Under the sea

In the past week I have taken two SSI diving courses, an open water course and an advanced adventurer course with the Phoenix Divers at Sairee Beach, Koh Tao. The first one teaches the very basics of diving to complete beginners such as myself, and I was lucky enough to learn in a group of three. A lot of attention from the instructor, and all of us progressed at the same pace. Even our first practice dive was done in the sea, whereas the group of 16 starting the next day practiced in the swimming pool and some of them were really struggling.

I thought I would be scared underwater, but I totally fell in love with it! The feeling of stepping out of the boat with all of your gear, being immersed in the warm water and realising that you can breathe, and from that point on, it's just sightseeing and enjoyment!

The open water course teaches the basic skills, going down to 18 m, and with the advanced adventurer gives an option of five speciality dives. Navigation and deep diving were obligatory and I didn't really enjoy them that much - I got lost during the navigation practice! We had to use compass to swim a square, but somehow the low visibility, strong current and my innate counting of breathes (instead of kicks) screwed me up. So I was lost under the sea and running out of air - no can do but ascend on my own. Surprisingly enough, it went well with the dive computer telling me when to safety stop and I managed to stay level and not to to panic. Quite proud of myself for not panicking! The deep dive took us to 30 m and had to do some basic maths problems, which I obviously got right whereas my dive buddy was rather confused. On that dive we saw some massive schools of fish, including barracudas.

The other speciality dives I chose were perfect buoyancy, which I found very useful, night diving, which I found eerie and not as exciting as described by others, and underwater photography! So here are some of the photos I took at White Rock!

Merry Christmas!

Just a quick note saying two things:

1) Diving is amazing. Not scary at all as I thought it would be. I have no idea what sort of fish and corals I saw today, but I know I saw a Christmas tree taken down to the bottom and being decorated with sea shells by divers wearing santa hats!

2) Merry Christmas to everyone!

Starring it up in Thailand

The tour of China ended with three days in Kunming, where I saw the newest Harry Potter, enjoyed the sunroof of the Hump hostel (18C and sun felt warm after rainy Guilin), visited the temples of the west mountain (Xi Shan) and learned about the numerous ethnic minorities of Yunnan province at the cultural village. I also read Forgotten Kingdom by Peter Goullart, which tells a true story of a westerner working in Lijiang, Yunnan in the early 20th century when all the minorities still lived by their traditional ways. Very good for understanding the local history.

Past two weeks I've spent with my lovely parents at the Hilton in Hua Hin, Thailand, as an amazing Christmas present from them. The weather has been properly hot (30C), which has allowed sunbathing and swimming, as well as a stint at swimming pool aerobics. We did day trips to a Monkey Mountain, Safari Park (where I got to feed a baby tiger! Afterwards got doubtful of the ethics...), Bangkok, Floating Market, to the country side to see the everyday life... and to the luxurious Barai spa. The spa experience was something magical, even though my dad thought the body scrub would hurt! Also there were long coffees, pina coladas from coconuts, mai tais from carved out pineapples, cryptic crosswords everywhere we sat down, and of course lovely dinners. The seafood was the best I've ever eaten - straight from the sea! In all this excitement the two weeks just flew by.

Last night my parents waved me goodbye as I boarded a bus to future adventures. Their airport transport left four hours after mine, and now they're on the plane home. And I'm in Koh Tao! The sea didn't seem too bad from the beach, but the sea was rough and 90 minute journey was painful. A lot of the people were seasick, and I was lucky of my window seat that allowed me to look at the waves instead of sick people. I'm planning to stay here for a week or so and most likely learn to dive as I hear Koh Tao is very good for it!

Ps. What about Christmas? Locals don't celebrate it, and I've managed to avoid the build up to my most favourite day of the year! So surprisingly I'm not sad of missing the family Christmas.

Southern China

The 13-hour flight to Hong Kong went surprisingly smoothly; the plane wasn't full so I had two seats worth of space to stretch and sleep on. I guess I must've slept over eight hours, and also managed to watch episodes of CSI and Mad Men that I hadn't seen before. From Hong Kong airport I took a bus to Guangzhou. The border crossing was done on foot, and was simple and straightforward. In true Chinese style every bus passanger got a sticker to wear, and it helped a lot as I just had to point at the sticker and I was hustled to the right bus with great efficiency.

Guangzhou

The bus arrived to Guangzhou after dark, and the city was beautifully decorated with lights. Every tree had beautiful dreamy christmas-light type decorations, and the tall buildings had tasteful lights running across them. I guess it is due to the 16th Asian Games which were held in Guangzhou when I was there. My hostel was located by the riverside, and although I was exhausted I had to go for a walk by the river to enjoy the scenery in dark!

The downside of the location was mosquitos. I hadn't had any major problems with mosquitos before, and I figured that although there were some in the lobby, I would be fine in my room. I was seriously wrong, as I woke up at 3 am to a seriously swollen upper lip. After rolling in the bed for a couple of hours due to jetlag, mosquitos and the awful smell of repellent I had applied I finally managed to fall asleep again. When I woke up again, I had more bites; one in the corner of my eye and several on my left hand and wrist, all swollen. My mirror image was a lovely combination of Angelina Jolie (upper lip, luckily the bite was bang in the middle) and one Chinese eye. Oh well, at least I could see and eat without problems!

I spent only one day in Guangzhou. It was taken up by obtaining a hard sleeper ticket for a train to Guilin (easy with the note written for me by the hostel people), a stroll in the Orchid Garden where I enjoyed a lovely cup of tea, and a visit to the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King, a well preserved tomb site with a museum containing all the treasures of the tomb.

Guilin

The train to Guilin took 12 hours, and passed by in a blink as I managed to sleep for ten hours. The train arrived in the early hours of the Saturday morning, and by eight am I had already booked myself on two tours on the upcoming days as well as a train ticket to Kunming. In Guilin I first saw the Solitary Beauty Peak in the very city centre and enjoyed the show of examinations held for the candidates for imperial government officials; in this case, excited Chinese tourists seated in a row of small cubicles. I lunched at a local noodle restaurant, where a meal cost 3 RMB and you were given a bowl of noodles and meat, and you could add the spices and broth from big vats as you wanted. Probably the best noodles I've had this far!

Then I braved the local busses and succesfully found myself from the Reed Flute Cave. I had seen the hundreds of photos my boyfriend had taken there five years earlier, but I still wasn't prepared for the extreme beauty of the stalagmites and stalactites formed by an underground river. They looked like melting mushrooms, spiny and spirally towers of gothic cathedrals, extraterrestrial landscapes. Awe-some.

When I returned from the cave, I felt incredibly cold, as the temperature was around 10-15C compared to the lovely 25C of Guangzhou and HK. What was meant to be warming up under a duvet turned out to a five-hour nap, and I heard that it had been raining all of that time. A quick tour of the town in the evening revealed a night marked with a lot of souvenirs and little gadgets, as well as a weird party at the central square with singers and badly coreographed fashion shows.

Li and Yulong river tours

I had booked a pricy river tour for Sunday, and it turned out to be totally worth it. We spent over four hours on the Li river on a bigger boat (compared to the bamboo rafts that some tourists braved regardless of the cold and rainy weather). The Li river has the views you can see in every Chinese painting - the snaky river and hump-like steep, round-topped hills. It is claimed to be the most beautiful of Chinese sceneries, and a picture of it can be found on the reverse of 20RMB note. Although the weather was misty, the views were stunning. The river cruise ended in town of Yangshuo, a very touristy town where 15 million tourists pass through every year. As shopping for souvenirs for several hours didn't interest me, I opted for an extra tour to the Yulong river.

Yulong village and Yulong river were a lot less touristy and very enjoyable in their rustic, calm atmosphere. We saw a lot of rice fields, ducks feeding on shrimps, living in the rice paddies, water buffalos (which we got to feed and pat) and fishing with cormarant birds. They bind a string around the neck of the birds so that they cannot swallow the fish they catch, so the fish can be retrieved from their beaks. There also was relaxing bamboo rafting in the stunning views.

The guide on the tour, Yang Yang, was very friendly and fun. He was happy to answer all of our weird questions and didn't get annoyed when we wanted to photograph ducks instead of the famous views. And by we I mean me and four American girls who I teamed up for the day. They were good fun and as the hostel hasn't been too sociable, it was good to find company on the tour. He told us that typically the prettiest building in each village is a Party meeting hall, and I asked him some more questions about the topic. Apparently they hold events every week, and what surprised me, is that not everyone is eligible to be a party member. Only the best 4% of students get opportinity to join. I had always assumed that the party was for everyone to be a part of, but it sort of makes sense to have the smart people in the deciding team!

Minority and Rice Terrace tour

Monday was yet another tour day. I had booked to go and see the Dragon Bone rice terraces, but the tour included also a stop at Yao minority village. The women of the Yao grow their hair very long, and only cut it when they get married. The longest hair was about 2.5 metres long! They dress up in traditional red dresses and wear their hair according to their status (single, married, married with children). The village was built of wood unlike rest of China I've seen, and we visited a traditional house and a show where the Yao women sang, danced and displayed the traditional wooing procedures. It was surprisingly interesting and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would!

The rice terraces were unfortunately mainly clouded over, so climbing up to the highest peak at 1000m was not rewarding at all as the visibilty was zero. The views from lower down were ok though, and it was possible to imagine how pretty it would be from the top. The lunch was in the village of Ping'an, and as the tour group was Chinese (except for me), a group of lovely Chinese invited me over to their table allowing sharing of food and sampling more things. The traditionally cooked rice and chicken inside a bamboo stick was delicious, as was the smoked pork and beer fish!

I have enjoyed Guilin a lot altough I've been wearing my warm fleece and jeans since I arrived. I even invested in gloves. The entrance fees here have been a lot pricier than in Beijing, but on the other hand the souvenirs have been a lot cheaper (at least the starting price) and seemed a lot better quality. I guess that they can't sell any old China crap to Chinese tourists - they want something local, something different, something pretty, and they know how much it's worth, so there's no point putting the starting price extremely high as you would with foreign tourists. Also, if you travel all the way here and want to see the famous views, I guess you won't say no to the high entrance fees.

Photo opportunity.

I'm still in Europe, enjoying good food and kicking boyfriend's ass. He's writing thesis a lot of the time, but the progress is still slow. I changed my return flight to Hong Kong for 24th Nov, so one more week until I return travelling. I have planned a week-long tour in Southern China: a day in Guangzhou, a weekend in Guilin, a day in Nanning and then three days in Kunming. I really wanted to go to northern parts of Yunnan, but the weather forecast already promises snow for the area, so I stick to the warmer climates! From Kunming I will be flying to Bangkok and I will meet my darling parents in Hua Hin! They will be there for two weeks to enjoy the sunshine in the middle of miserable winter!

As people have been requesting photos, I finally found a cable to get the low-quality pics out of my mobile phone.

A street in Shanghai near the conference venue.

Emperor's shopping street around the Suzhou canals at the Summer Palace.

View from the roof of the Templeside Hostel - The white pagoda temple.

One of the 1500-year old Buddha statues at Yungang grottoes.

The hanging monastery of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism near mount Hengshan.

A Taoist temple in the morning mist on the holy mountain of Hengshan.

The ancient walled city of Pingyao from the city walls.

The twin pagodas of Taiyuan.

My travelling companion, the lil Tigur, in his new hotpink silk gown and with matching orchid at the Beijing Botanical Gardens.

The very tall Beijing TV tower.

The view over Beijing from the TV tower.

Rice fields in the Philippines.

On the boat to Puerto Galera.

On a lovely sandy beach in Puerto Galera after a snorkelling trip.

View from Our Melting Pot window, a lovely hostel in the 18th floor in Manila.

View from the Victoria Peak, Hong Kong.

The tallest sitting outdoors copper Buddha statue (35m) in Lantau island, Hong Kong.

View from the 15th floor Casino whiskey bar in Macao.

On a break from the travels

Having some time off from travelling has been a bit weird. I've been mainly doing nothing; watching telly, reading books, cooking, knitting, a little housework, playing old computer games, New York Times crosswords, mainly just wasting time and try to make sure my boyfriend is writing his thesis and not slacking off. And it hasn't been a wasted effort! He's been working hard but his perfectionism tends to take over, making the progress slow. But it has been great to be near him!

The autumn has been beautiful; warm sunny days and lovely colours of yellow, orange and red in the trees. In Asia often I ended up walking the whole day; here I tend to stay in and venture out only for short walks. We've been out to see some films, met up some friends for a pint or three, as well attended a middle of night street party / protest, but as the thesis writing tends to get better towards the night, the evenings have mainly been quiet.

I'm due to fly back to Asia on Sunday, but I might change the flights to slightly later date. The news about floods in Thailand and Vietnam might change the direction of travel slightly. The display of forces of nature in Indonesia have also scared me a little. I can't obviously prevent something from like that happening when I'm in Asia, but I really need to read the news carefully and check which areas are affected.

Finally, I've been surprised how many of my friends and family have mentioned that they read this blog! Thank you for reading and all the kind words!

Hong Kong in style

The last night in HK in stayed in a five star hotel right next to the harbour in Kowloon, courtesy of a very kind sponsor. We enjoyed an amazing meal in Aqua restaurant in the 29th floor facing the harbour and watching the sun set and the buildings light up. Simply beautiful. The next day we had a quick sight-seeing tour of the Hong Kong side and it was too soon the time to go to the airport. The waiting time flied past with some of the best things I know: the newest Sophie Kinsella book, a mojito and quesadillas! The 13 hour flight back to Europe went surprisingly quickly and although I thought I had slept badly and just for an hour or two, I managed to get eight hours of sleep. So I landed at six am feeling awake and there has been no sign of jetlag! The weather is quite a bit colder than I had packed for, so I've resorted to wearing my boyfriends clothes. I miss the warm weather and friendly Asian people but it is so nice to be here with him!

Hong Kong and Macau

I have spent now a week in HK, and every one of the days has been long and hectic. A friend of mine from Finland has been travelling with me, which has made the beer input slightly higher than normal. Hong Kong has been a total surprise for me, as I was expecting only the tall buildings but not the nature and the mountains all around it. We went up the Victoria Peak by the Peak Tram and up to the Ngong Ping with the cable car. There were beautiful views over the town, the airport and especially over the mountains. In Ngong Ping we saw a modern Buddhist monastery, the world's biggest outside sitting bronze Buddha statue and a monument with the heart sutra written on wood pillars - all built in the past 20 years or so but in the familiar hundreds of years old Buddhist style.

I have been pleasantly surprised by the public transport system, especially after Manila where there was none. The subway, boats and buses are easily navigated and paid for with a handy Octopus card. The Octopus is a valid and easy form of payment also in some tourist attractions, fast food restaurants and shops. Very handy when paying for small amounts and not familiar with the coins! The only complaint I have is the shopping complexes that surround the subway exits and makes it impossible to just get to the street and where you wanted to go to! And the shopping in HK seems to be a lot of Gucci, Rolex and Cartier, so I have not ventured to any shops at all.

Hong Kong is very British in small ways, but actually not at all. The people are very business-like and majority remind me of the City people in London. A lot of foreigners are here obviously for business, and everyone speaks English. Or in the cases where the waitress has not spoken English, someone else has helped us immediately. So very friendly too! On Saturday we took ferry to Macau, which used to be under Portuguese rule for a long time. Nowadays it was a small city-country (or a Special Administrative Region of China, just like Hong Kong) that looks like a bastard child of Lisbon and Las Vegas. The Lisbon side of the town had a lot of historic churches and forts, but the skyscrapers where normal people lived were very run down. The food on the streets offered Portuguese options in addition to the noodle soups. The casinos were grand and tall and sparkly and flashy and kitch. We went inside a couple of them, and spent some spare money on number seven on the roulette (we're both born on 7th July) and lost it all of course. It all was a bit absurd, the casinos and the numbers of people going there just to play. The contrast within the city was so steep, that it seemed obvious that any made made by the casinos didn't trickle down to the society. Or maybe they had inherited the Portuguese chilled out attitude that led to run down building fronts?

On our first night in HK we went out to see what the night life was like, and after several pints of beer in SoHo (South of Hollywood Road) we wanted to see more of the island took a completely random bus that took us to the south side to Aberdeen. We found a nice noodle shop and ordered some food, and started talking to the people in there. We made friends with King, who then invited us for Sunday lunch. So yesterday we went for a very nice Dim Sum lunch in a floating restaurant with King and his wife Bella, followed by a popular Hong Kong pasttime - horse races. We betted again on number seven, and literally lost by a neck. Oh well, even 10/10/10 wasn't our lucky day!

And then finally a bit of good news. We went to the Fortune Tellers near Wong Tai Sin temple and had a look into next year's events by stick fortune telling. My question was if my boyfriend will finish his studies, and the answer was yes as he will work hard, but unfortunately he will not find a job straight away and will have to take some time out to travel to six countries! And then he might become prime minister later on.

Manila madness

The weekend in Manila was not exactly what I expected. There was the sights-seeing as planned, but also lots of things that I never thought I'd saw. On Saturday morning I arrived at the hostel and over the breakfast we discussed the local politics and how there are so many poor people. How there is a lot of hope for the new president, and how the attitude of the Catholic church is ruining the attempts of the government to promote family planning by offering free contraception. The hostel staff were great, they were keen to discuss everything and also offered advice on what to see, eat and drink in Manila. So I headed out to see the vicinity of the hostel.

My first stop was the Ayala museum which probably is the best museum I've been in. I typically get exhausted in museums where the collections are extensive and you just see so many things of the same type that it ends up dulling you out. The Ayala museum was different, as each of the floors were completely different to each other AND very interesting on their own field. The Filipino gold items from a thousand years ago; the progression of modern Filipino art of 20th century (Fernando Zobel!); the history of the Philippines until 1980s; amazing art made out of plastic and light by Olivia d'Aboville. After exploring the museum throughout, it was time to see some shopping malls. Philippinos apparently love their shopping and not getting sweaty, so Manila is covered in massive shopping malls. I felt like I was in the States so it wasn't too exciting.

For the dinner, I teamed up with three other people from the hostel and we ended up going for a couple of beers after the dinner. As the hostel was located next to a dodgy bar street, we had a look at the options. Every other building seemed to be a church, and the rest were poledancing bars, ladyboy bars, bars with girls with very little clothes on... and we ended up choosing the Ringside Bar that had oiled midget wrestling. I kid you not. We found the idea hilarious so we went in, ordered our "expensive" beers (2.50 eur) and after a round of lady boxing, the wrestling was announced. And because me and the other girl from the hostel were the only female customers around, we were asked to oil up the midgets. Eek! In a way the show was hilarious, but I felt very exploitative. Laughing at someone's disposition? But on the other hand, it offers them a job, and they seemed to laugh a lot themselves... whereas the girls in the bar seemed bored out of their wits and were giving us an attitude because we paid no attention to them. It is a weird industry, all the old white men and the beautiful young girls, and apparently most of the girls are happily in it, hoping to find a husband to take them away. What can you do if all of the parties are willing and happy with their end of the deal?

On Saturday I headed out to the old Intramuros area with another traveller I met at the hostel. We spent the morning looking at the old fort and the walled city and talking a lot about philosophy, life, science, politics, history etc, and the morning was amazingly good fun mainly because of the company I had. Towards the afternoon another friend from the hostel joined in, and we saw the Rizal park and the monument, and by a shaded bus stop near the park, we saw a local guy flashing his private parts at us. Nothing like that has ever happened to me before, but we all took it calmly, walked away and laughed at it after we were a safe distance away. But it made me think, what is the logic of the people who flash? To scare? To show off?

We saw the sunset over Manila Bay sitting in this lovely rooftop Korean restaurant, with quite a few local beers and tasty Korean food. Others were keen for a crazy night out, so we headed to the central bar area (not the one near the hostel), but I felt tired and not really up for bars. I wasn't a big fan of the music or the topics of conversation, and I felt irritated and I decided to catch a cab and head home, and I actually enjoyed my chat with the cab driver more! So I got a full nine hours of sleep and woke up feeling good, and headed to the airport to catch my flight to Hong Kong. I'm now at a internet cafe in HK, the hostel is not great as there is no communal area and I was upgraded into a private room instead of a dorm. So I haven't met anyone yet but my friend from home is arriving later today.

I realised quite a lot of things in the hostel in Manila - that people are very different. They travel for very different reasons and with very different attitudes. There was two travellers who had done all of Southeastern Asia and carried their tan and their wrist bands with pride, and loved to discuss the places they've been, the best bars, how intoxicated they had been and where, the stories of these countries as the adult playpark only designed to provide them entertainment. One of them said to me that she was on a holiday and really didn't want to talk about philosophy or politics. It irritated the hell out of me, but I still don't know exactly why. Because she could dissociate themselves from the surroundings so strongly? She wasn't ignorant no, it was an informed decision on her part. It probably was the fact that she had just chosen to be on a holiday for a year and ignore her environment. I think that the best part of the travelling has been understanding the different countries and peoples better; seeing what their history is like, their current conditions, and how it reflects on everything. Maybe she did that too much in her everyday life and wanted a break from it - fair enough then!

The Southeastern Asia travellers were obviously keen on places that weren't destroyed by tourism but which had a fair population of their type fun-loving travellers. Oh the irony. The stories they told made me crave for the beaches, but I'm not sure if I want to go to the destinations they recommended if they indeed are crowded by people with their attitude.

Salamat po!

I've now finished my share of the review writing! I think I've worked hard, but it doesn't feel that way really. And given that the review has been heavily edited by my supervisor, I don't even feel that much that it is my writing. But it is written now, and as it is a special sort of paper I don't think there will be problems with the review. I think everyone's happy about it - the busy supervisors who didn't have time to write one but wanted one to show off to the funding bodies, and me getting another precious first-author publication and to come to the Philippines for free!

Tonight there is a house party to celebrate all kinds of things (house-warming, birthdays, people leaving) and tomorrow morning I'm going to Manila. When I've asked people what there is to see in Manila, they've asked me back what sort of stuff I like shopping for. Luckily it is not only malls and there seems to be the Intramuros area from the old times when Spain used to rule the islands. It will be interesting to see how Manila compares to the small towns I've seen this far!

On Monday I'm flying to Hong Kong where I will be meeting up with friends. Then a week later I might take a three-week holiday from travelling. This would be to visit my boyfriend to inspire him with his thesis writing, or to give him a hefty kick on the ass, or to make sure he doesn't go crazy inside inside the four walls, or to be his domestic goddess whilst his family is away, or whatever you want to call it. I call it love! This wasn't exactly in the original plan, but on the other hand there was no plan anyway! And whilst travelling the world one can visit all kinds of countries!

Local ways of living

I've been feeling tired and working long days in the office. Over the weekend I walked around the local area, and the locals thought I was loco. Philippinos obviously do not walk, as you might get tanned in the progress. Every little distance is covered either by a jeepney or a tricycle ride. So seeing me walking around the town was confusing to them, I got a lot of shouts of "where are you going?" and tricycles stopping next to me - obviously I wanted a ride. In the same way Chinese people didn't understand that if we had the money to take a taxi to the base of the holy mountain, why would we want to climb up instead of taking the cable car! I ended up going to a hot spring spa, which turned out to be a couple of swimming pools. It was a hot day and I had walked for a couple of hours, so a swim in any kind of a pool was welcome. I met a local girl of my age who could not believe that I had walked all that distance! We spoke a lot about normal things like boyfriends, marriage, children, study and work, but it was interesting to hear the local attitude and approach. People here marry soon as this is a strongly Catholic country, but her boyfriend was trying to go to the States so it was better for the visa application that they weren't married. But she seemed hopeful. She was well educated, worked in a good job and considered a further degree to become a teacher.

On my walk in the area I saw lots of university buildings, busy high streets and a lot of residential area. There were posh buildings next to smelly shed-like homes, but people seemed happy enough and as it was lunch time, most of them were having a meal outside their sheds. The area was definetely dirtier than anything I saw in China, and the living conditions worse. Apparently the Philippines have the biggest gap between the rich and the poor, and 33% of the population lives with less than 1$ a day, and third of them are 'absolutely poor' (what this means with respect to income, the news article didn't say). What I'm curious about is how the people I saw fall into the poorness categories. How much do they earn, are they considered poor or even absolutely poor? Their houses were awful, but they had houses. They had food. They were smily and one family even asked me over for a drink (I politely declined). Some of them had chickens. All of this considered, they might not even be those classified as poor. I don't think I will ever know. I keep hoping that the money here would be more evenly spread.

Food, glorious food!

Then a complete change of the topic! The food in the Philippines is a lot of rice. Every meal here is a cup of rice (pressed together into a little cake in the middle of your plate) and then a selection of curry-type things or fried/grilled fish or chicken. I've sampled all kinds of things in the cafeteria here, and everything has been tasty with a lot of garlic. I fell in love with aubergine in China, and the relationship has been carrying on here. The vegetable dishes feature a lot of green beans, aubergine, pumpkins and squashes. The high point of the cafeteria food is the fresh exotic fruit available at breakfast time. The local delicacy buko pie is made out of fresh coconut flesh and must be one of the tastiest pies in existence! And for the disgusting but tasty treats, balut takes the first prize. It is a duck egg that has been allowed to develop for a week before boiling it, so basically it looks like a normal egg but inside there is the yolk and a developing duck embryo that you just munch away.

And then quickly about the food in China, as I never wrote about it. The Chinese restaurant food was surprisingly somewhat like the Chinese food in Western restaurant food: you'd order two million dishes and share them with everyone on the table. And when I say 'somewhat similar', I think I mean not at all. The Beijing duck wasn't crispy as they lead you to believe in the restaurants of London. The conference banquets and dinners were overflowing and allowed sampling so many different dishes. The spicy food didn't feature that much in Shanghai or Beijing, but the spicy region is more to the south (Sechzuan etc). The stinky tofu actually smelled so bad that I couldn't eat more than a mouthful. Augergine and seaweed became my absolute favourites. Oh I'm struggling to remember what I ate in those two conference weeks! After the conferences, the dining went down a notch and majority of the food came from the streets. Steamed dumplings, baozi, filled with shrimp, pork or vegetables were my typical breakfast. Hand-stretched la mian noodles in a soup were delicious and the cooking was exciting to watch. Unfortunately the hostel I stayed at served also Western food, so I found myself too often craving for spagetti or fries, so I ate a lot of that instead of the delicious cheap Chinese food!

Where next?

So the travel plan has slightly changed. Instead of returning to China at the end of this week, I will first spend a bit over a week in Hong Kong. I will be meeting some friends from back home there, which should be super. After HK I will travel by land to Southern China. The plan for it is not definite, but I have heard so many good things about the Yunnan province that I will be headed there. So at the end of the week I will finish work, spend a couple of nights in Manila (which I find frightening if it's like the rest of this country, it's going to be a hectic mess!) and fly out. I will be unfortunately missing the Banaue rice terraces and any further islands and beaches. But this gives me a reason to return to the Philippines one day!

All work and no play makes peppers cold

You might've noticed that I'm trying to write anonymously. It's actually surprisingly difficult, and some of what I write ends up sounding terribly vague. Oh well.

Yet another morning in the office. I have now been here at the institute for a week now, and it is not too bad. My purpose is to write a review on the research they are carrying out jointly here and in the lab where I used to work. It is exciting to see this end of the research and their massive experimental set up. However, writing the review reminds me too much of writing up my PhD thesis. The all-too-bright fluorescent lamps in the office that make my eyes hurt. The drilling sounds next door where they are building new labs. The lack of concentration, the procrastination, the need to think about something else for a bit. The moments when writing just flows.

And the air-conditioning! Why do they have to keep the room temperature below 20C? Why do I need to take a jumper and a scarf with me to work when it's 33C outside? And why oh why do I catch a cold from sitting under the air-conditioning unit? Yesterday went past in a haze, having a sore throat and confused brain. Luckily I fell asleep soon after eight and slept for ten or eleven hours straight, and now I feel much better. Not that the confusion ever goes away! I'm determined to go and explore the area independently more over the weekend. I've spent the whole time allowing people to take me to places, or alternatively being lazy and reading in my room. The books in the local supermarket cost about one euro though, so I haven't been able to resist!

Beautiful beaches and a bit more on China

I'm so happy that I decided to join the group going to Puerto Galera, as it was amazing! It took us three hours on bus and two hours on a boat to reach our destination, White Beach. Our group of 22 consisted of mainly Chinese and Indian people, and we met a German girl, Bianca, on the boat who decided to join our group for the two days. Me and her automatically teamed up and decided to share a hotel room with two Chinese girls. After getting a room from the hotel and having lunch, it was obviously time to swim.

Having spent over a month now in hot countries without being able to swim at all has been difficult. I was excited to get into the water, and it definitely didn't disappoint me! The water was warm and the waves were gentle, the saltiness of the water made floating easy and I felt I could stay there for days. However, it soon clouded over and we saw the rain front approaching us like a wall of water. The rain drops reached us and it was one of the prettiest things I have ever seen. The heavy drops hitting the sea and splashing the sea water up into tiny little fountains. It was like swimming in a sea of dancing pearls which waved gently. The warm sea water and cool rain brought a beautiful contrast. Regardless of the beauty of the rain, we started swimming back to the beach s we were quite far out and didn't feel safe. Some of the distance I had to swim my eyes squeezed tightly shut as the beautiful little splashing drops were salt water and they were getting into my eyes.

After the swim and just only one beer (San Miguel Brand is what they've got here) Bianca wanted to get a henna tattoo, a gecko on her back. Somehow her spontaneity was contagious, and I ended up taking a tribal henna tattoo on my leg. I quite like it, but it is quite big and obvious and looks scaringly like a real tattoo. This made me realize that I would never want to take a real tattoo, and I'm a bit worried about this one lasting too long or leaving a tan line.

The beach restaurants offered all the same menu, grilled fish, meat or vegetables with rice, and the same entertainments. First on line was a fire show with pois and some of the performers were amazingly skilled, and some of us also appreciated the way how the fire reflected from sweaty muscular upper bodies of the performers! The rest of the entertainment was a variety show by drag queens, but it was not-so-exciting and not always very skilled. I have to say that I got so bored that I went to early bed.

For Saturday, we had booked a snorkeling trip to nearby coral reef. We were taken to the location on traditional style Philippine boats (handmade by the captain) and me and Bianca were the first ones in the water. It turned out that a lot of our Chinese friends couldn't swim too well, so they had life jackets on whilst swimming and didn't go far from the boats at all, hence missing out a lot of the corals. The corals were beautiful and there were a lot of sea urchins scattered throughout, making me slightly nervous. After getting used to the idea of breathing through the mouth and just taking it easy, even the sea urchins looked beautiful rather than scary! There were big schools of brightly colored fish, and swimming calmly you could get so close that you could catch them! We also fed the fish with stale bread, and they seemed to love it they'd flock towards the bread and eat it from your hand! After catching a couple of fish this way we also had a go on fishing, and in the end we got to take our catch with us and we had it grilled at the beach restaurant for lunch!

We also made a quick stop at an isolated and empty beach. The trip organizer, a local 22-year old boy, told us that the beach was owned by the government, but the land right next to it belongs to a politician. This same man owns three quarters of the Mindoro island. The gap between the rich and the poor is big, he said. However, he was from a family of 16 sons ("14 sons and two gays") and they had always had enough to eat. He obviously didn't consider himself rich, but he was currently studying for a bachelor's degree in management and seemed happy with his life. We spoke about families. I had one brother, coming from a Western highly-educated family. The Han Chinese would have only one child and the minority Chinese could have two. The Ugandan man was surprised at all this; government-imposed family planning, effect of the education, someone coming from a family of 16 sons. He had nine siblings himself, and all of them were well-educated - I was surprised by this.

The journey back went with some rough seas and Philippine-style slow traffic. I was tired and unfortunately slightly burned from the snorkeling, and all too happy to go to bed by nine pm!

Then some more about China - things that they do well!

The urban planning. The cities are boringly built in a logical arrangement. Streets go north to south and east to west. The subway runs logically into main directions, and at the subway stations there are clearly labeled exits with the directions (e.g. North-West exit), maps and lists of buildings one will find from each exit. You will never lose your sense of direction. I was able to find my way to subway stations, sights and always back without a map, as everything made sense. Must be like being one of those Australian aboriginals who learn from a young age where each direction is.

Hot water. Every single train, waiting room or public place has a boiler for hot water. Your own tea Tupperware pot is essential, and you keep topping it up whenever you want. Also, forget about buying a sandwich at the train station - you buy potnoodles instead and just add hot water! It must be difficult for the Chinese to get by anywhere else in the world without their reliable supply of boiling water!

Reflections on China

Leaving from China put it all in perspective, made me contemplate it. I met Western people with all kinds of views on China. I met an Italian guy who hated Chinese food and was afraid to eat anything. I met Canadian brother and sister, and the brother said he hated everything about China - traffic, people, rudeness, politics, language, everything... except being on holiday there. I met an American girl who teaches English, and she had a love/hate relationship with China. And there was me, not having a single negative thought about the it. (Ignoring the politics here.)

I enjoyed the experience a lot. I enjoyed that people stared, that people were occasionally pushy in the ques, that the language was very blunt, that people just did what they were meant to do. It all just reflected their life - sheltered, crowded, functional, obedient. I just took it all as an experience. This is the life the Chinese live, this is the mentality that adapts them to the environment. I found it immensely exciting. Whereas the Canadian guy would say that it's just all awful and they should learn manners and how to be Western.

The one thing that took me completely by surprise is the cleanliness of the streets. They might get a little dirty every now and then, but it was obvious that the cleaning was effectively externalized. There were no official cleaners as such, but normal looking individuals who would collect trash and carry it away with their little motorized tricycles. Also I learned that the empty plastic bottles carried a very small deposit, so the poorer people collected them very efficiently. We saw about thousand wonders of logistics, not unlike this picture, and this was how things were delivered in the little hutong alleyways where cars, let alone lorries, could not easily fit in. And speaking of Chinese wonders and hutongs: I saw a hutong house next to my hostel being torn down, the rubble taken away, new bricks brought in, bricks laid, walls plastered, roof made, and the family moving back in... within a week.

On the last days in Beijing I went to see the view of whole Beijing from the TV tower. It reminded me of the film Baraka, maybe because it was an intermediate between the views of poverty stricken apartment blocks and the views of New York traffic from above. I have to say that Beijing is huuuuge. Mahoosive even! And the views were great! I've noticed that the weirdest little things remind me of snippets of my life together with my boyfriend. Eating a roll with butter in the airplane. Sitting outside the Bird's Nest, watching the sky darken. And all of the memories that they bring back are happy ones.

I also ended up in the Military Museum, partially because it was free, and I ended up appreciating the fact that I could see the viewpoint of the Chinese to some of the wars of last century. A lot of it was in Chinese, but the English captions also told a neat story.

I have so much to say and so little time... as it happens I've got my welcome dinner here at the Philippines in ten minutes. Tomorrow is a local holiday and I'm joining some of my coworkers to an overnight trip to Puerto Galeira! It will be the first time on this trip that I get to wear my bikini and go to the beach - wohoo!

Taking it easy in Beijing

After returning to Beijing, I changed into a cheaper hostel with more travellers, and it was a smart move. The bar area has been great for meeting people, hanging out, eating occasional Western food, having a Tsingtao or two, and watching films. It's like being in your own living room, but with interesting people! I've been doing short days of sightseeing (Botanical Gardens, Temple of Heaven garden, Beihai Park, Jingshan Park, Drum and Bell Tower... can you tell that I've seen too many temples and I'm now concentrating on parks and gardens?) and then enjoyed the evenings at the hostel. I'm feeling pretty comfortable here! Good night everyone, Beijing over and out.

Adventures in Shanxi province

I'm now back in Beijing after a quick four-day stint in the amazing mountaineous Shanxi province. I travelled with five fellow scientists/partners, and I think the best part of the trip was travelling in good company. The train journeys were relaxed and entertaining: we played games and had a good laugh. The sights we saw inspired interesting conversations. Travelling with other people gave me a lot more perspective.

After the conference I had two days of sightseeing in Beijing: the beautiful Summer Palace, the traquil Lama temple, the hustle and bustle of the streets, the tourist traps. On Sunday evening I met up with my travel buddies at the Beijing West train station, and we caught a sleeper train to Datong, the coal mining capital of China. The journey was six or seven hours, and I slept easily the most of it. We had hard sleeper beds, which were really confortable, and although they were open to the aisle, it felt safe as many people were around.

In Datong we ended up going to an organised tour of the Yungang Buddha grottoes and the Hanging Monastery. The grottoes were located near Datong, and contained huge awe-inspiring Buddha statues. The Hanging Monastery were two-hour drive away from Datong, and the area around was beautiful with mountains and rivers. The Hanging Monastery actually hangs, and it looks very tiny in comparison to the massive mountain that protects it from sun, wind and rain. Given that it has survived there already for 1400 years, we braved walking on the narrow passages. The European style health and safety pre-cautions were non-existent: the lack of high railings on the passages kept me glued to the wall. Not a good place for people like me who are scared of heights! Our travel guide Happy was worth her name, and after the two amazing sights, we were dropped off at a hotel in Hunyuan (near the Hanging Monastery) where she negotiated us drastically reduced room prices.

On Tuesday, we set off early to climb Mount Hengshan, one of the holy mountains of Taoism. The morning started off rainy, and we had our doubts about spending three hours on a rainy mountain. Luckily the rain ceased and we had the perfect misty weather for exploring the Taoist temples whilst the monks were burning incence and beating gongs. It was amazingly beautiful and out-of-this-world, probably the best thing I've seen in China this far. After the mountain we took a bus back to Datong (with loads of random Chinese snacks) and a sleeper train to Taiyuan, where it arrived at 11 pm. After five attempts, we found a hotel with free rooms, and we booked for two nights.

Wednesday morning was another relatively early morning, and the rock-hard mattresses in the hotel didn't help the matter. We took a minibus to Pingyao, and we were accompanied by the family of the driver. Amazingly enough, the six-year old could count in English, as well as ask how are you and list about half a dozen different fruit. It seems that China is valuing the language education at the moment! Pingyao was a very touristy walled city which had remained largely unchanged for hundreds of years. A lot of Chinese cities used to have city walls, but in majority of the cases the cities have grown and the bricks from the walls have been used for other purposes. Pingyao however had the original walls, and the city inside had lots of preserved temples, banks, government offices, schools etc which made the whole city a massive museum. Lots of old courtyard houses were converted into guesthouses, and we had a delicious lunch in one of them. Also lots of touristy shopping was available, and we made some well-considered and well-bargained purchases. One of my travelling companions bought Chinese chess, Xianqi, and we found some friendly local men who were willing to teach him the rules and to have a couple of matches. When we caught a bus back to Taiyuan, we thought we had seen a whole day's worth of China, but on the walk back to the hotel we encountered a number of exciting things. There were a hundred or so people singing together in a circle in one of the street corners. There was a dance aerobic class going on in front of a building, and two of us (including me!) joined in for a couple of songs, trying really hard to learn the steps. There was amazing street food, noodles and kebabs, and a friendly Chinese man who taught us Chinese phrases. I learned to ask "how much" with the right tones, to say "I don't understand", and some other essential words.

Thusrday was our final day outside Beijing, and it was raining again. Or rather, it started raining half an hour after we had left the hotel without our rain gear. We went to the Twin Pagoda Towers, tallest in the world. I think my dad would've loved it, as you got to go inside and climb to the top for the best views in the city! After the pagoda towers we tried to go to the China Coal Museum, but we had to split up for taxis and the other driver didn't know where to go. So instead three of us ended up having tasty local lunch, with potentially the best mushroom-potato-pepper dish in the world. The bullet train journey back to Beijing went fast with games of Psychiatrist and Click-Click-Bang, and soon we were back at my hostel and in bed for another short night, as on Friday we went to hike the Great Wall. Did I mention that two of the people were training for a marathon? I didn't realise when we set off, but I might have been better off taking the cable car up, as the Wall itself had a lot of steep stairs... regardless of being out of breath most of the time, it was Great as the name implies! Also, we separated at the top, so I had an hour of very calm sitting and appreciating the view whilst others hiked to the non-tourist stretches. On the way down, all of us were exhausted and took a toboggan down! In the evening we had a dinner in true Beijing style: duck!

Now it's Saturday I think and I'm exhausted. Others have flights today to go back home, and I'm having a relaxed day to recover and plan the next ten days I've got left in China. Maybe a trip to Xian, maybe staying in Beijing,... time will tell!

Greetings from the happy traveller!

As predicted, Chinese government does not want me updating my blog. This update was made by email to a friend, as I have not yet had time to figure out how to circumvent the system (although a kind Chinese friend of a friend has given me instructions).

There is so much to write about, and all of it is positive. The worst thing happened this far is that I misread my map and got out of the metro on the wrong stop. It took me two minutes to realise this and get back on the metro. Which, by the way, is ultra modern compared to the metros of west: air-conditioning, sliding doors and costs only 2 RMB (0,25 EUR). Everything seems so modern here anyway, all the new cars and mobile phones and buildings. The economic growth is really apparent, at least in the big cities.

I think the best thing so far in China have been the people. They are incredibly kind. Walk around with a map, and someone will be there to ask if they can help. When you tell them where you're going, it turns out that they don't know the area but they will go and ask someone local in Chinese. Forget your brand new iPhone in a restaurant, and they check who it belongs to and call people on your phonebook with the same surname to find out which hotel you're staying at. Mention a friend that you're going to his hometown, and he'll organise his parents to greet you at the airport and show you around in the town and take you to their home for real home-cooked Chinese food. It has all been INCREDIBLE.

So I have spent about a week in Shanghai and half a week in Beijing now. The conferences have been excellent - interesting, stimulating and have convinced me that I want to stay in science. It is just too damn interesting! Also the conferences have yielded a couple of job offers, one seriously worth considering. I will be flying to the States later in my gap year to see their incredibly well-equipped institute and to give a seminar. Very exciting! And for the shorter scale, I managed to promise I would fly to the Philippines to another institute and write a review there. This will be happening already in September! I don't think I can even express how happy this makes me! The conference attendance has truly been a stepping stone for me, and I definitely made the right choice coming here and paying the travel out of my own pocket! And there is still a couple of days of conference left...

After Beijing I will be headed west. I have found a group of American students who are staying in China for a week after the conference and have planned to travel around. I decided to team up with them for a few days to get outside Beijing. The travel plan is still slightly up in the air, but the first destination is Datong and the Hanging Temple near Mt Hengshan. Looking forward to seeing the areas outside the big cities!

I'm not certain where and when I can update this blog again, so don't be worried for me if the updates are rare!

The scary part: leaving from home

I have left from home quite a few times by now, but this time it seems a lot scarier. I have moved to another country to study when I was 19. I have gone travelling solo before. Maybe I'm getting old?

It has been a lovely morning with my parents; a long cup of tea with a cryptic crossword. It couldn't be safer than this! I've found myself regretting that I'm leaving behind a couple of knitting projects that I didn't even have time to start, and that I'm missing the next episode of Inspector Lewis. Maybe I really am getting old!

In less than an hour I'm off. I packed already yesterday and I'm convinced that there is not enough stuff in my 15 kg rucksack, but I still would like to make it a lot lighter. I'm planning to chuck away a pair of shoes and some papers after the conferences, but I don't think it will make it that much lighter. There's always the option of building up more muscle to make carrying it easier.

Right, off I go!

Travel preparations

Two days left before I leave from home, and I am N-E-R-V-O-U-S! I know I feel comfortable in the big European cities, but the idea of a big Chinese city makes me scared. And somehow the conferences with lots of westeners and people I know don't make me feel any better about going to China. Mainly because I haven't yet prepared my talk properly.

The to-do list has been getting shorter and shorter.

Deciding which clothes to take with me - tick.
Permithrin treating said clothes - tick.
Noticing that there isn't enough permitrhin to treat even half of them - tick.
Deciding I'm taking too much clothes and that I can trow some away after the conference - tick.
Deciding that if I'm not feeling happy travelling alone in China I can always fly back to west - tick.
Sufficient amounts of Chinese yuans and USDs - tick.
Learning that one cannot buy travellers cheques anymore -tick.
Getting more Chinese yuans and USDs - tick.
Travel insurance - tick.
Printing out maps and names of hotels and conference venues in Chinese - tick.
Copying passport and other papers - tick.
Checking the most recent disasters in China and marking them to my map - tick.
Realising that I cannot get to facebook from China - tick.
Realising that I might not be able to update this blog from China - tick.
Realising that I might not get to my email from China - tick.
Finishing off work stuffs that have been on my to do list for months - tick.
Baking my mum a birthday cake - tick.
Knitting a pair of socks - tick.
Updating this blog - tick.
Postponing the realisation that I'm going to go to China on my own soon - tick.
Postponing presentation practise - tick.

What I've got left is:

Preparing my talk for Shanghai
Finding a job for the time after travels (eek!)
Packing my rucksack
Actually leaving the house!

China, the promised land of scientific conferences

A gap year in Asia has been a dream for a long time, but now that it's around the corner (take off is in a week!), I'm getting scared. What if I can't cope with the different cultures? And what if I don't like it? I guess it is worth finding out!

The travel preparations are almost done: I got my visa for China, some local currency, flights booked and rucksack mentally packed. What I'm still missing is travel insurance and set of slides to present my work at conferences in Shanghai and Beijing. Obviously all good gap years start off with a couple of work-engagements, preferably ones where you need to dress up smart and present yourself nicely in the hopes of finding a future employer... So the packing list includes a fresh pile of CVs and some nicer clothes too!

In a week, I'll be boarding a plane to Moscow, where I'll change into an Aeroflot plane to Shanghai. The flights were about £200 cheaper that way, but now I'm starting to worry about them cancelling or re-routing my flights due to the forest fires in Moscow area. Hopefully I will make it to Shanghai in relatively good time, as the conference starts two days after my planned arrival date. Also, I'm hoping to get those two days for sight-seeing Shanghai and visiting the Expo as kind sponsors have already donated me tickets! The Shanghai conference is a satellite meeting for the big Beijing conference, but it is the specific field I worked with for my PhD and I'm really pleased to give an oral presentation in a meeting where mainly group leaders are presenting. After a week in Shanghai, I'm taking a 12-hour sleeper train to Beijing for more science fun. The Beijing conference is probably the biggest one in the field, so it will be lots of interesting talks and lots of people to meet!

After Beijing, I'm not too certain where I will be heading. My visa allows me to stay 2x 30 days, so maybe I will spend the first 30 days in the Beijing area and then do a trip to Mongolia. I'm expecting my travel companion to catch up with me at the beginning of October, so I maybe I'm aiming to start my second stay in China then, and we could travel southwards together from Beijing (or wherever it is the cheapest for him to fly to). The general travel plan is to go with the wind. I think we'll end up spending a fair amount of time in the South Eastern Asia after China, but nothing's certain yet!

Wherever I May Roam

And the road becomes my bride
I have stripped of all but pride
So in her I do confide
And she keeps me satisfied
Gives me all I need

And with dust in throat I crave
Only knowledge will I save
To the game you stay a slave

Roamer, wanderer
Nomad, vagabond
Call me what you will

Metallica - Wherever I May Roam