to think, a mere 11 days from now i shall be snuggled under layer upon layer of down filled blankets... spooning sister dearest, mariah carey merry christmas on full blast in the background and fresh buns rising.
this also means that i only have 10 days left of my "trip-of-a-lifetime" and must embrace it to the max.
yesterday was one of those days for the books.
fresh pineapple, sunny skies and a foot massage on the beach, followed by a pylon orange pedicure...
i woke up at 4 am and couldn't fall back asleep so i started "a boy of good breeding" by miriam toews and finished it just minutes ago.
oh my woooooooooorrrrrd. that book made. my. life.
the afternoon was spent prepping for the big birthday celebration that evening.
i blew up (and tied-for the first time in my life) balloon after balloon after balloon with a boy named 'world' at my side. the 7 year old birthday boy was going mental with excitement and then started shooting down all my precious balloons with his stupid plastic dart gun that he got for his birthday....little brat. that evening seaflower was swarmed with beautiful little thai children and we sat around eating sticky rice and laab (spicy minced chicken with cilantro) all night. YUM.
today we're gonna spend the cloudy afternoon in the kitchen at seaflower and take the lovely Sri up on her offer of free cooking classes! she offered to lend us the kitchen and teach us to make our favorite dishes...i can't WAIT!!
we have 4 days lefts at seaflower and then we are heading back to bangkok for one last day of shopping and sights and then shabam we're flying back to KL and home!!!
gotta run.
time to cook.
see you cats face to face shortly!
fritz. or scully
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Saturday, November 17, 2007
i blew up a cow...
no, i didn't actually...but the option was available...
so today was an adventure and a half...
there's no better way to start your day then by shooting an AK-47...
doug and della should be proud.
we are still in phnom penh and today we did a city tour which included a shooting range, the killing fields, the russian market, S-21 museum and the royal palace and silver pagoda.
the shooting range was by far the highlight...the other things we went to were very interesting but incredibly depressing...
we got to the shooting range and immediately had a menu plopped in front of us.
AK-47 with 1 magazine (25 bullets).............$30
Tommy Gun with 1 magazine (25 bullets)........$30
hand grenade (1).......$30
M16........(25 bullets)$30
M60 (machine gun)........(50 bullets)....$60
rocketlauncher (1)..........$200!!!
anti-aircraft (50 bullets)....$60
you get the picture...
some of those guns were HUGE!!
i shot the AK-47 and it was innnnntense. not a lot of kick back, but enough to scare you everytime...it was really loud too, but MAN was it fun!
after we left the shooting range we went to the killing fields...mega downer.
just in case you don't know what the killing fields are all about i will give you a quick briefing:
it's basically a number of sites in cambodia where large numbers of people were killed and buried by the communist regime Khmer Rouge.
the massacres ended in 1979 with a total death count of between 1.7-2.3 MILLION people of a population of about 7 million. ridiculous...
there's a large building called a stupa filled with the skulls of the victims...
once that was done we headed to the russian market...nothing like a bit of shopping to try to cheer a person up...don't know what made it russian. looked pretty cambodian to me...
next on the list was the S-21 museum...another downer visit...
it's a museum dedicated to genocidal crime....it used to be a high school and was later used as the notorious Security Prison 21 ...it's pretty messed.
after that we got a bite to eat and then went to the Royal Palace and the silver pagoda...
tonight we're meeting up with our friends from ireland-vince and veronica, for dinner at a place that claims to make food "just like your mums"...we'll just see...
we bumped into them last night at a wonderful restaurant called "friends" which is a non-profit organization that helps street kids and their families...and the food was amazing to boot!
tomorrow morning we are leaving at 7:30 for yet another bus, this time to siem reap.
a few days there and then back to thailand to meet my brother!!!
gotta run, dinner awaits...
love love love
fritz.
so today was an adventure and a half...
there's no better way to start your day then by shooting an AK-47...
doug and della should be proud.
we are still in phnom penh and today we did a city tour which included a shooting range, the killing fields, the russian market, S-21 museum and the royal palace and silver pagoda.
the shooting range was by far the highlight...the other things we went to were very interesting but incredibly depressing...
we got to the shooting range and immediately had a menu plopped in front of us.
AK-47 with 1 magazine (25 bullets).............$30
Tommy Gun with 1 magazine (25 bullets)........$30
hand grenade (1).......$30
M16........(25 bullets)$30
M60 (machine gun)........(50 bullets)....$60
rocketlauncher (1)..........$200!!!
anti-aircraft (50 bullets)....$60
you get the picture...
some of those guns were HUGE!!
i shot the AK-47 and it was innnnntense. not a lot of kick back, but enough to scare you everytime...it was really loud too, but MAN was it fun!
after we left the shooting range we went to the killing fields...mega downer.
just in case you don't know what the killing fields are all about i will give you a quick briefing:
it's basically a number of sites in cambodia where large numbers of people were killed and buried by the communist regime Khmer Rouge.
the massacres ended in 1979 with a total death count of between 1.7-2.3 MILLION people of a population of about 7 million. ridiculous...
there's a large building called a stupa filled with the skulls of the victims...
once that was done we headed to the russian market...nothing like a bit of shopping to try to cheer a person up...don't know what made it russian. looked pretty cambodian to me...
next on the list was the S-21 museum...another downer visit...
it's a museum dedicated to genocidal crime....it used to be a high school and was later used as the notorious Security Prison 21 ...it's pretty messed.
after that we got a bite to eat and then went to the Royal Palace and the silver pagoda...
tonight we're meeting up with our friends from ireland-vince and veronica, for dinner at a place that claims to make food "just like your mums"...we'll just see...
we bumped into them last night at a wonderful restaurant called "friends" which is a non-profit organization that helps street kids and their families...and the food was amazing to boot!
tomorrow morning we are leaving at 7:30 for yet another bus, this time to siem reap.
a few days there and then back to thailand to meet my brother!!!
gotta run, dinner awaits...
love love love
fritz.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
angelina and her sidekick sambeth bo...
well my passport is quickly filling up...
today marks the 9th country of our journey so far...
everywhere we go the countries keep getting better and better and Cambodia is no exception.
we left saigon this morning at 8 am, circled around the block for about an hour picking up more stragglers and then went on our merry way.
the travel agent told us it was a 6 hour ride in total...that included stops and going through customs, getting everything stamped etc...
well if that were true we would have been here 4 and a half hours ago...
and of course i got sick approximately 15 minutes before our bus was set to leave.
i won't bore you with bus stories, we got here safely, 10 1/2 hours later and so far i am loving this place.
we have spent $3 dollars each in the last hour and that includes our guest house for a night AND dinner...it's really really cheap here...
we're staying right on the lake, our guest house is sooooo dope-hammocks all over the place, Christmas lights are up and it's all built on top of part of the lake...just a really cool, laid back atmosphere.
speaking of dope, we were already offered large quantities of weed at least 4 times in an hour and pizzas can be made "happy" for only a dollar, so crazy...
the only thing so far that i haven't enjoyed is the CONSTANT bombardment of locals trying to sell you crap.
there are little mini sambethe bo's running around pant-less trying to sell photocopied books or postcards. the kids are unbelievably cute, but i'm not interested.
tomorrow we're gonna go to the killing fields, and a shooting range to shoot a cow possibly, as well as the national museum and the silver pagoda....should be a fun day!
well,it's been a long day and by bum is sore from sitting so much, so i'm outta here.
love love love
fritz.
today marks the 9th country of our journey so far...
everywhere we go the countries keep getting better and better and Cambodia is no exception.
we left saigon this morning at 8 am, circled around the block for about an hour picking up more stragglers and then went on our merry way.
the travel agent told us it was a 6 hour ride in total...that included stops and going through customs, getting everything stamped etc...
well if that were true we would have been here 4 and a half hours ago...
and of course i got sick approximately 15 minutes before our bus was set to leave.
i won't bore you with bus stories, we got here safely, 10 1/2 hours later and so far i am loving this place.
we have spent $3 dollars each in the last hour and that includes our guest house for a night AND dinner...it's really really cheap here...
we're staying right on the lake, our guest house is sooooo dope-hammocks all over the place, Christmas lights are up and it's all built on top of part of the lake...just a really cool, laid back atmosphere.
speaking of dope, we were already offered large quantities of weed at least 4 times in an hour and pizzas can be made "happy" for only a dollar, so crazy...
the only thing so far that i haven't enjoyed is the CONSTANT bombardment of locals trying to sell you crap.
there are little mini sambethe bo's running around pant-less trying to sell photocopied books or postcards. the kids are unbelievably cute, but i'm not interested.
tomorrow we're gonna go to the killing fields, and a shooting range to shoot a cow possibly, as well as the national museum and the silver pagoda....should be a fun day!
well,it's been a long day and by bum is sore from sitting so much, so i'm outta here.
love love love
fritz.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
ho chi minh city
okee dokee...
so we've been in ho chi minh city for about a day and a half now and we leave tomorrow morning for cambodia.
we left nha trang two days ago and were lucky enough to squeeze in a beach day before we left!
there was a typhoon that hit central vietnam this week.
it rained for the first two days we were there and was supposed to continue but the sun managed to stay out long enough to hit the beautiful beach for an afternoon with our friends we keep running into...
we spent the day soaking up the sun, drinkin cheap beer and keeping the little kids from selling stuff to us. this one little girl put a curse on me for not buying a pack of mentos off her...she told me i was going to have ugly babies, IF i would even be able to have babies at all. but if i did they would be ugly as sin.
later on that day we went out for mexican food and then wandered to a bar for bellini's and to watch the manchester united game live (they are HUGE fans to put it mildly).
the next night we were all ready to leave and there was a big misunderstanding at the place where we were meant to catch our bus...the guy in charge told us that the busses weren't running to saigon, but he meant hoi an....
apparently there was crazy flooding...neck high water, so all busses were cancelled.
luckily we had just come from there and missed out on the bad weather...
and now we're in hcmc (saigon) and before we know it we're outta vietnam and into our 9th country of the trip!
so we are staying in a hostel on the 5th floor....but if you wanna get technical (and i do) it's really the 7th floor.
our backpacks were pulled up to our room with a home-made crane thru the home-made sky-light (a hole punched through the roof) and we had to trudge up 16 flights of stairs. retarded...
today we took a taxi to what we thought was dam sen park, but ended up in the wrong part of town, walked around aimlessly for a bit and then hopped on the back of two guys' motorbikes.
OH.
MY.
WORD.
i think my knuckles are still white!
the traffic out here is completely ridiculous, but hey i'm alive so it can't be that bad...???
dam sen park ended up being pretty much an abandoned theme park...it was very odd.
the rides weren't running but there were a handful of people wandering...
they had a bunch of creatures and figures made out of dishes...a bird made of spoons, dragon out of plates...it was pretty neat.
the highlight for me was definitely a swan ride paddle boat on the lake...i've always wanted to ride in a swan, don't know why.
well that's all i got for now...
love from saigon.
fritz.
so we've been in ho chi minh city for about a day and a half now and we leave tomorrow morning for cambodia.
we left nha trang two days ago and were lucky enough to squeeze in a beach day before we left!
there was a typhoon that hit central vietnam this week.
it rained for the first two days we were there and was supposed to continue but the sun managed to stay out long enough to hit the beautiful beach for an afternoon with our friends we keep running into...
we spent the day soaking up the sun, drinkin cheap beer and keeping the little kids from selling stuff to us. this one little girl put a curse on me for not buying a pack of mentos off her...she told me i was going to have ugly babies, IF i would even be able to have babies at all. but if i did they would be ugly as sin.
later on that day we went out for mexican food and then wandered to a bar for bellini's and to watch the manchester united game live (they are HUGE fans to put it mildly).
the next night we were all ready to leave and there was a big misunderstanding at the place where we were meant to catch our bus...the guy in charge told us that the busses weren't running to saigon, but he meant hoi an....
apparently there was crazy flooding...neck high water, so all busses were cancelled.
luckily we had just come from there and missed out on the bad weather...
and now we're in hcmc (saigon) and before we know it we're outta vietnam and into our 9th country of the trip!
so we are staying in a hostel on the 5th floor....but if you wanna get technical (and i do) it's really the 7th floor.
our backpacks were pulled up to our room with a home-made crane thru the home-made sky-light (a hole punched through the roof) and we had to trudge up 16 flights of stairs. retarded...
today we took a taxi to what we thought was dam sen park, but ended up in the wrong part of town, walked around aimlessly for a bit and then hopped on the back of two guys' motorbikes.
OH.
MY.
WORD.
i think my knuckles are still white!
the traffic out here is completely ridiculous, but hey i'm alive so it can't be that bad...???
dam sen park ended up being pretty much an abandoned theme park...it was very odd.
the rides weren't running but there were a handful of people wandering...
they had a bunch of creatures and figures made out of dishes...a bird made of spoons, dragon out of plates...it was pretty neat.
the highlight for me was definitely a swan ride paddle boat on the lake...i've always wanted to ride in a swan, don't know why.
well that's all i got for now...
love from saigon.
fritz.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
hoi an-nie k style.
hello from hoi an, vietnam.
the town that has forever put me in debt.
my mastercard will never be the same.
and neither will my shoe rack/closet...
this town is pretty much my version of heaven, seeing as how i have giant feet and picky taste.
on every corner and in between there are little shops with rows and rows of fabrics/leathers and samples of shoes and coats, i knew i was in trouble after 5 minutes of walking around here.
basically if you can dream it (and pay) they can make it. in a day.
so far my boot count is at, ummm...11 i think.
4 jackets, one dress and i just handed over my credit card to derek...
i am like an energizer bunny in this town, it's retarded.
thanks to me our hotel room reaks of leather...i love it!
the weather has been pretty lousy, and it looks like we're in for more...
there is a typhoon heading our way shortly....but hey i'd take rain over snow any day.
we had planned to go to Hue after we were done in Hanoi, but the town was completely flooded so we just stayed on the bus and came straight here to hoi an.
one or two more days and then we are off to nha trang and then down to ho chi minh city.
in a week we will head to cambodia for another week and hen back to thailand to meet mike!!!
time is flying by, it's absolutely ridiculous...
i should header...gotta meet with the tailor and pick up the last of my boots!
see you cats in 6 weeks.
peace
fritz.
the town that has forever put me in debt.
my mastercard will never be the same.
and neither will my shoe rack/closet...
this town is pretty much my version of heaven, seeing as how i have giant feet and picky taste.
on every corner and in between there are little shops with rows and rows of fabrics/leathers and samples of shoes and coats, i knew i was in trouble after 5 minutes of walking around here.
basically if you can dream it (and pay) they can make it. in a day.
so far my boot count is at, ummm...11 i think.
4 jackets, one dress and i just handed over my credit card to derek...
i am like an energizer bunny in this town, it's retarded.
thanks to me our hotel room reaks of leather...i love it!
the weather has been pretty lousy, and it looks like we're in for more...
there is a typhoon heading our way shortly....but hey i'd take rain over snow any day.
we had planned to go to Hue after we were done in Hanoi, but the town was completely flooded so we just stayed on the bus and came straight here to hoi an.
one or two more days and then we are off to nha trang and then down to ho chi minh city.
in a week we will head to cambodia for another week and hen back to thailand to meet mike!!!
time is flying by, it's absolutely ridiculous...
i should header...gotta meet with the tailor and pick up the last of my boots!
see you cats in 6 weeks.
peace
fritz.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
conical hat mania...
oh lord
where to begin
we are safe and sound in hanoi, vietnam
this city is the most overwhelming of all the cities to date.
and i don't think i could date this city long.
we arrived last night around 6 pm and it is never fun arriving in a chaotic city when it's dark. we met a canadian couple on our bus from vientiane to hanoi...thank goodness.
ok i will backtrack...
so vientiane was great, it was a holidsay weekend...the dragon boat races were taking place and the whole entire city was closed down and partying..so fun!
we left cara in vientiane and left laos around 7 pm.
the hostel we were staying at was so great...the owner was a blast...we shared a couple beers before we left and he biked my carry-on down the street for me.
he warned us...the bus to hanoi was in NO means a VIP bus.
nope it was pretty much a public bus.
us and the two other canadians were the only white faces for miles seeing as how most backpackers spend the extra buck for lush seats and a toilet and a dvd player on the bus. not these faces.
the bus driver and his assistant were not the nicest of people we have met so far. they would not allow us on the crap bus until 5 minutes before we left. all the locals had been getting the good seats and getting comfy for hours. they chucked our bags thru the back window behind the back seats of the bus....along with a 42" tv and a new fan. great.
we were finally allowed on the bus and we claimed the last seats that weren't in the back and i was quickly removed from that spot seeing as how i'm white. the bus driver came and grabbed my arm,pulling me out of my seat and pushing me towards the back. great. with the tv.
we got the only seats on the bus that did not recline. our vents were open and full blast and broken. the mean man was sitting behind us while waiting with all his tower of pillows for his turn to drive. he was the reason we couldn't recline.
did i mention that the bus ride was 24 hours thru the mountains? GREEEAT.
so we start going finally and after about 6 hours we stop. for good.
apparently the border only opens at about 7 am, so we waited from 1 am till 6 am in a parking lot in the middle of laos, and strangely half our bus got off and didnt come back till it was time to go....i think they must have found beds. shoot. you'd think the bus would leave later and go straight through, but apparently that would be too convenient for everybody.
we finally reached the border after about 1 hour of actual sleep (i'm trying to ween myself off of gravol so i had to sleep without help...not very successful...it was easy to cross but very confusing...i'm glad we've had some experience before with land borders...otherwise we would not have known what to do.
we got off our bus, got stamped out of laos, left our bags on the bus, walked for half a mile to the vietnam border, got stamped in, went and got our bags and then went thru "customs" and then got off the bus again and walked past a rope which was blocking off entrance to actual vietnam, thru security and back on, continually dropping dong for random health quarantine and other fees. so silly. dong is the currency here in vietnam. 16,896 d=$1...it's a good thing dad passed down the mental math gene to me...
we had ONE stop for food and bathrooms for the remainder of the trip...
i had to stop and pop a squat in some old ladies cornfield while half the bus watched.
everyone on our bus was wearing a windbreaker circa 1992...
we passed a truck full of logs and i thought of shope remple (spelling?) and his cutting down of trees business. i laughed for a solid minute. one time he lost his watch while cutting down all 50 of our evergreen trees.
vietnam traffic is unimaginable. honestly. i can't even describe the controlled chaos. our bus driver LOVEDDDDD his horn, but so did every other person on the road. all you hear is a constant hum of the horn and it's almost as if there is an invisible unspoken middle lane. right between the two regular lanes. so you have a single lane going in either direction and then a middle lane for people passing...but it works in BOTH directions. if i didn't start biting my nails on that bus ride, i never will.
i wish i could explain how absolutely retarded it is....and that was BEFORE we got into hanoi. oh man...retarded...
we got a taxi and headed straight for the old quarter and ended up wandering into many full hostels and ended up splurging $25 for a night in a super lush hotel. i took my first bath in 6.5 months this morning and it was the best thing ever.
i'm gonna go have a bowl of pho (noodle soup) and then wander around the old district taking pictures.
we have a date with the post office this afternoon...time to empty my bag and make some room...
so far i think vietnam is going to be my favorite country yet...
fritz.
where to begin
we are safe and sound in hanoi, vietnam
this city is the most overwhelming of all the cities to date.
and i don't think i could date this city long.
we arrived last night around 6 pm and it is never fun arriving in a chaotic city when it's dark. we met a canadian couple on our bus from vientiane to hanoi...thank goodness.
ok i will backtrack...
so vientiane was great, it was a holidsay weekend...the dragon boat races were taking place and the whole entire city was closed down and partying..so fun!
we left cara in vientiane and left laos around 7 pm.
the hostel we were staying at was so great...the owner was a blast...we shared a couple beers before we left and he biked my carry-on down the street for me.
he warned us...the bus to hanoi was in NO means a VIP bus.
nope it was pretty much a public bus.
us and the two other canadians were the only white faces for miles seeing as how most backpackers spend the extra buck for lush seats and a toilet and a dvd player on the bus. not these faces.
the bus driver and his assistant were not the nicest of people we have met so far. they would not allow us on the crap bus until 5 minutes before we left. all the locals had been getting the good seats and getting comfy for hours. they chucked our bags thru the back window behind the back seats of the bus....along with a 42" tv and a new fan. great.
we were finally allowed on the bus and we claimed the last seats that weren't in the back and i was quickly removed from that spot seeing as how i'm white. the bus driver came and grabbed my arm,pulling me out of my seat and pushing me towards the back. great. with the tv.
we got the only seats on the bus that did not recline. our vents were open and full blast and broken. the mean man was sitting behind us while waiting with all his tower of pillows for his turn to drive. he was the reason we couldn't recline.
did i mention that the bus ride was 24 hours thru the mountains? GREEEAT.
so we start going finally and after about 6 hours we stop. for good.
apparently the border only opens at about 7 am, so we waited from 1 am till 6 am in a parking lot in the middle of laos, and strangely half our bus got off and didnt come back till it was time to go....i think they must have found beds. shoot. you'd think the bus would leave later and go straight through, but apparently that would be too convenient for everybody.
we finally reached the border after about 1 hour of actual sleep (i'm trying to ween myself off of gravol so i had to sleep without help...not very successful...it was easy to cross but very confusing...i'm glad we've had some experience before with land borders...otherwise we would not have known what to do.
we got off our bus, got stamped out of laos, left our bags on the bus, walked for half a mile to the vietnam border, got stamped in, went and got our bags and then went thru "customs" and then got off the bus again and walked past a rope which was blocking off entrance to actual vietnam, thru security and back on, continually dropping dong for random health quarantine and other fees. so silly. dong is the currency here in vietnam. 16,896 d=$1...it's a good thing dad passed down the mental math gene to me...
we had ONE stop for food and bathrooms for the remainder of the trip...
i had to stop and pop a squat in some old ladies cornfield while half the bus watched.
everyone on our bus was wearing a windbreaker circa 1992...
we passed a truck full of logs and i thought of shope remple (spelling?) and his cutting down of trees business. i laughed for a solid minute. one time he lost his watch while cutting down all 50 of our evergreen trees.
vietnam traffic is unimaginable. honestly. i can't even describe the controlled chaos. our bus driver LOVEDDDDD his horn, but so did every other person on the road. all you hear is a constant hum of the horn and it's almost as if there is an invisible unspoken middle lane. right between the two regular lanes. so you have a single lane going in either direction and then a middle lane for people passing...but it works in BOTH directions. if i didn't start biting my nails on that bus ride, i never will.
i wish i could explain how absolutely retarded it is....and that was BEFORE we got into hanoi. oh man...retarded...
we got a taxi and headed straight for the old quarter and ended up wandering into many full hostels and ended up splurging $25 for a night in a super lush hotel. i took my first bath in 6.5 months this morning and it was the best thing ever.
i'm gonna go have a bowl of pho (noodle soup) and then wander around the old district taking pictures.
we have a date with the post office this afternoon...time to empty my bag and make some room...
so far i think vietnam is going to be my favorite country yet...
fritz.
Friday, October 19, 2007
luang prabang
sabai dee...
i love love love this country.
i think it could very well be my new favorite...
everything is so lush and green and so relaxing and of course ridiculously cheap.
luang prabang is a little town of about 26,000 right on the mekong river.
the mekong river is the color of butterscotch pudding
there are about 3 or 4 main streets and everybody rides their bikes while holding an umbrella.
you get a fresh, hot baguette with practically every meal.
today we rented bikes for 10,000 kip ($1) and explored the area...it's just so lovely.
our guesthouse is $2 a night...
at this rate i could live here for months without going into debt!
tomorrow we're off to the waterfall and then the following day we are heading to vang vieng to hop in an inner tube and float down the river, beer lao in hand.
laos is an alcoholic's version of heaven. a shooter will set ya back 20 cents. buy one get one free during happy hour...insane.
we're all getting over some form of sickness...ear aches, fevers, etc...too much moving around does that to ya...so we are laying low, eating healthy and getting some fresh air and this is the perfect place to do it.
this blog is not at all exciting...i'm gonna quit while i'm ahead.
fritz.
i love love love this country.
i think it could very well be my new favorite...
everything is so lush and green and so relaxing and of course ridiculously cheap.
luang prabang is a little town of about 26,000 right on the mekong river.
the mekong river is the color of butterscotch pudding
there are about 3 or 4 main streets and everybody rides their bikes while holding an umbrella.
you get a fresh, hot baguette with practically every meal.
today we rented bikes for 10,000 kip ($1) and explored the area...it's just so lovely.
our guesthouse is $2 a night...
at this rate i could live here for months without going into debt!
tomorrow we're off to the waterfall and then the following day we are heading to vang vieng to hop in an inner tube and float down the river, beer lao in hand.
laos is an alcoholic's version of heaven. a shooter will set ya back 20 cents. buy one get one free during happy hour...insane.
we're all getting over some form of sickness...ear aches, fevers, etc...too much moving around does that to ya...so we are laying low, eating healthy and getting some fresh air and this is the perfect place to do it.
this blog is not at all exciting...i'm gonna quit while i'm ahead.
fritz.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
tiangao qishuang...
*the sky is high and the air is clear*
yes my friends, we have finally arrived in china...
let me backtrack a little bit...
hong kong was out of this world.
i left off the last blog on my way out to see the fireworks.
ohhh man, the show blew my mind.
i took videos and i will try to figure out a way to post them.
the finale video is over a minute long. the FINALE. it definitely put the annual morris fireworks to shame.
after the fireworks were over we hung around the harbour for a bit
a creepy man snuck pictures of me and buttered derek up so he could ask permission to take a picture with me and the creeper. haha.
we went back to our hostel and slept like sideways sardines after a couple of chinese king cans
played rock paper scissor for the two pillow and blankets that the three of us had to fight for.
(i won a pillow AND a blanket and slept like a queen)
the next morning derek and i met up with a friend of my uncles for lunch.
we went to a really cool japanese sushi restaurant and downed large chunks of the most raw fish i've ever seen.
after lunch with sparky we did some more shopping, went to a goldfish market in the rain, and then called it a day.
the next morning we woke up early and walked to the avenue of stars, put my hands in jackie chans' handprints, then we wandered into the hong kong art museum...
ate some amazing cream puffs in the mtr station...
did a lot of snacking this day come to think of it...candy wanted us to try every hong kong treat/drink/baked good.
after snacking all afternoon and buying film for my new camera (a holga) we hopped on a double decker tram around the city and then we met cara's parents for dinner.
they took us out for italian...tasted like home (a nice treat after a week of seafood)
the grand finale of the night was going to "the peak"
the view over hong kong is out of this world amazing.
we took a gazillion pictures, almost blew away in the ridiculous wind, and then went back to our hostel for our last night in the city.
the next morning we packed up and got on the 24 hour train to beijing.
i apparently caught a headcold, but luckily, after a few benadryl and gravol i slept over half of the train ride away!
we had hard sleeper berths on the train, but it was surprisingly cozy...we even had the softest blankets of this entire trip!
we arrived in beijing around 3 pm, almost got ripped off by some taxi driver, wanting to charge us 160 yuan to get to our hostel, when in reality it cost us less than 30 yuan (about $4).
settled in to our underground hostel in central beijing, and wandered around the area for a bit.
the next day we went wandering around the area and stumbled across the forbidden city and tiananmen square, but decided to come back on a day that's NOT a saturday.
today we went to the silk market...didn't buy much
tomorrow it's back to tiananmen square and the forbidden city and then off to the art district.
the day after that we're going to tackle the great wall of china
then a day of biking around beijing and an acrobatics show.
should be fun!
on thursday we are leaving for xi'an to see the terra cotta warriors and then it's off to kunming and then a few days later we should arrive in laos.
time is flying by...i'll be home before i know it.
until then i will embrace all that is china/laos/vietnam/cambodia/thailand/malaysia/tiawan.
love love love
fritz.
yes my friends, we have finally arrived in china...
let me backtrack a little bit...
hong kong was out of this world.
i left off the last blog on my way out to see the fireworks.
ohhh man, the show blew my mind.
i took videos and i will try to figure out a way to post them.
the finale video is over a minute long. the FINALE. it definitely put the annual morris fireworks to shame.
after the fireworks were over we hung around the harbour for a bit
a creepy man snuck pictures of me and buttered derek up so he could ask permission to take a picture with me and the creeper. haha.
we went back to our hostel and slept like sideways sardines after a couple of chinese king cans
played rock paper scissor for the two pillow and blankets that the three of us had to fight for.
(i won a pillow AND a blanket and slept like a queen)
the next morning derek and i met up with a friend of my uncles for lunch.
we went to a really cool japanese sushi restaurant and downed large chunks of the most raw fish i've ever seen.
after lunch with sparky we did some more shopping, went to a goldfish market in the rain, and then called it a day.
the next morning we woke up early and walked to the avenue of stars, put my hands in jackie chans' handprints, then we wandered into the hong kong art museum...
ate some amazing cream puffs in the mtr station...
did a lot of snacking this day come to think of it...candy wanted us to try every hong kong treat/drink/baked good.
after snacking all afternoon and buying film for my new camera (a holga) we hopped on a double decker tram around the city and then we met cara's parents for dinner.
they took us out for italian...tasted like home (a nice treat after a week of seafood)
the grand finale of the night was going to "the peak"
the view over hong kong is out of this world amazing.
we took a gazillion pictures, almost blew away in the ridiculous wind, and then went back to our hostel for our last night in the city.
the next morning we packed up and got on the 24 hour train to beijing.
i apparently caught a headcold, but luckily, after a few benadryl and gravol i slept over half of the train ride away!
we had hard sleeper berths on the train, but it was surprisingly cozy...we even had the softest blankets of this entire trip!
we arrived in beijing around 3 pm, almost got ripped off by some taxi driver, wanting to charge us 160 yuan to get to our hostel, when in reality it cost us less than 30 yuan (about $4).
settled in to our underground hostel in central beijing, and wandered around the area for a bit.
the next day we went wandering around the area and stumbled across the forbidden city and tiananmen square, but decided to come back on a day that's NOT a saturday.
today we went to the silk market...didn't buy much
tomorrow it's back to tiananmen square and the forbidden city and then off to the art district.
the day after that we're going to tackle the great wall of china
then a day of biking around beijing and an acrobatics show.
should be fun!
on thursday we are leaving for xi'an to see the terra cotta warriors and then it's off to kunming and then a few days later we should arrive in laos.
time is flying by...i'll be home before i know it.
until then i will embrace all that is china/laos/vietnam/cambodia/thailand/malaysia/tiawan.
love love love
fritz.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
hongo kongo
OH.
MY.
WORD.
i love love love hong kong.
it is chaos to the bone.
we arrived in macau two days ago, took a fancy ferry to hong kong island and are now staying in the heart of kowloon...in an area called mong kok.
which translates to chaos or crazyness, or so i discovered today!
there are more people in one place than i have ever seen in my life.
you can barely move on the street.
the shopping is insane...but it's pretty expensive...
we met candy (my boss from para mix) and she took us out on the town yesterday.
dim sum for brunch (not a seafood fan...) they had a cute hedgehog custard thing. pictures soon...
4 storey H&M..sooooo tempting...
we took every mode of transportation that this city has to offer...
went to Lantau island to see the biggest buddah in the world (according to candy...)
came back to HK island and went to the train station to book our train to beijing.
for dinner we had traditional chinese food in a part of town i'm sure no tourist has ever stepped foot in.
more seafood...spiral snails...squid...still not a fan.
the best part of that dinner was that instead of keeping food you don't want to eat in your bowl you chuck it onto the table...
after dinner the four of us...candy her friend emily, derek and i went to a market close to our hostel, and then we hit they hay around 1:30 am.
this morning we got up around 7:30 to go back to the train station to buy cara a train ticket cuz there were only 8 left last night and we didn't have enough money on us...
got her a ticket and then went and rescued her from her jail cell of a guesthouse.
3 mcdonald's hashbrowns later, many emails trying to reach friends of friends that live in the area and we are back at our hostel which is in a building that cells ony cell phones. it's about 6 levels of cell phones. crazy. and it's really busy!
today is a national holiday...hong kong's birthday!
there's ah uge frieworks display tonight and we're gonna go watch it at the hong kong harbour...
more stories to come, and pictures soon...
i am happy...a little broke...but nonetheless happy as can be!
love love love from china...
fritz
MY.
WORD.
i love love love hong kong.
it is chaos to the bone.
we arrived in macau two days ago, took a fancy ferry to hong kong island and are now staying in the heart of kowloon...in an area called mong kok.
which translates to chaos or crazyness, or so i discovered today!
there are more people in one place than i have ever seen in my life.
you can barely move on the street.
the shopping is insane...but it's pretty expensive...
we met candy (my boss from para mix) and she took us out on the town yesterday.
dim sum for brunch (not a seafood fan...) they had a cute hedgehog custard thing. pictures soon...
4 storey H&M..sooooo tempting...
we took every mode of transportation that this city has to offer...
went to Lantau island to see the biggest buddah in the world (according to candy...)
came back to HK island and went to the train station to book our train to beijing.
for dinner we had traditional chinese food in a part of town i'm sure no tourist has ever stepped foot in.
more seafood...spiral snails...squid...still not a fan.
the best part of that dinner was that instead of keeping food you don't want to eat in your bowl you chuck it onto the table...
after dinner the four of us...candy her friend emily, derek and i went to a market close to our hostel, and then we hit they hay around 1:30 am.
this morning we got up around 7:30 to go back to the train station to buy cara a train ticket cuz there were only 8 left last night and we didn't have enough money on us...
got her a ticket and then went and rescued her from her jail cell of a guesthouse.
3 mcdonald's hashbrowns later, many emails trying to reach friends of friends that live in the area and we are back at our hostel which is in a building that cells ony cell phones. it's about 6 levels of cell phones. crazy. and it's really busy!
today is a national holiday...hong kong's birthday!
there's ah uge frieworks display tonight and we're gonna go watch it at the hong kong harbour...
more stories to come, and pictures soon...
i am happy...a little broke...but nonetheless happy as can be!
love love love from china...
fritz
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
to the max...
journal entry at midnight last night on a bus somewhere between suratthani and bangkok...
we're on a bus.
somewhere between suratthani and bangkok
this bus is a/c'ed to the max...
i will have a cold tomorrow for sure.
luckily we're at the back of the bus
so we can recline to the max and don't have to feel like we're bad people in doing so...
the inside of this bus looks like scotland.
red plaid to the max...
it's somewhere after midnight.
the flourescent lights just turned on...
did you know that if you slap on some gold-plated frosted-glass lightfixtures inside a regular bus, you now can go ahead and put a sticker on that same regular bus that says "VIP"? cool.
went the lights on a bus go on in the middle of the night it means one thing.
time to go stretch your legs and buy a sandwich from a local.
or a tube of pizza pringles in our case.
bus ride essential.
i got off and went the the bathroom. if you can call it that.
puh-retty sure i got the hiv
too dark to be sure...
met a cool german couple.
they both had rad shoes.
getting to our bus was an adventure...
left at 1 pm...boarded Titanic.
2.5 hours later, we were then herded like cattle onto a crappy bus to suratthani.
1 hour on that crowded bus...
(only one guy-our german friend with good kicks-sat in the aisle.)
then we parked it in the middle of nowhere, were told to run across the road and jump on a truck. we had no clue where we were going. nobody ever does.
all we had was an orange sticker on our shirt with a thai word written on it.
i think mine said, "please. rip me off" or perhaps, "bring me on a wild goose chase, thanx"
we rode like sardines and were dropped off couple by couple until finally we hopped off in the middle of nowhere and were told to wait 2 hours until our bus would comeand pick us up.
we were also told to buy food from them.
i started painting my nails pilon orange and the man at the shop came and parked it beside me and stuck out his pinky.
so i painted it.
he was pumped.
i won't even tell you what some asians are known to do with their pinky fingers.
just made me wish i had painted his thumb instead.
2 hours later, with only runts of puppies and the man with the orange pinky nail in sight, we were told to get on a truck once again.
a pack of chinese tourists appeared out of the woodworks and as we sat in the back of the truck, all of their hello kitty luggage was piled on our long legs. good times.
a short truck ride later and we arrived at our real destination.
some random spot where low and behold...all of the kids we met (germans with rad shoes included) were sitting on the curb laughing as luggage was hauled off of us.
the same thing had happened to all of us...just different random spots.
only in thailand.
we finally got on our final bus (the air-con/scotland/seats with metal pieces jutting in our backs one) and spent the next 10 hours making our bumpy way up to bangkok.
we are here safe and sound.
we just dropped a LOT of money on visas for china and vietnam.
i look like megadeath in my new pictures for the visas.
and i somehow how to make 240 baht ($8 canadian dollars) last till the end of the week.
not happening.
street pad thai for this face for the next 1o days.
all complaining aside, it was a very eventful night, and i'm looking forward to all the 1000's of miles we have yet to log.
over and out.
fritz.
we're on a bus.
somewhere between suratthani and bangkok
this bus is a/c'ed to the max...
i will have a cold tomorrow for sure.
luckily we're at the back of the bus
so we can recline to the max and don't have to feel like we're bad people in doing so...
the inside of this bus looks like scotland.
red plaid to the max...
it's somewhere after midnight.
the flourescent lights just turned on...
did you know that if you slap on some gold-plated frosted-glass lightfixtures inside a regular bus, you now can go ahead and put a sticker on that same regular bus that says "VIP"? cool.
went the lights on a bus go on in the middle of the night it means one thing.
time to go stretch your legs and buy a sandwich from a local.
or a tube of pizza pringles in our case.
bus ride essential.
i got off and went the the bathroom. if you can call it that.
puh-retty sure i got the hiv
too dark to be sure...
met a cool german couple.
they both had rad shoes.
getting to our bus was an adventure...
left at 1 pm...boarded Titanic.
2.5 hours later, we were then herded like cattle onto a crappy bus to suratthani.
1 hour on that crowded bus...
(only one guy-our german friend with good kicks-sat in the aisle.)
then we parked it in the middle of nowhere, were told to run across the road and jump on a truck. we had no clue where we were going. nobody ever does.
all we had was an orange sticker on our shirt with a thai word written on it.
i think mine said, "please. rip me off" or perhaps, "bring me on a wild goose chase, thanx"
we rode like sardines and were dropped off couple by couple until finally we hopped off in the middle of nowhere and were told to wait 2 hours until our bus would comeand pick us up.
we were also told to buy food from them.
i started painting my nails pilon orange and the man at the shop came and parked it beside me and stuck out his pinky.
so i painted it.
he was pumped.
i won't even tell you what some asians are known to do with their pinky fingers.
just made me wish i had painted his thumb instead.
2 hours later, with only runts of puppies and the man with the orange pinky nail in sight, we were told to get on a truck once again.
a pack of chinese tourists appeared out of the woodworks and as we sat in the back of the truck, all of their hello kitty luggage was piled on our long legs. good times.
a short truck ride later and we arrived at our real destination.
some random spot where low and behold...all of the kids we met (germans with rad shoes included) were sitting on the curb laughing as luggage was hauled off of us.
the same thing had happened to all of us...just different random spots.
only in thailand.
we finally got on our final bus (the air-con/scotland/seats with metal pieces jutting in our backs one) and spent the next 10 hours making our bumpy way up to bangkok.
we are here safe and sound.
we just dropped a LOT of money on visas for china and vietnam.
i look like megadeath in my new pictures for the visas.
and i somehow how to make 240 baht ($8 canadian dollars) last till the end of the week.
not happening.
street pad thai for this face for the next 1o days.
all complaining aside, it was a very eventful night, and i'm looking forward to all the 1000's of miles we have yet to log.
over and out.
fritz.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
the effects of a bucket...
last night was a full moon.
we decided not to hit up haad rin for the raging full moon party...
instead we walked barefoot to a mini mart, bought some christmas colored buckets and had our own party on our porch.
it was a huge success....
i woke up feeling better than approximately 90% of the island...
that doesn't necessarily tell you much...
this face is going back to bed.
love you long time.
fritz.
we decided not to hit up haad rin for the raging full moon party...
instead we walked barefoot to a mini mart, bought some christmas colored buckets and had our own party on our porch.
it was a huge success....
i woke up feeling better than approximately 90% of the island...
that doesn't necessarily tell you much...
this face is going back to bed.
love you long time.
fritz.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
premonition patsy....
today started off with a bang...
finding out that sometimes dreams really do come true.
i had a dream about a week ago that my dad fell from some rafters while he was working and landed on his head and died. horrid i know. and then yesterday in the dee stee book i was reading, the dad dies in the same scenario and i shuddered and hoped dad took my advice to wear a hardhat after i told him about my dream the other day...
part of it unfortunately did come true yesterday afternoon apparently...
pops toppled off some rafters...landed on his head and walked away as if nothing happened...even climbed back to the top of the monstrosity he's building, and continued to work! thank goodness he's ok...
other than hearing that news and finding out that g-ma and g-pa's house finally sold, it's been a good day.
i got a massage on the beach by a person whose gender is yet to be identified.
i'm leaning towards lady?? ladyboy perhaps?
more good news? 2 out of 10 boxes have arrived home safe and sound as of yesterday. very good news.
what else can i tell ya? we moved into a new hut...#5...the one where sam bo, crust, madge and myself (and a random from transcona) met up 3 years ago and got to know each other over a couple of buckets and perhaps a bottle of tequila...(this was the same night that sam ran into the hidden volleyball net. hahaha.)
i should header...off to grab a big bowl of massaman curry for dinner.
love love love
fritzy brainy.
finding out that sometimes dreams really do come true.
i had a dream about a week ago that my dad fell from some rafters while he was working and landed on his head and died. horrid i know. and then yesterday in the dee stee book i was reading, the dad dies in the same scenario and i shuddered and hoped dad took my advice to wear a hardhat after i told him about my dream the other day...
part of it unfortunately did come true yesterday afternoon apparently...
pops toppled off some rafters...landed on his head and walked away as if nothing happened...even climbed back to the top of the monstrosity he's building, and continued to work! thank goodness he's ok...
other than hearing that news and finding out that g-ma and g-pa's house finally sold, it's been a good day.
i got a massage on the beach by a person whose gender is yet to be identified.
i'm leaning towards lady?? ladyboy perhaps?
more good news? 2 out of 10 boxes have arrived home safe and sound as of yesterday. very good news.
what else can i tell ya? we moved into a new hut...#5...the one where sam bo, crust, madge and myself (and a random from transcona) met up 3 years ago and got to know each other over a couple of buckets and perhaps a bottle of tequila...(this was the same night that sam ran into the hidden volleyball net. hahaha.)
i should header...off to grab a big bowl of massaman curry for dinner.
love love love
fritzy brainy.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
seaflower and a bus mishap...
oh man oh man.
we are back safe and sound at seaflower on koh phangan.
this place is as ricidulously awesome as last time and the weather is perfect.
the 12 hours bus ride was smooth like butter except for a tragic accident that we saw the end of.
our bus pulled up next to a parked bus with a motorbike crushed under the front tire and a thai man in worse shape under the front. i won't go into details but it was messy. i wish i wouldn't have looked down as we passed...a vision that i won't soon forget. poor man.
we did arrive safely however, 12 hours on a bus that arrived in Surathani at 5 am, and we sat and waited for our boat to leave at 8 am. 4 hours later we arrived in paradise.
seaflower hasn't changed a bit, but the drive up is completely different...it's paved for one, and there's a 7-11 a couple doors down! yuck! the worst part is the massive resort that popped up at the end of seaflower's driveway...replacing the lady boy-owned internet shop and the two sweet fuirt cart ladies! gonezo.
finally after 3 years i was reunited with the food at seaflower and it tasted exactly as i remembered!
a few of the workers remembered me and were thrilled to see me back!
hmm what else?
we have two hammocks on our porch, new books to read and my skin is almost casper-like again so i'm gone like the wind.
love love love
e.
we are back safe and sound at seaflower on koh phangan.
this place is as ricidulously awesome as last time and the weather is perfect.
the 12 hours bus ride was smooth like butter except for a tragic accident that we saw the end of.
our bus pulled up next to a parked bus with a motorbike crushed under the front tire and a thai man in worse shape under the front. i won't go into details but it was messy. i wish i wouldn't have looked down as we passed...a vision that i won't soon forget. poor man.
we did arrive safely however, 12 hours on a bus that arrived in Surathani at 5 am, and we sat and waited for our boat to leave at 8 am. 4 hours later we arrived in paradise.
seaflower hasn't changed a bit, but the drive up is completely different...it's paved for one, and there's a 7-11 a couple doors down! yuck! the worst part is the massive resort that popped up at the end of seaflower's driveway...replacing the lady boy-owned internet shop and the two sweet fuirt cart ladies! gonezo.
finally after 3 years i was reunited with the food at seaflower and it tasted exactly as i remembered!
a few of the workers remembered me and were thrilled to see me back!
hmm what else?
we have two hammocks on our porch, new books to read and my skin is almost casper-like again so i'm gone like the wind.
love love love
e.
Monday, August 13, 2007
curb pad thai and smiles for miles...
one night in bangkok...
i love the land of smiles...i really do.
my heart belongs here, and like sister mary clarence said...i will find it somewhere in a plate of pad thai or in a rack of ridiculous t-shirts.
we arrived in bangkok yesterday afternoon, breezed through customs and then hopped in a taxi to good ol khao san road.
my face hurt from smiling during the entire 40 minute cab ride...
i slowly began to recognize places and signs and it felt as if all the hard work from before we left was instantly paid off.
we snuggled in at D&D Inn...where Sam, Crystal and Megan and I stayed three years ago, and it hasn't changed a bit...no that's not true, it's just more luxurious!
we decided that we would splurge on our first night in the city and stayed in an air con room with a hot shower and a tv!!!
we hit up the best t-shirt stand in Thailand I'm sure...and did not leave empty handed...
not if you count 15 shirts between the two of us empty handed that is...
we had a delicious dinner...chicken and cashew nut on rice...mmmmm and then a random fireworks show started and everyone had lit yellow candles...turns out it was the queen's birthday and it is their mother's day!
i think it's hilarious that they can pull off a huge fireworks show smack dab in the middle of the city, whereas in Winnipeg it would have to be over a large body of water, with every fire chief from every part of Manitoba in sight, making sure things didn't get out of control.
anyway, after dinner we shopped a bit more and then headed off to our luxurious room and watched an OC marathon and drank Chang beer in bed. i love life.
today was a holiday and nearly everything was closed...
we got up late, had breakfast, went and found a cheaper place to stay...1/3 of the price if that tells you anything...
and then we shopped some more, ate lunch and then headed off to MBK mall...not nearly as awesome as i remember, but hey, you can't win em all right?
i did however find a flat iron and spent 1/4 of my evening straightening my grody hair...and derek's even grodier hair...
we ate pad thai on a street curb for 50 cents and here we are!
what a day...
it's good to be back here...
and in two days it's off to koh phangan...seaflower here we come!!!!
love love love
me
i love the land of smiles...i really do.
my heart belongs here, and like sister mary clarence said...i will find it somewhere in a plate of pad thai or in a rack of ridiculous t-shirts.
we arrived in bangkok yesterday afternoon, breezed through customs and then hopped in a taxi to good ol khao san road.
my face hurt from smiling during the entire 40 minute cab ride...
i slowly began to recognize places and signs and it felt as if all the hard work from before we left was instantly paid off.
we snuggled in at D&D Inn...where Sam, Crystal and Megan and I stayed three years ago, and it hasn't changed a bit...no that's not true, it's just more luxurious!
we decided that we would splurge on our first night in the city and stayed in an air con room with a hot shower and a tv!!!
we hit up the best t-shirt stand in Thailand I'm sure...and did not leave empty handed...
not if you count 15 shirts between the two of us empty handed that is...
we had a delicious dinner...chicken and cashew nut on rice...mmmmm and then a random fireworks show started and everyone had lit yellow candles...turns out it was the queen's birthday and it is their mother's day!
i think it's hilarious that they can pull off a huge fireworks show smack dab in the middle of the city, whereas in Winnipeg it would have to be over a large body of water, with every fire chief from every part of Manitoba in sight, making sure things didn't get out of control.
anyway, after dinner we shopped a bit more and then headed off to our luxurious room and watched an OC marathon and drank Chang beer in bed. i love life.
today was a holiday and nearly everything was closed...
we got up late, had breakfast, went and found a cheaper place to stay...1/3 of the price if that tells you anything...
and then we shopped some more, ate lunch and then headed off to MBK mall...not nearly as awesome as i remember, but hey, you can't win em all right?
i did however find a flat iron and spent 1/4 of my evening straightening my grody hair...and derek's even grodier hair...
we ate pad thai on a street curb for 50 cents and here we are!
what a day...
it's good to be back here...
and in two days it's off to koh phangan...seaflower here we come!!!!
love love love
me
Thursday, August 9, 2007
the cam remple highlands...
just got back from a half day "adventure" tour...
to be quite honest, it wasn't all that adventurous, but it was really enjoyable.
we started off the day at 8:45 am.
got picked up from our hostel and then picked up a van-full of fellow adventure-seekers.
our first stop was the butterfly/tropical flower/cactus farm.
i don't know what makes a bunch of potted cacti a farm exactly...
you had to watch where you stepped in the butterfly room, cuz there were butterflies all over the map!
after the "farm adventure" we headed off for the "organic strawberry farm adventure"...
we were the only ones in our group not at all interested in seeing how strawberries are made... (we did grow up in manitoba after all... and were forced by our mothers/grandmothers/aunties to pick ice-cream pail after ice-cream pail of the little devils on hot saturday mornings when we would rather be inside watching cartoons!!)
so we ducked out and headed over to the cafe and had ourselves some fresh strawberries and ice-cream and cake with strawberries...cheap and delicious. true menno style.
after the strawberry-fest we split up from the group and it was just derek, myself and the real debby downer from england who had something negative to say about every little thing.
the three of us headed off to Gunung Brinchang which is the tallest point in the Cameron Highlands at a whopping 6666 feet.
unfortunately it was pretty cloudy out and we couldn't see all that much...
then we went on a mini hike through a mossy forest which was very wet...we had a good guide who made us smell every second leaf...
ginger...cinnamon tree bark...and one that smelt like minty rub-a5-35.
after our mini trek we got back in our 4x4 and headed back down to the "Boh Tea Estate" which is the largest in South East Asia...
the one we went to was 600 acres of tea plantations...it was beautiful!
we toured the tea factory and then went and sat out over all those lovely acres and drank tea of course!
our last stop was a local produce market...
we got to sample fruits we'd never seen before...a cameron apple that tasted like cucumber (gross) and some weird green thing that i don't remember what it was...it tasted better, still nothing to write home about...(as i write home about it...)
I bought some fresh strawberries and some carrots and then we headed on back to our hostel and here we are!
man this post is really lame. i'm gonna end it now. thanks for reading it anyway. MWAH.
e.
to be quite honest, it wasn't all that adventurous, but it was really enjoyable.
we started off the day at 8:45 am.
got picked up from our hostel and then picked up a van-full of fellow adventure-seekers.
our first stop was the butterfly/tropical flower/cactus farm.
i don't know what makes a bunch of potted cacti a farm exactly...
you had to watch where you stepped in the butterfly room, cuz there were butterflies all over the map!
after the "farm adventure" we headed off for the "organic strawberry farm adventure"...
we were the only ones in our group not at all interested in seeing how strawberries are made... (we did grow up in manitoba after all... and were forced by our mothers/grandmothers/aunties to pick ice-cream pail after ice-cream pail of the little devils on hot saturday mornings when we would rather be inside watching cartoons!!)
so we ducked out and headed over to the cafe and had ourselves some fresh strawberries and ice-cream and cake with strawberries...cheap and delicious. true menno style.
after the strawberry-fest we split up from the group and it was just derek, myself and the real debby downer from england who had something negative to say about every little thing.
the three of us headed off to Gunung Brinchang which is the tallest point in the Cameron Highlands at a whopping 6666 feet.
unfortunately it was pretty cloudy out and we couldn't see all that much...
then we went on a mini hike through a mossy forest which was very wet...we had a good guide who made us smell every second leaf...
ginger...cinnamon tree bark...and one that smelt like minty rub-a5-35.
after our mini trek we got back in our 4x4 and headed back down to the "Boh Tea Estate" which is the largest in South East Asia...
the one we went to was 600 acres of tea plantations...it was beautiful!
we toured the tea factory and then went and sat out over all those lovely acres and drank tea of course!
our last stop was a local produce market...
we got to sample fruits we'd never seen before...a cameron apple that tasted like cucumber (gross) and some weird green thing that i don't remember what it was...it tasted better, still nothing to write home about...(as i write home about it...)
I bought some fresh strawberries and some carrots and then we headed on back to our hostel and here we are!
man this post is really lame. i'm gonna end it now. thanks for reading it anyway. MWAH.
e.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
high hopes and PT's...
today commenced as the day from H.E.dubbs hockey sticks...
we arrived back in kuala lumpur late last night after a 3 hour flight, an hour and a bit bus ride into the city and then last but not least a taxi to chinatown.
...ate a tube of ritz crackers for dinner at 2 am...
woke up this morning knowing we had to get our plane tickets fixed.
i walked into the malaysian airlines office with high hopes and an even higher pony tail.
to make an extremely long story short, malaysian airlines don't know anything about anything and we left their office empty handed.
we eventually found a pay phone and called northwest and scrounged up enough sen to get through.
my heart broke into a thousand little tiny baby pieces when i heard the four letters i hate the most in this town...
K.
L.
C.
C.
it stands for the airport. the low cost carrier...which is where we came from last night...the one that is over an hour out of the city...
this sucked for many many reasons...basically it was impossible. it would take us at least a whole entire day to sort everything out, plus a lot of moolah plus it just wouldn't work because we both had to be in one place or at least both tickets did.
and then go back and forth between offices?...on the hour bus?...just to sort out this stupid problem? no thank you.
hopeless.
then we walked to an internet cafe so that we could find northwest's address since malaysian airlines couldn't even help us out with that...
turns out KLCC is also a MALL!!! (i should have known that) and we knew exactly where it was...
right across from rum jungle hahaha
and it happened to be about 5 minutes' walk from where we were.
dream come true.
anyway...i'm babbling...
it all worked out thanks to "racy tracy" at northwest.
she was an angel.
our flight is booked all the way home.
AND...we didn't even have to pay to change it!!
she also agreed that malaysian airlines as well as travel cuts is as useless as a third tit.
we arrive in winnipeg dec.18th at 10:40.
see you at the airport!
i hope nobody dies or tries anything funny from now till then...
cuz if i have to go back to that office once more time...
we arrived back in kuala lumpur late last night after a 3 hour flight, an hour and a bit bus ride into the city and then last but not least a taxi to chinatown.
...ate a tube of ritz crackers for dinner at 2 am...
woke up this morning knowing we had to get our plane tickets fixed.
i walked into the malaysian airlines office with high hopes and an even higher pony tail.
to make an extremely long story short, malaysian airlines don't know anything about anything and we left their office empty handed.
we eventually found a pay phone and called northwest and scrounged up enough sen to get through.
my heart broke into a thousand little tiny baby pieces when i heard the four letters i hate the most in this town...
K.
L.
C.
C.
it stands for the airport. the low cost carrier...which is where we came from last night...the one that is over an hour out of the city...
this sucked for many many reasons...basically it was impossible. it would take us at least a whole entire day to sort everything out, plus a lot of moolah plus it just wouldn't work because we both had to be in one place or at least both tickets did.
and then go back and forth between offices?...on the hour bus?...just to sort out this stupid problem? no thank you.
hopeless.
then we walked to an internet cafe so that we could find northwest's address since malaysian airlines couldn't even help us out with that...
turns out KLCC is also a MALL!!! (i should have known that) and we knew exactly where it was...
right across from rum jungle hahaha
and it happened to be about 5 minutes' walk from where we were.
dream come true.
anyway...i'm babbling...
it all worked out thanks to "racy tracy" at northwest.
she was an angel.
our flight is booked all the way home.
AND...we didn't even have to pay to change it!!
she also agreed that malaysian airlines as well as travel cuts is as useless as a third tit.
we arrive in winnipeg dec.18th at 10:40.
see you at the airport!
i hope nobody dies or tries anything funny from now till then...
cuz if i have to go back to that office once more time...
Friday, July 20, 2007
curry and sterling pounds.
well...i'm not in a different country, but i wished i could have been approximately one or two hours ago...
we arrived back at Kuta today, after spending a week at Lovina which was heavenly, and a couple of days in Ubud as well.
Lovina was great!
i swam with dolphins which has been on my to-do list for about 22 years now and we spent day after day frying by the pool at our beautiful resort.
once we were ready for a change of pace we moved on to Ubud...a little artsy, touristy village.
and a few days later and here we are...back at Kuta.
we took what we thought would be a quick van ride here...it was a sweaty PACKED minibus full to the tits with fellow backpackers...all of whom were expecting something different as well.
I was surrounded by backpacks and couldn't move an inch, or breath for that matter.
we arrived back in a familiar place in kuta, and then walked and walked and walked for what felt like miles...days even.
derek and i were both in foul moods and it took a turn for the worse when we went back to the hotel where we had stuff stolen from, tried to book a night, thinking maybe they would be nice and give us a free night or something.
not so.
in fact, they did the opposite.
they tried to double the price from the last time we were there, we got them down to a somewhat decent rate, and then i brought up the whole stolen stuff thing and asked if anything had been returned or found...no dice. and out of nowhere they had no rooms left. SORRY.
not a happy camper...i went and had a lemon shake while sweet sweet derek continued to look for a place for us to stay...it seems like all prices went up in the last week.
funny how that works.
we have a place now.
i had vegetarian curry for lunch and it was delicious, and now i am calm.
i'm sick of being treated like a stupid tourist. there's nothing you can really do though.
last night at dinner in Ubud, a lady came up to us with a man and started speaking in a language neither of us understood.
finally we discovered that she was accusing us of having her money and she wanted it back...
her story was that we changed 90 sterling pounds into rupiah at her store and she gave us WAY too much money back.
that's odd...neither derek or i have ever set foot in europe...never even held a pound in my hand.
she was sure it was us. she remembered our piercings...of course.
after getting upset and showing them our passports..."LOOK! NO STAMPS IN EUROPE..." and trying to be nice about it, explaining that her accusations were absurd, we finally stormed out of the restaurant...she was still upset and gave us the evil eye on the way out. haha. oh bali.
so that's how it's been the last couple of days.
i'm still having fun, and it really is beautiful here...i just wish i didn't always feel like i was getting extremely ripped off or hassled. oh well. c'est la vie.
ta ta lovers.
e.
we arrived back at Kuta today, after spending a week at Lovina which was heavenly, and a couple of days in Ubud as well.
Lovina was great!
i swam with dolphins which has been on my to-do list for about 22 years now and we spent day after day frying by the pool at our beautiful resort.
once we were ready for a change of pace we moved on to Ubud...a little artsy, touristy village.
and a few days later and here we are...back at Kuta.
we took what we thought would be a quick van ride here...it was a sweaty PACKED minibus full to the tits with fellow backpackers...all of whom were expecting something different as well.
I was surrounded by backpacks and couldn't move an inch, or breath for that matter.
we arrived back in a familiar place in kuta, and then walked and walked and walked for what felt like miles...days even.
derek and i were both in foul moods and it took a turn for the worse when we went back to the hotel where we had stuff stolen from, tried to book a night, thinking maybe they would be nice and give us a free night or something.
not so.
in fact, they did the opposite.
they tried to double the price from the last time we were there, we got them down to a somewhat decent rate, and then i brought up the whole stolen stuff thing and asked if anything had been returned or found...no dice. and out of nowhere they had no rooms left. SORRY.
not a happy camper...i went and had a lemon shake while sweet sweet derek continued to look for a place for us to stay...it seems like all prices went up in the last week.
funny how that works.
we have a place now.
i had vegetarian curry for lunch and it was delicious, and now i am calm.
i'm sick of being treated like a stupid tourist. there's nothing you can really do though.
last night at dinner in Ubud, a lady came up to us with a man and started speaking in a language neither of us understood.
finally we discovered that she was accusing us of having her money and she wanted it back...
her story was that we changed 90 sterling pounds into rupiah at her store and she gave us WAY too much money back.
that's odd...neither derek or i have ever set foot in europe...never even held a pound in my hand.
she was sure it was us. she remembered our piercings...of course.
after getting upset and showing them our passports..."LOOK! NO STAMPS IN EUROPE..." and trying to be nice about it, explaining that her accusations were absurd, we finally stormed out of the restaurant...she was still upset and gave us the evil eye on the way out. haha. oh bali.
so that's how it's been the last couple of days.
i'm still having fun, and it really is beautiful here...i just wish i didn't always feel like i was getting extremely ripped off or hassled. oh well. c'est la vie.
ta ta lovers.
e.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
bali-wood
i think i've developed a pattern for writing on this thing.
once every country?
good enough for me...
so many days have passed since we have arrived here in Bali.
this place isn't what i had imagined really at all.
it's lovely don't get me wrong, just different.
we arrived here on derek's birthday, about 4 days ago i think.
i had booked a really nice hotel for the occasion and it turns out you definitely get bang for your buck.
the bed could have easily slept 8 people.
the pool was right outside our door...
we had a/c and hot water!!!
the next day we moved on to a more realistic backpackers' area...
Kuta Beach.
this place is 10000% chaos.
i can't wait to get somewhere a little more off the beaten track.
i don't feel like a foreigner anymore, and i don't like it.
i had become accustomed to being the only white girl for miles...but this is CRAZY.
we are staying at a really nice hotel on poppie's lane.
it's the exact part of bali that was bombed in 2002 and 2005...we both kind of want to go somewhere else.
it feels super safe, as long as you walk single file all the time.
i have almost lost both arms now because of motorbikers ripping past.
i'm definitely sick of people begging for us to come and buy buy buy their crap crap crap.
one guy suckered me in and i ended up buying 4 pairs of the same sunglasses.
don't even ask me how. it's a mystery to even me.
on the brighter side, the food is really really good.
the portions are smaller than most places we've been so far, but pretty inexpensive.
we found one favorite place near our hotel that we can both have a shake, appetizer and a big meal for under $4 for the two of us.
so far that's the cheapest we've found.
they just milk the tourists for all they're worth.
i'm sure once we go to a different part of the island it will be different, at least i hope so.
if it sounds like i'm complaing, i'm really not.
i love this place...it has a lot of potential i think.
there's just so many people!!!
and they all want your money and it just gets frustrating.
i am super relaxed though...we haven't done anything here, and i'm not really too concerned.
we rented a dvd player for our room so that we could start killing off the 100's of dvd's that we have bought while we have been here.
the way i figure it is, they are cheaper to buy and mail home then they would be to rent at shell, so even if i watch them once, it's worth it. and we tested each one, so we know that they work really well!
we also have a beautiful pool at our hotel...it's absolutely gorgeous.
your money goes a lot further for accomodation here, than anywhere else i've been in Asia.
we're paying around $12 a night for the two of us, and we are staying in a stunning hotel!
our beds are so comfy and have so many blankets, we crank the a/c at night just to cool down under all the layers.
i honestly haven't slept this well since back home.
today we were walking down the maze -like corridors of this crazy part of town when i heard my name being called.
"ERIN! ERIN! HI! HOW ARE YOU ERIN!?"
i looked around, and finally put two and two together...
it was the cutest little lady that worked at the dvd shop that we went to four days ago.
we had warmed up to each other and she still remembered my name! how cute!
well, i should header...
not like i have anything to do, but i should be outside...watching the kites flying in the sunset.
talk to you soon...
or once i get to a new country perhaps.
love love love.
e.
once every country?
good enough for me...
so many days have passed since we have arrived here in Bali.
this place isn't what i had imagined really at all.
it's lovely don't get me wrong, just different.
we arrived here on derek's birthday, about 4 days ago i think.
i had booked a really nice hotel for the occasion and it turns out you definitely get bang for your buck.
the bed could have easily slept 8 people.
the pool was right outside our door...
we had a/c and hot water!!!
the next day we moved on to a more realistic backpackers' area...
Kuta Beach.
this place is 10000% chaos.
i can't wait to get somewhere a little more off the beaten track.
i don't feel like a foreigner anymore, and i don't like it.
i had become accustomed to being the only white girl for miles...but this is CRAZY.
we are staying at a really nice hotel on poppie's lane.
it's the exact part of bali that was bombed in 2002 and 2005...we both kind of want to go somewhere else.
it feels super safe, as long as you walk single file all the time.
i have almost lost both arms now because of motorbikers ripping past.
i'm definitely sick of people begging for us to come and buy buy buy their crap crap crap.
one guy suckered me in and i ended up buying 4 pairs of the same sunglasses.
don't even ask me how. it's a mystery to even me.
on the brighter side, the food is really really good.
the portions are smaller than most places we've been so far, but pretty inexpensive.
we found one favorite place near our hotel that we can both have a shake, appetizer and a big meal for under $4 for the two of us.
so far that's the cheapest we've found.
they just milk the tourists for all they're worth.
i'm sure once we go to a different part of the island it will be different, at least i hope so.
if it sounds like i'm complaing, i'm really not.
i love this place...it has a lot of potential i think.
there's just so many people!!!
and they all want your money and it just gets frustrating.
i am super relaxed though...we haven't done anything here, and i'm not really too concerned.
we rented a dvd player for our room so that we could start killing off the 100's of dvd's that we have bought while we have been here.
the way i figure it is, they are cheaper to buy and mail home then they would be to rent at shell, so even if i watch them once, it's worth it. and we tested each one, so we know that they work really well!
we also have a beautiful pool at our hotel...it's absolutely gorgeous.
your money goes a lot further for accomodation here, than anywhere else i've been in Asia.
we're paying around $12 a night for the two of us, and we are staying in a stunning hotel!
our beds are so comfy and have so many blankets, we crank the a/c at night just to cool down under all the layers.
i honestly haven't slept this well since back home.
today we were walking down the maze -like corridors of this crazy part of town when i heard my name being called.
"ERIN! ERIN! HI! HOW ARE YOU ERIN!?"
i looked around, and finally put two and two together...
it was the cutest little lady that worked at the dvd shop that we went to four days ago.
we had warmed up to each other and she still remembered my name! how cute!
well, i should header...
not like i have anything to do, but i should be outside...watching the kites flying in the sunset.
talk to you soon...
or once i get to a new country perhaps.
love love love.
e.
Monday, June 25, 2007
satay and all that is singapore.
we arrived in Singapore last night.
and i feel like Jasmine from the movie Aladdin.
this place is crazy.
so clean, especially in comparison to other cities in Asia.
5 hour bus ride...the last 20 minutes being luxurious because we switched to a super V.I.P. bus.
simon, richelle, derek and i wandered around an unknown area for awhile, and then stumbled across "Sleepy Sams" which is more like a bed and breakfast than a hostel.
it is LUXURY.
they love love love ikea here apparently.
i had a hot shower this morning.
followed by free breakfast, and free internet.
the food here is amazing...last night we had a late dinner of chicken satay...the best i've ever had i think.
our server's name was "moose".
he only had 3 teeth.
and doesn't like rootbeer because it is only drank by "root" people aka rude.
last night i slept on a soft pillow for the first time in weeks.
woke up at 5:30 am due to the outrageous singing voices creeping up from the mosque outside our window.
now we are on our way to the Singapore Zoo, and then it's off to sip Singapore slings and shop in chinatown!
and i feel like Jasmine from the movie Aladdin.
this place is crazy.
so clean, especially in comparison to other cities in Asia.
5 hour bus ride...the last 20 minutes being luxurious because we switched to a super V.I.P. bus.
simon, richelle, derek and i wandered around an unknown area for awhile, and then stumbled across "Sleepy Sams" which is more like a bed and breakfast than a hostel.
it is LUXURY.
they love love love ikea here apparently.
i had a hot shower this morning.
followed by free breakfast, and free internet.
the food here is amazing...last night we had a late dinner of chicken satay...the best i've ever had i think.
our server's name was "moose".
he only had 3 teeth.
and doesn't like rootbeer because it is only drank by "root" people aka rude.
last night i slept on a soft pillow for the first time in weeks.
woke up at 5:30 am due to the outrageous singing voices creeping up from the mosque outside our window.
now we are on our way to the Singapore Zoo, and then it's off to sip Singapore slings and shop in chinatown!
Sunday, June 17, 2007
perhentianlands
i just discovered the my brown back is covered in odd bumps...
hmmm...
right now i am sitting at a restaurant called "tummy rumbles" and it is up on a hill overlooking this place, this glorious palce.
we arrived here a couple days ago, and i instantly fell in love.
the water is crystal clear and the bluest blue you have ever seen.
our first night was spent in a shack with cockroaches escaping from the walls.
ok cockroach. but STILL...
the next day we moved to a different place...cheaper too.
it's called lemongrass and it is lovely.
last night and the night before, it rained...on both derek and i.
today they are fixing our leaking roof for our...surprisingly. cuz so far, everything we have seen in malaysia, is built once and then left to crumble...no fixing up...QB would crap themselves.
the people here are great...
today we wrote our dad's fathers day messages in the sand and took a photoshoot...
tomorrow we are going on a day trip around the islands here...a day of snorkelling in the most beautiful water...i am pumped.
my skin is brown brown brown...
and i am so relaxed, it's ridiculous.
the food is cheap and really good...BBQ fish on the beach...
everything else is rather pricey...like the internet i'm currently using...
crap. my time is up.
i will post more asap.
love love love
me
hmmm...
right now i am sitting at a restaurant called "tummy rumbles" and it is up on a hill overlooking this place, this glorious palce.
we arrived here a couple days ago, and i instantly fell in love.
the water is crystal clear and the bluest blue you have ever seen.
our first night was spent in a shack with cockroaches escaping from the walls.
ok cockroach. but STILL...
the next day we moved to a different place...cheaper too.
it's called lemongrass and it is lovely.
last night and the night before, it rained...on both derek and i.
today they are fixing our leaking roof for our...surprisingly. cuz so far, everything we have seen in malaysia, is built once and then left to crumble...no fixing up...QB would crap themselves.
the people here are great...
today we wrote our dad's fathers day messages in the sand and took a photoshoot...
tomorrow we are going on a day trip around the islands here...a day of snorkelling in the most beautiful water...i am pumped.
my skin is brown brown brown...
and i am so relaxed, it's ridiculous.
the food is cheap and really good...BBQ fish on the beach...
everything else is rather pricey...like the internet i'm currently using...
crap. my time is up.
i will post more asap.
love love love
me
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
miles and miles of malaysia...
i don't even know what day it is anymore, or how long we've been here.
whatever the case, we are leaving Langkawi Island tomorrow at 5:30 pm.
we have a LOT of modes of transportation ahead of us...
one 25 minute taxi ride to the jetty.
one hour ferry ride back to the mainland.
then the killer...a 10 hour bus ride through the night and through the mountains.
(not to worry, the lady was very reassuring, saying "it's a V.I.P. bus"...like that means anything in Asia)
after the bus we hop in another quick taxi ride over to the next jetty.
one more quick ferry and then Shabam!
we will be at the Perhentian Islands...the littler of the two around noon the following day.
as lovely as it is here, i am more than ready for a new place to explore.
and i'm ready for a place with more then 3 places to eat.
today we had a gross dinner on the beach...
bruschetta to start which was a glob of tomato paste on bread with a hunk of cheese melted on top. gourmet? not so much.
after the lovely appetizer i had fried rice which had large piece of garlic (which so far on this island, make my mouth BURN and tingle...can't figure it out.) i couldn't eat it...it was spicy and it wasn't supposed to be. so i ordered nachos to boot. ha. i love being able to afford it all. for once.
oh ya. and my ice tea tasted like marshmallows...it's a normal thing here. can't figure that out either.
Perhentian Kecil is an island with no atms or banks, no public phones and internet is sparse and 5 times more expensive than here! so this will be the last you hear from me for a couple of days i'd imagine.
i best be on my way. i have to pack up our hut, de-ant everything and get some sleep.
whatever the case, we are leaving Langkawi Island tomorrow at 5:30 pm.
we have a LOT of modes of transportation ahead of us...
one 25 minute taxi ride to the jetty.
one hour ferry ride back to the mainland.
then the killer...a 10 hour bus ride through the night and through the mountains.
(not to worry, the lady was very reassuring, saying "it's a V.I.P. bus"...like that means anything in Asia)
after the bus we hop in another quick taxi ride over to the next jetty.
one more quick ferry and then Shabam!
we will be at the Perhentian Islands...the littler of the two around noon the following day.
as lovely as it is here, i am more than ready for a new place to explore.
and i'm ready for a place with more then 3 places to eat.
today we had a gross dinner on the beach...
bruschetta to start which was a glob of tomato paste on bread with a hunk of cheese melted on top. gourmet? not so much.
after the lovely appetizer i had fried rice which had large piece of garlic (which so far on this island, make my mouth BURN and tingle...can't figure it out.) i couldn't eat it...it was spicy and it wasn't supposed to be. so i ordered nachos to boot. ha. i love being able to afford it all. for once.
oh ya. and my ice tea tasted like marshmallows...it's a normal thing here. can't figure that out either.
Perhentian Kecil is an island with no atms or banks, no public phones and internet is sparse and 5 times more expensive than here! so this will be the last you hear from me for a couple of days i'd imagine.
i best be on my way. i have to pack up our hut, de-ant everything and get some sleep.
Friday, June 8, 2007
langkawi island...
oh i love doing nothing all day.
ans that's exactly what i've done since we got here at Langkawi Island...
...which is right on the Thai/Malay border.
it's a beautiful island, and the weather has been nearly perfect.
it is hot hot hot. around 35 above everyday with a chance of thunderstorm all the time.
we are staying at a place called gecko guesthouse in a little hut down a dirt road.
we have pet monkeys at our place and we are a hop skip and a jump away from the beautiful beach.
i have new dee stee books to read...
just had dinner on the beach and watched the sunset...
didn't accomplish a single thing today and am totally fine with that.
i'm too lazy to even go into more detail....
and i don't even know if anyone reads these anyway since nobody ever comments. ha.
i'm not bitter, really.
i'm off to wander the streets lit up with christmas lights.
peace out.
the.
end.
ans that's exactly what i've done since we got here at Langkawi Island...
...which is right on the Thai/Malay border.
it's a beautiful island, and the weather has been nearly perfect.
it is hot hot hot. around 35 above everyday with a chance of thunderstorm all the time.
we are staying at a place called gecko guesthouse in a little hut down a dirt road.
we have pet monkeys at our place and we are a hop skip and a jump away from the beautiful beach.
i have new dee stee books to read...
just had dinner on the beach and watched the sunset...
didn't accomplish a single thing today and am totally fine with that.
i'm too lazy to even go into more detail....
and i don't even know if anyone reads these anyway since nobody ever comments. ha.
i'm not bitter, really.
i'm off to wander the streets lit up with christmas lights.
peace out.
the.
end.
Monday, June 4, 2007
i'd like that saran wrapped up please...
well we've been in this city for about 4 days or maybe 5...
i've lost count.
we went to the bus station today to try to book a train or bus to get the H out of dodge.
no such luck.
all i got out of that place was an instant headache from all the yelling...
and a sweatier body.
(if that's possible.)
no, i'm pretty sure it was around 35 above outside, and at least 42 inside.
plus a fazillion percent humidity.
there were only two spots open on the sketch night bus and they were nowhere near each other, and i'm not ready to sit by some creeper during the night in this place. so we'll wait another day to go.
it rained again this afternoon and we really didn't accomplished much today.
i did however manage to make it to the post office to pick up some boxes to send stuff home...
about 13 or 14 kilos...gulp.
lucky for me, it's super super cheap otherwise i would be giving it all to the beggars in the streets. even then, i don't think they'd be THAT pumped on my junk.
we are going to go to the Batu Caves either tomorrow or the day after, as well as the Lake Gardens, should be fun. until then i'm gonna sit back with my bag of lychee's and mangosteen and go read the new chuck palahniuk book that derek bought! (if he lets me...)
ps. here's some more facts about KL:
...they wrap everything in saran wrap. shoes for sale, drying meat, small children...you name it.
...they don't serve real popcorn at theaters! just caramel...bleh. but they do on the other hand serve mashed potatoes instead!
i've lost count.
we went to the bus station today to try to book a train or bus to get the H out of dodge.
no such luck.
all i got out of that place was an instant headache from all the yelling...
and a sweatier body.
(if that's possible.)
no, i'm pretty sure it was around 35 above outside, and at least 42 inside.
plus a fazillion percent humidity.
there were only two spots open on the sketch night bus and they were nowhere near each other, and i'm not ready to sit by some creeper during the night in this place. so we'll wait another day to go.
it rained again this afternoon and we really didn't accomplished much today.
i did however manage to make it to the post office to pick up some boxes to send stuff home...
about 13 or 14 kilos...gulp.
lucky for me, it's super super cheap otherwise i would be giving it all to the beggars in the streets. even then, i don't think they'd be THAT pumped on my junk.
we are going to go to the Batu Caves either tomorrow or the day after, as well as the Lake Gardens, should be fun. until then i'm gonna sit back with my bag of lychee's and mangosteen and go read the new chuck palahniuk book that derek bought! (if he lets me...)
ps. here's some more facts about KL:
...they wrap everything in saran wrap. shoes for sale, drying meat, small children...you name it.
...they don't serve real popcorn at theaters! just caramel...bleh. but they do on the other hand serve mashed potatoes instead!
Friday, June 1, 2007
chaotic KL...
ahoy hoy from kuala lumpur!
we arrived this morning and it has been non-stop chaos.
oh how i have missed the chaos that is Asia.
the smells on the other hand?
not so much.
Kuala Lumpur is a beautiful and ugly city all wrapped up in one.
there are lovely lucious parks and 5 star hotels next to shacks surrounded by garbage and rabid kitties.
there's no ghetto here, it's mixed in with all the beauties.
it's all a big smorgasborg of incredibly breathtaking sights...good and bad.
but i love it.
there are only two colors in KL:
concrete.
and greeeeeen.
i have to admit i do want to just take pictures and escape to a beach, or a jungle or something. anything.
it's too chaotic for right now. i know that when we come back here again (as we will many times, cuz it's the hub of all of our flights and trains, etc.) that i will love love love it, but right now i think we need to get out.
it is a nice change of pace, price-wise from australia...for example...
i just ate a roll of oreo's, a can of mango ice tea, and bought a pack of tylonel and a popsicle pete for da rude all for under $3 canadian. how many times does that ever happen? not very many. if ever.
malaysians love things that are either REALLY small or REALLY large.
for example:
their teeny tiny drinking boxes and little baby bottles of milk. so small.
their billboards....larger.than.life.
today we took many modes of malaysian transport...
1. flew with malaysian airlines to KL
2. KLIA express train to city center.
3. taxi to hostel.
4. monorail to the LRT center (sky-train-esque)
5. free shuttle bus to biggest mall in s.e.asia
then more skytrains and stuff.
i just found it odd that one could get around the city so easily and for so cheap AND in a million different ways! not in winnipeg...and not for $1 either!
we were pretty proud of ourselves for not getting lost...that is until it mattered most...
when we were 3 minutes from home and it started POURING.
only in asia can it be a million above and pouring rain and you don't cool off...
ricky martin is playing in the background, and i totally just caught myself singing along. barf.
i can't believe i went to a big mall in asia and didn't buy anything.
but the topshop and topman were pretty rad. not on this face's budget. not yet.
tomorrow i will go to markets. day and night. the night one sounds promising.
i will bargain for bags of mangosteen, and designer knock offs of sunnies and oversized purses.
then i will be alright in this city for at least another day.
we are also hitting up the petronas towers...take some pictures and then who knows where to next!
i should get to bed, i only slept for about 2 hours or so on the plane...
i was having too much fun watching cheesy movies...
..."because i said so..."?
guilty.
love.
e.
we arrived this morning and it has been non-stop chaos.
oh how i have missed the chaos that is Asia.
the smells on the other hand?
not so much.
Kuala Lumpur is a beautiful and ugly city all wrapped up in one.
there are lovely lucious parks and 5 star hotels next to shacks surrounded by garbage and rabid kitties.
there's no ghetto here, it's mixed in with all the beauties.
it's all a big smorgasborg of incredibly breathtaking sights...good and bad.
but i love it.
there are only two colors in KL:
concrete.
and greeeeeen.
i have to admit i do want to just take pictures and escape to a beach, or a jungle or something. anything.
it's too chaotic for right now. i know that when we come back here again (as we will many times, cuz it's the hub of all of our flights and trains, etc.) that i will love love love it, but right now i think we need to get out.
it is a nice change of pace, price-wise from australia...for example...
i just ate a roll of oreo's, a can of mango ice tea, and bought a pack of tylonel and a popsicle pete for da rude all for under $3 canadian. how many times does that ever happen? not very many. if ever.
malaysians love things that are either REALLY small or REALLY large.
for example:
their teeny tiny drinking boxes and little baby bottles of milk. so small.
their billboards....larger.than.life.
today we took many modes of malaysian transport...
1. flew with malaysian airlines to KL
2. KLIA express train to city center.
3. taxi to hostel.
4. monorail to the LRT center (sky-train-esque)
5. free shuttle bus to biggest mall in s.e.asia
then more skytrains and stuff.
i just found it odd that one could get around the city so easily and for so cheap AND in a million different ways! not in winnipeg...and not for $1 either!
we were pretty proud of ourselves for not getting lost...that is until it mattered most...
when we were 3 minutes from home and it started POURING.
only in asia can it be a million above and pouring rain and you don't cool off...
ricky martin is playing in the background, and i totally just caught myself singing along. barf.
i can't believe i went to a big mall in asia and didn't buy anything.
but the topshop and topman were pretty rad. not on this face's budget. not yet.
tomorrow i will go to markets. day and night. the night one sounds promising.
i will bargain for bags of mangosteen, and designer knock offs of sunnies and oversized purses.
then i will be alright in this city for at least another day.
we are also hitting up the petronas towers...take some pictures and then who knows where to next!
i should get to bed, i only slept for about 2 hours or so on the plane...
i was having too much fun watching cheesy movies...
..."because i said so..."?
guilty.
love.
e.
Monday, May 28, 2007
cape trib.
i don't feel like backtracking.
so i don't have to, cuz i'm on holidays. yah baby.
this is HANDS DOWN the most stunningly beautiful place i have seen in my 22 short years.
i am in absolute heaven.
we're in a national park.
it is rainforest mania.it's pouring rain, but it's a different, rainforesty misty rain.
we drove for hours with a couple we met a couple days ago....a german dude and a thai girl...such a good experience.
driving in the smallest car imaginable...
pushing thru vines and ferns...
on the most winding road in the mountains imaginable....
trying so hard not to faint. or vomit in the tiny car.
stopping at lookouts, looking at mini waterfalls and plants i've never seen before.
i love love love this place.
it's called cape tribulation.
captain james cook discovered it. for real.
he crashed his boat here on the coral reef i think...hence the tribulation.
cape trib. i love you.
i don't even wanna bother taking pictures because
A.they won't remotely do it justice.
B. you probably won't believe me that it's real.
i am speechless.
that's all.
let's all move here and have dance parties in the rainforst with giant tree frogs.
e.
so i don't have to, cuz i'm on holidays. yah baby.
this is HANDS DOWN the most stunningly beautiful place i have seen in my 22 short years.
i am in absolute heaven.
we're in a national park.
it is rainforest mania.it's pouring rain, but it's a different, rainforesty misty rain.
we drove for hours with a couple we met a couple days ago....a german dude and a thai girl...such a good experience.
driving in the smallest car imaginable...
pushing thru vines and ferns...
on the most winding road in the mountains imaginable....
trying so hard not to faint. or vomit in the tiny car.
stopping at lookouts, looking at mini waterfalls and plants i've never seen before.
i love love love this place.
it's called cape tribulation.
captain james cook discovered it. for real.
he crashed his boat here on the coral reef i think...hence the tribulation.
cape trib. i love you.
i don't even wanna bother taking pictures because
A.they won't remotely do it justice.
B. you probably won't believe me that it's real.
i am speechless.
that's all.
let's all move here and have dance parties in the rainforst with giant tree frogs.
e.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
happy curtains...
i guess i skipped a couple of blog entries...whoops.
right now i am in brisbane.
we got here this afternoon after a quick busride from Surfers Paradise.
let me backtrack a bit.
back to the lovely newcastle.
we left that dump and headed off to bigger and better things...
Byron Bay!
we stayed at an awesome hostel called "Arts Factory Lodge" aka Art City.
we were surrounded by didge-making hippies, fluorescent colored paintings and the like.
we had a pool right outside our "cube" and we spent many hours roasting underneath mango trees.
the weather has been beautiful, we've been really lucky. we had a couple minutes of rain, but nothing too crazy.
we met a bunch of really cool kids from all over the map, mostly from the UK, Germany and Sweden.
Art City had a really cool restaurant and bar "Buddah Bar" and a lounge theatre where we took in "hot fuzz" while lying on cow-printed pillows. it was pretty neat.
Byron Bay is such a chilled little beachtown, it was exactly what the doctor had ordered.
we got on a bus to Surfers Paradise after 4 days in Byron Bay, and it was exactly what the name said it would be.
derek and i both took our first surfing lessons and it was a riot.
we had a 2 hour class for $35 and it kicked my butt.
i woke up this morning and couldn't get out of bed. i am a giant noodle.
the ocean definitely got the best of me many times, but i managed to get up quite a few times but never for very long.
i had a smile plastered on my face for the entire time, even as i swallowed half of the ocean and filled every knook and cranny with salt.
(it's always entertaining showering after the beach and checking out your invisible swimsuit tan and finding out how much sand you actually took home with you.)
we stayed at a tiny hostel close to town...close to the outdoor shopping mall...
(finally broke down and bought some dresses...shocking i know)
we met a really cool couple...Jack and Jess from London, England.
we hung out with them a bit, and hopefully we will meet up with them again...possibly in Bali cuz they are heading that way too!
the girl that runs the hostel...a CRAZY german named suzy...aka SOOOOZE!!!!
she was a riot. it was her birthday today. she made herself cake.
she made me lick the beater.
i thought it was mashed potatoes.
negative.
RUM CAKE.
ha.
our hostel had the happiest curtains in the world.
i will post a picture soon.
i woke up and had an instant smile on my face.
shoot.
my time is up.
we are in brisbane now like i said, just till tomorrow when it's off to Rainbow Beach!
cheers lovelies!
love
e
right now i am in brisbane.
we got here this afternoon after a quick busride from Surfers Paradise.
let me backtrack a bit.
back to the lovely newcastle.
we left that dump and headed off to bigger and better things...
Byron Bay!
we stayed at an awesome hostel called "Arts Factory Lodge" aka Art City.
we were surrounded by didge-making hippies, fluorescent colored paintings and the like.
we had a pool right outside our "cube" and we spent many hours roasting underneath mango trees.
the weather has been beautiful, we've been really lucky. we had a couple minutes of rain, but nothing too crazy.
we met a bunch of really cool kids from all over the map, mostly from the UK, Germany and Sweden.
Art City had a really cool restaurant and bar "Buddah Bar" and a lounge theatre where we took in "hot fuzz" while lying on cow-printed pillows. it was pretty neat.
Byron Bay is such a chilled little beachtown, it was exactly what the doctor had ordered.
we got on a bus to Surfers Paradise after 4 days in Byron Bay, and it was exactly what the name said it would be.
derek and i both took our first surfing lessons and it was a riot.
we had a 2 hour class for $35 and it kicked my butt.
i woke up this morning and couldn't get out of bed. i am a giant noodle.
the ocean definitely got the best of me many times, but i managed to get up quite a few times but never for very long.
i had a smile plastered on my face for the entire time, even as i swallowed half of the ocean and filled every knook and cranny with salt.
(it's always entertaining showering after the beach and checking out your invisible swimsuit tan and finding out how much sand you actually took home with you.)
we stayed at a tiny hostel close to town...close to the outdoor shopping mall...
(finally broke down and bought some dresses...shocking i know)
we met a really cool couple...Jack and Jess from London, England.
we hung out with them a bit, and hopefully we will meet up with them again...possibly in Bali cuz they are heading that way too!
the girl that runs the hostel...a CRAZY german named suzy...aka SOOOOZE!!!!
she was a riot. it was her birthday today. she made herself cake.
she made me lick the beater.
i thought it was mashed potatoes.
negative.
RUM CAKE.
ha.
our hostel had the happiest curtains in the world.
i will post a picture soon.
i woke up and had an instant smile on my face.
shoot.
my time is up.
we are in brisbane now like i said, just till tomorrow when it's off to Rainbow Beach!
cheers lovelies!
love
e
Saturday, May 5, 2007
newcastle in it's glory...
this place...
this place!
let's just say if i was hanging out in morris, manitoba i could probably have more fun.
even if the stampede and the mcc sale were nowhere in sight, and the mcc store was shut down!
we are in newcastle.
the name makes it sound new and refreshing.
but what's in a name?
we got here 2 nights ago. 2 nights too many.
we checked out of our hostel this morning, and we don't leave until 9:10 pm tonight.
we called today "boss day"
we take turns each hour being the boss.
i had the first hour, i got to decide how we are gonna kill the first of 11 hours.
i chose a stroll to marketown. (approximately a mile away)
again, what's in a name?
i had visions of markets and quaint little shops and cafes, dancing in my head.
i was wrong. horribly wrong.
turns out after walking about 18 million blocks in ghetto-ville u.s.a, we should have got a clue what we were getting ourselves into.
i swear this is the dirtiest town ever.
and marketown?
it's smaller than the steinbach mall. and not even HALF as awesome.
every building from here to there was either pee'd on, had a broken window, or was boarded up.
i'm not even exaggerating!
derek and i have been purposefully debbie downers all day.
all we have done is complain, and drag our feet and count down the minutes till we can leave this dump....8 hours exactly.
the coolest thing about this town so far was the noodlebox restaraunt that we had dinner at last night...our meals actually came in a little chinese box. wow.
and then i found a really cool leaf the size of my head. (i have a big head)
i picked it up and threw it down almost immediately...it was covered in pee and bird poo.
newcastle also blows because d and i had our first semi-fight.
we both got over it fairly quickly once i stopped with the silent treatment.
ok i have successfully killed an hour online. woot woot. byron bay here we come!!!!
love love love.
e.
this place!
let's just say if i was hanging out in morris, manitoba i could probably have more fun.
even if the stampede and the mcc sale were nowhere in sight, and the mcc store was shut down!
we are in newcastle.
the name makes it sound new and refreshing.
but what's in a name?
we got here 2 nights ago. 2 nights too many.
we checked out of our hostel this morning, and we don't leave until 9:10 pm tonight.
we called today "boss day"
we take turns each hour being the boss.
i had the first hour, i got to decide how we are gonna kill the first of 11 hours.
i chose a stroll to marketown. (approximately a mile away)
again, what's in a name?
i had visions of markets and quaint little shops and cafes, dancing in my head.
i was wrong. horribly wrong.
turns out after walking about 18 million blocks in ghetto-ville u.s.a, we should have got a clue what we were getting ourselves into.
i swear this is the dirtiest town ever.
and marketown?
it's smaller than the steinbach mall. and not even HALF as awesome.
every building from here to there was either pee'd on, had a broken window, or was boarded up.
i'm not even exaggerating!
derek and i have been purposefully debbie downers all day.
all we have done is complain, and drag our feet and count down the minutes till we can leave this dump....8 hours exactly.
the coolest thing about this town so far was the noodlebox restaraunt that we had dinner at last night...our meals actually came in a little chinese box. wow.
and then i found a really cool leaf the size of my head. (i have a big head)
i picked it up and threw it down almost immediately...it was covered in pee and bird poo.
newcastle also blows because d and i had our first semi-fight.
we both got over it fairly quickly once i stopped with the silent treatment.
ok i have successfully killed an hour online. woot woot. byron bay here we come!!!!
love love love.
e.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
80% milk and topless ladies...
yesterday i went to the beach for the first time.
i love love love the ocean more than life itself.
the 5 foot high waves tried to take me deep into their sea-crustied home...i wouldn't let them.
last night i talked to "lasagna man"...
i had a full on conversation with this guy eating lasagne...turns out he doesn't speak english. it took me 5 minutes to discover this fact...weird.
we are staying at Bondi Backpackers...apparently people think it's cool to sing at the top of their drunken lungs at 2:30 in the morning...it's not actually THAT cool.
i woke up, pumped for our FREE breakfast.
i walked back up to our room to get an apple instead.
the options were:
rice krispies.
corn flakes.
milk.
no toast.
no nothing.
i hate cereal. blah blah BLEH.
apparently australian folk only drink milk that is about 80% rather than 2 or 1%...boo. i would rather have cereal with water.
oh well, it is another gorgeous day out today and we are gonna go and take advantage...and possible surf lessons!
ok i'm off for now...love love love you all.
love.
the bird.
i love love love the ocean more than life itself.
the 5 foot high waves tried to take me deep into their sea-crustied home...i wouldn't let them.
last night i talked to "lasagna man"...
i had a full on conversation with this guy eating lasagne...turns out he doesn't speak english. it took me 5 minutes to discover this fact...weird.
we are staying at Bondi Backpackers...apparently people think it's cool to sing at the top of their drunken lungs at 2:30 in the morning...it's not actually THAT cool.
i woke up, pumped for our FREE breakfast.
i walked back up to our room to get an apple instead.
the options were:
rice krispies.
corn flakes.
milk.
no toast.
no nothing.
i hate cereal. blah blah BLEH.
apparently australian folk only drink milk that is about 80% rather than 2 or 1%...boo. i would rather have cereal with water.
oh well, it is another gorgeous day out today and we are gonna go and take advantage...and possible surf lessons!
ok i'm off for now...love love love you all.
love.
the bird.
Monday, April 30, 2007
smiling heart...
this computer is all chinese, so i hope this posts properly.
our trip finally started.
it feels like day one and my heart is smiling a big huge cheesy smile.
why you ask? only 13 days in and now it hits me?
because my friends....
because i saw the ocean for the first time on this trip!!!!
i waded through it.
i got my feet wet and had sand between my toes.
all i needed this whole time was to get away from the city lights, and dip my toes in an ocean.
we took the ferry to Manly beach today, and it definitely made my day...week and maybe even month.
it was wicked to see derek's reaction to it all...he had never seen the ocean before, he was like a little kid in a candy shop!
it was cloudy and cool out, but it didn't keep us from enjoying it and trying to take it all in.
we will definitely go back to manly beach and stay for longer than one afternoon...but first we are heading to Bondi Beach tomorrow!
i really like Sydney though, it's a huge city!
i feel like we just hit the tip of the iceberg and now we have to go, but i am ready.
ok, gotta run.
love love love.
the bird.
our trip finally started.
it feels like day one and my heart is smiling a big huge cheesy smile.
why you ask? only 13 days in and now it hits me?
because my friends....
because i saw the ocean for the first time on this trip!!!!
i waded through it.
i got my feet wet and had sand between my toes.
all i needed this whole time was to get away from the city lights, and dip my toes in an ocean.
we took the ferry to Manly beach today, and it definitely made my day...week and maybe even month.
it was wicked to see derek's reaction to it all...he had never seen the ocean before, he was like a little kid in a candy shop!
it was cloudy and cool out, but it didn't keep us from enjoying it and trying to take it all in.
we will definitely go back to manly beach and stay for longer than one afternoon...but first we are heading to Bondi Beach tomorrow!
i really like Sydney though, it's a huge city!
i feel like we just hit the tip of the iceberg and now we have to go, but i am ready.
ok, gotta run.
love love love.
the bird.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
m.e.l.b.o.u.r.n.e.
i love love love this city.
it is incredibly lovely and entertaining!
it's not everyday a girl from winnipeg can jump on a free tram that takes her on a tour around the city center...and there's actually stuff to see! and do! don't get me wrong...i love winnipeg...
yesterday derek and i woke up
had free breakfast in the hostel's pub.
(free is few and far between out here.)
vegemite is completely disgusting. toast or no toast.
but people out here go crazy for the stuff.
it's pretty much the most unhealthy thing in the world. pure LARD. barf.
then we walked up the street to the queen victoria market.
sounds like it should be on a ship.
it's not.
i did however find some yellow jeans for $20....tempting...
they had a LOT of ugg boot stalls...in every style and color.
i barfed in my mouth.
after that we got on the tram
stopped all over the place...at the pier first
took a picture of a cow up a tree
got back on and went to the Melbourne Aquarium
$24 to get in...yikes bikes.
we did however get to see the sharks and MASSIVE sting rays getting fed which was gnar-boots.
back on the tram.
walked around one of the main streets...
every single way you turn you will find a gem of a shop hidden away
or a cafe with shnitzels and meat pies.
i had shnitzel today for the first time...never knew that it was, what it was.
pretty sure we have it but call it something else.
i found a giant magazine store.
the fashion and skateboarding and artsy magazines are out of this world.
send me money and i will send you one. wink.
tram time.
we went to the crown entertainment center...
so odd.
it's a GIANT casino attached to a high end mall (there was a rolex store...weird) attached to a wicked food court attached to a theatre attached to an underground strip of asian stores attached to a 5 star hotel attached to the MOON! i'm assuming...
after we returned from the moon, we walked down by the yarra river and continued walking until we couldn't walk any more.
we got back to our pee-smelling hostel, talked to some blokes and then hit the hay.
all in all a wonderful day.
today we are going to a bunch of museums...art and the city one.
i also discovered a mall down the street...may have to go investigate.
love love love
the bird.
it is incredibly lovely and entertaining!
it's not everyday a girl from winnipeg can jump on a free tram that takes her on a tour around the city center...and there's actually stuff to see! and do! don't get me wrong...i love winnipeg...
yesterday derek and i woke up
had free breakfast in the hostel's pub.
(free is few and far between out here.)
vegemite is completely disgusting. toast or no toast.
but people out here go crazy for the stuff.
it's pretty much the most unhealthy thing in the world. pure LARD. barf.
then we walked up the street to the queen victoria market.
sounds like it should be on a ship.
it's not.
i did however find some yellow jeans for $20....tempting...
they had a LOT of ugg boot stalls...in every style and color.
i barfed in my mouth.
after that we got on the tram
stopped all over the place...at the pier first
took a picture of a cow up a tree
got back on and went to the Melbourne Aquarium
$24 to get in...yikes bikes.
we did however get to see the sharks and MASSIVE sting rays getting fed which was gnar-boots.
back on the tram.
walked around one of the main streets...
every single way you turn you will find a gem of a shop hidden away
or a cafe with shnitzels and meat pies.
i had shnitzel today for the first time...never knew that it was, what it was.
pretty sure we have it but call it something else.
i found a giant magazine store.
the fashion and skateboarding and artsy magazines are out of this world.
send me money and i will send you one. wink.
tram time.
we went to the crown entertainment center...
so odd.
it's a GIANT casino attached to a high end mall (there was a rolex store...weird) attached to a wicked food court attached to a theatre attached to an underground strip of asian stores attached to a 5 star hotel attached to the MOON! i'm assuming...
after we returned from the moon, we walked down by the yarra river and continued walking until we couldn't walk any more.
we got back to our pee-smelling hostel, talked to some blokes and then hit the hay.
all in all a wonderful day.
today we are going to a bunch of museums...art and the city one.
i also discovered a mall down the street...may have to go investigate.
love love love
the bird.
Monday, April 23, 2007
bendigo, australia
friends!
we are here... in bendigo, australia and all is well.
we arrived at the melbourne airport on friday morning i think...after 3 very long days of flying to discover that our bags did not follow us all the way. to top that off, daniel was nowhere in sight. a couple hours later he arrived and we headed off to his parents' house about 2 hours away. the next couple of days were a whirlwind, we got our bags, met trippa's (aka daniel) parents, went to a debutante ball, watched footy, ate some meat pie and vanilla slice and then headed back to bendigo. Bendigo is a great little city, it kind of reminds me of banff...there's even a tram that runs through the main part of town. it's very quaint. the shops, cafes, bakeries...everything is out in the open with little patios scattered everywhere. i am surrounded by ugg boots, faux-hawks and everything seems a little backwards. i love it though! it just kind of hit me today that we are actually here...a fazillion miles from home, and i don't have to go to work for a year!!
we are heading into melbourne tomorrow, seeing as how trippa has the day off becuase of Anzac day. We are planning on flying to sydney on saturday and then spending a couple of days there before we make our way up the coast.
i gotta run, i have to find a new dress to wear before we go out tonight!
talk to ya soon gems.
love.
e.
we are here... in bendigo, australia and all is well.
we arrived at the melbourne airport on friday morning i think...after 3 very long days of flying to discover that our bags did not follow us all the way. to top that off, daniel was nowhere in sight. a couple hours later he arrived and we headed off to his parents' house about 2 hours away. the next couple of days were a whirlwind, we got our bags, met trippa's (aka daniel) parents, went to a debutante ball, watched footy, ate some meat pie and vanilla slice and then headed back to bendigo. Bendigo is a great little city, it kind of reminds me of banff...there's even a tram that runs through the main part of town. it's very quaint. the shops, cafes, bakeries...everything is out in the open with little patios scattered everywhere. i am surrounded by ugg boots, faux-hawks and everything seems a little backwards. i love it though! it just kind of hit me today that we are actually here...a fazillion miles from home, and i don't have to go to work for a year!!
we are heading into melbourne tomorrow, seeing as how trippa has the day off becuase of Anzac day. We are planning on flying to sydney on saturday and then spending a couple of days there before we make our way up the coast.
i gotta run, i have to find a new dress to wear before we go out tonight!
talk to ya soon gems.
love.
e.
Monday, January 29, 2007
anxious annie
well i leave in 78 days...
getting pretty excited.
less than 12 weeks and i shall be leaving everything i love... my job, my apartment, my family and my friends....for one long year.
and the only things i'm taking with are too many pairs of underwear, too few pairs of shoes, high hopes and hopefully enough money. and most importantly...I'll have Derek.
until then i will dream about the moment i step foot on familiar grounds...mbk...my other love.
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