January 2008 Archives
Sawatika!
Hello from the wonderful world of warm weather!
This entry will be a quick one and the pics are limited since 1. my camera broke (?) maybe...more on that later and 2. I have 40 minutes on this computer plus it is 6am and I am on one hour of sleep.
My whirlwind 3 day tour of Bangkok was a blast. Thailand has a philosophy of 'sunuk' which essentially means fun. It is a culture of great variety and history. I especially like all the Buddhist influence (of course) and 95% of Thais are practicing Buddhists. In fact, almost all Thai boys spend one year as a monk prior to their teens and again in their early twenties.
I arrived in Bangkok at 4am (the price you pay when you travel on a budget) and so plunked myself at a Mcdonalds waiting for my couch surfing host (Roka) to get out of bed and save me. As I sat there dressed in my tank top with my feet up, I feverishly studied my Lonely Planet guide and very quickly realized I had already committed several faux-pas. Sorry Thai people!
While I was there, I found myself constantly comparing everything to
China. At first glance, Bangkok is far superior, although I will admit,
that depends on how you are looking at it. Lets just say, I was
instantly relaxed by the general populous' ability to speak English,
and the fact that they are much more 'civilized' by Western standards.
This means I only saw one guy peeing into the river; only saw one
guy spitting and at least he didn't make that disgusting noise the
Chinese are so talented at; and to my relief, there was very little
staring.
This is an ad in most of the cabs: "Yes! I can speak English."
On the first day we took the subway to the weekend market. Basically
the main thing to do in Bangkok is shop. The market was great with tones of stuff to see and bargain basement prices; but nothing really startles, surprises, or amazes me
anymore after having lived in China. On that note, this magic guy was wearing fake tattoo sleeves. Don't you think my dad would look cool in these...NOT!
Here is the definition of a food court at the weekend market:
We also went shopping in an area where all the students shop...during the school day. Thais don't seem to take school very seriously....but does anyone compared to the Chinese? Here is a good pic for the Function boys.
Once my whirlwind tour of the shopping scene was over, I braved the public transit
system alone for the afternoon and got myself to China town to explore
that area on the water taxis. I still had not had a shower or any sleep at this point....but I only had three days in Bangkok...hygiene and survival requirements could wait.
On my second day in Bangkok, I got to check off a lot of the touristy stuff.
I took myself on a cool walking tour to the Grand Palace, and explored what I
would call 'old downtown'. This area has a lot more Indian influence,
and the architecture is stunning.
My Grand Palace pics are meant to be overwhelming. There was so much to see no picture could capture it. Along with the unbelievable architectural detail, there are also so many people to see! Side note: Chinese people will be 'chinese' all over the world. I was already not looking forward to going back to Suzhou at this point - just by hearing and seeing the Chinese tourists at the Grand Palace....and the ones that travel are the educated, well mannered Chinese!
"For just about 150 years, Bangkok's Grand Palace was not only the home
of the King and his court, but also the entire administrative seat of
government. Within the crenelated walls were the country's war
ministry, state departments, and even the mint. Thai Kings stopped
living in the palace full time around the turn of the twentieth
century, but the complex remains the seat of power and spiritual heart
of the Thai kingdom." http://thailandforvisitors.com
"This palace has an area of 218,400 sq. metres
and is surrounded by walls built in 1783. The length of the four
walls totals 1900 metres. Within these walls are situated government
offices and the Chapel Royal of the Emerald Buddha besides the
royal residences. When Siam restored law and order after the
fall of Ayutthaya the monarch lived in Thonburi on the other
side of the river. Rama I, immediately on ascending the throne,
moved the centre of administration to this side of the Chao Phraya;
and, after erecting public monuments such as fortifications and
monasteries, built a palace to serve not only as his residence
but also his offices - the various ministries, only one of which
remains in the palace walls. This palace came to be known as
the Grand Palace, in which the earliest edifices contemporary
with the foundation of Bangkok were the two groups of residences
named the Dusit-Mahaprasard and the Mahamontien." http://www.thailandguidebook.com
That night we went to a bar on Khao San Rd., and drank Thai style
(where you buy a huge bottle of booze for your table and then everyone
mixes their own drinks all night) and smoked hooka. Oh yeah.... I
danced the night away and Roka had to drag me away at 4 am...very
unlike me;)
Day three was a great water day. I went for a run in Lumpini park (my secret hangover cure) and then Roka and I took a long tailed boat
to a far off Island up the river called Ko Kret. This is where my
camera got drenched and it is currently not working.
This last pic was taken about 3 minutes before we went over a huge wave and my camera got drenched. He was going so fast I should have known!
On my last day in Bangkok, I unfortunately spent 4 hours looking for a place to fix my camera, and then 3 hours in a cab trying to get to the right (uh, apparently there is more than one) airport. But the good news is I did a one hour power shop and got all the necessary stuff you buy in Thailand like Roxy knock off shorts and fisherman pants, etc. I will send out all your packages today!!!!!!
With the weather being as miserable as it's been, and me refusing to buy warm clothes and neglecting to bring any, most days lately have been 'inside' days. The upside seems to be the foraging of a few new relationships, and the deepening of others. This brings me to a common musing of mine: which is more important, where you are, what you're doing, or who you are with. Currently my answer is all of the above in various ratios (depending on where I am, what I am doing and who I am with) but lately, the value of the third variable has been increasing exponentially (woah, math geek!).
Gina's boyfriend Levi came to visit last week. He is very cool. He is in grad school for poetry at NYU. Needless to say, I went a bit over the top with him around; speaking in rhyme, metaphor and iambic pentameter for my own entertainment. But I'd like to think he was entertained slightly as well. Maybe he'll write a poem about it.
It turns out Levi is not only an amazing poet, but also a decent photographer. Here, he caught me at the Mexican bar we were at, in my own little world; mid philosophical analysis regarding "if taco's actually did have legs and could dance, how would they dance?" I hadn't started talking about it yet, but as you can see, the wheels are turning.
Although she has been flaking out due to the cold weather lately, there is also a new woman in our (mine and Gina's) lives. Anya is a vivacious, quirky Russian who was recently hired to teach at our school. We took her to the night market last week, since she has asked us to introduce her to 'real' china. I am sure you will hear more about her in the coming year.
Basically this couch surfing project has given new meaning to budget traveling. And, in fact, I will be couch surfing myself in Thailand. This reminds me of another musing I have been having recently. I will introduce it by saying that as my 27th year quickly approaches, I figure I can sagely begin sentences with phrases like: "As I get older..."As I get older, I am learning to put my faith more and more in the fact that everything always works out. It seems that there are others around me who as they age are becoming more cynical or more anxious due to the crap that life has a habit of throwing at us all. Well, for me I guess the more I live through, the more proof I have that it always sorts itself out. This thought has been at the forefront of my planning strategy (or lack thereof) for this upcoming vacation. Thus far, my plans include: flying into Thailand on January 26th and meeting with the woman who is hosting me on her floor (she doesn't have a couch). And that's pretty much it. I am not meeting anyone. I don't know anyone where I am going. I know I fly out of Bangkok 5 days later into Bali and am considering booking accommodation but figure I can deal with it when I get there. And then I know I fly out of Bali to Shanghai two weeks after that. All I care about is surfing. Everything else will be icing on the cake.
Now, some of you might find this attitude narcissistic. I guess there is some possibility of self-injury, but I get a little bit of a rush thinking about the unknown; along with a warm comfort in the belief that it will all work out. It always has before. And the beauty of traveling to someplace warm is, you can always just sleep on the beach. And now that I think of it, that sounds pretty appealing right now....
Gina and I traveled to Shanghai to ring in the new year. Keep in mind that this is not the Chinese New Year. The Chinese lunar calendar does not change to 2008 until February (none other than) 8th. By which time I will be the ripe young age of 27 (28 by Chinese standards) and celebrating both dates by sitting on my board in the warm sun in a lineup for the perfect wave on Bali.
But I digress. Shanghai at New years.
Shanghai is quickly becoming one of those cities where I would never want to live; and although I am always excited to arrive, I am equally as excited to leave. It was SO busy this weekend. I saw a few near death incidences just getting on and off the subways. But Yao Ming and I managed to chill alone amidst the insanity.
We spent a lot of time wandering through random streets this weekend. In particular, the French Concession and other artsy parts of town. I sent a postcard home to Hana recently, but I don't think I have told many of you about the 'pajama culture' in China and in particular in Shanghai. It's quite simple, really. Many people here have no qualms about never getting out of their PJ's; so much so that they wander out and about to run their errands without changing and without even thinking twice about it. Case in point: Laundry day...outside on a busy corner....
Dog 'walking' in the middle of the day on a Monday.
And then here we are... 'partying'.
We had a few parties we'd been invited to (read: expensive, snobby and only foreigners...what you could do anywhere in the world on New Years) and then there was this Temple I had heard about from another guys' blog. We had no real plans except to go with the flow and have a good time. I thought we might hit up the temple and then go to a bar or two. But plans changed very quickly upon our arrival to the Longhua Temple. I didn't know this until after we went, but apparently the ceremonies at this temple on December 31st are considered one the of the eight greatest attractions in Shanghai. Longhua is the oldest and largest temple in Shaghai. It was built in 242 AD.We were greeted by a crazy parade of masked actors....
...who then preened and posed for pictures....
...under the wishing tree.
This tree's leaves are made of golden silk and each one has a real wish on it that people have written. We couldn't read any of them but I'd like to think they were all meaningful. I imagined one to be the wish I would have on the leaf. It would just be the character for 'compassion'. This is my current mantra and if I had to say I had a new years resolution, being more compassionate would be it. However, I have been working on this for a few months now and won't be surprised if I take my whole life to prefect it, so it is not really just for 2008.Once we thought we'd seen everything there was to see outside of the temple, we bought our tickets to go in the temple. Again, having no plans, we thought we might just check it all out and then leave if we wanted to (for dinner and drinks maybe) and then return when dinner was done. However, upon entry we were told there was no restaurant in the temple (although I had read there was) but that we got a bowl of noodles at midnight; and we were told we could not leave if we wanted to get back in. So, two freezing cold, hungry little girls walked around the temple aimlessly, wondering what we were going to do after spending the equivalent of 50$ to get into the place.
We tried to be zen about it. There really was a lot to see and midnight was only two hours away.
So we checked out the room with 100 gold Buddhas.
And the crazy people praying and lighting fake money and incense in the fire.
But by the time we'd thought we'd seen it all, we were hungrier, colder, and it was only 10:20pm.We were about ready to abort the mission when out of the corner of my eye, I saw 'the light'. There WAS a little restaurant and it was selling soup and cookies! We couldn't believe it. I think both of us were almost in tears and I wanted to drop to my knees and kowtow in the direction of the restaurant.
After dinner we were warmed and rejuvenated, so we headed over to the stage to watch some traditional Chinese entertainment. Acrobatics, opera, and dragon dancers all tickled our senses while at the same time, people rang the huge copper bell to make a wish for the coming year.
And then came the countdown...and the fireworks...and the dragons.
Happy New Year!
