Teacher of the Year!

As illegal as this might seem at first glance, it's only some mint tobacco in a Moroccan cafe in Singapore. Be sure to take a look at Theresa Chan's link for more illicit-ish photos.

The hammock pic, however, speaks for itself...

Tae Kwon Do, Jakob, Mr Shane and Marley

(in pics - please note photos stuck to wall as well as various admissions tickets to things like the Forbidden City in Beijing and the Singapore Night Zoo)

Tonight was my first TKD class. I learned some stances, a few blocks, punches and kicks too.

Tis only a matter of time, I am sure, before I am breaking boards with my head.

And... for those of you who have not forgotten about Jakob: He's a big bad boy now. And most enjoys riding the oscillating fan, while it is on and while it is oscillating!

Meanwhile, Mr Shane continues to be the best hamster ever... even when faced with a big black dog named Marley.

New Incoming Teachers

One thing that I cannot forget is that being a foreigner in Korea means living with the "revolving door" of people coming and going. Sarah, Jen, April, Ashley.... have all left or are leaving soon. And this is something that I will need to get used to. It's weird - I've been here for just over 4 months now - time flies, doesn't it?

Yesterday, I got to meet the 49 "newbies" who have just been hired by Canadian Connection and who will all be teaching in a few days. I gave a lecture/presentation about how to teach and I think it went well. It was tough though: My presentation was the very last one- for the week!

Thanks to Steve, Stu, Vanessa, Carol and Roberta for sitting in the back (they had come to either present on the same day, or just look at the newbies) and providing moral support.

My Trip

Since I’ve returned from my trip, I’ve been mulling over exactly how to share my experiences with everyone and exactly how to write it out. But then, I am not just doing this for you… but for myself as well. This was my first experience of backpacking alone through three Asian countries…. Needless to say, I won’t soon forget the experience - it's the details that I want to capture.

I did keep a little book of random scribblings, musings and sketches as I wandered around, some of which I have included here written in purple. For example, my first comment in my little journal was: The air over Japan is brown.

Since my itinerary and on-the-road posts are mostly chronological, I’ve decided not to give a play-by-play of each day. Think that would be excessive.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Japan Air Lines = bliss I love airplanes with birdseye cameras, and free beer, and ice cream and personal TVs. Remember landing in Beijing?

Let's talk about the transportation! Whoa! In Asia, compared to North America, they know how to travel! And nicely too. Right, so you arrive at a bus station in Malaysia and you have 12 people try to sell you a ticket by asking you "Where go?" followed by a list of city names. The whole thing here is that there are about a gazillion bus companies, all competing with each other. Advantage: You arrive at any bus station at any hour of the day, and you are pretty much guaranteed a ride anywhere you need to go. Of course, I also happened to be travelling on one of the busiest days of the year (August 17 - first day of school vacation): Kuala Terrengganu - All buses sold out because of school holiday....bus terminal full of buses, people, extra buses. Imagine trying to find your bus by the license plate number! Fortunately, looking lost helps.... Folks just help you when they know you need it.

And Japan is just something else. The train system (subway, local, inter-city, etc) just blew me away. I mean, it's a bit confusing and all, but once you get the hang of how to buy a ticket, where your train might be leaving from and where you want to go, you're laughing.

People

A brief listing of the people I met, how, where, when etc.

Alex: Bartender at rooftop bar in Kuala Lumpur (Backpackers Travellers Inn). Very nice, cute Malaysian guy - enjoys photography.

Arnold, Sarah and Maya: In the Kancil Guesthouse in Melaka, Malaysia. Maya is Arnold and Sarah's daughter - just a little one. And Sarah is pregnant again - and they were travelling through Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia!

A forest of palm trees - how is that possible?

Yahya: Met on the bus to Singapore - went for Indian. Walked through Raffles Hotel then saw fireworks. Waited for taxi FOREVER. He met up with Brent and Stephanie and I on Sentosa Island and again, the next day, on Orchard Road. Then, a few days later, I ran into him again on Pulau Kapas. He made a great snorkel partner (I can't see with my glasses off), keeping an eye out for jellyfish, sharks etc. Oh, and I got to practice my French a lot (he's French).

Theresa: Brent's friend. We stayed at her place in Singapore, and she showed us around town too. She also let us in on the secret and wonderful destination of Pulau Rawa. We got to hang out with her friends too, most notably at a (catered!) rooftop BBQ in downtown Singapore.

David: In Cherating, David, an aeronautics engineer from England, gave me a Reiki treatment, then told me all about his lifetime of living and working overseas. Supper with David. Can live anywhere.

Andrew, Joe, David, Jim, Ross, Mark, Alan, Mike: Group of guys whose boat was currently undergoing some maintenance in Cherating. These guys were from all different countries and are currently diving to check the state of underwater oil pipelines around Malaysia.

Met Barcelonan guy on bus. Can't remember name. Starts with A?

Jill: Irish girl who is currently teaching in England. Like me, she was wandering around Malaysia on her own. Met her on Pulau Kapas, where she'd unfortunately stepped on a sea urchin with one foot and a chunk of coral with the other!

Animals

I was really struck by the plethora of animals that I saw just about everywhere.... and not just at the zoo either!

Geckos: little brown lizards everywhere. It's okay... they eat bugs. I watched a gecko catch a dragonfly, using stealth and numerous attempts. Running in circles. Then, he had to keep his prey away from the others - it was too big to swallow.

Cats: Also omnipresent in Malaysia. Stray cats everywhere. In Cherating, they even outnumbered the people! And, some of the cats have very stubby or kinky tails. It's a genetic thing/

Monkeys: On the side of the road from Singapore to Pulau Rawa

Civet: In Cherating - I saw him crossing the electric lines over the street - saw his shadow.

Praying Mantis: In Pulau Rawa - very aggressive. Took my camera hostage.

Huge Lizard: On Sentosa Island, walked by while we were eating lunch.

Clown fish: Yeah - like Nemo! What a cool experience, except for being viciously attacked by one.

Huge swimming lizard: Walking on beach on Pulau Kapas with Yahya. He spotted something in the water. It was a huge lizard (like Godzilla, but bigger) who swam the other way when he saw us. So, we jumped in to try to catch up with him, which is how we ended up in the middle of five circling....

SHARKS: Very very very cool! Black-tipped reef sharks. How do you know a shark is coming? First, a pile of fish swim by, all in the same direction, then you see the shark coming after them. Oh my god! It was really amazing.

Too many meduses everywhere. Makes water dangerous. Yes, jellyfish are more dangerous than sharks.

Deer: In Nara, there are gangs (herds? flocks?) of deer that wander through the temple complex. If you are an idiot and buy deer cookies for them from the deer cookie selling kiosk, they will follow you and bite your bum. And it hurts!

Pink dolphins: Yes.... and got to swim with them too!

Sentosa Island Aquarium: Too many sea critters to mention. I was most impressed by the sea horses that look like sea weed. And the giant crabs. (Quote from Brent: "I'm naming that one 'Delicious'.")

Singapore Night Zoo: Imagine a zoo at night... very awesome. Anteaters are flammable.

Places I visited

Hmmm... you might be a bit confused as to where and when I was in various places. Let's just take a few minutes and clear it up.

Aug 5: Arrived Kuala Lumpur
Aug 6 - 8: Melaka, Malaysia (Bukit St Paul, Dutch Square, Ringo's Pub, Junkor Walk, Little India -- bought a saree, Museum of Enduring Beauty...)
Aug 8-11: Singapore (Raffles Hotel, Merlion waterfront, Sentosa Island, Orchard Road, Little India, CHIJMES, Night zoo, Arab Street...)
Aug 12-13: Pulau Rawa, Malaysia
Aug 13 -15: Cherating, Malaysia
Aug 15 - 17: Pulau Kapas, Malaysia (snorkelling with sharks)
Aug 17: Kuala Terengganu
Aug 18: Kuala Lumpur (Petronas Towers)
Aug 19: Osaka, Kyoto, Nara - Japan (Todaiji Temple - built in 8th Century, largest wooden structure in the world), Isetan station/mall (WOW), Namba Walk, Fushimi Inari shrine - where some scenes of "Memoirs of a Geisha" were filmed.)

Places I slept

• Craptastic hostel in Kuala Lumpur. Ugh.
  
• Awesome guesthouse in Melaka
• Theresa's hammock (attempt thwarted by night rain)
• Beach on Pulau Rawa (you know when you wake up and you don't know where you are? Yeah, try that on a beach.)
• Hammock on Pulau Rawa for an entire afternoon (there is possibly a picture of me too - it was a hard night, okay?)
• Luxury resort (for only 1 night) in Cherating
• A-frame on beach (Cherating and Pulau Kapas)
• Night bus from Kuala Terengganu to Kuala Lumpur (surprisingly not very restful sleep!)
• Very nice Japanese hotel (don't want to see the credit card statement for THAT one - of course, it was great to walk into the hotel lobby looking like a dirty sweaty backpacker in 2-day old clothes, not having showered, carrying a plastic bag, and get a room.)

What stood out for me in Malaysia

The food, everyone spoke English, Islamic influence - Am only blonde in entire city. Feel I should cover arms. - How horrible Kuala Lumpur was. KL is confusing and frustrating. Get lost, but not in fun "Hey, I'm lost. What will I discover next?" way. Just lost. Different cultures meeting and mixing... You can walk past a Chinese temple, a mosque and a bible school on the same street.... East coast and west coast are very different.

What stood out for me in Singapore

How clean and well-organized the city seemed to be. Watching the butchers in the Indian market. Dodging cockroaches the size of kittens in Little India. Brent and Stephanie are way cool to travel with. Ex-pat lifestyle is better than Korea, but they work much harder too. Watching a Bollywood movie being filmed on Orchard Road. Prata = breakfast yum.

What stood out for me in Japan

Being able to visit three cities before 4 pm. The temples of Nara.... wow. Wish I'd had more time. Very clean. So much like Korea but What? Nobody is staring at me? The noise - you think the downtown street is noisy and lit up and then you walk through a Pachinko parlour and you think that your eardrums will explode. Getting around is so easy. Fushimi Inari Shrine: This place is holy to the point of being eerie. Can't eat here. Silence, but for the cicadas and prayer bells. Hello duck. Standing by pond. Colours of the forest are intense. Orange arches marching through are surreal.

What I've learned

• I can travel on my own to three different countries and not forget anything (except that I lost my Chinese "Rolex" watch).
• I'm never truly alone - and lonliness is too rare to bother about.
• It's possible to wander around looking like crap and still have fun - there's nothing wrong with wearing the same thing for 3 days.
• It's a big small world.
• As a Caucasian woman, travelling alone: I am a minority.
• Freedom is grand.
  

This summer, I have been fortunate enough to travel to China, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan. And, I feel... yes... I know... this is just the beginning for me.

Photos are up!

Click the Flickr link (on the right) to see my pics of Malaysia, Singapore and Japan. Of course, since FLickr randomly shuffles all the photos around, you can expect that they are completely out of order...

And, read my decidely tongue-in-cheek comments.

For more pics of me in Singapore, check out Brent's Flickr page too (link below mine). He had his camera out more than I did, and has a lot of awesome photos.

Coming soon: more photos of me in Singapore, if you follow Theresa's link. Her photos and blog are absolutely brilliant.

Finally, Jen has officially made the move from Korea to Canada. I am still in denial over this, but I did ceremoniously move her blog link from "Friends in Korea" to "Friends in Canada".

UPDATE: Have stolen some of Brent's pics from his Flickr site and added them to mine. Tee hee hee. I'm a stealer.

Home Sweet Home

Check the Flickr link to see my photos... full post coming soon!
Blarrrrggggh... Flickr is being a bit of a pain. Will upload tomorrow instead.

Can't decide? Just do it all!

I managed to locate (of all things) a Korean PC room (I can read Hangul, can't quite wrap my head around Japanese as yet....) in Osaka.

So, like, I couldn't decide between Osaka, Nara and Kyoto? Well, it is so easy to navigate around here and the public transport is so awesome that I managed to do it all! Kuala Lumpur could learn a thing or two, let me tell you!

I won't bore you with all the details yet, but just be sure to expect (AND FOR GOD'S SAKE *READ*) my super-long account of my entire vacation that will be written once I get back to Suncheon.

Japan is AWESOME! I never expected it to be so brilliantly amazing.

I realized, while wandering around today, that the last time that I slept in a bed was on Kapas island on Wednesday night (Thurs was in a bus, Fri in a plane). My last shower was on Thursday afternoon. I changed my clothes in the airport bathroom this morning, but still feeling rather funky.... This is a big deal for me: Little Miss 2-showers a day and 25 bathroom products to choose from.

Think it's time to fall off my credit card and get me a Japanese hotel room.

This has truly been an amazing experience for me from start to finish. Can't wait to upload my photos and let you all share in it with me.

Next stop: Osaka!

Hated Kuala Lumpur. Took pics of the Petronas Towers (from the foot of the building) and that was enough for me. Fortunately, there is a nifty little park right next to them, so was able to laze around there for a while.

I'm on a night-flight to Osaka, and still not sure if I'll a) stay around Osaka b) go to Nara or c) head up to Kyoto.

Decisions, decisions, decisions!

Paradise found! .... also found Nemo.

So, I left Cherating on... umm... Tuesday morning (?) and found my way to Pulau Kapas, which was where I had dreamt of going when I first booked my Malaysia trip.

It was really the best way to finish off this vacation.... But, you will have to wait until I post my pics. In between admiring the ocean views from my hammock, I also got to SWIM WITH SHARKS and got attacked (he bumped right into my snorkle mask... and very aggressively too!) by a clown fish.

Yes, I found Nemo, and he didn't like me very much.

Now, by some miraculous act of god, I have a bus ticket for Kuala Lumpur tonight (can you imagine a line of bus ticket windows, and every single one is sold out!), then off to Osaka tomorrow (for one day), then back to Korea on Sunday.

Expect a full report of all daily activities, including new friends, gossip, photos and more by Monday.

xoxo

V

In Cherating

After a glorious visit to Pulau Rawa, a small island of pure paradise, I've said goodbye to Brent and Stephanie and headed off on my own again.

Last night, I arrived in Cherating - left on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere at 1 am - not impressed, was I! Well, life gives you lemons, make lemonade, right? So, I booked a room at the Impiana Beach Resort, and had a very nice sleep in my sea-view room (Impiana is next door to Club Med, if anyone cares). This morning, I am in an Internet cafe, looking past palm trees at the beach and waiting for my beach chalet at Tanjung Inn to be made ready for me. Cherating is comprised of one (1) road lined with a whole wack of restaurants. Will probably stay here until Thursday or so, when I will head back to Kuala Lumpur. Right now, I just feel like being lazy.

I'll be checking e-mail more often now. All is well, having a blast. I've done so much in the past week that I don't even know where to start!

xoxo

V.

If it's Thursday, it must be Singapore....

Good morning! Now, some of you have heard from me via e-mail, but others haven't, so thought I'd fill you all in on what's new!

I had 3 gorgeous, brilliant, wonderful days in Melaka, Malaysia. This is a very historic town where you can just walk around for hours (which is what I did). My guest house was FABULOUS, and it was really hard to leave. I met some great people there too. We did go out on Sunday night, to a night market in Chinatown (Junkor Walk), then on to a local pub. Our 12:30 curfew ensured that we came home at a reasonable hour. But, that was the only night that I went out, since I wanted to make the most of my (very hot, sunny) days for pounding the pavement. I think I managed to see every inch of Melaka in the time that I was there.

Now, I am in Singapore (I arrived on Tuesday evening), staying with Brent and Stephanie's frient Theresa, who is originally from Canada. It's quite the city! On my first evening here, I was greeted with fireworks (Aug 9 was Singapore's National Day: Little factoid, my brother was in Singapore for Aug 9 back in 1982!), sitting in a park with the Singapore skyline lit up behind me and the Esplanade Theatre (that looks like a big hedgehog or durian fruit) beside me. Yesterday, we walked (and ATE) all through Little India and Arab Street. Last night, Theresa took us to a rooftop BBQ where we met up with other expats and locals. The thing with Singapore is that even if you do not like cities, you can't help but be amazed at the architectural feats of the buildings here. Everything is aesthetically pleasing. Buildings that are grouped together harmonize with each other. Really wonderful.

Today, we will hit Sentosa Island, Orchard Street, maybe the Raffles Hotel and Clarke Quay (at night). I've done a bit too much shopping and will try to mail some of the things I've bought home, since my shoulders will certainly be aching once I get back to Malaysia and have to go back to being a turtle (and carrying my house on my back).

The food has been amazing: I've been eating quite well (to the point of bursting) for the past few days. Might regret my menu choices when it comes time to don a bikini for the beach but I really don't care at this point - I'm not eating kimchi and rice every day and that's just awesome!

That's all for now.... Will post pictures when I get home.

Head to ass game: A person stands facing the wall and sort of bends slightly, bracing himself on the wall. Another person runs up behind the 1st and puts his head down between the 1st one's legs. A third person puts his head under person #2's crotch. Then, another person runs and leapfrogs over person #3 to land on person #2's back, and kind of scoot forward so that he is holding person #1's shoulder's for balance. That's the basic idea. The point is to get as many people as possible involved. Apparently, it is from some wacked out Korean gameshow. All I know is that it looked mighty weird when I walked in on a crowd of teenagers doing it at 1 am.

Postcard from camp

Dear Mom,

Camp was fun. The counsellors (Sarah, Gary and Virginia) were really cool. Virginia yelled at us for waking her up at 1 am because 16 boys and girls were playing the "head to ass" game next door to her room (against the wall).

The food was always Korean. I like spicy tofu soup for breakfast.

We did lots of fun things... capture the flag in 100 degree heat and blazing sun, tie-dying t-shirts, rafting (but we all complained incessantly after 1 hour of rafting and made Virginia climb into the boat and paddle for us). We did a good job of speaking English at least 30% of the time. At the end, we did funny skits.

We wore the same stinky clothes for 3 days. Except when we all fell out of the rafting boats (that was the cleanest we got!) and then all our clothes were wet.

Virginia kept looking at the sky and demanding "Why did I sign up for this?", but I think that she had a really wonderful time.

*Ahhh, when will I learn to stop volunteering for camps with high school kids? But seriously... loved it. Leave for Busan tonight and Malaysia tomorrow, so no updates for a while.*