4/9/2013 1 Comment Forgive us for our sins but...Taiwan epitomized the height of our gluttony in Asia. Well, mainly my Canuck and Aussie friends. If you guys are reading this, you know what I'm talking about. Exhibit A A typically slender Aussie very proud of her 3mo food baby. Exhibit B This is honestly not even 20% of the food consumed.
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I just hopped on a two hour train to Guangzhou for a few days and a few days too few. I definitely wish I had more time to delve into the city. I had to skidaddle quickly on back to HKU for Chinese class and to prepare for Taiwan. One of the best things about Hong Kong Uni and just going to school in Asia in general is all the time you get off. A week off for Chinese New Year, RRR week and the well placed Ching Ming Monday and Easter Friday of this week which essentially amount to a week off as well. Guangzhou highlighted my first time indulging in a serving of food the size of my upper body. I'm from 'Murica, too, and I thought our portions were big. In other food news, I saw snake and alligator served up for the first time but to my regret, I didn't get to try it. There will be a next time, China. Until then... The day immediately after amazing relaxation on Ha Long Bay, my friends and I set off to northern Vietnam and to the rice terraces of Sa Pa. We planned a 2 day trek with 10 miles of hiking the first day and 5-6 miles the second day with a comfortable home stay the night in between.
We walked through so much natural beauty, I almost forgot that places like Los Angeles (aka Home) existed. I was so taken aback about how nimble and agile the (ridiculously) young H'mong women were. These women all wore simple rubber slippers and were able to climb slippery hills and march through brush without any difficulty. Meanwhile, all of us westerners in our expensive hiking boots and gear were slipping and sliding all over the terraces. I think one person I will always remember is our 19 year old H'mong tour guide who was very sweet but sometimes moved too quickly for some people in our party. I was interested in her lifestyle so I asked about what she did in her youth and what she did for fun. The first surprise was finding out that she was 19 when she really looked 13 or 14 (Bless the youthful Asian genes!). The second was that she was married to her 16 year old husband and had no children. She explained to me that she was got married relatively late compared to her peers as the normal age was around 14-16. She also mentioned that most of her younger friends already had babies while she was just trying to work. I learned a lot about traditional H'mong customs including the general acceptance that if you are a woman and not married by 21 or 22, you are considered lazy and unfit for marriage. In this world, men stayed at home and tended to the farm while women worked in tourism mainly because women are more marketable for tourists. Before I go off into more detail about my interactions with H'mong women, here are some great shots of the two days! 3/16/2013 0 Comments 4 words - Bun bo nam boOkay. Vietnam. Of course the first thing I will talk about is the food...the glorious glorious 50 cents to 3 dollar meals we had everywhere! Just think - fresh and crisp vegetables (an absolute rarity in HK cuisine), tangy and spicy flavors of fish sauce, and bountiful, delicious, picked-right-off-the-tree-down-the-road fruit. But honestly, pictures will do more justice to the foods we consumed so do contain your drool as you peruse the gastroporn below. 2/18/2013 0 Comments Philippines February 14-18, 2013These are notes I typed furiously onto my iPad on the dusk of my first trip this year.
--- Recap Day 1 Flight @ 7:45 am/Left HKU @ 4 am Kinabuch First tuk tuk ride (30 pesos!) First time experiencing everyone in your party being called m'am/sir Day 2 Island hopping Snorkeling Pandan Island aka The Most Beautiful Beach in My Life
Balisasayaw (sp?) dinner Tuk tuk funsies with extreme overcrowding (I've learned that there are very few laws that rule the road in SEA) Chocomucho and mangos - a defining aspect of our culinary existence Day 3 Underwater cave tour (...I didn't mean to fall asleep there...) "Spelunking" Zip lining Amazing boat rides Mango boom Kahlui dinner I love rum Bumming in front of the ABCD store
Raging Tom and the hunt for a finger pricker Day 4 Late morning Kahlui ♥ again for lunch Glorious half hour massage Glorious passing out post massage Fireflies
Souvenir shopping Realized that pinoy bands are really quite good Nyquil drinks.... Day 5 6:30 am Amazing amazing day of motorbiking New marriage requirement = ability to ride a motorbike Iwahig minimum security prison Gangnam style with inmates No mo' pesos Sonny Serna False alarm of Jonah crashing Followed by Danny falling off his bike :( Amazing local beach with only us
Badjao restaurant by the seashore Lessons on mankind and myself Crocs do not fancy me Bye bye A&A Plaza Day 6 Manila...is awful Abandoned baby in subway station I hate Manila More lessons on mankind Ariel - 20 minute boyfriend Mabuhay Manor Sharp contrast to Palawan Midnight wandering |
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