Tour de Lance

Props to Lance Armstrong for winning his 7th Tour de France in a row. I don't even care about cycling, but that's amazing!

Families on mopeds

Every day I see a million little things that amaze me here or that I could write about, but one that never ceases to amaze me is Thais and their mopeds. Entire families ride these things, all on the same bike! I routinely see three or four people on the same bike, but the most I've seen to date is five. FIVE!! Now, that's amazing!

Tsunamis, past and present

We just got back from a few day visit to the Ko Phi Phi (pronounced "P.P."), which is famous for a few things, the main ones being that it was the setting for the movie The Beach, starring Leo DiCaprio, and it was also one of the places that was hit the hardest by the tsunami, seven months ago today.

A couple of days ago we went for dinner at our new favorite hangout, a really cool place on the beach called Hippie's which had good food, funky waiters, and a view to die for. We finished our long, relaxed dinner, and headed back to our bungalow just down the beach. We were sitting in bed, Caroline reading, and I writing in my journal, when Caroline said to me, "Hey, did you feel that?" I thought maybe my mad scribbling was shaking the bed, so I stopped. She said, "Did you feel that again? The bed is shaking." I have to confess that I didn't feel anything. Turns out there was a magnitude 7.2 earthquake on the other side of the Indian Ocean, and as soon as word reached Ko Phi Phi that there had been an earthquake, people headed for the hills, literally. They evacuated Hippie's, and most of the Thais headed for an observation point on higher ground. Obviously, the memory of the tsunami is still fresh in everyone's minds.

I was curious to visit Ko Phi Phi to see how it looked, now that several months have passed since the disaster. To be quite frank, it still looks horrible. There is a lot of garbage and damaged buildings, and palm trees with no tops on them. It really makes you feel bad for the Thai people. A lot of them can't afford to rebuild, or can only afford to do a little at a time, so things are going slowly. After I had stayed there a few days, though I began to realize that quite a lot of progress was being made. Things are slowly starting to pick up, and as tourists start to visit the island again and spend money, the pace of reconstruction and clean-up will speed up.

I, along with a few other friends I met there, wondered where all the donation money has gone in all this. I hope that it's filtering down to the people that need it the most, but it sure doesn't seem to have made its way to Ko Phi Phi.

Krabi

I first heard about this place from Tomas and Jessica, who raved about the islands, the beaches, and the climbing. At first I thought the name sounded kind of funny, like "My 4th grade teacher was kind of crabby." Now that I've spent a few days here, I realize that Krabi must be the Thai word for paradise.

We just got back from a few days at Railay Beach, which is just around the corner from Krabi town. A longboat took us out there, and as we pulled into the bay, we could see people moving up and down the beach at a snail's pace, which seems to be the pace around here. Very chilled. We stayed in a cool thatched roof bungalow for 200 baht a night, which works out to $5 U.S. Not too shabby.

I don't think I could ever really describe the beauty of this place. Imagine the most beautiful island postcard you've ever seen, and it was probably taken here. Warm turquoise water, white powder beaches, and huge karsts shooting up out of the water, making it a world-class destination for rock climbing. We tried to do a little of everything, but had a hard time pulling ourselves away from Phranang Beach, a cozy little spot with a cave at one end, beautiful islands in the distance, and people offering you food, drinks, and even massages, right there on the beach. Caroline couldn't resist the massage, and indulged in a half hour foot massage while a family of macaques in a nearby tree looked on. I didn't want anybody touching my feet, so I went for the food instead- delicious pad thai cooked on the spot, and delivered with a smile for about a buck.

I got a chance to do some rock climbing on the last day, which made me feel better about the brand-new, never-used climbing shoes I've been hauling around. I was paired up with a Thai instructor named Aneth who probably could have climbed a concrete wall with ease. He didn't even tie his shoes the whole day! He was really cool, and epitomized the Thai spirit- friendly and laid-back with an easy laugh and contagious smile. We had a great time, and although I'm now sporting painful blisters on my hands, it was definitely worth it.

I was sad to leave Railay, but other beautiful islands await us. The next stop is Kho Phi Phi, which many people know as the setting for the movie The Beach.

Life and death in K.L.

The Masjid Negara, or National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur is the largest mosque in east Asia. It is an imposing building, with a 75m minaret and a turquoise 18-point roof (13 points for each state in Malaysia, and five points representing the five pillars of Islam). The building itself has enough room for 3000 to worship, and the grounds offer enough space for 15,000 more. It was just across the river from our guesthouse in Chinatown, so we thought we'd wander over and check it out. The experience turned out to be more eventful than we ever would have imagined.

Tourists are allowed to visit the mosque for one hour each day, in between prayer times, which take place five times a day. After changing into appropriate clothes- I in long pants and Caroline in a full robe and hajib (headwrap), we took off our shoes and walked quietly into the area surrounding the mosque itself. The building was meticulously clean and had stunning Islamic architecture with wide arches, beautiful fountains, and tall minarets. There was a young Muslim family in front of us, and their little girl, a toddler, wandered over to one of the grand fountains. Her mom yelled at her to stop, but before she could get there, the girl had gone over the four-foot ledge and into the fountain. The girl was probably 18 months old. Everything happened so fast- the mom rushed to the edge of the ledge and was screaming, and Caroline yelled, "Bri, get her!" as I was rushing over to the fountain. I ran and jumped into the fountain, only to see the girl floating face up in the pool while her bottle bounced up and down in the churning water. Her eyes were glazed, and she looked completely shocked. I scooped her out of the water and handed her immediately to her mom, who was frantic. The mom whisked the girl away, and I climbed out of the pool, soaked from head to toe.

We continued touring the mosque, and later the whole family, including the little girl, came back to thank me. They were very happy and obviously extremely grateful. I was touched that they came back and were so thankful. In the midst of the excitement (I don't rememberhow it happened), I hit the inside of my left knee when I jumped in the pool, and for the past week have been sporting a bruise that goes from the inside of my knee half way around my leg, and all the way down to the bottom of my calf muscle. I'm just glad that's the worst thing that happened.

Rainy days in Kuala Lumpur

After a relaxing couple days in Melaka we headed for the big city, Kuala Lumpur. Malaysians seem to like abbreviating city names, so the locals call it K.L., which always makes me feel like I'm trying to be cool when I say it. Anyway, I heard it has some of the most amazing architecture in Asia, so I thought we'd check it out. The amazing architecture bit was true, but certainly not in our guesthouse (Wheeler's), or in our neighborhood (Chinatown). Having said that, the "good stuff" was just a short train ride away, and there were plenty of colorful characters in our neighborhood, which kept things interesting.

I desperately wanted to visit the world-famous Petronas Towers, which I only knew about from a Catherine Zeta-Jones movie (not sure which one- Entrapment, maybe?). Unfortunately, Catherine Z-J (see how cool abbreviations can be?!) wasn't there, so we just had to look at the building instead. It's impressive- twin towers (formerly the tallest in the world) with an observation bridge between the buildings on the 41st and 42nd storeys. You can only look at a big giant office building for so long, so we wandered inside and tortured ourselves window shopping in one of the most incredible (read: expensive) malls I've ever been in. Loved the food court though, which was a microcosm of Malaysian food- Indian, Chinese, and Malay, all looking and smelling delicious. I have particularly been enjoying the food in Malaysia, except it's been giving me what some southeast Asians call "loose stomach", if you know what I mean.

It's raining here, and it looks like we're going to cancel our plans to go to the Cameron Highlands and Teman Negara (sorry, Tomas) and get straight to Thailand, which is where we really want to be anyway. So long, KL.

Singapore, the next best thing to Utopia

First stop: Singapore. We flew Singapore Airlines because they have such a reputation for good service. I wasn't disappointed, but I wasn't blown away, either. The flight was non-eventful, which is good when you're talking about flying.

We caught the airport shuttle to our hotel, Le Meridien Changi Village, a modern-looking white hotel with funky neon balconies. After a delicious breakfast buffet with bacon, eggs, and loads of fresh fruit, we hit the rooftop pool. It was one of the most amazing pools I've ever swam in, and we had a beautiful view of the ocean while we swam. My pink shoulders think that I stayed out for a little too long, but I was having such a good time...

Singapore is awesome! At first it seemed a little sleepy, but it is also amazingly beautiful, clean, diverse, and efficient. "Founded" by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles in 1819, (why is it that nothing existed until a European "discovered" it??) Singapore seems hell-bent on becoming a veritable Utopia, and they're doing a pretty good job of it. Besides grand-looking colonial architecture, Singapore has the most incredible modern architecture I've ever seen. The streets are so clean that it feels like you could eat off them, and everything runs with an almost eerie efficiency. The people are pleasant and friendly, and everyone seems to live comfortably. What more could you ask for?

We saw some great things, like a night safari featuring 900 species of nocturnal animals (too bad I can't remember the names of half of them!) and had some delicious Indian and Malay food. OK, I'll stop singing Singapore's praises now. Next stop: Melaka, Malaysia.

Goodbye Korea

Well, it's finally over. The beast that I have been fighting, cursing, and railing against for the past year has disappeared, just like that. Being gone from Ding Ding Dang has made the whole event seem like a dream. I find myself wondering, "Did that really happen?" And now that's it's over I can start on the road to recovery. Is there a 12-step program for this kind of thing? I guess the next best thing is a 2-month vacation to Southeast Asia, which is exactly what I'm doing.

Leaving Korea was bittersweet. I had to say goodbye to my student, Ken, who is about eleven or twelve. He's a great kid and I'll really miss him. I'll especially miss all the slang I taught him that he would hurl at me periodically throughout our lessons, like "Hey, you want a knuckle sandwich?!" or "Penis!!" Ken's mom gave us a beautiful Korean jewelry box as a parting gift.

Caroline's friend, Rupina, and her daughter, Susie, took us out for French food before we left. Rupina has done so much for Caroline in the past six months that sometimes I wonder how she (we) could have survived without her. It's people like Rupina and Ken's mom that have really made me realize what great people there are in Korea. I will miss them.

Leaving DDD was easy. I was sad saying goodbye to my preschool kids, but the day got easier after that. When settling finances on the last day, DDD was stingy with us (not to mention that they totally ripped us off and broke the law with certain matters like the National Pension). Anyway, can't end on a bitter note. The other foreign teachers took us for galbi on our last night, which was great. And our landlord, Mr. Lee, who owns the store below us, opened up his store to us on the last night.

The train ride to Seoul was on a grey, misty day, which matched my mood. Korea is really green this time of year, and the rice paddies were brilliant. I think Korea has so much potential that they haven't tapped into yet, and I have a feeling that they're going to make great strides in the next twenty years.

Goodbye, Korea. You've been hard on me, but strangely, I think I'll miss you.