Savor the Moment.

Andrew was able to meet some of the friends I had in highschool on our trip, and I hope it gave him a better understanding of the amazing community I came from. I only wished we had spent more time with you, Karen!

Sorry it's taken me so long to get blogging again. It's been awhile and I'll have to back track a bit. Andrew and I travelled to Bangkok, planning to stay for a couple of days. We ended up staying for a week, since Andy managed to develop a severe case of broncitis. Thus, we unfortunetly spent most of our time in Bangkok in our hotel room.

After the 5th day and a record high fever, I had enough. I took him to the hospital (which was across the street). Thankfully, Bangkok has a steller medical system and he recieved first-rate treatment. Our doctor was fantastic; well trained and spoke perfect English. He even chatted with us about Mount Rainer and the Seattle weather. (He's visited several times). What was even more impressive was the speedy service, the hotel-like atmosphere and most of all... the bill. The whole hospital bill, meds included came to $38 USD. Perhaps there is something that America can learn from the Thai system for Medical Treatment. All we can say, is that we were impressed.

In between fevers and doctor's visits, Andy and I did manage to get in a couple of days of touristy sight-seeing. These few precious hours are where most of our photos and stories come from. I doubt you want to hear about us lounging around in the hotel room, washing socks and other clothing since we ran out... And ordering Pizza Hut because we couldn't find a decent place to eat.

So, the exciting thing we did manage to see includes the following:
The Temple of the Dawn, the Grande Palace, the Emerald Buddha and the famous Thai markets.

Arun Wat (Temple of the Dawn) was our first stop on the boat ride up the river. It was stunning structure, know for its huge porcelin Stuppa which glitters in the rising sun. We walked around the impressive temple, climbed its steep slopes and admired its majesty. The boat man had originally told us we had 20 minutes to enjoy our visit, but we blew it by about 30 minutes. I figured, we paid $25 for his services... He can wait for us all day.




The Royal Barge Museum was next, where guilded and carved boats built 100 years ago for the Royal Families' river procession are on display. Amoung the decorations were sterns carved in the shape of dragons, sea serpents and Buddhist Gods. Check out the photos, since they tell the story better than my crappy journalism ever could.

Our last stop took us to the Thai Grande Palace, which also cannot be expressed in words. Photos even fail its majesty, mystery and beauty. The glittering facades, golden orbs and soaring rooftops are only the begining. It takes your breath away. It calms your inner spirit and fills your heart with unimaginable wonder.

You MUST visit this sacred and hallowed ground.

So, beyond that and the Thai night and weekend markets, there really wasn't much else. I guess we were kinda dissapointed with Bangkok. Perhaps we'll go back again sometime, with no medical problems and a set itinerary.... Other than that, I only have some Misc stuff to tell you about.

There were many little quirks about Bangkok that I must comment on. This is one of them.

• Something about Ronald being culturally sensitive doesn't sit well with me. I mean, this is Mc Donald's, they were selling beef burgers in Hindu India only 20 years ago!

• Down the street from the hotel was, yes, a Starbucks. And across the street no more than 100 feet away, was, yes, a Starbucks. Ahhh... Some things never change, no matter where you are. If Mc Donald's is the unofficial Embassy of the United States of America, than Starbucks is its Counselate.

• The Thai's on the most part think they can speak english. They can not, and even those who can, you have a very hard time understanding. This was a major caveat in Thai hospitality... Which meant I learn as much Thai as I possibly could in the 7 days we were there.

• Here are a couple of common phrases:

Sawadee Kah/Krap = Hello (Kah on the end for girls, Krap for boys)
Sabaidee Mai Kah/Krap = How are you?
Sabaidee Kah/Krap = I'm good
Alloy Ma = This is yummy

Neng = 1
Song = 2
Sam = 3
See = 4
Ha = 5
Hong = 6
Teyet = 7
Paat= 8
Cow = 9
Sip = 10

• Andy and I spent a lot of time in the hotel, especially since he was sick. Needless to say, we got to know the staff pretty well. And the staff (the guys) seemed to love Andy to death. They were always touching him, his back, his sholders, his arm. It seems though, that in Thailand, like many other parts of Asia, men show their friendship to each other in physical ways... It's common to see them holding hands as they walk down the street - which carries no conatation of homosexuality. Although it didn't seem to bother Andy too much, I was getting a little irritated. I guess I'm the jealous type. =)

Anyway. It's 1:30 am and I have to get up early tommorow. I'll continue on with our endevours soon since we're traveling on to Singapore.

Andy and I, with some of the very colorful locals.

Andrew and I, with some partners in crime, took a trip up the mountains to Benaue in the northern part of Luzon Island. The long 12 hour trip from South Luzon took us through rural areas, including miles and miles (and miles) of rice paddies. The driver, Danny, would have to watch for farmers drying their harvest on the roads, and fisherman selling frogs to eat. (Ewwww)

With us on our escapade were Australians Rob and Ann Woodward, who were in the Phillipines doing some volunteer work with IRRI. They are wonderful, lively and adventurous individuals. Full of life and always smiling (except when passing through landslides).

The journey took us to rice terraces that were carved into the mountainside thousands of years ago by the native ifugao's... Who still tend to their paddies today. Looking across the valley in the mountians, green touches everything you see.

Green in nature, though, as you in Seattle would know, comes with a price. Rain. It was raining the night we got there and never quite stopped. We were lucky though, and were able to sneak in a couple of hours in the morning of sunshine. The rain, along with the lack of trees in the inhabitated areas, leads to soil erosion... And landslides. The day we arrived three young souls had perished in a fast moving sea of soil. We had to walk across the landslide that killed them, in the pelting rain and failing light.

being in Banaue makes you thankful for many things... You appriciate the beauty and oppulance of the mountains, the terraraces. But at the same time, you see how poor the people are. Million dollar views, with the million dollars. Ann had commented that if the place was more accessable, perhaps more tourists would come and infuse the local economy with much-needed capital.

All in all, I enjoyed the company of wonderful people. I enjoyed learning about the Ifugao culture (through two nights of a Ifugao family hosting us for dinner) and about their heritage. They are a proud people, well educated (the speak better english than their low-land neighbors) and very hospitable.

A Ferarri Jeeney - elongated public transport fabricated from Jeeps left by the Americans after WWII. It's the main form of public transport, decorated in millions of different ways.

Asian Adventures
First Impressions: The Philippines.

The Philippines has an interesting heritage, having influences from Indo-Malaya, Spain and the US over the course of its history. Tagalog, the national language borrows words and phrases from Spanish, English and Malay – which means I can understand 1/16th of what they’re saying.

Although this is my first trip to the Philippines, I have (obviously) been to Southeast Asia before. I had expected the country to be similar, although there were many things that surprised me. Manila’s international airport is crappy, like small-town-Indonesia-10-years-ago-crappy. I learned later on that a new airport had been built, and lays empty, as land rights hadn’t been secured before hand. Now, claims are floating around in court, as the new airport lies in waste.

We’re staying with Andy’s Uncle and Aunt in the IRRI compound (International Rice Research Institute), which is drastically different than the environment outside the walls. We’ll be visiting a jeepney factory (I’ll explain later), ancient rice terraces in Banue and the local markets.

Here are a couple of interesting photos I wanted to share:

This fruit is known as Calimansi, it's like a cross between an orange and a lime... If you can imagine that. It's used on everything, for flavoring you papaya and sweetening your chili dip. Additionally, it's the substitute for orange juice, since oranges don't seem to be grown in this region. Andy and I got addicted to Calimansi juice, best served with breakfast. Yum!

Andrew took this photo of me from the diving board... One of the things we love to do it swim, or more specifically, get a break from the hot, tropical heat. It feels wonderful. Since we're on holiday, we have the pool mostly to ourselves, as everyone is hard at work or school when we go for a dip, around 1-2 pm.

This is Charlie, otherwise known as the pee machine. When his happy, sad, excited, frightened, bored or hungry... He pees. Anywhere. Everywhere. Thankgod for tile flooring! He's a cute little bugger that grows and grows, he'll probably be 3 times the size in a couple of months.

Andy and I in the back yard of a neighbor's house. The foliage behind us is the same jungle used to shoot the film Apocalypse Now. Interesting, huh? Except for the icky bugs, the fire ants etc.

That's all for now, folks. More to come later.

Asian Adventures
On your mark: Jet Set and Go.

“When are we leaving again?” I asked for the 14th time. Andy rolls his eyes, and refuses to answer my question.

When it comes to flying internationally, I am a travel Nazi. Departure time’s and date’s are double and triple checked, passports are secured and checked before leaving the house, the car at the airport, the check-in counter. Luggage is weighed, contents are catalogued and secured. My suitcase was off-limits to miscellaneous Andy-crap, while all liquid holding items zip-locked and shoes bagged.

Still, with all this careful planning and militancy, I discovered that a 4am flight schedule still creates havoc and anarchy. Amidst the packing of (amongst other strange things) a DVD player, cordless drill and sweaters for the tropics I managed to sacrifice my wallet to the gods of last-minute packing. Andy still seems bemused, but as smart as he is, keeps his mouth shut.

12 hours to Taipei, Taiwan went by pretty quickly, since we slept most the way. They fed us multiple meals, which Andy isn’t used to since US airlines ration the drinks and pretzels.. In Taipei we went on a quest to find postcards to send to my sisters. The duty-free agents gave us blank faces, but we found some at the book store. Apparently, charging $.62 to you Visa isn’t possible, and the lady was kind enough to let us take them. The Duty-free agents smiled as we passed, with me waving it in the air, saying “Postcard!”

Side Note: Apparently, there was a Typhoon that we just missed (the airport was closed the day before) and another one the day after we left (the airport closed again). Talk about the right timing!

The flight from Taipei to Manila have some merits to mention. Among them were individual screens (with games, movies and tracking), better food, and metal knives, red and white wine. We finally touched into Metro Manila at 12 noon, thoroughly exhausted but determined to defeat the Jetlag.

Flying those long distances, are still my least favourite parts of the travelling. At least I had someone I loved by my side and someone to pick us on the other end.