Wanna Be Snobbery

Puddin' Head

2011-08-14T18:21:00.002-05:00

My last side trip during my stay in Arizona was a trip to White Sands, New Mexico, as I had a friend living in Las Cruces at the time. I think it speaks to how desperate I was for any sort of family to spend Thanksgiving with for me, who loathes road trips, to not think twice about driving seven hours by myself to see her for the weekend.

First, a word about my friend Katie. We met my junior year in college, where she had just moved from Las Cruces to the frozen tundra of MN for a year as a college exchange student. She was fabulous, an English-major-theater-minor who was a breath of fresh air among my engineering classmates. Here's Katie:

I was once complaining about how nervous I was about changing my major. I had contemplated it for weeks, excessively going back and forth and back and forth about what to do. She tolerantly listened to me for a while, going on and on and on, when finally she stomped away, yelling, "Life is change, Chris, if you're not prepared to change you're not prepared to live!" Stopped me dead in my tracks. Changed my perspective immediately, and I still think of this even today when I'm worried about making decisions. She, of course, doesn't remember saying this to me at all and said she probably read it on a fortune cookie at lunch.

We would hang out in our dorm rooms, and in an effort to come up with creative ways to delay studying, we would bring out the thesaurus and see how many words we could find that also meant "jerk". "Eater of Rotten Meats" and "Pudding Head" were our favorites. One night when I was eating ice cream, lamenting another relationship that hadn't gone they way I wanted, I confided that I thought I might be bulimic, because I liked to eat so much. "Without the throwing up part, though." I added. "Um, that would just make you... a pig." she corrected. Oh, right.

On to less personal things, and to our trip to White Sands. Did you know that it is the largest gypsum dune field in the world? The gypsum isn't actually white - it's clear, but as the wind bounces the sand grains along the ground, they collide and scratch each other. The scratches change the way the light reflects off the grains, making the sand appear white.

This trip was also significant to me, in that this was the first time I realized I liked taking pictures. I mean taking them for art's sake, not just to remember stuff. I want to decorate a room with these colors.

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And thus ends my short stay in the Southwest. I miss the beauty but not the heat, the friends but not the job, and the one time in my life I've even remotely had a tan.

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Next up? Being bad in The Badlands. Sort of.

Grand Ol' Canyon

2011-08-04T19:10:00.005-05:00

Picking up where I left just a few short... months ago. : )

(Reminder that we're flashing back to 1994 - the world wide web is just starting to take hold, and the NFL announces that the Jacksonville Jaguars will be the league's 30th team. Just a reference point.)

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Last minute trip to the Grand Canyon! Who thinks it never snows in Arizona? This is just outside of Flagstaff, where we were caught in a bit of a storm.

We stopped for gas and the clerks were running outside to help so we didn't have to get out of our cars. I waved them off saying "I'm from Minnesota. This is nothing."

After reaching the Grand Canyon, we continue the theme of embarrassing pictures of me in iconic places. What is with the hat?

I love how I only took four pictures while I was there, and a pictures of this explanation of why prices at McDonald's are so high is one of them. Apparently I found it fascinating at the time.

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Next up? White Sands.... of New Mexico.

The Jeep Wrangler - A Love Story

2011-04-05T20:24:00.002-05:00

The Southwest United States is gorgeous. One weekend one of my roommates and I took a road trip to Sedona, AZ to check out the scenery. Stunning, really, like you can't believe it's real. Like you're standing in the middle of a landscape painting.

John had a great Jeep Wrangler, which we (meaning him, he wouldn't let me drive) took all over the place, you can't believe what these things can do. It was after this drive that I fell in love with the Wrangler, and was determined to someday own one. One with no doors and no top, Minnesota weather be damned.

Here's John, staring down at the other little Jeeps below.

Since he was way more interested in seeing how many boulders he could drive over, I didn't get many pictures of me. Here's an unfortunate one:

Hold on, what am I wearing?

It was the early 90's, apparently I thought grunge meant looking as much like a boy as possible. By the time I finally owned a Wrangler, I would be way more girly.

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Or would I? That's me, on the right, a couple of years later with my very own Jeep.

At least my hair is longer.

Oh How The Mighty Have Fallen

2011-03-27T20:23:00.001-05:00

Halfway through my internship, my first (girl) roommate moved back to New Jersey, so I moved in with the only place available at the time, currently inhabited by boys. I think the following pictures describe the change pretty well.

From this:

To this:

The good thing about living with boys is that no one gets on you about being clean. The bad thing is that no one gets on anyone about being clean. You should have seen the inside of the microwave. I ate out a lot.

Hoover Dam, Baby, Hoover Dam!

2011-03-21T20:14:00.002-05:00

One of the best things about living in Phoenix was it's proximity to Las Vegas. If you Google-map it, it's just over a five hour drive. If you go a little faster, maybe, than the posted speed limit, you can make it in about four.

I don't remember much about our first trip to Vegas, as it was fairly uneventful (I'm not much of a gambler) and I could only find three pictures.

This is the Luxor:

This was probably taken from the cab on a drive through downtown Las Vegas:

I think this is a shot from our hotel room, maybe it was the Excalibur, but I'm not sure.

But what I do remember in detail is stopping at the Hoover Dam! On the border of Arizona and Nevada, the Hoover Dam is cool for so many reasons. Political controversy, over a hundred construction deaths, amazing feat of engineering. Plus, it's HUGE.

Here's a much better arial pic I found online:

There were many, many trips to Las Vegas over the months, but after we discovered Southwest Airlines 2-for-1 deals and didn't drive as much, we never spent as much time at the Hoover Dam again. I can't believe I'm saying this, but just like Bali, Borneo and Australia, I really hope to be back one day.

I'll leave you with the lyrics from the Hoover Dam song by Sugar:

Standing on the edge of the Hoover Dam

I'm on the centerline

Right between two states of mind

And if the wind from the traffic should blow me away

If the Mississippi should wash me away

Down to New Orleans

And maybe someday in my dreams

I'd wake up feeling the sweat

From the gulf in my mouth

Standing on the edge of the Hoover Dam

I am standing on the edge of the Hoover Dam

Mexico on the Fly

2011-03-13T16:57:00.004-05:00

Where were you in the summer of 1994? As for myself, I had just turned 21, and had left Minnesota to spend six months in Phoenix working as an intern engineer for Intel. I didn't know a soul, and had worked there for less than one week when a girl from my orientation group, Jen, invited me to Mexico for the weekend. "Sure!" I said. "Wait, do I need a passport?" "No, of course not, it's just Mexico." was the reply. (It was 1994, remember, back when college kids could cross the border willy-nilly and there was no risk of getting caught in a drug war crossfire.) How exciting, my first trip outside of the country! I packed a bag, met the other five people we were going with in a parking lot, and we were off, us two girls in one car, and four guys in the next.

To get to Mexico (Rocky Point, specifically) from Phoenix, you basically drive south and turn right. Jen and I, in charge of the map, headed south, with the guys following behind, when we came to a T in the road. Confused, we stopped to look at the map. One of the guys came up to the window and knocked. "I'm sorry ladies, but is there a problem?" "We can't figure out which way to go." He stared at us, dumbfounded. This is why:

Now, it may seem obvious to you, but the map told us to go right, and now this sign was telling us to go left. After a short discussion, we decided the sign knew best, and we were on our way. The guys, however, decided we were not to be trusted as navigators, and took over from there. They then promptly got us all lost for several hours in the Mexican desert as night fell. At around 3am, we finally arrived at our little cottage we rented, happy to have finally made it.

What to do at 3am in Mexico? Get your relax on, of course.

Here's our place, which we could finally see as soon as the sun rose. It was pretty great, and since it was summer in Mexico, we pretty much had the beach to ourselves.

And what what was my first accomplishment for the weekend? Getting sunburned in about 10 minutes.

I spent the rest of the trip indoors, or taking pictures at sunset.

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No passport was required so I don't have a stamp to prove it, but I had made it out of the country! Next adventure? The Hoover Dam and Vegas, Baby, Vegas!!!

Wanna Be Snobbery - Act 2

2011-02-17T21:26:00.000-06:00

What started as a travel blog has now morphed into... something. What that something's going to be, I'm not sure, but it will be Something. My first thought is to delve back into my first days of travel - which are relatively limited but interesting nonetheless (I think) - so at best it's a nice segway into some of my other favorite topics - pictures, food, and material possessions, and at worst it's a fabulous excuse to digitize some of my old photos, and embarrass some of my friends.

My first time out of the country? 1994, I drove to Rocky Point, Mexico with some people I had known for exactly one week. Directions from Phoenix involve driving south to Mexico and turning left. And we still managed to get lost.

Home - The Questions

2011-02-12T17:20:00.007-06:00

The most common question I've heard after moving back is "So... what's it like being back?" "Great!" is my usual response, or "Cold." is another one, since the average temperature in the past few weeks here has been well below zero. "Different..." is probably the most accurate answer, though a bit harder to explain as you're running down a hallway, late for yet another meeting. The second most common question is "So... is it good to be back?" which is also a bit difficult since my answer of "Yes.." is usually followed by a "... but don't you miss it?", making me second guess my response. I'm pretty sure it's good to be back, and at the same time I'm pretty sure I miss it. Being a mathematician by training...

Eleven Ways that Minnesota is Different than Singapore

11.) Traffic

In Singapore it takes 25 minutes to get anywhere, whether it's one mile away or ten, and it doesn't matter if it's by taxi, bus or train. In Minneapolis, it takes me five minutes to get to the grocery store and two hours to get home from work if it's snowing. A bit harder to plan your day with that sort of variation. Advantage: Singapore

10.) Labor Saving Devices

In Singapore I did not have a dishwasher, the washing machine held the equivalent of one towel, and took well over two hours per cycle at that. I'm so glad to have my automatic dishwasher and large load washer and dryer back that it's embarrassing. It's the little things. Advantage: Minnesota

9.) Cost of Transportation

The cost of cars in Singapore is astronomical. I bought a Prius when I arrived back in the states (around $29K), so compare that to the one I test drove in Singapore that was priced at well over $100K, and that doesn't even include the Certificate of Entitlement ($10K - 60K) you need on top of that. And that was just a Prius, imagine the mark-up on a BMW or Mercedes. On the flip side, it's about 75 cents to ride the train or bus anywhere on the island, and usually less than $5 for a taxi ride. Our house here in Minneapolis is less than 3 miles from the airport and a taxi ride for this distance can run you $20 or more. Advantage: Tie

8.) Service

Waitstaff in the US runs the gamut from fun-and-friendly to downright rude. In Singapore no one is ever rude, but they're also never truly friendly, either. Robotic politeness might be a way to put it, and they'll almost never give you their opinion, even when asked directly. And if you ever ask for a substitution, it's "I must ask my manager." I'd rather have someone roll their eyes at me and do it anyway, than a polite smile and a firm "cannot". And in Singapore tips are always included in the bill, which at first is refreshing (no math at dinner!), but it sort of takes away the whole idea of rewarding good service, since you can't refuse to pay it and the included tips don't necessarily go to the server anyway. Advantage: Minnesota

7.) Making Appointments

After arriving back in the states I had to catch up on seeing my eye doctor, dentist, etc. and when I called for appointments, they could usually arrange to see me in about one to three weeks. In Singapore, you can usually see someone within a day or two, if not the same day. I've even walked right in to my doctor's office over there and been seen by the doctor himself within 15 minutes. I don't know how they do it, but it sure is nice. It might be because they have so many people working at once - you go into a department store and the clerks often outweigh the customers by 10 to 1. I went into the shoe section of a local Singapore department store and I counted no fewer than twelve people ready to wait on me. Advantage: Singapore

6.) TV

The only current shows that Singapore has are seasons are American Idol, Survivor, and Glee. Filled in-between are endless reruns of The Nanny, which I didn't think anyone even watched during the first run. Friday Night Lights via Apple TV single handedly kept me sane. Advantage: Minnesota

5.) Food

Okay, Singapore has a major advantage on this one for all but sandwiches and Mexican food. There's no Chipotle there, good bread is really hard to find and super expensive if you do. So yes, I miss my $2 noodles and $1 fruit juices on every corner, but being able to run to Chipotle or make my own triple-decker sandwiches is still pretty great. Advantage: Tie

4.) Walking the dog

Believe it or not, I'd rather walk the dog at 6:30am and -8 degrees F than 90 and humid any day. It's still a thrill to not have to shower the minute I walk in the door because I'm too sweaty to sit on the furniture. Advantage: Minnesota

3.) Travel

An hour flight from Minneapolis will get you at best to Chicago, at worst to Fargo, ND. An hour flight from Singapore will get you to Bangkok, and two hours will get you to Bali. Sorry, North Dakota friends, it's no contest. Advantage: Singapore

2.) Weather

Betcha thought this would be number one, didn't you? Though I'm going to miss my 365-day-a-year uniform of sundresses and flip flops, but there is nothing like the first warm spring breezes after a long cold winter. Nothing. Advantage: Minnesota

1.) Shopping

One word. Target. Which has real clearance items, not just stuff that was marked up and then marked back down 20% during a so-called "sale". I bought a shirt at Target yesterday for $1.84. And here I'm a solid Medium, not an Extra Large, which does worlds of good for my self esteem. Advantage: Minnesota times a million

Conclusion: Since Minnesota has advantages in the majority, I can officially say "Yes, it's good to be back."

Home.

2011-02-07T20:37:00.003-06:00

We had exactly 23 hours in Singapore before flying back to Minnesota, and we tried to make the most of it. We ran a couple of last minute errands, checked in on the dog (she was fine), re-packed to try and make our 32kg limit on our luggage (made it!), and had one last dinner with friends.

I held my little buddy Winston one last time...

And we were off.

A short 22 hours later, we were descending down into the frozen tundra.

That's not a small town...

It's an ice-fishing village.

Let's compare Singapore in January

To Minneapolis.

Here's a shot of the lake near our house... look close and you'll see ice rinks are all ready for the National Pond Hockey Championships. We're famous for more than the Mall of America, don't cha know.

And what's the first thing we did when we got home?

Watch Millie's first pounce in the snow...

And shovel the sidewalk, of course.

Goodbye crazy cabdrivers and sweaty walks with the dog, hello slippery sidewalks and wearing long underwear to work! It's good to be home...

The Maldives - Truest Blue

2011-02-05T22:19:00.002-06:00

Our last activity for the week was snorkeling, which is my second favorite thing to do on vacation (the first is doing absolutely nothing, of course). The sun and I not being exactly friends, I was sure to be dressed in full long-sleeved swim wear and a layer of 80+ waterproof sunscreen. My goal for the day was to see a shark (the little reef ones, not a big man-eating one or anything), and David really wanted to see a turtle.

They even gave us diving cards so we would know what we were looking at. (See the color of the water behind me? So clear you can see down 30 feet or more, and it was that color as far as the eye could see.)

Swimming out to the reef...

I took an extra minute to run from one end of this sandbar to the other, leaving my footprints in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

Swimming along, we saw lots of clownfish, bannerfish, angelfish, soldierfish and even butterfly fish. But no sharks, and no turtles. The day was not lost, though, as it was a beautiful day and our snack in between dives was cake.

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After a few days we had finally smartened up and rented a cabana, so this was my view for the last two full days.

David looking for shells on the beach.

Last day was consisting of trying out the vine swing...

Staring up at the palm trees...

And never getting tired of looking at water that was so unbelievably blue you can't believe its real.

At night they have movies on the beach... the last night was Finding Nemo!

Our final sunset.

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Next? Our last dinner in Singapore, and travel back to Minnesota, otherwise known as "Am I On A Different Planet?"

The Maldives - Male Males

2011-02-01T21:04:00.004-06:00

Let me start by saying that this trip into the capital city of the Maldives was a bit anti-climactic. Though the city of Male (pronounced "Mah-lee") has only 100,000 people, it's also only 2.2 square miles (less than a tenth of the size of Singapore) making it the second most densely populated island in the world after Hong Kong. But since everyone who comes to the Maldives pretty much heads straight to the resorts from the airport, the capital city of Male isn't exactly set up for tourists. I expected it to be a bit more cosmopolitan. It was not.

But first, a sea plane ride! I've been on plenty of planes, but none that take off from the water. Which makes is so much cooler.

I'm a bit of a nervous flyer, and the fact that our pilot was not wearing shoes did not inspire confidence.

The take-off!

Shots from the air:

Shots of Male:

When we arrived in Male, I could not stop myself from staring at our guide's hairstyle. I couldn't decide if he was trying to look more like Justin Bieber or that guy Chad from Million Dollar Listing.

Justin Bieber. Definitely.

Our 20 minute walking tour of Male consisted of a cemetery, the president's house, a mosque, and the market. I'll skip the two trees that were highlighted also along the way.

Check out the size of that fish on the left! And the guy with the beard, he's pretty cool looking, too.

And that was pretty much it. Having taken in as much culture as was available, we headed back to the boat for our 45 minute ride back to the Holiday Inn. We were treated to a gorgeous sunset on the way back, pretty much par for the course here, before spending the next few days doing absolutely nothing.

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The Last Day: No Sharks or Turtles, But I've Had Worse Problems.

The Maldives - The Last Vacation

2011-01-29T18:46:00.004-06:00

I've been putting off writing this blog for some time now, because if you haven't heard, our Singapore adventure has come to an end and it's time to go home. How did two years go by so quickly? We always knew this trip would be temporary, but after making so many good friends and seeing such spectacular places, it's difficult to see it come to an end.

Ever since we arrived in Singapore two years ago we have been talking about our "exit trip". A lot of people who move temporarily overseas plan a big trip and travel for a couple of weeks before returning home (wherever that may be), and we had big plans for ours. New Zealand? South Africa? If you could travel anywhere in the world for two weeks, where would you go? Unfortunately, our time (and money) was starting to be limited, and we had the dog to think about (her return was more expensive than ours), so our two week plans were whittled down to one week. We starting asking ourselves, what is one place that we would probably never return to if we were not ever to move back to SE Asia? I took a poll, and the vote was overwhelmingly for... The Maldives.

The Maldives are a group of islands off of the southwestern tip of India in the Indian Ocean, almost right up to the Arabian Sea, and boasts the record for the lowest high point for any country in the world. The highest point in the entire country is eight feet. Eight. The ceilings in my house are higher than that. This is the country that held a cabinet meeting under water in order to highlight what will happen to the country should the seas rise too much higher.

It's also one of the most expensive places in the world to stay, with an average price of a room around $800/night, and many are as much as $1500/night. The Holiday Inn it is, then! Though we were consistently mocked by our peers for choosing the Holiday Inn for our very last trip in Asia, we had the last laugh, as this was the view from our beachside bungalow:

The Holiday Inn Kandooma is no ordinary Holiday Inn...

You just cannot believe the color of this water.

This was my view for the first few days, looking up from my beach chair into the shade of the palm trees.

One of the two restaurants sported a rooftop bar, with great sunset views.

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We didn't exactly do a whole lot on this trip, most sitting on the beach and reading, but one evening we took a Night Fishing tour to try and catch something for dinner.

I was the first one to catch a fish! Grouper, I think it was...

I also had the record for the biggest fish of the evening until Max from Belgium caught this whopper of a snapper and put my little grouper to shame.

Dinner!

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Tomorrow, my first sea plane ride! And meet the Justin Bieber of Male.

Thailand with Austin - Breakfast with the Buddhists

2011-01-21T13:01:00.003-06:00

Our flight left for Singapore at 10am, but that still left plenty of time for one last thing. A 5am thing.

Here's David, taking advantage of the early hour to text a friend back in the US.

Every morning before sunrise, the monks walk down a hill from their monastery to the city to collect alms for the day.

They mostly collect food, and when their bowls are full they walk back up the hill where it all will be divided and shared for lunch, their second and last meal for the day.

You can bring your own donations, or you can buy food there for a dollar or two. You place the alms in the bowls (not touching the sides!), and then kneel to receive a blessing from the monks.

It's getting lighter outside...

And finally light enough for breakfast! We enjoyed a typical Thai breakfast of rice porridge, which included soy sauce, bean sprouts, egg, meat, green onions and mushrooms. A little much for me for breakfast (I need a little more sugar in the morning) but David loved it.

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And thus ends our whirlwind trip of Thailand. Thanks to Austin, who gave up Christmas with his family to come and visit us, and join me next time for our trip to the Maldives, or One Last Hurrah.

Thailand with Austin - Elephants and Tigers and Dogs, Oh My

2011-01-19T15:16:00.001-06:00

Our second day in Chang Mai dawned bright and early, where our guide met us at the hotel to take us on a little Thailand adventure.

First onto a bamboo rafting ride... with free hats!

Along the way we spied a mamma elephant giving a ride to some tourists with her baby in tow...

David giving it a whirl... he did pretty good!

Arriving at the elephant camp, we got to watch the elephant getting a bath, which they seemed to thoroughly enjoy.

Most of the elephants at the camp used to work for logging camps, and are now here at this place, earning their keep by... painting. Seriously. And they're really good.

And then we went for a ride!

The elephant ahead of us had a little baby who followed right along the whole time.

Though he did stop and dawdle quite often. Then our elephant would come up behind him and nudge him and he would trot to catch up with his momma. So cute.

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Leaving the elephant camp, we stopped at a place called Tiger Kingdom, which for a not-so-small fee you can hang out and pet the tigers. It was a bit on the dodgy side because you can pretty much walk right in the cages, which was either a.) really really dangerous or b.) not-so-dangerous but only because they do something to the tigers to make them not-so-dangerous. We declined to pay $30 to pet a tiger and settled for pictures only.

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Back in the city we took some time to walk around a bit. Remember my pictures from Vietnam with people and the little kids on the bikes? Well, here's one with two big dogs.

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Tomorrow - Wrapping Up Thailand at 5AM

Thailand with Austin - Flight of the Gibbon

2011-01-16T14:17:00.001-06:00

Our first day in Chang Mai we drove a couple of hours outside of the city for "Flight of the Gibbon", a zipline tour of the Thailand jungle canopy. I knew this would be quite an afternoon as soon as our guide "pretended" to push me down a cliff. No real safety talk here, just put you in a harness and toss you off the platform. Literally.

David refused to bring more than one pair of shoes on this trip so was stuck wearing sandals the whole time... they stayed on though.

Here's my first ride!

If you ever do this tour, you have to ask for Cash. He had great one-liners for almost every situation. As one of the guys crashed into him after one of the rides, he said "The good news is I got you! The bad news is I'm a little bit gay."

The tour consisted of about twenty zipline rides, the longest of which was 800 meters long.

Funny story about the guy standing behind David. We got to chatting on the drive home and found out that not only was he an American from Minnesota, he was from Minneapolis, and lived on our street. Meeting a neighbor for the first time in the jungle of Chang Mai, definition of a small world.

Here's what happens when you let Cash get a hold of your camera.

Thanks Flight of the Gibbon, we had a fantastic afternoon!!!

Tomorrow: Have you ever seen an elephant paint?

Thailand with Austin - Haggling for Underwear

2011-01-12T20:25:00.004-06:00

It was the King of Thailand's birthday (King Bhumibol Adulyadej) just a couple of weeks before we visited, and there were pictures of him everywhere you looked, all over the city. My favorites were the ones of him as a little boy:

Here's what he looks look now (in the middle), along with the crown prince and the queen:

Entering the Grand Palace, there was a very long list of what you weren't allowed to do. It took me a bit to figure out what was wrong in the picture in the bottom middle (no muscular legs?) but it turned out that it was No Tight Pants. Good things I left my pleather leggings at home.

Clad in our rented skits and full sleeved tops, we moved on to the main buildings. Right in the front in the grounds was a mini scale model of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, which seemed to me to be a bit odd. Sort of like having a scale model of an Azetc pyramid right in front of the White House.

Workers maintaining the very intricate detail on one of the buildings...

All around the palace were paintings that told stories of Thai history, but unfortunately due to our guide's lack of english, we had to make them up in our heads. "Why is he helping them cross the river? Are they going to battle?" was met with a smile and a nod.

"Why don't they have any legs?" was met with a shrug.

Okay.... I guess we'll just walk along and look at the pretty buildings.

The main building was surrounded by trees straight out of Alice in Wonderland.

After we finished walking around the Grand Palace, we tried to see to the Jim Thompson house (closed) and the Teak Museum (also closed), so failing that, picked the next best thing - The Night Market. Only 3km away, we thought it would be the best choice. However, Bangkok traffic lived up to it's reputation and this was our view for the next two hours:

At the night market we taught Austin about the art of bargaining (never ever take the first offer, always be okay with walking away, and don't lose too much energy haggling over only 50 cents), and David demonstrating by buying "imitation" Calvin Klein underwear. Yes, knock-off underwear.

Tomorrow, Flight of the Gibbon - or, the Funniest. Guide. Ever.

Thailand with Austin - Why Does He Want My Picture?

2011-01-08T22:00:00.002-06:00

Who wants to see a salt farm kids? But since we're on a schedule we're not slowing down and you have to take pictures out of the car window. Want to know how they make salt? It's fascinating, see. Well, they pump in the sea water and then let the sun do it's work for a couple of months. And then you have... salt! Nope, sorry, can't stop to buy some, have to get to the market before the train comes!

When we finally arrived at the town that had the train market, there was a bit of a scare that we had just driven two hours to see just a flooded Mekong river. Interesting in itself, yes, but I wanted some action!

Thankfully the people didn't let a liProxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0

le water stop them, and the market was buzzing. And it really was right on the train tracks.

Austin, just starting to realize how tall he his compared to the rest of the world.

Hopefully these frogs died of natural causes and didn't just get squished by the train.

And here comes the train, it really does go straight through the market!

Breathless from all this danger, we went on to what I thought would be super cool, but really just turned out to be a major tourist trap. The Floating Market. It's not even really a market with food stuffs, just stall after stall of trinkets and what-nots, pretty much the same as every other souvenir stall in the country. On water. Dirty, crowded, exhaust-filled water. Beats walking, I guess.

Here's me, looking a bit skeptical of David's choice of souvenir.

A quick run by the wood working place...

All before lunch. Our guide dropped us off at a lunch place that can only be described as... bizarre. We were pretty much the only customers in the place (never a good sign), and our waiter was a very enthusiastic lady-boy who spoke zero english. After much hand waving, pointing, and only getting two of the four things we wanted, we thought he might not be able to read, either, as we were pretty sure we pointing to "steamed rice" in Thai, and ended up with some sort of soup (yes, David ate it anyway). Our waiter took a fascinating of not slightly uncomfortable interest in Austin, bringing over his/her phone and motioning to take his picture. Austin politely agreed, and after she moved him around to different parts of the restaurant because she not getting the lighting she wanted, finally found a good place to capture Austin's image on his/her phone.

And left Austin with a souvenir, which appeared to be some sort of business card. Ah, the memories we'll have...

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Whoops did I forget the Grand Palace? Tomorrow...

Thailand with Austin - One Night in Bangkok

2011-01-07T01:27:00.002-06:00

My cousin Austin came to visit over Christmas, and in addition to all the super-fun Singapore stuff (eating, shopping, Night Safari, Chinatown and Little India), we decided to take one last trip of 2010 and head to Thailand! Bangkok was my vote, and Chang Mai was David's, so we compromised and hit them both.

I pretty much had this song in my head this entire trip...

One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster

The bars are temples but the pearls ain't free

You'll find a god in every golden cloister

A little flesh, a little history

I can feel an angel sliding up to me

One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble

Not much between despair and ecstasy

One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble

Can't be too careful with your company

I can feel the devil walking next to me

We had very little time in Bangkok, so after waiting in an endless immigration line (really, I have dreams I'm still there), we found our guide and headed out for some sightseeing straight from the airport. Our first glimpses of Thailand were... uninspiring.

Though I always do love a good tuk-tuk.

First stop? Wat Pho, or Temple of the Reclining Buddha. What was most interesting to me were the temple grounds and all the stuff around him. Like these statues demonstrating the essentials of Thai massage.

The guy being stretched does not look happy.

This Buddha image inside the one of the temples was exquisite. I always wonder why Buddhism teaches so much simplicity, but yet most of their temples are ornate and huge. "We are Buddhist," a different guide had said. "But we are also Asian." Ah, that make sense I suppose, Asians do seem to like to do things bigger and better than everyone else.

We continued to wander, watching our pockets and eyeing all the non-Thai suspiciously.

Finally the Reclining Buddha, who was all gold and huge.

Here's a close-up of his hair:

Outside, more massage diagrams. Apparently they've been teaching the art of thai massage at this temple for hundreds of years. I think. Our guide didn't speak much english so that particular detail was a bit sketchy.

We left just as the sun was starting to set...

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And on to our first night market, the Flower Market, where we saw veritable buffets of roasted insects for snacking.

Other than the bugs and the vegetables, they really do sell mostly flowers here, block and blocks of them. You can get a dozen roses here for about $4. "What about Valentine's Day?" I asked, "More expensive then?" "Oh, yes," our guide replied. "Much expensive. Maybe... ten dollars then?"

Continuing our whirlwind Bangkok night tour, we hit a statue of one of the kings (who's shadow looks like it was the model for the poster Wicked)...

Across a river to another chedi (same as a stupa)...

Just catching the end of the lunar eclipse on the way back to the car...

And hosting Austin his first truly Thai meal. Tom yom soup for all!

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More of Bangkok tomorrow: Salt farms, the train market, Grand Palace, and a lady-boy hits on Austin. Not necessarily in that order.

Myanmar - Parting Shots

2010-12-21T06:19:00.001-06:00

For our last half day in Myanmar was a bit anti-climactic as we did very little else besides shop for some last minute souvenirs, but we did spy a few interesting things along the way.

Here's a local "bus", for those whom the normal mode a transportation is too slow. Hop on one of these and you speed to your next destination. Just hang on tight if you should happen to get one of the outside seats.

This is a puppet used in some of the local shows. This one is called a "nat", which is a sort of spirit.

We had lunch on the top floor of one of the taller buildings. A nice view...

But look a bit closer and you'll see how run down the buildings are. I suppose this is what happens when the government doesn't invest it's money for things that might benefit the regular people.

But stepping of my little soapbox for just a second, I will say that one thing they do have is great beer.

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*Sigh*, goodbye Myanmar. It's just one of those places that gets under your skin. I know I say this for every place I visit, but I really hope to be back one day. Soon.

Myanmar - Going Bago

2010-12-20T04:49:00.002-06:00

For our third day in Myanmar we took a day trip out to the city of Bago - it's a couple of hours outside of Yangon with plenty to see along the way.

Anyone going on a road trip traditionally makes an offering before heading out. Here's David and our guide for the day, Nyi Nyi, with our leaves and flowers to hang in the car, ensuring we have a safe journey.

Our first stop was a WWII memorial that was so radically different that anything else I'd seen in Myanmar that it was a bit unsettling. Perfectly manicured and clean, not another soul in sight. I like my culture a bit more gritty and crowded, but austere can be nice, too, I suppose.

The next stop was my favorite - a local market. Apparently very few tourists ever wander though because people were so surprised to see us they would jump and exclaim "Oh!" when we were spotted. And then stare. Always the staring. But a purely open curious stare, which was pretty refreshing after the Indian leer and the Vietnamese glare.

And they called to us constantly. Nyi Nyi told me that people were calling out to tell me I was beautiful. I'm not sure if this was true, but I pretended it was and of course it did wonders for my self esteem.

Spices, meats and betel nuts galore.

You know how awful fish sauce smells? Try bucket loads of the stuff... pre-juiced. These are piles of fermented fish.

I couldn't get a straight answer as to why these chickens were yellow. Turmeric is my guess.

Outside the market, people were more than willing to have their picture taken.

I can't bring you the scents and the heat, but at least I can bring you the sounds.

Next stop was another large monastery. I wonder if they find it funny that one of the most popular things to do here is watch them eat.

I never thought I'd have too much of watching hundreds of monks eating lunch, but I supposed I never thought I'd find my self in Myanmar with fermented fish on my shoes, either.

Someone had sponsored lunch for the day, and also donated new sandals for everyone.

Here's one of the ladies who sponsored dessert for the day.

Beautiful kids everywhere!

Finally reaching Bago, our main destination was another golden stupa, this one even taller that the one in Yangon. It would have been way more impressive if the entire thing wasn't covered in bamboo for the yearly re-guilding.

These places seem like so much fun for kids running and climbing around.

The story of Bago goes something like this: "On his [Buddha] return journey while crossing the Gulf of Martaban, which happened to be at low tide, he saw two golden sheldrakes sitting, female on top of male, on a peak of land protruding out of the sea just enough for a bird's perch. Viewing this strange phenomenon, he predicted to his disciples that one day a country where his doctrine would thrive would come into existence in this vast sea area."

Here's Buddha, pointing to the birds, just in case you might have missed them.

We went to another pagoda that was supposed to have some sort of festival and dancing going on. Unfortunately the show was cancelled today, and so we wandered around a bit looking at statues or whatever else there was to see. Why the lady on the right is dressed in a bee suit and has a bull on her head is anyone's guess.

All the kids who were expecting a show were there, but since it had been called off, we appeared to be the next best thing for entertainment. They followed us everywhere.

Leaving my new little friends, we made one last stop for another reclining Buddha.

He's reaching nirvana, which is why he's not actually leaning on his arm, just sort of elevated above it.

Bago is perfect for those to whom many Buddhas are never enough. This was not us, though, and we whipped around the last quartet of Buddhas pretty quickly before heading back to Yangon.

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Thank you so much to Mr. Tan (our driver) and Nyi Nyi, we had a great day!!!

And thank you to my littlest Bago friend. I never learned your name, but you're in my favorite pictures!

Myanmar - What About Underwear?

2010-12-19T07:13:00.003-06:00

The second half of the day was spent at a monastery and convent. At the convent, the girls have the same deal as the boys - shaved heads, begging for their food, lots of studying. But they get to wear pink!

I think these girls are coming back from class...

This young lady talked to our guide for a while (something about our guide helping her brother get his cleft palate fixed, I think our guide is some sort of saint), and she was so pretty I asked her to take a picture with me. Of course as soon as the camera turned on her, she got all serious.

Until I finally got her to laugh. She has the best smile.

In case you're wondering what the classrooms look like. Yes, they sit on the floor here, too.

Taking a break from staying...

We still had a bit of time before lunch at the monastery, so we hopped over to the Buddha Sacred Tooth Relic Temple just down the road. We have one of these in Singapore, too, but this one is totally different. Much older, and build in the way-cooler Myanmar style.

If you wanted to give an offering, you put it in this little tinsel-covered boat and use a pulley to send it to the top.

Inside was the tooth. Not the real one, but I guess it's an exact replica of the real Buddha tooth that's in China. For some reason I wasn't expecting the whole tooth, I thought it would be just a chip or something. But this was huge, I think it was an entire molar.

Back at the monastery, the monks were starting to file in with their alms bowls (lunches inside) that they had gathered during the morning.

Lunch bell! Well, not a bell exactly, it was a a tree trunk that he banged with a mallet. Louder than you'd think, though.

They lined up by age, and then started filing in. There are mostly young monks at this monastery. Since room, board and education is free, many of the poorer families send their kids here, so it's sort of like an orphanage.

Inside, they all pray together and then dig in. They're not allowed to talk, so it's a bit eerie to be in a room with hundreds of boys and not a sound except for the clicking of spoons on plates.

As we were leaving, this little guy came hurrying in late for lunch, with a puppy trotting at his heels. Adorable pair.

And in case you're wondering - they shave their heads every three days, and no, they don't wear underwear beneath those robes.

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After a long day watching other people eat, we retired to our hotel. I'm not sure I could handle the monk's life. I like my hair. And room service.

Myanmar - A Photographer's Dream

2010-12-16T03:00:00.002-06:00

The day we went back to Shwedegon dawned brilliantly clear, and a photographer couldn't ask for anything better. This post is going to be mostly pictures, but I'm sure most people will be fine with that because I think they skim over the writing anyway.

As you walk around the stupa, there are different eight stations to stop at, corresponding to the day you are born (if that doesn't add up it's because Wednesday has two). I'm a Monday which is a Tiger...

And David is a Tuesday which is a Lion. (Min Min says that this is okay that we're together, no conflict. Whew!) You pour three cups of water over each of the three statures...

Then ring the bell to spread your good deeds to everyone within earshot.

This monk was slouched against one of the buddha statues, smoking a cigarette when I walked by and asked to take his picture. He nodded and smiled, stubbing out his cigarette and then struck a pose. I sort of wanted the smoking/slouching version of him, but I suppose this is nice too.

Prayer time around the stupa...

And to conclude, just a few more practicing-my-Photoshop-skills pictures...

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Later this afternoon, another non-lunch with the monks!

Myanmar - From Dirt to Diamonds, First Class All the Way

2010-12-12T02:01:00.002-06:00

Later that afternoon we hopped a ferry from Yangon to the town across the river called Dalla. For local residents, the fare is 10 Kyat (about 1 cent) for the one-way ride, but for us foreigners it's 100 times that. One first class fare for the ride across the river is one American dollar. Crisp bills only, no wrinkles allowed. They are very picky about that.

Along the way down the ramp, we ran into the betel nut guy who demonstrated how he the assembles the little packets that everyone chews (and the reason they have such bad teeth). It's sort of like nicotine, gives you a little rush. Won't kill you like cigarettes but will certainly rot your teeth pretty good. Examples of that later.

Relaxing in our first class section of the ferry.

Reaching the other side of the river, it was a different world. Only one paved road down the middle, motorcycles allowed, and a great view into the day to day life.

Drinking water is only available once a day for a two hour span of time. They have to fill up at a community pump and then walk these heavy sloshing buckets back to their home.

The kids ran out to greet us, all smiles.

We got stuck in the ferry terminal for a bit while we waited for some VIPs to walk through. Hot and crowded, but it gave us time to watch the crowd.

Our last stop of the day was the Shwedagon Pagoda. Built around 2500 years ago, it enshrines relics of the past four Buddhas, most famously the eight hairs of Gautama, one of the historical buddhas. It's covered in gold plates, and it's top "bud" is tipped with 5448 diamonds and 2317 rubies, including the very top which is tipped with a 76 carat diamond. Sparkly!

Outside was a group of men playing a game with a rattan ball, sort of like hacky sack.

On the way up are the requisite shops selling religious articles you can use as souvenirs or offerings.

It really is spectacular.

It was very peaceful, even with all the kids running around. If you look close, you can see that these twins had the powder on their faces in Micky Mouse shapes. Even with US sanctions, Disney has found it's way to Myanmar.

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Tomorrow we head back to Shwedagon to see it during the day, and then have lunch with 1000 monks. Just a day in the life.

Myanmar - I Need A What?

2010-12-05T03:45:00.001-06:00

Visas to Myanmar are relatively cheap and are fairly easy for Americans to get. In theory. My first Myanmar experience was not a good one.

Looking past the lack of air-conditioning, and all the signs in Burmese excepting one hand written sign that said "VISA" on one of the windows, I was hopeful this would go well. I had done my research, I had everything on the extensive list that was needed, made double copies of both sides of everything, and even printed out the list of the requirements I found online and brought it with me.

My first mistake was to let the older Chinese lady in front of me, as it turned out she had no fewer than fourteen visas to process. Tour group leader or something. Two very long, hot hours later (God bless iPods and audiobooks), it was my turn. I presented all my paperwork, the gentleman took everything and made a few marks, and then shoved it back at me, saying something intelligible.

"Sorry?" I asked.
"Benay cah." he said, shaking my papers at me.
"Sorry?"
"Benay cah." he said impatiently, stabbing his pen at my visa application.
I stared at my required list of documents, trying to match what he was saying with anything on the list.
"Benay cah!" he tried again, louder, this time shoving the previous' strangers visa application at me, which had a Pest Control business card attached to it.
"Oh, business card?" I guessed.
"Yes!" he said, "You need."
"My business card? But... it's not on the list." I protested feebly, pointing to my own papers. "Where on the list?"
"Benay cah." he stated firmly, handing back my entire stack of papers and passports.
I did not just stand in line for two hours to be rejected. "Um... cannot, I don't have one." I tried. "I don't work."
He took my papers back, pointing to where I had entered Engineer as my profession. Crap. I looked for help from the lady behind me, but she moved smugly up to the window handing her visa paperwork with attached business card to the gatekeeper. How did she know? It wasn't on the list. How am I supposed to know if it's not on the list?

Myanmar Lesson Number One: You don't ask why, you just do. Even if it's not on the list.

Flash forward a few weeks, where we've successfully arrived in Myanmar with business card-attached legit visas. After a bit of stress because our tour guide didn't meet us at the airport as planned, and for some reason the government blocks Yahoo so I couldn't check my email to get his phone number, and I had to wait until morning for the IT guy to run a program called Your Freedom to access said Yahoo account, we were officially Seeing Myanmar.

First stop? The biggest Buddha I'd ever seen. Siddhartha his name was.

The reason that the Buddha is reclining is so that you can see his feet, which have symbols on them which indicated his divine future. Yes, all those symbols mean something.

We wandered into an alley behind the Reclining Buddha where there was a small monastery. Our guide Min Min knew one of the monks, and we were invited inside.

This is the most senior monk in the monastery. I asked to take his picture, he agreed then insisted that we turn the lights on so I could have the proper lighting. Then struck a pose.

It was lunch time, and they were starting to gather with the food they had collected that day.

The dogs knew it was lunch time, and waited patiently outside for scraps.

Also outside, a pile of puppies! I'm pretty sure there is nothing cuter.

After leaving the monastery, we drove by many shops selling the new Myanmar flag. "Why did they need a new one?" I asked. "Don't know, they don't tell us why. They just tell us this is our new flag." Min Min said. "We can only guess."

We picked up the government-run newspaper along the way, which on the back page warned against "VOA [Voice of America], BBC-sowing hatred among the people", and "Do not allow ourselves to be swayed by killer broadcasts designed to cause troubles". Min Min assured me that no one actually reads that paper. They wait for the International Herald, smuggled in by people who fly here from different countries.

For lunch, a Thanksgiving Burmese feast! Curries, rice, and tea leaf salad.

This was the lady who made the tea leaf salad, which really wasn't a salad. More like mixed nuts, and they would only have it for dessert.

These ladies were outside doing the dishes.

You'll see a lot of pictures with women and children with a white power on their faces. I can't remember what it's called, but it's ground from a tree bark, mixed with water, and then applied to the face as a sunscreen and to help with your complexion. Men wear it to on occasion, but as Min Min told us: "They're the ones who don't care what anybody says." The Myanmar men who are in touch with their feminine side, I guess.

We browsed through the local market to see what kind of wares are peddled...

When we ran into celebrity! It was Kim Aris, the son of Aung San Suu Ky (otherwise known as The Lady, the one who had been recently freed after spending most of the last 17 years under house arrest).

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All that in a half a day. The second half? Dirt roads to solid gold stupas. Ah, Myanmar.

Myanmar - I Want To Go To There

2010-12-01T05:40:00.001-06:00

Myanmar first appeared on my radar about a year ago, from the guy that always helps me take my framed artwork down to my car. We got to chatting one day, and I asked where he was from. "Myanmar," he said. "It is a beautiful place. You should visit someday." "Yes, maybe someday, " I politely replied, not really meaning it.

The second time was a few months later when I was stalking my friend Katie's Facebook page, looking at her travel pictures. She had a picture of her and her husband in front of this stunning gold pagoda-thing, and another with her sitting and eating with some young monks. It looked like one of those beautiful, gritty places like India that I love so much. "Where is this place?" I gushed, "I have to go there!" "Myanmar," she replied, and I was sold, telling David he didn't have a choice. We booked our trip way in advance, to coincide with my Thanksgiving vacation days.

I was gleefully telling my friend Margaret about our upcoming trip, when she looked at me with something between irritation and pity. "Um, I have to tell you that I'm secretly judging you right now." she said. "What? Tell me why?!" "Because all their tourism dollars go to supplying arms to their military, none of it goes to the people, and they have major human rights violations, that's why!" Really, I had no idea. "But if you do go, can you buy me rubies? You can get really good ones there."

I'd better brush up on my reading, apparently I know nothing about this place I was visiting. I bought a travel book, and the first chapter was titled "Should You Go?". A few things that I learned:

1.) Myanmar used to be called Burma. (Oh yeah, isn't that where the last Rambo movie took place?)
2.) It's governed by a "military junta", and the leader holds the title of "Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council". I never knew a military dictatorship could sound so harmless. There's no judicial branch of the government, which means that you can get arrested for anything, anywhere, and they can hold you for no reason at all for any amount of time.
3.) It's 90% Buddhist
4.) An "expensive" meal is one that's over $5
5.) Snakebite is the most common injury requiring medical treatment

What did I get us into?

Ho Chi Minh City - Remnants of War... and Pho!

2010-11-22T07:49:00.002-06:00

We've been in Vietnam for two and a half days and David still hadn't had his Pho. And he was getting grumpy about it. Too bad he had to follow me through a historical walking tour of Saigon on a muggy morning first.

"Aimed at displaying Christianity and the greatness of the French civilization" (of course), the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica was built back in 1877.

Inside, there were a couple of alcoves that had some very cool engravings.

Outside is the spot of choice for wedding pictures.

Afterward we walked over to the Reunification Palace. Less of a "palace" than a throwback to awesome 60's architecture, it's the place that at 10:45am on April 30th, 1975, a tank of the North Vietnamese Army bulldozed through the main gate, ending the Vietnam War. Right here.

It's interior has been left pretty much as it was on that day. Check out the 60's and 70's decor...

There are also a network of underground bunkers and meeting rooms, but since there was no air-conditioning in the entire place, we pretty much poked our heads in the main rooms and headed back out into the heat of the city. At least ouside there was a breeze.

Finally, the War Remnants Museum. Formerly called "The House for Displaying War Crimes of American Imperialism and the Puppet Government of South Vietnam", the current name is intended to reflect the normalization of relations with the United States. And it takes up less room on the side of a building.

Outside, US military aircraft...

David facing the business end of a machine gun.

Those Chinooks are pretty impressive.

The first thing you see when you go inside is an excerpt from the US Declaration of Independence.

Followed by an exhibit about Agent Orange. Ouch. I knew Agent Orange was bad stuff, but what I didn't know was that it was originally intended to defoliate rural/forested land, the end goal being to deprive guerrillas of food and cover. The subsequent Agent-Orange related birth defects that have affected the first, second and even third generations of those who were exposed was a very unfortunate side effect. I'll spare you pictures of the three-legged fetuses they also have on display.

My favorite was the photography exhibition, where you can see a lot of famous pictures:

Whew.

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After all this in-your-face horribleness, we headed back out into the new, much friendlier version of Ho Chi Minh City. By cyclo!

We stopped by the tailor to pick up the clothing and see my little friend..

Back on the cyclos... to pho!

Finally.

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And thus ends our whirlwind tour of Saigon. Tạm biệt!

Ho Chi Minh City - Mekong Me

2010-11-21T03:33:00.004-06:00

Today started off bright and early. We met our guide, Hung (same one as yesterday), at the hotel, and then headed off with John and Margaret in the van to the Mekong Delta, which is a couple hours east of Saigon.

A quick shot of some of the houses along the way. Most of them are exactly 4 meters by 20 meters, throwback from the French occupation.

Some of us got hats. Some of us declined.

Our boat was awesome.

First, the floating market, where the people who live near the river peddle their goods. You can tell what they're selling by looking at what is hanging from a pole on the boat. And yes, they live there, too.

Taking in the sights along the way...

First stop was to see what our guide described as "scary pets". It's so much better if you hear Hung say it.

I'm not exactly sure what snake wine is made of, but there really are snakes in it.

David makes a new friend.

Most of the trip was just rolling along down the river, taking in the sights.

We had another stop at a brick factory, which was way more interesting than it sounds, as they make them by hand.

Last stop was lunch, where we were treated to a fun little bike ride along the way.

Lunch!

Later that evening, we went to a really nice Vietnamese restaurant, meeting up with a few more Singapore friends who also happened to be in Ho Chi Minh that weekend.

My Drunken Prawns met their end by a spectacular little fire.

The food was great, but the most memorable thing about the place was the carrot sculptures on all of our plates.

After our plates were cleared, one of the carrots that looked almost exactly like ours appeared on the plate at the next table. We're pretty sure they were recycling them.

After dinner, we headed back to the bar for a quick drink. I've heard that the bar at our hotel was where a lot of journalists hung out during the war, though I bet they had a different view.

And finally off to bed, for tomorrow we face Agent Orange.

Ho Chi Minh City - Tunnels and Temples

2010-11-20T07:46:00.004-06:00

I've been anxious about this particular post for awhile now. The Vietnam war is a complicated subject, and while I was too young to remember any of it, I do have a slight personal connection as my uncle Tommy was a Vietnam vet. Even more so, he was a tunnel rat, and that was exactly what we were going to see today. The Cu Chi tunnels.

"The Cu Chi and nearby area became the most heavily bombed, gassed, and defoliated area in the history of combat. Located about 45 miles northwest of Saigon, the tunnels were over 75 miles long. People lived there underground, sometimes for weeks at a time, and it was a critical location between supply areas for Cambodia and Saigon. It was also the base of operations for the Tet Offensive of 1968."

"They [Allied forces] began training an elite group of volunteers in the art of tunnel warfare, armed only with a gun, a knife, a flashlight and a piece of string. These specialists, commonly known as “tunnel rats”, would enter a tunnel by themselves and travel inch-by-inch cautiously looking ahead for booby traps or cornered PLAF."

Understandably, Uncle Tom hadn't slept well for the last 30 years or so after the war.

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First, warnings about not being "got drunk on alcohol or beer" while attempting to navigate through the tunnels. No problem, it was 9am.

Next, a required-viewing propaganda film which honors the Vietnamese fighters as "American Killer Hero"'s, and Americans as a "crazy bunch of devils". You know, the usual.

Here's a diagram of the tunnels, which were originally built in the mid-40's for the Vietnamese to escape the persecution of the French, and were then expanded between 1945 and 1967. They contained kitchens, weapons manufacturing rooms, hospitals, and living quarters, though, don't get me wrong, life in the tunnels was pretty terrible. The tunnels were infested with ants, poisonous centipedes and spiders, and I've read that 50% of those who lived there had malaria, and 100% had intestinal parasites "of significance". Ew. And you live down there you really had to know your way around, lest you make a wrong turn and land yourself in a scorpion-infested booby trap.

You get a demonstration on how small and well hidden these tunnel entrances were.

I was able to go down myself, and I was claustrophobic immediately. It was pitch black, cramped, hot, wet and dirty. I didn't want to spend 10 seconds down there much less several weeks.

The air shafts for the tunnels were hidden as holes in termite mounds.

There were also quite a few disturbing mannequins stationed around to demonstrate various aspects of a Vietnamese solders' life. This was was to talk about how the lady fighters would drop their weapons, shed their army uniforms and run out on to a road, blending in with all the local villagers, American soldiers none the wiser that they were the snipers they were looking for.

A large Malaysian tour group was having quite a good time on this old tank, and I tried not to be offended.

And now for the real gut-churning part. Models of the booby traps, hidden in and around the tunnels.

And if the title of "Clipping Armpit Trap" wasn't descriptive enough, they have murals painted on the wall behind to make sure you get the idea.

The Vietnamese also used these traps as their bathrooms, so that if the spikes didn't kill you, maybe the resulting infections from the feces would.

Here's what a kitchen looked like:

And where does the smoke go? It comes out of the ground about 30 feet away, though holes so small it looks like mist on the ground. You have to admire the Vietnamese ingenuity, which overwhelmingly trumped the current state-of-the-art American warfare technology.

During a break and had a chance to sample taro root and tea, the staple of the Cu Chi tunnel residents. If I had to have one meal for the next few years, this would not be it.

They also made shoes (available for purchase, of course, God bless capitalism) from old tires. You can also shoot an AK-47 for $1 a bullet, but David and I declined.

And finally? Down in the tunnels we went. They have added steps, widened the tunnel, reinforces the sides and also added lights, but I can tell you that it did not take away from the claustrophobia. Also in the literature was a claim that "booby traps are well marked." Thank goodness.

Outside the entrance is a gunnery hole.

I'll spare you the video I took, as it's basically pitch dark and really bouncy, I had to let go of the camera to get down on my hands and knees and crawl. Our guide moved really fast, waiting for us only at the places you have to make a turn. Sweaty, dirty and tired, we emerged with a newfound respect for anyone that spend more than three minutes down there.

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On a more colorful note, we then journeyed to the Cau Dai Temple, made famous both for it's size and design, and for the fact that they follow Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Catholicism. They do not discriminate.

"The noble effort of CaoDai is to unite all of humanity through a common vision of the Supreme Being, whatever our minor differences, in order to promote peace and understanding throughout the world. CaoDai does not seek to create a gray world, where all religions are exactly the same, only to create a more tolerant world, where all can see each other as sisters and brothers from a common divine source reaching out to a common divine destiny realizing peace within and without."

Sounds alarmingly sensible. No wonder they have six million followers (or so they say) throughout the world.

Upon entering the temple, you come upon this fresco painted on the wall, with two chinese and one... French guy? The inscription next to it reads "The Three Saints, Signatories of the 3rd Alliance between God and Mankind." Along with Sun Yat Sen, Nguyen Binh Khiem, is Victor Hugo. "France's famed poet full of compassion for the miserable, revealing himself under the name of Chuong Dao Nguyet Tam Chan Nhan (superintendent of Monastaries)." Funny, you can't find this in Wikipedia.

We just caught the end of the daily prayer service - women on the right, men on the left, virgins in the balcony (there weren't many).

The lay follows wear white, and the priests' colors symbolize spiritual allegiance - red is for Christianity, blue is for Taoism, and yellow is for Buddhism. This priest is sporting the symbol of the Divine Eye, representing God. It's always the left eye, because God is yang, and yang is on the left side.

In the front of the temple, you can spot (from top to bottom) Buddha, Confucius, Jesus Christ.

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On the way back to Saigon, we spotted another "how much crap can you haul" scenario. In case you're wondering, they are bags of chips.

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Finally, we stopped by the tailor that night for a fitting, where my new friend was waiting for me, with almost a real smile this time.

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Tomorrow (wasn't today full enough?) is the Mekong Delta with John and Margaret - Snake Wine and the Brick Factory! Even more fascinating than it sounds....

Ho Chi Minh City - Saigon Nightlife

2010-11-19T00:16:00.005-06:00

Our last adventure was a quick weekend trip to Ho Chi Minh City, otherwise known as Saigon, Vietnam. First, the obligatory hotel room view.

Next stop? The tailor of course...

This little guy was pretty fascinated with my camera. Yes, his forehead was really that big.

Our friends weren't going to be in town until late, so David and I parked ourselves at a bar on the street corner - chairs facing out, beers for $1, and lots of action.

The lady in the video with the big stack of stuff is walking around trying to sell books. Covers look nice, but it's just photocopies of pages on the inside.

David looking through the DVD's being sold on the street.

This looks safe-ish.

Walking back, we faced the problem of crossing the street, a bit dangerous as there are A LOT of motorbikes. (Disregard Dave'd art direction in the background, he doesn't know what he's talking about.)

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Short day today, long day tomorrow in the tunnels of Cu Chi. Also heard that day: "Wait, is that Victor Hugo?"

Bre in Town - We All Have Problems

2010-11-17T06:04:00.004-06:00

After we left Tanah Lot, we had lunch at a place which was made memorable only by the unfortunate typo in the menu:

The rest of the days activities consisted of the beach, a massage and drinks. I love Bali.

Bre made a new friend, who did her best to sell us bracelets and explain why she was wearing so many clothes in the blistering sun. "You want to be darker, I want to be lighter," she said. "We all have problems."

The highlight of the afternoon was when a group of school kids tore down the beach on their bikes, stopped right in front of us, stripped down and ran into the waves. It looked like some of them wore their suits under their school clothes and the rest just frolicked around in their underwear. Ten minutes later they ran back, put their clothes back on and were gone.

That evening we headed to a place called Rock Bar to try and catch the sunset. Our $19 massages ran long so we just barely caught the end of it. Again, we all have problems.

The place is pretty cool - you have to take a little 4-person rail car down the side of the cliff to reach the bar.

The next day we had an early lunch then sat on the beach a couple more hours to watch the surfers and frolic in the ocean.

Sand still in between our toes, we headed back to the airport. And reality.

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After one way-too-quick last dinner at Clarke Quay in Singapore, it was time for Bre to go.

Bye Bre, thanks so much for coming to visit!!!!! May your suntan last forever.

Bre in Town - Island of the Gods

2010-11-16T04:32:00.003-06:00

The day dawned cloudy again, but at least it wasn't raining. Bre's only request was "serious beach time", but it couldn't hurt to fit in some culture, too. Located about an hour away from our hotel is a temple called Tanah Lot, or "Land in the Sea", which is where we headed that morning.

What I love about Balinese architecture are the little details. Check out the face just above where I am posing:

To get to the temple you have to pay for a ticket (about 75 cents), and then run a gauntlet of touristy shops, trying not to step on the offerings along the way.

Our guide was Yasa, which you might remember from the last time we were in Bali. Great smile, patient and easy going, superb english. And funny. I pay for funny.

We climbed up around to another cliff to get our first view of the 15th century temple, which is on a little island near the shore. There used to be a stone bridge to the temple, but that fell down, so now you have to wait until low tide to get out there.

I am always amazed when people ask to take their picture with me. I don't know if it's the extremely white skin or the red hair, but it happens all the time.

Behind us is a much smaller temple, which I actually liked more than the main one.

These guys are posing like Balinese supermodels.

Bre, contemplating the sea.

Yasa lead us around to a side beach which was gorgeous and completely empty, though it was treacherous going to get down there.

I stepped right into the waves...

Which promptly came up to my waist and had me running for shore. Camera stayed dry though!

We spent about an hour down there, just running in and out of the waves on our private little beach

Wandering back to the main temple, we learned that you can also be blessed by snakes if you want to make your way across. We declined.

On to some quick shopping where I bought a clay satay cooker (I liked his face), and Bre bought a guitar. A really little one.

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Goodbye, Tanah Lot, you're gorgeous!

Bre in Town - Can't Rain On My Parade

2010-11-14T01:45:00.004-06:00

Our little Bali vacation did not start out well. By the time we made it a good spot on the beach, we had accidentally paid $6 for a peach at the grocery store...

...spent too much money on wine, found ants in our hotel room, were chased down an alleyway by a dog who nipped Bre's ankle, and haggled way too long with the guy who tried to charge us $30 for a chair on the beach that shouldn't be more than $3. Grr.

Finally, time to relax. Settling in, we put up our feet and watched.... the rain roll in.

*Sigh*. Oh well, at least the beach was pretty quiet that day, just us, a couple of vendors selling shells and fruit, and the lone left-over Balinese offering.

After a couple of hours when it really started to rain, we headed up to a restaurant and comforted ourselves with pasta, wine and chocolate.

It was good people watching, the food was excellent, and we still had a view of the waves. I suppose I've had worse days.

Bre In Town - Now That's A Fire!

2010-11-12T02:12:00.003-06:00

Today I was reminded again why you should never go anywhere in Singapore without your camera.

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Bre and I hit Little India and Chinatown today. Little India was decked out in all it's Deepavali finery.

Then to the Little India wet market. Along with the usual fruit and spices, they have an entire stall dedicated only to banana leaves.

Then we saw the sharks!

I tried to ask if it was really a shark. "What kind?" I asked, "What is the name of it?" "The name? Jaws! Rawrrr!" the vendor shouted, picking it up and shaking it at us.

In Chinatown, we wandered by a Hindu Temple, where there was a huge crowd outside.

Squeezing our way in, we were lucky enough to catch the prep for the firewalking ceremony.

No actual firewalking, but lots of pomp and circumstance. And smoke. And sweat. I think the look on the lady in purple says it all.

We stood there for over an hour, watching people walk around and stoke the fire. As usual, the women do not participate and are relegated to watching. I wouldn't complain, this fire was no joke.

The actual fire walkers weren't set to go on until 3am, so the most we got to see was one of the processions. Noisy, and this banging went on the whole time we were there.

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What could top a day of (not quite) fire walking? A trip to the Land of the Gods should do it.

Bre In Town - Suffering Through Gold Class

2010-11-10T06:09:00.001-06:00

Bre came to visit, Bre came to visit! After a long wait, my BFF finally made it across the globe to come and visit me. I have been excited for this for months.

First, breakfast at my very favorite Singapore hangout, Jones the Grocer. They have the best breakfast BLT.

A walk past the HDBs near out house...

And over a bridge to hop on the bus to Orchard Road. Bre told me she didn't want me to plan anything special, she "just wanted to live my life for a week." So ride the bus we did.

To Orchard Road - the Rodeo Drive of Singapore.

There's a department store nearby that always has some sort of sale going on. I often see people taking pictures of it, and I find myself thinking, "Why would anyone want to take a picture of that?" But I suppose it is pretty impressive. This is all shoes.

And what else to do in the daily life of a Singaporean? Go to another mall, of course. This one has a cool outdoor boardwalk, so we took a quick walk before it started raining.

It was siesta time for some...

But movie time for us! We decided to relax and take in a movie at a Gold Class theater - big cushy recliners, fleece blankets, waiters bringing you wine and cheese - what more could you ask for?

Firewalking, that's what! Stay tuned for tomorrow...

Hanoi Day 4 - Cyclos and Water Puppets

2010-10-20T05:19:00.004-05:00

Today we decided to see the city in style - by cyclo!

A few street scenes along the way...

First on the list was to see Ho Chi Minh's lovely soviet-style mausoleum and final resting place. Sort of. Normally his embalmed body is there and can be viewed, but from September from December he's out for "maintenance". Seriously.

This was as close as we were allowed to get.

There was what appeared to be a rehearsal of a show going on nearby, everything was still decked out for that 1000 year celebration.

We took a walk around part of West Lake...

Where I sort of got us lost for about an hour, but Kim was very patient with me and didn't complain a bit. Sweaty and starting to get blisters, we eventually made it to the One Pillar Pagoda.

There goes Kim, breaking the rules again...

At the Ho Chi Minh museum, more un-inspiring Soviet-era architecture...

God blessing capitalism, the "I Love Hanoi" stuff was being sold about every 10 feet. This girl was willing to pose for a picture until I declined to pay her, whereas she chased me all the way to the Temple of Literature ticket booth, demanding I at least buy a sticker. I did not.

Some of the Temple of Literature:

There were lots of turtles that people kept patting on the head. We had no idea why (luck maybe?), but when in Rome...

That evening we went and picked up my paintings that I had commissioned a couple of days earlier. I stopped by a little ship with a couple of printed out pictures and viola! Two days and $100 later, I had two gorgeous oil paintings.

The evening light show was a little lame...

But the water puppet show was fun! Sort of like a regular puppet show but they were manipulated wires under the water instead of strings from above.

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The morning of our last day, I went outside to try to capture a few of the motorcycle pictures. They fell into three categories.

Child Endangerment:

How Much Crap Can You Haul:

and It's A Problem Everywhere:

Goodbye Hanoi, I'll miss the Pho but not the exhaust!

Hanoi Day 3 - Halong Bay on a Junk

2010-10-19T08:10:00.002-05:00

Halong Bay is located on the coast west of Hanoi, and is supposedly one of the not-to-be-missed sights in Vietnam. Most people stay overnight on a boat out on the bay, but since Kim and I really didn't need the romantic sunset and sunrise, we decided on the half-day tour. It's just over 100 miles from Hanoi, but the drive took us almost four hours - the traffic. Our guide for the day was nice, but a bit of a... close talker. She would stand really near you and stare, taking about 10 seconds too long to respond to a question. This did not bode well for the day.

Our boat! We had it all to ourselves...

First on the schedule was lunch, and it started out with what David likes to call "snot soup." A thick, gelatinous seafood thing. I'm a good eater and I don't even like it. To be followed by fried squid cakes, grilled prawns and steamed crab. Did I mention yet that Kim did not like seafood? Not even a little bit. They added to the fun by bringing the food to us on huge platters, standing in the doorway and peering around the corner and watching us (not) eat. "Don't like?" We sort of tried to fake it by taking small bites and moving things around on the plate, but I'm pretty sure we weren't fooling anyone.

We had a second local guide, who drew us into conversation by asking why we weren't eating more. His English was great, much better that our first close-talker guide. "Where did you learn to speak English?" we asked. "School?" "No," he scoffed, "HBO! I love American movies!" He was completely charming, feeding us movie lines, even Kim had to eat the crab he was personally shelling for us. I mentally dubbed him 'Hollywood'.

The main course was - not seafood! But it was really fatty lamb, which I hope nobody likes. "But there's rice! I can eat the rice!" said Kim excitedly.

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The meal finally over, the first rock formation we passed were the Kissing Chickens.

They let me jump off the boat and go for a swim!

My favorite part was getting off the boat and exploring Dau Go cave. Spectacular.

This was the original entrance to the caves. The story has something to do with people hunting monkeys, wondering where they disappeared to and then finding this awesome cave.

The Mothers Milking Breast. Say that without giggling.

And the Old Wise Turtle.

The view from outside the cave.

We didn't quite stay long enough that day to see the sun set, but this was close enough...

Thanks Halong Bay, and goodbye to Hollywood!

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Next up? Ho Chi Minh's resting place, and "How Much Crap Can You Fit On a Motorbike?"

Hanoi Day 2 - Markets, Prisons and Fish Sauce

2010-10-15T08:19:00.007-05:00

I won't mention that there is only a 1 hour time difference between Singapore and Hanoi, but Kim and I pleaded jetlag and went to bed that night at 8:30pm. Unfortunately, Club Opera across the street had some sort of concert, and Kim was up listening to bad Ke$ha covers until 2:30am. Not me though, somehow this light sleeper was knocked out completely and I never heard a thing.

With one of us well rested, we headed out for a tour of the Old Quarter of Hanoi.

To me, the Vietnamese are a little bit different than other asian peoples in the surrounding countries. A little bit louder, a little bit more swagger, a little more in-your-face. Wouldn't you be, too, if you had kicked out the Chinese, the French, the Americans and McDonald's in the last 100 years?

There was a show going on near our hotel, something about reenactment how the capital of Vietnam was moved to Hanoi. Very colorful and well guarded.

And here's the turtle that brought the sword to Ly Thu To (see statue above), who took this as a sign that the place was blessed by god. "This turtle is not real..." our guide assured us. Thank goodness.

It was a Saturday, and this place was packed.

Overlooking the lake and the Turtle Pagoda.

Some street scenes from the Old Quarter (compliments of Kim)...

...which is a little chaotic.

The "cyclos" and motorcycles were ever-present...

A brief stop to stock up on DVDs (Dexter seasons 1-4 for $5!)...

And then browsing the local market for produce, bees included (something about virility).

I'd title this one "Old Meets New".

Yes, they really do still wear those pointy hats. They're only about a dollar if you want to buy one, but I didn't want to try and pack it in my suitcase.

Last stop of the tour was Hoa Lo prison, more commonly known as "The Hanoi Hilton". This is the site that the North Vietnamese used to house and imprison American servicemen - mostly pilots - during the Vietnam war. [By the way, it is known as "The American War" in these parts.] "Maison Centrale" means "central house" in French (the French originally built the prison), a traditional euphemism to denote prisons in France.

I have read about the interrogation, torture, miserable living conditions (poor food and highly unsanitary) and generally awful treatment of American soldiers, but I saw nothing of that documented here. Ninety percent of what is left of the prison is dedicated to showing how horribly the French treated the imprisoned Vietnamese when the French ran the show in the early 1900's.

You could seriously film a horror movie here.

Much ado was made about how wonderfully the Vietnamese treated the Americans, teaching them skills "every child should know" such as sweeping the yard and crafts. Every picture showed smiling, happy American soldiers relaxing, playing volleyball and giving thumbs up. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. There was also a whole hallway dedicated to the "millions" of Americans that had marched on Washington in solidarity with the North Vietnamese during the war. I'd like to check that figure.

After a long morning, I was looking forward to going from this:

To this:

I loved our French hotel.

Our last event of the day was a cooking lesson at the hotel. Every single dish had fish sauce in it.

And we got presents! Those extra long chop sticks that you use for cooking and a local peeler/shredder thing, among lots of other goodies to take home as souvenirs.

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Next up? Ha Long Bay, or "This Is The Most Uncomfortable Meal I've Ever Had To Sit Through."

Hanoi Day 1 - Happy Birthday Hanoi, You're 1000 Years Young!

2010-10-10T07:53:00.004-05:00

My friend Kim and I tried to organize a girls' trip to Hanoi, Vietnam, but after everyone else had things come up and couldn't go, it ended up just being the two of us. No worries, we were planning on having a great time anyway!

Hanoi is located in the northern part of Vietnam, about a 3 hour plane ride from Singapore. Our trip happily coincided with the 1000 year anniversary of Hanoi-as-the-capital, and the place was crazy. Kim was used to it, having just been to the south part of Vietnam a few months before, but this was my first time.

As soon as we dropped our stuff off at the hotel, we took off to take in our first sights - a city of six million people and three million motor bikes.

Here is the official seal of the city.

And here is Hoan Kiem Lake, just a couple of blocks from our hotel. The small pagoda in the foreground is the Turtle Tower (more on this later), and the balloons are for the birthday celebration.

St. Joseph's Cathedral, located in the Old Quarter, is quite a spectacular sight after wandering through the low lying buildings and crowded streets.

If Hanoi is still considered "unspoiled", the kids texting is probably not a good sign of things to come.

The flags were everywhere, and made some good shots around every corner.

I have to mention that Kim was 6 1/2 months pregnant, but she's pretty hard core and it didn't seem to slow her down a bit. We both also love taking pictures, so we made a good pair. [Her dad is Vietnamese, and my uncle was a Vietnam vet, so individually we had different perspectives of what Vietnam represented.]

Here's a quick video of what a typical intersection is like... note the lack of any "stop" or "walk" signs, you pretty much have to just go and trust that everyone will motor around you.

Next up - Cooking in the Kitchen and Baking on the Street.

Home Leave - The Rest

2010-10-08T09:13:00.001-05:00

Hello Minnesota!

Goodbye Minnesota, hello St. Louis!

We spent a few lovely days with David's sister (in the back left) and her adorable kids (one of which, Noa, is next to me), before heading back to MN. BTW, Noa picked out her outfit herself. She has more fashion sense at age 4 than I have at age 37.

Goodbye St. Louis, and hello Singapore!

Next up? Ho Chi Minh's resting place, or "Who knew Vietnam would be the next great vacay spot?"

Home Leave - The Wedding

2010-09-25T01:59:00.002-05:00

The wedding ceremony wasn't until late afternoon (and jetlag had us up at 5am), so we had a whole day to fill. On the docket for today? Kennebunkport Craft Fair and then the Wells Chili Festival.

The Craft Fair was a bit disappointing, though I did buy a ceramic sponge holder for the kitchen. Yawn, I know, but I had to come away with something. Though the "Monkey Farts" soap and lotion was tempting (it smelled like bananas).

Leaving the craft fair for the chili festival at the Wells Junior High, I took advantage of the only time in my life when I've been able to say "Less artsy more fartsy!" and mean it.

I said it a lot.

I have always wanted to be part of a chili cook-off, but apparently your resume has to include "tough-guy".

Full of about 20 different kinds of chili, I squeezed into my dress and headed down to the wedding. Spectacular scenery, and the bride was gorgeous.

The reception included dinner (steak and lobster), dancing...

And my new favorite thing - the photo booth!

That last picture pretty much represents our relationship.

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Goodbye Maine, hello Minnesota!

Home Leave!

2010-09-23T03:06:00.002-05:00

We get to go home once a year on 3M's dime, and we pick the best time in Minnesota - fall! Twins game (won both), Gopher football games (lost both), State Fair (corn dog, chicken-fried-bacon, deep fried pizza balls and beer-garitas) and the general awesomeness that is Minnesota weather in the fall (90 and humid when we arrived, 50 and rainy when we left).

We landed in MN at 5pm on a Wednesday, and were off to Maine at 8am the next day. My Singapore friend Margaret was getting married in Kennebunkport, and since we were already going to be in the country - why not go just a bit further? I'd never been to Maine before, it was nice to cross another one off the list.

It's amazing what $300 a night can get you...

No TV in the room, but I guess what you're paying for is the view:

The first thing we did was hop on the trolly ride to check out the local scenery. Might be nice to have a "cottage" on the coast.

Or maybe this place.

But you can't! It's George Bush's place.

The whole town was like a postcard.

I think every business in Kennebunkport had a sign here, though it wasn't exactly helpful.

Rehearsal dinner was a fantastic lobster bake in the nearby town of Cape Porpoise.

Sorry for the picture, John, but it was too priceless.

What a great first day in Maine, thanks John and Margaret!