The 22,000km Trip (2) Bangkok: Yaowarat

One place I seem to go regardless where I travel is to the local Chinatown. Part of the reason is that I grew up near one and many of my childhood friends lived in one. So it's comforting and strangely nostalgic. It's also comforting to be able to read the signs and menus in Chinese in a country where I'm illiterate.

But the best part is that I always feel the history, and richness of the community. It's invigorating to see how the Chinese enclave seems to flourish in every society, every country despite its hardships they faced in the past. The Chinese community is very well assimilated here within Thai society but nevertheless it's great to see that it continues to thrive and retain its uniqueness.

I can probably walk around for Chinatown for days and not get bored; there's so much activity (sometimes a little too much!) and a plethora of unexpected little pathways and alleys. The colors are bright and flashy. And the aroma of food, incense, and herbs waft in the air from all directions. 

My stomach was still not in perfect condition so I stopped by for the herbal tea shop

I don't even know the name of this thing but I know it's a concoction of disgusting bitter herbs that helps your digestive system!

The 22,000km Trip (1) Bangkok: The Escape

It was about time.

I needed a break, from Europe. 

I had not been out of the continent for 9 months and the travel bug inside of me had been bugging me (pun intended) for a long time. But more importantly, I needed a break, literally. The last time I had a chance to really have a worry-free/schedule-cleared vacation was when I went to Paris in Feb 2015. Since then I've been swarmed almost nonstop with classes, reports, conferences, language school, work, and then more work.

From November to January  I've been balancing work and school and then from February, I've been working constantly including weekends. Although it's not as strenuous as my banking days but with no breaks in between it had been taking a toll. I was struggling with stomach pain. In hindsight, what I really needed after my UN gig was over was to get some rest. But I needed to get away; my room was driving me crazy (I live right by the kitchen so I can hear/smell cooking frequently), lots of emotional distress, and most of all, the gloomy cold weather was driving me nuts. I needed to get away. I needed to get away to somewhere warm, hot.

Which is why my first destination had to be undoubtedly, Thailand. 

First thing's first: Whenever I go to Bangkok I have to go to the Erawan Shrine to offer my prayer and blessings as well as ask that th rest of the trip would go well. It's become a ritual every time I'm in Thailand. So off we go.

 

My host, a very gentle Italian DJ guy, told me he was so sorry he forgot to let me know how to turn on the AC in his room; I only had an electric fan for the first night. He was also a bit worried as it's the hottest seasons during March and April in Southeast Asia. Are you kidding me? I coudln't have felt any better. I rarely had AC while I was living in Cambodia anyways. Humidity? Oh please. I'd rather be drenched in sweat and scorched in the heat rather than my skin cracking and need to put lotion all over my body every hour all while shivering in the snow. 

It was just pure bliss walking around the local neighborhoods, observing people while I rode the trains.. I realized how much I missed Asia. It's good to be back. 

Buddhist ceremony in the local neighborhood

My host took me out to the local noodle shop. So incredibly good

Stuffing myself. All this for barely $3. Terminal 21 Food court in Asok is the best :)

Journey through 10,000 photos (Part IV)

This is the last of the series of my picture project. Each picture brought back so many memories it was just a blessing and pleasure to work on it. I'm working up toward the next 10k pictures.. which is actually coming pretty close. After this, I promise to put up more details from my recent trip.

(Cambodia, Oct 2013) Rice offerings at Pchum Ben festival

(Cambodia, Oct 2014) Monks are no exception to studying very hard at our English school (you'd be surprised how many of them are quite fluent) 

(Cambodia, Nov 2013) The sad thing about development is that as lives get better for people and gain from it, it loses other things too like cultural values and beautiful landscapes like these. Siem Reap has become all commercialized because of tourism but if you step out 20 min out of town, gorgeous bucolic scenes are still in tact.

(San Francisco Jan 2014, popular dim-sum take out stand. I've been coming here for decades!)

(Cambodia, Feb 2014) Chatting with the vendors at the market

(Cambodia, March 2014) Sometimes the best way to start a conversation or communication is through my camera. When I was in a local cafe in Sihanoukville, a bunch of kids were interested in my camera and they started posing. This was is my favorite. It's mischievous and sweet at the same time. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Japan, May 2014) It's not so extravagant as high noon tea, but people in the north really like to take their time drinking their tea and chatting over what seems like a meal but really they're all sweet and savory snacks, potluck style. 3 of my aunts live within 300m of each other so this is a daily ordeal. Wish I could understand them a bit better since they all talk in think Tohoku accent

(Cambodia, April 2014) Purification Ceremony of the new sewing school project building

(Phnom Penh, March 2014) This is one of my favorite pictures. It's a juxtaposition of the new and old generations.

(Cambodia, March 2014) Cambodian wedding of one of my coworkers. Little did we know that we had to do an insane amount of dancing after this...

(Cambodia, March 2014) Religious rite ceremony. It's humbling to see people praying in the midst of the candle lights at dusk.

Another Quick Update

A lot of people have been asking where/what I am doing.  I'm still in the US people! What I am doing.. is hard to say since I've been sick I haven't been doing much. But better put, I'm getting a lot of rest and chilling out so I suppose that is good. For those that know me well, I am not the person who sits around the house doing nothing, I'm always on the run! So in a way it was a godsend that I was sick. I've also been spending a lot of time with my mom inevitably. We don't really do anything extravagant together like other mother-daughters do (I once suggested we go to afternoon tea and she said "But we always have tea in the afternoon" and she hates shopping) but we did go have some pho lol. Nothing makes us more happy than a hot bowl of soup and noodles. I suppose this is an Asian thing.

Journey through 10,000 photos (Part III)

Since I practically have nothing to do since I'm sick and can't do much or go outside, I've started to review and edit my pictures and also do some writing. But before I post them, just wanted to post the last 2 of my series in my "10k" project. Just a recap for those who forgot: I had been posting some of my favorites out of the 10,000 pictures I took with my camera since I quit my job in 2013 and started embarking on my journey. You can see part I and II here and here.

(Rikuzen Takata Japan, April 2014) For those who don't know about this tree, it's the only pine tree that survived out of the 70,000+ pine forest and became a symbol of the city after the 3.11 earthquake. Nothing is more moving than witnessing your uncle and aunt going to see the tree with their very own eyes as memories rushed through their heads as they gaze up

(Cambodia, Nov 2013) Cambodians really like to smile. They smile whether they feel happy, sad, guilty, mad etc. Sometimes it's all a bit confusing. But every time they do bring a smile to my face. I call it the "Cambodian Effect"

(Rikuzen Yahagi Japan, April 2014) Grandpa and grandson sharing a watermelon. Not sure why but this picture always makes me smile. I suppose it's because I used to do that with my grandma too when I was little.

(Seoul Korea, Dec 2013)  One of my favorite Korean snacks is 떡볶이 so my friend took me to one of the food stalls. The man noticing that I'm not Korean kept on trying to tell me in simple words and gestures that it's hot and spicy and to be careful. Though I only understand few words of Korean, I understood 100%. Kindness needs no (understandable) words.

(San Francisco Chinatown, Jan 2014) Ever wonder who those people were jumping around during lion dances during Chinese New Year? ;)

Back at Home

It's been about 2 weeks since I've been back home in California. I completely died after my trip; I was deathly sick from an infection, about to get a cold, and exhausted from traveling around multiple countries in various climates in a short period of time. Thankfully my parents have been taking good care of me and while I'm not fully recovered yet, I'm getting a lot of rest and sleep.

 Unfortunately, I haven't been able to relax as much as I hoped since I have a standardized exam which I'm required to take for work and have been fretting about.. (long story, will explain in another post hopefully!) so once that's out of the way tomorrow I'll have more time to edit pictures and do some writing about my trip. In the mean time I'm really enjoying myself being back home.. because how much better can it be when your hometown is San Francisco?

Mom's cooking :)

Quick Update

For those that are not connected with me on Facebook, I have been traveling for the past 3 weeks which is why I haven't been updating. I'm stuck in an airport in Japan now but I'm well on my way to going back home to SF so I promise to post the amazing sights I've seen along my trip. This has been a challenging trip; it hasn't been relaxing as I hoped to be. More details to come but it was just... a compilation of unfortunate events. But at the same time it made the trip more memorable and made me enjoy more of the wonderful experiences and great people I've met so can't wait to share them soon.

On a side note, I am amazed that quite a few of the people around me mentioned that they actually read this blog in the past few months. Initially I started this when I moved to Cambodia so my mom is able to see how I'm doing since she doesn't have FB. She passed the link along to a few of my relatives so this blog was mostly for my family, including my little cousins; so the topics and themes revolved around their interests which are shopping, food, and my daily life. But since I've gotten more requests on posting more things about travel and my thoughts I will try to post more of them. Stay tuned :)

I also wanted to share a few of the gorgeous cherry blossoms I've seen around Tokyo; unfortunately the weather has been cold so it's not full bloom yet but nonetheless I was lucky to see a glimpse of it.