A Very Thai New Year

Happy New Year from Bangkok!

Last night was a very interesting way to ring in 2010. We spent most of the day by the pool in our hotel. It was an awesome way to beat the 90 degree and 90% Bangkok heat. And work on my tan before I head back to cold, wintery California.

Next on the agenda- New Year's Eve plans/Shaun's birthday. It's shocking how many Berkeley people you run into on the road. For instance, our friends from Berkeley/TKE were in town. So we made plans to meet up. I was stoked to see familiar faces after 3 months with strangers. We caught a cab across town to their hotel. After much haggling with the receptionist (who mistook us for hookers because we were trying to get up into our friends' room), we gathered our friends and tagged along with them to dinner.

Upon their hotel concierge's recommendation, we ate at a concept restaurant called Cabbages and Condoms. It's a restaurant that brings awareness to HIV, AIDs, and sexual awareness in general. Really good food and entertaining decor. Like condom santa. I won't go into any more details but I will say that I had trouble finding my money in my purse the rest of the night because of the free condoms floating around.

After dinner is when the chaos began. NYE always ends up being some sort of adventure, no matter where I am. There were 7 of us in total so we had to split up to take cabs to RCA, a district/street with a fairly large NYE party. Kevin, Shin, Shaun and I got into one cab, and the others said they would follow after dropping some stuff back at their hotel. However, by the time we got to RCA, we realized that a lack of cell phones and organization was going to be a problem. RCA is not a centralized area, there were multiple entrances into the outside music venue, and cabs were dropping people off at various locations around RCA. We waited for the other 3 guys for about an hour before giving up and trying to head to a club called Funky.

Funky, or so we thought, was located in Patpong aka the red light district of Bangkok. It was just about the last place we expected to end up at for NYE. But we only had about an hour til midnight so we gave up on finding Funky and hunkered down at a bar with live music, some go go dancers, and ample dance space. It was fun! Definitely a very Bangkok kind of new year. It was completely unplanned and included a lot of twists and turns but if there is one thing that I've learned in the last 3 months, it is that plans change and you just have to go with it. Less stress=more fun.

And lastly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHAUN!!!

Quick Recap

Ok so I realized that I haven't updated this in a few days. So here's what happened.

I woke up to rain on the tree house in Vang Vieng a few days ago. I must say, it was one of the coolest experiences ever. All you could hear was pounding rain on the roof and there I was, in a tree house, on a bunk under a mosquito net in Laos. It was awesome.

We left Vang Vieng on a "VIP" bus headed towards the capital, Vientiane. I use the term VIP loosely because, well, it was one of the jankiest buses I've ever been on. The ceilings were caving in, there was no ventilation, and it was just kinda gross. Didn't work properly either because about an hour into it, the bus blew a tire and 50 tourists were caught sitting on the side of the road next to a remote village. It was kind of entertaining actually. Shaun and I have had a ridiculous amount of luck with our transportation so it was only time before something went wrong.

To entertain ourselves while we waited 2 hours for another bus, Shaun, Pedro, Danny and I (our friends that we met on the slow boat and stayed with in Vang Vieng), bought some "Latino color" chips. I had no idea what Latino chips tasted like or why there was a picture of a Mexican with a blue tongue but we soon found out. Only in Laos would they sell potato chips that turn your tongue blue. Being the 10 year olds that we are, this kept us entertained until the next bus came. We'll call the next bus "The Mosquito Trap". It not only caught the mosquitos within the bus, but it trapped us with about 100 new friends. The next 2 hours were spent swatting mosquitos against the window or listening to the thumping on the windows as everyone else smacked them. My window was covered with the buggers by the time we got to Vientiane. It was a trophy of sorts.

Finding a suitable guesthouse at 8pm in Vientiane in high season isn't exactly a walk in the park. Most of the places recommended were full and we ended up at a questionable guesthouse in the boonies. Our bathroom had no sink or windows. Case and point. Needless to say, Shaun and I got out of there at 7am the next morning to make other arrangements. We had originally planned on staying in Vientiane through the New Year, but Shaun suggested we go back to Bangkok for a few days. The beauty of not having plans...you can always change your plans. We then booked an overnight train to Bangkok and spent the rest of the day eating in a wonderful French Vientiane bakery. It was glorious and expensive but a great little splurge.

Overnight train- Getting to the train was a bit of an adventure in itself. First we had to tuk tuk to the train station. Then take a 15 minute train ride over the Laos/Thai border, then board the train. Shaun had never done a train ride before so she was like a kid on Christmas. No, she was happier than we were on Christmas. That doesn't say much though as we were both sick on Christmas.

Anywho, the train cars were pretty cool and much more comfortable than my last overnight train experience in Europe. Sans the bathroom. The bathroom was gross. My last train experience involved 8 people in a tiny cabin and beds the size of coffins. There were various coping mechanisms involved in that trip, but I will say, there were no tears shed on my train last night. We got into Bangkok around 6am this morning. It's only noon now, but I feel like I've been up forever.

I'm pretty relieved that that was the last long leg of transportation of my trip. Those legs can be somewhat stressful. The next few days will be spent relaxing and enjoying the city before I head home on the 3rd.

A revelation of sorts

When I left LA in October, I was searching for a lot of things. I was looking for a passion in life, a career, a sense of adventure, independence, for culture, for people, for something that I don't even know how to describe. I was searching for something.

In the past week, I met a guy named Gary. Gary is 23 and from England. He left home at 17, studied mechanical engineering for two years and then decided to sell all his belongings and leave the country. He has been on the road for 2 years and has never been homesick. When I asked Gary if it was strange to pick up and move all the time, he shrugged and said "Same life, different place".

I could never do what Gary does. Because it seems that he jumps from country to country searching for something that he might never find. He has no ties to home. He owns only the things on his back. He isn't grounded at all. But the backpacking world is full of Garys. And I don't think I'm a Gary.

The point of my story is this: When I left LA three months ago, I was looking for something that I couldn't find. The things that I was searching for, I already have. I already had the sense of adventure, a passion for life, a love for my family and friends, and the tools to figure out a career when I am ready. I have seen so many cool things in the East and in the Pacific, but I miss the sunsets of the West. The salty ocean breezes of the Pacific and eucalyptus trees of the Santa Monica Canyon. I left my heart in California with my family and my friends. And so i think it is time to close this chapter of my traveling life. Time to pack my backpack and head back to the West, leaving behind the tuk tuks, the slow boats, the temples, and the monks. And the bug spray.

I'll be back in LA a little earlier than expected. But I'm very excited to come home and sleep in my fluffy bed. And eat tacos!!!!!!

Happy Boxing Day

Happy Boxing Day! Not that anyone does anything for Boxing Day. Especially in Laos. But Shaun and I took our first adventure "tubing".

Vang Vieng is known for its tubing. People go to the river and along the sides of the banks are rope swings, zip lines, decks, and bars. And you take an intertube and float down the river all day long. It makes for a super lazy day but ridiculously fun. Can't say much other than....ridiculously fun.

I'm really enjoying the hostel I'm staying at. Most of the places to stay in Laos are guesthouses with single rooms but I'm staying in a tree house with 20 other people. The people are from everywhere and all looking to make friends. Instant group to hang out with. Shaun and I have another few days here til we head to Vientiane for the New Year and then her birthday! Yay!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone. I haven't written in a few days because, well, I felt like I was in bed for most of it. You didn't miss much. I checked out the Laos health care system. Not too shabby. The doctors were nice, service was 5 times faster than Alta Bates in Berkeley (which doesn't say much), and I got lots of medications with Lao written all over it, all of which I cannot read and identify only by their colored packets.

We were put onto a very bumpy bus ride yesterday for Vang Vieng. A smaller town known for its tubing. Shaun wasn''t feeling very well so I went out with the rest of my hostel to their Christmas Eve dinner. Everyone else was really drunk for their day out on the river, so that was an interesting experience being sober. I made friends with a group of 4 Aussie boys so it was ok.

I woke up this morning to..yup...roosters. For the 20th day in a row. Each morning when I get woken up, I wish that I could go outside and punt the rooster so I can have another couple hours of sleep. That requires me getting out of bed first. Too much work. So I got myself out of my mosquito net and bunk. Oh yeah, my new hostel is a tree house. A full blown, 3 story tree house. the patio area has hammocks and looks out onto Lao mountains and the river. It's beautiful.

So I skyped my family, became horribly jealous of all the wonderful food they were about to sit down to, and am now sitting around on Christmas writing this entry. i think that we're going tubing down the river today.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. Christmas always makes me all mushy so I will say that I love all my family and friends and I have a wonderful new appreciation for all the things i have at home. Merry Christmas.

On the upside, it wasn't food poisoning

On the downside, I think I have the flu. And a nasty case of it. I've been in bed for the last 2 days. I'm slowly weaning myself onto solid foods. It's a process. From what I've heard, Luang Prabang is beautiful. Not that I've seen any of it, but I hope I might catch a day of exploration before we leave on Christmas Eve's day.

I miss home a lot. I can't tell you how many times in the last few days that I've wanted to book that flight.

Surviving the slow boat

Just recovering from my first case of food poisoning. At first I was afraid it was malaria, but it passed so I think we're all good. Man, being sick on the road is terrible. All I could think of was wanting to be in my soft bed at home. The beds here are very hard and nobody can take care of a sick person better than your mother.

So Shaun and I took the overnight bus from Pai to the Thai border on Friday night. We arrived around 3am, to which we were popped into a guesthouse for another 5 hours of sleep. At 8am, we were stuck into a truck to the immigration "office". I could barely stand with my backpack in line because I was feeling so sick. At that point, I hadn't really eaten anything in about a day. We spent the next hour or so going through immigration at the Thai border and the Laos border, which was a terribly inefficient process that I won't even bore you with.

Then we hopped on the slow boat. The slow boat is a long boat with sets of benches on either side. The benches are wooden. They hurt to sit on. Luckily for us, the aisle between the benches was about 7 feet wide so as soon as we left the pier, anyone under the age of 30 was sprawled out in the aisle- sleeping, playing cards, playing the guitar, etc. Great way to meet friends. Not that I was in any condition to do anything other than sleep and go through cycles of chills. We did that for about 6 hours and reached our stopping point for the night just after sunset.

Today was the same- except they put us on a different boat. More people, smaller boat, foot and a half aisle. Today was mostly spend fighting for a 2x2 area of space to put your feet. Not the most comfortable boat ride of my life. The scenery was beautiful though. Absolutely stunning. Lush green river valley, dark brown rocks the filter into sandy beaches on the river. I didn't get as many pictures as I'd like, but I think I'll be able to keep the mental images of children running down the sand beaches with the forests in the background for awhile.

Im exhausted. I'm seriously considering going to bed at 7pm right now just because I'm so tired.

Ugh

I tried to upload a few videos but after 30 minutes of waiting, I think I have given up. On another note, I think I have the first case of food poisoning on my trip. Like everyone predicted, when you are sick while on the road, all you want to do is jump the first plane home. I currently have hot/cold chills. So I go from very very hot one minute to freezing the next. Wish me luck that it'll pass quickly!

Pai

Pai is a little hippie town in Northern Thailand. We used it as a pit stop on our way over to Laos. It has a population of only a few thousand but it's a great little stop.

Yesterday Shaun and I went over to the river and found a great little deck bar on the water. We watched the sun set. We drank a Chang. I put on another 1/2 inch of Deet. I can see how people come to Pai and some never leave. It was like paradise. Not precisely my paradise, because that would include the beach and the smell of salt, but definitely somebody's paradise.

I went mosquito hunting in our tiny bungalow last night. There were probably 10 of them floating around and if I had left them, i could have had at least 10 times that many bites in the morning. I told her I felt like Harry Potter trying to catch a snitch while I searched for all those little buggers.

Laos tomorrow. 2 full days on a bus/boat. I'll probably write again when I get into Luang Prabang.

Hope everyone is getting all their Christmas shopping done, baking Christmas cookies, and getting ready for snowboard season. Wish I could be there. My poor little board is going to get neglected this year. I'll be spending New Years in a shorts and a t-shirt somewhere in Laos.

I'm extremely tired today. I have no idea why but I might be able to attribute it to the school next door to our bungalow. The children are learning to play music. Very badly. They aren't even learning the same song at the same time so it is an orchestra of ....noise. I'm planning on staying out of the bungalow today and maybe finding a nice outdoor cafe or patio to read. And maybe get that $3 massage that I've been waiting for since I returned from my trek.

Fish spa

I don't usually write in my blog twice in a day. Frankly, I think you all have better things to do than keep tabs on me twice a day and I like to think I'm getting out enough to not be sitting at a computer all day. BUT, this is worth it.

After our wonderful cooking class ended today, Shaun and I went to the used bookstore to stock up on books for Pai. Fairly uneventful. However, on the way back, we passed a shop with fish tanks and a sign advertising for a fish spa. For $5, you can put your feet into the tanks, and the fish exfoliate the dead skin from your feet. They are literally eating your skin. My feet have taken a beating after long days of walking in sandals and trekking, so I figured I could indulge in a fish spa.

Getting your feet cleaned by fish is comparable to having your feet fall asleep. It feels like pins and needles most of the time, with the exception of when a fish decides to swim between your toes and then it just tickles. We took a load off for 15 minutes while the fish were hard at work. And now, I have wonderfully soft feet! My feet are still a little tingly too, which is a result of all the increased blood flow.

That is all. Goodnight.

It's always a good night if it ends in a Journey singalong

Shaun and I decided to try out the nightlife in Chiang Mai last night. It was great. We grabbed our new friends, Joanna and Fiona, our Welsh pals from our trek and headed out to Music St, which is close to our guest house. It's basically 8 different bars set up in a parking lot with a communal beer garden. Lots of music, especially live music.

Step 1: Play 7-11-Doubles with a live reggae band in the background. Drink some Changs. Check.

Step 2: Migrate to a karaoke bar and sing Michael Jackson. Check.

Step 3: Relocate to the beer garden and hang out with a 6 year old Thai kid trying to sell us flowers. Get hustled by said 6 year old. Haha when I say hustled I mean we played with him for a long time, I gave him 5 baht and he didn't sell me a flower. Check.

Step 4: Make friends with the Thai DJ who doesn't speak much English. Meet his American girlfriend, who owns the bar. Somehow manage to make my own playlist on his DJ equipment. Check.

Step 5: Sing Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" at the top of our lungs while Thais and other foreigners look on. Check.

Step 6: Wake up this morning only to take an all day cooking class. We're spending all day shopping for food, cooking, and eating said food. I've already made hot and sour prawn soup, Chiang Mai curry, and Pad Thai. Our teacher is hilarious. He's like a hyped up anime character. He talks a million miles a minute and often sounds like he's singing because he emphasizes his words in a really weird way. His energy level could only be matched by Ping. This guy is the Thai version of Ping. He cracks me up. We also learned how to make coconut milk and cream by hand. It involves soaking coconut in warm water and "massaging and squeezing". Mr. Visutt must have repeated that phrase 15 times to make sure we didn't forget.

So all in all, Chiang Mai is awesome. We're going to Pai tomorrow to chill by the river and then sometime in the next 2 weeks, we'll make it over to Laos for Christmas, New Years, and Shaun's birthday. No plans and no hurry though.

A 2 Night, 2 Bear Trek

I survived a trek through the Thailand jungle! How many people can say that? Not being much of a camper/hiker, I was pretty impressed with Shaun and myself. Some highlights of trekking include:

-Staying in native huts with only mattresses (I use that term loosely), mosquito nets, and a tin roof.
-Going on a 4 hour trek uphill. At some points, I swear the hill was vertical so it was more like rock climbing. I didn't want to be the slowest/most unathletic one so I felt like I was jogging most of the way.
-Falling. I fell while hiking 3 times. The worst time, I slid on my butt down a wet hill. Thank goodness the tree broke my fall otherwise I might have slid another 40 feet. However, I did get the worst "wilderness wedgie". Haha. Sorry, I think that term is kinda funny. I also slipped 3 times more than everyone else. We later attributed this to my lack of hiking boots. Who knew hiking boots could be important on a hike?
-Riding an elephant. Elephants are truly magical animals. They are massive. We got to feed them orange peels and ride them for an hour.
-Campfire/Christmas party in a village. The small village we stayed at threw a Christmas party (even though it was only the 12th). I was surprised that the village was Christian considering that 95% of the population in Thailand is Buddhist. But they sang Christmas songs and even read the Christmas story (in Thai). We also played games around the campfire in which the loser had to drink Thai whiskey/moonshine and a child drew pictures on your face with charcoal. I made sure not to lose. Haha.
-Bamboo rafting. We stood on a bamboo raft for 4 hours yesterday and drifted through the jungle and down the rapids. When we hit the rocks, i thought our tiny raft was going to break apart. I also wish we had gotten a picture of 6 tourists standing in a line on a bamboo raft.
-My first bucket shower. Ok, maybe this wasn't a highlight but it was definitely the first bucket shower that I've had in Thailand. Or ever. The tin shed was outside. A hose was hooked up and filtered into an empty gas barrel. Then you take a scoop of freezing cold water and throw it over your head. I say throw because the shock is less painful if the water is thrown. The alternative to the shower was to not shower but after 2 days of hiking, I wasn't feeling all that clean/like a person anymore.
-My shower when I got back to our hotel. Quite possibly the best shower I've ever taken. Lukewarm water, limited shower pressure, but it had running water and it didn't come from a bucket. I scrubbed myself clean. It was wonderful.

And that sums up my trekking adventure. My mosquito bite count is now somewhere around 40. My whole body aches. And I'm a little bit sore. We're going to take it easy for a few days- check out the local music scene near our hostel, take a cooking class. And then we'll head up to uber chill/hammock land, Pai, in a few days.

Thanks to Ping, Megs, D, Jessie, Nikki, and Brad for emailing me while I was gone. It's always awesome to hear from peeps back home (or in NZ). Seriously, it makes my day :)

Pics: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2567134&id=1222862&l=6fbeb0f982

Gone Trekking

Going on a trek for a few days, so you won't hear from me. I don't know how much of a trekking/camping kind of girl I am, but I'm going to plop myself into the jungles of Thailand and find out. We're going with a tour company. Should be interesting. There will be elephants and bamboo rafts and waterfalls involved.

I've noticed a change since I left home. Mostly it's in my wardrobe. I've invested in a pair of light cotton pants that are neither flattering nor expensive. I've started to dress for function rather than appearance. It's funny. I didn't think I would see the day when I look like a mismatched and somewhat frumpled backpacker. I don't plan on making it a habit when I get back to the States but until then, I'll be comfortable and blending in with the backpacker crowd!

PS Shaun and I have discovered that there is more than one type of snob. Most people think of snobs as people with money who live in "posh" neighborhoods (as our British roomies would describe). However, there are backpacker snobs. The kind of snobs that turn their noses up at technology and tour buses, and extra comforts of home like warm showers. I am definitely not one of them but there sure are a lot of those on the roads of Thailand.

Happy Kid

I'm a happy kid these days. Despite the 40 million mosquito bites I have, I'm absolutely in love with this country. The people are wonderful, the country is beautiful, and there is something magical about being here. I love absorbing the culture and learning new things everyday. Like how to navigate the streets of Chiang Mai. Or reading in the day bed at our guesthouse. No doubt it can be horribly stressful sometimes, but all in all, Chiang Mai has definitely broken into my top 5 cities in the world. Along with Thun/Switzerland, Stockholm/Sweden, San Francisco/CA, and Timaru/New Zealand. It's funny that many of these cities aren't the biggest cities or the flashiest cities, but they hold very strong and happy memories of traveling or meeting wonderful people.

Funny things about Thailand that I've noticed- street lights have giant timers in Bangkok. Meals average about $2. The school next door to our hostel has a PA system and the instructor teaches the children the Hoki Poki, and the Macarena (sp?) all day. The music in restaurants includes American songs by Pit Bull, but often the lyrics are sung by a random Thai person (in English). And Tiger Balm...man, that stuff is amazing for mosquito bites. It has menthol in it so it's very cooling.

We just booked our hotel for the Full Moon Party at the end of Jan. The end of Jan and first week of Feb are going to be spent on the beaches of Thailand- scuba diving, snorkeling, and mellowing on the beach. It'll be a lovely continuation of my 9 month summer :)

Biking in Chiang Mai

Biking in Chiang Mai is taking your life into your own hands. But I will say, it is an AWESOME way to explore the city. Once we got over the pure shock of having to navigate the streets and motorbikes, it was amazing. We went to the used bookstore, the famous Chiang Mai night market, a bar or two, and to temples around the city.

Shaun and I are going on a trek on Friday! It's a 3 day camping expedition, so you won't hear from me. I hope I don't get more mosquito bites. I probably will. I invested in a pair of ugly light weight cotton pants today in hopes of deterring mosquitos. I'm a real backpacker with no fashion sense now :)

Pics

Here are pics. In them, I wear a fanny pack. DEET and Tiger Balm are my new best friends, as Thailand has a lot of mosquitos that seem to like me.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2567134&id=1222862&l=6fbeb0f982

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2567134&id=1222862&l=6fbeb0f982

A typical Bangkok 24 hours

-Touring around temples in a tuk tuk
-Going into tailor and gem shops in Bangkok
-Getting eaten alive by mosquitos
-Stumbling upon a night market. Bargaining down a t-shirt from 350 baht to 200 baht accidently.
-Red light district. Haha. Don't worry, Mom, we were careful and didn't wander into any scary places.
-Floating market- a sea of tourists and knick knacks. Bargaining a woman from 100 baht for 50 tiny tiny bananas to 20 baht. Accidently. Apparently I'm getting good at this bargaining stuff. Enough to make my grandmother very very proud.
-Cobra show. A dude caught a snake with his mouth, a mongoose almost destroyed the cobras head, and when a snake got swung around the charmer's head, i spilled water all over Shaun trying to duck for cover.
-Eating pad thai, fried rice, mangos, and bananas for the last 4 meals.
-I keep thinking I'm spending a lot of money here. I blow through 100 baht bills really quickly. Until I realize that 100 baht is $2.50. I buy my meals for $3 each. Gotta love Thailand.

In the last 2 days in Thailand, I think I like it. The traffic is a little scary, as well as crossing the street. But Bangkok is absolutely beautiful at night. Twinkling lights everywhere.

Hopping on an overnight bus to Chiang Mai tonight. Prepared to be covered in DEET for the next 9 weeks. Whooo

Tuk Tuk

Made it to Thailand in one piece.

Today Shaun and I decided to explore Bangkok via tuk tuk, a 3 wheeled, open vehicle. It was...interesting. First off, Thais are super friendly. They all want to talk to you, all the time. So after we left our hostel and started walking down the street, a man came up to us and started talking to us. Turns out he was a police officer who was very eager to chat and give us tips about the city. He ended up hailing us a tuk tuk, negotiating a good price (a mere 20 baht an hour, which is 50 cents), and all of a sudden we had a personal driver for the morning.

Then we started wandering the city, seeing huge golden Buddhas, marble temples, and other sights of Bangkok. We also discovered that tuk tuk drivers run a scam with gem stores and tailor "fashion" shops. In celebration of the King's birthday, many stores were having sales and if tuk tuk drivers took tourists to the stores, the drivers would get coupons for free gas. Shaun and I decided to cut a deal with our driver. In return for him taking us to all the temples, all over the city, we would go into a few shops and browse. Then the driver got his free gas coupons, and Shaun and I got a 4 hour personal driver around the city. It was interesting. I'm exhausted. Bangkok is pretty warm and riding in a tuk tuk all afternoon is exhausting. Pun intended. The pollution from the cars, trucks, and tuk tuks is ridiculous.

I need a nap. Floating market tomorrow and Chiang Mai and trekking (read: hiking and camping...hahaha), the day after.

Peace Out Oz

Tomorrow we leave for Thailand. Yay! Some highlights from the last month:

-9 minute pie in a pan at our apartment
-Glee nights with wine
-Elf with our British roommates
-Pub trivia at Argy Bargy- too bad we don't know more about Aussie sports. Playing Aussie trivia with 2 Americans, a Brit, and 2 Germans...not so successful.
-Introduction of Dubstep music/dancing to pop music with Raj and Chris on Fitzroy St
-St Kilda Beach with Chris and Chris
-24 hour Souvlaki in the city
-Friday Happy Hour at Rooftop/Section 8
-Great Ocean Road Tour
-72 hour tour of Sydney. Joseph (my host) tried to feed me every 10 minutes. Literally. Chinese hospitality includes feeding people. Grandparents try to feed people. Chinese grandparents tried to feed me everything in Australia.
- 2 Tram tickets in Melbourne. And getting out of both. I now pay for the tram because there's no way I'll get lucky the third time.

The Sydney vs Melbourne debate

Since I've arrived in Oz, I've realized that there is a rivalry between Melbourne and Sydney. People who like Sydney say that Melbourne is boring and there is nothing to see. People in Melbourne say Sydney is full of snobs and tourists and is overpriced.

Here is what I say:
Melbourne is a lot like San Francisco. Major city but not huge, lots of people, lots of culture and fun quirky little neighborhoods. Sydney is like LA- huge metropolitan area, major stores and restaurants, tons and tons of tourists.

Which do I like better?
Well, I suppose they are different. I liked Sydney's beaches, and the Opera House and the Bridge. It's the glamorous face of Australia. But I feel like Melbourne is a little more personal, a little funkier, and a little more soul.

I"m excited to get back to Melbourne tomorrow to hang out with my roommates and take in my last 24 hours of Western culture before leaving for Thailand. Then it's on to the land of Pad Thai, grungy busses, and cheap everything!

Sydney Sights

Harbour Bridge...check.

Sydney Opera House...check.

Manly Beach...check.

I have a zillion pictures of all of them but can't seem to upload them. So..you'll have to wait. And seeing as how I've heard the internet connections in Thailand are super slow...you might have to wait 2 months. No worries though, if you watched the Sydney Olympics or have seen Finding Nemo, it looks exactly like that. Disney animators are just that good.

Sydney

I'm in Sydney! I made it!

My grandmother's friends have so graciously invited me into their home and are acting as my tourguides for my 3 day tour of Sydney. Being 26 year residents here, they know more than I and have wasted no time driving me to the different sights.

Today- Bondi Beach and Watson's Bay. Surf's up, bro. It was a little windy so there were minimal surfers but I did get to see the famous Bondi Beach, which was pretty sweet.

Tomorrow- the Opera House, the Bridge, and possibly a ferry ride? Who knows!?