Day to Day

On our way home.

2009-02-07T06:35:00.002+08:00

And we're off. We left Phnom Penh at 11h40pm (our time) I've been sleeping all day cause the night was very rough.. I was very sick for some reason. I got a very bad fever during the day and Nausea and ... ahem.. other stuff. Came out of nowhere. On my last day ?? YA! sucks. So now i'm traveling feeling like total poop.

We arrived at the airport and they told us that our flight was full and they had to move us to another flight. Ahh great. ok. So we went. The flight to Korea was pretty fast. Meanly cause i slept the entire way. On our arrival, there was a little korean guy waiting for us at the gate with 2 signs with our name on it. Isabella, Thalia. We found it so funny. We never get signs! I took a picture! So this little guy brought us to his little Korean Air car and drove us to the VIP lounge. WOOOO
that was fun. Took another picture there. lol

So here we are now. In the VIP lounge. Free coffee, wifi and showers. We have to wait here for 3 hours for our flight to L.A.

See you guys soon.

The tears in Cambodia

2009-02-05T21:37:00.004+08:00

I'm really not good at this (writing)! It seems like i'm spending my last days thinking less and less about writing and simply more time trying to remember every move these kids are making. In the last 3 days .. let's see.

The Dump.

Oh my gosh. Thank goodness for that organization working in the dump. They are helping so many people every day. We arrived at the dump and all i saw was sadness. As we walked closer and closer to the doors of the dump, we were walking near those family. Those houses, made practically out of sticks, had entire families in them. Like, Dad, mom and 2-3-4 kids. I can still feel the guilt in my heart while all those eyes were looking at us. We, first, went to talk to the french people (from the organization) who talked about the "ropes" of what they do everyday. As you will see in the pictures (if you are interested in going to see them) more and more mothers are going to the place to get food for them and their children. Thank goodness more families are coming around. We found out that a Japanese company bought the dump and are closing it to move it out of town. Good for certain things. bad for the question: "Where are all these families going to go?" Anyways, we found out too that this organization founded a school too where, they now have 6, 500 students (all taken from the dump) How crazy is that ? So that was an experience.

The waterpark , the next day.

To my surprise , there actually was one. Well, a cambodian water-park. There was a pool, a kid area and 4 bigger slides. At first , I was enjoying looking at the kids having fun but then, I found the big slides. There's pictures of us going down them.. SO fun. lol I went until my legs were tired of climbing the VERY steep stairs. Ever heard the expression : Use what you got? Well, after a bit of fun, We had a Baptism right in the pool. That was fun. Nothing says "blessed" more than water full of pee. lol. No, I'm kidding. The kids were really happy to finally get baptized by a real pastor. Fun day.

Marshmallow and DanceDay.

We went to the school at night, that day, to eat Grilled Egg (yes, you heard right) and Marshmallows. Afterwards, we gave the Directors of each orphanages a bag full of Toothbrushes (we had enough for ALL THE KIDS), Tooth paste and Medical Supplies. They were so thankful and they would like to thank everyone so much for donating. They were really touched, really. So much so... that we danced for hours after that. My first "clubbing" in months. :)

Toul Sleng Prison (S.21)

Oh boy. That was hard. We visited the actual prison where everything happened. The Phnom Penh High school that was turned into a High-Security detention and torture prison. Khmer Rouge. Thousands of people lost their lives for , what I feel is, nothing. I mean, to think that people can do such things to their own kind. I won't tell you the entire story, but I do encourage you to read on it. The facilities are left intact... except that they added signs and pictures and display cases. Along the way of our discoveries , we met this man. He was along with 3 students and was explaining his memories. His MEMORIES? yes, He is one of the FOUR survivors of Toul Sleng. How amazing is that. It was the first time that he came back to face the prison again. I guess he wanted to find his peace. We had our Cambodian friend with us and she was able to translate all the stories that he was telling. He was explaining how they tortured him and questioned everyone at the interrogation "room" and how terrifying it was every night when they called out the names of the people they were going to bring to the killing fields the next day. He showed us his cell. The place he stayed for four months before the Khmer Rouge was overpowered by the Viets. He lost his entire family (wife and kids) in that place. I fell apart when I told him how sorry I was that he had to go through that. It was really hard.

The Give Aways

We gave away all the toys today! Oh my! that was a treat. The kids were excited. Actually, I think we were more excited than them.. Because everything came from you all. We took so many pictures of them getting the stuff.
We gave So much to the school for EVERYONE to enjoy and each got their medication and supplies but the toys... ahh the toys..
It was great. It was funny too cause we had to explain some of the toys.. Like playdo. They had no idea what it was. But i made my little demonstration and then they were making elephants and magostines (best fruit EVER btw) etc..
So anyways.. THANK YOU GUYS SOO MUCH FOR DONATING TO THE KIDS.

thats all. We leave tomorrow 11h40pm. :(

pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/isabellaamodei/sets/72157613358074035/

Last Destination. Boo

2009-02-02T23:46:00.003+08:00

We took the bus this morning from Battambang to come to PhnomPenh. It went pretty well. Well, except for the fact that our bus broke down half way so they had to send another one. Took only 1 hour though. Then, on the second one.. the air-conditioning didnt work so we fried to death.. (i mean to sweat) I guess u really have to expect it from a 5$ bus ride. but we got here , safe and sound. Didn't do much. Just rested for now.

We have 4 orphanages here so our schedule is all packed up for the next 4 days. Tomorrow we are going to the dump. Yes you heard right. That's where we feed our kids here. JUST KIDDING. I'm totally kidding. Please dont send a social worker.
Actually, we heard about this dump about 2 weeks ago where approx 2,000 family live. That's nice isn't it?

Well, that's not the worst part. These families, who are struggling for food, send off their kids EVERYDAY to the dump in order to gather supplies and metals for the parents to sell to people. So these kids are forced to go to the dump to help their parents get around 100r worth of stuff. (4000r = 1Usd)

They have no shoes and smelly old clothes and have to gather this or else the parents will have their "way" with them. And i'm not talking about teenagers here.. Im talking about 4 to 11 year olds digging through glass and medical waste all day long. There is this wonderful organization in place now that has a setup there which provides shoes and food for the kids so that they can at least have something to eat that day. Unfortunatly, here, there isn't a system in place to allow us or someone to take the children away from these horrible people (trust me , i asked) but they are trying to help as much as they can.

People have tried to make deals with the parents to exchange some rice everyday in exchange to send their kid to school. Some accepted (thank god) and some .. still won't. So tomorrow we are going to see and help out that organization.. also, we are going to see how WE can help with our organization. Let's hope it all goes well.

After, Wednesday we are going to the waterpark with the kids! Woo. Then we have another baptism and we are going to give all the suitcases that YOU provided us with and we brought to the kids. I'll take pictures!!

See ya soon

i just found this... this is the dump. http://www.pbase.com/maciekda/stungmeanchey2005

Battambang

2009-02-01T21:57:00.003+08:00

Fact: Approx. 6 million landmines still reside here. More than 1000 deaths and casualties happen each year caused by landmines. :O Oh boy! NOW i'm nervous.

I know i haven't been the best at all this posting stuff but somehow most of my money seems to be going on internet here!! We have been here in Battambang for 3 days now and I must say ... I love it. I know, I know... I seem to be saying this a lot lately but this place is a little different: There's almost no tourists!! YES!Finally! I get to enjoy the city for what it really is. The markets are filled with regular everyday clothing and food (no souvenirs!) and, when u walk in the street, there's actually Cambodians.. not people that try to sell you something every 5 seconds. They are actually going about their everyday lives. I love it here. Battambang is the 2nd largest city in Cambodia, but yet, still seems this small. Me and Paula walked around the little streets the other day and it was truly a great experience. Just seeing how they make a living and seing the kids play in the street. Ah.

The reason why we came here thought, was for the orphanages. We are 5 here.. well soon to be 5. They are building 2 as we speak (mmm i mean type/read). We spent most of our time there. I think I speak for all three of us when I say (type) that Staying all day with those kids is truly the highlight of this trip. They just seem so happy and peaceful. It's hard to believe that , even though they went through so much all ready, they go on everyday with such a strong outlook of life and love itself. Ahh don't make myself cry. We did enough.

Today, we actually went to one orphanage and the kids had "church" (which is basically them sitting all together and they sing, dance and talk) and then we went to the lake to stay with the kids while 28 of them got baptised. Now, I am not a believer but , I do appreciate how the religion is bringing all of them closer together. By studying this all together, it builds a common ground around them, i think. That even though they come from different places and have different backgrounds , they still have something that they came come to appreciate and talk about together. My thoughts, anyways.

The kids went to get Baptised in a lake outside of town. That lake was one of the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge back in the 60s-70s. Thousands of innoncent people died in the exact spot where our kids are getting new begginings. The lake is manmade. It is said that they made it in order to preserve the area of the fields. To make the innoncent rest in peace. By having water, no houses , agriculture or anything else can be put there. Well, that's what the missionary said. I thought it was interesting.

so that's it for today. Tomorrow, we are leaving for the Capitol Penom Penh. Our final Destination before coming home :(

bye!

The Temples of Angkor.

2009-01-29T16:05:00.003+08:00

Captain's log - 3 pm.

We are enjoying our last day in the cute little city of SeamReap. Yesterday, we went over to the temple to enjoy a nice little.. big.. walk in the past. We had to ride up there with a TukTuk, who, had to stay with us all day. We didn't know this but all the temples are REALLY far from eachother. The Entrance was 20$ US (the most i've ever paid for something in Asia) but we had full access to the place. We had time to do 4 temples, including Angkor Wat. It was very impressive to see the architecture from the 12th to the 16th century when most were built. The details and magnitude of these temples is craazyyyy. So we walk and walk all day.

Now, i have to say that it wasn't much of what we expected. Although everything is really impressive and we are glad we saw it.. mm.. We were a little dissapointed. However, I think it's because of the mega-tourism aspect of it. I mean souvenir stands and tourists are alllll over the place. As you arrive to each temple with your tuktuk guy, the people jump on you with "You want something to drink lady" or "you want a t-shirt lady". It was too much. Litteraly 7 girls at each place. It was like a broken record. Once, while we were walking to our tuktuk, we saw these kids following this lady with bracelets yelling "3 for 1$ lady" over and over and over. The lady actually started running to get away from them but this little boy was running with her and shoving the items in her face. It's sad. These kids should be playing outside.. not selling things.

That was a big downside. I understand that tourism makes a living for the villagers but there should be a limit or something, no? Anyways.

Today, the girls are getting massages (yes, again) and spending the day at the pool. I'm just walking around town. I really like it here. Mind you, it's sticky hot and you NEVER come home clean (cause of all the dirt flying around) but It's a very friendly and adolable town. I could see myself living here for a bit. Don't worry people... i won't... But i thought i would still mention it. I'm going to walk behind the big streets now. I love seeing the way the people REALLY live. That's what I love. It's really amazing. Forget the commercial streets.

ttyl:)

Siem reap, Cambodia

2009-01-27T19:01:00.003+08:00

Well, after a painful 22 hour bus trip.. we are finally here, in Cambodia.

Actually, It took a little more than that, given that we got stuck at the border for 4 hours. The thai are so deceptful. They made us wait and wait in order to get to our destination at midnight so that we would be forced to go to the hostel where they get commission (hopefully, we already had ours). It's like that throughout the trip to Cambodia. We are a little smarter than that though. When we stopped for "food" (which is actually a place they get commission too) a woman walked around telling people that we had to get our visas with her cause they don't do it at the border. Bulllllll. She charged 1300 Baht (about 35$us) we are supposed to pay 20$. So, after arguying with her.. We didn't do it. "Ahh the bus will not wait for you, this is much quicker" "Oh well, we said, i guess we'll have to walk"

So, we get to the border and reach a table where 3 officials were sitting. The guide talks to them and then they say "1200 baht". No way. I noticed a sign, nehind a wall, that said 20$ so, we went to their counter and they, again, tried to get us to give, this time, 1100. Paula REFUSED to give it. We finally got our way with 900 (22$) Us 1 - Thailand 0

It's like this ALL over the place. It's very sad to see how much they try to take advantage. As tourist, when you don't know, it's hard to know who to trust. We just don't trust anyone no more.. seemed easier. lol

They made us wait for the Bus for 45 minutes (it had to bring us to the bus station which, turns out, was just up the street.) WE COULD HAVE WALKED THERE. Well, they brought us there saying that "at the bus station there's a money changing place. It's a really good idea to change your money because lots of place will charge 1$ for everything , even if it's .80$" A few people went inside to change their money when i noticed that it was 1Baht = 80Reel. No way. The place we went was 1 Baht=117 Reel. Again, they tried to steal our money. When i told everyone, the guide tried telling me that it was impossible and that it was probably an old sign. Even though we actually changed our money there, at that price. Us 2 - Thailand 0

Anyways lots of other stuff happened but i won't bore u. Final score was about Us 4 - Thailand 0. (I say Thailand cause the guide & officials were Thai) As for Siem Reap, it's nice.. The people here are REALLY nice. Everyone smiles at us and say "hello". The only thing is that the roads here at 75% dirt so there's a lot of dust in the air (Alex, you would have so many allergy attacks) We walked around all day today and my clothes are full of Red Dust.

Tomorrow, we are going to the Angkor Wat temples. Let's hope at don't get Heat exhaustion :)

tyysoon

pictures!

2009-01-24T13:24:00.001+08:00

Hey guys .. i'm uploading some pics of the kids at the orphanages. I'm trying to clear some space cause i'm running out!! wooo

http://www.flickr.com/photos/isabellaamodei/

ChangMai

2009-01-23T19:04:00.002+08:00

Ahh la la .. here we are in changmai, thailand.

The day we were leaving Bangkok (2 days ago) we packed our bags in the morning and took an early mini-bus to Ayattuya, the ancient city. The 2nd capital of thailand. The ride seems pretty long even though it was only 1.5 hours. It was an organized trip so we didn't get to see that much. We stopped at the royal palace, at the ancient village, the buddha.. nothing else that seemed other than a pile of bricks. However, I must say, it was interesting to see the remains (or structures) of a city that stood tall so long ago. So we stayed till 3h and headed back to Bangkok in order to take a "direct" bus to Changmai. I put the quotes because we had to wait around for almost 3 hours. The bus ride to changmai was SO long and uncomfy. There was these people that sat around us that talked FOREVER and they were SO loud. Arg. The bus would ride for a while... so they would fall asleep.. then, when there was peace, the bus would stop for the restroom and they would all wake up again. BAH!

so, we got here at 7ham and got Pickup by people from Asia's hope (the organization that paula is staying with) and they brought us 15 minutes outside of changmai to the guesthouse. Nice complexe. Seems very much out of place here. It looks like a gated Carrefour Angrignon Complexe Area. Our place is a condo.

At 9am, after long awaited showers, we went over to the Farm where they have the widows working on bags. They just bought the place to hopefully be able to grow their own produce to feed all the children from the orphanages. Till the place is renovated for the Widows to live there, they simply work on handbags during the day. You should see the work they do. They are good.
We had to wait around a lot for the driver to finish stuff but it was interesting to see the place anyways.

Afterwards, we jumped in the back of the pickup truck (we had to sit in the back for the 1.5hour drive) and went on to see the orphanages. We saw 3 that day and i must say that these kids melt your heart. When they see the truck coming, they run towards it and scream out "hi" "hi" and wait for a hug. Some didn't even wait for us to get out of the car, they jumped in the car for the hug. The cutest thing ever. We went on to visit the places to see how they work and what they do for the kids. As we were walking around, one or two kids would always find their way to our hands and hold it until we left.

At the 2nd and 3rd orphanage, I pulled out my camera to take pictures. Some kids went crazy for it. They would ask me to take a piture of them , then want to see it. 'hahaha you're eyes are closed, again again" they would say to eachother in Thai.
They would pose and smile and dance .. all for the camera.. SO CUTE. I almost stole one... or two. We are going back tomorrow I think.

Today, we went downtown Changmai to visit the city. It's so hot here. I started feeling really sick at one point too. Either from the heat or the fact that im probably not getting all my nutrience in Asia. Anyways , it was a bad day for me. The city is pretty cute though.. very clean. We are waiting around now for the people to come get us from the guesthouse. Then, we are going to the night bazaar, the biggest night market. Woo.

I don't think I have must else to say. I feel like I'm rambling.
I'll see you guys soon!

Bangkok... cough.

2009-01-20T23:49:00.004+08:00

Thalia has always been a great story teller.. so elaborate. :P

Ok.First thing, I never though I could feel pain in my lungs like this. We've been walking around in Bangkok for the past 2 days and I must say that .. mya.. this city is pretty damn ugly. Nothing much to do. We've missed the biggest market in the world cause it's on the weekends and it's coming close to holidays so lots of places open and close at personal will... So, all we've seen is the outside of lots of temples and "WAT" buddhas. Those were nice.. However, there's so much that you can see. "Here's buddha standing, here he is laying down, here is the lucky one, the happy one, the gloden one[...]" ok ok I get it.. u love him. Anyways.
Everything It was still a must-see though, I think.. cause now I know that I wouldnt mind not really coming back here again.

For those who heared that Bangkok might be smoggy.. well, you are correct, sir (ma'am). It's unbelievably polluted here. We started feeling it in the first 10 minutes. The city smells, all you get is CO2 in your lungs at all times and it's really crowded. Not as much as Vietnam but , for some reason, it shows more here. The buildings all looks really old and dirty too. You know how, in a seinfeld episode, Kramer gets the idea to make his apartement a smoking room ? After a while his skin and face become looking old and dirty , as if he's 100? Well, it's kinda what all the buildings look like here. Like all the accumulation of smoke killed everything. They are trying to make it better though. I saw a couple of Rent-a-bike stands to try to convince people to use them rather than vehicles. Let's hope, for their sakes, that it catches on.

So we didn't do much. We caught up with our friend Jeremy (which we met in signapore) and his friends. He started school here. We went out to "dinner" with them yesterday to this outside foodcourt where there's a all you can eat. But not that kind we know of. Basically, they put a cooker/grill (looks like a fondu pot) on your table and give you a plate. Then u hunt for food. There's all these uncooked meats and fish and veggies on a Buffet-style table and you get what u want.. then cook it yourself at your seat. It's all good exept for the fact that NOTHING HAS NAMES. So, basically, you have no idea what u are eating. Some things you can reconize. "ok. that's salmon, that's squid, that's ... mm.. a weird color.. what is that? Doesn't matter looks good, take it anyways" I was put incharge of seafoods. Ok.. let's go hunt. I got a bunch of stuff. Then, with thalia's meats and Paula's veggies we were ready to go.

Turns out that we were eating JellyFish at one point (!!) The only reason we knew is cause i asked! We didn't ask about the meats. Too bad. We could have been eating dog and we didn't even know it. Did you know you can eat JellyFish? I didn't and my mom doesn't seem to think so either. Oh well.. 2 days later.. im still alive. It's pretty good too. It's squishy, yet, not.

Fun Experience. We are still hunting for dog though. Paula wants to try it. I went on home after cause i was tired, BUT was told the next day that the girls found Insects to eat. Thalia ate 3 grasshoppers and a silkworm (i think)! GROSSNESS! Noone ate the Cockroach though. Wimps :P

Things I've noticed here: TukTuks (motorcycle-taxis) are mean. They are nice for their own benefit. :( we got caught twice but now I know why.
"We want to go to the temple"
"ok, i bring you there and the jewl factory"
"no thanks. Just the temple"
"and the factory, is very nice, must-see, ok"
"no.. dont take me there"
"yes.. it's good.. it's on the way.. no problem"
"no thanks ARG why do u want to take me there!?"

Turns out these places give the tuktuks gas coupons if they bring people there. ASSES. Make us waste time for nothing. It happened to us with the factory and the bus station. He brought us there (yes.. u buy bus ticket there ok?) and we found out we couldnt buy tickets there, just plane tickets :S

Also, Lots of things are pink here :) Taxis too! Loves it

so, Tomorrow we are going to Ayattuya for the day. An ancient city outside of Bangkok. Then.. we are heading straight for Changmai (12 hours) Staying there for 4 days :) Ok i wrote enough thanks! See ya!

p.s There's a guy walking his elephant on a leash outside the café... gotta love Asia.

Bngkok!!!

2009-01-20T18:12:00.002+08:00

Well hello, we are here in Bangkok...euk...i don't like! I miss the beach life...I don't have to much to say...i know isa...i suck, oh well...Actually, we are leaving tomorrow to Chiang Mai...yeah no more pollution!!!Let me ask Canu if she wants to say something....she's says NO!!! Anways ciao ciao for now.

Bye Krabi.

2009-01-17T22:25:00.005+08:00

First off, I would like to say that I do realise that my "Dirty Asians" post yesterday did not work. I was trying to upload a video but was unable to finalize it before my time ran out here. After all, I am no millionaire. I am trying to post it again via Youtube.

So with that said...

Here we are on our last day on the beach.. FINALLY. Although it is all well and nice, I am really not a beach person. To sit in the sun all day really drives me bonkers. I am sitting here in our "resort" internet place listening to a local band in the restaurant next door. Cute band. They are doing lots of "beachy" music. Very "rasta" ... is that how you type it? bah.

TonSai beach is made of alot of little restaurants and bars, a la "coconut hut" which mostly comes alive at night. During the day, everyone is either on daytrips or rockclimbing (which this place is HUGE for. Afterall, we are surrounded by huge rocks) So this place really looks empty in the day. The beach is not really populated either. Everyone seems to be going to hangout to the sister beaches, Railey West and Phranang. We did that too. There was a lot more people there. It's more commercial and "touristy" than Tonsai. But all in all, it's cute. It feels like we are living on the survivor show but with internet cafés and beer and movie restaurants. That's where I hanged out today. I got my ice coffee and my spot under the only tv they have on the island and watched movies all day with other backpackers while my friends were frying under the sun.

My malaria pills really messed me up in the sun. They are known to make you very sensitive to the sun but , like this, i would have never thought. My hands and the top of my feet are BURNT. but not Sunburnt. It feels like it's inside or something. Cause , at night, I can't sleep anymore because of all the scratching ! or my gosh it itches so much. It's already starting now. Maybe it's the humidity of the evening but OUUFF. *scratches*

Tomorrow we are leaving for Bangkok at 4pm in our "VIP" bus.. Can't wait to see what VIP means here lol. It's an overnight, so we are schedualed to arrive at 6am. Our hostel is already set up so we are good. We are staying there for 2 nights.

That's it.

OH! i forgot to mention.. This is how much i'm bored at the beach. I actually started reading books! BOOKS? I don't read! Well.. i do now. I read one , cover to cover 2 days ago. And now i bought 2 more! WTF! This place is changing me!! oh oh! I wonder in which other ways it's changing me!?

:P bye! TTy soon :)

TonSai beach!

2009-01-13T22:03:00.003+08:00

Oh ya ! I am here http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=tonsai and you are not. I don't want to be mean.. but how many time will i ever get to say THAT. huh? Anyways ... We arrived here by Mini-bus yesterday at 3pm (we left Penang at 5am) and we found our hostel on the spot. Even though this is a tiny place , let me tell you, it's not that cheap... actually, internet... costs a FORTUNE. This is why i'm coming here to tell yall that i won't be writing for another 5-6 days. We were supposed to go to PhiPhi island (pipi) and Phuket but we figured.. bah it's so pretty here .. let's just stay. So we are. We have our own little bangalow, our cold toilet shower and our beach.. good enough thanks.

I don't know if i told you guys this already but we ar litteraly showering ontop on the toilet in Asia. The bathroom has a miror, toilet and a shower head... but no place to take a shower! So, we are showering ontop of the toilet and sink. Alex, tell mom this .. she'll appreciate it lol.

Tomorrow me and Paula are going to visit a few Islands around here on a longtail boat and Thalia is going to do some rockclimbing. There's so much here. Because of the big dramatic rocks, rockcliming is HUGE here.
There's also a lot of Diving (sorry scott, i know you hate me now) However, there's a lot of changes in the tides so it's a little difficult for them to plain trips. You'll go on the beach 1 hour and it's going to be really high tide and the next, the beach water will have disappears and all you have is rocks.. very weird. But hey.. at least at lowtide we can walk over to the beach party beach, where all the tourists are. Here, there's all Backpackers. Not bad as well.

So that's it I guess , for now. We are hading for Bangkok on the 18th at 4h30.. 18$ trip for a VIP bus... not bad :P see you then..

WOOOO.

Beach time in Penang!

2009-01-11T11:22:00.003+08:00

Ahhh relax time! We are presently trying to gain our strenght to get back into traveling around Asia. We are in Penang now, north of Malaysia. We are at a little town called Batu Ferrighi in a hostel right on the BEACH. It's called Baba's Guesthouse. It's very nice here.The island is surrounded by mountains which gives it a nice breeze at night... so the 30 degrees .. doesn't seem too too bad. :)

Yesterday, we went to GeorgeTown which happens to be the most rundown city i've ever been too. All the buildings are falling apart and actually look like they've all caught on fire at least once. However, once you go inside Dtown where all the Historical sights are .. it's a pretty cute town. We went on Penang Hill, hoping to get a better view of this ghetto city and got to enjoy a crazy view 700m above sea level. It's actually looks huge from there.. but then you start pointing out all the sights and realize.. "i've been there, i've been there.. ya there too" all on foot! mm.
Oh well.

I haven't been feeling my best over here though.. I was actually sick in the cable car going up the hill. Wow that was a treat. No details but .. good thing i had a plastic bag. I think it's the malaria pill that did that. Sorry for the mention lol. But i feel good now.

We are enjoying our last day here just resting on the beach. I wish i could post a few pictures to make you guys jealous of where i am but these stupid ghetto computers won't reconize my memory stick! Bah

Well there's nothing much to say about Penang exept one thing.. I've noticed that they seem to be mispelling everything here. It's quite original. We have seen things like Kompleks (for complexe), Tekis (for taxi) and Polis (for police). These Penangians are either incredibly clever... or really dumb. I guess that's for us to decide.

We are leaving for Krabi (thailand) tomorrow 5am. We will be staying 1 day each in Krabi,Phuket and PIPI island (ahhh thailand.. always great location names)
We'll talk soon ! byebye!!

Beautiful oh Beautilful Signapore

2009-01-08T18:08:00.007+08:00

Well we are once again at the end of our stay in yet another city.. Singapore.
We spent the day visiting this beautiful city at massive speeds which , i'm pretty sure, i feel in love with.

Last night, after we were all settled in our dorm room, we went outside to enjoy a nice breeze with a few other backpackers. We met three people in particular with whom we ended up going to grab a beer in some local pub. We walked around town (around 10) to find ourselves following the music of a local band in a bar near the Penang tunnel (about 30 minute walk from our place). The place was nice.. outside and quite big. Me and thalia ordered a pizza too. They didnt have anything available from the menu other than a 4 cheese pizza (how original) but it ended up being one of the best pizzas i ever tasted.. mmm, thin crust. We stayed there for 1 beer and found ourselves paying a bill of 95$ SGD for 6 drinks and 1 pizza!!! WHOA we are NOT in Vietnam anymore!!
You know early on, we were debating staying 1 night or two nights here .. but after that, we are definatly staying only 1! We are already broke! lol.

So anyways.. we had a good time and the band was GREAT so wtv. We walked back to our hostel around 1am and there was not a sound anywhere! no noisy motorbikes or cars.. just.. quiet. People actually sleep here.

We found out some other great stuff... Did you know that they drive on the opposite side of the road here? How about that u can't chew gum (found out, it's 1000$ fine) and you can't eat or drink inside or on any public transportation.. no spitting, no littering, no bird feeding and it goes on.. I even saw one tshirt that said Signapore doesn't allow pets either. Weird. But, you really see all these rules come into effect cause the city is SPOTLESS and .. it smell really great here.

As we were visiting the city today (we took a hop-on/hop off city tour bus - you can hop-on and see the sights then hop-off whenever you want to walk around , then, have the option to hop back on again) we noticed so many great things. Because it's a tropical country , the misture of greenery and cityscape is wonderful. Either side of sidewalks and streets are invaded by various plants,trees and flowers which make it such a pleasure to look at. They are large green areas all around the city so you don't get overwhelmed with cement and tall buildings and there's a great mix of modern, contemporary and old fashion buildings all around town. It gives you the impression that you are in a different city at every corner. It seems that the city designer planned everything so closely that the vibrant colors and different style of architecture and mix of cultures is just flawless.

Anyways i'm really impressed by this place. Paula said that she would really see me living here cause it's everything I ever wanted. From greenery, to the city life to the various culture and religions .. this is really an "isa place"
But .. not yet I guess. Because the country is so small and always growing, you can only buy a "flat" here if you are married or longterm engaged. Singles can only buy one if they are over 35 so... not yet... Unless I start practicing my convincing skills on some people.. cough cough.

They are so organised here. They have everything under control. Another cool thing they have is to control traffic flow. In the big streets , there's these big structures that have "E R P" on them which .. stands for something .. I don't remember. Anyways, those are tolls which work in peek hour. Every Singapore vehicle here is equipped with a chip or "debit card" which automatically charges you an amount when you pass in Peek, work day, hours. That way .. people try to avoid them, making circulation... a breeze. Smart? ya. But it really shows you how they charge people here. You pay for everything.. Even napkins at a restaurant. :| oh well.. sleeve it is - just kidding *looks away*

Now, what do they do with all this money you give the country? Well, they pay for structures and building that cost from 33 to 600 millions dollars (there's a lot!) all the big structures here are funny and, thought of, designs so they cost A LOT!

Oh! i forgot to mention the food. Well, everything is REALLY expensive here right? even food.. However, they have these really cool open area "food courts" that are right on the streets where food there is cheap.It's like the food courts that are in the malls in Canada but outside, under a rooftop. We eat there today and ewww.. compared to Viet is really gross but I think it's just what we ordered since we just pointed to a picture.. we didn't know what we got.Pas grave.. The concepts is still really cool!

All in all though... wow. It's soo nice here!
The best place so far. Nothing ghetto. I can't wait to show pictures. Wow I wrote a book.

We are heading to Penang now , near the border of thailand. We were supposed to go to Kuala lumpur for 1 day but, because it takes only 6 hours to get there and we don't want to get a hostel, we would be arriving at 3 am by bus... and ... that doesn't make sense. We would be stuck till sunrise doing nothing.. so off to penang directly it is. 12 hours away. We will be beaching it there for a couple days.

Hope everyone is doing well and tty soon!

Hot and Humid Singapore!

2009-01-07T22:06:00.002+08:00

You know.. when we managed to find a flight from Saigon (Ho chi minh) to Singapore for 19 singapore dollar + taxes , we really thought "Wow! this is really awesome" but that side was quite a weird experience. Now, dont get me wrong.. the flight was on time (give or take) the price was fair and the airport really wasnt far from town. However there must have been something pretty fishy with that flight. Me and paula were convinced that our plane had a bet with some other company for who can reach singapore the fastest. Our plane reached altitude (38000) under 2 minutes , the plane was shaky the entire time (the wings seemed very unstable) and we got to singapore in almost record time (i was convinced it was 30 minutes but aperently it was 1.45 min) the landing was quite brutal as well.. or well... maybe it was a new pilot but we got here safe and sound. Did you know that there's a time change? yup, one hour. Maybe that's why it seems like a really fast flight.. we were expecting 3 hours and then they said 2.5 hours and we got there in 1h45 hours :S

We got out of the airport and had to take a skytrain (ouuu) to the next terminal where we had to go take the citytrain to little india (where our hostel is) the city train which is like a outside metro is SO CLEAN and spacious wow. i was reading the signs and it's illegal to eat of drink on it (penalty of 500$) so thats probably why. After the train we had to walk 8 minutes to our hostel ahhhh our bags are sooo heavy... our poor backs! We got to test it out this time! ouufff.

Remember our "crossing the street skills" that we got in Vietnam ? Well, forget about them here! it's illegal to Jaywalk (penalty of 1000$) WTF! it's also illegal to chew gum! what a tight a** town lol. And we though that canadians were stricted.

Oh well.. i really need to get off this internet .. my free 30 minutes are up. Ill come back tomorrow. The hostel is REALLY nice .. we have 6 bed dorms (theres 5 rooms of 6 beds in the hostel) and its backpackers villa here .. pool tables, computers, foosball tables and tv area.. very nice! we are meeting lots of nice people! we already met a calgary girl that's backpacking alone (gusty much?)

ttyl!

Vietnam Overview

2009-01-06T20:09:00.002+08:00

Hello Hello!

Tomorrow we leave Vietnam to Singapore, so here is a quick outline of my feelings and reactions to our experience here... I must say that Vietnam (or at least the places we have visited here) is definately NOT the relaxing nor the sight seeing vacation hot-spot; however, the experience has been quite interesting... I guess it has already been established that the place is so polluted!!! My first reaction was to find it way too hectic... we were scared to cross the street at first but it's amazing h0w we can get used to, and fall into place, in just a few days... now, we've leant, we just have to throw ourselves on the street and walk slowly, and simply let all the scooters, bikes and cars makes their way around us... (by the way, there is literally no traffic lights here, anywhere you go, you just see a constant flow of "things" coming right at you so, and unless you do like the locals (and step out on the streets anyways) there is no crossing the street...

Well, enough on the crowededness of Vietnam... I, personally, really enjoyed many of our activities here... Visitng the War Remnants Museum was really interesting, I leanrt a lot about the Vietnam War and was actually quite moved by some of the things I saw, especially, the pictures of so many children that were handicapped because of all the toxic dumped in this place during the war (and it makes it even more real when you walk down the streets and see a large number of people on the mid-thirties handicapped - not a coincidence if you ask me). It blows my mind to think that an apparent attempt to stop Communism from spreading in South East Asia turns into something like this... to top it all off we visit a section in the museum that shows the different ways that people were tortured... like I said, I really cannot comprehend this, but I woun't get into politics now...

Another interesting part of the experience was the two day visit to the Mekong Delta, where we got to go on the floating markets, see how rice paper and rice noodles are produced, and coconut candy (yummy!!!)... We also got to go further away from the city and see life on the outskirts of city (not a very pleasant bus ride, but very culturally enriching) and I must also say that I find it refreshing and it even gives me some sort of hope to see how people in places like this can live such satified lives with such little "things"... ( I truly think sometimes they are better off than us in a sense... :o) We stayed overnight with a local family and although we didn't get to talk to them much, just walking around the little village gave us some perspective on how they live, which needless to say, is very different from ours. Also, we realized every Vietnamese knows how say "hello" and "I love you"in Enlgish...

Also, loved all the markets, trying all these new and funky fruits and the street food of course! (don't tell my doctor I said this...). Food here is amazing and things are truly very cheap!

I think I'm blabing on too much... but in a nutshell I've enjoyed learning about a new place and seeing some things I had never seen before...

Until next time...

Paula ;o)*

2 day stay @ the Mekon Delta

2009-01-06T19:46:00.002+08:00

Well, We just arrived from a 2 day stay in the south of Vietnam.. the Mekon Delta. We went to see the famous Floating markets,a rice factory and the canals.

The floating markets are for the marchants that don't have the means to get a booth at a regular market but still have the produce to sell/exchange to other marchants. They sell everything from fruits & veggies to live chickens and ducks in boats. They sell only for 1 hour of day but is super echtic all day anyways. Looks like this (im going to upload pictures soon but for today.. i forgot my usb cable.

I was really hoping to see the rice fields (which you can see in almost any picture representing vietnam) but we didn't get to go :( Oh well. It was still all pretty cool.

We spent the night at a local family's house where they served us good food and gave us a place to sleep. Even though it was in the complete boonnneyyyy of CAN THO city and we had to sleep in Mosquito bed nets because it's a Malaria infested place.. it was still the best sleep me and thalia even had.. weird.

We came back today at 5h (1 hour ago) and our getting ready to head to Signapore. We are taking a plane tomorrow at 4pm. Where we have a hostel set up already. We are only staying 1 night and 1 day so we are going to the night safari and riding the biggest fairest (spelling??) wheel in the world and then , the next day, visiting the town. We'll see if i can chekc my emails from there.

Btw.. I saw a Bagpackers bag here ... you know , the ones that cost 200$ in canada... ya.. mm... I made her bring it down to 18$ for a "The NorthFace" 100L. :O and i can't even buy it! because i still have 4 weeks to carry stuff around! Damn Canadiens and their profit margins!

Anyways, For those interested , i didn't get a picture of the toothless guy but you'll be able to see what he looks like in my pics cause they are all toothless here!! :P haha

Alex; Can you translate these to mom. And I send you the adress soon although i'm not sure it's a great idea to send anything.. it will cost you a fortune.

Hmmm Toothless men

2009-01-04T19:47:00.002+08:00

I would just like to clarify that toothless men are NOT my type. He was fascinated by the fact that we were canadian and that we wanted to walk rather than taking his Taxi bike/tricycle thingy a magig and he kissed my hand and then grabbed my face. mmmmmm priceless.
Thalia and Paula sure enjoyed that.

Ho Chi Minh

2009-01-04T19:27:00.002+08:00

Well im Vietnam (ho chi minh) with my 2 chiquitas, we arrive about 2 days ago. We staying in this lil hostel , not bad ! I mean its pretty close to everything. This city is mad crazy, you think New york doesn't sleep,well you're wrong!!! This place is full of people, full of noise...espacially scooters, they are everywhere....we were scare at first to cross the streets but now it's a peice of cake....we're locals NOW!!...In general ,it's not a very nice city..., there's pollution, chaos of people but they are nice to us... always a smile on their face...even a kisss...right Isa!!?? haha...Gotta love those toothless vietnamese taxi guys ...mmm just isa's type...Ok enough for today!!!

Day 2 - Vietnam

2009-01-02T23:51:00.002+08:00

Ok! so here we are. It's 11h pm and we have our 7$ hostel and our plans for the next couple of days. We arrived here by bus from Cambodia which took us 7h (rather than 6h because of the border checks) and We slept most of the time after the border. We woke up to the sounds of endless scooter horns which evaded these overcrowded streets. I knew that Viet was known to be cursed with amazing traffic but this is INSANE! There is absolutely no space to walk in the street and people are toe to toe in cars and motorcycles.

Everything is open and it shows - or should I say smell that it's overpoluted. The street pilors are packed with electricity cables. I am still shocked everytime I look at them. There's at least 30 to 40 cables going from one pillor to the next. It's as if the gouverment emplemented a system of electricity and then said "Ok guys, now take your own cables and hooked them up to these yourselves. Everyone of them is highly unorganised and seem quite dangerous. I'm suprised the city hasn't short-circuted yet. Can't wait to show your guys pics. I can't get over them!

I don't want to image these streets during the day. It's hard enough to walk now - at 11pm.

Tomorrow we are going around to see the sights in the Ho chi migh city (btw, i am totally aware that i'm writing all these names wrong). Then, we are undecided between going on 1-day tours to the floating markets in the delta or the cuchi tunnels, which has a shooting range that allowed you to shoot AK47 and sniper guns. Thalia and Paula really want to try it. No shooting for me thanks.

Well that's it for now. I'll try to let you know what we are doing next. We booked our flight to signapore for the 7th of January. Hope everyone is doing well. If you can.. comment on posts to let me know how u guys are doing cause this is pretty much the only page we check.. with facebook. :P

Hello from Cambodia.

2009-01-02T11:31:00.002+08:00

Captain's log. 10h30am (10h30pm canadian time)

we are here!! After 22 hours of flight and 3 plane transfers we have made it in cambodia last night at 10hpm. We met up with Salvio , a guy that works for Asia's hope's orphanage, who brought us to our Guest House in the middle of Phnom Penh.

The place is so different from what we are used to. There's scooters galore here. they are EVERYWHERE. Also, even though there is traffic lights, people don't really seem to care to use them. You have to cross the street hoping that noone will run you over lol.

We are taking a bus this afternoon and are heading to our first destination, Ho chi ming, Vietnam. 6 hour bus ride! Can't wait *sigh*.

I dont have much to write cause i have to look for a Vietnam Hostel now!!
p.s it's 25 degrees here!! SO HOT!

We'll write soon!

One more week to go..

2008-12-26T14:58:00.008+08:00

We are going to ASIA!

We pretty much have our itinerary all finalized but we are still missing a few little details. All good. We made this blog in order to give people the opportunity to check up on us while we are traveling through SouthEast Asia.. well .. for the people who care, that is.

I will try to post the final itinerary before I leave on the 31st.

This is pretty much a test in order to see if I coded everything properly and to see if mom will get a notification email of this post.

Mamma, Scrivero qui quando vado in Asia.

Thanks so much to eveyone that took the time to give us supplies for the Orphanages in Cambodia and Chiang Mai. I'm having trouble fitting it into my suitcase!!Wooooooooooo.

By the way.. the time posted on the posts is the time that it's going to be for me in Asia. 12 hours diffeerennnnceeeeeeee ouff.