Exploring New York

It's been a while since I last write. I've slowly been exploring New York and trying to catch up on things I should have done or discovering new gems. I got to ride the Cyclone before it shut down for the rest of year. I also caught myself some fresh whiplash as a souvenir.

I also had some friends from Holland visit so I got to see some places I haven't been to like Govenor's Island and Harlem. I was really disappointed by Govenor's island. It's tiny, the ferry ride is only about 10 min, and it's not as luscious and green as I imagined it to be. We did a self guided walking tour of Harlem which was nice. We visited the famous Abyssinian Baptist Church and visited some houses with old wooden porches. I was also able to score some Yankee tickets and checked out the stadium before they tear it down. I think it's the first time I've been there. To me, since I don't have any memories tied to the sport, it was like visiting any other place. It doesn't hold any sentimental value, but I was glad to have had a chance to visit a place where history was made.

I've also been exploring little holes in the walls and discovering new places with great food. There is a great falafel place near Katz's deli where they make fresh pitas and tasty falafels. The guy working there was Moroccan. He seems to really love his country. I also found this delicious taco place in Hells Kitchen. Outside it's a bodega but there is a small window inside with 2 mexican ladies making tacos. I think they make their own tortillas. The tacos come out looking like the ones I had in Mexico. They had my favorite lenguas (tongue). They also had other meats like ear, chicarron (pork skin), salted beef, etc. I definitely want to go back. The place reminds me of my times in Mexico. Niquoa and I would get two tacos for $1 off the cart. Of course the tacos here cost more -- $2.50 and up. I saved on the price of airfare though.

Kebab Cafe!

I went to eat at Kebab Cafe! in Astoria today. The restaurant was featured on Anthony Bourdain's show. Although he comes off as an opionated jerk on the show, apparently he's really friendly and nice. Who knew?! Anyway, this restaurant is narrow and has large glass windows. The building number is not on the outside of the restaurant and the name of the restaurant is at the top not within eye level. My friend and I almost walked past it. Once you walk inside, it's a narrow restaurant with the kitchen immediately to the right. Ali, the chef/owner, tells you the menu and brings the food out for you. He prepares traditional Egyptian dishes composed mainly of lamb. He serves all parts of the animal including brain, tongue, testicles, and cheek. Everything is prepared differently. My favorite was the brain which had the texture of tofu. It was seasoned with a lot of lime or lemon. The kushary was different from the ones I had in Egypt but it was still good. At Kebab, he uses more rice than pasta and tops it off with sauteed onions rather overfried crispy garlic bits. The testicles were soft and sauteed with green peppers and onions with a sauce that tasted like oyster sauce. I didn't really like the sauce and the texture of the balls was really soft and mushy. I will definitely be back to this restaurant. It has a nice friendly atmosphere. You feel as though you're sitting in someone's living room. The food is a bit pricey but I guess it's the price you pay for good food.

Astoria is an interesting neighborhood with ethnic fusion. You will find a Greek restaurant next to a Spanish tapas restaurant which is next to an Italian cafe. There were also a ton of hookah bars in the neighborhood as well. Most of them seem to be occupied by men which is typical of Egypt since local women do not smoke. Smoking shisha is a nice way to sit and relax and catch up with friends.

Habitat for Humanity Newark

Last weekend, I went to Newark to help build homes with Habitat for Humanity. The commute there was really blurry at 6 AM. I took the subway to the PATH to the bus. It really was quite a hike. Once I got there, I watched a brief safety video and debriefed about the do's and don'ts... like don't wear sneakers. Of course I wore sneakers. Luckily, they had a pair of oversized boots for me to borrow.

I felt as though I was in a foreign country. We were told never walk between the sites alone. Once the people in the neighborhood get to know us, then you can start walking around on your own. Walk in groups with a minimum of 2 people. Don't bring your wallet. Put a $5 in your pocket before going to the store. I made it there and back to the Middle East unharmed and now I might not make it out of Newark alive? Jeez. How ironic. Maybe this is related to the fact that people get into car accidents when they are close to home.

What did we do? First we started by discarding extra pieces of drywall into a dump box (?). Then we brought the extra wood to another site being built. Next we all got to use power tools!! We used the power screwdriver to tick (?) the screws. The screws were all in the drywall securing it to the posts, but our job was to make sure the screws were below the surface. If the screw missed the post, we had to take it out and re-screw it. It was laborious and frustrating work. I either didn't have enough strength to screw the screw in or couldn't find the post. After lunch, luckily we were able to do something else. We changed occupations and became electricians. Don't worry, there was no electricity running through the house. We installed outlets. We learned the difference between 12 and 14 gauge wires, and we learned to indentify which is the ground wire. I was much better at this so naturally it was fun.

We had a nice group of people. I've been volunteering a lot these days and I've found that you generally meet nice people. I have yet to meet a jerk on an assignment. The people for Habitat were really chatty and friendly. I didn't have time to get lunch ready so I brought a Dunkin' breakfast sandwich. One guy felt bad for my super unhealthy lunch that he gave me a yogurt.

Habitat is a great organization. They careful choose who will receive a house. The recipient must put in at least 400 hours of sweat time. Joy, who will receive one of the houses we worked on, has worked more than 400 hours. She intends to keep coming until her hours is done. She will be moving in with her two sons. It feels good knowing that work that you do is helping someone. It's definitely more gratifying than producing a headcount or a turnover report.

Fun pics from Egypt

Jordan to Israel

I'm sitting in front of a computer in Israel on my last day because it's too hot, I'm lazy and feeling unmotivated to step out the door into that beautiful Red Sea. Stupid? Yes. I'll take a dip after writing this. I'm running out of pages in my journal and need to just put some thoughts down. Also to give myself some humanitarian credit, my friend is sick and vomiting fairly regularly since last night. I'm hoping it's not my cooking.... I ate the same thing. =/

So my main goal for going to Jordan was to see Petra. I want to witness for myself the image of the Treasury in the Indian Jones movie. By the way, does anybody have the movie and want to watch it with me when I get back? I didn't realize (because I did zero research) that Petra is a large city all carved out of the mountains in the surrounding area. It's really incredible. To reach the city, depending on how verbose your damn tour guide is, you need to walk about 20-30 min. You will then reach the canyon pictured in the movie and it opens up to the first building -- the Treasury. While walking through the canyon, you can't help but hum the Indiana Jones theme song. EVERYONE was doing it. There is everything in the city: palace, homes, movie theatre, chuch, etc. People lived here until fairly recently when the government convinced them to move out to Little Petra, an adjacent city. If you walk away from the main tourist areas, you can still find bedouins living in some homes. When I went to climb Mt Aaron, I received several invitations to have tea with them. It's the bedouin culture to invite people for tea. You are allowed to stay in a stranger's home up to 3 days without being questioned. Incredibly friendly and gracious people. An observation I think all the women made in my group made was that Jordanians have beautiful eyes. They have tan skin offset by their hazel green eyes. Some also have blue eyes.

We spent the night in Wadi Rum desert with a sheik which was a lot of fun. We had a traditional bedouin meal where the meat was cooked in the sand with the combination of charcoal and the heat of the sand. The meat was so tender! At night, we went to check out the stars but it was difficult because it was a full moon. I saw a dipper, scorpion and the southern cross.

After some thought I decided to push my return flight and tag along with a friend to visit Israel. We heard some horror stories about the overland boarder crossing taking 5 hours so we were worried but we made it across in less than 2 hours. It was much smoother than the Egypt - Jordan crossing.

We started in Jersalem which I really loved. Yes it's touristy but there are some incredible sights and the people are amazing. It's my misconception of the country but I thought the main religion would be Judiasm. Israel a melting pot of Judiasm, Muslim and Catholic. If you park yourself by a window in a cafe and watch the crowd go by on Dolorosa street, you will see religious figures from all three within a 5 min time span. It's incredible. The people are extraorinarily friendly and have gone out of their way to help point directions or take a photo. We did the rampart walk and walked on the wall of the Old City and had a nice arial view. We stumbled across the Virgin Mary's birthplace which was not on the map. In the basement, there was a damp grotto which labeled the tombs of Mary's parents. We walked the underground tunnel of the Western wall and visited the Wailing Wall. We also visited the City of David where we walked through a water tunnel of Hezekiah. The water is crisp and cold and you have to wonder how anyone could carve this extensive tunnel out of the mountain. We were worried about passing the armed security guards to enter the Temple Mount (or the Dome of the Rock) but it was worth the anxiety. It's covered in beautiful mosaic tiles and topped with a huge gold dome. I was particularly impressed with the nightlife on Ben Yahuda street. On a Monday night, there were different types of street performers puttting NYC to shame. At 8pm, drummers, a harp and recorder duo, guitar trio and a magician were begining their performances.

I am in Tel Aviv right now. Yesterday, I had a great swim in the Red Sea which was warm and clear green. I visited the market where I bought fresh vegetables and pasta for dinner. I will be cabbing it to the airport tomorrow at 5am. This never happens, but I'm actually looking forward to going home. I miss my friends and family. What I'm not looking forward to is having to find a new job and returning to the daily grind. Since I don't have any interviews lined up, I don't think I have to worry about that for a while.

See you all soon. Cheers!

Europe to the Middle East

I've been around the world and I I I... can't seem to catch up on my blog. Since the last post, I visited Skandinavia. All the countries here started to look the same after a while. They had churches, palaces, fountains, plazas, etc. The Danish danishes were soooo good. I ate too many. Of course I had to try the local beers in each of the countries which were okay. In Tallin, Estonia, I tried medieval beer which was... not so good to say it nicely. It was like drinking water soaked with herbs and medicine. St. Peterburg was excellent. I loved St. Catherine's palace and the Hermitage. The palace was so elaborately decorated with gold leafs, mirrors, paintings and chandeliers. The Hermitage had a great collection of painting from famous artists such as Monet and Picasso as well as a statue by Michelangelo.

After the cruise I sent a few days in sunny England checking out Stonehenge, Bath (again because I forgot I went there), Stratford Upon Avon, Windsor Castle and London. The landscape in England is really beautiful. Drove along picturesque windy roads through green tunnels enveloped by trees.

I am in Jordan now but I was in Egypt visiting Cairo, Aswan, Luxor, and Neweiba. Hands down, traffic in Cairo is the messiest, craziest place I have ever been. Because of it, I would say some of the best drivers are probably here. If you drive along the highway, you never know what will pop out from the side -- kids, donkeys, elderly, a car coming in your direction. Just incredible. The dress code isn't much fun. Shoulders to knees must be covered at all times. It gives you a great excuse to work on that T-shirt tan. Temperatures are pretty hot, especially in Aswan and Luxor where it reached up to 50 degrees Celcius or 120F. I didn't think it was possible to get that hot. I have seen some really amazing sights though. Of course I saw the pyramids and sphynx. I lucky enough to see them in the day time as well as night when they have the laser and light now. Climbed down into the chamber of the 2nd pyramid and admired at the craftsmanship and wondered how in the world did they build this? Abu Simbel is a temple carved into the mountain with multiple chambers. That is probably one of the most memorable sights. I did 2 dives in the Red Sea and got to see some really color fish but the coral seemed a bit damaged which was unfortunate. Just spent 2 nights in a beach hut by the Red Sea without electricity. It was a well deserved relaxing break from all the running around.

I am in Aqaba, Jordan right now. Getting here was incredibly challenging. We took a ferry to come here but arrived 5 or 6 hours behind schedule. The officials at the port allowed tour groups to get onto the boat but individuals were made to wait in a dirty waiting room which had scrappy looking cats patrolling the building. Our boat was scheduled to leave around 14:30 but were told it's running late for about 4 or 5 hours. We found out later that the boat had already arrived and been sitting in the dock since 15:00. I still haven't figured out exactly why they let the big group load first when everyone waiting had a valid and paid ticket in their hand. I can only assume that it has to do with money. These groups must have paid some baksheesh to get on the boat. I don't want to speak badly, but I've had cops ask for a tip for giving me directions. You figure it out. *sigh* Anyway, in the end, our trainee group leader threatened to call the Australian embassy (as well as the British and American) which lit a fire under everyone's ass. We got on the boat, survived all the evil stares for being foreign, and checked into our hotel.

All in all this has been an amazing trip so far. Full of drama, camels, donkey poo, oceans, long pants and sleeves, tombs, and haggling. Oh I had sushi in Cairo and I lived to tell about it. =) Salam!

Antwerp

Antwerp was nice. Cute town. I didn't think I would like it because supposidly it's the shopping mecca but I found some interesting sites by walking around. There are lots of cute little streets with tiny shops. I found an area where graffitti is legal, a candy shop with chocolates in the shapes of private parts, checked out the photo museum, old town, churches, etc. The frites were good. I had some with the curry sauce which was excellent. Belgian frites are good because they use a different type of potatoe and triple fry them. I also had a chance to speak to this lovely gentleman who was missing his front teeth and had BO. He insisted on walking around with me to show me the city. Charming. Yes there is some sarcasm in that statement. I tried a piece of chocolate but I couldn't really appreciate it since I'm not a chocoholic. I did buy some chocolate liquor which I'm saving for later.

'Antwerp' means hand throwing. It's named that because there used to be a giant who chopped people hands and throw them in the river. When he was finally overthrown, his hand was cut off and thrown in the river as well. When you walk around, you see a lot of hands. Chocolates in the shape of hands or hand figurines in the stores.

I loved my hostel. I stayed at ABHostel. It has a full kitchen stocked with china, silverware, spices, and fridge. She provides breakfast with tea and coffee. The rooms and bath are clean. There is a living room with dvds and books for you to watch or read. I felt as though I was in someone's home. I would definitely recommend the place.

Netherlands

I've spent 4 days with friends here in the Netherlands and had a great time. I think you will be surprised to hear that I didn't do most people come here for which is to visit a coffee shop.

Day 1 - My friends gave me a tour of Amsterdam. We took a canal tour which was very nice and hand lunch at Vondel Park by some body of water. We then saw the National Monument, De Dam (plaza), Grote Kerk ("Big Church"), and the Royal Palace. I was curious about De Wallen, the Red Light District, so they took us there as well. I was so surprised to see that the women were quite unattractive and overweight or plump.

Day 2 - We visited the Japanese Garden which is only open for 3 months out of the year in Den Haag located inside Clingendael Park. We also had tea with the Queen at her royal palace. Then off to the beach for some sun and fresh hering. I really didn't know what to think of the hering. I had it with bread and raw onion. I was a real guy magnet after having one of these. It was a bit fishy so the onion killed that but then the onion was so strong it over powered your mouth. At night we had a nice BBQ in Bertine's garden.

Day 3 - We visited the horse market. We got a chance to photograph farmers with the wooden shoes! I had fresh stroopwaffel which was awesome. They are soft and really thin big waffels with syrup in the middle. They also sell these at the supermarket but they taste very different. There were different types of horses - big and small, young and old, beautiful and not so beautiful. Then in the afternoon, we headed to Brielse Maas for a picnic lunch and canoe ride. It was challenging canoeing with 3 people but it was nice. We then checked out Brielle which is historic town with an old harbour. Supposidly April Fools Day originated here. If you google it, let me know the result.

Day 4 - I went to Rotterdam to hit the bookstore to find information about my next destination, Belgium. It is a nice city with a harbour as well. There is a unversity there so I mostly heard English spoken here rather than Dutch. I checked out the really cool apartment buildings Kijkkubus. They look like cubes which have been stood up on their point. I can't describe it so check the website. I crossed Erasmusbrug (famous swan bridge) to meet Sandra on the other side who took me to Bertine's house. At night, Bertine made huge white asparagus for dinner since I kept asking about them. They are in season right now. It was so good. We had it with sauce, ham, potatoes and eggs.

Tomorrow I am headed to Antwerp, Belgium for 2 nights. I might check out some of the neighboring cities as well before heading to Calais, France where I will take a ferry to Dover.

Berlin

It has been a while since I last updated so I am forgetting what I have done. We spent one night in Berlin for a stopover before heading into the Netherlands. I wasn't sure what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised. I rather enjoyed my visit to Berlin. On the first night our hostel, Wombat, was located in the East which is close to the Berlin Domer (I'm not certain on the name) so after grabbing some dinner, we walked around to see that and the canal near our hostel.

Then the next morning, we had a few hours to kill until our train left so we took the free tour of Berlin. http://www.newberlintours.com/nbt/content/view/1/2/lang,en/ It turned out to be really informative and had a good time. The guide had so much information, there were times when I tuned out. To name some of the sightes we visited: Brandenburg Gate, the remainder of the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, churches, the location of Hitler's bunker if it were still standing, memorial to the Jews who were murdered during WW2, and much much more. We had to leave the tour early to catch our train, but if I had time, I would have liked to see the museum by the memorial. It contains artifacts found from the time period (i.e. journals, etc). They also offer a tour to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp which sounded really interesting. Of course there is Pottersdam which is supposed to be beautiful with nice gardens. It's also listed in 1000 Places to See Before You Die. By the way, I definitely recommend this tour company. The guides make money through tips so they work hard to keep you entertained. They provide information in an animated and interesting way so you stay tuned in.

One thing that I find great about this trip is that I've really taken an interest in history which I didn't before. Growing up, it was always 'that subject' for guys. I am also a visual person and reading about events in a book is too removed for me. Now that I am here, I see and experience things which help me to retain information much better. I am not retaining everything, of course, because my bad memory is still bad. At least it is filled with some new information.

I see dead people

I just came back from the ghost tour. The original tour company didn't show up so we went with one that was already there. As usual, like the tours in NY, we found out about all the dead people in Prague. Tynska church has two towers and the two are of two different sizes. The smaller one represents the female. The architect decided that he didn't like how all churches looked symetrical so he decided the two towers different. If I understood the guide correctly, the smaller tower has or used to have a stone bell in it. There is/was a stone bell in it because a Czech queen decided to kill one of her twin daughters to prevent them from arguing over who will inherit the throne. Later on she regretted her decision and bought a stone bell. Makes complete sense to me. You? That was just one of the several stories I kind of, sort of got (or didn't get depending on how you look at it.)

Random Fact

I came across this a while ago... back in Thailand. There was an article about a homosexuals and how they cannot donate blood in Thailand. Sexual preference is a question on the form donors have to fill out. Of course they cannot verify it so it is based on an honor system. The author said he felt bad for lying but he does it to give back to the community. His sister required a lot of blood when she had surgery done. Apparently the same rule was in place in America at some point. It was originally set to prevent the spread of AIDS because it was thought that only homosexuals contracted it. Interesting eigh?

Prague

It is incredibly beautiful here... and charming. Again the customer service part is lacking. Today I tried to go to the salt cavern for a treatment and the woman sits back aloof speaking in Czech and making no effort to service me. She points to the monitors and tells me they are full. Meanwhile, I see several are empty chairs. That's fine. The salt caverns are nothing special. They are basically a room covered with salt. You sit in the room for about 45 min and calm music is streamed into the room. When you are through, you are supposed to feel relaxed and it improves the following ailments:

Upper and lower respiratory passages (nose, larynx, sinus, bronchus)
Reduced function of thyroid gland
Cardiac-vascular diseases (high blood pressure, after-treatment of heart attack, etc.)
Diseases of digestive tract (gastric and duodenal ulcer, Crohn’s disease, unspecified inflammation of large intestine)
Dermatological diseases (psoriasis, allergies, non-festering eczema)
Dysfunction of vegetative nervous system
Neurosis, stress, and states of exhaustions
It slows down processes of aging <--- maybe I can finally use that college ID

I read somewhere that it started in Poland so maybe I should go there. *Hint hint* Next trip? You know who you are. I'll be bugging you after I get back to know when we're going to visit Poland.

Back to Prague. We've walked past a ton of landmarks but unfortunately, I don't know what most of them are because I lost our guide book a while back. My favorite has be walking on Charles Bridge. When you come from the west and walk east, you get a great view of the statues with the room tops of all the churches behind them. There are a total of 30 statues standing on the edges. I think they all have a bit of gold embellishment on them.

Tonight, if it's not raining, we will do a ghost tour and find out all the gory facts about the city. On the 7th, we got tickets to see Swan Lake. I am so excited about it because I've been wanting to see it for a while and it never seems to be performed in NYC. Maybe it is and I just don't know about it. There were thoughts of going to see it in St, Petersburg but Russa makes it very difficult for tourist to visit and travel around. Basically, it sounds like you need to be baby sat by someone at all times.

Baths

We went to the Sze-something baths. It was really nice. When you enter the main area, the ceiling in high with an arched atrium. For 2200 HUF (about $15) we tried about 8 different baths with varying degrees. They were any where from freezing cold to 35 celcius. The sauna was about 45C. It felt really good to go to a bath but they were not as clean as the ones in Japan. Occasionally you see things floating in the water. Yuck. However, it felt good to relax our sore muscles and feet. I even jumped into the freezing cold water which surprisingly felt good. I felt toasty and warm once I got out.

It was nice to go to a bath because it reminded me of Japan. The Japanese, similar to Hungarians and Turks I guess, take pleasure in relaxing in a bath and soaking their bodies. It is a social experience. You go with friends and talk and relax.

Budapest continued

I really liked Budapest. Every where you look, the buildings look old and historic. They are not big into customer service though. We have been walking so much since arriving in Europe we are exhausted.

We are staying at a hostel named Carpe Noctum. It is coveniently located near the train station, Danube and other major landmarks. It is clean and service a decent breakfast of different cereals, bread, jam, coffee and tea. The beds and bathroom are clean which is always a plus.

After breakfast, we walked to St Stephans Basilica which was absolutely beautiful. It is very ornate with gold trimmings. We went to the top of the tower which had a great view of the Pest side of the city. Next we were able to score some tickets to Midsummer Nights Dream at the opera house for 7pm. Next we walked towards Chain Bridge but decided to walk south and walk across Elizabeth bridge instead. Chain Bridge was the first suspension bridge to go up at the time... I think. I may be getting my facts mixed up. After walking across, we walked for about an hour up the hill to the Citadel for a nice view of the Buda side. We were exhausted at this point so we cabbed it to the funicular back near Chain Bridge then headed back to the hostel.

After cleaning up and changing, we headed right back to the Opera House for the ballet. It was pretty good but Midsummer Night dream is a strange show with synthesized sounds and bizarre creatures. I like ballet but this was not my favorite show.

After the show, we went to take a look at Chain Bridge illuminated. It really is a beautiful city with a nice landscape.

Budapest

i'm alive!  i made it to budapest safely.  it's only been a few hours but it really is beautiful here.  i just went to the tower in st. stephen's basilica.  going to check the opera house next to see if there are any performances coming up.  also going to take a bath in the bath house.

my 6 hour layover in dublin flew by but i was able to visit the guinness factory and try a pint.  it tasted the same but i got to enjoy it while watching a 360 degree view of the city.   awesome!  i unfortunately was running out of the time so i had to rush the tour part of it.

okay the people in the apple store are giving me dirty looks so i gotta run.

Progressive but no internet

Ok. It is hard to imagine that a country that seems to be keeping everyone on their toes in terms of inventing new technologies (sp?) has hardly any (closer to none) internet cafes. And when I do find one, it took a while for me to figure out how to spot it from changing my English words to Japanese. Haha. Anyway, I love Japan. It`s so beautiful. The landscape of the mountains is breath taking. It is no wonder that every single Japanese person has a huge SLR hanging around their neck... sometimes two. These old men and ladies with round back are hobbling with cameras that have huge lenses on them. It`s pretty funny actually. We fit the steriotype very well.

The food is sooo good too. I have been OD`ing on bamboo, miso, soy products, mushrooms and fish. Surprisingly, I think there are more overweight young people now. Many girls are wearing micro shorts with thigh high socks and showing off their thick legs. I know it`s mean but it`s true. It is a really bizarre look. Not only are they wearing thigh high socks but they are in distracting patterns like multicolor stripes.

In every country I visit, boys are usually thin. I can`t figure that part out. Are the women taking the food away from the men? As usual, the boys in Japan have long hair and always fixing it in the reflection of a window if they are not carrying a mirror.

I went to Nara on my second day here and it was really beautiful. It is not very far from Osaka. Up until now, Kyoto was my favorite since there are tons of temples and history but Nara is just as beautiful with as many temples. They also have deer walking around the park which Kyoto does not have. Since they are protected animals, they walk around looking for deer biscuits you can purchase for 150 yen. I went early in the morning, so the deer I was feeding were pretty hungry. They stepped on my feet which quite a bit. I got some cool shots though.

Now I am in Akita. Yesterday I got to see the cherry blossoms in full bloom. It was the reason why I can here so I was really happy to have a chance to see them. The trees looked like they were covered with snow and they were everywhere so it was truly an awesome sight.

Thailand in a blur

I feel like I'm living in a scene in The Terminal with Tom Hanks. My parents and I have been killing HOURS at the Bangkok airport waiting to head to Narita. I have very mixed feeling about this trip. We've been getting nothing but ripped off in Bangkok. AND not to mention it's New Years here so the Songran (sp?) Festival has been going on. This is when the Thais 'gently' throw water on people passing by and if you're lucky, you get that occasional person putting baby powder on your face. I liked Chiang Mai better. I usually don't like cities so this is no surprise. My ultimate quest was to check out the long neck people but it was a bit of a disappointment. I saw them but they were jsut selling hand crafted goods in a straw hut. There really was no 'village.' But I enjoyed talking to the locals and the food was really good. My favorite part of the trip was the cooking class we took. We had a 6 course meal that day. Crazy. Anyway, time is running out. Hopefully I can log on again soon.

Back in Cancun

I'm back in Cancun. We took an express bus to Chetumal which took about 3 hours. The ride was comfortable and I slept most of the way. We then took the 1.30pm bus to Cancun. We were scheduled to arrive at 6pm but didn't arrive until 1.5 hours later. It was grueling. My legs were numb once we arrived at the bus station. But for $34 US OW, it's not a bad deal.

Placencia

The day after Caracol, we decided to go to a beach town by the lagoon in Placencia. We headed out at 5am and drove for 3+ hours. We parked the car and took a 15 min ferry ride. Placencia has a lot of restaurants and some shops for shopping. It was extremely hot so we went to get something to eat first at the Purple Space Monkey. The food was surprisingly good. I had to get my egg fix so I ordered breakfast. The others had sandwiches which looked good also. Due to the heat, no one felt like moving. We just sat at the table under then fans and relaxed. We also discovered the bathroom had AC so we all changed in there. Haha.

After over an hour, we finally headed out to the beach where we found some shade. There were little black beetle like insects but they didn't bother us so it was fine. The water looked very inviting. It was a nice blue/green color. We took a dip and it felt warm and divine. We swam around, took photos, read a little and did normal beach activities. I noticed some of the trees looked like they were cut in half. Apparently it is due to the hurricane they had a few years ago. They haven't fully recovered yet. It wasn't a very strong hurricane but it lingered for several days doing a lot of damage.

After drying off, we proceeded to a friend's bar and hung out there for a few drinks and had some food before the long journey home.

Caracol

Took a tour to Caracol today. The bus ride was a daunting 2 hours on mainly unpaved roads through the Mountain Pine Ridge park. The van was rocking so hard, I thought the slide door would fall off or the AC hanging in the back would come down. The site itself was amazing. It was much larger than I expected. It made a big difference that we could climb the steps. It helped me to gauge and appreciate it's size more. The largest temple called Caana is 140 feet tall. When you climb to the top, you get a 360 view over the trees in the jungle. It is the tallest in Belize. They say it reached its peak in 700 A.D. I haven't been exercising much so my legs were shaky after climbing three temple. The main reason I climbed so many was that I didn't know the first one one wasn't the main temple. Haha. Aside from the temples, there were several ball courts and a reservoir. The walls and altars were covered with hieroglyphics which gave insight into the Mayan people and culture. As we walked around the site, the guide pointed out the areas where the ground was raised. These were where the middle class built their homes and lived. By having their homes raised, they could literally look down at the lower class. We already know they're extremely smart and created an accurate calendar system.

There was a tree in the forest which looked like a really thick vine. It would support itself by attaching to a tree. It would eventually wrap around host and kill it. We were guessing what the name of the tree was and the guide told us it's called marriage. Haha.

On the way back, we stopped at Rio On Pools where there were small waterfalls with pools below them. They were followed by more falls and pools as far as I could see. Some people were swimming in the water and sliding down the smooth rocks. I dipped my feet but the water was brown so I didn't go in much further. I walked around and took photos. My photos may have come out nicer than the actual area.

I will make a note of this on Tripadvisor but I did not like the tour company -- Mayawalk Tours. In my opinion, it was too expensive for what they were offering. The van was air conditioned but it sounded like it was falling apart. It was braced into the ceiling above the last row of seats. I checked the nuts to make sure they weren't loose. The padded lining on the door was falling off. The entire car made a really loud shaking noise. Of course I had to take a video clip of it with my camera. I swear that AC was going to fall down. Lunch consisted of two bologne sandwiches with a leaf of lettuce and 2 thin slices of cucumber. We also had some fruit, a dessert and a small juice (red or purple). They didn't provide us with any water and it also wasn't available for purchase at the ruins. It's a national park so you have to carry your garbage out. At the least, I feel they should provide a garbage bag for the group. To top it all off, the tour guide spoke super fast. Last time I checked, English was my first language and I could not keep up with this man. Aside from all of the negatives I just mentioned with the tour company, this was my favorite Mayan ruin.

I retained one piece of information from today's tours. It's pretty funny. The guide told us how the Mayans acquired their name. When the Spanish came to the Yucatan, they asked the natives what their people were called. They responded with "Maya" which means I don't understand.

Blue Hole

So there was some drama with the Blue Hole. I was supposed to dive it 2 days ago with Big Fish (BF) on Caye Caulker. I was originally supposed to dive with Amigos del Mar but BF was much cheaper. However, when I woke up to meet the boat at 5:30AM! they told me that 4 people backed out the night before and they need 10 people to move the boat and we only had 8. Of course I had to give them a dose of the NY spirit and told them that they need to pay for an extra night of lodging for inconveniencing me. Why did they give the money back to these people if they're cancelling so last minute?... blah blah blah. In the end, I got mixed answers about whether they had the money or not. Because if they did have it, they should have kept it and moved the damn boat! So anyway, I ended up having to go to San Pedro, Ambergis Caye because we already paid for a night of lodging there. So I went there after taking a 45 boat ride there for $10BZ. Note: It's much cheaper to go from one island to another by taking Triple J instead of the water taxi ($20 BZ). I was shocked at how long AC was. It's a zillion times bigger than Caulker. They ride golf carts at 100 mph and don't slow down. They also have paved streets and sidewalks for major streets.

I'm digressing. So when I got off the ferry, Amigos was right there on the next pier so I walked in, signed up and they told me they would pick me up at the pier by the Belize Yacht Club at 5:30AM. For the rest of the day, I just hung out with Shaniquoa. Swimming, talking to locals, and just chillin'.

The next day, I waited on the pier for a few min and I was picked up. We were taken back to the Amigos pier and had some fresh fruit for breakfast and loaded the boats. The ride is not for the faint of heart. It was about 2 hours (maybe more). During the first 45 min, there was some rain so it hurt to slam into tiny water droplets at 70(?) mph. The next 45 min, we traveled over open water crosses which were really choppy waters. The boat would get launched into the air at times and slam back down. I was surprised the boat didn't break in half. Even though I took Dramamine, I was feeling nauseated from the smell of the petrol.

So after that, we finally made it. There were about 15 people on the boat and about half were snorkelers. I was surprised there were so many, but I was secretly glad. That means there will be less divers in the group. They helped us get into our gear and we hit the water. I was a little nervous knowing I would be going down to 130 feet and my left ear was a bit clogged because I was still getting over a cold. I was fine though. I just kept equalizing my ears and everything went smoothly. I was surprised at how easily I slipped down to such depths. I hardly felt a change. I only noticed that it was a tiny bit more difficult to breathe. Not much marine life. Some stalagtites but nothing compared to the cenotes in Cancun. Towards the end of the dive, the reef sharks were getting curious so they started coming out. I took some photos of them but I won't be able to post them until I get back home. It got a little scary when one was close enough that I could distinguish the face. It's face wasn't as friendly as the nurse shark I petted in Grand Cayman. Needless to say, I won't be keeping any sharks as pets. So that was the Blue Hole. People say it's nothing special but I had a great time. I was glad I went. I probably won't be doing it again since it's so expensive. I can tick it off my list of things to see/do and it's also in the book of 1000 Places to See Before You Die.

The next two dives were at Half Moon Caye, and the Aquarium. Both were wall dives. Nothing too exciting. Aside from the small marine life, I saw a huge turtle and my fav, a baby sting ray. At Half Moon, we got off, had lunch and checked out the bird sanctuary. You climb up to the top of the observation deck and see the birds sitting in the tree tops or flying around. There were also some hermit crabs crawling around the forest floor.

Next I'm off back to Belize City and we're going to drive over to Chetumal, MX. Not sure what we are going to do there but it's a popular Belizean thing to do. There is a casino, shopping and chain restaurants. By the way, this is the place where I stayed in a posada where the room was a converted garage.

Belize

I am in Caye Caulker, Belize right now. I have been in Belize for about a week now. I've been meeting and hanging out with Niquoa's 1001 cousins. Everyone has been friendly and cool. On our first day, we had some fresh coconut water on the rocks and ate the meat. I've tried the Belizean rum called one barrel which is really good. The local beer, Belikin, is pretty good as well -- except for Light House. You know how I like my beers dark with full calories. I had the best tamale at a stand near the park/ocean/club district which had chicken and peppers in it. We hear one of the aunts in Cayo makes the best ones so we're going to have to go down there to compare and learn the recipe. We also checked out Old Belize and Mayan ruins about an hour away called Altun Ha. They were not as impressive and large as Chichen but they were still nice to see. The drive there was nice as well.

I am in Caye Caulker right now so I can dive the Blue Hole tomorrow. It's a famous spot for diving. I am not sure how deep the hole is but I would dive down to around 130 feet. I should be able to see stalagmites and stalagtites and some reef sharks. I was told I might see a bull shark. I don't have much luck with spotting large pelagics so I won't count on that. The island is nice. Not much to do but it's nice and relaxing. My hostel, Tina's, is right by the beach and I have a nice view of it from my window. They provide a kitchen, fridge and a place to lock vaulables.

It appears Belize has it's own clock that it runs by. I am always surprised if people arrive at the time they say or things take the amount of time originally stated. When we were coming down here from Tulum (another site for Mayan ruins) they would tell us the bus ride is 3 hours and it would take an hour longer than anticipated. If someone says they'll be at the house to pick up us at Noon, add 2 hours. We're not in a rush to go anywhere so it's fine with me but it's a huge change from the 'get up and go' attitude in NY.

And I don't know why I'm always surprised by this, but everyone outside of the US is always so aware of things going on outside of their own country. Her cousin Lyndon knows much more than I do about the elections and his theory on what tactics will harm or aid each US candidate. I'm so ashamed. I'm going to catch up on my news now.

Mexicanos and Comidas

I have been here for a couple of days now and it´s been fun staying in Cancun. It is touristy but it still has some traditional flavor left. We had lunch one day at a concrete park which appeared really bleak but at night, it comes alive with families playing in the park at night. There are children everywhere. Food stands are open selling tacos, tortas, empanadas, tlayudas, and flavored waters. Everyone is pretty friendly. Most men usually want to come up to Shaniquoa and say something and touch her (on her shoulder or some place similar). Partly due to culture but mainly probably due to the fact that they have not seen many Black people. One girl came up and introduced herself in the park saying she was her first encounter. Cute girl.

I´ve driven past the hotel strip a couple of times and I am really glad I am staying downtown. The hotel area is aweful. It reminds me of a watered down version of Vegas. Chain restaurants -- Planet Hollywood, Bubba Gumps, Houlihans, etc. Multiple huge hotels which are not fully occupied. These hotels were built so close to the edge of the water that nature is slowly taking the sand away. Supposidly they tried to move the sand from one side of the beach to the other side, but it only lasted 6 months. Instead, they use sand bags to keep the water back. Really attractive when you´re sitting on the beach chair in a nice resort. Haha.

We did the Anthony Bourdain thing and tried tacos from a cart. There is a little section where there is hardly any traffic and there are 2 to 3 stalls setup. They all sell the same things--tacos and tortas. I tried tripa (tripe) and lengua (tounge). They all taste similar but I liked the texture on the lengua. You also put salsa and picante and onions on top.

When we went to Isla Mujeres, a woman was selling tamales by the ferry. It is one of my only favorite Mexican foods. It was really good. Smooth and almost creamy. She put a little bit of the picante and OH MAN, my mouth was on fire. I don´t know how they eat such spicy foods. I still liked it though. I probably noticed the kick more because of the citrus in the sauce.

Chichen Itza

I finally made it to one of the Seven Wonders of the World! I had a tough time understanding my guides so I won´t attempt to reiterate any of the history. The temple itself was a little different from what I expected. Maybe it was shorter or narrower? I can´t really tell what I was expecting. I was also hoping to climb it which I am sure would wake me up and make me realize how tall it is. 90 steps! I definitely don´t think I am in any shape right now to be doing cardio. There were many interesting facts we learned but the one incredible one I took away was when you clap in front of the temple, you hear an eagle´s cry in the echo. They could also predict when there would be an eclipse. The 21st of March is supposed to be the day of solstice where an effect is said to take place twice a year. The sun shines down on the staircase in a why that it looks like a snake. It started raining around 4pm so we were unable to witness the phenonmena. Ended up with a postcard instead.

Cancun

Did my cave diving yesterday. I could not sleep past 6 am because (1) it was noisy (2) I did not want to miss my pickup at 7.30am. I had breakfast and updated my journal instead. The pick up came on time. Gwen was the driver and dive master for the day. We had a nice small group with a total of 4 divers including Gwen. We made a couple of spots to pick up passengers and gear but we were on our way to the site around 8.30am. All of the cenotes are apparently owned by families. Land was distributed to families at one point. We paid an entrance fee and once we got in, we drive down a short bumpy road to find a ton of other cars. Since it was windy, it was especially crowded because the wind does not affect diving in the caves. We got out gear together and dove in. The water was a bit colder than I had thought. It was about 72 degrees. The first dive was okay but I was freezing by the 2nd dive. We did not see much in terms of life. Some small fish and a white koi which was introduced by someone. We swam right next to stalagtites and some stalagmites. In some areas they were pretty long. It really looks incredible when you are swimming towards the entrance. The water is a beautiful blue color set against the opening of the cave. In the second dive, we swam into a dome area where we could take our regulators out of our mouths and look at the fossils and the spiders in the cave.}

There is a difference between cavern diving and cave diving. With the former, you can always see the light from the opening. And with cave diving... you do not. The tunnels can also be a little more narrower so definitely not something you want to try if you are closterphobic.

The water in the cave is mainly fresh water. The water gets filtered as it passes through the lime stone (which was once coral). As you dive down, there is a point when salt water and fresh water meet called the halocline. When you swim through it, you cannot see anything. Everything becomes fuzzy. It is very cool but can be a little scary because you cannot navigate by sight. I just followed my dive master.

Texas to Cancun

I am in Cancun now. My flight was delayed by 2 hours but I still made it. I am staying in Hostel Haina. I cannot tell much since its dark but it looks fairly nice. Tomorrow I am off at 7.30 am to go cenote (cave) diving. Cant wait. Should be pretty cool. Even though the caves are in the ocean, the caves or something (these are technical terms) filter the water and it becomes fresh water. Pretty cool stuff.

In my last few days in Texas, I got to try some great BBQ in Austin at County Line. I had some ribs and brisket. The ribs were soooo good. South Austin is really chill. Lots of live music and vintage shops open late. Reminds me of NY a bit.

When I got back to Houston, I went to check out a rodeo. I did not get to see the actual rodeo with cowboys on horses roping cattle but I got to watch 6 year old kids ride sheep. It was adorable. The kids were hanging on for dear life to these animals. Loved it. Took some photos and one video of it.

Texas

I've been in Texas for the last 2 days attending a Indian wedding. After this, the normal Christian church wedding can't compare. This has been so beautiful and elaborate. Everyone is wearing different vibrant color saris and the venue is decorated with flowers, cloth and gold statues of deities. On the first night, they had the tumeric ceremony. It starts with a prayer, then the soon to be married couple get dotted with tumeric paste on their feet, hands and head. Tumeric is supposed to be good for your skin but it also makes it yellow. Then the next night was the Sangeet (sp?) which was basically a party. There were dances and speeches in honor of the bride and groom to be. This morning we attended the wedding ceremony. The groom comes in on a horse while everyone dances in front of him. This is to symbolize the journey the groom makes to meet his bride. Traditionally, this would be the first time they meet. The bride wore a gorgeous red sari with gold trimming. The venue was adorned with flowers and scarves and gold statues. The ceremony was about an hour long. The parents sat under an awning with the Hindu priest and bride and groom. They performed various tasks such as offering rose petals to
Ganesh (with the elephant head) . Clarified butter and rice were fed into a small fire. The couple also walked around the stage area 7 times and kicked 7 small piles of rice. I don`t remember what this stands for. I will have to look this up. They weren't allowed to kiss dues to religious customs so the priest had the couple feed each other by bringing their arm around the shoulders. Tonight I think the reception will be similar to what we normally witness in America.

In a few hours...

I'm am off to Houston for a wedding. It should be fun so I'm looking forward to that. I also hope it will be warmer than New York.

Next I'm off to Cancun to start the Central America leg of the trip. For now, this is the itinerary:

3/13 Houston
3/16 Austin
3/17 Cancun
3/26 Belize
3/31 Guatemala/Tikal
4/5 Belize
4/8 Cancun
4/9 NYC

4/13 Thailand
4/18 Japan
4/28 NYC

4/29 Budapest
5/1 Vienna
5/3 Cesky Krumlov
5/4 Prague
5/6 Berlin
5/10 Holland
5/14 Belgium
5/15 France
5/17 Dover (cruise to Copenhagen, Berlin, St Petersburg, Tallinn, Helsinki, Stockholm)
6/3 Cairo
6/19 Jordan
6/22 NYC

Counting Down

Big progress. I handed in my resignation. I bought my ticket to Central America. Planning to go to Cancun to do some cenote diving. Then Belize to dive the blue hole and hang out with locals and hopefully check out Tikal, Guatemala.

Japan and Thailand next. Going to check out Bangkok and Chiang Mai. Hopefully I can actually make it to a Muy Thai match this time. It's a little scary because it seems so violent but it's a cultural experience I want to witness. Then hopefully I will get to see some sakura in Japan.

Then off to Europe to do some backpacking --Budapest, Vienna, Prague. Amsterdam to see the tres hermanas from my Patagonia trip. Brussels and maybe Paris. Kill some time in London to meet up with the start of the cruise through the Baltic countries / Skandinavia.

Last leg ends with an Intrepid tour through Egypt and Jordan. Can't wait to check out Petra.

Natural Beauties

The first photo is an image of Fitz Roy (the mountain the back). The 8 hour hike was definitely worth the sprained ankle, blood, sweat and tears (slight exaggeration). There are two beautiful milky blue glacier lakes in front of Fitz Roy and the panoramic view was incredible. Joe, he was on my tour, works for Patagonia. His t-shirt with the Patagonia logo is based on the silhouette of Fitz Roy. Notice the similarity?

The second photo is of Torres del Paine. More often than not, Torres is not known to show itself behind the clouds. We were extremely lucky to have had full view of the towers. The temperature was also extremely HOT! People were all getting sunburned. We were constantly reapplying sunscreen. The lake here wasn't as beautiful as the one at Fitz Roy but the towers were more impressive. We sat and admired them for almost an hour before heading back down. Getting down the rock scramble was tricky. Bring hiking poles. They would probably help.

Seafood... mmmm

I´m back in BA now. The dive was fun. Not much to see but I always enjoy going diving. It´s so peaceful in the ocean. I dove in the Beagle Channel. It wasn´t quite a kelp forest but there was a lot of kelp and tons of tiny lobsters and crabs. I saw one king crab. Too bad those little suckers are protected. They would have made a tasty meal. I stayed down much longer than I had expected -- about 55 min. The water was 7 degrees Celcius. I wouldn´t have survived without my wet suit.

Patagonia es Bonita

Not sure where to begin. It´s been almost 2 weeks now and I´ve done so much. Hike 8 or 9 hours to Fitz Roy. It was brutal. Sprained my ankle, but the view was worth it. It was just amazing. You see the peak close up with the two glacial lakes below it. We have been VERY fortunate with the weather. Fitz Roy is known for not being seen. Patagonia is known for rain and unpredictable weather. We had both. We saw Fitz Roy and all it´s glory. We had unbelievably warm weather. I wasn´t but other people were wearing shorts and short sleeve shirts. We also camped out and hiked Torres del Paine for 2 nights and 3 days. We did what they call the W trail. The first day we hiked 8.5 hrs and saw the 3 famous peaks of Torres del Paine. Next day was 4 hrs and the follow was 6 but I think I stopped around 4 or 5 because of my ankle. I´m not sure I enjoy the act of hiking but the final outcome if it is worth it. It´s beautiful here. I definitely recommend it. And if you can learn to speak basic or conversational Spanish, your trip will be enriched a little more. The locals are very friendly and funny but they are more open if you speak or try to speak their language.

I also went to Punto Arenas to view the Otoway Penguin colony. I got some cool photos there. At first, I thought I wouldn´t be able to get very close to them, but as we kept walking we discovered spots where the babies settled near the boardwalk. They were a bit stinky but adorable! Today I took a tour of the Beagle Channel. I saw some Sea Lions and Cormorants (sp?). Tomorrow I´m planning to go diving. Everyone thinks I am nuts. Apparently I´m the only one on the boat tomorrow. I guess they´re right. I´m actually looking forward to it because I get to say I did it. I don´t think I will get to see much besides some kelp, crabs and star fish but I enjoy the actual act of diving... even if the water is only 4 degreed Celcius. I´m only doing one dive so hopefully it won´t kill me.

So far, what has been memorable? Definitely Fitz Roy. It was really beautiful. The majetic peaks with the beautiful glacial milky blue lakes sitting in front. I also walked on a glaciar but that wasn´t as exciting. It was fun for the first hour but it got a little old quickly. It was similar to walking on large large piles of ice cubes. Not really what I expected. I was hoping to try the ice climbing but it was sold out way in advance. Note to self... book early if I want to try ice climbing in Patagonia.

Torres del Paine was a more impressive natural wonder than Fitz Roy. If you do one, you have to do the other. Camping was interesting. We shared tents and really got cozy with our tent mate. My tent mate is cool so we had fun just chatting for a bit and going to bed. We had a 4 star camping experience. For dinner, we had an actually dining room with ceramics and silverware and a chef. Split pea soup, turkey with rice and dessert. That was only for 1 night though.

Considering how bad my memory is, I think I will take away the following things when I get back home.

1. The beautiful colors of Patagonia. Rich greens mixed with red, purple, white, and yellow folowers.

2. The friendly people. We´ve encountered great people along the way and the international group in my tour were also amazing and caring.

3. The difficulty of reaching each of the sites. The remoteness of the destinations are both a mix of pain and pleasure. Because they are remote, they are not over run with more tourists than they already are. Think unpaved highways and 12 hr bus rides. (But there is are signs of highways coming up.) Then again, it´s difficult to get from one destination to another which is why I went with an organized tour.

From Buenos Aires

After a long day of flying on airplanes, waiting in airports and riding buses, I finally made it to Argentina. Its sunny and warm here. If youre wondering, I cant figure out how to use the apostrophe. I stayed at Hostel Estoril. I was cute and clean. They had a little outdoor patio. I was on the 6th floor. Im not sure if the one on the 6th floor does also. People are friendly. My roommate was from Ireland and she was staying for two nights. Then she was heading to an apartment she rented and is planning to learn Spanish for two months. Shes then planning to travel throughout South America. I checked into my hotel, Hotel Waldorf, no affilication to the one in NY. Its dark as the reviews say but I guess the room is decent. Im about to go find out how much it will cost me to change my flight to an earlier day. I also saw a pilates studio so I might take a class if it works out. Im so sore from sleeping in strange positions on the plane. The tour group is meeting at 7.30p tonight to discuss the itinerary, meet one another and pay the local payment. Im was nervous about the trip but I think Im excited now. Looking forward to seeing the glaciers, penguins and fjords.