth, heaven, fire, and water. Many Lao Loum also believe that they are being protected by khwan (thirty-two spirits). Illness occurs when one or more of these spirits leaves the body; this condition may be reversed by the soukhwan--more commonly called the baci--a ceremony that calls all thirty-two khwan back to bestow health, prosperity, and well-being on the affected participants. Cotton strings are tied around the wrists of the participants to keep the spirits in place. The ceremony is often performed to welcome guests, before and after making long trips, and as a curing ritual or after recovery from an illness; it is also the central ritual in the Lao Loum wedding ceremony and naming ceremony for newborn children.

Source: U.S. Library of Congress

This ceremony is similar to a Baci, a ceremony usually associated with a "goodbye party" for people departing for destinations far away. Well-wishers tie white strings around wrists of the person leaving (or sometimes arriving, or getting married, etc.). The person so honored is not supposed to remove the strings for three days, and then he should be careful to untie them, not cut them, or the well wishes will be ineffective. But there is a deeper religious significance to such ceremonies.
The word soo in Lao means to call something back, and the word khuan means spirit or soul, which is abstract, and stays in different parts of a person as well as domestic animals. When we or animals get sick or shocked or frightened, we say: "we lost spirit," or "the spirit escaped," or "our spirit is weak."
At a soo khuan ceremony, the bamboo rice basket, which is one of the elements in the soo khuan tray, is called kong khao khuan. Kong means box or basket; khao means rice; and khuan means spirit. Peeled chicken eggs placed in the tray are called khai khuan. The old fellow in charge of the ceremony, who does the chanting, is called mor phorn, or mor khuan, which means spirit caller.
The overall purpose of arranging the soo khuan ceremony is therefore meant to call back our lost spirits, to eliminate fears from a person's mind, and to restore courage.

from: Soo Khuan Ceremony by Xay Kaignavongsa and Hugh Fincher

so.. i can actually untie the strings, and not have to bother anymore with people thinking that
1) I have converted to some strange lao cult or
2) i am into bondage.
But untying them would also feel like cutting off my ties with the village in Don Det (SiPhanDon), and Mr. Boun Son and his family, and it would be like acknowledging that my journey is at at end... I don't want that.. i can continue with a journey of the mind and spirit even in Singapore, but i also do have to admit that the strings are getting rather dirty and scruffy and tattered and washing them doesn't seem to help anymore and i hope they don't stink =P Did i mention that in vang vieng one of the strings broke/tore? maybe that's why i was so out of sorts.. tied it back on my own, but not in a baci ceremony. wonder if that affected anything...

so.. to untie or not to untie....

choice

2005-06-22T15:17:00.000+08:00

i don't want to go back to singapore! back to work, to school, to family reponsibilities, to expectations of society... but then.. society may put chains upon us, but only we can close the chains and shut the locks... even knowing this, i will still go back, still get on that plane. Why? I do not know... security, familarity, the comfort of family and friends? maybe one day i will have the courage to remove those chains and fly free.. there is always a choice, and i know which option i want... but can i not fly and yet be rooted at the same time? sigh... in the meantime..

click.

day 37

2005-06-22T11:55:00.000+08:00

huichin, don't worry, i did go for the cooking course! haha.. i will test out my new 'skills' on you guys soon.. prepare your stomachs! It was not the one i mentioned earlier, but another place called 'the chilli club' run by a guesthouse near the one i was staying at.. think it was better cos I got to select my own menu, and there was only another nice german girl besides me, so we got good instruction and attention =) at that place there was a spanish guy and a kiwi guy the greman girl had met on a trek a few days before, and they had taken the course before and decided to extend their stay in changmai one more day and hung around while we were cooking and stealing our food when we were done =) quite fun.. had an intense (?) discussion about SATC. us 2 girls trying to explain to the spaniard why women like such a shallow show as SATC... i had planned to go to the night market to do all the last minute souvenior shopping, but it started storming in the evening and didn't stop all night... so.. today's plans to go see museums and wats will be saved for another time while i go shop at the day market and maybe get a massage.. heh.. got to relax on my last day instead of racing ard on a bicycle or songthraew what..

there are lots and lots of things i missed out over the entire trip, will prob try to fill them in when i get home... there have been so many things, people, events, places that are worthy or note, and i have not done them justice, and i am scared that i will forget if i don't record them down (been too lazy to scribble in journal).

6 h to my flight. a smelly fat old white guy just sat beside me, so i've GOT to move.. see all of you soon!

Raindrops keep falling on my head..

2005-06-19T19:32:00.000+08:00

Just came back to changmai from the hilltribe village near changrai. I loved the village and the family we were staying with.. julin was there last year for her YEP trip and is still there now.. I was very sad to leave, even though I spent hardly any time with them, cos the mother and the little girl were so nice.. didn't take any pics though. No mood, but you must take my word (and maybe I'll try to get jl's pics from last time) that its a beautiful place.. Really gives meaning to all those notes and museum exhibits I'd been reading and seeing before we went..

On Saturday we spent the day at changrai university, watching the Freshie Games, cos our host just started there and is in the football team. They seem very young.. younger than when we were their age.. I think thais in general look younger than lao people, whose faces so often start to reflect hardship, suffering, and a maturity beyond their years no matter what age they are... It makes them very beautiful though, the sadness and at the same time serenity in their eyes...

Tam (our changer host) was telling us about how his village was originally from Burma, and how fearful life was there, and I remembered what Xai (the photographer guy in Vientiane) was telling me about how when he was young his family hid out in the forest and mountains from the communists, and how so many in his village were killed, and also what Mr. Boun Sai (my host in Si Phan Don) would point to the mountains across the river, telling me that that's Cambodia, and how there are many bad people there, and suddenly the myriad of old scars on his chest and back jumped out at me.. I didn't dare to ask, and he didn't say.. But still...

Remembering all these certainly puts everything I've been going through in perspective... Also just finished reading cloud atlas. Good book, suited the trip and the mood. I realize.. humans will always harm and hurt each other, intentionally or not.. Is it possible to assign blame? I don't think so... But sometimes the only person you can really rely on is yourself. I'm been asked a couple of times on this trip: why do you travel alone? I gave the normal answers of own time own target: freedom, flexibility, locals find you more approachable, you seek to meet new people more, etc etc... But in the past few days, I think I have found the real answer: when I am alone, I will never feel truly lonely. Oh, I may miss home, and friends, but home and friends will then remain a good memory, something to look forward to.. But reality never fulfils the promises that dreams make. The loneliest moments are when you are with friends or supposedly in a group and yet are so disconnected, unwanted, not spoken to, not needed, not valued, not....

but I am grateful that I am still good enough company for myself, if not for anyone else... 'to love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance' - Oscar Wilde. I still love all of you guys =)) just trying to find something sort of stable to stand on for now.... came back to changmai today cos I wanted to go for this overnight 'intro to Buddhism and meditation' workshop at one of the wats and Buddhist training centers, but got back too late in the afternoon for that... Will just spend more time sitting in one wat or another I guess, or buy a book and try to learn on my own...

saw this sign in a wat: Buddhist beliefs:
1. Always do good
2. Never do evil, never harm another living being
3. Meditate often. Always keep a peaceful spot in your mind/heart you can go back to.

I have been taking lots of photos of clouds, skies, flowers, mountains, rivers.. The eternal, the ethereal, the ephemeral. If I cannot find joy in my present life, that is where I have to look for joy in...

was also planning to see some museums and another wat tml, but realised that they will be closed! argh... Wanted to do a cooking course on tues (saw a pamphlet the other time and they look like nice cute people), so I will be lazing ard tml.. Other option is to get a tour of some sort, probably trekking, but a bit unwilling to spend on that, and to see hilltribes accustomed to tourists...

hmm.. I think the rain has finally eased.. Can go to the Sunday night market to look for jason's lamp now =)

woah.. I'm been away for 34 days.. Be back in another 3...

chicken and duck talk

2005-06-16T22:02:00.000+08:00

when that happens, what results is an unintended songthraew taxi ride around the city.. then to the outskirts of the district... haha.. first the driver didn't know where we wanted to go, but told us to get in anyway, and we went round and round the city till he found his friends who spoke a little english.. finally managed to get to where we wanted to go: the Hilltribe Museum, which turned out to be really ulu.. not many people, and the 'outdoor exhibits' of hilltribe house reconstructions was all barbed wired up and the paths inside overgrown with chickens and dogs running all over... got chased out by one of them dogs... think julin is too much of a cat.. in all my time travelling in laos and thailand, both of which have lots and lots of dogs ard, I have never gotten such a reception from them as I did today. they all barked at us and chased us away
=( sigh..

then when we tried to get back to the city, we got onto a songthraew going in the wrong direction, so when we finally saw a sign on the other side of the road pointing to 'changmai' we got off immediately. way back was thankfully less eventful.. lunch at market.. coffee/tea at a very nice cafe in a beautiful house we passed by... then sunset at Wat Suan Dok... haven't had dinner... getting hungry.. and very tired...

tml we will prob bus to changrai in the afternoon. Meeting julin's village friends at night, then will head to the village i think.. not sure about internet or handphone reception there, but will definately be back in changmai the night before my flight: tues 21jun.

2005-06-14T10:42:00.000+08:00

yay! julin's coming over tml! =))

meanwhile i've got abt 2 whole days to myself. Shall go recce the city and check out the wats inside the city walls... and see if i have time to go out... need to rent a bicycle.. darn, wish i knew how to ride a motorbike.. then can go so many other places (like the crafts village.. hmm.. maybe its good i don't know how to motorbike =P)

yesterday went to doi suthrup with the guys.. its quite high up n the mountains. noticably cooler air. lots of mist. good view if not for the rain clouds over the city...

running out of internet time..so.. maybe tonight shall write more: its cheaper to internet than to walk the night market and shop!

changmai!

2005-06-12T18:39:00.000+08:00

ooofff... quite tired after the 3 days of travelling. and i mean on the move travelling. 10h boat ride to Pak Beng on the 10th, 8h boat ride to Huay Xai on the 11th, then the border crossing and 6h bus ride to changmai today... nice scenery on the boat ride though... the guys just came back from their trekking/elephant/whatever tour. I'm waiting for them to wash up so we can go to the night market for dinner =) they'll be leaving tml afterall..

Met lots of people on the long long boat ride. Most friendly was this old (relatively) rich french guy working for an NGO who went to vientiane to see something about a big dam project somewhere in laos, funded by the world bank.. started talking about what makes quality of life,. the situation in Laos economically, historically.... its like when i was in Tat Lo and talking to a welsh lady about the myanmar situation, or that american guy in the same place about hiedigger and oscar wilde and total crap like how to say "you're as smart as a moth" as convincingly as possible or about 'macaroni architecture'... =)) and of course people are always fascinated by the chinese language and religion (?) and about the multi-ethnicity of singapore... it's great meeting people who can talk about things other than the usual where have they/you been, how long is their/your stay etc...

In Huay Xai 2 brit girls invited me to join their table. They just came over from thailand, and started telling me about the massage and cooking courses they took here.. now i am feeling rather 'gian' about taking up a 1-day cooking course.. but its not cheap.. sigh... also traded info with another guy staying in the same guesthouse.. looks like a nice sort, and reccomemded me the bungy jump here. said its worth the 1,400B... tempted, but i don't have that much baht to spare.. maybe should not shop so much =P which means less presents for you people, haha...

Laos laos.. i wanna go back... =(

conversations

2005-06-09T18:41:00.000+08:00

had quite a few of those with various monks today =) the guys had a kayaking tour today, thenI saw the girls off this morning, had a nap, and went for a walk to see all the rest of the wats.. weather not too good today: raining on and off, but everytime i took refuge in a wat the monks would always approach the sim (where i am leaning on the parapet looking out trying to look cool =P) and talk to me, to practice their english.. also been meeting a lot of people i met earlier on this trip. Saw an australian guy i met at Tat Lo at the night market here the night before, and today i met the brit couple i meet at champasak.. had a chat with both.. will prob be on the same bat to pak beng tomorrow morning with the brits... I wil be taking the slow 2 day boat ride to the thai border at huay xai, while the guys have opted for the 6h speed boat so they will have more time to see changmai... i may stay a night in changrai if there is anything to see there.. not sure.. but will meet the guys again when i reach changmai... it's a lazy day... and i need to get back to the guesthouse to meet the guys for dinner... then shop again =)) the shopping here is actually quite good.. maybe next time can come here to shop... with more money and luggage space... though i have already 'tom pang-ed' quite a bit of stuff for edlyn to bring back to spore =P from tml i will have to get used to my initial travelling style again, since i seem to have gotten kind of comfortable with the current style (which isn't luxourious, but isn't really scrimping either). So. I am doing well, and will be on thai soil in 2 days.. sigh.. i am definately coming back to laos if i have the chance to.. and soon...

LP!!

2005-06-06T17:39:00.000+08:00

I'm in Luang Prabang! UNESCO World Heritage site, though most of the temples are not that old, but all look very pretty.. Just got here early early this morning, found a guesthouse, then slept till lunchtime.. Saw the monks going on their morning round of alms collecting.. A guy we meet in Vientiane yesterday told us its about 300++ monks in the line... He's a LP local, been a novice monk for 6 yrs, just went to Vientiane a month ago to start studying in the university. Very smooth talker. We were walking in That Luang, the big impt monument in Vientiane when he approached us 3 girls and we were wondering how long it would take the guys to come and 'rescue' us...

Journey here was at night. 10h by bus through the mountains. Think we missed a lot of wonderful scenery, glimpses of which I caught whenever lightning flashed and the siloulettes of the limestone mountains and fields and valleys were lighted for a couple of seconds... For a stretch it was very misty, and you see the fields and a few trees and the mist and the mountains.. Very atmospheric, and very pretty.. And maybe a little eerie...

Just booked a tour for tml to go to Pak Ou caves (with lots of Buddhas inside), some villages, and Tat Kuang Si (a waterfall). The guys may go kayaking the day after while we girls wack the market and wats and museum...

last day in vientiane

2005-06-05T11:27:00.000+08:00

been taking lots of photos.. yesterday after a tour of the wats in the main part of town, i left them to go to a wat further away with a traditional lao sauna and massage,where i met a nice local guy who is a comp student and works as a graphic designer/ photographer/ layout/ videographer for a lao-american magazine. He takes fantastic pictures and i met him for dinner later that night so he could pass me something to pass to his friend in spore... had a great time and found out more about how people here actually live and what's the situation and their history and all...=))) anyway the wat was pretty nice, in a forest setting, i talked to a few of the monks, one of whom led me to the massage place.. and i left my loney planet with the rest and the map from the old old photocopied footprint i had was useless so i ended up asking a lot of people along the way for directions in my broken lao =) and so got many smiles and nice encounters =)

hoping to get an overnight bus to luang prabang tonight... so i won't get to see the wonderful scenery and experience the rollercoaster daredevil driving skills of the driver as he negociates the mountains...

5 more days with the girls, 9 more with the guys (who are really 1st time backpackers and just scream tourist and have been staying in hotels and will prob be overcharged for everything).

there's so much more to say.. but i've still got to go check and maybe book tonight's bus then meet them at the market and i still haven't had breakfast.. so.. ciao.. internet in vientiane is actually pretty cheap, wish i had more time to talk though =)

back in vientiane

2005-06-03T18:54:00.000+08:00

hmm... what to say.. vang vieng was beautiful, as i have already noted. I got a bloody hard slap on my back from some old senile man as i was walking down the street there. We stayed another day cos well, we decided to spend a day just lazing around. Good thing we did too, cos the day after, yesterday, we cycled to see 2 more caves, both of which involved some climbing to get to them, and both of which were beautiful, with blue-green lovely waters and lovely views over the valley... Last night went to a guidebook listed restuarant, which turned out to have quite a few 'happy' offerings... and not so good food.. This morning we came back to vientiane. raining almost all the way. we missed the bus so took a songthraew. not sure how the other 2 liked it cos it was dripping, but i wanted them to at least kind of experience that once, even if its not quite the real quashed dusty experience...

guesthouse at the moment not as good as the previous one, but cheaper: us$2 per person. more in the center of town too.

feeling a bit tired from travelling with other people. wish i was still on my own, for many reasons. ah well. But Laos is still a fantastically beauitful country and i still believe that the people here are wonderfully nice. Less detail in the blog and less blogging cos the other 2 are not as internet/blogging crazy as i and i don't think they know how to get back to the guesthouse or walk ard by themselves so... i'd better go rescue them from the couch now, and go for dinner..

the shan1 shui3 of vang vieng

2005-05-31T20:53:00.000+08:00

its gorgeous here. fantastic scenery. it's like guilin, except with way way above 7 degrees C temperature. and lots more rain. but every bit as beautiful. Staying in a nice place a bit away from the main tourist guesthouse strips. It has a nice garden and the most butterflies i've ever seen in laos, which is to say a bloody lot, cos butterflies are everywhere here. The owner's an interesting brit who has been here 5 yrs(?) and loves his plants and flowers and butterflies.

travelling w edlyn and her cousin is rather different from the kind of travelling i'd been doing... it's not just that i'm living in better (and more expensive, though it often works out to be cheaper when shared among 3 ppl) conditions.. it's everything i guess... and being with a group of people means i don't have as much contact w the locals or even with other travellers as i would like or have had, and i seem to smile less and get irritated more.... guess it just takes some getting used to... not sure what it'll be like when we meet jason.. we'll see...

Vang vieng is also very touristy... i guess its inevitable now that we'll on the standard 2 week tourist trail of vientiane - vang vieng - luang prabang, and it can\t be hapled cos i had to fit in jason edlyn etc's schedule,but i really wish i had more time to wander around the less populated parts of the country and entertain more locals who are not used to tourists rather than those who already know how to speak english and flirt w female tourists and ask for their money...

still, i cannot get over how beautiful this place is.. would like to wander around on my own a bit more.. but i guess i'm a bit well... trapped? actually feeling a bit stressed at times.. so much for finding peace and having time to think...

should be staying one more day tomorrow to see the rest of the caves we had to miss the day before when it started raining , then back to vientiane on thurs. will be meeting JS and friend on sat morning... went kayaking today. beautiful. glorious. heavenly. to be alive in such surroundings. sigh... i sit anywhere here in the countrysdie, in the rain, alone, and stone for hours...

in vientiane? veng chan?

2005-05-28T16:41:00.000+08:00

cut and pasted from an email i just wrote when blogger refused to let me in earlier:

in ventiane now! for some reason blogger keeps posting an error when itry to access the blog, so its just email first.. a bit confused aboutthe time now, cos i thought its 3.24pm, but the computer clock saysits 4.24.. so am i about to miss the 4-5.30pm free saturday meditation thingy i was hoping to attend at one of the wats? when should i gopick edlyn n her cousin up? argh.. i thought i could have a walk ard the city after arriving at 6.30am today (and seeing the monks go on their morning rounds) but was so tired from the 10.5h bus journey here and the room i got was so nice i just cleaned up and had a long long nap...

staying on thanon sihom, some place called chamlysofshfn something something guesthouse.. its usd9 for 3 beds in a fan room w bath, but they didn't have a room w 3 beds avaliable, so i took one w two bedsfor the same price but they threw in aircon n tv, so its not too bad..its the best place i've stayed in so far: actually has a shower area in the attached toilet, hot water, a sink w pipes underneath so your dirty water doesn't fall at your feet, a window that stretches the whole wall, bedsheets that are not just clean and not dusty but have no holes or cig burns in them, firm mattresses, a wardrobe, cable tv, hangers, mirrors, doesn't look like there are any rats or even lizards... its too good to be true. my first thought was that this is a hotel!.. so, edith, i'm not going to make your sister suffer =P though i still can if you want me to...

vientiane is a rather sleepy capital city.. a bit weird to hear the guesthouse staff and tuk tuk/jumbo drivers actually speak english, and hear the price quoted in usd instead of kip, and to see a guest checking out paying in usd... rooms are more ex here, but w more people sharing, shouldn't be that bad =) not sure if i will like the city after all the wonderful country living, but i guess i shouldn't be too quick to judge =) better go check out that temple now...

city girl

2005-05-27T15:33:00.000+08:00

sigh... back in the city of pakse. Taking an overnight bus to Vientiane at 8pm tonight, so i've got half the day to while away here.. no help for it: didn't want to take the risk of missing the bus here from TatLo so had to leave there in the late morning...

on the bus to tatlo. got to the relevant bus station at abt 930 to catch the 10am bus. Of course this being typical SEasian rubber time, the bus only took off at 1140am... in the meantime, everyone on the bus was apparently quite bored, so guess who became their source of entertainment? All of them crowded around my seat, talked to me, kept asking me qustions i don't understand, and when i took out my lonely planet to try to point to lao words so as to have a slighly more meaningful conversation, yet another 2-way language course started. =) then my guidebook got passed around the bus as they flipped thorugh it and looked at all the pictures and made me say where each and every picture and map was from. There was this woman who looked kind of drunk (why do i attract drunk laos?) who keep talking to me in a very high shrill voice, then she started poking and grabbing my breasts and every once in a while her own i went argh! and tried to cover my chest but she always got past my defences.. damn strange.. and when it was time for me to get off she keep pulling my arm and pointing ahead and saying something. i think she wanted me to go to her house or village, but its a bit weird cos she'd been molesting me not 2h ago, not to mention her husband didn't look too happy at whatever she was offering me so i had to decline...

TatLo is another nice place. countryside. villages. tribes. waterfalls. treks. I was walking happily along some forest path when i heard a noise to my right. I turned to look and it was an elephant not 5m away from me. backside to me though. and not a very pretty one either. Land of a million elephants indeed... It's quite a 'resort' place though. some more expensive chalets and lodges in the prime locations over the falls (ok, my standards are pretty low, so expensive is anything more than 10USD/night. my v nice room w double bed was 2USD). Think they attempted to build more at some point but there are just quite a few abandoned half completed houses around... otherwise, typical nice lao riverside village life. Meet a few nice western tourists (!) who i drank and talked with every night. i stayed at a nice place with my hut just over the river, facing the west, so yes, nice sunsets again. though i've been waking up earlier every morning no matter what time i go to bed or how much beer i drank the night before. Today i woke up at abt 5am (with first light). and just had to get out of bed by 530am.. at this rate, i may be able to catch some nice sunrises soon...

the problem with getting too nua3 is that i'm feeling too lazy to even type =P just want to sit and stare at some nice waterfall or river, preferably with a bottle of beerlao in hand... jason, edlyn, please pardon me if i'm only active for half the day then spend the afternoon and evenings just chilling out somewhere....

khao jii pate

2005-05-25T09:01:00.000+08:00

That's just jian1 tou2 mian4 bao1 with pate and some leaves from the roadside.. I normally don't like pate but this is actually ok... It's my breakfast, which I am eating as I type.. Going to catch the bus in an hour or so to Tat Lo, where hopefully its nice and quiet enough to spend 2 nights before heading back here fri morning and taking the direct overnight VIP bus to Vientiane.

Forgot to add to the what was eaten: I just love seeing the kids having such good innocent clean fun: climbing trees, playing in the river, catching fish, swimming, playing who can throw the slipper furthest, tying the leftover bamboo strips around their heads and limbs and swaggering around pretending to be 'some gang' =P to hear the sounds of their laughter just makes me so happy, and they seem to be having so much more fun than our kids stuck in front of the TV or computer the whole day...

The women here are also less modest than I thought. In the village they just walk around in spaghetti straps or even just the bra and of course the always present sarong, and lots of them wear sleeveless stuff everywhere. The men just wear a towel around the waist or undies or a loincloth. They usu change to something nicer and more decent when visiting or going to another village. At first, on all the public transport, everyone's pretty covered up, usually with a windbreaker or jacket or long shirt, but now I realise, after having my blue pants turn brown, not to mention my white tee, that it's just to protect them from the dust of the road, and from sunburn... I also realised that the women don't wear undies.. cos when we stop for toilet breaks by the side of the road they just squat right in the open, do their stuff and get back up on the bus without having to adjust anything.. =0

I am feeling much better today. Spent most of yesterday under the blankets and my sarong and windbreaker trying to sweat whatever it was that was making me sick out... Seems to have worked.. Had 'foe' (rice noodles soup) with very nice peppery beef balls last night. All the portions they give are damn big... I can never finish a meal...

I have not found the peace I am looking for ("if you find peace not within yourself, you will never find it without"), but it's still good to be here.. I will continue looking....

what was eaten...

2005-05-24T13:26:00.000+08:00

ok, i will try to remember some of what i lost last night.. since internet is relatively cheap here and there's nothing much to see in Pakse and i sent most of my clothes to the laundry in another 'hotel' so they'll only be ready this evening and its the middle of the day and too hot to be walking around...

ok, the night at the village house... they have tv but no reception, but the women and kids were watching some thai or lao karaoke vcd, then i watched the first half og Ong Bak (no english subtitles) with them. The kids kept staring at me when they thought i wasn'y looking. The slightly older girls would giggle and turn away then peep back when i smile or make faces at them but the younger kids just stare at me with theor big unblinking eyes... and the even younger ones are not so shy and just laugh and climb all over me. The women were inspecting my toes, and while bathing with them, were quite fascinated by how white the normally swimsuit covered part of me is...

There's a nice doggie who guards my door at night and keeps me company in the morning and at night. Afternoon its too hot on my balcony cos i am on the 'sunset strip'. of course, lovely sunsets.

the day before yesterday, my last day on the island, i finally managed to get away from the village to do some sightseeing on the neighbouring island. on a bicycle. on many LONG. HOT. ROCKY. paths. But the views at the end of all of them were worth. The Li Phin waterfalls (and lots of thai package tourists), the dolphin pool, where i didn't see any, but still it was perfect, and cambodia looked so damm close...

yesterday i went to Tat Fan waterfall in the Bolavan Plateau as a side trip before heading to town. Actually the angmohs are really helping me make my decisions. I always can't decide, but when i see a group of angmohs going where i had intended to go, i would head for my second choice instead =P the attitude i get and th hospitality i receive is really different when i keep away from them... anyway, Tat Fan. impressive. very tall, falls into a gorge/canyon. I tried to trek down to the foot but the path was very very slippery and had almost no handholds and many times were right at the edge of a steep drop and was quite overgrown... so i gave up before reaching the bottom...

Last night i was a little sick.. couldn't sleepin my cell of a room (the cheapest private and non-angmoh infested in town) with no window smelling of the indian restuarant downstairs. Puked out a little something, had a massive headache, and couldn't get myself out of bed till abt 11.30am, when i figured i need to see some sun and get lunch and maybe change more money (the banks close at 3.30pm). Stopped at the roadside stall for lunch. rather randomly. Turned out to be some laksa like thing, except with pig's blood.. the woman was very nice to me, and turned out knew a bit of chinese, knows someone from hongkong apparently. I speak and understand enough lao to apparently confuse them and make them keep trying to speak to me in lao even though i keep telling them i can't... btw, the yes is actually 'er' as in er4.like hungry in mandarin.and no:'bor' is not really 'boh' like boh tea but more like 'baw' or 'bor2' a in no in teochew or hokkien.

Other than the last horrible night though, the experience here has been good. esp as long as i stay in the countryside. It almost seems as though i was meant to be here now. The weather always works out in my flavour, and i almost never have to wait for my transport to start moving (unlike most of the angmohs =)

Wish you guys were here. I was lonely for the first time last night. And the pictures and descriptions sinply cannot do the beauty of the sights and people i have seen and met justice. Will probably go to another waterfall in the bolavans: Tat Lo tml, if i feel up to it.. if not, may just go to city after city: Tha Theak and Vientiane ahead of schedule... will give Tham Lot something something a miss cos it's really hard (and expensive) to get there...

ARGH! previous post 2-thirds eaten!

2005-05-23T19:38:00.000+08:00

sob sob.. it has so much more of my island experience and what i did yesterday and today and what i think about some things.. and more importantly, how i wish i could share this experience with you guys... sigh...

2005-05-23T18:57:00.000+08:00

ok, in the 'city' of Pakse now.. cheaper internet. anyway, i got a whole lot of white strings around both my wrists now! before i left my previous place the guy and his immediate family (minus the kids) said some prayers for me (mentioning my name and where i come from and where i'm going..) and each tied a string around my wrists... don't think its the same as ravin's, but i was still very touched =)) They've been wonderfully nice to me. The room rate was higher than all the other US$1 places the other tourists stay at, but this was more like a homestay and it turns out that all the meals and water and food I had with them are included, as well as the bost trip back to mainland, which makes it really really pretty darn cheap. Of course I gave them more than i should, the experience was priceless.

They never left me alone: there's always someone with me, talking to me, trying to teach me lao, make me teach them english, make me eat, watch me eat or just sitting and enjoying the view with me.. they sit around a lot.. guess cos it's not planting season (they're farmers) and the fish traps only need to be set up then collected once each day. The water i drink i presume is boiled mekong water (yes, the same water i piss in, bathe in, brush teeth in, wash my hands with, do my laundry in..), the food is basically rice and fish for every meal. Their bbq fish is perfect, the fermented fish takes some getting used to, I refused to touch the raw fish though. Everything is seasoned with rice. And they keep giving me food. Lots and lots of food: pudding, potatoes sweetened with sugar and rice, coffee, fish, leaves.. I loved their salad and laap.. ate a lot of different leaves. Not the chinese vegetables kind. really leaves. Sigh. My tummy is coming back =(

The guy keeps telling me every once in a while to "follow me!", and before i know it, i'll be on the boat to see something, visit some neighbours, eating with the family, bathing or swimming with them, or, one night, with the whole village in this bigger house w electricity and a tv and a vcd player where the old men were sitting and drinking (lao whisky is quite nice)

er! boh! er! boh!

2005-05-21T15:45:00.000+08:00

Actually that's just yes! no! yes! no! in lao. v expensive internet here: 30min=3nights room. argh! but nice islands, very pretty, some spectacular waterfalls, no electricity, no TV, no bathroom, lovely sunset, wonderful people. I found a few place just startibng far away from all the rest of the places. i feel like a novelty tin the village. Everyone's come by to have a look at me and make me go through their lao-english book w them one by one. very sick of that book now. i eat w the family, bathe w them in the river and all. not sure if the meals are included in the higher than normal room price (us1.5 vs us1). argh.. too much to say, no time.. leaving in 2 days. its just so relaxed... will report again when i find a a more reasonable rate in another place....

An interesting journey and a heavenly morning

2005-05-19T15:01:00.000+08:00

Yay! I found an internet connection! it's in someone's house, the kid keeps disturbing me (and the poor mother got to keep carrying her away) and the grandmother is sewing with the old sewing machine we used to have at home =) 300kip/min.

This morning: wat phou. I was hoping to catch the sunrise, but when i woke up at 6am, it was raining hard, and it didn't look like it was going to stop. But my luck held, and by 7.30 it stopped, though the sky was still dark. Rented a bike after breakfast, went to change money, cycled the 10km to the wat, passing kids catching something in the fields, a big group of men and boys fishing where a stream met the mekong, lots of cows, dogs, ducks, chickens, goats, even a turkey.. Nice cos it wasn't hot. Not very nice for taking photos at the wat (in ruins, but exquisite, and very nice views and atmostphere), though there were a few moments of sunshine when i walked into the main shrine at the top with my joss sticks and offering, and the gold of the Buddha's robes were shining. It was perfect... then an angmoh approache and the sun went away... then when i went to the holy spring behind it started drizzling but stopped the moment i left the cave/ledge. Hmm.

Staying at a place with a nice location by the river. splurged on a double room with attached bath cos a) i'd been on the road for more than 24h! b)in the super duper cramped songthraew from Phibun to Champasak, my bottle of meji coffee milk (bought in BKK) opened and i didn't realise it till I felt it soak thru my bag and my pants... so the bath with showerhead, tap, basin, western toilet w working flush for 30,000kip (US$3) sounded like a good deal... plus the hammocks at the veranda by the river just looked so good...

the journey here... long story...... the phibun-champasak part comes down to something like: took a long time, cramped, drunks on board who took a shine to me and who were smoking non-stop, cute kids, river crossing, owner of guesthouse's brother on board, hence got off at the most populated guesthouse (though that's not saying a lot) w lots of angmohs. Cos there were 2 brits on the same vehicle as i (and who had been on that same vehicle at the bus staion for 3h already waiting for it to fill up and move). railway overnight from BKK to Ubon was good, but JS, I wld reccommend that you take the lower deck. I had the upper cos safer for me i guess, but its too bright, too near the aircon vents, and too low and no view.... At the border I meet and eventually shared taxi with 2 finnish and an american. US citizens really get it hard ard here i guess... they were staying in Pakse or Bolavan for the night, so I got my own tuk tuk to the other bus station to go to Phibun....

so many more things to say and note, but the keyboard is seriously irritating....

what i love about this place though: the laid-back attitude. I thought some of the smaller thai villages were relaxed, but the laos take it to a whole new level...

tomorrow: down south to Si Phan Don: the 4 thousand mekong islands... will try to catch the morning slow boat, which takes anywhere from 5-9h to get there from here..

ON THE LOOSE AGAIN!

2005-05-17T19:20:00.000+08:00

ahaha! in bangkok typing this. silom. I thought if i come to a more upmarket area and stay in the expensive shopping center i won't be tempted to shop, but the high class shops and salespeople intimidated me so much i went back to the streets where i belong more =P so many things to see/buy/eat.. I have to keep telling myself to save money and that my bag is heavy enough. Man, the stupid keyboard is damn hard to get used to again. this time because everythings so clear: there are 2 thai letters for on every alphabet key in addition to the normal ones... thank god for spellcheck.

I have spent the last couple of weeks before this trip in such a frenzy, trying to tie things up for the trip, meet friends, finish assignments and jobs, spend time with family, that even the hustle and bustle of bangkok at peak hour seems like a break. Like I can finally take a breath (even if it's noxious bangkok-city-center-peak-hour-traffic air). Not to mention locals here have always embraced me, and are super nice and friendly. It would be rare back home for people waiting at the train station or bus stop or just walking alongside you in the same direction to just turn to you and strike up a conversation (though their attempts to engage me are always stopped in their tracks because I have forgotten what little thai i picked up the last time round), with no other motive than to make a friend and have some company for the wait or the journey.

Not much time to spend online: i still need to get dinner, head back to Hualalompong, get my train ticket to ubon, etc. Yeah, i should have gotten it when i arrived in the city at 5.30pm (cos had to wait for train at airport for 1.5h), but the queues at the counters were crazy. Touched down at 2.25 BKK time. A bit late cos bad weather in s'pore, terrible turbulance. Reminded me of taking the roller coasters and amusment park thrill rides in Korea. Perfect landing though: I couldn't tell which was the moment we touched down. Only realised we were on the ground when the brakes started. Tigerair has nice clean new planes. Only they keep trying to sell you things. And maybe it's a singapore thing: the aircon was freezing!

as i was saying: not much time. At the same time, lots of time. To think, to look, to feel, to live.

yawn stretch blink

2005-04-25T21:49:00.000+08:00

*peeps out from cave*

hello!
i'll be out next month:
Laos, here I come!

initiating hibernation

2004-08-29T23:12:00.000+08:00

Just want to officially say that there will be no new entries to this blog until my next trip, whenever that may be (hopefully in december this year, if jo allows a break from thesis studio) *crosses fingers*

Till next time. ciao.

photos are up!

2004-08-10T00:16:00.000+08:00

just a sampling here. More on my yahoo =)

still have one more b/w roll with most of the sukhothai pictures inside...

2004-08-10T00:10:00.000+08:00

cycling in the countryside around sukhothai

2004-08-10T00:09:00.000+08:00

grand palace, bangkok.

2004-08-10T00:08:00.001+08:00

crumbling temples

2004-08-10T00:08:00.000+08:00

shangri la: erawen waterfalls

2004-08-10T00:05:00.001+08:00

crosses and poppies for rememberance of the POWs who built Hellfire Pass

2004-08-10T00:05:00.000+08:00

a taste of the ornateness of the temple of the emerald buddha...

2004-08-10T00:04:00.000+08:00

into the crypt....

2004-08-10T00:02:00.000+08:00

one of the not so unsuccessful attempts to take my own picture...

coming soon: photos!

2004-08-06T16:35:00.000+08:00

yay! going to collect most of my photos later... hopefully there will be some I will not be too embarressed to put up =)

update 1: the travel insurance only provides for delays of more than 12 hours so it looks like I won't be getting anything from ntuc. sigh.

update 2: I had thought I would probably not hear from any of the people I met on the trip again, but I have gotten sms-es from Jen (the changmai girl in Kanchanaburi), a phone call from Kat (the thai girl I met at the airport), and emails from Masa (the jap guy from Sukhothai). And i think I am supposed to write to the woman from the bus to Kanchanaburi, but I don't even think she can read english and her address is all in thai script....

I want to go back to thailand.... and vietnam.. and cambodia... and laos... and myanmar...

next time.. heh heh heh....

FINALLY! home.

2004-07-28T17:16:00.000+08:00

warning: skip the next paragraph if you don't want to have to read a long incoherent rant.

The flight was delayed for 6.5h. At 11am I received a message from Air Asia (though apparently not everyone did; maybe they didn't provide their mobile numbers) telling me the 2.45 flight has been 're-timed' to 7.05pm. I was already on the train to the airport by that time, as the trains leave bkk at 11.15 and 11.45, and the next ones were at 2+pm, which would have been way too late for my flight. And so it transpired that I reached the airport at 12nn, then found out from the counter that the flight has now been delayed till 9.15pm! Argh! what was I going to do till then? If only I had not gone to Ayutheya and Bang Pa-in already: they would have made excellent daytrips, but then I figured I'd better not stray from the airport in case there were any changes.. anyone knows if there are any claims or something I can get for the delay? Cos instead of reaching senai at 6pm and taking public transport all the way home I got there at 12.45am today instead. Not to mention food and basically everything is expensive at the airport and they only gave us a snack voucher worth 70B (about enough for small fries and small soft drink, or a medium coffee), which I had to go up and ask for at about 3pm when I went to the counter again to make sure. And when I asked: can I just check in first or leave my baggage they simply told me to go to the airport service, which charges 90B per piece. Lucky I only had one backpack and my slingbag... grr.. they could have handled it better. I don't think my expectations are that high, esp considering what I paid for the ticket...

At JB, there was still, thankfully, a free shuttle to the city lounge, but beyond that, its taxi all the way. In the end transportation home from the airport cost me more than the flight. And I only reached home at 3am.

good things, however, did come out of this whole shebang:

1) The view of Bangkok and Malaysia at night. And flying at night. Really beautiful. The street lighting is orange while the houses/buildings use white light, so its looks like a sea of fire flowing through a field of diamonds. The transportation network stands out like a gorgeous version of the diagrams we've studied in geography or in widodo's classes. It's amazing how the darkness makes the city so much more enticing than it is in the day. Or rather, how the darkness makes the lights so beautiful. And when we fly above the sea of clouds to the clear sky above the stars are of course brilliant in their multitudes. And seeing the airport at night is nice too, esp when the spotlights of the airport are juxupositioned against a plane on the horizon and the fog...

2) at the check-in queue a nice Thai girl started talking to me. So now I had a companion for the flight. She's in the construction industry but apparently goes on short holidays in the region a lot. She also informed me that hair re-bonding is really cheap in Bangkok (abt a quarter of what they quoted me here, which is $110-140), and asked why I didn't do it there. I didn't know! Nobody told me... =(

3) I didn't have much ringget or sing dollars w me, so in an attempt to save money, I talked to other people on the shuttle and managed to get a group of 4 together: a japanese boy studying public finance who had to catch a flight home from changi at 6am, an indian australian who had friends here and who was really useful with sorting out the splitting of the taxi fares cos he's an accountant, and a filipino studying tourism here. It was nice chatting with them on the way back, finding out more about each other's countries... and laughing about trying to understand Thai English and their obmission of all 's's in their speech....

and I dare say I'm very familiar with Don Muang Bangkok International Airport by now. Have visited almost every toilet in there too.

Last night in Thailand

2004-07-26T16:50:00.000+08:00

hmm... I just got a massage.... Actually all I want to do right now is sleep... The massage was fantastic.. I loved it when she twisted by whole body and I could hear the cracks go down my spine... The only painful parts were when she was working on places where I don't have much muscle.. Otherwise it, though not exactly relaxing, really loosened me up...

Today I only covered the Grand Palace, Temple of the Emerald Buddha (which turns out to be actually jade, but the guy who first found him was mistaken), and Wat Pho. I had thought the queen's quarters in Hanoi's Old Palace was unique, but turns out the porcelain inlay thingy is actually pretty widely used. It's still pretty, though. And those here are in much better condition since they didn't get bombed and the structures they are used in (mostly the prangs) are more grand. Too tired of the city to try to do anything else. Kind of looking forward to leaving, even if it's just trading one city for another. But then one is home after all.

This will probably be my last post while in Thailand. During this trip, at least. Will still post if I have any pictures I'm particularly proud of =)

I didn't get to go clubbing with masa after all. There was some miscommunication (the filming is outside Bangkok) and I didn't check my mail often enough and he tried to call but somehow Thai phones can never get through to mine. Wish I knew why... Is there something other than the +65 one has to add?

Tired.. Don't even feel like trying to socialise or shop or get food now...

a little more time to burn

2004-07-25T20:24:00.000+08:00

got 20min left, so just want to note some things:

Signs in shop in chatukchak market:
- "Art is the lie that helps us to understand the truth" - Picasso
- "The sadness never goes away" - van Gogh's sucide note
- "I prayed to God, but the sky was empty" - Sylvia Plath
But they don't have shirts in ladies' sizes.. though most, if not all, of those are too small for me, and the men's are too big. So I'm stuck with the free size things.

Kanchanburi has street signs in the shape of a fish, and along a certain stretch they are named after countries who had POWs interned in the area. As diverse as Afganistan to Korea to some countries I've never heard of that sounds vaguely African or Middle Eastern. And of course there is a Singapore Road. I looked. And took a picture too. Unfortunately it's just a rather unassuming, nondescript lane.

Muay Thai fighters are all younger than me. Oldest I saw was only 22. Youngest looks 12, but I think he's 14. Very small sized. It looks painful, but elegant.

in Lumpini Park, an old thai chinese guy approached me. after some talking: "I go with you to boxing? I pay". of course i refused. After another while and more conversation: "after boxing you go home? Not going dancing? I take you. I pay." argh! and i thought he was just being nice at first. Now i know... "now you going to eat? I go with you?" ... "why not? give me one reason why not." I made myself scarce. It was a nice and very big park though. They even have a gym there with weights and all.

ok, out of time. ciao. =)

chocolate donuts

2004-07-25T19:49:00.000+08:00

today, i went about siam square, saw jim thompson's house, mbk, etc. Then went back to the guesthouse to get my stuff to move to khaosan, but it was raining so damm hard the whole afternoon that i was drenched and only made it to khaosan abt 4 plus. Next I went to Wat Arun, for sunset, but because of the rain it was less than spectacular. I will try for photos from across the river tomorrow morning though, on my way to Wat Po. And don't believe the guidebook when they say it's only open till 5.30pm. Even at 6.30pm people were going over and there were still large groups on the prang.

Nothing much to say since i hardly interacted with anyone today, except that the large crowds make you feel more alone. And in spite of what i said yesterday, I went back to the market. And you know what? I found the chocolate donuts within a half hour. Bought two. Then I saw another stall selling the same thing 5 minutes later. Where were all of them yesterday??! Nobody talks to me cos they all think I'm local. And a local actually thought i was the shopkeeper. (maybe i should just have nodded and taken the money...). Ah well, that's not as bad as farangs always thinking I'm the waitress/receptionist in the guesthouses.

Bangkok is very tiring and expensive. In the last guesthouse I stayed on the 3rd floor(120B) and thought that was bad, but now i'm on the 6th floor(150B). I think I'm only going to leave the room once a day and not come back unless its for the night... There's a nice chill space and restuarant downstairs though. Travel within the city is expensive, entrance fees are higher, food so far is not as nice(or maybe it's just harder to figure out which are the nice stalls here), and of course there's shopping. err.. Rav, wj, i have no idea what to get for you (it would be so much easier if you were females!) and i am seriously short of luggage space so don't get your expectations up =P

Being in a big city with lots of people who don't speak your language or think you don't speak theirs is making the loneliness come back.. Actually looking forward to going home (but not the transition in JB. argh.).

before i retire...

2004-07-24T21:31:00.000+08:00

ok, it's not all old fat men around here. Just saw some young ones. But have yet to see a female traveller around here...

and many thai men are good looking....

one night in Bangkok....

2004-07-24T20:58:00.000+08:00

Bangkok.. is perhaps not for me.. I think I have been spoilt by the nice countryside with nice people, so much so that I'd almost forgotten that in the big city, there are are not so nice people... But that's ok i guess. For every jerk/pervert/asshole/#^%*& i meet i have met 10 nice people so, overall, Thailand is a great country to travel in. And of course everyone thinks I'm thai. I think even the singaporeans at chatukchak thought so. Only 1 person thought otherwise and she said hi to me in Japanese but stopped to talk when she realised i wasn't =) And the funny thing is, they think I'm thai thai, as opposed to thai chinese.

The problem with looking like a local is that people are less likely to stop and help you. So when i need help, like when the bus into BKK droped me at some obsure bus stop outside town, I tried to ask around to no availd, but found that just sitting there looking blur and with a map in your hand will eventually produce, in a very short time, an english speaking local who will help you and talk to you =))

The market.. I spent my first hour there just wandering aimlessly, feeling overwhelmed. And I saw so many things i wanted to get but thought: 'later', but half the time I won't be able to find the store again. And i spent the better part of an hour trying to re-find the stall with the chocolate donuts. Yes. JL, they were delicious indeed. No wonder the woman asked: "just one?" when i first bought it. Wish i bought 5 sticks instead of one now...

In the end i didn't buy much. There's too much to want and nothing i need. Though i had to exercise considerable self-restraint to stop myself from buying the slippers and t-shirts. Almost everything is actually available in s'pore, just more expensive. And my attempts at bargaining are really pathetic, not to mention half-hearted... So. No more market for me. Maybe khaosan on the last night...

Yesterday night i went to see the muay thai matches at Lumpini Stadium. Forgot to ask JL whihc are the seats to avoid. Took a guess, was sort of right. I was not in the thick of bookie/gambling action. At least not at first. But i was near enough that by the middle of the night they were all around me. Shouting, spitting, guesturing, exchanging large sums of money, standing, digging their toes into my butt.... A bit scary since i was probably the only lone female in the whole place, local or foreign. And the walk back to my guesthouse is rather dark. I have never appreciated security guards so much before this, and i am ever so grateful that a few buildings on the way hire them. 7-11s are great too. So many of them here. I just kept telling myself: just make it to the next 7-11... The foreigners staying around here are few, and most of them seem to be old and/or fat men. I don't know if it's the relative proximity to Patpong or the few gay bars/saunas around here. It's quieter than khaosan but i think i will move to backpacker's ghetto tomorrow. This place is a little too quiet and run down for my comfort...

Too tired to write more. Shall just write when i get back in another few days or tell you guys about the experiences I've had. Will have to write about the creepy old thai guy who tried to pick me up at the park... grr...

big fish small fish

2004-07-22T18:48:00.000+08:00

Erawan waterfalls is really beautiful. It has 7 tiers, lovely rock formations, the water is turqoise in colour, and there are lots of fish to swim with. But they nibble at you when you stop swimming. Small fish are ok, but when the big fish bite, i swear i can feel the teeth... It's the kind of place you cannot not visit when you are in the area... you have to see the photos, if i managed to capture even a bit of the magic there; i am at the moment incapable of describing it in a way that would do it justice.

Today's group was smaller: me, 2 dutch girls (them:"we rented bikes yesterday" guy:"a motorbike or a bicycle?" them:"we're dutch!), an austrian guy (only guy surrounded by 5 ladies in the back of a small jeep, poor thing, but has great sense of humor) and a german woman (5 mth pregnant and still gg to travel the rest of thailand..) who were a couple, and a french lady (animal conservationist/activist, here to spy on the 'tiger temple' (how do they make the tigers so docile? are they being drugged?), been travelling for 8 mths in africa, europe, indochina..). They're friendier and i had lots of fun with them. =))

finally met a singaporean at the falls. But he and his indonesian friend thought i was thai or indonesian/malay.. sigh.. i guess i have very 'versatile' looks.. he's a businessman in bangkok, taking a break..

last night at the guesthouse i chat with the australian guy for a while. He's here for a few days on the way to Taiwan to teach english. He doesn't know ANY mandarin. except 'hi hao', which doesn't really count. I am horrified, but he's the embodiment of the australian 'no worries' philosophy. He had taiwanese students while in brisbane (he's from UQ like me bro), and they've promised to take care of him there. For his sake i hope so.. i don't think I could survive in taiwan or china... btw there's another cute guy staying here. very quiet though, just sits and reads his book. Blond, curly hair, lean, always in loose jeans. The aussie and koreans make friends over beer. lots of it. the resturant closes, they bring it to the raft. sigh.

leaving for Bangkok tomorrow morning. Will probably try to meet up with one of the jap guys i met in Sukhothai (he just got a bit part in some thai movie?!) to go clubbing before i leave...

hmm.. i think i am getting better at this... meeting more people, talking a bit more...

really nua-ing

2004-07-21T18:20:00.000+08:00

today i got out of bed at 1pm cos i got hungry. The room on a raft didn't help with the hangover either. Sangkhlaburi is now offically out of the intinery and i wil stay here until friday morning, when i go back to bangkok.

Why? yesterday i tried to book a tour but the one I wanted was not avaliable that day so i went for another one instead. Good choice cos
1) I had not planned to see the hot springs but it turned out to be really relaxing. Nothing much to look at but I'm not complaining. Didn't bring swim stuff there but the driver lent me the shorts he was about to put on and i just went in that and my bra (thank goodness it was the one non-holey one i brought)... i have a feeling i looked a bit silly next to the ang moh women's bikinis but the locals were all much friendier to me than them. I'm sure I was the only one to smile at them for one, and i was consequently the only one they smiled at and waved to as we were leaving. Its also here that i started smiling at then talking to the rest a little. Apparently they were cool at first cos they all thought i was another guide or the guide's friend.
2) Went on the train ride over the bridge over the river kwai.
3) Hellfire pass.
4) Met lots of other people. 1 retired thai teacher, friendly to me. Offered me banana chips at the small waterfall then bought me some fried yam thing at the bridge. 1 strange, very excitable, very gay and self confessed 'eccentric' chinese guy from Shanghai. We lost him at the bridge and just went off without him. 2 belgians. The woman was friendly to me, and after that the guy too. Must eat french fries if i go to belgium. Apparently v v difficult for architects to find work there though. 2 londoners. a couple again. not very friendly, but the woman has an incredible head for numbers. Think she memorised all the numbers she saw at the museum about the building of the railway. 2 dutch and one thai. The thai is jenny, the girlfriend of one of them, from changmai. The 2 men are best friends. The driver was nice to me too. He not just lent me his shorts to swim in but also picked flowers for me to put in my hair while we were in the Hellfire Pass museum.

On the train back i talked to jen, asked her about changmai, then meet her, my guide (this little lady who looks like a 16 year old student but is actually 30 with 3 kids) and another guide ricky from the same company whose group we met halfway, for dinner and drinks after. Jen has had quite an interesting life story and it was something to hear her talk about the prostitutes around thailand, why she only goes for farang, her experience travelling for the past year, her fustration with the possessive bf... ricky also has sad story as we found out after he had a couple. Can't hold his drink. He had been abandoned by his japanese girlfriend after 3 years. anyway the guides work for 15/16 days at a time, then get a day off. Earn more then the usual shop assistant but i guess it can be tiring. You'll never guess when you watch them work though. And i was probably the only foreigner in the very nice pub. garden setting with live band. Building looks very jap modern. At the end it was only me and jen left, we went to another bar, think we were both very high, then she sent me back to my guesthouse.

More on jenny and my night out: She's been here quite a few times, and the night before she was at one of the pubs and as it was a slow night, started a conversation with a woman who she recognised as having been interviewed for some thai newspaper some time ago. Born in poor family, prostituted herself to earn money for younger siblings, met an angmoh, got set up with him as in married and had kids, then husband mysteriously disappears for ages, she again sells her body to get money for the kids, got set up with another rich angmoh with big house and all, but continues to do what she does cos she apparently enjoys it now (!). First hubby suddenly writes to her, turns out he's in jail... you know, I may have missed some stuff (like the whole point or the order of the story) out in the haze of alcohol, but i remember what struck me was the reported answer her kids had when asked how they felt about their mother's occupation. It was so.. matter of fact. Something about she did it for us, they understand that. I met the woman later, but she was busy. Lots of white men at the bar.

As we left the last bar Jen complains that 'even the ladyboy' is going to get laid, but nobody approached us. sigh. maybe it's cos we were so obviously drunk. or maybe its cos i was, as jen noted a bit pointedly at the start of the evening, dressed so 'backpacker'. or maybe it's cos she was so all over me. I guess all the kissing hugging and holding of her cig for her can be misleading, except i had to grab her phone in the middle to assure her bf that yes, she's still with me and we're safe and having safe fun...

And ricky the other guide was a bit scary. I'm so glad jen was with me. I mean, he was nice, good looking in an indian movie star kind of way, but he kept looking at me with that 'i'm interested/you're the one' look. Maybe it's just me, but hey, the rest of the girls agreed. My guide was definately trying to set the two of us up, and maybe that's why she left so fast after dinner, so I was glad jen was there to buffer, and i really appreciated her 'i'm not leaving you before he does' statement.

So that's why I am going to end up spending 3.5 days here instead of 1.5. =) Have booked another tour (public transport much cheaper but i'm feeling tired..) to erawen falls for tomorrow. And I like the view from my room and from my guesthouse' restuarant/chill area. can see the fields and mountains and the neighbour paddle to the rushes on the other side of the river to fish. They are a family of abt 5: husband, wife, kids and grandma. I can see through their rafthouse and everything in it. They sit on the edge and bathe together. This area is apparently one of the poorest parts of town since you don't need to pay rent to stay on the river (which is prob why the rooms on the raft are so cheap). It's a simple lifestyle. Not easy, but somehow idyllic, at least to a city girl like me. Though the 'disco-boats' that pass by every once in a while really spoil the mood, not to mention my sleep at night.

This place is really quiet compared to the more popular guesthouses. Only problem is its unpopular for a reason. ETs, you will freak out if you had to stay here cos the raft is overridden with lizards. as in they literally cover the walls and when you walk pass you hear a loud scurrying as they run to hide. Not in the room though. And the toilet/shower is pathetic. But i'll rather this then the nice but farang infested Jolly frog guesthouse i went to for dinner yesterday.

I have a neighbour. or rather, i had one. I saw from the guestbook when i got here that he's from new zealand. But all I saw of him the past two days were his feet sticking out of his hammock and his boots outside his door. See, when I'm up in the morning he's sleeping in his room, and when i get back in the late aft/evening/any other time of day he's in the hammock. I couldn't decide whether to approach and say hi or not. So when i woke up this morning and his hammock was not there, i was quite disappointed. Then i saw this guy in the restuarant/reception about to leave, thought, 'ooh, cute guy', looked down, and... it's the boots! now i wish i'd talked him him on the very first day. shallow, yeah, so shoot me. The present neighbours don't seem as friendly. One jap-looking middle aged man sitting at the corner table eating peanut and drinking beer who didn't respond or even smile back when i greeted him. A middle-aged couple: asian (thai? he speaks the language) man and french woman. I smile at the woman. She smiles back. =) A pair of korean boys. Somehow i don't feel any affinity for anything korean. The guestbook says there's an austrialian guy around.

Oh, and i ate chicken. satay. It was offered by jen and smelt great and I didn't want to be rude. Tasted great too.

into the madding crowd

2004-07-19T19:24:00.000+08:00

Just escaped from the HORDES of tourists at the River Kwai bridge. Lots of chinese, hongkies, koreans. When all the shopkeepers at the other end of the bridge know mandarin (xia lai ma! xia lai ma!) and there are elephants and peacocks ready for photographs, you know its not good... Not to mention the big restuarants and 'night market' selling jade and gold by the riverside. I was thinking of catching the sunset but turns out one of the few trains that pass come along at this time hence the tour buses. Made it very hard to walk across the bridge. And why do i always have to be the one to give way and stand on the very dangerous edge of the track?

Also saw the Jeath Museum, various cemetaries/memorials to the POWs, etc.. It's a good change from all the wat-ting I've been doing so far. Some nice epitaphs: "There was no harvest. The armies came and trampled the corn", "he died that others may live", "Your sacrifice was not in vain", "A star shines over a silent grave; of a son we loved but could not save",... lots of very touching ones..

I got here about 1-plus. Was lying on my bed (60B only!) deciding on my route for the day when i suddenly thought i got dizzy. Very dizzy. Room spinning round dizzy.

Then I realised that a boat just passed and the rooms are on a floating raft. Hope i don't get seasick at night...

Transfer of buses from aytheya-supanburi-kanchanaburi was effortless. And i really reccommend PS guesthouse in ayutheya. Bathroom really really sucks but its very personal. On the bus from supanburi a woman got on and sat next to me, tried to speak to me in thai. I exercised my 'phoot thai mai dai" and she proceeded to attempt to talk to (or at) me for the next 1.5 hours in very very broken limited and mangled english.. interesting experience but very tiring cos of the language barrier. At one point i even pretended to be asleep just to get a break. She made me eat some fruit (sala?) and i don't like fruits but couldn't possibly refuse and she even insisted on paying my fare.. ended up exchanging addresses and telephone numbers with her. Hers all written in thai though.

Will try to book (a rather expensive but convienient) tour to go the rest of the sites around here tomorrow. Then can go Sangkhlaburi on wed-thur or fri =)

And those who want presents/gifts, I'll do it in Bangkok. Shopping lists should reach me by Friday night latest too.

Time to look for dinner.. ciao!

cats and dogs

2004-07-18T18:53:00.000+08:00

I'm back in ayutheya! the plan was to get on the 7.50 bus, get here by 1pm, then take the bus to Supanburi and connect to kanchanaburi. But then i woke up late and got on the 8.50 bus instead, which was damn slow n there was a traffic jam halfway which meant i would miss the bus to kanchanaburi... But i did manage, by today, to experience all the different kinds of transport: foot, bicycle, ordinary bus, 2nd class bus, first class bus(more ex but with drinks, lunch n suited up bus lady), and motorbike =) Meet a Japanese lady on the bus. I offered her a sweet. She's 30+, busy working woman, and traveling in Thailand for a week alone. Been to south America, Europe, china among others.. I wonder if I can be like that next time...

I am staying in a very nice place. It almost makes me want to stay 2 nights instead of one. Facilities not half as good as the ones before but it's cheap, actually has single rooms, is run by an ang moh english teacher and has very friendly, overly friendly staff. I wanted to go out to walk but was waylaid by the woman. Checked in, she gave me a map n explained every site to me even though i tried to tell her i'd already been here, gave me a drink (water w thai herds, available free 24h there) and thai version of popcorn (lao horng n w a lot of honey), made in sit in what passes as the garden (very hot, come sit in the garden!), gave me a fan and offered to let me follow her to the night market for dinner... The house boy or student or whoever was looking at me very sympathetically.. The house (its more a house than the manufactured guesthouses everyone stays at) has lots of cats and dogs! The dogs are either disabled, diseased or just look mangled. I think they are strays they took in. One beautiful white cat and another yellow one. 4 2-month old yellow kittens still shaky on their legs and looking very wary of the dogs. Super cute. Spent an hour just playing with them. Oh and the toilet here is the first one so far with toilet paper.

I'm getting better at this I think.. Have hardly touched the book i brought to read, much less the notes (what was i thinking?!).

Have yet to meet another singaporean since I parted ways with JL. No malaysians either. Lots of Japanese, as you might have guessed. A thai guy at sukhothai looked at me, very puzzled, and asked, "why you don't speak thai?".

And am i weird if I feel superbly flattered when someone says I am 'eccentric' for travelling alone even though it might not neccessarily have been meant as a compliment? =)

On the songthraew to Sukhothai bus terminal I tried to open my bottle of water and somehow managed to slash it all over me. The ang moh kid sitting opposite me was very amused. I guess the fact that i was wearing what K1 calls my 'splat' shirt didn't help. That said i think its wonderful how the germans (so far its been just germans) bring their young kids out here to backpack.

So. That's it. Nothing much happening today.

si satchanalai

2004-07-17T18:33:00.000+08:00

that's where i was for most of the day. It's about 1.5h from sukhothai, and relatively deserted. Less than 10 backpackers and the occasional bunch of locals. And 2 tour buses. Some of the sites i went to are so deserted (2-5km away from the main complex- which seemed close enough until i started cycling) that everyone looked surpised to see me. The attendent will either not be there or sleeping and the paths everywhere are overgrown. Explanatary signages in the middle of a bush or covered with leaves. Very nice. I got moo-ed at by the cows, chased by a dog, nearly ran over a snake (it was small n i wasn't looking down till it moved), cycled with the singing neighbourhood boys for a stretch and saw lots of chickens crossing the road. I believe it's either to join their friends or maybe they thought there's better food over there. Nice view of river along the road too. Unfortunately it was drizzling so i didn't want to stop to photograph it.

The best part was this wat on a hill (mountain of fire?-wat for fire worship). I was really quite tired n butt v pain after all the cycling on the v bumpy v dusty roads and when i saw the stairs i almost didn't want to go up... But then i walked closer and found that it was really quite magical... imagine filtered sunlight, a long long flight of steps made of a reddish hue-d stone riddled with holes, mossy and overgrown with weeds, and small white butterflies dancing just above the steps all the way up, interpersed with yellow butterflies and some of more vibrant and complex patterns... sigh... and a lovely ruin of a wat with some dead white trees on top...

There's another wat where they found human skeletons and it's exhibited there. except there was a very dusty bench in front of the excavation/research center's entrance. But I managed to peer in through the again very dusty window and see the pits and the skeletons. They kind of look like those fossils in rock except human shaped. Very cool...

And of course i took longer at the place then most people, and as its super ulu in the first place, i ended up waiting by the side of the main road in the middle of nowhere for half an hour hoping for a bus and wondering if i will have to start hitch-hiking.. then i flagged the bus too late and had to run for it. Just glad they stopped for me.. And everyone thought i was thai! Think locals don't have to pay for some temples but i always go up to pay and they always look surprised but my cover's too easily blown so didn't want to cheat =P Also i don't get hasseled the way the farangs do.

sardines. I'm quite sure that's what he meant cos a lot more was said then what i wrote, but of course he didn't ask outright (!) so no need to do the death stare. I just smile.. always smile..

Nights getting a bit better. Maybe i'm getting used to it..maybe its cos more lone travellers at the non-guidebook listed place i'm staying at then before when it was all couples (the men are always nicer then the women. sigh).

Travelling alone is good. Own time own target, no worries. Trying to decide between changmai and kanchanaburi for next (and prob last before bangkok) destination. HY mentioned there's a lot of nua-ing here.. of course.. by abt 3 or 4pm i get tired and just bum ard town. And can't sleep at night so hard to get up v early. Spent yesterday evening watching the local fitness freaks at the park dancing to english pop. I guess aunties everywhere are the same =)

bird flu. I really don't feel the bird flu here. People still carrying on eating as usual, but i haven't had chicken unless accidentally. Confirm will have chicken craving by the time i get back. The chicken here looks really good btw. Been keeping updated on the situation by reading Bangkok Post here and the Straits Times online. Don't worry folks, it should be safe to meet me when i get back =)

a can of sardines

2004-07-16T17:59:00.000+08:00

argh! i spent 15min typing and then the stupid comp hung! grr.. its damm slow n 2.5 times more ex than ayutheya. All the internet shops here claim to be 'fastest internet in sukhothai', but it seems like they are competing to be the slowest instead!

any, summary of what i typed (too lazy to do it again)
- read your comments
- yahli i was thinking this is prob how you feel in germany too!
- and now i understand why the woman i saw in borobodur last year was so unfriendly. It's hard to balance between a 'i may be a lone woman traveller but don't mess with me' look, and a 'I'm friendly and harmless, be nice to me' look. And the former is somehow easier (and safer!) and gets a bit hard to break out off after a while...
- complaining about unfriendly/condescending farangs
- my day in sukhothai old city and cycling through the very deserted countryside alone looking for isolated wats.
- the idiot songthraew driver who tried to bully me.

and now to the sardines part. I was hanging out last night n this morning with two japs (they only just met on the road too) and one of the shop assistants. All interesting ppl. too much to type. The local guy was using the analogy of a dog n a can of sardines. where dog=him, and sardines=me. He pushed the can towards me. No way i'll open the can for him. But one of the jap guys was very easy to talk to. In fact it ended up only the two of us drinking and talking after the other 2 went off to various clubs with other women. Asked a lot of questions abt s'pore (which he really liked, apparently) and chinese history n literature. I was very very pai-seh to be unable to really answer his questions well.. esp the chinese part.. he's also on the move indefinately. very interesting. Unfort they left for changmai today after being here for 5 days (what can you do in 5 days here?!). I think he got a bit drunk...

extending stay in sukhothai by a day to go Si Satchanalai tml. Didn't move guesthouse. too lazy plus paiseh after making friends with the shop guy. But the day has been spolit by the stupid driver..

And i somehow lost the chain, lock and key to the bike i rented in the old city. sigh.. backtracked so many times to look but no gold. Very tired from the day of cycling now.

sukhothai

2004-07-15T18:19:00.000+08:00

This trip has its ups and downs... the nights are lonely =P but the sightseeing and walking around and being on the move and meeting nice people is great. I just really hate the part when I get to a new place and have to deal with the touristy places/ppl who tout and make you pay more for rides, trying to find guesthouses etc. I don't feel like i have much bargaining power cos lone girl and there are v few backpackers ard. The place i'm at now not v good think i will try to move tml morning before i head to sukhothai historical park...

Loneliness. Definately more pronounced at night. Especially when one is lying in a small dark room with 2 beds/1 huge bed (many of these places don't seem to have single rooms so i'm paying for 2!) trying not to imagine things.

Spent 6 hours on the bus here. got here about 3.30pm, too late to see the sites. It's a rather boring town actually. Very typical m'sian small town-like. Nothing much to do. The bus here was FULL. But all the people i met from ayutheya bus terminal until i got off here were nice. People pointed me to the bus when it came, moved to give me a seat, told me when there was a lunch/toilet break, offered me sweets... i felt very safe. lots of kids to entertain meself with, women, monks.. All in all thailand is a much safer place than indonesia or even malaysia. Fairly easy to get around, even easier if you are willing to pay a bit more. I'm quite sure everyone thought i was thai until they tried to speak to me. sigh. I don't think i'll ever get the thai language. Whenever i want to speak somehow i end up thinking the bahasa version of what i want to say instead.

Scenery on the way was alright. Again, typical. Not as pretty as the javanese landscape nor half as spectacular as chinese ones. Passed through lots of small towns. It seems that there are tourist attractions in every town and village, if the signs by the road are any indication (not signs pointing to wats, those are a dime a dozen here, but signs with the 'i' that has english words: tourist attraction).

And one thing sukhothai has that ayutheya doesn't: english newspapers!! unfort i bought the first one i say which is not the bangkok post. ah well.. better than nothing. Derth of internet places here though. I don't think i will hang around here longer than i have to. Rather tempting to go to mae sot(burmese border!) and umpang(beautiful highlands!) but maybe not alone and not this time since i didn't bring trekking stuff. May even cut sangkhlaburi out cos there are really few people moving round and it's rather way out. Hopefully kanchanaburi is the kind of place to linger at..

wats wats and more wats.... what?

2004-07-14T17:02:00.000+08:00

spent the day sightseeing. morning on a tuk tuk to see the sites off the island. Shared with a couple from israel at first but think they're the get down-see-snap-go kind.. I like to take my time... but then the guy was charging us by the hour (i think he thinks i am rich! argh!!)... they got off halfway. Weren't very friendly. Then near the reclining buddha I met this canadian guy who's been on the road for 6 months till an indefinate time. his last day in SE asia. trained in visual arts/graphic design and was funding his trip by proceeds he got from selling his paintings back home in canada and teaching english in asia whenever he ran out of money.. quite cool.. finally a nice person to talk to, but i took too much time and had to cut the ride to golden mount. Decided to walk around the old palace grounds and environs first, then crossed the river to wat na phra nam. Stopped by the very dusty roadside and managed to order noodles.

Apparently mii naam does not quite cut it when ordering cos there are namy kinds of noodle soup! I just smiled and nodded to what every she said and got mi-fen with fishball, fishcake, ba-chor and cha-siew. The works I guess.

The thais have no idea what conservation is!! I hate seeing the too new too bright bricks on the old. And the plastering! how fake can you get? The replacement buddhas for those they've put in the museum are so plastic (made of concrete, but you know what i mean)! And the tourists at the bigger more famous sites... not that many: i can still get photos with nobody inside, but i prefer to have a site all to myself and a few others =P In general quite nice though.. There are ruins everywhere, much like rome. Wats are not as well preserved (or rather they tried too hard with them) as those in Java though...

Was planning to stay here 3 days including a day trip to lopburi but I'm a bit wat-ed out already. So much so that I don't eel like making the little bit of effort to see those major sites that I missed..Just want to sit in the guesthouse and nua.. probably should just take the bus to sukhothai tml... to see more ruins and wats.. the two weeks is beginning to feel too long already... I'm tired... and lazy to look for food but i refuse to eat expensive tourist food at the guest house.. to market to market tonight again..

the second post of the day

2004-07-13T18:39:00.000+08:00

alright! i decided to buy another 30min online. Its only 20B/hour.

The journey to Senai airport is not as easy as it sounds. Don't believe what they say on the website.. It's troublesome and tiring (unless, of course, you take a cab..) and I underestimated the time needed to get there (yes, edith, you can gloat) and barely made it to check in. And air asia seats are quite cramped. OK for asian girls, but must have been hell for the men and the farangs. When they say 'now everyone can fly'? They're right. From market-sounding aunties to middle-aged business type uncles to families with kids to the disabled to young couples to ang-moh backpackers. And even the malaysian flies join in. It's a free seating flight, so it'll be good to be kiasu for once and rush to the gate the moment it opens. I sort of walked to it instead (but at least i didn't sit and wait it out the way i usu do) and got a window seat, but at the back near the toilet and kitchen. So i alternately got smells from the toilet and whiffs from the kitchen...

The flight proper was nice though. Does air asia fly lower than major airlines? Land looked nearer. I love the way the land and/or the sea blends into the sky. Its as though earth and sky were on the same plane, and if i sail far enough into the distance, I can reach the land of the clouds...

Bangkok traffic is not as bad as i had thought it would be, but i would try to avoid using the roads when i get back. The river and mrt and my own two feet are probably better ways to get around. I had a hell of a time trying to meet JL at the wild orchid inn. Its not listed in my guidebook cos its not exactly low low budget and its deep in and off a side road off the main road... very nicely done place though.. Spent most of the night in the area eating and shopping. I'm eyeing many things already...

Khao Sarn Road... I guess i sort of like the buzz and energy.... BUT I'm not comfortable with it. The drunkedness and apparently utter disrespect for local culture. The supremacy of the ang-moh and his pre-conceived ecpectations. It's the same as any backpackers ghetto anywhere, and I don't like it. It must be admitted, however, that it's easier for me to stay there. More comfortable, safer in a way, because of the sheer number of people and the lack of expectations of you.

I wonder if people who come to thailand and just stay on khaosan and follow their lonely planet think they've seen thailand. They may have seen about as much of it as the people. they aren't very friendly and don't look like they're interested in talking to anyone besides other whites. They certainly aren't interested in talking to me... They're probably just as bad as those who come and stay in 5 star hotels and sit in an AC tour bus all the way. I'm sure there arev lots of people who are not like that, but its hard to tell from what i saw last night.. And scarily, i fear i may be like that too... but i'm trying.. really...

I wrote a lot more in my journal, but i guess i wrote it all out already. Not much steam left..

now back to room to nua a while, then walk to night market for dinner.. and I think i've just spent my first ayutheya sunset in an internet shop.. but weather was not good anyway. Cloudy and they were buring things near the wat so lots of smoke..

yes, I'm still alive...

2004-07-13T18:17:00.000+08:00

the keyboard is slightly weird.. it has thai letters on it.. and since i've always been the kind to look at the keyboard as i type, it's pretty confusing, esp as some of the english letters are a little worn out...

I'm now in Ayutheya, staying at Ayutheya Guesthouse. It's not the cheapest at 150B, considering it's a shared bath, but the place is pretty nice and I was really too sian to walk around looking for a cheaper place. Strangly the one i wanted was full. Think it's due to their agressive marketing strategy at the pier and too many guidebook reccommendations. I may try out another place with 100B rooms but i may be too lazy to move =P

I got here about 1 plus. Got my room, slacked in it a bit, then managed to drag myself out at about 3pm. Mainly because i haven't had lunch. Did not feel like sitting with ang-mohs/farangs so I decided to walk in the market and down some side road, where i saw a lady from a shop buying from a cart selling mii naam (noodle soup). So i stopped and ordered. The guy was really nice and made me put a bit of all the seasonings on the tray. I still don't know what some opf them are, but the noodles sure tasted good. And the seamtress in the shop i was outside let me sit on their bench and even gave me a glass of cold water =)) Yes, i know, its a small thing, but it made me happy cos they were all smiles. I don't think they see tourists down their street very often.

Of course, so far, not a day has passed without me doing something very me. I err.. got off at the wrong train station. One stop before. But it did have a few attractions, so i visited the Summer Palace then managed to rush back in time for the next train.

This afternoon I also visited 2 wats, but then got lazy so I am now near the guesthouse typing this.. I'm got to learn to organise my thoughts.This takes too long to type..

People are generally nice. Lone backpackers are quite friendly to another lone backerpacker, and we all smile and greet one another as we pass. Though there are very few foreigners here actually. So far, I've been mistaken for thai and japanese. Got to practice my thai... and at the station i mistakenly got off at? Talked to a nice guy working there for a while. Apparently he worked in Japan for a year. His english is quite good too.

Next session: comparing Thailand and Indonesia, the road/flight to Bangkok, and just what i think of the culture at Khaosan...

before i leave...

2004-07-12T02:20:00.000+08:00

I will be leaving later today for Senai airport and Bangkok =) one problem with travelling alone is that you can't rely on other people to bring things or share things.. and i do have a history of forgetting to bring/buy important things like handphone charger and insurance (as LH can attest: she's probably used to getting frantic calls from me from the airport about this), among others. Incidentally I almost forgot about insurance this time too. And LH's not around. BUT i just realised that I can get it online =) If my bro had let me use the computer earlier (and yesterday too!) it would have spared me a lot of worry.. grr..

Still wondering if it's neccessary to bring one more presentable set of clothes in the unlikely case I'll want to dine in a nicer restuarant or go clubbing or something. Otherwise I've packed fairly lightly. The usual 48l backpack I carry is far too big so I'll just be using a BIG schoolbag sized imitation Northface backpack with my nike slingbag as a daypack. By the end of the trip the paper(toilet, packet tissues, wets, and photocopied guidebks) will prob be gone, leaving just enough space for shopping and gifts in Bangkok. *grin* I've got it all planned...

Had my Thai language crash course from et(she suggested this herself! the other one will be known as ET =P) today. Needless to say I was a less than perfect student. I'm not too keen on learning, since i just know I'll never remember most of it. In fact, over dinner with lw, I was asked what are the thai numbers and i err.. totally forgot... sorry, et....

oh, ET shall not be joining me at any point on the trip after all. And i might cut down on the number of places i go to, and just see everything else at a more relaxed pace. We'll see...

Thailand, here i come!

independent travel for women

2004-07-09T22:45:00.000+08:00

I was looking for tips for the independent (aka solo) woman traveller and along the pages of actual tips, i came across one woman's thoughts on the idea of it:

My advocacy of traveling solo is more about what the adventurer experiences internally, then about what others think or say. Traveling alone is about seeing the things you want to see, without waiting for others to be ready. It is about making all of the decisions and taking responsibility for the outcomes. It is about reaching out to other travelers and the locals, and learning that there are some amazing, interesting people out there. It is about being lonely sometimes - and knowing you can survive it. It is about not being afraid to be a woman alone, in a world that tells you that you need a man to protect you.

but don't worry, it's not just me trying to justify my actions. Here's a more balanced article, but the conclusion is the same:

It is worth it; it's like no other type of travel. Your senses soak up the rawness of the environment, from the slight rustle of the wind to the smell of pine trees after the rain. "When you're traveling alone, all the impressions, everything you experience, is unfiltered by anyone else's comments or preconceived ideas," says Marybeth Bond, editor of "Travelers' Tales: A Woman's World," a collection of travel stories by women. "So you are bombarded with everything. This allows you the freedom to experience the world unfiltered. The result is that you are living intensely, you are very much more tuned into your own impressions because you aren't bouncing them off anyone else."

more tips here, here, here, and..

phoot Thai mai dai

2004-07-08T12:57:00.000+08:00

That means "I can't speak Thai", according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand's very helpful and informative site. Important phrase, that is. Must find out how to pronounce that properly and commit it to memory. Also found out that I will miss the Buddhist Lent celebrations by about four days.

over at Lonely Planet, I begin to have doubts about traveling alone again:

Although Thailand is a safe destination, travellers should be aware of occasional violence and banditry in some border areas, petty theft in cities and resort areas, and security issues on public transport, particularly those affecting women travelling on their own.

and a sentence down:

In Bangkok, unlicensed taxis, recognisable by their black and white licence plates, should be avoided. This is most relevant for solo women travellers arriving at night....

and these are just from the introduction to the site. Sigh. I'm definitely going to take them seriously, especially as they seem to be the most updated site online, with a little info and warning about the unrest in the south. Most sites also note malaria as a significant problem, esp in the Kanchanaburi region, so I'll be going to the pharmacy later to get my malaria pills. Hope its not too late to start the course (2 weeks before, right? Its too late then, but better late than never).

speaking of courses, I'll get back to the subject of language. The younger ET has offered to attempt to teach me a little Thai. I suppose the combination of my known antisocial tendencies coupled with my weakness in languages can be rather worrying...