koh phayam. 2009.

so this is the new year.. and 2008 sure was a good one. last night the four of us sat out on a table on the beach with a little bat friend flapping low around us, and reflected on the last 365 days.. it was great to sit there, all with smiles on our faces, and talk about what we've experienced and how amazing it was. once it was dark, we all walked down to the shore and set off a few lanterns.. it was rather "symbolic".. and very personal, watching them float off over the ocean until it's just a spec that could be mistaken for a star.. afterwards it was on to "my BBQ bar" with a live band, flame throwers, a huge bonfire on the beach, followed by a dance party. we rang in '09 well if you ask me.

so we're here in koh phayam after a series of not-so-unfortunate events which meant that every place we intended to go for new years was booked up.. on a whim, we caught a bus going up to ranong and took a boat out to the island, which is right off the south tip of burma. we arrived with no accomodation just hoping it would work out. and of course, it did.

the place is paradise.. there are no roads on the island, and therefore no cars.. only little paved pathways for bikes and pedestrians.. everything is ran on solar energy, with a few backup generators, and there's even a few windmills on the beach. trees everywhere, a few hills, serene beaches, other islands spotting the horizon..

we taught ave and darryl how to play 'euchre' - a card game that has turned into so much more for us on this trip.. leading to a competitive tournament which resolved itself in india.. although, i'm not sure it will ever fully be 'resolved'.. [melissa took the crown, and the rest of us secretly resent her for it..] one evening after some cards, we grabbed the flashlights and walked down to the beach to check things out. the tide was way out, and we walked out on the damp sand checking for shells and crabs and whatnot.. christine was the first to find a sand dollar, and within a minute and a 2-foot radius we had found 5 of them. the tide started coming in so we were forced back to land, where we witnessed - and no word of a lie - at least 200 hermit crabs.. every single shell on the beach had legs. it was amazing.

we've since moved to another beach with more people, figured it would be the place to celebrate. the waves here are massive, the boys are so thrilled with that.. we've been body surfing every afternoon.. catch a wave and it bullets you out to shore, it's a helpless but entirely exhilirating experience..

happy 2009 everyone. i only hope it can show up my 2008, it's a tough act to follow..

phuket.

so once our alleged 13 hour bus ride turned into 20, the four of us were quite ecstatic to finally arrive in phuket on the southwest coast on thailand.. clear skies, open ocean, sand so fine it's like whole wheat flour.. life is good.

we've spent the last 2 days on the beach, soaking up the rays, but being very conscientious of reapplying sunscreen (darryl and ave have a slight glow about them having been months into the canadian winter already..) we've done lots of walking around the town, it's very quiet regardless of the vacationers so it's a great place to do some relaxing. [all have agreed we do it well..]

our first night was spent down on the beach, sitting in the dark and having great conversation.. catching up on the last four months, and in christine's case, the last 6 years at least(?). fantastic. we were wading in the water and spotted small specs of blue light zipping past us in waves crashing to shore.. quite enthralled, we spent almost an hour trying to catch the damn things, getting a little light to see what it was all about (scared maybe it was jellyfish or something that you didn't particularily want to catch..) later realizing it was algae that glows at only a certain time in the evening.. pretty neat.

christmas eve was filled with mixed emotions.. exciting.. doesn't really feel like christmas.. with all of us used to surrounding ourselves in huge family gatherings, lonely.. except that we're all family.. and how can one complain when we're in paradise? we quickly sorted it all out, and went out for a nice dinner, cheers'd to our circumstances, went down to the beach and watched magnificant fire works coming from all sides, and again enjoyed the company. there's a cute little bamboo bar that we went to for a bit after doing a grocery run for our special christmas breakfast, and then we awaited santa's arrival..

waking early to grab some good seats on the beach we dined on the sand.. fresh bakery bread, croussants, brie, cream cheese, olives, tomatoes, cold coffees, with chocolates and nuts for dessert. then we read, swam and chilled out for the rest of the afternoon.. indulged again at lunch, and.. well, we've basically indulged every few minutes or so.. it's christmas!

just wanted to let everyone know that we are thinking of them and we appreciate our families and friends so much.. wish we could be together for the holidays, but, well.. i'm pretty content with where i'm at right now.. love love love, and merry christmas!

kolkata/bangkok.

days turn into nights turn into days turn into nights.. and suddenly our time in india has come to an end. i couldn't even explain what we've been up to the last week or so because it basically involved drinking tons of tea.. walking steep hills.. street food.. momo's.. bike rides.. jojo's juice shop.. it's ridiculous how quickly it went by and how unprepared i was to let it go, but also how happy i was to know that when we got through customs, i'd be chilling out with my brothers who are two of my favorite people. also, much to our surprise, and by no hint of our own, this man at the airport decided he would try to get us put into first class.. pop-up personal television screens, foot rests, and food on china plates.. not too shabby.

we've said goodbye to stacy who's off to LA to spend christmas with her family.. we say goodbye to bangkok at 6pm.. vip bus and 13 hours later, we'll find ourselves on the beaches of phuket. i am feeling rather scandalous in my dress, having kept my knees and shoulders covered for the past month and a half.. funny how a few hours on a plane can bring you into a different world.

darjeeling/it's a small world after all.

it was quite the adventure getting back into india after our little bout in nepal.. we got on the bus around 4pm and rode it through the treacherous mountainside roads for almost 15 hours.. at 7am, tired and grumpy, we grabbed our bags and took a rikshaw a kilometer down the sandy road to the boats.. [i think a dam broke?] seemed so absurd because the only thing you could see for miles was sand, and then there was this huge river with a strong current where the road used to be.. so we loaded up these wooden tubs and slowly made our way across.. the engine choked out a few times and i was pretty sure we weren't going to make it. on the other side, we got another rikshaw and went another kilo down the road where we caught our next bus which we rode until 12:30. then changing to a jeep at 2:30. then another jeep at 4pm to cross over the border and arrive in darjeeling at 8pm..

so we're waiting for our final jeep at this little border town, about to walk through the immigration office for a stamp when who do we run into? wilf and laura olson, ray and ellen mcmillan, and their two grandchildren, august and andrew. talk about a small world. i had wanted to get up to guwahati to visit with them and it just didn't work out with our time frame, and voila. our paths crossed. caught up for a few minutes before parting ways.. after 2 days travel, i'm sure i didn't smell very pretty, but they didn't resist any hugs. it was so nice to see them.

went on the infamous 'toy train' for a joy ride to see the sights.. it was quite the disappointment! it's in a book titled '1000 things to do before you die' - i plan on writing a strongly worded letter. although, it is the oldest and second highest train station in the world.. 7047 ft up.. guess it just takes a lot more to impress me these days, so spoilt.

yesterday was mike's birthday, as well as his last day with us. he heads off to calcutta this afternoon to catch a plane. so last night we went out to a little pub down the street to celebrate, and we ended up running into this guy, drew, that we met on our boat cruise in halong bay! two months and three countries later.. and here we all are. smallll world.

trekking/kathmandu.

we now have a 50km trek under out belts.. what a breathtaking experience (both literally and figuratively..) going up and down those mountains could be pretty killer, but the scenery was always such a treat that one couldn't help but be entranced..

we left pokhara early and took a bus a few hours out to start off the journey. we were told it was 4 hours to lunch, but we hiked 3 at a good pace and made it to the quaint little mountainside village where we stopped to eat. warmed up with some tea and loaded up on carbs (guilt-free.. [the joys of physical activity..]) then feeling both intimidated and challenged, set out for the 3,200 stairs that awaited us.. our guide, bharat, was amazing. he was a very warm, helpful character with tons of information about the area.. we crossed over freezing cold clear rivers (not safe to drink because of minerals and chemicals washed in from the rocks..) tons of green trees, huts, and small fields cut into the mountainside.. another few hours after lunch brought us to olleri which is where we stopped for the night, about 2040m. we ate supper and sat around a cozy fire before heading to bed.

the second day we woke early to watch the sun rise over the annapurna mountain range.. the clouds rolled in soon after, but we were able to catch the snow capped peaks light up under the sun.. seemed so surreal, they looked like paintings.. i constantly had to remind myself that this was really happening. after breakfast we hiked about 4 hours to lunch.. it was another 2-3 hours after to our destination, ghorepani, about 2860m. stacy, christine and i were all feeling extremely empowered. the whole day was basically up, but it had been so long since we'd done something this physical that our bodies were probably thanking us.. mike wasn't feeling so great, bit of a headache, so when we reached camp he went for a nap. the three of us and bharat decided to hike up to poon hill that afternoon.. great lookout spot at 3210m. it was almost an hour straight up from there, and the clouds were rolling in.. by the time we reached the top it was completely gray, we couldn't see a thing. climbed up the tower regardless, and waited it out for a bit to see if the sky would clear.. no dice. so we headed back down (which took about 10 minutes..) had some supper, and sat around a fire with some fellow trekkers visiting and sharing travel stories before bed.

day 3 was somewhat more relaxed because we had done poon hill the evening before (which meant we didn't wake up at 4am to do it for sunrise).. we had breakfast and continued the journey uphill to our highest peak at 3380m. the sky was perfectly clear and the view was phenomenal.. a little bit of frost on the ground that morning, but once we got walking we were all stripping off layers.. after that we worked our way down to 2500m, then back up to 2800, and then continued all the way down to 2000m, stopping to lunch on yak cheese pizza.. (an acquired taste, but not bad..) our last night was spent in a cute little hostel surrounded by bright orange flowers and overlooking the village below.

the last day was about 3 hours of trekking before dining on special nepali food (some sort of holiday, bharat didn't really explain..) then a half hour hike back to our bus, pokhara bound..

in those 4 days, we experienced rivers.. grassy plains.. jungle.. forest.. we saw monkeys.. barking deer.. a parrot.. mountain pigeons.. donkeys.. goats.. quite the eclectic landscape. i would love to go back and do some trekking in february.. it would be bitter cold, but that is when all of the trees are in bloom.. huge red, yellow, orange, blue flowers cover the trees, and i just think the contrast of that to the icy snow covered ground when be amazing.. but alas, i make too many plans.. maybe some day..

we've since left pokhara for a few days in kathmandu.. i miss the quiet simplicity of pokhara, this is city-paced and not as relaxing.. however, still nice to venture through the streets and have a look around.. yesterday morning we woke at 5am and headed to the airport. after a 3 hour delay because of clouds, we took off for an hour flight through the himalayans and saw an epic view of mount everest.. wow. 8848m of glory.. i also found out that there are only 14 mountains in the world that are over 8000m, and 8 of those are found in nepal.. pretty cool. (i think we saw 4 of them?)

this afternoon we begin the 24 hour journey to darjeeling.. india awaits us once again..

nepal.

we're back on the move.. spent 4 nights in varanasi and appreciated the time to relax and settle in to a place.. we went out to see a 'bollywood' movie, and were surprised to find quite a bit of the dialogue in english, so we could piece the storyline together.. laughed hysterically. the next night we went to check out a magic show. there were posters plastered all over the city and we figured the guy had to be good.. [not so much]. we left at intermission.. every sentence that came out of this over-the-top-sparkling-jewelled-jumper-guy ended with the last word echoing into the theatre. every time. it was really funny at first, but it got old fast. good thing it was only $1 to get in..

we took a few boat rides up the ganges river, once in the evening and once in the afternoon. got to see all of the ghats with people bathing and laundry hanging all over the place.. there is a second place on the river where people get cremated, but it is electric burning.. for people who cannot afford the alternative. we were also told that there are 5 holy people who do not get cremated.. brahmins (holy priests), people killed by cobra bites (shiva, their god), children under 10, women who die in childbirth, and lepars. instead they are wrapped and sunk in the river. apparently it is not surprising to find bodies resurfaced.. if they are on the ghat side of the river, they are re-sunk.. if they are on the far side, they are left for the birds and dogs.. in the evening there was a 'pooja' which is a religious ceremony. there were rituals with incense and candles and bells, men holding brass cobras.. it was pretty neat to see. we each got a lotus candle to make a wish and then set them out into the water.. it was dotted with light, i would even go so far as to say this disease ridden pool was pretty..

we boarded the bus to nepal.. 12 hours later we crossed the boarder and spent the night, leaving again in the morning for pokhara. the second day we met a few israeli's travelling together and made friends.. the roads were killer.. sometimes we were so close to the edge you couldn't even see the road.. everyone [excluding moi] went and sat up on the roof for part of the trip! i stayed in on bag duty.. (whew).

pokhara is an absolutely beautiful place and i'm excited to spend the afternoon checking things out. we are still gathering up some trekking information and will be doing that in the next few days! we wanted to do a 4 or 5 day trek but the prices and a little out of budget, so we'll see..

agra/varanasi.

we are alive and thriving. the hostage situation in mumbai has given us all a bit of a scare, but we have zero intention of heading down there at any point and are always as cautious as a reasonable person can be.. so i suppose we are at the will of the world.. [in the 21th century that may be a scary thought?] but we're just loving life through it all.

sitting here in our hostel at varanasi i've had quite the afternoon. we started out for a walk around the area after dropping off our bags and happened to stumble upon the "burning ghat" (i can't remember the hindi translation).. which is where they cremate all the bodies after cleansing them in the ganges river.. there i saw things. things that i probably would have rather not seen, but i watched in a mesmorized sort of wonderment and dread.. death is something that i don't understand in the least and i suppose that is why it scares (?) me. it takes about 3 hours for the cremations to be completed, and they have maybe 25 going at a time in this one area.. a red saree means it's a woman and white or orange means it's a man.. i couldn't imagine having that job.

we spent last night on another train, as well as the night before.. passed through agra quickly as there is really not much to see besides the taj mahal.. [please note that i am in no way down-sizing it's wonderment].. our train was about 4 hours late getting into agra and so we headed straight to taj mahal after lunch. 22 years to build; 30,000 workers.. the marble work was unbelievable. and the size.. they did alright.

monkeys running rampant all over the place.. it's pretty crazy to see them free of cages, yet i'm sure they are quite the nuisance in the cities without any population control.. india has also finally received a back-ordered shipment of high rise bell bottom pants for men.. i feel like we're walking through the movie set of a 70's flick.. fantastic.

standing at the train station last night we got to talking about how funny it is when people's names match their occupation.. so then we started playing a game.. a few we came up with were: "gemma - the jewel maker".. "moe - the landscaper".. "phillip - the gas jockey".. "patrick - the magician".. the best one was "amanda --- the transvestite".. priceless.

we'll be here in varanasi for a few days. trying to get on the forum, but nothing yet..

jalismer/udaipur.

much to our delight the train wasn't bad. we boarded feeling worried and intimidated.. mike caught a hand in his back pocket within the first 2 minutes (he's got good reflexes).. and on 5 benches in our immediate vacinity i could count 21 people without even turning my head, not including the 4 of us [and all very blatantly staring at the foreigners].. not what one would call 'spacious' or 'comfortable'.. however, we all loosened up a bit (while still remaining very cautious with our belongings..) and by 10pm the train had cleared out and we each had our own bed [hard bench], which was 100x better than our 24 hour stint in the upright seats.. the constant draft through the windows was terribly cold but we wore as many layers and we could find and have now acquired blankets for the overnight rides..

i could not believe the scenery on the ride.. they leave the train car doors open (i'm not sure they even had doors) and you could just hang out there and take it all in.. desert.. camels.. a few shrubs and huts along the way.. amazing. we arrived in jalismer at 1pm and were ushered straight to the henna hotel by a man we met on the train [he was legit]. settled in and got straight to exploring the city.. we walked around the old fort which is raised up on a hill and has tons of buildings surrounded by massive walls, all built with sand stone.. witnessed a beautiful sunset from up there..

the next morning we set out bright and early for an overnight camel trek! we rode for 4 hours the first day, stopping for lunch in the heat of the afternoon to duck under a tree and catch a nap.. i rode the 'rocket'.. melissa was on 'raza'.. stacy clopped along on 'partner'.. mike's didn't have a name but we referred to it as 'fonty'.. while steen picked up the rear with 'michael jackson'.. good 'ol mj.. doesn't matter what country, everyone knows who he is.. nobody thought they'd walk again by the time we dismounted to set up camp.. you don't realise how many muscles go unused until you ride a camel..

the scenery and basically the entire experience of being there [and india in general] is indescribable.. words don't give justice to the rippled dunes and the sunset and the beetles scuttling all over the place.. the curry and chipati's cooked on open flame.. the coolness quickly taking over the sand and air as soon as the sun had set.. the conversations had at the bonfire.. we had tent malfunctions and ended up camping out under the stars.. never have i seen a sky like that in my life.

the next morning we woke to a hot cup of chai and watched the sunrise. another few hours on the camels, and we were back in the city.. (by this point we could hardly move, nevermind walk..) but i want to do this again.

we bused to udaipur that afternoon and arrived at 5am, finding refuge at the palace view hostel which is owned by an adorable couple. they have been very good to us. i decided to get my nose pierced and found a place.. possibly sketchy, forever unforgettable.. we all got henna on our feet and legs.. walked down to the lake and hiked about 30 minutes up a mountain for an amazing panoramic view of the city where we again watched the sunset..

back at our hostel, we arranged for a 'cooking class' [we had chosen our dishes that morning..] however a random power outage didn't allow it.. they just made it for us when it came back on and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner over candles on the rooftop where we had a full view of the palace and city.. fireworks were going off everywhere as many people were celebrating weddings, and we just reaped the benefits..

today we checked out the palace, and are now heading to a restaurant before jumping on another overnight bus.. agra in the morning.

shanghai/delhi.

we spent 4 days in shanghai walking around the city streets, boardwalk, people's square.. took a journey through the psychedelic "bund tunnel" and questionable "aquarium" (a room with a small selection of living creatures, as well as randomly jarred fish - wrinkled, possible pickeled..) we ate every evening at this tiny soup place hidden just off street, a random find which we took full advantage of.. there was a cooler full speared vegetables and bundles of leaf greens which you put in a basket, they cook it up in some broth, and voila.. for $2 including a bottled drink, we left stuffed and content every time. and our long lost melissa showed up at our room the morning of our flights, much to everyone's delight..

and here we are.. india. it was a slightly clausterphobic plane ride, but we slept. got into new delhi at 5am china time, but got an extra 2.5 hours with the time change.. met stacy and melissa's friend mike (another korean teacher..) who has settled right into our group, (an impressive endeavour). yesterday we got a driver to take us around some of the sights.. we saw humayun's tomb which is a smaller version of the taj mahal, excluding the four pillars and made of red sand stone and marble.. it was an expensive entrance fee, but it just so happened to be world heritage week.. so we got in for free. saw ghandi's cremation place.. the india gate.. drank some amazing tea from a street vendor (courtesy of our driver who was wonderful to us).. tried some red beetle nut paste..

it was been an eye-opening 2 days.. the pollution is dense, the poverty is apparent, and yet there is so much beauty here.. the women's sarees are rich colors, nothing bland.. the food is everything i imagined and more.. the streets are packed with stolen car parts to sell, clothing, scarves, carvings.. and people everywhere. what an experience. i must admit i feel much more at ease having mike around, although i haven't felt threatened in any way.. we are grateful that the weather isn't too hot because it would be much more difficult to keep the shoulders and knees covered if it wasn't the case..

this morning we checked out the ghandi museum which was pretty neat.. that guy is quite the role model. to even have a fraction of his determination (my stubborness may not suffice) and his selflessness.. very incredible how he changed a country, the world, and showed just what can be accomplished without violence. a humbling reminder.

this evening we travel to jaisalmer on an overnight train. we're told it is a 19 hour excursion, but are warned by others the the trains have been known to frequently break down.. fingers crossed. our tickets were $8 a piece, so i'm not expecting first-class.. but i worry that i may still be thinking too optimistically..

hangzhou. [ode to my family].

this past week was one that i will remember for a very long time. spending 24 hours on a smoke filled train car, on a hard upright bench, with hundreds of people standing in the aisles due to non-existant capacity restrictions.. we arrived in hangzhou. hailing a cab exhausted and excited, we pulled up to the huagang hotel feeling like will smith arriving at the bell air mansion.. i assumed the fam would all be waiting in the lobby with open arms..

[three hours later] we were welcomed by my parents, sisters, ken, helen, vee, kris, laura, jess, andrew, peter, grandma, leslie, bette.. a whole slew of selby's. for 5 days we were hosted to the nine's.. enjoyed a beautiful traditional chinese wedding which was quite the experience (thank you peter and claire!).. laughed.. cried.. celebrated in style. the twisted sisters kept us on their toes with harmonized serenades, ken kept the teasing at a minimum and even managed to make a speech, and laura and i were angelic the whole time..

molly may toured us around the picturesque city, and recommended we go to see the "impression of west lake" before we left - what a suggestion. a cast of 300 people, with a lake as the setting.. (they built an entire stage just beneath the surface of the water so that it looked as though they were walking on water). using the colored lighting to highlight areas, the reflections, splashing to create movement and rhythm, and a 50 foot structure that raised out of the water.. i was impressed. the music was composed by 'kitaro' and the choreography was amazing.. and a love story to boot. a must-see if you ever find yourself in hangzhou.

it was a fantastically wonderful break from backpacking. we are all fully rejuvinated.. 20 pounds heavier.. and slightly more reluctant to continue with our prior budget commitments. in 2 days we are boarding a plane india bound. thrilled. i just want to give a huge thanks again to my parents, ken and helen, grandma, leslie, bette, peter and claire for loving each other and bringing us to china, claire's parents for their generosity, and just everyone for coming.. i love you!

xi'an.

our last few days in beijing were more than enjoyable.. boosted our egos by being in dozens of photo shoots with couples, friends, families (sometimes voluntarily).. while walking down the streets, us foreigners are quite the attraction. watched the flag ceremony in tien'amen square at sundown.. soldiers perform this ceremony at precisely the same time every morning at sunrise and every evening at sundown to raise and take down the chinese flag. they looked almost robotic marching across the street and into the square, not even slightly out of step.

that same morning we viewed the body of mao zedong, preserved in a glass coffin in a memorial hall.. he was responsible for the communist movement here in china. people would walk into the building and bow to his picture as though he were a god.. i felt a little unsettled afterward.. could have been that he's been dead for over 30 years?

checked out the forbidden city and the summer palace.. both extremely impressive. amazing gardens, ponds and architecture over a massive amount of space permitted only for the emperor, staff, and elite guests.. the guy was a little excessive, but had equisitite taste none-the-less.. found a secret little side street which sold unimaginable things on sticks.. scorpions, starfish, sea horses, chicken hearts, huge beatles.. (we opted for the candied apples with walnuts).

will miss the repetitive loogies being horked on subways.. streets.. hell, even building hallways.. not to mention snot rockets, sometimes aimed at garbage cans.. (and unsuspecting enemies i'm sure..) also the method of potty training infants which is composed of slitting pant seams from front to back and letting them go wherever, whenever. oh china, how i will miss you..

we took a 10 hour train down to xi'an and have spent a few wonderful days here exploring the little markets and dining in back streets.. today we went to see the terra cotta soldiers. 8th wonder of the world.. absolutely phenomenal the lengths this tainted emperor took to protect himself in the afterlife.. karma's a bitch! (for those of you who do not know the story of the terra cotta soldiers, i urge you to check into it..) basically, this guy killed tons of people, and then started getting nervous about the afterlife. so he forced thousands of people to carve thousands upon thousands of individually faced warriors (archers, sword carriers, horses and chariots..) to be his protective army after he died. then he killed everyone who aided in the construction because he didn't want anyone to know the whereabouts of his tomb. people found it anyway, and destroyed the warriors leaving him vulnerable. it was discovered in the 70's by some farmers digging a well, and they have been excavating and slowly piecing everything together since then.. heavy.

today we found out that stacy and christine ate what we thought was some type of seafood.. but was, in fact, worms. not tentacles after all, just little bundles of wriggly delight. they said it tasted good anyways, but are glad to get the info after-the-fact. tomorrow, 20 hour train ride to hangzhou for a reunion/wedding/party of sorts!

beijing.

time has been flying.. already a week in beijing, and no blog-report. the weather change here has been a treat from the last two months of heat, although our now tropical skin is finding the humidity levels difficult to adjust to! beautiful fall foliage and crisp air. i love it. i also love that i just got back from enjoying a day out with my parents, sisters, grandma and the "twisted sisters", aunt, uncle, cousins.. how amazing to be able to meet up with family on the other side of the globe! they continue on an action packed tour, and we reunite again in 10 days for the infamous wedding..

we've been slowly conquering new areas of the city, checking out different city buses and subway stations.. the architecture in this city is phenomenal, angled skyscrapers of all different shapes and sizes.. the streets are clean, and people obey traffic laws moreso than anywhere we've been thus far (which means a lot, but i am still terrified crossing the street)..

a few days ago we took a day trip out to the ming tombs and the great wall. it was the coldest day yet, but that meant for perfect conditions while we were walking the wall.. we drove an hour further than the badaling section because we were told that was the most touristy.. it was wonderful because there was hardly anyone else there, and the scenery was amazing. mountains fading into the horizon and history at your feet. we took a gondola up and roller-coastered down on plastic seats in a metal half-pipe.. (both, obviously, original features..)

i also celebrated the monumental age of 22 in beijing.. went to the zoo, which was fantastic.. pandas and zebras and alligators.. monkeys and lions and pythons.. we were quite annoyed at how many people were feeding the animals, and took it upon ourselves to put an end to it, pointing at the signs and talking sternly until they got the point.. except one time we started heckling a guy, only to find out he worked there.. he should have been much more grateful that we were keeping things in order! that evening we went out to a pub street near our hostel and went all out, china style.. and did it all again for halloween! beijing didn't know what hit em..

the imperial junk.

it's so much fun to be able to shout out, "hey, how's it going?" when you see someone on the street. we've met quite a few people throughout our few months on the road, quite a few who are travelling a similar route. and so we have random run-ins throughout the towns and cities as we catch up and leave behind. familiar faces are quite the commodity around here..

we've just got back from a 2 day 1 night boat trip in ha long bay. the sky was looking rather grey heading out, but we had nothing but clear skies and sunshine! boarding the "imperial junk" (junk being the type of boat, not just a humorous name) we had a blast.. they fed us well (around 10 dishes per meal..) went to the biggest cave of the islands for a tour.. swam on the beach.. relaxed on the upper deck.. checked out the beautiful scenery, and the clear starry night.. boats anchored all around us, lights in the windows, a bottle of wine.. celebrating with a couple who had just got engaged that evening! (yes, we probably rained on their parade.. we like to think they cherished our company, however).. woke up, some taking a quick dip before breakfast.. kayaked around the islands.. (there are almost 2000 in ha long bay alone, another 1000 in the surrounding area..) christine and i were paired up, and had quite a time getting away from the dock itself.. never mind maneuvering around islands and rocks.. although, we surprised ourselves as well as everyone else with the skills that followed.. (we're thinking of going pro). and poor stacy, having lost a competitive rock-paper-scissors match, found herself paired up with a french-man who didn't speak english, and as it happens, didn't like to paddle either! he was just there for the ride.. we came back to shore for lunch before returning to ha noi..

so here we are. an unfortunate series of events has me sitting here with a bum foot.. i neglected to see the rather steep gutter on the road as i was stepping to get into our bus, and rolled my ankle.. little difficult to get around at present, but i'm hoping that with a good days rest i'll be back to 100%! the girls have just left to pick up some supper (they are so good to me) and we have 2 more days here in the vietnam capital. on friday evening we board a 55 hour train to beijing!

vietnam.

so after checking out some local markets and getting our fill of cheap clothing, (or at least our backpacks' fill..) taking a cyclo-tour, (a non-profit organization which provides jobs for men who would otherwise be living on the streets) and a night out for supper and dancing with eileen davidson and kim foster, we said goodbye to phnom penh..

from there we crossed the border into vietnam and got into ho chi minh city (previously known as saigon). checking it out in the afternoon we realised it was quite like any big city, expensive accomodations (more than $2 a night..) and full of cute stores that inevitably mean spending money we don't have.. so after buying an open-ended bus ticket up the coast, we decided to enjoy the evening and continue on in the morning. in order to do so, we felt a spa would be most appropriate. (we had a tough day.. the bus trip was agonizing on our delicate bodies..) much to our surprise, on arrival we found a naked asian man in the jacuzzi.. and another in the steam room.. (quite the asian experience..) with a deal like that, we should only have assumed it was co-ed! for $10 including tip, we indulged in the jacuzzi, steam room, sauna, 1 hour body massage, and a 1/2 hour foot massage.. not too shabby.

heading the next morning, we reached mui ne. we found a very cute hostel right on the coast, accented with palm trees and a pool.. to our disappointment, the beach was covered in broken shells and the water was littered.. we copped out and went for the pool. at 7:30 the next morning we got our own motos and drivers to take us out to the sand dunes.. the white sand dunes were the most beautiful.. we pulled up right besides a lake filled with huge pink lilly flowers and pads, reflecting the desert landscape behind. i couldn't believe how hot the sand was at just 8 o'clock.. we walked about 15 minutes into and up the sand dunes, and then.. we crazy-carpeted down! yeah, we did.. :) on the way back we visited the red sand dunes then lounged poolside before zipping off again on our sleeper bus, only to settle in nha trang!

so here we are. another day, another beach..

phnom penh.

alas, here we are in phnom penh. we arrived last night and have spent the day checking out a few of the historical sites.. pretty heavy morning. i decided that what i'm about to write just doesn't look proper next to talk of friends and beaches, so i put this in a seperate post.

this morning we went to the S-21 museum which was originally a high school, but after being taken over by the khmer rouge, it became a prison. there were thousands of pictures, mug shots (of innocent people) torture instruments, blood stains still somewhat visible on the cell floors.. of the thousands captured, i think there were 7 survivors from that prison. during the 'pol pot regime' they estimated anywhere from 500,000 - 3 million deaths.

this was displayed on the prison wall, regulations for prisoners to abide by:
1. you must answer according to my questions. do not turn them away.
2. do not try to hide the facts by making pretexts of this and that. you are strictly prohibited to contest me.
3. do not be a fool for you are a chap who dares to thwart the revolution.
4. you must immediately answer my questions without wasting time to reflect.
5. do not tell me either about your immoralities or the revolution.
6. while getting lashes or electrification you must not cry at all.
7. do nothing. sit still and wait for my orders. if there is no order, keep quiet. when i ask you to do something, you must do it right away without protesting.
8. do not make pretexts about kampuchea krom in order to hide your jaw of traitor.
9. if you do not follow all the above rules, you shall get many lashes of electric wire.
10. if you disobey any point of my regulations you shall get either ten lashes or five shocks of electric discharge.

imagine? it's pretty hard to. even seeing it 'firsthand' is surreal.. they had barbwired all the balconies off so those desperate couldn't even commit suicide. and this happened in the 70's!

from there we went to see the killing fields, where everyone was blindfolded and trucked out silently to die in a mass grave. they used chemicals to hide the smell of the bodies to avoid suspicion from people living nearby, and to kill those buried alive. there is now a huge monument paying respect to those who lost their lives, lots of skulls and bones.

so yes. heavy morning. extremely eye-opening. i realise just how unlearned i am when it comes to history, and recent history at that. and how grateful i am to be a canadian woman with all the opportunities i have. there are few doors closed for me, when many of these people never had one to begin with.

goodbye paradise.

our last days in sihanoukville were bitter-sweet! we made a wonderful group of friends and basically merged ourselves into the community.. making plans with the locals, or tourists who have found themselves kicking around for more than a few days (as we can fully understand isn't hard to do) going out, meeting for supper, boat trips, the works.. johny, a local who owns a bar on the beach, and his friend danny who works a few bars over threw a going away party in our honor.. we're all so comfortable in such a short time, i was actually behind the bar this weekend, helping pour pints or just hanging out (to everyone's amusement.. they found me there after i'd been gone a while, feeling quite at home) a job offered ensued, i politely (sadly) refused.. so as can be imagined, it was hard to say goodbye..

sihanoukville..

having been about a week on the beautiful beaches of sihanoukville we decided on a change of scenery. the four of us, feeling somewhat inadequate in numbers (having said goodbye to our party gal, jess) piled into the backseat of a small car after having learned that there will be 7 people attempting this 2 hour "shared-taxi" ride to kempot..

we were slightly distraught by this, but they assured us that this is how it's done here, so take it or leave it. (we attempted to argue, but realised they meant it and had no remorse what-so-ever dropping our bags and driving away,) so we grudgingly continued.. stopped downtown to pick up the other passengers, (presumably 2 more, as we are already a party of 4, plus driver).. and to our surprise, it was actually a couple that got in the front seat, along with a toddler and a breast-feeding infant.. (as has been stated many times on this trip: safety has also taken a vacation..) after about 5 minutes of driving, we stop yet again. to our horror/amusement, another woman gets into the auto.. gets in, to the left of the driver, sharing his seat! now really. how is one supposed to maneuver oneself and make logical driving decisions when there's a woman sharing your seat, and a breast-feeding infant plus family on your right? and four petrified canadians in the back voicing their opinions on the situation..? regardless, we made it alive. (makes a good story though, doesn't it?)

arriving in kempot, we found a quaint little hostel and settled right in. walked along the river and witnessed a beautiful sunset.. the next morning waking to set out to "bokor hill station".. now: to make a long story short, i will try to summarize the 'experience'--scroll down, and re-read the blog in which i described our drive from laos into cambodia, to siem reap--with all the lakes and gravel ditches and whatnot.. now: this was quite the trek, and yet it was under completely 'reasonable' conditions.. bokor hill station involved going 1000+ meters up a mountain-side, in a truck with 7 people piled in the back and 5 in the cab, during rainy season, in a road highly under construction.. i will leave it at that. use your imagination, you might get close..

bokor palace, as it's rightfully named was built around the 1940's (forgive me if i'm wrong).. by the french who were colonizing the area. they made this beautiful building as a casino/hotel, filling it with only the best of the best.. in the 1970's it was overtaken by the corrupt 'khmer rouge' who used it as a military base and was host to many deaths, including 15 american commanders.. (the mountainside was a good way to dispose of bodies..) pretty dramatic building for such a fall from grace.. it has an eerie feel, compelling.. we were allowed to go inside and roam at will.. crazy to imagine the stories within those walls..

the next day we took a tuk tuk into kep to see some bat caves, the beach, and a pepper plantation, which cambodia is famous for.. we got to try some green peppers straight off the plants.. spicy deliciousness. unfortunately, the green peppers do not last more than a 3 days so we couldn't take any home.. but i do have a bag of dried black pepper with mom's name on it.

now we find ourselves back in sihanoukville! after such adventures we need the tranquility of a nice familiar beach.. four more days, and we'll be ready for what's next.

alright. back again. we are settling in for some sand and rays here in sihanoukville, southern cambodia.

the '4000 islands' were very remote.. electricity was on for limited amounts of time at our first little bungalow, and our last night spent on another island had none.. we rented bikes our second afternoon and road all around the 2 islands we occupied during our stay.. kind of reminded me of the movie 'now and then' with our gang of girls riding our colored wheels over the dirt roads, singing and talking about life.. rice fields on one side, trees and huts on the other.. dodging water buffalo and stray dogs along the way.. it was crazy taking the boat out there and barely seeing treetops sticking out from the rushing water.. hard to imagine that the rainy season is only just beginning there.. there aren't 4000 islands this time of year i don't think..

took a boat back to the mainland and boarded a gruesome bus ride down to siem reap.. at one point we were attempting (..successfully, thank god) to drive through a lake, basically. there really is no other way to explain it.. water all around us.. a small mud island about 10 meters away.. waiting for the engine to stall out and for us to get washed out to sea.. hours later i was woken by some rapid swerving and brakes, only to see that we were in fact swerving through what looked more like a gravel pit with random gravel piles, and much less like a road.. what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.

day one was angkor wat. breath-taking. one of the 7 man-made wonders of the world.. we spent the entire morning and afternoon there, very thankful for our tuk tuk driver.. we walked around 5 temples (one an abandoned city and none small), each one very unique and beautiful.. some of the girls said one day was enough, but i can understand how some people take a few days to go check it all out.. we saw the infamous 'tomb raider' temple with the 100+ year old trees sporting roots as thick as.. (tree trunks are presumably a bad descriptive choice..?) growing over the ruins and around passageways..

we went to a cute little alleyway full of restaurants and pubs for supper and spent the next day checking out the city. we got massages at a seeing-eye hands place which was pretty neat. we walked by the same place later on and they were all sitting on the step calling out for us to come in, so we had to explain we'd already been! they were all so wonderful.

which brings me back to the aformentioned beach.. glorious.

vientiane.

we've been two days in the capital of laos, vientaine. the city has a population of 250,000 people roughly.. amazing when compared to bangkok which is what.. 10 million? so it's pretty small town. we've gone out both nights, basically to hang out together.. not really hopping on a monday and tuesday night! today we said goodbye to michelle, who has been such a solid foundation in our travel crew.. kind of like we're losing a part of our little fam.. so we celebrated last night, rented a private karaokee room and went to town! christine and i belted out a little "achey breaky heart" just to clarify that we are in fact, well.. i suppose you can just fill in the blank on that one.. i remember doing that line dance around the living room for hours on end.. (i was really really cool).

today we went to check out a visitor center called "cope". it's a foundation that was created to help laos people with disabilities and amputations due to warfare. it's was an extreme eye-opener. stories of real people who lost limbs, families.. there were pictures and movies and it broke my heart. these young children who never experienced war, who are innocent, still feel the effects.. laos is the most bombed country in the world, and about 30% of the bombs dropped did not explode. they estimated about 580,000 bombs are still alive today.. scrap metal is a hot commodity for people here to provide money for their families, so many people of all ages see these UXO's as food for a month, and not as a danger. they don't understand that it could detinate. many of the accidents are also from children who see bombie's and think they are fruit or something to throw, and go to play catch with their friends.. i left changed, to say the least.

we take an overnight bus down south, to a place known as the '4000 islands'..

to my disappointment, i just realised that i wrote an entire blog a few days ago, and it didn't post! so that's a little discouraging, but i will do my best to recap..

so the blue lagoon did not in fact have this aforementioned rope swing, it had been removed. however, it did have a tree where said rope had once been tied to, and we did jump off of that. it also did happen to have a waterfall, which we jumped off of as well. so there were no hard feelings..

luang prabang was such a chill place, we spent four days there and loved it. rented bikes.. checked out a few temples.. the night market.. amazing food.. the morning before we left we woke up at 4am and went to watch the monk procession. every morning they walk through the streets with these containers strapped over their shoulders and collect food offerings from the locals. it's their food staple for the day, they do it every morning. it was just so humbling for me to watch.. i was slightly irritated by the tourists who were standing in the middle of the road with their cameras flashing incessantly.. it just seemed so tainting to the experience. these monks aren't doing this to be on display, they are doing this because it's a traditional element in their culture and beliefs.. we tried to just sit and be respectful, although i still feel hypocritical because i'm sure i do so many things that are unintentionally insulting or disrespectful.. but i am trying to understand..

we've now been in vien viang for 4 days. we went tubing down this river which is spotted with bars and places to hang out.. so you float down and get pulled in by these people with bamboo sticks and you stack your tubes and go hang out! there were zip-lines and acrobat swings that you climb up on and jump into the water! there was a volleyball net in the middle of a mud hole.. so many people.. we left at noon and got back just before 6 o'clock..

went caving yesterday which was quite the ordeal for myself being slightly clausterphobic and afraid of the dark.. we hiked through 3 caves, and then the last one you get on a tube and you pull yourself over the water by this rope.. then you have to lie down and squeeze yourself under a rock into a cave, and then proceed to pull yourself through the insides of this cave on a tube in the water! it was petrifying!! but ultimately amazing. all the girls had a really good time. some faulty head lamps and crawl spaces made the adventure what it was..

today we are off to vien tiane. stacy, christine and i are meeting melissa, michelle and jess there as they left this morning to kayak about 6 hours down the river and then take a bus the rest of the way! i would have liked to have done it, however we've decided that having some sort of budget is necessary.. and so, one can only do so much. it's all an adventure..

vang vieng.

so, the blue lagoon did not in fact have a rope swing as we had been told.. however, we did jump off the tree which used to rep said rope.. and we did jump off a fantastic waterfall right into the water.. and we definitely had a great time.. so, no hard feelings. there was also a moon bear reserve for mistreated animals down a path from the waterfall and we went to check it out. they were fairly small bears, all marked with a white strip under their necks.. almost pig-like snouts, they were very interesting to look at..

our last night in luang prabang we went out for a bit and got to bed at a decent time to wake up at 5am and watch the monk procession.. they walk single file through the streets with these tin containers strapped over their side to take food offerings from the locals. some of the girls were going to buy some rice, however felt it might be imposing on their culture as we didn't understand how exactly it worked and did not want to be offensive in this ignorance.. the monks actually do this every morning in order to obtain food for the day. they are very dependent on the locals which is very humbling for me to comprehend.. we sat on a street corner and watched them walk past, slightly irritated with all of the tourists standing in the middle of the roads with their cameras flashing incessantly.. it just felt so degrading to the entire process.. although i'm sure there are many things i do without a second thought that may cause offense.. pretty amazing regardless.

after grabbing breakfast we boarded a bus to vang vieng. a 6 hour drive with the most pot-holes, swerving roads, sketchy mountain passes, and near-misses with cows, dogs, and stray animals ever.. but somewhat amusing with all things considered. we've been here 2 days now, and are gearing up to go tubing down the river this afternoon! it can take anywhere from 3 to infinite hours, depending on how many times you stop, and there are rope swings and zip-lining and everything along the way! wish us luck..

slow boat, etc.

leaving chaing mai was actually a little sad! we had been so graciously hosted by all of the staff at 'panda house' and it was hard to leave the comfort of it (basically of nic giving us everything for free..) we had a personal taxi that we never paid for (besides tipping them because they were wonderful) free internet.. clean rooms.. amazing food.. what more could you ask? nic had all of our names memorized the morning after we arrived.. one day we asked him where a good place to go would be because we wanted to swim.. just so happens that his japanese friend is renting a place in a condominium with their own pool on the roof? so of course he calls his friend up and away we go.. now that's service. he even gave us a bottle of red wine as a going away gift. can't complain. the joys of being girls..

so from chaing mai we got on a slow boat which takes 7-10 hours, spending the night on the thai side of the river which separated us from laos. the first day on the boat actually flew by surprisingly fast! we had so much fun, definitely brought the party. we left our seats and sat up at the front by the driver, played cards, had music, made some friends.. fantastic. the next day, not so much.. we were pretty spent. enjoyed nic's going away present, however.

we've been 2 days already in luang prabang and love it. small town vibes, very relaxed. last night we went out on the town and enjoyed some amazing food and drinks at a few little places with patios out back surrounded by trees and candles.. they have a government curfew here of 12 o'clock, however it isn't enforced with tourists.. so after the restaurant we were at shut down, do you think we went home to bed? nooo. we went bowling! obviously..? it's the thing to do. we had our own lane and everything. got a little competitive (with nothing to back it up) and had so much fun.

today we're going to check out the blue lagoon.. there's a waterfall and a rope that you can swing from into the water.. more to come. xox.

in the jungle..

the 3 day 2 night trek was phenomenal. i wasn't sure what my expectations were to begin, but regardless, they were exceeded! our tour guide (we called him j.j.) was the most animated person i have ever met in my life, a fantastic cook (we ate like kings), and the most in-shape chain smoker of life..

the first day was especially gruelling. we hiked for about 3-4 hours, the majority of it straight uphill.. and by hill, i mean mountain.. it was rainy which made the paths especially muddy and i was very happy for our bamboo walking sticks.. the little ledges could be pretty slick. as challenging as it was, j.j. kept us motivated and was really good for stopping after an especially tough stretch to rest (while he smoked and sang at the top of his lungs.. i swear, the guy is incapable of being winded). the first night we reached camp, showered, and hung out with everyone on the deck of our little hut which was made entirely of bamboo. we stayed in a little village at the top of the mountain. all around was valleys and mountains and green tree tops peaking up out of the clouds.. breathtaking.

the second day trek was much more relaxed. we split into 2 groups (there was 13 of us all together) and us girls opted for the shorter trek which allowed us more time to swim at the waterfall! we had a private camp that night with a little hut and a long dinner table where we all hung out late into the night..

on the third day we hiked for about two hours before reaching the river where we put on life jackets and flourescent helmets to do some white water rafting. i've never been so terrified and thrilled at the same time! stacy and i almost got tossed out after a particularly big drop off, but my cat-like reflexes kicked in and there was no way i was getting thrown out of that raft.. we had some chanting going on, a little bit of competition between the 4 rafts.. a really good time had by all. we all bailed ship at one stretch where there were no rocks, and just floated for a bit. the current was much stronger than anticipated and we had trouble getting back to our rafts, but with the help of chris (who single-handedly held christine, jess and myself against the water) we got back on.. and from there, we got on a long bamboo raft which brought us back to the truck and our packs, and we headed back into chiang mai.

doi suthep

last night we took a 20 minute drive up a mountain just outside of chaing mai to a temple called 'doi suthep'. i am so happy that we went to see it at night because it was empty besides us, a few locals, and some monks. during the day it is a big tourist attraction and they sell small buddha statues etc, taking away from the wealth of what's really there.. we walked around the chapel area, and then took our shoes off and walked around the temple. there were 2 monks up there polishing a buddha statue and talking quietly amongst themselves. it was extremely peaceful and humbling and i wished i had my journal with me.. i felt i could've sat for hours thinking and writting.. we saw a woman monk dressed in a white robe performing some sort of ritual and walking extremely slowly up an aisle.. the 2 monks polishing the statue visited with us and answered some questions.. one was only 22 and had been there for 4 years.. pretty incredible.

regardless, i lied about not blogging until i got back.. i didn't want to overshadow this amazing experience with stories of jungle trekking. so, we leave in 30 minutes to the market for supplies, and then, jungle here we come..

chaing mai

had a bit of a scare in bangkok as there's a "coup" going on right now (pronounced 'koo') of people trying to overtake the government.. we were heading back to our hostel in 2 separate tuk tuks, when we approached the area where people were rioting.. christine, myself, and melissa were in the first tuk tuk and we got through the crowd, but after we had got through (unknown to us) the crowd rushed the road and we lost stacy and michelle! luckily, we both had the thought to go back to khao san road, and we found each other no problem.. kind of scary, although we were assured it shouldn't be a problem for tourists, i'm still glad we're out of bangkok for now.. so we skipped town that night on a rented 'bus' - which actually turned out to be a private van with leather seats and air conditioning? $12 each for the 11 hour ride..

it's day 2 in chaing mai. we're being extremely well taken care of.. the people at our hostel have been incredibly kind, as have all the people we've encountered on our walks around the city.. last night we checked out the midnight bazaar, which is a huge market.. dined on pad thai for a mere 33 cents? everyone is having a blast. it's still overwhelming to be here, but the realisation is slowly dawning..

tonight we're going out on the town! tuesday we leave for a 3 day, 2 night trek through the jungle.. so don't be concerned (mom) as i will be unable to post until afterwards.. i'll be sure to fill you in on happenings!

xo.

thailand!

after leaving winnipeg wednesday morning, and skipping thursday almost completely, we arrived in bangkok thailand. a hot pink cab ride brought us to 'khao san rd' where we attempted to sneak up on a suspecting stacy mcclaskey.. reunited after 13 months..

the flights were long but generally fine. we had a hilarious flight attendant on the last stretch from tokyo who constantly joked with us, and tried to involve christine in the 'safety features' of the plane.. he said he'd hire us for sure..

i'm already dripping sweat after leaving our air conditioned hostel room minutes ago.. something i'll get used to fairly quickly i think - and by no choice of my own.. at 6pm tonight we are heading to ching mai, northern thailand. we have an 11 hour bus ride followed by some trekking and zip-lining in the jungle!

fully rested and feeling fine.

the anticipation..

i've left regina, sk for the last time in one year. that city is full of wonderful people whom i will miss dearly. however, i'm onto the next big adventure.. once you get that itch, there's no turning back..

last night i went over to christine's place to discuss our list of to-do's.. stacy tracked us down all the way from s.korea and she and christine had their very first conversation! very trusting of my character judgement, with good reason obviously. i can't think of two better people to embark on such a trip with. stacy and i had the time of our lives last summer in europe, and steen and i have been discussing the possibility of a trip since, probably grade 10! it's about time..

so, in t minus 4 days we will be boarding a plane in winnipeg, stopping in chicago and tokyo, and landing at our destination: bangkok, thailand. bring on the heat and humidity. us girls were born for it.. from there we'll tentatively make our way north through thailand and cross the boarder into laos, then cambodia.. vietnam.. into china.. (where we'll meet up with the selby clan for a wedding/party of sorts!) from there we fly to india.. trek into nepal.. then fly back down to thailand where we will spend christmas and new years.. and mid-january we'll be hitting up the land of auz.. and some time after that, newzealand..

check back here to keep posted on happenings.. we'll be sure to fill you in on stories, where we're at, and what's going on.

love.

as of tomorrow, i am officially a resident of the boys house on college. i will be sharing close quarters with six of my friends, settled into my little burrow (also known as, the laundry room..) and loving every minute of it.

this weekend climb aboard is playing andy shauf's cd release at the buffalo lounge on friday. i'm pumped on the venue, and entire line up. it's going to be a doozie for sure. saturday, life in hand is playing at oddfellow's. sunday, misery signals is coming through town with as i lay dying and august burns red. it's going to be a solid few days.

it's so nice outside. if anyone wants to go for a walk, picnic, yog, you name it.. hit me up.

time to play catch-up..

we didn't end up getting out to rose island on the boat, it had been too windy. regardless, our last days spent in nassau were more than enjoyed. we were on the same flight as grandma and the layover in toronto wasn't too long. when we got into winnipeg laurie and jim were there to get grandma and gallavant her around the province against her will :) and the girls went out for celeboratory drinks - back in canada? i'm not sure if that's an appropriate celebration..

now i'm back into the thick of things. last week of classes, one final assignment to finish up, and final exams next week. i'm taking it all in stride. as of next wednesday, i'm back in vacation mode! summer break is here. (phew!) last night was my first shift back at work, i almost forgot the word.. the future brings warmer nights, rainy drives, hang outs, and shows. and work, yes. but i'm just so excited for all that the summer has in store for me this year..

yesterday morning was started with some bridge jumping close to auntie bette's place. the girls (myself, laura, ang and lynda) were the first to work up the courage.. and gus and i were the only ones brave enough to jump off the very top.. so much fun! laura's camera took some fun sequence pictures and we got some funny looks from the golf carts passing by on their "sunday drive" (everyone dresses up and goes for a little drive). otherwise it was spent packing up and saying goodbye to bette and babs' homes which we found ourselves quite comfortable in for the past 4 days.. we left don and arta behind and boarded the "bohengy" back to nassau. everyone met up at auntie lori's for a bbq, where we were introduced to our cousin justin for the first time! he took us out to the waterloo last night and he's on his way over to donnie's now to take us out on the boat! we're going to cruise around paradise island before saying goodbye to lynda and gus who are flying home today. then we will take the boat out with his girlfriend stacey and spend the night in rose island! i've been summoned! we're off. xo

day 4. just got back from aunt bette's dock where we've spent a good portion of the morning/afternoon.. we had picked up some milkshakes from "the gap" after our big shopping adventure to the two stores here on russell island.. don, arta, trista and the kids are taking a boat back to nassau this afternoon and we'll meet up with them at aunt lori's tomorrow. after swimming for a bit we looked down from the dock only to see a barracuda darting by! we packed up soon after ;) we've had glorious weather.. bette's gardener cut a coconut up for us with his machete today, we're going to track him down for a few more if we can.. otherwise, lots of late night, laughs, good food, and amazing company!

bahama mama

it's day 2 and life is good. yesterday's flight out with ang and laura was a breeze. donnie was at the airport when we arrived, and we walked out into the sunshine after leaving winnipeg in a snowstorm.. cruised around nassau with a cooler or beer feeling unnecessarily rebellious, (rules aren't quite the same here..) then linda and gus showed up to get the party started! we went out for supper at the hot spot "the poop deck" - doesn't really sound appetizing? but it was delicious. went out to the casino (i won a wopping $10!) where there were aqauriums full of huge creepy fish and there were mantra and leopard sting rays, one was 8 feet across.. we went out for a bit, and then woke up to catch the ferry to spanish wells this morning! spent a glorious day on the beach in russell island with don, arta, trista and her kids.. the sisters came out to join us for most of the afternoon. fell asleep in a hammock on the beach..

now we're back to betty's where a couple people went swimming off the dock, and now everyone's just regrouping to get ready for supper. can't say i miss school, clocks, or cell phones.. oh, and we got picked up at the ferry in a golf cart! it's the preferred mode of transportation here :) so chilllll. (i think i might accidently miss my return flight..)

back to socializing. more to come..

it's the middle of the night and i can't sleep. morning brings a paper deadline, test, and midterm; all of which i am dreading entirely. and there's a whole lot else on my mind these days which always add a new twist of insomnia to the already prevalent stress levels.. but that is okay. because it's all going down tomorrow. the awful weight of it all is always worth the satisfaction of completion.

besides school life, i've been a pretty happy girl these days. the weather is changing. first day of spring is on thursday. a few days ago i woke up and was walking to my car and i could smell rain in the air. a crisp spring morning and all i could think about was that i wanted it to rain. as i was driving to school, a car passed me and splashed my windshield with a dirty city street puddle, and i left it on there for a minute longer before flicking on the wipers. yeah, i did it. and then: it rained a little bit. glorious.

yesterday morning i stopped in at starbucks to grab a latte before heading to school. i was absentmindedly leaning against the wall by the counter where you pick up drinks, my one foot crossed over the other, waiting for my warm caffeine fix when i looked down to see this little boy, long blonde hair peaking out under a hooded jacket of yellow, blue and red. he was concentrating really hard, trying to figure out how to balance his one foot over the other, glancing up at mine for a guideline. he looked up at me and saw me watching, and grinned. so i uncrossed my foot, and he did to. then i crossed them really fast, and he followed. i crossed the other one, he giggled and did it too. then i put my foot back on the wall, and he stuck his out in front of him. a silent game played between strangers at the coffee counter.

i went out for breakfast with my friend kelli on saturday. somehow the entire morning and early afternoon was swallowed up in minutes. i guess when that happens you know you enjoy each others company. and that it's been far too long since your last visit. both of which are more than true in this case. but we're planning a london fog/crib session for the near future, so key. when we finally organize our much anticipated crib tournament, i'll be sure to fill you all in.

wheres the love?

so tonight i re-watched a movie that i own and that i've seen several times, the united states of leland. i had recommended it to a friend and he watched it this past week, so i wanted a refresher, to remember what it was all about. the ideas and storyline in the film get me thinking every time, about important aspects of my life, and how i think about life. the main character (played by ryan gosling) talks about how there's two ways to look at things: you either see all the good, and hide whats actually going on, or you can stop pretending, and see all the pain and badness. sometimes i view myself as being pretty optimistic. yeah there's bad things in the world, no doubt about that. but the sun is shining, and i have been blessed with a really amazing family, group of friends, means to an education; i have far more than i need in so many ways. sometimes i'm optimistic. but then other times i feel utterly pessimistic. i see all the bad and the hurting all around me, and it makes me feel insignifant. like nothing i could do would change anything. and it's really easy to fall into that mindset and feel pain and anger and sadness for whats going on around you. but i guess what i came up with now after sitting for a bit, is that it's much better to be able to see truth, to know what's actually going on. ignorance, for me, is not bliss. however, it is how we embrace this reality that matters. i think that if we all started loving a little more, we would begin to see this love in others, and the reality would be love, not just a mask covering what is really going on. so, here's to loving, something i struggle with constantly. but i think it's pretty worth it.

spring break

i have the house to myself, i have no classes to worry about for five more days, and life is good. i just spent the weekend with one of my favoritest people in the whole wide world. katie snyder. not only is she family, but i also had the priveledge of living with her last year and really getting the chance to know her and realise that my life was incomplete before her. and so, it has been a really great weekend to say the least. she also drove out with c-dawg and t-dot (carla and terik) who are also two really rad people, they're the icing on the cake..

after work tonight i went out for coffee with my friend kurtis. he leaves tomorrow morning back to yellowknife after being in aussie for some time, so it was great to catch up with him over tea. i'm seeing the rest of the week as being pretty chill, this weekend has done me in, i'm getting old.. but hopefully i'll have the chance to catch up with YOU some time. hit me up and lets hang out!

chia-like, i shall grow

i just got back from one of the sweetest weekends i've had in a while. it involved a roadtrip-dance-party with magda to calgary where we got to chill with amazing people that i hadn't seen in far too long, meet rad new people--and--i got to see say anything, twice.. that has been a long time coming..

i thought seriously about dropping out of school and being broke for the rest of my life. i think that's what will happen eventually, but i will most likely stick through this semester.. i thought about how "living with no regrets" is pretty much impossible. it's human condition to think 'what if'. if you're doing everything in moderation, well, sometimes excess is just more fun. doing everything you want, well, there's got to be regrets somewhere in there. and doing nothing, well that's a little obvious. so i'm struggling with just being content. i mean, being a university student really isn't that bad, really. i learn really cool things, and i think that learning and reading and being stimulated is important. but i think this can all be achieved outside the restrictions of a school and right now i'm itching for so much more than that..

plans with stacy for our trip in the fall are under way, but i don't want to think of that as my "next" adventure. i don't want to always be looking ahead to the "next" thing. i'm alive every day. and i want to have something that gets me pumped every single day. maybe you think that i'm looped, and maybe i am, but i think that life should be more than just zombie-stepping through routines day in and day out and waiting for the next big thing. so if you've figured out how i can achieve this, share your secret.

today i celebrated valentines day with some greasy burgers and beer and two sweet dudes. yeah thats right, two..

so. it's -100000 degrees outside and i just got in the door from work. i have been carless now for three days. i've never realised how difficult it is to get around without a vehicle to get me from point a to point b and back and wherever else i might need to go..

i guess sometimes it's nice to have these reminders, to show just how fortunate i am of everything i have.. to not take so many things for granted.. although, it could've happened say, in the summer time, when i could be even more appreciative of the greens and smells and sounds while i walked everywhere.. these days i would just end up with frostbite and hypothermia. but it also allows me to realise, i actually have friends out there who are willing to go out of their way to help me out. i have managed to get to school and back, and work and back, on other peoples time and money. ..so the moral of the story is: basically, i am never going to have my own car again. all jokes aside though, its really cool for me to see all of this generosity, and i only hope that i can mirror this to others when the opportunity presents itself.

tomorrow is already february. time just flies when you're having fun. and i'm having just that these days. im reading a really interesting book titled "an unquiet mind" by kay jamison. it's her own account of growing up struggling with manic-depression. the writing is beautiful, i can't think of a more appropriate word to describe it.. but her accounts are so detailed and it's really such an intruiging sickness.. the highs are so high that patients generally resist treatment waiting for those rushes, and through that, get sucked into such dark black depressions that many end their lives. it's like a drug. regardless, extremely interesting book that i would recommend to anyone interested in psychology, disorders, or just wanting to broaden their horizons. the almost ironic story actually involves her going through her psychology degree and PhD, hiding and never acknowledging her own sickness, but treating others..

well that's it for my rambling today. this one's a little all over the place. kind of not like my car..

2008 resolution

since i am a renowned procrastinator, i only feel a little bit bad about writing a new years blog on january 22nd.. however, resolutions are tricky because i know that all my limitations and downfalls of 07 are still there, they're not going to disappear just because the year has changed. however i think it's important to question things, and therefore to be continually changing; not just setting oneself up to fall every twelve months with the accumulation of a years worth of goals and failures..

all this being said, i am going to attempt a resolution. i have realised how amazingly flawed i am. (no, this is not the first time i've realised this). but one major thing i've been dealing with right now and for the past while is how i am an extremely terrible communicator. now: anyone who has ever found themselves in a conversation with me ever, knows that i have no problem articulating words at an excruciatingly fast rate. that is not the problem, not even a little. my problem is that i don't know how to ask the right questions. i don't know how to know people. i don't know how to let people know me. maybe i'm just scared of looking like an idiot. but i would rather gain some truth, some honest insight in another human being rather than playing up the "hey hows it goings" and never really getting anywhere. so. i guess this is my resolution: i want to get to know you. i want to go out for coffee and ask questions. i don't want to discuss the weather or what the person walking past was thinking when they got dressed.. i want to know what's going on inside your head, and i want to not be afraid to ask questions. to think a little more before i speak. to ponder things.

the most honest conversations i've had are with strangers. i want to change that.