Ass Kickin' BBQ Sauce for All Things Summer

     I absolutely love this time of year, which is probably why I blog so much less, but honestly, I should make more of an effort because if there's one thing I learned by going to grad school in Denver, it's how to enjoy your damn summer. Stop and smell the flowers people. Life is right there in front of you, and watching the world around you wake up for the warmth is a beautiful thing, despite our crazy weather. However, things have settled down here in D-town and it's time to live it up. Go outside. Spend time on a rooftop, relax, cook outdoors, ride a bike, drink some brews, listen to some live music, and - most importantly - cook up some fabulous food!

    So in order to kick off summer on the right foot I've decided to share a pretty amazing secret recipe of mine, my BBQ sauce. Tangy, thick, and with a little kick, this sauce is not only guaranteed to please, but the recipe itself makes a large amount and by freezing it, this will last you all summer long. The biggest bonus is that it doesn't take a lot of effort to make. If you aren't a fan of the spice, you can omit the chilies.

    First I'll start off by sharing the actual secret, I've adopted this recipe from one of the best BBQ joints in this country: Dinosaur BBQ (the original is in Syracuse, NY...UPSTATE PRIDE!). MB and I went here countless times in college, and these guys know their shit. My aunt and uncle make the three hour drive from Buffalo to here at least annually. Needless to say, I've adapted one of their recipes to fit my own taste, and I must say, the result is worth a try. This recipe uses different chilies and is more adapted to a paleo diet. I won't give the original recipe because of my respect for intellectual property, but below is an image of the book - and yes, this recipe is a definite indicator of the quality of awesomeness of recipes in this gem.

buy it...for serious

     Well without further adieu...recipe after the break...

     I absolutely love this time of year, which is probably why I blog so much less, but honestly, I should make more of an effort because if there's one thing I learned by going to grad school in Denver, it's how to enjoy your damn summer. Stop and smell the flowers people. Life is right there in front of you, and watching the world around you wake up for the warmth is a beautiful thing, despite our crazy weather. However, things have settled down here in D-town and it's time to live it up. Go outside. Spend time on a rooftop, relax, cook outdoors, ride a bike, drink some brews, listen to some live music, and - most importantly - cook up some fabulous food!

    So in order to kick off summer on the right foot I've decided to share a pretty amazing secret recipe of mine, my BBQ sauce. Tangy, thick, and with a little kick, this sauce is not only guaranteed to please, but the recipe itself makes a large amount and by freezing it, this will last you all summer long. The biggest bonus is that it doesn't take a lot of effort to make. If you aren't a fan of the spice, you can omit the chilies.

    First I'll start off by sharing the actual secret, I've adopted this recipe from one of the best BBQ joints in this country: Dinosaur BBQ (the original is in Syracuse, NY...UPSTATE PRIDE!). MB and I went here countless times in college, and these guys know their shit. My aunt and uncle make the three hour drive from Buffalo to here at least annually. Needless to say, I've adapted one of their recipes to fit my own taste, and I must say, the result is worth a try. This recipe uses different chilies and is more adapted to a paleo diet. I won't give the original recipe because of my respect for intellectual property, but below is an image of the book - and yes, this recipe is a definite indicator of the quality of awesomeness of recipes in this gem.

buy it...for serious

     Well without further adieu...recipe after the break...

     I absolutely love this time of year, which is probably why I blog so much less, but honestly, I should make more of an effort because if there's one thing I learned by going to grad school in Denver, it's how to enjoy your damn summer. Stop and smell the flowers people. Life is right there in front of you, and watching the world around you wake up for the warmth is a beautiful thing, despite our crazy weather. However, things have settled down here in D-town and it's time to live it up. Go outside. Spend time on a rooftop, relax, cook outdoors, ride a bike, drink some brews, listen to some live music, and - most importantly - cook up some fabulous food!

    So in order to kick off summer on the right foot I've decided to share a pretty amazing secret recipe of mine, my BBQ sauce. Tangy, thick, and with a little kick, this sauce is not only guaranteed to please, but the recipe itself makes a large amount and by freezing it, this will last you all summer long. The biggest bonus is that it doesn't take a lot of effort to make. If you aren't a fan of the spice, you can omit the chilies.

    First I'll start off by sharing the actual secret, I've adopted this recipe from one of the best BBQ joints in this country: Dinosaur BBQ (the original is in Syracuse, NY...UPSTATE PRIDE!). MB and I went here countless times in college, and these guys know their shit. My aunt and uncle make the three hour drive from Buffalo to here at least annually. Needless to say, I've adapted one of their recipes to fit my own taste, and I must say, the result is worth a try. This recipe uses different chilies and is more adapted to a paleo diet. I won't give the original recipe because of my respect for intellectual property, but below is an image of the book - and yes, this recipe is a definite indicator of the quality of awesomeness of recipes in this gem.

buy it...for serious

     Well without further adieu...recipe after the break...

     I absolutely love this time of year, which is probably why I blog so much less, but honestly, I should make more of an effort because if there's one thing I learned by going to grad school in Denver, it's how to enjoy your damn summer. Stop and smell the flowers people. Life is right there in front of you, and watching the world around you wake up for the warmth is a beautiful thing, despite our crazy weather. However, things have settled down here in D-town and it's time to live it up. Go outside. Spend time on a rooftop, relax, cook outdoors, ride a bike, drink some brews, listen to some live music, and - most importantly - cook up some fabulous food!

    So in order to kick off summer on the right foot I've decided to share a pretty amazing secret recipe of mine, my BBQ sauce. Tangy, thick, and with a little kick, this sauce is not only guaranteed to please, but the recipe itself makes a large amount and by freezing it, this will last you all summer long. The biggest bonus is that it doesn't take a lot of effort to make. If you aren't a fan of the spice, you can omit the chilies.

    First I'll start off by sharing the actual secret, I've adopted this recipe from one of the best BBQ joints in this country: Dinosaur BBQ (the original is in Syracuse, NY...UPSTATE PRIDE!). MB and I went here countless times in college, and these guys know their shit. My aunt and uncle make the three hour drive from Buffalo to here at least annually. Needless to say, I've adapted one of their recipes to fit my own taste, and I must say, the result is worth a try. This recipe uses different chilies and is more adapted to a paleo diet. I won't give the original recipe because of my respect for intellectual property, but below is an image of the book - and yes, this recipe is a definite indicator of the quality of awesomeness of recipes in this gem.

buy it...for serious

     Well without further adieu...recipe after the break...

Chicken Pho - or Pho Ga...AKA Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup

     Why hello there. I do apologize for not writing in such a long time, as I'm sure you've missed me. I'm currently sitting out on my balcony sipping coffee while soaking up some much needed rays. It's hard to not be outside when the weather is good, which usually keeps me from my computer. I've also recently come across employment this past month (!!!), and as you could imagine, the last thing I want to do after being on a computer all day is come home and sit on my laptop. However, I'll try to be better at posting, especially since there is so much going on these days.

    Before I begin talking about my mouthwatering soup recipe, I'd like to first send out my thoughts to those affected by the recent tragedy in Boston. As many of you know, MB was born and raised there, we also have many college friends residing in the Bean Town and this past week has been full of nerve racking texts, calls, and facebook updates. I am happy to report that everyone we know is safe and accounted for, but for those families who are less fortunate, my heart goes out to you. Stay Boston Strong.

     It has been a while since I've written, but it's been even longer since I've posted any recipes. The recipe I am about to post is great for several reasons. Number one, it falls under my favorite category of eats, South East Asian food. However, if you are nervous about this type of food, fear not, there aren't any crazy ingredients and it is super simple to make. Every culture has it's comfort food, and pho (usually has the little question mark above the '"o" but it's too early to figure out how to add that) is definitely a Vietnamese staple. Traditionally pho is made with an oxtail broth, but this version is made with chicken, making it more like a cold-busting chicken noodle soup we all know and love. I also love this recipe because it is simple, and therefore friendly to those picky eaters out there.

     An interesting pho fact: it's actually a breakfast food! Many pho joints are popping up all over the US and are typically open as lunch/dinner joints. I'll never forget waking up in Vietnam and heading out as the heat begins to rise. We would plop down at the busiest street side stall we could find and order a tasty bowl of pho. While slurping up all the goodness we'd watch people go about their daily commute, stopping on the motorbikes by the side of the road for a bowl. All of this amazing food is available for less than 25 cents a person (and we probably overpaid). Makes it tough to step foot into a restaurant serving the stuff in the US, which is why I made my own.

     One last thing before I begin, I've adapted this recipe from the Cook's Illustrated Cookbook book I keep on raving about pictured below. This recipe will easily feed four people. If you are cooking for one you can cut the recipe in half, or make the full recipe and freeze the soup for a rainy day! Recipe after the break!

     Why hello there. I do apologize for not writing in such a long time, as I'm sure you've missed me. I'm currently sitting out on my balcony sipping coffee while soaking up some much needed rays. It's hard to not be outside when the weather is good, which usually keeps me from my computer. I've also recently come across employment this past month (!!!), and as you could imagine, the last thing I want to do after being on a computer all day is come home and sit on my laptop. However, I'll try to be better at posting, especially since there is so much going on these days.

    Before I begin talking about my mouthwatering soup recipe, I'd like to first send out my thoughts to those affected by the recent tragedy in Boston. As many of you know, MB was born and raised there, we also have many college friends residing in the Bean Town and this past week has been full of nerve racking texts, calls, and facebook updates. I am happy to report that everyone we know is safe and accounted for, but for those families who are less fortunate, my heart goes out to you. Stay Boston Strong.

     It has been a while since I've written, but it's been even longer since I've posted any recipes. The recipe I am about to post is great for several reasons. Number one, it falls under my favorite category of eats, South East Asian food. However, if you are nervous about this type of food, fear not, there aren't any crazy ingredients and it is super simple to make. Every culture has it's comfort food, and pho (usually has the little question mark above the '"o" but it's too early to figure out how to add that) is definitely a Vietnamese staple. Traditionally pho is made with an oxtail broth, but this version is made with chicken, making it more like a cold-busting chicken noodle soup we all know and love. I also love this recipe because it is simple, and therefore friendly to those picky eaters out there.

     An interesting pho fact: it's actually a breakfast food! Many pho joints are popping up all over the US and are typically open as lunch/dinner joints. I'll never forget waking up in Vietnam and heading out as the heat begins to rise. We would plop down at the busiest street side stall we could find and order a tasty bowl of pho. While slurping up all the goodness we'd watch people go about their daily commute, stopping on the motorbikes by the side of the road for a bowl. All of this amazing food is available for less than 25 cents a person (and we probably overpaid). Makes it tough to step foot into a restaurant serving the stuff in the US, which is why I made my own.

     One last thing before I begin, I've adapted this recipe from the Cook's Illustrated Cookbook book I keep on raving about pictured below. This recipe will easily feed four people. If you are cooking for one you can cut the recipe in half, or make the full recipe and freeze the soup for a rainy day! Recipe after the break!

     Why hello there. I do apologize for not writing in such a long time, as I'm sure you've missed me. I'm currently sitting out on my balcony sipping coffee while soaking up some much needed rays. It's hard to not be outside when the weather is good, which usually keeps me from my computer. I've also recently come across employment this past month (!!!), and as you could imagine, the last thing I want to do after being on a computer all day is come home and sit on my laptop. However, I'll try to be better at posting, especially since there is so much going on these days.

    Before I begin talking about my mouthwatering soup recipe, I'd like to first send out my thoughts to those affected by the recent tragedy in Boston. As many of you know, MB was born and raised there, we also have many college friends residing in the Bean Town and this past week has been full of nerve racking texts, calls, and facebook updates. I am happy to report that everyone we know is safe and accounted for, but for those families who are less fortunate, my heart goes out to you. Stay Boston Strong.

     It has been a while since I've written, but it's been even longer since I've posted any recipes. The recipe I am about to post is great for several reasons. Number one, it falls under my favorite category of eats, South East Asian food. However, if you are nervous about this type of food, fear not, there aren't any crazy ingredients and it is super simple to make. Every culture has it's comfort food, and pho (usually has the little question mark above the '"o" but it's too early to figure out how to add that) is definitely a Vietnamese staple. Traditionally pho is made with an oxtail broth, but this version is made with chicken, making it more like a cold-busting chicken noodle soup we all know and love. I also love this recipe because it is simple, and therefore friendly to those picky eaters out there.

     An interesting pho fact: it's actually a breakfast food! Many pho joints are popping up all over the US and are typically open as lunch/dinner joints. I'll never forget waking up in Vietnam and heading out as the heat begins to rise. We would plop down at the busiest street side stall we could find and order a tasty bowl of pho. While slurping up all the goodness we'd watch people go about their daily commute, stopping on the motorbikes by the side of the road for a bowl. All of this amazing food is available for less than 25 cents a person (and we probably overpaid). Makes it tough to step foot into a restaurant serving the stuff in the US, which is why I made my own.

     One last thing before I begin, I've adapted this recipe from the Cook's Illustrated Cookbook book I keep on raving about pictured below. This recipe will easily feed four people. If you are cooking for one you can cut the recipe in half, or make the full recipe and freeze the soup for a rainy day! Recipe after the break!

     Why hello there. I do apologize for not writing in such a long time, as I'm sure you've missed me. I'm currently sitting out on my balcony sipping coffee while soaking up some much needed rays. It's hard to not be outside when the weather is good, which usually keeps me from my computer. I've also recently come across employment this past month (!!!), and as you could imagine, the last thing I want to do after being on a computer all day is come home and sit on my laptop. However, I'll try to be better at posting, especially since there is so much going on these days.

    Before I begin talking about my mouthwatering soup recipe, I'd like to first send out my thoughts to those affected by the recent tragedy in Boston. As many of you know, MB was born and raised there, we also have many college friends residing in the Bean Town and this past week has been full of nerve racking texts, calls, and facebook updates. I am happy to report that everyone we know is safe and accounted for, but for those families who are less fortunate, my heart goes out to you. Stay Boston Strong.

     It has been a while since I've written, but it's been even longer since I've posted any recipes. The recipe I am about to post is great for several reasons. Number one, it falls under my favorite category of eats, South East Asian food. However, if you are nervous about this type of food, fear not, there aren't any crazy ingredients and it is super simple to make. Every culture has it's comfort food, and pho (usually has the little question mark above the '"o" but it's too early to figure out how to add that) is definitely a Vietnamese staple. Traditionally pho is made with an oxtail broth, but this version is made with chicken, making it more like a cold-busting chicken noodle soup we all know and love. I also love this recipe because it is simple, and therefore friendly to those picky eaters out there.

     An interesting pho fact: it's actually a breakfast food! Many pho joints are popping up all over the US and are typically open as lunch/dinner joints. I'll never forget waking up in Vietnam and heading out as the heat begins to rise. We would plop down at the busiest street side stall we could find and order a tasty bowl of pho. While slurping up all the goodness we'd watch people go about their daily commute, stopping on the motorbikes by the side of the road for a bowl. All of this amazing food is available for less than 25 cents a person (and we probably overpaid). Makes it tough to step foot into a restaurant serving the stuff in the US, which is why I made my own.

     One last thing before I begin, I've adapted this recipe from the Cook's Illustrated Cookbook book I keep on raving about pictured below. This recipe will easily feed four people. If you are cooking for one you can cut the recipe in half, or make the full recipe and freeze the soup for a rainy day! Recipe after the break!

Tips to Help You Eat Healthier and Save Money

     Yes I know it has been forever. This life is crazy as we all know, so I've been quite busy. However, I've gotten a mild cold, which has allowed me to slow down a bit and get a chance to write. It's been a while since I've written about one of my favorite subject, food. Mmmm...food...

     So many people claim to not have the time to cook and, by default, eat healthy. No, I'm sorry, Lean Cuisine definitely doesn't count. Some people think it costs more to eat healthy, while that is somewhat true, it really doesn't have to break the bank. Yes, I won't deny eating grass-fed beef is definitely not a cheaper option, but if you can't afford grassy cows doesn't mean you need to settle for Tyson's Anytizers either, chicken does not have nuggets.

Tips and Tricks after the break...

Thanks Google!

     Yes I know it has been forever. This life is crazy as we all know, so I've been quite busy. However, I've gotten a mild cold, which has allowed me to slow down a bit and get a chance to write. It's been a while since I've written about one of my favorite subject, food. Mmmm...food...

     So many people claim to not have the time to cook and, by default, eat healthy. No, I'm sorry, Lean Cuisine definitely doesn't count. Some people think it costs more to eat healthy, while that is somewhat true, it really doesn't have to break the bank. Yes, I won't deny eating grass-fed beef is definitely not a cheaper option, but if you can't afford grassy cows doesn't mean you need to settle for Tyson's Anytizers either, chicken does not have nuggets.

Tips and Tricks after the break...

Thanks Google!

     Yes I know it has been forever. This life is crazy as we all know, so I've been quite busy. However, I've gotten a mild cold, which has allowed me to slow down a bit and get a chance to write. It's been a while since I've written about one of my favorite subject, food. Mmmm...food...

     So many people claim to not have the time to cook and, by default, eat healthy. No, I'm sorry, Lean Cuisine definitely doesn't count. Some people think it costs more to eat healthy, while that is somewhat true, it really doesn't have to break the bank. Yes, I won't deny eating grass-fed beef is definitely not a cheaper option, but if you can't afford grassy cows doesn't mean you need to settle for Tyson's Anytizers either, chicken does not have nuggets.

Tips and Tricks after the break...

Thanks Google!

     Yes I know it has been forever. This life is crazy as we all know, so I've been quite busy. However, I've gotten a mild cold, which has allowed me to slow down a bit and get a chance to write. It's been a while since I've written about one of my favorite subject, food. Mmmm...food...

     So many people claim to not have the time to cook and, by default, eat healthy. No, I'm sorry, Lean Cuisine definitely doesn't count. Some people think it costs more to eat healthy, while that is somewhat true, it really doesn't have to break the bank. Yes, I won't deny eating grass-fed beef is definitely not a cheaper option, but if you can't afford grassy cows doesn't mean you need to settle for Tyson's Anytizers either, chicken does not have nuggets.

Tips and Tricks after the break...

Thanks Google!

Cleaning and prepping glass jars

     Re-using glass jars is an effective and easy way to store things. Different sizes work better for different uses. Food storage, craft supplies, gifts, you name it, jars offer a great way to package things with no cost (you are going to buy whatever is in the glass jar anyway right?).

     However, there are a few annoying things about jars. First, how do you get those pesky labels off? Secondly, what about the smells of certain jars that held pickles or garlic?

   Tips, tricks, and how-to's after the break!

     Re-using glass jars is an effective and easy way to store things. Different sizes work better for different uses. Food storage, craft supplies, gifts, you name it, jars offer a great way to package things with no cost (you are going to buy whatever is in the glass jar anyway right?).

     However, there are a few annoying things about jars. First, how do you get those pesky labels off? Secondly, what about the smells of certain jars that held pickles or garlic?

   Tips, tricks, and how-to's after the break!

     Re-using glass jars is an effective and easy way to store things. Different sizes work better for different uses. Food storage, craft supplies, gifts, you name it, jars offer a great way to package things with no cost (you are going to buy whatever is in the glass jar anyway right?).

     However, there are a few annoying things about jars. First, how do you get those pesky labels off? Secondly, what about the smells of certain jars that held pickles or garlic?

   Tips, tricks, and how-to's after the break!

     Re-using glass jars is an effective and easy way to store things. Different sizes work better for different uses. Food storage, craft supplies, gifts, you name it, jars offer a great way to package things with no cost (you are going to buy whatever is in the glass jar anyway right?).

     However, there are a few annoying things about jars. First, how do you get those pesky labels off? Secondly, what about the smells of certain jars that held pickles or garlic?

   Tips, tricks, and how-to's after the break!

Motivation, motivation, motivation

Howdy! Sorry I've lacked in consistency lately. My life has currently been doing a tour on the struggle bus, so I've been MIA. I won't bore you with the details because everyone's got problems.

Anyway, I'm an avid gym-goer, and for the most part always have been. Most regulars get annoyed around this time of year. Everyone's got a new year's resolution to lose X amount of weight and this usually results in a line for your favorite machine, not enough room at the benches, etc., etc. It's about this time when the gym starts to calm down and get back to its normal self. However, I'm not like most people, I get kinda sad when this happens. It feels as if an entire population either got "too busy" or gave up on their dream. America isn't the only overweight nation out there, trust me and although I slowly see certain societal images changing here there is still a big problem (seriously no pun intended). Not to mention even if you look a "normal" weight to the general population, if you can still have self-image issues, and you deserve to want to look your best.

I'm dedicating this post for ways to stay motivated and on top of your body-image goals. After the break there will be tips and tricks for even small things you can do to keep yourself on track toward your goal.

Please excuse all of my lame images, I'm having too much fun on Google image search this morning...

Howdy! Sorry I've lacked in consistency lately. My life has currently been doing a tour on the struggle bus, so I've been MIA. I won't bore you with the details because everyone's got problems.

Anyway, I'm an avid gym-goer, and for the most part always have been. Most regulars get annoyed around this time of year. Everyone's got a new year's resolution to lose X amount of weight and this usually results in a line for your favorite machine, not enough room at the benches, etc., etc. It's about this time when the gym starts to calm down and get back to its normal self. However, I'm not like most people, I get kinda sad when this happens. It feels as if an entire population either got "too busy" or gave up on their dream. America isn't the only overweight nation out there, trust me and although I slowly see certain societal images changing here there is still a big problem (seriously no pun intended). Not to mention even if you look a "normal" weight to the general population, if you can still have self-image issues, and you deserve to want to look your best.

I'm dedicating this post for ways to stay motivated and on top of your body-image goals. After the break there will be tips and tricks for even small things you can do to keep yourself on track toward your goal.

Please excuse all of my lame images, I'm having too much fun on Google image search this morning...

Howdy! Sorry I've lacked in consistency lately. My life has currently been doing a tour on the struggle bus, so I've been MIA. I won't bore you with the details because everyone's got problems.

Anyway, I'm an avid gym-goer, and for the most part always have been. Most regulars get annoyed around this time of year. Everyone's got a new year's resolution to lose X amount of weight and this usually results in a line for your favorite machine, not enough room at the benches, etc., etc. It's about this time when the gym starts to calm down and get back to its normal self. However, I'm not like most people, I get kinda sad when this happens. It feels as if an entire population either got "too busy" or gave up on their dream. America isn't the only overweight nation out there, trust me and although I slowly see certain societal images changing here there is still a big problem (seriously no pun intended). Not to mention even if you look a "normal" weight to the general population, if you can still have self-image issues, and you deserve to want to look your best.

I'm dedicating this post for ways to stay motivated and on top of your body-image goals. After the break there will be tips and tricks for even small things you can do to keep yourself on track toward your goal.

Please excuse all of my lame images, I'm having too much fun on Google image search this morning...

Howdy! Sorry I've lacked in consistency lately. My life has currently been doing a tour on the struggle bus, so I've been MIA. I won't bore you with the details because everyone's got problems.

Anyway, I'm an avid gym-goer, and for the most part always have been. Most regulars get annoyed around this time of year. Everyone's got a new year's resolution to lose X amount of weight and this usually results in a line for your favorite machine, not enough room at the benches, etc., etc. It's about this time when the gym starts to calm down and get back to its normal self. However, I'm not like most people, I get kinda sad when this happens. It feels as if an entire population either got "too busy" or gave up on their dream. America isn't the only overweight nation out there, trust me and although I slowly see certain societal images changing here there is still a big problem (seriously no pun intended). Not to mention even if you look a "normal" weight to the general population, if you can still have self-image issues, and you deserve to want to look your best.

I'm dedicating this post for ways to stay motivated and on top of your body-image goals. After the break there will be tips and tricks for even small things you can do to keep yourself on track toward your goal.

Please excuse all of my lame images, I'm having too much fun on Google image search this morning...

M's Big Bad Bangin Chili Recipe

     This blog has MOVED! Check out https://adventuresoffoxintheforest.wordpress.com/ for more adventure and travel ideas!
   
 Fall/winter is one of my favorite cooking seasons for one main reason...crock pot recipes. I'm the kinda gal who can mow down on some chili any time of the year, but there is something special about chili in the cold or during a (Boncos) tailgate. I've included some great substitutions for this basic of all recipes. This one can also easily become paleo perfect as well. Feel free to expand and add your own flavor. Nervous? Just do what feels right...and ya - that's what she said.

These are super detailed instructions - for good reason. If you've never cooked before I promise you that you will be able to make a kick ass chili in several different ways after reading this post.

Recipe after the break

     This blog has MOVED! Check out https://adventuresoffoxintheforest.wordpress.com/ for more adventure and travel ideas!
   
 Fall/winter is one of my favorite cooking seasons for one main reason...crock pot recipes. I'm the kinda gal who can mow down on some chili any time of the year, but there is something special about chili in the cold or during a (Boncos) tailgate. I've included some great substitutions for this basic of all recipes. This one can also easily become paleo perfect as well. Feel free to expand and add your own flavor. Nervous? Just do what feels right...and ya - that's what she said.

These are super detailed instructions - for good reason. If you've never cooked before I promise you that you will be able to make a kick ass chili in several different ways after reading this post.

Recipe after the break

     This blog has MOVED! Check out https://adventuresoffoxintheforest.wordpress.com/ for more adventure and travel ideas!
   
 Fall/winter is one of my favorite cooking seasons for one main reason...crock pot recipes. I'm the kinda gal who can mow down on some chili any time of the year, but there is something special about chili in the cold or during a (Boncos) tailgate. I've included some great substitutions for this basic of all recipes. This one can also easily become paleo perfect as well. Feel free to expand and add your own flavor. Nervous? Just do what feels right...and ya - that's what she said.

These are super detailed instructions - for good reason. If you've never cooked before I promise you that you will be able to make a kick ass chili in several different ways after reading this post.

Recipe after the break

     This blog has MOVED! Check out https://adventuresoffoxintheforest.wordpress.com/ for more adventure and travel ideas!
   
 Fall/winter is one of my favorite cooking seasons for one main reason...crock pot recipes. I'm the kinda gal who can mow down on some chili any time of the year, but there is something special about chili in the cold or during a (Boncos) tailgate. I've included some great substitutions for this basic of all recipes. This one can also easily become paleo perfect as well. Feel free to expand and add your own flavor. Nervous? Just do what feels right...and ya - that's what she said.

These are super detailed instructions - for good reason. If you've never cooked before I promise you that you will be able to make a kick ass chili in several different ways after reading this post.

Recipe after the break

Gift Ideas for the Cook of the House

     As many of you already know, I am a food lover. I believe that food is a great unifier and if you have a kitchen, you have the ability to eat well regardless of income. How? Well giving your food a little TLC goes a long way. When people tell me they can't cook, I believe there is no excuse. Honestly, all you have to do is follow directions and actually give a damn about what you are doing. Sure, there are days when I sloppily put something together, who doesn't? It's no excuse for not knowing how to cook...everyone has the capacity to know how to cook.

     Before I continue to rant on and on, the purpose of this post was to list a few of my favorite cook books that are good for any level of chef-to-be. All of these make great gift ideas whether it be for the food enthusiast, or someone who you know that desperately needs to make an effort.

List after the break

     As many of you already know, I am a food lover. I believe that food is a great unifier and if you have a kitchen, you have the ability to eat well regardless of income. How? Well giving your food a little TLC goes a long way. When people tell me they can't cook, I believe there is no excuse. Honestly, all you have to do is follow directions and actually give a damn about what you are doing. Sure, there are days when I sloppily put something together, who doesn't? It's no excuse for not knowing how to cook...everyone has the capacity to know how to cook.

     Before I continue to rant on and on, the purpose of this post was to list a few of my favorite cook books that are good for any level of chef-to-be. All of these make great gift ideas whether it be for the food enthusiast, or someone who you know that desperately needs to make an effort.

List after the break

     As many of you already know, I am a food lover. I believe that food is a great unifier and if you have a kitchen, you have the ability to eat well regardless of income. How? Well giving your food a little TLC goes a long way. When people tell me they can't cook, I believe there is no excuse. Honestly, all you have to do is follow directions and actually give a damn about what you are doing. Sure, there are days when I sloppily put something together, who doesn't? It's no excuse for not knowing how to cook...everyone has the capacity to know how to cook.

     Before I continue to rant on and on, the purpose of this post was to list a few of my favorite cook books that are good for any level of chef-to-be. All of these make great gift ideas whether it be for the food enthusiast, or someone who you know that desperately needs to make an effort.

List after the break

     As many of you already know, I am a food lover. I believe that food is a great unifier and if you have a kitchen, you have the ability to eat well regardless of income. How? Well giving your food a little TLC goes a long way. When people tell me they can't cook, I believe there is no excuse. Honestly, all you have to do is follow directions and actually give a damn about what you are doing. Sure, there are days when I sloppily put something together, who doesn't? It's no excuse for not knowing how to cook...everyone has the capacity to know how to cook.

     Before I continue to rant on and on, the purpose of this post was to list a few of my favorite cook books that are good for any level of chef-to-be. All of these make great gift ideas whether it be for the food enthusiast, or someone who you know that desperately needs to make an effort.

List after the break

Groove, Jams, ADD, COOKIES!!!

    Well, my finger is healing up nicely, thanks for asking. However, I have recently encountered another problem. Working out while recovering from a cold/mangled digit. In fact, I was much looking forward to getting back to my routine at L'Ru Studios. I was going to buy classes with my newfound birthday money until last Friday happened. Instead I am stuck with a very limited amount of movement make it difficult to even visit the gym upstairs. Oh, but fear not my friends, I didn't sign up to be in the creative industry for nothing...

   When a practical solution doesn't exist, invent one. I have been battling ADD most of my life - oh....look at the sky!! - making things like housework nearly unbearable without some type of distraction, namely music. While MB studied for the bar, this habit translated over to cooking as well; replacing the "family-friendly" cooking conversation into a full fledged dance party complete with headphones.

   Today I spent the day baking various things and cleaning the house - wifey I know. While I'd love to go on about the awesomeness of my oatmeal cookies (recipe found here) I think I'll share some tracks that are essential for what I like to call cook-aerobics-fantasmic-dance-off. NOTE: if you have hard wood floors socks are highly encouraged...the more slide in your step the better.

    I fully endorse any shameless music choices found beyond the break. I spit on musical elitists because I can, I used to be one. Everyone is entitled to their own playlist and anyone who pretends to be above anyone else always has skeletons hidden in their iTunes...don't kid yourselves.

Thank me later....more after the break.

    Well, my finger is healing up nicely, thanks for asking. However, I have recently encountered another problem. Working out while recovering from a cold/mangled digit. In fact, I was much looking forward to getting back to my routine at L'Ru Studios. I was going to buy classes with my newfound birthday money until last Friday happened. Instead I am stuck with a very limited amount of movement make it difficult to even visit the gym upstairs. Oh, but fear not my friends, I didn't sign up to be in the creative industry for nothing...

   When a practical solution doesn't exist, invent one. I have been battling ADD most of my life - oh....look at the sky!! - making things like housework nearly unbearable without some type of distraction, namely music. While MB studied for the bar, this habit translated over to cooking as well; replacing the "family-friendly" cooking conversation into a full fledged dance party complete with headphones.

   Today I spent the day baking various things and cleaning the house - wifey I know. While I'd love to go on about the awesomeness of my oatmeal cookies (recipe found here) I think I'll share some tracks that are essential for what I like to call cook-aerobics-fantasmic-dance-off. NOTE: if you have hard wood floors socks are highly encouraged...the more slide in your step the better.

    I fully endorse any shameless music choices found beyond the break. I spit on musical elitists because I can, I used to be one. Everyone is entitled to their own playlist and anyone who pretends to be above anyone else always has skeletons hidden in their iTunes...don't kid yourselves.

Thank me later....more after the break.

    Well, my finger is healing up nicely, thanks for asking. However, I have recently encountered another problem. Working out while recovering from a cold/mangled digit. In fact, I was much looking forward to getting back to my routine at L'Ru Studios. I was going to buy classes with my newfound birthday money until last Friday happened. Instead I am stuck with a very limited amount of movement make it difficult to even visit the gym upstairs. Oh, but fear not my friends, I didn't sign up to be in the creative industry for nothing...

   When a practical solution doesn't exist, invent one. I have been battling ADD most of my life - oh....look at the sky!! - making things like housework nearly unbearable without some type of distraction, namely music. While MB studied for the bar, this habit translated over to cooking as well; replacing the "family-friendly" cooking conversation into a full fledged dance party complete with headphones.

   Today I spent the day baking various things and cleaning the house - wifey I know. While I'd love to go on about the awesomeness of my oatmeal cookies (recipe found here) I think I'll share some tracks that are essential for what I like to call cook-aerobics-fantasmic-dance-off. NOTE: if you have hard wood floors socks are highly encouraged...the more slide in your step the better.

    I fully endorse any shameless music choices found beyond the break. I spit on musical elitists because I can, I used to be one. Everyone is entitled to their own playlist and anyone who pretends to be above anyone else always has skeletons hidden in their iTunes...don't kid yourselves.

Thank me later....more after the break.

    Well, my finger is healing up nicely, thanks for asking. However, I have recently encountered another problem. Working out while recovering from a cold/mangled digit. In fact, I was much looking forward to getting back to my routine at L'Ru Studios. I was going to buy classes with my newfound birthday money until last Friday happened. Instead I am stuck with a very limited amount of movement make it difficult to even visit the gym upstairs. Oh, but fear not my friends, I didn't sign up to be in the creative industry for nothing...

   When a practical solution doesn't exist, invent one. I have been battling ADD most of my life - oh....look at the sky!! - making things like housework nearly unbearable without some type of distraction, namely music. While MB studied for the bar, this habit translated over to cooking as well; replacing the "family-friendly" cooking conversation into a full fledged dance party complete with headphones.

   Today I spent the day baking various things and cleaning the house - wifey I know. While I'd love to go on about the awesomeness of my oatmeal cookies (recipe found here) I think I'll share some tracks that are essential for what I like to call cook-aerobics-fantasmic-dance-off. NOTE: if you have hard wood floors socks are highly encouraged...the more slide in your step the better.

    I fully endorse any shameless music choices found beyond the break. I spit on musical elitists because I can, I used to be one. Everyone is entitled to their own playlist and anyone who pretends to be above anyone else always has skeletons hidden in their iTunes...don't kid yourselves.

Thank me later....more after the break.

A few notes post-Asia adventure

     We are finally back on some type of normal schedule. Our current HQ is at my folk's house in Tahoe and we've been here for about a week. Aside from re-teaching our bodies the difference between night and day, we've also been trolling the internet for a place to live back in Denver. I had figured we would be getting ready to leave for good at this point, but alas, a buyer's market means us renters have to put in some extra hours in the housing hunt. We'll be visiting Denver to look at places mid next week. Aside from mission-housing, I came down with a mild cold. Sweet...

     The initial culture shock wasn't anything to write home about. I don't really think we were gone long enough, or the 24hrs of layovers in a comparatively tame Singapore and Hong Kong made the transition back to the west a bit easier. Either that or I'm just not fazed by anything anymore.

     Before I get into the meat of this post, I'd like to give some monetary logistics out there for anyone who may be following this blog and plans on doing a similar trip. All in all, from leaving Tahoe to arriving back 43 days later the trip costed around $3K USD. Airfare was a significant chunk, taking up about 2/3 of the cost. Almost 1/3 of that was the trans-world flight. Food, lodging, activities, overland transport, drinking, and shopping cost around $1250 USD each for 6 weeks. We splurged minimally, and in comparison to US prices, didn't splurge at all. In terms of lodging, we didn't stay in complete shit holes or shared dorms (usually between $10-15), but we never paid over $30 a night either (and $30 was expensive!). Keep in mind that this route involved a significant amount of island hopping where 99% of the time a ferry was simply unavailable or completely un-economical in terms of time. If we had stuck to the more traditional overland routes (ie gone to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, Vietnam, Peninsular Malaysia) the cost could have been lower. However, the other factor that kept us using flights is time. It takes a LOT of time to get around in some of these places, especially if roads aren't in the best condition or if it's anywhere close to monsoon season. For example, the route from Denpasar, Bali to Jogjakarta, Indonesia is roughly 370 miles. Tack on a few more if you just look at roads, so to be fair let's say 450 miles. This is about 90 miles over the distance between where I used to live in Los Angeles and where my parents live in Lake Tahoe. That journey, let's say on a snowy day where there is road trouble, can take anywhere between 10 to 12 hours. In Indonesia that distance takes about 24 hours of actual travel time (excluding overnights and 'layovers'). Keep in mind that Bali doesn't have awful roads, and Java's roads and train systems are significantly better than one would expect. The difference is the speed limit, public transport's affinity for countless stops, and never really running on any type of schedule that makes travel particularly difficult. If you have the money or are sick of 'adventure,' just book a tourist bus between places as they tend to stop less, but keep in mind you will be overcharged way over 200% of what it could cost, which, over time, will add up quickly.

     So let's get on with it...here is yet another list post on the highlights...and not-my-favorite moments of the trip...after the break of course!

     We are finally back on some type of normal schedule. Our current HQ is at my folk's house in Tahoe and we've been here for about a week. Aside from re-teaching our bodies the difference between night and day, we've also been trolling the internet for a place to live back in Denver. I had figured we would be getting ready to leave for good at this point, but alas, a buyer's market means us renters have to put in some extra hours in the housing hunt. We'll be visiting Denver to look at places mid next week. Aside from mission-housing, I came down with a mild cold. Sweet...

     The initial culture shock wasn't anything to write home about. I don't really think we were gone long enough, or the 24hrs of layovers in a comparatively tame Singapore and Hong Kong made the transition back to the west a bit easier. Either that or I'm just not fazed by anything anymore.

     Before I get into the meat of this post, I'd like to give some monetary logistics out there for anyone who may be following this blog and plans on doing a similar trip. All in all, from leaving Tahoe to arriving back 43 days later the trip costed around $3K USD. Airfare was a significant chunk, taking up about 2/3 of the cost. Almost 1/3 of that was the trans-world flight. Food, lodging, activities, overland transport, drinking, and shopping cost around $1250 USD each for 6 weeks. We splurged minimally, and in comparison to US prices, didn't splurge at all. In terms of lodging, we didn't stay in complete shit holes or shared dorms (usually between $10-15), but we never paid over $30 a night either (and $30 was expensive!). Keep in mind that this route involved a significant amount of island hopping where 99% of the time a ferry was simply unavailable or completely un-economical in terms of time. If we had stuck to the more traditional overland routes (ie gone to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, Vietnam, Peninsular Malaysia) the cost could have been lower. However, the other factor that kept us using flights is time. It takes a LOT of time to get around in some of these places, especially if roads aren't in the best condition or if it's anywhere close to monsoon season. For example, the route from Denpasar, Bali to Jogjakarta, Indonesia is roughly 370 miles. Tack on a few more if you just look at roads, so to be fair let's say 450 miles. This is about 90 miles over the distance between where I used to live in Los Angeles and where my parents live in Lake Tahoe. That journey, let's say on a snowy day where there is road trouble, can take anywhere between 10 to 12 hours. In Indonesia that distance takes about 24 hours of actual travel time (excluding overnights and 'layovers'). Keep in mind that Bali doesn't have awful roads, and Java's roads and train systems are significantly better than one would expect. The difference is the speed limit, public transport's affinity for countless stops, and never really running on any type of schedule that makes travel particularly difficult. If you have the money or are sick of 'adventure,' just book a tourist bus between places as they tend to stop less, but keep in mind you will be overcharged way over 200% of what it could cost, which, over time, will add up quickly.

     So let's get on with it...here is yet another list post on the highlights...and not-my-favorite moments of the trip...after the break of course!

     We are finally back on some type of normal schedule. Our current HQ is at my folk's house in Tahoe and we've been here for about a week. Aside from re-teaching our bodies the difference between night and day, we've also been trolling the internet for a place to live back in Denver. I had figured we would be getting ready to leave for good at this point, but alas, a buyer's market means us renters have to put in some extra hours in the housing hunt. We'll be visiting Denver to look at places mid next week. Aside from mission-housing, I came down with a mild cold. Sweet...

     The initial culture shock wasn't anything to write home about. I don't really think we were gone long enough, or the 24hrs of layovers in a comparatively tame Singapore and Hong Kong made the transition back to the west a bit easier. Either that or I'm just not fazed by anything anymore.

     Before I get into the meat of this post, I'd like to give some monetary logistics out there for anyone who may be following this blog and plans on doing a similar trip. All in all, from leaving Tahoe to arriving back 43 days later the trip costed around $3K USD. Airfare was a significant chunk, taking up about 2/3 of the cost. Almost 1/3 of that was the trans-world flight. Food, lodging, activities, overland transport, drinking, and shopping cost around $1250 USD each for 6 weeks. We splurged minimally, and in comparison to US prices, didn't splurge at all. In terms of lodging, we didn't stay in complete shit holes or shared dorms (usually between $10-15), but we never paid over $30 a night either (and $30 was expensive!). Keep in mind that this route involved a significant amount of island hopping where 99% of the time a ferry was simply unavailable or completely un-economical in terms of time. If we had stuck to the more traditional overland routes (ie gone to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, Vietnam, Peninsular Malaysia) the cost could have been lower. However, the other factor that kept us using flights is time. It takes a LOT of time to get around in some of these places, especially if roads aren't in the best condition or if it's anywhere close to monsoon season. For example, the route from Denpasar, Bali to Jogjakarta, Indonesia is roughly 370 miles. Tack on a few more if you just look at roads, so to be fair let's say 450 miles. This is about 90 miles over the distance between where I used to live in Los Angeles and where my parents live in Lake Tahoe. That journey, let's say on a snowy day where there is road trouble, can take anywhere between 10 to 12 hours. In Indonesia that distance takes about 24 hours of actual travel time (excluding overnights and 'layovers'). Keep in mind that Bali doesn't have awful roads, and Java's roads and train systems are significantly better than one would expect. The difference is the speed limit, public transport's affinity for countless stops, and never really running on any type of schedule that makes travel particularly difficult. If you have the money or are sick of 'adventure,' just book a tourist bus between places as they tend to stop less, but keep in mind you will be overcharged way over 200% of what it could cost, which, over time, will add up quickly.

     So let's get on with it...here is yet another list post on the highlights...and not-my-favorite moments of the trip...after the break of course!

     We are finally back on some type of normal schedule. Our current HQ is at my folk's house in Tahoe and we've been here for about a week. Aside from re-teaching our bodies the difference between night and day, we've also been trolling the internet for a place to live back in Denver. I had figured we would be getting ready to leave for good at this point, but alas, a buyer's market means us renters have to put in some extra hours in the housing hunt. We'll be visiting Denver to look at places mid next week. Aside from mission-housing, I came down with a mild cold. Sweet...

     The initial culture shock wasn't anything to write home about. I don't really think we were gone long enough, or the 24hrs of layovers in a comparatively tame Singapore and Hong Kong made the transition back to the west a bit easier. Either that or I'm just not fazed by anything anymore.

     Before I get into the meat of this post, I'd like to give some monetary logistics out there for anyone who may be following this blog and plans on doing a similar trip. All in all, from leaving Tahoe to arriving back 43 days later the trip costed around $3K USD. Airfare was a significant chunk, taking up about 2/3 of the cost. Almost 1/3 of that was the trans-world flight. Food, lodging, activities, overland transport, drinking, and shopping cost around $1250 USD each for 6 weeks. We splurged minimally, and in comparison to US prices, didn't splurge at all. In terms of lodging, we didn't stay in complete shit holes or shared dorms (usually between $10-15), but we never paid over $30 a night either (and $30 was expensive!). Keep in mind that this route involved a significant amount of island hopping where 99% of the time a ferry was simply unavailable or completely un-economical in terms of time. If we had stuck to the more traditional overland routes (ie gone to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, Vietnam, Peninsular Malaysia) the cost could have been lower. However, the other factor that kept us using flights is time. It takes a LOT of time to get around in some of these places, especially if roads aren't in the best condition or if it's anywhere close to monsoon season. For example, the route from Denpasar, Bali to Jogjakarta, Indonesia is roughly 370 miles. Tack on a few more if you just look at roads, so to be fair let's say 450 miles. This is about 90 miles over the distance between where I used to live in Los Angeles and where my parents live in Lake Tahoe. That journey, let's say on a snowy day where there is road trouble, can take anywhere between 10 to 12 hours. In Indonesia that distance takes about 24 hours of actual travel time (excluding overnights and 'layovers'). Keep in mind that Bali doesn't have awful roads, and Java's roads and train systems are significantly better than one would expect. The difference is the speed limit, public transport's affinity for countless stops, and never really running on any type of schedule that makes travel particularly difficult. If you have the money or are sick of 'adventure,' just book a tourist bus between places as they tend to stop less, but keep in mind you will be overcharged way over 200% of what it could cost, which, over time, will add up quickly.

     So let's get on with it...here is yet another list post on the highlights...and not-my-favorite moments of the trip...after the break of course!

Same same, but better

     So after about 14 hours of pure rest (with more to follow I'm sure) I'm finally ready to write. Hoi An was really lovely. A tourist trap, yes, but not one that you really care about being in. So you pay $1 instead of $0.50 for food. So there are whitties everywhere and people ask if you want to rent or buy things. Really, compared to what it's like getting out of a train station here this is child's play. The center of town and the surroundings are quaint with some French influence. The place is generally clean and the beach is an easy 20 min ride by bicycle. 

     We stayed in a cute little hotel for around $12 a night. This got us ac, a balcony, western-style shower, wifi, and hot water. A bargain if you ask me. I believe the place was called Phuong Dong, but don't hold me to that. I'll look it up when I get home as I plan on rating all the places I've paid to stay at. It is also worth noting that it is now the low season for tourists here so prices are cheaper and you often get good deals not only on hotels, but tourist attractions as well. 

     We spent time wandering around town, lying around on the beach, and catching up on news back home. The go-go-go portion of the trip is starting to quickly catch up on us and our energy levels are dwindling fast. Not to mention it is hot as crap in the south so the heat of the day really takes it out of you.

     You can also get clothes made here and I got two dresses (one for work and one for play) custom made for very cheap (around $35 total). The quality at the place I used seems legit, and the dress styles aren't too complicated so I can fix them if need be. 

     On the second day I was trolling FB and I saw that one of my close friends from uni posted a picture that looked exactly like the view from the beach I was at earlier that day. It turns out he was in Hoi An with some of his buddies so we met up for the day. It was great to see him, it's been almost three years!

    Him and his buddies showed us some kick ass cheap places to eat. One place sells these amazing thin pancake thingys (not crepes) stuffed with shrimp, been sprouts, and mushrooms. You fold some lettuce in them, wrap them with rice paper and dip them in this sweet and sour sauce. Delicious! We gorged on them our last day before heading to Da Nang for the day.

     Da Nang is a pretty sizable city. The big tourist attractions here consist of uber-luxury resorts that put up huge gates around there properties. This time of year they are literally empty. There is a lot of construction of new uber-resorts which, when the place is empty, seems a bit counter productive. They must make some serious cash though, because they are building more around every corner. We came here for the day for one reason: the Hai Van Pass. It is a canyon road featured in Top Gear (the Vietnam Special...Google it). They did it by motor bike and although I can't quite drive a standard bike, I planned on repeating the journey. 

     Thank goodness we looked at a map when we left the train station because it took us quite some time to find bikes, even just the ocean road. We locked our bags up (not for the faint of heart, the lady literally locks them together and away you go) and left the station. We wandered around until we found a road we recognized and set out to find bikes. We figured, like in Hoi An, there would be a ton of people by the waterfront trying to rent us bikes. This turned out not to be the case and we ended up convincing some hotel to rent us a bike (of course, they said that they wanted us to stay there first). We set out with a general idea of how to get to the pass. The pass is pretty empty these days, as trucks are not allowed on it anymore. Instead they take the tunnel, which doesn't allow motor bikes so you get the picture. We saw a couple of tourist busses, a few tourist cars, and one other couple on bikes aside from locals. The road was AMAZING...read: FABULOUS. They say it is dangerous, which I suppose if it were raining it would be, but I learned to drive on canyon roads, so I felt very comfortable the whole trip. There were more beautiful vistas than I could describe and pictures simply don't do it justice. It was one of those things that was completely worth the effort it took to figure out. Dad, you woulda loved it!

     We went about 3/4 of the way on the road and headed back, as our gas meter wasn't exactly working and I didn't want to risk getting stranded. No worries though, we had trouble anyway. We were almost down the road and we stopped for some water and one last glimpse of the beauty. When we got back to the bike to get it started we had the same problem we had in Bali, the damn starter wasn't working. Luckily for us, we stopped at a view that was a stopping point for most car tours. We got a guide to jump start the bike for us and we continued onwards, making it back with very little trouble. I guess that's what the guy gets for not telling us that the gas meter was broken. 

     We had the rest of the day to kill in Da Nang, which proved to be challenging. It was hotter than ever, we both had parts of us that were sunburnt, I was tired from the drive, and we had about 7 hours to kill. Let's just say you could do this part of the pass with about 5 hours (not 12)...so if you plan on doing it, look it up on Google maps, rent a bike on the beach road to avoid the chaos of the city, and give yourself 6 or 7 hours before your train leaves. We decided to just bounce around from cafe (which means wifi and non-alcoholic drinks...no food) to cafe until we found one that had a good vibe. It turns out it is the one directly across the train station...not something you would expect. This place had a staff around our age working, sold some snacks, and had beer as well so it was a win-win-win. A waiter there sat down and had several conversations with us to practice his english. He was awesome and he was in university to become a tour guide. We enjoyed our various exchanges and he even gave us some free dried shrimp to try (surprisingly good). 

  

   We asked him about good street food and it was the first honest answer we have gotten here. We had fried spring rolls that were then wrapped with lettuce, sprouts and rice paper then dipped in spicy sauce. YUM. After dinner we stocked up on water and snacks for the ten hour train ride to Nha Trang. 

     We've been in Nha Trang for a day and we will be leaving this evening. It's a nice beach town, and we are staying just outside the city, which I would recommend. The beach isn't exactly super clean (although not filthy). If you stay outside of town you can avoid the harassment and see how the locals use the beach (only in the mornings and evenings). We were going to go snorkeling today, as it is supposed to be the best here, but we are running out of money and we haven't slept too well (the lights in the train cabin didn't go off...wtf). Yesterday we went to the hot springs and mud spa. It was a bargain. Round trip and the entrance fee costed us $20 for the both of us. We went around 3pm which was good because the place was emptying out for the day (not that it was too crowded anyway, cuz it's low season). We paid for the shared baths and such, but ended up getting private everything. That was awesome! The mud felt soooo nice and made my skin feel fresh and clean. Much needed after so much sweating and dirty train rides.

     Today we leave at 7pm for Siagon (Ho Chi Minh City). We plan on wandering around the beach areas (even though it's a bit rainy) and getting some food. I'm a bit nervous for Siagon, as it's a huge city and people have said it's  a lot like Hanoi (which I didn't like). However, at least there is more to see there and we will be spending the day in the Mekong Delta. Hopefully we don't run out of money, as we only have a couple hundred between the two of us to get us through Monday afternoon. 

  Time for breakfast! Still missing home and excited to go back to Tahoe in less than a week!

-M

     So after about 14 hours of pure rest (with more to follow I'm sure) I'm finally ready to write. Hoi An was really lovely. A tourist trap, yes, but not one that you really care about being in. So you pay $1 instead of $0.50 for food. So there are whitties everywhere and people ask if you want to rent or buy things. Really, compared to what it's like getting out of a train station here this is child's play. The center of town and the surroundings are quaint with some French influence. The place is generally clean and the beach is an easy 20 min ride by bicycle. 

     We stayed in a cute little hotel for around $12 a night. This got us ac, a balcony, western-style shower, wifi, and hot water. A bargain if you ask me. I believe the place was called Phuong Dong, but don't hold me to that. I'll look it up when I get home as I plan on rating all the places I've paid to stay at. It is also worth noting that it is now the low season for tourists here so prices are cheaper and you often get good deals not only on hotels, but tourist attractions as well. 

     We spent time wandering around town, lying around on the beach, and catching up on news back home. The go-go-go portion of the trip is starting to quickly catch up on us and our energy levels are dwindling fast. Not to mention it is hot as crap in the south so the heat of the day really takes it out of you.

     You can also get clothes made here and I got two dresses (one for work and one for play) custom made for very cheap (around $35 total). The quality at the place I used seems legit, and the dress styles aren't too complicated so I can fix them if need be. 

     On the second day I was trolling FB and I saw that one of my close friends from uni posted a picture that looked exactly like the view from the beach I was at earlier that day. It turns out he was in Hoi An with some of his buddies so we met up for the day. It was great to see him, it's been almost three years!

    Him and his buddies showed us some kick ass cheap places to eat. One place sells these amazing thin pancake thingys (not crepes) stuffed with shrimp, been sprouts, and mushrooms. You fold some lettuce in them, wrap them with rice paper and dip them in this sweet and sour sauce. Delicious! We gorged on them our last day before heading to Da Nang for the day.

     Da Nang is a pretty sizable city. The big tourist attractions here consist of uber-luxury resorts that put up huge gates around there properties. This time of year they are literally empty. There is a lot of construction of new uber-resorts which, when the place is empty, seems a bit counter productive. They must make some serious cash though, because they are building more around every corner. We came here for the day for one reason: the Hai Van Pass. It is a canyon road featured in Top Gear (the Vietnam Special...Google it). They did it by motor bike and although I can't quite drive a standard bike, I planned on repeating the journey. 

     Thank goodness we looked at a map when we left the train station because it took us quite some time to find bikes, even just the ocean road. We locked our bags up (not for the faint of heart, the lady literally locks them together and away you go) and left the station. We wandered around until we found a road we recognized and set out to find bikes. We figured, like in Hoi An, there would be a ton of people by the waterfront trying to rent us bikes. This turned out not to be the case and we ended up convincing some hotel to rent us a bike (of course, they said that they wanted us to stay there first). We set out with a general idea of how to get to the pass. The pass is pretty empty these days, as trucks are not allowed on it anymore. Instead they take the tunnel, which doesn't allow motor bikes so you get the picture. We saw a couple of tourist busses, a few tourist cars, and one other couple on bikes aside from locals. The road was AMAZING...read: FABULOUS. They say it is dangerous, which I suppose if it were raining it would be, but I learned to drive on canyon roads, so I felt very comfortable the whole trip. There were more beautiful vistas than I could describe and pictures simply don't do it justice. It was one of those things that was completely worth the effort it took to figure out. Dad, you woulda loved it!

     We went about 3/4 of the way on the road and headed back, as our gas meter wasn't exactly working and I didn't want to risk getting stranded. No worries though, we had trouble anyway. We were almost down the road and we stopped for some water and one last glimpse of the beauty. When we got back to the bike to get it started we had the same problem we had in Bali, the damn starter wasn't working. Luckily for us, we stopped at a view that was a stopping point for most car tours. We got a guide to jump start the bike for us and we continued onwards, making it back with very little trouble. I guess that's what the guy gets for not telling us that the gas meter was broken. 

     We had the rest of the day to kill in Da Nang, which proved to be challenging. It was hotter than ever, we both had parts of us that were sunburnt, I was tired from the drive, and we had about 7 hours to kill. Let's just say you could do this part of the pass with about 5 hours (not 12)...so if you plan on doing it, look it up on Google maps, rent a bike on the beach road to avoid the chaos of the city, and give yourself 6 or 7 hours before your train leaves. We decided to just bounce around from cafe (which means wifi and non-alcoholic drinks...no food) to cafe until we found one that had a good vibe. It turns out it is the one directly across the train station...not something you would expect. This place had a staff around our age working, sold some snacks, and had beer as well so it was a win-win-win. A waiter there sat down and had several conversations with us to practice his english. He was awesome and he was in university to become a tour guide. We enjoyed our various exchanges and he even gave us some free dried shrimp to try (surprisingly good). 

  

   We asked him about good street food and it was the first honest answer we have gotten here. We had fried spring rolls that were then wrapped with lettuce, sprouts and rice paper then dipped in spicy sauce. YUM. After dinner we stocked up on water and snacks for the ten hour train ride to Nha Trang. 

     We've been in Nha Trang for a day and we will be leaving this evening. It's a nice beach town, and we are staying just outside the city, which I would recommend. The beach isn't exactly super clean (although not filthy). If you stay outside of town you can avoid the harassment and see how the locals use the beach (only in the mornings and evenings). We were going to go snorkeling today, as it is supposed to be the best here, but we are running out of money and we haven't slept too well (the lights in the train cabin didn't go off...wtf). Yesterday we went to the hot springs and mud spa. It was a bargain. Round trip and the entrance fee costed us $20 for the both of us. We went around 3pm which was good because the place was emptying out for the day (not that it was too crowded anyway, cuz it's low season). We paid for the shared baths and such, but ended up getting private everything. That was awesome! The mud felt soooo nice and made my skin feel fresh and clean. Much needed after so much sweating and dirty train rides.

     Today we leave at 7pm for Siagon (Ho Chi Minh City). We plan on wandering around the beach areas (even though it's a bit rainy) and getting some food. I'm a bit nervous for Siagon, as it's a huge city and people have said it's  a lot like Hanoi (which I didn't like). However, at least there is more to see there and we will be spending the day in the Mekong Delta. Hopefully we don't run out of money, as we only have a couple hundred between the two of us to get us through Monday afternoon. 

  Time for breakfast! Still missing home and excited to go back to Tahoe in less than a week!

-M

     So after about 14 hours of pure rest (with more to follow I'm sure) I'm finally ready to write. Hoi An was really lovely. A tourist trap, yes, but not one that you really care about being in. So you pay $1 instead of $0.50 for food. So there are whitties everywhere and people ask if you want to rent or buy things. Really, compared to what it's like getting out of a train station here this is child's play. The center of town and the surroundings are quaint with some French influence. The place is generally clean and the beach is an easy 20 min ride by bicycle. 

     We stayed in a cute little hotel for around $12 a night. This got us ac, a balcony, western-style shower, wifi, and hot water. A bargain if you ask me. I believe the place was called Phuong Dong, but don't hold me to that. I'll look it up when I get home as I plan on rating all the places I've paid to stay at. It is also worth noting that it is now the low season for tourists here so prices are cheaper and you often get good deals not only on hotels, but tourist attractions as well. 

     We spent time wandering around town, lying around on the beach, and catching up on news back home. The go-go-go portion of the trip is starting to quickly catch up on us and our energy levels are dwindling fast. Not to mention it is hot as crap in the south so the heat of the day really takes it out of you.

     You can also get clothes made here and I got two dresses (one for work and one for play) custom made for very cheap (around $35 total). The quality at the place I used seems legit, and the dress styles aren't too complicated so I can fix them if need be. 

     On the second day I was trolling FB and I saw that one of my close friends from uni posted a picture that looked exactly like the view from the beach I was at earlier that day. It turns out he was in Hoi An with some of his buddies so we met up for the day. It was great to see him, it's been almost three years!

    Him and his buddies showed us some kick ass cheap places to eat. One place sells these amazing thin pancake thingys (not crepes) stuffed with shrimp, been sprouts, and mushrooms. You fold some lettuce in them, wrap them with rice paper and dip them in this sweet and sour sauce. Delicious! We gorged on them our last day before heading to Da Nang for the day.

     Da Nang is a pretty sizable city. The big tourist attractions here consist of uber-luxury resorts that put up huge gates around there properties. This time of year they are literally empty. There is a lot of construction of new uber-resorts which, when the place is empty, seems a bit counter productive. They must make some serious cash though, because they are building more around every corner. We came here for the day for one reason: the Hai Van Pass. It is a canyon road featured in Top Gear (the Vietnam Special...Google it). They did it by motor bike and although I can't quite drive a standard bike, I planned on repeating the journey. 

     Thank goodness we looked at a map when we left the train station because it took us quite some time to find bikes, even just the ocean road. We locked our bags up (not for the faint of heart, the lady literally locks them together and away you go) and left the station. We wandered around until we found a road we recognized and set out to find bikes. We figured, like in Hoi An, there would be a ton of people by the waterfront trying to rent us bikes. This turned out not to be the case and we ended up convincing some hotel to rent us a bike (of course, they said that they wanted us to stay there first). We set out with a general idea of how to get to the pass. The pass is pretty empty these days, as trucks are not allowed on it anymore. Instead they take the tunnel, which doesn't allow motor bikes so you get the picture. We saw a couple of tourist busses, a few tourist cars, and one other couple on bikes aside from locals. The road was AMAZING...read: FABULOUS. They say it is dangerous, which I suppose if it were raining it would be, but I learned to drive on canyon roads, so I felt very comfortable the whole trip. There were more beautiful vistas than I could describe and pictures simply don't do it justice. It was one of those things that was completely worth the effort it took to figure out. Dad, you woulda loved it!

     We went about 3/4 of the way on the road and headed back, as our gas meter wasn't exactly working and I didn't want to risk getting stranded. No worries though, we had trouble anyway. We were almost down the road and we stopped for some water and one last glimpse of the beauty. When we got back to the bike to get it started we had the same problem we had in Bali, the damn starter wasn't working. Luckily for us, we stopped at a view that was a stopping point for most car tours. We got a guide to jump start the bike for us and we continued onwards, making it back with very little trouble. I guess that's what the guy gets for not telling us that the gas meter was broken. 

     We had the rest of the day to kill in Da Nang, which proved to be challenging. It was hotter than ever, we both had parts of us that were sunburnt, I was tired from the drive, and we had about 7 hours to kill. Let's just say you could do this part of the pass with about 5 hours (not 12)...so if you plan on doing it, look it up on Google maps, rent a bike on the beach road to avoid the chaos of the city, and give yourself 6 or 7 hours before your train leaves. We decided to just bounce around from cafe (which means wifi and non-alcoholic drinks...no food) to cafe until we found one that had a good vibe. It turns out it is the one directly across the train station...not something you would expect. This place had a staff around our age working, sold some snacks, and had beer as well so it was a win-win-win. A waiter there sat down and had several conversations with us to practice his english. He was awesome and he was in university to become a tour guide. We enjoyed our various exchanges and he even gave us some free dried shrimp to try (surprisingly good). 

  

   We asked him about good street food and it was the first honest answer we have gotten here. We had fried spring rolls that were then wrapped with lettuce, sprouts and rice paper then dipped in spicy sauce. YUM. After dinner we stocked up on water and snacks for the ten hour train ride to Nha Trang. 

     We've been in Nha Trang for a day and we will be leaving this evening. It's a nice beach town, and we are staying just outside the city, which I would recommend. The beach isn't exactly super clean (although not filthy). If you stay outside of town you can avoid the harassment and see how the locals use the beach (only in the mornings and evenings). We were going to go snorkeling today, as it is supposed to be the best here, but we are running out of money and we haven't slept too well (the lights in the train cabin didn't go off...wtf). Yesterday we went to the hot springs and mud spa. It was a bargain. Round trip and the entrance fee costed us $20 for the both of us. We went around 3pm which was good because the place was emptying out for the day (not that it was too crowded anyway, cuz it's low season). We paid for the shared baths and such, but ended up getting private everything. That was awesome! The mud felt soooo nice and made my skin feel fresh and clean. Much needed after so much sweating and dirty train rides.

     Today we leave at 7pm for Siagon (Ho Chi Minh City). We plan on wandering around the beach areas (even though it's a bit rainy) and getting some food. I'm a bit nervous for Siagon, as it's a huge city and people have said it's  a lot like Hanoi (which I didn't like). However, at least there is more to see there and we will be spending the day in the Mekong Delta. Hopefully we don't run out of money, as we only have a couple hundred between the two of us to get us through Monday afternoon. 

  Time for breakfast! Still missing home and excited to go back to Tahoe in less than a week!

-M

     So after about 14 hours of pure rest (with more to follow I'm sure) I'm finally ready to write. Hoi An was really lovely. A tourist trap, yes, but not one that you really care about being in. So you pay $1 instead of $0.50 for food. So there are whitties everywhere and people ask if you want to rent or buy things. Really, compared to what it's like getting out of a train station here this is child's play. The center of town and the surroundings are quaint with some French influence. The place is generally clean and the beach is an easy 20 min ride by bicycle. 

     We stayed in a cute little hotel for around $12 a night. This got us ac, a balcony, western-style shower, wifi, and hot water. A bargain if you ask me. I believe the place was called Phuong Dong, but don't hold me to that. I'll look it up when I get home as I plan on rating all the places I've paid to stay at. It is also worth noting that it is now the low season for tourists here so prices are cheaper and you often get good deals not only on hotels, but tourist attractions as well. 

     We spent time wandering around town, lying around on the beach, and catching up on news back home. The go-go-go portion of the trip is starting to quickly catch up on us and our energy levels are dwindling fast. Not to mention it is hot as crap in the south so the heat of the day really takes it out of you.

     You can also get clothes made here and I got two dresses (one for work and one for play) custom made for very cheap (around $35 total). The quality at the place I used seems legit, and the dress styles aren't too complicated so I can fix them if need be. 

     On the second day I was trolling FB and I saw that one of my close friends from uni posted a picture that looked exactly like the view from the beach I was at earlier that day. It turns out he was in Hoi An with some of his buddies so we met up for the day. It was great to see him, it's been almost three years!

    Him and his buddies showed us some kick ass cheap places to eat. One place sells these amazing thin pancake thingys (not crepes) stuffed with shrimp, been sprouts, and mushrooms. You fold some lettuce in them, wrap them with rice paper and dip them in this sweet and sour sauce. Delicious! We gorged on them our last day before heading to Da Nang for the day.

     Da Nang is a pretty sizable city. The big tourist attractions here consist of uber-luxury resorts that put up huge gates around there properties. This time of year they are literally empty. There is a lot of construction of new uber-resorts which, when the place is empty, seems a bit counter productive. They must make some serious cash though, because they are building more around every corner. We came here for the day for one reason: the Hai Van Pass. It is a canyon road featured in Top Gear (the Vietnam Special...Google it). They did it by motor bike and although I can't quite drive a standard bike, I planned on repeating the journey. 

     Thank goodness we looked at a map when we left the train station because it took us quite some time to find bikes, even just the ocean road. We locked our bags up (not for the faint of heart, the lady literally locks them together and away you go) and left the station. We wandered around until we found a road we recognized and set out to find bikes. We figured, like in Hoi An, there would be a ton of people by the waterfront trying to rent us bikes. This turned out not to be the case and we ended up convincing some hotel to rent us a bike (of course, they said that they wanted us to stay there first). We set out with a general idea of how to get to the pass. The pass is pretty empty these days, as trucks are not allowed on it anymore. Instead they take the tunnel, which doesn't allow motor bikes so you get the picture. We saw a couple of tourist busses, a few tourist cars, and one other couple on bikes aside from locals. The road was AMAZING...read: FABULOUS. They say it is dangerous, which I suppose if it were raining it would be, but I learned to drive on canyon roads, so I felt very comfortable the whole trip. There were more beautiful vistas than I could describe and pictures simply don't do it justice. It was one of those things that was completely worth the effort it took to figure out. Dad, you woulda loved it!

     We went about 3/4 of the way on the road and headed back, as our gas meter wasn't exactly working and I didn't want to risk getting stranded. No worries though, we had trouble anyway. We were almost down the road and we stopped for some water and one last glimpse of the beauty. When we got back to the bike to get it started we had the same problem we had in Bali, the damn starter wasn't working. Luckily for us, we stopped at a view that was a stopping point for most car tours. We got a guide to jump start the bike for us and we continued onwards, making it back with very little trouble. I guess that's what the guy gets for not telling us that the gas meter was broken. 

     We had the rest of the day to kill in Da Nang, which proved to be challenging. It was hotter than ever, we both had parts of us that were sunburnt, I was tired from the drive, and we had about 7 hours to kill. Let's just say you could do this part of the pass with about 5 hours (not 12)...so if you plan on doing it, look it up on Google maps, rent a bike on the beach road to avoid the chaos of the city, and give yourself 6 or 7 hours before your train leaves. We decided to just bounce around from cafe (which means wifi and non-alcoholic drinks...no food) to cafe until we found one that had a good vibe. It turns out it is the one directly across the train station...not something you would expect. This place had a staff around our age working, sold some snacks, and had beer as well so it was a win-win-win. A waiter there sat down and had several conversations with us to practice his english. He was awesome and he was in university to become a tour guide. We enjoyed our various exchanges and he even gave us some free dried shrimp to try (surprisingly good). 

  

   We asked him about good street food and it was the first honest answer we have gotten here. We had fried spring rolls that were then wrapped with lettuce, sprouts and rice paper then dipped in spicy sauce. YUM. After dinner we stocked up on water and snacks for the ten hour train ride to Nha Trang. 

     We've been in Nha Trang for a day and we will be leaving this evening. It's a nice beach town, and we are staying just outside the city, which I would recommend. The beach isn't exactly super clean (although not filthy). If you stay outside of town you can avoid the harassment and see how the locals use the beach (only in the mornings and evenings). We were going to go snorkeling today, as it is supposed to be the best here, but we are running out of money and we haven't slept too well (the lights in the train cabin didn't go off...wtf). Yesterday we went to the hot springs and mud spa. It was a bargain. Round trip and the entrance fee costed us $20 for the both of us. We went around 3pm which was good because the place was emptying out for the day (not that it was too crowded anyway, cuz it's low season). We paid for the shared baths and such, but ended up getting private everything. That was awesome! The mud felt soooo nice and made my skin feel fresh and clean. Much needed after so much sweating and dirty train rides.

     Today we leave at 7pm for Siagon (Ho Chi Minh City). We plan on wandering around the beach areas (even though it's a bit rainy) and getting some food. I'm a bit nervous for Siagon, as it's a huge city and people have said it's  a lot like Hanoi (which I didn't like). However, at least there is more to see there and we will be spending the day in the Mekong Delta. Hopefully we don't run out of money, as we only have a couple hundred between the two of us to get us through Monday afternoon. 

  Time for breakfast! Still missing home and excited to go back to Tahoe in less than a week!

-M

KL, beep beep, and other nasty things I have eaten

My apologies for being so horrible at keeping up with my blog. It's really difficult when you are moving around every couple of days and I haven't really had a consistent source of internet in over a week. 

     KL came and went way to fast. I should have known to spend some more time there. I feel like MB just got a little taste of it, but I didn't get the chance to see everyone I wanted to see. I also went through a tired-ness spell. The whole on-the-go part of the trip caught up with me and I did a lot of sleeping. 

     We hit up the good spots (except Jalan Ahlor (sp?). Saturday night we did the whole Changkat BB thing complete with street-side satey and a stop for late-late night mamak. Yummy. The next day we headed out with a friend of a friend J to go to Pasar Seni and China Town for some eats and a trip to the fish spa. Surprisingly, MB did not go crazy at the fish spa like I had anticipated. He very much enjoyed it and it made for a boring video, but I took one anyway. Next stop was the Polo Club, then out with some of A's friends around my old neighborhood. At this point I fell asleep in the middle of the party on a bench. It was one of those half sleeps, where I could hear everything, but was too tired to respond. I suppose I was there in spirit. We drank some good 'ol fashioned moonshine from Borneo and the peninsula. 

     The next day we ran a few errands, went to Batu Caves, hung out around Pavilion mall and I had my favorite meal of all time, banana leaf. A was kind enough to give us a ride to the airport the next morning (think 3am) and we set off for Hanoi. We JUST made the flight and I left my jacket at a coffee shop. By the time I got back it was MIA. I wasn't too disappointed as it was starting to get a few holes in it. 

     Arrival in Hanoi was a bit crazy. We got in this taxi because the bus system seemed a bit crowded for us to just hop on with all of our shit. The taxi man got pulled over or something as we just sat around near the airport for quite some time. However, we didn't really care because it was a fixed rate and the AC was running. We got to B, our host's, place after getting lost several times. He lives in a working/maybe middle class neighborhood in a tiny shop house. The bottom floor is a drink/cigarette shop and the top floor is one room with a bathroom. I could handle the close quarters for a night or so, but I was hot, tired, and homesick and generally feeling anti-social.

     B has self-taught himself English for only 4 months which I found to be quite impressive. It's funny because he can't really communicate some very basic things, but he can talk/give speeches about politics and the like. After talking to me for about a half hour, he decided that I wasn't that interesting and turned his attention to MB for the remainder of the trip. I was ok with this simply because I didn't have the energy to deal with it anyway. 

     Lunch was an experience to be had. This was not a lunch for the faint of heart...or lover of animals. I was thankful for the mom to cook for us, so I felt the need to at least try everything. Most of the dishes consisted of various pig parts and some chicken. Lots of intestine. I have no problem with this, as I've had quite a few of these types of things throughout my travels. However, when asked if we would eat blood, I simply said no, but I would try. So there it was, plopped down right in front of us next to the rest of the family style meal. A bright red bowl of semi-coagulated blood with bits of chopped bones and peanuts in it. My stomach flipped a little and then I inquired as to what animal this blood came from. Many of you have probably already figured out the answer to this one. The response? Dog. 

     Yes, there in front of me sat two men eagerly slopping up their bowlful of dog's blood. In order not to be rude, MB and I had agreed to try some. This is by far the first time in my life that I absolutely ate something that I nearly vomited by just putting near my mouth. It was by far the most vile, disgusting, and down-right disturbing thing I have ever done. I only had about a fifth of a spoonful, but the taste in my mouth lasted for days. It's one thing to eat dog meat, it's something completely different to drain the blood of an animal and then eat it. What you are eating quickly becomes much more obvious. What bothered me the most (besides that fact that I have yet to forgive myself) is that they treat the dogs as pets before they kill them. They let the dogs wander around and play with them, they are more friendly towards humans than the rest of the dogs I've encountered. 

     Since I'm on the topic of nasty food I'll let you know what other disgusting things I ate before I get to the good stuff. Another treat in these parts is boiled duck fetus, yes you heard me right, boiled...duck...fetus. And you have the pleasure of eating the whole thing, including the beak and newly forming feathers. It is supposed to be good for health but it goes under another item that makes me want to purge. Not nearly as bad as the blood though.

     Ok so enough negativity. We did eat some awesome things, although I'm convinced that B wanted to make us try all of the nasty foods one can experience in Hanoi. We had this snack called nem ram (pronounced 'nam zam') which we were told was wok-fried minced pork dipped in a spicy sauce. Although this is true, it is also fermented pork, but who gives a damn? It still tasted awesome. We also had bun cha, a soupy dish made with thin morsels of charcoal grilled pork. Tasty tasty. Yesterday we were on our own for food and found some tasty baguettes with sausage, fried egg, basil, and chili sauce. The French colonized around these parts so there is an influence that shows in the food. I also had a tasty noodle dish with what I believe (based on the animal next to the meat pieces) to be duck. 

     Aside from the usual site seeing and the like, we did learn a few things about this place. They don't dislike Americans here. In fact, they seem to have put the war behind them more easily than we have. All people just want peace and they also have a healthy distrust of government. They call their police 'yellow dogs' while we call them 'pigs' so a lot of same-same really. Life here is definitely difficult. There is not a lot of money and very little in terms of infrastructure. Although I will say it is a bit more developed than Java. Yes, crossing the street is a terrifying endeavor but it's ok once you get used to it. 

     Overall, Hanoi was 'tak best la' but I was expecting it to be. It is a city with an attitude like that of New York and blunt like I've been told Chinese cities can be. We were there as a starting point and the plan to head south after a few days worked out so we are on the path onwards.

I'll break this post and make our Ha Long Bay experience it's own thing...

-M                                  

My apologies for being so horrible at keeping up with my blog. It's really difficult when you are moving around every couple of days and I haven't really had a consistent source of internet in over a week. 

     KL came and went way to fast. I should have known to spend some more time there. I feel like MB just got a little taste of it, but I didn't get the chance to see everyone I wanted to see. I also went through a tired-ness spell. The whole on-the-go part of the trip caught up with me and I did a lot of sleeping. 

     We hit up the good spots (except Jalan Ahlor (sp?). Saturday night we did the whole Changkat BB thing complete with street-side satey and a stop for late-late night mamak. Yummy. The next day we headed out with a friend of a friend J to go to Pasar Seni and China Town for some eats and a trip to the fish spa. Surprisingly, MB did not go crazy at the fish spa like I had anticipated. He very much enjoyed it and it made for a boring video, but I took one anyway. Next stop was the Polo Club, then out with some of A's friends around my old neighborhood. At this point I fell asleep in the middle of the party on a bench. It was one of those half sleeps, where I could hear everything, but was too tired to respond. I suppose I was there in spirit. We drank some good 'ol fashioned moonshine from Borneo and the peninsula. 

     The next day we ran a few errands, went to Batu Caves, hung out around Pavilion mall and I had my favorite meal of all time, banana leaf. A was kind enough to give us a ride to the airport the next morning (think 3am) and we set off for Hanoi. We JUST made the flight and I left my jacket at a coffee shop. By the time I got back it was MIA. I wasn't too disappointed as it was starting to get a few holes in it. 

     Arrival in Hanoi was a bit crazy. We got in this taxi because the bus system seemed a bit crowded for us to just hop on with all of our shit. The taxi man got pulled over or something as we just sat around near the airport for quite some time. However, we didn't really care because it was a fixed rate and the AC was running. We got to B, our host's, place after getting lost several times. He lives in a working/maybe middle class neighborhood in a tiny shop house. The bottom floor is a drink/cigarette shop and the top floor is one room with a bathroom. I could handle the close quarters for a night or so, but I was hot, tired, and homesick and generally feeling anti-social.

     B has self-taught himself English for only 4 months which I found to be quite impressive. It's funny because he can't really communicate some very basic things, but he can talk/give speeches about politics and the like. After talking to me for about a half hour, he decided that I wasn't that interesting and turned his attention to MB for the remainder of the trip. I was ok with this simply because I didn't have the energy to deal with it anyway. 

     Lunch was an experience to be had. This was not a lunch for the faint of heart...or lover of animals. I was thankful for the mom to cook for us, so I felt the need to at least try everything. Most of the dishes consisted of various pig parts and some chicken. Lots of intestine. I have no problem with this, as I've had quite a few of these types of things throughout my travels. However, when asked if we would eat blood, I simply said no, but I would try. So there it was, plopped down right in front of us next to the rest of the family style meal. A bright red bowl of semi-coagulated blood with bits of chopped bones and peanuts in it. My stomach flipped a little and then I inquired as to what animal this blood came from. Many of you have probably already figured out the answer to this one. The response? Dog. 

     Yes, there in front of me sat two men eagerly slopping up their bowlful of dog's blood. In order not to be rude, MB and I had agreed to try some. This is by far the first time in my life that I absolutely ate something that I nearly vomited by just putting near my mouth. It was by far the most vile, disgusting, and down-right disturbing thing I have ever done. I only had about a fifth of a spoonful, but the taste in my mouth lasted for days. It's one thing to eat dog meat, it's something completely different to drain the blood of an animal and then eat it. What you are eating quickly becomes much more obvious. What bothered me the most (besides that fact that I have yet to forgive myself) is that they treat the dogs as pets before they kill them. They let the dogs wander around and play with them, they are more friendly towards humans than the rest of the dogs I've encountered. 

     Since I'm on the topic of nasty food I'll let you know what other disgusting things I ate before I get to the good stuff. Another treat in these parts is boiled duck fetus, yes you heard me right, boiled...duck...fetus. And you have the pleasure of eating the whole thing, including the beak and newly forming feathers. It is supposed to be good for health but it goes under another item that makes me want to purge. Not nearly as bad as the blood though.

     Ok so enough negativity. We did eat some awesome things, although I'm convinced that B wanted to make us try all of the nasty foods one can experience in Hanoi. We had this snack called nem ram (pronounced 'nam zam') which we were told was wok-fried minced pork dipped in a spicy sauce. Although this is true, it is also fermented pork, but who gives a damn? It still tasted awesome. We also had bun cha, a soupy dish made with thin morsels of charcoal grilled pork. Tasty tasty. Yesterday we were on our own for food and found some tasty baguettes with sausage, fried egg, basil, and chili sauce. The French colonized around these parts so there is an influence that shows in the food. I also had a tasty noodle dish with what I believe (based on the animal next to the meat pieces) to be duck. 

     Aside from the usual site seeing and the like, we did learn a few things about this place. They don't dislike Americans here. In fact, they seem to have put the war behind them more easily than we have. All people just want peace and they also have a healthy distrust of government. They call their police 'yellow dogs' while we call them 'pigs' so a lot of same-same really. Life here is definitely difficult. There is not a lot of money and very little in terms of infrastructure. Although I will say it is a bit more developed than Java. Yes, crossing the street is a terrifying endeavor but it's ok once you get used to it. 

     Overall, Hanoi was 'tak best la' but I was expecting it to be. It is a city with an attitude like that of New York and blunt like I've been told Chinese cities can be. We were there as a starting point and the plan to head south after a few days worked out so we are on the path onwards.

I'll break this post and make our Ha Long Bay experience it's own thing...

-M                                  

My apologies for being so horrible at keeping up with my blog. It's really difficult when you are moving around every couple of days and I haven't really had a consistent source of internet in over a week. 

     KL came and went way to fast. I should have known to spend some more time there. I feel like MB just got a little taste of it, but I didn't get the chance to see everyone I wanted to see. I also went through a tired-ness spell. The whole on-the-go part of the trip caught up with me and I did a lot of sleeping. 

     We hit up the good spots (except Jalan Ahlor (sp?). Saturday night we did the whole Changkat BB thing complete with street-side satey and a stop for late-late night mamak. Yummy. The next day we headed out with a friend of a friend J to go to Pasar Seni and China Town for some eats and a trip to the fish spa. Surprisingly, MB did not go crazy at the fish spa like I had anticipated. He very much enjoyed it and it made for a boring video, but I took one anyway. Next stop was the Polo Club, then out with some of A's friends around my old neighborhood. At this point I fell asleep in the middle of the party on a bench. It was one of those half sleeps, where I could hear everything, but was too tired to respond. I suppose I was there in spirit. We drank some good 'ol fashioned moonshine from Borneo and the peninsula. 

     The next day we ran a few errands, went to Batu Caves, hung out around Pavilion mall and I had my favorite meal of all time, banana leaf. A was kind enough to give us a ride to the airport the next morning (think 3am) and we set off for Hanoi. We JUST made the flight and I left my jacket at a coffee shop. By the time I got back it was MIA. I wasn't too disappointed as it was starting to get a few holes in it. 

     Arrival in Hanoi was a bit crazy. We got in this taxi because the bus system seemed a bit crowded for us to just hop on with all of our shit. The taxi man got pulled over or something as we just sat around near the airport for quite some time. However, we didn't really care because it was a fixed rate and the AC was running. We got to B, our host's, place after getting lost several times. He lives in a working/maybe middle class neighborhood in a tiny shop house. The bottom floor is a drink/cigarette shop and the top floor is one room with a bathroom. I could handle the close quarters for a night or so, but I was hot, tired, and homesick and generally feeling anti-social.

     B has self-taught himself English for only 4 months which I found to be quite impressive. It's funny because he can't really communicate some very basic things, but he can talk/give speeches about politics and the like. After talking to me for about a half hour, he decided that I wasn't that interesting and turned his attention to MB for the remainder of the trip. I was ok with this simply because I didn't have the energy to deal with it anyway. 

     Lunch was an experience to be had. This was not a lunch for the faint of heart...or lover of animals. I was thankful for the mom to cook for us, so I felt the need to at least try everything. Most of the dishes consisted of various pig parts and some chicken. Lots of intestine. I have no problem with this, as I've had quite a few of these types of things throughout my travels. However, when asked if we would eat blood, I simply said no, but I would try. So there it was, plopped down right in front of us next to the rest of the family style meal. A bright red bowl of semi-coagulated blood with bits of chopped bones and peanuts in it. My stomach flipped a little and then I inquired as to what animal this blood came from. Many of you have probably already figured out the answer to this one. The response? Dog. 

     Yes, there in front of me sat two men eagerly slopping up their bowlful of dog's blood. In order not to be rude, MB and I had agreed to try some. This is by far the first time in my life that I absolutely ate something that I nearly vomited by just putting near my mouth. It was by far the most vile, disgusting, and down-right disturbing thing I have ever done. I only had about a fifth of a spoonful, but the taste in my mouth lasted for days. It's one thing to eat dog meat, it's something completely different to drain the blood of an animal and then eat it. What you are eating quickly becomes much more obvious. What bothered me the most (besides that fact that I have yet to forgive myself) is that they treat the dogs as pets before they kill them. They let the dogs wander around and play with them, they are more friendly towards humans than the rest of the dogs I've encountered. 

     Since I'm on the topic of nasty food I'll let you know what other disgusting things I ate before I get to the good stuff. Another treat in these parts is boiled duck fetus, yes you heard me right, boiled...duck...fetus. And you have the pleasure of eating the whole thing, including the beak and newly forming feathers. It is supposed to be good for health but it goes under another item that makes me want to purge. Not nearly as bad as the blood though.

     Ok so enough negativity. We did eat some awesome things, although I'm convinced that B wanted to make us try all of the nasty foods one can experience in Hanoi. We had this snack called nem ram (pronounced 'nam zam') which we were told was wok-fried minced pork dipped in a spicy sauce. Although this is true, it is also fermented pork, but who gives a damn? It still tasted awesome. We also had bun cha, a soupy dish made with thin morsels of charcoal grilled pork. Tasty tasty. Yesterday we were on our own for food and found some tasty baguettes with sausage, fried egg, basil, and chili sauce. The French colonized around these parts so there is an influence that shows in the food. I also had a tasty noodle dish with what I believe (based on the animal next to the meat pieces) to be duck. 

     Aside from the usual site seeing and the like, we did learn a few things about this place. They don't dislike Americans here. In fact, they seem to have put the war behind them more easily than we have. All people just want peace and they also have a healthy distrust of government. They call their police 'yellow dogs' while we call them 'pigs' so a lot of same-same really. Life here is definitely difficult. There is not a lot of money and very little in terms of infrastructure. Although I will say it is a bit more developed than Java. Yes, crossing the street is a terrifying endeavor but it's ok once you get used to it. 

     Overall, Hanoi was 'tak best la' but I was expecting it to be. It is a city with an attitude like that of New York and blunt like I've been told Chinese cities can be. We were there as a starting point and the plan to head south after a few days worked out so we are on the path onwards.

I'll break this post and make our Ha Long Bay experience it's own thing...

-M                                  

My apologies for being so horrible at keeping up with my blog. It's really difficult when you are moving around every couple of days and I haven't really had a consistent source of internet in over a week. 

     KL came and went way to fast. I should have known to spend some more time there. I feel like MB just got a little taste of it, but I didn't get the chance to see everyone I wanted to see. I also went through a tired-ness spell. The whole on-the-go part of the trip caught up with me and I did a lot of sleeping. 

     We hit up the good spots (except Jalan Ahlor (sp?). Saturday night we did the whole Changkat BB thing complete with street-side satey and a stop for late-late night mamak. Yummy. The next day we headed out with a friend of a friend J to go to Pasar Seni and China Town for some eats and a trip to the fish spa. Surprisingly, MB did not go crazy at the fish spa like I had anticipated. He very much enjoyed it and it made for a boring video, but I took one anyway. Next stop was the Polo Club, then out with some of A's friends around my old neighborhood. At this point I fell asleep in the middle of the party on a bench. It was one of those half sleeps, where I could hear everything, but was too tired to respond. I suppose I was there in spirit. We drank some good 'ol fashioned moonshine from Borneo and the peninsula. 

     The next day we ran a few errands, went to Batu Caves, hung out around Pavilion mall and I had my favorite meal of all time, banana leaf. A was kind enough to give us a ride to the airport the next morning (think 3am) and we set off for Hanoi. We JUST made the flight and I left my jacket at a coffee shop. By the time I got back it was MIA. I wasn't too disappointed as it was starting to get a few holes in it. 

     Arrival in Hanoi was a bit crazy. We got in this taxi because the bus system seemed a bit crowded for us to just hop on with all of our shit. The taxi man got pulled over or something as we just sat around near the airport for quite some time. However, we didn't really care because it was a fixed rate and the AC was running. We got to B, our host's, place after getting lost several times. He lives in a working/maybe middle class neighborhood in a tiny shop house. The bottom floor is a drink/cigarette shop and the top floor is one room with a bathroom. I could handle the close quarters for a night or so, but I was hot, tired, and homesick and generally feeling anti-social.

     B has self-taught himself English for only 4 months which I found to be quite impressive. It's funny because he can't really communicate some very basic things, but he can talk/give speeches about politics and the like. After talking to me for about a half hour, he decided that I wasn't that interesting and turned his attention to MB for the remainder of the trip. I was ok with this simply because I didn't have the energy to deal with it anyway. 

     Lunch was an experience to be had. This was not a lunch for the faint of heart...or lover of animals. I was thankful for the mom to cook for us, so I felt the need to at least try everything. Most of the dishes consisted of various pig parts and some chicken. Lots of intestine. I have no problem with this, as I've had quite a few of these types of things throughout my travels. However, when asked if we would eat blood, I simply said no, but I would try. So there it was, plopped down right in front of us next to the rest of the family style meal. A bright red bowl of semi-coagulated blood with bits of chopped bones and peanuts in it. My stomach flipped a little and then I inquired as to what animal this blood came from. Many of you have probably already figured out the answer to this one. The response? Dog. 

     Yes, there in front of me sat two men eagerly slopping up their bowlful of dog's blood. In order not to be rude, MB and I had agreed to try some. This is by far the first time in my life that I absolutely ate something that I nearly vomited by just putting near my mouth. It was by far the most vile, disgusting, and down-right disturbing thing I have ever done. I only had about a fifth of a spoonful, but the taste in my mouth lasted for days. It's one thing to eat dog meat, it's something completely different to drain the blood of an animal and then eat it. What you are eating quickly becomes much more obvious. What bothered me the most (besides that fact that I have yet to forgive myself) is that they treat the dogs as pets before they kill them. They let the dogs wander around and play with them, they are more friendly towards humans than the rest of the dogs I've encountered. 

     Since I'm on the topic of nasty food I'll let you know what other disgusting things I ate before I get to the good stuff. Another treat in these parts is boiled duck fetus, yes you heard me right, boiled...duck...fetus. And you have the pleasure of eating the whole thing, including the beak and newly forming feathers. It is supposed to be good for health but it goes under another item that makes me want to purge. Not nearly as bad as the blood though.

     Ok so enough negativity. We did eat some awesome things, although I'm convinced that B wanted to make us try all of the nasty foods one can experience in Hanoi. We had this snack called nem ram (pronounced 'nam zam') which we were told was wok-fried minced pork dipped in a spicy sauce. Although this is true, it is also fermented pork, but who gives a damn? It still tasted awesome. We also had bun cha, a soupy dish made with thin morsels of charcoal grilled pork. Tasty tasty. Yesterday we were on our own for food and found some tasty baguettes with sausage, fried egg, basil, and chili sauce. The French colonized around these parts so there is an influence that shows in the food. I also had a tasty noodle dish with what I believe (based on the animal next to the meat pieces) to be duck. 

     Aside from the usual site seeing and the like, we did learn a few things about this place. They don't dislike Americans here. In fact, they seem to have put the war behind them more easily than we have. All people just want peace and they also have a healthy distrust of government. They call their police 'yellow dogs' while we call them 'pigs' so a lot of same-same really. Life here is definitely difficult. There is not a lot of money and very little in terms of infrastructure. Although I will say it is a bit more developed than Java. Yes, crossing the street is a terrifying endeavor but it's ok once you get used to it. 

     Overall, Hanoi was 'tak best la' but I was expecting it to be. It is a city with an attitude like that of New York and blunt like I've been told Chinese cities can be. We were there as a starting point and the plan to head south after a few days worked out so we are on the path onwards.

I'll break this post and make our Ha Long Bay experience it's own thing...

-M                                  

Anak tetapi PEDAS

     I've decided that using blogger with a tablet is useless, so I'm using my notepad app to write, then transfer the post to the blog...this explains the weird font (that I'm too lazy to change).

     We are now in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. Today our friend A comes to chill with us in the jungle for a bit. We spent the morning wandering around the city in search of laksa (this was a fail, as all the good places sold out, we were up too late). It's really charming here and I'm thankful for simple luxuries like sidewalks and paved roads.

     Anyways, back to Jogja. After all the intensity it took to get there, and after our first night of chaos and day outside of the city it turned out to be an awesome place. The first day in the city we did the tourist thing, except we didn't go inside of anything, just walked around the city. We did a large loop of about 5 miles. The next day we visited some galleries, as Jogja is known as an artist's town. The art was pretty interesting and forward. You can tell that Jogja is going through an identity crisis. Indonesia as a whole really, but especially Java. There is a tension between the new and the old. What to keep and what to let go of in an age of constant change in a nation that is struggling to keep up with the emerging global nations. This idea was then further solidified when we talked with our host's dad. He was worried about the corruption in Indonesia and he strongly believed that a nation cannot survive on this alone. 

     For the remainder of our time in Java we stayed with P and his family in a typical Javanese home just outside the city. It was a great experience. MB and I had to sleep in separate rooms because the family was a traditional Muslim family. I didn't mind because I got the princess room, his sister's old room. The family had a large house with a few other buildings on the property (more like a compound really). Family, extended family, and close family friends seemed to all bunk there. The place was always bustling. They also ran a catering business out of the front of the house. This not only provided us with excellent eats, but also a chance to go to a traditional Muslim Javanese wedding. 

     There were other surfers there from Germany on the first night of our stay. They were going through Indonesia for 8 weeks. It was cool to hang out with them as well, as it was their first CS experience. Friday night P took us to a food street that served up the best satay in the city. We ate on a sidewalk, which had bamboo carpets stretched across it. You simply ordered and sat (shoes off of course) then ate. We had satay chicken, intestine, cow skin, and snails. It was all really good. I was scared of getting sick at first, because it was only warm satay (this place is popular so they make a lot of it in advance). However, the fear quickly faded as the food was delicious. Out of all the satay I enjoyed the intestine the best, which came as a surprise to me. They also served up a special drink at this place called Kopi Joss. Kopi means coffee and this type of coffee was served hot with a piece of coal in it. Random as hell I know, but it tasted good. I actually had two. I couldn't imagine this type of thing ever catching on in the states, but don't hate it until you try it!

     We met some really cool people from all over. Everyone from Indonesia has been so incredibly friendly. I have yet to find a country where not one person was rude. Even the hawkers aren't too rude, just a bit pushy in Bali. The rest of the gang was heading to karaoke and that was my queue to head home. 

    The next day we wandered around the market near P's house. We bought some fruit and tried a variety of things including fried rice paddy eel and some menthol drink that is supposed to be good for your health. We then walked around a village and got lost in the paddy fields. It was really pretty. P and I had some good conversation about culture and life. His english was outstanding and if he didn't know a word he would ask how to spell it and when to use it. He was much younger than us but it really didn't matter. We both think he'll do great things with his life, he's mature and curious, always a great combo. 

     After the paddy field we washed up and headed into town to get some transport. Yes, this means another motor bike. MB didn't want anything to do with the machine, but he didn't have much of a choice, as this is the way around SE Asia. We rented a bike for 24 hours and headed back to the house. After some down time we got dressed and went with P's mom and brother to some random wedding. 

     The wedding was quite the experience. First, there was no alcohol and no dancing. There was, of course, karaoke. The whole ordeal lasts about 2 hours and the point of it seems to be for everyone they know to come by, take a picture with the bride and groom, and eat. This wedding had 600+ people and this was considered small!  It actually kind of sucks for the couple, they have to stand on this podium type thing and take pictures with all the guests. My face would hurt from smiling so much. We ate the food and it was so crowded that even P needed a break from the madness. Then P and his brother convinced us to get our picture taken with the bride and groom. Other than being mildly embarrassing it was funny to think we would be in some random wedding album on the other side of the globe.

     P left us alone for 3 mins to go and find his lens cap and we immediately got accosted by the groom's father. He wanted to practice his english with us and insisted we go into his home to eat with the family. By this point we were stuffed, so we had some fruit and juice to be polite. He asked us all sorts of questions and spoke a mix of Indonesian and english to us. We found this a lot, there really aren't a lot of tourists outside of a few places in Java, and certainly a lot less Americans. Most people here don't like America as an institution (this goes back to us scamming them into taking their mining resources in the 70s), but they love Obama and they are curious about life in America. Everyone we have encountered, even random people at events and on the street will stop and ask us where we are from. If you are waiting in a line somewhere someone is bound to ask you where you come from. This is usually followed by a question about what you are studying, if you are studying in Indonesia, or what you do for work. Answer any of this using even a word of Indonesian and you will get either a look of surprise or a smile. Indonesian got me quite far in Java. I'm hoping it does something to mend the (sometimes) mis-conception that all Americans are incapable of being courteous about anything non-American, especially in the largest Muslim country in the world. 

     The day after the wedding we awoke before the ass crack of dawn to drive the 30 miles or so to Borobodur, an old Buddhist temple complex, to watch the sunrise. The drive was cold in the early am. It was wild zooming through the towns while listening to the morning call to prayer wax and wane from passing mosques. We arrived just before sun-up and the gate to the entrance P knew about was closed. No problem, he said, we'll just hop the fence. And we did. As we giggled and boasted about not having to pay the exorbitant fee foreigners have to pay to get in. The celebration was cut short when we found another gate, this time guarded by security guys. They told us that sun rise was actually twice the price. We laughed and walked away, there was no way I was paying $40US for that. Then the guards changed their minds and decided to let us in for the regular price of $18 (still expensive!!!). We wanted to save some cash for the airport, so we offered to pay in US dollars. When the guards wouldn't take the US money we knew what had happened. We pulled out what we had (about $8US short of the actual listed price of the ticket) and bribed our way into the temple. The sunrise was gorgeous and worth the adventure.

     After wandering around the temple we headed out to get some makanan (food). We ate at this tiny, but very busy, roadside stall. I hade guedeg (stewed jackfruit and rice) with some tofu. It was soooo tasty! We took the long road home through the village backroads and enjoyed some great views. We then decided to return the bike (we didn't want to push our luck with accidents) in town. We were told to take a bus back to P's house, but this bus decided that they would only run one that day and it took forever. After waiting about an hour and having yet another Indo-lish (Indonesian/english) conversation we gave up and started the 10 km trek back to P's. After about 2 mins of walking the bus, of course, showed up. The guy was yelling to us out of the bus door and we figured our new-found roadside auto-mechanic friend had told them to pick us up. We hopped on and headed back to P's. 

     After some much needed R&R we tried to wander out to P's aunt's place, but there was some type of meeting going on at the house so we had to greet a bunch of people. I learned the Muslim greeting 'salim' (the Indo way to say salam). In Indo it is common to great someone by shaking their hand and then touching your heart. The same goes when you say goodbye. There was a lot of hand shaking and a few words exchanged. At P's aunt's house, the chicken farm, we watched all the chickens and tried a variety of fruits, cookies, sambal, and snacks. Don't expect to go hungry when staying with the Javanese. You will always be greeted with some finger foods and drink (usually water, coffee, or tea). We watched the little kids run around, then watched the sunset over the paddies. For dinner we had what was the spiciest food in the world, we went to a sambal bar. Sambal, for those not in the know, is essentially hand-ground chillies with various spices and veggies added in. It's eaten with rice and some type of meat or veg of your choosing. It was the spiciest meal I've ever had. I was dying..but damn was it good!

     All in all, Java kicked our ass, but it also treated us with some unique experiences in Jogja. I'm really glad we went there, despite what it took to get around. Java really made me appreciate the simple things and it opened my mind to so many new experiences and ideas. I wouldn't recommend it to the faint of heart, but if you're looking for adventure Java is one of the friendliest places I have ever had the opportunity to experience.

-M

     

     I've decided that using blogger with a tablet is useless, so I'm using my notepad app to write, then transfer the post to the blog...this explains the weird font (that I'm too lazy to change).

     We are now in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. Today our friend A comes to chill with us in the jungle for a bit. We spent the morning wandering around the city in search of laksa (this was a fail, as all the good places sold out, we were up too late). It's really charming here and I'm thankful for simple luxuries like sidewalks and paved roads.

     Anyways, back to Jogja. After all the intensity it took to get there, and after our first night of chaos and day outside of the city it turned out to be an awesome place. The first day in the city we did the tourist thing, except we didn't go inside of anything, just walked around the city. We did a large loop of about 5 miles. The next day we visited some galleries, as Jogja is known as an artist's town. The art was pretty interesting and forward. You can tell that Jogja is going through an identity crisis. Indonesia as a whole really, but especially Java. There is a tension between the new and the old. What to keep and what to let go of in an age of constant change in a nation that is struggling to keep up with the emerging global nations. This idea was then further solidified when we talked with our host's dad. He was worried about the corruption in Indonesia and he strongly believed that a nation cannot survive on this alone. 

     For the remainder of our time in Java we stayed with P and his family in a typical Javanese home just outside the city. It was a great experience. MB and I had to sleep in separate rooms because the family was a traditional Muslim family. I didn't mind because I got the princess room, his sister's old room. The family had a large house with a few other buildings on the property (more like a compound really). Family, extended family, and close family friends seemed to all bunk there. The place was always bustling. They also ran a catering business out of the front of the house. This not only provided us with excellent eats, but also a chance to go to a traditional Muslim Javanese wedding. 

     There were other surfers there from Germany on the first night of our stay. They were going through Indonesia for 8 weeks. It was cool to hang out with them as well, as it was their first CS experience. Friday night P took us to a food street that served up the best satay in the city. We ate on a sidewalk, which had bamboo carpets stretched across it. You simply ordered and sat (shoes off of course) then ate. We had satay chicken, intestine, cow skin, and snails. It was all really good. I was scared of getting sick at first, because it was only warm satay (this place is popular so they make a lot of it in advance). However, the fear quickly faded as the food was delicious. Out of all the satay I enjoyed the intestine the best, which came as a surprise to me. They also served up a special drink at this place called Kopi Joss. Kopi means coffee and this type of coffee was served hot with a piece of coal in it. Random as hell I know, but it tasted good. I actually had two. I couldn't imagine this type of thing ever catching on in the states, but don't hate it until you try it!

     We met some really cool people from all over. Everyone from Indonesia has been so incredibly friendly. I have yet to find a country where not one person was rude. Even the hawkers aren't too rude, just a bit pushy in Bali. The rest of the gang was heading to karaoke and that was my queue to head home. 

    The next day we wandered around the market near P's house. We bought some fruit and tried a variety of things including fried rice paddy eel and some menthol drink that is supposed to be good for your health. We then walked around a village and got lost in the paddy fields. It was really pretty. P and I had some good conversation about culture and life. His english was outstanding and if he didn't know a word he would ask how to spell it and when to use it. He was much younger than us but it really didn't matter. We both think he'll do great things with his life, he's mature and curious, always a great combo. 

     After the paddy field we washed up and headed into town to get some transport. Yes, this means another motor bike. MB didn't want anything to do with the machine, but he didn't have much of a choice, as this is the way around SE Asia. We rented a bike for 24 hours and headed back to the house. After some down time we got dressed and went with P's mom and brother to some random wedding. 

     The wedding was quite the experience. First, there was no alcohol and no dancing. There was, of course, karaoke. The whole ordeal lasts about 2 hours and the point of it seems to be for everyone they know to come by, take a picture with the bride and groom, and eat. This wedding had 600+ people and this was considered small!  It actually kind of sucks for the couple, they have to stand on this podium type thing and take pictures with all the guests. My face would hurt from smiling so much. We ate the food and it was so crowded that even P needed a break from the madness. Then P and his brother convinced us to get our picture taken with the bride and groom. Other than being mildly embarrassing it was funny to think we would be in some random wedding album on the other side of the globe.

     P left us alone for 3 mins to go and find his lens cap and we immediately got accosted by the groom's father. He wanted to practice his english with us and insisted we go into his home to eat with the family. By this point we were stuffed, so we had some fruit and juice to be polite. He asked us all sorts of questions and spoke a mix of Indonesian and english to us. We found this a lot, there really aren't a lot of tourists outside of a few places in Java, and certainly a lot less Americans. Most people here don't like America as an institution (this goes back to us scamming them into taking their mining resources in the 70s), but they love Obama and they are curious about life in America. Everyone we have encountered, even random people at events and on the street will stop and ask us where we are from. If you are waiting in a line somewhere someone is bound to ask you where you come from. This is usually followed by a question about what you are studying, if you are studying in Indonesia, or what you do for work. Answer any of this using even a word of Indonesian and you will get either a look of surprise or a smile. Indonesian got me quite far in Java. I'm hoping it does something to mend the (sometimes) mis-conception that all Americans are incapable of being courteous about anything non-American, especially in the largest Muslim country in the world. 

     The day after the wedding we awoke before the ass crack of dawn to drive the 30 miles or so to Borobodur, an old Buddhist temple complex, to watch the sunrise. The drive was cold in the early am. It was wild zooming through the towns while listening to the morning call to prayer wax and wane from passing mosques. We arrived just before sun-up and the gate to the entrance P knew about was closed. No problem, he said, we'll just hop the fence. And we did. As we giggled and boasted about not having to pay the exorbitant fee foreigners have to pay to get in. The celebration was cut short when we found another gate, this time guarded by security guys. They told us that sun rise was actually twice the price. We laughed and walked away, there was no way I was paying $40US for that. Then the guards changed their minds and decided to let us in for the regular price of $18 (still expensive!!!). We wanted to save some cash for the airport, so we offered to pay in US dollars. When the guards wouldn't take the US money we knew what had happened. We pulled out what we had (about $8US short of the actual listed price of the ticket) and bribed our way into the temple. The sunrise was gorgeous and worth the adventure.

     After wandering around the temple we headed out to get some makanan (food). We ate at this tiny, but very busy, roadside stall. I hade guedeg (stewed jackfruit and rice) with some tofu. It was soooo tasty! We took the long road home through the village backroads and enjoyed some great views. We then decided to return the bike (we didn't want to push our luck with accidents) in town. We were told to take a bus back to P's house, but this bus decided that they would only run one that day and it took forever. After waiting about an hour and having yet another Indo-lish (Indonesian/english) conversation we gave up and started the 10 km trek back to P's. After about 2 mins of walking the bus, of course, showed up. The guy was yelling to us out of the bus door and we figured our new-found roadside auto-mechanic friend had told them to pick us up. We hopped on and headed back to P's. 

     After some much needed R&R we tried to wander out to P's aunt's place, but there was some type of meeting going on at the house so we had to greet a bunch of people. I learned the Muslim greeting 'salim' (the Indo way to say salam). In Indo it is common to great someone by shaking their hand and then touching your heart. The same goes when you say goodbye. There was a lot of hand shaking and a few words exchanged. At P's aunt's house, the chicken farm, we watched all the chickens and tried a variety of fruits, cookies, sambal, and snacks. Don't expect to go hungry when staying with the Javanese. You will always be greeted with some finger foods and drink (usually water, coffee, or tea). We watched the little kids run around, then watched the sunset over the paddies. For dinner we had what was the spiciest food in the world, we went to a sambal bar. Sambal, for those not in the know, is essentially hand-ground chillies with various spices and veggies added in. It's eaten with rice and some type of meat or veg of your choosing. It was the spiciest meal I've ever had. I was dying..but damn was it good!

     All in all, Java kicked our ass, but it also treated us with some unique experiences in Jogja. I'm really glad we went there, despite what it took to get around. Java really made me appreciate the simple things and it opened my mind to so many new experiences and ideas. I wouldn't recommend it to the faint of heart, but if you're looking for adventure Java is one of the friendliest places I have ever had the opportunity to experience.

-M

     

     I've decided that using blogger with a tablet is useless, so I'm using my notepad app to write, then transfer the post to the blog...this explains the weird font (that I'm too lazy to change).

     We are now in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. Today our friend A comes to chill with us in the jungle for a bit. We spent the morning wandering around the city in search of laksa (this was a fail, as all the good places sold out, we were up too late). It's really charming here and I'm thankful for simple luxuries like sidewalks and paved roads.

     Anyways, back to Jogja. After all the intensity it took to get there, and after our first night of chaos and day outside of the city it turned out to be an awesome place. The first day in the city we did the tourist thing, except we didn't go inside of anything, just walked around the city. We did a large loop of about 5 miles. The next day we visited some galleries, as Jogja is known as an artist's town. The art was pretty interesting and forward. You can tell that Jogja is going through an identity crisis. Indonesia as a whole really, but especially Java. There is a tension between the new and the old. What to keep and what to let go of in an age of constant change in a nation that is struggling to keep up with the emerging global nations. This idea was then further solidified when we talked with our host's dad. He was worried about the corruption in Indonesia and he strongly believed that a nation cannot survive on this alone. 

     For the remainder of our time in Java we stayed with P and his family in a typical Javanese home just outside the city. It was a great experience. MB and I had to sleep in separate rooms because the family was a traditional Muslim family. I didn't mind because I got the princess room, his sister's old room. The family had a large house with a few other buildings on the property (more like a compound really). Family, extended family, and close family friends seemed to all bunk there. The place was always bustling. They also ran a catering business out of the front of the house. This not only provided us with excellent eats, but also a chance to go to a traditional Muslim Javanese wedding. 

     There were other surfers there from Germany on the first night of our stay. They were going through Indonesia for 8 weeks. It was cool to hang out with them as well, as it was their first CS experience. Friday night P took us to a food street that served up the best satay in the city. We ate on a sidewalk, which had bamboo carpets stretched across it. You simply ordered and sat (shoes off of course) then ate. We had satay chicken, intestine, cow skin, and snails. It was all really good. I was scared of getting sick at first, because it was only warm satay (this place is popular so they make a lot of it in advance). However, the fear quickly faded as the food was delicious. Out of all the satay I enjoyed the intestine the best, which came as a surprise to me. They also served up a special drink at this place called Kopi Joss. Kopi means coffee and this type of coffee was served hot with a piece of coal in it. Random as hell I know, but it tasted good. I actually had two. I couldn't imagine this type of thing ever catching on in the states, but don't hate it until you try it!

     We met some really cool people from all over. Everyone from Indonesia has been so incredibly friendly. I have yet to find a country where not one person was rude. Even the hawkers aren't too rude, just a bit pushy in Bali. The rest of the gang was heading to karaoke and that was my queue to head home. 

    The next day we wandered around the market near P's house. We bought some fruit and tried a variety of things including fried rice paddy eel and some menthol drink that is supposed to be good for your health. We then walked around a village and got lost in the paddy fields. It was really pretty. P and I had some good conversation about culture and life. His english was outstanding and if he didn't know a word he would ask how to spell it and when to use it. He was much younger than us but it really didn't matter. We both think he'll do great things with his life, he's mature and curious, always a great combo. 

     After the paddy field we washed up and headed into town to get some transport. Yes, this means another motor bike. MB didn't want anything to do with the machine, but he didn't have much of a choice, as this is the way around SE Asia. We rented a bike for 24 hours and headed back to the house. After some down time we got dressed and went with P's mom and brother to some random wedding. 

     The wedding was quite the experience. First, there was no alcohol and no dancing. There was, of course, karaoke. The whole ordeal lasts about 2 hours and the point of it seems to be for everyone they know to come by, take a picture with the bride and groom, and eat. This wedding had 600+ people and this was considered small!  It actually kind of sucks for the couple, they have to stand on this podium type thing and take pictures with all the guests. My face would hurt from smiling so much. We ate the food and it was so crowded that even P needed a break from the madness. Then P and his brother convinced us to get our picture taken with the bride and groom. Other than being mildly embarrassing it was funny to think we would be in some random wedding album on the other side of the globe.

     P left us alone for 3 mins to go and find his lens cap and we immediately got accosted by the groom's father. He wanted to practice his english with us and insisted we go into his home to eat with the family. By this point we were stuffed, so we had some fruit and juice to be polite. He asked us all sorts of questions and spoke a mix of Indonesian and english to us. We found this a lot, there really aren't a lot of tourists outside of a few places in Java, and certainly a lot less Americans. Most people here don't like America as an institution (this goes back to us scamming them into taking their mining resources in the 70s), but they love Obama and they are curious about life in America. Everyone we have encountered, even random people at events and on the street will stop and ask us where we are from. If you are waiting in a line somewhere someone is bound to ask you where you come from. This is usually followed by a question about what you are studying, if you are studying in Indonesia, or what you do for work. Answer any of this using even a word of Indonesian and you will get either a look of surprise or a smile. Indonesian got me quite far in Java. I'm hoping it does something to mend the (sometimes) mis-conception that all Americans are incapable of being courteous about anything non-American, especially in the largest Muslim country in the world. 

     The day after the wedding we awoke before the ass crack of dawn to drive the 30 miles or so to Borobodur, an old Buddhist temple complex, to watch the sunrise. The drive was cold in the early am. It was wild zooming through the towns while listening to the morning call to prayer wax and wane from passing mosques. We arrived just before sun-up and the gate to the entrance P knew about was closed. No problem, he said, we'll just hop the fence. And we did. As we giggled and boasted about not having to pay the exorbitant fee foreigners have to pay to get in. The celebration was cut short when we found another gate, this time guarded by security guys. They told us that sun rise was actually twice the price. We laughed and walked away, there was no way I was paying $40US for that. Then the guards changed their minds and decided to let us in for the regular price of $18 (still expensive!!!). We wanted to save some cash for the airport, so we offered to pay in US dollars. When the guards wouldn't take the US money we knew what had happened. We pulled out what we had (about $8US short of the actual listed price of the ticket) and bribed our way into the temple. The sunrise was gorgeous and worth the adventure.

     After wandering around the temple we headed out to get some makanan (food). We ate at this tiny, but very busy, roadside stall. I hade guedeg (stewed jackfruit and rice) with some tofu. It was soooo tasty! We took the long road home through the village backroads and enjoyed some great views. We then decided to return the bike (we didn't want to push our luck with accidents) in town. We were told to take a bus back to P's house, but this bus decided that they would only run one that day and it took forever. After waiting about an hour and having yet another Indo-lish (Indonesian/english) conversation we gave up and started the 10 km trek back to P's. After about 2 mins of walking the bus, of course, showed up. The guy was yelling to us out of the bus door and we figured our new-found roadside auto-mechanic friend had told them to pick us up. We hopped on and headed back to P's. 

     After some much needed R&R we tried to wander out to P's aunt's place, but there was some type of meeting going on at the house so we had to greet a bunch of people. I learned the Muslim greeting 'salim' (the Indo way to say salam). In Indo it is common to great someone by shaking their hand and then touching your heart. The same goes when you say goodbye. There was a lot of hand shaking and a few words exchanged. At P's aunt's house, the chicken farm, we watched all the chickens and tried a variety of fruits, cookies, sambal, and snacks. Don't expect to go hungry when staying with the Javanese. You will always be greeted with some finger foods and drink (usually water, coffee, or tea). We watched the little kids run around, then watched the sunset over the paddies. For dinner we had what was the spiciest food in the world, we went to a sambal bar. Sambal, for those not in the know, is essentially hand-ground chillies with various spices and veggies added in. It's eaten with rice and some type of meat or veg of your choosing. It was the spiciest meal I've ever had. I was dying..but damn was it good!

     All in all, Java kicked our ass, but it also treated us with some unique experiences in Jogja. I'm really glad we went there, despite what it took to get around. Java really made me appreciate the simple things and it opened my mind to so many new experiences and ideas. I wouldn't recommend it to the faint of heart, but if you're looking for adventure Java is one of the friendliest places I have ever had the opportunity to experience.

-M

     

     I've decided that using blogger with a tablet is useless, so I'm using my notepad app to write, then transfer the post to the blog...this explains the weird font (that I'm too lazy to change).

     We are now in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. Today our friend A comes to chill with us in the jungle for a bit. We spent the morning wandering around the city in search of laksa (this was a fail, as all the good places sold out, we were up too late). It's really charming here and I'm thankful for simple luxuries like sidewalks and paved roads.

     Anyways, back to Jogja. After all the intensity it took to get there, and after our first night of chaos and day outside of the city it turned out to be an awesome place. The first day in the city we did the tourist thing, except we didn't go inside of anything, just walked around the city. We did a large loop of about 5 miles. The next day we visited some galleries, as Jogja is known as an artist's town. The art was pretty interesting and forward. You can tell that Jogja is going through an identity crisis. Indonesia as a whole really, but especially Java. There is a tension between the new and the old. What to keep and what to let go of in an age of constant change in a nation that is struggling to keep up with the emerging global nations. This idea was then further solidified when we talked with our host's dad. He was worried about the corruption in Indonesia and he strongly believed that a nation cannot survive on this alone. 

     For the remainder of our time in Java we stayed with P and his family in a typical Javanese home just outside the city. It was a great experience. MB and I had to sleep in separate rooms because the family was a traditional Muslim family. I didn't mind because I got the princess room, his sister's old room. The family had a large house with a few other buildings on the property (more like a compound really). Family, extended family, and close family friends seemed to all bunk there. The place was always bustling. They also ran a catering business out of the front of the house. This not only provided us with excellent eats, but also a chance to go to a traditional Muslim Javanese wedding. 

     There were other surfers there from Germany on the first night of our stay. They were going through Indonesia for 8 weeks. It was cool to hang out with them as well, as it was their first CS experience. Friday night P took us to a food street that served up the best satay in the city. We ate on a sidewalk, which had bamboo carpets stretched across it. You simply ordered and sat (shoes off of course) then ate. We had satay chicken, intestine, cow skin, and snails. It was all really good. I was scared of getting sick at first, because it was only warm satay (this place is popular so they make a lot of it in advance). However, the fear quickly faded as the food was delicious. Out of all the satay I enjoyed the intestine the best, which came as a surprise to me. They also served up a special drink at this place called Kopi Joss. Kopi means coffee and this type of coffee was served hot with a piece of coal in it. Random as hell I know, but it tasted good. I actually had two. I couldn't imagine this type of thing ever catching on in the states, but don't hate it until you try it!

     We met some really cool people from all over. Everyone from Indonesia has been so incredibly friendly. I have yet to find a country where not one person was rude. Even the hawkers aren't too rude, just a bit pushy in Bali. The rest of the gang was heading to karaoke and that was my queue to head home. 

    The next day we wandered around the market near P's house. We bought some fruit and tried a variety of things including fried rice paddy eel and some menthol drink that is supposed to be good for your health. We then walked around a village and got lost in the paddy fields. It was really pretty. P and I had some good conversation about culture and life. His english was outstanding and if he didn't know a word he would ask how to spell it and when to use it. He was much younger than us but it really didn't matter. We both think he'll do great things with his life, he's mature and curious, always a great combo. 

     After the paddy field we washed up and headed into town to get some transport. Yes, this means another motor bike. MB didn't want anything to do with the machine, but he didn't have much of a choice, as this is the way around SE Asia. We rented a bike for 24 hours and headed back to the house. After some down time we got dressed and went with P's mom and brother to some random wedding. 

     The wedding was quite the experience. First, there was no alcohol and no dancing. There was, of course, karaoke. The whole ordeal lasts about 2 hours and the point of it seems to be for everyone they know to come by, take a picture with the bride and groom, and eat. This wedding had 600+ people and this was considered small!  It actually kind of sucks for the couple, they have to stand on this podium type thing and take pictures with all the guests. My face would hurt from smiling so much. We ate the food and it was so crowded that even P needed a break from the madness. Then P and his brother convinced us to get our picture taken with the bride and groom. Other than being mildly embarrassing it was funny to think we would be in some random wedding album on the other side of the globe.

     P left us alone for 3 mins to go and find his lens cap and we immediately got accosted by the groom's father. He wanted to practice his english with us and insisted we go into his home to eat with the family. By this point we were stuffed, so we had some fruit and juice to be polite. He asked us all sorts of questions and spoke a mix of Indonesian and english to us. We found this a lot, there really aren't a lot of tourists outside of a few places in Java, and certainly a lot less Americans. Most people here don't like America as an institution (this goes back to us scamming them into taking their mining resources in the 70s), but they love Obama and they are curious about life in America. Everyone we have encountered, even random people at events and on the street will stop and ask us where we are from. If you are waiting in a line somewhere someone is bound to ask you where you come from. This is usually followed by a question about what you are studying, if you are studying in Indonesia, or what you do for work. Answer any of this using even a word of Indonesian and you will get either a look of surprise or a smile. Indonesian got me quite far in Java. I'm hoping it does something to mend the (sometimes) mis-conception that all Americans are incapable of being courteous about anything non-American, especially in the largest Muslim country in the world. 

     The day after the wedding we awoke before the ass crack of dawn to drive the 30 miles or so to Borobodur, an old Buddhist temple complex, to watch the sunrise. The drive was cold in the early am. It was wild zooming through the towns while listening to the morning call to prayer wax and wane from passing mosques. We arrived just before sun-up and the gate to the entrance P knew about was closed. No problem, he said, we'll just hop the fence. And we did. As we giggled and boasted about not having to pay the exorbitant fee foreigners have to pay to get in. The celebration was cut short when we found another gate, this time guarded by security guys. They told us that sun rise was actually twice the price. We laughed and walked away, there was no way I was paying $40US for that. Then the guards changed their minds and decided to let us in for the regular price of $18 (still expensive!!!). We wanted to save some cash for the airport, so we offered to pay in US dollars. When the guards wouldn't take the US money we knew what had happened. We pulled out what we had (about $8US short of the actual listed price of the ticket) and bribed our way into the temple. The sunrise was gorgeous and worth the adventure.

     After wandering around the temple we headed out to get some makanan (food). We ate at this tiny, but very busy, roadside stall. I hade guedeg (stewed jackfruit and rice) with some tofu. It was soooo tasty! We took the long road home through the village backroads and enjoyed some great views. We then decided to return the bike (we didn't want to push our luck with accidents) in town. We were told to take a bus back to P's house, but this bus decided that they would only run one that day and it took forever. After waiting about an hour and having yet another Indo-lish (Indonesian/english) conversation we gave up and started the 10 km trek back to P's. After about 2 mins of walking the bus, of course, showed up. The guy was yelling to us out of the bus door and we figured our new-found roadside auto-mechanic friend had told them to pick us up. We hopped on and headed back to P's. 

     After some much needed R&R we tried to wander out to P's aunt's place, but there was some type of meeting going on at the house so we had to greet a bunch of people. I learned the Muslim greeting 'salim' (the Indo way to say salam). In Indo it is common to great someone by shaking their hand and then touching your heart. The same goes when you say goodbye. There was a lot of hand shaking and a few words exchanged. At P's aunt's house, the chicken farm, we watched all the chickens and tried a variety of fruits, cookies, sambal, and snacks. Don't expect to go hungry when staying with the Javanese. You will always be greeted with some finger foods and drink (usually water, coffee, or tea). We watched the little kids run around, then watched the sunset over the paddies. For dinner we had what was the spiciest food in the world, we went to a sambal bar. Sambal, for those not in the know, is essentially hand-ground chillies with various spices and veggies added in. It's eaten with rice and some type of meat or veg of your choosing. It was the spiciest meal I've ever had. I was dying..but damn was it good!

     All in all, Java kicked our ass, but it also treated us with some unique experiences in Jogja. I'm really glad we went there, despite what it took to get around. Java really made me appreciate the simple things and it opened my mind to so many new experiences and ideas. I wouldn't recommend it to the faint of heart, but if you're looking for adventure Java is one of the friendliest places I have ever had the opportunity to experience.

-M

     

Adventures in Singapore seem miles away, but better late than never

Nothing says 'cultural exchange' like a good fart joke. 

written 8/15/2012

Right now I'm sitting in an open kitchen in a location with no address deep in the rice fields of Bali, Indonesia. Although it's a simple 1hr and 45 min plane ride from the location I'm going to write about, it feels as if it is a whole different planet. However, the adventures of the last two and a half days here are left for another post. 

I'm not quite sure when I will actually be able to post this, but I'll do my best to keep all my catch-up posts organized. After our adventures in Hong Kong came to a close we headed south to Singapore. I came to Singapore for the sole reason of seeing friends, in particular R, my egyptian friend who I've seen over 5 times in the past year and in 4 different countries. The plane landed and another friend, S, who I was also looking forward to seeing did us a kind favor by picking us up at the airport and escorting us around for a Saturday night on the town.

Traveling on a budget is impossible in Singapore, which is the main reason why we spent so little time there. I was actually anticipating spending more per day in Hong Kong, but luckily this turned out not to be the case. 

We arrived late (around 10:30 pm) and got out on the town for some grub. S took us to a place that served up some unbeatable butter chicken (a ghee based curry dish) which we mopped up with some naan. The next stop was an Indian club, but not really a dance club. The best way to describe it is a strip club, except the women dance to Indian music (mostly Bhangra I believe) and wear saris. No badonkadonks, cookies, or boobies, but plenty of gawking men. Apparently in India, the men make it rain on the women (ie brush bills off of there palms into the air) but Singapore's prices don't allow for such things. We had a pint there then headed to Clark Quay, (pronounced 'key' by the way) for a tall can on the bridge. We people watched and exchanged stories, it wasn't nearly as wild as my first time to the bridge, but after a long plane ride and MB's struggle to adjust to the time zone, the fact that we were even alive past arrival time is a small feat. After a beer or two we wandered around the club area and ended up going to a cheap place with a minimal cover charge and live music. Don't get me wrong, I love live music, but in most cases in Asia a live music bar can be a terrifying nightmare. However these guys were REALLY good. Granted they were on their last set and played mostly drunk cover songs (think Journey people!) but it was awesome. We danced, had a drink and watched all the complete waste-os try to get some. Overall it was an entertaining night and we stayed up until past 4am which allowed for us to finally get adjusted to the time zone. S, if you're reading this, I left my phone in the cab (again) on the way back from the airport so sorry if you smsed me and I didn't respond. Speaking of my phone, it was on it's last leg (it fell apart multiple times a day and couldn't hold a charge for more than 2 hours) so I don't miss it. Plus, R gave me an old one to borrow for my trip so no worries there.

We slept in a bit and then woke up at R's place. R was still in Langkawi on holiday so we opened the door to find one of R's roommates, L, cooking up some Roti. She made us some and gave us some teh tehrik (my fav). We hit it off quite well, she was excited that she could talk with us because two of her other roommates were French, and their guests never spoke English. She's from KL and we talked about the food vs the Singapore food. She mentioned a place nearby that had Penang food (argued to be the best in Malaysia, and therefore, some - if not THE- best in the world). I jumped on this opportunity because MB and I didn't have the time to squeeze in Penang. We all hopped on the MRT and headed over to the place. 

It was DANK...AWESOME...HAPPY...pretty much as authentic as Penang food can get without being the real thing. We got Penang Laksa, squid/cuttlefish (I can't tell the difference) curry, char keow tow (sp?), and various juices. This was the commencement meal to our hari makan (eating day). We decided to walk off the meal and headed to a few markets to pick up beer and fresh fruit. We tried these small nut looking things that actually have fruit that tastes a lot like Lychee (the name escapes me right now...I think it starts with an 'L'), and some mangosteens. It was hard not to eat everything in sight. We also learned that R lives near the 'red light' district of Singapore, which was funny because I thought Singapore was too polite to have one. Apparently it's pretty obvious at night, but it isn't dangerous or anything like that. The only thing that happens is a man might ask you 'how much?' if you are a woman out alone at night. In which case, it would probably be more dangerous for the man as my fist or foot would meet his face or happy spot.  

We headed back to wash up, enjoy some fruit, and wait for R and his girlfriend (another M) to arrive. I was so excited to meet M as I hadn't met her yet and R spoke so well of her. After the reunion we went out again for some makan and a little sight seeing. This time we got some bakuteh (again with the spelling), which is essentially a clay pot stew of broth and spare ribs. Delish and one of my favorites of Singapore. Afterwards we went to get MB some more foot pads, as his achilles had some blisters from his new sandals. Then we decided to head to Arab street, as no visit with R is complete without a shisha session. Not to mention, MB had never been to a shisha establishment so it was a must. The shisha was great despite the wind (ash) and heat, which by this point, was starting to get to me. 

After we left it was about time for buka pasar, or the fast-breaking market that happens during ramadan to start. We headed to the big mosque, which I had never seen before, and strolled through the market. It's always great to wander through these types of markets, and even better to eat at them, but I was already stuffed at this point, so I enjoyed it with my nose. However, R insisted that we stop by Singapore's signature place to buy some Murtabak, which we were planning to eat 'Egyptian style' or on the hood of one's car. This plan quickly backfired because the nastiest thing I have ever witnessed in Singapore occurred in the parking garage, a broken sewer pipe. NASTY. So we opted to take the food back to R's place instead.

Once again, we washed up and I checked my email to get some info on meeting up with my Spanish friend, N by the Marina Bay footbridge. We had agreed to meet as she had a layover there, but both of us had no way of communicating to one another. We walked by the waterfront at night, which MB hadn't seen anyways (I also haven't, despite the fact I had already been to Singapore last year). It was quite charming and really pretty. We waited around for N for about an hour then gave up to makan (eat) one last time. We headed to a hawker center near the Esplanade and I had some mee goreng (fried noodles, nothing too special as I was full enough by this point) with veggies and MB had some chicken wings (the whole wing, stretched out, with tasty dipping sauce and a delicious glaze). We bumped into other CSers there (CouchSurfers) V and his surfer. I hadn't seen V in over a year so it was cool to bump into him. The other surfer had just came from KL and stayed with someone I know there. We were laughing about the 'small world' effect. Apparently it's quite common in Singapore. They say there are 6 degrees of separation but I have been told by more than one person that in Singapore there are only three. 

R dropped us off at his place (he was staying with M for the night so we would have a bed) and wished us well. I was sad to leave, as it felt too short, but Singapore isn't a cheap place to be, and without jobs it was about as much as our wallets could handle. However, we'll be back for 12 hours at the end of our trip and we will at least get to see R and M one last time.

We passed out almost immediately after being on the go for so long. The next morning we awoke, packed our clean laundry (thanks again for letting us use your washer L!) and said bye to L. We snacked on some kaya toast at the airport before we boarded the plane to Bali.

It was a fun start to the trip to be in some of the big, worldly cities. However, I'm thankful to not have to be at an airport for two weeks and to be taking things at a slower pace. The plan is to spend one week in Bali and one week in Java giving us two weeks in Indo. Indo is my favorite country that I've visited in my life thus far and I'm excited to be back. However it's a bit late and the start of the chapter is better left for another post. It's time for me to put some aloe on my sunburns and retire to the Bale underneath the mosquito net.

selamat malam (goodnight)

-M

Nothing says 'cultural exchange' like a good fart joke. 

written 8/15/2012

Right now I'm sitting in an open kitchen in a location with no address deep in the rice fields of Bali, Indonesia. Although it's a simple 1hr and 45 min plane ride from the location I'm going to write about, it feels as if it is a whole different planet. However, the adventures of the last two and a half days here are left for another post. 

I'm not quite sure when I will actually be able to post this, but I'll do my best to keep all my catch-up posts organized. After our adventures in Hong Kong came to a close we headed south to Singapore. I came to Singapore for the sole reason of seeing friends, in particular R, my egyptian friend who I've seen over 5 times in the past year and in 4 different countries. The plane landed and another friend, S, who I was also looking forward to seeing did us a kind favor by picking us up at the airport and escorting us around for a Saturday night on the town.

Traveling on a budget is impossible in Singapore, which is the main reason why we spent so little time there. I was actually anticipating spending more per day in Hong Kong, but luckily this turned out not to be the case. 

We arrived late (around 10:30 pm) and got out on the town for some grub. S took us to a place that served up some unbeatable butter chicken (a ghee based curry dish) which we mopped up with some naan. The next stop was an Indian club, but not really a dance club. The best way to describe it is a strip club, except the women dance to Indian music (mostly Bhangra I believe) and wear saris. No badonkadonks, cookies, or boobies, but plenty of gawking men. Apparently in India, the men make it rain on the women (ie brush bills off of there palms into the air) but Singapore's prices don't allow for such things. We had a pint there then headed to Clark Quay, (pronounced 'key' by the way) for a tall can on the bridge. We people watched and exchanged stories, it wasn't nearly as wild as my first time to the bridge, but after a long plane ride and MB's struggle to adjust to the time zone, the fact that we were even alive past arrival time is a small feat. After a beer or two we wandered around the club area and ended up going to a cheap place with a minimal cover charge and live music. Don't get me wrong, I love live music, but in most cases in Asia a live music bar can be a terrifying nightmare. However these guys were REALLY good. Granted they were on their last set and played mostly drunk cover songs (think Journey people!) but it was awesome. We danced, had a drink and watched all the complete waste-os try to get some. Overall it was an entertaining night and we stayed up until past 4am which allowed for us to finally get adjusted to the time zone. S, if you're reading this, I left my phone in the cab (again) on the way back from the airport so sorry if you smsed me and I didn't respond. Speaking of my phone, it was on it's last leg (it fell apart multiple times a day and couldn't hold a charge for more than 2 hours) so I don't miss it. Plus, R gave me an old one to borrow for my trip so no worries there.

We slept in a bit and then woke up at R's place. R was still in Langkawi on holiday so we opened the door to find one of R's roommates, L, cooking up some Roti. She made us some and gave us some teh tehrik (my fav). We hit it off quite well, she was excited that she could talk with us because two of her other roommates were French, and their guests never spoke English. She's from KL and we talked about the food vs the Singapore food. She mentioned a place nearby that had Penang food (argued to be the best in Malaysia, and therefore, some - if not THE- best in the world). I jumped on this opportunity because MB and I didn't have the time to squeeze in Penang. We all hopped on the MRT and headed over to the place. 

It was DANK...AWESOME...HAPPY...pretty much as authentic as Penang food can get without being the real thing. We got Penang Laksa, squid/cuttlefish (I can't tell the difference) curry, char keow tow (sp?), and various juices. This was the commencement meal to our hari makan (eating day). We decided to walk off the meal and headed to a few markets to pick up beer and fresh fruit. We tried these small nut looking things that actually have fruit that tastes a lot like Lychee (the name escapes me right now...I think it starts with an 'L'), and some mangosteens. It was hard not to eat everything in sight. We also learned that R lives near the 'red light' district of Singapore, which was funny because I thought Singapore was too polite to have one. Apparently it's pretty obvious at night, but it isn't dangerous or anything like that. The only thing that happens is a man might ask you 'how much?' if you are a woman out alone at night. In which case, it would probably be more dangerous for the man as my fist or foot would meet his face or happy spot.  

We headed back to wash up, enjoy some fruit, and wait for R and his girlfriend (another M) to arrive. I was so excited to meet M as I hadn't met her yet and R spoke so well of her. After the reunion we went out again for some makan and a little sight seeing. This time we got some bakuteh (again with the spelling), which is essentially a clay pot stew of broth and spare ribs. Delish and one of my favorites of Singapore. Afterwards we went to get MB some more foot pads, as his achilles had some blisters from his new sandals. Then we decided to head to Arab street, as no visit with R is complete without a shisha session. Not to mention, MB had never been to a shisha establishment so it was a must. The shisha was great despite the wind (ash) and heat, which by this point, was starting to get to me. 

After we left it was about time for buka pasar, or the fast-breaking market that happens during ramadan to start. We headed to the big mosque, which I had never seen before, and strolled through the market. It's always great to wander through these types of markets, and even better to eat at them, but I was already stuffed at this point, so I enjoyed it with my nose. However, R insisted that we stop by Singapore's signature place to buy some Murtabak, which we were planning to eat 'Egyptian style' or on the hood of one's car. This plan quickly backfired because the nastiest thing I have ever witnessed in Singapore occurred in the parking garage, a broken sewer pipe. NASTY. So we opted to take the food back to R's place instead.

Once again, we washed up and I checked my email to get some info on meeting up with my Spanish friend, N by the Marina Bay footbridge. We had agreed to meet as she had a layover there, but both of us had no way of communicating to one another. We walked by the waterfront at night, which MB hadn't seen anyways (I also haven't, despite the fact I had already been to Singapore last year). It was quite charming and really pretty. We waited around for N for about an hour then gave up to makan (eat) one last time. We headed to a hawker center near the Esplanade and I had some mee goreng (fried noodles, nothing too special as I was full enough by this point) with veggies and MB had some chicken wings (the whole wing, stretched out, with tasty dipping sauce and a delicious glaze). We bumped into other CSers there (CouchSurfers) V and his surfer. I hadn't seen V in over a year so it was cool to bump into him. The other surfer had just came from KL and stayed with someone I know there. We were laughing about the 'small world' effect. Apparently it's quite common in Singapore. They say there are 6 degrees of separation but I have been told by more than one person that in Singapore there are only three. 

R dropped us off at his place (he was staying with M for the night so we would have a bed) and wished us well. I was sad to leave, as it felt too short, but Singapore isn't a cheap place to be, and without jobs it was about as much as our wallets could handle. However, we'll be back for 12 hours at the end of our trip and we will at least get to see R and M one last time.

We passed out almost immediately after being on the go for so long. The next morning we awoke, packed our clean laundry (thanks again for letting us use your washer L!) and said bye to L. We snacked on some kaya toast at the airport before we boarded the plane to Bali.

It was a fun start to the trip to be in some of the big, worldly cities. However, I'm thankful to not have to be at an airport for two weeks and to be taking things at a slower pace. The plan is to spend one week in Bali and one week in Java giving us two weeks in Indo. Indo is my favorite country that I've visited in my life thus far and I'm excited to be back. However it's a bit late and the start of the chapter is better left for another post. It's time for me to put some aloe on my sunburns and retire to the Bale underneath the mosquito net.

selamat malam (goodnight)

-M

Nothing says 'cultural exchange' like a good fart joke. 

written 8/15/2012

Right now I'm sitting in an open kitchen in a location with no address deep in the rice fields of Bali, Indonesia. Although it's a simple 1hr and 45 min plane ride from the location I'm going to write about, it feels as if it is a whole different planet. However, the adventures of the last two and a half days here are left for another post. 

I'm not quite sure when I will actually be able to post this, but I'll do my best to keep all my catch-up posts organized. After our adventures in Hong Kong came to a close we headed south to Singapore. I came to Singapore for the sole reason of seeing friends, in particular R, my egyptian friend who I've seen over 5 times in the past year and in 4 different countries. The plane landed and another friend, S, who I was also looking forward to seeing did us a kind favor by picking us up at the airport and escorting us around for a Saturday night on the town.

Traveling on a budget is impossible in Singapore, which is the main reason why we spent so little time there. I was actually anticipating spending more per day in Hong Kong, but luckily this turned out not to be the case. 

We arrived late (around 10:30 pm) and got out on the town for some grub. S took us to a place that served up some unbeatable butter chicken (a ghee based curry dish) which we mopped up with some naan. The next stop was an Indian club, but not really a dance club. The best way to describe it is a strip club, except the women dance to Indian music (mostly Bhangra I believe) and wear saris. No badonkadonks, cookies, or boobies, but plenty of gawking men. Apparently in India, the men make it rain on the women (ie brush bills off of there palms into the air) but Singapore's prices don't allow for such things. We had a pint there then headed to Clark Quay, (pronounced 'key' by the way) for a tall can on the bridge. We people watched and exchanged stories, it wasn't nearly as wild as my first time to the bridge, but after a long plane ride and MB's struggle to adjust to the time zone, the fact that we were even alive past arrival time is a small feat. After a beer or two we wandered around the club area and ended up going to a cheap place with a minimal cover charge and live music. Don't get me wrong, I love live music, but in most cases in Asia a live music bar can be a terrifying nightmare. However these guys were REALLY good. Granted they were on their last set and played mostly drunk cover songs (think Journey people!) but it was awesome. We danced, had a drink and watched all the complete waste-os try to get some. Overall it was an entertaining night and we stayed up until past 4am which allowed for us to finally get adjusted to the time zone. S, if you're reading this, I left my phone in the cab (again) on the way back from the airport so sorry if you smsed me and I didn't respond. Speaking of my phone, it was on it's last leg (it fell apart multiple times a day and couldn't hold a charge for more than 2 hours) so I don't miss it. Plus, R gave me an old one to borrow for my trip so no worries there.

We slept in a bit and then woke up at R's place. R was still in Langkawi on holiday so we opened the door to find one of R's roommates, L, cooking up some Roti. She made us some and gave us some teh tehrik (my fav). We hit it off quite well, she was excited that she could talk with us because two of her other roommates were French, and their guests never spoke English. She's from KL and we talked about the food vs the Singapore food. She mentioned a place nearby that had Penang food (argued to be the best in Malaysia, and therefore, some - if not THE- best in the world). I jumped on this opportunity because MB and I didn't have the time to squeeze in Penang. We all hopped on the MRT and headed over to the place. 

It was DANK...AWESOME...HAPPY...pretty much as authentic as Penang food can get without being the real thing. We got Penang Laksa, squid/cuttlefish (I can't tell the difference) curry, char keow tow (sp?), and various juices. This was the commencement meal to our hari makan (eating day). We decided to walk off the meal and headed to a few markets to pick up beer and fresh fruit. We tried these small nut looking things that actually have fruit that tastes a lot like Lychee (the name escapes me right now...I think it starts with an 'L'), and some mangosteens. It was hard not to eat everything in sight. We also learned that R lives near the 'red light' district of Singapore, which was funny because I thought Singapore was too polite to have one. Apparently it's pretty obvious at night, but it isn't dangerous or anything like that. The only thing that happens is a man might ask you 'how much?' if you are a woman out alone at night. In which case, it would probably be more dangerous for the man as my fist or foot would meet his face or happy spot.  

We headed back to wash up, enjoy some fruit, and wait for R and his girlfriend (another M) to arrive. I was so excited to meet M as I hadn't met her yet and R spoke so well of her. After the reunion we went out again for some makan and a little sight seeing. This time we got some bakuteh (again with the spelling), which is essentially a clay pot stew of broth and spare ribs. Delish and one of my favorites of Singapore. Afterwards we went to get MB some more foot pads, as his achilles had some blisters from his new sandals. Then we decided to head to Arab street, as no visit with R is complete without a shisha session. Not to mention, MB had never been to a shisha establishment so it was a must. The shisha was great despite the wind (ash) and heat, which by this point, was starting to get to me. 

After we left it was about time for buka pasar, or the fast-breaking market that happens during ramadan to start. We headed to the big mosque, which I had never seen before, and strolled through the market. It's always great to wander through these types of markets, and even better to eat at them, but I was already stuffed at this point, so I enjoyed it with my nose. However, R insisted that we stop by Singapore's signature place to buy some Murtabak, which we were planning to eat 'Egyptian style' or on the hood of one's car. This plan quickly backfired because the nastiest thing I have ever witnessed in Singapore occurred in the parking garage, a broken sewer pipe. NASTY. So we opted to take the food back to R's place instead.

Once again, we washed up and I checked my email to get some info on meeting up with my Spanish friend, N by the Marina Bay footbridge. We had agreed to meet as she had a layover there, but both of us had no way of communicating to one another. We walked by the waterfront at night, which MB hadn't seen anyways (I also haven't, despite the fact I had already been to Singapore last year). It was quite charming and really pretty. We waited around for N for about an hour then gave up to makan (eat) one last time. We headed to a hawker center near the Esplanade and I had some mee goreng (fried noodles, nothing too special as I was full enough by this point) with veggies and MB had some chicken wings (the whole wing, stretched out, with tasty dipping sauce and a delicious glaze). We bumped into other CSers there (CouchSurfers) V and his surfer. I hadn't seen V in over a year so it was cool to bump into him. The other surfer had just came from KL and stayed with someone I know there. We were laughing about the 'small world' effect. Apparently it's quite common in Singapore. They say there are 6 degrees of separation but I have been told by more than one person that in Singapore there are only three. 

R dropped us off at his place (he was staying with M for the night so we would have a bed) and wished us well. I was sad to leave, as it felt too short, but Singapore isn't a cheap place to be, and without jobs it was about as much as our wallets could handle. However, we'll be back for 12 hours at the end of our trip and we will at least get to see R and M one last time.

We passed out almost immediately after being on the go for so long. The next morning we awoke, packed our clean laundry (thanks again for letting us use your washer L!) and said bye to L. We snacked on some kaya toast at the airport before we boarded the plane to Bali.

It was a fun start to the trip to be in some of the big, worldly cities. However, I'm thankful to not have to be at an airport for two weeks and to be taking things at a slower pace. The plan is to spend one week in Bali and one week in Java giving us two weeks in Indo. Indo is my favorite country that I've visited in my life thus far and I'm excited to be back. However it's a bit late and the start of the chapter is better left for another post. It's time for me to put some aloe on my sunburns and retire to the Bale underneath the mosquito net.

selamat malam (goodnight)

-M

Nothing says 'cultural exchange' like a good fart joke. 

written 8/15/2012

Right now I'm sitting in an open kitchen in a location with no address deep in the rice fields of Bali, Indonesia. Although it's a simple 1hr and 45 min plane ride from the location I'm going to write about, it feels as if it is a whole different planet. However, the adventures of the last two and a half days here are left for another post. 

I'm not quite sure when I will actually be able to post this, but I'll do my best to keep all my catch-up posts organized. After our adventures in Hong Kong came to a close we headed south to Singapore. I came to Singapore for the sole reason of seeing friends, in particular R, my egyptian friend who I've seen over 5 times in the past year and in 4 different countries. The plane landed and another friend, S, who I was also looking forward to seeing did us a kind favor by picking us up at the airport and escorting us around for a Saturday night on the town.

Traveling on a budget is impossible in Singapore, which is the main reason why we spent so little time there. I was actually anticipating spending more per day in Hong Kong, but luckily this turned out not to be the case. 

We arrived late (around 10:30 pm) and got out on the town for some grub. S took us to a place that served up some unbeatable butter chicken (a ghee based curry dish) which we mopped up with some naan. The next stop was an Indian club, but not really a dance club. The best way to describe it is a strip club, except the women dance to Indian music (mostly Bhangra I believe) and wear saris. No badonkadonks, cookies, or boobies, but plenty of gawking men. Apparently in India, the men make it rain on the women (ie brush bills off of there palms into the air) but Singapore's prices don't allow for such things. We had a pint there then headed to Clark Quay, (pronounced 'key' by the way) for a tall can on the bridge. We people watched and exchanged stories, it wasn't nearly as wild as my first time to the bridge, but after a long plane ride and MB's struggle to adjust to the time zone, the fact that we were even alive past arrival time is a small feat. After a beer or two we wandered around the club area and ended up going to a cheap place with a minimal cover charge and live music. Don't get me wrong, I love live music, but in most cases in Asia a live music bar can be a terrifying nightmare. However these guys were REALLY good. Granted they were on their last set and played mostly drunk cover songs (think Journey people!) but it was awesome. We danced, had a drink and watched all the complete waste-os try to get some. Overall it was an entertaining night and we stayed up until past 4am which allowed for us to finally get adjusted to the time zone. S, if you're reading this, I left my phone in the cab (again) on the way back from the airport so sorry if you smsed me and I didn't respond. Speaking of my phone, it was on it's last leg (it fell apart multiple times a day and couldn't hold a charge for more than 2 hours) so I don't miss it. Plus, R gave me an old one to borrow for my trip so no worries there.

We slept in a bit and then woke up at R's place. R was still in Langkawi on holiday so we opened the door to find one of R's roommates, L, cooking up some Roti. She made us some and gave us some teh tehrik (my fav). We hit it off quite well, she was excited that she could talk with us because two of her other roommates were French, and their guests never spoke English. She's from KL and we talked about the food vs the Singapore food. She mentioned a place nearby that had Penang food (argued to be the best in Malaysia, and therefore, some - if not THE- best in the world). I jumped on this opportunity because MB and I didn't have the time to squeeze in Penang. We all hopped on the MRT and headed over to the place. 

It was DANK...AWESOME...HAPPY...pretty much as authentic as Penang food can get without being the real thing. We got Penang Laksa, squid/cuttlefish (I can't tell the difference) curry, char keow tow (sp?), and various juices. This was the commencement meal to our hari makan (eating day). We decided to walk off the meal and headed to a few markets to pick up beer and fresh fruit. We tried these small nut looking things that actually have fruit that tastes a lot like Lychee (the name escapes me right now...I think it starts with an 'L'), and some mangosteens. It was hard not to eat everything in sight. We also learned that R lives near the 'red light' district of Singapore, which was funny because I thought Singapore was too polite to have one. Apparently it's pretty obvious at night, but it isn't dangerous or anything like that. The only thing that happens is a man might ask you 'how much?' if you are a woman out alone at night. In which case, it would probably be more dangerous for the man as my fist or foot would meet his face or happy spot.  

We headed back to wash up, enjoy some fruit, and wait for R and his girlfriend (another M) to arrive. I was so excited to meet M as I hadn't met her yet and R spoke so well of her. After the reunion we went out again for some makan and a little sight seeing. This time we got some bakuteh (again with the spelling), which is essentially a clay pot stew of broth and spare ribs. Delish and one of my favorites of Singapore. Afterwards we went to get MB some more foot pads, as his achilles had some blisters from his new sandals. Then we decided to head to Arab street, as no visit with R is complete without a shisha session. Not to mention, MB had never been to a shisha establishment so it was a must. The shisha was great despite the wind (ash) and heat, which by this point, was starting to get to me. 

After we left it was about time for buka pasar, or the fast-breaking market that happens during ramadan to start. We headed to the big mosque, which I had never seen before, and strolled through the market. It's always great to wander through these types of markets, and even better to eat at them, but I was already stuffed at this point, so I enjoyed it with my nose. However, R insisted that we stop by Singapore's signature place to buy some Murtabak, which we were planning to eat 'Egyptian style' or on the hood of one's car. This plan quickly backfired because the nastiest thing I have ever witnessed in Singapore occurred in the parking garage, a broken sewer pipe. NASTY. So we opted to take the food back to R's place instead.

Once again, we washed up and I checked my email to get some info on meeting up with my Spanish friend, N by the Marina Bay footbridge. We had agreed to meet as she had a layover there, but both of us had no way of communicating to one another. We walked by the waterfront at night, which MB hadn't seen anyways (I also haven't, despite the fact I had already been to Singapore last year). It was quite charming and really pretty. We waited around for N for about an hour then gave up to makan (eat) one last time. We headed to a hawker center near the Esplanade and I had some mee goreng (fried noodles, nothing too special as I was full enough by this point) with veggies and MB had some chicken wings (the whole wing, stretched out, with tasty dipping sauce and a delicious glaze). We bumped into other CSers there (CouchSurfers) V and his surfer. I hadn't seen V in over a year so it was cool to bump into him. The other surfer had just came from KL and stayed with someone I know there. We were laughing about the 'small world' effect. Apparently it's quite common in Singapore. They say there are 6 degrees of separation but I have been told by more than one person that in Singapore there are only three. 

R dropped us off at his place (he was staying with M for the night so we would have a bed) and wished us well. I was sad to leave, as it felt too short, but Singapore isn't a cheap place to be, and without jobs it was about as much as our wallets could handle. However, we'll be back for 12 hours at the end of our trip and we will at least get to see R and M one last time.

We passed out almost immediately after being on the go for so long. The next morning we awoke, packed our clean laundry (thanks again for letting us use your washer L!) and said bye to L. We snacked on some kaya toast at the airport before we boarded the plane to Bali.

It was a fun start to the trip to be in some of the big, worldly cities. However, I'm thankful to not have to be at an airport for two weeks and to be taking things at a slower pace. The plan is to spend one week in Bali and one week in Java giving us two weeks in Indo. Indo is my favorite country that I've visited in my life thus far and I'm excited to be back. However it's a bit late and the start of the chapter is better left for another post. It's time for me to put some aloe on my sunburns and retire to the Bale underneath the mosquito net.

selamat malam (goodnight)

-M

The Journey to Fuk Man Road

     So Blogger is being ultra lame right now, making this post difficult to edit, so my appologies for exceptionally poor English...

     We have learned a few things since our arrival. First, R, our host here is amazing. Although he's an expat (from Amerrrrica) he's been here for two years and has lots of insight into the goings on in HK. He also knows all the great places to eat and we have been eating well!

More after the break

     So Blogger is being ultra lame right now, making this post difficult to edit, so my appologies for exceptionally poor English...

     We have learned a few things since our arrival. First, R, our host here is amazing. Although he's an expat (from Amerrrrica) he's been here for two years and has lots of insight into the goings on in HK. He also knows all the great places to eat and we have been eating well!

More after the break

     So Blogger is being ultra lame right now, making this post difficult to edit, so my appologies for exceptionally poor English...

     We have learned a few things since our arrival. First, R, our host here is amazing. Although he's an expat (from Amerrrrica) he's been here for two years and has lots of insight into the goings on in HK. He also knows all the great places to eat and we have been eating well!

More after the break

     So Blogger is being ultra lame right now, making this post difficult to edit, so my appologies for exceptionally poor English...

     We have learned a few things since our arrival. First, R, our host here is amazing. Although he's an expat (from Amerrrrica) he's been here for two years and has lots of insight into the goings on in HK. He also knows all the great places to eat and we have been eating well!

More after the break

The Best Food in the World

     Why hello hello! It's been so long, I know, but life often gets in the way of writing and there isn't a whole lot of profound stuff to say about finishing up grad school. However, I'm beginning embrace the joys of limbo. The long term un-knowns (in six short weeks I'll be homeless and jobless) can be stressful, but I'm not too busy with work as I'm only taking one class and I've had some time to work on some side projects. Speaking of which, I'll be launching my new blog later this week...yay!

    Enough about my recent shenanigans, in lieu of musing about my next great adventure back to SE Asia I figured this is one overdue post on why Asian food is the best food in the world.

     Why hello hello! It's been so long, I know, but life often gets in the way of writing and there isn't a whole lot of profound stuff to say about finishing up grad school. However, I'm beginning embrace the joys of limbo. The long term un-knowns (in six short weeks I'll be homeless and jobless) can be stressful, but I'm not too busy with work as I'm only taking one class and I've had some time to work on some side projects. Speaking of which, I'll be launching my new blog later this week...yay!

    Enough about my recent shenanigans, in lieu of musing about my next great adventure back to SE Asia I figured this is one overdue post on why Asian food is the best food in the world.

     Why hello hello! It's been so long, I know, but life often gets in the way of writing and there isn't a whole lot of profound stuff to say about finishing up grad school. However, I'm beginning embrace the joys of limbo. The long term un-knowns (in six short weeks I'll be homeless and jobless) can be stressful, but I'm not too busy with work as I'm only taking one class and I've had some time to work on some side projects. Speaking of which, I'll be launching my new blog later this week...yay!

    Enough about my recent shenanigans, in lieu of musing about my next great adventure back to SE Asia I figured this is one overdue post on why Asian food is the best food in the world.

     Why hello hello! It's been so long, I know, but life often gets in the way of writing and there isn't a whole lot of profound stuff to say about finishing up grad school. However, I'm beginning embrace the joys of limbo. The long term un-knowns (in six short weeks I'll be homeless and jobless) can be stressful, but I'm not too busy with work as I'm only taking one class and I've had some time to work on some side projects. Speaking of which, I'll be launching my new blog later this week...yay!

    Enough about my recent shenanigans, in lieu of musing about my next great adventure back to SE Asia I figured this is one overdue post on why Asian food is the best food in the world.

Home

     It's weird to say 'I'm home.' It's no surprise that the summer flew by and for the last time (thankfully) that final countdown to school has begun.

     The 50 plus hour trip home was somewhat like a lucid dream; which is funny, because I kept having this re-occuring dream (up until last night). The setting was normally the Balinese 'long-house' I stayed in, except I wasn't in Bali, the setting was Burundi (er...I mean I guess they start with the same letter?). There was a huge table set out and all of my friends were there. When I say all, I mean random selections from groups of friends I've had throughout my life. Random things would happen (like the place got over-run by a herd of mustangs) but for the most part it me being a fly on the wall, listening in on different conversations.

rainstorm

     Visiting my LA house is always a weird experience. I sleep in the guest room, as my room has been deconstructed, packed, and unpacked in other locations. All that remains is a pile of clear storage boxes containing souvenirs from past lives. It sits there in the middle of that room with nothing but brightly painted walls and some photographs falling out of cheap frames. My house in Los Angeles reminds me of a ghost town.

     My dad took me down Ventura Blvd (damn tourist traffic) in order to make my flight on time. Those of you who have not been blessed with the opportunity to drive down the largest eye/commercial-vomit infested street in the nation, it's a bit like this: sign after sign after sign advertising everything from Halal eateries to Kosher meat shops, Sushi to burritos, head shops to bridal accessories...well you get the point. However, it was the first time I've made that drive in at least 3 years. It was a comical trip down memory lane. That 24-hour hookah joint is still there and so is the place where you could convince the clerk to sell you booze without an ID.

Nina Represents

     Reverse culture shock has been quite interesting. Clearly, it isn't like it was when I came back from Denmark.  The oddest (and funniest) thing to get used to is all the white people. I associated white people with touristy things, and touristy things with a greater chance of getting robbed. It's also weird to see most people dressed in clothing that would offend the general population of KL. Granted, most people who aren't Muslim don't care, but having lived in a predominately Muslim part of town, it's something you only do when you are going out, not walking the dog (which is another thing I'm happy to see again). Other than not having to worry about getting killed every time I cross the street, the only other surprising thing to me has been the food. Denver is a food city, this is an unknown thing to most of the world, including the US. I'll save my full belief in why this is for another day, but let's just say medical marijuana plays a large role. Although I never got sick from the food in Malaysia, or any of the other places I've visited (aside from the occasional heart burn), I've actually had trouble adjusting to the food back home. Hopefully this goes away in a few days, as it is totally raining on my food parade.

Until I write again

-M

     It's weird to say 'I'm home.' It's no surprise that the summer flew by and for the last time (thankfully) that final countdown to school has begun.

     The 50 plus hour trip home was somewhat like a lucid dream; which is funny, because I kept having this re-occuring dream (up until last night). The setting was normally the Balinese 'long-house' I stayed in, except I wasn't in Bali, the setting was Burundi (er...I mean I guess they start with the same letter?). There was a huge table set out and all of my friends were there. When I say all, I mean random selections from groups of friends I've had throughout my life. Random things would happen (like the place got over-run by a herd of mustangs) but for the most part it me being a fly on the wall, listening in on different conversations.

rainstorm

     Visiting my LA house is always a weird experience. I sleep in the guest room, as my room has been deconstructed, packed, and unpacked in other locations. All that remains is a pile of clear storage boxes containing souvenirs from past lives. It sits there in the middle of that room with nothing but brightly painted walls and some photographs falling out of cheap frames. My house in Los Angeles reminds me of a ghost town.

     My dad took me down Ventura Blvd (damn tourist traffic) in order to make my flight on time. Those of you who have not been blessed with the opportunity to drive down the largest eye/commercial-vomit infested street in the nation, it's a bit like this: sign after sign after sign advertising everything from Halal eateries to Kosher meat shops, Sushi to burritos, head shops to bridal accessories...well you get the point. However, it was the first time I've made that drive in at least 3 years. It was a comical trip down memory lane. That 24-hour hookah joint is still there and so is the place where you could convince the clerk to sell you booze without an ID.

Nina Represents

     Reverse culture shock has been quite interesting. Clearly, it isn't like it was when I came back from Denmark.  The oddest (and funniest) thing to get used to is all the white people. I associated white people with touristy things, and touristy things with a greater chance of getting robbed. It's also weird to see most people dressed in clothing that would offend the general population of KL. Granted, most people who aren't Muslim don't care, but having lived in a predominately Muslim part of town, it's something you only do when you are going out, not walking the dog (which is another thing I'm happy to see again). Other than not having to worry about getting killed every time I cross the street, the only other surprising thing to me has been the food. Denver is a food city, this is an unknown thing to most of the world, including the US. I'll save my full belief in why this is for another day, but let's just say medical marijuana plays a large role. Although I never got sick from the food in Malaysia, or any of the other places I've visited (aside from the occasional heart burn), I've actually had trouble adjusting to the food back home. Hopefully this goes away in a few days, as it is totally raining on my food parade.

Until I write again

-M

     It's weird to say 'I'm home.' It's no surprise that the summer flew by and for the last time (thankfully) that final countdown to school has begun.

     The 50 plus hour trip home was somewhat like a lucid dream; which is funny, because I kept having this re-occuring dream (up until last night). The setting was normally the Balinese 'long-house' I stayed in, except I wasn't in Bali, the setting was Burundi (er...I mean I guess they start with the same letter?). There was a huge table set out and all of my friends were there. When I say all, I mean random selections from groups of friends I've had throughout my life. Random things would happen (like the place got over-run by a herd of mustangs) but for the most part it me being a fly on the wall, listening in on different conversations.

rainstorm

     Visiting my LA house is always a weird experience. I sleep in the guest room, as my room has been deconstructed, packed, and unpacked in other locations. All that remains is a pile of clear storage boxes containing souvenirs from past lives. It sits there in the middle of that room with nothing but brightly painted walls and some photographs falling out of cheap frames. My house in Los Angeles reminds me of a ghost town.

     My dad took me down Ventura Blvd (damn tourist traffic) in order to make my flight on time. Those of you who have not been blessed with the opportunity to drive down the largest eye/commercial-vomit infested street in the nation, it's a bit like this: sign after sign after sign advertising everything from Halal eateries to Kosher meat shops, Sushi to burritos, head shops to bridal accessories...well you get the point. However, it was the first time I've made that drive in at least 3 years. It was a comical trip down memory lane. That 24-hour hookah joint is still there and so is the place where you could convince the clerk to sell you booze without an ID.

Nina Represents

     Reverse culture shock has been quite interesting. Clearly, it isn't like it was when I came back from Denmark.  The oddest (and funniest) thing to get used to is all the white people. I associated white people with touristy things, and touristy things with a greater chance of getting robbed. It's also weird to see most people dressed in clothing that would offend the general population of KL. Granted, most people who aren't Muslim don't care, but having lived in a predominately Muslim part of town, it's something you only do when you are going out, not walking the dog (which is another thing I'm happy to see again). Other than not having to worry about getting killed every time I cross the street, the only other surprising thing to me has been the food. Denver is a food city, this is an unknown thing to most of the world, including the US. I'll save my full belief in why this is for another day, but let's just say medical marijuana plays a large role. Although I never got sick from the food in Malaysia, or any of the other places I've visited (aside from the occasional heart burn), I've actually had trouble adjusting to the food back home. Hopefully this goes away in a few days, as it is totally raining on my food parade.

Until I write again

-M

     It's weird to say 'I'm home.' It's no surprise that the summer flew by and for the last time (thankfully) that final countdown to school has begun.

     The 50 plus hour trip home was somewhat like a lucid dream; which is funny, because I kept having this re-occuring dream (up until last night). The setting was normally the Balinese 'long-house' I stayed in, except I wasn't in Bali, the setting was Burundi (er...I mean I guess they start with the same letter?). There was a huge table set out and all of my friends were there. When I say all, I mean random selections from groups of friends I've had throughout my life. Random things would happen (like the place got over-run by a herd of mustangs) but for the most part it me being a fly on the wall, listening in on different conversations.

rainstorm

     Visiting my LA house is always a weird experience. I sleep in the guest room, as my room has been deconstructed, packed, and unpacked in other locations. All that remains is a pile of clear storage boxes containing souvenirs from past lives. It sits there in the middle of that room with nothing but brightly painted walls and some photographs falling out of cheap frames. My house in Los Angeles reminds me of a ghost town.

     My dad took me down Ventura Blvd (damn tourist traffic) in order to make my flight on time. Those of you who have not been blessed with the opportunity to drive down the largest eye/commercial-vomit infested street in the nation, it's a bit like this: sign after sign after sign advertising everything from Halal eateries to Kosher meat shops, Sushi to burritos, head shops to bridal accessories...well you get the point. However, it was the first time I've made that drive in at least 3 years. It was a comical trip down memory lane. That 24-hour hookah joint is still there and so is the place where you could convince the clerk to sell you booze without an ID.

Nina Represents

     Reverse culture shock has been quite interesting. Clearly, it isn't like it was when I came back from Denmark.  The oddest (and funniest) thing to get used to is all the white people. I associated white people with touristy things, and touristy things with a greater chance of getting robbed. It's also weird to see most people dressed in clothing that would offend the general population of KL. Granted, most people who aren't Muslim don't care, but having lived in a predominately Muslim part of town, it's something you only do when you are going out, not walking the dog (which is another thing I'm happy to see again). Other than not having to worry about getting killed every time I cross the street, the only other surprising thing to me has been the food. Denver is a food city, this is an unknown thing to most of the world, including the US. I'll save my full belief in why this is for another day, but let's just say medical marijuana plays a large role. Although I never got sick from the food in Malaysia, or any of the other places I've visited (aside from the occasional heart burn), I've actually had trouble adjusting to the food back home. Hopefully this goes away in a few days, as it is totally raining on my food parade.

Until I write again

-M

TaDah!!!!

     Finished the competition and watched it as the parchment paper containing three weeks of nothing but work flew out the door at the last minute. It was crazy. Essentially the competition submittal is at about the level of a regular studio submittal (except the plans are slightly less detailed...well the sections are single-lined at least) done in a matter of 3.5 weeks. For those of you who don't know, that's three months of work crammed into three weeks, with only 3 people working on it until last week. Yesterday it seemed the whole office was in on it (granted I sit by all the 3d guys - and gal). Some had been there all night, I was lucky enough to leave by 9.30 or so. We all got a bit loopy the last final days, the situation resembled something like the last few nights before jury. I must admit though, it was quite cool to see the final products. Even cooler to not have to stare at them anymore and send them away.

    After the boards went out, a bunch of us went out for food. The place has no name, except for 'behind the parking lot.' They served Malay food. Although I wasn't exactly hungry for spicy food at 10:45 in the morning, I grabbed a plate anyway because I wanted to try what I could. I pretty much loaded my plate with bite sized portions of different sauces and curries, as well as a sweet ayam (chicken) drumstick. Of course, it all tasted yummy. I had some sayur (veggies) with a little bit of chili in it, but it wasn't supposed to be spicy. However, my luck proved to be, once again, surprising and I bit right into a chili seed. My mouth went aflame. Never had I eaten anything so spicy. The unexpected factor didn't help matters. My mouth hurt so bad I was tearing up. Of course, all my Malaysian co-workers were laughing at me. I found it funny as well, I mean here I am, this weird white girl sitting in this rinky-dink (just the way I like it) food stall in an old parking lot, behind a crumbling wall, putting things on my plate that I was told would be spicy and I bite into the one thing that even I know is not spicy and my mouth lights up with heat. Whatever, you win some you lose some. 

     I also had some sauce made from fermented Durian and I liked it a lot. The smell of Durian (albeit it smells like sewage meets wet newspaper) really doesn't bother me all that much. Maybe it's because I'm in a city and almost expect nasty smells at times. It isn't something I'd wear as perfume, but it isn't the worst thing I've smelled either. I'd still like to try some, I know my time will come, my room mate, F, loves it.

     Speaking of F, she took me out to Banana Leaf rice on Sunday night. Best meal I've had so far hands down. The place is pretty well known in KL. It was the first time I was hungry all weekend, and I thought that with a cold some spice might help decongest me a little bit. It worked like a charm and I've been feeling better ever since. Still not well enough to go to the gym, but I'm well enough to make it through the day without medication.

     I got the rest of the day off after lunch so I ran a few errands (cashing paycheck, buying stamps, buying my bus ticket to Singapore) and then did some reading up on travel. I'm not too sure where I'm going to go in late July. Maybe Seim Reap to see Ankor Wat? I keep getting mixed reviews about Cambodia though. Laos I think is out because I've heard too many negative things. I don't have time to see Vietnam or Thailand (unless i just went to one place, but is there really a point to that?) Korea is too expensive, and I'm not going to Bali or Borneo with MB (we will be back for that next year). I'm not too sure what will end up happening, but I'm open to suggestions.

   The only thing I have left to do is to head to Bukit Butang to Lowyatt in order to see if I can get my point and shoot fixed before the weekend. I've been told by enough people that I have a 'rip me off' tatoo stamped to my forehead so if I don't want to pay a lot to fix it I should go with someone who knows the place. The problem is, the one person I know just pulled an all-nighter so I'm not about to ask him. The other person who could help needs to help my roomie study for the bar so I don't want to disturb him either. We shall see what happens. 

     Anyways, I'm off, I'll try to post up some pictures on Flickr today. Going to talk to the fams tomorrow. 

Laters!

-M

     Finished the competition and watched it as the parchment paper containing three weeks of nothing but work flew out the door at the last minute. It was crazy. Essentially the competition submittal is at about the level of a regular studio submittal (except the plans are slightly less detailed...well the sections are single-lined at least) done in a matter of 3.5 weeks. For those of you who don't know, that's three months of work crammed into three weeks, with only 3 people working on it until last week. Yesterday it seemed the whole office was in on it (granted I sit by all the 3d guys - and gal). Some had been there all night, I was lucky enough to leave by 9.30 or so. We all got a bit loopy the last final days, the situation resembled something like the last few nights before jury. I must admit though, it was quite cool to see the final products. Even cooler to not have to stare at them anymore and send them away.

    After the boards went out, a bunch of us went out for food. The place has no name, except for 'behind the parking lot.' They served Malay food. Although I wasn't exactly hungry for spicy food at 10:45 in the morning, I grabbed a plate anyway because I wanted to try what I could. I pretty much loaded my plate with bite sized portions of different sauces and curries, as well as a sweet ayam (chicken) drumstick. Of course, it all tasted yummy. I had some sayur (veggies) with a little bit of chili in it, but it wasn't supposed to be spicy. However, my luck proved to be, once again, surprising and I bit right into a chili seed. My mouth went aflame. Never had I eaten anything so spicy. The unexpected factor didn't help matters. My mouth hurt so bad I was tearing up. Of course, all my Malaysian co-workers were laughing at me. I found it funny as well, I mean here I am, this weird white girl sitting in this rinky-dink (just the way I like it) food stall in an old parking lot, behind a crumbling wall, putting things on my plate that I was told would be spicy and I bite into the one thing that even I know is not spicy and my mouth lights up with heat. Whatever, you win some you lose some. 

     I also had some sauce made from fermented Durian and I liked it a lot. The smell of Durian (albeit it smells like sewage meets wet newspaper) really doesn't bother me all that much. Maybe it's because I'm in a city and almost expect nasty smells at times. It isn't something I'd wear as perfume, but it isn't the worst thing I've smelled either. I'd still like to try some, I know my time will come, my room mate, F, loves it.

     Speaking of F, she took me out to Banana Leaf rice on Sunday night. Best meal I've had so far hands down. The place is pretty well known in KL. It was the first time I was hungry all weekend, and I thought that with a cold some spice might help decongest me a little bit. It worked like a charm and I've been feeling better ever since. Still not well enough to go to the gym, but I'm well enough to make it through the day without medication.

     I got the rest of the day off after lunch so I ran a few errands (cashing paycheck, buying stamps, buying my bus ticket to Singapore) and then did some reading up on travel. I'm not too sure where I'm going to go in late July. Maybe Seim Reap to see Ankor Wat? I keep getting mixed reviews about Cambodia though. Laos I think is out because I've heard too many negative things. I don't have time to see Vietnam or Thailand (unless i just went to one place, but is there really a point to that?) Korea is too expensive, and I'm not going to Bali or Borneo with MB (we will be back for that next year). I'm not too sure what will end up happening, but I'm open to suggestions.

   The only thing I have left to do is to head to Bukit Butang to Lowyatt in order to see if I can get my point and shoot fixed before the weekend. I've been told by enough people that I have a 'rip me off' tatoo stamped to my forehead so if I don't want to pay a lot to fix it I should go with someone who knows the place. The problem is, the one person I know just pulled an all-nighter so I'm not about to ask him. The other person who could help needs to help my roomie study for the bar so I don't want to disturb him either. We shall see what happens. 

     Anyways, I'm off, I'll try to post up some pictures on Flickr today. Going to talk to the fams tomorrow. 

Laters!

-M

     Finished the competition and watched it as the parchment paper containing three weeks of nothing but work flew out the door at the last minute. It was crazy. Essentially the competition submittal is at about the level of a regular studio submittal (except the plans are slightly less detailed...well the sections are single-lined at least) done in a matter of 3.5 weeks. For those of you who don't know, that's three months of work crammed into three weeks, with only 3 people working on it until last week. Yesterday it seemed the whole office was in on it (granted I sit by all the 3d guys - and gal). Some had been there all night, I was lucky enough to leave by 9.30 or so. We all got a bit loopy the last final days, the situation resembled something like the last few nights before jury. I must admit though, it was quite cool to see the final products. Even cooler to not have to stare at them anymore and send them away.

    After the boards went out, a bunch of us went out for food. The place has no name, except for 'behind the parking lot.' They served Malay food. Although I wasn't exactly hungry for spicy food at 10:45 in the morning, I grabbed a plate anyway because I wanted to try what I could. I pretty much loaded my plate with bite sized portions of different sauces and curries, as well as a sweet ayam (chicken) drumstick. Of course, it all tasted yummy. I had some sayur (veggies) with a little bit of chili in it, but it wasn't supposed to be spicy. However, my luck proved to be, once again, surprising and I bit right into a chili seed. My mouth went aflame. Never had I eaten anything so spicy. The unexpected factor didn't help matters. My mouth hurt so bad I was tearing up. Of course, all my Malaysian co-workers were laughing at me. I found it funny as well, I mean here I am, this weird white girl sitting in this rinky-dink (just the way I like it) food stall in an old parking lot, behind a crumbling wall, putting things on my plate that I was told would be spicy and I bite into the one thing that even I know is not spicy and my mouth lights up with heat. Whatever, you win some you lose some. 

     I also had some sauce made from fermented Durian and I liked it a lot. The smell of Durian (albeit it smells like sewage meets wet newspaper) really doesn't bother me all that much. Maybe it's because I'm in a city and almost expect nasty smells at times. It isn't something I'd wear as perfume, but it isn't the worst thing I've smelled either. I'd still like to try some, I know my time will come, my room mate, F, loves it.

     Speaking of F, she took me out to Banana Leaf rice on Sunday night. Best meal I've had so far hands down. The place is pretty well known in KL. It was the first time I was hungry all weekend, and I thought that with a cold some spice might help decongest me a little bit. It worked like a charm and I've been feeling better ever since. Still not well enough to go to the gym, but I'm well enough to make it through the day without medication.

     I got the rest of the day off after lunch so I ran a few errands (cashing paycheck, buying stamps, buying my bus ticket to Singapore) and then did some reading up on travel. I'm not too sure where I'm going to go in late July. Maybe Seim Reap to see Ankor Wat? I keep getting mixed reviews about Cambodia though. Laos I think is out because I've heard too many negative things. I don't have time to see Vietnam or Thailand (unless i just went to one place, but is there really a point to that?) Korea is too expensive, and I'm not going to Bali or Borneo with MB (we will be back for that next year). I'm not too sure what will end up happening, but I'm open to suggestions.

   The only thing I have left to do is to head to Bukit Butang to Lowyatt in order to see if I can get my point and shoot fixed before the weekend. I've been told by enough people that I have a 'rip me off' tatoo stamped to my forehead so if I don't want to pay a lot to fix it I should go with someone who knows the place. The problem is, the one person I know just pulled an all-nighter so I'm not about to ask him. The other person who could help needs to help my roomie study for the bar so I don't want to disturb him either. We shall see what happens. 

     Anyways, I'm off, I'll try to post up some pictures on Flickr today. Going to talk to the fams tomorrow. 

Laters!

-M

     Finished the competition and watched it as the parchment paper containing three weeks of nothing but work flew out the door at the last minute. It was crazy. Essentially the competition submittal is at about the level of a regular studio submittal (except the plans are slightly less detailed...well the sections are single-lined at least) done in a matter of 3.5 weeks. For those of you who don't know, that's three months of work crammed into three weeks, with only 3 people working on it until last week. Yesterday it seemed the whole office was in on it (granted I sit by all the 3d guys - and gal). Some had been there all night, I was lucky enough to leave by 9.30 or so. We all got a bit loopy the last final days, the situation resembled something like the last few nights before jury. I must admit though, it was quite cool to see the final products. Even cooler to not have to stare at them anymore and send them away.

    After the boards went out, a bunch of us went out for food. The place has no name, except for 'behind the parking lot.' They served Malay food. Although I wasn't exactly hungry for spicy food at 10:45 in the morning, I grabbed a plate anyway because I wanted to try what I could. I pretty much loaded my plate with bite sized portions of different sauces and curries, as well as a sweet ayam (chicken) drumstick. Of course, it all tasted yummy. I had some sayur (veggies) with a little bit of chili in it, but it wasn't supposed to be spicy. However, my luck proved to be, once again, surprising and I bit right into a chili seed. My mouth went aflame. Never had I eaten anything so spicy. The unexpected factor didn't help matters. My mouth hurt so bad I was tearing up. Of course, all my Malaysian co-workers were laughing at me. I found it funny as well, I mean here I am, this weird white girl sitting in this rinky-dink (just the way I like it) food stall in an old parking lot, behind a crumbling wall, putting things on my plate that I was told would be spicy and I bite into the one thing that even I know is not spicy and my mouth lights up with heat. Whatever, you win some you lose some. 

     I also had some sauce made from fermented Durian and I liked it a lot. The smell of Durian (albeit it smells like sewage meets wet newspaper) really doesn't bother me all that much. Maybe it's because I'm in a city and almost expect nasty smells at times. It isn't something I'd wear as perfume, but it isn't the worst thing I've smelled either. I'd still like to try some, I know my time will come, my room mate, F, loves it.

     Speaking of F, she took me out to Banana Leaf rice on Sunday night. Best meal I've had so far hands down. The place is pretty well known in KL. It was the first time I was hungry all weekend, and I thought that with a cold some spice might help decongest me a little bit. It worked like a charm and I've been feeling better ever since. Still not well enough to go to the gym, but I'm well enough to make it through the day without medication.

     I got the rest of the day off after lunch so I ran a few errands (cashing paycheck, buying stamps, buying my bus ticket to Singapore) and then did some reading up on travel. I'm not too sure where I'm going to go in late July. Maybe Seim Reap to see Ankor Wat? I keep getting mixed reviews about Cambodia though. Laos I think is out because I've heard too many negative things. I don't have time to see Vietnam or Thailand (unless i just went to one place, but is there really a point to that?) Korea is too expensive, and I'm not going to Bali or Borneo with MB (we will be back for that next year). I'm not too sure what will end up happening, but I'm open to suggestions.

   The only thing I have left to do is to head to Bukit Butang to Lowyatt in order to see if I can get my point and shoot fixed before the weekend. I've been told by enough people that I have a 'rip me off' tatoo stamped to my forehead so if I don't want to pay a lot to fix it I should go with someone who knows the place. The problem is, the one person I know just pulled an all-nighter so I'm not about to ask him. The other person who could help needs to help my roomie study for the bar so I don't want to disturb him either. We shall see what happens. 

     Anyways, I'm off, I'll try to post up some pictures on Flickr today. Going to talk to the fams tomorrow. 

Laters!

-M

Definitely a case of the Mondays...

     Today was not my day. Actually, the last two days at work were quite like this. I got home today a little earlier than yesterday which was nice, but it has been frustrating. Essentially, I just don't see eye to eye with my boss for this project. This situation, as I'm sure you are all aware, is quite normal. However, this being my first official office job, figuring out how to deal with it has its ups and downs. Don't get me wrong, she's a good designer; it is simply a classic clash of form vs. function. I'm more of a function person, she's more of a form lady. It makes working on this competition quite difficult. You have good days and you have bad days, today was a bad day. Tomorrow will be easier. I think I'm just going to try to focus on getting the presentation ready because designing just isn't working out for me right now. But why you ask? Aren't you an architect? Well, technically no, I'm an intern, and yes I do like to design, but we are at a stage where things need to get done and my ideas just don't co-incide with the design. So in order to contribute in a positive manner I'm content with making diagrams and getting a coherent presentation together. I also don't mind sitting back and observing the rest of the design in order to learn a viewpoint different than my own; contributing where I feel it is absolutely necessary to discussions. Just got to take it one day at a time and stay positive. The deadline is in a week. I think the core of the team feels quite the same way, a little on the burnt-out end of the spectrum. Both of the new helpers on the team commented on the low team morale. At least I know I'm not alone.

     This weekend (aside from working Sunday afternoon/night) was spent being a tourist. It actually helped me settle in a lot better. I feel like I know a bit more of what goes on around here and I'm starting to meet more people. On Saturday I went out on my own. It was the king's birthday and I tried to find the festivities in all the wrong places, but I saw quite a bit of touristy parts of the city. I went down to Chinatown and Pasar Seni (Central Market...it might be Sini...I'm too tired to look it up). I got one of those fish massages, where you dip your legs in a large fish tank and the "Doctor Fish" as they are called eat all the dead skin away. It tickles like crazy (and I'm not very ticklish) for the first few minutes and then it feels like soft scratches or something along those lines. A totally unique experience. Afterwards it feels awesome. Your feet and legs feel so refreshed and surprisingly clean. I'd do it again and highly recommend it. I window shopped for a bit, got some fresh mango at a fruit stand, and then went to Chinatown to find MB a present. I bargained my way to what I wanted which was exciting. It's pretty easy. The price they initially offer is quite tempting if you convert it to dollars, so I probably could have done better, but I only ended up paying a Ringgit or two more than I wanted to. After this I went to the food stalls and sat down to journal for a bit. I ended up talking with these two British girls and had lunch with them. It was some amazing Peking duck, although I'm sure the real thing in China is better still. I didn't care, because nothing beats crispy skin and duck fat over rice.

    After lunch I wandered around a bit more and visited a small Buddhist temple. I made an offering and sat there in meditation for a while. I'm currently learning about the 8 Fold Path to Enlightenment so it was kinda cool to start to recognize symbols and meanings in the temple. Plus, I saw it as a chance to get in touch with the world and the present. Literally right across the street and maybe 10 meters down there was a Hindu temple. I am fascinated by the ornate-ness of the Hindu religion, as well as the colors and beauty that surround the Hindu culture. It was my first time actually inside a Hindu place of worship. Although it was quite small I did spend a lot of time staring at the statues. Shiva was depicted with quite large boobs, which I am assuming is a symbol of nurturing, but I found it rather distracting (I know I know, I'm like a 10 year old boy). You can't wear your shoes in Hindu temples, so I left mine outside and of course I stepped in pigeon poo. Fortunately there was a place to wash your feet. I guess I'll know in a few days if I get some type of weird infection or something.

     After that I tried to get a taxi to go to Independence Square because I couldn't gage how far it was by my map and there is no city grid here so navigating is quite hard. I should have known when the taxi driver refused to use his meter that I would be ripped off, but at this point I was sweating like crazy and sitting in the air con left my don't-rip-me-off attitude out in the heat. I got totally ripped off, which made me a bit upset, because I know better, but whatever, at least next time I will know how to walk there. It was completely dead (it used to be the place where most of the political activity was, but most of it has been moved to a new city called Putrajaya - coincidentally where my competition project is). Aside from the old buildings and large flagpole it was kinda blah. I was going to go to the national mosque after that, but the cabbie had aggravated me so I left the area. Plus, I want to go national mosque with an actual Muslim so they can explain things to me, so I'll explore that part of town another time.

     I decided that it was still too early to return home, even though it was the hottest part of the day, so I headed over to Little India. That area is a complete CF. Crowded, people everywhere, people shouting at you, no room to move in between street stalls, and nothing really that special. I was going to sit down and get a snack from the Mamak stalls, but it was hotter under the tents than it was outside, so I window shopped in the colorful Sari stores instead. There are also a LOT of gold jewelry stores, which was quite interesting to see. Also, and like Chinatown, there were a LOT of knock offs/junk/un-identifiable chochkies (or however you spell it). Consumerism is a funny thing. The only thing I got there was a much needed bottle of water. I sat around in the shade/air con of the LRT station before heading home.

     I quickly took a shower and then headed back out to explore my neighborhood a bit more and then grab some groceries. I stumbled upon a Carrefour and I was curious to know if it was a grocery place or what so I went it. Carrefour is essentially a Wal-Mart on speed/steroids with a much better food selection. It was a bit overwhelming, but since I had walked through an entire parking lot (they are LARGE here), a parking lot market (random?) and circled a small mall to get there I got my groceries and a few household items there. It was actually pretty entertaining. They blasted peppy top-40s music and I found it a bit funny to see all of these women covered up while tapping their feet to that S&M song. They also had a live fish section (for food, not pets) and half a cow hanging from a hook with the other half chopped up into various cuts on a table on the side. The store had very little organization aside from the aisles, but things like toys were sandwiched in between storage containers and rat poison. I managed to make it out of there spending very little money. Just grabbing some pasta, breakfast items, beer, and food containers.

     That evening F, my roomie, graciously cooked me dinner and I ate with her and her boyfriend D. D is such a gentleman. Seriously. He served us food, refilled our food and cleaned up. He says he does it because he can't cook, but I have never had a guy I hardly met fill up my plate for me. He is Hindu, and the next day I was going to the Batu Caves so I was asking him questions about the festival that goes on there (Google it, I'm getting sssssuuuuuppppppper tired and it takes a while to explain, but don't say I didn't warn you, it's quite gory. Guys pull heavy blocks to shrines of different gods through hooks pierced throughout their bodies).

     The next day I went to my first CS event to the Batu Caves. It was a blast. I met a lot of cool people from all walks of life. I really look forward to hanging out with them more as the summer goes on. The hospitality here is quite amazing and the Malaysians who are a little more outgoing really make an effort to make you feel at home. Those that are shy (which is normal here) are just as nice, you just have to make the effort to get to know them. It was fun to hang out with people from all over, and all over KL as well. I hope to travel and go on more adventures with them in the future. The Batu Caves are a sight to behold. It is obviously very touristy, but at the same time, it is the most sacred Hindu site in Malaysia, so there were a lot of people there to worship as well. There were a few weddings, where it is considered an honor (to the newly-weds) if you are from far, far away to get your picture taken with the bride and groom (see Flickr in the next few days, I'm uploading soon) and wish them a happy marriage. The colors and ornate nature of the wedding outfits are breathtaking. Batu Caves are high up, about 300 and something narrow, steep steps up the side of a mountain. Be prepared to be attacked by monkeys on the way up. I brought the end pieces of my bread to give to the monkeys (because I don't eat them and I don't want to waste food). Being around monkeys is not a new thing for me (I've been to the Amazon) and I know how clever/rough they can be so I engaged in a friendly tug of war with one.

     After sweating it out up to the caves, we headed down. As we were debating where to eat lunch we got to witness someone on a religious pilgrimage who was asking the gods for a favor. In order to do this, you roll down the main entrance, then crawl on your hands and knees up all the steps and pray the whole way there. Trust me, this is NOT an easy task (don't forget the climate conditions), and you could see in her face her determination and dedication to the task at hand. Truly an amazing thing to witness.

  We were waiting for a couple to come back down, so we had some fresh coconuts, then headed to lunch at Teman Melati. We ate at a place called Virgin Chicken (which is the way they cook it I guess), near where my host family lives. I had a great time eating and exchanging travel stories and suggestions. I've got some travel plans in the works, which is something to look forward to after all of this competition business is done. I found out that there are a few other people I know heading to Singapore the same weekend I am, so hopefully I can meet up with them.

    Anyways, this is getting WAYYYYYY too long, so I'm going to get going to bed. I have made it my mission to take at least a half-hour out of my overtime day tomorrow to do some yoga. Hopefully it will keep me centered and refreshed for the long week ahead!

-M

Batu Caves

News paper article...

Monkey...obviously

True dedication - after the first stage of rolling

     Today was not my day. Actually, the last two days at work were quite like this. I got home today a little earlier than yesterday which was nice, but it has been frustrating. Essentially, I just don't see eye to eye with my boss for this project. This situation, as I'm sure you are all aware, is quite normal. However, this being my first official office job, figuring out how to deal with it has its ups and downs. Don't get me wrong, she's a good designer; it is simply a classic clash of form vs. function. I'm more of a function person, she's more of a form lady. It makes working on this competition quite difficult. You have good days and you have bad days, today was a bad day. Tomorrow will be easier. I think I'm just going to try to focus on getting the presentation ready because designing just isn't working out for me right now. But why you ask? Aren't you an architect? Well, technically no, I'm an intern, and yes I do like to design, but we are at a stage where things need to get done and my ideas just don't co-incide with the design. So in order to contribute in a positive manner I'm content with making diagrams and getting a coherent presentation together. I also don't mind sitting back and observing the rest of the design in order to learn a viewpoint different than my own; contributing where I feel it is absolutely necessary to discussions. Just got to take it one day at a time and stay positive. The deadline is in a week. I think the core of the team feels quite the same way, a little on the burnt-out end of the spectrum. Both of the new helpers on the team commented on the low team morale. At least I know I'm not alone.

     This weekend (aside from working Sunday afternoon/night) was spent being a tourist. It actually helped me settle in a lot better. I feel like I know a bit more of what goes on around here and I'm starting to meet more people. On Saturday I went out on my own. It was the king's birthday and I tried to find the festivities in all the wrong places, but I saw quite a bit of touristy parts of the city. I went down to Chinatown and Pasar Seni (Central Market...it might be Sini...I'm too tired to look it up). I got one of those fish massages, where you dip your legs in a large fish tank and the "Doctor Fish" as they are called eat all the dead skin away. It tickles like crazy (and I'm not very ticklish) for the first few minutes and then it feels like soft scratches or something along those lines. A totally unique experience. Afterwards it feels awesome. Your feet and legs feel so refreshed and surprisingly clean. I'd do it again and highly recommend it. I window shopped for a bit, got some fresh mango at a fruit stand, and then went to Chinatown to find MB a present. I bargained my way to what I wanted which was exciting. It's pretty easy. The price they initially offer is quite tempting if you convert it to dollars, so I probably could have done better, but I only ended up paying a Ringgit or two more than I wanted to. After this I went to the food stalls and sat down to journal for a bit. I ended up talking with these two British girls and had lunch with them. It was some amazing Peking duck, although I'm sure the real thing in China is better still. I didn't care, because nothing beats crispy skin and duck fat over rice.

    After lunch I wandered around a bit more and visited a small Buddhist temple. I made an offering and sat there in meditation for a while. I'm currently learning about the 8 Fold Path to Enlightenment so it was kinda cool to start to recognize symbols and meanings in the temple. Plus, I saw it as a chance to get in touch with the world and the present. Literally right across the street and maybe 10 meters down there was a Hindu temple. I am fascinated by the ornate-ness of the Hindu religion, as well as the colors and beauty that surround the Hindu culture. It was my first time actually inside a Hindu place of worship. Although it was quite small I did spend a lot of time staring at the statues. Shiva was depicted with quite large boobs, which I am assuming is a symbol of nurturing, but I found it rather distracting (I know I know, I'm like a 10 year old boy). You can't wear your shoes in Hindu temples, so I left mine outside and of course I stepped in pigeon poo. Fortunately there was a place to wash your feet. I guess I'll know in a few days if I get some type of weird infection or something.

     After that I tried to get a taxi to go to Independence Square because I couldn't gage how far it was by my map and there is no city grid here so navigating is quite hard. I should have known when the taxi driver refused to use his meter that I would be ripped off, but at this point I was sweating like crazy and sitting in the air con left my don't-rip-me-off attitude out in the heat. I got totally ripped off, which made me a bit upset, because I know better, but whatever, at least next time I will know how to walk there. It was completely dead (it used to be the place where most of the political activity was, but most of it has been moved to a new city called Putrajaya - coincidentally where my competition project is). Aside from the old buildings and large flagpole it was kinda blah. I was going to go to the national mosque after that, but the cabbie had aggravated me so I left the area. Plus, I want to go national mosque with an actual Muslim so they can explain things to me, so I'll explore that part of town another time.

     I decided that it was still too early to return home, even though it was the hottest part of the day, so I headed over to Little India. That area is a complete CF. Crowded, people everywhere, people shouting at you, no room to move in between street stalls, and nothing really that special. I was going to sit down and get a snack from the Mamak stalls, but it was hotter under the tents than it was outside, so I window shopped in the colorful Sari stores instead. There are also a LOT of gold jewelry stores, which was quite interesting to see. Also, and like Chinatown, there were a LOT of knock offs/junk/un-identifiable chochkies (or however you spell it). Consumerism is a funny thing. The only thing I got there was a much needed bottle of water. I sat around in the shade/air con of the LRT station before heading home.

     I quickly took a shower and then headed back out to explore my neighborhood a bit more and then grab some groceries. I stumbled upon a Carrefour and I was curious to know if it was a grocery place or what so I went it. Carrefour is essentially a Wal-Mart on speed/steroids with a much better food selection. It was a bit overwhelming, but since I had walked through an entire parking lot (they are LARGE here), a parking lot market (random?) and circled a small mall to get there I got my groceries and a few household items there. It was actually pretty entertaining. They blasted peppy top-40s music and I found it a bit funny to see all of these women covered up while tapping their feet to that S&M song. They also had a live fish section (for food, not pets) and half a cow hanging from a hook with the other half chopped up into various cuts on a table on the side. The store had very little organization aside from the aisles, but things like toys were sandwiched in between storage containers and rat poison. I managed to make it out of there spending very little money. Just grabbing some pasta, breakfast items, beer, and food containers.

     That evening F, my roomie, graciously cooked me dinner and I ate with her and her boyfriend D. D is such a gentleman. Seriously. He served us food, refilled our food and cleaned up. He says he does it because he can't cook, but I have never had a guy I hardly met fill up my plate for me. He is Hindu, and the next day I was going to the Batu Caves so I was asking him questions about the festival that goes on there (Google it, I'm getting sssssuuuuuppppppper tired and it takes a while to explain, but don't say I didn't warn you, it's quite gory. Guys pull heavy blocks to shrines of different gods through hooks pierced throughout their bodies).

     The next day I went to my first CS event to the Batu Caves. It was a blast. I met a lot of cool people from all walks of life. I really look forward to hanging out with them more as the summer goes on. The hospitality here is quite amazing and the Malaysians who are a little more outgoing really make an effort to make you feel at home. Those that are shy (which is normal here) are just as nice, you just have to make the effort to get to know them. It was fun to hang out with people from all over, and all over KL as well. I hope to travel and go on more adventures with them in the future. The Batu Caves are a sight to behold. It is obviously very touristy, but at the same time, it is the most sacred Hindu site in Malaysia, so there were a lot of people there to worship as well. There were a few weddings, where it is considered an honor (to the newly-weds) if you are from far, far away to get your picture taken with the bride and groom (see Flickr in the next few days, I'm uploading soon) and wish them a happy marriage. The colors and ornate nature of the wedding outfits are breathtaking. Batu Caves are high up, about 300 and something narrow, steep steps up the side of a mountain. Be prepared to be attacked by monkeys on the way up. I brought the end pieces of my bread to give to the monkeys (because I don't eat them and I don't want to waste food). Being around monkeys is not a new thing for me (I've been to the Amazon) and I know how clever/rough they can be so I engaged in a friendly tug of war with one.

     After sweating it out up to the caves, we headed down. As we were debating where to eat lunch we got to witness someone on a religious pilgrimage who was asking the gods for a favor. In order to do this, you roll down the main entrance, then crawl on your hands and knees up all the steps and pray the whole way there. Trust me, this is NOT an easy task (don't forget the climate conditions), and you could see in her face her determination and dedication to the task at hand. Truly an amazing thing to witness.

  We were waiting for a couple to come back down, so we had some fresh coconuts, then headed to lunch at Teman Melati. We ate at a place called Virgin Chicken (which is the way they cook it I guess), near where my host family lives. I had a great time eating and exchanging travel stories and suggestions. I've got some travel plans in the works, which is something to look forward to after all of this competition business is done. I found out that there are a few other people I know heading to Singapore the same weekend I am, so hopefully I can meet up with them.

    Anyways, this is getting WAYYYYYY too long, so I'm going to get going to bed. I have made it my mission to take at least a half-hour out of my overtime day tomorrow to do some yoga. Hopefully it will keep me centered and refreshed for the long week ahead!

-M

Batu Caves

News paper article...

Monkey...obviously

True dedication - after the first stage of rolling

     Today was not my day. Actually, the last two days at work were quite like this. I got home today a little earlier than yesterday which was nice, but it has been frustrating. Essentially, I just don't see eye to eye with my boss for this project. This situation, as I'm sure you are all aware, is quite normal. However, this being my first official office job, figuring out how to deal with it has its ups and downs. Don't get me wrong, she's a good designer; it is simply a classic clash of form vs. function. I'm more of a function person, she's more of a form lady. It makes working on this competition quite difficult. You have good days and you have bad days, today was a bad day. Tomorrow will be easier. I think I'm just going to try to focus on getting the presentation ready because designing just isn't working out for me right now. But why you ask? Aren't you an architect? Well, technically no, I'm an intern, and yes I do like to design, but we are at a stage where things need to get done and my ideas just don't co-incide with the design. So in order to contribute in a positive manner I'm content with making diagrams and getting a coherent presentation together. I also don't mind sitting back and observing the rest of the design in order to learn a viewpoint different than my own; contributing where I feel it is absolutely necessary to discussions. Just got to take it one day at a time and stay positive. The deadline is in a week. I think the core of the team feels quite the same way, a little on the burnt-out end of the spectrum. Both of the new helpers on the team commented on the low team morale. At least I know I'm not alone.

     This weekend (aside from working Sunday afternoon/night) was spent being a tourist. It actually helped me settle in a lot better. I feel like I know a bit more of what goes on around here and I'm starting to meet more people. On Saturday I went out on my own. It was the king's birthday and I tried to find the festivities in all the wrong places, but I saw quite a bit of touristy parts of the city. I went down to Chinatown and Pasar Seni (Central Market...it might be Sini...I'm too tired to look it up). I got one of those fish massages, where you dip your legs in a large fish tank and the "Doctor Fish" as they are called eat all the dead skin away. It tickles like crazy (and I'm not very ticklish) for the first few minutes and then it feels like soft scratches or something along those lines. A totally unique experience. Afterwards it feels awesome. Your feet and legs feel so refreshed and surprisingly clean. I'd do it again and highly recommend it. I window shopped for a bit, got some fresh mango at a fruit stand, and then went to Chinatown to find MB a present. I bargained my way to what I wanted which was exciting. It's pretty easy. The price they initially offer is quite tempting if you convert it to dollars, so I probably could have done better, but I only ended up paying a Ringgit or two more than I wanted to. After this I went to the food stalls and sat down to journal for a bit. I ended up talking with these two British girls and had lunch with them. It was some amazing Peking duck, although I'm sure the real thing in China is better still. I didn't care, because nothing beats crispy skin and duck fat over rice.

    After lunch I wandered around a bit more and visited a small Buddhist temple. I made an offering and sat there in meditation for a while. I'm currently learning about the 8 Fold Path to Enlightenment so it was kinda cool to start to recognize symbols and meanings in the temple. Plus, I saw it as a chance to get in touch with the world and the present. Literally right across the street and maybe 10 meters down there was a Hindu temple. I am fascinated by the ornate-ness of the Hindu religion, as well as the colors and beauty that surround the Hindu culture. It was my first time actually inside a Hindu place of worship. Although it was quite small I did spend a lot of time staring at the statues. Shiva was depicted with quite large boobs, which I am assuming is a symbol of nurturing, but I found it rather distracting (I know I know, I'm like a 10 year old boy). You can't wear your shoes in Hindu temples, so I left mine outside and of course I stepped in pigeon poo. Fortunately there was a place to wash your feet. I guess I'll know in a few days if I get some type of weird infection or something.

     After that I tried to get a taxi to go to Independence Square because I couldn't gage how far it was by my map and there is no city grid here so navigating is quite hard. I should have known when the taxi driver refused to use his meter that I would be ripped off, but at this point I was sweating like crazy and sitting in the air con left my don't-rip-me-off attitude out in the heat. I got totally ripped off, which made me a bit upset, because I know better, but whatever, at least next time I will know how to walk there. It was completely dead (it used to be the place where most of the political activity was, but most of it has been moved to a new city called Putrajaya - coincidentally where my competition project is). Aside from the old buildings and large flagpole it was kinda blah. I was going to go to the national mosque after that, but the cabbie had aggravated me so I left the area. Plus, I want to go national mosque with an actual Muslim so they can explain things to me, so I'll explore that part of town another time.

     I decided that it was still too early to return home, even though it was the hottest part of the day, so I headed over to Little India. That area is a complete CF. Crowded, people everywhere, people shouting at you, no room to move in between street stalls, and nothing really that special. I was going to sit down and get a snack from the Mamak stalls, but it was hotter under the tents than it was outside, so I window shopped in the colorful Sari stores instead. There are also a LOT of gold jewelry stores, which was quite interesting to see. Also, and like Chinatown, there were a LOT of knock offs/junk/un-identifiable chochkies (or however you spell it). Consumerism is a funny thing. The only thing I got there was a much needed bottle of water. I sat around in the shade/air con of the LRT station before heading home.

     I quickly took a shower and then headed back out to explore my neighborhood a bit more and then grab some groceries. I stumbled upon a Carrefour and I was curious to know if it was a grocery place or what so I went it. Carrefour is essentially a Wal-Mart on speed/steroids with a much better food selection. It was a bit overwhelming, but since I had walked through an entire parking lot (they are LARGE here), a parking lot market (random?) and circled a small mall to get there I got my groceries and a few household items there. It was actually pretty entertaining. They blasted peppy top-40s music and I found it a bit funny to see all of these women covered up while tapping their feet to that S&M song. They also had a live fish section (for food, not pets) and half a cow hanging from a hook with the other half chopped up into various cuts on a table on the side. The store had very little organization aside from the aisles, but things like toys were sandwiched in between storage containers and rat poison. I managed to make it out of there spending very little money. Just grabbing some pasta, breakfast items, beer, and food containers.

     That evening F, my roomie, graciously cooked me dinner and I ate with her and her boyfriend D. D is such a gentleman. Seriously. He served us food, refilled our food and cleaned up. He says he does it because he can't cook, but I have never had a guy I hardly met fill up my plate for me. He is Hindu, and the next day I was going to the Batu Caves so I was asking him questions about the festival that goes on there (Google it, I'm getting sssssuuuuuppppppper tired and it takes a while to explain, but don't say I didn't warn you, it's quite gory. Guys pull heavy blocks to shrines of different gods through hooks pierced throughout their bodies).

     The next day I went to my first CS event to the Batu Caves. It was a blast. I met a lot of cool people from all walks of life. I really look forward to hanging out with them more as the summer goes on. The hospitality here is quite amazing and the Malaysians who are a little more outgoing really make an effort to make you feel at home. Those that are shy (which is normal here) are just as nice, you just have to make the effort to get to know them. It was fun to hang out with people from all over, and all over KL as well. I hope to travel and go on more adventures with them in the future. The Batu Caves are a sight to behold. It is obviously very touristy, but at the same time, it is the most sacred Hindu site in Malaysia, so there were a lot of people there to worship as well. There were a few weddings, where it is considered an honor (to the newly-weds) if you are from far, far away to get your picture taken with the bride and groom (see Flickr in the next few days, I'm uploading soon) and wish them a happy marriage. The colors and ornate nature of the wedding outfits are breathtaking. Batu Caves are high up, about 300 and something narrow, steep steps up the side of a mountain. Be prepared to be attacked by monkeys on the way up. I brought the end pieces of my bread to give to the monkeys (because I don't eat them and I don't want to waste food). Being around monkeys is not a new thing for me (I've been to the Amazon) and I know how clever/rough they can be so I engaged in a friendly tug of war with one.

     After sweating it out up to the caves, we headed down. As we were debating where to eat lunch we got to witness someone on a religious pilgrimage who was asking the gods for a favor. In order to do this, you roll down the main entrance, then crawl on your hands and knees up all the steps and pray the whole way there. Trust me, this is NOT an easy task (don't forget the climate conditions), and you could see in her face her determination and dedication to the task at hand. Truly an amazing thing to witness.

  We were waiting for a couple to come back down, so we had some fresh coconuts, then headed to lunch at Teman Melati. We ate at a place called Virgin Chicken (which is the way they cook it I guess), near where my host family lives. I had a great time eating and exchanging travel stories and suggestions. I've got some travel plans in the works, which is something to look forward to after all of this competition business is done. I found out that there are a few other people I know heading to Singapore the same weekend I am, so hopefully I can meet up with them.

    Anyways, this is getting WAYYYYYY too long, so I'm going to get going to bed. I have made it my mission to take at least a half-hour out of my overtime day tomorrow to do some yoga. Hopefully it will keep me centered and refreshed for the long week ahead!

-M

Batu Caves

News paper article...

Monkey...obviously

True dedication - after the first stage of rolling

     Today was not my day. Actually, the last two days at work were quite like this. I got home today a little earlier than yesterday which was nice, but it has been frustrating. Essentially, I just don't see eye to eye with my boss for this project. This situation, as I'm sure you are all aware, is quite normal. However, this being my first official office job, figuring out how to deal with it has its ups and downs. Don't get me wrong, she's a good designer; it is simply a classic clash of form vs. function. I'm more of a function person, she's more of a form lady. It makes working on this competition quite difficult. You have good days and you have bad days, today was a bad day. Tomorrow will be easier. I think I'm just going to try to focus on getting the presentation ready because designing just isn't working out for me right now. But why you ask? Aren't you an architect? Well, technically no, I'm an intern, and yes I do like to design, but we are at a stage where things need to get done and my ideas just don't co-incide with the design. So in order to contribute in a positive manner I'm content with making diagrams and getting a coherent presentation together. I also don't mind sitting back and observing the rest of the design in order to learn a viewpoint different than my own; contributing where I feel it is absolutely necessary to discussions. Just got to take it one day at a time and stay positive. The deadline is in a week. I think the core of the team feels quite the same way, a little on the burnt-out end of the spectrum. Both of the new helpers on the team commented on the low team morale. At least I know I'm not alone.

     This weekend (aside from working Sunday afternoon/night) was spent being a tourist. It actually helped me settle in a lot better. I feel like I know a bit more of what goes on around here and I'm starting to meet more people. On Saturday I went out on my own. It was the king's birthday and I tried to find the festivities in all the wrong places, but I saw quite a bit of touristy parts of the city. I went down to Chinatown and Pasar Seni (Central Market...it might be Sini...I'm too tired to look it up). I got one of those fish massages, where you dip your legs in a large fish tank and the "Doctor Fish" as they are called eat all the dead skin away. It tickles like crazy (and I'm not very ticklish) for the first few minutes and then it feels like soft scratches or something along those lines. A totally unique experience. Afterwards it feels awesome. Your feet and legs feel so refreshed and surprisingly clean. I'd do it again and highly recommend it. I window shopped for a bit, got some fresh mango at a fruit stand, and then went to Chinatown to find MB a present. I bargained my way to what I wanted which was exciting. It's pretty easy. The price they initially offer is quite tempting if you convert it to dollars, so I probably could have done better, but I only ended up paying a Ringgit or two more than I wanted to. After this I went to the food stalls and sat down to journal for a bit. I ended up talking with these two British girls and had lunch with them. It was some amazing Peking duck, although I'm sure the real thing in China is better still. I didn't care, because nothing beats crispy skin and duck fat over rice.

    After lunch I wandered around a bit more and visited a small Buddhist temple. I made an offering and sat there in meditation for a while. I'm currently learning about the 8 Fold Path to Enlightenment so it was kinda cool to start to recognize symbols and meanings in the temple. Plus, I saw it as a chance to get in touch with the world and the present. Literally right across the street and maybe 10 meters down there was a Hindu temple. I am fascinated by the ornate-ness of the Hindu religion, as well as the colors and beauty that surround the Hindu culture. It was my first time actually inside a Hindu place of worship. Although it was quite small I did spend a lot of time staring at the statues. Shiva was depicted with quite large boobs, which I am assuming is a symbol of nurturing, but I found it rather distracting (I know I know, I'm like a 10 year old boy). You can't wear your shoes in Hindu temples, so I left mine outside and of course I stepped in pigeon poo. Fortunately there was a place to wash your feet. I guess I'll know in a few days if I get some type of weird infection or something.

     After that I tried to get a taxi to go to Independence Square because I couldn't gage how far it was by my map and there is no city grid here so navigating is quite hard. I should have known when the taxi driver refused to use his meter that I would be ripped off, but at this point I was sweating like crazy and sitting in the air con left my don't-rip-me-off attitude out in the heat. I got totally ripped off, which made me a bit upset, because I know better, but whatever, at least next time I will know how to walk there. It was completely dead (it used to be the place where most of the political activity was, but most of it has been moved to a new city called Putrajaya - coincidentally where my competition project is). Aside from the old buildings and large flagpole it was kinda blah. I was going to go to the national mosque after that, but the cabbie had aggravated me so I left the area. Plus, I want to go national mosque with an actual Muslim so they can explain things to me, so I'll explore that part of town another time.

     I decided that it was still too early to return home, even though it was the hottest part of the day, so I headed over to Little India. That area is a complete CF. Crowded, people everywhere, people shouting at you, no room to move in between street stalls, and nothing really that special. I was going to sit down and get a snack from the Mamak stalls, but it was hotter under the tents than it was outside, so I window shopped in the colorful Sari stores instead. There are also a LOT of gold jewelry stores, which was quite interesting to see. Also, and like Chinatown, there were a LOT of knock offs/junk/un-identifiable chochkies (or however you spell it). Consumerism is a funny thing. The only thing I got there was a much needed bottle of water. I sat around in the shade/air con of the LRT station before heading home.

     I quickly took a shower and then headed back out to explore my neighborhood a bit more and then grab some groceries. I stumbled upon a Carrefour and I was curious to know if it was a grocery place or what so I went it. Carrefour is essentially a Wal-Mart on speed/steroids with a much better food selection. It was a bit overwhelming, but since I had walked through an entire parking lot (they are LARGE here), a parking lot market (random?) and circled a small mall to get there I got my groceries and a few household items there. It was actually pretty entertaining. They blasted peppy top-40s music and I found it a bit funny to see all of these women covered up while tapping their feet to that S&M song. They also had a live fish section (for food, not pets) and half a cow hanging from a hook with the other half chopped up into various cuts on a table on the side. The store had very little organization aside from the aisles, but things like toys were sandwiched in between storage containers and rat poison. I managed to make it out of there spending very little money. Just grabbing some pasta, breakfast items, beer, and food containers.

     That evening F, my roomie, graciously cooked me dinner and I ate with her and her boyfriend D. D is such a gentleman. Seriously. He served us food, refilled our food and cleaned up. He says he does it because he can't cook, but I have never had a guy I hardly met fill up my plate for me. He is Hindu, and the next day I was going to the Batu Caves so I was asking him questions about the festival that goes on there (Google it, I'm getting sssssuuuuuppppppper tired and it takes a while to explain, but don't say I didn't warn you, it's quite gory. Guys pull heavy blocks to shrines of different gods through hooks pierced throughout their bodies).

     The next day I went to my first CS event to the Batu Caves. It was a blast. I met a lot of cool people from all walks of life. I really look forward to hanging out with them more as the summer goes on. The hospitality here is quite amazing and the Malaysians who are a little more outgoing really make an effort to make you feel at home. Those that are shy (which is normal here) are just as nice, you just have to make the effort to get to know them. It was fun to hang out with people from all over, and all over KL as well. I hope to travel and go on more adventures with them in the future. The Batu Caves are a sight to behold. It is obviously very touristy, but at the same time, it is the most sacred Hindu site in Malaysia, so there were a lot of people there to worship as well. There were a few weddings, where it is considered an honor (to the newly-weds) if you are from far, far away to get your picture taken with the bride and groom (see Flickr in the next few days, I'm uploading soon) and wish them a happy marriage. The colors and ornate nature of the wedding outfits are breathtaking. Batu Caves are high up, about 300 and something narrow, steep steps up the side of a mountain. Be prepared to be attacked by monkeys on the way up. I brought the end pieces of my bread to give to the monkeys (because I don't eat them and I don't want to waste food). Being around monkeys is not a new thing for me (I've been to the Amazon) and I know how clever/rough they can be so I engaged in a friendly tug of war with one.

     After sweating it out up to the caves, we headed down. As we were debating where to eat lunch we got to witness someone on a religious pilgrimage who was asking the gods for a favor. In order to do this, you roll down the main entrance, then crawl on your hands and knees up all the steps and pray the whole way there. Trust me, this is NOT an easy task (don't forget the climate conditions), and you could see in her face her determination and dedication to the task at hand. Truly an amazing thing to witness.

  We were waiting for a couple to come back down, so we had some fresh coconuts, then headed to lunch at Teman Melati. We ate at a place called Virgin Chicken (which is the way they cook it I guess), near where my host family lives. I had a great time eating and exchanging travel stories and suggestions. I've got some travel plans in the works, which is something to look forward to after all of this competition business is done. I found out that there are a few other people I know heading to Singapore the same weekend I am, so hopefully I can meet up with them.

    Anyways, this is getting WAYYYYYY too long, so I'm going to get going to bed. I have made it my mission to take at least a half-hour out of my overtime day tomorrow to do some yoga. Hopefully it will keep me centered and refreshed for the long week ahead!

-M

Batu Caves

News paper article...

Monkey...obviously

True dedication - after the first stage of rolling

Tall Tiger and instant noodles...

     Once again, it's been a while and once again, to no surprise, I've been busier than ever. The competition is in full swing, and to be honest, I need a break from it. Granted this is me coming off of a 10 and 12 hour day, a 6 day work week, and another 6 day week to go. Being thrown into the deep end of the lop-sided frying pan is not only beginning to take its toll on me, but has also begun to wear away at my enjoyment of architecture. It's kind of like the week before jury week...for 3 consecutive weeks. Not to mention the principal in charge of the project is a night owl (when it comes to working, surprisingly, I am the complete opposite). On the plus side, I can say I am getting to know AutoCAD inside and out. For those of you who may be surprised that I didn't know CAD, my school (and firms in Colorado) teach/require Revit. Basically, I'm reversed in the sense that I know Revit but am relatively shaky in CAD. We have a new intern, Q (phonetically it should be a K) although he mainly builds models because he is a first-year in undergrad. Some may find it depressing that I'm staying in, eating instant noodles, sipping a Tiger beer, and blogging on a Friday night; but honestly, this is exactly what I want to be doing right now. I'm dead tired from the week and it just finished raining, so the humidity is at an energy-zapping high.

     Anyways, enough about work, there is more to life than the office (although it hasn't seemed that way quite yet). I finally met my third roomate - C. She's from South Africa, which is quite cool in my opinion. Every South African I have ever met has been super awesome and a lot of fun to be around. She is here with her mom (who is on holiday) and although I showed her around, she won't officially be moving in until Sunday. Yesterday I went out for Lebanese food and shisha (Americans usually call it: hukah), in Asia, with her (a South African) and my co-worker S, who lives a train stop over, from Columbia. If that isn't a sign of the times I don't know what is. In KL, such situations are quite typical. 'International' almost seems to be an understatement. The food was amazing, some of the best falafel I've had in ages.

      A few days prior I went to yoga with a group of gals from the office. It's a Tuesday tradition, something not to be missed. I'm not too good at yoga, but I love it anyway. After a 2 day journey to Malaysia, it was just what my body needed. I also stopped by the REAL Chinatown (not the touristy one near the National Mosque), a small strip of streets in the district of Wangsa Maju to go to a Chinese hawker center. A hawker center is basically a large strip of street vendors selling various food items at low, low prices. I got some spicy pork, spicy fish balls, some type of vegetable, and rice all for $1.20 US. The rule is to pick the most packed stall and go for it. Don't ask what you're eating, follow your nose and figure out what it is when you eat it. It was a leap of faith on my part, the first time I ventured into an adjacent neighborhood (I really don't live in a touristy part of town, but where actual locals live) and went for it. Given my past experience in Mongolia, food still remains a point of nervousness, especially street food when no one is there to re-assure me about it. These places are definitely not Halal, and as much as I appreciate the cleanliness of Halal, the smell of pork was a welcomed familiarity (and one I couldn't pass up). I was going to stick around and eat there, however mosquitos (colloquially called mozzies) were happily gnawing away at my ankles so I returned to the safety of my 19th floor apartment. I plan on taking C and S there next week for some tasty authentic Chinese (complete with MSG and all).

     Today, as it goes with every Friday, I got to enjoy a long lunch (we get more time so the Muslim community can attend Friday prayers). I was invited by M, a co-worker, to go to this Japanese restaurant for lunch. It was soooo so so good! Japanese food is my favorite kind of food (tied with several other Asian culinary delights) so I had a great time. It was also kinda cool because I was the only true foreigner. It was good to get to know some of the other people I haven't really spent a whole lot of time with in the office. They also gave me some confidence to speak more Bahasa Melayu; meaning they admitted they could understand me. They also asked really cute questions like if I'd eat raw fish or if I was 'suffering' from eating Japanese food. Granted there were things in my lunch I hadn't tried, but who can complain about Udon noodles and tempura fried soft shelled crab? I explained that sushi and Japanese food is quite popular in the US, and pretty un-typically of your average American home, my boyfriend and I loved cooking Asian food. They suggested I try Durian, which I have been told is in season. Of course, I would love to try it, but I think I would prefer to eat it with someone who likes it as well, just in case I don't like it. It is considered quite rude to waste food here, which is something us Westerners could learn from.

     I talk about food a lot, mostly because lunch and dinner are my only breaks from work as of yet. Fortunately I have the excuse of a visa run coming up after my 14th deadline for the competition so I should get some much deserved time (and weekends) off for a bit and be able to report on more exciting things than just work work work work. I have made some plans for the weekend aside from an almost full day at the office on Sunday. I'll report back if those things go as planned.

     Anyways, I can smell myself, which is always a bad sign, so I'm going to hop in the shower and settle down to bed with a good book until I pass out from exhaustion. With any luck, I'll update at the end of the weekend. If karma really acts in my favor, I'll have pictures from the weekend (I've posted others from my adventures on Flickr...although I must admit they aren't my best).

Good night (or good morning)

-M

     Once again, it's been a while and once again, to no surprise, I've been busier than ever. The competition is in full swing, and to be honest, I need a break from it. Granted this is me coming off of a 10 and 12 hour day, a 6 day work week, and another 6 day week to go. Being thrown into the deep end of the lop-sided frying pan is not only beginning to take its toll on me, but has also begun to wear away at my enjoyment of architecture. It's kind of like the week before jury week...for 3 consecutive weeks. Not to mention the principal in charge of the project is a night owl (when it comes to working, surprisingly, I am the complete opposite). On the plus side, I can say I am getting to know AutoCAD inside and out. For those of you who may be surprised that I didn't know CAD, my school (and firms in Colorado) teach/require Revit. Basically, I'm reversed in the sense that I know Revit but am relatively shaky in CAD. We have a new intern, Q (phonetically it should be a K) although he mainly builds models because he is a first-year in undergrad. Some may find it depressing that I'm staying in, eating instant noodles, sipping a Tiger beer, and blogging on a Friday night; but honestly, this is exactly what I want to be doing right now. I'm dead tired from the week and it just finished raining, so the humidity is at an energy-zapping high.

     Anyways, enough about work, there is more to life than the office (although it hasn't seemed that way quite yet). I finally met my third roomate - C. She's from South Africa, which is quite cool in my opinion. Every South African I have ever met has been super awesome and a lot of fun to be around. She is here with her mom (who is on holiday) and although I showed her around, she won't officially be moving in until Sunday. Yesterday I went out for Lebanese food and shisha (Americans usually call it: hukah), in Asia, with her (a South African) and my co-worker S, who lives a train stop over, from Columbia. If that isn't a sign of the times I don't know what is. In KL, such situations are quite typical. 'International' almost seems to be an understatement. The food was amazing, some of the best falafel I've had in ages.

      A few days prior I went to yoga with a group of gals from the office. It's a Tuesday tradition, something not to be missed. I'm not too good at yoga, but I love it anyway. After a 2 day journey to Malaysia, it was just what my body needed. I also stopped by the REAL Chinatown (not the touristy one near the National Mosque), a small strip of streets in the district of Wangsa Maju to go to a Chinese hawker center. A hawker center is basically a large strip of street vendors selling various food items at low, low prices. I got some spicy pork, spicy fish balls, some type of vegetable, and rice all for $1.20 US. The rule is to pick the most packed stall and go for it. Don't ask what you're eating, follow your nose and figure out what it is when you eat it. It was a leap of faith on my part, the first time I ventured into an adjacent neighborhood (I really don't live in a touristy part of town, but where actual locals live) and went for it. Given my past experience in Mongolia, food still remains a point of nervousness, especially street food when no one is there to re-assure me about it. These places are definitely not Halal, and as much as I appreciate the cleanliness of Halal, the smell of pork was a welcomed familiarity (and one I couldn't pass up). I was going to stick around and eat there, however mosquitos (colloquially called mozzies) were happily gnawing away at my ankles so I returned to the safety of my 19th floor apartment. I plan on taking C and S there next week for some tasty authentic Chinese (complete with MSG and all).

     Today, as it goes with every Friday, I got to enjoy a long lunch (we get more time so the Muslim community can attend Friday prayers). I was invited by M, a co-worker, to go to this Japanese restaurant for lunch. It was soooo so so good! Japanese food is my favorite kind of food (tied with several other Asian culinary delights) so I had a great time. It was also kinda cool because I was the only true foreigner. It was good to get to know some of the other people I haven't really spent a whole lot of time with in the office. They also gave me some confidence to speak more Bahasa Melayu; meaning they admitted they could understand me. They also asked really cute questions like if I'd eat raw fish or if I was 'suffering' from eating Japanese food. Granted there were things in my lunch I hadn't tried, but who can complain about Udon noodles and tempura fried soft shelled crab? I explained that sushi and Japanese food is quite popular in the US, and pretty un-typically of your average American home, my boyfriend and I loved cooking Asian food. They suggested I try Durian, which I have been told is in season. Of course, I would love to try it, but I think I would prefer to eat it with someone who likes it as well, just in case I don't like it. It is considered quite rude to waste food here, which is something us Westerners could learn from.

     I talk about food a lot, mostly because lunch and dinner are my only breaks from work as of yet. Fortunately I have the excuse of a visa run coming up after my 14th deadline for the competition so I should get some much deserved time (and weekends) off for a bit and be able to report on more exciting things than just work work work work. I have made some plans for the weekend aside from an almost full day at the office on Sunday. I'll report back if those things go as planned.

     Anyways, I can smell myself, which is always a bad sign, so I'm going to hop in the shower and settle down to bed with a good book until I pass out from exhaustion. With any luck, I'll update at the end of the weekend. If karma really acts in my favor, I'll have pictures from the weekend (I've posted others from my adventures on Flickr...although I must admit they aren't my best).

Good night (or good morning)

-M

     Once again, it's been a while and once again, to no surprise, I've been busier than ever. The competition is in full swing, and to be honest, I need a break from it. Granted this is me coming off of a 10 and 12 hour day, a 6 day work week, and another 6 day week to go. Being thrown into the deep end of the lop-sided frying pan is not only beginning to take its toll on me, but has also begun to wear away at my enjoyment of architecture. It's kind of like the week before jury week...for 3 consecutive weeks. Not to mention the principal in charge of the project is a night owl (when it comes to working, surprisingly, I am the complete opposite). On the plus side, I can say I am getting to know AutoCAD inside and out. For those of you who may be surprised that I didn't know CAD, my school (and firms in Colorado) teach/require Revit. Basically, I'm reversed in the sense that I know Revit but am relatively shaky in CAD. We have a new intern, Q (phonetically it should be a K) although he mainly builds models because he is a first-year in undergrad. Some may find it depressing that I'm staying in, eating instant noodles, sipping a Tiger beer, and blogging on a Friday night; but honestly, this is exactly what I want to be doing right now. I'm dead tired from the week and it just finished raining, so the humidity is at an energy-zapping high.

     Anyways, enough about work, there is more to life than the office (although it hasn't seemed that way quite yet). I finally met my third roomate - C. She's from South Africa, which is quite cool in my opinion. Every South African I have ever met has been super awesome and a lot of fun to be around. She is here with her mom (who is on holiday) and although I showed her around, she won't officially be moving in until Sunday. Yesterday I went out for Lebanese food and shisha (Americans usually call it: hukah), in Asia, with her (a South African) and my co-worker S, who lives a train stop over, from Columbia. If that isn't a sign of the times I don't know what is. In KL, such situations are quite typical. 'International' almost seems to be an understatement. The food was amazing, some of the best falafel I've had in ages.

      A few days prior I went to yoga with a group of gals from the office. It's a Tuesday tradition, something not to be missed. I'm not too good at yoga, but I love it anyway. After a 2 day journey to Malaysia, it was just what my body needed. I also stopped by the REAL Chinatown (not the touristy one near the National Mosque), a small strip of streets in the district of Wangsa Maju to go to a Chinese hawker center. A hawker center is basically a large strip of street vendors selling various food items at low, low prices. I got some spicy pork, spicy fish balls, some type of vegetable, and rice all for $1.20 US. The rule is to pick the most packed stall and go for it. Don't ask what you're eating, follow your nose and figure out what it is when you eat it. It was a leap of faith on my part, the first time I ventured into an adjacent neighborhood (I really don't live in a touristy part of town, but where actual locals live) and went for it. Given my past experience in Mongolia, food still remains a point of nervousness, especially street food when no one is there to re-assure me about it. These places are definitely not Halal, and as much as I appreciate the cleanliness of Halal, the smell of pork was a welcomed familiarity (and one I couldn't pass up). I was going to stick around and eat there, however mosquitos (colloquially called mozzies) were happily gnawing away at my ankles so I returned to the safety of my 19th floor apartment. I plan on taking C and S there next week for some tasty authentic Chinese (complete with MSG and all).

     Today, as it goes with every Friday, I got to enjoy a long lunch (we get more time so the Muslim community can attend Friday prayers). I was invited by M, a co-worker, to go to this Japanese restaurant for lunch. It was soooo so so good! Japanese food is my favorite kind of food (tied with several other Asian culinary delights) so I had a great time. It was also kinda cool because I was the only true foreigner. It was good to get to know some of the other people I haven't really spent a whole lot of time with in the office. They also gave me some confidence to speak more Bahasa Melayu; meaning they admitted they could understand me. They also asked really cute questions like if I'd eat raw fish or if I was 'suffering' from eating Japanese food. Granted there were things in my lunch I hadn't tried, but who can complain about Udon noodles and tempura fried soft shelled crab? I explained that sushi and Japanese food is quite popular in the US, and pretty un-typically of your average American home, my boyfriend and I loved cooking Asian food. They suggested I try Durian, which I have been told is in season. Of course, I would love to try it, but I think I would prefer to eat it with someone who likes it as well, just in case I don't like it. It is considered quite rude to waste food here, which is something us Westerners could learn from.

     I talk about food a lot, mostly because lunch and dinner are my only breaks from work as of yet. Fortunately I have the excuse of a visa run coming up after my 14th deadline for the competition so I should get some much deserved time (and weekends) off for a bit and be able to report on more exciting things than just work work work work. I have made some plans for the weekend aside from an almost full day at the office on Sunday. I'll report back if those things go as planned.

     Anyways, I can smell myself, which is always a bad sign, so I'm going to hop in the shower and settle down to bed with a good book until I pass out from exhaustion. With any luck, I'll update at the end of the weekend. If karma really acts in my favor, I'll have pictures from the weekend (I've posted others from my adventures on Flickr...although I must admit they aren't my best).

Good night (or good morning)

-M

     Once again, it's been a while and once again, to no surprise, I've been busier than ever. The competition is in full swing, and to be honest, I need a break from it. Granted this is me coming off of a 10 and 12 hour day, a 6 day work week, and another 6 day week to go. Being thrown into the deep end of the lop-sided frying pan is not only beginning to take its toll on me, but has also begun to wear away at my enjoyment of architecture. It's kind of like the week before jury week...for 3 consecutive weeks. Not to mention the principal in charge of the project is a night owl (when it comes to working, surprisingly, I am the complete opposite). On the plus side, I can say I am getting to know AutoCAD inside and out. For those of you who may be surprised that I didn't know CAD, my school (and firms in Colorado) teach/require Revit. Basically, I'm reversed in the sense that I know Revit but am relatively shaky in CAD. We have a new intern, Q (phonetically it should be a K) although he mainly builds models because he is a first-year in undergrad. Some may find it depressing that I'm staying in, eating instant noodles, sipping a Tiger beer, and blogging on a Friday night; but honestly, this is exactly what I want to be doing right now. I'm dead tired from the week and it just finished raining, so the humidity is at an energy-zapping high.

     Anyways, enough about work, there is more to life than the office (although it hasn't seemed that way quite yet). I finally met my third roomate - C. She's from South Africa, which is quite cool in my opinion. Every South African I have ever met has been super awesome and a lot of fun to be around. She is here with her mom (who is on holiday) and although I showed her around, she won't officially be moving in until Sunday. Yesterday I went out for Lebanese food and shisha (Americans usually call it: hukah), in Asia, with her (a South African) and my co-worker S, who lives a train stop over, from Columbia. If that isn't a sign of the times I don't know what is. In KL, such situations are quite typical. 'International' almost seems to be an understatement. The food was amazing, some of the best falafel I've had in ages.

      A few days prior I went to yoga with a group of gals from the office. It's a Tuesday tradition, something not to be missed. I'm not too good at yoga, but I love it anyway. After a 2 day journey to Malaysia, it was just what my body needed. I also stopped by the REAL Chinatown (not the touristy one near the National Mosque), a small strip of streets in the district of Wangsa Maju to go to a Chinese hawker center. A hawker center is basically a large strip of street vendors selling various food items at low, low prices. I got some spicy pork, spicy fish balls, some type of vegetable, and rice all for $1.20 US. The rule is to pick the most packed stall and go for it. Don't ask what you're eating, follow your nose and figure out what it is when you eat it. It was a leap of faith on my part, the first time I ventured into an adjacent neighborhood (I really don't live in a touristy part of town, but where actual locals live) and went for it. Given my past experience in Mongolia, food still remains a point of nervousness, especially street food when no one is there to re-assure me about it. These places are definitely not Halal, and as much as I appreciate the cleanliness of Halal, the smell of pork was a welcomed familiarity (and one I couldn't pass up). I was going to stick around and eat there, however mosquitos (colloquially called mozzies) were happily gnawing away at my ankles so I returned to the safety of my 19th floor apartment. I plan on taking C and S there next week for some tasty authentic Chinese (complete with MSG and all).

     Today, as it goes with every Friday, I got to enjoy a long lunch (we get more time so the Muslim community can attend Friday prayers). I was invited by M, a co-worker, to go to this Japanese restaurant for lunch. It was soooo so so good! Japanese food is my favorite kind of food (tied with several other Asian culinary delights) so I had a great time. It was also kinda cool because I was the only true foreigner. It was good to get to know some of the other people I haven't really spent a whole lot of time with in the office. They also gave me some confidence to speak more Bahasa Melayu; meaning they admitted they could understand me. They also asked really cute questions like if I'd eat raw fish or if I was 'suffering' from eating Japanese food. Granted there were things in my lunch I hadn't tried, but who can complain about Udon noodles and tempura fried soft shelled crab? I explained that sushi and Japanese food is quite popular in the US, and pretty un-typically of your average American home, my boyfriend and I loved cooking Asian food. They suggested I try Durian, which I have been told is in season. Of course, I would love to try it, but I think I would prefer to eat it with someone who likes it as well, just in case I don't like it. It is considered quite rude to waste food here, which is something us Westerners could learn from.

     I talk about food a lot, mostly because lunch and dinner are my only breaks from work as of yet. Fortunately I have the excuse of a visa run coming up after my 14th deadline for the competition so I should get some much deserved time (and weekends) off for a bit and be able to report on more exciting things than just work work work work. I have made some plans for the weekend aside from an almost full day at the office on Sunday. I'll report back if those things go as planned.

     Anyways, I can smell myself, which is always a bad sign, so I'm going to hop in the shower and settle down to bed with a good book until I pass out from exhaustion. With any luck, I'll update at the end of the weekend. If karma really acts in my favor, I'll have pictures from the weekend (I've posted others from my adventures on Flickr...although I must admit they aren't my best).

Good night (or good morning)

-M