Got $5? Hope you're hungry.

I present an assortment of dishes, $5 or less (most are less).

First, a familiar sight for those who frequent Remedy:

Masala dosa! Huge crepe like things filled with potato curry and served with 4 curries and chutneys. Logistically, somewhat difficult to eat, (picking up the dosa without spilling the bright yellow curry all over your shirt is a challenge), but still worth it.



my dad's personal favourite, carrot cake. Not sure why they call it this. I don't think they're carrots. Try to imagine soft but thick glutinous things that are salty-ish but covered in a sweet sauce that isn't overpowering. They're delicious. That's all you really need to know.


Lots of cheap sushi! Complete with wasabi-to-go!


I have a penchant for soupy things. Luckily, Singaporeans are more than happy to oblige. Chicken stock no more, I will now crave porridge, laksa, or fish slice beehoon soup the day after drinking.Spicy tonkatsu ramen (japanese):


"Waiter, is that a shrimp head and octopus arm in my soup?"
"Why yes, there is. Enjoy!"
(Hey, at least there are some vegetables in it. Usually they're sorely lacking).


Another soup dish with no vegetables:


And finally, a dish that was called vegetarian. Which it seemed to be...until she threw a handful of dried fish onto it:

and then on closer inspection:


Lots of pork!


















I must note that there are some soups that I am less fond of. Or maybe just as fond, but more hesitant to order because of their nomenclature. For example: "pig organ soup" or "fish head soup". More on this in my next post on strange foods. And later, the snacks (these are the most fun cause they're super cheap and super mysterious until you bite into them!)

Sign of the day

Singapore is full of ridiculous signs.

I see this one every day at a nearby construction site. I finally braved the hordes of staring construction guys to run in and take this picture.

The quietest places in Singapore: The Outdoors

Need a place to get away from it all in Singapore? If you can brave the sweltering heat, then head on over to the Botanical gardens and scoot down to the far end. It's the only place I've seen here so far that is devoid of human presence. So many peaceful things to do.

Sit quietly by a pond:


Look at flowers at weird angles:


Enjoy mini waterfalls:


Watch flowers fall from the sky:

Or hit up the local toasted sandwich vending machine (not actually in the gardens...but I sure wished it had, then I would've had something more delicious than reheated chicken nuggets on a stick).

Singapore 2010

I'd almost forgotten about this old blog. Had I any computer sense I might try to create an entirely new blog, but since coming to Singapore I am reminded again how inept I am at being young and Chinese (and hence unable to use things with keypads).

So...welcome back to the grand re-opening of my on again, off again disaster-of-a-blog. Mostly here to post some key photos that will go nicely with what would otherwise have been photoless mass emails.

The story so far: I came to Singapore to do some research for
2 months in a somewhat informal exchange. After a disastrous series of looking for a place to live (barriers encountered: 1) a lack of owners wanting to rent for only 2 months, 2) scheming agents who want 1/2 a month's rent in agent fees, 3) rooms in flats where you can't cook or use the common areas, and have a curfew...sadly the list goes on, but let's not start off in such a grumbly manner). The end story is that I found a lovely room in a 2 storey house. Shared with 2 non-existent roommates, 2 dogs, and a lovely maid...oh, and there's a yoga studio on the main floor. Perks. Major, free-yoga-filled perks. Great area with bars, restaurants (which I can't afford), and cheap food. Oh, and not too many shopping malls (phew).


I've already been here 2 weeks. Two humid, sunny, virtually workless weeks. Too avoid being too boring, I'll just tell you that security, safety, and the fear of being sued/fined is at the max here in Singapore and I've had to do lots of safety training and fill out many forms and I'm still not in possession of any type of lab access.

But, this means I've had time to explore. Some general comments about Singapore:

Everyone more or less speaks english (or what the locals affectionately like to call "Singlish"). From what I can gather the government has put on some pretty strong campaigns for "Speaking good english". I'm not convinced it was entirely successful. I often get spoken to in Chinese. I can't pronounce many things properly and still can't order coffee without getting sugar or milk in it.

The national obsessions are eating and shopping. There are literally malls and shopping outlets on every corner, and at least 20 eating places in between each of these malls. And they are busy. All the time. Sometimes there is a line to go up the escalator.

Food is cheap, as long as you eat at food courts or hawker centres. Contrary to Canadian food courts, these are the places you get the best food. (And also the worst food.)

So much to say, but I'll leave it at that for now. Will follow up with posts of daily excursions and food. I forgot to bring our point and shoot, but bought one recently on the cheap and and now taking some lovely shots of this city/country. Been eating all kinds of foods (chinese, indian, malay, japanese, korean, foods of unidentified origin, and so forth) and I promise to post and describe to whet your appetites. I'll leave you today with one of the soupier dishes I've tried and a random smatter of desserts. Despite the 35 degree weather, Asians love their soups. More on this later.

Seafood horfun:
Assortment of desserts (starting at green and moving around in clockwise fashion): Steamed cake with sugar and coconut on top, green tea cheescake, passionfruit, kuih lapis (Malay layer cake), durian pudding, and in the middle ang koo kueh (mung bean paste cake),

Mendoza, Argentina - wine, rafting, and getting our bags stolen

After taking the best bus ride of my entire life (plush leather seats, reclining capabilities, double decker buses with food and drink), i arrived in mendoza on friday. The only negative was the couple sitting in front of my who made out the entire 15 hour trip...which would´ve been okay, except for the fact that there was a lot of loud saliva noises involved. BUT, i won a bottle of wine playing bingo (random, i know...), so all is forgotten and forgiven. Mendoza was a fairly little city (compared to buenos aires) with lots of beautiful parks...and lots of bag stealing. In the first hour one of the guys i was eating lunch with had his bag stolen (though we caught him cause a argentinian lady started yelling), and then an hour later we saved a backpacker from getting her bag stolen...THEN, the next day an older man dropped his keys in front of two of us, and i ran after him with his keys. when i tried to give them back to him, he was really confused, saying stuff like, ´keys? what keys...are these my keys?¨and so forth, and when i looked back i noticed that some other guy had gone up to Shen and was trying to sell her postcards. that´s when i realized that it was totally dodgy so i threw the keys at the man and ran back, after which all three men (there was another one, creeping up on our bags) ran away. the good thing is that the stealing was non violent...as soon as you caught the thieves, they dropped whatever the stole ran away. the bad thing is that...well, you get stuff stolen.
I lucked out in my hostel, with three brit guys who were really sweet (despite being incredibly intimidating...skinheads, built, and tattooed like crazy), and a couple american guys who were pretty cool. also, i had friends from buenos aires down for the weekend as well...that night was the full moon, and we ended up going midnight rafting. basically, we took a bus out to the site, then we got free beer and meat, and then they loaded us into rafts and sent us down the river, after which we ended up at an outdoor party. it was a bit complicated and super unorganized (a la south america), but in the end it was a pretty good time...despite the fact that it was Chilly with a capital C.
Oh, and on a side note. i hate casinos. i found out that i got 30 pesos worth of fake bills from the jerks.
okay, so then the next day i went wandering around some big park and saw some pretty weird things....people go karting randomly on the street, an emergency exit sign on an open patio, and reindeer in some random zoo. also got a beautiful view from this thing we had to climb (un cerro...i don´t know what it is cause i couldn´t find the translation in my dictionary...)...oh, and mendoza is right among the andes, so that´s pretty sweet.
the next day involved the main event...wine tour. we loaded onto a bus, hit up a few wineries and liqueur places, and then ate the hugest meal EVER. meats, and vegetables, and empanadas (my favourite.), and cheeses, and breads, and salads, and dessert, and grains i can´t identify, and things that i know the name of in spanish but i don´t know in english. oh, and of course, unlimited wine. they have a type of wine here called malbec...special to argentina and absolutely delicious. get yourself to the LCBO and find a bottela of it right now!
anywho, i got back yesterday morning (after the long ride i went straight from the bus station to spanish class...bad idea)...spanish classes have been awesome, but GIC Argentina (the company i´m with) seems intent on screwing me over for lessons...i signed up for 2 weeks of private classes (=40 hours), but since this week there have been three days of holiday (mon, thurs, fri cause of easter..), they think this means that i shouldn´t get those classes....which is crazy, right?
mom, don´t worry, i´m not picking up random cab men...try and work less, 17 hours is only fit for a robot. oh, and the word is ciao, you´re right...but it´s spelt ´chau´here.
al, in BA there´s no official siesta, but i often have a self imposed siesta...especially between dinner and going out.
sonia...yes, i´m having much more luck here at the casino than in sydney...but perhaps it´s due to the fact that i didn´t just put all my money on one number in roulette. and yes, steak rocks.

p.s. i{ve started posting all my pics on facebook, so if you want the full show, they will soon be all there (including my southeast asia pics!)

Guess where Kim is..

so....lots to say since i last left off (and i swear, one day i will finish off the rest of my SE Asia blog...still lots of awesome stories to tell you guys)

i came home, went to new york for a weekend with Alanna, went home for a week, then went to Edmonton to visit a grad school...it was superb, and i´ll be moving out west in june!

now, on the fun note...since i figured out all the grad school stuff, and i still had two months to myself, i decided to fly to south america. yes...i am currently in buenos aires, argentina, where i am learning spanish, volunteering with a company called LIFE argentina, and enjoying the life of the locals, (porteños)...

already i´ve fallen behind on bloggage....i´ve been here for a week and so much has happened!! i´m living in a house (rez, essentially) with approx 20 other people who are in various stages of university, learning spanish, working, or volunteering...pretty much everyone is an american, and i´ve learnt to live with it :) hahah, but really, a lot of the people in my house have turned out to be cool people, and apparently a new batch of people are coming in this weekend...woot!
so...south america...i didn´t do any research at all before coming here, but it´s a pretty damn sweet continent. buenos aires is a fairly modern city, with really unique neighbourhoods, really wicked people (they are apparently the most egotistical of all the south americans, but they are really helpful and nice people), cheap food (steak, steak, steak, steak...for like 5 bucks), great wine (a bottella for 2 dollars), and a nightlife second to none. people are super fashionable here, but everyone looks unique, so it´s fabulous. the main things i had to get used to were :

1) the spanish...it´s really different from everywhere else, and since i didn´t speak any spanish when i got here, i´ve had to learn quickly!! luckily i´ve been taking 4 hours a day since i got here, so it´s improving rapidly...4 hours of someone speaking to you in a foreign language is pretty intense though, by the end my brain is leaking out my ear. i´d suggest 2 hours classes to anyone who ever wants to do them...
no worries though, over the past few months i´ve gotten really good at communicating via arm flailing, so that helps too. man though, these porteños speak freakin´fast....and they drop their ´S´ when they speak so it´s even harder! (like..they would say ´whi-key´instead of ´whiskey´)

2) the late...and i mean LATE nights. people eat dinner around 9pm here (at the EARLIEST), but often i don´t eat until 11 at a restaurant! and then, the bars definitely do not start until 2pm, and even that´s a little early to be arriving. so, basically you get home at like, 8am.

3) the meat...they LOVE meat, and it´s so ridiculous cheap and amazing here...steaks are huge, juicy, and amazing.

4) the lack of peanut butter...but luckily i´ve got someone bringing me some from australia in a few weeks!

so far i´ve gone salsa dancing (and i´m in love with it..will start taking lessons next week), hit up some of the wicked markets in the barrios (crazy cute neighbourhoods with tons of character), gotten lots of cab driver´s numbers (the women here are not .... fun? they are really nice, but in that laid back cool kinda way, so people seem to really like the incessant chatter, despite that fact that is super broken spanish), been introduced to some of the best food i´ve ever eaten, volunteered at a hospital playing with kids on dialysis, in a poorer neighbourhood where we´ve given the kids birthday parties, and teaching english.
last night i hit up the casino with some friends and it was fabulous...we played blackjack cause it involved the least knowledge of spanish vocab, and i won 72 pesos...which is about 25 bucks.. which is like, 3 good steak meals with wine and dessert. unfortunately the 3 chicas i went with all lost their money, but it´s all good, it was still worth it cause they keep serving you free drinks...hahah :)
the only thing that´s been crappy so far has been the weather...it was perfect, then started raining...and when it rains here, it freakin´POURS... my friend and i got caught coming home from sushi one night, and we were about 2 minutes away from home. we decided to wait for a second before heading out into it, but then the streets started flooding...i´m not even kidding. water was gushing by in rivers and coming out of door stoops in waterfalls. in the 2 minutes it took to run home i managed to take a dive in the middle of the street and got completely soaked. luckily, it only lasted one night, but it´s been a steady rain ever since...can everyone please cross their fingers for me and hope for the sunny weather to come back?
anyways, pictures will get posted early next week...my camera and this computer aren´t compatible apparently...i´m going out of town this weekend to mendoza with some friends...to wine country. danger.

the honking ceases - halong bay

just to get away from the bustle of Hanoi, a few friends and I headed off to do a boat trip through Halong Bay. As was all of the tours in Vietnam, it was very...well...touristy, but my only intention on the trip was to relax and enjoy the peace, so i put up with the cave viewings (lots of neon lights and stories how some of the structures bring good luck etc etc etc...nothing compared to walking through a pitch black cave on your own, in constant fear of falling down a bottomless pit, a la Laos.) we slept on the boat, we ate on the boat...visited a cool floating village (yes, the people live in houses that float on the water). little boats full of food and goods were constantly up along our boat, with cute ladies trying to sell us food and fruits. unfortunately, we had already hit up the oreo and liquor districts of Hanoi before going on the trip, so we were loaded with food, so we didn't get to do any bartering with the boat ladies.

my question is: where do the dogs get to play? seriously, there were lots of dogs, but since the houses were floating on water, there was no green space (clearly.)

we braved the cold (yes, it was actually quite cool) to sit up on the top deck and enjoy the misty view, but most of the time we spent warming ourselves inside, eating candy and drinking whiskey.

a very relaxing trip.

reverse culture shock - where am i?

I have returned to Canada!! ..and all that comes with it (expensive food, western style toilets, windchill, and no food on a stick).

if anyone's still following the blog, i'll be posting the rest of my adventures this week...the last month of my trip was one crazy ride, traveling all the way down vietnam, then through cambodia and then flying to the thai beaches for one last hurrah. upon return, alanna met me in new york for a week of acclimatization, theand now i'm in guelph for a week before heading back to ottawa. i still plan on going to south america next month..i'll keep you updated.

finally, i'll leave some notes/advice for those who are planning on doing a similar trip in the future...and of course, if there's anything you need, drop me a line and i will do all i can to help!

Getting friendly with the locals - Hanoi

Pretty much every time we went out it was an adventure - at one particular restaurant no one spoke english, and they seemed content with not making eyecontact so that they didn't have to serve us. After much confusion (i.e. them coming over and asking our order about 4 times, over the period of about an hour), the four of us eventually ended up with one plate of fried rice, two beers, shrimp paste, and a couple bowls of soup. oh, and a bottle of rice whiskey, which was strangely the only thing they understood.. anyways, we were SUPPOSED to have 4 main dishes (none of which included fried rice), 4 beers, soy sauce, 3 bowls of soup and a salad. after they brought the fried rice out and we had inhaled it we sat around for a while looking at each other going..."do you think they're going to bring more out??" we finally determined that we should just pay and get out of there, which the servers seemed more than happy to facilitate. it was an enjoyable experience apart from the somewhat rude american being a impatient despite the amusingness of the whole experience.

We ended up hiring two cyclos (bikes with a two person seat attached to the front) to cycle us around the old quarter of hanoi for half an hour. in our hungry and half drunken rice-whiskey induced state, we did lots of waving and cheering and eventually got the cyclo drivers to bring us to a fresh beer bar. Despite the fact that fresh beer places are EVERYWHERE, they had one in particular - so, onto the highway we went (these cyclos are slower than the pedestrians...and the guy biking us looked like he might keel over and die - he was 65 years old). cars zoomed past us, and eventually we made it to a vietnamese bar (that looked like a flourescent cafeteria!). we invited the cyclo drivers in and we had a brilliant time. we were the only foreigners and the whole bar ended up being our friends. the owner's son invited us to his house for the weekend and bought us round after round of beer, along with snacks ... the young cyclo driver got quite drunk, and by the end of the night Dorian, one of the guys i was with, ended up biking the cyclo home with the driver in the seat...it was fabulous. by the end the cyclo drivers were our best friends and refused money (which is so refreshing in vietnam). it was brilliant...i love meeting locals!

I can't wrap my brain around Hanoi

As soon as I got into Hanoi (capital of Vietnam), i instantly understood everything I had been told about Vietnam - the motorbikes, the scamming, the general craziness. Coming from lazy Laos to crazy Vietnam wasn't a total shock on the system, as I had heard lots of stories, but it was definitely shook me a bit. People actually did wear those conical hats and you actually did have to walk slowly and steadily across the road, whilst making eye contact with the 50 motorbikes speeding towards you (i only freaked out and ran back to my starting side a few times, mostly because it's hard to stare down a bus). I was a bit on edge, but clearly not enough since i got cheated many times (but always cheated with a big vietnamese smile, which for some reason makes it better...). ended up traveling with a few north americans for a week - we met on the cab ride to our hotel. There don't seem to be any budget hotels in vietnam, but for $8 you get hot water, cable tv, towels, and free toothbrushes...and even a mini fridge. not stuff i really needed, but there really didn't seem to be any other options!!!

I don't think I'll ever understand the way things work in Vietnam - we were often thwarted in our attempts to walk on some sidewalks (big scary communist guards using vigorous hand gestures to tell us to get off), and walking across the field in front of Ho Chi Min's mausoleum was DEFINITELY a no-no. in fact, there were many guards posted on this field just to make sure that you didn't go near the grass (though walking on the street seemed like somewhat of a death sentence as well). When we went to the mausoleum (to see Ho Chi Minh's dead, preserved body...weird, i know), my camera escaped x-ray detection somehow and didn't not get taken away from me. however, i should have just given them my camera cause i was twitchy throughout the walk through the mausoleum- especially when i saw that they were making random purse checks. i was picturing them finding my camera and bayonetting me - but, i lived to tell the tale. Walking through the mausoleum was uber-surreal. lots of tourists walking around a heavily guarded glass tomb to look at the guy who is either seen as a hero who helped vietnam gain its independence or the man who caused vietnam to fall into poverty. people were shushed if they whispered, hand gestures were made if anyone was caught with their hands in their pockets, and bodies were gently pushed if anyone decided to pause whilst looking at the body. The visit to the war museum after this experience was very normal, and i was surprised to see how objective the museum seemed (though i hear the one in ho chi minh city down north is not quite the same).

The city layout was crazy - no streets are parallel or perpendicular to each other, so i was in a state of perpetual lostness. the only way i could figure my way around was because of the peculiar system of shops - all goods seem to be clustered. for example, the hat shops would all be on the same street, and the flower stores would be on the same road. personally, my favourite area was the coat rack lane...i guess people have lots of hats coats that need hanging!

later in the day we were wandering around one of the lakes and happened to notice a slightly burnt american note in the water...turns out, it was a $100, so we all went about looking for a stick to aid us in Operation: Get The $100 note and Live Like Kings for the Next Week. Of course, a few near-falls into the water later, and after a nice crowd had gathered around us, we finally saved the bill and found out it was a fake - which generated a good round of laughter from us and all those around us.

That night we decided to hit the town and do some fresh beer drinking - fresh beer is sold on every corner, and is about a dollar for 1 or 2 litres (depending on whether the store decides they should charge the foreigners more or not). Most things aren't in english, so if you don't ask the price beforehand, mostly likely expect to be screwed (more on being scammed later...). anyways, we found a place to drink (sitting on little tiny kindergarten chairs, on the street, as per usual), and many fresh beers later (they are quite low on alcohol content), my bladder was about to explode. Upon asking where the toilet was, the owner laughed at me and pointed at the small tree across the road...in front of many stores. upon vigorous shaking of my head, he pointed me towards the back of the store into the alley. finally i was directed to a little room under the stairs, but upon closing of the doors and inspection of the room, there were dishes all over the floor...they had led me to the cleaning room, and wanted me to go in there. anyways, after lots of asking questions, i determined that yes, this was indeed the place they wanted me to pee...so, do as the vietnamese do, i guess, i did my thing, and then spent the next 10 minutes spraying down the floor, and my feet. Jami, the chick i was with at the time, was wandering around yelling "Kim...where's the toilet?? where are you??", to which i responded, "jami, i'm cleaning my feet...one second". so, that was my gross toilet story. sorry to those of you who didn't want to know :) later we eventually found a trough to go in, which was also a challenge since it was made for guys and was up against the wall...and touching the walls were DEFINITELY out of the question. i had one of the guys posted outside the trough to make sure no one came in, and thankfully they were there to catch me when i nearly fell INTO the trough...good times.

Food on a stick - and more

Luang Prabang, Laos, was a huge happy surprise. I thought that after Vang Vieng, I would never be as happy again - i couldn't have been more wrong. Luang Prabang, a quiet, very french influenced city, was as brilliant as Vang Vieng. Again there were baguettes on every corner (complimented by Le Vache qui rit cheese and mystery pate), and the people were laid back. On every street there were Wats (temples) and monks wandering around town. when i say relaxed, i mean to the extreme - i had to wake up a shop owner at one point so that i could buy something, and at one point i walked into a store, grabbed a bottle of water, and realized that no one was there to give money too. after a bit of inquiry (leaving the store and yelling, "excuse me, does anyone know who owns this store??"), i ended up just leaving money on the table and walking out with the water. Also, the night market was the most fabulous market I've ever been to - everything was gorgeous, hand made, and CHEAP. also, often i find that i'm very turned off buying things cause people push you to buy things - the opposite was true. In one instance, i picked up a purse and thought to myself "i'll buy this for $5, max" (my mind is in bargain mode). upon asking for a price, the lady said, "$1", and i said, "that's brilliant, so cheap!", which she quickly followed up with, "o.k., 80 cents!", and i actually had to throw money at her so that she would stop decreasing the price, amongst my protests. i ended up buying way too much stuff, but i don't regret it for a second...!!!

Possibly the best discovery of my whole trip was of the night market food street - Amazingly cheap, abundant, and delicious food, some of which came on a stick (fish on a stick - at first, a seemingly bad idea, but after one taste, you just can't get enough). I spent many hours with friends cruising this street and picking up random foods.

On one of the days I headed up to the waterfall with a couple groups of friends (both of whom i had met in Vang Vieng)...i wasn't expecting much, but when we arrived there were bears and a tiger in a conservation area - i love surprises, especially when they involve animals. behind these animals was a beautiful, tiered waterfall (tons of levels that all looked different and you could swim in each one). At the top where the big falls were no one was swimming, but one of the guys I was with said, "doesn't look taht bad - let's jump in". so, clearly, the adrenaline junkie me in said, "YEAH", and the scaredy-cat in me went, "but you first!", and in we went...no real danger of falling all the way down the falls (i think), and a group of korean tourists laughed and pointed and got some good pictures of the crazy western tourists playing in the falls. after a day of exploring the waterfall (you could go right up to the top and walk across and into the marshy area) and eating more food on a stick (chicken this time), we grabbed a tuk tuk to bring us home. the driver kept nervously looking out the side window, which was in turn making us nervous, but it turns out it was just a flat tire. i assume that this happens often to these contraptions, especially since they're driving up and down unpaved roads constantly...he seemed to be an expert at changing the tire (with the expection of the one time the raised tuk tuk nearly fell down onto his arm...), and the tiny crisis was fixed. I was so content on chicken on a stick and waterfall swimming that i wasn't concerned in the least, especially since there was a food stand in view from where we broke down.

The night scene was pretty chill in Luang Prabang (my liver was happy to learn about this), especially since there's a curfew (hotelowners close their doors at 11:30pm). I made a deal with the owner of my hostel - if I arrived home at 1am, i would buy him one beer, at 2am, 2 beers, and so forth. i thought it was a pretty fair deal and he seemed content with it too. Each night consisted of chilling at an outdoor bar, chatting with our ever growing group of friends.

the only negative thing i can say about my experience in luang prabang was my morning wake up call - i was really enjoying my hostel, except for one thing...every morning around 5am one of the managers of my hostel would wake up, and start hawking (like, trying to bring phlegm up from his lungs...though it sounded to me like he was trying to bring up a kidney). this would continue for about 1 hour (some asians seem to like spitting a lot, and clearing their throats - especially when you're eating or sleeping). after the second day i gave up trying to sleep and instead would wake up early to head up to the temples, see the sun rise, and watch the villagers give alms. Around 6am, monks would come out of their temples with large baskets and walk around town- the villagers would be sitting on the roadside and put food (mostly sticky rice) into their baskets as they walked by. it was incredibly cool to see and fun to participate in - and it beat having to lie around and listen to someone pull up a lung.

i also managed to do a cooking class...it was amusing, not super informative since all the dishes were cooked at once and i only caught snippets of each preparation, but the meal at the end was completely worth it (HUGE HUGE HUGE meal). We also got to go to the local market and we saw all kinda of weird shiznit - most weird of all were the bats. i can't imagine bats to be super tasty, but i guess someone does. The picture of the purple fruit are mangosteens - by far my favourite fruit here in asia (but closely followed by pomellos, mangos, and rambutans).

My adventures in Laos ended..i was sad to move on, but eager to check out the vietnam scene. a quick check of the calendar confirmed that i had stayed WAY longer than expected, but it was worth every single fish on a stick.

"Today I have one goal - to make it down the river" - Vang Vieng, Laos

hey everyone, currently in vietnam - more on that later (trying to preserve chronological order...)

so, i last left you with my perfect day in vang vieng...i meant to leave shortly after, but 1 perfect day turned into 5 perfect days.. the morning after my first perfect day i intended to rent a motorbike (a must in s.e. asia..). however, i woke up around 10am still somewhat drunk so i quickly vetoed that idea and rented a pushbike instead (you know how brilliant my riding skills are...). so, over the unpaved rocky road i went, avoiding pigs and generally trying to remember how to work a bike. an hour later i had picked up some japanese friends (not much english passed between us, but i got the impression they wanted me to guide them to the caves, so i pretended to be competent), and arrived at a huge cave (the name escapes me at the moment). after climbing straight up for an hour, i delved into the pitch black cave. let me remind you that in southeast asia, anything goes - so, despite huge bottomless holes and no light and no real markers, you're allowed to go in as far as you want. so, using my headlamp (courtesy of laura), i charged in with terry, a Kiwi guy also in the mood for some adventure. i was lucky to have him with me, cause my lamp was in serious need of some battery juice (i.e. it was running out of light, and quickly). anyways, we avoided crevices and stalagtites and who knows what together, and basically walked until we came to a point where we couldn't walk anymore (BIG BOTTOMLESS HOLE = death). After we finally found our way out there was a beautiful lagoon waiting for us, where i first met cat, a wonderful irish chick who sometimes gets caught up in her own world, and sharn and jim, a great "posh" british couple who have traveled almost everywhere in the world and have amazing stories. i ended up meeting up with this crew (which of course kept growing and growing), lots throughout laos. A few swings into the lagoon later (yay rope swings), we had bonded quite nicely and all biked back together to town.

The next day i woke up, fully intending to leave vang vieng (here's where the story gets repetitive..i "intended" on leaving every morning for the next few days)); however, as i headed for breakfast I saw my new friends waiting to go tubing...with a little convincing (and i was pretty easily convinced), i threw on my bikini and off i went down the river, ready to tube, hit up the bamboo bars and soak up more sun and beautiful scenery. also, i told myself that i would make it all the way down the river this time and leave the big bars before sundown...hah. no dice. i made it as far as the bank across from the bar this time (about 12 minutes down the river from the start, making that an approximate 10% completion of the river). Met tons of cool people again, and promised to meet them at the bar later.

After a quick shower and a banana pancake (the backpackers premium fastfood), I headed out in search for a tuk tuk because I was volunteering at the local english school that night. As it goes in Laos, I couldn't find any tuk tuks that were actually manned by people. so, i rushed over to one of my laos friends and asked her to help me out. sure enough, she says, "i'll close down my store, hop on my motorbike and i'll drive you!" so, free ride to the organic farm where i was volunteering - taught english that night to a group of younger kids, and then to others about my age. it was pretty sweet; everyone was there on their own time and were quite willing to learn, and were super nice. We spent a good chunk of our time trying to explain the usage of "as for", which in the end we just kinda said...you know what? no one actually uses the idiom "as for" anyways, just don't worry about it. The classes were pretty casual, with volunteers coming in everyday to teach the students out of texts they have. it was great, and i wish i had time to go back more!
later that night i headed back to lak, the girl who drove me to the farm, and bought her a beer. we sat in front of her massage store and drank, and when she was doing business i played with her energetic, adorable daughter and chatted with her sister and mom. they kept bringing me tons of food, which was probably necessary due to the large nature of the beers. Eventually the shop closed, and we were tipsy enough to jump around the massage beds for a while, dancing to Lak's favourite song (the one by atomic kitten...); you could clearly see into the massage rooms from the street, so everyone probably thought we were crazy. Then, eventually her dad told us to go to the bar, so Lak brought me to a Laos bar, where i nicely fit in (thank you dark skin and dim lights) - I saw two white guys walk in at one point, look around, and then awkwardly backed out of the bar. After dancing to some old pop, i decided to call it a night. However, on return to my room i saw that the bonfires were raging across on the island, so i braved the rickety bridge and ended up chilling at the fire until 7am with new and old faces. I met a group of 4 ridiculous irish guys...think of any group of 4 best guys friends that you know and then times their guy-like-ridiculousness (or stupidity, whatever you want to call it) by 400. this is what these guys were like, and it was fabulous - for some reason i fit in really well with them, so, compounded by the late bedtime, I ended up waking up, not ready to take the bus out yet, and went tubing with them...again :D needless to say, i didn't make it down the river again (maybe 18 minutes this time...i swear i went with all intentions to get down this time)). anyways, the party lasted all day, hitting up the bar in town, followed by more bonfire (and another late night - the sun rise was gorgeous). eventually i bought myself a bus ticket so one morning i was forced to leave. said my goodbyes, and headed off... as is the backpacker life.