Croissants, Curry, and Kangaroos!

Bienvenidos!!

2009-12-28T15:02:00.001-08:00

So, after our not so glorious flight home, I was imagining Christmas trees and relaxing evenings with the family. While there were Christmas trees, we were hit with more than I thought possible our first week home, making it anything but relaxing!

We arrived home on Monday morning. I spent the day downloading all our pictures to be able to show them to our family that evening since everyone was coming over for dinner. Meanwhile, Jordi spent the afternoon at the doctors office being poked and prodded and prescribed pointless medication.

It was great to see our families that evening, and share with them our pictures and stories. We went to bed absolutely exhausted, and didn't wake up until noon the next day!

When I checked my e-mail, I received a letter from the owner of the surf shop in Australia where we rented my board and wetsuit. He was very sweet, saying he was so sorry that we got the board stolen, and he hoped it didn't ruin our experience of Australia. He also said that he would only charge us $200 instead of $300 for the board.

This was good news since we had also received in the mail a ticket that Jordi had incurred over 3 months ago, before we left. According to the letter, he didn't come to a complete stop before turning right on a red light. The ticket was for over $400! And that's not mentioning the late fees and court orders!

I also had a letter, this one being from the Collections Agency, saying I owed $800 for not paying a ticket. I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about!

First we had to make all the wonderful calls to Verizon to re-open our accounts, and then we spent hours on the phone, calling courts and collection agencies, and making sure there was enough left over to pay for the stolen board.

Thursday morning I awoke to an e-mail from the surf store guy in Australia saying our card information didn't go through to pay for the board. I quickly went online to check our bank account, and low and behold there were 3 transactions I didn't recognize adding up to more than $500, and all taking place that morning. I immediately called the bank and told them the situation. Whoever was buying stuff was using Jordi's card number, so they canceled it.

I spent much of the day contacting the FTC to protect our good credit, calling the local police and heading to the offices to fill out an incident report. Not to mention calls to and from collection agencies who told me to call the LA courthouse to fix the problem. (Ends up I paid the ticket over a year ago, but somehow Collections didn't get that memo).

The bank said they would investigate the situation, and we would be fully reimbursed. This was great, but unfortunately we desperately needed the few hundred dollars in our bank account like, now! It was almost Christmas and I needed to get presents, as well as pay for our stolen board! (I found it ironic that we couldn't pay for the stolen board because all our money has been stolen as well. At least we still have our disposable camera!)

I transfered money from our long term savings into our bank account, but that takes 3 days to transfer. In times like these, when you have absolutely no other resort, you borrow cash from your parents. Yup, that's what we did, and that's how everyone got their Christmas presents on time.

So I went to Nordstrom Rack with my mom to do a bit of Christmas shopping, and of course left a bag of clothes at the counter after I paid for it. I got home and realized I didn't have some expensive items. GREAT! More calls, this time to Nordstrom Rack.

Friday morning Jordi woke up in severe pain. He still had a fever and stomach issues, and now his chest was hurting when he breathed. We rushed him to the hospital again, only this time the doctor gave him a super gnarly anti-amoeba medicine, and ordered tests for malaria and parasites. Of course, we couldn't pay for anything since Jord's card had been discontinued. So we had to drive all the way back home, and then drive all the way back again with my card. I kept checking the bank account to see if any transactions had gone through. We spent hours trying to set up skype and put money on our account so we could call Australia to give the surf guy my card number (I didn't want to write it down in an e-mail!) We FINALLY got that taken care of, which was relieving.

Jordi got sicker and sicker before he got better, but he did start getting better (Thank God). We had to wait for over a week to get all our money back in the bank, but we did get it all back. The money we transfered from the other account eventually went through, and we could pay off the surfboard and my parents. Jordi finally talked to the courthouse and made an appearance (not guilty, we're still waiting for the trial). I eventually got my ridiculous $800 ticket canceled. I got my bag of clothes back from Nordstrom Rack. Christmas was very fun and we had a great time seeing all of our family. When it rains, it pours, but I guess the sun comes out eventually :)

Now if only we could get jobs....

Oz Part 2

2009-12-28T13:45:00.001-08:00

The next day was Friday - Aaron flew down to Melbourne for business and for a Christmas Party with his work. Melissa went to work, and Jordi and I took the train to Ferndale - a wildlife animal park just out of Sydney. We got to pet and feed kangaroos and wallabees.

We saw Wombats passed out on their backs in their little holes. We saw Echidna's, which were super funny, and tons of crazy birds. We got to pet koala's, and they really are as soft as they look! They were soooo cute!!!

Most of the animals in the park were lazying about, either asleep or drugged up on eucalyptus. But then we went over to the Emu pen, and he might have been drugged up, but not on Eucalyptus, more like speed:

We were surprised that the Emu hasn't taken over Australia, seeing as how hyperactive and crazy it was compared to all the languid koalas and wombats. We fed it some food, and while Wallabies would take 5 minutes to munch the food, the Emu ate everything in 3 very forceful pecks.

We had lunch at the park, and had a great time walking around and seeing all the interesting animals. We got back to Sydney, and since Aaron was gone, we hung out with only Melissa that night. We walked to downtown Leichhardt, and went to a very nice little wine bar on the main street. Then we went to this AMAZING Thai restaurant that was also downtown. It's one of Aaron and Melissa's favorites, and it really is delicious and authentic, and as far as Australia goes, good prices. We had a lot of fun eating our many curries and soups, and then walked back home. Melis and I tried to watch Australia, but totally fell asleep. Oh well, maybe next time....

Saturday morning Jordi went to Manly Beach to meet up with his friend Lyle. Melissa and I went to a little town nearby where they have a huge market every Saturday. It's called Glebe Markets, and the town of Glebe is super cute and earthy. We spent the morning shopping in the markets, and didn't even get through half of them! I was excited to get a new dress, I was getting pretty sick of the clothes in my backpack. After shopping we went to a cafe called Badde Manors and had a really good breakfast, coffee, and chat (and good manners! ;) ) We then drove up towards Manly beach and met Jordi and Lyle at a beach called Curly.

(The waves were not great, but it was beautiful day. Jordi was sick, which is why he's wearing a jacket!)

Melissa and I lounged on the beach while the boys surfed. Then Melis went to the airport to pick Aaron up from Melbourne, and Jordi and I drove back to Manly with Lyle. We stopped at the grocery store to pick up some things for a barbeque. Ingredients for an Australian barbeque include steak, sausage, perhaps one more type of meat, sliced white bread, ketchup and fried onions, and some cheap beer. Probably the most unhealthy meal ever. Lyle bought some kangaroo at the store, and bbq'd that right up also (it's actually pretty good). His other friend came over, and we sat on the porch for a while, which was nice. When I came up with the name for this blog, I didn't realize that Croissants, Curry, and Kangaroos were all food groups!

We left Lyle's house, and took the ferry across back to downtown Sydney. It's an absolutely gorgeous ride, and very fun. I wish I lived in Manly and worked in downtown Sydney and could take the ferry to work every day, that would be glorious. It's like getting a very cheap Harbor cruise.

Anyways, Sydney was verrrrry crowded, and it took us over an hour to get home on the bus (it's only about 10 miles away!!) We said hello to Aaron and Melis and Ewok, and decided to go to downtown Leichhardt again for dinner. We found a really nice Italian restaurant on the main street, and had yet another delicious meal!

The next morning we had a beach day with Aaron and Melis. We packed up the little car and drove back up to Curly. Jordi wasn't feeling well, but Aaron went surfing. We played some paddle ball and enjoyed the summer weather. Then we went further up the coast for some gourmet Pies. Jordi got the spinach and goat cheese pie, Aaron and I got the veggie pie that came with some delicious cream sauce!

We got home, and Jordi and I had to go return my wetsuit to Bondi beach. We took the bus to downtown, and then I took the bus to Bondi, which took way too long, and ended up taking a taxi back to downtown to meet Jordi. We then walked to a restaurant in the Rocks, and old part of town, where we met Aaron, Melissa, and Joe - Melissa's pilot dad who was in Sydney that day. We met at this place called Lord Nelsons, which was really old and thus really cool ;)

We got more amazing food, and Aaron and Melissa opened some Christmas presents that Joe had brought over from family in California. After dinner we walked to Darling Harbor, where Joe's hotel is, and it was so much fun! All the lights were reflecting on the water, and the Christmas trees and decorations were up, and it was a beautiful summer night, our last night in Sydney :(

The next morning we went for a run, and packed up our backpacks one last time. We borrowed a suitcase for all the extra souvenirs and presents, and said goodbye to Melissa in the morning, and then to Ewok, the grey poofball. Aaron wanted to take us to the airport, but his meeting went 4 times longer than usual, so we had to get a taxi instead - which was fine except that we couldn't say goodbye to Rone!! :( We got to the airport, and were pretty hungry, so we got some Subway. We got sodas also, which unfortunately aren't allowed through customs, so we had to sit on little seats next to 5 lines of people putting their stuff on the conveyer belts and eat our sandwiches and sodas in exile.

Of course I spilled on myself, since we had to eat on our laps, and then when we finally went through customs, I forgot that I was wearing my socks with the holes in them. Of course the guy thought he was being funny, and made comments about Santa getting me new socks. We finally made it onto the airplane, and luckily we got 3 seats to ourselves, so Jordi was able to sleep a lot. Qantas is a great airline, I highly recommend it. We got lots of good food, and plenty of drinks, and hundreds of movies and TV shows at your command.

This was the last flight of our trip, the last leg of our journey. As we flew closer and closer to home, all I could think about were my 4 siblings I was leaving on the other side of the International Date Line, and I was sad. (My stained pants and hole-y socks and sick husband didn't help my mood). But we were also relieved to be going home because Jordi was still sick after 2 weeks of fevers and diarrhea and really needed to see a doctor, and we were excited to see the rest of our families and friends in California.

Goodbye Australia, and world traveling.......for now!! :)

Oz

2009-12-21T10:13:00.000-08:00

Monday was our first day to explore Sydney. Aaron showed us how to use the bus system, and we took the bus from their street to Circular Quay, about a half hour ride. We walked along the water to the Opera House, and explored that a bit. Both Jord and I have been to Sydney before, but it was fun to see the beautiful sights again, and explore it together this time. After checking out the Opera House, we went to the Sydney Museum, which had all sorts of information on the founding and history of Sydney, which was interesting. Also they had a couple really cool art exhibits going on, which were probably my favorite part! After the museum we wandered over to the Botanical Gardens. The Gardens are situated on rolling hills sitting above the Harbor, and are amazing to walk through. Not only are the plants interesting to look at, but there are some pretty funny animals that have made the Gardens their home. The Flying Foxes, which are huge ugly bats, live in many of the trees, and are quite a sight! Also, huge white cockatoos and brightly colored parrots, and other crazy looking or sounding birds just wander around on the grass or in the trees! We ate our picnic in the Garden, and then went down for a long walk that runs between the Garden and the Harbor wall, with great views of the Opera House and the Bridge.

We then decided we would walk to Darling Harbor, and took the longest and ugliest route possible. We FINALLY got there, and by that time the sun was in full force and we were sweaty and grumpy. We got 50 cent ice cream cones from McDonalds and walked around the pretty harbor, with it's fountains and Christmas trees. By the time we caught the bus and rode it back to Aaron and Melissa's, it was almost dinner time! Melissa was cooking up something, and meanwhile Aaron challenged us to some tennis. We walked to a park near their house that has courts, and Jordi started to feel sick again. Aaron and I had a rowelling game of tennis, in which I barely beat him and we had about 10 deuces. So fun!!! Melissa made another amazing meal, and we watched our nightly movie (Movies in English were still a novelty for us, so we watched at least one a day ;) )

Aaron and Melissa highly recommended a great walk that starts at Coogee Beach and runs along the cliffs and ocean all the way to Bondi Beach. So Tuesday morning we hopped on the bus that took us straight to Coogee. It's a great little beach town, smaller and less touristy than Bondi or Manly, but very pretty and fun. We started the walk, and it took us over an hour to reach Bondi. The entire time we were mesmerized by the views, and all the little beaches and towns we came across on the way. Australians have this amazing ingenious idea where they build walls in the ocean to make a free swimming pool...it's the coolest thing ever, I wish they had them in California!

Some views from the walk...

A very pretty cemetery on the cliff

Lawn Bowling...

Coming into Bondi!

When we got to Bondi, we swam in the ocean and hung out at the beach for awhile. I hunted out the shops and restaurants I went to 4 years ago, and then we caught the bus back home. Jordi was still not feeling well, and we had a mellow night of Melissa's amazing cooking, Tim Tams, and Movies.

Wednesday, Jordi still wasn't feeling well. He didn't feel like going anywhere or doing anything, except laying on the couch or taking naps in the bedroom. By the afternoon however, I was done hanging out at home, although Jordi was still not feeling well. I got on the bus by myself and went to Queen Victoria Mall, an old market building that has been renovated into a fancy mall! There is a huge gorgeous Christmas tree in the middle, reaching through the three marble floors to the ceiling above, winding stairways on the ends, high end stores and exquisite coffee shops and bakeries competing for the attention of your senses. It's quite an experience, and so fun to walk around during Christmas season.

I continued walking down George Street, and found to my astonishment that clothes in Sydney are European style expensive! All my thoughts of Christmas shopping flew out the window - a pair of Quicksilver boardshorts cost no less than $80, and there are rarely sales, and no existing Nordstrom Rack! But it was fun to go in all the shops, and make my way back down to Circular Quay. Once there I walked around the Harbor, listening to the crazy guys on their didgeridoos and meandering the shops by the Harbor. It was actually really fun to have a day of shopping and wandering by myself, since I know Jord doesn't thrive on that, and I didn't feel rushed. I ended up getting some good deals on few things, and eventually made my way by bus back to the house. When I got there, Aaron and Melissa had just gotten home. I went for a run (there is a great run from their house to a park on the Harbor water!) and we ordered take out from the most amazing pizza place I've ever experienced (Crust Gourmet Pizza in Annandale). We watched movies and ate pizza and had a great relaxing night!

The next day Jordi was feeling slightly better, so I dragged him out of the house, and we went for a long walk to another town called Newtown. It's a pretty funky town, with Berkley vibes and crazy characters. We went into some of the fun little shops, and by that time Jord was ready to trek back (I wasn't!) We relaxed in the afternoon until I got restless again and decided to go into the city. Jord felt like he was well enough to join me, so that was fun. We stopped at the Queen Victoria mall again, so I could show him how awesome it is. We walked to the Opera House, and went to the classy Opera Bar down on the water. Tons of people were having their Christmas Parties there, so it was very festive and crowded, which I love :)

We took the bus home, and had a nice evening with Aaron and Melissa. Melissa made us dinner again, and we hung out chatting, and laughing at Ewok's crazy antics! Later we watched The Castle, a classic Australian movie, that is absolutely hilarious.

Coledale Campings

2009-12-09T13:31:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Australia on Thursday, and spent Friday meandering around the cute little town of Leichhardt, where Aaron and Melissa live. We also took advantage of free internet and phone, and thoroughly enjoyed watching English TV for the first time in weeks.

In the afternoon, we drove to Bondi Beach to rent a board and wetsuit for me to use all week, (Jord was borrowing Aaron's stuff). When Aaron and Melissa got home from work, we packed up their little car with tents, ice chests, blankets, pillows, surboards, and wetsuits. There was no way 4 people could fit in there too, but somehow we squeezed. Aaron called us the Clown Mobile, and it felt like it!

Driving in Sydney is actually very much like driving in the South Bay. There are no freeways, lanes come and go, there is no direct way to get anywhere....but after two hours of manuevering, we finally got out! The difference between Sydney and LA is once you are out of the city, there's nothing there! Immediately you feel like you are on the Central Coast, cruising through forests and meadows, and before long we came to a cliff drive along the ocean. It was so incredibly beautiful driving along the coast, and soon we got to our campsite. It was a big grassy area right in front of the ocean. Jordi and Aaron went surfing while Melissa and I put up our tents (what good wives we are ;) ). Later in the evening more of Aaron and Melissa's friends showed up, and after they set up their tents we hung out for a bit before going to bed.

I woke up early in the morning to a baby crying. More like whining, actually. Where the heck is it's mom, and why does it not stop?? Maybe that's not a baby...? Is it some sort of animal? I learned later that it was a bird whose cry is uncannily human. Australia has all sorts of birds that make the craziest loudest noises!

Saturday we went surfing in the morning, it was fun and beautiful. We had a big Australian breakfast of baked beans, spaghetti, sausage, bacon, and eggs (interesting...). The boys went surfing again, and we played some bocci ball as well. Jord and I went for a really long walk up the coast, and it was seriously sooooo pretty!! Even though it's relatively close to Sydney, it's not even close to being crowded.

That night more friends arrived and set up tent, and some of the guys bbq'd steak. Right after dinner it started raining, so we ducked into tents to hang out until everyone went to bed.

The next morning some guys went surfing, and we all had breakfast together. After breakfast I was going to go surfing also. But I couldn't find my rental board. Yup, it had been stolen in the night! I was incredibly bummed and mad - who steal a surfboard at a campsite?? There is a road behind the campsite, and everyone else around us had things stolen also - camping gear, alcohol, etc.. We think some punks drove up in the night, hopped out and grabbed stuff, and drove away. It was super lame. So, we ended up having to pay for a new surfboard that I had ridden once, on top of renting it for a week. Fabulous.

We loaded up the car again, and went with two of Aaron's friends to another beach in a nature reserve. The drive was awesome, and the beach was really pretty too, but windy! Aaron, his two friends, and Jord surfed while Melissa and I worked on our tans and read gossip magazines :)

We got back home in the afternoon, unpacked, and got cleaned up. Melissa's dad, Joe, is a pilot for United, and flies from San Francisco to Sydney on a regular basis. He happened to be in town on this Sunday, and we met him in downtown Leichhardt for some incredible Italian food.

It was a quite a weekend! We had so much fun camping, aside from the board being stolen, and it was great to see Aaron and Melissa, and a little bit of the Australian coast and nature reserve, and fun to see Joe again! :)

On The Road Again

2009-12-07T20:25:00.000-08:00

We stayed for two nights in our hotel in Seminyak, and it was really fun to be right on the beach. Our new system for dealing with street vendors worked out very well, and everyone was right when they said Seminyak had the best food and shopping. Unfortunately, Bali was going through a hot spell, so the days were over 90 degrees and Humid!! It was sooooo hot!!!!

We would try to run or surf before 7 or 8 in the morning, because the heat was already unbearable by then. I would drink tea for breakfast while sweat was pouring down my face. Luckily our hotel room had air condition, and we retreated there a lot, just to cool off!

Our last day in Seminyak we had the whole day to kill since our flight didn't leave until 11 pm. We received both a call at the front desk from our taxi driver, and a note under our door from the management reminding us of our appointment at 7:30 with (whatever his name was). We were like, "OMG he's stalking us!!!!!!" Taxi drivers love taking tourists to the airport also because many times they give the drivers all their extra cash. Anyways, we spent a nice day surfing, walking around the shops, and eating at beachside restaurants before meeting our lovely taxi driver at 7:30. We had to stop in Kuta to return the surfboards that we rented, and while we were walking down the street we saw a German guy that was in our bus on the way to Cambodia!! Sooooo random!! We chatted with him for a bit, and thought it was crazy that we met him the first day we were in asia, and ran into him our last day in Bali!

Anyways, we made it to the airport and I gave the taxi driver the rest of our cash ($5) of which he was profusely grateful and I hoped I never saw him again.

We got in line to go through customs, and oh! what do you know? Indonesia charges $15 a person to leave the country. Cash only. AAAHHHH!!!! We thought they charged $10 a person, and set that much aside, and had perfectly spent the rest of our cash - only to have to go back to the ATM and spend 10 dollars in fees to get 10 more dollars out. It was extremely frustrating.

Our first flight was from Bali to Darwin, and it was 3 hours long. We landed at 3 AM and had to hang out in the airport until 7 AM. The only cafe in our waiting area was ridiculously expensive, as in $6 for a slice of banana bread. So we decided to hold out. Well, our flight was delayed until 8 AM, and we were flying Jetstar, which is like the Ryanair of Asia. Basically zero amenities and tons of hidden fees. So we finally boarded, and it was a 4 hour flight, putting us in Sydney at 2 PM. They didn't give us any meal or snack, and only one cup of water. Jordi splurged on a $3 nescafe to hold him over. I was cold, so I asked for a blanket - oh, that will be 8 dollars. "What??!!" So instead I dug out my travel sleeping bag sheet thing and cocooned up in that, much to the amusement of the guy next to me.

Do you know I read somewhere that they are actually thinking of charging to use the restroom? (or was that Ryanair?) Anyways, the fact that they would even think that gives you the gist of how fabulous it is to fly with them, how taken care of you feel.

By the time we landed in Sydney, we were tired, freezing, thirsty, and starving. Thank you Jetstar. We gobbled up some expensive Subway and got a taxi to take us to Aaron and Melissa's house. It took us over half an hour to get there, so you would think they would be somewhat far from the airport. Imagine my surprise when I went on the porch and I could practically see the people in the little windows of the plane as it roared above me!! Apparently their house is only a few miles from the airport, downtown, beach - everywhere! But since there are NO freeways and horrible traffic, it just takes forever to get anywhere!!

Anyways, Jord and I cleaned up and rested for a bit until Aaron got home around 4. It was soooooo good to see him!! I hadn't seen him in over a year, which is the most I've ever not seen him! He directly took us to the beach where him and Jordi went surfing. When we came home, Melissa was home, and already cooking an incredible steak dinner. It was SO amazing to see her also, and we had a big happy reunion. It felt like normal, which feels great :)

NO THANK YOU!!!!!!

2009-11-30T19:37:00.000-08:00

The second day in Sanur, we rented moto's again and drove out to a beach called Karamas. It's a black sand beach, and HOT and reminded me of Guatemala. Surfing was fun (although more fun for Jord) and then we made the hot moto trek back to town. Driving a moto through Indonesian traffic in the middle of the hot day is probably one of the least fun things to do ever. But then we went surfing again at the reef in front of our hotel, which was really fun for me, although kind of small and packed with locals. That night we went out to one of the many cute and delicious restaurants on the sand, which was very fun.
The next day we went to Karamas again, but this time only Jord went surfing. He stayed out for a few hours and got completely fried because our sunscreen is some super cheap concoction we bought in Thailand. That night he got a fever and was stomach sick also. Possibly from so much sun? Anyways, I didn't know what to do with myself that evening, with Jord in bed and the whole night in front of me! I ventured out, but then realized that walking the dark streets by yourself with everyone trying to talk to you or get you to buy something just isn't that fun nor that safe. I've gotten so spoiled having a boy by my side at all times! So since the place we were staying was a homestay (essentially somebody's house), I asked some of the guys if we could rent a DVD player. So one of the guys went into his room and unhooked his DVD player for us to borrow, and the other came back with his personal selection of DVD's. We watched a few surf DVD's and one regular movie called Next, "a fairly competent suspense thriller", according to the rave reviews on the back of the box. But I was glad that we could hang out without me feeling stuck in our room or Jordi having to get out of bed!
The next day Jordi still wasn't feeling well, but we packed up our stuff and took a taxi to Seminyak, another little beach town just north of Kuta, but on the other side of the peninsula from Sanur.
Maybe it was just one too many people knocking on our door at the homestay - "Excuse me, you left this out." "Excuse me, do you want breakfast?" "Excuse me, breakfast is here." "Excuse me, the taxi (that we wanted in an hour) is here now."
Maybe it was just one too many people asking me for something - "Yes, transport?" "You want massage?" "Manicure? Pedicure?" "Come into my shop! Buy something!"
Maybe it's that you can't even look for food without 5 people hovering over you, watching you look at the menu and making suggestions of what to order.
Maybe it was our taxi driver, who followed us all over the hotel until we got our room number, so he could write it down, (all the while making sure we were meeting him Wednesday at 7:30 so he could take us to the airport) and if we didn't keep our end of the deal, he knew where to find us.
Maybe it was a culmination of the past 7 weeks in Asia, where my personal space bubble has been through the ringer.
Maybe it's that during all this I keep a smile on my face and a polite voice.
Whatever the reasons, as soon as the kind hotel man finished showing us how to work the TV and airconditioning and finally shut the door behind him, I started to bawl.
I did not want to talk to anyone and I did not want to buy anything and I did not want anyone knocking on the door. I took a hot shower and cranked up the AC and we watched cable TV until I thought I could face the world again.
So now we have a new system. When walking along the beach, I keep my head down and ignore everyone while Jordi deals with the social aspect:
"No, I don't want a pedicure. No, she doesn't want a pedicure either."
"Hello....I'm Jordi......we're from America.......no I don't want a massage, thank you."
"We're from America....no we don't need any transport today."
"No, she doesn't want any bracelets, thank you."
Over and over and over again, but he seems to not mind talking to people even when all it is is an introduction to selling you something. And as for me, if I'm not going to say something nice, I should just not say anything at all.
ANYWAYS, apart from that whole business, Seminyak is a wonderful place. I like it because it's quieter than Kuta or Sanur, and the beach is gorgeous. There are tons of good restaurants, and supposedly surf out front, although it doesn't look very good.
Jordi is finally feeling better, so we will probably rent a moto again to look for surf elsewhere.
And we are definitely getting excited about seeing Aaron and Melissa in two days!

Uluwatu

2009-11-27T00:55:00.000-08:00

We were planning on staying 2 nights in Uluwatu. But then the landlady promised us free breakfast if we would stay for 3 nights. And then we stayed a 4th
night. And a 5th....Life in Uluwatu came very easily, and breakfasts were delicious (Best banana pancakes in the world!)We spent our days surfing, laying by the pool, eating good food, and exploring surf spots further down the coast on our moto.
The second day we were there, we were paddling out and a big wave came and crashed on me, pulling my leash off (which had barely any velcro holding it on). As I swam to rescue it from the rocks, another big wave came, throwing me up and pushing me down. The current was super strong, sweeping me toward the rocks and around the cliff. Thankfully Jordi saw me and took a wave to where I was. We navigated the rocks, found my board - battered but not irrepairable - and got back to the beach. I took my board to get fixed, but it was a pretty frustrating experience. But "Puji Tuhan", another saying from my dad (Indonesian for "Praise the Lord" ), that nothing worse happened than some dings on my board and knee.
A couple days later, we drove to a beach called Nusa Dua to scope out the surf and possibly a place to stay. Although the waves looked fun, the entire stretch of coast was covered in extremely expensive resorts! So we decided not to stay at that beach, but we did surf there the next day. Jordi did an impressive job of navigating us through all the towns and traffic and trucks, driving on the left side of the road, with a surfboard laden moto, keeping us safe the whole time - another reason to say Puji Tuhan.
After surfing in Nusa Dua, Jordi's back began to really hurt. We didn't surf at all the next day because the waves were really small and Jord's back was hurting anyways. Instead we moto'd around the corner from our bungalows to the highroller Blue Point Resort, and played in their infiniti pool on the cliff, got lunch at their fancy restaurant, and luxuriant massages in the spa, celebrating one and half years of being married :)
The day after that, we got a car to take us to the town of Sanur, which we were hoping would have fun waves and less wind. We found some pretty cheap bungalows by the beach, and although there are no waves at the moment, it's a fun town to walk around, with tons of shopping and a pretty beach. Today we rented beach cruisers and rode all up and down the boardwalk, which is actually quite long!
Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and we thought of all our friends and family, and we are so thankful to have each of you in our lives. Since pumpkin pie was not readily available, we stuffed ourselves on 30 cent wafers and Nescafe.

This is my poem that somewhat sums up the sights and sounds around us:

Indonesia

Hello, yeees??!
Smoky burning
Always sweeping
Banana leaf offerings
Checkered cloths
On statues bums
Very vocal geckos and
Heavy scented plumerias
Beautiful beaches
Black deisel in your face

Beautiful Bali

2009-11-22T01:09:00.001-08:00

After a painless flight from Bangkok to Bali, we shared a taxi with a European backpacker couple to the city of Kuta, the central tourist beach closest to the airport. Jordi told me the first time he came to Indonesia, Kuta seemed crazy and overwhelming. I think after being in Saigon, everything seems tame, and Kuta was great because it was right by the beach! We walked around for a while with our huge backpacks and our new friends until we finally found a place. It was a room with a bathroom for $8 a night, including breakfast. The only bummers were that there were two twin beds instead of a double, the mattresses were way too soft (I think I got used to Thailand's version of mattresses which are made of cardboard), and there was a beetle on my pillow. So I spent the two nights in Kuta sleeping on the tile.
But cheap lodging means more shopping! And Kuta is the place to be for that. The first day we rented boards for the 2 weeks that we will be here, and a moto for the day. We drove out to a surf spot called Uluwatu, and went out. It was soo much fun! Small enough for me to have a lot of fun, and good enough for Jord to have a lot of fun also. We were both so happy to be back in the ocean and surfing! After surfing, we attempted to eat lunch at this place on the cliff overlooking the waves. Although the view was amazing, the lady running the place was nuts, and I waited for over an hour for my pineapple juice!! Oh well... after Uluwatu, we drove to a Hindu temple nearby known as the Monkey Temple. It's located on top of huge cliffs overlooking the ocean - amazing views! And there are TONS of monkeys. They sit on the posts and dangle in the trees, eating, running, giving tourists the evil eye...
As I was walking down the path, I was suddenly aware of a horrible stench. Before I could say, "What's that smell?" I realized my sunglasses were gone! A big stinky monkey had reached right over and grabbed them from off my head! The Indonesian boys tried to get them from him, but he ran away down the cliff! Amazingly, one of the boys did get them back for me, complete with monkey bites! :)
Another time we were standing there getting our picture taken by the cliff when a monkey landed on Jordi's head, and refused to get off of him! They are such little devils - incredibly impertinent, yet so funny you can't help but like them anyways.
After the temple, we returned to Kuta for a beautiful sunset, cheap food, and sweet tile floored dreams.
Oh ya, we also got massages, but the girls were so busy texting on their cell phones, Jord and I both got mostly one handed massages by uninterested adolescent girls, but what can you expect for $5 an hour?
Since we liked Uluwatu so much when we were there, we had found a great little bungalow/ villa place to stay at, and the next morning we packed up our things and got a taxi to take us there. By the time we arrived it was noon, Jord went to go surf for a bit and I got to relax and read and write. That afternoon we got delicious lunch at another restaurant (that was actually functioning) overlooking the waves, hung out by the pool, played ping pong, and then we both went to go surf again. This time it was really low tide, and I didn't bring by booties down to the water, so I surfed in my bare feet, which really hurt on the coral. We got dinner at yet another primo location on the cliff. I could really get used to $5 meals with epic views of famous surf spots. It's pretty amazing!
Anyways, we are still in Uluwatu and loving it. We aren't sure where we'll go next...but that's the way we like it :)
Until next time...

Koh Chang

2009-11-17T04:16:00.000-08:00

So, as Jordi mentioned we took a very long, hot bus ride to the beach from Bangkok. The bus was showing the movies, and they were subtitled - I think translated from English, into another language, and back to English. So while the guy on the screen was saying, "Hurry up, we have to go now!" the subtitles read, "Nobody is the vegetarian food and say yes!" It was really pretty hilarious, and I think more entertaining than the movies themselves.
We got to the island, and as Jordi said, got a room at the Luxury Guesthouse, which ended up being the best value on the island! The first full day we were on the island, we got a really janky moto that could barely make it up the hills. Also, nobody informed me that tailpipes are excruciatingly hot, and I totally burned my leg on it! It hurt sooo bad! So I got to spend the rest of the week with a blistering purple wound on my leg, it was beautiful. The island really was beautiful though, and it was fun to explore it a bit.
The next day we hung out by the beach, and that's where Jord left off.
The 3rd day on the island, we had an amazing time pretending we were on a second honeymoon. We figured that although seemingly expensive, it was still cheap and gorgeous, so we enjoyed it for what it was. We got tropical cocktails on the sand and rented a kayak. We went for a small hike along the ocean, and swam in the hot water. The water is not even warm, it's hot - sometimes hotter than the humid air! That night we went out for pizza - Italian food was everywhere, and it was pretty good!
The next day we rented a moto again, only this time we got it from a different place and it was really nice, automatic, and came with 2 new helmets. We went the other way, and explored the other side of the island. We found a waterfall that was gorgeous, and we climbed around and swam for about an hour. Then we kept riding, stopping at gorgeous viewpoints along the road. We found a remote beach called Long Beach, that had a couple little hippie lodgings and restaurants. We got fruit smoothies and lied in the hammocks, and then went down to the sand. The water was incredibly clear and turquoise, and super shallow! You had to walk for like 10 minutes to get up to your neck! Anyways, we were swimming around in the water when all of the sudden Jordi yelled, "OW!! Move, move move!" As he was saying that, I felt a piercing sensation in my back. I had seen these flying swordfish things earlier, and my first thought was that a flying swordfish was dangling from my back. "WHAT'S ON MY BACK??!!!" I screamed. "Nothing! We just got stung by a jellyfish, let's get out of here!" It took a minute for me to realize there was nothing poking my back, and we finally made it out of the ocean. Jordi got stung across his arm and chest, and I got stung across my ribs and back. We must have been tangled up in that thing! Anyways, we were drying off on the beach when a German couple told us to put lime on the stings. So we went to the restaurant right on the beach, but the owner assured us the stings would stop hurting soon. So we ordered spicy red curry and cold Chang beer, and took his advice of not worrying. We sat on the sand overlooking an idylic beach, eating our spicy curry, and letting our stings subside. Life was good :)
We got back on our moto and chugged up the impossibly steep and unpaved jungle roads back to the main road. We continued on, and found another waterfall. It was a 15 minute hike, and another beautiful fall. We swam, and climbed down to the pool below it, which had a rope swing :)
After that waterfall, we drove back to our side of the island. We were just in time for sunset, so we took our towels and Skipbo, and went down to the beach to play cards and watch the sunset. Somewhere along our journey our camera stopped working. We could not figure out what happened, or why. We think it's still taking pictures, but the screen looks totally busted, like it looks blank except for a purple splotch. So that is really discouraging, but other than that, we had a great day. We got Pad Thai from a cart off the street (sorry Mom.. but I think it's so fried we would never get sick!) Luckily his cart wasn't right next to the durian carts. I think durian is in season right now because all the fruit vendors on the side of the street are selling it. Every time we walk down the side of the street, I hold my breath. I had heard of this fruit, and it's really as bad as people say. The smell could make you nauseous. Anyways...today we had to pack up and leave the island. We took a taxi back to the ferry, and then the hot, uncirculated bus back to Bangkok.
My dad used to sing a song that went, "Where do all the hippies meet? South Street! South Street!" Well, I have a new one for you Dad - it goes, "Where do all the hippies go? Khoa San Road! Khoa San Road!" After hours driving through the countryside, and a couple hours more driving through Bangkok, we pulled up to Khoa San Road, and the hippies were teeming the streets. Dreaded hair and flowy pants dominate in this backpacker epicenter of Asia. We joined the masses - eating from a little plastic table restaurant on the side of the street, shopping, and relishing the cheap (room - $6, dinner - $3), funky, exciting scene that is Bangkok.

Goodbye, SEA (mainland)
Tomorrow we are flying to Bali, which technically is still South East Asia, but ends this portion of our trip. I am sooo glad we had the opportunity to see this part of the world. It's amazing how different it is over here. But while the way of life might seem so foreign, these people have families, jobs, friends, drama, routine - same as everybody. I am glad I have gotten to see their way of life, and be more understanding of their culture. We have encountered so many friendly people, and learned a lot about this part of the world. Also, I cannot be thankful enough for the chance to see Scott and Andrea in their element, and all the amazing people they know already.
Anyways, with that I would like to leave you with a memory of each country...

Vietnam:
"Look, 4 people on a moto!"
"No, wait there's 5 - I think that's a record."
"Omg, there's another little head - 6 people on the moto!!"

Cambodia:
Our cooking instructor talking about local pork -
"Pigs in America, they eat corn and msg and things. Pigs in Cambodia, they eat Happy Herb and rice!"
Much fresher.

Thailand:
The best thing about Thailand is the writing. I already mentioned the subtitles. Also everyone walks around with shirts that make absolutely no sense - "U know My hair and Kittens" in glossy, colorful letters.
Signs on the side of the road -
"Laundry - Washed, Roasted"
"Peachfulness, Freshness, Safety - Identity" I have no idea what they were advertising, but I really wish I could find out...!
In a brochure at our hotel -
"Koh Kood - The second largest of the 52 islands that comprise the Koh Chang archipelago and if it wasn't located so damn far away would easily be the most popular..."
Although I have to say - the fact that all these foreign countries can even speak English is impressive, and I realize how spoiled I am. When's the last time we tried to learn Vietnamese or Thai?

And here's one for all the countries:
"HELLOOoooOOO!!"
Jordi responds, "Hi!"
"Where are you frooom?"
Jordi responds, "California!"
"How long you here?"
Jordi responds
"You want massage / taxi / suit / etc etc

Although I find it pretty easy to ignore people, Jord insists on being polite, which leads to many many of these conversations....

See you in Bali!

Asia - by Jordi

2009-11-14T06:20:00.000-08:00

Jordi here - Kirsten has granted me the temporary and undeserved privelege of covering a couple days of our existence out here. Not to worry, she'll be back soon to cover any gaps I leave in our narrative with her usual charm and style.
So yes, we left Bangkok on a double-decker tour bus. It was nice by Asian standards, meaning that it was intended to be nice and may once have been nice, but everything was a little frayed and our "air conditioning" was a completely insufficient dribble of air out of a few measly vents. Kirsten was roasting, and I was melting the entire drive. We arrived in Trat 7 hours later, where we were hearded off the bus and onto a large ferry for the 20-minute ride out to Kho Chang. The ferry was infinitely cooler than the bus, and it was really fun to stand up in the second level, look out over the ocean, and feel the ocean breeze dry up our sweat.
We arrived at the port in Ko Chang with absolutely no idea where we were going or how to get there. I had picked up a brochure on the boat advertising some luxury condos. The brochure contained a rough 2-inch map of the island which we were using to try to orient ourselves.
When we got off the boat we followed the crowd onto some waiting truck-taxis (trucks with benches installed in the back to cram people onto), headed down the coast and jumped off at a the second beach we saw, the name of which completely escapes me. (I find it really difficult to remember the names of places here, they all kind of sound the same, like Ko Chang, Chiang Mai, Ko Samet, Ko Samui, Kho San, and they all get totally scrambled in my head)
The beaches here are lined with bungalo-resorts, so we walked down to one of the not-too-assuming looking offices to ask about their rates. They gave us a price, about $20 for a basic room or $40 for one with AC. While reasonable compared to US rates, this sounded astronomical after our $10 per night rooms we had had elsewhere, $15 if we were going big. Unable to stomach this cost on our ever-tightening budget, we walked across the street to the "Luxury Guesthouse" advertised there. The rooms, while still $20 per night were at least clean, quiet, non-moldy, and air conditioned. Not wanting to trek any more in the heat, we took the room with plans to find our perfect beachfront paradise the next day.
As planned, we spent the next day going to several other hotels nearby, and discovered to our horror that the first bungalows we checked out were probably the most reasonable in the city! We decided to spend just one more night in the hotel, and rent a motorcycle the next day to explore the island and see what we could find.
The next day we dropped $4 and got a "moto", Asia's ubiquitous 100cc scooter, and spent the day crawling up and bombing down the steepest jungle roads i've ever seen. We had a great time checking out all the nooks and crannies around the island, turning down dead-ending side streets, and testing the off-road limits of the scooter. We found that the beach we had chosen to stay was in fact the nicest, least crowded, most sandy, gasp- most affordable beach around.
That was two days ago, yesterday we spent the day by the beach bouncing on coconut-tree-suspended swings and swimming in the crazy hot water. Our "temporary" little guesthouse has become our permanent residence, and we spend our days looking for food that's not twice the price of food in Bangkok, lazing at the beach, honing our paddleball skills, bronzing, and of course on the internet. Today we're going to rent a kayak and explore some very small islands right off our beach. While this island is beautiful and it is amazing to be out of big cities and by the beach, it is slightly frustrating to be paying more than we're used to for things (but we've become so spoiled by asian prices!) and it makes me realize how ready I am for some waves! I find myself dreaming about the 4-inch ripples that wash up on the beach here. Can't wait for Bali!

Chiang to Chang

2009-11-14T05:42:00.000-08:00

After our trek, we had two nights to spend in Chiang Mai. The first night we got a hotel for $7, but the mattress was just as hard as the mats we had been sleeping on, and the toilet had to be manually flushed, so we decided the next night to upgrade. We got a beautiful big room with a separate bathroom. You know you have a nice room when it comes with sheets and an actual mattress, and the toilet flushes. It is even more luxury when the shower is seperated, and not a shower head hooked up next to the sink. AND it had air conditioning, which is almost a necessity for poor Jordi who is constantly dripping. Anyways, we loved our room, but we seriously killed at least 30 mosquitos by the time we went to bed. I don't know what was going on, but there were TONS of them!! Jordi and I were running around in our pajamas clapping and stomping for such a long time the owners probably thought we were having some sort of Indian dancing session.
We had a great time in town the short time we were there. We rented bikes and rode all around the perimeter of the town, and through all the little alleyways. We ate amazing brown rice curries and soymilk lattes. We ran into almost everyone from our trek, which was really fun. The second night we were there, we went out to dinner with the two English guys. They are a crack up, and it was fun to get to know them a little better. After dinner, we all walked to the night market which is HUGE!!! It goes for blocks and blocks and blocks, and you can buy absolutely anything your heart desires, as long as it's carved wooden elephants, t-shirts, or purses.
The next day we had to get the train back to Bangkok in the afternoon. It was absolutely beautiful scenery chugging out of Chiang Mai. We ordered dinner on the train, and had about as good a night as you could ask for sleeping on a train. We arrived in Bangkok at 6:30 AM, and got a tuk-tuk to Ko Sahn Road, the tourist area. 3rd time's a charm :)
It was blazingly hot, even at 7 in the morning, so we opted for a hotel with a swimming pool. We got cleaned up and did some errands, but mostly spent the day swimming or reading by the pool, which was really nice!
We spent one night in Bangkok, and the next morning at 8 AM, we got on a bus that was to take us the island of Ko Chang - 7 hours south of Bangkok and near the border of Cambodia.

"Non Touristic Areas"

2009-11-10T01:18:00.000-08:00

A truck came to pick us up in the morning - one of those pick up trucks with a bench on either side so you sit facing each other. We fit 14 people on our pick up truck, to give you an idea of how squishy our morning was. We all became friends very fast! The truck drove us out of the city, stopping once to register with the tourist police and give them copies of our passports (so the authorities know who is out in the jungle). Once out of town we stopped at a market where our guides picked up supplies for all our meals. We drove and drove, coming to a bumpy dirt road which eventually ended in front of some huts. We piled out, and our guide told us we were going to have lunch here. So we all sat on some benches at a long table, and he proceeded to give us the coolest packed lunch ever - fried rice and vegetables wrapped in banana leaves, with an orange for dessert. All the packaging could be thrown in the compost, it was very eco friendly. (I have found it interesting that at home everybody is so concerned about how to be "green" and eco friendly, whereas here it is just a way of life).
After lunch, we slung on our backpacks and began our trek. We followed our guide, Pan, through the bamboo forests and slippery paths for a few hours before arriving at a waterfall in the late afternoon. We crossed a bridge over a waterfall, and then Pan told us we could go swimming. I was like, "Wait, in this pool right here?" The pool was not very large and quickly led to a semi large waterfall. I was really scared of falling over the edge, and would have much rather swam somewhere that didn't lead to a drop. But everyone changed and we all jumped in. The water was cold, and felt amazing after our sweaty hike. Probably half an hour into swimming, Sophie, a 22 year old British girl whom I had made friends with, was trying to climb out on the rocks, but slipped and was swept to the edge of the falls. While I screamed my head off, Toshi, a Japanese guy in our group, did something actually helpful and jumped after her. He grabbed her and they both fell one level down the falls, but not all the way down. He pushed her onto the rocks where her boyfriend grabbed her and pulled her up. Meanwhile, Toshi's wife Satchi, and I sat on the other side of the falls having heart attacks. All the rest of the group were down in another pool jumping off rocks. I was SO scared, first of all because that's exactly what I was scared would happen to me, and second of all because I had made friends with Sophie and she felt like a little sister, and I don't even want to think about what would have happened if she fell all the way over. I'm just really glad Toshi was there and able to grab her in time.
After that, we all got out and dried off, and hiked the rest of the way to the village where we were going to spend the night. The village consists of 9 families, and they have an agreement with the trekking service to provide a dwelling for trekkers, a toilet, and drinks. In return, the village is paid. Our dwelling was a big bamboo hut on stilts, with mats and a blanket for each person, and a fire where our guides cooked us dinner. The toilets were a hole in the ground, and a squatty potty with a bucket. We all went up into the village and watched the villagers come home with their baskets of firewood or food, and start the evening rituals. We then sat around on our stilted bamboo balcony overlooking the jungle, with a huge bucket of ice cold waters, coca cola's, and chang beers, and waited for our dinner. There were 12 people in our group: a Belgian couple in their 50's, a Japanese couple in their 30's, a British couple in their early 20's, 2 French girls, and 2 British guys, and us, the lone Americans (We've barely met any Americans this entire trip!) Everybody could speak a little bit of English, but not much. However, everyone was incredibly friendly and interesting, and it was really fun to get to meet and talk with them.
Somehow Pan and his friends managed to make a feast for us over one small fire, and since there was no electricity we ate delicious curry and rice with candlelight under the stars.
Some of the villagers came to hang out with us in the evening, and taught us a lot of mind games involving toothpicks and string, it was fun.
But when you've been hiking all afternoon, there is no electricity, the only source of entertainment is string, and nobody speaks the same language, you get tired pretty quickly. We were all in bed by 9 :)

Of course I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. This involved wriggling my way out of my sleeping bag sheet, groping for my flip flops and toilet paper in the pitch dark, and feeling my way with my hands through all the sleeping people over the creaky floor. I finally made it to the door and figured out how to unlock it, stepping out onto the unsteady porch. Luckily there were stars out, so I could see my way down the ladder, and down the hill to the outhouses. A successful experience with the slippery squatty potty, and I made my way back up the hill, up the ladder, across the creaky floor, and into my sleeping bag, where I spent a very cold night trying to cuddle next to Jordi, who would have none of it, on our hard little mats.

The next morning we all woke up, surprised at how cold the night had been and ready to tackle a new day. We sat on our porch for an hour drinking nasty nescafe, and tea that tasted like boiled spinach until our breakfast was ready. Pan cooked us carrots and eggs, and toasted some white bread - once again pretty impressive for the tiny fire he had going.

We finally got trekking by mid morning. It's called trekking, not hiking, because hiking usually involves trails and destinations, whereas trekking involves a lot of machete hacking and wandering through peoples back yards. Our Thai guides have walked these trails so often, they were skipping all over the place in their plastic sandals, waiving their machetes and having a grand ol time, while we trudged wheezing and sweaty behind them. The trails led us through banana tree and bamboo forests, sometimes so narrow and slippery it was scary. Other times we walked through rice fields and ambled through cow pastures. Everything was incredibly gorgeous. The only thing was the constant attack of gnats and bugs, who think eyeballs and ear canals would make great homes. Next time I come to the jungles of Thailand, I will remember to bring goggles and earmuffs.

Our guide took us to see a bat cave (which I obviously did not go into), and my cheap backpack I bought in Bangkok completely ripped, so it was all tied up and Jordi was carrying it like a football. Everybody was ready for lunch by the time we arrived at another village around 1. We waited for an hour while they cooked us fried rice, and then continued on our way. We came to an Elephant Camp and got to watch them and take pictures, but we didn't ride them until the next day. In the evening we made it to our next village where we were going to sleep. This time we had misquito nets and sinks, it was luxury :)

For dinner our guides made fried pumpkin with tofu, green curry soup, and rice. It was sooo good!! We all sat around talking until it was late enough to go to bed!

The next morning we had our standard coffee and tea, with white toast and watermelon for breakfast. Everybody exchanged addresses and info, promising to visit eachother in all our homelands. We walked back to the elephant camp, and got to ride the huge and friendly beasts. Elephants are so funny, I loved it! After our elephant ride, we walked an hour more to a village where we got picked up by a truck which took us to a river. We got out and got to go white water rafting for a bit (don't worry, they were pretty tame rapids!) and then we got to go on a bamboo raft. We were half sinking, but it was really peaceful and beautiful floating down the river. When we got to the end of our run, we all got to eat delicious pad thai before getting back on the truck that would take us back to Chiang Mai.

It was such a fun adventure, and I'm grateful that no one got hurt or sick. Our group was a great mix of people, and our guide was a sweet and knowledgeable guy. We had a great time, and I would highly recommend Trekking - just don't forget the goggles and earmuffs! ;)

Back to Bangkok

2009-11-04T00:50:00.000-08:00

After being in Cambodia and Vietnam, arriving in Thailand felt luxurious. We were amazed at the freeways, and the really nice pedestrian backpacker area downtown. Stores looked like stores, instead of the living rooms of tiny houses, there are sidewalks with room to walk on them, and most people drive cars instead of motos. The food is recognizable, and many people speak at least a little bit of English. Thailand is "easy".
We spent our day in Bangkok eating all the delicious treats from the sidewalk carts - fruit bowls with muesli, rice balls filled with coconut custard, roasted corn on the cob, and of course pad thai. There are also a ton of markets and fun shopping to do. Along with the great people watching, it felt like we were at a fair!
The next day we boarded our train that was going to take us to a little city in the mountains called Chiang Mai. The ride is about 16 hours long, so we opted for the sleeper car. Most Thai people pay for the third class seats, which are basically like on a bus, but in our car the seats turned in to beds - I felt very privileged! The train was fun, Jordi and I sat facing each other with a huge open window that you could stick your head out, and see the people next door sticking their heads out as well :) We passed through the beautiful green countryside full of rice fields and distant mountains. When it got dark people started coming up the isle selling various dinner foods. Around 8, a guy came around and changed everybody's seats into beds. Although luxury compared to people in 3rd class, the train is not exactly clean or beautiful. But it was functional, and after dusting the insect wings off our beds we eventually fell asleep. Our train rolled in around 6:30 AM (we left at 2:30 PM), and we found ourselves in Chiang Mai.
We got to our hotel and took cold showers (after 16 hours on a train, hot water would have been nice, but oh well) and went on the search for breakfast. Many hippies and health nuts have paved the way in Chiang Mai, and you can get better food here than in Santa Cruz or Encinitas, it's amazing! Every other store is a bookstore, and every other restaurant offers whole wheat toast, soy milk, vegan curries, or all fruit smoothies. I was in heaven ;)
Our hotel had a pool, so we definitely took advantage of that, which was really nice! After our day exploring Chiang Mai and hanging by the pool, we spent one night at our hotel before going off on our Trekking Adventure through the jungle.....

Hanoi and Halong Bay

2009-11-02T18:40:00.000-08:00

We flew from HCMC to Hanoi, and it only took about an hour and a half. But since I had a cold, my ears refused to pop, and it was one of the most painful experiences ever! I thought I was going to die. But I didn't, and we found ourselves in Hanoi. We took a minibus into the city, which took over an hour, traffic in Hanoi is pretty much as crazy as Saigon. We were wandering around the streets looking for somewhere to land, and I was feeling really tired and sick. We walked in some place that looked nice, and the manager was there. He told us there was no availability, but he owns another hotel a few blocks down that we could stay for 50% off. So we hopped on motos and he took us to this other hotel, which was super nice!! We got a huge room with a flat screen TV, our own computer with internet, tea bags and a water heater, so I could have tea whenever I wanted, and a great big bathtub. Everything was clean and really nice! All for $25 a night - I was in heaven! I spent the next three days in that room, mostly sleeping, with intervals of baths, tea, or TV. Jordi was a trooper and spent most of the time with me, or out on the streets hunting for food to bring me. (There were no saltine crackers to be found, unfortunately). I didn't get to see much of the city, but Jordi walked around and took pictures for me ;) After 3 nights in our glorious hotel room, my fever finally left and I was feeling better. So we decided to get out of the city and take a tour to Halong Bay. Halong Bay is located about three hours from Hanoi, in the Gulf of Tonkin. There are thousands of tall, green islands dotting the water, and everyone is proud to let you know it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
On the morning after our 3rd night in Hanoi, a bus came to the hotel to pick us up. We got to Halong Bay around noon, and got on our boat. It was an old wooden boat, but it was really nice! They served us lunch, which was a feast of squid, fish, other interesting things, and white rice. We got to hang out on the lounge chairs on the top deck for a few hours as we winded our way through the islands. We came to a famous cave, and everyone got off the boat. Our tour guide took us through this cave, which is absolutely huge. It goes on and on, very spacious and cavernous. When we were through exploring the cave, we got back on our boat and got dropped off at a little place that rents kayaks. Kayaking was included in our tour, so we didn't have to pay seperately which was nice. Jord and I got a tandem, and it was sooo much fun cruising around the islands and finding little caves to paddle through. It was absolutely gorgeous, and felt like we were in a different world. We paddled back and got back on our boat, and everyone went swimming while we waited for dinner to cook. The water was warm and gorgeous, and it was really fun to get in and swim. Dinner was yet another feast of rice, and plates and plates of dishes that go with it. We met a couple fun people on the boat that we ate dinner with, and hung out afterwards as we went "squid fishing" (didn't catch anything).
The next morning they served us breakfast and we puttered over to an island called Cat Ba Island. This island is big enough to have a couple towns and roads. We got off the boat and onto a bus, which took us to a nature reserve in the middle of the island, where we all went for a hike. The hike was beautiful, but there were dozens of people in front of us walking really slow. So Jordi and I scrambled up in front of everyone else, had an awesome view at the top, and then scrambled down again before it got too crowded.
After the hike, the bus took us to our hotel, which was at the little town of Cat Ba. They fed us a feast lunch at the hotel, and then we spent the afternoon on our own. We found a beautiful little beach with white sand and warm water, and a view of dozens of little islands. We hung out there for the afternoon, and even found a cliff walk that was really beautiful. That night everyone had dinner at the hotel again, and after dinner Jordi and I walked all around the town. There is a little night market that we walked through, and a pretty boardwalk.
The next morning, we loaded up on the bus which took us back to the boat. We spent a couple hours on the boat heading back to Ha Long. Once there we were herded to a huge restaurant for lunch and then piled in our little bus for the ride back to Hanoi. We got to Hanoi in the late afternoon, and hunted around for another hotel. We found a good one, and then walked around the town looking for dinner. It was so nice to be able to walk around and not feel sick, and Jordi was glad to not walk around by himself. Hanoi is a crazy little town also. Motos are whipping around every corner, and every little house is a store of some kind. The people sit on itsy bitsy preschool plastic chairs to eat their dinners on the sidewalks, and it feels like everyone is either vying for your attention or about to run you over.
The next day, we walked half an hour to the Temple of Literature, an old University where Confucius once studied. It's an awesome building, and quiet - it was really nice to walk around. Afterwards we took a moto ride back to town, which is so much fun. When you're on a moto you don't have to worry about being run over by one - you just grab on and join the ride. Riding on a moto in asia should be ride at Disneyland. It would certainly be more exciting than Star Tours.
Anyways, we were walking around the lake when we ran into our friends from the boat! So we visited a temple with them and decided to meet up later that afternoon. We met at a place that is a really old house turned into a restaurant, it was really cool. We got fresh juices and hung out until they had to catch their bus.
The next day Jordi and I did errands (such as send packages back home, print out our e-tickets, find and ATM, etc etc) and then we found the taxi bus that goes to the airport. We waited for half an hour as the van filled up, and then bumped our way for an hour and a half to the airport. Goodbye Vietnam. Interesting, beautiful, chaotic country.

Saigon / Ho Chi Min City

2009-10-25T05:33:00.000-07:00

The mini bus came promptly at 8 AM to pick Jord and I up at the hostel to take us to the big bus. The big bus, called Mekong Express, was going to take us across the border, from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Min City. It was one of the best bus rides I've taken so far. They stayed with us through all the border crossings and got everyone across without any hitches. It was spacious and comfortable and fast - we were in the city early that afternoon.
What we noticed first about Vietnam as we cruised into the city, is that there was physical contact between guys and girls."Yesss!!!" we exclaimed, "We are not forbidden from holding hands in public!!" This is good news for me, since I am often left half a block behind when I can't hold on to Jordi. In Cambodia it is not proper to touch someone of the opposite sex in any way. I couln't even give Scott, my brother in law, a hug goodbye in public. You never ever see anyone holding hands, or hugging, not even on motorcycles. Girl to girl affection is ok, and guy to guy affection is fine, but nothing else. In Vietnam however, it seems to be much more relaxed.
We got off the bus and a guy came up to us wanting us to stay at his hotel. We didn't have plans for anywhere else, so we agreed to follow him. We trailed him through a maze of alleyways that seemed endless, until we got to a little house. He opened the gate, and it looked so clean! His wife and kid were inside, and they were so nice (The hotel is extra rooms of their home). We got a great big room with a balcony and a big bathroom for $12 a night. It was beautiful, and I loved the view of the city and alleyways from the balcony. That evening we walked around the center of the town. It's quite impossible to describe Saigon. It's madness, it's craziness, it's a beeping, jostling, crowded jumble of people, food, carts, bicycles, and motorcycles.
I had been reading a book called Catfish and Mandala, and it takes place in Vietnam (highly recommend the book by the way, it's by Andrew Pham). I was reading the book, and hanging out in the city he was describing, and everything he wrote was all so true!
" Kiosks hedge the street, no sidewalks, catching the drift of humanity churned up by the traffic.The sandwhich makers, old ladies with oily hands...lather pork fat onto tiny loaves. On the curbs, the shirtless men of sun-jerked sinew in boxer shorts and rubber sandals, squatting on their hams, grill meat over coals in metal pans...In an alley, a mother and daughter fry dough cakes, selling them wrapped in dirty newspapers. Next to them, laborers hunch on plastic footstools slurping noodle soup from chipped bowls...People shout, curse, barter, laugh, whine, edging words into the traffic, hustling for money. The buildings press narrow...every other one a storefront, open for business, selling selling, selling anything, everything. Food, paper, spare parts, clothes, candies, color TV's, fake watches, cheap Chines fabric, screwdrivers, wrenches...."
You get the idea - and it really is like this! It is also interesting to watch the traffic - there are sooooo many people driving, and most of them are on moto's. There are hardly any traffic lights, everyone just flows around eachother. Somewhere in the chaos, there is order. There is order to people's daily lives, to what they eat and sell every day, to how they drive. Although slightly overwhelming, I loved the nonstop energy of the city.
Unfortunately, the first day we were there, my sore throat had evolved into a bad cold. After a morning of walking around the city (and buying a new camera - yay!) I was feeling pretty woozy. We got cyclos (bicycles that have a seat in front that they push you around on) and they took us around the city a bit, and back to our hotel. I had a fever, and pretty much slept the rest of the day. The next day I felt just as bad, with a very sore throat and fever, but we had to get to the airport. The sweetheart lady at the hotel gave me a whole bunch of medicine and was very concerned for us, she was so cute! (I had no idea what the handful of different pills were, so I opted to not take them). So that was our brief visit to Saigon/ Ho Chi Min City. It was fun and frantic, and I'm bummed I didn't get to experience more of it.

Pearl of Asia

2009-10-24T02:52:00.000-07:00

Our bus to Phnom Penh was scheduled to leave at 11 AM. So we got to the station at around 10:40. We waited with Scott, Andrea, and their tuk tuk driver until about noon when they finally started loading up. We waited on the bus for about 20 minutes before we finally rolled out of the station. A few minutes later, the bus stopped to pick up more people. Why those people couldn't have just walked to the bus stop, and how they knew the bus would be driving by at that time, I don't know. We stopped in front of someone's house to pick up a package. We drove around town for an hour making all sorts of stops - Jordi and I had no idea what was happening. We finally left Battambang somewhere around 1 PM, and were barreling along the road. The bus didn't slow down for anything, not the cars in front of him, nor the oncoming traffic. Throughout the journey we made several other stops, sometimes so the driver could get out and go to the bathroom, sometimes it was a roadblock and some guys would get out and go sit down and chat with the police for a while before climbing back on. Sometimes the bus would stop and certain people would get off, and get back on again a bit later. I wish I knew what everybody was up to!! We were entertained the entire time by Cambodian Karaoke music, as well as a classic Kung Fu movie. Although the TV up front was held together with tape, the surround sound in the bus almost exploded my eardrums! We finally made it to Phnom Penh at about 6 PM. It was raining, and we had no idea where we were. Luckily, the Swards tuk-tuk driver had a friend in Phnom Penh whom he called to pick us up from the station. So he was there with our names on a piece of paper, and it was really nice to know we could trust him and not have to pick from the dozens of drivers who were vying for our business. He took us to a guest house near the center of the tourist district on the river. We checked into our room, which was fine but moldy. I told Jordi, "It's really moldy. I'm going to get sick." I wasn't complaining, just stating the facts. Jordi didn't seem to mind, and I didn't feel like finding a different room, so we stayed there for two nights. (And I got sick.)
Our first night in Phnom Penh we walked through the night market, and then found a little restaurant to have dinner. We walked along the river for a bit, and then showered and went to bed and had moldy dreams.

We spent the next morning booking bus and plane tickets that we needed, until our tuk-tuk driver came to take us around. In most capital cities, the touristy things to see are river walks or parks, palaces or cathedrals, government buildings and museums. Although Phnom Penh, once known as the Pearl of Asia, does have all these things, what most people go and see are the Killing Feilds and Tuol Sleng, a high school turned into a prison/torture chamber. In many countries, you can see war memorials, statues, and monuments. In Phnom Penh, the city itself is a war memorial. Just over 30 years ago the entire city was evacuated, bombed, its people mass murdered or herded to the countryside. It was a little bit depressing walking around this city, the proudly delapidating French architecture along the Mekong River giving glimpses into what I could imagine was once a beautiful city.
We only had one full day in Phnom Penh, and we chose to see the Killing Feilds and Tuol Sleng instead of the historical museums and palaces because we thought it was important to know where these people were so recently coming from. Almost all Cambodians have been affected one way or another by the war. Most have lost numerous family members, and something like 70% of the population is under 30 - many of them born in refugee camps. Our tuk-tuk driver (30, and born in Thailand) took us first to see the Killing Feilds. This is probably one of the worst places i've ever seen in my life, a horrible attribution to the absolute cruelty of man to man. I've seen the bloody temples of Tikal and the ovens of Auschwitz, but the horrible thing about this was its absolute base-ness. It's a small field outside of the city where they drove truckloads of prisoners. Within this small field are dozens of "holes" which were actually mass graves of hundreds of people. They found almost 9,000 bodies in an area of a small park. They killed the people (who were already tortured at Tuol Sleng) with bamboo sticks and iron rods taken from oxen carts, rarely "wasting" bullets on them. Sometimes the killers were as young as preteens. (One of the men on trial for crimes against humanity is in his early 40's!)

It was a very disturbing and sad trip, and I appreciated that they had a good informative museum explaining the politics etc, as well as a wall around the field keeping out beggars and preserving peace and solemnity. My dad told me the first time he went to the KF, there was nothing out there - no wall, museum, or anything, it was super eerie. The second time he went, it was like a zoo with everyone trying to sell him stuff while he walked around. So I think they have done a good job finding a balance.

Our next stop was Tuol Sleng, a high school in the middle of town. It looked like a nice high school, with tile floors, corridors, breezy stairways, and a courtyard. I could easily imagine high schoolers in the 60's and early 70's going to class and doing their thing. Blink, and a nightmare has arrisen. The buildings are covered in barbed wire, the shuttered windows have bars on them. The classrooms are turned into torture chambers, with medieval torture devices. Upstairs classrooms have walls built into them, fitting 30-40 prisoners per room in solitary cells. Out of the tens of thousands of prisoners kept here, only 7 survived.

We walked along the river that night, they are redoing the river walk, putting in a great big sidewalk with palm trees in the middle. It will be really nice when it's done! I see the progress Cambodia is trying to make, and I wonder how it would have been had they not gone through such calamity. Cambodians are yearning for change, better lives, a place in the world. With the Prime Minister himself an ex-Khmer Rouge and in power for the last 30 years, we can only pray!

We ended our night at a restaurant called Friends, part of an organization that takes street kids and teaches them restaurant and customer service skills. The best food EVER and really great decor. For anyone thinking about going to Phnom Penh, this restaurant is a must!

I am glad I got to see everything we saw, if only to have a greater understanding and appreciation of Cambodians past and pain. They are some of the sweetest and most polite people I've ever encountered, and I look foward to visiting the country again.

I'm Goin to Battambang!

2009-10-22T02:10:00.000-07:00

"Blissful Battambang" This is how our guidebook describes this little town, which is actually the second largest city in Cambodia. And I quite agree! Although I think I am a little biased since Scott and Andrea live here, so we got to hang out with them every day. Also because we stayed in an extremely nice hotel that I would never think of entering because of its grandeur, and it was $14/ night! So that was definitely blissful :)
We arrived in Battambang with the taxi driver and his wife, who actually owns the house that Scott and Andrea are living in with the grandma (long story). Anyways, everyone invited us to stay the night, and they made dinner for us as well. Another sister in the family cooks for Scott and Andrea, so she cooked extra, and the four of us ate in the kitchen together (the rest of the family eats separately because Scott and Andrea's meal is cooked specifically for them - another long story!) At any rate, her cooking is AMAZING, and we had a delicious meal and got to hang out with the extended family for a bit. The sister that cooks has two kids - a 10 year old girl and 5 year old boy. They are both super cute and friendly, great kids to play with :) We spent the night in an extra bedroom of the house, it was really nice! It reminds me a lot of our house in Guatemala, with cement walls and tiled floor and a bathroom for every bedroom.

The next morning, Monday, we went to Sunrise Coffee House, a coffee shop that some of our missionaries started that is now being run by Cambodian ladies. I finally got to have oatmeal! Scott and Andrea went to their language lesson at church, and Jordi and I checked in to our grand hotel down the street. We spent the day exploring the town, hanging out with the family, and Scott and Andrea, and eating delicious Khmer food. Scott took us through the Central Market, which was quite a circus for the senses. We also had to learn to cross the street, which is possibly one of the scariest things about Asia. There are no rules to the road, you just walk slowly into traffic and everyone dodges you. It's quite exhilarating.

Tuesday we spent the morning at a Cambodian cooking class. We had heard from several people about a restaurant called Smoking Pot that offered Khmer cooking lessons every morning. So we signed up for it, and learned how to make three common (and scrumptious) meals. That day it was only Jordi and I, and two British girls that were in the class. Our teacher took us to the market and picked out all the vegetables and meat needed for our three dishes. The market was much easier to handle since he knew exactly what he was doing. We got fresh coconuts and all fresh vegetables. We got fish that were caught in the morning from the lake, and watched as they killed and skinned them right in front of us! We also saw all sorts of crazy "food", such as duck embryo's, fried bugs of all shapes and sizes, dried squid, skinned frogs, and buckets of innards. So I wish Andrea and Scott luck. ;)
We took all our fresh goodies back to the restaurant where it was washed and prepared for us. Our teacher told us all about the different vegetables, their names in English, and their purpose for cooking. It was all super interesting! We spent hours chopping and chatting, cooking in the wok, and making curry paste with a mortar and pestle. We made a coconut curry, a beef stir fry, and an awesome lemon grass and sweet basil soup. We got to eat everything we made, so we couldn't move afterwards! Which was fine, because it started pouring down rain, so we sat and talked with our teacher for a while until the sky cleared up and our food digested.
Later, we found out that Battambang has a Vietnamese Embassy, so we took our passports there, and prolonged our stay while we waited to get our visas :)

Wednesday Scott and Andrea took us to a typical Cambodian breakfast of beef noodle soup, these fried donut things (they're not sweet, you put them in your soup. Really good actually!) and coffee with sweetened condensed milk. Sooo good!!!
That night was the birthday party of the 10 year old girl that S & A live with. Andrea had ordered her a birthday cake, and in the evening we went back to the house. Everyone was dressed in their best, and very excited at the prospect of a cake! Birthday parties are a very American invention, most of the adults in the family have never had a birthday party, and don't even know the exact date of their birth. They lit the candles and we all sang Happy Birthday (universal song). It was really cute and fun, I'm glad we got to be there for it!!
When we got back to our hotel, we ran into a friend of my dads, named Jeff Davis. He was in Cambodia leading a missions team, so it was fun to see him! He invited Jord and I to have dinner with them the following night, so we decided to stay in Battambang yet another day ;)

So we ended up prolonging our stay in Battambang twice -the Swards couldn't get rid of us! Actually, our grand hotel couldn't get rid of us ;)

Thursday Jordi and I rented bikes, and spent the whole day touring around the neighboring countryside. It is SO much fun to ride your bike in Cambodia. Most of the population is on bikes, or motorcycles, so it's fun to ride in a pack wherever you go. Also, as we rode along every little kid would hop up waving their arms and yelling "Hello! Hello!!" They were so cute, and they loved it when we said hello back to them :) We took one of the roads out past the city and along the river, where it was super jungly and gorgeous. We rode for a few kilometers until we reached a temple area that had a temple from the Angkor period, as well as huge Buddha statue and modern Wat (temple). It would have been cool to walk around and look, but after being ushered by a police man to a little table where we paid $2, we were continuously followed by 2-5 people trying to be our tourist guides. I got sooo frustrated because they were either following us or trying to get in front of us to "lead" us. Then they asked for money for being our guides! I was like Ha, ya right!! It's always hard to find a balance of friendliness and firmness, of compassion and common sense, of being generous or being ripped off. But we enjoyed a beautiful ride back to town full of friendly little kids yelling hello, who didn't want anything from us except a reply.
That evening we went out to dinner with the missions team and the missionaries (the Swards and one other family). We went to a really nice place and had a lot of fun with everyone! We hadn't eaten with a group of people in a long time!
Unfortunately, something I ate made me feel really nauseous, and I spent the night throwing up a lot. :( The next morning I was still sick, and was a little bit worried because we had to take a 5 (which was actually 7) hour bus ride to Phnom Penh. I took some Immodium which my mother had wisely stuck in my hand before we left, and Scott and Andrea supplied me with water and saltines. We got to the bus stop and said our goodbyes. Luckily the Immodium worked, and we survived our bus ride it to Phnom Penh without incident. But that's the next story...

Angkor Wat, Siem Reap

2009-10-22T02:06:00.000-07:00

The first day we were in Cambodia, we made it to Siem Reap around 4 PM. We hugged Scott and Andrea, and met their friends whom they met while training at MTI in Colorado. The hotel we stayed at was really nice, and it came complete with a bedside Bible and condoms. (I thought that was kind of funny). That evening we went out to dinner at a place called the Red Piano. Angelina Jolie had eated there while filming Tomb Raider at Angkor Wat, and the restaurant was very proud of this fact :)
The next day we got breakfast at this awesome little cafe across the street from our hotel, and then we went to see the Angkor temples. It is an amazing sight!! There are over 2,000 temples scattered around miles of jungle. The temples were built over a period of 3-400 years, and were palaces for kings as well as temples of worship. Each new king tried to outdo the last with his temple, so the most recent and most grand of the temples is also the most famous - Angkor Wat. Scott said we should see that one last so we wouldn't be dissapointed by the other ones :) All the temples were amazing. Huge stones that were placed by hand, intricate carvings on everything, and minute attention to detail. We saw the temple where Tomb Raider was filmed, where the trees are growing through the stones, it's crazy! I can't believe the work that archeologists have done and have yet to do, almost rebuilding some of these temples one stone at a time.
We went back to town in the middle of the day for lunch and air conditioning, and came back in the afternoon to see Angkor Wat. We spent hours wandering around the whole temple area, it was stunning and so cool to see.
That night we went out to eat at a really nice Indian restuarant. We ordered bowls and bowls of different curries, and tons of rice and naan. It was some of the best Indian food i've had, and the bill for all 4 of us came to $20. I love Asia.
The next morning the four of us went out to breakfast downtown. The poor waitresses thought Scott was crazy for ordering a pot of coffee for the whole table. They started giggling and everything, but they brought it to us! We sat for a while drinking coffee and chatting about lots of important sibling things :) It was very nice.
We hung out that morning (mostly hunting down places with AC and giving them service) and we left in the early afternoon for Battambang. Andrea and Scott live with a family in Battambang, and one of the sisters of that family lives with her husband in Siem Reap. Her husband is a taxi driver, so he was the one that drove us around all weekend, and he also volunteered to drive us to Battambang. His wife wanted to come too, to see her family, which meant that Scott, Jordi, Andrea, and I all had to fit in the back of a little Camry. So that's how we spent the rest of the afternoon - off through the rice fields on our squishy way to Battambang!

Planes, Tuk-tuks, and Automobiles

2009-10-20T02:08:00.000-07:00

Short Version:

Technically our trek to Asia started when we left San Sebastian to go to Madrid where we had a 30 hour layover, in order to fly to London where we had a 3 hour layover, where we took a plane to Germany for another 3 hour layover, and finally got on an 11 hour flight to Thailand. By the time we arrived in Bangkok, we had spent the last 2 nights either in an airplane or at the airport (0r getting our camera stolen). We spent one night in Bangkok before getting on a bus at 7 AM and riding on it until we got to the Cambodian border, around noon. We sat sweating at the border for a few hours getting our visas and walking across with our backpacks (you can only walk, not drive, across the border). On the other side of the border we rode in a taxi for 2 hours to the town of Siem Reap, where we were meeting Scott and Andrea. Once we got to the town we got on a tuk-tuk, who took us all over the place looking for an internet cafe so I could check my e-mail to see where Andrea had said to meet them. We found internet, I found out the name of the hotel, the tuk-tuk managed to get us there, and we had a very happy reunion with Scott and Andrea. And then we fell asleep.

A Little More....

After our night in the airport in Madrid, we got up at 4 AM to get on our plane to London. We got to London for a layover, and flew to Germany. Both of these flights were short and painless, and the layovers were fine also. We finally got on the plane to Thailand, although we didn't know it was going to be 11 hours long. Airplanes are probably the WORST place to try and sleep. We were so desperate, I actually tried sleeping on the floor in the 6 inches of space between our seats and seats in front of us. But then my legs had nowhere to go so my knees were bent backwards trying to fit under the seat. And Jordi's legs had nowhere to go, so they were squishing my already precarious position. It obviously did not work out very well, and I resigned myself to watching all 3 movies and countless TV shows.

Eventually we did land, thank goodness, and got off the plane. We were blessed to not have to wait in line for customs (if the line was anything like it was when we got to London, I might have cried), and we got our bags right away too. Then we had to figure out where to go....There were signs for taxi's and busses to "the In Ercity" which I though was funny. There was a couple from our plane that were waiting for a taxi, so I asked them if they spoke English, which they did, and where they were going. We ended up sharing a taxi with them, and staying at the same hotel as them that night. They were a very sweet couple from Europe, and lifesavers for us! We showed up at the hotel and got a room with air conditioning. The hotel even had a rooftop pool! It was really nice, and we went swimming right away, which felt amazing!! All this for $20! What a relief, after being in Europe! We had arrived in Bangkok in the morning, and wanted to stay awake until the afternoon for jet lag. So after our swim, we hit the streets. Good, cheap food every way you turn, rivers of people and tuk-tuks, sidewalks and streets bustling with activity, warm lazy air - so glorious!! We got the most amazing fresh squeezed orange juice for about 25 cents! We walked around for little while, and then went to a salon where Jordi could get a haircut while I got a massage. They asked me which kind of massage I wanted. My options were 'Thai' or 'Swedish'.

"What's the difference between the two?" I asked.

"One is pressure points, one is just relax," the lady answered me.

Well, after being on airplanes for days, a half hour of strategic pressure sounded pretty good. So I went for a Thai massage, and I had half an hour to regret my decision.

"Follow me."

So I followed her upstairs to a big room with a whole bunch of mattresses on the ground.

"Lie down."

So I lied down on a mattress, face down. All of the sudden I felt my shoulder being ripped apart from the rest of my back. I almost cried "OH MY GOSH FOR THE LOVE PLEASE STOP!!!" and ran out of the room. But instead I grit my teeth, scrunched up my face, and tried to think of Disneyland.

After the limb tearing ended came the stampede of horses. I do not know how this tiny little Thai woman felt like a 2 ton horse trampling me, but she did. And then her pointy elbow would find some crevice to twist and turn in, meanwhile my eyeballs were rolling to the back of my head.

After she slapped me around a little more, she said "Done" and left the room, leaving me slightly dazed and confused. I got up and found my way back down the stairs to see Jordi still lying in the chair getting his hair washed and his scalp massaged.

"What? How does your hair wash last longer than my massage??"

Anyways, the luxurious haircut finally ended, and we continued to meander the streets for a while, before finding a good place for "dinner" (it was about 3 PM). I got Pad Thai and Jordi got a delicious coconut soup, and we relaxed there for a bit before heading back to our hotel. At 4 PM we were dead asleep on our amazing bed!

7 AM the next morning we got on the bus to take us to the border. It was actually a large van, not your average bus, which was really nice. The roads in Thailand are great, and they even stopped a couple times to give us a stretching or eating break. At one rest stop we saw a huge horned rhinoceros beetle lying dead on the ground.

"Whoa!! Gross!" Jord said.

Our bus driver came up behind us to look.

"Delicious!" he explained to us.

We made it to the border before noon, and had to do all our paperwork and get visas, which took about an hour. Then we had to walk to the first building where we waited in line for Thailand to let us out. Then we went to another building where we waited in line to give them our Good Health certificate. Then we went to another building and waited in another line for Cambodia to let us in. Finally we were done, and we got a taxi with a Canadian guy we met to take us to Siem Reap, where we were going to meet up with Scott and Andrea. The taxi took a little while getting out of town: First, we stopped at somebody's house where the driver got out, unloaded everybody's backpacks, and then him and some other guy stuffed some sort of car machinery inside the trunk, then loaded up the backpacks, smooshed them until they fit and the trunk closed. Then we went to someone else's house where they unloaded the backpacks again, filled up the oil container, and loaded the backpacks again, continuously pounding on the trunk until it closed. Then we went somewhere else where the taxi drivers friend who was in the front seat got out. Then finally we were on our way! Once we were on our way, it only took about 2 hours.

We got to the town of Siem Reap, and got on a tuk-tuk that was supposed to take us to an internet cafe, so I could check my e-mail to see where Andrea had said to meet. I told the driver we wanted an internet cafe and he said something, followed by "free for you!"

"Wait...why is it free for us?" I asked him.

It was free if we stayed the night at this certain hotel.

"No no no," I explained, "We're meeting my sister at a hotel, we can't stay at that hotel, sorry. Just an internet cafe please."

He responded with something else that also ended in "free for you!"

I asked him why this was free for us also, and it was because it was at his house, or something, but we could use his computer if we would hire him for the whole time we were in Siem Reap to be our driver. We couldn't do that either because Scott and Andrea had already hired a driver, so eventually we got to an internet cafe. He dropped us off at the right hotel, and we finally got to see Scott and Andrea!!

The Rain in Spain

2009-10-14T23:08:00.001-07:00

Madrid

Our time in Madrid started with a 6 hour nautious bus ride to get there from San Sebastian. Maybe that was a bad omen. We finally arrived in Madrid and took the metro to the center part of town. We wandered around until we finally just picked a hostel. It was 50 Euro for literally a box. No windows or ventilation of any sort, no bathroom, just a bed in a box. Anyways, I was not feeling very well at all, but we went out to walk around the city and get dinner. For some reason, mostly because Jordi wanted to, we ended up at an all you can eat buffet that was disgusting. Kind of edible, but really not good. Then we went to an internet cafe that had phones so I could call my mom. As I was talking, Jordi was standing outside waiting for me. Some shady characters came up to him and started talking to him, asking him for cigarettes and trying to "play jokes" by playfully punching and shaking him - and taking our camera while they were at it. Jordi realized it too late, and they were already gone and dissapeared by the time he knew they had taken it. It was very heartbreaking for me as I was the one taking most of the pictures, and I love taking pictures. It had all our pictures from our coastal trip in France and the time we spent in San Sebastian. Our car trip to France was one of my favorite parts of our trip, so I am very bummed to not have pictures of it. Anyways, it was a really hard night for us, and we eventually fell asleep in our unventilated room. The next day, we woke up and mostly just wanted to get out of Madrid. We packed up our bags and figured out how to get to the airport on the metro. I was stomach sick and not feeling well at all, we were both frustrated over the camera, and also we had to be at the airport at 4 am the next morning for our flight - so our plan was to get a hotel by the airport and hide out til early the next morning. We got to the airport and ran around for at least an hour trying to look for someone to help us out. ("We don't have any information on hotels near the airport, you need to go upstairs." "Oh no, you need to go downstairs." "You need to go to that terminal" "You need to go to the next metro stop") Anyways, we finally found a lady who could help us, but all the hotels were booked because there was a conference. Besides, the hotels were over 200 Euro a night! So we decided to put our stuff in a locker and spend the night in the airport. We stashed our backpacks and got back on the metro. We went to Parque Retiro, which is probably the most popular park in Madrid. We got there and sat and had lunch, which was nice. Then we rented a row boat for almost two hours, which was really fun and beautiful, and very relaxing. We walked around the park a little more, and then went to Plaza Mayor for tapas and watching the preformers. It was really fun! And I was feeling a little better by this time. :) My Auntie Donna had told me about this little place in Madrid that has the only authentic Flamenco in the city. Since sleeping in the airport doesn't cost any money, we decided to splurge for the show. I had made reservations earlier, so we asked for directions and amazingly found our way through the alleyways to a little place called Casa Patas. Turning in from the alley, we walked through the doors to Casa Patas - it was all lit up, warm, decorated and fun looking inside. We signed in, and then had to wait at the bar for about 45 minutes before the show started. Everyone was either eating dinner or eating tapas at the bar, and everyone in the restaurant was there for the show. At 10:30 PM they shut down the bar and restaurant and ushered everyone behind the back restaurant wall, where there was seating for the show. The seating was shoulder to shoulder at tiny little cocktail tables, facing a small stage. It was a very intimate setting :) Out came the musicians - guitarist, violinist, drummer, and two singers - and everyone started cheering and clapping. I believe Flamenco has Moorish influence, as well as Gypsy background, and you can really hear this in the music and song. As soon as the music started everyone fell silent, for it was stunning. I could not believe how fast the guitarists fingers moved, and the voices were sorrowful and beautiful. The vocalists also do a little clapping thing throughout the whole show, which adds to the effect. Then out came the flamenco dancers - the man in his suit (who I had been talking to at the bar about the kind of cheese he had ordered!!) and the woman in her twirly dress (The cheese he ordered was from Galicia, by the way). They started dancing, and they were captivating. They move so fast and passionately. Actually, the whole ordeal is profoundly passionate - the singers, the dancers, the musicians. As Jordi observed, "Everybody looks like they are about to cry."

The show ended after midnight, and we had to wind our way through the subways back to the airport. We got our backpacks from the locker and went back to our terminal. By the time we found the perfect stairway to sleep under, it was almost 2 AM. We slept for two hours before starting our trek to Asia....

There and Back Again

2009-10-10T07:04:00.001-07:00

We left San Sebastian on Tuesday morning. Well actually, we drove around the city at least 5 times as Jordi tried to figure out the stick shift and I tried to read the incredibly vague maps we got for free from the Tourist office. We made it out of the city only to be greeted by about 20 roundabouts, and proceeded to zigzag our way from toll road to street road (which are parrellel to eachother, and connected with about 20 roundabouts) until we actually made it across the border and stayed put on the toll road. The only problem with the toll road is you have to come to a complete stop to pay the toll, which was a little exciting as Jordi hadn't quite mastered the art of the clutch. I would carefully count out our change and hand it to Jord, and he would proceed to slow the car down, but forgetting the clutch, making our poor little car hop like a bunny rabbit! Then all the money would fly all over the place. We would finally come to a complete, albeit dramatic, stop and Jordi would hand the startled toll road attendant what was left of the change that hadn't bounced out of his hands. The attendant would stare at the 10 cents we gave him and go, "Uhhhhh...." This happened a couple times. But we did eventually master the use of toll roads AND stick shift! :)
Anyways, we didn't have any itinerary or any idea of where we wanted to go, we were just going to drive up the coast. A little ways into the drive and we saw a sign with three pictures on it- one was of a little guy surfing, one was a girl under a beach umbrella, and the third was a sailboat - and there was an arrow pointing to the next exit.
"Well, those are all good things!" Jord said, "Wanna go there?"
I said, "sure!" so we pulled off and started driving down a little foresty road toward the town. We saw huge Quicksilver Pro (surfing competition) signs and another sign that said, Bienvenue a Hossegor. We were like, Oh my gosh, we're in Hossegor!! (We both had heard of this town through surfing magazines and movies) What are the odds? We didn't even try!
We got to the beach and saw a hotel called Hotel Hossegor Amigos, which I thought was a good name, so we stayed there! It was 50 euros for our own room with a double bed and our own bathroom and shower, plus a great ocean view!! And downstairs was the Amigos restaurant and a nice little living room area. It was an awesome hotel, and an awesome little town!! Unfortunately there was absolutely zero swell, so we didn't get to surf, but we hung out at the beach and went swimming and explored the town. The next day we explored up the coast a bit and checked some surf spots. We tried to rent bikes, but everything was closed, (since summer is over) so we hung out at the beach some more. There were some cool little restaurants and cafes that we frequented often, and one restuarant had a fuzbol table, so that was pretty fun :)
After two nights in Hossegor, we decided to venture on. It was pouring rain as we drove up the little coastal road (not the big toll road). It is absolutely beautiful countryside and it was really cool to drive through it all. We drove through all the little towns, stopping at one town to get tea, and stopping at another place where there were huge dunes that were a tourist attraction. We climbed up them and it was an amazing view, so that was fun. We ended up driving all the way to a little town called Lacanau, on the northern part of the Aquitane peninsula. My brother Aaron had surfed there and recommended we go there, and we didn't see anywhere else to stop, so we kept driving until we got to Lacanau. We got to the little beach town, and once again it was a really cool little town with a laid back beach vibe. We found a hotel that was right on the beach, and stayed there. We walked up the beach and around the town - mostly everything was closed, but we had dinner at a delicious little pizza place and enjoyed a gorgeous sunset. The next morning there was a little bit of swell, so we rented boards and went out. It was actually really fun, small, but we had it all to ourselves. We drove back down the coast and stopped in Biarritz, which is further south than Hossegor. Biarritz is a beautiful little city, with enless walks along the coast and the cliffs. It reminds a little bit of La Jolla in San Diego. There are tons of caves, a little harbor, and a light house you can walk to. We hunted around for a hostel and got a great one, once again! Across the street from our hostel was a tiny little pizza place (we've been eating a lot of pizza - possibly because it's the only thing we know how to order). Anyways, we went there and met another couple from Melbourne, Australia. They were super friendly and fun, and we ended up hanging out and chatting with them for a while. The next day was rainy and cozy, and we sat in a cafe and people watched for a while. We walked around some more, and in the afternoon went surfing. It was actually really fun, kind of stormy surf. That evening we met the Aussie couple again at the pizza place, and had dinner and hung out with them that night also.
The next day we had to go back to San Sebastian and return our car. We finally found a hostel there, and got some canned ravioli to eat for dinner. Doesn't sound that appetizing, but it actually was :) We went out for a little bit of tapas as a supplement to our canned ravioli, and ended up meeting these two Australian girls, also from Melbourne. They were a little younger than us, and incredibly friendly and funny! We had a lot of fun chatting - one of the girls has parents that have a beach house in Australia, so hopefully we'll get to meet up with them again!! :)
Well, that ended our time in San Sebastian. After this, Madrid!

Bordeaux to San Sebastian

2009-10-10T05:51:00.000-07:00

After we left Clive and Diana, we took the train to Bordeaux, which was thankfully much less eventful! We arrived in the town, which is situated along a river with lots of awesome architecture, fountains, cathedrals, and squares everywhere! We got a good little hotel and spent two nights there. We spent our days wandering around and enjoying our time to hang out. We noticed that every other store was selling these things called 'macarons', so finally we decided to buy some - they're soooo good!! All these different flavors of almond paste (i think) encoated with a merengue (i think). Anyways, those were fun! We had some great food and had a lot of fun ordering completely in French!! We were thinking of renting a car to explore the coast, but it was really expensive, and there were no waves at the moment anyways, so we decided to just get the train to San Sebastian.
We got to San Sebastian in the early afternoon on Friday, and found a hostel that had a room available and stayed there. As we were walking around in the evening we noticed that everywhere had tapas, little appetizer things sitting on the counter at every bar. That night we tried it out - you take a plate and load it up with whatever you want, and then pay for it later. It's pretty fun, but I don't know how they eat dinner after that!!
Actually, one night we did have an actual dinner instead of tapas, but we felt pretty sick afterwards. The next day we decided we were only going to eat 'Raw' - fruits, vegetables, nuts, etc., and give our stomachs a little break. It worked great for me, and I felt much better, although Jordi was ready for 'real food' by about 10 am! Since then we have consciously tried to incorporate fruits and fiber into our diet, which is not very convenient, but has been really good! :)
We stayed in San Sebastian for 4 nights. One day it was hot and sunny, so we got to swim and hang out at the beach. One day we hiked to the Jesus Statue and took a run along the river. One day there was swell, so we rented boards and went surfing. And every day there were tapas and people singing in the streets til 3 AM. Spain is one big party town!! On Sunday there was some sort of huge festival - so many people on the boardwalks that you felt like you were in a moshpit! And yet we never did figure out what the big deal was; besides tons of people, there wasn't really an indication of the occassion!
We went to the car rental place in San Sebastian, and it was way cheaper to rent a car from there, so we did! It's a little black hatchback, stick shift, deisel, and awesome! :)
We rented the car on Tuesday, and decided to go back into France and drive up the coast, hoping to find some waves :)

Aquitane, "South of France"

2009-10-05T11:15:00.000-07:00

I've always wondered why it's called "The South of France", instead of "Southern France". I feel like I should be dressed in linen drinking a fancy drink in my villa covered in bougenvilla before saying, "Yes, and then we meandered through The South Of France and made our way to Bordeaux." But we did meander through the South of France and Bordeaux, although I am not in a beautiful villa with fancy drinks. (I'm next to some really annoyingly loud Spaniards at a internet cafe in San Sebastian, finishing a day of semi-fasting - more on that later.)
Aquitane:
When I lived in San Diego, I worked for Paul and Maybeth Rothery. Paul's parents, Clive and Diana, live in a little town called Cambes, in the region known as Aquitane, in the middle of the rolling countryside of France. They graciously agreed to let Jordi and I stay at their home, even though they had never met us before!
We got to the train station in Paris very early, but not early enough. Although I had printed out E-tickets, you still have to go to the window to get a regular ticket printed out for you. There was only 1 window open and about 10 people in line in front of us, and our train left in 20 minutes. Of course there was not a single other person to ask for help, and each person in line was at the window for at least 5 minutes. At this pace we were definitely not going to make our train! We didn't speak any French, which didn't help matters any. We tried to ask the lady in front of line if we could cut in line since our train was about to leave, and she seriously started yelling at Jordi!! I got sooo mad!! I ran out to our train that was about to leave and tearfully begged the conductor to let us on the train with our piece of paper. He finally relented, and we plopped into some seats. Later the same conductor came by to charge us again for the train (we had already paid 180 euros for our tickets, but hey, why not pay another 180??) So we paid because we really had no choice, and we couldn't explain ourselves at all, which was extremely frustrating. Anyways, we had a stopover in Bordeaux, and there was a very kind and compassionate lady at the window who printed up all the tickets we needed, as well as refunded us for the extras we bought!
When we arrived in Marmande (the closest train station to Cambes), Clive and Diana were both there to greet us. They took us back to their pretty and quaint house, complete with red shutters and a view of the countryside :) Parts of the house were over 300 years old, and you could see how the huge wooden beams were held together with wooden pegs. We hung out with Clive and Diana for a bit, and got a tour of the house and garden. Diana had prepared a French feast for us that night, so Jordi and I decided we had better go for a run! It was so nice to finally go for a run again, and the hills were so pretty to run through. It actually reminded me a lot of the Central Coast, with lots of rolling hills and vinyards.
After showers, we came down the stairs to a perfect evening and sunset, and an amazing dinner!!
The first course we had was pate with a special salt paired with applesauce, and also french bread. We also had a little amuse bouche, or "Amusement for the Mouth", like an appetizer :)
Our next course was a true "Coq-au-Vin", with little white onions and delicious little mushrooms in a wine sauce. We also had fresh steamed veggeis and mashed potatoes - it was all seriously so good!!
The next course was cheese! And grapes from their garden. All that was really good also, of course!
And last but not least was dessert - ice cream, with cooked cherries from their tree out front.
We had lots of fun getting to know Clive and Diana and learning about their interesting life, and how it is to live in France.
The next morning, after some coffee and croissants, they drove us to a local Farmers Market nearby. It was such a gorgeous little town square, and the market was photogenically selling fresh vegetables, homemade pastas, cheeses, and gorgeous baskets that I really wanted!
For lunch that day, we had a French meal of fresh quail cooked with onions, french bread, and strawberries, all fresh from the market!
Clive and Diana took us to see some extremely beautiful little towns, and we also went to see an old castle in the area. Jordi and I took the tour, which was really fun, and the panoramas were amazing. You could easily pretend you lived in the castle and were looking out upon the land, because probably nothing much has changed!
We went to another little cobblestoned town with a pretty little square and a fountain in the middle, where they took us for dinner at their favorite Italian place. The food was really good, and it was a gorgeous evening!!
The next morning we went for a walk, packed up our stuff, and Clive and Diana drove us back to the train station. It was such a great little time in the countryside, and I'm so glad we had the opportunity to visit it! I'm also so appreciative of the open hospitality and generosity shown to us by Clive and Diana - even though they had never met us, they treated us like long lost relatives!! Now on to Bordeaux....

A Tale of Two Cities: Paris (Continued)

2009-10-05T06:57:00.000-07:00

Our next day in Paris was a Saturday. The streets were much more crowded than the previous two days, although the weather was still hot and sunny. We wandered again to the Ile-Saint-Louis and were mesmerized by all the beautiful shop displays. They seriously know how to tempt you - anything from cooking utensils to boars legs looked so enticing in the windows! The best windows to oggle at were the displays in cheese shops - hundreds of moldy or gooey or ginormous wheels of cheese, cheese, cheese. Also the bread and pastry shops, displaying freshly made goodies you never knew existed! My sister in law, Melissa, had suggested in an email that we take a picnic to Luxembourge park, so we decided to load up on supplies right then and there! We got bread, cheese, pear tarts, wine, and apples and walked until we came to the park. It's a HUGE park, complete with a palace and grass for miles that you arn't allowed to touch. We ate our lunch along with hundreds of others gathered at the park. We found some grass that didn't look too forbidden and Jordi conked out (he was pretty sick with a cold). I walked around and watched people playing Bocci Ball - seems to be quite the popular pastime!
I got back to where Jordi was sleeping on the grass, and noticed about 5 other couples or sleepers on the grass as well. I was congratulating him for starting a trend when a policeman came up to us and told us to get off the grass. Oh well, at least Jord got his nap!
We left the park and found the Pantheon, which was incredible to look at, but we didn't go in. We called our friend Dave Simonson again, and actually got ahold of him! We met him and his girlfriend Chloe in front of Notre Dame, and hung out for awhile with them. Eventually Dave helped us get our stuff from the hostel and took us back to the apartment, a twenty minute metro ride from the center of the city. Dave, Jordi, and I spent the evening eating cheese and bread and just hanging out at the house before going to bed.
The next morning Jordi and I took the metro back into town, where we walked around for an hour before finding a good cafe to sit in. We got a couple croissants and few tiny little cafes, which cost about 30 euro. Ridiculous, but it's Paris, and you just can't think about it too much!
We then walked to the Arc de Triomphe, and then walked all the way down the Champs Elysees until we got to the Louvre. By this time I was so hot and tired and grumpy, but we pressed on and got tickets to go inside. It was actually pretty amazing, and I forgot my grumpiness temporarily. We only looked at paintings since we spent so much time at the British Museum looking at other stuff. The painings and architecture were incredible, and I'm really glad we went. And yes, the Mona Lisa was there - surrounded by every Asian in Paris with a camera, so we didn't stop there too long.
By this time we were starving, since all we had were expensive croissants and miniscule espresso things, so we tried to find somewhere to eat. First, we tried to call Dave again, but our phone card wasn't working. So we found a little sidewalk cafe in a not-so-touristy part of town that Dave and Chloe had shown us, and sat down. All I wanted was a salad, or even something that contained a vegetable. Jordi went inside to order, and a few minutes later FOUR sandwhiches consisting of frech bread and sausage were brought out to us. Not only did I not want one sausage and french bread sandwhich, I really didn't want four of them!! So Jordi ate them all (what a good sport) and we looked for somewhere to buy a new phone card. We called Dave again, and him and Chloe wanted to meet us for dinner at the Moulin Rouge part of town. We took the metro up there, and found a little a little French restaurant where Chloe interpreted the menu for us :) I got ratatouille, which was delicious! Chloe showed us around the whole area - apparently it used to be a big artist community, and it's where Picasso used to live. It's a little far from the River, but it's on a hill and you can get great views of the city from up there. Little cobblestone streets and steep hills are everywhere, it was a cool part of Paris to see!
That is how we spent our last night in Paris - next morning we were off to the countryside!

A Tale of Two Cities: Paris

2009-10-01T04:55:00.000-07:00

Paris:

We arived in Paris in record time, on the high speed Eurostar train. We excitedly looked out the window at all the rolling green fields that led into the city.
For those of you who don't know, Scott took Andrea on a trip to Paris shortly before they left for Cambodia. While we were packing for our trip, they gave us about 12 Euros they had left over from their trip. This was seriously a life saver!!
When we got off the train, we didn't have any cash, and our debit cards wern't working! So we used some euros to call Union Bank, and got that taken care of! Then we used the rest of the euros to get on a metro to take us to a more central part of Paris. We got off at a place we chose at random, and began roaming the streets in search of somewhere affordable. (Preferably with a bathroom attached!) Miraculously, we found a little hostel on a side street that had one room left for the night. It was 90 Euro, but it was a huge room with 2 balcony windows overlooking the street, and our own huge bathroom and shower!! It was heavenly! And in the morning, our breakfast was in a cozy, pretty room and they gave us juice, tea or hot chocolate, and a baguette with nutella.
We put our stuff down and headed out into the city. Apparently our hostel was in the Latin Quarter, and there was tons of little pedestrian streets and cafe's. We found Notre Dame, and it happened to be Mass there also. They let people wander around during Mass, so we did :) We then walked along and found ourselves on a little island called Ile Sainte Luise. It was soooo pretty!! There was nobody out except us, and we walked along the cobblestone streets beside the river under the colorful trees. It was extremely picturesque, and really fun! :)
We had dinner that night in the Latin Quarter (crazy expensive, but very fun), and walked back to our hostel because it was already late!
Our first full day in Paris was Friday, and it was also our 16 Montheversary of being married! :) We spent the day figuring out how to use the public phones (you have to buy specific phone cards), and getting our hostel for another night, and finding an internet cafe, and getting in touch with Dave, our friend from college who currently lives in Paris. In the late afternoon we started our trek to the Eiffel Tower. It took us about an hour and a half, but we walked the entire way along the river and it was so beautiful!! We got to the tower at dusk, which was neat because we got to see it in the daylight, and then we got to see it light up!! The lines were insanely long to get up, so we decided not to. We crossed over to the other side of the river and walked for a ways more before stopping at a little French restuarant for our montheversary date. It was very fun - the fancy funny waiters were probably the best part about the whole experience, although the food was really amazing as well. Our entertainment for the eveing happened when one of those merchants selling blinking Eiffel Tower necklaces and key chains that moo came sauntering up the street. While most people shake their heads and lower their gaze when merchants approach, the table of Italians next to us seemed to think this guy and his merchandise were God's greatest gift! They had the merchant there for at least 20 minutes, trying out everything he pulled from his pockets and going "ooooooooohhh!!" and chattering away to eachother in Italian. One girl was modeling some magnetic Tower earrings, while another man was testing out the lazer beam, and yet another man was testing out all the sounds from the keychains. And these were very well dressed people at a pretty expensive little place!! The waiters in their tuxedos didn't seem to mind, and the merchant left the Italians, each with their little mounds of blinking moo-ing treasures in front of them!
(more to come later)

A Tale of Two Cities: London

2009-10-01T03:54:00.000-07:00

It was the most expensive of times, it was the most expensive of times....

London:

We arrived in London and walked to our hotel, which we had booked for only 45 pounds a night! (about 70ish dollars) We found out that this was because the room was on the basement level smelling strongly of burnt coffee, and there was no bathroom of any kind, just a bed! Down the hall was a toilet, no sink. To take a shower we had to walk up 4 flights of stairs to the communal shower! Our "continental breakfast" literally consisted of two pieces of white toast. And some burnt coffee (hence the smell).
So we tried to spend as little time there as possible! The first afternoon that we arrived, we decided to walk around and try to do some of the things on Grandma Jan's list (Jordi's Grandma had written out a list of things for us to do and see in London). We found Buckingham Palace and the park by the Palace. We walked through that park and found Hyde Park, where Speakers Corner is. It was fun to go there and see where Dad has often been! We saw amazing monuments and architecture everywhere. One thing that was interesting was the innumerable amount of World War tributes and memorials there were.
We eventually came across Westminster Abbey, and what do you know but they were closed for mass!
"Perfect!" I thought. My Auntie Donna and Uncle Rick had told me the best time to see the abbey was during Mass, so we told the guard we were there for Mass, and he let us in. Inside was breathtaking -high celings and everything was very ornate. They give you a sheet telling you how to follow Mass, so that was good! (When to sit, stand, sing along, etc..) It was incredible! We were tired from walking so much, so it was nice to sit in this beautiful place and hear the voices of the choir echoing throughout the church. It was a beautiful service and I'm really glad we got to go!
Afterwards we decided to try and get dinner, and on the "List", Covent Gardens was mentioned as being a good place to go and eat. Unfortunately for us, our map was super vague! We didn't see Covent Gardens, but we did see New Covent Gardens Market - close enough, right? WRONG!! After hours of wandering across bridges and throughout the industrial district of London, we found an empty parking lot with empty warehouses, which said it was the Covent Market. Finally we found a girl who told us where to go, so we got on the extremely expensive metro and arrived at a much more populated and friendly looking area!!
We found some amazing, albeit scorchingly spicy Indian food, and had an impressive quantity of naan!
The next day we spent hours at the British Museum, which was awesome. Then we went to the Globe and the Tower of London (creepy!) We didn't do any of the tours, but it was fun to see the places. In the evening we went to a typical English pub for a warm beer and steak and ale pie with mashed potatoes. Jordi liked the cuisine, but I probably won't miss it too much ;)
Then on to perhaps the best part of the day - Wicked!!! We got tickets earlier that day, so we went to the theatre and saw it that night. It was soo good, I loved it! I've been wanting to see it forever, and Jordi really liked it too! I have to say I think it's definitely better than the book.
Anyways, the next morning after picking at my toast (Jordi gobbled up his breakfast, bless his heart), we got on another expensive metro to the train station where we bought expensive lunch and got on an expensive train to Paris, where more expensiveness awaited us ;)
But we had a great time, and got to see a lot in the short time we were there. My favorite parts were Westminster Abbey, the Museum, and of course, Wicked!

"Punting on the Cam Under Bridges", or "Cambridge" for short

2009-09-25T03:13:00.000-07:00

Cambridge is like San Luis Obispo in that it is a little college town in a beautiful area. However, it's been around centuries longer, and the architecture is slightly more intricate and breathtaking. We had such an amazing time in this town with our friends Eric and Nicki Appel. Eric is part of Jesus college studying Chemistry and Nicki is a nurse, and they have been there for a year so far.
Jordi and I finally made it to their little apartment - after a red eye flight, the wrong bus tickets, buying more tickets, a two hour bus ride, and a trek through the town with backpacks the size of donkeys on our back.
Their apartment is made of old stone, with a bright blue front door, right on Jesus Lane across from the college - perfect :)
We were so exhausted from not sleeping in a long while, and I was starting to get sick, so Nicki graciously gave us their bed where we proceeded to pass out like rocks for the rest of the day. Eric came home in the afternoon, and they woke us up to go for a walk.
The town is incredible to walk through. Narrow winding alleyways with ancient stone buildings on either side, cobblestone plazas, tea houses and English pubs on every corner, and views of Kings Chapel from almost everywhere in town.
We got sausages from the Sausage Cart (looks like he belongs in Disneyland) and they showed us the oldest pub in town. This pub had gardens and a pretty outside area, as well as tons of tiny little nooks and crannies, with fire places and cozy chairs. There were tons of names burned on the roof, apparently from soldiers in World War Two. As Eric said, Cambridge is so cool because "it's the real thing!" All the coats of arms and World War memorabilia arn't just decoration!
That night we rode bikes across town to a comedy show. It was a funny show, and it was awesome to ride bikes through town :)
The next day was Saturday, and I was feeling pretty sick. Nicki had to work, but Eric showed us around a few of the colleges (getting us in for free, which was great!) and inside Kings Chapel. Later we went to the park where Eric and Jord played frisbee while I slept on the grass. The grass was so green and the trees were starting to turn colors, it was a beautiful afternoon in the park!
Afterwards we meandered back into town for my most favorite English tradition: tea and scones. We went to a little place called Aunties, on the corner of the plaza. The traditional tea is English Breakfast with milk, and a huge puffy scone with clotted cream and fresh jam. It's pretty much amazing!
We hung out the rest of the afternoon, and when Nicki came home we made fajitas (they've mastered the art of making Mexican food in England) and watched James Bond :)
Sunday we bounced out of bed and rushed to church, which I think was called Christs Church. It was a small walk from their house, in an old church building. The message was on Science and Religion, and at the end the pastor asked Eric and two other students from Cambridge (studying science) to come speak a bit about being a Christian in the Science world. It was very interesting, one guy talked about how Science asks the question "how?" whereas Christianity asks the question "why?" so really they are very much compatible. Eric spoke on how the topic of Christianity always becomes more personal than scientific when he is talking with his colleagues.
After church, we went on a huge long walk through the town and meadows along the river to a pub situated on the banks of the river. They had a huge grassy area along the water with dozens of tables everywhere. It was a beautiful sunny day, so I think all of Britain was hanging out outside, and most of them were at the tables on the grassy area of this pub, including us. We got some tiny glasses of cider and chatted for over an hour until our food was very huffily put in front of us. (I am SO sorry I am at your restaurant ordering food. Please forgive me for existing, and I will never trouble you to bring me the food I paid for ever again!) But the food was good - British, so very saucy and fried. Then we all went to the bank of the river and layed down and took a good little nap in the sun. It was so nice and relaxing! As soon as the sun went behind the clouds, we got up and trecked over an hour through the meadows and town back home. I loved thinking that all I had done that day is go to church and go out for lunch, but with all the walking and waiting and napping, it was already evening!
That night two other American couples that the Appels are friends with came over for a BBQ. All the boys bbq'd outside and we had a good American feast, complete with vegetables and fruit (inventions the British haven't discovered yet.)
Monday, the next and final day of our Cambridge adventures, we woke up and rode our bikes to meet Eric, who was already working. We then all 4 rode our bikes to the outskirts of town, tied them up, and continued our journey to Granchester by foot. The whole walk was, as Nicki described it, "exactly like Pride and Prejudice". You know the part where she walks through the meadows to get to her sister who is sick? It really is like that, and it is incredibly beautiful! There are tons of cows who watch you walk by in their sorrowful way, and big trees and the pretty winding river. We got to Granchester to a place called the Orchard, which is a tea garden where you litterally sit under the apple trees in the orchard! We went into the old wooden house where you pick out a huge puffy scone from the basket and order a pot of tea, and then take your tray to a table in the orchard. It's so fun, and so pretty! We sat under the apple trees (which can also be dangerous - 2 huge apples fell right next to us!) But anyways, we thoroughly enjoyed our English breakfast tea with milk, and Scones with cream and jam. Also, we were sitting in the same orchard that Virginia Woolfe, and countless other authors and poets used to come and try to outwit eachother. How could we not thoroughly enjoy ourselves??
After a good long time sitting in the "spotted sun" (the English never say party cloudy, they always say partly sunny, sunny spells, or spots of sun - it's very optimistic) we headed back to town. Eric took us into Trinity (i think) to see the oldest library ever! They had a first edition collection of Shakespeare plays, and Sir Isaac Newtons notebook with his notes on Principia Mathematica. And perhaps my favorite: the rough draft copy of Winnie the Pooh! Apparently the writer went to Cambridge. I read in Milne's cursive about Piglets birthday party and Owl writing the card - very fun :)
The rest of the afternoon Jordi and I spent running around town trying to figure out if we could get a phone or Skype from our Ipod, but both ideas failed, so we are now stuck with payphones and internet cafe's. Oh well :/
That evening we met down by the river and rented a punting boat. Eric was pro at it, and took us all the way down without any hitches. It is such a beautiful ride, going under all the bridges from all the different colleges. On the way back, Jordi punted, and did a very good job! We had a good talk about Isaac, which I appreciated, and then went out for pizza.
The next morning, we woke up early, packed up, and headed out for our bus to London. We very sadly said goodbye to the Appels, with whom we had the best time ever! I loved staying there with them and getting a feel for their life in England. I'm also glad we got to spend so much time in Cambridge, a place many tourists only touch on. We had a great time getting to know Eric and Nicki better, and are so grateful for their hospitality and generosity!
Now on to London....

New York- Big City, Tiny Spaces

2009-09-19T10:30:00.000-07:00

After saying goodbye to Andrea and Scott at LAX at midnight on Tuesday morning, we went home and got a few hours of sleep before Mom and Dad ever so generously drove us back to LAX at 6:30 on Tuesday morning! Our flight was good, and we had detailed directions from my friend Ryan on how to get from JFK to his apartment in Manhattan using public transportation. When we were still in the airport we had 3 different Metro tickets given to us by people leaving the city! So we didn't have to pay for the metro the whole time we were there, which was really nice!! We took an "air train" (like a monorail) to the metro station, and took the metro all the way to Ryan's neighborhood. We put our stuff down, and then Ryan took us walking all over the place!! He has a tiny apartment in the Lower East Side, and he took us through East Village, Little Italy, and Soho. While walking through Little Italy, it was about 11 PM and there was huge street fair spanning dozens of blocks! There were lights everywhere and tons of different vendors selling every kind of Italian food you could think of, and some I had never heard of! I saw the vanilla eclairs with chocolate frosting that Scott loves, in abundance! And the stereotype of Italians with the gold chains and wifebeaters working at the family restaurant and yelling at each other in thick New York accents - not a stereotype, its true!

We ended the night in a tiny little cafe that had live jazz. It was really hot that night, so we got Sangria and listened to the band - it was perfect!

The next morning the weather changed drastically, and it was way cooler. The night before we were walking around in t-shirts and sweating, but the rest of our trip we were layering on sweaters and jackets! We saw the Rockefeller Center, Time Square, and spent many hours at Central Park. We ended up on the Upper West Side, so we went to the Natural History Museum (really cool old museum). Another one of my friends from high school, Brittany, lives on the Upper West Side, so we met up with her and she showed us around a bit more. We saw the Hudson River, and went out to eat at the tiny little place called Nicks that had amazing food!! The waiters were fully Italian, and the place was super cozy and warm and solid brick. There are tons and tons of restaurants and shops in New York, but it amazed me how tiny they were, and lots of times they were mostly underground - you have to go downstairs to get to them. Super interesting, and the polar opposite of Orange County! Actually, Brittany's room in her apartment was underground and the apartment was also tiny. Our apartment in Redondo Beach that I thought was small, now seems luxurious!

The next day we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge - it was a beautiful walk and I would highly recommend it! Although it did start raining on us...We also took the metro to the Upper East Side and found the apartment building that my Grandpa Frank used to live it. It's an incredible part of town, and I enjoyed seeing where he used to live.

After that we had to book it back to Ryan's house to gather our things. We met up with him at his work in the financial district (JP Morgan), so that was pretty interesting also. We got to go to Grand Central Station, and took a bus from there to the airport, and that was the end of our trip to New York!

I'm super glad we got to go - New York is an incredible city, and I was really glad to see my friends and their lives in the city.

Now off to Cambridge.....

A Farewell To ...

2009-09-13T16:32:00.000-07:00

...Family

We finally made it out of our apartment right before Labor Day weekend, and started staying at my parents house in Orange County. Andrea and Scott had just moved out of their apartment, and were also staying at Mom and Dads. So of course, Stephanie wanted to join the party and she flew out from Texas to spend the weekend at Mom and Dads with all of us. Thus started the beginning of the goodbyes.

We had an incredible weekend together as a family, but the knowledge that we were all about to go our separate ways made it a heavy weekend as well. On Saturday we went to my grandparents house, and my cousins came down from Santa Barbara, and the Swards said their goodbyes to them all. Watching Scott and Andrea say their goodbyes for a second time, I can't help but remember the first time they said their goodbyes, with Isaac in Andrea's arms, giving everyone kisses.

Last November we said goodbye to Aaron and Melissa, not knowing when we were going to see them again. On Monday Steph had to say goodbye to Scott and Andrea, again not knowing when we would all be together again.

While it is undoubtedly exciting what God has in store for the Swards in the broken and beautiful country of Cambodia, the pain of separation is imminent, and perhaps exacerbated by the fact that we already feel that pain of separation with Isaac, as well as with Aaron and Melissa.

The weekend wasn't all tears though - we had some very intense games of tennis (thanks to Scott) and amazing girl shopping time ;) We also had the best Guatemalan meal EVER, thank you Mom!!

Today, Sunday, was the commissioning of the Swards at Long Beach Friends Church. They had a service over two hours long dedicated to Scott and Andrea. The love and loyalty from their church was so apparent, I know they are doing the right thing in going to Cambodia, the homeland of so many from their church.

Tomorrow Scott and Andrea leave, and although we will see them in a few months when we are visiting South East Asia, life won't be the same without them here, and I will miss them a TON!!! Not looking forward to tomorrow :(

...Redondo Beach

This week has been crazy, to say the least. All the goodbyes, as well as trying to get ready for our trip, as well as traveling all over the state, have made it an incredibly busy week. We were in San Diego for a night while Jordi took his contractors license test (and passed!!) and we said goodbye to family and friends down there. We were in San Luis Obispo for 2 days because I was in m y good friends wedding up there, and we were in Redondo Beach for a night to say goodbye to the neighbors and tie up loose ends.

From so much traveling around, I have often thought of our little life that we built up in Redondo. Neither of us knew much about LA, but we found our little spot, and we loved it there! It was really hard to say goodbye to our precious little apartment - full of character and walking distance to the beach and Trader Joe's! We said goodbye to Calle Miramar and the center divider where you could put anything you didn't want, or collect cool things other people didn't want! We said goodbye to our walks on the Esplanade, frozen yogurt at Penguins, biking on the boardwalk, and daily strolls to the Dolphin Park.

We said goodbye to our church, Mosaic, which we really liked and are sad to not be able to go there anymore.

We said goodbye to our neighbors - so many great people living at 309! It will be especially sad not to see our little neighbor baby Kiara every day! She is such a crack up!

We said goodbye to our whole way of life that we spent over a year cultivating. It was slightly heartbreaking to just leave, for no real reason except that we decided to! I'm sure traveling will be amazing, but a routine and way of life that you come to love are amazing in their own right.

I will miss Redondo Beach, and all it holds for us.

...All!!

And of course, goodbye to all you friends and family who we will not see for the next three months!

We have been so generously taken care of, and couldn't have gone through all this without you!!

We love YOU tons :)

The Art of Moving: A Treatise

2009-09-06T22:22:00.000-07:00

"Moving"

Definition: A person or family relocate their habitation, and in the process relocate their possessions as well.

Example Sentence: "We 'moved' out of our apartment in Redondo Beach."

See Also: Cleaning, Exhausting, Emotional, Hellish, Sweaty, Test of Any Relationship

For months, Jordi and I have been talking and dreaming about one day escaping LA and traveling the world. As hard as it was for Jordi to work at Webcor, the paychecks allowed us to save up for such a trip. When they laid him off the last day of June, we figured our time was now. So we bought plane tickets. We told our landlord we would be moving out the end of August. We called our friends and family and told them we would be visiting. And we continued on with life as usual.

But then came the day when the first boxes were taped together, and the first dishes and picture frames were packed.

All of the sudden our dreams were turning into reality, and reality was not pleasant!

We figured our trip was going to take about three months, and since we didn't (and still don't) know where we will move to when we get back, we decided to put all our stuff in storage for the meantime. We discovered that storage units in Norco are MUCH cheaper than anything convenient. So we rented out a storage unit in Norco. Who needs convenience?

Our neighbor, Marcello, generously (and perhaps rashly) offered to lend us his truck while moving. We took him up on it, as it would definitely be able to hold more than the Element.

So we packed up the trailer with its maximum weight of 2,000 pounds, and proceeded to pack up the truck with its maximum weight of a couple hundred pounds. Dressers, heavy boxes of dishes, our beast of a couch, coffee table, dining room table, all packed in the most strategic and squishy way. It was impressive how much we fit in!

As we were finishing up packing up the truck, I suddenly remembered I had an orthodontist appointment in the afternoon at 2:30. It was then 10:30 am. Norco is about 1.5 hours away. So that gave us about an hour to unload in order to get to my appointment on time. Alright, game on!

With both trailer and truck bed full to the brim, the next step was to hook the trailer onto the truck.

"By the way Kirsten, Marcello's truck is stick shift, so maybe you should drive it."

My jaw drops.

I can drive stick when its not a truck loaded with stuff pulling a trailer tottering with beastly couches. I knew I could definitely not safely back it up to the trailer and maneuver it out of the driveway, so the task fell to Jordi.

I'm not really sure if Jordi has ever learned how to drive stick shift, but at least he knows how to maneuver trailers. He semi successfully was able to back the truck out of its parking spot and over to where the trailer was parked.

There is a very steep driveway leading from the parking area for our apartment complex to the street. We were attempting to get part way up the steep driveway in order to have an angle to hook the trailer on the truck. Jordi couldn't get the truck up the driveway, so I got in to try. I completely burned rubber and made it to the top of the hill in less than a blink of an eye. So THEN we had to back it back down the hill. Finally we got it an angle, but now we couldn't lift the trailer up enough to hitch it on. So I had to go hang off the back of the trailer while Jordi lifted with all his might and FINALLY got it to stay on and click into place. About this time another neighbor comes down the stairs and into her car to leave, and we are completely blocking everything. We also have about three other neighbors leaning over railings shouting directions at us. The neighbor in the car patiently waits about 15 minutes while Jordi maneuvered the truck and trailer all the way to the far end of the parking area to get a running start of the hill. The neighbor in her car left, I jumped in the truck, Jordi gassed it and we got into second gear and charged it up the hill, and we were off........!!!!!

Alright, so now we had about half an hour to unpack so I could be back for my appointment, we were sweating profusely, but at least we were finally bumping along.

Sitting at a stop light, an old guy cruises up next to us, motioning and telling us in his broken English that we have drawers falling out of the dressers. So I run out and pull the drawer out.

"Oh ya," Jordi says when I hop in, "I forgot I ran out of tape, so I didn't finish taping the drawers."

Next stop light, and we get told there is another drawer falling out, so out I hop again.

We stalled a couple of times, with the Hawthorne traffic swelling around us, and drawers stacked up on my lap. The whole experience was so ridiculous, it was becoming comical. Plus the truck didn't have air conditioning, which was just fabulous.

We finally made it to the storage unit in the middle of nowhere, sweaty and tired. For some reason the sprinklers were on in the front lawn, which makes no sense considering we're supposedly having a water shortage, and they were watering their lawn in the middle of the day in the middle of summer in the middle of the desert. Oh well, they felt great to run through!!

We got our key and headed to the unit. We unpacked in record time, booked it back to Redondo Beach, just in time to see the glorious cloud cover coming up from the water. (We did have one mishap - the trailer tailgate fell off and started scraping along the freeway, so we pulled over five lanes and attempted to put it back together on the side of the freeway! We were just glad it didn't happen when we had all our stuff back there!) I was 8 minutes late to my appointment - sweaty and smelly, but impressed with myself for being there at all!

I walked back to our apartment, it was now about 3 pm, and all I wanted was to finally sit down and have lunch. I walked in the door dreaming about my lunch and sitting experience to come, and Jordi welcomed me with these words,

"Hey Kirst, we really should keep packing."