Category: Asia

Better Than Bangkok

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My flight to Singapore was from Hong Kong and it turned into quite the chore. 4 hours (when it normally takes less than 2) of finding the bus station, waiting for the late bus, going through China and Hong Kong customs and then trying to check in to my flight. The airport is vastly enormous and terribly inefficient. Then, Jet Star is probably the worst run airline I’ve ever encountered. Nothing is free (not even water) and the cabin crew even tries to sell you items from their Sky Mall several times throughout the flight. Also, the plan was full of people hacking, coughing, farting, snoring and doing whatever they can to totally gross me out. My only hope was that one of the hackers spit in Singapore and would receive a sentence of some grueling physical torture.
 
Singapore is one of those places in my life I never gave much thought. If you recall, back in 1994, Singapore sentenced 18 year old American tourist, Michael Fay to 4 months in jail and 10 cain lashings because he stole and vandalized something. After the American Embassy went crazy his sentence was graciously reduced to 6 lashes. So, basically, I really made sure that I followed all the laws. No chewing gum, no urinating on the streets, no crossing against the light, etc., etc. 
 
I really loved Bangkok but Singapore is the nicer of the two. The cities share a lot of the same positive attributes. Both are hot, sunny, bi-lingual, beautifully religious and have the same view of efficient immigration. Singapore’s leg up is the absence of political distress, cleanliness, ease of navigation, being less smelly, adorably cute and booming economy (to name a few). Picture Asia meets Europe meets Mackinac Island. 
 
I arrived late at night and was instantly happy hearing new pop songs in the shuttle bus to the hostel. It’s been so long since I’ve heard new music and it was great. I was hesitant to stay in a hostel because I never have but hotels in Singapore are so expensive that I was willing to try it out. Pleasant surprise and I will definitely stay at others in the future. The staff at the Betel Box even helped me map out my day and told me all the good, must see and don’t see, places. I ventured out to China Town (better than the real China), the Riverfront (stunning) and Little India (simply that). I picked up a couple custom gifts in China Town and got an eyebrow threading for $3 in Little India. Ladies – never again will I get a wax. I have to brag a little and say that I am really proud of myself and how city savvy I’m starting to become. Never once did I get lost! After a long day of walking in the hot sun, I headed back to the hostel to pick up my stuff and head to the airport for my Bali flight.
 
On the way back, I stopped in Singapore again. Sold on the hostel thing, Julia, Marjorie and I headed to Little India where most of the guest houses are located. We laughed because it was 1 am, we are walking in a place called “Little India” and we had no where to stay. Eventually, we found a place that wasn’t full called Checkers. Being so tired, we all slept like logs. In the morning Marjorie and I had breakfast with a group of girls from Ireland who have been traveling for a year. They booked around the world tickets and have been to South America, Australia and almost all of Southeast Asia. Around the world ticket = brilliant. Having already looked into them I was shocked to find that they run around 2000 Euros. Why didn’t I think of that back in January? After breakfast, the girls and I ventured out for a walk and enjoyed the morning smells of spices, vegetables and flowers threw the streets. Then they departed for the airport and I spent a few hours shopping on Arab street and the evening watching the street shows in Little India turned Bollywood on a Saturday night. I should’ve done more with my day but, to be honest, I was over it, tired and ready to get home to Fabien. 
 
Basically, if you ever have the opportunity to visit Singapore, you have my encouragement and blessing!
 
I would love, love, love to show you the pics BUT the photo uploader has decided not to work. Welcome back to China and their crappy internet. :)

Bali on the Brain

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Words can not describe my excitement about going to Bali. I’d be lying if most of my excitement didn’t have to do with the fact that my all time favorite book, Eat Pray Love, partially takes place there. If you know me well, you know that this book is my Bible. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then you must watch the movie trailer (in theaters August 10th) for the story. I may have watched it 100 times since booking my flight. Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZzmqHJ0gPU

I know, it’s a total chick flick and I totally love it. I read the book at the most perfect time in my life to read such a story because I was going through many of the same things the author, Elizabeth Gilbert, was going through. I won’t bore you with those details here, but basically, I can’t help identify with the author, Elizabeth Gilbert. She loves yoga. I love yoga. She leaves the US to experience another kind of living. I am doing the same. She meets an amazing, romantic man with a great accent. Me too. Basically, I love her, she is my idol and I can’t wait to see and experience some of amazing things that she describes in the book (including a visit to Ketut Liyer aka yoda). I’m not alone in my quest because the Lonely Planet has a special section titled “That Damn Book”, where it describes Gilbert followers……..”A mixture of self entitlement, and too much yoga, with just a hint of desperation that they hadn’t yet found their Felipe.” Haha…I don’t care.

The book concludes in the magical place of Bali, which is one of 17,700 islands in Indonesia. Bali offers everything from amazing beaches, picturesque volcanos, rice fields surrounded by tropical forests, cliff side temples, hot springs tucked away from civilization, cheap lodging, tasty food and all in within miles of each other. As of right now our plan is to stay the night in Sanur, hop on the boat to Nusa Lombongan, then back to Ubud and finishing the week in Lovina. Click on the links that have had me dreaming for the last month. And if you are asking yourself, “Where the heck is Bali?”, then see below.

Agrandir le plan

My travel companions are two French girls, Marjorie and Julia. Marjorie is amazingly interesting having traveled all over the world including a year of living in India and another in South Africa. She is my China running buddy and through our long chats during night runs in Zhuijang Park I can vouch that she is super cool. Julia works with Fabien and has all the great french traits of beauty and style topped off with being really sweet. Her MO on his trip is relaxation and I’m on board with that.

On the way back I plan to stop in Singapore for a day by myself because who knows if I’ll ever make it back. There I plan to visit the city and experience my very first hostel.

Then shortly after I return Fabien and I will be welcoming various friends and family from the US and France. With them we will be traveling to Hong Kong, Macau, Beijing and the Philippines. The next couple months promise to be jam packed, but I promise to keep you updated with pictures and stories from our travels.

10 Things the Chinese Love

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I love the Chinese people. Here are a few things that they love…..

–Anything really loud. This includes women screaming over a microphone at the grocery store promoting foods on special, music in any retail store, bars and clubs, when talking on the phone and I could go on and on. I’ll be lucky if I get to leave the country without a hearing aid.

–Umbrellas. Don’t leave home without it. We are in rainy season which means it could go from a beautiful polluted, blue sky to 2 feet of rain water on the ground in an hour. But, the even bigger reason to carry your umbrella with you everywhere is to block the sun. The Chinese, women especially, hate getting any sort of tan and go to extremes to prevent it (holding newspapers, books, purses over their heads).

–Heels. I have no idea how these women walk around the city in heels all day long. I can barely withstand them for a night. And forget trying to find a nice, flat sandal for summertime. Heels only.

–Stupid haircuts. The men here need some help. Remember when Posh Spice was doing the side angle thing? Well, it’s a combination of that along with the 80’s poof and dyed blonde. As Paris Hilton would say, ‘that’s hot’. The very moment we buy a new camera, I promise to post a few picks. .

–Stamps. It’s not a valid receipt unless it’s stamped. Try going through customs without 100 stamps on your passport. Everywhere we go, the Chinese are stamping everything they see. Even the entry tickets into our community pool have stamps.

–Man bags. Hell, I’m a call it like I see it kind of girl, so let’s just call it a purse. And they don’t even try to carry the inconspicuous black, leather one. If the man likes pink, he is secure with his manhood and get’s a pink pleather Gucci knock off.

–Bikes. With a city of 12 million, I think it’s great that you are using this green transportation vehicle. I appreciate it, the others on the planet appreciate it and my lungs (that breathe your polluted air) appreciate it. My only suggestion is that you might want to through a few Yuan at a bike that wasn’t made in 1945. I know it still works, but when the frame breaks while your crossing the highway one night, you’ll thank me.

–Badminton, Ping Pong and other stupid exercises. The badminton and ping pong is a little stereotypical but, they really do love it. The school across the street from us has a whole badminton facility and it’s not unusual to see people just playing on a city street. The stupid exercise part cracks us up. Whenever we are in the park for a run we pass people who are walking and swinging their arms from left to right, clapping their hands, holding their arms out in front of them or to the side as they walk, etc. But, I believe their life span is longer than that of Americans so maybe they know something we don’t.

–Squating. And I’m not just talking about when in the toliet (Refer back to my most popular post, It Could Happen to You). Someone told me that another common medical belief is that women shouldn’t sit on the ground. I’m not sure why. But, even the men don’t ever sit on the ground. It’s really funny to see a group of men, in a park, squatting and talking or playing cards. Every time we pass someone doing this, Fabien makes a fart noise. It’s immature, but it never fails to make me laugh.

–Babies. But who doesn’t love babies, right? Well, because they are only allowed one child per family, that baby is oh so precious to them. Every afternoon the grandmothers congrigate with their respective babies and coddle them like crazy.

It’s been a while, so let me give you a few Dollar DVD’s……

New Moon. I drank the Koolaid on the plane over here and bought the Twlight book. To be honest, when I was done, I wasn’t on board and even decided not to continue with the second book. So, when my DVD Dealer suggested Twlight and New Moon to me I bought them but only because there was nothing else I was interested in. I watched Twlight and my feelings were reenforced after it was finished. BUT THEN I watched New Moon and I get it. Team Jacob girls! The story line is so interesting with the wolves and vampires that I’ve watched it three times and decided to read the book. Fabien even said it was decent.

It’s Complicated. Fabien and I both thought this was really good. You probably know the story line, but basically it’s about an ex-husband and ex-wife who rekindle their broken romance. It’s just a really funny movie and Alec Baldwin and Meryl Streep are a great duo.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I know that I am probably the last one to see this film but it just hasn’t crossed my path since this week. I just thought Benjamin was so inspiring and I plan to rematch it to capture some of the great, inspiring quotes. It vaguely reminded me of Forest Gump, but I love that movie too. So, if you are one of the few people who haven’t seen it, watch it!

And lastly, I have a US number that you can contact us at from cell phones and landlines for no charge at all. It’s (248) 556-2826 just remember that we are 12 hours ahead of you.