Great to be Back

It really is great to be back in California. Had an "LA" type A weekend which included fire at the beach, museum visits, watching a Laker game, and excellent weather. No place in the world beats it!

That being said . . .



YAY! I got my Thailand and HK pictures up. There are still more pics from Thailand to come, from the mountain trek!


Also took a few pics at the Brewery Art Walk this weekend.

Flickr Sets Up, Jet Lag Sucks

Ive posted flickr sets of Tokyo and Beijing, so you can see some of my trip in photo form now. Ill have the rest of my photos up by Sunday, and hopefully Mike will give me the photos from the jungle trek next week when he comes back. Im stil totally jet lagged, and this is the third day back. Cant seem to sleep past 6:30. Bleh

Anyhow, I can safely say that Ill go back to Asia someday. Definitely return to Tokyo and Thailand, though Beijing has some serious work to do if they want me back now that Ive already seen the Great Wall and Forbidden City. Hong Kong was great, I was there much to short a time. Too expensive for my tastes though.

Other places to go to which were suggested in my travels out there: Vietnam, Cambodia, Mongolia, Southern China (apparently much different than Northern), Malaysia, everywhere Thailand, and Tibet if I can sneak in ....

The last day . . . .whew!

This is it. My last day in Asia. Allow me to catch you up on these last few days, which have possibly been the most hectic of the trip.

The second day of Songkran was even more fun than the first. Mike and I loaded up on water guns and buckets and hit the streets at 1, when the festival begins. People were already out there and totally soaked, so obviously they started early. I was walking around with my shirt off part of the day, and the Thai people couldnt get over how hairy I was. People wanted to touch and pull my hair, because Thais have almost no body hair. It was hilarious.

Basically, we just walked around by the moat (the border of the old city) and there are 5o gallon drums everywhere, constantly being filled by hoses. You just fill up a bucket and your guns, soak anyone and everyone, and when you run out you fill up again. We found that the best drums to fill from are the ones with huge blocks of ice in them, as the normal Thai water is not that cold. Some of the ice drums were FREEZING and even the most macho let out a squeal when they get the ice water poured on their head. If there is no drum nearby, just swing your bucket out into the moat. Its lined on both sides with people with buckets on strings filling, pouring, and filling again. Quite a sight. I drank about five big (liter) beers, rode around on a few trucks with the locals (who love to talk english and say "hello" and "whe you from?") and made friends with a couple drunks chilling out in an alley. Mike drank a bunch of Thai whiskey, but I cant take the stuff. Its actually sweet like rum, but after a few I felt I would puke. Must have ate about 20 skewers, and some other food from the stands. I was drunk by 4 and went back to take a nap.

When I woke up I went to the night market, bought some clothes and goodies for the friends, and was back in the hostel passed out by 11.

The nest day was horrible. Left for the airport at 6, got to bankok at 830. My plane was supposed to leave at 1, but because of weather and then the absence of a captain, the plane was delayed about 6 hours. This pretty much killed my first day in HK, as I didnt get settled in my hotel until 11pm. BTW I totally screwed up and booked a room for MAY 15-17, thank god they had vacancies.

Today I woke up early and headed for the ferry to Kowloon. It took me about two hours to find it. The streets here are awfully confusing. Went to some shops and bought more junk, plus like US$100 in books. Tokyo may be kind of pricey, but HK is ridiculous!! Ive been here two days and I spent almost $300, not including another 300 or so for the hotel. CRAP!

Then back across the bay and headed for The Peak. This was the best part. Awesome views, I think I took about 80 pictures. Had a few beers and took a nap, waiting for the sun to go down. Took some more pics of HK at night and headed back down after about 5 hours up there. OK Im having trouble typing coherently. I feel like I could sleep on a rock with how tired I am right now. Ive got a long day ahead of me tommorrow.

Its been a blast but I cant wait to get back. Then Ill be able to take another look at the trip and give it a little bit of a wrap up report, as well as post all my pics(about 700) on Flickr. Yipee.

OK see you all soon. Goodbye asia. Ill be back!!!

Trekking and Songkran

OK another longer post. Here goes

Spent monday night at a Muat Thai match, which was excellent. Drinking all night and yelling and seeing these guys get pretty beat up. Thai boxing is one of the most intense, becasue they kick, knee, punch, elbow, and grapple. The last match was heavyweight, but wasnt as impressive as some of the middle and light weight fights...

tuesday morning Mike and I joined eight others and a guide for a three day trek in the Northwern jungle. We drove out of town for two hours, arriving at a tribal village way back in the mountains. Seriously tribal people. Bamboo huts and chickens everywhere and old ladies with black teeth(which Im told is quite attractive among the hill tribes) trying to sell us beads. A two hour hike brought us to a waterfall which we swam in, and another hour later we were at a camp in the mountains around a mile high. Nothing to it but a hut with twelve mats on the ground, a table with an awning, a cooler of beer/water/soda and a fire pit. our guide cooked excellent curry and veggies, and we drank around the fire until 10.

the next day was four hours hiking to the elephant camp, where we had lunch and rode elephants for about an hour to another tribal village. The elephant ride was excellent, but painful as we were sitting on these wooden benches on the elephant's back. After a rest in the village and more old ladies with black teeth selling beads, we hiked another 45 minutes to a much larger village, the Pulau (Im pretty sure. Ill have to check my facts later...) They were extremely friendly, like pretty much everyone here. played a game of soccer with Pulau vs tourists, tied 2-2. We ate dinner and watched the local kids do traditional dances around the campfire. Drank till very late and slept on a mat again.

wednesday is the first day of Songkran, the Thai new year festival. It is the water festival, for some reasons connected with Buddhism, so the entire nation is invloved in a water fight. Kids in the village had makeshift water guns and we got a little wet. another hour hike down the mountain and a truck picked us up and took us to a river for bamboo rafting. the rafts were held together only with some twine or leaf and steered by young kids(10-11) who were more concerned with getting us wet and throwing moss atr each other than steering. By the time we made it to the bottom of the rafting run, most of the bamboo had come undone and we were bascally in the water the entire time. Still it was a total riot, pushing people off and steering with a big bamboo stick.

The journey back to Chang Mai was about an hour and a half, and all the way back there were groups of kids along the freeway with buckets of water they would throw in the windows of the truck (we were all in the back) Even motorbikes had buckets thrown at them. by the time we reached the city, we were all soaked and traffic had us standing still. i got out of the truck and was immediately offered a beer and a cigarette, and made about 400 new friends in 3 minutes. Bought a bucket and proceeded to join was has to be the biggest water fight in the world. Everone in town is soaked, smiling, drinking, and pour water on each other. Trucks with 8-10 kids in the back travel around the main loop. The kids have 50 gallon drums filled with water and they use bucket to soak people on the street as well as other cars. Ive been to many celebrations and holidays, but this is by far the best.

Ok I could talk about Songkran for five days so I'd better end it here. more water fighting today and then tommorrow its off to HK.

n-

The journey to Thai Town

Greetings from Chang Mai! Lets catch up on what Im doing, shall we.

Spent my last day in Beijing shopping and eating some "how chur" (good food) Bought some stuff at the market and then basically partied the rest of the day. Everyone here has a massive dvd collection, because they are like a buck a piece, so we spent the last part of our night eating take out, smoking and watching like three hours of Ali G, which was a nice taste of home. Finally, I got out of there. It was interesting to say the least, but I was surely ready to go.

Spent yesterday on planes, one to Bankok, and then met Mikey for the plane to Chang Mai which was like three hours late. We finally got to the hostel at 1am, had a beer and crashed.

Today, we signed up for a three day trek into the jungle. Ill be riding elephants, river rafting, and visiting with the natives. Evrybody in Thailand is way nicer than in Japan or China, they mainly speak OK english, and its dirt cheap. Big beers are a buck, the three day trek is 45, and a room is like 3 a night. Weather is excellent, just like in Cancun Id say. Hot, humid, but quite a relief after Beijing (it was pretty cold)

OK sign off time!

Seeya

Beijing 2008

Its been a few days, since internet is hard for me to find out here. Thus, this post is a little lionger than others.

Greetings from Beijing, home of the 2008 Olympics! Its kind of hard to forget it, as reminders are everywhere in the form of the five olympic mascots "chi chi, hey hey, foo foo... and some other stuff like that. Also, massive parts of town are being torn down to be rebuilt before the games. Its pretty much mayhem.

A quick rundown of what Ive done here:

Christina's friend Sarwar picked me up from the airport. Thank goodness because I never woyuld have made it here on my own. Nobody speaks english and mainly are rude to foreigners. Taxid out to the city, met Christina and caught up the first night.

Went to the great wall the next day. It was great. We met up with three brits who were going out there to, and so made a group and negotiated a taxi out there and back. After about an hour up there though, you get over it. I snapped enough pictures so we headed back, but not before riding the luge down from the wall. It was one of the highlights of the trip, a total rush. Not nearly as scary as the ski lift we took to get up there though. I tyhought I would puke.

T^hursday, I hit Tianenmen and the Forbidden City. The FC was cool, but repetetive. I did manage to get way into a corner of the city where nobody was, and it was quiet and really bizarre to get away from the massive crowds here for five or ten minutes. Chinese people stare at you blatantly and call you Low Wai(basically means cracker) right to your face. Even if you look directly at them, they will continue to stare. Its totally weird because after a while you realize everyone is looking at you...really. Hiked up to the top of the biggest hill in Beijing, which aint much, but you can see the whole city (at least what can be seen through the brown haze) from there.

Ive spent the last two night partying with Christinas and her friends here. That is one of the best parts. The expat community here is cool, and there are tons of great restaurants and bars. Most of these guys teach english too, and are in the same situation as Christina, so they have a lot in common. Its pretty fun.

Beijing is a stinky cesspool, people spit and stare and push push push. Traffic is CRAZY like in the way that nobody cares about anybody but themselves. Its hard to understand how it all doesnt just break down. Despite this and much more bad things about the city, there is something that keeps these expats here month after month that I dont think Ill get. Maybe another two months here and Id have a better idea, but that aint happening. I dont think I could breathe this air for another two days. Its like swallowing a handful of dirt every 10 minutes....


OK I think thats enough for today. I miss everyone and Im off to Thailand toimmorrow, for relaxation in the Thai jungle

Bye bye for now

Sayonara Tokyo!

Im sitting here in the free internet cafe at Narita. My flight is in two hours so I figured Id do another post. Yesterday was quite exhausting. After posting, I had a bowl of beef and rice with, you guessed it, fish soup. Im sick of fish! Took a snooze and headed out to Harujuku, the West Hollywood of Tokyo. It was pretty hip, and I checked a few galleries and bookshops, but all in all I wasnt that impressed. Stayed there for a couple of hours, and then headed to Shibuya.

Shibuya is where Omni told me to go. He said its where the hip kids hang, and he was right. Arcades, clubs, and bars abound. I got lost, but it was cool because I found a lot of good stickers, tags, and grafitti in the back alleys of Shibuya. Had a beer and played some pachinko and mario cart.

Headed back to Ginza to snap some pics of the lights. It was pretty windy and cold, so I only stayed out there until about 8. Came back to Tokyo Station, which I must admit is one of my favorite parts of town, and had dinner(rice and pork) and back to the hotel. I dont know why I was worried about the 11:00 curfew at the hostel, because I think I was out by 1030 every night. Quite exhausting getting around this town, even with the help of the good old Ginza line. My legs hurt...

OK sayonara for now, Im off to see Steeners in Beijing

Traveling the Ginza line

Konichi Wa



Wow, my feet hurt. I think Ive walked abiout ten miles so far. Yesterday after posting I had the Japanese equivalent of steak and eggs, a spicy beef patty with rice and an over easy egg. Delicious!! I crashed bevause I ate so much rice, and when I woke up it was raining. O well. I took the Ginza line to ... Ginza. It was amazing and I wish I could have taken pictures because the suignage is awesome. Lights up the street so it seems like its daylight still. Ill go back tonite and snap some. Had a few beers at a bar and headed back to the hotel. I was zonked by 9, and the rain was pouring so I just passed out.

This morning, I woke up early and booked another night at the hotel. It is actually quite a nice deal and too nice to chance going somewhere else that could suck. Headed out (on the Ginza line) to Tsukiji fish market. What a madhouse. I almost got hit like 5 times by bikes, cars, and scooters. I had a sushi breakfast("the freshest in the world"), which I didn`t really enjoy, but had to try it. They dont have Cali rolls or shrimp tempura rolls out here. I think one of the things still had eyes, but I just closed my eyes and swallowed fast!

Then, off to Asakusa, the Senso-ji temple. Amazing stuff, its one of the oldest shrines left in Tokyo. Many people were there, and some sort of ceremony was going on. Had a few skewers. Even though they were beef I could taste fish broth. Everything has fish in it, even beef! Took a bunch of pics and headed to Ueno, another old part of town. I walked through the grey market area for hours, but I didnt buy a thing. Tokyo is pretty cheap if you dont spend any yen!

I got a few photos up on Flickr. More coming when I have time. I think Ive shot about 350 pics so far, thats a lot to sort through.

OK sayonara for today

Hello Tokyo!!

OK heres the rundown so far.

Got in to Tokyo yesterday afternoon. I decided on the plane to ditch the hostel, and found an excellent hotel right near Tokyo Station. The street its on is lined with cherry blossom trees. The blossoms are everywhere, blowing in the wind, and it seems half of Japan is in the city taking pictures of them. $150 a night doesnt get you much space, but its clean and they speak english....Ate some Udon and had a little walk around, but I was zonked.

Woke up early today and headed right to the Palace. Spent a very peaceful morning in the gardens and took way too many pictures. Then I headed out to Akihabara, aka Electronics Town. I was in heaven. Blinking lights and video games and techno music everywhere. I think Im addicted to buying these "capsule" toys they sell all over Akihabara. There like a buck or two a piece but I think I spent like 15 bucks on em. Had a weird sandwich and some excellent coffee. Played some crazy Japanese video games and got lots of pics of signage, people, etc. So much to look at and hear its a total overload. Super fun happy time yay!

Came back to Tokyo station to find some sort of celebration taking place all aroun Choa area. Taiko drums and dancing and stuff. Outside Kinkos right now there is a huge street fair.

OK enough for now. I dont have a way to put up pics yet, but Ill figure it out and post some when I can.

Seeya