Random Shmandom

- AubrieAnne over at Who's Your Editor featured me on her Weekend Wonder series! Go over to her site and check it out if you get a chance!

- I got an email from a coworker the other day saying:

Kyria,
 
You guys still in Asia?  From your blog, you must be near a library somewhere. 
 
ST

Geez, is it THAT bad!?? I guess I HAVE been talking a lot about books lately. The reason is this -- we have been mostly in places where we have been doing some relaxing and reading and not as much sightseeing. I know, it's boring. So I haven't really had anything "interesting" to say. So I apologize! Gosh, ST always keeps me on point! Thanks ST!

- And YES, we are still in Asia. In fact, we are in the airport flying from Bali to Seoul as we speak. I decided to put a new widget on my sidebar telling where I am, so even if I am talking about books, you (ST) can figure out where I am when I am not saying it! Actually to be honest,  I must not be communicating very well at all, because I sent my Mom an email today saying, "we are heading to Seoul" and she said, "Seoul? Korea?" I mean, oops, did I not tell her I was going there? I guess not. Huh. 

- This kid I went to school with, who was um, maybe 4 years younger than me, is getting married this weekend. Man it really makes you feel old when the "kids" you went to school with are getting married. He's just a boy! How did this happen? They are really getting married young these days, I guess. 

- In Bali they put each of their chickens and roosters in a separate wicker cage each night. 

- Yesterday I saw three chicks. One was dyed yellow; one was pink and one was green. What is that all about? 

Have a great weekend everyone! 

Dollars and Sense

source

Have you ever felt like you were being hosed? Cheated? Duped?

I have.

In fact, when traveling, you often feel ripped off, especially in poorer countries. But usually, no offense to any particular sort, but it is the locals who rip you off. Well, the day before yesterday we went diving. It was great! Beforehand we had spoken with an English lady who ran the shop and she assured us that the dive would be a certain price (in US dollars) minus ten percent, since we were two people.

So we dive, we get done and then I go up to pay. Well, first of all, let me tell you a little background. Right now, the Indonesian Rupiah is 8500 to 1 USD. So, our day of diving was supposed to be 85 dollars, which would be 722,500 rupiah. Well, I give her my credit card and not only were we charged an extra 3 percent to use the card, but we were charged at an exchange rate of 9200 rupiah which equals 782,000, which is ACTUALLY (in bank terms) 92 dollars. So, I KNOW this is only a difference of SEVEN dollars. You say, why bother with 7 dollars, but she knowingly duped me! And I trusted her. That bitch.

So later in the day, I went to get money out of the ATM. There is only one in the town we are in. My ATM card is a Visa/Cirrus card. We get in line for the ATM and the guard comes up to us and says, "what kind of card do you have?" and I said, "don't worry about it!". He insisted on knowing. I told him, "it's a visa". He said, "this machine doesn't take visa, only MasterCard." I said, "okay thanks, but I am going to try it anyway" (as there was a cirrus logo right on the ATM machine).

So I go into the little box. It's one of those personal ATMs where there is an airconditioned box to go into to use the ATM and only one person can go at a time. I am in the middle of using my card and he opens the door and says, "is it working?" I said, "can you please close the door?" He leaves, then comes back as my money is coming out of the machine. He says, "did it work?" I say, "yes". He says, and I am serious about this -- "How much money did you get out?"

Are you serious? Get out of my face! First of all, he tells me it won't work, and it DOES! Second he gets all up in my grill, third he has the balls to ask me how much money I got out! I couldn't believe it. I said, "get out, PLEASE."

He finally did and I left the ATM, the whole time looking over my shoulder to make sure he was not following me!

So yesterday was a strange day for monetary transactions.

Curry Me Green

Have I mentioned I like food? At home I cook as much as I can and I definitely miss that while I am abroad. I miss being able to just open the fridge and get out a snack, instead of having to go out and "forage" for food, to work for it. I miss having cheese at the ready and eating hunks of it out of the fridge without a cracker, whenever I want. I miss coffee, endless amounts of it with fresh milk.

However, even though there is no cheese here, there are so many other great foods in Asia! Below is a photo one of the great Thai foods, Green Curry with Chicken. I could eat this, and Pad Thai, every day. I found a great recipe here, where there are also many other great Thai recipes.

This Thai Green Curry Chicken recipe features chunks of tender chicken simmered in a homemade green curry sauce along with healthy vegetables (zucchini and red bell pepper). The result is a gourmet-style Thai green curry that is very aromatic and beautiful to serve (great for entertaining!). The key to good green curry is in not only using the right ingredients, but knowing when to add them. Because this curry is made the same as in Thailand (on your stovetop), I recommend using only smaller pieces or cuts of chicken, allowing for faster cooking and the freshest possible taste. ENJOY!

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Yield: Serves 2 to 3

Ingredients:

• GREEN CURRY PASTE:
• 4 small green Thai chilies, OR substitute 1 to 2 jalapeno peppers
• 1/4 cup shallot OR purple onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 thumb-size piece galangal OR ginger, grated
• 1 stalk lemongrass, sliced thinly OR 3 Tbsp. frozen prepared lemongrass
• 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 3/4 to 1 tsp. shrimp paste
• 1 cup fresh coriander/cilantro leaves and stems, chopped
• 1/2 tsp. ground white pepper (can be purchased at some supermarkets, OR at Asian food stores)
• 3 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 tsp. brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. lime juice
• CURRY INGREDIENTS:
• 4 kaffir lime leaves (can be purchased frozen at most Asian food stores)
• 2 Tbsp. oil for stir-frying
• 1 to 1.5 lbs. (about 0.7 kg) boneless chicken thigh or breast, cut into chunks
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into chunks
• 1 zucchini, sliced lengthwise several times, then cut into chunks
• Generous handful of fresh basil

Preparation:

For lemongrass tips, see: Buying and Preparing Fresh Lemongrass.

1. Place all the "green curry paste" ingredients together in a food processor, and process to a paste. If necessary, add a few Tbsp. of the coconut milk to help blend ingredients. Set aside.
2. Prepare the lime leaves by tearing the leaf away from either side of the stem. Discard the central stem. Then, using scissors, cut leaves into thin strips. Set aside.
3. Warm a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil and swirl around, then add the green curry paste.
4. Stir-fry briefly to release the fragrance (30 seconds to 1 minute), then add 3/4 of the coconut milk, reserving 2-3 Tbsp. per serving portion for later.
5. Add the chicken, stirring to incorporate. When the curry sauce comes to a boil, reduce heat to medium or medium-low, until you get a nice simmer.
6. Cover and allow to simmer 3-5 more minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Stir occasionally.
7. Add the red bell pepper and zucchini, plus the strips of lime leaf, stirring well to incorporate. Simmer another 2-3 minutes, or until vegetables are softened but still firm and colorful.
8. Do a taste-test for salt, adding 1-2 Tbsp. fish sauce if not salty enough. If you'd prefer a sweeter curry, add a little more sugar. If too salty, add a squeeze of lime or lemon juice. If too spicy, add more coconut milk. Note that this curry should be a balance of salty, spicy, sweet and sour, plus bitter (the bitter is found in the fresh basil garnish).
9. Serve this curry in bowls with rice served separately, allowing guests to add their own. Top each portion with fresh basil, then drizzle over 2-3 Tbsp. coconut milk, and ENJOY!

Chopped

Well, I did it; I cut my hair. I was trying to decide a while ago and most people said, "go for it", so I did.

I went to a "salon" in Bangkok. The magazine they had for hairstyles was full of punk rock cuts. I finally found the cut I wanted (or a close enough one) in the "Asian" section of the magazine. So I guess I have an Asian haircut?

The lady who cut it did so while looking out the window of the hair salon. I was afraid I was going to end up bald! When I tried to explain to her at the beginning that I wanted to keep my ponytail to donate it to Locks of Love she just gave me a blank stare. So I just told her I wanted to keep the ponytail and she lopped it off a little too low. I hope it's long enough! You need at least 10 inches. I won't be able to send it in until I get home anyway, so we will see how it goes then. The lady also kept trying to keep the cut longer. She would cut it and I would say, "shorter" and she would look at me like, "are you sure? You are crazy!" and then she would cut off another inch and then I would say, "shorter!" We went round and round for a while.

It's pretty short and very layered, so of course it will be a pain to grow out, but c'est la vie! It feels weird without a ponytail and yesterday when I took a shower I dried off my hair and then flipped my head backwards, only to realize I don't have any hair to flip! But I sure am saving money on shampoo! And I don't even use conditioner anymore. I know, crazy right?

Best of all, my haircut cost 100 baht, the equivalent of about 3 dollars. You can't beat that!

And, funny thing...I sent one of my friend's a photo and told her I cut my hair and she sent me THIS. I guess I am not alone, although, damn, how can I compete with her? She's HOT.

Palm Wine, Anyone?

Koh Chang, Thailand

I was watching a show on Nat Geo about people in India who make a coconut toddy out of the sap of the palm tree. It's pretty cool; they climb up to the top and tap the tree and put a gourd under the tap. They then leave the gourd up in the tree for a few days. When they take it down, it is liquor. This liquor has to be drunk in one day, or else it becomes vinegar. However, they do use this vinegar in curries and other dishes, so it doesn't go to waste.

After watching that, as well as traveling to a few places with palm trees, it is really amazing how many things the palm tree can be used for.

Obviously there is the coconut, a great fruit and one of my favorite shakes!

Next we have heart of palm, which is delicious, but apparently they have to kill the tree to get it, so it's not very practical, and this accounts for it's price at Trader Joes! 

There are also date palms, which "date" back to 5000 years ago when the Middle Eastern cultures used them as a hardy source of food that didn't go bad on long desert journeys.

In Malaysia, they have huge farms of palm trees that they use to harvest palm oil. There are two types, palm oil which is used for cooking and palm kernel oil which is used for soap. (this is actually sad, because it is destroying the natural landscape, as apparently they can get more money for the oil than they can for other land uses, such as preserving natural forests)

The betel nut is often chewed in eastern Asia as a mild drug. I tried it when I was in the Philippines. They take the nut and a piece of leaf, together with a bit of snail shell powder (I am actually not sure and probably don't want to know what it was), and you wrap it all together and stick it in your mouth. You then chew and chew and chew and then spit and spit and spit. I did not get any feeling from it, although the locals swear by it's euphoric effect. The only effect I saw was that they all had brown, rotten teeth!

In many places Palm leaves are used as roofing material.

There are many other uses, which I didn't even know about and found on Wikipedia:  Coir is a coarse, water-resistant fibre from the outer shell of coconuts. It is used in doormats, brushes, mattresses, and ropes. Dragon's blood is a resin used in dyes, varnishes and incense, can come from the fruit of the rattan.  Some peoples living in palm-rich areas use palms to make many of their necessary items and food. Palm leaves are also valuable to some peoples as a material for thatching or clothing ^[14].

In California, they are used as decoration, and I have heard that a full sized tree costs upwards of 50,000 dollars. I don't know if there is any truth to this. 

Also, as a side note, Girl With The Red Hair did a post about what she was writing about on her blog a year ago. I thought this was interesting, so I went to my blog to find out: What was I doing for the past few years in March?

In March 2010:
I was cooking top ramen in my hotel coffeepot.
I got my first tag from Jess, one of my first real followers!

In March 2009:
I ran the New Bedford Half Marathon.

In March 2008:
I was hanging out with Luis at the Boca Juniors stadium in Argentina.

In March 2007:
I was celebrating St. Pats at the Bulldog in New Orleans.

Aren't blogs great! They are like the best and weirdest journal you could ever have.

What about you: Have you tried palm wine? Do you like coconuts? What were YOU doing last March? 

Street Food Love

pad thai man a photo by kyria! on Flickr.

I love street food. From this guy, you can get an order of street Pad Thai for about One Dollar. He also has spring rolls and best of all, meats on sticks (50 cents each).

Thank goodness for the Pad Thai Guy.

Make Way For Buffalo

make way for buffalo
Originally uploaded by kyria!

I love this picture with the water buffalo and the lady herding them on her bike. It's too bad it was overcast pretty much the entire time we were there so this photo is a little grainy and dark, but I still like it!

Ninh Binh, Vietnam -- near the Mua Caves -- Feb 2011

Non Sleeper

- Have you ever taken an overnight bus? They call it a "sleeper" and it does have seats that recline, but I sure do not do a lot of sleeping on that bus! Last night we came from Hue to Ninh Binh and it was a 12 hour overnight bus. We arrived at about 6 am in the pitch dark and fog on the side of the road. Luckily there was a guy who had a hotel and took us straight to a room and we went straight to bed. Phew! It was a long night.

- Why is it that they ride bikes a lot all over Asia and all over Africa and all over Europe, but we don't really ride bikes that much in the US? Today we rode about 12 - 15 km through the rice paddies. Everyone was busy planting rice and they all waved and smiled (and gave us necessary directions) as we passed them by. It was a really nice ride. Why don't we do this more often?

- The traffic here is crazy. That is going to be a future post all to itself.

- Now that we are in the North, the sun is gone (boooo). No more sunny, hot days. It has been cloudy, foggy and about 50 degrees. Well, I guess it IS winter, isn't it?

- Tomorrow we head out by motorbike to a few old ruins and towns. I am looking forward to it, except for the fact that the last time I rode a motorbike, I burned myself on the exhaust pipe. Really badly. Luckily we were getting gas and the gas-lady smeared some weird orange honey-looking stuff on it. It is still healing, but it is going to leave a scar.

- This is TOTALLY random. Have you ever heard of the Moron Test? It is an app on iPhone etc and it is totally addicting. You should try it. I think it costs 99 cents and it is the only app I have ever paid for. It makes you feel totally stupid. But you like it and you want more. I can't explain it.

Randoms and Questions: A Vietnam List

(1) Getting to Vietnam was an interesting experience. The guy told us that the bus would take about 9 hours. It turned out to be about 14 hours and two bus changes. The last change put us in a minivan with about 15 other people. In the middle of the ride, the van stopped and loaded a motorbike into the back of the van. I was feeling very faint the rest of the ride and I kept thinking, "what if I get gas poisoning?" I mean, can you die from inhaling too many gasoline fumes? I don't know but I was soooo sleepy and I kept thinking, "Can't. Fall. Asleep". Arriving in Saigon was the happiest moment of my day.

(2) I am trying to make my site mobile but am having trouble. I heard that www.mobify.me was good. I tried it and I pasted the code into my html but it still isn't working. Any hints? Anyone?

(3) I finished the book I was reading: Around Africa on my Bicycle. All 705 pages of it. A review will be forthcoming. You can find my list of completed books for this year as well as a list of previously reviewed books on my bookshelf page. Also our BBC (Blogger Book Club) picked this month's read (well really it is March). We decided on Sense and Sensibility. You can find out more about that on the bookshelf page as well.

(4) Looking for new blogs? Check out For The Love of Blogs. They have sections where you can browse different genres of blogs, they feature a new blog about once a week (sometimes more) and they have wonderful blog hops where you can enter and/or check out other bloggers using the link up.

(5) In Vietnam the portions are pretty small compared to what we get at home. This is fine for me, but Mr. Lovely needs a "real meal". Today we went to lunch and when he got his "steak and fries" (I told him not to try to order "European food") he almost cried, it was so small. So after finishing eating, we went for a second lunch! It was actually pretty fun. It was "cafe day". We had lunch, second lunch and then...why not...stopped for coffee at a third cafe. 

(6) Why is it that when I am on the 12 hour bus ride I have about a million ideas for things to write about but when it comes down to it I never remember, or it doesn't come out how I wanted? WHY!?

(7) That's it. Have a great week everyone! Happy Presidents Day!

Endless Possibilities

In Southeast Asia they carry EVERYTHING on tiny motorcycles. Here are a few examples. 

They carry Tuk-Tuks full of people

They carry rice etc

 

They carry people (sometimes up to 4!!)

They carry blocks of ice

This is the mail carrier

What will they carry next?!! I've seen them carry dogs, bicycles, televisions, rebar, gallons of water, empty water jugs, chickens. There are ice cream motorcycles, pad thai motorcycle carts and even fried insect motorcycle carts. Anything you never thought would be associated with a motorcycle....IS!! Oh and half the time the driver is on the phone at the same time. 


Have you seen any weird motorcycle passengers?

Sights and Sounds

Vietnam in one word: Clean. You can’t always say this for many countries. You may have a nice beach but there is a lot of trash on it. You may get a hostel where the blankets haven’t been washed in a long time. You may have rats or cockroaches in your room (or even better, in the kitchen). In Vietnam, the laundry smells good, the streets are clean, things are on time and things are pretty organized in general.

Here are a few more things we have seen, heard, smelled, experienced and tasted while in Vietnam.

-4 people on a motorbike, sometimes with a TV, a bag of rice or a block of ice.
-A bus, 2 cars, 3 motorcycles and a bicycle sharing a lane meant for 2
-A pig knuckle soaking in a bowl of water on the ground right outside the toilet (okay maybe that is not so clean!)
-Honking, always honking
-Water buffaloes in the rice paddies
-The Mekong river, wide and brown
-People doing their laundry, washing their dishes and washing themselves in the Mekong (okay, maybe also not so clean)
- Pho bo (beef noodle soup)
- Dragon fruit (pink leafy looking outside, white inside with black seeds; tastes like a watery kiwi)
- Durians (supposedly smell REALLY bad. I have never noticed that)
- Café Sua Da (Iced coffee)
- Bootlegged copied books for sale
- Beaches
- Kite surfing
- Coconut shakes (my favorite)
- Scuba diving
- Ladies covered in clothing from head to toe. They don’t want to get tan.
- I was told I was an “old maid” because I wasn’t married with children at my advanced age.

Have you ever experienced any of these things? What are your favorite sights and sounds from around YOU? What's the weirdest thing your ever encountered?

What I Love About Vietnam

Bags like these!

Fruit markets

Pho Bo for breakfast!

Beaches

Dragon Fruit (tastes like a kiwi)

Vietnamese Coffee!

Riding around on a tiny bike

Spicy food!

There are a lot of other things but I didn't get photos of them all! A non photo list to follow!

Sign Thai

A quick note: I added a new page - Travel Tips. It is a work in progress and I have a lot to add/edit, but if you need a general overview, feel free to take a look!!!  Also let me know if you have any questions or comments!

Another installment of signs. Sorry about the photo heavy posts, but I finally uploaded some pictures! 

Here are a few signs from Thailand and Cambodia that made me giggle.

No....baby sex?

If you are 15, go to this bar!

Supposed to say "Baht".

I want a piece of this!

Actually, this restaurant was pretty fast.

Apparently towels are used differently in Cambodia.

Happy Hour: Open until Close. I like it!

No...coughing, shouting, singing?

And my FAVORITE. No standing on the toilet (people actually do this!!), no wearing boots, and no showers for little girls!!!

Ruined!

A few notes: firstly, I started this blog about 5 years ago from Cambodia to try to find out what was going on at home and share what I was doing abroad. HERE is my first post. I had no idea what I was doing. I thought you wrote the blog in the comments. I was clueless really. I guess what I thought was that I would ask a question and people would answer in the comments. Or we would have a dialogue in the comments. I am not really sure what I was thinking. Anyway, I just wanted to say that it seems I have come "full circle". I am back where I started from and this blog has become more (obviously) that I thought it would.

I have written about Angkor Wat before. But this is a place that not only can you visit again and again, and see new things when you do, but you can write about it several times with no problem. Every time I go to a place I learn something new that I didn't know before. For example Angkor Wat means "city temple" and was built in the early 12th century as the king's state temple and capital city.

It is huge. You could try to walk around the entire complex, but you would probably need many days to do so. We rented a tuk-tuk, which if you haven't heard of this, is an interesting way to get around. It is a guy driving a motorcycle with a people "trailer" (that fits 4) hitched to the back. No joke. I have a photo but have not downloaded them from my camera, so below is one I borrowed.

I got this photo HERE.

We rented a tuk-tuk for about 20 dollars for the day for four people and he took us around from temple to temple. The temples are all beautiful, although some of them are in worse disrepair than others. Actually, they are in the process of renovating many of them right now. We got to the main complex before sunrise, as the best views are during sunrise. There is a nice pool that reflects the temple in the water. I am sure you have seen photos of it. In fact, if you go to Wikipedia, you will see the very photo I am speaking of.

It was pretty hot, and soon we had seen enough ruins for the day. We headed back to Siem Reap for some 50 cent draft beers and some Khmer food (similar to Thai in many ways). The town of Siem Reap is quite bustling, with a range of hotels (they even have a Sheraton!) as well as many lower budget guesthouses (like where we stayed!) They have a range of food; we even had pizza one day. They have a lot of people begging, especially ones with no limbs. The Cambodians only recently ended civil warring, and there are still many unexploded mines in the countryside. Unfortunately, you are not supposed to walk off the beaten trail or you may have an accident.

So, second time around = still good. 

Cambodian Time

I am impatient. One of my biggest pet peeves is people who are late. People who have decided their time is more important than yours. People who say they are going to meet up with you and then don't come, don't call and obviously...don't care.

However, I have had to learn (a little bit) to be patient in Cambodia. The first day we arrived, we crossed over from Thailand with no problems, entered Cambodia fairly painlessly and then went to our bus which would take us to Siem Reap (home of Angkor Wat). Unfortunately, when you take a bus between countries, oftentimes you can't stay on one bus; you have to transfer once you cross the border and you end up using two different bus companies. We were told that the ride from the border to Siem Reap would take about 3 hours and that we would arrive around 5 pm. This seems simple enough -- we need to leave by 2 pm to make it on schedule.

We arrived at the border at 12:30 pm. There were about 5 of us and we were the first ones to the bus. The guy said, "lucky you, you are the first ones on the bus, you can pick whatever seat you want." We thought that was great. Then he said, "we are waiting for another group of people who are crossing the border now. We will leave when they get here. It should be about a half an hour". A half an hour went by. A few more people got on the bus. Then another half an hour went by, and a few MORE people got on....etc. This lasted until about 4:30 pm. We finally left then. We didn't end up arriving in Siem Reap until about 8:30 pm (we also stopped for dinner along the way as well).

The thing is, I don't mind arriving at 8:30. What I mind is that I got up at 6 to take a bus at 7 in order to sit and wait for...4 hours...at the border. If I would have known, maybe I would have taken the later morning bus, or maybe went and had some lunch instead of sitting on the bus thinking that we would be leaving "any minute".

This was not the end. From Siem Reap we took a bus to a town called Sihanoukville. A guy was supposed to come and pick us up from our hostel at 6:30 to catch a 7:30 bus. He ended up not coming until almost 8. We were freaking out...we didn't know if we should try to go to the bus station, whether or not we had missed the bus..or what. When we arrived at the bus station around 8:30, the bus didn't even leave for another half and hour! It's the same thing. I could have slept, or eaten (we didn't) or called my mom!

Anyway, I won't go on and on, but this has happened several more times over the last week and it is hard for me to get "used to" it. I mean, if the bus isn't leaving until 9, why can't I just come at 8:45? Why do you tell me it leaves at 7 when you KNOW it is not going to leave at 7? Do you think it EVER leaves on time? Or is "on time" actually 9? I don't know what they are thinking.

Have you ever been someplace where they are on "island time" or the equivalent? Do you cope well with that? How do you feel about tardiness?

View From The Lizard Bungalow

Wee Beasties

I have a lot to catch up on. I have been on an island with no power, and definitely no internet! We did some diving, which is probably going to be another post on it's own, and spent some time on the beach hanging out, meeting people, and trying to stay mostly in the shade.

We arrived in Cambodia and spent some time at Angkor Wat (this will be a future post). Then we came to the south, where we took a rickety fishing boat for two hours to get to the island of Koh Rong.

We stayed in a wood and palm thatch bungalow, which wasn't exactly what you would call airtight. However, it had a beautiful view of the ocean and a nice porch from which to sit and stare at said ocean.

The first night we heard a rustling sound in the middle of the night and were not sure what it was, since there is no power. We got out our headlights and searched around but didn't find anything. The next day in the middle of the day I found that the bag of peanuts in my backpack was chewed into and eaten. Also my bar of soap had what looked like teethmarks in it. I assumed it was a rat.

The next night we decided to trap the animal, whatever it was. We put the peanuts in the trash and the trash in a large bucket, thinking that the animal would get trapped in and not be able to climb out of the bucket. THe next morning, the peanuts had been eaten, but there was no animal in the bucket.

So I went about my business and was about to use the bathroom when I heard a scrabbling behind the door. I swung it open and there was a HUGE lizard behind the door eating a centipede. It was pretty cool actually. The lizard must have been about a foot long and the centipede was probably almost a foot as well. They were battling it out and when I opened the door the centipede got away! Oops!

Now we are back on the mainland, trying to stay away from large lizards. More about this later.

Motorcycle Survival Tips

I have always wanted to be a biker. However, I am a tad scared of the bike (motorcycle). What if I fall and scrape half my face off? What if I run into a wall or a truck or fall off a cliff? My parents have a lot of friends who ride Harleys and they have had some bad accidents, some resulting in death. I have that in the back of my mind every time I consider getting on a bike. When I lived in San Francisco, I heard a crash and a scream and I ran outside to see what had happened. A girl on a bike had been sideswiped and flew about 30 feet in the air before landing in a very weird position.

So, as you can see, I have some fears. However, when I was a kid my dad taught me to ride a Honda 70 and I loved it. But one time it fell over on me and I think my Mom wouldn't let me ride anymore after that.

So, since I was 15, I haven't ridden a motorcycle.

Today, I decided to buck up and try again. Luckily in Thailand, it only costs about 5 dollars to rent a bike for the day, so if I hated it, no harm, no foul and barely any money. Everyone here rides them. If a Thai lady and her three kids (and dog) can ride a scooter, so can I! And that's what these are. They are not "motorcycles"; they are "scooters". I think mine was 100cc. Tiny and not too fast. Perfect.

It's easy enough: gas on the right, back brake on the left, front brake on the right. Easy, right? Mostly it was, except one time when I was trying to park the bike and it almost fell over and so I grabbed the right handle and WHOOPS, gave it gas and it jumped a curb and almost went into a restaurant window. Other than that, it's no problem.

Also there were steep downhills and uphills with curves and that was a little hard to maneuver. Especially since at the same time two cars AND the Thai lady with her kids and dog are trying pass you while traffic is coming the other way. Other than that, it was simple.

So, it really wasn't that bad. But I don't think I am quite ready to get a Harley yet. 

In a Sunburned Body

I am white. Okay, I don't mean this in a "check your ethnicity in the box" kind of way. I mean it in a "you can almost see through my skin in the winter time" kind of way. A few days ago, we arrived on Thailand's Koh Chang island, which is about 7 hours from Bangkok by bus.

After being in Beijing, where the average temperature was about 10 degrees, it was a nice change to be on the beach in 85 degree weather, with the sun shining down upon my upturned face.

I KNOW that I am white; I KNOW I sunburn easily, especially on the first couple of days. So I did everything right. First, I strip down naked. Yes, this is the best way to put on sunscreen. Then you don't miss any parts where there are straps or watches or whatever. Then I apply a thick layer of sunscreen over my entire body, rubbing it in all the way, just like the directions state. I never buy sunscreen that is not waterproof. However, I reapply after going in the water, toweling etc. I KNOW the rules. However, somewhere, somehow there was a glitch. I don't know how, but I am so very red now! You can call me Rudolph.

I think I may have figured it out. While usually I would swear by Target's home brand, Up and Up, this time they fell flat. I always buy their Aveeno copy lotion, tissues, face-wipes and more. However, this sunscreen, which was supposed to be like Banana Boat's Sport line, does not work as well. I did everything right. It let me down.

So, I will be staying (mostly) out of the sun for the next couple of days, perfecting my reading instead of my tan! But a word to the wise, don't buy the Up and Up Banana Boat copy sunscreen unless you want to look like a lobster, like I do! 

What Day Is It Anyway?

Today is the longest day ever... I am leaving Manila at 11:45 p.m. on the 20th. Next I have about a million (well, two) layovers and about a million (well maybe more like 27) hours before finally arriving in San Francisco on the 21st at 9 a.m. Using the points program for United Air has been nice on the pocketbook, but man, do they make you work the clock! There were no direct flights from Manila to anywhere I wanted to go and of course no layover is shorter than, um, 5 hours.

Ah well, I am headed home!