City Review – Page 2 – Jen Goes Rogue

By Jen Hawse on Asia, City Review, Travel Philosophy tagged asia, beaches, beer, guesthouse, holidays, malaysia, religion, travel

Paradise Muddled — Losing and Finding My Place in the World

If there’s one thing life is exceedingly good at it’s being in flux. Change is constant. When on the road, change is more omnipresent than going through the routine of life at home. True, holidays, birthday, weekends, all of these break up the mundane, but when you’re existing in a new city, country, and timezone on a rotating basis you’re faced with change in a new sort of way. While often positive, change can throw you into sadness when you were happy with the ways things were or refresh you when you’re so f’ing done.

It’s been just under three months of straight traveling and, I’ve got to say, I’m tired. It’s not from the constant motion, that is something that I strangly embrace better than sitting idly. I’m a mover, not a sitter. I’m simply tired of being away from home. The holidays are hard for everyone, whether you’re a fan of your family or trying to find the first ticket out of town. For me, I’m missing the normalcy this time of year brings. Cookies, christmas trees, holiday parties, wrapping presents, silly sweaters, they’re all reasons to love December. Being without them this year means Jason and I will be most likely losing weight during December instead of gaining it. There’s a plus!

This is my first year away from home during the holidays and second year without my dad, ever. His birthday is New Year’s Eve, so the holidays were even more special to me because of this. I loved having Lauer’s cake with him before heading out for a night with my friends. I can’t describe the guilt I feel for being away from my mom right now. The importance of family is even more greatly magnified in it’s absence. Being away feels unnatural. No matter where in the world I am I’d feel this way, so Malaysia or otherwise, I should be home for the holidays.

The irony in all this is, the last place we stayed was emphatically our favorite thus far in terms of feeling homey. Langkawi, Malaysia, had so much to offer that extended beyond the food and beaches. In Langkawi, we met people that we really connected with. We made six(!!) new friends at our guesthouse! More than anywhere else we’ve been, for certain. These are folks that we are looking forward to keeping in touch with and who are sharing journeys much like ours. The guesthouse itself was really conducive to people meeting and spending time in the commons area. Beers from the vending machine were $.50 (best price on the island!) and there was coffee, tea, and food on demand 24/7. So, you could basically stay up all night drinking and making friends, which we did on three separate occasions, and had an amazing time doing it.

One of the couples we met are world travelers from Britain who are going from Southeast Asia to Asia to South America on a year long journey. They’re our age, which was pretty refreshing when most of the folks we’d met thus far were in their early twenties. Nothing wrong with early twenties people! I have made plenty of friends 10 years younger than me and love the general positivity and freshness of that age, but meeting people our age on their “gap year” was a welcome surprise. We are so grateful that we met you all Hannah, Paul, Charlie, Aggy, Kate, and Mike Willy Holder! I’m sorry we didn’t get a few pictures together! <3 <3 <3

Beyond the people, although it’s quite difficult to go beyond people, Langkawi was small enough for us to feel comfortable renting our first motorscooter while big enough to give us a variety of activities. Going to the beach everyday is enough, but there was far more than available. I can tell you immediately from getting to the guesthouse I thought, “I wish we had booked another week.” Malaysia has very high vice taxes, because it’s a muslim country and muslims don’t drink, so while the true price of alcohol is rather cheap here the tax is exorbitantly high. Langkawi is a duty free city, meaning it’s tax exempt. If tax wasn’t included our beers would cost $.50. Today, at the store, the beers priced at about 2.00 each, or $12 for a 6 pack of crappy beer. This was the same thing we found all over Malaysia. Even if a bar or store wants to charge less they can’t due to tax regulations.

Prior to Langkawi we spent one week in Penang, or colonially known as Georgetown, another tropical island in Malaysia, but without the remote and extensive beaches. It was more of a city with resorts dotting the coastline that weren’t easy to get to, so we mostly stuck with the city center. Penang is hip. The street art is rich and abundant. You can tell they encourage creativity here. Another huge plus, this place had the best Indian food I’ve ever had! Truth be told, I wish I had just eaten Indian food the whole time I was there because I foolishly thought I’d find more Indian food in Kuching and Langkawi and have yet to find the right stuff. Nothing beats fresh, properly cooked naan bread. Nothing! And this stuff was cheap. I’m taking under $2 per meal. We had Indian food for Thanksgiving, because I’m not a huge fan of turkey anyway and, as they say, when in Malaysia!

Before Penang we were in Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, or KL locally. KL was a true melting pot of the poorer, former Malaysia and the rich capitalism that’s coming to take hold. The Petronas Towers were the world’s tallest building for a few years and are still a symbol of progress in Malaysia. There is no qualm here in their embrace of fossil fuels. They love dinosaurs and have erected statues of oil molecules and have dino parks throughout the city. Corporate sponsorship is not hidden nor frowned upon like it is in the US. Petronas actually means Petroleum in Malaysian, so their state capital’s symbol to the world is the Petroleum Towers. To each their own.

Perhaps this embrace of petroleum is the reason why walking was fairly dreadful in KL. The city is not intentionally built for pedestrians. We were at the central transit station trying to get to the closely located major tourist destination, the botanical gardens, and it took us over 30 minutes to walk what should have taken us under 10. That’s because there is no proper civil engineering in KL and roads are basically thrown on a map wherever they’ll fit, which forces you to take taxi’s. We are not great taxi takers, we would rather slug through a stupidly difficult walk instead of succumbing to the several dollar charge that is an unnecessary taxi ride in our minds. So, we slugged and dangerously dodged cars and were pretty unhappy with the structure of KL.

On the bright side, the Batu Caves, just outside of KL, were the first place either of us had encountered wild monkeys and provided a great get away from the city. After about an hour on their subway we arrived to find history, beauty, and some interesting creatures surrounding us. The caves are 400 million years old and the Hindu temples here were originally built up in 1891. The main golden Murugan statue that greets you at the base of the 300ish steps is 140 ft tall. During our visit Murugan was under construction, but c’est la vie. Upon summiting the cave entrance we were handed a bucket of rocks, each, as our way of “paying” for entry. This wasn’t necessarily required, but the construction worker at the base of the caves said, “You been here before? No? You take this”. So, we walked up 300 steps with a bucket of rocks! Builds character!

Today, in Kuching, we’re laying low. This would seem like a great thing for me right now and my weary traveling bones, but in fact it’s making me a little crazy. We planned it this way, but I don’t sit idly well. Jason, on the other hand, is a fantastic sleeper and sitter. He doesn’t mind days in front of the computer, coding or watching movies. I panged with guilt and frustration over this, whether at home or away, but especially during the most delicate time of year that is the holidays. So, since we arrived, I’ve read one short book and am about 1/3rd of the way through a 2nd along with beginning French lessons via an app again. I might pick up on German too, what the hell! While the guesthouse isn’t perfect it’s great for the price ($16.50 per night in total) and the staff are immensely kind to us.

Since I was a child I learned about Borneo and filed it in the, “I’ll never get to go there” category. Well, I’m here, Kuching is on Borneo, the oldest rainforest in the world and one of the most biologically diverse places that exists. Granted, we’ve seen zero biodiversity as of yet, being in the little city of Kuching, but it’s our goal to go out and explore the rainforest very soon. We hope to see some hornbills and proboscis monkeys in person, while avoiding alligators and vipers, oh my! But, while we’re not jungle trekking, we’ll be laying the lowest we’ll have been this entire trip and having lazy days walking around the quaint waterfront, talking to the guesthouse staff, and generally relaxing. Maybe it’s a good time to adjust some habits, pick up some new ones, or let go of old ones that don’t serve us any longer. Resolution time is coming!

Miss you all! I am thinking of you during the holidays. The holidays don’t mean a thing if it’s not for your friends and family that make them special. I love you and thank you for making my life special and meaningful.

1 Dec

By Jen Hawse on Asia, City Review tagged Animals, Bangkok, Buddhism, Chiang Mai, City review, Elephants, Festivals, Temples, Thailand, Tropics

Chiang Mai This Place is Nice

When people think about Southeast Asia, Thailand often comes to mind first. Formerly Siam, this ancient civilization is a culturally rich tourist haven. Tourism accounts for 6% of Thailand’s GDP. For comparative purposes, the US generates 2.6% of our GDP from tourism. Thailand’s main economy is export focused. I bet you have a few clothing items in your closed that are “Made in Thailand”.

During our trip planning Thailand was highest of the list of places to dig into and explore, chiefly because it’s fairly cheap, safe, and open to foreigners (or farangs as we’re called by the Thai people). Our original plan was to get a six month multi-entry visa (MEV) for Thailand and make it a sort of “home base” for our travels. We wanted to explore all around Southeast Asia, while knowing we could go back anytime. After weeks of research we realized the requirements for the MEV were too much to handle. You needed to have a job at home (nope, sorry), plus proof of that job that isn’t a paystub (what, how?) then statements showing $7,000 in the bank, plus we’d have to pay $200. We didn’t want to lie or pay that huge $200 fee, so we opted to just keep hopping and avoid having the “home base”. That meant our first stop out of the Far East and into Southeast Asia was Thailand for a one month stay.

Chiang Mai ladyboy cabaret. — Chiang Mai ladyboy cabaret

As you know, we jumped into Bangkok first and spent a pretty intense 10 days there. The King had passed away six days prior to our arrival and the city was transformed in ways that no one could have envisioned. A sea of Thais were arriving daily to pay their respects and mourn his loss. The sadness was visceral and all entertainment was cancelled, including even simply playing music at bars. Black was the standard garb and locals and tourists alike were encouraged to wear it. For being in the tropics, Thailand has some fairly strict standards of dress. This includes no shoulders or knees showing, with many Thais opting to fully cover their legs and arms. No, tourists don’t have to comply, but it’s again encouraged. So, when temperatures feel like 107 F, you’re suppose to wear all black and be covered up in order to be modest. Jason and I care about respecting culture and modesty, so we wanted to make sure we covered as much as possible (read, it’s hot and just got hotter for us).

img_20161113_152436852 — Hot, but worth it for this craziness

Really, it’s mostly important to be covered at temples. Thailand is a swarm of Buddhist temples. They’re everywhere, with over 40,000 throughout the country, and my goodness they’re stunning works of art and religion. 94% of Thais follow Buddhism, a religion that has origins in the country from the 3rd century. I’m personally a big fan of Buddhism for their culture of nonviolence and belief in the changing nature of the universe. Out of all religions that I’ve encountered this one speaks to me the highest.

img_20161112_214034428 — Temples everywhere

Something I never got over was seeing monks draped in flowing orange robes, walking the streets, with canvas shopping bags carrying their simple belongings. Thailand has between 200,000 – 300,000 Buddhist monks, so they’re easily found. Monks can be of the city or forest variety and the monks have to follow over 230 rules. How do I know all this? When in Chiang Mai I participated in a Monk Chat to learn about their unique way of life. The monks were very open to my questions and were actually quite interested in what I was doing in Thailand and where my travels had taken me. Many were intermediate English speakers, so the conversation provided them an opportunity to speak with a native English speaker while engaging in a cultural exchange.

img_20161102_170556944 — Extremely old temple in the middle of Chiang Mai

We spent 17 days in total in Chiang Mai, so besides spending time with Buddhist Monks and sweating we also had a great day playing with elephants at Elephant Jungle Sanctuary. My mom had gifted me some spending money for my birthday (thanks again, Momsie!) and this is what we opted to spend it on. In Thailand there are several options to interact with wild animals. You can pet sleepy (read: drugged) tigers at Tiger Kingdom or ride elephants at several parks, which is terrible for them on many levels; or you can go to one of several elephant preserves in the area to help care and interact with the big lugs in an environment that’s specifically designed to make them happy and keep them safe. We opted for the humane elephant preserve (of course!).

The day started with an 8:15 a.m. pickup from a “red truck”, a Ford that’s been outfitted with bench seats and a cap on the bed that had windows cut out of it. The back of the cap was completely open to climb into and out of, there was no door. Staying by the train station meant we were a good 30 minute walk from the city with few hotels that far out, so we weren’t sure if this truck was going to take us to a van to drive up the mountain or if we’d be getting more passengers and going on our way. The latter ended up being true. By 9:10 the truck was filled with 10 people, driver included, and we were heading up to the sanctuary in the mountains of northern Thailand, in a truck, with no door on the back. Hey, at least we were all the way on the inside!

img_20161104_091511354 — In the truck, heading toward elephant sanctuary

Zig zagging through the mountain passes we drove fast. The driver claims we were making up time because two of our fellow riders were late. It seemed likely that they were very young newlyweds, at least according to me and the three hilarious German ladies that I shared a few laughs with. The couple surely wasn’t dressed like they were going to play in the mud! Either way, as for the crazy drive, you eventually became used to the crazy conditions and almost comfortable with it. A cool blew into the cabin and all around us were beautiful vistas. Peace set in, that is until the road no longer became a road, but instead a kind of truck “path” that steeply jetted us into an even closer to near death situation as we drove inches away from sheer cliffs on tracks wide enough for just the two truck tires. Somehow, we didn’t die (either coming or going!). The day has hardly started and yet our adrenalin is pumping at full force.

Instead of going into great detail with the elephants I’ll just share some pictures here to show you what happened.

Another special treat in Chiang Mai was the Loy Krathong Festival. This was one of the main reasons we decided to go north to Chiang Mai instead of south to the world famous Thai beaches. Loy Krathong roughly translates to “to float a basket” and is celebrated throughout Thailand on the full moon of the 12th month of the year. These baskets are generally banana leaves decorated with colorful flowers and sometimes hold a coin as an offering to the river spirits. Fireworks and big celebrations are generally part of this annual event, but with the King’s passing all of these extra demonstrations were toned down. Paper lanterns, however, were still part of the event and were just as magical as you can imagine.

img_20161114_235803176 — We are cleared for liftoff!

Yi Peng, another full moon even, is the reason these lanterns are part of the Loy Krathong Festival. For Thais, the lanterns are a symbol of merit, a Buddhist belief in doing good deeds to bolster personal enlightenment and ensure you have a better next life. I’m happy regardless of their reasoning, because watching these lanterns take off was a top bucket list item for me and completing it is like floating on air 🙂

img_20161112_200622823 — A celebration of lights!

Chiang Mai has become a favored city for Jason and I because of it’s medium size, natural setting, good food, mixed culture, and some great people we met during our stay. It’s #2 thus far for me, right behind Seoul, for this trip.

It’s funny how each place we’re only at for a short time, yet in my mind I keep thinking, “Oh, we can always go back if we want. We’re in SE Asia for a while.” but, in reality, we will most likely never return to these destinations and I have to be OK with that inevitability. Travel, to me, is the definition of bittersweet. Often, I’m thinking of home and wondering what you people are up to out there, living normal lives and spending time with those you love. When I’m not thinking of that I’m planning our next move, where to go and how to get there. I’m thinking of what’s on the agenda for tomorrow. I’m worrying about the budget. I’m looking at maps. I’m dreaming of our time in Europe. I’m considering how I feel both guilty to live this way and immensely blessed. I’m trying not to kill Jason as well, and vise versa 🙂

Travel requires patience and perseverance. I’m no model for either of those traits and often I’m rushing through something and stressing me and/or Jason out or bored that there’s nothing to do for a brief period of time instead of being productive and planning or just being. Patience and perseverance. I’ve never been a hobby kind of person. I’m a worker bee and that’s always been my hobby. I like to feel useful and I’m grateful that I’ve had great jobs where that feeling has been realized. In travel, you consume everything and you don’t give anything unless you make a concerted effort to take on volunteer work. This week, I signed Jason and I up for Work Away, a website that connects hosts looking for volunteers all over the world with their projects and willing workers. Like WWOOFing, Willing Workers on Organic Farms, Work Away is for all types of work and the great part is they most often pay you in room and board. With this we can save money, learn some new skills, feel useful, meet new people, and keep having fun traveling. I think this is exactly what I need to make this trip go from good to great.

img_20161108_185132838 — The fishies cleaned up our feet!

If you have specific questions about anything or want me to cover a topic, versus a country, just ask! Before I left people wanted to know about our budget and backpacks, if there’s interest I can write a blog on those topics or others. Thanks for reading! Until next time!

2 Nov

By Jen Hawse on Asia, City Review tagged asia, Buddha, Buddhism, Carol, China, City review, Ferries, Hong Kong, travel

Living Well in Cozy Hong Kong

Swept up, it’s fair to say, in the day to day living of travelling is why it’s been two weeks since leaving Hong Kong and I still haven’t written about it. That and it was a mixed bag of lived experiences, but isn’t that always the way?!

Hong Kong was very special for Jason and I, because my wonderful and sweet Aunt Monica connected us with an old family friend who lives there, Carol, and her husband Andreas. Carol and my Uncle Ed used to ride the train together decades ago into work in DC. During their morning commutes they started talking and became friends. That friendship has transcended the years and still to this day they keep in touch.

Carol moved away from Maryland years ago and eventually landed in Hong Kong with her German husband. She’s raised two children there, who are going to university in various parts of the world, and she herself travels quite frequently. The day after we left she was on her way to Australia for a week to visit the largest rock in the world. It takes three whole days to hike around it and that was one of many planned excursions on her journey. All while nursing an injured knee.

For my older readers who worry about their limitations and perhaps feel they have reached the end of their adventurous years, I’d say see Carol’s example of how to live well, stay active, and don’t stop exploring. Below is the selection of their travel library.

The world is wide, but start small and you’ll see more of it than having never starting at all.

Carol is not only well traveled, she’s also the best host anyone could ever ask for. Hong Kong is quite expensive and we’re budget traveling, so having a place to stay there was wonderful enough, but she provided so much more for us than just that.

img_20161014_105703513 — Breakfast at Carol’s house! <3

In Taipei, as you recall, we were wet and weary. The AirBnB was shitty, it rained literally every day, often pouring to the point that the day was completely shot, and the city itself wasn’t particularly clean or inviting. By the end I grew fond of it’s quirks, and I know we would have had a great time if only the sun would have come out, but circumstances being what they were we were ready to go. While still in Taipei, Carol asked me what we liked to have for breakfast. Goodness, we normally just eat a piece of fruit and maybe a coffee if we’re lucky, or nothing at all, till we stumble hungrily into the streets seeking food. Hangry Jen isn’t happy Jen, but when you carry everything on your backs and must keep the weight down to a minimum you don’t have great food options. We let Carol know that we’re not picky eaters and anything at all she wanted to share is enough for us.

OK, we didn’t eat any of these, just paid to take the picture, and this is actually from Bangkok and not Hong Kong, but just saying, we’re not picky!

We left Taiwan in the rain and landed in Hong Kong in the rain. “What are we getting into?”, we thought. But, our anxiety washed away when we saw Carol. She was gracious and kind enough to pick us up from the airport. Not since we left had we been in someone’s vehicle (not even a taxi), so it was nice to go for a drive around Hong Kong and have a guided tour from an expert. Hong Kong was a British colony until 1997, so Britain influences much of the island still, including their driving on the “other side” of the road. I tried to climb into the driver’s seat when we got in, not realizing this!

Hong Kong is a hilly land, with curving narrow roads and a network of islands, 263 of them in the 427 sq mile territory. Over 7.2 million people live in Hong Kong, an “autonomous territory”, which boasts one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. Formally know as “Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China”, it’s world’s tallest city, with the greatest number of skyscrapers. Those tall buildings lay host to a financial powerhouse that offers great tax benefits for corporations and personal tax freedoms for those who live there. If you’re not sure about Asia, but want to visit the region, then I encourage you to consider Hong Kong as a starting point (although Seoul will forever be my favorite).

Nature is surprisingly prevalent in Hong Kong, with less than 25% of the total land developed and 40% being completely reserved for parks and wildlife. That means you’re never more than a few minutes by ferry, bus, or car out from the domineering city and into nature preserves. To get to the wider expanses it’s more of a hike, but well worth it. Unfortunately, given our short stay, we didn’t get to see all of the nature parks that we’d liked, but that gives reason to go back. We did get a good and sweaty hike in on Lamma Island (pronounced like the animal Llama) that offered wetlands, fishing villages, steep climbs, and trail side vendors selling fresh fruits and ice cream. I opted to get a honey lemon drink from a beekeeper while hiking up a particularly arduous hill. You could see his bees buzzing out of the hive and around the surrounding area. Very charming!

Another Hong Kong memory was made at the Tian Tan Buddha, or colloquially known as the big Buddha. It was a journey to get there, taking nearly three hours via a bus, then ferry, then onto another bus that drove with great speeds up steep and curvaceous mountain roads. You don’t realize how prone you are to motion sickness until you’ve been tested like that! But, the nausea was well worth the reward.

The enormous bronze Buddha was erected in 1993 and is a major tourist attraction in Hong Kong. There’s a little village situated by the bus station that reminded me of Disneyland, as it felt very sterile and new. In the village, you can take a gondola up the mountain for sweeping views (which we did not do, but you could!).

We opted to skip the touristy bit and head straight for the 112 ft. Buddha. Along with the Buddha there’s a Buddhist monastery that was founded over a century ago, which is absolutely stunning. When we were there they were performing service and the chanting swept me away. All day long I could listen to the monks rhythmic voices harmonizing prayers. Every opportunity I’ve had to stop and take in their chanting throughout this trip I’ve done so. Prayer by chant is music made sweet and savory at once, with words I’ll never understand that surely ask to fulfill the desires that all humans have, for love and compassion, forgiveness and peace.

Carol always had great ideas for us on what to do and where to explore next. She also took us out for a night on the town with Andreas when he came back home for the weekend. Andreas works from China 1/2 the week, often flying out from there to all over the world to do business, so his time at home is short and precious. Still, they spent some of it with us and took us to a great Mediterranean restaurant and then for drinks in Lan Kwai Fong, where teems of people filled bars and the streets. Women held up signs advertising specials on 12 shots at a time to bring in patrons. We opted for a German bar celebrating Oktoberfest and drank German beers with the German who prefers Japanese beers instead; go figure! Carol and Andreas had fully intended on leaving us out to party it up, but we are old folks with little wallets and little interest in that scene any longer anyway, so we headed back in a taxi with them and had a nightcap at their home instead.

Carol and Andreas took us out for one other memorable meal of Dim Sum with two of their close friends. Dim Sum is like Chinese tapas, little plates of dumplings, meats, tarts, puddings, and other tasty treats. On Sunday morning, for traditional Hong Kong brunch, we went to Maxim’s Palace. Located in City Hall, with chandeliers lining the ceilings, this beautiful restaurant takes no reservations so you either come early or wait hours for a table. We came early, arriving right about 10:00 a.m. and didn’t have to wait at all, but the huge crowd out the door after we left must have been hungry.

Their international friends were another German and a Brit. They’d also lived in Hong Kong for a few decades and really loved the place. While we talked with them of travel, their city, their children, and their lives, the conversation ended up focusing on the US and our upcoming election. They were baffled, as Jason and I also are, about what is going on in America today. I had little consolation for them, other than to say we’re not voting, but if we were it wouldn’t be for Trump. Their level of nuance for American politics from people who have never lived in the US is stunning. What do you or I know of British or German politics? What about the entire continent of Asia? I myself am woefully ignorant, even with my college education and desire to be a globally aware citizen. They’re not, so as I’ve noted before, the world is watching and from what I can tell it doesn’t like what it’s seeing.

Moving on! Jason and I share a deep gratitude to Carol and Andreas for hosting us. We wouldn’t have had nearly as great of a time in Hong Kong without them and being in their home felt so cozy it was almost like we were transported back to our homes in the states. I definitely said to Jason more than once, “Do we have to go?” to which he replied, “Well, Carol’s going to Australia a day after we leave, so yes, we do.” Fair point, but my goodness her heart is so warm and she’s so caring that we couldn’t be more thankful for her hospitality. We just wish we could find a way to repay her for her kindness. I think we’ll aim to be the best hosts we can be and live by example when we return back to the states and have a home of our own. Carol, you and Andreas are always welcome to stay with us! We took this shot on our last night in Hong Kong after Carol’s helper, Cherry, made us a traditional Filipino meal of chicken, potatoes, vegetables, and rice. Simply mouthwatering!

Their doggy Shiba and I became fast friends too. Loved this little lady!

There’s so much more to say about this magical week, but we’ll leave it here for now. Thanks for following along the journey!