I write this blog 10 days after arriving in Singapore and just finishing Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. The book captures my heart, my present time traveling and my future ventures. "Wilderness appealed to those bored or disgusted with man and his works. It not only offered an escape from society but also was an ideal stage for the Romantic individual to exercise the cult he frequently made of his own soul. The solitude and total freedom of the wilderness created a perfect setting for either melancholy or exultation."-Roderick Nash, Wilderness and the American Mind. So for me to replace "wilderness" with "travel" this quote fits my present state of mind. But "wilderness" also is the appropriate term, for after reading this book my heart/mind desires to be closer to nature everyday and enjoying solitude to reflect on my 30 years of life.
My days spent in Singapore involved the hustle and bustle of traveling via the metro and managing hoards of people through shopping malls and city streets (which I know appears ironic after the opening paragraph of this entry). I spent time shopping and sight-seeing and taking in a multitude of cultures. For anyone interested in Western accommodations with Asian culture, Singapore is where it's at! I've stayed in Little India for the duration of my stay and ate in Chinatown and Golden Mile (Thai). Little India has the sights and smells I am most familiar with and Chinatown has the best hawker stands I've ever eaten at! (Bachman, you've got to get here and get some dumplings!!) I've sat in coffee shops along Orchard Road sipping lattes and enjoying a book and journaling as well. I've also spent days sight-seeing, taking photos and visiting museums. This entry is not like my others where I boast about the sights I've seen, but this entry is filled with more emotion that cannot be expressed via words. This culture has taken a hold me and I a hold of it...
KL: Petronas, KL Tower and New Friends!!!
KL is great!! I had a fantastic time there! As you see my favorite building were the Petronas Towers!! Amazingly beautiful day and night!! Traveling to the skybridge was ridiculous!! I couldn't believe I was actually there!! The Petronas are a must see!!! I also went to the observatory deck of the KL tower and that was just as beautiful as well! The Islamic influence of the architecture of the tower is just beautiful!
Other sights I viewed were, Merdeka Square which held the world's second tallest flagpole in the world and the Royal Selangor Club. On August 31 1957 Malaysia gained their independence from the British...so Malaysia is just a baby! From the square I went on to see the Orchid Garden which was soooo pretty!!! Many, many arrangements and colors!! Hmmm...one day I'll have my very own Orchid garden! ;)
The highlight of my trip to KL was the people I met! I met Wilson Wong on my flight from Bangkok to KL. He and his wife (June) and their two girls live in KL. Wilson befriended me and gave me his number so we could hang out while I was in town. And so we did exactly that!! Another traveller and I met up with Wilson, June and two other friends (Nami and Hiro)! They took me to a local place for chai and then another place for chicken curry and dosai! Oh my goodness the food was so delicious and the company even better!!! From there we moved onto a bar called 7atenine! The six of us took advantage of my camera and shot a ridiculous amount of pictures!! Wilson decided to entertain us with magic card tricks and then we played some games!! We had a blast!! Wilson is a good magician...not great, but good;) The girls and I laughed and joked around and were just plain silly all night!! These people are my new found friends from Malaysia and I WILL return to see them!! Thank you!!!
Other sights I viewed were, Merdeka Square which held the world's second tallest flagpole in the world and the Royal Selangor Club. On August 31 1957 Malaysia gained their independence from the British...so Malaysia is just a baby! From the square I went on to see the Orchid Garden which was soooo pretty!!! Many, many arrangements and colors!! Hmmm...one day I'll have my very own Orchid garden! ;)
The highlight of my trip to KL was the people I met! I met Wilson Wong on my flight from Bangkok to KL. He and his wife (June) and their two girls live in KL. Wilson befriended me and gave me his number so we could hang out while I was in town. And so we did exactly that!! Another traveller and I met up with Wilson, June and two other friends (Nami and Hiro)! They took me to a local place for chai and then another place for chicken curry and dosai! Oh my goodness the food was so delicious and the company even better!!! From there we moved onto a bar called 7atenine! The six of us took advantage of my camera and shot a ridiculous amount of pictures!! Wilson decided to entertain us with magic card tricks and then we played some games!! We had a blast!! Wilson is a good magician...not great, but good;) The girls and I laughed and joked around and were just plain silly all night!! These people are my new found friends from Malaysia and I WILL return to see them!! Thank you!!!
The Day I Cried...
So I didn't think much more would happen since my last blog, which was about 3 days before I left, I was wrong...
My last day I went to Bah's house, as usual but this time there was a sadness about the air. After our therapy session, Bah said she wished I didn't have to leave and that someday I return to her and her family. I held back the tears and smiled and said "I will return to my second home." I thought it was over when I said my goodbyes, but no...Bah's brother presents me with a hand-sketched picture of an Ayutthaya wat that he created himself! I couldn't believe it!! I tried not to accept it, but he wasn't tryin' to have that. Again, I held back the tears. So I left with smiles and a promise to return. Next, Noina and I were off to lunch with the nurses at the health center. There was an air of happiness and playfulness...as you'll notice in the pictures. At the end, Noi said she hopes that I return to them again in the near future. I promised to return and keep in touch! Again no tears, but all smiles!!! At the clinic, Jim, met up with me and drove me to my apartment to retrieve my bags and give me a lift to the bus stop. Before we left, the hardest part was to say farewell to Noina! She rode me around on the back of her motorbike for 3 weeks. We developed a friendship. She gave me lifts to the bus station on my weekend trips and showed me around some of the local wats. At night when I would go for a walk and run into her we would start up conversation (a little Thai and a little English) and smile and laugh! So saying my farewell to Noina was quite difficult. I looked at her and saw tears well-up in her eyes and then I began to cry as well...and could not stop. I didn't realize the depth of my emotion until I was crying. We hugged a bunch of times and didn't want to let each other go. I promised to keep in touch with her and finally we let each other go and I cried all the way to the bus station.
Jim and I rode in the mini-bus to Bangkok together and talked about her daughter and my travels. She carried one of my bags all the way to the hotel once we arrived at Victory Monument. I pleaded with her to just let me carry it, but it was the Thai way or the highway for me!!! She stayed with me in the hotel and oriented me to the sights and then I walked her downstairs and said my goodbyes. Jim's daughter and I now keep in touch (thanks to facebook!) and hopefully we will meet each other one day!
My last day I went to Bah's house, as usual but this time there was a sadness about the air. After our therapy session, Bah said she wished I didn't have to leave and that someday I return to her and her family. I held back the tears and smiled and said "I will return to my second home." I thought it was over when I said my goodbyes, but no...Bah's brother presents me with a hand-sketched picture of an Ayutthaya wat that he created himself! I couldn't believe it!! I tried not to accept it, but he wasn't tryin' to have that. Again, I held back the tears. So I left with smiles and a promise to return. Next, Noina and I were off to lunch with the nurses at the health center. There was an air of happiness and playfulness...as you'll notice in the pictures. At the end, Noi said she hopes that I return to them again in the near future. I promised to return and keep in touch! Again no tears, but all smiles!!! At the clinic, Jim, met up with me and drove me to my apartment to retrieve my bags and give me a lift to the bus stop. Before we left, the hardest part was to say farewell to Noina! She rode me around on the back of her motorbike for 3 weeks. We developed a friendship. She gave me lifts to the bus station on my weekend trips and showed me around some of the local wats. At night when I would go for a walk and run into her we would start up conversation (a little Thai and a little English) and smile and laugh! So saying my farewell to Noina was quite difficult. I looked at her and saw tears well-up in her eyes and then I began to cry as well...and could not stop. I didn't realize the depth of my emotion until I was crying. We hugged a bunch of times and didn't want to let each other go. I promised to keep in touch with her and finally we let each other go and I cried all the way to the bus station.
Jim and I rode in the mini-bus to Bangkok together and talked about her daughter and my travels. She carried one of my bags all the way to the hotel once we arrived at Victory Monument. I pleaded with her to just let me carry it, but it was the Thai way or the highway for me!!! She stayed with me in the hotel and oriented me to the sights and then I walked her downstairs and said my goodbyes. Jim's daughter and I now keep in touch (thanks to facebook!) and hopefully we will meet each other one day!
Volunteering
Volunteering in Thailand has been a positive and negative experience. I think there might be shady dealings going on on Thailand's end as far as where the money is allocated, but not for certain...still trying to figure that one out. So initially I was setup to teach English a half day at a temple school and the other half of the day I would work in the area of public health. I decided to change that schedule unless the kids wanted to learn, "I be, He be, She be, You be, We be" kind of English. All day in the area of public health for the first 1.5 weeks consisted of observing nurses at the health center caring for patients in the morning and going on community visits with them in the afternoon. In the afternoon we went to local temples and schools to screen adults for hypertension and diabetes. I participated by taking blood pressures and conversing with any English speaking person! It was a great time. Also the head nurse, Noi, and I spoke about educating the community in regards to food preparations for the monks. Since the monks receive alms from the community they have no choice in the preparation (i.e. fried or steamed) of food and cannot be health conscious when eating. Noi and I brainstormed about what should belong in the leaflet. The leaflet was not created by the time I left and I will check back in with Noi to learn of it's progress. Noina (a community volunteer) drove me around on the back of her motorcycle from health center to communities daily. Mid-week of my second week Noina introduced me to a 64y/o woman who is one year post stroke that left her paralyzed on her left side. She lives with her brother's family and has a full-time aide to care for her. She has an extensive medical history which complicated my plan of rehab for her, but regardless we were able to make some magic happen! (Noina was our translator...again it's amazing what can be appropriately communicated with a little from both languages.) I performed all the basics from passive range of motion(ROM), active-assistedROM, swallowing, seating and positioning. We advanced quickly to standing, transfers and walking (about 3 meters). She was ecstatic about being able to walk, even with the help of two people. She and her family also displayed great enthusiasm regarding movement in her left arm. Everyone took the rehab seriously and without complaints. I rehabbed this woman every morning for the duration of my program and loved every minute of it!! If my tear ducts weren't so slow (post my eye-surgery) the tears would be flowing. I was able to make a small difference in the life of one Thai family and for all that I financially invested into this program it was worth it!
Chiang Mai: meeting up with new friends!
Chiang mai was a great place!! I set out to do two things: visit Doi Inthanon and Doi Suthep, both were accomplished but not easily. Friday night I ran into a couple I met in Ayutthaya, Maria and Andrew! We met up that evening and went out to THC with 5-6 others! We had a great time putting back the Singha! After that...yes another night of dancing! I met another great couple Sonja and Marc and danced the night away with them!! Marc was great holding onto my bag and taking photos!! He and Sonja just got married 3 months ago!! What a night...I didn't get back to my guesthouse until 4am...yikes! No worries...I was up early 8am next day and headed off to Doi Inthanon. Following my trusty LP I picked up the public bus from the south moat gate and headed out to Chom Thong. There I stopped and checked out Wat Phra That Si Chom Thong. A beautiful temple with an amazing tier of golden Buddhas! As per the LP I looked for the next bus to Doi Inthanon (the highest mountain in Thailand). I found the bus driver, but he was not going until he had 6 people or I paid the cost for 6 people. So I walked a few feet away and asked this Thai family if they were going to Doi Inthanon and sure enough they were on their way. They agreed to take me there and I jumped in the bed of the truck! We drove to a market for a ~30 min pit stop. The driver, Thom, told me to get out of the sun and get into the shade. When we got back into the truck, Thom told me to sit in the cab where it was air-conditioned! How nice!! So with the little bit of English he knew and the little Thai that I know we somehow managed to communicate all the right things!! We arrived at their place of stay on the mountain to unload other people and items. Then Thom and his wife/dtr (she looked young so I couldn't tell her relationship with him)took me to the top of the mountain. Thom got out at the top and showed me around the temple and the gardens!! Again what a nice gesture! He was absolutely wonderful trying to explain to me in Thai about the sunrising over the mountain and me trying to tell him how beautiful this sight was and how grateful I was to him! After the "tour," back down the mountain we went near the place of their residence and they dropped me off. I hitched another ride down the mountain with a father and his two kids. No child-car safety laws in Thailand. His daughter sat in the front seat holding her little brother on her lap. He played with the volume of the radio and cooed to the music...or maybe just cooed! They were adorable! I safely arrived at my bus stop and caught the bus back to Chiang Mai. A trip that would have cost me 470 baht only cost me 70 baht and two packages of peanut butter crackers! I would do that trip all over again, if I could be privileged to the company of such wonderful Thai families!!
Doi Suthep wasn't as an amazing journey as Doi Inthanon, but regardless I made it there with two other travellers...we split the cost of the 15km journey. Doi Suthep is one of the north's most sacred temples. The king during that time mounted relics of Buddha to a white elephant. The elephant wandered until it dropped and a temple was established in the elephant's honor. 306 steps to the top of the temple lead to an amazing view of Chiang Mai, emerald Buddha and a white marble Buddha!! There I received a bracelet just made of white string around my right wrist by a monk! That was a good feeling...sigh. Now this would probably be a great end to my trip to Chiang mai, but no I had time for more!!
After returning from Doi Suthep, I was flagged down by another traveller and his girl that I met in Kanchanaburi! They offered to take me on their motorbike to two of the oldest wats in Chiang Mai! And that my friends is how I ended a wonderful weekend trip to Chiang Mai!! I am very blessed!
Doi Suthep wasn't as an amazing journey as Doi Inthanon, but regardless I made it there with two other travellers...we split the cost of the 15km journey. Doi Suthep is one of the north's most sacred temples. The king during that time mounted relics of Buddha to a white elephant. The elephant wandered until it dropped and a temple was established in the elephant's honor. 306 steps to the top of the temple lead to an amazing view of Chiang Mai, emerald Buddha and a white marble Buddha!! There I received a bracelet just made of white string around my right wrist by a monk! That was a good feeling...sigh. Now this would probably be a great end to my trip to Chiang mai, but no I had time for more!!
After returning from Doi Suthep, I was flagged down by another traveller and his girl that I met in Kanchanaburi! They offered to take me on their motorbike to two of the oldest wats in Chiang Mai! And that my friends is how I ended a wonderful weekend trip to Chiang Mai!! I am very blessed!
Kanchanaburi: waterfalls and elephants!!
My second weekend in Thailand I spent in Kanchanaburi. I joined a tour group and rode elephants (for the second time), floated on bamboo rafts down the river, trekked about 1-2 miles to reach the seventh tier of Erawan Waterfalls, rode on a train on the Death Railway and checked out the view on the Bridge over River Kwai!! The elephants were great...again...this time no kisses from them!! The highlight: Erawan Waterfalls!! Just an amazing feat of nature!! Incredible views at each tier. Our group trekked up rocks and over muddy paths of rain water to reach the most spectacular tier!! The water was crystal clear and you could see the fishes swimming right by you, although some liked to stop for a little nibble! I dunked my new eyes under the waterfall and it felt awesome!! Yes I was really looking at life from a new perspective...I just can't get over what I see everyday here in Thailand!!
That evening I rejoined my fellow tourists and met up for dinner and drinks! We bar hopped for a while and then ended up hitching a ride in the back of a pickup truck (10 of us) to a dance club! We danced the night away to Thai music and some 50 cent! We had a blast!! After da club we hitched another ride back to our guesthouse, this time about 20 of us!! I don't know how we accrued 10 more, but it was great!! We hit up the 7-11 for another drink and chilled out at a Thai guy's restaurant for the rest of the night!! What a weekend!!!
That evening I rejoined my fellow tourists and met up for dinner and drinks! We bar hopped for a while and then ended up hitching a ride in the back of a pickup truck (10 of us) to a dance club! We danced the night away to Thai music and some 50 cent! We had a blast!! After da club we hitched another ride back to our guesthouse, this time about 20 of us!! I don't know how we accrued 10 more, but it was great!! We hit up the 7-11 for another drink and chilled out at a Thai guy's restaurant for the rest of the night!! What a weekend!!!
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