my brother reintroduced me to the humerous 'jeeves and wooster'. if you do not know this series, was first a group of novels and short stories by p.g. wodehouse; it was then made into a british series of hour long episodes. here i will share with you a brief passage my brother recently e-mailed me. we both cracked up.
"But after I had been splashing about in the porcelain for a bit, composure began to return. I have always found that in moments of heart-bowed-downness there is nothing that calms the bruised spirit like a good go at the soap and water. I don't say I actually sang in the tub, but there were times when it was a mere spin of the coin whether I would do so or not.
The spiritual anguish induced by that tactless speech had become noticeably lessened.
The discovery of a toy duck in the soap dish, presumably the property of ome former juvenile visitor, contributed not a little to this new and happier frame of mind. What with one thing and another, I hadn't played with toy ducks in my bath for years, and I found the novel experience most invigorating. For the benefit of those interested, I may mention that if you shove the thing under the surface with the sponge and then let it go, it shoots out of the water in a manner calculated to divert the most careworn. Ten minutes of this and I was enabled to return to the bedchamber much more the old merry Bertram."
Monday, May 28, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
unamerican.
something has changed. i felt it while i was in cambodia. i realized, all of a sudden, that home did not appeal. in fact there was a certain amount of terror when i looked ahead to that september flight. being in a country full of people that would never understand the frivolous decisions that plague americans made me realize that i don't want to be one of those americans. and in the past, and even while in cambodia, i can not deny that i am/was one of those americans. much in the same way that, while i am in japan, it is very hard to deny the structure, the organization, and the box that japanese society puts you in. back in america, will i be able to hold on to the things that i now value? will i be able to be that neo-hippie that does not participate in the obsessive media, the all consuming consumerism? probably not.
the advantage of japan, as i see it, is not that it does not hold these things. anyone whose been here for even a week can see that japan has adopted much of american culture, and has even beaten us in our consumeristic tendencies, along with having many other aspects that are not desirable (as every country does). the advantage of japan is that i am not japanese. as a friend here commented, the appeal for him is not (just) loving japanese culture, but that as a foreigner you are distinctly separate. now i don't have a lot to compare my experience to, i have only been to three other countries, but even in those brief visits i saw that foreigners may not be more accepted, but they are more included. this is felt most when walking down thee street, in korea i was grabbed at, called out to; in taipei i was approached for photos, for conversation; and in cambodia, most of all, i was haggled and conversed with, and i saw how foreigners had integrated themselves in with the locals. in japan the number of times i get a spontaneous conversation on the street i could count on one hand. true, part of this has to do with living in a bigger city, but it seems as if the only people who have any awareness towards greeting me are kids and some of the elderly. sure the average citizen will say hello, but most often only after i say it first. while kids still have some innocent curiosity, and the elderly have given up on living with in the requirements of the society.
how does this effect my life? it means that i feel no obligation to fit it. sure i did originally go shopping crazy, and i still buy things that are a little silly/japanese, and it is hard to travel on a whim without reservations ect., and i do respond to the structured box of japanese society, but i am not japanese. i do not spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on one outfit. i do not walk around with a parasol in the summer. i do not just let things go that i could fix if i just have a conversation. i do not stay after work for three hours. i am american. and one thing about being abroad, anywhere, is you finally feel american (even if you never felt it before), but the good thing about that ('cause who really wants to be american?) is that i can leave the stuff i hate behind. when i am in america it is hard to ignore the mass, but being here i am separate. separate from america and separate from japan.
going back to america seems like the end to my freedom--ironic in the land of the free. of course much of this has to do with real life starting when i go back, responsibilities, and actually having to acknowledge the political situation. of course i do still want to kiss the ground when i step out on to portland soil, but america? i don't want to do there.
the advantage of japan, as i see it, is not that it does not hold these things. anyone whose been here for even a week can see that japan has adopted much of american culture, and has even beaten us in our consumeristic tendencies, along with having many other aspects that are not desirable (as every country does). the advantage of japan is that i am not japanese. as a friend here commented, the appeal for him is not (just) loving japanese culture, but that as a foreigner you are distinctly separate. now i don't have a lot to compare my experience to, i have only been to three other countries, but even in those brief visits i saw that foreigners may not be more accepted, but they are more included. this is felt most when walking down thee street, in korea i was grabbed at, called out to; in taipei i was approached for photos, for conversation; and in cambodia, most of all, i was haggled and conversed with, and i saw how foreigners had integrated themselves in with the locals. in japan the number of times i get a spontaneous conversation on the street i could count on one hand. true, part of this has to do with living in a bigger city, but it seems as if the only people who have any awareness towards greeting me are kids and some of the elderly. sure the average citizen will say hello, but most often only after i say it first. while kids still have some innocent curiosity, and the elderly have given up on living with in the requirements of the society.
how does this effect my life? it means that i feel no obligation to fit it. sure i did originally go shopping crazy, and i still buy things that are a little silly/japanese, and it is hard to travel on a whim without reservations ect., and i do respond to the structured box of japanese society, but i am not japanese. i do not spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on one outfit. i do not walk around with a parasol in the summer. i do not just let things go that i could fix if i just have a conversation. i do not stay after work for three hours. i am american. and one thing about being abroad, anywhere, is you finally feel american (even if you never felt it before), but the good thing about that ('cause who really wants to be american?) is that i can leave the stuff i hate behind. when i am in america it is hard to ignore the mass, but being here i am separate. separate from america and separate from japan.
going back to america seems like the end to my freedom--ironic in the land of the free. of course much of this has to do with real life starting when i go back, responsibilities, and actually having to acknowledge the political situation. of course i do still want to kiss the ground when i step out on to portland soil, but america? i don't want to do there.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
golden week: the good, the bad luck, the amazing.
(scroll to the end if you only want the short of it).
the blong long of it:
day 1: thursday.
at 11:30 at night, alexis and i hopped the night bus to fukuoka, where the larger international airport is located.
day 2: friday (felt like the same day).
with little to no sleep under our belts, we caught our plane to taipei at 10:20. but first, a mistake/mishap occurred; in our changing money and checking in, we did not pay attention to the checked baggage process, and our bags were forwarded to phnom penh. this meant our day in taipei was a purse day (we only had our purses). as seemed to be the theme of the trip, we decided this 'bad thing' was actually a good thing. we didn't have to deal with our bags and it just meant we'd change clothes the next day when we were in a nice hotel in phnom penh.
so taipei. well, the exchange rate was not what we thought, so we felt lacking in money the whole time. we first saw some very beautiful temples (as much color as korea, but more elaborate detail in the carvings. really beautiful). i got assaulted by about five taiwanese high school girls, who had to take a picture with me and my yellow hair (it was a big hit in taipei). tired and cranky, we then decided to head to a mall and enjoy some aircon and lunch. sounds simple, right? no. wrong. very wrong. we found underground shopping very similar to seoul's, but no malls. and no food. eventually we figured out our tourist map and found a 'mall'. not what we wanted, and we ended up at starbucks drinking banana mocha frapcinnos that were as big as our heads and made us feel sick (all we'd had to eat that day was sugar). post this, we found our youth hostel, a nice enough establishment, checked in and headed out again (as our 'room' was just two bunk beds in the dorm room). [tangent anecdote: as we left the hostel, there was a nice man with about four large dogs, including a great dane. the man commented on my hair, the dogs molested alexis and i; the dane leaving dog snot on my shirt for the next day and a half that i had to wear it.] off to find another mall or something interesting to look at, we came upon a section of 'park blocks' that i loved and reminded me of portland, an interesting mall, and finally three hours of wondering later, a 'japanese' buffet restaurant that took alexis' credit card. all we could find was japanese restaurants, even the fast food was just mos burger. the day ended with us trudging back to the hostel, crashing around eight, getting another horrible night of sleep.
day 3: saturday (still felt like the same day).
the alarm went off at four am. this of course would have been really annoying, but both alexis and i were awake staring at the ceiling. bus ride to the airport, a three hour flight, and BAM, warmth. stepping off the plane in phnom penh, the air was perfect. hot, not too humid. beautiful. we said hello to our bags, got our exciting visas, lightly chatted with the foreign guy who was on the plane with us, and tried to negotiate the price of the taxi to our hotel (yeah... it was fixed. bargaining attempt number one, a no go). our hotel, the diamond hotel, was impressive. $45/night for the room, not per person (oh and we're dealing actually in US$ 'cause that's how they do it. the local currency, reil, is basically used instead of coins). the room had parquet wood floors, two twin beds and cable tv--with american channels. weee! we quickly, and happily, took our respective showers--finally washing off all that had built up from thursday.
our first stop, after turning off 'mythbusters' and grabbing a tuk tuk--our mode of transportation for the capital city--we went to the national museum. it was interesting to see the cambodian take on buddhist art and relax in the very lovely garden at the center. (it reminded me a little of the museum/mansion i went to with my family in boston). we then left and could of course not walk by rory's, an irish pub, without stopping. we had evil cheesy, bacony french fries, and a greek salad with lots of feta; and we met farmer ted. not actually a farmer, at least not since childhood, and maybe not named ted. but he was a nice guy who gave a scoop on life in phnom penh, as told by a resident of five months. apparently he had been a hollywood screenplay writer, and got fed up and left one day, and is now working at an orphanage in cambodia. kinda unbelievable, but true. we got an invite to visit his orphanage, but we sadly weren't able to take him up on it.
we then tried to go to the royal palace and silver pagoda, but apparently my dress was too relieving and by the time we did the math to find that renting a t-shirt cost 25cents, we were already off on the next wanderings. through a park, to a monument, a few silly pictures, our first encounter with the beautiful illegal dvd shops of cambodia and then a pause due to dust in the eye. as we sat and played with contacts, below an interesting fountain, i set down my camera. minutes later, at the independence monument, i tried to take a picture. and no. i had never picked up my camera and it was gone. we walked back and forth, i checked my bag six times, alexis' twice, i actually asked the locals (and felt bad for having a girl respond 'i did not steal'), but there we were, and it had walked away. of course i flipped out. over a hundred pictures gone, all of taipei, plus, you know, the camera itself. and days later, i realized the hokkaido hello kitty strapu i loved, as well. fuck. that was the word. stupidity. that was the other one. determined not to let it ruin the trip, i started off with my cell phone as my camera, we went back to the royal palace, drank some water, walked around, enjoyed ourselves, and took some fun photos with alexis' camera and my little keitai.
tired, hot, we hopped in a tuk tuk to head back to the diamond hotel. misunderstanding took us to the tai ming hotel, and got us a little tour of the city (plus a trip to the gas station). we rested, chose a restaurant, sorya's. it was a cambodian restaurant that was in an old cinema. up stairs there was some sort of event, because the place was flooded with women in 'prom dresses', all glitter and gold. very exciting. dinner was delicious, but too much. dessert was nice, just fresh fruit and pistachio gelatin stuff that i didn't eat. we tried to find some chocolate and beer to take back to the room, but there were no conbini's to be found. and really, at 9pm we were beat. we couldn't even finish the exciting british murder mystery on cable.
day 4: sunday (finally a new day).
with only a half day left in phnom penh, and a long bus ride to look forward to, i was happy it ended up being a easy morning. we had a free continental breakfast at out hotel, and appreciated our showers. we didn't have time for the wat phnom the day before, so we headed over early on sunday. it seemed that it was the day off for local cambodians, so the buddhist site was packed. the actual structure was interesting, but the true feature was the residents of the grounds. first there was an indian elephant that you could feed bananas to, and then there were monkeys monkeys monkeys. and of course the locals were selling stuff to feed the monkeys. eventually i partook, alexis took photos (this was after her monkey encounter in which one decided that, as she sat on the bench, it looked like she needed a lap-friend. not the case). it was very fun to watch the monkeys role around, play in the trees, attempt to drink ice out of a water bottle, and get fed food. when i sat to talk to one and pass on some food, he decided it was a different kind of offer, looked up my skirt a couple times, then made the most frightening leering face i've ever seen. i was quick to hop up and avoid him for the rest of our time. being sexually harassed by a monkey? scaring. we then attempted to find one one of the other wats in town via tuk tuk, this was unsuccessful, so we decided to trade in the t-shirt i had forgotten to return the other day for my deposit. eventually we did find our wat, which ended up being more active by monks and more interesting. we then wandered the water front, stopped in 'the metro' for my new addiction (khmer--vietnamese-- coffee, iced coffee with condensed milk) and smoothies.
and then it was time to go. we waved goodbye to phnom penh, for the moment, and sat on a bus for 6 hours to get to sihanoukville. the bus ride was interesting, as we stopped to drop off people at their houses along the way, saw the planes of cambodia, and the stilted houses that seem very useful at the edge of rainy season. arriving in sihanoukville, our 'hotel' had offered us pick up, but they weren't there. we agreed to a price with a tuk tuk driver, we thought, but turned out it was a couple moto drives. sooo... nervously we jumped on he back of two motorcycles, our huge backpacks between the legs of the drivers, and moto-ed to coasters (our new home).
when i saw where we were going to staying for he next three nights, when i actually took it in, the absolute glee that i felt. never. i mean i've been to the beach. i love the beach. but my beach is the oregon beach. you expect rain, you know it'll be cold, any sign of the sun and you become confused. you go to the beach b/c it's the beach, not b/c you want a tan or want to lay on the beach and enjoy the noise. my times on the beach are of being huddled under a blanket, reading my book, and occasionally wincing from the sand being blown in my eyes. so keep that imagine in mind; our bungalow in sihanoukville was perfect. no aircon, no hot water. two big beds with mosquito nets, open air, and a balcony. an extraordinary balcony that looked over the other roofs of the beach and on to the blue blue ocean. white beach. sun. warmth. never before. the cabin felt like a more rustic version of my camp stays, so simple, so nice. the view, unbelievable. i just. yeah. it was good. and even the 'hotel' was rather amazing. it was just a simple open building with relaxed table and chairs, an attached little clothes shop and about 8 computers for internet access to whoever wanted it (for a minimal price).
with a spring in my step, we went down to the water and it was warm. warm! i couldn't believe it. beautiful luke warm water. we strolled, we walked, we looked for dinner. as dark came we chose the sea-dragon and had crab, sauteed fish with a white wine sauce, and angkor beer. oh and broiled banana for dessert. moving on from there we stopped at another place for mixed drinks and cards. a little egyptian rat screw and off to bed. *sigh*
day 5: monday (the day of doom).
for some reason, probably the time difference and our early bedtime, alexis and i both woke at 5:30. horrible as it sounds, it did mean we got to see the sunrise. stunning.
after reading our books, we decided to head down around 9 for some food. french toast awaited me, alexis had the ham and cheese omelet of her fantasies. we even got a kitty friend who came over, i gave him creme and a scratch. we both enjoyed his friendliness, and then he decided he was a lap cat. so i had a little friend all curled up, purring up a storm. if only i'd known, i would have stayed there longer, but it was time to read and bathe in the sun.
now before you go scolding us, poo-poo-ing us, and laughing you must know there were factors. we were shocked that it wasn't raining. it was supposed to be raining the whole time. this could be our only shot. i didn't have a watch, alexis wasn't really looking at hers because of the kids. oh the kids. i forgot to mention that the night before we had gotten our first taste, the kids on sihanoukville beaches sell bracelets. they come up to you, they start a conversation, they ask you name, where are you from. they establish loyalty. they hook you. then they talk, they smile and they ask you to buy their wears. you say 'no'. they ask 'why?'. you say 'i don't need any bracelets', they say 'why?'. this goes on. and there are other games. but they would come in waves. there would be one, then two, then five. and they were fun. don't get me wrong, they were fun to talk to. chatting, asking them questions. and their english was amazing, put my students to shame. and then there were the ladies, women selling manicures, pedicures, massages, hair removal, the works. between all that we read, i jumped in the water a couple times, and by 3 o'clock we realized we had burned, too. oh did we burn.
the full extent to which we lobstered, we didn't realize till much later, so we salvaged our day. after our onesided reddening we moto-ed to town, tried and failed at the market, but then traded our 100s for more reasonable bills and walked around town. the supermarket provided us with aloe based nivia creme. the pain was coming, and this helped a little. we found a cute book store q&a books. there was a nice australlian couple staying there. we booked a trip to the islands through this book store (this of course didn't last b/c even on wednesday we could tell thursday we would not be up for it). then we dined at the holy cow. amazing food. sweet waitresses to talk to--with, of course, beautiful english.
another early night befell us after moto-ing 'home', and to make matters worse after alexis' shower the water stopped working. our much needed cold water stopped. with nothing else to do, we both got under our mosquito nets, lay down and tried not to move. this did not promote a good nights sleep, nor allow for any sleeping in.
day 6: tuesday (more pain then you can understand).
of course being up early, although not quite as early, we tried to get the still-not-working-water fixed. we told the staff. it seemed something was happening. maybe. we went back to give it a try, and wallow in our bungalow.
my stomach growled, we went down for breakfast. we asked about our water again only to discover there was a foreigner with some authority (irish maybe?). he said the tank was empty and they were pumping it from the well. 20 minutes. no problem. *sigh* but not the case. innocently we had a delish breakfast, both having the fruits pancake (turned out to be a pancake with fresh fruit mixed in the batter. yummy). after quickly confirming, on our 'hotel's' internet, that yes there is no quick cure for sunburns, we went back in anticipation of cool water. nope. frustrated, we tried to read. it didn't last and we went down to try again. upon our visual arrival the other foreigner working there noticed our burns. before we could say anything about the water, he had hopped up, grabbed some real aloe plant, cut it open and put it on my leg. i shuttered with relief. now this was no cure, but it was as close as we were going to get. and this kind kind man also noted that in no way should the water be taking this long and he got the staff working on finding the leak. of course before we could shower, the power went out (no pump to move the water to the tank) and alexis and i tried to stay distracted with our wonderful aloe, books, cards, and ordering food. although there was a lot of just sitting there saying, 'ooow'.
in a glorious moment, right before late lunch, i went up to get my lactaid pills and was greeted with running water. without thinking i stripped, stepped in and forced myself under the cold cold pelts of water. dripping hair and refreshed i strolled, hobbled, down to alexis to munch my half of our club sandwich; the whole day made a turn for the better--but just so you don't think i was complaining for nothing about the pain, oh the pain. an example, my skin was hot hot hot on my legs; so the air felt cold, this meant goosebumps. you know what goosebumps are? they are your skin tightening to close your pores. my skin did not need to be tightened. no it did not. my skin then felt like someone scraping a knife over my now goosed skin. not a nice safety razor, but a rough angry knife. ouch.
anyways, we felt a little better, so decided to moto to q&a books to cancel our boat trip and eat yummy food at holy cow again. we had a longer conversation with the australlian couple, a different conversation with the same girls at holy cow, and moto-ed almost to our 'hotel' to stop at another book store on the way. a very smart book store that also had clothes. really cool clothes. i spent $60, alexis did $50, and we each only got one book. they were good clothes. almost japanese style, but they fit us, and were reasonably priced.
another nice shower, glee from our purchases, and good reading led us to a slightly later night.
day 7: wednesday (relaxation, guilt free).
after a much better sleep, thanks to drugs, showers and aloe, we had another yummy breakfast and settled down for the day. and i mean settled. beyond running back to the room to counter the mass amounts of water we were drinking, we didn't leave our table. well, once the sun was down we did go for a nice stroll on the beach so as to enjoy our last night *tear* in sihanoukville. so it was literally sitting at one table with our books, cards, and conversation and that was it--oh, and the aloe, too. just a simple rotation of those activities, broken up by staring at the ocean and ordering food. with a nummy post stroll dinner, we had another early-ish night after more reading. perfect. guilt free.
day 8: thursday (leaving).
okay it was really only leaving sihanoukville, not the country, but this was much sadder. our morning was weighted with the knowledge of our 2:30 bus. we continued the previous day's activities, but with much less enthusiasm. i made my last purchases at the attached clothes shop at the 'hotel'. we played spit. we stared. and then we left.
the bus ride back to phnom penh was not as much fun. it was a much nicer bus, we even got water and two snacks. but it felt longer as i looked up at the slowly moving clock, and tried not to bash the couple sitting in front of us. so sickeningly lovey dovey i wanted to puke. *blech*
back in phnom penh, a little cranky and worse for wear, we found a riverside hotel, the mekong palace, for $25/night for two twins. plus cable. sadly, we tromped out onto the street and started the shopping extravaganza that would continue the next day. going to three dvd shops, we started a terrible theme and each bought $30 of dvds that were either $2 or $1 per disc. then it was dinner at the 'restaurant on the corner'. it ended up being french, and i ended up eating too much cheese. oh the cheese... the most amazing blue cheese chicken salad, beautiful panfried red snapper with garlic lemon sauce, and then a plate of just cheese. and of course strawberry ice cream for alexis and lemon crepes for me. plus, a bottle of a french white. the evening was completed with a crappy movie on tv.
day 9: friday (shopping).
waking early, we tried for breakfast at the metro, but they only do it on sundays, so we had to go across the street to where the cranky waitresses live. the food was okay, the khmer coffee was crap. we then tuk tuk-ed to the russian market, the shopping mecca. silks, nicknacks, t-shirts, scarves, dvds, wonders upon wonders and all prices up to negotiation ('cept the dvd shop, they didn't take to that very well). within an hour we had bought too many things, needed more small bills and less bags; back to the hotel it was! now i was also suffering from my sunburn and was very happy to get out of the heat and enjoy some relaxation. as we watched another crappy movie, and reveled in our purchases, we both noted that it was really nice to take this break and mellow out.
down to the metro for a snack (peking duck pancakes) and more smoothies, we then decided to give the boutiques a try. they were supposed to be next to the lucky supermarket, but the only one we could find cost more than japan--apparently it was a designer shop. with me starting to over heat again, we tuk tuk-ed back to the russian market one more time in search of clothes that apparently only lived in my mind. but i got my fabric kick by buying a stack of great scarves and a silk bedspread. both alexis and i stalked up on a couple more dvds, and then we went off to the incredibly posh cambodiana.
this was an expensive hotel. this meant it was over $100 a night. in cambodia, that means about $500 elsewhere. i felt like a kid who stepped too close to the china. for gawd's sake, they had a tiara for sale in one of their shops. but i am glad to say this didn't stop us from going into the restaurant and discovering that they had a rueben! and though slightly in accurate (it had lettuce on it) it was still so so wonderful. and the khmer coffee was good, too.
feeling giddy, and my skin boiling, back to the mekong palace it was. there we hung out, packed and listened to the rain; commenting on how ironic it was that we had feared being rained out to the point of charing our skin, but we had never gotten caught in it. dinner was at rory's (irish pub), but on the way $20 walked out of my pocket as we stopped at a bookstore and a silks shop. dinner was yummy, conversation was good, and farmer ted was at rory's again. somehow i insulted him with my 'stink eye', but we still had a nice conversation with a friend of ted's who happen to be from portland. grew up there, his parents even lived in tigard for a while gaarde and 98th. insane. to make it even crazier, he was returning to pdx and was on the same flight to taipei in the morning.
alexis and i said goodnight, waved goodbye, then stopped at a bag store to pick up extra packing space for me ($8 for a at least $60 backpack, new). more bad american tv, and then sleep.
day 10: saturday (tuk tuks, planes, taxis and shinkansens).
too early (damn keitai alarm), we woke and watched tv while we waited for a reasonable hour to roll around (remember i don't have a tv in japan, and really there is nothing good on anyways, tv was very exciting). we took our final tuk tuk ride all the way to the airport. we saw the 'real' of phnom penh and tried to soak it all up.
at the airport we went through the motions, ate one last good sandwich, met our friend from the night before and were off. a plane to taipei, 3 hours there, land, wait for 30 minutes, take off, fly for 2 hours (but not enough time to finish 'music and lyrics'). it was then 7:20pm in fukuoka. the shinkansen seemed too expensive 12 hours previously, but after changing money an not feeling quite as broke, not even a taxi from airport to hakata eki seemed like too much. golden week finally effected us and there was only one seat on the train, alexis sat, and i happily criss-cross-apple-sauced it in the back. after 10, and we were finally in hiroshima. 30 minutes later and i was home at my mansion. my apartment still a mess, but i was home.
i was reminded of this home as i stepped out of the airport and smelled japan, sweet smelling japan in the cool rain of spring; as i sat on my local train in hiroshima and gave mental 'stink eyes' to all the people surrounding me with better clothes then i would ever own; and as i strolled down on my neighborhood streets to my little 1k mansion.
the short of it: taipei was exhausting and frustrating. phnom penh was fun and warm and interesting, but stressful with all the toting going on and the fact that my camera walked away. i still don't exactly what happened, but it's gone. sihanoukville was perfect, amazing, wonderful, beautiful, stunning, all those positive words, but alexis and i did burn to an absolute crisp on our first day in the sun--stupidity reined and sunscreen stayed home--so i experienced more pain then i thought possible. but that meant we sat on the 'beach' (under the cover of our 'hotel') guilt free, ordered food, read, played cards, and chatted. a good bout of nothing. phnom penh, the second time around, ate our money very quickly, but only b/c the low low prices made us buy too much--so many dvds... and that's that.
the blong long of it:
day 1: thursday.
at 11:30 at night, alexis and i hopped the night bus to fukuoka, where the larger international airport is located.
day 2: friday (felt like the same day).
with little to no sleep under our belts, we caught our plane to taipei at 10:20. but first, a mistake/mishap occurred; in our changing money and checking in, we did not pay attention to the checked baggage process, and our bags were forwarded to phnom penh. this meant our day in taipei was a purse day (we only had our purses). as seemed to be the theme of the trip, we decided this 'bad thing' was actually a good thing. we didn't have to deal with our bags and it just meant we'd change clothes the next day when we were in a nice hotel in phnom penh.
so taipei. well, the exchange rate was not what we thought, so we felt lacking in money the whole time. we first saw some very beautiful temples (as much color as korea, but more elaborate detail in the carvings. really beautiful). i got assaulted by about five taiwanese high school girls, who had to take a picture with me and my yellow hair (it was a big hit in taipei). tired and cranky, we then decided to head to a mall and enjoy some aircon and lunch. sounds simple, right? no. wrong. very wrong. we found underground shopping very similar to seoul's, but no malls. and no food. eventually we figured out our tourist map and found a 'mall'. not what we wanted, and we ended up at starbucks drinking banana mocha frapcinnos that were as big as our heads and made us feel sick (all we'd had to eat that day was sugar). post this, we found our youth hostel, a nice enough establishment, checked in and headed out again (as our 'room' was just two bunk beds in the dorm room). [tangent anecdote: as we left the hostel, there was a nice man with about four large dogs, including a great dane. the man commented on my hair, the dogs molested alexis and i; the dane leaving dog snot on my shirt for the next day and a half that i had to wear it.] off to find another mall or something interesting to look at, we came upon a section of 'park blocks' that i loved and reminded me of portland, an interesting mall, and finally three hours of wondering later, a 'japanese' buffet restaurant that took alexis' credit card. all we could find was japanese restaurants, even the fast food was just mos burger. the day ended with us trudging back to the hostel, crashing around eight, getting another horrible night of sleep.
day 3: saturday (still felt like the same day).
the alarm went off at four am. this of course would have been really annoying, but both alexis and i were awake staring at the ceiling. bus ride to the airport, a three hour flight, and BAM, warmth. stepping off the plane in phnom penh, the air was perfect. hot, not too humid. beautiful. we said hello to our bags, got our exciting visas, lightly chatted with the foreign guy who was on the plane with us, and tried to negotiate the price of the taxi to our hotel (yeah... it was fixed. bargaining attempt number one, a no go). our hotel, the diamond hotel, was impressive. $45/night for the room, not per person (oh and we're dealing actually in US$ 'cause that's how they do it. the local currency, reil, is basically used instead of coins). the room had parquet wood floors, two twin beds and cable tv--with american channels. weee! we quickly, and happily, took our respective showers--finally washing off all that had built up from thursday.
our first stop, after turning off 'mythbusters' and grabbing a tuk tuk--our mode of transportation for the capital city--we went to the national museum. it was interesting to see the cambodian take on buddhist art and relax in the very lovely garden at the center. (it reminded me a little of the museum/mansion i went to with my family in boston). we then left and could of course not walk by rory's, an irish pub, without stopping. we had evil cheesy, bacony french fries, and a greek salad with lots of feta; and we met farmer ted. not actually a farmer, at least not since childhood, and maybe not named ted. but he was a nice guy who gave a scoop on life in phnom penh, as told by a resident of five months. apparently he had been a hollywood screenplay writer, and got fed up and left one day, and is now working at an orphanage in cambodia. kinda unbelievable, but true. we got an invite to visit his orphanage, but we sadly weren't able to take him up on it.
we then tried to go to the royal palace and silver pagoda, but apparently my dress was too relieving and by the time we did the math to find that renting a t-shirt cost 25cents, we were already off on the next wanderings. through a park, to a monument, a few silly pictures, our first encounter with the beautiful illegal dvd shops of cambodia and then a pause due to dust in the eye. as we sat and played with contacts, below an interesting fountain, i set down my camera. minutes later, at the independence monument, i tried to take a picture. and no. i had never picked up my camera and it was gone. we walked back and forth, i checked my bag six times, alexis' twice, i actually asked the locals (and felt bad for having a girl respond 'i did not steal'), but there we were, and it had walked away. of course i flipped out. over a hundred pictures gone, all of taipei, plus, you know, the camera itself. and days later, i realized the hokkaido hello kitty strapu i loved, as well. fuck. that was the word. stupidity. that was the other one. determined not to let it ruin the trip, i started off with my cell phone as my camera, we went back to the royal palace, drank some water, walked around, enjoyed ourselves, and took some fun photos with alexis' camera and my little keitai.
tired, hot, we hopped in a tuk tuk to head back to the diamond hotel. misunderstanding took us to the tai ming hotel, and got us a little tour of the city (plus a trip to the gas station). we rested, chose a restaurant, sorya's. it was a cambodian restaurant that was in an old cinema. up stairs there was some sort of event, because the place was flooded with women in 'prom dresses', all glitter and gold. very exciting. dinner was delicious, but too much. dessert was nice, just fresh fruit and pistachio gelatin stuff that i didn't eat. we tried to find some chocolate and beer to take back to the room, but there were no conbini's to be found. and really, at 9pm we were beat. we couldn't even finish the exciting british murder mystery on cable.
day 4: sunday (finally a new day).
with only a half day left in phnom penh, and a long bus ride to look forward to, i was happy it ended up being a easy morning. we had a free continental breakfast at out hotel, and appreciated our showers. we didn't have time for the wat phnom the day before, so we headed over early on sunday. it seemed that it was the day off for local cambodians, so the buddhist site was packed. the actual structure was interesting, but the true feature was the residents of the grounds. first there was an indian elephant that you could feed bananas to, and then there were monkeys monkeys monkeys. and of course the locals were selling stuff to feed the monkeys. eventually i partook, alexis took photos (this was after her monkey encounter in which one decided that, as she sat on the bench, it looked like she needed a lap-friend. not the case). it was very fun to watch the monkeys role around, play in the trees, attempt to drink ice out of a water bottle, and get fed food. when i sat to talk to one and pass on some food, he decided it was a different kind of offer, looked up my skirt a couple times, then made the most frightening leering face i've ever seen. i was quick to hop up and avoid him for the rest of our time. being sexually harassed by a monkey? scaring. we then attempted to find one one of the other wats in town via tuk tuk, this was unsuccessful, so we decided to trade in the t-shirt i had forgotten to return the other day for my deposit. eventually we did find our wat, which ended up being more active by monks and more interesting. we then wandered the water front, stopped in 'the metro' for my new addiction (khmer--vietnamese-- coffee, iced coffee with condensed milk) and smoothies.
and then it was time to go. we waved goodbye to phnom penh, for the moment, and sat on a bus for 6 hours to get to sihanoukville. the bus ride was interesting, as we stopped to drop off people at their houses along the way, saw the planes of cambodia, and the stilted houses that seem very useful at the edge of rainy season. arriving in sihanoukville, our 'hotel' had offered us pick up, but they weren't there. we agreed to a price with a tuk tuk driver, we thought, but turned out it was a couple moto drives. sooo... nervously we jumped on he back of two motorcycles, our huge backpacks between the legs of the drivers, and moto-ed to coasters (our new home).
when i saw where we were going to staying for he next three nights, when i actually took it in, the absolute glee that i felt. never. i mean i've been to the beach. i love the beach. but my beach is the oregon beach. you expect rain, you know it'll be cold, any sign of the sun and you become confused. you go to the beach b/c it's the beach, not b/c you want a tan or want to lay on the beach and enjoy the noise. my times on the beach are of being huddled under a blanket, reading my book, and occasionally wincing from the sand being blown in my eyes. so keep that imagine in mind; our bungalow in sihanoukville was perfect. no aircon, no hot water. two big beds with mosquito nets, open air, and a balcony. an extraordinary balcony that looked over the other roofs of the beach and on to the blue blue ocean. white beach. sun. warmth. never before. the cabin felt like a more rustic version of my camp stays, so simple, so nice. the view, unbelievable. i just. yeah. it was good. and even the 'hotel' was rather amazing. it was just a simple open building with relaxed table and chairs, an attached little clothes shop and about 8 computers for internet access to whoever wanted it (for a minimal price).
with a spring in my step, we went down to the water and it was warm. warm! i couldn't believe it. beautiful luke warm water. we strolled, we walked, we looked for dinner. as dark came we chose the sea-dragon and had crab, sauteed fish with a white wine sauce, and angkor beer. oh and broiled banana for dessert. moving on from there we stopped at another place for mixed drinks and cards. a little egyptian rat screw and off to bed. *sigh*
day 5: monday (the day of doom).
for some reason, probably the time difference and our early bedtime, alexis and i both woke at 5:30. horrible as it sounds, it did mean we got to see the sunrise. stunning.
after reading our books, we decided to head down around 9 for some food. french toast awaited me, alexis had the ham and cheese omelet of her fantasies. we even got a kitty friend who came over, i gave him creme and a scratch. we both enjoyed his friendliness, and then he decided he was a lap cat. so i had a little friend all curled up, purring up a storm. if only i'd known, i would have stayed there longer, but it was time to read and bathe in the sun.
now before you go scolding us, poo-poo-ing us, and laughing you must know there were factors. we were shocked that it wasn't raining. it was supposed to be raining the whole time. this could be our only shot. i didn't have a watch, alexis wasn't really looking at hers because of the kids. oh the kids. i forgot to mention that the night before we had gotten our first taste, the kids on sihanoukville beaches sell bracelets. they come up to you, they start a conversation, they ask you name, where are you from. they establish loyalty. they hook you. then they talk, they smile and they ask you to buy their wears. you say 'no'. they ask 'why?'. you say 'i don't need any bracelets', they say 'why?'. this goes on. and there are other games. but they would come in waves. there would be one, then two, then five. and they were fun. don't get me wrong, they were fun to talk to. chatting, asking them questions. and their english was amazing, put my students to shame. and then there were the ladies, women selling manicures, pedicures, massages, hair removal, the works. between all that we read, i jumped in the water a couple times, and by 3 o'clock we realized we had burned, too. oh did we burn.
the full extent to which we lobstered, we didn't realize till much later, so we salvaged our day. after our onesided reddening we moto-ed to town, tried and failed at the market, but then traded our 100s for more reasonable bills and walked around town. the supermarket provided us with aloe based nivia creme. the pain was coming, and this helped a little. we found a cute book store q&a books. there was a nice australlian couple staying there. we booked a trip to the islands through this book store (this of course didn't last b/c even on wednesday we could tell thursday we would not be up for it). then we dined at the holy cow. amazing food. sweet waitresses to talk to--with, of course, beautiful english.
another early night befell us after moto-ing 'home', and to make matters worse after alexis' shower the water stopped working. our much needed cold water stopped. with nothing else to do, we both got under our mosquito nets, lay down and tried not to move. this did not promote a good nights sleep, nor allow for any sleeping in.
day 6: tuesday (more pain then you can understand).
of course being up early, although not quite as early, we tried to get the still-not-working-water fixed. we told the staff. it seemed something was happening. maybe. we went back to give it a try, and wallow in our bungalow.
my stomach growled, we went down for breakfast. we asked about our water again only to discover there was a foreigner with some authority (irish maybe?). he said the tank was empty and they were pumping it from the well. 20 minutes. no problem. *sigh* but not the case. innocently we had a delish breakfast, both having the fruits pancake (turned out to be a pancake with fresh fruit mixed in the batter. yummy). after quickly confirming, on our 'hotel's' internet, that yes there is no quick cure for sunburns, we went back in anticipation of cool water. nope. frustrated, we tried to read. it didn't last and we went down to try again. upon our visual arrival the other foreigner working there noticed our burns. before we could say anything about the water, he had hopped up, grabbed some real aloe plant, cut it open and put it on my leg. i shuttered with relief. now this was no cure, but it was as close as we were going to get. and this kind kind man also noted that in no way should the water be taking this long and he got the staff working on finding the leak. of course before we could shower, the power went out (no pump to move the water to the tank) and alexis and i tried to stay distracted with our wonderful aloe, books, cards, and ordering food. although there was a lot of just sitting there saying, 'ooow'.
in a glorious moment, right before late lunch, i went up to get my lactaid pills and was greeted with running water. without thinking i stripped, stepped in and forced myself under the cold cold pelts of water. dripping hair and refreshed i strolled, hobbled, down to alexis to munch my half of our club sandwich; the whole day made a turn for the better--but just so you don't think i was complaining for nothing about the pain, oh the pain. an example, my skin was hot hot hot on my legs; so the air felt cold, this meant goosebumps. you know what goosebumps are? they are your skin tightening to close your pores. my skin did not need to be tightened. no it did not. my skin then felt like someone scraping a knife over my now goosed skin. not a nice safety razor, but a rough angry knife. ouch.
anyways, we felt a little better, so decided to moto to q&a books to cancel our boat trip and eat yummy food at holy cow again. we had a longer conversation with the australlian couple, a different conversation with the same girls at holy cow, and moto-ed almost to our 'hotel' to stop at another book store on the way. a very smart book store that also had clothes. really cool clothes. i spent $60, alexis did $50, and we each only got one book. they were good clothes. almost japanese style, but they fit us, and were reasonably priced.
another nice shower, glee from our purchases, and good reading led us to a slightly later night.
day 7: wednesday (relaxation, guilt free).
after a much better sleep, thanks to drugs, showers and aloe, we had another yummy breakfast and settled down for the day. and i mean settled. beyond running back to the room to counter the mass amounts of water we were drinking, we didn't leave our table. well, once the sun was down we did go for a nice stroll on the beach so as to enjoy our last night *tear* in sihanoukville. so it was literally sitting at one table with our books, cards, and conversation and that was it--oh, and the aloe, too. just a simple rotation of those activities, broken up by staring at the ocean and ordering food. with a nummy post stroll dinner, we had another early-ish night after more reading. perfect. guilt free.
day 8: thursday (leaving).
okay it was really only leaving sihanoukville, not the country, but this was much sadder. our morning was weighted with the knowledge of our 2:30 bus. we continued the previous day's activities, but with much less enthusiasm. i made my last purchases at the attached clothes shop at the 'hotel'. we played spit. we stared. and then we left.
the bus ride back to phnom penh was not as much fun. it was a much nicer bus, we even got water and two snacks. but it felt longer as i looked up at the slowly moving clock, and tried not to bash the couple sitting in front of us. so sickeningly lovey dovey i wanted to puke. *blech*
back in phnom penh, a little cranky and worse for wear, we found a riverside hotel, the mekong palace, for $25/night for two twins. plus cable. sadly, we tromped out onto the street and started the shopping extravaganza that would continue the next day. going to three dvd shops, we started a terrible theme and each bought $30 of dvds that were either $2 or $1 per disc. then it was dinner at the 'restaurant on the corner'. it ended up being french, and i ended up eating too much cheese. oh the cheese... the most amazing blue cheese chicken salad, beautiful panfried red snapper with garlic lemon sauce, and then a plate of just cheese. and of course strawberry ice cream for alexis and lemon crepes for me. plus, a bottle of a french white. the evening was completed with a crappy movie on tv.
day 9: friday (shopping).
waking early, we tried for breakfast at the metro, but they only do it on sundays, so we had to go across the street to where the cranky waitresses live. the food was okay, the khmer coffee was crap. we then tuk tuk-ed to the russian market, the shopping mecca. silks, nicknacks, t-shirts, scarves, dvds, wonders upon wonders and all prices up to negotiation ('cept the dvd shop, they didn't take to that very well). within an hour we had bought too many things, needed more small bills and less bags; back to the hotel it was! now i was also suffering from my sunburn and was very happy to get out of the heat and enjoy some relaxation. as we watched another crappy movie, and reveled in our purchases, we both noted that it was really nice to take this break and mellow out.
down to the metro for a snack (peking duck pancakes) and more smoothies, we then decided to give the boutiques a try. they were supposed to be next to the lucky supermarket, but the only one we could find cost more than japan--apparently it was a designer shop. with me starting to over heat again, we tuk tuk-ed back to the russian market one more time in search of clothes that apparently only lived in my mind. but i got my fabric kick by buying a stack of great scarves and a silk bedspread. both alexis and i stalked up on a couple more dvds, and then we went off to the incredibly posh cambodiana.
this was an expensive hotel. this meant it was over $100 a night. in cambodia, that means about $500 elsewhere. i felt like a kid who stepped too close to the china. for gawd's sake, they had a tiara for sale in one of their shops. but i am glad to say this didn't stop us from going into the restaurant and discovering that they had a rueben! and though slightly in accurate (it had lettuce on it) it was still so so wonderful. and the khmer coffee was good, too.
feeling giddy, and my skin boiling, back to the mekong palace it was. there we hung out, packed and listened to the rain; commenting on how ironic it was that we had feared being rained out to the point of charing our skin, but we had never gotten caught in it. dinner was at rory's (irish pub), but on the way $20 walked out of my pocket as we stopped at a bookstore and a silks shop. dinner was yummy, conversation was good, and farmer ted was at rory's again. somehow i insulted him with my 'stink eye', but we still had a nice conversation with a friend of ted's who happen to be from portland. grew up there, his parents even lived in tigard for a while gaarde and 98th. insane. to make it even crazier, he was returning to pdx and was on the same flight to taipei in the morning.
alexis and i said goodnight, waved goodbye, then stopped at a bag store to pick up extra packing space for me ($8 for a at least $60 backpack, new). more bad american tv, and then sleep.
day 10: saturday (tuk tuks, planes, taxis and shinkansens).
too early (damn keitai alarm), we woke and watched tv while we waited for a reasonable hour to roll around (remember i don't have a tv in japan, and really there is nothing good on anyways, tv was very exciting). we took our final tuk tuk ride all the way to the airport. we saw the 'real' of phnom penh and tried to soak it all up.
at the airport we went through the motions, ate one last good sandwich, met our friend from the night before and were off. a plane to taipei, 3 hours there, land, wait for 30 minutes, take off, fly for 2 hours (but not enough time to finish 'music and lyrics'). it was then 7:20pm in fukuoka. the shinkansen seemed too expensive 12 hours previously, but after changing money an not feeling quite as broke, not even a taxi from airport to hakata eki seemed like too much. golden week finally effected us and there was only one seat on the train, alexis sat, and i happily criss-cross-apple-sauced it in the back. after 10, and we were finally in hiroshima. 30 minutes later and i was home at my mansion. my apartment still a mess, but i was home.
i was reminded of this home as i stepped out of the airport and smelled japan, sweet smelling japan in the cool rain of spring; as i sat on my local train in hiroshima and gave mental 'stink eyes' to all the people surrounding me with better clothes then i would ever own; and as i strolled down on my neighborhood streets to my little 1k mansion.
the short of it: taipei was exhausting and frustrating. phnom penh was fun and warm and interesting, but stressful with all the toting going on and the fact that my camera walked away. i still don't exactly what happened, but it's gone. sihanoukville was perfect, amazing, wonderful, beautiful, stunning, all those positive words, but alexis and i did burn to an absolute crisp on our first day in the sun--stupidity reined and sunscreen stayed home--so i experienced more pain then i thought possible. but that meant we sat on the 'beach' (under the cover of our 'hotel') guilt free, ordered food, read, played cards, and chatted. a good bout of nothing. phnom penh, the second time around, ate our money very quickly, but only b/c the low low prices made us buy too much--so many dvds... and that's that.
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