Home Sweet Home
One year and 27 countries later, we’ve finally returned home to Vancouver. For the first few weeks here all we did was meet up with friends and family, trying to catch up with everything and everyone we missed. After the bulk of that had been done, we were just trying to settle back into our normal life. The excitement of coming home now has slowly faded, and readjusting to life back here was initially a little surreal. However, in the blink of an eye 2 months in Vancouver has already passed. Both of us are back working and into our normal routines. Though a year around the world was an incredible adventure, we’re not the type of people who could stay on the road indefinitely. And though the word ‘routine’ rarely has a positive connotation, we actually are very happy to be back.
After everyone’s usual questions of “Where was your favourite country?” or “What was the coolest thing you did?” people inevitably asked how this trip has changed us. That’s definitely a hard one to answer. Neither Di nor I went on this trip to “discover” or “find” ourselves as being in our 30s gave us reasonable insight into the people we are. We went mostly for the adventure, one that was ours to share. Along the way we wanted to learn everything we could about, well, pretty much everything, including each other. Obviously as we went we met some amazing people from all different walks of life who illuminated us on every subject imaginable. A large part of this enlightenment came from other travellers, who became friends. Our friends from back home, who became travellers for their time with us, were also contributors. The locals we talked to and the experiences of their lives they were willing to share provided knowledge we could never find in a textbook or novel. It’s safe to say that the more I learnt from the people we met, the more I realized how little I knew about everything. And I don’t think that’s a bad thing. A brief glimmer into their lives gave me a hint of their point of view, a point of view that many times I had misunderstood previously. Experiencing that daily really made me appreciate how there are many ways one can live a happy, meaningful and productive life. And though different cultures, religions, values, families, friends, and unique personalities can influence what life path one chooses, I believe that most humans are really similar in their basic wants. The majority of people crave happiness, friendship, a sense of community and belonging, and love in their life. Though that really is oversimplifying I do believe that almost everyone on this earth wants those things, and thus we have more in common with each other than most of us think.
One thing I did start to fathom on this trip was the powerful effects of politics and economics on countries and their citizens. This is easily illustrated by what is happening in North Africa and the Middle East, in countries we were travelling through less than a year ago. The current wave of protests, rebellion, and regime changes in that region have a lot less to do with religion and race (as many misguided outsiders might think) and a lot more to do with poor government and lack of opportunities to improve one’s life. Some of the nicest people we met on our trip hailed from the Arab countries currently in turmoil, and Di and I really hope that our friends there and their fellow countrymen will emerge from this situation with renewed hope in their futures and the futures of their children.
After watching the rays of the sun sparkle off the glaciers of Kilimanjaro, after watching a manta ray block out the light above us as it glided through the bubbles we just exhaled, after watching the Taj Mahal glow pink at dawn, after listening to a nomad sing songs under the Saharan sky, you realize that the world truly is a wondrous place. I’m glad we named our blog “from wonder into wonder”, because that is exactly what our trip has been. And though that list of wonders is far too long and simply impossible to write, I can safely say that I know what tops that list. As corny as it sounds, sharing this time with Di has really been the most wonderful thing of all.
Thanks for reading our blog this past year. I hope reading it was at least a fraction as enjoyable as it was for us to write.
The Second Part of Our Wedding Trilogy – The Pingtung Banquet
As we mentioned in our previous Tokyo post there was an unexpected request for us to return to Taiwan. The reason was so that my parents could celebrate their daughter’s marriage with their friends and relatives. There are a lot of wedding traditions in Taiwan, and if we were to have done everything properly like my brother and sister in law did we would have had an engagement banquet first, a wedding banquet next, followed by the post-wedding banquet last. Since we were already married in Bhutan, this was to be a less formal post-wedding banquet for my side of the family to organize. Eug and I were happy to oblige. It worked out even better when Eug’s parents, aunt, and uncle were able to fly in for the celebration as well. And kudos to my parents for pulling together a 32 table lunch banquet in merely 9 days time. All Eug and I had to do was show up and look pretty.
My dad currently lives in Pingtung, a city in the south of Taiwan about a 40 min drive from Kaohsiung (the second largest city in Taiwan). My family used to live in Taipei before moving to Vancouver, but my dad decided to move to Pingtung to live with my grandparents after moving back to Taiwan. Taipei to Pingtung is about a 5 hour drive, but thanks to Taiwan’s new High Speed Rail you can easily get to Kaohsiung in less than 2 hours. I went down to Pingtung with my mom the day before the banquet to get a final fitting of my dresses. Eug borrowed a suit from our friend Aven in Taipei so he didn’t need to organize his outfits like I did. So instead he stayed in Taipei to pick up his parents and relatives from the airport the night before and he took them down to Pingtung on the bullet train the morning before the luncheon, all arranged by my super organized sister in law. While they were enjoying their train ride, my mom and I had our makeup done in the bridal shop next to our Pingtung house. Eug’s mom and aunt arrived in time to get some makeup done as well. Even Eug got his hair styled by the makeup artist! It was blown dry and hair-sprayed up to the max. It kind of looked like Eug ran through a snow storm and his hair stayed frozen. I liked it though, and so did our friends who came from Taipei and Kaohsiung for the luncheon. The banquet took place on the 2nd floor of a Japanese restaurant. My dad carefully decorated the entrance with our Bhutan wedding pictures and our Chinese names hung above the guest signing table and the stage. Once we got there, Eug and I waited in the Bride’s changing room for the cue to walk out and make our first appearance. It was simple enough as all we had to do was follow a violinist and slowly walk to the head table. Then a series of speeches went on in Taiwanese (similar to a dialect spoken in the province of Fukien) by some VIP guests such as a senator, the mayor, etc. while tons of food was being served. It was a 13 course lunch held within 2 hours. Then my parents, Eug’s parents, Eug and I were asked to go up on the stage so the MC could introduce us to all 320 guests. That was again easy as we just stood there and smiled. After the parents returned to the head table, Eug and I remained on stage. What came next will probably traumatize Eug for the rest of his life. The MC spoke Taiwanese to Eug and asked if he understood. Eug said no so the MC said he’d speak Mandarin instead. He was nice enough to revert to Mandarin for about one sentence before continuing in Taiwanese all over again as he held the mic up to Eug after asking a question. Eug had no idea what the MC wanted him to say so he awkwardly froze. As I understand Taiwanese I knew the MC was asking Eug to declare his ‘love vows’ but I wasn’t sure what that entailed, and I also knew Eug wouldn’t be able to do what was asked as he had no idea what was going on, so I grabbed the mic and thanked everyone for coming and expressed how nice it was to end our one year trip in Taiwan. Finally the MC let us go and when we went back to our table Eug’s parents said they were surprised to see their son speechless for the first time in their lives. Poor Eug.
At the end of the banquet, Eug and I stood by the exit to say goodbye to the guests as we each held a tray of goodies for them to bring home. My tray had a whole bunch of candies while Eug’s tray had a whole bunch of cigarettes. Strange right? Somehow it’s another tradition, though I guess it’s better than the popular-in-the-south-of Taiwan-but-disgusting betel nut which was once commonly the parting gift given by the groom. After lunch we went back home to do a quick and casual tea ceremony where I carried tea in a tray and served family members. My grandparents were first, followed Eug’s parents, Eug’s aunt and uncle, my parents, uncles, etc. as they handed me red envelopes full of money in return. It was better than Chinese New Year because we got some pretty heavy red envelopes! Then we took some pictures and that concluded the day. Even though we didn’t need to do much planning or organizing, it was a tiring day for all of us. It was a successful banquet though, as all our guests were stuffed and happy, and some liked getting free cigarettes. And of course it’s not Taiwan if there’s no politics involved. My dad received at least 50 something Chinese calligraphy scrolls addressed to Eug and I (in our Chinese names of course) with Chinese sayings to bless our marriage. One was from the Presidential Office Secretary General, one was from a senator, and a lot of government involved officials signed with their names along with their political party. What was the most amazing was that no scroll sayings were repeated, it was as if they all knew what sayings were used already before they sent theirs.
Truth be told, this banquet in Pingtung was initiated by my parents. Eug and I agreed to it on such short notice mainly because it was easier for us to do it while we were in Asia already. However, after seeing how happy my parents were when organizing the banquet and hanging out with all their guests, I was genuinely thankful for everything they did for this 320 person event to happen. We probably only knew 5 tables at the most but it was nice to see some relatives that I hadn’t seen since childhood, and most importantly it was great to spend time with my parents and to see them interacting with their social circle. A lot of people helped out with the event including my dad’s office employees, my grandpa’s old partner’s family, my dad’s Rotary Club friends, his Developer Association friends, and many countless others. That is probably one of the ‘village’ traditions that doesn’t happen often in big cities these days. Even though we didn’t know the guests, they knew of us from my parents or relatives. So to them, they were privileged to be able to help out. Most importantly, I was very grateful that Eug’s parents and aunt and uncle came all the way from Calgary, Vancouver and HK to Pingtung to be a part of the festivities. It was a long journey for them but it was exciting to have them meet and hang out with my family. Marriage isn’t just about us but our families as well. And for a couple of days after the banquet it was fun to show Eug’s family around Taipei, where his parents spent their honeymoon 32 years ago. Eug’s dad jokingly told my brother Eug was conceived on this island. It is fate!
Hot Springs and Champagne Powder
Since we couldn’t get a flight to Sapporo to go skiing in Niseko, we took a 4 hour bus ride from downtown Tokyo to the heart of Hakuba, another ski town where the 1998 Winter Olympics were held in Japan. Our friend we had dinner with in HK just went there and had an amazing time, and said there was no need to go to Niseko as conditions in Hakuba were great. As it turned out we were happy we listened. Hakuba itself is well known for skiing and the relaxing onsen (hot springs) filled with piping hot mineral water with supposed rejuvenating properties. It’s a resort town with no less than 9 ski hills side by side. The village is quaint, and though lacking the manicured beauty of Whistler or Vail, it’s very charming with a lot of Japanese character. Instead of burger joints and pubs there are izakayas and soba houses, which we were quite happy about. Our hotel was at the base of the Happo One ski hill, so that’s where I skied and Di boarded all three days. We were going to try out the other mountains, but our experience at Happo One was so good that we had no incentive to try the others out.
Since we were in Taipei immediately before Japan, we were able to borrow some winter clothes from one of our friends in anticipation of our time on a ski hill. We were given some outfits that were pretty cool 10 years ago (think super baggy monochromatic boarder gear). However people on the hill looked like the boarders pictured above. I’m not complaining as renting outfits would have cost about 40 US per person per day, but just like in Tokyo, we felt like fashion outcasts. The first 2 days on the mountain were fantastic. It snowed heavily so at times, especially at the top of the mountain, the visibility was mediocre. The snow itself was still good though and it got our coordination on our skiis and boards back to mid-season form. The third day, however, was epic. The clouds cleared out and there was nothing but blue sky. The powder at the top of the hill was knee deep and light, and especially in the morning it was easy to make our own fresh tracks. Though the mountain was quite small, there was enough terrain to keep us interested, with bumps, powder, steeps and groomers evenly dispersed throughout. Our muscles finished everyday quite sore, but that didn’t stop us from going all out the next day. Plus, we had the onsen to soothe the pain once we removed our gear.
The private onsen in our hotel was spotless and luxurious, complete with steam rooms and jacuzzis. Even with all that, I am still not a convert. Typically a Japanese onsen has a guy’s side and a girl’s side. When you go into your respective areas, you’re supposed to get naked in the locker room, and then head to the unisex communal shower rooms where you sit on a stool and clean up before getting into the onsen, in the nude again. I, for one, am not a fan of sitting around in a hot spring with a bunch of other naked dudes. Luckily it was never really busy and whenever I was in the pool there was at most one other guy. The all male nakedness, however, is not the main reason I’m not an onsen convert, the problem is the heat. That pool of water is scalding hot. While the other guys looked like they could soak and just relax in the clear mineral baths, I had to strain to just keep myself in there for 10 minutes. That’s the same reason why I’m also not a fan of steam rooms and saunas, no matter how relaxing the settings are. Though I could feel my muscles loosening up with the hot soak, the temperature was too uncomfortable for me. Di, on the other hand, loved it. Each day I would return to our room after 15 minutes, while it would take Di an extra 45 minutes to make it back. And while I would need to take a cool shower just to get my core temperature down, she would always look refreshed after her soaks. I thought by the third day I would be more of an experienced onsener which would at least allow me to soak for half an hour; no luck, unfortunately.
The après ski onsen is similar to the après ski hot tub experience we have back at home. The last time I went ‘hot-tubbin’ after skiing, I ended up in the same jacuzzi as a couple of self-proclaimed hot-tubbin connoisseurs from the interior of BC. They were appalled that my friends and I showed up with a single beer each, while the 2 of them had a flat behind them. For the 30 minutes we sat soaking there nursing our beer and listening to the ins and outs of what makes you a good hot-tubber, they must have downed at least 3 pilsners. The moment they told me they had been in the relatively small tub for 2 hours already without getting out was the instant I left. If they had been there for 2 hours and had downed at least 5 beer each, I was certain there was some urine in said jacuzzi. I gave myself a really long shower after returning to the hotel room. In fact, I might have taken 2. They, on the other hand, were amazed that we wanted to leave so quickly, as they had intended to finish their flat over the next few hours while soaking in the bubbles before going back to their room. Needless to say, the Japanese version of the hot soak after a day on the hill is infinitely more civilized. I’d way rather sit in a clean tub that has other naked dudes than a tub that has the urine of clothed dudes. Still doesn’t make me a fan though.
So this is it for our time in Japan this time around. Though we could have easily spent another week here, we’ll definitely come back in the future since it is hands down one of our favourite countries. Next time though, we’ll come better equipped with up-to-date clothes (so we won’t look like we emerged from a time machine) and fatter wallets (so we can afford a private in-room onsen; sitting with other naked dudes in the same pool is really not my thing).
Tokyo Love Story
That’s the title of one of my favourite Japanese dramas that came out in 1991 (gosh, I’m definitely getting old). Even for a CBC like Eug, he’s heard of the show before and he has some of the songs from the soundtrack in his iTunes. I thought the title was appropriate here to reflect how we felt about this city.
Just like how Eug loves Taipei because of the two summers of his youth he spent there, Tokyo ignites a sense of nostalgia in me because I spent the summer of 1998 here on an exchange program in I.C.U. (International Christian University) and I had a blast. It was the first time I lived in a foreign city on my own, and for a spoiled girl who never had to handle any toughness in life, it was an invaluable experience. Coincidentally, Eug was in Tokyo that same summer too. I met Phil (Eug’s BFF) for the first time then. That summer was where Eug and Phil had their first (and last) physical fight with each other too, in the ridiculously busy Shinjuku train station no less. This city is full of fun memories for us. My dad also lived in Tokyo for 2 years while getting his Masters degree at Waseda University and my mom tagged along for one of those years. It’s nice to walk around the streets of the city where my parents were young and in love, picturing them living out the stories they used to tell my brother and I. Coming back to Tokyo again with Eug this time was like a reunion of two travellers, each sharing their individual experiences of the same amazing town.
Our first stop was the Tsukiji Market, a must-go place we both frequent every time we come to Tokyo because of its sublime sashimi. Tsukiji Market is one of the world’s largest fish markets and it handles over 2000 tonnes of marine products per day. As early as 3am, the wholesalers begin to lay out the goods in preparation for the auction which starts at 5am. For us lucky tourists, we get to sample some of this fresh sashimi from the sushi restaurants here. There are quite a few establishments and though I’m sure they’re all good, only two seem to be quite well known, Sushi Dai and Daiwa Sushi. Sushi Dai had a long line up, so we walked into Daiwa. To our surprise all the patrons inside were Japanese, which is actually quite rare as usually there are a lot of Asian tourists (mainly from Hong Kong). We sat down by the sushi bar and once we put in our orders, our sushi came in no time. We had the best Uni, Hamachi, and Toro ever that morning, and everything else was exceptionally good too. Eug gave a nice sigh at the end of the meal while sipping his green tea, saying that was the best sushi meal he’s ever had.
We didn’t have any particular itinerary in Tokyo since we’ve both been here quite a few times already. After Tokyo, we were planning on going to Kyoto and Niseko for a couple of days before returning to Vancouver on Feb. 22 (yes, very soon!) but an unexpected request came up for us to return to Taiwan on Feb 17th, so we had to cut our Japan trip short by cancelling Kyoto. And when we tried to book Niseko everything was sold out because it was a long weekend in addition to Valentine’s Day. After 3 hours of online research in a smoky ‘net café and comic store’ where half of the people were surfing porn sites, we decided to head to Hakuba as our skiing destination instead of Niseko. So for our 5 days in Tokyo we just chilled and took our time to check out different areas: Shinjuku (picture above), Ebisu, Harajuku, and Omote-Sando. We met up with Eug’s friend Hisako who studied in UBC for almost 2 years before moving back to Japan. Her husband Sohei and another friend Yoichiro (who Eug met in New York 7 years ago) took us to an authentic Japanese restaurant in Ebisu, followed by a wine bar with a fantastic selection close by. Initially she was going to take us out for dinner at the Ritz-Carlton, but our wardrobe consisted of holey jeans, Chuck Taylors and worn out T-shirts. That, unfortunately, didn’t meet the minimum dress code bar set by the RC. We also met up with Susan one night as she happened to be in town as well. It was great to catch up with her again since seeing her last at our wedding in Bhutan.
Eug and I like Tokyo a lot for the same reasons. The food is excellent, people are polite, the service is incomparable, the city has a great vibe, and it is clean everywhere. We rarely came across a dirty washroom and I noticed that there were no cigarette butts on the ground this time around. I later saw signs saying smoking wasn’t allowed on the sidewalk unless you were in one of the designated smoking corners. In my opinion more countries should implement this system. Japan is also probably one of the more creative and artistic countries in Asia; there is cool architecture, numerous museums, and super stylish people. Compared to the average fashion-forward Tokyo citizen, we might as well have been that awkward uncle who wears Birkenstocks, wool socks, cargo shorts and oversized golf shirts. We felt that uncool. Though with all its modern chic and trendsetting styles, Japan still retains a strong sense of its ancient national culture and traditions. It mixes old and new amazingly well, better than any other country we’ve been to, and we both love that about this place.
Tokyo is the best run metropolis on Earth, everything just works well here. However, it holds less of an allure now than compared to, say, 20 years ago. Back then, everything Japanese was the future and Japan seemed like it was set to take over as the world’s most dynamic economy and country. That was the first time Eug and I, as children, went to Tokyo. Eug has been coming back regularly ever since 1998, and he finds that not much has changed since then. The city itself is extremely well maintained, but infrastructure such as the railway and metro systems are definitely the same as they were many years ago. Same goes for the highways and a lot of the buildings we saw. In contrast, the pace of development in the rest of East Asia, most notably China and Korea and Singapore, has been astounding in the last 20 years. And you always hear how Japan has the oldest population on the planet, and how their fertility rate is really low and how their population is declining rapidly. That was always just news, but this time walking around the streets of Tokyo we could readily observe the difference in demographics. Who knows what the future will hold for this ageing populace, but with the Japanese culture of excellence and their still world-leading innovation, I’m sure the future is bright for the land of the rising sun.
Time to Usher in the Year of the Rabbit
We flew back to Taiwan to celebrate Chinese New Year with Di’s family. We actually didn’t spend it in Taipei though, we went way south to the town of Ping Tung where Di’s family is originally from. Thankfully Taiwan has a new high speed rail system, so we were able to travel the 500 kms from Taipei to Ping Tung in about an hour and a half on a comfortable train. About 6 years ago was the first time I went to Ping Tung, and it was on a really scary plane that looked like it should have been retired to the junkyard about 20 years earlier. Yay for progress.
Chinese New Years is the most festive time of year in much of Asia, and is largely about family (kind of like Christmas back home). So we spent our time there hanging out with Di’s relatively small family. The star of all the meals and get-togethers was definitely Di’s 20 month old niece, who is ridiculously adorable (that’s me and her in the picture in Di’s old family lot). She’s quite the entertainer, and though I know everyone says that their kid is the cutest, I think she really is the cutest. When I celebrate Chinese New Year back in Vancouver with my extremely large family, we usually have a couple of festive meals together and follow certain traditions (like handing out red envelopes full of money and wishing everyone a great new year with Chinese sayings). Spending it in Ping Tung was an entirely new experience for me as the people here are more traditional. Di’s family house in Ping Tung has a room where they light incense and pray for a good year, so we partook in that. We also burned gold and silver plated papers in a big fire in a metal bin, like what you see in old Chinese movies. Di’s brother and I took down the old red papers full of Chinese sayings in calligraphy around the house that brought in the year of the tiger (last year). We then replaced them with new red ones that ushered in this year, the year of the rabbit. We also went to a busy Buddhist temple that Di’s great grandmother had founded many years ago to again ask for a good year, and we drove around town as Di’s parents handed out red envelopes to those they knew and wished them all a happy new year. Di’s dad is also a prominent member of the town’s Rotary Club, so we went to their big function as well.
Our good friend Mike’s family is also from Ping Tung, so he invited us to spend an afternoon with them as they were close by. We let Di’s parents take a nap as we went to chill with Mike, and his large family was relaxing in an old-school communal courtyard lined by three houses that their family owned. Those layouts used to be extremely common, as one house would hold the grandparents and the others would hold the sons/daughters and their families. It reminded us of the old HuTongs in Beijing where family houses also had courtyards. One of Mike’s elders told us that courtyards like theirs used to be everywhere, but now there are practically none to be seen as they’ve been bulldozed and replaced by high rises. However Mike’s family kept theirs (though no one lives there now really), and every Chinese New Year they return to spend the day with family. The adults were playing Mah Jong or just talking, and the kids had their own mini play table as well (though 6’3 Mike was eager to sit and play with them on a little stool). And as with all Chinese get-togethers, there was a ton of amazing food and drink available. It was really cool to see 3 generations just spending time together in this courtyard, just as Mike had done when he was a little kid, and his parents has done when they were little kids.
We’ve travelled the world this year, looking for authentic cultural experiences from all different walks of life. And though our experiences have been nothing short of amazing, we’ve still always been the outsider or the guest who’s been given the opportunity to partake or to watch. Being truly part of a tradition that’s older than time really is incredible. It’s a feeling that is almost beyond description, kind of how people back home would describe Christmas, or how our Muslim friends would describe Ramadan. Though there is an underlying reason for the celebrations I’ve just listed, family really plays a central role in all of them. I was happy to celebrate with my new family, and look forward to Di celebrating with ours in the future years.
So another lunar year has passed, and with the start of the year of the rabbit Di and I would like to wish everyone a year full of health, happiness, and prosperity. Happy New Year!
Singapore – City of the Merlion (the magical union of lion…and mermaid)
I’ve always wanted to visit Singapore, not for anything else but the tasty food that I often hear about. So we did a quick stop over for 2 nights in Singapore after Sydney and prior to heading to Taiwan for Chinese New Year. Before I start talking about what we did in Singapore, I have to mention our flights with Singapore Airlines. They were fantastic. The new planes have wide individual TV screens (probably bigger than our netbook screen), comfortable seats, big washrooms, extraordinary service and excellent food. Just like Cathay we got a menu even sitting in Economy class and ice cream after the meal. There are also tons of new movies to choose from. Our flight from Sydney to Singapore was about 8 hours long and it went by very quickly; I was disappointed when the captain announced that we were about to land. Singapore Airlines is that awesome. Someone from Air Canada (which sucks) should take notes.
Once we arrived in Singapore airport we decided on taking the train into the city as it only cost $2.10 and the closest MRT station to our hotel was about a 5 minute walk away. We chilled for a bit in the hotel and went to Dempsey Road to meet our friend Wendy for dinner. She used to be a dentist in London but has moved to Singapore for quite a few years now. We met her at Samy’s Curry for its famous fish head curry. She brought 2 friends with her and it turned out that we knew one of them already from Taiwan a few years back. The food was delicious and it was interesting to hear about their lives in Singapore. They like Singapore because it’s probably the next best place to make a good living besides Hong Kong in Asia. It’s not as competitive as HK though so the work environment is more pleasurable, and the income tax rate is about the same. The city itself has about 5 million people but it’s quite spread out so you don’t feel the crowding you normally would in other major Asian cities. We also learned that because the fertility rate (like in all developed countries) is very low in Singapore, so the government is trying to encourage people to have families by sending brochures to single adults offering dating advice. Too bad we didn’t stay long enough for our friends to show us some of these brochures. The next day we walked around Chinatown and had some really good food from the hawker stalls. We each picked a stall with a long line up and shared our finds of Hainan Chicken Rice and Fish Slice Noodles. Both turned out to be successful choices. We then went to the famous Orchard road and spent the rest of the afternoon in the vicinity. Orchard Road is comparable to Fifth Avenue in Manhattan with high end retail shops and department stores. We took a break in a big food court next to Takashimaya department store and tried a Laksa and Fukien Fried Noodles. Again they did not disappoint. With less than an hour before meeting our Singaporean friends we met in Myanmar, we took a scenic walk from Orchard Road to Clark Quay and from the Merlion statue (picture above) back to River Walk. We then met our friends at the Jumbo restaurant for some yummy chilli crab and drunken prawns. I was very satisfied to finally taste the chilli crab here because we heard from three different friends to go to Jumbo to specifically order that dish. The sauce was flavourful but maybe because we are spoiled by the big juicy Dungeness crabs in Vancouver, we found the crab a little small and not meaty enough. The waitress did warn us that they only had smaller crabs left when we ordered though. Our friends were still right for recommending it to us, it was pretty damn good!
Singapore is a very clean and well run country. It was very easy to travel around especially since we speak 2 of the 4 official languages (English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil) here. There aren’t many sights to visit though as we probably saw everything walking around the city for half a day. That said, it is amazing how this small place is doing so well economically despite the downturn that the rest of the world faces. The people seem quite content with this country as well. Many, including Eug, say the country is sterile, and you definitely get that sensation (they’re not a riotous group, these Singaporeans). However, I think most of the citizens here are willing to make concessions on having an energetic, dynamic city vibe in return for a safe, clean, and prosperous life. The government definitely holds a lot of power here, but it seems to do its job efficiently and amazingly well when it comes to promoting economic growth and educational/professional opportunities. Though I’m not completely advocating a Singaporean style of rule, I think a lot of other countries can learn a lot from this city state. I, for one, am glad to have had the chance to finally visit Singapore. Now it’s time to go to Taipei to celebrate Chinese New Year!
Melbourne – Where Love Means Nothing
I apologize for the horrible tennis joke in my title, I just couldn’t come up with anything better to label this entry.
We flew in from Hobart and met up with my buddy from Vancouver, Aaron, at the Melbourne airport before heading to his place out in the suburb of Box Hill. Like our friends from Vancouver in Sydney, he was also working in Australia (albeit he was here on a 6 month contract and not indefinitely like them). Unlike our friends in Sydney, he moved here because he has an unhealthy infatuation with Australian surfer dudes. To each their own I guess.
Anyways, we were happy to be able to crash at his place and for the next 5 days we explored the area. We also met up with our friend Susannah, an Australian we ended up travelling much of Syria with. She had started a new job in Melbourne after living for 8 years in London and it was great catching up with her. On our first day we basically just walked around the central business district, checking out the Queen Victoria market and Chinatown as well. It was hot out and the skies were blue so we decided to relax in the shade in Federation square for a bit, surrounded by a lot of other Melbournites who were watching tennis on the outdoor big screen. The reason they were watching tennis was because the Australian Open happened to be on at the exact time we were in Melbourne, which was pretty sweet. In the evening we hit up a club/lounge called Transport and had good night.
Have I mentioned how expensive Australia is? I’m pretty sure I have, but to illustrate this point I’ll tell you about our movie experience. The next night, after dinner with Aaron’s girl Megan (yes, for those who know Aaron and are reading this, there actually is a real life female who not only is awesome, she also seems to like him…crazy but true) and her friends we decided to catch a movie. Di wanted to watch the Green Hornet since Taiwanese superstar Jay Chou was one of the main characters, and Aaron and I were down to watch a super hero movie. The theatre was pretty nice, though no nicer than those we have in Canada, and the ticket prices were advertised at 18 dollars. I thought that was pretty steep, but when we paid for the ticket it was actually 24 dollars each! You see, 3D movies are 23 dollars and we had to buy the glasses for an extra dollar. I paid 48 dollars for what turned out to be a pretty crappy movie. Actually pretty crappy is an understatement, it sucked. Don’t watch it.
While Aaron was working we also spent some time with Susannah. She took us out for a fantastic lunch at a French restaurant called Bistro Vue in the downtown area, complete with Wagyu beef and perfectly smoked salmon. It was a nice change from this ghetto restaurant called China Bar (though the food was actually decent) that Aaron kept taking us to. The highlight of our time in the city though was seeing a tennis match one evening with Susannah at the Australian Open. Di and I picked a day that worked best for the 3 of us, not knowing who was going to be playing. We totally lucked out as our tickets ended up being for Nadal vs Cilic. Nadal is the number 1 ranked tennis player in the world, so to catch him playing Cilic (ranked 15th) was pretty awesome. This was our first time watching live tennis (that’s them playing in the above picture), and where better to do it than at a Grand Slam event. The match lasted about 3 hours, and though I wasn’t used to being completely silent while watching athletes play, I really enjoyed the game. Nadal won, and I, like all the other screaming ladies with outstretched arms, was hoping he’d throw me his sweaty shirt once the match was done. No luck there, shucks.
For our last couple of days in the area we drove up the Great Ocean Road, Australia’s most famous stretch of asphalt. Megan (I swear this girl is real guys) was sweet enough to take Di, Aaron, and I on this famous road trip in her ride. We made it to the town of Apollo Bay pretty late at night, and the next morning we headed to the 12 Apostles, the Great Ocean Road’s most famous landmark. Basically this part of the coast is comprised of sheer limestone cliffs overlooking fierce and beautiful seas. At the 12 Apostles, the erosions caused by the powerful ocean left independent limestone “apostles”, though we really only could count 5. Nevertheless it was a gorgeous spot, and the apostles won’t be around forever due to continued erosion, so we were happy to make it there. On the way back we grabbed some fish and chips and a bottle of wine and just relaxed on a beach to eat lunch and enjoy our surroundings. The beach was packed, full of teens wrapped in Australian flags and families with little children, as it was Australia day. That definitely made for a lively and happy atmosphere. The Great Ocean Road is populated by some awesome surf towns that are not far removed from each other. As we drove by Torquay, Lorne and Apollo Bay I was slightly disappointed that for the 3 weeks we’ve been here we haven’t yet got on a surfboard. Luckily I quickly got over that disappointment due to the music that was playing on the radio. We were listening to a program that was all corny love song dedications, and they were playing hits like “Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love For You”. As Aaron and I loudly sang along to that song, and others like “Sometimes When We Touch”, I could tell that Megan and Di were enchanted by the magical unison of our voices and our heavenly harmonies in combination with pretty much the best songs ever. I’m sure it’s a car ride that touched their hearts and will forever leave a blissful impression they can look back on in their darkest hours. In all honesty singing along horribly to those cheesy songs with Aaron was pretty hilarious, to me and him. Actually travelling in developing countries for so long hasn’t really given us the chance to keep up with the new music, so to my dismay Justin Bieber wasn’t the only one putting out awesome new songs on the radio when I arrived. I admit that I’m pretty into Bruno Mars’ music now. I’ve probably heard that Grenade song no less than 10 times in the past few days, and after singing it so much in the car I’ve pretty much got the lyrics down at least as well as Aaron’s got the dance moves down.
We had a great time in the Melbourne area, watching tennis, checking things out, and visiting our friends and meeting new ones. Hopefully Susannah and Megan will come visit us in Canada sometime soon. And Aaron, thanks for letting us crash at your place; I’d catch a grenade for you (yeah yeah yeah).
Tassie Road Trip
Before Eug could openly admit he wanted to stay in Sydney to read more poetry to me at Bondi beach for a few more days, we found available accommodations in Tasmania and flew there. We usually don’t book ahead more than 2 days in advance, but because January is the busiest season for Tasmania, we went ahead and booked our full 6 days there. These included our plane tickets flying in from Sydney and flying out to Melbourne, our rental car for the road trip, a river cruise, and 3 different hotels. The entire research and booking process took us about 8 hours altogether, we were pretty worn out after that. It felt like the time we put together an IKEA Pax wardrobe with the sliding door! Not fun I tell ya. Sorry for complaining about trip planning but when you are used to just going with it, it’s actually tough to plan out an exact itinerary for an entire upcoming week. And an exact itinerary strips away a lot of the fun and adventure in the journey. Since Mellissa offered us such a welcoming and comfortable stay in Sydney, it was a little hard to pack up and leave. The road was beckoning though, so we moved on.
Tasmania is an island state almost directly below Melbourne at the south eastern corner of Australia. It is reachable via an overnight ferry from Melbourne or via flights from other cities. Tassie (as it’s nicknamed) is well known for exquisite beaches, beautiful mountains, abundant wildlife and wilderness. It also produces high-quality cheeses, wines (especially Pinot Noir and Riesling) and seafood. Our first stop was the capital city Hobart. We walked around Hobart the first day covering the historical parts of town, Salamanca market, and the waterfront. Eug said the waterfront has an incredible resemblance to Halifax. I’ve never been but I’ll take his word for it. We also came upon a very happening venue on the water that had a free concert going on with lots of wine and beers. We went in to check out a live blues performance in a packed tent, which almost broke our ear drums. We found out later that the weeklong celebrations were for a new art museum opening up in Hobart named Mona Foma, housing the $100 million private collection of a guy named David Welsh. When we returned to the city after our road trip we discovered that on the last night of festivities Mick Jagger was headlining a performance. Locals were super excited as our waitress told us he was the ‘biggest celebrity’ to ever stage a concert in Hobart.
The next day we picked up our Nissan Micra from Budget Rent-A-Car and drove to Port Arthur, a natural penitentiary chosen by Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur in 1830 for those who committed crimes more than once. Port Arthur is nestled in the Tasman Peninsula on a vast grass field in a bowl shape, with hills on one side and water on the other. The natural landscape made it easy for the guards to keep an eye on the convicts and near impossible for the convicts to escape. The admission ticket included a 40 minute guided tour and 20 minute harbour cruise. The tour was informative and we each got a card at the end which represented a convict we could follow through a sort of ‘choose your own adventure’ path to see what happened to his life in Port Arthur. The jail was brutal in how it treated its prisoners, with many being literally worked to death. It was also “forward thinking” when it abolished lashing as punishment to prisoners and instead placed them into small cells with masks on in solitary confinement, ie. physical torture was replaced with conditions that fostered insanity. It was a solemn place to visit, to say the least. Afterwards, we headed west to Strahan, a small town in the west coast where tourists go to get a taste of the wilderness via train, seaplane, or cruise. We took the famous Gordon River cruise which brought us out into Macquarie Harbour and Hells Gate (aptly named by arriving prisoners at the penitentiary here) in addition to the Gordon River. We also did a forest walk where we saw some of the world’s oldest trees in the world’s densest rainforest. I was pretty excited to see what a 2000 year old Huon pine (world’s 2nd longest living tree) would look like, only to be disappointed by what resembled a scrawny, wrinkly trunk covered in moss. It definitely wasn’t as regal looking as the world’s oldest trees, the sequoias in California. We also cruised by Atlantic Salmon and Rainbow Trout farms in the tea-coloured half salt-half fresh water harbour. That was pretty interesting to see.
The next two days we visited two great hiking spots, Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park and Freycinet National Park. We did a few of the famous hikes there. One was the Dove Lake-circuit underneath Cradle Mountain and the other one was the Wineglass Bay lookout and Beach circuit in Freycinet. One problem with traveling for a long period of time is that we’ve become somewhat travel snobs. We started out being Roman ruins snobs after seeing the amazing ruins in Libya and comparing them to all the others on the Mediterranean. We later became dive snobs after going to Palau (regrettably not listening to Eug’s dad’s advice). Now we are lake snobs after seeing Jiuzhaigou in China, and winery snobs after being in South Africa. The Dove Lake circuit was nice and is rated one of Tasmania’s top hikes but we couldn’t help but compare the lake and mountain to our last hiking experience, which was in China. To be fair there was a big Dutch group who came to Cradle Mountain park just to snap pictures of the flora and fauna, and they were fascinated. Wineglass Bay, however, was indeed gorgeous as you can see from the above picture. It was unlike anything we’ve seen before so we could see why it was ranked one of the world’s top 10 beaches by the US Magazine “Outside”. The white sandy beach with turquoise coloured water was encased in a perfectly parabolic bay. It was a great workout too, to hike there after being in the car for so many hours. At the base of the hike the park had signs posted that rated the walk very difficult and not recommended for children and the elderly. Really it was probably equivalent to hiking to the first 1/4 mark of the Grouse Grind and we quite enjoyed getting our hearts pumping.
One interesting/disgusting thing I should mention about the driving is the amount of road kill we came across while driving trans-Tasmania. We consciously kept a record and we saw, on average, one dead animal for every 5km we drove on the highway. Some of the carcasses were pretty big, comparable to a big dog at home. They were mostly wallabies and possums I think. Either way, the sheer number of dead animals was crazy. The roads were extremely windy all through Tassie, and though posted limits were about 100 km/h, Eug usually kept it around 80 km/h as one turn inevitably blended into another and going at 80 clicks around a corner in our Micra didn’t feel too stable. There rarely were any straightaways on the road. The local Tasmanians, however, were obviously used to driving on the curvy roads at high speeds as we were getting constantly passed whenever they had a chance. This must be why there is so much road kill on the highway! I went to Australia for a month about 10 years ago, so I’ve had my fair share of seeing live Kangaroos and Wallabies hopping around. Eug, on the other hand, has seen more dead wallabies and possums than live ones because of this road trip.
We ended our Tasmania trip in one of Hobart’s coffee shops called The Cupping Room where they roast their own coffee. The coffee shop itself had a cool urban vibe to it and needless to say their coffee was really good. As Eug mentioned earlier, Australia has a serious coffee culture, and we were not disappointed with the small cafes here at all. We were also told that Melbourne is known for the best espresso, and that is where we are headed next. We’ll report back soon.
Time For Some Wine, and Other Expensive Booze
Since we had to cancel our trip to Queensland, on the recommendations of our friends here we changed our plans to head to the island of Tasmania. However, Tassie is an extremely popular place to go in the summer and all the hotels in Hobart, its capital, were booked up for the weekend. Thus we had a few more days to spend in Sydney before leaving, and though I could have easily spent every day on Bondi surfing we decided to give Mellissa a break from us. So we headed up to the wine region of Hunter Valley to get our drink on for a couple of days.
Though I am partial to New World wines I never have been a huge fan of either Semillon or Shiraz, two varietals Australia is well known for. The Hunter Valley region, not as famous as Australia’s Barossa region on the worldwide stage, is especially famous for its Semillon and Shiraz. To be honest even though they’re not my favourite grapes I still love drinking wine in wine country. So we drove the 90 mins it took to get there and started to taste the moment we arrived. The first winery we passed by actually had a bunch of wild Kangaroos hopping around in its vineyard, sweet. The lady at our guesthouse recommended some small wineries to us so we started with those to get our tastebuds wet. We eventually moved on to the larger, more picturesque wineries to soak in some views and take some shots (pictures). Some of the wineries were massive and promoted concerts as well on their grounds. For example, INXS was playing at one winery sometime in the near future while Neil Diamond was playing at another. I wouldn’t have minded watching INXS (I have no idea who their lead singer is now though I did have the KICK tape when I was a kid and I used to love ‘Never Tear Us Apart’. My air guitar always came out after the silent pauses in that song. And the saxophone solo was pretty sweet too, they should bring the saxophone back. Sorry, I digress.) but sadly Di didn’t really know any of their songs. Even more sad than that, she knew who Neil Diamond was. And what’s even more sad then that? She’s a huge fan of the song ‘Sweet Caroline’ because of the version sung in Glee. But again, I digress. Anyways, we had our first multicourse fine dining meal in Australia at a top restaurant here as well. All in all, the wine was decent and the food was good. However, the last wine region we visited on our trip was around the South African towns of Franschhoek and Stellenbosch. In comparison I would have to say that South Africa’s wine valley was superior in every aspect. Our meals there blew us away, the wine was delicious and their valley was stunningly beautiful. Our friends here concur that Hunter Valley is not Australia’s best, so hopefully in Tasmania we can check out some wine as well. I do sound like a snob here though; Hunter Valley still really is a nice place (just look at the above picture) and a short drive from Sydney, so recommended if you have some extra time like we did.
When we returned to Sydney Mellissa had a night planned for us with a few of her friends. She made a reservation at a small seafood restaurant called Fish Face. It was a neighbourhood joint with an open kitchen that held about 20 guests and served really tasty seafood from a small menu. It, like most joints in Sydney, allowed BYO which meant you could bring your own wine to polish. I really wish Vancouver allowed more of that. After a great dinner we walked up the street to Eau de Vie, supposedly the spot with the best cocktails in the city. Though I will vouch that the cocktails were the best I’ve had all year they were 25 dollars a pop! Yes, 25 dollars, that is damn expensive for a mixed drink. The vibe of the place was pretty cool, the bartenders looked very old school bartenderish (shirt, tie, tight vest, etc), the roof was low, the room was dark, and the varieties of liquor available were impressive to say the least. Though I couldn’t recognize almost any of the bottles, the labels looked antique (which is cool, I guess) and the drinks were really good. Each drink did take very a long time for them to make, which pretty much meant it took 30 minutes just to get your order in if you had 2 people ahead of you in line. I had a couple concoctions made with ginger beer which were awesome. All in all, it was a great (but expensive) night out.
Now we’re in Tasmania, ready to check out a different scene. At our hotel in Hobart we just watched an episode of Glee. I guess I should admit that I too, sadly, have become a Glee fan. Sigh, that’s embarrassing.
Stranded in Sydney
And it’s been super sweet. As Di mentioned earlier, we’ve decided to stop doing the tougher travelling to finish off our one year trip. So after spending New Years in Taipei we took a look at an atlas and decided to head to Australia. Just 4 months earlier my friend Mellissa in HK moved to Sydney so I quickly messaged her to see if she wanted visitors. The good news was she was happy to have us, the bad news was she had to leave the day after we arrived to Perth for a wedding. So for a couple of days we had her sweet pad to ourselves. And it was a sweet pad, set in Neutral Bay (a really nice part of Sydney) with a great view of the water and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Having a place for ourselves with a kitchen inspired us to cook, and we made a couple of great meals at home for the first time in over 10 months. Luckily my other friend I.G. is also living in Sydney, so he took us out for a night while Mellissa was gone. Both IG and Mellissa lived in Vancouver and went to UBC with me. IG also lived in Japan for a while before completing law school and now works as a lawyer here. Mellissa has lived in the cream of the world’s city crop, with stints in London, New York and HK in the finance field. Both are now total Sydney converts, and after spending a week here Di and I can see why.
Sydney could easily be Vancouver’s older, bigger sister. We spent a few days walking around downtown and architecturally a lot of the city looks similar; in downtown alone there are tons of comparisons. For example, Sydney Harbour Bridge looks like Burrard Bridge, the Rocks area is kind of like Gastown, Darling Harbour is kind of like Granville Island, and Chinatown is well, like Chinatown. Neutral Bay, where we’re living, totally reminds me of Kitsilano. There are a lot of inlets full of little sailboats just like in False Creek as well. In addition, a ton of the girls are running around in lululemon pants! We have not been in another country on our travels where lululemon is so prevalent. Maybe women in the Middle East wore them under their burkas, but I doubt it. Anyways, while exploring the city our first stop was obviously the Sydney opera house. I really don’t have to describe that building as I’m sure it’s one of the most identifiable in the world (if you don’t know it, check the picture above, and try getting out of your house once in a while). We were even able to catch a concert in there one afternoon. It was a kind of ‘opera greatest hits’ concert that just started for the summer season. Inside the opera house was a lot smaller than I expected, and the concert seemed to be more of a casual recital than a serious heavy opera performance but it was enjoyable. I knew it was gonna be pretty chill when I asked the lady at the ticket counter if there was a dress code, and her response was that I had to wear a shirt. I was wondering if she meant I had to wear a collared shirt, but what she meant was that I just couldn’t show up topless. I guess I’ll have to check ‘going topless to the opera’ off the bucket list in another city…shucks. The concert had only 6 performers: 2 sopranos, 3 tenors, and one funny guy on a Steinway who also acted as the host. It was a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The rest of the time we’ve just been relaxing, walking around town, eating fresh Sydney fare and drinking copious amounts of great espresso and Australian wine out in the summer sun. Speaking of espresso, the coffee is fantastic here, and though Vancouver has a dominant coffee culture, that dominance is spearheaded by Starbucks. Sydney has a far greater number of independent cafes, with Starbucks only being seen in the touristy areas. We haven’t had a bad latte yet at any of these independent cafes, which we really appreciate since most of the countries we’ve been to serve instant Nescafe as coffee (nasty!). They also have their own terms here like ‘long black’ and ‘flat white’ for their coffee orders, kind of like our ‘double double’. Though I might like the coffee scene here a hair more than Vancouver’s, the beach scene here is far, far superior to ours back home. We spent a day at Manly beach and another at Bondi (pronounced Bondai not Bondee) and here’s where I got seriously jealous. Their beaches have great waves and surf culture is really prevalent. The swells were large on the 2 days we were on the beach, and signs were up everywhere to not swim in the ocean. The surfers obviously didn’t care which was cool for us to watch. I wanted to rent a longboard to catch the whitewash, but I didn’t want to be the only novice tool in the water so I stayed on the beach. The day we spent at Manly rained a little so the crowds were more sparse but the beach was still stunning. What was crazy at Manly was watching a few 8-10 year old kids go through lifeguard training, it was hardcore. They were powerfully swimming through water that would have tossed me around like a ragdoll. The day we spent at the world famous Bondi beach was sunny and it was gorgeous there. Mellissa told us Bondi was where the beautiful people of Sydney strut their stuff, and I could totally see what she was talking about. Literally. Topless girls were everywhere! I wouldn’t have placed an exclamation mark behind that sentence if I was writing about the beaches of the South of France but I had no idea they would be topless in Sydney. Hence, the exclamation mark. Actually, I just heard they were topless on Bondi, I was too busy staring into the eyes of my beautiful wife during the times I wasn’t watching the surfers ride to notice half naked women. Seriously. Oh I was reciting poetry while looking into her eyes as well. Anyways, the beaches and the beach/surf scene blow Vancouver’s away. And though we only went to 2 beaches, the city is littered with countless others mere minutes from each other. Did I mention I was jealous?
Oh i haven’t explained why I titled this entry ‘Stranded’ in Sydney. We are supposed to be in Brisbane right now, doing some sufing on the beaches of Gold Coast or in Surfer’s Paradise or in the town of Noosa. After a few days of that we were going to head to Cairns so we could scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef. Unfortunately, if you’ve been watching the news you’d know, the whole area is a disaster zone as it’s covered in floods. So Di and I had to cancel our flights and reroute our itinerary in Australia. We’ve finally figured it out, and the places we’re going to come highly recommended from our friends here. So though they may not be as famous as the province of Queensland (where the floods are) we’re still looking forward to it. However, we still have a couple days left in Sydney before our flight out…hope we can head to Bondi one more time, so I can, um, recite more poetry.
fromwonderintowonder 
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