Hong Kong Phooey

Ok folks, I didn't get a chance to wrap things up in Singapore, so here it goes. So much to tell...

From KL I headed down to Melacca with a group of CouchSurfers for the weekend. There is no doubt we tore that sleepy tourist city up, and I did notice one commonality that links all Asians, Eastern or the brand living in the West, together... photos. The first time we took 15 photos from 15 different cameras of the same thing... well, I brushed it off. "Harty har har," I said to myself. After taking 15 shots from 15 different cameras of 100 different things over the course of a weekend... well, you might say it became a bit tired. Oh well. Other than that the weekend was amazing. I can't tell you how friendly the Malaysians have been to me. My last night there I also got the chance to stay with a gentle tea-expert of a Chinese man named 'Mr. Yee'. We stayed up the last night drinking late night tea (aka: Tiger beer), as he described the philosophical reasons behind drinking tea. It was somewhere between him describing the 8 (yes 8... or maybe 9, I can't remember) senses humans have, and me getting eaten alive by mosquitoes that Mr. Yee lost me in the conversation. Super guy none the less.

The next day, in the midst of a rainstorm, I hopped on an afternoon bus to Singapore... and after 2.5 days in the country, I'll try to summarize as best I can. If you take a futuristic utopia of a society (great public transit, extremely clean, polite... umm... sterile) and throw in a healthy dose of Chinese culture, you have Singapore. It's probably one of the top 3 cleanest places I've ever been, with the only competition being from Switzerland or maybe Germany. (I haven't been to Japan) My host was extremely nice, as I stayed with her, her mother, and her 2 brothers. They cooked for me the night I arrived and her mom was worried that I wouldn't be able to use chopsticks. HA! Little did they know I've been known to catch flies with chopsticks! (in my spare time between waxing my master's car) I really did have a great time in the city/country, and met some amazing locals. I'm just not sure if I could live there long term... especially when there are other options out there.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, brings me to my final destination: HONG KONG. One of the undisputed heavyweights of Asia, Hong Kong is more of an attitude than a city. Anything goes, but not in the Bangkok 'anything goes' kind of way. It's a lot like New York, but it's very different at the same time. On any given MTR (subway) you'll have a mix of hipster teenagers/twenty-somethings wearing their skinniest ties and brand new Chuck Taylors, sharp dressed business men/women on their way to make a million (Hong Kong Dollars), backpackers trying to figure out which stop to get off at... and then me. I suppose I fall in the last category, but who's counting. There's amazing food at every corner, and several friends of mine here in the city took great pride in showing me some of the finest eateries. (once again, as is my reoccurring theme in this blog... I *heart* food) Granted I did have some great hosts/tourguides while here, but I'm really taken by Hong Kong. It's not perfect (Singapore), but it has a certain personality you can't seem to put your finger on. It's real... well... very real. And to be honest, I have a feeling this won't be the last this city will see of me.

Quick note on Macau: I've heard varying things about how it's either bigger, better, worse, etc etc... than Vegas, but here's my take. It's not there yet. Yes they have a Wynn, MGM and the like, but it lacks that certain Vegas personality I'm so accustomed to. Maybe I'm bias since I've been to LV a dozen times, but Macau just didn't do it for me. (granted I was only there for one afternoon, perhaps I'll give it another shot) However, the potential is huge. Las Vegas does bring in more money for the time being, but with 300 million people within a 5 hour flight compared to Macau's 2.9 BILLION... things might change in the near future. Also, Asians love to gamble. (yes stereotype, but oftentimes true) Just don't bet on the number 4.

I honestly can't believe I'll be back in the US tomorrow. It seems almost foreign to me as I'm used to living out of a backpack and moving every 3 days, but I'll be glad to see familia Miller y mi amigos again. For those of you following this blog over the last 4 months, I thank you greatly. (and apologize for typos, mis-information, racial slurs, etc.) I'm going to close this short travel book for the time being, but I have a feeling my passport will once again need some exercise in the near future. I'll keep you all updated.

Much love to everyone.

-d

Stuck in the rain

Since I last left off, I've moved past the organized luxuries of KL, and on to the Cameron Highlands. Apparently Cameron Highlands is where the Brits living in Malaysia decided to vacation a century ago... and for good reason. Much like the Central Highlands of Vietnam, Cameron is elevated to a cool, crisp altitude above the hustle and bustle of big cities. There's only one main drag in the city I stayed (Tanah Rata), so you get to know locals and tourists pretty well. I managed to find myself a nice Indian place to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. (yes, sometimes all in the same day... 3 times at the same spot... but for around $1.20USD, how can you not?!?) I wouldn't have found it, however, if it wasn't for a 75 year old English women who was walking around helping the cooks. Let me tell you something about this woman named Elizabeth (fitting eh?). I've probably asked the same tired question 500 times. "So how long have you been traveling?" I've received various responses. '2 weeks holiday'... '1 year around the world'... so on and so forth. But this woman takes the cake. Me: "So you seem to know quite a bit about Malaysia and India. When did you start traveling?" Liz: "1957". Seriously, the lady had been traveling for over 50 years. Not moving from place to place every 3 days mind you, but she would live in Spain for 5 years, Malta for 2, Australia 6 months, South America 3 years, etc. If I happen to say I wanted to visit Madagascar, she's the type to respond "I once fell in love with a man in Madagascar... we sailed the Indian Ocean for 3 years before he came down with a bad case of malaria." No joke though, this woman was fascinating. We basically had a reoccurring dinner date for 3 days. (in hindsight, was I seeing a 75 year old woman...)

One of the 4 days I spent in Cameron I decided to skip the half day tour packages where they shuffle you around to quickly knock out the sights. Instead I walked. And walked. And then walked a bit more since I was bored. In the course of walking upwards of 14km I: held a poisonous scorpion in my hand, chased butterflies through a rose garden, and walked 4km through the most majestic tea plantation I've ever seen. (not that I've seen many tea plantations, but this one is definitely one out of one) Honestly, words can't do justice to this place, so you'll just have to wait for pictures. It seriously looked like a Windows default wallpaper... basically too beautiful to be real. Once at the top, I guided myself through a personal tour of the facilities... All well and good until it started to pour outside. "What shall I do?", I asked myself. After pestering 3 or 4 tour groups for a ride back to town, I came across a Sikh who was interested in my predicament. He was up at the Boh Tea Plantation to measure some electrical readings (along with his team), but since it was raining cats and dogs, they couldn't do much outside. We got to talking, and after a couple 'Yeah, I'm from Texas' and 'Oh I studied in Montreal' he decided it was best to postpone work and have some milk tea. (Teh tarek) 3 milk teas, 1 ride back to town, and 4 hours later, I firmly decided that Malaysia is the friendliest SE Asian culture. Seriously, I've had a number of people go above and beyond what I expected of them. *High five* AND 2 points. And it's only been less than 2 weeks here...

I'm currently in Penang, and will be heading back to KL tomorrow for a day before the big Couchsurfing outing to Melacca. A word on Penang (or several), this place is probably the single most condensed culinary schmorgesbord I've met to date. (at least in Asia) Combine tastes from India, China, Malaysia, and a hint of others... and you've got one happy David (well, David + 10 lbs). It's spectacular. Other than the food, the botanical gardens are amazing as well... especially when you get to hold a 40 pound yellow python on your shoulders.

Like I said, back to KL tomorrow. Next post might be from Singapore. I can't believe I'll be back in the West in less than 2 weeks...

A long sigh of relief

Ahhhh... a developed city. (KL)

First an update of how I wrapped up Vietnam. For one, spending the 4th of July in Hanoi seemed... well, almost un-American in a way, what with their lack of Shiner Bock beer, fireworks, and burgers the size of my head. None-the-less I spend the day as any good ex-pat should: cooking spring rolls in the morning, and drinking cheap beer with some Vietnamese kids at night. (I half way tried looking around for some Americans, but unfortunately most foreigners in Vietnam are NOT from the US. Go figure.) I didn't really do much the previous 4 days other than relax in Sapa and attempt to transfer that relaxation to Hanoi (to no avail).

The best story I had from Hanoi came when I went to my favorite (cheapest) smoothie place the middle of one hot afternoon. The 60 year old guy running the join was super friendly, and after a few broken English exchanges we came to the topic of where I'm from. "Texas", I replied. He leaned back, thought for a second or two, then answered "Ahhhhhh.... TESAS!!!" while making a cowboy riding a horse pose. I've noticed that when Asians do that, they aren't poking fun, they're actually really interested in the whole cowboy thing. He then proceeded to ask about the spiky things on cowboy boots (spurs). We talked about it, he drew pictures... it was nice. But the funniest part came when he was trying to explain to his friend why we use spurs when riding horses. I hadn't laughed that hard in months before seeing this older Vietnamese guy making a 'cowboy-kicking-horse-with-spur' motion. Needless to say, we struck a bond that day... me and Van. (I don't know what his name really was, but I've concluded that all Vietnamese are named some combination of Nguyen, Van, Thuy, or Phuong.)

On to Malaysia and the sign of relief. I can't tell you how much of a welcome change Kuala Lumpur has been. A temperature drop, lack of motorbike horns, crosswalks, English, and generally very polite people have made KL one of my favorite places to date. Honestly though, this place is more commercialized/developed than many US cities. (you know, a working public transit system, shopping, etc.) I've been staying with my couchsurfing host, a college prof, in the west part of the city. After a couple of days doing Malay stuff (shopping, movies, eating), he's asked me to speak to his class of 72 students about American materialism. I wasn't even aware America had a problem with consuming (although I simply MUST have that new iPhone, Wii, and Lexus E-Class...) Hopefully those business communications classes I took in college will come in handy.

Lastly for this post, I can't believe I'm actually headed back home in 3 weeks. Time's been flying by. (Every time I feel like I wrote a blog post yesterday... I check and it's been a week) In some ways I feel like I'm ready for my triumphant return to the states... in other ways I feel like another change is afoot. Viewers(readers), I'll keep you updated.

Ta ta for now.


Note: amazing Indian food WILL stay with you for the following 8 hours. Fair warning.

Today I ate a horse

But before that, let's update! After Hoi An, an American that I met and I took the night train to Hanoi. (15 hours with a connection) The majority of the time was either spent making faces at the chubby Vietnamese kid on the sleeper next to me (or rather he was making faces at me) or sleeping. It was surprisingly one of the best overnight travel experiences I've had, save for the 5am Vietnamese-techno wake-up call.

Hanoi was nice. Well, I suppose it depends on your perspective. Yes it's still huge (4 million +). Yes it's still loud, what with what seemed like 8 million motorbikes and a continuous stream of "hoooonk". But at the same time, it's better than Saigon. The architecture is nicer. Hanoi actually makes scattered attempts at crosswalks and other things American pedestrians take for granted. I spent a solid day and a half in the city, and saw my fair share of Vietnamese history (aka: propaganda). The Hanoi Hilton was littered with all kinds of "oh we kicked the French out but really took care of American POWs. Yay Vietnam!" rhetoric. Apparently the way the photos made it seem, Americans who spent time here were treated better than in their home towns... what with ample space to play basketball, cook the festive Christmas dinner, and read at their leisure. Now I've heard how some Americans described the living conditions, and I know the truth lies somewhere in between... but I'm sure it wasn't as cushy as the Vietnamese would like us to think.

On to the Ho Chi Minh museum! Unfortunately the mausoleum was closed the day we were walking around, so we didn't get to see Uncle Ho's embalmed body (he actually requested to be cremated. Ain't that a b*tch). What was missing there was more than made up for in the museum. Note to the uninformed: did you know Uncle Ho was good at everything? I know, I didn't believe it either, but I saw with my own eyes (through careful photography) that Uncle Ho was not only good at kicking French/American ass, but he's also an expert farmer, weaver, mechanic, poet, and pretty much everything else conceivable. No joke, photo captions read: "Here Uncle Ho shows farmers more productive harvesting techniques. Increases productivity by 45%!" "Here Uncle Ho explains different ways of making silk more durable. Increases efficiency by 75%!"... so on and so forth. You get the idea. Needless to say, I'm sold on Communism.

After having our fill of Hanoi, and a brief flirt with a pickpocket... we were off to Halong Bay. What is commonly regarded as one of the natural wonders of the world, Halong Bay is an immense series of emerald islands off the northeastern coast of Vietnam. Now even though I tend to avoid tour groups like the plague, we booked a 3 day/2 night tour of the joint. (we didn't have much choice as it's pretty much the only way to see the area) After several days accompanying 2 Brits, 4 Aussies, 4 Scandinavians, and a couple of Frenchies (sorry France, but I love the term 'Frenchy' too much to stop using it. You can still take consolation in your bakeries. They are... how you say... magnifique!)... I've determined the following:

-Halong Bay is beautiful, everyone was right
-When you corner a group of tourists on a boat for 3 days, you can charge whatever price you deem appropriate for drinks. (we're talking American prices for water and sodas, ladies and gentlemen)
-Tourists that visit Vietnam are pretty cool. It's not a #1 vacation spot like Thailand, but the people that do come are really open minded and interesting.

Only pictures can come close to the beauty, so you'll have to view for yourself.

Next up to bat: SAPA. After arriving mid-afternoon from our Halong Bay tour, I jumped the night train to Sapa that evening. This town (25k people) is set in the Northwestern highlands/mountains and is considerably more comfortable than it's coastal cousins. The temperature drops probably 20+ degrees as you make the journey up to Sapa. After recovering from a mild cold the first day, I booked myself a motorbike tour to the famed Bac Ha market. Little did I know that the tour would include 6 hours on some of the worst roads I've ever ridden on. (free of charge no less!)

Upon arrival, the first part of my day was spent fending off evil bracelet/hat/blanket sellers... then we came to what I was really interested in... buying a water buffalo! Sure, I tried to haggle, barter, anything that would bring me closer to realizing my dream of owning a water buffalo... but in the end, it didn't matter. They wanted too much money, and I realized I couldn't fit a water buffalo in my backpack. (drat!) I tried to console myself with pigs, horses, you name it... but none of it mattered anymore. The only thing that took my mind off my distinct lack of water buffalo was lunch. And that, boys and girls, brings us to the post title. I wish I could say that I didn't know what it was before I ate it. I wish I could say that the tiny compassionate voice in my head said "David, what on earth are you doing eating a horse? They're beautiful creatures and friends of humans!". Alas, none of it would be true. I asked my tour guide what he wanted for lunch (also adding that I liked everything). He quickly scanned the area and brought me to a giant caldron of horse stew. (less stew, more horse... and every part of the horse immaginable) I also wish I could say it was terrible and no one should ever eat one... but well, it wasn't half bad actually. I prefer the shoulder meat to the various intestines, but I guess some people like chocolate, and some like vanilla. (I guess in this case I like horse)

On that note, I'm back in Sapa soaking in the relatively cool mountain air. I think I'll stay one more day and take the night train back to Hanoi tomorrow night. I still have my Vietnamese cooking class mission, and intend to complete it before I flight out on the 5th. For those of you who need a travel update: I'm flying to Kuala Lumpur on July 5th, doing Malaysia for a bit (can you say tea plantations?!?), heading to Singapore for a few days, then finishing off with some Hong Kong and a side of Macau (and maybe some green tea ice cream for dessert).

Until Malaysia...

Invading the Central Highlands

So I was right. Dalat DID turn out to be my kind of town. (also highly recommended from other friends) The cool crisp mountain air did me well after Saigon shortened my lifespan by a couple of years. I ended up hooking up with this Vietnamese driver named Bin (pronounced "bean") for a day tour around Dalat. We saw the sites, drank some rice wine, and ate some amazing (cheap) food. A note on the rice wine: apparently it cures everything. "Oh oh this is medicine wine... made from forest roots. Good for stomach." "Oh this also medicine wine... made from herbs. Good for head." Needless to say I had plenty of medicine that day, and since it went so well, myself and a Dutch girl who was also taking a day tour around decided to hire our boys out for a 5 day trip through the Central Highlands... which I had no idea would make me so physically sore. Great trip though... on to the journey!

Dalat-Lak Lake-BMT (I abbreviate because I can't remember, nor can I pronounce the town name)-Kon Tum-Hoi An (present location). Lak Lake was simply amazing, and our arrival conveniently coincided with my big 2-5. (hello not having to pay extra for renting cars!!!) After shooting some of the best photos I've ever shot (to post soon), we proceeded to eat random pig parts (don't ask, but actually not too bad) and get started with the aforementioned medicine. I have no idea how much medicine I actually took... but the next day's ride was a tough one. At least I did get to party with a Canadian, a Dutch, and 2 Vietnamese.

The rest of the trip was spent taking showers in waterfalls (frolicking), seeing elephants, and playing village musical instruments... you know, the normal/usual American type stuff. During the course of the trip I also realized that I am a rock star. Well... maybe not a rock star, but at least a minor celebrity. Seriously, I would walk into some random shoe store looking for flip-flops and people would stare like they'd never seen a white guy before. I had at least 2 girls take my picture, and I was seriously waiting for some 6 year old kid to ask for my autograph. (which unfortunately never happened) I won't lie... I loved the attention. Ever single kid under the age of 12 who we passed waved and shouted at the top of their lungs "HELLO!!!". (the entire 5 days mind you)

Arriving in Hoi An was... well, not exactly the same enthusiastic welcome. Don't get me wrong, it's a great little city, but there is at least 1 Westerner for every 5 Vietnamese here... not to my liking. This city's also known for their 200+ custom tailor shops, each trying to fit you for a new suit, coat... the works. After swearing off spending for the near future, I proceeded to buy 2 suits, 2 dress shirts, 1 t-shirt, a skinny tie, and umm... other unmentionables I can't reveal at the moment. (the "not spending"thing lasted all of 3 days... I have no willpower)

Status: currently living in the Minh Quang guesthouse with 1 Canadian girl, 1 Dutch girl, and 1 American girl. That's right ladies and gentlemen, jackpot. We stay up until 3am every night talking about shopping... I only wish I were kidding.


Note II: Everything in Vietnam is loud. EVERYthing.

There's something about Saigon

It's been a fast and furious last 5 days in Saigon. Where to begin...

I guess the best way to describe it would be to say it's a sprawling, chaotic, mess of a city that seems to flow quite nicely. If you get out of the backpacker/touristy areas and pushy motorbike drivers, it lightens up a bit, but there are still heaps of people at every corner at every hour of the day. I was even stopped a few times just to have a conversation. Anytime someone approaches me with "hey man, where you from?", I tend to think they're either selling something or have a magic trick they want to show me (99% of the former, 1% of the latter). But honestly, there have been a couple of conversations where it ended with "oh USA... I have daughter in San Jose. Well, see you later." NOTHING else. They just wanted to talk. I also had several Vietnamese students approach me just to practice their English. (pretty cool)

One of the best stories from the last couple of days was when this 12 year old kid decided to follow me for 30 minutes when I didn't buy the gum he was selling (I already had enough gum!). Since he was persistent, I asked him if he wanted some food. After turning down a couple of Bun places, he took me (or rather I took him) to this little noodle place where we were promptly seated. (in plastic kiddy chairs no less... in true Asia fashion) He then proceeded to walk me back to my hotel, in the process helping me cross the street along the way. For anyone that hasn't been to Saigon... well, let's just say crossing the street is an adventure and a half. Crosswalks mean nothing. There are usually 20-30 motorbikes headed in both directions at all times. (meaning, towards you) The trick is: just walk. Slowly, surely... walk. It's one of those "they'll miss me... I know they'll miss me" moments, and for some reason it seems to work. Being the good Westerner that I am, I tended to look both ways, and try and wait for a good time to cross. My noodle soup friend would have none of it. He deftly grabbed my arm and proceeded to walk ME across the street. (from a distance, it probably looked like I was helping him... little did people know I was the helpless one) One way or the other, we made it.

I also met up with a friend from college who showed me the finer aspects of Saigon nightlife. (aka: the clubs) Who knew Vietnamese get crazier than Americans in the club? One benefit of being a foreigner though, is that I can pretty much get into any club based on the assumption that I'll spend my precious USD. (yay)

Part of me left saying "wow, there sure are a lot of things to do here". The other (and larger part), wanted to get the hell out of Saigon. Don't get me wrong, I met some amazing people there and had a good time, but navigating that traffic day in and day out would probably drive me insane.

I made it to Dalat today, and THIS place seems to be much more my style. It's basically like the Vietnam equivalent of our Aspen. Cool climate, vacationing Vietnamese, and great food everywhere well... makes David a happy man. The fact that it's absolutely gorgeous around here doesn't hurt either.


Side note on Saigon drivers and the use of the horn:

I have to explain this to my Western friends. The horn here is merely a means of communication, not aggression. Someone can be riding your ass in a sea of motorbikes honking his horn the ENTIRE time... and not be upset in the least. In fact, he'll probably pull up next to you and ask "hey, what your name?" with a smile on his face. It's crazy, but they just honk to let you know they exist. HONK HONK= I'm next to you HONK HONK= I'm cutting you off HONK HONK= I'm flirting with you. It's pretty much the universal language of Vietnam. (and most of SE Asia for that matter) Good luck.

Note on Asian gamers:

Well, they're insane. I'm in a gamer internet cafe right now and these kiddos are going nuts over some 1st person shooter game... and this isn't the first I've seen of it in these parts...

I will not buy anything else from kids

With the above title being stated... I now own 4 bracelets, 10 postcards, too many t-shirts to count, and a nasty beach massage habit that's going to be hard to kick. (@ $5 a pop, c'mon who wouldn't?) I bargained this one kid in Siem Reap down to $1 for 3 flutes... 3 flutes for a buck I say! Then I realized I had no use for 3 flutes and left. I think I left her a bit disappointed.

Siem Reap was amazing. And after days of saying Cambodia is my favorite country, it finally happened. 2 hours after a nice meal of Lok Lak, my body decided to clear all of it's contents (like a garage sale of my intestines). The result wasn't good, in either direction, but 24 hours of rest and rice later, I was back in action. I actually had the opportunity to help out at this orphanage before I left Siem Reap. I wrestled kids, delivered some rice to a village, and realized how useless I was compared to other people. Good experience none the less.

Phnom Phen was another world. I found a nice (cheap) lakeside guesthouse and randomly met up with a Spanish guy and Italian girl I had traveled with previously. The backpacking scene in Phnom Phen is a crazy cast of characters. From stage right: you have the super nice Cambodians running the guesthouses, the motorbike drivers offering you everything from a ride to heroin to boom-boom, the backpackers who come to basically consume everything in site (read: EVERYthing), and then you have me... somewhere in the middle (right next to the heroin). If you get away from that area you'll finally get to see some of the real city. The S-21 museum is an experience much like what I would expect from Auschwitz. It's the site where the late 70s Cambodian regime tortured and killed countless thousands of people. Then you move on to the killing fields where they've discovered numerous mass graves of rebels, intellectuals, and former affluent citizens. Needless to say these sites make for a long day. You might want a breather at some point. On a brighter note: take a cooking class! Seriously. I took one with the aforementioned pair of backpackers, and it was some of the most fun I've had in weeks. Just wait until you try my Amok fish kiddos, you're in for a treat. (the recipe is actually for "fish amok", not "amok fish kiddos". There are no children in the recipe.)

I decided to tack on Sihanoukville to the trip while the (sneaky) Vietnamese in Phnom Phen sort out my VISA... which has turned out to be a great decision. While the beaches in Thailand are beautiful, the ones here are almost as impressive but with 80% less tourists and 72.5% more personality. Maybe I'm just saying that because I love Cambodians... but it's true. I'm on my 2nd straight grueling day of fruit salads, beach massages, motorbike riding, and fighting off evil bracelet selling children. All have been amazing. I think I might just add on another day or two here before I head back up for my passport and ticket to Saigon.

My next post might be from Vietnam. (*high five* Viet-effin-nam!)