impromptu travel

I just can't stop with the travel. Have planned impromptu trip to LA from Friday to Tuesday morning.

Justification:
- Had credit with NWA so total flight cost is $240
- Spending 2 of 4 nights at friend's place
- Pricelined the hotel rooms for the other 2 nights; 3 star for $80 each night
- I really need this! (said in the way the guy in Old School is yelling at one of the Wilson brother's to let him into the frat)

For some reason I am just plain tired from the Asia trip and looking for some time at the beach. Reading books. Working on my tan. And doing...nothing.

If anyone would like to join me flights are fairly cheap right now....from Vancouver it is $400 RT...

more cow bell

"True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it be lost." - Charles Caleb Colton

Ten years ago four college students heading into their final year headed out to a cabin to catch up before their senior year began. They had bonded in their freshman year, shared an apartment, a house, rides to rowing practice, tears, laughter and insane amount of mac & cheese. They had a feeling this was friendship that would last but only time would tell. There was distance, careers, heartbreak, time zones and life changes to endure. But somehow, they all kept in touch. Even if it was a phone call once every three months, a postcard from a far off land or a meet up for beers.

Not to get too sentimental but I don't have many friendships that have stood this test of time and distance. This short weekend I realised how lucky I am to have such amazing friends in my life.

Ten years later they returned to the cabin as adults. Two with their husbands, one MIA, a good friend added and two dogs to round out the troupe. A great weekend was had by all with the only complaints;
1) it should have been longer! I could have stayed for a week.
2) we ALL should have been there...

Eric bbqs up a storm. Tried to recreate the chicken tonight and failed miserably. Mine was overcooked :( Kerri gave us some kick as spices from one of the restaurants she does marketing for. It will truly save me from poor cooking. If I could only remember not to overcook the meat!

I can't even remember the last time I was at a fire. This was amazing. I wish I had a better camera so you could see all the stars that were out. It was like our own IMAX theatre.

Cooking smores. Maggie and Kim took one for the team and went to town to get the ingredients. Awesome! Don't need another one for ten years.

The couples on the dock.

An attempt to walk off a delicious brunch that included mimosas.

Not my best self-portrait and Maggie had already left.

Halong Bay

Halong Bay is tied with Hoi An as my favorite destination of this trip. We only had one night out there but I am adding Vietnam and 4 days here on to my 2010 itinerary. They served fresh seafood at all three meals; Kim and I are not fans of fish so it was a struggle but we made it through. This was also the triple incident where they overbooked the trip and I was forced to share with Kim and Lindsay. There was rain for part of the trip but it didn't dampen our spirits. Great time had by all and I can see in the future getting a large group together and getting our own 'junk' to tour the bay.

the great wall

We conquered the wall. Definitely my highlight on the second half of my Beijing stay. Fresh air and blue sky greeted us as we arrived at the wall for a 12k hike. There was even a breeze. We couldn't have ordered better weather. Not going to describe each photo but you get the picture. Mix of stairs, well kept stone sections and unkept stone sections. Some definite slow going bits in the areas that hadn't been maintained/reconstructed. Well deserved beers after and I think everyone was sore the next day. Kim had a blow out with her shoes; they almost got left behind at one point. Wish I had a photo of that.

Major bonus when we were greeted with this water view as we finished. Again, a spectacular day with excellent conditions and some great friends.

my Olympic moment

Having not competed at a Games I have no cheesy photo of me walking into the Olympic stadium during the athlete parade of an opening ceremony. I now however have photos of people I know dressed in their Olympic gear, some of them are wearing medals, a few of them posed with me. Not as good as being an Olympian but it was still a fun ride watching them race.

My friend Emily and I with the men's eight in the background as they perform their victory lap.

Adam at Canada Olympic House with Doug checking out the gold medal.

Andie and I enjoying a beverage on my last night in Beijing and her first night post-racing.

Tracy enjoying wine and a bronze medal.

My favorite lightweight man; Jon B! Saw him after the races and was worried he would just give me the head nod of recognition. Instead he came over and gave me a hug and graciously posed for a cheesy photo just a few hours after his bronze medal race.

home, sweet home

Just woke up and my first thought was how happy I am to be home. My bed feels ridiculously comfortable and I am happy to be eating fruits and vegeatables again without fear. The supermarket seemed like bliss last night, love having truly clean clothes and it was a joy to eat cereal for breakfast. The only other place I would rather be than home right now is possibly Hoi An, Vietnam. 3 weeks of travel and a long week in Beijing were a bit tiring with the soup ass compounding it all.

About to head off for my first gym workout in 3 weeks. This should be interesting. Will start posting photos of the rest of the trip this week.

done with Beijing

The end of the Olympic rowing regatta really completed my trip to Beijing. I arrived at the course with a suitcase because I had just been to the silk market to pick up my suit. Have bought so much stuff here I needed a new carry on bag. Got a wicked hard case carry on with 360 rollers. Have rolled it over 2km today alone. Got it for a bargain 200RMB or $30CAD.

Now at Canada Olympic House and feel emotionally drained from watching the A finals today. I don't think I sat down the entire time. My heart goes out to the women's eight; they rowed really well and got put out of the medals by the dutch who set a new record for the last 500m.

Will be sure to post more photos and narrative of my trip when I arrive home. Have to mention that while my suit was being altered today I searched out a place for a foot massage and paid less than $6 for 30 minutes. Good stuff.

The others are celebrating with the Americans and I am probably heading home to pack. More tomorrow.

games apathy

Major rain today. We finally slept in a bit this morning so I don't feel like I am a walking zombie. Yesterday my friends managed to score tickets to a basketball game and a volleyball game. They are living it. I only managed a quick tour of the Forbidden City with them and some hanging out watching TV at Canada Olympic House. I went for foot massage and had the most surreal experience.

I provided the name and address of an upscale place that was recommended. Instead the driver dropped me off at what looked like a rip off hotel of Caesar's Palace. I go inside and it is all marble and columns and there is a really large menu in Chinese and English. A bunch of random options as I am standing in front of the reception area (dinner, steam, ear picking, cupping etc.) I say all I want is a foot massage and point to that. They lead me to a change room and tell me to give them all my clothes and stuff and take a shower. Mass confusion as all I want is a foot massage. I change into the clothes the offer and they put a bracelet on me that opens the locker I have put all my stuff in and it has a number on it. The one person who speaks English then leads me up to the 2nd floor and the resting room. It is bunch of people dressed in the same white outfit I am wearing and they are all laying in the dark watching tv with headphones on. I ask for something a little quieter as it is right next to the dining area where again, people are sitting and eating in the white outfits. There kids lazing about as well.

They take me up another floor and I go into this movie style room with a hundred lazy boys and I screen up on a stage that is projecting an Olympic soccer game. I sit in a chair and a couple of minutes late this women comes by and gives me a kick ass 50 minute foot massage that ends with here using small hammers to pound my feet and legs.

No time to get into it all but it was totally surreal. I guess it was some spa hotel for Chinese people. They were pumped because they had a foreigner the day before and 2 last week. I guess the cab driver decided that this was where need to go.

Now hanging out in COH and waiting out some torrential rain.

resting up for Sunday

Due to a transportation issue I didn't make it out to the course to see Andie and Darcy kick some ass and win the repechage. So exciting! Can't believe I am over here and had to watch it on-line. It is over 3 hours round trip and there was no guarantee due to the late bus that I would make it there for their race.

Tomorrow we are going to the silk market to get suits tailores, Russian NOC house and any event we can secure tickets to. Getting a bit burnt out. My feet are sore from miles of walking and we go to bed late and get up early. Not sure I will be coming home rested from this portion of the vacation.

Great Wall on Friday and then it is rowing all weekend. Thanks to Dave for posting. Loved seeing the pictures of the kids in Japan.

Hoi An

This kind of stuff is everywhere! The bike gang riding in from our hotel.

Typical building in Hoi An. They are all yellow for some reason. Like they have a strata council for the whole city that tells them the color they can paint.

All the shops have these shrines set up in them with food offerings.

The group by the cool japanese covered bridge.

Nha Trang Photos

Feet that are bigger than mine!

Hanging out on the beach on an island off Nha Trang.
Very large statue.

Hanging out by the statue with the very large feet.

single supplement

We sprinted to the course for nothing. Our major concern was clearing customs and getting a taxi. Both done in a breeze but finding the course turned into an episode of the amazing race. It was 45 minutes of confusion as we broke into two taxis and were mislead a few times and then realised some other westerners were following our misguided taxi in their taxi as they wanted to get to the rowing course as well. We arrived with an hour to spare before the eight's started racing. We enjoyed a beer and watched the thunder and rain roll in right before the 5:20 start time. All that sprinting for nothing.

The highlight was walking by the mixed area where athletes could meet up with their family. I got to see Rachelle, Andie, Darcy and Jane. It was very surreal to see them as athletes and me as the spectator but great to see the people I am here to cheer on in person and receive a hug.

We arrived at our apartment late (11pm) and 'Bobby' met us at the subway stop and we walked the half block to our apartment. I am sleeping on the couch as the single (a cot) is not comfortable. My nickname on the trip has been 'single supplement' and this was definitely one of the instances where I was not happy to be flying solo as the other two bedrooms have big queen size beds. Other than that the place is big and on the 20th floor. Washer and tv but no towels so we are on the hunt for some this morning as I am rather ripe.

Bobby took us to the local police station this morning as we had to register there. They asked some interesting questions. We had to provide our religion and if we had a spouse we needed to tell them their full name and passport number. It was all very surreal.

No photos as we are in this scary gamer internet cafe that reeks and has about a hundred PCs that cost 3 RMB (50 cents) an hour but no access to a USB port.

written highlights of Vietnam

Sorry folks. My USB SD card reader will not fit into the one USB slot on this PC. You will have to wait for the photos.

Highlights from Vietnam:

1) Overnight sleeper train with Kim, Mary, Anthony & Lindsay. When unwrapping our sheets to make up our bed we found many hairs on the 'clean' sheets. Lindsay also killed two cockroaches. I had already ditched on the 2nd overnight train in favor of flying and apparently on that overnight train the air conditioning turned the car into the Arctic circle. Sad I missed out on that fun.

2) We arrived in Nha Trang and hired a driver for the day (all day for only $30!). We saw 3 tourist attractions one of which was temple with real monks chanting. It was very cool. They had some massive Buddha statutes that I really wish I could post photos of.

3) After the sights we went for a mud bath...seriously. It cost is each 8,000 VND ($5) and we had our own mud bath jacuzzi, then a mineral water hot tub after being pulverized by jets of water. No photos were taken. The image is burned into my memory and I am still picking up mud out of my ears.

4) Went out on a boat for the day and visited this great island where we rented beach chairs and drank beers in the ocean. Then feasted on freshly caught jumbo prawns and napped. Does it get any better than this?

5) Hoi An was amazing! Beach and shopping; my two favorites. Had my first real suit made and I think I am addicted to having tailor made clothes. The difference is amazing. We were staying about 6km outside of town (but just 1/2 a block from the beach) so for less than $2 a day we rented old school bikes with kick stands and baskets on the front to ride into town. They were one speed and we had to dodge motos and taxis but it was amazing to be riding by rice fields even if I was practically chewing on my kneecaps due to the low seat height. Felt like we were a gang of 5 kids out riding our bikes in the back lane.

6) Mary believed. She really wanted to do the overnight trip in Halong Bay and while the rest of us were losing hope (due to our cancelled flight and the bad weather) Mary was on the phone the minute we arrived in Hanoi. And somehow less than 2 hours later we were in a van headed to Halong City to get in our 'junk' and tour the islands. There was a bit of drama on the junk as they had oversold it but Kim and Lindsay graciously invited me to share their room. With a deck chair and foamy for padding I was all set. We ate fresh seafood (Kim and I declined the fish), swam in the ocean and toured a grotto with crazy rock formations. Sitting up on deck with a beer in hand and 2 Gravol in my stomach I was truly content.

So much more but it is late and I am tired and we have to leave the hotel at 7am tomorrow for the airport. We arrive in Beijing at 2:45pm and have our minds set on making it out to the race course for the 8+s which start at 5:20pm. It is going to be tight. We are formulating a plan where one person sprints to the taxi line up and the rest of us store the luggage. It calls for me to try and not check my bag...this should be a challenge.

Hopefully more photos once we are settled in our apartment in Beijing and I find an internet cafe.

a well made suit

In Hoi An and just had another great day. We rented bikes and went into town, had mango lassies, shopped for clothing, ordered and were fitted for tailored clothing, then drank cheap beers, biked back to hotel, went swimming in the ocean and are now about to head for dinner. It doesn't get much better than this!

Tomorrow at 11am I go for a fitting for my new suit (jacket, pant and skirt) and we head to Hanoi on an 8pm flight. I have the largest amount of luggage with me currently (one 65L backpack) and everyone else is discussing shipping their clothing home. I think I am going to tough it out and just buy a small suitcase.

Ciao!

Angkor Awesome

A few posts behind but just having too great a time to be checking email and blogging. So this is a catch up post from my solo trip to Cambodia and Angkor temples.

I took over 200 photos and am sharing my top few here. AMAZING! Worth the extra $300 in airfare etc. to go see ancient history.
Yes, I felt like I was in Lord of the Rings. This is the one temple that they have let the trees over take. Totally amazing.Another solo traveller and I helped one another out in taking some cool photos in the Indian Jones type light that was streaming in.

Count the number of faces if you can.

Because all statues need a little flare.

Kim, Lindsay, Mary and Anthony headed off on the train this evening for Hoi An. I am flying there tomorrow morning. There were cockroaches on the train to Nha Trang so they were all jealous of my decision to fly rather than overnight train.

Will try and post Nha Trang photos at some point but just to prove that I am no longer travelling solo here is a photo of us all on the train. Mary is represented by her hair only. Up at 5:30am to head to the airport so I am off to bed.

i can fix this...

When I travel I don't like to ask for help. Ever. For instance, in my hotel room today I broke two things (or thought I did). First I decided to do some in-sink laundry. I had immediately dropped off shorts, t-shirts and socks to be washed at the hotel as I was walking around town like I was going to gym. Pink dri-fit shirt and workout shorts with runners. Not a great look for me.

So I do the rest (underwear) in the sink. Not sure how the stink stopper works I just push it in because I see no lever to raise and lower it. This was fine until I was done washing. The stopper would not come out. I used my nails, the edge of a pack of pills and even tried tweezers. Nothing. The sink was full of grungy water. I resorted to using the tub and decided I would try again after I went in to town. But before I went in to town I needed to load my valuables into the in-room safe. It was the usual enter some numbers and your most precious items (in my case: passport, ipod, and about $800 worth of Olympic rowing tickets) are locked away from any housekeeper that is randomly your identical triplet and wants to move to Canada, is also enjoying the new Clumsy Lovers song R sent her and wants to take four friends to watch rowing in Beijing.

I am good with numbers and normally don't forget anything important. I think I've only had to have a lock cut once and I learned my lesson. But somehow the thing locked and when I enter what I thought I entered it just beeps Error at me. Not good Mav.

So I head out from the hotel with these two issues in the back of mind. No, I don't do the obvious and ask someone at reception for help. I just decide to work on solving these issues later.

I walk around town and say no 20 times to tuk tuk drivers. I don't tell them I am trying to burn some calories and prefer to go on foot. They are all rather slim and would not understand. After a couple of hours of walking I decided it is time for a foot massage. Rather then head to the cheap places screaming $6 per hour I go to the nicest one I can find where I have to ask for a price list and it is $12. The reasoning for this is that I want to enjoy the foot massage and if the place looks clean I won't be paranoid the whole time that the 12 mosquito bites on my left leg are becoming infected as someone rubs a random lotion into them with questionably clean hands. This stresses me out which is the opposite of being relaxed by a foot massage.

I get lead up to the footbath first as I have walked in (again, in the bad workout outfit) and have mud all over my legs due to the muddy streets from the torrential rain. As the women uses a full on special sink in the floor (no bucket!) just for feet I see her push the sink stopper in. I watch curiously to see how it comes out at the end and...she pushes in again and the stopper just pops up. Bingo! I relax into my foot massage with the knowledge that I will fix the sink in my hotel room as soon as I return.

Now my third on-going issue on this trip is soup ass (aka traveller's diarrhea). Again, I have spent a week not claiming defeat; I have not used the antibiotics from the travel clinic. I tried to rationalise my problem; 'my body is just reacting to new food', 'ít is normal to crap a liter of water' and í can fix it myself. i won't eat for 24 hours and my digestive system will reset itself just like when my ipod freezes and the only way to get it to work is to let the battery run out and then recharge it.' My 24 hour trick did not work.

As I lay enjoying the foot massage my stomach churned. Inner plumbing could be heard moving liquids from one chamber to another. As I paid for the foot massage I knew I had approximately 10 minutes before I was going to be in a bad place that could not be explained as muddy legs from the street.

I walk quickly back to the hotel and race to my room. Will leave out the next part but suffice it say that I broke open that miracle canister of pills and I am praying they kick in before tomorrow nights overnight train ride.

The sink is fixed and now the only problem is the safe issue. Maybe I can have my UK passport fedexed to me and buy some last minute rowing tickets?

Camboida = humidity

And I thought Beijing was bad. Arrived in Cambodia yesterday after two flights and then took a flight this morning to Siem Reap. Torrential rain is holding me back from touring the famous Angkor Wat. Will have to wait until tomorrow but I have a good part of the day for touring as my flight leaves for Ho Chi Minh City at 5pm.

So far it seems a lot like India here with fewer people speaking English and less poverty. I am staying in quite a nice hotel for $38 a night and that includes breakfast.

I meet up with Kim, Lindsay, Mary and Anthony tomorrow night in HCMC and we get on an overnight train to the beach town of Nha Trang. For those keeping track I will put up my itinerary on the blog.

Will now be heading out to get a foot massage and walk around Siem Reap. Maybe spend the evening in the roof top pool with swim up bar. Just in case you have forgotten this is the vacation portion of the trip. Have already read one entire book on the two flights last night and am now working on the David Sedaris book. Slightly panicked as I left the other 3 books in Beijing as I thought they were too much weight. Have to find other travellers to trade with ASAP. No R, will not trade David Sedaris...he is all yours.