two girls, two packs, one world

You Know You're in Japan When...

2010-06-21T00:52:00.000-07:00

Japan was a while ago, but I made this list and just hadn't posted it yet, so I will now. You know you're in Japan when:

1. Everyone else is more fashionable than you are.

2. There are no garbage cans anywhere but the streets are inexplicably clean.

3. You look at a sign of a map and north is not actually at the top of the map - the top is whatever direction the sign is facing. So confusing.

4. You expect to see a baby in the stroller rolling by, but when you look closely, it's a small, trendily-attired dog.

5. Everything edible is filled with seaweed, bean paste or green tea.

6. You see more false eyelashes and stilettos than you know existed.

7. Vending machines are ubiquitous.

8. Fresh fruit and veggies are worth their weight in gold.

9. People are extraordinarily polite and helpful.

10. You find yourself starting to bow slightly as you meet people.

11. Your toilet can warm, spray, air dry, and massage your bottom at the push of a button.

12. You see kimonoed women and geishas disappearing around the corner like something from another age.

13. The grandpa next to you on the subway is engrossed in a manga magazine.

14. Sometimes you feel like you are in the isolation ward of a hospital, judging by the numerous masks covering the mouths and noses of the people walking by.

15. People are adept at multitasking while using their cellphones.

16. Every part of an animal is up for consumption.

17. Hello Kitty is the country mascot.

18. Everyone but you is approximately a size zero.

19. You can't understand anyone anywhere - English is scarce!

20. Mmmmmm....sushi at 7-11.

Tokyo

2010-05-22T02:22:00.000-07:00

I arrived yesterday in Tokyo and I feel like Japan is one of the places I've been so far that feels utterly foreign. Ok, yes, it is very modern and clean, and those things are nice, unlike SE Asia, where everything smelled and was running with cockroaches and rats (I didn't really mind - it just contributed to the experience)...but maybe it is the fact that English is not much of an option here, that makes it feel so different.
I arrived yesterday at my "capsule" hotel. So fun. I feel like when, as a kid, you would play under a table/blanket fort, or hang curtains up around your bed. It's basically the equivalent of a dorm in any other hostel, but it has this space-age pods that contain your mattress, a TV, phone, radio and lights and there is a curtain to draw across the entrance. So it's a little room of sorts. Better than a bunk bed in a dorm. At least you have your own light and a little more privacy. The bathrooms are share, which I'm more than used to. Although the Japanese style toilets remind me of Laos again. I actually don't mind them, and they are more sanitary than regular toilets. At least the ones here flush - in Southeast Asia, flushing involved a big bucket of water, a dipper, and a bit of patience.
Today I wandered around the area I'm staying in. There is a shopping area and a number of shrines quite close by. Wow, a lot of people around! It's crazy....a lot of fun stuff to look at, but wow, the prices. I treated myself to a fish-shaped waffle filled with caramel, fresh out of the iron. It was so yummy. One of the interesting things that I've noticed is that food must all be convenient. I've never seen so many instant and ready-to-eat food options. And not healthy, really, although I suppose sushi is quite good for one.
After I explored the shops for a while, realizing that my budge will allow for very little shopping here (which is probably good as my luggage won't allow it either), I walked around the river. I met the nicest old Japanese man and his dog, Mary. He was picking some blades of grass and I asked him what they were. He didn't speak much English, but showed me he was feeding them to his dog. We ended up walking around sort of together for a while as he kept pointing out the route I should take. At one point, he motioned that I should hold onto his dog's lease while he went into a convenience store. The dog put up a bit of a fuss, barking for him to come back. He came back with a bun for the dog and a popsicle for me. How sweet.
The computers here have issues with the keyboards, or maybe it is me, but I have somehow become stuck on Caplocks and can't change it back, which means holding down the shift button with my pinky as I type. Ouch.
OK, I must go, as the sign above the computer says:

Use is free.
Please do not do the monopoly use for a long time (Please adjust the one-time use to about 15-30 minutes.)

Please make a mutual concession and use it. (huh?)

My "room."

A Japanese style toilet.

One of the gates near the market.

Fish waffles....mmmm.

Lots of fun stuff.

Yes, I actually saw women in kimonos walking around the streets.

Rickshaw.

My Japanese tour guide and Mary.

Asia again

2010-05-14T21:58:00.000-07:00

Back in Asia. Wow, culture shock again! When I arrived at the Auckland airport for my flight to Hong Kong, I discovered that the flight had been bumped back two hours, so I now had five hours to kill in the airport. I'm sure some of you have had those days. Cathay Pacific graciously gave us a $10 meal voucher for the airport, so I treated myself to a tray of sushi and people watched for a while. Once I finally got on the flight, I realized that it was much longer than I had thought - 11 hours. For some reason, I was thinking it would only be 4 or 5. But Cathay Pacific was a really nice airline. They had an amazing entertainment center with a ton of movies and TV shows and games etc, so it wasn't hard to fill the hours. That and two fun airline meals made the time pass. I love airplane meals. Am I the only one who finds these little individually packaged surprises delightful? Ok, so sometimes the food isn't all that great, but it's so much fun! And it didn't taste too bad. A couple of other nice little touches I appreciated about CP was that they had little hooks beside the TV screens so you could hang up your jacket. Also, not that I used it, but a plug in at every seat for your laptop etc. Maybe it is a little weird that I get so excited about flying, still. So I watched The Blind Side and Fantastic Mr. Fox and some Project Runway and America's Next Top Model. Yeah, lots of TV. Doesn't help that planes are so incredibly uncomfortable to sleep on. I think I did doze off for a little bit.

We arrived in Hong Kong around 2 am...which was the equivalent of 6 am NZ time. I still had to work out the bus system and find my hostel, which expected me at 10 and so I was hoping it wouldn't be closed and I'd be forced to sleep on the street. I met a Dutch girl who was traveling the same direction as me. I did have directions from the hostel on the bus to take and where to get off, but the bus driver was incredibly unhelpful and seemed to know nothing about the route he drove (or perhaps just no English) as he responded to my questions about where my stop was with "I don't know! I don't know!" with increasing agitation. I gave up and found a nice local lady who helped us out by translating to the bus driver our request and also giving us all kinds of tips on where to visit and how to get there.

I found my hostel, which is in Chungking Mansions. Now, this sounds kinda hoity toity, but don't be mistaken. Chungking Mansions is a huge multistory building with shops and restaurants (of a sort - sketchy looking east Indian food) on the lower floor and a maze of hostels and guesthouses on the upper floors. I actually ran across it on a "what to do in Hong Kong" website which describes it as "one of Hong Kong's most iconic buildings both derided and loved; immortalized in Hong Kong movies, home to some of the best ethnic cuisine in the city as well as the cheapest accomadation in Hong Kong...originally, Chungking was the accomodation block of choice for new arrivals from India, Pakistan and Africa....famed, wrongly or rightly, as a rat-infested haven for criminals of every stripe, Chungking has cleaned up its act considerably." Eek. I'm glad I didn't read this before I arrived at 3 in the morning.

The dorm room is teeny-tiny and the bathroom is tinier, but it seems clean, and the guys in the other two beds were patient enough as I tripped over all their stuff and tried to find my bed in the dark last night. I survived the night and am meeting up with aforementioned Dutch girl (Nicole) to explore some of the city today. More on Hong Kong later :)

Yes, I'm still alive.

2010-05-06T13:49:00.000-07:00

Hello my friends.
I have been sadly delinquent in writing. I suppose I can make up excuses, like not having a lot of access to a proper keyboard (typing with one finger on an iPod tends to make me reluctant to write anything longer than a sentence or two) or not being able to post pictures most of the time, or that most of you are also on Facebook and will see that I'm doing fine on from my status updates, but the fact is mostly that I'm just lazy. There. In any case, I will at least write a little bit to update you on where I've been since my last post after I left Vietnam, I believe. That's a long time ago.

As you know, my travels have been largely solo. As Kevin says, I'm on soliday. I wasn't really sure what to expect my experience to be like after Julie left, but I was prepared for an adventure. It has been a good experience, but honestly, I'd rather have my friend with me. I have met many nice people, yes, but it's not the same as having a friend by my side who knows me and I feel I can just be myself with, occasional grumpiness, germ phobia, rambling tendencies and all. Julie will attest to all of these :) When I travel by myself, I have no one but me to complain to when things go wrong, so I take to either just letting it go a little quicker, or muttering to myself. I talk to myself a lot :)

I have spent days with others, traveled briefly with them, shared some experiences, but not met anyone who felt like a "kindred spirit." But perhaps that only comes with time and life spent together. At times I have felt quite lonely and have taken to calling my mom far more often than she ever heard from me when I was in Saskatoon! I am so grateful for Skype! I have realized that I actually like my own company, most of the time, and I think that's a good realization. I also am learning to care a little less what people think of me, although this is still a huge addiction - approval. Anyway. This is turning into a typical Ang-ramble, so let me move on to what I've been doing.

I left Vietnam and flew back to Thailand. I think I posted pictures on Facebook of my time there. It was very pretty, but I think I was ready to leave Southeast Asia with its rats and cockroaches and sewers and squat toilets and sketchy hygiene. I really loved the experience and I want to go back, but arriving in Cairns with it's squeaky clean streets was lovely. I spent two weeks in Cairns and it rained almost the whole time. However, it was warm rain, so I still enjoyed it. I was blessed to have an acquaintance in Cairns, Jacqui's high school friend Jenelle, who welcomed me with a ride from the airport (so nice not to have to figure out bus routes or shell out insane amounts for a taxi) and took me to my hostel. She also had me over for an evening of wings and cards with her and her husband and we went shorkeling the following day. I chose to go to Cairns for most of my time in Australia as I really wanted to experience the Great Barrier Reef. I didn't go diving, as my backpacker budget just didn't allow it, but I did go snorkeling on two separate occasions and it was amazing! The variety and color of sea life is incredible. And to think that most of it, no one ever sees. It really is a whole ''nother (that's for you, Jules) world under there. I also traveled up into the Daintree rainforest and along the coast to Cape Tribulation. What a gorgeous area! I love the green denseness of the rainforest with it's mushrooms and moss and waterfalls. And the coast is incredible.

After two weeks in Queensland, I flew down to Sydney and spent two days there exploring the city. I did a LOT of walking, as my hostel was 40 minutes from the harbour area, where most of the sights are, and I walked across the harbour bridge a few times. Of course I took a ton of pictures of the iconic opera house and the harbour bridge. I went to all the free museums and galleries and ate out for the first time in weeks at a place I'd heard about from many people - "Pancakes on the Rocks". The Rocks is an area of the harbour. It was pretty amazing, I will admit. I would have enjoyed one of the ice cream topped creations, but sensible Ang got the potato and cheese variety as it was lunchtime. I don't think I missed out. It was quite good, too, and while I was very full, perhaps it was a little more nutritions than ice cream for lunch. Perhaps just the change from peanut butter and sardines (no, I've been eating quite well, although I must say that peanut butter will always be a prominent part of my diet).

I flew from Sydney to Auckland in the middle of April. I hung around Auckland for a week, waiting for my Chinese visa from the embassy there. I can't describe how much Auckland felt like home. It's not that I live in a harbor city with every street running uphill, but the fact that it's fall in New Zealand now and that the area I was staying in had houses built in the same style as my neighborhood at home and also that the people seemed more casual and laidback than in Australia...all these things made me love New Zealand from first impression. Perhaps I'm just missing home. And then once I started really exploring the country - I'm in awe. I don't know that I've ever been somewhere where there is an amazing view around every corner. This country is up in my top three of this trip so far. Northern Ireland, Vietnam, and New Zealand. I flew down to the South Island, to Christchurch, where I rented a car and have been driving around the island. It is undescribably beautiful. And so wild. There aren't people everywhere...there is a lot of rural area, and the biggest cities are usually no bigger than Saskatoon. There are sheep everywhere (more than people, I've read) and so much green. Coasts with crashing waves and penguins and sea lions and dolphins. Rolling green hills dotted with livestock. Thick, dense rainforests pulsing with life. Icy blue glaciers...this country has it all. I love it. So. Today I leave the tiny glacier village of Franz Joseph and head north up the coast towards Westport. It's pouring rain, but hopefully I'll leave that behind. On to more beauty!!

I miss you all dearly and am getting excited to come back home in July and see everyone again. A few more adventures before then, however, and I'll try to be better about keeping up to date. No promises, though :)

Just a Quickie...

2010-04-16T15:59:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you've all given up on this blog as it has been some time since anything has been written, but I will just give you a quick update just in case you still do check!

Ang was able to spend about 2 weeks in Australia in the beginning of April along the east coast. She started in Cairns, made her way down to Brisbane, and ended up in Sydney before embarking for Auckland. Auckland is where she now sits waiting for her Chinese visa to come through. I will let you ask her for the details as I'm sure you would rather not receive them second-hand.

I (Julie) am sitting in Three Hills, Alberta, thankful that the snow is now finally gone (thankful also for the precipitation, though) and we are expecting a forecast of 19C tomorrow!

I was feeling very optimistic about my health last week, and attempted to wean down one of the many anticonvulsant pills I take daily. After doing this my thinking became clearer, I didn't require as much sleep, I felt more like "ME." A few days after the wean, however, I started noticing the myoclonic seizures returning. SOOO... I'm back up to my original prescription and back to sleeping like a baby.

Darcie Day

2010-03-27T16:35:00.000-07:00

Our lovely friend Darcie from Hope Fellowship Church sent us out on a “mission” as we were leaving Canada last October of 2009. There were three terms to this mission; number one she wanted us to spend a portion of money buying her a souvenir from a place we were visiting; number two we were to spend a portion of the money to treat ourselves out (being backpackers and all it’s nice to treat oneself out every once in a while J); and number three she wanted the rest of the money to go to a local charity in the area or “someone in need.”

Darcie’s gifts will remain unidentified at this time (since she has not yet seen them) but I would like to share the joy of the rest of that day we shall now refer to as Darcie Day.

Ang and I treated ourselves to a manicure (Julie) and pedicure (Ang) and a meal at a restaurant called KOTO (Know One Teach One). KOTO trains and employs street kids of Hanoi, Vietnam. We decided as we were skimming the brochures and enjoying the good food and hospitality that we would also then donate the rest of the money Darcie had given to this good cause.

The Following is some interesting information about KOTO:

Ø How KOTO started

“A significant number of Vietnam’s youth live in poverty with little hope of finishing school, let alone finding a career. Many come to Hanoi and Saigon in search of work and a better life.

“In the late 1990’s a Vietnamese Australian, Mr. Jimmy Pham, met some of Hanoi’s street kids and asked them what they wanted from life. They replied: ‘We need skills so we can find stable jobs.’ From there KOTO was born.

“From its humble beginnings as a small sandwich shop in Hanoi run by nine former street kids, KOTO now boasts a popular restaurant, an internationally accredited hospitality training program, a second Hanoi café and a catering service, with KOTO Saigon opening in late 2009” (that means it should be open by now!).

Ø The KOTO Program

“KOTO has trained more than 300 young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, now employed in some of the country’s leading restaurants. KOTO has a 100 per cent success rate in placing its graduates in their first job in the hospitality industry.

Every six months KOTO recruits around 30 trainees aged between 16 and 22, to undertake a 24-month intensive program in life skills, English language and hospitality training. KOTO provides training, employment and housing and empowers its trainees with the necessary skills to ensure they graduate as self confident adults, ready to enter the workforce and actively participate in their communities.”

Ø KOTO International

KOTO International is a registered charity in Australia. KOTO International supports KOTO Hanoi and Saigon by fundraising and raising the profile of street and disadvantaged youth in Vietnam. It is made up of a team of dedicated professionals from a range of backgrounds that have seen first-hand how KOTO can change lives. For more information visit www.koto.com.au

“The greatest accomplishment for the person who has helped you, is to see you stand on your two feet and then in turn help someone else that reminds you of yourself, because if you Know One, you should Teach One.” –Jimmy Pham

May This Be For His Glory!

-Julie for the both of us

Things That Have Made Me Cry - from Julie

2010-03-18T06:34:00.000-07:00

So this blog is a little more emotional... but I want to share a few of the feelings I've had over the last number of weeks. From here I have a blog to do on what I shall refer to as "Darcy Day" and then you will not hear so much from Julie anymore as I spend these next months recovering and planning for the future. The intent of this blog was for the traveling buddies after all... and my world travels have come to a stand still at this point.

A list of things that have made me cry:

-Being the patient instead of the caregiver. It’s hard to lie in a hospital bed when I’m used to being on the other end as the caregiver. (for those of you who don't know, my normal job includes caregiving as a physical therapist at a hospital)

-Experiencing convulsions as I sit in a wheelchair and feeling labeled, knowing that any regular passerby probably thinks I’m having an epileptic seizure. Now I’ve experienced first-hand that probably nobody with a condition wants to be labeled as such. Words from my training at U of S come back to mind. i.e. “No that is not an amputee. It’s a person who happens to have an amputation!”

- Watching a family I shared a room with grieve the passing of their mother. I was never able to fully grieve my grandfather’s death last fall, but finally the tears were able to flow. It was a very healing cry.

- Hearing my sister in South Africa cry over the phone because she’s so worried about me. I’m okay, really I am! (Our phone call last night was better, I think she’s more convinced now that I’m coming back to my normal self. The first night she thought I might be drugged…)

-When my lumbar pain became more attentive than my headache pain. These were definitely joy tears. (I blogged on this previously)

- Many mornings lying in my hospital bed where I have felt the sweet presence of Jesus with me.

- Knowing that Canadian healthcare is covering the cost of my week’s hospitalization and I don’t have to worry about finances.

- The care I’ve received from my family. So many wonderful visits and foot rubs... :P

- Church family. Thanks for taking time to love me and be with me through prayer and visits and communion.

Although I am very disappointed that my travels were ended abruptly, I trust that God has good to come out of this. Maybe after it's all over we'll be able to say "Aha! That was why I had to come back!" :)

Even if that's not the case, I want to say again - Ang I miss you dearly and blessings on your continued journey both physical and spiritual!

Much love from,

-Julie

Goodnight Vietnam, Good Morning Thailand

2010-03-17T19:29:00.000-07:00

With reluctance, I left Vietnam yesterday to arrive in Phuket late last night. I say goodbye to:

- musical garbage trucks that emit jingles like an ice cream truck to

let you know you should bring your trash to the curb

- using the street rather than the sidewalk because the sidewalk has

become a motorcycle parking lot

- crossing the street without waiting for a break in traffic, because

that won't happen. Instead you just slowly start walking across and

traffic goes around you. It works!

- women wearing full face and neck masks and long evening gloves to

protect their skin from the sun. Also, whitening products rather than,

as we have, products to give a "healthy glow."

- amazing variety of cheap tropical fruit: mango, rambutan, pomello,

guava, mangosteen, litchis, starfruit, dragonfruit, durian, bananas...

- friendly, relaxed, good-humored people

- Vietnamese men drinking coffee and smoking on little plastic chairs

on the sidewalks everywhere

- crazy motorbike rides through throngs of motorbikes, scooters, cars,

buses, bicycles, people

- vendors selling all sorts of yummy and/or questionable wares...

dried squid, steamed buns, entrails, fruit shakes, sea snails...

- iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk

- sweet grandpas and dads making their little kids giggle

- ladies in their ao dais, flowing silk pants with long matching tunics

- taking shoes off before entering homes and businesses

- crazy misapelling of everything. Julie had every version of one of

her favourite dishes, morning glory, morning glorious, mornig glory,

mourning gloree...

- being woken at 6:30 am by loudspeakers broadcasting what o can only

assume to be communist propaganda

- uncle Ho (Ho Chi Minh) and his image everywhere from every bill to

posters to statues

- going to a restaurant with a group and having all your food arrive

at totally different times

- pajama sets worn by women as popular and completely acceptable

streetwear

- dog as cuisine

- only being able to use "Facebook Lite" as regular facebook is censored

- incredibly fresh and delicious food for under two dollars a meal

- cockroaches and rats the size of small children - I saw a gecko at Nathan and Cindy's gleefully catch a huge cockroach and watched the ensuing battle

- vivid green rice paddies in my favourite shade of green and women in straw conical hats (yes, they really wear them, even in the middle of the city)

More Medical - from Julie

2010-03-17T07:23:00.001-07:00

The beginning of the bedbug bites - the start of it all... but how did I get this virus nobody is quite sure...

The Medical Details

If for nobody else, this is for you Ang because it’s mostly the medical stuff! J

-Flew into Calgary Sunday night March 7, 2010. (It was great to have Amanda Heier there at the airport to say hello too! Thanks for dropping by dear!)

-Drove into Saskatoon Monday morning with my mom (dad came to Saskatoon for the weekend the following Friday)

-Family doctor appointment Tuesday morning. My doctor sent me straight to the ER to see a very lovely neurologist there. After looking at the work that had been accomplished in Vietnam before my return to Canada, we carried on from there. (She spoke approvingly of my Vietnamese neurologist’s decisions given the information he had. That’s always reassuring!)

Apparently this neurologist in Saskatoon has seen only one other case like this (with the myoclonic seizures) so I can say most truthfully that the residents working on my case were excited to be working with me. What the hey, it was written all over their faces. But I didn’t mind, it helps when you want tests done quickly and speedy results! J I received many tests that included the usual bloodwork (plus HIV testing since I had been working with HIV+ babies in South Africa), MRI (this time the entire length of the spine and head), EEG, EEG with videography (these were two separate occasions, the second with video was to try to identify whether the seizures matched with certain brain wave patterns), somatosensory testing (to see how quickly electrical signals get from my limbs to my brain), and CSF testing.

Now in order to test the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), a lumbar puncture must be done in the low back. This can be quite a painful experience. They were unsuccessful in retrieving any CSF on the first day, so by day two some morphine was required. (Apparently I’m quite hilarious on morphine, you’ll have to ask others about this though, I don’t recall.) Even on day two they had real difficulty getting any CSF out of my spinal column. I required a total of 5 lumbar punctures on those two days to get the CSF they needed. What ended up happening was they got droplets of CSF coming out so (this is now on lumbar puncture number five) they inclined the bed and waited for the vials to fill through “drippity droppity” gravity. (Do I sound medical or what! :P)

The doctor told me afterwards that this was the longest lumbar puncture procedure he had been through. He said he would have stopped if I had asked, but once you’re in the situation might as well get through it, right? It was at that point too (afterwards!) that he showed me the needle he used… I’m glad I hadn’t seen it previously.

The strange thing is, and they mentioned this, given my body type I should be a very easy candidate for a lumbar puncture.

Go figure.

In the mean time I developed a CSF leak. With these multiple punctures, somewhere in my spinal column a leak had developed so CSF was spilling out and lowering the pressure that needs to be maintained in the spinal column. It’s not a cause for emergency, but what it does do is cause excruciating headaches at the level of the occiput and cervical spine (at least that’s where they were for me). I could not, for multiple days, elevate my head for periods of longer than two minutes without that excruciating headache returning. Morphine helped somewhat, but there’s only so much of that happy medicine one should take. (wink) The only other quick relief was keeping my head as flat as possible.

There is a quick solution to these leaks. What I could have had was a blood patch, where they take blood from one of your main vessels and then insert that blood (another lumbar puncture) into the spinal column. It seals things right up since CSF doesn’t penetrate through blood. Apparently there’s no 100% guarantee of it working, but about 90% success rate for people who have had two goes with it.

The anesthesiologists encouraged me to try to avoid this procedure if possible as it is invasive. We had many people praying and Praise the Lord, yesterday morning I woke up with my headache mostly gone. My lumbar area is still very tender, but that is to be expected given the circumstances.

Actually it is quite funny because I woke up yesterday morning ecstatic at my low back pain. My nurse asked if I wanted some pain medication for it (which I did, but that’s not the point.) I had to repeat myself. “No, this is a good thing. I have low back pain. I’m not feeling the headache like I was anymore!” The fact that my low back pain was now worse than the headache gave me hope and I am just so thankful at the thought of not having to have another lumbar puncture.

Anyway, all things said and done, most things have come back normal from my testing. My CSF level was 8 (normal is less or equal to 5) indicating some kind of infection in my system. Everyone I have talked to suggest that if I wait this thing out a few months the body should heal itself with time. They suggest it’s viral, nobody knows what, though. Herpes encephalitis has been ruled out, though, as a possible cause… so I know it’s not that. I have also been through an anti-viral cure already, which was done through my neurologist in Vietnam before I returned to Canada.

Are the myoclonic seizures gone? No. In fact they got worse recently so my medication was increased yesterday. I have a hunch, though, that the reason they were getting worse was because I was getting inadequate sleep in the hospital and the myoclonus gets worse when I’m tired.

I don’t lose consciousness with these episodes but it’s like my body muscles spasm uncontrollably and sporadically. It’s a quick thing, only lasts about a second, but it can be VERY agitating! As to how often they come? – that’s anybody’s guess. Sometimes I’ll have a bunch of more mild ones in a row with like 4 seconds between each one; other times I’ll just have one big one every few hours.

At one point last week I couldn’t really walk because my knees would involuntarily buckle underneath me. I’m pretty certain it was related to the myoclonus. That has passed now though and I am slowly working up my walking tolerance again. I have a walker to pick up today and I aim to get back on my feet again asap. It’s amazing what a week of bedrest will do… I feel like I’m starting at square one again. Even a shower is tiring!

Well, that is probably enough information for even the medically inclined so I will end here. Before I do end, though, I want to share a couple verses God impressed on me yesterday – a reminder of the frailty of my human body (I’ve been taught a lot about this frail body over the last couple of years) and yet the strength that I have in Christ. I’ll quote from the Contemporary English version because that is what I happen to have at this time.

2 Cor 4:7-9

“We are like clay jars in which this treasure is stored. The real power comes from God and not from us. We often suffer, but we are never crushed. Even when we don’t know what to do, we never give up. In times of trouble, God is with us, and when we are knocked down, we get up again.”

Praise the Lord, O my Soul. Praise His HOLY Name! Jesus’ sweet presence continues to carry me through.

Bless all of you reading this, thanks for continued cares and prayers.

He Holds Me - from Julie

2010-03-09T03:16:00.000-08:00

This picture doesn't nearly do it justice, but this area was my little euphoric taste of heaven (taken in N. Ireland)

Ang and I have discussed continuing on this blog together now that our experiences are separating ways, but I think we decided that I would try to still blog occasionally and as long as we specifiy who's writing in the blog that should lower some confusion (even though the blog itself will still show up on each of our feeds.) That's what I remember remembering anyway... but really it could have been anything since these meds are making me a little loopy. :/

So after a very long and tedious trip home, here I am in Saskatoon! Apparently business class was full, which I am not suprised about because that whole plane from HongKong to Vancouver was jam packed full. The benefits of my trip included waiting for wheelchair assistance at each destination while everyone rushed off the plane, then getting on my wheelchair and passing them all (we get special custom counters, no long lines. Uh huh, that's what I'm talking about!)

I also had an angel yesterday who went way out of her way to ensure that I got on the earlier flight to Calgary at 1500 from Vancouver so that I wasn't stuck alone in Vancouver for 12 hours. I told her too, that she was my answer to prayer. Her response? "Oh, it was nothing!"

Unfortunately I could not enjoy the airline food on this trip (usually it's one of my highlights) because I was just feeling so sick. I don't know if the change in altitude had anything to do with it or if it was the meds. The doctor had told me I could have up to 7 anticonvulsant meds prn daily. I took 2 1/2 because the seizures/convulsions were NOT slowing down and I wanted both my sleeping buddy AND myself to get some shut eye. Anyway, whether that was the back fire or not, I required frequent trips to the Water Closet, used a sick sack, and still have an additional sick sack stuffed somewhere in my jacket pocket.

I know there were MANY MANY people praying for me through this trip and thank you thank you thank you. I have been reminded that God's answers to our prayers aren't always what we may want them to be. Ya business class would have been awesome. Ya, a good night's sleep would have been stellar! But not once through the trip did I doubt the goodness of my God. My faith grows as His presence is with me. Through it all He truly did hold me! Thank You Lord Jesus! Thank you, dear friends, for your prayers.

I'm lying in bed at about 6:00 the morning of the 9th of March. We have our family doctor's appointment this morning at 11:00, I'm praying she'll forward me on to a neurologist from there and soon. The myoclonic seizures have gotten worse over the last few days, and worse too when I'm standing. Sometimes I think my family is over-protective to help me walk but, yes the seizures are worse and a fall and bump to the head wouldn't really help matters at this point.

Let me just say it's a beautiful thing to be with family and have them care for me. I won't write as much from here on out (not sure you want to hear every detail of my medical adventure over the next weeks anyway) but I'll keep you up to date with the big news as it comes.

Ang I miss you dearly. Keep the good stories coming. Wish I could be there with you.

P.S. You can't imagine how wonderful it feels to be wearing clothes that I haven't laid eyes on for five months!

Sleepless Bus

2010-03-08T15:59:00.001-08:00

It is 3:27 am. This is one of those endless nights where I toss and turn uncomfortably all night. I have given up on sleep for the moment. Let me tell you about my first day solo.
I took Julie to the airport around 9. If you haven't heard from her already, I will tell you that she finally got a flight home after giving up on hearing a definite conclusion from the insurance company on what they will cover. She should be in Calgary by Sunday afternoon. We hugged a tearful goodbye before the helpful vietnamese airlines people wheeled her away. We tried to convince them to bump her up to business class, but when we parted she had an economy ticket. Thankfully she can usually sleep anywhere (unlike me) so I hope she had an ok flight anyway.

The first neat thing that happened to me was that on the way back to our hotel to check out, I met a girl from Saskatchewan on the minibus. And not just any girl - a girl who knows my close friend Amber from Humboldt. How weird is that? So of course we had a good ol conversation about home and I felt almost like this was God telling me that he's got me taken care of.

Then, having been convinced over the last few months that an iPod touch is truly an amazing device, and knowing that free wireless available so widely would make it much easier to communicate with home (something I know my mom will appreciate even more now), I went out and bought one of these marvels. Which is how I can be blogging in the middle of the night on a bumpety bus ride.

Let me tell you the story of busride thusfar and why I happen to be awake at this unlikely hour.

I booked a ride on a sleeper bus from Hanoi to Hoi An (hey, it's an anagram). It really should be called a sleepless bus. They show you pretty pictures of nice new buses with comfortable looking bunks but they anything but. I was picked up from the hotel on motorbike and ferried to a meeting point, where more people than seems possible were crammed into a minibus. People had to stand between the seats and the door. We joked about this being our overnight bus.

Upon arriving at our bus, we boarded and were immediately given a plastic bag for our shoes. Apparently this is also a shoeless bus. This bus has 3 rows of bunk beds. One on each side and one down the middle of the bus. Your bed is your seat. Which is fine except if you are on one of the side top bunks, as I am, because then the roof of the bus slopes down so low that you can't sit up. You have no choice but to lounge. Which sounds ok but gets tiring after a while. Oh, and did I mention that the beds are maybe a little over a foot and a half wide? They come with seatbelts to keep one from falling off in the middle of the night. They also come with a very well worn and (for me Miss Germ Phobe) dirty looking blanket and pillow. I have been tossing and turning, uncomfortable and hungry, since midnight. It's all part of the adventure and I love it (in a masochistic sort of way).

The Whole Story

2010-03-02T20:14:00.000-08:00

Probably most of you have been keeping up with our latest events on Facebook. Sad events, they are. To start from the beginning, it all seemed to spring from the bedbug incident you read about earlier. Or perhaps it was just an unfortunate coincidence.

A few days after the bedbug attack, we were taking a 25 hour bus ride from Vientiane (city of aforementioned bugs...aka the capital of Laos) to Hanoi (the capital of Vientnam) and Julie was still extremely itchy. She took some Benadryl that our friend Dave had in his first aid kit, hoping to stop the itching. During the interminable bus ride, Julie started having strange muscle twitches in her legs. We thought it might be a reaction to the Benadryl and so she stopped taking it. Unfortunately, the twitches continued to worsen, along with the itchiness. When we arrived in Laos, we looked things up online and realized that she was actually having myoclonic seizures.

We looked up English-speaking hospitals in Hanoi and found a few. We started at the International SOS hospital, that caters to foreigners. Julie saw a doctor there and they referred her to a neurologist at another, French, hospital. We headed over there and she got in immediately to see a neurologist, who then had her see a dermatologist (because of the severity of the bites) and sent her for bloodwork, and MRI, and an EEG, and saw her again afterward. All of this was accomplished the same day, which was amazing to us. Private health care definitely has it's benefits (although of course she had to pay for all of this upfront) and she felt better cared for here than she has in Canada. The doctors actually had time to talk to her and explain everything. He prescribed anti-convulsants and anti-itch meds for her for the night. He ruled out epilepsy by the EEG results. From the MRI and EEG, he thought it was mostly likely that she had contracted herpes encephalitis, probably from the air, or from contact with someone. We did realize that both she and I had smaller itchy spots on our bodies that seemed different from the other bedbug bites. So both of us started using an anti-viral cream on our spots (the same stuff you could use for cold sores - Acylovir). She also started taking oral anti-virals.

So he saw her again the next day to discuss her bloodwork results (which were all normal) and to see how the night had gone. The anti-convulsants had helped a lot and she was actually able to sleep. However, she was very dizzy from the meds and also quite drowsy. He discussed her continuing on the medication until he would see her again in 5 days.

So with 5 days to spend, we decided to head to the coast and see a little bit more of the country. Although Julie was very sleepy and napped a lot, she felt ok otherwise and was able to walk if she could hang on to me, so we did see some beautiful scenery. We took a quaint wooden junk (boat) out to an island. Julie loves the ocean, and so being on a boat for a few hours as we cruised around some of the thousands of small green islands in Halong Bay was very enjoyable for her. She napped on the deck to the sound of the water against the boat. When we got to Cat Ba Island, she stayed in the room and rested while I explored a bit of the island...

Ok, so once we got back to Hanoi, Julie saw the doctor again, who was delighted with how much her bites had diminished and took more pictures to continue documenting this strange case. He also told her that she needed to continue for a few more days on the antivirals and he wanted to see her again in a few days, which brings us up to now (she sees him tomorrow). He also, and this is the hardest thing, for both of us, recommends that she return home to Canada for further tests (including another MRI and lumbar puncture - eek!) and continue to recover. Both of us were truly hoping that this would not be his recommendation and trying to deny the possibility the whole time we were up at the bay. He also wants her to have a travel companion (which makes sense, since she is dizzy and fuzzy-headed)...and suggested that I go. This would mean cutting my trip short, too, by 5 months, and losing out on all the flights I'd booked (I don't have travel cancellation insurance; thankfully Julie does). So after some discussion and looking into it what her medical insurance covers, it looks like they will cover for a nurse to travel home with her. I'm torn between being a faithful, supportive friend and going home with her, sacrificing all the plans for the next 5 months, or continuing on my own. So, as of now, it looks like I'm facing the reality of continuing on this trip solo, feeling very sad to lose the companionship of a good friend to share all the experiences with. Julie is sad and disappointed too, obviously, to have to return home much earlier than she had planned.

Despite all of this, we've both seen God in these circumstances, providing so well for us. We could have been still in Laos when this happened, where good healthcare is nonexistant. We found a good doctor, and Julie's insurance should cover all the costs, as well as her flights. The hotel we are staying at is significantly cheaper than the other similar places we've seen around town, and it has free wi-fi and computers in the lobby, so Julie has been able to Skype to all the insurance people and her family during all of this. We also have a very comfortable bed and satellite TV, which are both things that make her times resting more enjoyable for her. People have been so very supportive and a huge blessing through emails and Facebook and both of us have been brought to tears at times as we read all the encouragement. Plus, hey, we're still in Vietnam, where the food is amazing and cheap, the people are incredibly friendly and helpful, and we've been able to do a little souvenier shopping and wandering around town.

Thanks so much, everyone, for all your prayers and support :) We will continue to keep you updated as Julie has no flight booked yet, until after she sees the doctor again tomorrow and figures out some insurance things. I will continue to blog the ongoing adventures, albeit solo...

You know you're in Southeast Asia when...

2010-02-24T02:05:00.000-08:00

1. Every restaurant by the side of the road is called "Pho Com" (Soup Rice).
2. Choice of werd speling is up to the wimm of the ritter.
3. Men groom their faces in their motorcycle mirrors at every corner, examining and tweezing their chins.
4. Paying more than $2 for a meal seems extravagant.
5. Entertainment on buses consists of counting bed bug bites and watching Thai karaoke.
6. Horns are used more than the steering wheel and just mean "I'm here."
7. Pringles comes in "spicy squid" and "tomato seaweed" flavors.
8. You feel it's your lucky day when you find toilet paper and/or soap in your squatty potty.
9. It's not unusual to see sheep heart or beef tripe on the menu, or rows of chicken feet on display at the market.
10. You are more likely to find toilet paper on your restaurant table than in the bathroom.
11. Instead of salt, pepper and ketchup on the table, you find sugar, fish sauce, chilis and soy sauce.
12. Your presence on the side of the road is heralded by calls of "tuk tuk? tuk tuk?"
13. You can easily eat soup three times a day.
14. Motorcycles outnumber cars 10:1.
15. A motorbike driver might be accompanied by his family of 4, a whole pig carcass, a tree, a computer monitor...
16. You see a bottle of pop and a small dish of rice in front of a few incense sticks on the sidewalk, in the corner of a shop, on the floor.
17. You find yourself adding hand gestures to more and more of your conversation, until it becomes habit to play charades even when speaking to your travel companions: "I'm looking for deodorant" (while motioning under your arms), "Where can I find RAID?" (while mimicking spiders crawling with your fingers, then a spray can motion and a fake 'dead' face).
18. Cockroaches the size of toonies can be seen scuttling across the sidewalks at night, or it might be a rat...
19. Small children are delighted when you wave at them and then their mothers start chattering in Vietnamese and continue despite the confused looks you give them.
20. Cute cartoon characters are used to advertise everything, to every age group.

...more to come :)

Unwelcome Bedfellows

2010-02-18T22:12:00.000-08:00

I'm giggling a little as I read Julie's last blog entry about her little "roommate" and how much happier she is with her current roommates...she might have to take back that statement after the other night.

Julie, Dave and I arrived in Vientiane, the capital city of Laos, determined, as good backpackers, to find the best value for our money and stay at the most inexpensive "guest house" in the city. After inquiring at a number of hostels and hotels, and being dismayed at their relatively expensive rates (we paid about $3/night each at the last city we stayed; these were asking about twice that), we ended up at Mixok House, whose sparsely decorated and untidy lobby foretold the state of the rooms upstairs. The tattooed, leathered, old Westerner at sitting outside the front door assured us that we wouldn't find anywhere more affordable in the city.

We hauled our bags the rickety open staircase and down the bare hallway to our room. Julie and I were sharing a double room. Our first thought on opening the door was "ick," but we'd stayed in our share of sketchy rooms and were still alive to tell about them. So, Mennonites that we are, we figured it was worth the low cost for the night. The floor was covered in faux wood tiled patterned plastic, with a warning sign to ask the staff if we wanted to move any furniture (that would be the bed or the one small wooden table) or else the floor would rip. The walls were dirty with bits of old tape stuck here and there. Our mattress was covered with a well worn, dirty looking, cigarette burned sheet and felt like stone. We lay our sarongs across the bed to lay down for a minute. We noticed a small bug crawling across the sheet. I asked Julie, "Do you think that might be a bed bug?" She says, "Nah, it's just a beetle." I wasn't completely reassured and, bed bug or not, decided I'd rather sleep on my sleep sheet and sarong than the unappealing mattress.

We learned the hard way that bed bugs are not deterred by sleep sheets. A couple of times during the night, I felt like there was something crawling on me, but when I went to brush it away, didn't find anything there. I chalked it up to my imagination, fueled by our bed bug speculation earlier. I woke up early in the morning, and, feeling something on shoulder again, reached up and scratched it. I felt a "crunch" beneathe my fingers, and when I turned on my flashlight, noticed a splotch of blood on my t-shirt. I discovered that Julie had been up for hours, having realized in the early hours that those "crawly feelings" were hundreds of small bugs feasting on her nutritious blood...

Needless to say, I was out of bed pretty much instantly and examining my bedding and body. I couldn't see any bites on my body, but my sleepsheet was filled with bugs. Ick, ick, ick, ick, ick. We examined all of our bedding and squished as many bugs as we saw, most of which were filled with our life blood. For some unknown reason, I was not itchy nor could I see any bites on myself. Julie, however, is COVERED with bites, all over her neck and back, as well as some on her legs, arms, and face. She's also intensely itchy. We Wikipediaed bed bugs to read that 50% of people don't react to their bites. I feel unfairly spared and extremely sympathetic to Julie.

So, we opted out of our second night at the lovely Mixok...moved on the much more luxurious (by Southeast Asia standards) Dragon Lodge down the street. In some ways, I'm glad to have experienced the scourge I've heard so much about when I worked in Saskatoon. Now I'll be able to recognized the bugs (FYI aka Cimex lectularius) and their bites if I need to :) Always looking for the silver lining....
Ang

Shared Space

2010-02-16T23:43:00.000-08:00

February 10th.
I had just finished visiting with family and friends (Dougherties and Golins, what a fabulous time!) and was on my way from Thailand to Laos to meet up with Ang and Dave in Luang Prabang.

...It was with some relief that I arrived at the Arimid GuestHouse.... My host, the owner, told me it was too hot out, I could check in later. He brought me to a nice, spacious room with a large Queen sized bed and adjoining bathroom with western toilet, toilet paper(!), and hot shower. He told me to please shower and come back later for check in. I wonder, could he read shower all over my face or did I really stink as much as I feared?
After a nice shower I surveyed my rustic surroundings almost giddily. My room was clean although old, the walls rattan/bamboo. From the outside you could see that it was off the ground on stilts and the roof peaked and pointed in very Asian style.
Except one night in Meg's room while visiting Rachel in Peckham, this would be my first night not sharing a house or room with small children or friends, respectively, since the start of my journey exactly 4 months ago. I was quite looking forward to it.
Little did I know what was in store.

Early in the evening I was enjoying reading a book when I heard some russling in the garbage by my bed. I jumped up in time only to see a tail. (Was it a rat tail or was that just my imagination?)
Whatever it was, it ran somewhere - under the head of my bed? I sat there on my bed, afraid to move, not sure exactly what to do. When no movement occurred within the next few minutes I hit the garbage bin with my shoe.
Nothing.
Good.
I carefully picked up the garbage bin (still almost afraid of something else climbing out) and moved it across the room, as far away from the bed as possible.
Within about 5 minutes there was more movement. My little roommate was climbing up the screen of the window behind the bed frame. I can only imagine the size by the movement of the curtains, but fortunately he (or she) moved to the top corner furthest away from me... and after that nothing.
I figured whatever he was, he was gone the way he came in. But just to be safe, I moved the garbage bin into the bathroom and closed the door.
There were many times through the night where I reminded myself that being afraid of rats is silly, nonsensical. What harm can they do? What were the chances, really, of them nibbling on my toes and ears? (I must admit, visions of the ear-less cat we saw in a small mountain village on our trek in Thailand DID come to mind.)
I got about 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep, and for that I am grateful. I woke up to more scurry, this time coming down the screen behind me. This I could handle, but the scurry under my bed afterwards was too much. I turned on the flashlight (that I had fastened to my wrist the night before as a precautionary to more rodent visitors) and made a noise, was it identifiable as human I couldn't tell. Regardless, my little roommate scurried back to the head of my bed and back up the window screen to the far corner.
The rest of my night was filled with dreams of rats and other unpleasant things. After each I would wake up, confirm that the squeaking of the fan was just that, and wish for daylight.

To my current roommates, I will happily share space with you any day of the year! :P
To those of you who can understand the depth of my fear for rats, thank you for your empathetic shudders.
To all of you who realize I am being a little over-dramatic here, please bear with me.

Where Julie's At, Current and Future Endeavors

2010-02-05T16:48:00.000-08:00

Here's Julie with a little update on my life.

Highlights of this week include:

- Wet kisses from my nephew Josiah, definitely highlight number one!

- Playing in the pool, again with the little sweet JoJo

- Barbie pink toenails with Lisa. It's becoming a sister tradition. :P

- Lots of Skype calls with the rest of my family - we're everywhere! (Papua New Guinea, US, and Canada)

- Thursday. On this particular day I participated in an afternoon Thai cooking class with 4 of the Dougherty clan (Tricia, Lisa, Derek, and Laura) and 2 Australians. The cooking class was very helpful, and then afterwards we got to eat all the scrumptous food that we had just made. My menu was as follows: coconut chicken soup, green curry (served with rice), pad thai omelette style, and sticky rice with mango. It was absolutely delicious, and hard to believe that we managed all of that and a trip to the market in just 3 hours.

In the mean time 2 other Doughertys (James and Dan) were out shopping and bought me a USB power adapter (essential for charging my ipod and I needed a new one since Ang and I aren't in the same place). Then, a perfect end to the day was James and Lisa made me gluten-free brownies. I haven't eaten many desserts in the last while due to my dietary restrictions so I gobbled these up!

- Reading with Josiah. He loves books

Yesterday I went into town to pick up a bus ticket for my trip to Chiang Rai today. I had an interesting cultural experience on my way in on public transportation. I drove into town with 4 Buddhist monks and 6 other people. The interesting thing was that these other people were female. Apparently Buddhist monks can't touch females or they have to go through ceremonial cleansing. As our little "taxi" loaded up I observed the women get more and more squished together while the Buddhist monks had lots of free space beside them. Nobody wanted to risk getting to close to one of the monks.

Now here is what is to come (Lord-willing):

My next few days will be spent with the lovely Golins up in Chiang Rai. Then I will be meeting up with Ang and Dave in Laos and will spend the next 6 weeks visiting Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Ang and I will swing back to southern Thailand and spend a couple of weeks doing beaches and islands in the southern part of this country.

Due to financial constraints, I am backing out of returning to Australia in April and doing New Zealand in May. Ang will go on without me while I spend the next couple of months in South East Asia, land of cheap living, land that I love. :) We hope to meet up again in HongKong and complete the last 3 countries together (HongKong, Japan, and China) before heading back to London.

That's it for now, going to spend time with family while I have the chance.

Bat's on the Menu!

2010-02-04T03:34:00.000-08:00

Excerpt from Ang's journal. Feb 5, 2010. Luang Nam Tha, Laos.

"I'm sitting between a morning-quiet Dave and a lady with flower-embossed nails and a Looney Tunes nose/mouth mask. People are chattering in Lao behind me in this rattling mini-van, as we speed around mountain curves on our way to Muang Sing. It's early morning and there is a very brisk chill in the air. Outside the window, mist rises off the river and the bamboo stilted huts rush by. There is a small hanging shrine dangling from the rear view mirror. We just finished our makeshift breakfast of "Vitamin Calcium" biscuits (closer to a Ritz cracker than anything else and as healthy) and mandarin-like oranges, bought on the run at the bus station as we rushed to catch the last two seats in the van. The driver hoots his horn periodically to scare away the chickens, pigs, dogs and children that threaten to dash out in front of us.

We decided on a day trip to Muang Sing as we've heard it is a lovely town and a little more removed from the tourist circuit. Tomorrow we do a two day trek up into the jungle. I'm a little concerned about not having warm enough clothes, but I will look for a second pair of socks and a toque today. Yesterday we took a four hour bus ride from the Thai border to Luang Nam Than. The bus was what one would expect in a poor country like this. The 1940's model which seemed ready to fall apart on the very rough roads. An inquisitive Chinese man sat across the aisle from me, gesturing his interest in everything I take out of my bag - passport, Mp3 player. I let him take my earphones for a while for a little taste of Aretha Franklin.

Two hours into the ride, we stopped at the side of the road for a potty break. We let the men go first, then the women tromped out into the bush ourselves, remembering Lonely Planet's warnings of land mines. Arrived in Nam Than in early afternoon and found ourselves in a spacious and clean guesthouse room complete with hot water and satellite TV. More noodle soup for lunch. The typical meal here is a clear broth with rice noodles, a few vegetables and a few tough pieces of meat. It's served with a heaping bowl of lettuce, fresh basil and lime wedges, as well as a wide assortment of condiments so that you can doctor your bowl up as you wish. Often I avoid the meat altogether, stating emphatically "no meat!" as it's a little sketchy.

We departed from the soup norm and had delicious Indian food for supper. We wandered into the "night market" to observe the supper offerings there - saw all kinds of meat grilled on skewers and managed to figure out, through hand gesture and animal sounds, what most of the meats were. Most exciting was bat, which I am determined to try at some point....but now I shall stop writing as the road is making me a little sick."

Postscript: Returned to market tonight to check out "bat" a little more thoroughly. On closer inspection, could see little beaks and realized it was a small bird. Sigh. Will have to find bat somewhere else. Will let you know when quest is successful, as have heard that bat is definitely eaten in Laos.

Train Rides and Treks....Same Same, but Different

2010-02-01T05:45:00.000-08:00

We took a train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai about a week ago. What a blast. I think I love trains. Why don't we have them in Canada? Oh, I know we do, but they just aren't commonly used for transportation. Our train left Bangkok at around 2:30 in the afternoon and arrived in Chiang Mai at 6 the next morning. We had the cutest little bunks that folded out/down and they made up our beds with sheets and pillows. We had curtains across the bunks for some privacy. There were probably as many tourists on the train as locals, but definitely a fun variety of people to watch. TThe train looked like it was made in the 1950's but it was clean and everything worked. Vendors walked up and down the aisles selling pop and stir fries and snacks and cut up fruit. Oh, and the toilet. Try peeing on a raised squatty potty in a rocking train. Quite the challenge, and obviously other people had issues as well. By the morning, it didn't smell so nice!

By the way, the soup in the top picture was the worst food I've had in this country yet. The majority of it is amazing, but this was greasy and gnurply and tasteless.

So we met a fellow traveler from the U.S. who has been in the Philippines for the last 3 years and is now traveling around, so we have joined up with him for a while and did a trek together a few days ago. Fun times, with 9 of us on the trek and 2 guides. 3 Americans, us 2 Canadians, a Dutch couple and a French couple. It was a great group and we all got along well as we strapped our backpacks on and climbed through bamboo forest and through cool streams to our first night in a small village in the hills north of Chiang Mai. Our guides, "Jungle Joe" and "City John" were definitely a unique pair and we enjoyed the food they cooked for us and their stories about growing up in the village and what life is like there. Joe's favourite lines were "Oh my Buddha!" and "same same.....but different" after which he would laugh hysterically. We camped by a waterfall our first night and and the end of our trek had an elephant ride.Touristy, but fun.

Jungle Joe posing on a break.

One of the villagers with his son (?) I think he was reading him Thai comics.

The waterfall we camped beside. It was SOOOO cold at night - hardly slept at all!

Local village lady weaving. They make the most beautiful fabric!

Ok, sideways...but if you look closely, you can see the frogs that we caught, roasted and ate...mmmm.

Julie and Dave in front of our little sleeping hut.

Fellow trekkers on our elephant ride. We noticed the small size of these elephants' ears vs. the African elephants we saw in December.

We had dinner out with our trekking group after the trek. This little Thai girl was the daughter of the one lady working that night and was helping her mom out. She was quite the character and wouldn't give us our meals until we said the magic words, which she determined on a whim. It seemed it was usually "thank you" in our native language, while we kept trying to say "koh pun kah" to her, which is "thank you" in Thai.

Until next time...

A Few Observations in Bangkok

2010-01-24T19:38:00.000-08:00

I wonder if this would go over well back home -Advertising that you don't check ID cards!

Apparently even monks can take
interest in comparing tattoos.

Cats are EVERYWHERE! That didn't stop
us from seeing a huge rat in an alley, and
by the size of that rat I'm surprised these
cats aren't fatter.

Corn on icecream - anyone?
(sorry about the orientation of this picture)

When the other Snap-Happys Make You Snappy... or Want to SNAP?

2010-01-24T18:01:00.000-08:00

This last week we experienced our first touristy package deal which included a trip to the floating market, lunch, the River Kwai Bridge and a World War II museum that looks like it's been around since... WWII, and a visit to the Tiger Temple. It was an enjoyable day although very long and very touristy. We were herded around by a man whose English was sufficient but at times less than understandable. Five hours of our day were spent whipping around in our little white van in succession with about ten other vans full of snap-happy tourists.

Our first stop was the floating market, which is one of the last markets that centres around the canal. From your little boat you can buy things from neighbours or the stalls that are set up along the side of the canal. We arrived when all of the other tourists from our ten van caravan arrived which made our experience less than authentic, but it was still a lot of fun floating around this little busy canal. Ang and I also experienced our first very delicious mangosteens while at the floating market, but this was only after a woman basically force fed one to me and insisted I needed more. She was going to charge us 100B for 1/2 KG, (~$3.33CAN) I managed to get her down to 30B with a couple rambutans thrown in as well. You know they're trying to overcharge when they will go down to 1/3 the price without any hesitation. :)

Our next destination, after lunch, was the River Kwai. This was a quick stop so after our walk across the bridge we only had about fifteen minutes to speed walk through the WWII museum. The River Kwai was a critical bridging point (no pun intended) for the Japanese in WWII, and POWs of the Allied Forces were forced to work on and maintain this bridge. Apparently many POWs gave their lives in this endeavor.

Our final, and probably favourite, destination was the tiger sanctuary, or "tiger temple." All the people you see dressed in blue are volunteers from all over the world who have come to help out with the animals, or tourists, although maybe these words are interchangeable? Just Kidding!

The monks at this monastery have taken in abandoned/sick animals of all sorts, although the tigers appear to be the favourites. We also saw deer, buffalo, cows, and a camel within its walls.

They took lots of great pictures of us with the tigers, here is one of my favourites.

Aren't they cute?!

As you requested, pictures (a few)

2010-01-20T06:54:00.000-08:00

I don't know if Blogger just isn't set up well, or if it particularily hates me, or if there is a secret I'm unaware, but just so you all know and fully appreciate the aggravation behind posting pictures, I'll say it now: "I hate posting pictures online! It takes forever!!! And never wants to work properly!!!! The pictures don't go where I want them and I can never fit the text under the right pictures!!!!!" There, said! (This is Ang - Julie would never say such a thing)!
So you'll just have to take what you get. Pictures (not in any particular order as Blogger has refused me that privilege):

1. Julie is braver than I and samples the barbequed squid skewer. I did have a bite, just to say I had, but I'm sure I could feel the tentacles suckering to the sides of my mouth.

2. Thanon Khao San as described in our last post. We don't know the random guy in the foreground. Amber, and other TLC friends, note the "Tempo Bar" on the right.

3. Julie is ticklish and the fish foot spa was quite the endurance test for her!

4. For my work friends. Thai public health nightmare #487: whole family on motorbike including 6 month old in mom's arms. I've also seen a girl nodding off as she clung to her dad's back in rush hour traffic and a little boy tied onto his mom with what looked like a dish towel.

5. Our first Thai food - we bought it at the airport takeaway and devoured it at our first hostel in Bangkok - and I still think it's the best we've had yet. It was amazing soup - so good!!

6. Self-explanatory. I love it!

7. We went to see this huge statue of Buddha - there are about a million temples (wats) in Bangkok, but this one was known for the size of the Buddha. These are just his feet.

8. People have foot massages on the street near where we are staying. We had one yesterday, although it was actually inside the building.

Thanon Khao San - we're not in Saskatchewan anymore, Julie!

2010-01-19T00:00:00.000-08:00

Bangkok...wow! What an overwhelming banquet for the senses. We are staying at a guesthouse just 1/2 block off of Thanon (Street) Khao San, which is, as Lonely Planet puts it "the main travellers' centre." It is a street that feels like a constant festival, strung with banners and lined with hundreds of little shops spilling out onto the sidewalks, selling everything from jewellery (silver, wood, shells) to silk to electronics. There are food vendors with tiny carts, making pad thai, roti (with bananas, nutella, and condensed milk), skewers of meat, fresh fruit (mango, pineapple, guava, rambutan etc - a public health no-no, I'm sure). There are places to have your hair braided or dreaded, get a tattoo, have a massage, have a fish food spa (more on that later), use the internet, book a tour...

There are pictures of the king, His Majesty Bhumibol Adulyadej, everywhere. Apparently he is the longest reigning monarch in Thai history, and in the world right now - he's been on the throne for over 60 years. Small shrines are tucked into corners all over the place, with small offerings of rice or a bottle of pop or candy. There is music and lights and random cats running around. Side alleys with more vendors beckon, leading to other streets...it's a bit of a maze. And pretty much everything cost under $10 Cdn. There are tiny 7-11's selling none of the usual 7-11 fare, but more exotic offerings such as shredded pork burgers between 2 sticky rice "buns," which Julie had for lunch today, fresh fruit smoothies, and a lot of fun Asian candy. It's so hard not to instantly go into shopoholic mode and snatch up all the cute things. I suppose backpacking puts a bit of (probably healthy) damper on things as all must fit into the already jam-packed bag before we leave the city. I may be sending home another box home before too long!

Seriously, I think this street is like the top of the Magic Faraway Tree where each time you walk down it, it changes. Julie and I literally spent the whole day yesterday walking up and down the one street and surrounding alleys and continually seeing new things and asking each other "were we already down here?"

We splurged on the $5 fish foot spa where you sit on the edge of a little tank filled with hundreds of small fish - they look like feeder goldfish - and dangle your feet in. The hungry creatures attack your feet and start nibbling at all the dead skin. It feels like you've immersed your feet in a very fizzy drink and thousands of tiny bubbles are popping against them. And after wearing sandals for the last three months, these fish had a feast on my feet! They do feel surprisingly soft afterwards. Today, Thai massage for $6...more later :)

Sydney Airport, I love thee

2010-01-16T08:25:00.000-08:00

Here I am, in a state of semi-exhaustion and the associated quasi-naseous feeling that accompanies jet lag, maybe 6 hours of interrupted dozing, and a 8 hour time time difference in the last 24(?) hours...

Julie and I are spending the night in the Sydney airport. I must say, the Aussies know what they are doing when it comes to airports, and if we are going to stay somewhere overnight, this is a pretty good place to do it. We flew in from Johannesburg yesterday on Qantas...what a great airline! I had not flown with them before and after many Air Canada flights where I had to pay for everything, to receive a free snack bag, toothbrush, eye mask...not to mention a great selection of movies and games and cold apples brought around in the middle of the night, I think I'm now a Qantas rep :)

And the wonders of the Sydney airport - free internet! Yay! (In London, we paid dearly for 1/2 hour of dodgy internet that cut in and out, and keyboards with sticky space bars). We started the night on benches in the outside smoking/lounge area, which was surprisingly comfortable until it started to rain and a cleaner came to inform us that security would kick us out around 10 pm. But he did tell us that in the parents' lounge, we could find a place to sleep. I think he might have been an angel, because we found the most comfortable "beds" in there. It was a huge blessing to have a semi-private, comfortable bench to lie on. We did have a few people come in and out (oddly enough, none of them had children with them) but were left alone to grab 4 or so hours of sleep.

Oh, the reason we are here for the night is that we are catching a 6 am flight from here to Melbourne, then on to Bangkok. We decided to postpone our exploring of Sydney until after we've been to Southeast Asia, as Julie's sister and her family are in Bangkok for a conference at the end of this month and we wanted to catch them there.

Alright! Another wonder of this place is free showers!! Yay again! Hope you're all well, enjoying the luxury of your own beds and readily available showers!

Still in Africa - and that's NOT a complaint!

2010-01-10T05:08:00.000-08:00

Apologies for the long silent spell here... our internet access over the last few weeks has been poor.

In the mean time we are enjoying our last week in Africa. What a better way to spend this week than with the Kowalskis in Botswana! The Kowalskis are a lovely family we know from our church back home in Canada. Memorables so far from our time here include the following: family worship time, legos, tickle torture (there was some debate over the word "torture" as I am the only one who considers it so - HEY! I'm the one being tickled Miss Abigail! :)), and a beautiful river boat ride on the delta.

Enjoying the River (but only briefly in it to avoid crocodile bites)

Project LEGO TOP SECRET

Ang and the Zebras on a Stroll in Swaziland

Feeding a Giraffe - yes, that is its tongue wrapped around my hand

Our plan from here is to fly to Sydney, Australia next Friday the 15th of January, then we're off to Thailand the following day. We will loop back to Australia in March (Lord-willing) but will be in Thailand over the period of time when my sister Lisa & James and nephew Josiah are there. This is a very excited auntie!

Until next time,

-Julie for the both of us

More Laughables

2009-12-17T06:50:00.000-08:00

The following is a list of some of the things that make me laugh:

- My receipt from Gum Tree Lodge says "Mrs. and Miss Willms"

- I managed to kill 3 mosquitoes on my forehead in one night. The only reason I know it wasn't the same one buzzing around my head all night is that, the following morning, all 3 were still plastered there between my brow and my hairline.

- Maria, yes in the presence of men says "Julie, are you wearing a bra? Put your camera in your bra!" This was after I was struggling down a steep path with the camera in one hand.
For those of you curious to know, yes it did work. It may have stuck too, as Ang and I do occasionally use this "Maria" technique to store essential valuables.

- Ang drove down Port St. Johns' one way main street THE WRONG WAY (~15 meters) only to have a police car pull past, stop in front of us, and with power and authority (and disgust) exclaim "What are you doing?! Have you been here before? This is a one way street. OPEN YOUR EYES!" After a firm warning we were free to continue on our way. We have been down this street multiple times since then and can not, for our lives, see any sign that indicates it is a one way street. Go figure.

- We saw Twilight's New Moon in a very nice theatre for CAN $3 each.

- Similarly, I just picked up Michael Buble's newest CD at a very reasonable price. There is a lot of good dance music on this CD but unfortunately I have not been able to practice my moves since the only time we can listen to it is when we are in the car.

- Marshmallows (pink = strawberry?, white, and brown = cappucino) have been roasted over candle, fire, and gas stove. Gast stove seems to work the best.

- Watching a bright green chameleon as it tries to walk stealthily across the dirt road.

- Ang challenging a vervet monkey and losing. We ended up moving so as not to have our lunches stolen and/or risk being bitten but this little guy.

- The 5 cent coin in South Africa (valued at less than a Canadian penny) - some places only allow you to use two of these 5 cent coins per purchase. Say what?? It's all money isn't it?

Food!

2009-12-13T23:19:00.000-08:00

Food. It's amazing that I haven't written at all about food yet, as Julie asserts that it is my favourite topic. And I'll admit, I do love food.

When our crazy and fantastic chef friend Maria was traveling with us, we made a pact with her that we would eat something "South African" or "exotic" every day. We did very well for a while, although now we may have settled into bit of a mundane pattern (I'll extrapolate later). Here's the list of our pact-filling food adventures:

- ostrich mince meat in spaghetti sauce

- ostrich egg fritatta (we told you about that adventure already!) - 20 eggs worth devoured in one meal!

- kudu biltong - biltong is like the South African version of jerky. You can find it in every incarnation here...every flavour, every type of meat. They love their biltong. It's like jerky but harder and saltier.

- pap and samp - these are both versions of mealie meal mush that is ubiquitous to all of Africa, it seems. We ate it by the name of "sadza" in Zimbabwe growing up and I think some people call it "ugali." I like it. And best of all, it's gluten free!

- potje (pronounced "poy-key") - this is a stew cooked for hours over the fire, with lots of big chunks of vegetables, lamb/mutton, dried fruit. Very yummy.

- babotie - Maria made this one for us. Not sure of it's authenticity, but it is a mince meat dish sort of like moussaka, with a custard-like sauce on top. Maria served us this on banana leaves - she's so good at presentation! I need to learn more about that.

- maize meal porridge - Jules discovered this delicious cream-of-wheat-esque instant porridge that you just add water to. It come in original, vanilla, banana, strawberry and sweetcorn flavours. Have tried all but banana and strawberry, which seem a bit suspicious. We like the vanilla best.

- crocodile and zebra pates - available at the upscale grocery stores. Not bad, actually, although they are only 20% meat and the rest ...?

- woers - spicy sausages that are everywhere here. South Africa's favourite meat - usually cooked over a braii (barbeque).

- chakalaka - we have just bought the tinned version of this, which is a lovely spicy mixture of tomatoes, onions, butternut squash, etc, which is a lovely topping for rice.

- lots of South African wine. I'm not a wine (or any alcohol) drinker usually, but Maria loved her wine and so I've had more over the last few weeks than in the rest of my life, I think. You can get a nice-tasting wine for about $3 at any grocery store here, so I suppose if I'm going to be a wine drinker, now is the time!

- Peartizer, Grapetizer and Appletizer. For those of you who've been to SA, we dream about these when we go home, although really, they are nothing extraordinary, but are very good carbonated fruit juice. Mmmm Peartizer.

- Tempo bar - have just had one of these so far, but they too, have taken on an iconic status, especially with TLC-ers as the tradition used to be to greet new volunteers with one of these chocolate shortbread caramel bars.

- chutney - I love chutney! And it is available as well in every version here! I think there is a distinct lack of chutney on our Canadian grocery shelves.

I was going to tell you about our typical diet too...Julie and I try to eat on the cheap most of the time and so we have been buying the majority of our meals - maybe eating out once a week, if that. This is our typical diet:

Breakfast: instant mealie porridge, supplemented with raisins, cinnamon and/or peanut butter.

Mid-morning snack - an apple

Lunch - sardines on crackers, or peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Sometimes if we have the motivation, we make a rice and lentil salad the night before, or hard-boil some eggs.

Snack - peanuts or crackers or fruit

Supper - rice or samp or potatoes with either a veggie stir fry, or chakalaka. Sometimes some meat. We've made soup a couple of times. Sometimes we do an omelet with veggies. Then sometimes a mango or canned peaches or a bit of chocolate for dessert.

Well, that was interesting to me. I hope the rest of you are as interested in the mundane details of life. I know I like reading about food.

Change of Plans...

2009-12-09T06:31:00.000-08:00

Ang and I have been a bit under the weather, so instead of heading up to Botswana as initially intended, we are heading back east to do Kruger National Park now. We hope to swing back to Botswana and visit the Kowalskis after the new year when we won't be as likely to share our germs.
We are looking forward to seeing the big 5 and everything else that this area has to offer. We are staying at a backpackers in Sabie & facilities are nice, the area gorgeous. We are feeling a little questionable about our host, however. Within minutes of arriving he suggested a nude swim in the pool after dark. Maybe.... NOT! There have also been several references to drugs and an invitation of sorts to stay up partying until the early hours of tomorrow. I hate to disappoint, but I think I will probably wake up soon after he goes to bed. :P
Time is up so I shall end this post here. Please don't worry mother, we are safe. We might even lock our room tonight! :)

Our Kindly Silver KIA

2009-12-09T06:20:00.000-08:00

Entry from my journal on 4-Dec-09:

Ang has not been feeling well the last few days, today she thinks she might actually have an ear infection. The poor dear. Shame! (That's for you Karabo!)
This has meant that I have become the primary driver of our little standard KIA. It's gone from somewhat terrifying (my feelings only I think, not my actual driving ;)) to FUN. I actually caught what I'm supposed to do while in heavy traffic entering Durban on the freeway. Here had been the hangup - I take things quite literally. When I was told that gas and clutch should not both be used at the same time, this made it very difficult for me to start into first gear (i.e. quickly release clutch and then gas, quick! Aah, no... stalled again. Next effort was over-compensating and, without fail, SCRReeeching...)
As I was saying, yes, I finally got the swing of a good start while entering Durban on the freeway. Since then it's like driving has taken on a new meaning. (People, I only drove automatics until now.) I've had great practice with the little silver KIA going up and down mountains and swerving potholes, people, cows, goats, sheep, baboons and anything else that happens to find itself in the middle of the road.
Maria has since left us (while in Durban). She always really enjoyed it when I would drive. It's a shame she never got to experience it now. Maybe she wouldn't have wanted to, though. I have fond memories of her laughing through my jolts and bumps and asking for us to find some more "bouncy" music to match the driving experience. I think she enjoyed the rush!

The $2.00 Haircut

2009-12-01T02:25:00.000-08:00

I had my hair cut right before I left Canada, and at the time, asked the hairdresser to leave the front a bit longer so I could put it up. Well, 2 months later, it is looking a bit sad and has been bugging me for a while, with very long bits in front and short in the back - like a reverse mullet :) So I thought - I could probably fix this myself, but I don't have scissors, so I'll just go find somewhere cheap and get them to trim the front and my bangs for me. Just even up the front with the back. Couldn't be so hard, right? So we wander into this little shop in downtown Durban and there is a guy lounging on a couch. I ask him, "do you work here? Can you cut my hair" meaning straight hair, as most of the salons cater to people wanting extensions and hair straightening. So he says yes and I sit down. Now, he grabs a pair of scissors, doesn't wet or hold my hair with his other hand, and just starts hacking at my swinging hair. I'm making grimaces in the mirror and Julie is sitting there trying not to laugh. So, yeah, he cut off the sides (unevenly) and they ended up being quite a bit shorter than the back. I think he did ok with the bangs, and at least I can still put the top up, so it'll be ok. But really, I think his girlfriend worked there and he was just lounging around to pick her up b/c he had to ask how much to charge me (R15) and his technique was non-technique. I would have been better off buying a pair of scissors and getting Julie to do it for me. Next time. I wouldn't have as fun a story that way, right? So we just laughed a lot about it.

Things I find amusing in Port St. John

2009-11-27T07:41:00.000-08:00

1. Men pee everywhere. Seems every time we rounded a corner in the road, someone would be peeing on the side. I was sitting on the beach, and this guy who was sitting next to me, chatting (asking me if he could be my man, ha ha), gets up in the middle of our conversation, stands up behind he and takes a leak. He wasn't winning any points with me that way.

2. There is an abundance of stray dogs, who seem to latch on to us everywhere. Sometimes they chase cows, sometimes they are chased by small pigs.

3. In the grocery store, a lady is employed to sell bananas as if she is auctioning them off: "Bananas R2.95...2.95 bananas, get your bananas" over and over again into a microphone. Sometimes she would get bored and stretch out the words ba-naaaa-naaaass....

4. Even in the middle of nowhere, there are Jehovah's Witnesses giving us pamphlets on the street, and we saw at least one Kingdom Hall in a crumbling old concrete building.

5. You can buy a brandy and egg scented shampoo that smells exactly like egg nog.

6. Emily, our peddling friend, insists that the most important word she's going to teach me in Xhosa is the word for "the hole in your bum" and her friends comment on the beauty of my "meaty calves."

7. Maria shames all the locals into picking up their glass bottles by picking them up herself and scolding them for their lack of care for their neighbourhood.

8. Monkeys digging in our garbage demonstrate the origin of the phrase "cheeky monkey" as they blatantly ignore our attempts to shoo them away from our banana and orange peels.

9. People are shocked that I do not have any children and can't comprehend that it's because I haven't yet found the right man to marry.

10. The people staying in the hut next to us seemed to use their van as a stereo system for their house and play a hip-hop version of St. Elmo's Fire over and over again at top volume.

11. Cows have free reign of everywhere...yesterday I got up at 5:30 to a herd sauntering past our hut dropping cowpies haphazardly across the walking path.

12. We are asked at least 3 times a day whether we want to buy crayfish or mussels. Had my mussel experience already - no more, thanks!

The Wild Coast!!

2009-11-21T02:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we were in Coffee Bay and we woke up to Rain, with a capital R - a tropical storm. We had arrived in Coffee Bay after dark, which we hate doing, on a road that tried to swallow our car whole in the potholes. It was like playing some sort of 3D video game where the obstacles were holes in the road, speed bumps that appeared out of nowhere, people walking in the middle of the road (or sitting with their children, as we once saw), dogs, goats, and fog. We were trying to get ourselves and our car to somewhere to spend the night without any damages along the way. The scenery getting there was beautiful. Green mountains dotted with small rondavels in pastel colours, with chickens and children running amok among them. It felt more like the "Africa" we all think of as typical, although I'm starting to realize (if I hadn't already) that there is no one typical Africa, at least not here in SA. We had left Chintsa, which we adored for it's amazing white sand beach and hostel that felt more like a resort (despite the rain!) and driven to Umtata. We had been planning to go to a remote backpackers in Bulungula which can only be reached by a 4x4 - we called there from Umtata and they said they only did pickups at 5 pm from Coffee Bay. As we were too late to be there by 5, we figured we'd call them the next morning and arrange it for yesterday.

So we stayed a while in Umtata, which was a town with no other Caucasians (wait - I saw one in the mall) and visited their Nelson Mandela museum, which our begrudging wallets were glad to see was free. Such an amazing man who really did a lot to change apartheid, along with others in SA. It seems he's a bit of an idol, or maybe an icon, to the people here. Incredible person. So, officially, apartheid is over in this country, but separation still seems to be the norm, if not the law. Very seldom do we see mixing of races, other than the blacks working menial jobs in white-dominated towns. Perhaps in Cape Town, there was a bit more racial variety. However, in most of the towns we've stopped in along the way, we are the only whites. I think, recognized as foreigners, we are welcomed, and people are very friendly for the most part.

Yesterday we were taken in by the most precocious little peddler - a 14 year old named Emily. She saw us in our car and made this face of shock or horror or, apparently, recognition. I was thinking perhaps something was wrong with the car or something like that. We rolled to a stop at the bottom of the driveway we'd been pulling out of and she says "I've seen you before" to Maria and me, but she hadn't. I think it was a ploy to get us to stop, and it worked. So she showed up her beaded wares - anklets, necklaces, bracelets. Nothing exciting, just plain beads. But because she was so cute adn had made an effort and was trying to support herself (pay school fees, she said), Julie and I bought a couple of thingss. Then she wanted a ride, so we gave her one down the road. Poor Maria in the back had to squash in nice and close with Emily and all our bags (the boot holds our groceries). Emily proclaimed Maria as her "granny" and we got an adorable picture of the two of them. The interaction with her was fun and Port St. John's has been more enjoyable, overall, than Coffee Bay, where we woke up with pouring rain yesterday morning.

It's funny, some people (other travelers) we meet along the way have such great recommendations for things and often we realize they are not to be trusted. We're learning to look at the person giving the advice and what sort of lifestyle and activities tehy prefer before jumping into their recommendations. Their were 2 guys in Chintsa who loved the Coffee Shack, a hostel in Coffee Bay. We arrived there (after dark, you recall) to ear-drum breaking music and a very dirty kitchen. Oh, we bely our age and priorities when we say that a clean kitchen and quiet dorm are more important then the bar or party life. We've been in a few places with neither and we tend to vacate the premises asap. So we went across the street (potholed mud-path?) to Bomvu Backpackers, which was a little better, but still dirty, dirty, dirty kitchen. I suppose if we weren't cooking all our own food, it wouldn't matter so much, although it probably indicates the state of their cafe kitchen as well. Sometimes having a biology degree and working in public health is too much knowledge. I need to trust my immune system!!

Bomvu has local pubescent girls perform every week - "traditional dances" - we watched a bit, but somehow were left with a yucky feeling - these girls arrived in western style clothing, then took off their tops and put on teeny skirts to perform their dances and singing. They were lovely girls, but some seemed self-conscious about being shirtless and the leering men at the bar seemed to appreciate it a little too much. I don't know - when they passed around their donation plate at the end, it seemed a little exploitive and I hoped the girls weren't learning to sell their bodies...then there was a drumming session which was fantastic, but just on the other side of a bamboo wall from our dorm. So I fell asleep to african rhythms feeling like they were changing the beat of my heart, and woke up to rain like I've never seen. Quite fun, actually.

I've been waking early, around 6:30, and spending some time by myself before the others are up. So I woke and showered and went up to find some quiet place - Bomvu didn't have much for hang-out spots - I ended up in their "restaurant" area at a wooden table. There was one other fellow who started up a conversation. Well, I didn't get much quiet time and actually, an hour and a half later, I felt quiet saddened by the guy - we seemed the most bitter, hopeless and despondant person. Actually, i think he was mentally disturbed. Very shortly into our conversation, he started telling me about his ancestors who descended from Norse warriors and Satan worshippers and soon thereafter told me he was a drifter with no purpose in life. I started to ask him about that and he snapped "and don't starting telling me any of that Bible b.s." which surprised me, actually, as I had not indicated my beliefs at all. So I just sat there praying for wisdom as he raved about his hatred of men, his drug and whore habits, his dislike of authority and lack of need for relationships. I felt so sad for him. I managed to extract myself from his grasping words after an hour or so when everytime I opened my mouth he cut me off...

By this time it had stopped pouring so Jules and I took the bumblebee and ladybug umbrellas that Maria bought at PEP and decided to explore a bit. 2 of the hostel dogs came along. We wore our flip flops (slip slops here) and waded and unstuck our way through puddles and mud down to the beach, which was rocky and dirty and disappointing under the cloudy skies. We met a South African couple who looked like they were hobbits or something of that ilk. Toothless, with a long bushy beard, wild hair and galoshes, the man gave us advice about traveling to Durban and commiserated with us about the weather. We stopped in at a jewellery shop run by a guy who lived in a tent adn made stuff out of shells and sea glass. His work area was surrounded by windcatchers and mobiles made of the same. We then stopped in at a little screen-printed t-shirt shop, filled with clothes covered in images of Rastafarian heroes. And we were starting to realize that this little town was a haven for hippies and dope-smokers - perhaps this is why the hostels were is such a state - maybe people just didn't care enough.

So now, we're in PSJ's, which I remember from 4 years ago - it's strange to be back in the same kitchen where Leah, Ashley and I made french toast over the gas stove (remember, girls?) and walked down the beach paradise with monkeys, geckos, and parrots. I was hoping this visit would be warmer, as we are here in summer, but it's still chilly and wet, but getting better. We've had rain and clouds almost every day since arriving in S.A. - our tans are in a sad state for having been here 3 weeks!...more to come when I've got more time!

a little more on the ostrich

2009-11-13T23:03:00.000-08:00

Here is a little continuation of Ang's post this morning, providing you with some interesting tidbits on the ostrich, an animal I have become very fond of over the last week. :)
I will copy from my journal notes.

This morning Ang and I had a "tour" of sorts with a local ostrich farmer. We got to ride in the back of the truck (reminded me of my childhood in Indonesia). He showed us some ostrich out in the field male (black and white with the red forelegs and beaks in mating season) and female (grey). There they live for about 8 months of the year. The females will lay an egg every other day, each is the equivalent of about 20-24 chicken eggs. Apparently they are higher in cholesterol than chicken eggs, a contrast in health to their lean red meat which we experienced a couple days ago.
There are 3 different kinds of ostrich farmed, these are the smallest about about 120-130 kgs. About 1/4 of their weight becomes sellable meat. Ostrich hides are also valuable (sold mostly to U.S. and Mexico for cowboy boots etc?) and the feathers (mostly to Brazil). Initially the ostrich was only farmed for the male white feathers, they were worth their weight in gold at that time. Now most people raise them for the meat, which is primarily exported to Europe.
There are apparently ~350 ostrich farms around this area.
The ostrich were very cute, with big eyes and eyelashes. They look hilarious with their long legs and necks, and even more funny when they run. Apparently they can run ~80 km/hr, maintain ~60 km/hr for about 4 kms. Their beaks are harmless but they will kick and injure with their toenails. In any case, it's probably not a good idea to try to outrun them.

We also saw a nest that the male makes for the females who come to his territory and mate with him. Then we saw some 3/12 olds who are getting just old enough to care for themselves. They looked just a little smaller than the adults, I guess they grow a ton for the first little while but then are not ready to reproduce until about 2 years of age for the females, 3 years for the males.
The last stop was seeing the little ones who were about 1/12 old. Apparently a female will have about 12-18 eggs, laying one every other day. Once she has laid them all she will sit on them, and they all hatch within about 3 days of each other... and you can't even tell the ones that were laid first from the ones that were laid last even though they could have 30+days difference between them. Fascinating.
The ostrich brain is about the size of one of their eyeballs, they're apparently not too bright.
But they sure are cute.
I'd like to take one home with me.

-Julie

Finally!

2009-11-13T22:04:00.000-08:00

It's been so long since we posted much of anything. Internet is usually expensive and our short time allows us answers to emails and banking-type stuff and not much else. So now we have access to free internet at the Wild Spirit Lodge where we are staying on the east coast of S.A. and I'm not sure whether I should go back and write about things that we've done or simply start from here. I think we may do a bit of both if we have the time. So some entries may not really be in chronological order, but you won't know the difference, right? I thought to save on thinking time, I'd just transpose my journal entry from the day before yesterday...we were in the Klein Karoo, which is a desert-y area partway up the coast.

"I'm sitting at the top of a hill surrounded by rocks and small bushes and cacti - I can hear flies buzzing and birds chirping and dogs barking and cows mooing. We stayed last night at the "Amber Lagoon." It's in the middle of nowhere, 30-some km from Oudtshoorn - in the Karoo. It's remote and rugged and peaceful. In an hour Julie and I are supposed to do a "genuine" tour of an ostrich farm. The farmer lives next door and he's picking us up at 9 to show us his farm. The lady who runs the hostel (more on her later) said that we must do his little tour, not the commercialized one (which I did last time I was in S.A.). We're hoping to score an ostrich egg off him because wouldn't it be cool to have an ostrich egg omelet? This hostel is very rustic - we slept in a straw and bamboo loft above the house - this was the "dorm" - 8 mattresses on the floor in a bit of an attic, but for $10 a night, we can't really complain. In fact, we wouldn't want to - it's actually lovely, other than the mosquitoes and the pigeons sliding off the tin roof above us (not the mosquitoes sliding, just buzzing!) And a few lizards wandering around. No sleeping in here with the birds and roosters and dogs and cows and tractors.

I can see ostrich from my spot on the hill. There is a beautiful pool area, and as it is finally sunny where we are, I think we may just chill today - be lazy and hang out here - stay another night tonight. Suzanne (hostel lady) owns the place and is originally from Germany and has been here for 7 years. Her partner, she says, spends extended amounts of time in Germany with his family and so she is often here alone. She says she is never lonely and doesn't need people around, just her 3 dogs. Maria (who we are traveling with) thinks she is running or hiding from something out here in the wilderness. We took her a bit by surprise as we hadn't phoned ahead. She came to the gate in a rather dishevelled state and seemed very surprised to see us. I get the feeling they don't get a lot of guests here. It's definitely not on the partying route as some of the hostels in Cape Town tend to be. But it is lovely and peaceful out here.

I love how each night in a backpackers is a completely different experience. We had such a great time in Cape Town - got to know other people, really enjoyed the staff, but it had more of a party feel. Last night in Hermanus (where we had an amazing experience whale-watching), it had more of a hippy/commune feel with a big community kitchen and staff with dreads and pets wandering around. Lots of brightly painted walls. And the power went out and we played cards by candlelight. Julie declares how she loves the "nook-y" feel of the place and Maria and I just cracked up at this. Last night, at this place, feels again so different. No other guests here - feels like wilderness. Ate our supper of rice with lentil stew, white wine, and chocolate outside under the amazingly brilliant and numerous stars."

The ostrich tour was a lot of fun - we learned so many interesting things about ostriches and were a bit in love with them by the time our time there was over. So cute. And they taste good :) - we had some ostrich the other day - so yummy. Plus, the egg turned out fantastically. We made 2 fritattas and ate them both last night. We weren't sure how to get into the egg as they are rather thick and to just try to crack it would make a bit of a mess. So Julie drilled into it with a knife and we made another hole in the bottom and everything just came out. The farmer said this one was a "small" one - the equilavent of about 20 chicken eggs. Tasted the same to me. We're trying to eat lots of interesting things here. Maria is hilarious. She's a Canadian lady of Portuguese descent who is in here late 50's - we met up in Cape Town at the hostel and realized we have some things in common and so have ended up taking her with us up the coast. She used to be a vegetarian but has given it up and on this trip is making up for it with a vengeance! Every animal we see, we joke about it ending up in her stewpot. So we've had zebra pate (with a can of crocodile to try to) which we found at the local supermarket, kudu biltong yesterday, ostrich and ostrich egg...we'll see what else we end up with.

Ok...I think Julie is going to post about the wonders of ostriches a bit later today, but in the meanwhile, I'm off to make myself some rooibos tea. Cheers!

Ang

Capetown

2009-11-08T01:52:00.001-08:00

We arrived in Capetown this last week Tuesday to heat and sun! As it turns out, that ended up being the nicest day weather-wise that we have had so far. Since then we've had a lot of rain and wind. We continue to lengthen our time in hopes that one of these days we will make it up Table Mountain.
In the mean time we have made some friends at the hostel we are staying at, visited a couple of museums, and gone shopping. When the weather has been less wet we have visited Cape of Good Hope, a township at Cape Flats, and Simon's Town (where the penguins are). I just love the coast, it is gorgeous. I could live here! :)
I am trying to rush this blog but will try to write something a little more exciting the next time I am on. We will see what kind of blog the creative genius Ang will produce... :)

Chocolate!!!

2009-10-30T10:52:00.000-07:00

Hey all - we've been hoping to post something new for days...they are just flying by and yet it feels like we've been gone forever! How do I even start to tell about all the fun we've had so far? We're staying with lovely friends Lucy and Hannah who I met at TLC during my year there. We're in Birmingham, England. We spent today at Cadbury World, which is the CHOCOLATE WONDERLAND of Bournville. Imagine Charlie and the smell of chocolate wafting through the factor. Samples of Dairy Milk and pots of liquid chocolate and little cocoa beans dancing around. I think we bought out the "World's Largest Cadbury Shop" and will be sending lucky family members samples of yummy chocolate. We went out for Balti food last night in the Indian area of town and wandered past amazingly intricate saris and exotic candy shops. Tomorrow I head to visit my friend Naomi and her family (including newish baby!) for the weekend while Julie heads back to London to visit a bit more with her friend Peckham. Then it's off to Cape Town on Monday evening! We've enjoyed our time in the UK so much but are also itching for some sun!
I also want to write about our time in Northern Ireland, but perhaps that will wait for another day!
Ang

Worth a Thousand Words?

2009-10-19T13:55:00.000-07:00

In no particular order... Ang, Rachel and Julie at Greenwich park/hill/observatory with a view of London behind us.

With our new Canadian friend Jimmy on board a floating pub (yup, that's Big Ben in the background).

Our first hosts, the Marfleets, set an unbeatable standard of hospitality and we felt so welcome at their home in Paddock Wood.

Julie looks unimpressed with Uncle David's tour guiding...but he did a great job explaining to us the history of Kent and pointing out the hops fields in front of us.

We relaxed in Trafalgar Square for a good part of the afternoon and had good fun tourist watching (and mocking).

Buckingham Palace (can't you tell?)

One girl, one pack...no world yet (in Mom's living room).

One of the many cemetery pictures...so mysterious and old...some of them dated back to the 1700's.

That's it for now...maybe next time will be more coherent :) Love you all!

What would You have for me?

2009-10-14T04:06:00.000-07:00

This entry is just to give you a quick glimpse of the road I (Julie) have walked leading into this trip. My hope is that it may give you better insight into my perspective and expectations for what is coming. I would also like you to notice that it helps with regards to number of blog entries I submit (if we're keeping track now).
My health has been a bit of a roller coaster ride over the last couple of years. At this point I have come to terms with the realization that I may be living with something called chronic fatigue syndrome. The last month and a half or so before this trip I had what I think may have been a relapse. I was practically glued to bed and couch for weeks, or so it seemed! I am doing better now but still in recovery mode.
I admit it has been difficult for me to come to this place. I have always led a very active lifestyle. In fact, I promote movement/exercise as an occupation.
So what am I doing taking off out of country in this state of health? I may not be able to do as much exploring as I originally hoped, but I am excited for the chance to meet people, get away from my regular routine of life and refocus. I may not know what's in store, but I do know the Lord's faithfulness in my life and I trust He's got it taken care of.
"God, what would You have for me?"

in London Tout est Proche!

2009-10-14T03:35:00.000-07:00

Now the word is out that Ang and I are having a blog entry competition... I wouldn't mind except that I am losing miserably!

Yesterday we had our first trip into London. Despite various rest breaks we were able to experience the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace (or so we thought?), Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, a look at Westminster Cathedral from the outside, a service in Westminster Abbey, a walk by Downing Street, the parliament buildings, and Big Ben. I agree with the French woman we passed exclaiming "Tout est proche! Tout est proche!" (Translation: Everything is close!) I was amazed how close these landmarks are to each other.
Throughout the day I found myself giggling when Ang would open her mouth as she subconsciously switches to an English accent and, since it doesn't sound quite right, it makes it difficult for me to keep a straight face. At one point Ang told me "That monk just told me off!" in her English way; that had me going for a while.
It looks like today will be a more restful day spent with the Marfleets, then tomorrow we will be heading back into the city until the end of the weekend.
Here's Julie signing off until next time...

Lovely Paddock Wood

2009-10-12T07:26:00.000-07:00

Hi, it's Ang.

So apparently Julie blogged on here (as you may have noticed, it's just been me so far) but I'm not seeing anything...she thinks it is a competition, but I assured her that I'm probably going to win, so we'd might as well not bother competing :) No, we're really not too competitive most of the time!

We are here in Paddock Wood, which is a lovely little village-town in Kent. I find that I'm using the word "lovely" all too often here. I'm not sure if it's because things are actually all so lovely so far, or if it's the British influence. We've been noticing a lot of other words we don't usually use. When Sarah picked us up at the airport, she commented that we must be "shattered," Mary was remarking on things being "brilliant," we've been instructed about putting "rubbish" in the "bin," and noticing that the yield signs instruct us to "give way." Love it! I'm so reminded of all the books I read as a kid, growing up in Zimbabwe, where the British were a big part of the culture and left behind all sorts of Enid Blyton ("bags I the front seat" said the Naughtiest Girl) and E. Nesbit books...I'm thinking about Noddy and the Famous Five and all the Mr. Bean episodes I watched later on. It just looks so stereotypically English everywhere we go :)

Julie and I are staying with her family friends from childhood - fellow missionaries in Indonesia who now live in the UK. They have been overwhelmingly welcoming to us so far and we are feeling unworthy and very spoiled by their kindness. We were picked up at the airport, which was so easy compared to finding our way around on the "tube," given a beautiful (I had to remind myself not to write "lovely" again) guestroom and treated to a delicious dinner and scintillating conversation. We fell into bed around 9 (I hadn't dozed more than a couple of hours on the plane) and woke up this morning to breakfast laid out for us (including a nice gluten-free assortment for Julie). Again, feeling spoiled. We wandered around the small town for most of the morning and part of the afternoon. Everything is fun when you're in a different country...the grocery stores, the bakery, the thrift stores, the post office, the cemetaries (that's about all this town has :))

Tomorrow, we hope to navigate our way into London and do some exploring around the river. Apparently there are a lot of free museums and such, so we'll do some proper touristy sorts of things.

2009-10-09T07:29:00.000-07:00

Leaving for Calgary today - and Saskatoon is reminding us why we chose to leave for the winter months. What's with this blanket of snow? I suppose it's ok to have something to remember when we think of home.

It's 8:30 am and I'm actually packed enough that I have time to blog. It's amazing how much one can fit in a mediumish backpack. Although there defnitely is no extra space. I have yet to weigh it and I'm hoping it'll come in at less than the 40 pound limit for carry on luggage....and I suppose my back will thank me the lighter it is. I keep reading how it's better to bring less than more because it's harder to get rid of something than to pick up something you need. But it's not easy to decide what to pack...as much as I want a light pack, I don't think that I or my fellow travelers will appreciate much me wearing the same clothes for a week at a time. Enough on the pack. I'll let you know how it goes. Needless to say, all of you who've been wanting to sneak into my pack may have a difficult time squeezing in.

So, driving into the city today to leave my car there and meet up with Julie - we're taking her grandma with us to Three Hills and spending the night there with her parents, who are graciously driving us to Calgary tomorrow night when our plane leaves at 10:30 pm. I think it might be a long impatient day :)

Ang

28 Sleeps to Go!

2009-09-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

Most of you have already heard our excited ravings about this long-planned trip and are thinking "those girls have been talking about this trip forever - haven't they gone already?" We HAVE been talking about this trip forever....well, for the last two years. Julie and I started dreaming about taking a year or so to travel before we are immobilized by real life (jobs and children and the like) and decided to just do it. We paid off our student loans and started saving. And making deals with each other - like "you can't date anyone before we go or you won't want to go"...Well, we've had to do some renegotiating along the way, but we are still on and we leave in less than a month!! Needless to say, we are very excited and we want those of you who aren't able join us to share in some of the fun. We're hoping to be able to regularily update this blog with stories and pictures along the way. Please leave us comments so we know you haven't forgotten all about us!

Just to whet your appetite, some of the places we're planning/hoping to explore:
England, Ireland, South Africa, Botswana, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan, China, Germany, Turkey, Greece...We leave Canada on October 10th and plan to return at the end of next summer (yay for missing -40 winters!)