Blub... Blub....

Just gonna drop a quick note about my change of location. I am now in Koh Tao Thailand. Its a small island of 21 square kilometers or so and off the east coast of southern Thailand. It's a tropical paradise unclaimed by big resorts as of yet. The water is blue the beaches are soft sand and it's the best place to go diving. 

Which is just what I'm doing!!! I'm taking a three day course to get my PADI open water diving certification. So by Monday afternoon I'll be able to open dive anywhere in the world. So exciting!! Koh Tao is known for it's diving and it's the most affordable place in the world do get certified. (AKA it's cheap) Tomorrow I have classroom time in the morning and two dives in the afternoon. One in shallow water to get used to equipment and one a little deeper to practice.  Then the same on Sunday. And on Monday we do two regular dives. Eep!! I can barely contain my excitement. And I'm taking the course with two friends here so that's extra fun. 

And I should mention that today, the 31st is the official Chinese New Year. So Happy New Year everyone!! Fireworks, and Chinese lanterns have been noticeable today on the island and I'm in Thailand. Haha. Also, everyone's birthday is today in China, so happy birthday too! I'm 23 now, and my little sister, who's actual birthday was yesterday (and she turned 19) is now 20. Crazy lunar calendar!! 

Until next time! 

Meg; world traveler, and near diving certified individual. ;)

Cambodia: Angkor what!!

Cambodia. The kingdom of Cambodia. That's where I've spent four days. I never thought I'd be in Cambodia. It baffles me. 

My time here was well spent. If your a map person, I am in Siem Reap. I spent Monday in a cooking class learning how to make some traditional Cambodian dishes. This class included a trip to the market to see where the food comes from. This trip saw a pigs head for sale, and I tried red ants. Surprisingly sour. 

Tuesday was biking! We rented bikes and trekked about a half hour out to Angkor Wat and the surrounding areas. (Its pronounced like 'anchor watt') It's the biggest religious site in the world. According to the guide book the temples were built over a thousand years ago and always in use to some capacity. The jungle overtook them and they were hidden from the average traveler. In the 16th century a Portuguese man discovered them and in the 18th century archeologists from Europe came to explore the site. It's under constant upkeep and many of the sites were rebuilt. I wandered around wondering what it would look like claimed by the jungle. What condition it was in when westerners came and how much of it was rebuilt. The area is so immensely touristy it's hard to tell. Being the fun folk we are, we had an awesome picture session. There were some ruins behind a food and shop area that weren't overrun by tourists because they were very significant. But we checked me out and had fun with panorama pictures and the timer. 

Biking was the best way to see the temple grounds. There was one temple that had faces carved into the towers. You could see the individual blocks and it made me wonder if the faces were carved before the blocks were put together or after. And the inside I could look up and see how the blocks all fit together perfectly to form the point I saw on the outside. About halfway thru the day, after biking past a temple being rebuilt with scaffolding and cranes, it just hit me.... How did a bunch of guys with hand tools build all this?? ....... The same way they built the pyramids and the great walk of china..... The aliens helped them. (If you're not a movie buff that was National Treasure) But in all seriousness, it's amazing to see what people could do in the absence of modern tools and technology. 

Then today was a lazy day. Slept in a bit, sat by the pool a bit and got a five dollar massage. Feet and hands with a touch of shoulder. One hour long and only five bucks!!! So great. 

Oh and did you know that Cambodia functions mostly on United States currency? The ATM gave me US dollars. The exchange is about 4000 to 1. So when I buy a beer for 50cents. (Yes, fifty cents!) I can pay with one dollar and get 2000 Cambodian Riel in return. I don't know why they use USD. Perhaps because the Riel has such a low value. All I know is I got 100 out of the ATM and realized I couldn't remember the last time I had possessed a hundred dollar bill in America and here I am in Cambodia of all places with one. 

Tomorrow morning I'm on a bus to Bangkok to catch a train south once more. Headed for an island. 

Until next time. Love from Cambodia. 

Intricate detail carved into a block in the ruins at Angkor Wat. 

Travel times

Travel is a tricky, finicky, wonderful thing. 

Here are some observations from my trip to Cambodia via Bangkok. 

- the bar near my gate played some great music. Including 'my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard' haha

- people are weird. People watching is fascinating. 

- there was no ATM at the Bangkok airport anywhere in my wing. Lammme!

- I have a list of classics on my nook that I'm attempting to read. I've gotten thru 'slaughter house five' and now working on 'the sun also rises' by Hemingway. Why are the classics stream of consciousness based?? Why are these books the every thougtht of one character. Ugh! I can see the benefit of having read them but boy are they a struggle. I should probably tell you I got 5 pages into 'last of the Mohicans' and decided it was too intense for a plane. 

- the starbucks in Thailand so far haven't had free wifi. What is the deal with that!?

- Starbucks at Bangkok airport was super cold!!! Actually rolled my pants to full length and put on a sweatshirt. 

- there was a couple of ladies at the Starbucks talking about the Super Bowl. There were American from my observation and it hit me that my American contact has been so limited that just listening to them made me smile. 

- I got a new app. Clumsy ninja. Go check it out and get it. Super entertaining on my flight. 

- finally, immigration / customs is super intimidating. Obviously you don't want to mock or make light of it, but getting thru isn't a trick. Sometimes there's paperwork but only on the way in. And having an American passport is nearly the best thing ever. (Only Australian passport holders can access more countries than a United States passport) 

Well, that's all. The Cambodia update coming soon. 

Until next time. 

Furthering adventures

Hey!!! 

We've got one more day in Ao Nang and then moving on... And I'm headed for Siemreab Cambodia. 

I'll probably not have another posting until I've gotten there. Don't miss me too much in the next three days. 

Until next time. 

Thailand: Ao Nang 3

We visited a nearby beach yesterday. We took a long boat to get there. Which is like a water taxi. And then we walked through the 'jungle' to another beach and saw some really awesome caves and rock out hangings. Then on the beach the sand was super fine and soft. The water was a little cooler on this beach than the one near our hostel. I swam out around and under some cliffs which was cool. When I leaned on one of the rocks getting out of the water I cut my hand a little ... Just a little quarter inch slice on my palm. When I told the boys they were worried about sharks because I might bleed in the water. Hahaha. 

We caught the longboat back to our beach and after a shower and a nap we headed out for dinner and drinks. I had a smattering of drinks from different places. Thai rum and coke, tequila sunrise, Thailand fantasy, and a kamikaze. The sunrise was the only one I really enjoyed. The others were too watery or a bad combo of alcohols. What I wouldn't give for some silver label Long Island or an old fashioned. 

Now I'm just chilling charging my devices and thinking about repacking my stuff. It tends to crawl out of my backpack every time we stop... Hmmmm. 

Until next time. 

Thailand: Ao Nang 2

Today, after settling at the hostel we went to the beach. As the boys drank their beer, I headed straight for the water. It was later in the afternoon, 4:30 or so. The beaches were nice and the sand in the water was soft. I waded out until I was chest deep and decided to float. With my head half underwater all sound disappeared except the sound of my breathing inside my head. I could see a touch of green in my peripheral vision but it was mostly blue sky and swirling clouds. The sun was hidden by a cloud bank. Laying in the water was a really relaxing moment. Buffeted gently by the waves and no cares to worry about is abrather freeing moment. It's amazing to me how caught up I can get in everything around me, things I'm doing or missing out on, the future, etc. Just sitting in the water gave me a buoyant attitude that has lasted all evening. (Pun intended) 

I also spent some time roaming the beach and looking for shells. Now, I'm sitting at a bar with great cocktail deals sipping on a MaiTai ... When in Thailand. 

Until next time. 

Thailand: Ao Nang

Well we left the island of Phuket. Way too many tourists to enjoy it for long. We are now in Ao Nang which is just across the bay from Phuket. We're settled in for two nights and gonna go exploring. I already like this place better because it's more chill, less busy and the cliffs are pretty scenic. 

More later. 

Until next time. 

Thailand: Putong 3

Thailand 3

Today is Tuesday. All the days are running together. That's what an extended vacation will do I guess. 

I want to tell you about my tour !! 

We booked a tour to see the island of Phuket and hit some highlights. And that we did! Our stops were Kata viewpoint /lookout, a safari park where we saw a snake show, a monkey show, said hello and played with a baby elephant for a bit looked at some lovely orchids, and then rode an elephant. Yes, be jealous. I was paired with Seth and we started out in our seats atop Elliot's back. I have no idea what the elephants name was, but Seth decided it should be Elliot the elephant. So Elliot starts out with his trainer on his head and us in the seats. Then about halfway the trainer asks if he can't take pictures for us. Well sure! So he jumps down and gets some distance to take pics while calling Elliot to follow. Then... This is good... Then he says to climb onto Elliot's neck. OKAY!  So I pop the bar holding us in our seats off and clamber down. Ahhhh! It was so fun! I was pitching with every step and an elephant doesn't have handles. So I had my legs bent to hang on and was braced on Elliot's head with my arms. (The trainer took some great pics...to be posted as soon as I can)

I can officially say I've ridden an elephant and that's pretty sweet. 

Pure joy is what comes from elephant riding. FYI.....

We also visited a giant Buddha statue that is part of a temple still being built. It's 75 meters tall and 28 wide... I think. After that was the Chalong Temple which was like other temples I'd seen. There was append with some decent size catfish. Then the cashew factory. There were samples! Did you know that cashews come from fruit and then the nut is dried, and the cashew has to be cracked out of it. And then someone removes the extra brown stuff before it looks like the nuts we see in the store. Also, cashew juice /tea is pretty tasty. I know I've used a lot of "then" and "after" ..... Sooooo, next was the honey shop. They had samples too!! I tried honey chocolate, honey wine, and honey water. All of which was good. The honey water particularly so.  Finishing off our day trip was this really really high scale schnazzy schmaltzy gift shop that was basically a jewelry store with some knock knack gifts at the back. But we got free coffee at the end. 

The rest of my day was eating twice, a Starbucks, and some drinks. 

Oh and planning the next leg if the trip. Tentatively headed to krabi and then Cambodia. 

Until next time. Love from the traveler. (That's me)

Thailand: putong 2

Thailand 2

I have a number of observations to make about this town. Hang on they get real interesting. 

This is where the mid life crisis comes to die. At least half the tourists are older, 50s and 60s and tanned like leather. Then there are families. Teenagers and small kids alike following their parents around. Last night we were on the main club/bar street and I could see a handful of kids on dad's shoulders and this was 12 at night. Also, most of the people I've seen and passed are European, and from what I can pick up, Eastern European. 

The beaches are fabulous. Obviously catered to tourists but yesterday we found a beach off the tourist spotlight. It wasn't as nice but it was empty and no one was trying to sell me anything. 

The roads here, once you get just outside of Main Street are all steep up and down and often times hairpin turn after hairpin turn. 

Back to bar street, that was crazy. The street was closed to cars and people swarmed everywhere. There were street performers break dancing, playing with snakes, and doing tricks with a soccer ball. Salesmen on the street tried to entice people every 10 feet or so with cards that's said "sexy lady show" or "free entrance" or "ping pig show" all of these revolved around women and their wiles. 

I got a massage too! It was lovely. And because I'm a girl I didn't get the 'come on' from the masseur. The massage places offer extras to their make patrons for a little more money. Welcome to Thailand. 

Seth, Jordan and I were sitting outside our hostel playing cards, drinking beer, enjoying a cigar when a guy asked if he could have a sit. We ended up having a long conversation and playing cards with him and his friend... His mate. He was Australian as was his cousin. After a while we went for food and hit bar street with James and Troy. The reason I joined is Troy had some fireworks and I wanted to see them. We headed down beer street which is a trip like a said, and out to the beach. Fireworks are illegal on the beach, but as soon as we got to the sand some guy tried to sell us some. Haha. 

After that I was done. Had to get up early for our tour. More on that later. 

Until next time. 

Thailand: putong

Hello!!! 

Just to let you know I am now in Putong beach Thailand. We got in late last night and now we're heading off to explore. 

I'll let you know how the beach is!!

Until next time. 

Singapore to Thailand

Singapore to Thailand 

In leaving Singapore the plan was to take a train up the east coast and see the jungle side of Malaysia. Our end goal was Kota Bharu. The closest stop to the border, and the end if the line headed north was Tumpat. So we bought tickets to Tumpat; beds overnight. The trip was pretty nice.  Only one screaming kid and it was a short tantrum. I slept for a solid 7 hours. 

When we arrived in Tumpat, one look around and we knew we'd made a mistake. Turns out there is bupkis in Tumpat. Nothing touristy, nearly no English either on signs or people speaking. We managed to walk a kilometer or so and found a Pizza Hut. Had some lunch and got directions. After two rather long bus rides and some more "let's get out of bum efff Malaysia" we got to Rantau panjang, the border town. One stop at customs and we walked out of bum eff Malaysia and into bum eff Thailand. It's also know as Sangai Kolok. We headed straight for the train station wanting to get north and to the beach and civilization. Well.... No trains. A man with broken English told us to come back tomorrow for a 630 train. 

I know what you're wondering..... What did I have for dinner? ...no? Oh then you're probably wondering what time it was and where we slept? Alright. We got off the train in Tumpat at noon and standing at the train station with no where to go at 6pm. Which was really seven because the time switched when we crossed, that was confusing. Our goals were a bed, food, and if there was any luck with us, internet. We got a hotel a ten min walk from the train station, found a food place not too far away, and they had wifi - crappy but sufficient enough to tell my mother I was alive. Needless to say, it was a frustrating day and I crashed. 

Now we are on the train to Hatyai. And boy is it a typical picture of Thai trains. There are wood two person benches that face each other in pairs in the train car. But many of them have three people crammed into it. There are people standing in the aisles and most of the windows are all open. It's pretty fabulous. I'm sitting next to Jordan and Seth is facing us with the pretty cute old man. He's weathered like old leather, has one thumb showing remnants of red polish, his mustaches is just a shadow of white, and he's got a faded, well used fedora that probably came from the Eisenhower administration..... Except the Thailand equivalent. 

I'll be posting this as soon as I can, and have another update on our trip then. 

Update**

We've made it to Patong Thailand. Got a hostel for the night and man, am I exhausted. 

Until next time. 

Singapore 2

Today was marathon that I sprinted. There's much to say but I'm rather tired so I'm gonna give you the shorthand. 

Walked down to Marina Bay. Saw the Marina Bay Sands casino and the beautiful surrounding areas. Rode worlds tallest giant observation wheel. It was awesome amazing spectacular and I'm glad I did it. Went to the Singapore zoo. Pretty cool. Got to pet a ring tailed lemur. Saw a flying fox fly. Might have had ice cream for supper... Went on a night safari. A showcase of nocturnal animals. Only one in the world I think. We walked some, saw a short animal show and took a nice tram ride. All in all a great day. Only flaw- on the night safari there were a bunch of Asian and African animals of the deer family and all I kept thinking was how my father would hunt them and they'd look cool hanging on the wall. It was funny and awful and true. (Sorry nonhunter people)

Things about Singapore you should know. It's beautiful. The goal here is to have a garden with a city. They are all about recycling, planting trees, and creating more green spaces. Also, I felt very at home here. We got ez passes at the metro station when we arrived. It was cheap and we get the money left refunded when we turn them in. So I can just beep in and out of busses and the metro. It's great. 

I'm hoping to find a spot to upload pics from my camera soon. Until then, here's a picture or two to tide you over. 

In the morning were headed out again for the east coast of Malaysia: Kota Bharu. We may stop there a day or two or head on to Thailand and Phuket. You'll hear from me again at the next stop. 

Until next time. 

Singapore

Hey all, KL was awesome. The whole driving on the left is a little disorienting and I keep looking the wrong way when I cross the road. But that's life. 

Now I'm in Singapore!! We took an 8 hr train ride down from KL and then bus/metro to downtown. We're staying just outside Chinatown. Gonna go exploring a bit and tomorrow I think is the zoo or perhaps a night safari ride. But the more urgent matter.... Fooooood!! I'm starving. Gonna go grab some grub. 

Until next time. 

Kuala Lumpur 1

Here's a quick update!

We flew into KL at 7am and busses and metro-ed into town. Found our hostel, dropped our luggage and went a wandering. We found food, explored Chinatown. Ironic I know. But I found a couple items to buy. A great shirt and some fun pants. Then we went and checked into the hostel, and I napped. Because our flight was at 130am and airplanes make awful beds I didn't sleep much. Then in the afternoon we explored a temple, visited a famous stadium, went to Berjaya Times Square mall.... Which is ginormous huge. Also home to the worlds largest gumball machine. Then we hit up bar street and made our way thru the local deals. We met Francesco (from Italy) and his friend from France and played cards with them. :) 

Now we are off to find lunch and explore downtown. 

Until next time. 

It's been a week...

It's been a week since my last posting, and I gotta tell you guys. Nothing much has happened.

There was a funny moment at school one afternoon. A little boy, Michael, was eating his snack and we were trying to communicate. Then he got his cup full of milk. He was puffing up his cheeks at me, and it was cute. Then he took a large gulp of milk and puffed his cheeks again. This time I was pretty sure they weren't full of air. He was feeling his cheeks and suddenly he pushes on them. What happened? You can probably guess, milk squirted out of his mouth, onto the floor and down his front. The best part was the look of utter shock on his face. He had no idea that would happen. I smiled and laughed to myself as he looked around. The nursery teacher came over and chastised him for making a mess and then cleaned it up. It was pretty great.

I am nearly packed for my month vacation. I have no idea if I've packed enough, or the right things, but I did some evaluating of clothes, and I looked online for tips when traveling for a month. I think I'll be good. For those of you who haven't heard from my Gram or my Mom, here's the rough itinerary of where I'll be the next four weeks. We're starting out Sunday late and flying to Kuala Lumpur, from there going to jump down to Singapore for a day, then back up to Thailand…. We're going to try to spend some time on the beach, and up in the jungle. We don't have a set plan on that yet. Then we're going to jump in to Laos, and Cambodia. Going to the capitols, and spending two to three days there. Then, when we run out of time, we'll go back to Kuala Lumpur somehow and fly to Hong Kong. We have a retreat planned with the other teachers in our organization and after that I'll be heading back to Shaoxing. It's gonna be a lot to see and absorb in a short time, and I'm so excited.

I'll do my best to keep you updated as I travel. (Most of the places we'll stay at will have internet I hope)

Until next time.

Resolutions

Happy New Year!

It was an odd experience to say that I was living in a new year 14 hours before my family. But then again, I live a day ahead all the time. The waiguoren's (why-go-ren) in Shaoxing all got together with a couple friends from Hangzhou and rang in the new year with tacos, games, burnt toast, pig tails, and a little clubbing. First, the tacos were awesome!! I haven't had one in four months, and man were they tasty. The burnt toast was due to games… we forgot the bread was in the oven. And we did it twice… Oops. The toast was then used to bread the pig tails; which were boiled, breaded, and then roasted to perfection. I had one..or part of one, and it was delicious.

[[Side Note: For those of you who are curious… and I know you all are. A pig's tail is not an innuendo  or a name of something. It is the tail of a pig. And I know you reread that last sentence above, I'm serious… it was delicious. There was meat, some cartilage/bone (which ya don't eat) and I liked it.]]

We clinked and drank to 2014 and sang songs. Then, after 12 we decided to hit up a club that one of our other friends was at. It was loud, music was good, entrance was free (nice perk) and our group dwindled slowly. I arrived back at home about 4:30 and slept for a far too short period. But I did fair better than some of the boys who got back at 6am and looked like death warmed over for most of New Year's Day…. haha. Then a couple of us went to chill at Starbucks; to read, drink coffee, and chit chat.

And that's about all my New Year's festivities consisted of….

Now, for that whole resolution cockamamy…. I don't like them. I have a few reasons. One, very few people make it very far with them. Two, they all have to do with weight or something 'more'. More cleaning, reading, adventure, fruits, etc. Now, that being said I've got a life motto to share with you. I want to say that I live this way already, but if you want to pin it up as 'new year's resolution' so be it.
I think this is probably my nemesis. Because I know that I can do anything, until I start looking into it and find something to dissuade me. It's too hard, too complicatall. And all at once.

"You can do anything! But, not everything."
I think this is probably my nemesis. Because I know that I can do anything, until I start looking into it and find something to dissuade me. It's too hard, too complicated, too expensive. Then that last part gets me because once I realize I really can do anything I want to do it all. And all at once. So, as the year progresses I 'm going to keep this in mind as I navigate life in China, Spring Festival traveling, the summer, and whatever I plan to do next fall. I can do anything, but I can't do everything. Which sucks. A lot. I wish I could travel everywhere and still be home for Christmas. I wish I could country hop every three months and still be able to pay my bills. I want to see and eat and photograph my way across the world and not miss any of my sister's basketball games. But the flea that bites the horses' tail is that I can't do both, I can't do it all. So, until I figure out how in the world to manage and balance, I'm going to keep reminding myself that I can do absolutely anything on earth, but I cannot possibly do it all.

Until next time.

Opening gifts on Christmas