Reflections

This Time for Africa: Raw & Uncut

Last Days in France

Like Odysseus’ mythical sirens, Marseille and its waters keep luring me back. In the last two weeks, I’ve been to Marseille three times, and each time better than the last. This city is my fantasy land – where anything and everything seems possible, each time I discover new sites, streets and shops and meet the most interesting people. Can you even think of the last time a city captured your heart, mind, and soul..making you want to leave everything behind and just stay? For as much as I love Jersey City, all of that vanished the instant I sailed into Marseille.

I had gone to Strasbourg, a city in the north on the France/Germany border to spend my last few days in France. The train ride was a good 7 hours, but it went by fairly quickly since the scenery was magnificent (rolling hills, rows of sunflowers and lavender, olive groves, vineyards). To my surprise, it was raining..and COLD. Cold, as in the 50-60’s which is not comfortable when you’ve been in consistent 90 to 100 degree weather all summer. I stumbled into the hostel wondering what to do next. I had 1 pair of pants and no jacket of course. Walked around for a bit, found some food and came back to the hostel. Janna, my hostel mate invited me to go down to the city center with her two friends to get a beer and watch the light show at the Cathedral. Janna, Jann, and Milat were all working at a promotional job in a city right across the border. They were all ready to call it quits and decided to come over to France and visit Strasbourg before going to their various hometowns in Germany. As we downed Kronenbourg beer, they taught me some essential words for when I visit Germany.

Allo – Bier – Prost – Danke (Hello- Beer- Cheers- Thank You) =)

Strasbourg is a pretty cool city, the capital of Alsace, it feels like you are in a southern German city. Filled with half timber houses and many street signs in German, Strasbourg literally means “fortified city at the road crossing” (used to be a Roman base). The town is filled with Renaissance, Roman, and Gothic architecture. La Petite France, filled with buildings on narrow cobblestone streets and lined by canals, was once home to tanners and millers in the 14^th-16^th centuries. The roofs of the half timber houses were all wide, so that the tanners could dry hides there. I went to an internet café in the early evening, deciding to call it a day since I was soaked from the rain. Feeling rather miserable, I started looking into TGV tickets back to Marseille. I figured, might as well spend my last few days somewhere that I love. In the midst of my thoughts, I get a phone call from my Marseillais friend. It was a sign, he asked if I was coming back and I said yes. Early the next day, I was back on the train…headed to utopia.

 Again another 7 hour ride..but in the last hour, this guy in a suit sat next to me. I was rather intrigued. Once we start talking, I find out that he is the brand manager for DKNY for several European countries. Time to get the MBA networking on… He was on his way home from an interview with a big Italian designer. Next thing you know, 2 hours later, I’m on the back of his motorcycle riding down La Corniche (gorgeous road along the banks with breathtaking views of the water) to a popular restaurant called Chez Jeannot in what became my favorite port in the city. That’s the thing about Marseille, every corner I turn, even if I’m looking for solitude to write or work on my book, I meet someone fascinating. The next day I head to the beach and find some deserted rocks away from the crowd. I just wanted to watch the waves, soak in the sun, and write some postcards. Naturally, two folks who are fishing and swimming end up talking to me. Mohammed and Hafid are cousins who used to live next to each other in Algeria, but now they live here. They were not the first to offer me “le shit” (which took me a couple of minutes to figure out that it was weed.. of course I declined), and not the first Algerians to tell me they love Bollywood movies. Mohammed even started singing the songs from Jaane Tu, lol. They invite me to lunch with their family and offer me a ride back to the city center, but as nice as they were, I said no. I really wanted some time..to write. I end up going back to the area where I had dinner last night at Chez Jeannot and climbed onto the long strip of rocks in Vallon des Alles. Not so many folks on the rocks since it takes a while to get there and is rather challenging to walk across them. But as they as say, the more challenging something is, the more dear it is to your heart.

 I make it about half way out on to the strip and sit for a couple of hours…enjoying the combination of the sun, the sea, the rocks, and the wind..all in perfect harmony..and of course my thoughts. Never have I been happier, never more in my element, reviving my creative soul that had been buried away for years behind this façade that was responsible and worried about money, a career, existing..but not necessary living a life. In all this glory and sheer bliss, I get up to leave…and Sofiane, who is sitting near me says “Il fait chaud” (it is hot). He had been listening to French rap all this time, and I asked him about it. We end up taking a leisurely walk back to the Vieux Port and make plans to meet later. He was from Paris, but here for 2 weeks on vacation, agreeing that Paris is amazing, lacking only one thing– LA MER (the sea).  We got some drinks and spent the evening smoking sheesha, listening to “le rap francais” (French Rap, they don’t call it hip hop) and heck we even met a french rapper from Marseille. Some artists to check out if you’re curious are Sexion D’assaut (song – Desole), Christopher Mae, Misteur You and LIM. The next night, my last night in Marseille..I decide to meet up with every one of my new friends here. I started out with drinks at the port, watching the sunset on the rocks at Vieux Port, sheesha til 4am…didn’t stagger into my hostel until 6am. 

The next afternoon, Sofiane came to the train station to bid me farewell. Man, it felt like an old French movie where I was saying good bye forever to my family and to my home. That’s the one sad thing, I’ve met so many interesting folks at the most random times and places, yet have only had a few moments to get to know them.

TGV to Paris, then 2 trains to the airport..g’bye France, tu me manque toujours (I will always miss you).  But it’s ok..I’ll be back one day.

Pilgrimage to Lourmarin

"Aujourd'hui, maman est morte. Ou peut-être hier, je ne sais pas."

"Today; Mother died: Or maybe yesterday, I don't know."

Cryptic words, but little did I know that when I first read them in French Lit 215 freshman year in undergrad that those words would inadvertantly steer my life onto a different path. It's been nearly 10 years since I first glimpsed at those lines of Camus' L'Etranger, and finally I am making the pilgrimage to Lourmarin, a tiny village of 1,500 in Provence. Since then I've read many of Camus' books in French class...or on my own, immersing myself in his philosophy, drawn to his absurdism, his love for the sun and the sea, and his stories about lost souls living in an incomprehensible world.

I guess it's called a pilgrimage for a reason - the journey must be arduous and the site most dear to one's heart. And the journey was no easy trek; Lourmarin is located at the base of the Luberon mountains - a 2.5 hour drive from Nice. However via public transportation...below is the journey


7:20am      TGV train from Nice to Marseille (I woke up at exactly 6;55 am and boy did I have to run), pass  out on the train for a while and luckily wake up as the train pulls into Marseille
10am         Kill nearly 2 hours in the St. Charles Station - buy my other tickets to Strasbourg and Paris..write some postcards...look for stamps
11:45am    get on the train to Pertuis...10 min later..the ticket collector says "You are on the wrong train...it's the train behind this one...RUN...it's about to leave in a few minutes ( btw there are only 2 trains a day so if I missed this one, I'm shit outta luck)
1pm      arrive at Pertruis train station - the lady at the trouism office said there is a bus from Pertuis to Lourmarin, but alas there is no bus. The dude at the train station called a couple of taxis...no answer. Ok what now?? Start walkin the 18km to Lourmarin...try to hitch a ride...or wait. Finally the taxi called back and said he'd come to the station in an hour. So...bs at the station for an hour.
2:30pm      cab is here and drives me and this Brazilian lady to the town
3pm         get to the hotel - 130 Euros a night - mind you I've been paying less than 30 euro a night for hostels; but in Lourlarin there are only 2 hotels - and this was the cheaper one. I drop my bag and pick up a map of the village with literally 10 streets, ready to explore. The lady at the hotel says "You are no longer in New York, you are in a village...you need to slow down." She was right. I ditched the map..seriously how could I get lost in a tiny village of 10 streets.

Here it is...the cemetary (honestly, I was kind of creeped out - I don't think I've ever been inside one); I walked in and several tourist pointed me in the direct of Camus' tomb. Standing in front of the grave, I wasn't sure exactly what to do...realizing that being here contradicted my own beliefs on death...and afterlife. But anyway, I was here to pay homage to one of the greats - a philosopher, thinker, writer, political activist - of the 20th century. So I did what came naturally, I sat there and wrote...and wrote.....and wrote. I scribbled a one liner of thanks - in the Camus style of writing of course - simple and short, yet rich in depth and meaning and stuck it behind the flowers on his grave. Thanks for turning my thought process upside down and inside out; thanks for igniting my passion for writing and philosophy, my love for the sun and the water, and my quest for more meaning in life.

I spent the rest of the day walking around the town - there is a guided tour called - Sur Les Pas D'Albert Camus - On the steps of Albert Camus - I picked up a brochure and visited each of his favorite sites in the city and it even had explanations on why he was attached to each site (ie - the Luberon mountains, the church, the futbol field, the château, etc) and why he loved Lourmarin so much. I eventually found the street he used to live on ( now called Rue Albert Camus)..but no idea which one is his house...his daughter lives there now. There was also an expo on Camus next to the office of tourism since it was the 50th anniversary of his death.

At the commentarty of my friend (Derrek); sorry I failed to mention food or wine. I did not mention food since I am a vegetarian and food in France is a pain for me - unless of course I eat french pastries for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But now I have something to say about food and wine...so I hope it is up to your expectations D! On the trek to Lourmarin I met a Brazilian woman who will be staying here for 6 months to study la cuisine from a famous Provençal chef. She told me all the vegetarian delights to try here...we both spoke shoddy French and she didn't speak English; so she ended up drawing some vegetables in my journal since I just did not know the words in French. I laugh like crazy every time I look at that page in my notebook. But anyway, some Provençal dishes to try were ratatouille, eclairs, fruits - cherries and strawberries, cheese, bread,pasta with eggplants; risotto; anything with les cèpes - a type of mushroom. I strolled into a bistro next to my hotel and started with a Salade Vert - simple ingredients, lettuce, fresh parmesean cheese, some herbs, and vinagrette - probably the best salad I've had in my life. Goes to show -all you need is a few quality and fresh ingredients to create a culinary masterpiece. Next course was Pâte au cèpes - pasta with mushrooms. The pasta was piping hot in a light butter sauce - when you take a bite - the pasta and the mushrooms just melt in your mouth. All the food in Lourmarin is super fresh - they only eat locally grown food - that's why the cilantro on top of the pasta tasted like it just came from the garden and onto my plate. And the cèpes - oh my god...you just have to try them.

I had a nice laid back day in Lourmarin...but everything here closes at 8pm....and yeh I'm ready to go back to Marseille.

Livin it Up in Côte D'Azur

Mercedes..Mercedes..Ferrari...Porsche..Bentley..Mercedes..Mercedes..Aston Martin..Rolls Royce...Mercedes. After car watching for 10 minutes in Monte Carlo you get the idea. Even the taxi's are all Mercedes. The 2nd smallest country in the world (next to the Vatican), Monaco is less than 2.2 sq km and let me tell you, it's pretty freakin awesome. When you walk out of the train station (it's literally a 20 minute train ride from Nice and will cost you a cool 3 euros and change to get there) you see the spectacular port, filled with nothing but the largest yachts you have ever seen. The station is on top of the mountain and there are various levels of streets (they know how to capitalize on limited space) that wind around the mountainside. Known for the Formula One Grand Prix, the entire race track runs through the city. Imagine narrow, winding roads, with sharp curves, perfectly paved asphalt, running through houses and buildings - newly built in old world French architechure - it's wild. Walking through the country, I first thought..wow is there nobody here!? But I suppose that the 33,000 residents, some of the most wealthly in the world probably wouldn't be walking around. Eventually reaching the Monte Carlo Casino, I had to pay 10 Euros just to go throw away more of my money. I ended up playing roulette, and losing all my money..as usual..but at least I didn't blow all of it in 10 minutes that is the norm. You can't take pictures inside but it looks like a French Palace designed for very very very..high rollers. I can't imagine what the table minimums would be in the evening. FYI..residents of Monaco can't gamble in the casino, suppose the gov't wants to make sure they keep the wealth.

I've spent the last few days in Côte D'Azur aka the French Riviera - in Nice, Monaco, and Cannes. My friend Jay met me again this weekend, since he lives in London, it was a quick flight over. BTW, no thanks to him I am now hooked on Cuban cigars - between last weekend in Barcelona and this weekend in France, we must have smoked around 10 cigars. I'm going to start shaking next Friday when my body goes through withdrawal of not having a cigar..not good. So the French Riviera, it's really simple - the beach, shopping, eating, drinking, and partying. Friday night, a couple of us from the hostel went to Wayne's Bar, a joint frequented by mainly tourists in Vieux Nice (old Nice). The drinks were good, but I must say it was too crowded for my taste. Luckily I was warned before about the beaches here, there are large rocks and no sand at all. I really don't know how folks lay out on the rocks all day long, but hey to each..their own. The water here though is just gorgeous, light green, transparent, and deep blue. Saturday night we had dinner in a beachfront restaurant and smoked some Cuban's on the beach. Myself, Jay, and another hostel-mate Alanna sat there for hours..smoking..people watching..flinging rocks into the ocean, probably one of the best evenings I've had on this trip.

My last day here, I walked around the old Nice and stumbled upon a vintage-antique market. I must have spent at least an hour or two browsing through old French books..looking for who knows what. 200 Euro for a second edition of Camus' L'Etranger, yeh maybe next time. I did pick up a compilation of plays by Stendhal (loved his book the Red and the Black) and another small book called "Trois Souvenirs" (3 memories) - don't know much about it but I'm pretty obsessed with any french books having to do with memories, childhood of authors etc. I also caught a train over to Cannes, the fabulous city famed for it's annual film festival in May. Another gorgeous beach town, the ritzy side is defined by La Croisette (a posh promenade on the water lined with palm trees and loads of flowers) and La Rue d'Antibes (like 5th Avenue in NYC, it's filled with the crème de la crème of designers). The Carlton Hotel on La Croisette is one of the most famous and all the suites are named after actors and actresses. The Carlton and the Martinez hotels are frequented by all the celebs during the film festival. Heck, I even walked up the red carpet leading to the Palais de Festivals, where the film festival is held.

Sorry to say I didn't get a chance to check out St. Tropez (bc it takes at least 2 -3 hours to get there on a bus and boat from Nice) and I don't think P. Diddy was there this weekend anyway..so what's the point. =)

Another interesting note, I've been travelling for over 2 months..I'm not homesick, getting depressed at the thought of having to come back to reality in about 3 weeks, and quite surprised that I haven't had more time to myself. The past two weeks in Spain and France have been filled with meeting tons of people and I haven't even had one night to myself. Thus, I am happy to finally spend this entire day and evening by myself.

Au Revoir Nice..headed to the village of Lourmarin tomorrow morning, it will be a huge contrast to the glitz and glam on the French Riviera..but looking forward to it very much.

Mon Cherie Marseille

" In New York you have watches, but in Marseille I have time..lots of time", said Sam, the owner of the hostel. He was right, I am at the point where I hate looking at my iPhone to check the time, I don't fancy the idea of having to be at a certain place at a specific time. The last few weeks, I've been ignorning the clock all together, unless of course I have a bus/train or whatever to catch. It's been a blast so far...but will probably be a rude awakening when I get home in a couple a weeks..but who's counting.

The 10 hour bus ride from Barcelona to Marseille was not as horrible as I thought it would be. I ended up sitting next to a guy from Paris and chatted with him in French for some time. At last, I can freely speak French with people, and he said my French wasn't all that bad! FYI, at the border, if you are going from Spain to France they check for drugs, but if you go from France to Spain, then they check your passports..lol. The bus stopped for half an hour in some remote French town for lunch. I sat with this attractive guy from Spain..and of course, he was Morrocan..and he only spoke Spanish and Arabic and I spoke French and English. That was probably the funniest conversation I've had in a long time. From what I could piece together..he worked in Barcelona and was going to Avignon for holiday for a couple of days. He asked me to sit next to him on the bus, but alas, all the seats were full..some things are just not meant to be.

As soon as I reached Marseille, I felt instant happiness and pure joy. This is because I can now finally cross this city off my "Before I Die" list. I read Marcel Pagnol's book Marius in one of my French Lit classes in undergrad and vowed to visit Marseilles' Vieux Port one day. To sum up the book, boy meets girl, girl likes the boy, boy gets girl pregnant, but then he decides to leave because he yearns for the sea and wants to travel. Simple story line but a great read. The Vieux Port looks more spectacular than I had imagined from reading the book. The port is so accessible -you can stick your feet right into the water, or just jump in- no barriers and has a certain old world charm due to the stone streets and old forts. Marseille, the oldest city in France was founded by the Greeks in 600 BC and is a major port city. There are two large historic forts at the entrance of the port and also Chateau D'If, and island off the coast. Chateau D'If is similar to Alcatraz was built in the 1500s by King Francois I in order to secure the port and was also home to several famous prisoners. Alexander Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo was set on this island. Btw, the prison cells on this island are much more creepier than the ones in Alcatraz. And to add to my nerdiness of stalking the hometowns of French writers, Edmond Rostand who wrote the famous play, Cyrano de Bergerac was born in Marseille. I managed to find the street that is named after him and apparently he grew up in one of the houses on the street..and no I could not find the house.

The second day, which happened to be Bastille Day in France 7-14, I took a boat cruise to see Les Calanques, giant, white, limestone fiords that line of the coast off of Marseille. They were carved out during one of the Glacial Periods and look spectacular against the bright blue sea. Sorry to say to Fiordland in New Zealand, but les Calanques just kicked your ass. We sailed through each Calanque, and nestled inside are houses, tiny beaches, and sunbathers on the rocks. It's official, this will be my new home one day. Financially, if I can't make that happen, I can always live in one of the holes in the rocks =). The base of the Statue of Liberty was made with rocks from the city of Cassis, about an hour away from Marseille via boat. On the boat, I met David and his mother, who were from Bordeaux and were in Marseille for the day. I was on Cloud 9 speaking to him in French for hours..asking all my crazy questions like what do the French think about Obama, what do they think about Sarkozy, what's life like here..etc. They invited me to dinner at the Vieux Port and I happily joined them. It was a perfect night to sit out on the port and watch the fireworks for Bastille Day (so I wasn't so sad to miss the 4th of July anymore), which I had heard were simply fabulous in Marseille. The fireworks started from 1 fort and for the grand finale, there were maybe 10 or 15 all at the same time along the port..just amazing.

After the fireworks, I called my new French Algerian friend (surprise surprise? I think not lol) that I had met earlier in the day, we said we'd try to meet after dinner. However, there were tons and tons of people at the Vieux Port, I couldn't understand what he was saying since he only speaks French and Arabic and its a bit hard to understand folks on the phone, and I ran out of money on my cell. I looked for him for half an hour and then decided to leave since people were kind of rowdy and it was late. Again, I thought..this is not meant to be. However, we ended up finding each other the next night and hung out at the port. This was a real test for me to have to only communicate in French, but I was ready for the challenge. We walked along the entrance of the forts, talked about life in Marseille, why its so amazing, travelling.. He even got me to climb onto the limestone rocks that line the entrance of the port. Something I would probably have never done, but hey when in Marseille. It took a good 15 minutes and I swear I thought I was going to slip on the rocks and crack open my skull numerous times, but as he said "Je sais ces roches, pas de problème" (I know these rocks, theres no problem). The dangers of climbing the rocks now seem far miniscule compared to the experience of sitting on the rocks, having the cold water splash on your feet as your watch the sunset at the entrance to the Vieux Port of Marseille..incredible.

To sum it up - all the reasons that Marseille should be on the top of your vacation list!!
Les Calanques, Le Vieux Port, 2013 Culture Capital of Europe, The Ocean, The Beach, Chateau D'If, amazing French pastries, Rock Climbing, Diving, Sailing....

I'm truly sad to leave Marseille, but I may be back later in the week as I must stop there in order to reach the small village of Lourmarin, for another pilgrimmage that you will soon hear about.

I'm off to Côte D'Azur - aka the French Riviera- now. Toodles!

World Cup Insanity and No Sleep in Espana

My heart sank as I sat in the taxi that drove through Madrid to my hostel in Les Huertas. After spending time in exotic places like Thailand and Dubai...Spain just did not seem like it would be that challenging. Once you travel alone in Asia...what could possibly be more thrilling? Don't worry, I quickly got over momentary lapse of sense =). I was feeling kind of sick that day since I'd been travelling all day and was exhausted. My new hostel mates were going out for drinks, but it was just one of those days that I needed to sleep. And sleep I didn't get...there was a mariachi band from Mexico staying in our hostel and decided to start playing outside of my window at midnight - but I must say they were very good. What better way to spend the first night than being seranaded by a band oustide of my window....welcome to Espana!!

 The next day, feeling somewhat better I took a free walking tour held by our hostel. We had a fantastic tour guide who explained in detail the history behind many of the areas in Madrid and the heavy Moor influence on the architecture. It was unbearably hot that day so I left the tour a bit early and went back to the hostel. This is probably one of my favorite hostels so far - great location, decent room, free internet, and of course awesome people. 20 of us from the hostel decided to watch the World Cup semi-final outside of Real Madrid's stadium - we had heard it is pretty wild. Somehow we ended up getting split up and the 6 of us were standing in front of a screen on the side of the stadium. There must have been thousands of people jammed around the screens - all clad in red and yellow..feverishly waving Spain's flag. Man this is why you start to love soccer and the World Cup - after watching most of the games this summer in every country I've been to with people from every which country - there is no other sport that truly unites the globe, I'm gonna have to start following the NY Red Bulls when I get home. As you can imagine, after Spain won (per the prediction of Paul the psychic Octopus) the Spaniards went nuts - we decided to get out of there as it was too rowdy.  Then followed tapas dinner at midnight (which became the norm for me, lunch at 2...dinner at  midnight, and breakfast if I even bothered to wake up) and checked out come bars at La Latina. FYI clubs in Madrid don't even open til 2am...so you can only imagine what the nightlife is like.

One complaint about Spain, I am now beginning to understand why the unemployment rate here is 20% (highest in the EU) and why the country is nearly broke. I went to the train station to buy a ticket to Barcelona since you can't buy it online. There  are no ticket vending machines in the station, you have to take a number...and wait. I looked at my piece of paper and it said #495 and there are....wait for it....200 people in front of me. First I thought - is this a joke, do you seriously think I'm going to sit here for 4 hours or more on a Thursday afternoon to buy a ticket to Barcelona - so wait longer than the actual train ride itself to buy a ticket??? I think not. So the 200 plus other people waiting at the station - don't you all have a job or anything better to do than wait?? I guess not. I walk a couple of blocks and luckily find a travel agency - they sold me a train ticket. Wait time - ZERO: I had to pay 20 euro extra...but so worth it. I expressed my frustration at the train station to the travel agent, and his response "Welcome to Spain" lol.

Two sites that I absolutely adored in Madrid were the Museo del Prado and the Temple of Debod. The Prado has many Velazquez paintings and check out his painting Les Meninas - he actually painted himself in there and was a work that was intrepreted by many other artists. The Temple of Debod is a 2200 year old Egyptian temple in the middle of Madrid. It was a gift from the Egyptian gov't to Spain for helping them to excavate several other ancient temples.

After spending the weekend in Barcelona...one name seems to permeate the city: Gaudi. What didn't he architect in Barcelona, between the numerous modernista mosaic style buildings, Park Gaell, and Sagrada Familia - he was truly imaginative and creative artist. Walking around Barcelona is a true pleasure, getting lost in the little alleys and streets is fun - unless of course it's 3am and you've just spent 2 hours trying to find La Rambla. Half the streets aren't even named..let alone on the map. After finding it, me and my friend Jay end up going into the first open bar we see and drank some shitty Spanish beer - Estralla Damm (San Miguel is much much better).

Last but not least - the World Cup Final in Barcelona. I tagged along with some Aussi girls from my hostel to Placa Espanya - this great big open area in Barcelona. Once we get there, there are..no joke thousands of people piled on top of each other trying to watch 2 screens. The first 90 minutes I barely saw anything since there were just soo many people and too many tall dudes in front of me. I somehow managed to get closer and watch most of the overtime part of the game. By the time Spain scored a goal, I was soaked in liquor, swayed around by the crowd, and was nearly deaf from the infamous sounds of the vuvuzela. By the end of the game, I lost the girls I came with, and I had to get out of there; people were going insane - singing, honking horns, throwing bottles around, waving flags, it was definiately a sight. But what an experience to watch Spain win the World Cup; in Barcelona; for the first time in history.

I will never forget this night.

Espana was loads of fun...but itching to finally go to La France.

No Mirages in this Desert

Eating lunch in TGIF in the Mall of the Emirates, turn right, you see the entrance. Turn left, you see skiers on the lift ready to hit the slopes.

Filling up bags in a candy store in Dubai Mall, turn around and you see divers exploring coral reefs with full grown sharks and sting rays swimming by.

I am in the middle of the desert, yet everywhere I look the lawns are perfectly cut and GREEN.

Driving on a western style highway, turn left, I see sand, rubble, the desert..turn right, I see green plants, flowers, and Dubai’s skyline with Burj Khalifa in the center, glittering into the clouds.

Is the 110 degree weather and 75% humidity making me see things? No, this is Dubai..there are no mirages in this desert. My friend Yesha, whom I stayed with, probably described it best, “This is a place of unrealistic realities”, where the impossible is all but possible and is sitting right in front of your eyes. Hello Dubai. Where ultra modern meets ultra conservative, truly east meets west, I feel like I’m in the twilight zone and I must admit..somewhat of a culture shock. I see women dressed head to toe in black hijabs and abayas, yet the very same clothes are bedazzled with jewels and they are shopping in Luis Vuitton etc. Even when I walked into Mango (stylish Spanish brand), they have conservative versions of this one dress I had been eyeing all summer. The airport (Terminal 3) feels like a lavish casino, each mall is bigger than the next..looking like 5^th ave and Rodeo Drive under a roof. You want the biggest and baddest of anything? Come to Dubai.

The first night, we had dinner at the Creek Club and watched another world cup match. This baller restaurant had an outside tent (with AC of course) and screens everywhere. In Dubai, you basically go from AC to AC (meaning AC in the car, walk out into a mall, restaurant, whatever with AC). When I stepped out of the car…yeh I was in the sauna of the Middle East (remember how I commented about humidity in Singapore..yeh that’s got nothin’ on Dubai). To my surprise, the tent was nice and cool, with the sweet smell of sheesha. At each table, there was a hookah, and the odors of the different flavors combining to produce a wonderful fruity aroma. After you smoke sheesha in the Middle East..the one I have at home is not so good. I think it’s the coal that they use, it’s much better than the crap I buy in the States.

I did a half day desert safari..drive out about 45 minutes from the heart of Dubai and you are in the depths of the desert. First was dune bashing – driving up and down the sand dunes in a 4x4 (word to the wise, don’t eat before you do this). After an hour..most of us were nauseous and told him to stop..it was a lot of fun though. When you walk in the sand..it’s the finest sand I’ve ever felt (two tone in color, one light beige, and one burnt orange) and you just sink into it. Setting foot onto a dune, you notice the patterns in the sand sculpted by the wind, it’s just gorgeous. Since it’s so windy, I ended up with sand in my mouth..chewing sand..is not too tasty. At the camp site, there are a couple of activities, camel riding, sand boarding, henna, sheesha, belly dancers etc. Sand boarding. I had to try it. Pretty much like snowboarding, but you don’t go as fast..and coming back up..what a work out. Sinking into the sand while carry a heavy snowboard..err sandboard? By the end of the night, I held my sneaker upside down for 30 seconds…and sand was still pouring out.

Comment about food – again like what happened in Thailand..I can no longer eat Middle Eastern food in the States..it tastes like crap. The falafel here…it’s so crispy and light..and the hummus, baba ghanoush, and pita..heaven. I tried some other Middle Eastern breads, and this salad with pomegranate..just wow.

The last day, I met up with another Kellogg admit, Jafar who lives in Dubai. We explored the old part of Dubai called Diera…eventually we had to get out of the car..and into the HEAT. We spent a couple of hours outside…taking a ferry across the river that separates old and new Dubai, walked through a souk (market), and went to Dubai Museum (which I really liked).

But as Jafar said and a few other folks I spoke to…in Dubai, anything WAS possible. After the recent debt crisis (essentially they financed long term projects with short term loans, and were unable to borrow any more $$ after the crisis), funds have dried up here and you’ll see many buildings have completed and just sitting there.

Some interesting things I learned about the culture:

 The UAE is made up of seven city states or emirates(Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, etc), each headed by a sheikh. They are all royalty and rule all aspects of government. Dubai itself has no oil, and through the vision of Sheikh Zayed had been turned into a western friendly place – thus they make $$ from tourism and logistics as it is a crucial port. Nobody pays taxes in Dubai and if you are an Emirati, you are taken care of (i.e. – education is paid for, university abroad, they are secured with jobs etc). However, as an expat, life is tougher..you have limited rights (i.e. – only a couple of years ago were non-Emiratis allowed to own property).

Burj Al Arab is the first 7 star hotel, and it’s on an island.

Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world, can be seen from 60 miles away, it’s unprecedented and defines Dubai’s style of anything is possible.

Friday and Saturday is the weekend here. Thus..you have to work on Sunday.

Houses on the Palm Jumeirah (man made island) each look like medieval castles and each of the palm leaves are named with letters.  At the end sits the majestic Atlantis hotel.

So I’ve been listening to a lot of Paco de Lucia (magician on the Spanish guitar)..which I guess means…I’m ready for Espana!!

Home Sweet Home in India

By now..I was pretty tired. Trekking around for about a month and especially after Thailand, it was nice to come to something that felt like home. I arrived at midnight to the new Bangalore International Airport; and there were my cousin and uncle waiting to take me home. This would be the one week where I could completely relax, and that’s exactly what I did. Every morning my aunt would ask me what food I wanted, and by the advice of my grandma, she made every savory South Indian dish I used to love as a child.  By day, I’d roam around the city with my aunt, meet up with a couple of Kellogg admits in the area, and see old friends. By night, me and my cousins would go to Xtreme Sports Bar (the one and only sports bar in B’lore) and watch every single World Cup knockout round match. What more could I ask for?

By the way, all the bars (what few there are) in B’lore close by 11:30pm. Due to safety concerns by the gov’t, dance clubs are not allowed to be open after 11pm. Thus you go to a club at 7-8pm (pay around $30 to get in) and then leave. Some nightlife huh? So many nights, once the bar closed, we’d rush back home to watch the second match of the day which usually started around midnight. And getting to and from the bar..that’s another story. The traffic here is hellish, dust everywhere, more potholes than road, and complete disregard for lanes and traffic rules. Many times, I just sat on my cousin’s motorcycle, closed my eyes and prayed.

Alas, it’s been a great week in B’lore – ready for the UAE to finally see all those architectural wonders I’ve read about for so long.

At Last...The Beach

Koh Samui airport rocks. Walking off the plane, you are on a tiny beach island off the coast of Thailand. The baggage claim is outdoors, the belt surrounded by palm trees. Koh Samui has some 1 million palm trees. I booked a hostel on Lamai Beach, the less crowded one, and for about $20/night I had paid for a dorm room, but since there was only one other person in the hostel, they gave me my own room. iBed in Koh Samui is no hostel, it feels like a 4 star hotel; it’s a brand new, modern and funky hostel. Only downside is that there was nobody there since it was so new. I spent the next few days walking around, lounging at the beach and taking a snorkeling tour to several other islands.  This time I took sea sickness meds before I got on the boat..worked like a charm. Snorkeling in Thailand is fun and all, I saw a lot more fish (finally saw nemo) than at the Great Barrier Reef but yeh you just can’t compare. One cool thing is that schools of fish will just swim all around you. At one of the snorkel sights, I cut my foot pretty badly on coral reef – let me tell you, that hurt like hell. The poison from the coral reef and the salty sea water made the cut sting for 2 days straight. I met a couple of Aussies and we were all annoyed at how we were missing the Full Moon Party by a day. The party was on Saturday..we were all leaving on Friday. So there is a party every month during the full moon on Koh Phagnan – and attracts about 10-20,000 people for a night of alcohol and debauchery. Hmm..I guess next time.

I flew back to Bangkok on Friday for the day. I had to kill time until my flight at night and decided to go watch SATC 2. I know what you’re thinking…I’m in Bangkok and of all the things I could do, I’m gonna watch that movie?! My rationale was that hey, I’m tired of limping around from the cut on my foot, and in Thailand they play a song for the King before every movie, so you have to stand up. Thus, I will classify watching a movie as a cultural experience. Haha.

Just picked up mango with sticky rice from the stall outside of the hostel..off to the airport to India.

The Many Faces of Bangkok

People always smile at you.

Tuk Tuk drivers charge you 10 times what they charge locals, to go anywhere.

If you ask 1 person for directions, 7 people will come to help you, 2 of which will walk with you until you find your way.

You give a vendor 500 baht for a bottle of water that costs 20 baht, she gives you change for 100 baht.

If you ask someone a question, and they don’t speak English, they will find someone who does.

Drivers try to scam you by saying the temples are closed or try to take you to jewelry shops and force you to buy stuff.

I think you get the idea now…for all the good and the bad there, Bangkok was a big challenge.  However, I quickly learned an important phrase from some fellow backpackers “Mae ow kaa” (I don’t want). When vendors hound you to buy something, you’ll be saying “No Thank You” for 15 minutes. Say “Mae ow kaa” once and they leave. It’s magic. =) The first night in Bangkok, I went to watch the Germany, and USA vs Slovenia matches with my Taiwanese friends I had met last night in Hong Kong. Btw, the reason we were watching is because I-Hsin’s husband is German, making her an avid supporter of the team. And I actually like watching Germany play, especially their coach, he looks like an older version of Tom Cruise, his facial expressions are priceless, and oddly enough, him and his assistant coach always wear matching outfits. WeiMing & I-Hsin were traveling around Asia, visiting clients of their family business. Here I learned so much about lumber and how they market it. I-Hsin was training her younger brother to take over the business. I love how the World Cup really unites folks, if I wasn’t so lucky to be travelling this summer, I may not have gotten to know some of the most fascinating people from around the globe all while throwing back a couple of beers and watching futbol. (I’m starting to feel like this blog is becoming World Cup Around the World..not just my travels)

Initially, I was rather apprehensive about going to Bangkok, I would email my travel agent every couple of days asking him to change my ticket, and he’d always say “No, don’t worry about it, you’ll be fine.”. By the time I had gotten there, the dust had settled, the protests were over, and the Thai people were back to being hospitable and tourist friendly. I did partake in disaster tourism and visited the Ratschaparong area where many of the protests were held. I got some clear shots of Central World Mall, a portion of which had been burned down during the riots. The next day, myself Daniela (hostel mate) and her friend Jasper decided to find Bangkok’s famous Taling Chan floating market. It took us nearly 3 hours and every mode of transportation in Bangkok to get there.

Walk to the Sky Train Station. Take the Sky Train. Switch to the MTR. Meet Jasper at the Train station. Ask 10 people how to get to the ferry, find a ferry, take the ferry. Get off, wait forever for a bus, look for another bus station…take the bus. Take this shady wagon like vehicle, hang off the side. Finally get off at the market. Was it worth it? Oh yea!!

There are a couple of long barges which are attached and essentially sway to the waves of the water. You take a seat in the middle and order. On either side there are folks in narrow wooden boats making your meal. Pretty awesome. Probably the best stir fried veggies I’ve ever had.

That night, I went to Khao San Rd (famous backpacker and party road) to watch the Holland game with Jasper, my new Dutch friend. The bar was filled with orange, and even two dudes sporting orange lion suits, in Bangkok’s humid 38 deg Celcius weather. Talk about national pride, a couple of Dutch folks even said, they generally aren’t patriotic..only when it comes to futbol.  To celebrate Holland’s win, we sampled drinks from several bars, and got shots – for some reason the only shot you could get in any of these bars is a B-52, but hey I didn’t mind. We found ourselves at a club at the end of the night and pausing for a moment. “Holy shit, we are in Bangkok, half way across the world from home, smoking sheesha, having drinks, watching the World Cup, how crazy is this?”.

One thing that does bring back memories is how you make plans with folks you meet abroad. Most of the time one or the other person doesn’t have a cell phone. You pick a place and a time..and just hope the other person shows up. I.e. – “I’ll meet you at the Victoria Sky Station on the platform at 8pm.” Where on the platform? Who knows..Hmm is he just late, or is he not coming? You’ll just have to wait and find out. Goes to show, life sans cell phone and technology at your fingertips can be exciting and fun..and not earth shattering. =) I hope when I get home I won’t go back to the hysteria of constantly checking my iPhone. I sure as hell couldn’t do that on this trip.

Bangkok is an ideal mix of old and new. Certain areas are filled with shopping malls, big buildings, hotels, etc, and the outskirts have the famous wats (temples) Wat Arun, The Reclining Buddha, the Grand Palace, and floating markets. All of these attributes of Bangkok come together nicely – something you just have to see for yourself to know what I’m talking about.

The food here is to die for. I envy Daniela and Jasper as they eat anything and everything off of the street. I don’t think my stomach is cut out for this. But hey…I’m only in Bangkok once, so I tried all the street food too. Piping hot pad thai - $2, mango with sticky rice and coconut milk (mouthwateringly good) – $1.50, Banana Roti - $1. Yeh..after all this, I never want to eat Thai food in America..it tastes like SHIT. P.S. Don’t forget to try Thai Massages - @ $6 an hour, you could get a daily massage if you wanted to.

After getting hit with every scam in Bangkok, tired of arguing with taxi and tuk tuk drivers to stop ripping me off, I was ready for a few relaxing days in Koh Samui. But thinking back, getting through these obstacles is what made Bangkok all the more fun and exciting. I’m already contemplating of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam for my next trip.

The Quest for God on Lantau Island

I’ve always been open to different religions. When I was younger, I’d spend my days in Catholic school hearing stories about Jesus and by night listening stories of Ram and Krishna from my grandma. I decided to visit the Big Buddha statue on Lantau Island as my interest in Buddhism sparked with my visit to Japan several years ago. Also, the statue is on top of a mountain..reminiscent of classic South Indian temples. The journey started with a rocky and queasy boat ride from Hong Kong Island to Lantau, a nerve wracking taxi ride where I could feel the ups and downs of the curves on the mountain..wondering where this dude was taking me since it had been about 30 minutes. No cell phone signal..nobody in sight. Just road..mountain..and trees, I was a little scared. The taxi drops me off in one piece at the statue, I walk into FOG. I can barely see 10 feet ahead and am just following people around wondering where the statue is.  I see an entrance, look at a post card I bought, realizing that it is right in front of me, but all I see is fog..what a surreal feeling. Making my way up the stairs to who knows what..just up, barely able to see the next few steps ahead.

Suppose it’s a metaphor for God, a representation of God as the unseen and somewhat unknown, yet you walk into the fog of unknown in the quest for God. The journey itself, making your way to an island..walking up 250 stairs, the sacrifice and pilgrimage you will make to get closer to God.  Literally disappearing into the fog and coming back out of it. I may not see the path ahead of me, but I have faith it will lead me in the right direction. Guess it’s a good thing it was foggy today.                                   

I’ve had enough of HK - ready for what I personally think will be the most challenging part of the trip..The Land of Smiles aka Thailand.

Old and New Friends in the City of Lights

By now I am somewhat set in my grove of globe trekking; the day before I reach a new country/city I read the Lonely Planet, browse trip advisor and various other sites, book a hostel. I should be used to this by now; in a new country every week, once the plane lands, go through the security check, exchange money, get a sim card for my international phone, pick up some maps and brochures and hop into a taxi. 

But why is it different this time? This time I was finally alone, nobody to pick me up or meet me at the airport..I see the bright lights of this city as the plane lands and my body is filled with excitement and nerves. A bit of nervous energy is always good for the soul, or at least I´d like to think so. Images from the movie "Taken" flash through my head, and a recent documentary I watched in Singapore about refugees from North Korea escaping to South Korea. Yes, I´m a psycho, I don´t know why I think about these crazy things.

So I got to the hostel just fine, and the next day I leisurely strolled down Nathan Lane on the Kowloon side to take a ferry to Hong Kong Island. On a hop on hop off tour bus, I met Hong (aka Cedric); a young tour guide who told me all the must see areas of HK. Intrigued by his name, I asked why he had an American name since he lived in HK, don´t quite remember or maybe I just didn´t understand his response but he said that American expats who move to HK also get a Chinese name..which I found rather amusing.  Hong Kong has a breathtaking skyline which slowly rises from the Central area to the Mid Levels and the Peak (the highest point on HKI), finally lined with huge mountains in the background. Think, have you seen any major city with mountains in the background? It´s simply marvelous. Every evening at 8pm there is a Symphony of Lights: think Bellagio Fountains with a long line of skyscrapers..music..and lights. It lasts for about 15 minutes and you have to keep moving your head from side to side to see all the buildings light up - I should have invested in a panoramic camera. 

Though the skyline is beautiful from afar, in the depths of HK, it´s pretty much a crowded and congested city. It city is jamm packed, people, buildings, streets, all piled up on top of each other. I have to admit, this is the first place so far that I don´t like as much. Other than tall skyscrapers, I didn´t sense much of culture here and based on speaking to various folks, big things in HK include eating, shopping, and karaoke (which is ok I guess, but yeh, not my place...). 

Interesting folks in HK

"Oh My God, I don´t remember the last time I heard this voice!!", exclaimed the voice on the other end of the line, it was my friend Jen from high school. I vaguely remember seeing her before she moved to HK for her i-banking job a couple of years ago, and was lucky enough to hunt her down here. We met for dinner and drinks and walked around the city. I had an intense feeling of nostalgia as we chatted about high school, our old friends and good old Edison, New Jersey. It´s always nice to catch up with folks who remember certain things about you (i.e. she remembered me when I wasn´t a vegetarian, my family, my old house etc).  I ended up crashing at her place since we ended up reminiscing til the wee hours of the night.  

So my last night in HK, I didn´t have much to do, and had heard of this area full of bars called Lan Kwai Fong. It´s a windy cobblestone road that has lots of lights, music, and of course bars and restaurants sprinkled throughout. I don´t normally roll up to bars by myself, but I thought what the hell, I´m only in HK once and walked into the most packed and rowdy bar. The South Korea vs Argentina World Cup game was on and I chatted up this guy who seemed to be the only guy in the bar rooting for Argentina.  I asked where he was from and he said he was Egyptian and was Arab (for those of you who know me, seriously out of all places I meet an Arab dude..lol). So I ended up watching the game with him and his friends, his brother managed the bar, so free drinks all night long. I also met some folks from Taiwan who were in HK on business and lucky for me they were going to be in Bangkok the next evening. We then made plans to meet up the next day in Bangkok to watch the Germany game. Exhausted, and pretty intoxicated, I planned to leave the bar, but the Arab guys convinced me to go to another bar that one of the guys owned. Again, free drinks and food, I ended up drinking with them all night. I wasn´t feeling so hot the next day..but it was well worth it! 
One other interesting person (Kunal) I met was a friend of Jani ( who I met in Australia). She introduced me to him and said he would show me around HK. He was pretty busy all week working on his start up biotech firm, pitching to investors and prepping for business plan competitions. Definiately glad I met him, got learn about his trials in starting his own business, something I plan to do eventually. We ended up getting sweet treats and what he calls ¨the best dessert place in HK¨" in Kowloon and walked around that area, which I hadn´t seen that much of. 


Had a great time in HK, but happy to leave to the more exotic Thailand.

World Cup Mania in the land of the Expats

I walked out of Singapore airport wearing a t-shirt and some khakis – to my surprise, I was hit with a thick cloud of disgustingly hot, heavy and humid air. It was 11pm. Lila said it would be hot and humid…but I guess it’s one of those things you have to experience to understand what is meant by “hot and humid”. It’s nothing like humidity in NYC, which now I think is rather pleasant. Driving down the Esplanade to Lila’s apartment, it feels like Vegas on the water. There are many grandiose hotels, with their big and inviting lights, palm trees and fountains. Not to mention at the end there is an enormous newly built casino (cost: $1 billion) waiting to take away all your money.


Calling all shoppers..welcome to your paradise. Every corner of this place…there is a mall. Especially on Orchard Street, I’ve never seen so many malls jam packed on 1 street. These are humungous, modern malls with funky designs, high ceilings, and long and wide walkways just like the sidewalks. One of the shopping centers, Mustafa is a 24 hour mall. Think Century 21, a supermarket and Costco all combined to form a megastore. It’s a labyrinth of goods, don’t bother trying to get out the same way you came in… if any have you have been to Furniture Land South in NC, then you know what I’m talking about.

I met a retired police officer who explained why gum is illegal in Singapore. Apparently folks used to chew gum and stick it on train doors, consequently jamming train doors and causing delays. For the record, you can’t buy gum anywhere here but you can chew it..just don’t stick it anywhere other than a garbage can. Also, you have to keep your car tires clean so that they won’t make the road dirty..or else you get fined.  By the way, I thought Tokyo was the cleanest city I’ve ever seen. I was wrong. I strolled down the sidewalks closely examining the ground for any litter, but all I saw were leaves. Leaves from the many trees that line the streets. It’s a true delight to walk through the streets, seeing the tall trees with thick leaves sway above your head; they form a canopy over the road, good for keeping shade from the sun. One interesting building is the Supreme Court. It is this weird glass structure with a giant saucer on the top of it. It looks rather strange and you’d never think it was a courthouse – but the reason it is glass is to symbolize the transparency of their legal system. I guess that’s kind of cool, not sure about the saucer though.


This is the first place in the world to implement a city toll to control road traffic (sometimes folks pay $500 USD in tolls a month to drive around) thus making it one of the most expensive places in the world to own a car. Not only is there a high import tax on cars, but residents cannot own a car that is older than 10 years. Therefore, there is no such thing as 5pm traffic here (wouldn’t that be nice in the States). Singapore ranks #2 only to Japan on exporting used cars. But the public transportation is highly efficient and is easy to use.



So this city/state/country all in one, Singapore is a town of mainly expats, something like 50%. I stayed with my friend Lila who got transferred to the Singapore office of BNY last year. The nightlife here is really fun. The first night out was at Boat Quay (quay is pronounced “key”, which I learned the hard way in NZ); it’s like NYC’s South Street Seaport but much nicer. We ended up watching the opening match of the World Cup whilst smoking hookah and enjoying Tiger beer. Another lively place was Arab St – it’s a cobblestone road filled with hole in the wall eateries and bars. After having a couple of drinks @ Blue Jaz, we strolled to Robertson Quay to watch the big USA vs UK match. In the middle of a circle of bars is a big open area that was filled with tables and chairs for the game. Imagine watching a game at 2am...amongst hundreds of people from around the world…outdoors…dripping in sweat…it was awesome. It was 2 of us against all of Lila’s Brit friends. Talk about feeling patriotic, when we tied the game, the 20 something folks cheering for the US in the sea of Brit’s at the bar, went ballistic and of course the Brits just sat there in shock. After watching this game, I was now hooked. Though I am an ardent and diehard fan of baseball, soccer has a certain appeal. The fact that soccer is a much quicker, action packed and truly global game made it thrilling to watch.


After a few days of sightseeing and partying in Singapore…I’m ready for Hong Kong.

Update

I know..it's been a long time since I've updated - what can I say, I've been having lots of fun partying and exploring the last couple of countries. However I'll be posting over the next few days (hopefully some pix too).


BTW im in Dubai right now..and I absolutely love this place..I think I want to LIVE here.

Pictures..finally

Sorry for the long delay, I've been a bit lazy and preoccupied to figure out how to effectively share pictures. As many of you have said, you'd like to see the pictures in conjunction with the blog posts - I will try to do a better job (sometimes its hard to get to an internet cafe and spend hours uploading pictures). Anyway, enjoy

New Zealand

Australia

The Great Barrier Reef

The weather in Cairns is finally what I have been looking for the past few weeks…constant 80 degree weather with a nice breeze. Cairns is lovely tropical city with a scenic boardwalk along the ocean. We took a boat out to the Great Barrier Reef for some snorkeling and diving. It wasn’t the best day for me since I got seasick and threw up on the boat – and my ears wouldn’t adjust as I tried to dive. However, I still got to snorkel twice and let me tell you – this is Discovery Channel live. Some of the coral reefs come up so close to the surface of the water that you could touch it (of course you shouldn’t) and if even you try to tread water; you’d hit a reef. Among the underwater life, there were sea cucumbers, turtles, eels, sharks, and schools of brightly colored fish chasing each other (little sad that I didn’t get to see Nemo). I’ve snorkeled in the Bahamas and that is complete crap compared to this underwater wonder. On our day trip to the reef, I met some interesting globe trekkers from France, the UK, and the US who gave me some great travel trips for France and Thailand.

One surprising fact is that Daintree is the oldest living rainforest on Earth ( I thought it was the Amazon). The drive up to the rainforest included the marvelous beach coast and many sugar cane fields. Cane toads were brought to Australia in order to eat beetles that were damaging the sugar canes. However, since the toads are nocturnal and the beetles lived on top of the sugar cane – that didn’t work out too well and OZ now has tons of cane toads spreading like wildfire. Apparently if you lick the back of one of these toads, it’s a hallucinogen similar to LSD (btw its illegal to possess a cane toad here). And “NO”, I did not get the opportunity to try this. I did however lick a “green ant”. If you lick one of these, you get a burst of lemon lime flavor on your tongue – pretty insane. The aborigines used to mash up green ants to flavor their food.

I thought my adventures ended in NZ, but I was wrong. Jungle Suring (aka zip lining) in Cape Tribulation (part of the rainforest) was awesome. You start off at the highest point in the jungle at 23 meters above the rainforest canopy for a magnificent view of the greenery and ocean. As we made our way through the forest, there were many trees that were millions of years old (ie. Palm and nutmeg trees). The harness for the zipline is basically held up on the tree with wooden blocks and huge metal chains- not one nail bolt in any of the tree– just relying on friction. They even let you zip line upside down which was wild – observing the thick and lush foliage of the rainforest upside down!

P.S. I totally caved and bought a pair of UGG slippers, couldn’t help myself!

I’m heading out of Sydney in a few hours to Singapore…more in a few days.

UGGz UGGz Everywhere

As they say in Australia, G’day Mate! – which in fact sounds more like “go die…mite”. I was wondering why everyone called this place “OZ”, thinking that I should be searching for a mythical yellow brick road, but here folks like to shorten all their words, and when you say “Aus” it sounds more like “OZ”, thus coining the term. Spending a couple of days exploring Sydney, you would have never thought that this was once a place for the British Empire to dump convicts. This culturally diverse city is a cross between NYC, Miami, and Chicago; NYC for the heavily concentrated skyscrapers in CBD (Central Business District), Miami for the countless palm trees lining the streets, extensive waterfront and gorgeous beach villas, and Chicago for the beautiful greenery and cleanliness. One definite “to do” in Sydney is the Harbor Cruise on a warm, sunny day. With the fresh cool smell of the ocean, you can taste the salt on your lips as the water lightly splashes. One of the stops on the boat ride was Watson’s Bay; by walking up a big cliff, there is a stunning view of the ocean and all you hear is the water rushing on the base of the cliff. I could watch this for hours….the water is deep blue/green and it turns light green/blue to milky white as it crashes into every crevice of the underlying rock formations (pics to come soon).

By the way, the Sydney Opera house is even more spectacular when you see it in person. Jorn Utzon won a design competition to create the Opera House and was the master architect. It was supposed to take 3 years and $7 million to complete- however it ended up taking 14 years and $100+ million to complete. The structure was designed as it was being built; when the construction workers were almost done with the base of the Opera House, Utzon was still figuring out how to take the roof design from paper to reality. At one point, due to political pressures they forced Utzon to step down from the project and he never came back to see the completed architectural wonder – how crazy is that?!

The QVB (Queen Victoria Building) is most probably the coolest shopping center I have ever seen. Built in 1898 it has 4 levels and is an architectural jewel in Sydney. It’s made of sandstone, with a dome and is lined with stained glass. One thing to note is that you can buy UGGz almost anywhere – a mall, a corner shop, a convenience store, a souvenir shop..though I decided not to invest in a pair.

Featherdale Wildlife Park afforded us the opportunity to meet the native Australian animals. Unlike any other zoo I have been too, when you walk in, you are greeted by numerous wallabys, kangaroos, emus, and birds walking around (I went back to the front desk just to ask if the animals were supposed to be roaming around). Wallabys are essentially small versions of kangaroos and they are super cute – just like Rocco from Rocco’s Modern Life…if any of you have seen the show. We even had a chance to feed them – you just take an ice cream cone, fill it up with some pellets and walk over to the kangaroo and hand it over! I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the Tasmanian Devil, but since they are nocturnal I had no such luck. Finally, I also got to see a Dingo – it pretty much just looks like a dog, however it doesn’t bark. All I kept thinking about was the Seinfeld episode where Elaine says “maybe the dingo ate your baby” (Any Seinfeld junkies out there?).

The Friday night festivities were with an interesting bunch (5 Aussies, 1 Kiwi, and 2 Yanks – as they like to call us). Our friend Lyndon that we had met in NZ was also in Sydney and invited us to dinner with some Aussies he had met in Niagara Falls. Similar to Kiwi’s, the Aussies are fun loving, laid back, and they work hard. Dinner was at the Hurricane Grill – a trendy restaurant known for its steaks and ribs in the Darling Harbor (swankier and much nicer than NYC’s South St Seaport). Here I learned that Aussie’s don’t drink Fosters beer, most people tend to stay at home for college and a few years after before they move out, middle school teachers teach ALL subjects, again like NZ they are into American culture and people here get TONS of vacation. Our new Aussie friends were then nice enough to show us around the city – Darling Harbor has some pretty chic clubs and lounges – I even spotted a “Bungalow 8” just like in Sex & the City. We also walked around the Harbor Bridge and “the Rocks” – the place where the first settlers in Australia built a colony. The revels ended at Pancake on the Rocks – a hip late night joint that serves delectable pancakes for hungry late night partiers. It’s funkier than IHOP and is probably the closest thing to a “diner” that OZ has – with hi tech juke boxes that play music videos on flat screen TV’s.

We are now off to the Great Barrier Reef for some scuba diving and snorkeling and I am without a doubt looking forward to the consistent 80 degree weather.

The Majestic South Island

I now understand why everyone said I should spend more time in NZ’s South Island than in the North Island. The South Island’s glaciers, fiords, and mountainous regions are a sharp contrast to the North Island’s relatively flat and geothermal landscape; therein lies the beauty of this country that houses all for 4 climates, in effect you could go surfing on the tip of the North Island and in the same day go skiing in the South Island.

Aimlessly gazing out of the window on the plane ride from Christchurch to Queenstown, I noticed sharp peaks protruding through the clouds. The pilot then mentions that these are the Southern Alps that we could see from 26,000 feet. Imagine white jagged snow covered spikes jutting up out of clouds – pretty sick! Queenstown is a city nestled in a nook of the colossal mountain ranges of the South Island. William Rees (a sheep farmer) founded this city in 1840; in the 1860’s with the discovery gold in the area, there was a Gold Rush and many people settled here and built a city fit for a queen and called it “Queenstown”.

Walking off of the plane, my lungs were instantly invigorated by the fresh, crisp, icy cool mountain air (smells and feels very different than the air in NYC). This cool/hip ski town has tons of shops in the city center and lies on Lake Wakatipu. Let’s just say with the crazy hills all around ( more so than San Fran), nobody here needs a Stairmaster. If you are ever in Queenstown, you must MUST try Fergburger, hailed as the best burger in New Zealand, they have super fresh ingredients, a monstrous burger and funky names (i.e – I had a falafel burger dubbed the “Bun Laden”).

Upon arrival, we went straight to Nevis Arc (http://www.bungy.co.nz/index.php/pi_pageid/159) – one of the many escapades to attempt in Queenstown. Nevis Arc combines free fall and canyon swinging, along with defiance of gravity and sheer terror. AJ Hackett Bungee invented this thrill a couple of years ago, a 109 meter high platform overlooking the Shotover Canyon (buried deep in the mountains) with sharp jagged edges all around the canyon bed. First there is a 60 meter free fall at 90 mph, followed by a swing on a 200 meter arc. They even have different ways you can jump – sitting on a chair, flip, upside down, backwards, or the Jumpaster’s choice. There was a guy who just turned 24 that day and the Jumpmaster decided to give him a special version of the chair jump – aka “the electric chair”; they tased him twice before pushing him off into the depths of the canyon – seriously where do they think of this crazy shit?! Let me be honest, I was petrified beyond belief. The best quote describing this jump from one of the past customers was “Even my shit was scared”. However, I’m happy to say I was able to increase my fear factor… I ended up jumping backwards and doing a back flip (unintentionally of course)..it was probably the most horrifying experience of my life – watching myself free fall into a canyon – yet liberating at the same time (I’m now ready to go sky diving ☺).

We took a 12 hour day tour to Milford Sound, part of Fiordland National Park. The scenic drive on a two lane road took us through the mountain ranges of the south and the amazing fiords that were carved by glaciers during the previous Ice Ages. The cloud coverage and fog is so low to the ground that you feel like you are walking (or driving through the clouds). In the next leg of the tour, we got on a cruise and sailed through the fiords – (see pictures as me trying to describe these wonders won’t do them any justice) Seriously…Fiordland rocks! (no pun intended). Lastly, on the drive back to Queenstown, I saw hundreds of stars in the sky in the clear blue sky – something that is nonexistent in NYC (too bad I couldn’t take a picture of this one).

Another plus for NZ is that it is a super green country – all you Net Impacter’s would love this place. Christchurch airport is only carbon neutral in Southern Hemisphere; there are tons of recycle/reuse/compost bins everywhere; all dual flush toilets; many green buses (inside and out) etc.

So I leave NZ, officially feeling like an "adventure junkie", with a deeper appreciation for and connection to nature, and a huge fan of the kiwi lifestyle. We are now en route to Australia, as they say in NZ.. “See you on the other side of the ditch!”