Venice of the East

Small Coca-Cola magnets, faded and fuzzy dice, old Happy Meal toys made from plastic, and cheap sunglasses.  This is the majority of what I passed as I made my exit from the Chatuchak Weekend Market this morning.  We were on the outskirts of the area that the market sits in and the small tables and carts were overflowing with the aforementioned "goods."  The prices were marked incredibly low in Baht and I wondered if anyone ever bought anything.  There's a true sense of how little people living in these crowded cities really have.  In the U.S., I feel as if our poverty is out of the public eye for the most part and it's easy for us to forget about people in need.  Every day of this trip, I am constantly reminded of how fortunate I am.  I am receiving the best education of my life out here and I love it.

Rewind: I arrived in Bangkok two days ago after a long train ride.  I think Lucian enjoyed the train a little more than I did, however, I was plagued with a horrible ear infection that started up the morning before we left Malaysia.  I feel as if it's warmer here than both Manila and Kuala Lumpur but I push on, sling my backpack over my shoulders and follow Lucian on our quest to find our next hostel.  The Asha Guest House is nice and very clean.  I do find it odd that we pass about six 7-Eleven's from the metro station to our room...Lucian does not recommend the Slurpee's from the one across the street.

 A view of our train before we boarded

 A happy Lucian while while riding (a surfeit of snacks sits behind him)

Our first night in Bangkok was spent in the Patpong District or the Redlight District.  The streets and buzzing neon signs in this neighborhood were far from discreet and we were hassled at every turn by club workers trying to get us to come in, see girls, and take in a show.  We pushed through and had some dinner and felt slightly uneasy at the hoards of old, white men propositioning these young girls.  Jeni, I see what you mean now ;-)

The next day we spent at the Chatuchak Weekend Market.  It is the biggest outdoor market in the world and is a sprawling 35 acres with over 15,000 stalls offering everything from young kittens, furniture, Buddha statues, jewelry, clothing...literally anything under the sun. Spending less than $15, I've acquired two tops and a dress, it feels good! Lucian enjoyed the coconut ice cream, complete with coconut milk and the shell.  He ate 3 of them this morning and I think he may have regretted it.

 A guy at a popular tea stand entertaining the market crowd

From what I've read and since arriving, Bangkok isn't packed with a lot of things to do.  Many of the attractions are outside of the city or in the south where the beautiful beaches sit.  Cambodia and Vietnam are reoccurring thoughts for the future.  At times, I find myself feeling incredibly out of place here.  I constantly have to think about my next move, recount my money, watch my belongings, etc.  I want to blend in and walk with ease, the way I do back in the states.  I often times have to tell myself to slow down out here.  People on the streets take their time as they walk along the sidewalk, stop and chat with street vendors, and mingle with friends.  In the states, we all walk so fast and somewhat orderly...it's something I haven't yet gotten accustomed to.

Motorcycle Diaries: The Malaysian Version

Coldplay couldn't have sung it better - "we live in a beautiful world."  I hung on tightly as Lucian, myself, and a our small scooter-like motorcycle wound up the tropical mountain like a corkscrew.  The drive was so beautiful and it was the absolute best way to see the entire island.  Lucian rented the bike from our hostel's office, we grabbed our helmets and we were on our way.

 Lucian posing with our rented bike. It got us around the island...amazingly.

Driving through the city in Georgetown was a bit unnerving, but Lucian was an incredible driver and navigated with ease.  He said it right, "just drive like you don't give a damn and you will be fine."  I could understand after noticing that no one looks behind them before merging, there is virtually no use of turn signals, and the absence of speed limit signs really make the roads anyone's game.

We drove through small towns, leaning into the curves in the road.  I took out the camera and proceeded to film quite a few short videos and take as many pictures as possible.  We stopped in a small city for an ice cream treat and checked out the map.  We kept course and stopped for a minute at a tropical fruit farm and the butterfly observatory.  The parking lot was large with no traffic, so Lucian gave me a "crash course" (not literally) in driving the bike.  After I got used to the weight of the bike under me, I was having fun in first gear, puttering along, making wobbly turns and keeping my hand on the brake.  I am now convinced I might have a chance to ride my own bike at some point along this trip.

 Posing with a bonsai at the butterfly house

We made our last stop at the Penang National Park and we trekked through some jungle set against the ocean. The park sits within a small fishing village so the stench of fish rolled in and out of our hike for the first kilometer. Lucian pointed out the obvious trash about the trail and we decided that it just wouldn't fly in the PNW to have garbage strewn about our treasures of national parks. We decided to make the hike a quick one since we were already drenched in sweat. We found an elevated canopy that was open so we climbed to the top and started seeing the park from above. I followed after Lucian and as he was reaching the end of our first length, a huge monkey hopped onto the top of the canopy. I got as close as he allowed and took pictures. I had no food, but as I reached out to him, he hissed and came at me, reaching for Lucian's camera. I decided to finish the lenth and say goodbye to my new friend.

 We visited our favorite Indian restaurant once we rolled back into town, collected our thai visas, and took a short nap under the A/C.  One of the best days so far!  Thanks to Lucian for driving and having the sense to rent the bike and take the long journey.  It was incredible! Tomorrow we board the overnight train and prepare to enter Bangkok...

Get Ready to Ride the Orient Express!

Well...not quite, but close!  Lucian and I are hoping on the International Express sleeper train and making our way up north into Thailand (Bangkok, to be exact).  We have decided that we're ready to move on from Penang and Malaysia and our journey begins on Feb. 25th.  The ride is roughly 20 hours and we have an upper and lower bunk.  There will be customs just across the border and we will have to pack all of our belongings out of the train and go through immigration and customs, per usual.

Yesterday was a lazy day but we finally got around to riding the city bus around Georgetown, finding some food, exploring the historical park, and eventually taking a ferry ride to the mainland and then turning around and riding it back to Penang Island.  The ferry was rather small and there was a sitting area above and below was a single deck for the cars and many motorcycles making the crossing.  All in all, not all that different from riding the ferry in Seattle.

Today was spent making sure the Thai details were set in stone, which was not so easy.  After spending hours on the web last night, we finally found the information we were looking for.  Today, we went to the train station and bought tickets to leave the next day.  As we were walking away, overly satisfied with our purchase, we realized we may have overlooked one thing, a Thai entry visa.  Therefore we took the bus back our hostel because the Banana Guest House also doubles as a tourism office so we figured they would help us.  However, an overly eager gentleman tracked us down on our walk back and said he could help.  We both heard him say it would take him a 1/2 hour to process and a 1/2 hour to return with information.

We hopped back to our hostel, ecstatic about the news and grabbed our passports.  When we came back to the man, he said he would be happy to take us tomorrow and that the drive to the embassy takes a 1/2 hour then he would drive us back there adding another 1/2 hour.  We sighed...frustrated with our inability to translate.  We thanked the man and went back to the hostel.  Turns out, the tourism office here will process the visa, via the Thai embassy, and it takes 24 hours.  They snapped some bland pictures to attach to our visas, we filled out the appropriate forms, and *fingers crossed* we'll have a visa by 4 PM tomorrow.

We did, however, have to make the run back to the train station and have our tickets changed.  Another day in Penang won't hurt us, especially when we've discovered a 24-hour Indian restaurant down the street from us.  I could live off of the Tandori chicken and the naan is probably the best I've ever had. We look forward to it when we wake up and can't wait to go back even after we've cleaned our plates dry. Tomorrow, Lucian might rent a motorcycle and trek around the island and I will either hold onto him for dear life or explore another part of the city (I can see my mother trembeling in fear, imagining me on the back of a motorcycle).  All in all, I am VERY excited to get to Bangkok and will be excited to post updates when they become available

 

This is me feeding a monkey back at the Batu Caves in Kuala Lumpur. So much fun!

Where in the world is Palau Penang?

We finished up our time in city and moved on from KL.  We caught a bus just a few blocks from our hostel in Chinatown and before we knew it, we were headed up north.  After a 4 hour bus ride we arrived in Georgetown on Palau Penang.  We wanted to move out of the city a bit and try to find some secluded beach so we caught a city bus and rode it out of town.  We managed to find a hostel somewhat off of the main drag and located in Batu Ferranghi.  The hostel was very simple but our room was cool and the staff was friendly, which we liked.

We hadn't eaten since the night before so we were starving and found an Indian / Chinese / Western restaurant down the street a little way.  I was taunted for ordering Hawaiian pizza and I know how ridiculous it sounds, but I was HUNGRY and pizza really did do it for me.

Penang is considered the "Pearl of the Orient" but I have this overwhelming sense of cheap.  All of the prices are jacked way up on account of tourism.  Our hostel is neighbors to a Holiday Inn and a Hard Rock Hotel.  When we were done eating we were so excited to lay on the beach and swim for a bit, but the shoreline was covered with tourists, ATVs, and locals charging for pony beach rides.  The ocean was occupied by several jet skis.  We knew this just wasn't going to work...I miss Sabang!!

Being that it was a Saturday night we walked around the main part of the town and eventually came to sidewalk after sidewalk lined with street hawkers selling DVDs, fake Gucci purses, and sarongs.  It was really overwhelming and after a long day of traveling we fell right to sleep after getting home to our hostel.

The next morning we checked out and caught the city bus back to Georgetown in an attempt to stay in the city and see more since the beach paradise idea was surely out the window.  We eventually made our way into another Chinatown and we are currently enjoying our accommodations at the Banana Guest House.  We ate plenty of wonderful Indian food yesterday, quite possibly the best naan I've ever had. I want more!!

We're planning on making our next move soon.  Thailand is at the top of the list!

Monkey Business in KL

Kuala Lumpur is full of small, hidden communities, but also seems to boast a large cosmopolitan vibe at the same time.  Malaysia is comprised of, not only Malaysians, but large populations of Indian and Chinese ethnicities.  Due to my brief skimming of the 'Malaysia' chapter of my Rough Guide and virtually no Asian history growing up, I had no idea that this country was primarily Muslim.  The women cover themselves head to toe and wear the traditional head scarves, which seems unbearable considering I'm wearing skirts and tank tops and still dying!  Lucian and I ventured to see the National Mosque, not far from Chinatown.  The architecture was stunning but it certainly wasn't a place we could roam around and explore.

We ventured up the road a bit and found an orchid and hibiscus garden.  The hibiscus is the national flower of Malaysia and Lucian took some beautiful pictures as we walked around for a while.  Along the road, there was an aviary and a butterfly house which we steered away from, seeing the large tour busses and noisy children running around.  Fighting the heat, we continued toward the Malaysian National Museum where it was a guarantee for A/C.  The museum was quite nice and within an hour, I was an expert on the indigenous, colonial, and modern Malaysia...not quite, but I feel better knowing a few facts about the country before leaving.

That night, we took the light rail to the Petronas Towers, which were quite stunning at night.  They are currently the tallest twin towers in the world, but since Lucian grew up next to the Space Needle, I had a feeling he was slightly unimpressed.  The Petronas Towers are the symbol of Malaysia and gift shops EVERYWHERE have mini statuettes ready for you to take home.  Reminds me of the Eiffel Tower...

We went inside and came face-to-face with a very large shopping mall (ugghhh).  The bottom floor was filled with luxury stores that I had no business being in with my capris and backpack.  The food courts here were incredible though.  I had to walk around 3 times or more before I was ready to order some food.

The next day we hopped on a monorail, (people actually this one, unlike Seattle), and headed toward Bukit Bintang to explore a little bit.  It was a nice part of the city and it seemed like this is where the professionals flocked for jobs.  Eventually, we decided to check out a CouchSurfers meeting on the other side of town so we scouted that out.  We walked around for a good hour before we figured out where we were and found the restaurant where the gathering was being held.  We walked by but ended up not sitting down...let's just say it didn't look like our type of crowd and the restaurant looked overpriced and presumptuous.  The neighborhood was interesting though and I'd like to go back if there is time.

Today we visited the Batu Caves, care of Jeni's advice, and we had a great time.  They are these limestone caves set into this large cliff face where Hindus go to worship.  I will try to post some pictures later since we took A TON of them today. There are 272 stairs to the top, which seems like a lot, but I had prepared myself for a lot more!  As we climbed the stairs, Lucian pointed out the monkeys perched about and I reached into my bag to pull out some peanuts.  One overly eager monkey ran over, snatched the bag out of my hands, and ran away.  I felt really stupid.

Once inside the cave, it's pretty spectacular, but it's hard to get into the moment when so many people are there, children are crying, and there's a guy selling postcards at the entrance.  As we climbed to the very top, there was a HUGE group of monkeys and this time I used some sense, opened the bag, and poured some into my hand before getting close.  They are extremely friendly and for the most part, very cute.

We ate at a vegetarian Indian restaurant afterwards and I really enjoyed it.  The heat was unbearable today so we took a long nap after the cave exploration.  We might try to get to Pelau Panang tomorrow or the next day which is up the west side of Malaysia and sits on the coast.  I'd love to see some more beach!

Departing: Manila, Arriving: Kuala Lumpur

Leaving Palawan was hard to do. The simple island life living really was for me and I hope I can have more of it while I journey on.  We spent one last night in our previous hostel and I was able to catch a glimpse of some Olympic action. We decided to take it easy that day, since we had a flight to catch back to Manila and a long night/next day ahead of us. So...what do I do? Eat Jollibee!! Gross...it makes my stomach churn just typing it. Jollibee is similar to McDonald's except there's an interesting sauce on the burgers and we aren't entirely sure what the meat is made from. Needless to say, the plane ride back to the mainland was interesting and sure enough, I was sick AGAIN. From the airport to the taxi ride to the metro to the trike ride, it was a long night of feeling sick to stomach at every corner.  We arrived again at Marvin's where, of course, he had food prepared and ready for us, not that I was in the mood.

We had to be up at 5:00 AM the next morning to catch the supposed bus that was to take us to Clark Air Field, since our flight to KL was not from the main Manila International Airport. I had slept 45 minutes at the most, but at least my stomach was intact. We were able to find a ride to the bus terminal right away and had a nice cab driver to top it off (sometime's it's difficult to find honest drivers in Manila). As it turns out, the bus station did exist and there was a bus departing for Clark at 6:30 AM. The ride out to Clark was reminiscent of driving through Eastern Washington. As we left the noisy, somewhat polluted Manila, sprawling fields appeared with rolling mountains serving as the background. There was some livestock, rivers, and farms and for a minute, I thought I was driving out to Spokane.

Clark Airport was somewhat annoying and the $16 "terminal fee" was one of the biggest ripoffs I had experienced since reaching the Philippines. Our flight was low key and we stepped off of the plane into Kuala Lumpur and 93 degree heat. My Washington upbringing does not allow me to prepare for such temperatures. Immigration and customs was easy but then we had to actually get into KL. The airport is about 70 km away from the actual city so we climbed aboard a charter bus which took us to the main bus hub and from there, took the metro into China Town.

China Town is somewhat intense. Tons of food and tons of fake merchandise. We found a hostel fairly quickly and checked in. It's a large hostel and it's mostly backpackers like us. Our room is quaint and it's extremely warm. With the windows open, the sounds from the main drag of China Town float in and we can always hear classical Chinese music, not to mention, car alarms too! Holy hell...that's annoying. We had decent Chinese food last night, but we will probably try to find somewhere quieter and less touristy tonight.

It's morning here, and Lucian and I are going to get out and see some city today. We have no plans past KL, so it will be interesting to see where our next flight, train, or bus leads us. Singapore, Thailand, or even...Australia!

Sabang is Paradise

After being quite sick all day on Tuesday, Lucian and I decided to make up for lost time and catch the Underground River Tour on Wednesday, which is the pride of Palawan island.  We arranged to leave Puerto Princesa the next morning and take a van out to Sabang, a very small, beachside community where the tours depart from.  We picked up several people along the way including: two Russians, a Canadian, two Koreans, and the worst of all - a creepy older guy and his very young Filipino "friend".  Lucian and I decided to call this guy "Turquoise Pervert / Pedophile" (TP for short).

As the van bounced along at 60 MPH along the winding, narrow roads, I feared for the lives of the children and people along the side of the pavement.  They had about two seconds and a few blasts of the van's horn as a warning that we were coming.  The scenery was amazing.  Large, green mountains sprang up out of nowhere and tropical greenery surrounded us.  We stopped off at a rest area an hour out from Sabang where there was fresh fruit, Samari swords, and chained monkeys on display.  The owner of the rest stop stand tossed small bananas to the monkeys as we looked on and others took pictures.  Personally, I felt bad for the monkeys.

We arrived in Sabang and climbed aboard small ferry boats to take us to the caves.  They were motorized but fashioned in the same way as a Polynesian paddle boat.  We stepped off the boat onto the National Park ground and hiked through lush jungle to reach the caves.  On the way we saw several Monitor Lizards and more monkeys (not chained).  We were given hard hats and life vests and away we went.  We had a very small kayak-type boat and sat low to the ground in the water.  We had a high beam flashlight but nothing else.  It was somewhat reminiscent of the Planet Earth where they explore the caves - the bats, the cold mineral water, the limestone shapes.  All-in-all, a nice tour, but nothing EXTREMELY spectacular.  Living in the Gorge makes you somewhat jaded.

Our tour provided us a large lunch complete with a whole coconut with a straw to drink the milk, hot soup, pork, salmon, chicken adobo, rice, and several salads.  "TP" was grabbing the whole time and it really grossed me out.  At one point, he asked her to eat a banana out of his hand and Lucian and I promptly stood up and decided it was a good time to look at the scenery.  We explored the beachside and decided to camp out here for a few days.  At first we didn't think it was anything extraordinary. We found a cheap, beachside bungalow with running water and a toilet so we chose to put our bags down there.  When we stepped outside of the bungalow for the first time, we were truly in paradise.  This is where the pictures of tropical nirvana are taken and put onto calendars and posters.  We are on the opposite side of the beach from the small village and there are maybe 4 other people around at any given time.  White sand beach, bath water temperature ocean with waves, palm trees and coconuts.  Hawaii might be nice, but this is spectacular.

We have been eating breakfast at the only resort-type place in Sabang, mainly because they take MasterCard and we are able to get some toast and coffee.  It's nice, they have wireless, and it's cheap no matter what.  This is where my parents would stay if they were here.  We have met a lot of people staying in nearby bungalows - Germans, a Frenchman, Norwegians...there also seem to be a lot of families here.  I did laundry for the first time this trip yesterday.  It was done by hand with two buckets and a lot of soap.  We have wire around the front of our bungalow, so we are just leaving it all out to dry.  Honestly, it's better than the Downy "ocean fresh" scent you get in the stores.

I am incredibly sunburnt and blistered but I couldn't be happier!  I'm loving it here and I honestly can't imagine going home.  We leave Palawan today and leave the Philippines on Monday.  We will stay with Marvin one last time on Sunday night.  We are headed for Kuala Lumpur.  I'm excited to see something different, however, I am definitely liking this life A LOT.  Love to everyone back in the cold and damp!

P.S. I love that Lucian has acquired two new nicknames from the locals since being here: Josh Groban and G.I. Joe.  Lucian favors calling me "Crispy Crab" because it's his favorite Filipino food and honestly, I look like one with this stellar sunburn.

Welcome to Puerto Princesa! (Don't Drink the Water)

Lucian and I attempted to make the very most of our last full day in Manila, however we slept in extremely late. We eventually got our act together and climbed on the metro again. We took it all the way to the other side of town and connected with another one to get to the waterfront. Manila is so vast, it would be impossible for us to see all 17 of its cities in the short time we were there.

We got off at a stop called "U.N. Avenue" and noticed how clean and seemingly touristy it was. We turned a corner and saw a police station labeled - "Tourist Friendly Police Station".  We did the very hardcore backpacker thing and stopped for ice cream at...McDonald's (don't hate). We kept walking until we got to Rizal Park. It's a sprawling park and mostly filled with families, since it was a Sunday. Everyone seemed to be flying kites and there was no shortage of people peddling them in their carts. It was a nice cool day and I enjoyed being outside and taking in the different people that we saw.

We left at dusk and continued down the busy boardwalk. The sunset here is incredible and not to be missed, however, we missed it. We had plans with Marvin and his friends for our last night in Quezon so we headed back to the metro. We walked a long way through a devastatingly poor part of town. It breaks my heart and it is so hard to refuse the children that beg for anything from you. The emaciated cats that were common in more Metro Manila were found dead on these streets. The garbage was rank and the smell was immense.

We made it back to Quezon and met Marvin and his four friends for dinner. They took us to (another) mall and we ate upstairs in a Persian restaurant. The malls here are quite different than America. This is no ordinary food court, these are full-service, specialty restaurants. The food was fine and we enjoyed smoking hookah while we were there. The conversation never slowed down and they were obsessed with learning if college parties where really as big as they're portrayed in the movies. Impressions about America are usually always formed from watching American shows on TV. Yeah...we don't live like the kids on The O.C. do...

The next day was a scramble to get our things together. The taxi driver, at first, refused to take us to the airport because of the relatively long distance. We had to haggle to get him to take us and eventually everyone agreed. We almost missed our flight to Palawan, but once we were on, it was a short and easy flight. The descent was incredibly beautiful and striking, especially because I have never been anywhere tropical. We were picked up by our hostel and taken downtown. There are no taxi's here, only trikes and smaller versions of jeepney's. The town, although large, seems small, compared to Manila. There is a little less staring over here as we've seen several white folks walking about. Our friend from Manila, Gloria, is the cousin to the Mayor here, which is a VERY important position here. His picture is everywhere!

We ate and drank plenty at a local, hut-like, (somewhat touristy) Filipino bar. The bartender was awesome and my drinks were incredibly strong. We walked back to the hostel and realized how thirsty we were. We tried the water, to see if we could detect any chlorine or chemicals, like in America. We thought everything was okay and proceeded to drink away.

THE NEXT MORNING -- Deep stomach cramps ensued, and everything that goes along with being terribly sick in SE Asia followed. Needless to say, the bathroom was occupied most of the morning. I woke up at 7 AM and the madness did not stop until about 3 PM. I still feel uneasy and woozy, but at least we know, DO NOT DRINK THE WATER ANYWHERE. (Mom, I know you are shaking your head, please stop).

Besides being sick, we are happy with Palawan and plan on exploring tonight and as much as we can until we leave on Sunday.

Blisters, Manila Bay, and Red Horse

On Friday night, "date night", in the Philippines, we ate A TON of traditional Pinoy food with Marvin, his sister Milka, and a few other friends.  We had originally planned on eating at a large asian-style buffet but when we arrived, they were closing in an hour and Filipinos prefer having hours and hours to eat a lot and enjoy.  They even tried to haggle with an employee to keep the restaurant open later just for us.

When we arrived at the other Filipino restaurant, I glanced over the menu and decided what I was going to have.  Apparently, that's not the way it's done here.  Our friends proceeded to order soups, appetizers, meats, seafood, salad, and drinks so that we could all share.  I really enjoyed this style of eating and I wish it were more prevalent in America.  My favorites were the small, whole crabs dipped in vinegar, and a prawn soup with a clean, citrus flavor.  Lucian and I were so full, we could barely enjoy the Halo Halo (pronounced Hollow) dessert, a specialty of the Philippines.  Marvin told Lucian and I to try the Red Horse beer which we did.  We noticed that they do not post their alcohol content on the bottle.  Salut!

We were at the restaurant well into 1:30 AM and there seemed to be more people pouring in as we left.  I couldn't help but notice the stream of emaciated cats, people selling cigarettes, and impoverished children making their way through the outside terrace we were sitting in.  Nary, a girl we ate with, scooped some rice onto a plate for one of the children and he ate quietly at a nearby table.  It still hasn't hit me yet, the immense amount of wealth and poverty that is here.

The next day, we were greeted by ANOTHER wonderful meal, prepared by Laila.  We called Gloria again and planned to meet up with her for a tour of the city later on.  We were chauffeured around in a large Mercedes van with Gloria and her friend, a former first lady of a provence in the Philippines.  We saw a number of the cities on our way to Manila Bay.  We arrived in a historical area of the bay and climbed into a private horse-drawn cart with a tour guide.  We got out and explored the area that was devastated by the many wars that the Philippines endured. My favorite part was the tour through the life of Dr. Jose Rizal, considered the hero of the Philippines.

Gloria and her friend treated us to dinner at the most expensive hotel in the Philippines, a short tour through the Mall of Asia (the largest in all of Asia), dessert music, and drinks on the boardwalk, and eventually took us home to Quezon.

Lucian and I leave for Palawan on Monday morning, which is considered to be a far less crowded version of the Caribbean.  I am excited for some relaxation, sun, and to see a different side of the Philippines.  I'm supposed to get another camera today, so we'll see how it turns out.  Okay, there's a Filipino pop group lip syncing to MMMBop, see you later!

Arrival in Manila

I arrived in Manila, collected my backpack, and met up with Lucian at the airport. I was greeted by 80 degree, hot and humid weather...I was so grateful that Lucian seemed to already know his way around Makati City (a city within Manila). We climbed into the taxi and I proceeded to take one of the most interesting rides of my life. There don't seem to be any traffic laws here in the Philippines and people just drive wherever they like and as fast as they like. There is a lot of honking and overall, it's a big organized mess. I enjoyed it.

We arrived at our hostel after the driver took several wrong turns. This is where we stayed - http://www.makatiapartelle.com/index.html. We really enjoyed it and it was incredibly spacious. I probably would've stayed anywhere with a bed, I was exhausted.

The next day, we had a nice breakfast of mango, watermelon, and cold tea then we straped on our packs and walked around Makati City. I honestly have never been so aware of myself in my entire life. We were in a relatively poor area of the city and as we walked along, I could feel eyes on me at all times. People in the streets, on the buses, in the taxis all staring at the out-of-place, white backpackers walking through the city. It was the most amazing hybrid of poverty and wealth I've ever experienced in my life. We walked about a mile toward the metro station and bought a ticket to the other side of Manila for about $.25 US dollars.

We decided to stay with Marvin, the person Lucian had been staying with prior to my arrival that he met through CouchSurfing online. He's such a great person and I have really enjoyed my stay with him. He has a condo in Quezon City, another city within Manila. He is currently going to law school and is extremely educated and fun to talk to. His live-in maid makes incredible food and I am never hungry here. We took the metro to Marvin's and immediately took a tricycle to the condo. The trikes are awesome and I want to ride another...it's only $.50 for a fun ride!

We took a long nap after lunch and then went out and explored the city, eating at a Jollibee for dinner. We ate spaghetti and a burger. Although it might not seem adventurous, the spaghetti was very different, and it was not an ordinary burger. We then explored Quezon a bit, walking around the city and seeing what the nightlife was like.

We slept A LOT last night (Feb. 4th) and woke up to another wonderful meal at Marvin's. The day was wide open for both of us so we decided to visit the mother of family friends I have back in White Salmon. Gloria Sison was one of the nicest, most accomodating people I have EVER met. She has a beautiful 3 bedroom condo in (I would assume) the most exclusive parts of Manila. We ate some sort of egg dessert with coconut and mocha ice cream with delicious banana stirred in. She has invited Lucian and I on a tour through Manila with dinner near the beach tomorrow night.

We also visited an extremely large mall today and did our fair share of walking. We are never without bottled water and I can feel the sweat constantly pouring out of my skin. It is so hot here! On our way back to Quezon we experienced life as tourists as we climbed aboard the ridiculously packed metro. My entire body was touching someone else as the overcrowded metro zoomed back toward Marvin's. We realized shortly after exiting that my camera had been stolen out of Lucian's wallet. We suddenly realized how we really did need to keep an eye on EVERYTHING. I'm just happy nothing else of importance was taken and the camera is most definitely replaceable.

Off of the train, Lucian bought us some absoutely amazing kabobs. We're definitely going back. We are planning on attending a birthday party with Marvin tonight and enjoying some much needed rest. (Sorry for the long post, I was a little overdue)

Seoul has...soul (not that I would know)

I got bored near the end of the flight, so here is what I wrote...

Korean Airlines is really comfortable and I'm already 9 hours into my flight.  Michael Jackson's "This Is It" provided the entertainment for the first 2 and it's definitely starting to hit me that I will be in Manila in another 9 hours.

Although an opulent cabin and airline, I feel as if I am being overfed on this flight.  Not even 15 minutes into the flight, I was given 2 bags of honey roasted peanuts and a beverage of choice.  Then 20 minutes later, lunch was served.  Some sort of beef noodle dish with a greek salad, fruit bowl, and a very dry roll.  Wine has been offered to me at least every hour and a selection of chocolates, tea, and coffee has made the trip up and down the aisle at least six times now.  No more food please...

I really don't like to advertise my trip all over the internet or even constantly remind my small blog following that I am overseas and starting the adventure of a lifetime.  But...you have to understand that I have never been outside of North America and spent most of my 24 years in the Pacific Northwest.  I wonder if people can see how excited I am, just by looking at me.  If there's a "tell" that I am giving off that just screams "LOOK AT ME!! THIS IS MY FIRST INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE!!!"

Let's get to Seoul!!

Here I Go!!!

Okay, here I am, at home in White Salmon, anxious to get going and start the excruciating 24+ hour journey around the world. I will be arriving in Manila at 7:00 AM Pacific Time and Lucian will meet me there. I am excited for COMPLETELY new experiences and to gain perspective and respect for other cultures.

Thank you to everyone who helped me get prepared and thanks for the ride to airport tomorrow Dad! I was told to take the cliche "before" picture before leaving tomorrow morning. Everything fits!