Thailand

I've already been on the road for one gorgeous week in Thailand. I arrived in Bangkok and just spent the weekend hanging out with Francois around the town. He had to work and I didn't want to sit around so I shopped for airfare around the county and bought the cheapest one to Krabi which is in the very south on the coast of the Andaman sea.

Krabi is a very chill town with quite a few guesthouses for all of the travelers going between Bangkok and the outlying islands. I spent one night there hanging out with the locals and playing pool. They reminded me very much of Carribean culture.

The next day I took the ferry to Phi Phi island. Neither my words or pictures can describe how stunningly beautiful the islands were. The water was the prettiest blue-green color and the warmest sea I've ever swam in. Giant rocks jutted out of the ocean and towered 300 feet above the beaches below.

One day I went with a couple from Barcelona on a tour of the island Phi Phi Ley which is where the movie 'The Beach' was filmed. If you were to paint a picture of the perfect beach, it would look exactly like Phi Phi Ley. Amazing.

I also experienced the best snorkeling you can imagine. The boat captain threw a few pieces of bread into the water and instantly there were fish everywhere. Under water you can't avoid being completely surround by schools of different fish. They swam so close that their fins were hitting my mask.

Like I said, neither words nor pictures can describe the beauty of Phi Phi. Now, I'm going back to Hong Kong for two days then off to experience a different type of beauty in the Tibetan Himalayas.

Hong Kong Fading

Things are finally winding down here in Hong Kong. I only have five more days of school with my class and that makes me kind of sad. They're asking me what I'm doing after summer holiday and are confused when I tell them I'm staying in the USA. Otherwise, I'm so excited and ready to leave. I have an amazing summer all planned out full of exotic places and great friends.

I'm ironing out some final details now and getting the visas all ready. I'm pretty nervous about Tibet because some crazy Americans did a 'Free Tibet' protest at Everest Base Camp in May and its much harder to get a travel permit now. I'm not even sure they'll let me on the plane to Lhasa, but I'll give it a shot.

I'm also anxious about my future back in the States. My only plan now is to land in Houston and start all over. I get excited thinking about the opportunities that await, but I'm also worried about a job and money. I won't have either.

I leave for Bangkok in two weeks to meet Francois. Here is the finalized itinerary: Thailand - Tibet - Nepal - India - Dubai - Turkey - France - Italy - Chicago

Giddy up!

Asia Montage

Back in March, I bought a new camera in anticipation of my travels this year. In the past, my camera was a constant frustration due to is underperformance. The pictures never came out right, so this time I got serious and bought a real camera.

Now, I can call myself and 'amateur photographer'. I've taken about 1,500 photos with it so far. Here are a few of my favorites that no one else has seemed to notice yet.

Blue Days

We are experiencing what some people consider a natural phenomenon in Hong Kong right now. After a full week of rain, the pollution has been washed from the sky. The clouds have now parted and the sky is...Blue! For the second straight day the air has been clear and we can see clouds and a beautiful blue sky. I haven't seen this much sky since I moved here and that's a terrible shame. Hopefully the great weather will stay until this weekend so I can join the masses on the beach. Until then, I have to enjoy the view over the harbor from school.

Get out the Atlas

All I can think about lately is my itenerary for this summer. I cannot wait to strap on the pack and cross the globe. Most everything is planned out and I've started booking tickets. I can't wait to see my friends scattered across the continents and experience new cultures. Two months of teaching left and then its two months of trekking.

Quotes

I have a student, Wong Man Shing, who has neither an English name nor any grasp of my language. He has been in my class all year never spoken to me. Wong Man Shing is a definitive 'space cadet' and I have urged his mother to move him to a Chinese class since he speaks no English.

Today he walks up to me and says, "I'm gonna go piss." and walks out the door.

I stand corrected. He does speak English.

Afternoon Delight

China

I haven't written in awhile and its mainly because I was preparing for the past two weeks. It has been non-stop fun since the end of March and I am wiped out now.

The last weekend of March is the biggest weekend in Hong Kong for expats. The annual HK Rugby Sevens tournament. It doesn't matter how much you know about rugby, everyone has a blast this weekend. I was lucky enough to get some tickets back in December; they sell out in hours. I was even luckier to sell my Friday ticket for almost the amount I paid for all three days! Everyone dresses up in ridiculous costumes and sits in the stadium for about eight hours of rugby each day. It sounds long, but I never once checked the time because we were having so much fun.

As the championship was ending Sunday night, four friends of mine were landing in Hong Kong for our two week journey through China. We spent a few days in Hong Kong letting them get acclimated. Along with the six Americans, many of my friends in Hong Kong came along with us. At one time our group was 13 people.

Six of us took a train to Beijing and had an absolute blast. The rest of the group flew and we met at our hotel in Beijing. The city is so unique and hard to describe. It is a city of about 16 million people, but every place I went was as quiet and relaxed as the country side. The buildings are all painted a dull grey with black roofs, certainly an effort of the Communist cultural revolution to dull the life of the city, but I thought the color brought the city to life and gave it a warm feel.


On Easter Sunday, eleven of us piled into a mini-bus and drove three hours out to the Great Wall of China. No picture or story can describe to you the feeling of being out there. The terrain is gorgeous, the Wall massive and the hike is treacherous. Our section of the wall was a mere 500 years old compared with 2000 in other sections. We hiked 10 kilometers for four hours and never saw a soul. The pictures I took will never do this wonder justice. Truly amazing.

The final day I spent touring the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and Summer Palace. The architecture is truly unique and beautiful. The size of the palaces is overwhelming. But, one can only stare at buildings for so long so we basically sat on the lake at the Summer Palace and enjoyed some beers.

After leaving Beijing, the group had been whitled down to the six Americans. Let the fun begin. Shanghai was night and day different from Beijing. Much more cosmopolitan and one of the fastest growing cities in the world. We stayed in the French Concession and marvelled at how it reminded us of the West Village. We had some great food and saw some sites like the Bund and Pudong. One night was spent with some bottles of wine atop the tallest hotel in the world, the Grand Hyatt Shanghai, on the 87th floor.

The trip across the country opened all of our eyes at how amazing this secretive society is. China is emerging with great momentum and changing by the day. I appreciate their culture at a new level now eventhough I've been in Hong Kong for seven months. I saw some amazing things and have some more great memories to share with some of my best friends.

I'm Regrettin' It

My belly is large and bloated. My stomach churns and I’m gassy. Sharp cramps shoot through my gut causing my face to cringe. You see, I have eaten at McDonald’s today…twice.

Now that you are nauseous, allow me to explain. I have had enough of my school’s Chinese food. Everyday the menu is the same, but the food only gets worse. A large plate of plain pasta, steamed broccoli, and a piece of meat that looks like fish, but tastes like chicken. Affectionately, I refer to this as fishkin.

Too much fishkin causes one to act drastically. Arriving at school this Monday morning, by stomach growled at me and my head asked for more caffeine. There is only one place to get food other than the school cafeteria and that is McDonald’s around the corner. Living in the States I never visited McDonald’s, save for an emergency. However, because of school cuisine, everyday in Hong Kong is an emergency.

As is ashamedly becoming custom, I sauntered in to the fast-food giant and ordered some breakfast. Everything went smoothly and I felt super after that steaming Styrofoam cup of instant brew.

Hours pass and now its lunch time. I stepped into the cafeteria and was immediately disgusted. My body refused to accept another helping of steamed broccoli and mystery meat. I elected to starve.

Andrew shared my feelings and mimicked a hamburger across the office. Moments later, I found myself back in line at the world’s leader in gluttony. I won’t gross you out with meal details, but let’s just say that I’ve consumed enough grease today to lube an engine.

So here I sit in agony with a double helping of McD’s in my stomach. Wise, I am not; noticeably fattening, indeed.

Hong Kongers

I have realized from living in Hong Kong that the local people here are some of the rudest people I've ever experienced. People in Hong Kong have no concept of other people and are concerned only with themselves.

Walking down the sidewalk, someone will walk right into you as if you were invisible and they never saw you. I sometimes try to get off of the subway and twenty people will shove their way into the train before I can even get off.

The best example of Hong Kong rudeness happened to me in Starbucks recently. I had been at a table for over an hour reading my book. I left to go meet someone outside on the street. In order to save my place, I left my full cup of coffee, my book and a magazine on my table. When I returned five minutes later, there was a woman sitting in my seat. I looked down at her, but she wouldn't acknowledge me. I noticed my coffee was missing and asked her where it was. She motioned to the garbage. Baffled, I just reached for my things and noticed that she had dumped her empty sugar packets and wet stir sticks onto my magazine. I lifted my magazine and let her trash fall right in front of her, but she didn't even look up. Then, I rabbit punched her and she fell directly into her steaming latte. (Not really, but I wanted to so bad.)

Anyway, for the most part local Hong Kong people are intolerable. This is one of the main reasons I'm going somewhere more friendly next year, like New York!