Neil's Farm

The farm we are currently at is in Bang Pra, which is an one-two hours SE of Bangkok.  It is owned by Neil and Su Willmann.  Neil is originally from the Chicago and is a retired Navy guy.  We spent many years as chief engineer on some Navy ships.  Su is Neil's wife, who is Thai.  They have been married for about 3 years and started their farm about one year ago.  The farm is about a 5 minute drive from their house.  Neil and Su have so many projects going on right now.  Neil calls it "project creep," where you start something small and end up with something unmanageable.  They bought their house a few years ago and are doing massive renovations.  They are adding a spa for Thai massage and other Japanese treatments onto the front of their house.  At their farm they are building a huge house for several things.  Neil has many interests which he pursues.  One of them is boatbuilding, so he is creating a boat building workshop at the farm house.  Neil spent many years teaching sailing in Japan, and their house is near the ocean and a reservoir, so he hopes to build a boat he can sail around here.  He also is a potter, so he is creating a pottery studio.  

Neil and Su's farm is pretty small, about 2 acres of land.  They have geese, ducks, chickens, bananas, herbs, peas, corn, tomatoes, cantaloupe, okra, catfish, and more.

Trip to Thailand

We made it to Thailand!  The trip here was loooong and slightly painful at times.  As always, there is bound to be something interesting on 20 hour bus trips.  We left Penang on Monday evening at 4 pm after our passports were returned with our Thai visas.  Slightly before we left, Jimmy (our guesthouse owner in Penang) got in a huge fight with a local guy who came by asking if there were "girls" at the Love Lane Inn... aka: Is this a brothel?  Eric and I looked on as Jimmy cussed the guy out in Malay and told him he would call the police.  We asked Jimmy about the incident after the man left and he told us people come by all the time asking for "girls" or "boys." Apparently the guesthouse/hotel directly across the street from Love Lane Inn was a brothel at one point recently.  The police have raided the Wan Hai Hotel several times to try and shut down the prostitution trade there, but Jimmy said there is still some sketchy business going on.  

Anyway, we were picked up by a mini bus that took us to the Thai border which took 4 hours.  I sat next to an old man with one leg, a long braid cascading down his back, wearing an open shirt, covered in tattoos.  Every 30 minutes he lifted up his shorts, took out a Nalgene-type water bottle, and peed in the bottle.  We finally got to Hat Yai, our final destination on the mini bus, which is just across the Thai border.  Unfortunately we hadn't converted any money in to Thai Baht yet, so we had to pay for the bus in US dollars, which took some haggling for them to let us do that.  We got on the bus which goes from Hat Yai to Bangkok at 8 pm and the trip took 12 hours.  To top off our problems already, under our seat was a cat box and a cat which meowed non stop for the first hour of the trip.  The owner of the cat, who ended up being our seat neighbor, finally took the cat out and held it for the rest of the trip. 

After a long and sleepless night, we got to the bus station in Bangkok.  We had some coffee, regrouped, and got a taxi to the place where the farm owner, Neil, told us to take the minibus to his house in Bang Prah.  We ran around for an hour with our backpacks on, sweating like crazy, trying to find the right minibus.  Everyone seemed to point in a different direction.  We got on the mini bus and made it to Chonburi area, near where the farm is.  Then we found two motor bike taxis to take us to the meeting point we had decided on with Neil.  Made it! 

Neil picked us up and we went back to his house where we showered and napped for a bit.  

Penang Etc...

We stayed in Penang for 4 days and spent much of our time wandering through the city looking at all the crumbling colonial buildings.  Penang is pretty surreal.  It is an interesting mix of old colonial, Chinese influence, and new high rises.  We stayed at a hostel called the Love Lane Inn.  The  Love Lane Inn is run by an old Taiwanese man named Jimmy and his pretty young Filipino wife.  

Pounding the Pavement in KL

Another great day of exploration in KL! Yesterday we picked up the Malaysia Lonely Planet from Kinokunya Book store in one of the any KL malls, and since then life has been so much easier!
I read about something called the Pudu Market, which is one of the biggest wet markets in KL. This morning we walked to the market, which took about an hour from our guesthouse and we were rewarded with a fantastic market experience. This place was exactly what I was hoping for and more! It was about four square blocks packed to the brim with vendors of vegetables, fruits, sweets, bakery items, various types of meats including cow, chicken, and lots of types of fish. I think the people at the market were pretty surprised to see us tramping through the tiny stalls. Everybody was yelling "Hello!!!" and "WelCOME to MALAYSIA!!!" as they chopped heads off fish and rearranged chicken feet. I would definitely recommend this market to anyone in KL.

Kuala Lumpur

We finally made it to Kuala Lumpur yesterday afternoon. The journey from Singapore to KL was quite long and exhausting, but of course, lots of fun.
We left Aunt Sandy and Uncle Vic's house bright and early on Tuesday morning. First we had to catch a public bus to the MRT (rail) station. We then got on an MRT for one stop, got of and transfered to another MRT, rode that MRT to our final stop, got off and got on another public bus that goes to Johor Bahru in Malaysia, got off the bus at Singapore immigration/customs, got back on the bus after we had our passports stamped, got back on the bus, and then got off the bus again at Malaysia customs/immigration, got our passports stamped there and then rushed to the train station to catch the express train to Kuala Lumpur. Whew... All that while carrying 30 pound backpacks. Unfortunatley, we ran as the KL express train left the station arriving about 1 minute after it departed. Darn. Apparently the express train to KL leaves from Johor Bahru at 9 am, not 9:30 am, as the Lonely Planet instructed us. I guess you can't count on Lonely Planet for everything. All that work for nothing! I was really looking forward to taking the train, so I was slightly disappointed. Both of us were dripping sweat by this point, and it was only 9 in the morning. We decided to regroup for a while and get some Malaysian money (called Ringit). After a quick visit to the ATM we found a street side Roti Pratha stand where we fueled up with two roti with egg's each. So delicious! Especially delicious after all that getting on and off buses.
Finally we figured out how to get to the bus station (Larkin Station) by taking a city bus. Everything turned out fine because we quickly found a bus that went to KL for 30 RM.

We arrived in KL with no guidebook and no idea what we were doing or where we were going. I knew that there was some afforadable hostels in Chinatown, so thats where we decided to head towards. A man quickly approached us, describing his fantastic guesthouse. Both Eric and I were pretty weary at this point, so we decided to go check it out because the price was right (25 RM a night!) The guesthouse, called Wheeler's, turned out to be suitable for our tastes so we sealed the deal and settled into our new room. As the guesthouse owner opened the door to our room he said: "I hope you like pink!!!" in a very enthusiastic tone as he flung the door open. Our 25 ringit room is truely pink. The room is 8X10 and comes equipped with a full sized bed, on small table, and a fan. The sheets and pillows on the bed are extremely pink. The color of pepto-bismol. The walls are painted purple and pink. Yikes. This room is a 7-year-old Barbie lover's dream! Oh well... Maybe the color will be soothing on our stomachs if we eat anything disagreeable. Anyway, our room doesn't have a bathroom attached but there are shared bathrooms for the whole floor. Two toilets, two cold showers, and two sinks. There is always an interesting bunch at these sorts of grungy guesthouses. Lots of backpackers from around the world, usually between the ages of 19 and 25. There seems to be some people who live in the little rooms too.

We've spent the last two days getting aquainted with this city. Kuala Lumpur feels like a mix between Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, and Bangkok. The high rises and financial districts are similar to Singapore, the crazy traffic and seeming disorganization is similar to Bangkok, and alot of the store colonial-esque crumbling store fronts and architecture reminds me of Ho Chi Minh City.
Yesterday we walked to the Petronas Towers and gaped at their height. We spent hours walking through the streets yesterday looking at everything.
We started the day today by finding a little street stall near Chinatown where they were cooking up some mean looking Roti-Prathas. We each ordered two. It is fun watching them make the roti. The vendor starts with a small ball of dough and then stretches it until it is almost paper thin. Then he cracks and egg and drizzles the raw egg in the middle. Then he folds the roti prata over itself a few times so there are multiple layers and then puts the whole thing on the grill. It creates a crispy layered chewy crepe and is served with a small bowl of curry for dipping. We also ordered coffees from the next door beverage stall. The Malaysian coffee is different than the Singaporean coffee, but still good. Apparently the coffee we got was "Gingseng Coffee" whatever that is...
Tomorrow we are going to go to one of the biggest wet markets in KL called the Padu Market. The plan is to leave to Penang the next day by train (if we make it!). We are going to our first WWOOF farm on Monday/Tuesday of next week, but we just got word that there is a train strike in Thailand so the train we were planning on taking from Butterworth, Malaysia to Bangkok is indefinitely suspended. Hopefully the buses are still working!

Roti Prata

Today for breakfast we enjoyed some Roti Prata from the Indian hawker stall at West Coast Food Center. Roti Prata is a traditional Indian dish. The roti part is made of a delicous chewy dough that the is folder over itself to create a crepe-like product. Eric got regular roti and I got Roti-Prata Egg, which was the same thing with an egg folded and cooked into the center. The vendor gives you a plate of the roti with a bowl of spicy curry sauce with some lamb and vegetables in it. We ripped pieces off the roti with our fingers and dipped them into the sauce. This was a great breakfast! Breakfast foods here are very different than at home. What people get for breakfast here is what I would call lunch or dinner. They don't eat anything sweet like muffins or cinnamon rolls. Instead they get bowls of different kinds of noodle soups or spicy curries. I guess that spice really wakes you up in the morning.

I Was Here at NUS

This is a cool installation at the National University of Singapore, which is located right across the street from Aunt Sandy and Uncle Vic's house.

Singapore Pictures

Left: One of the Housing Development Bureau buildings. 85% of the Singaporean population lives in the HDB housing blocks. Since there is not much room to build out in Singapore, they build up. To dry their clothes people stick them out the window on long poles. Right: Me eating a hawker meal of sliced fish porridge.

Singapore has four national languages: English, Chinese, Tamil, and Malay. As you can see from this sign, many things in Singapore are labeled in all four languages. Having all four of these languages widely used was a good way for Singapore to keep ethnic tensions to a minimum.

At a Hindu temple in the Little India neighborhood of Singapore.

Eric and I at the Portland airport getting ready to depart, but SO tired!

Budget Travel Tips

Eric and I are on a major budget for this trip. I'll include tips on how to keep your travel costs at a minimum.

*Tip: If you don't want to buy a new Lonely Planet, but you need to find out important information here is what we figure out is the best way to go: Go to the nice air conditioned Borders bookstore on Orchard Road and find the necessary Lonely Planet that you need. Sit in the store for as long as you want and copy down all important information into your notebook. Then you can wait to get to Malaysia and buy a knockoff Lonely Planet for one-fifth of the original price!

Top Five in Singapore:

Here is my top five list of things to try and do in Singapore:

1. Try a cup of the Singaporean coffee. It is called "Kopi" at the hawker centers. This stuff is the blackest coffee I have ever seen in my life. It literally looks like melted tar, but tastes like heaven. If you order "Kopi" the vendor will mix it with a portion of sweetened condensed milk. Wow. This stuff is so amazing. If everyone could drink this everyday the world would be a better place. If you want coffee with no milk you tell the vendor you want "Kopi-O."

2. Go to Little India, smell the incense, and try some of the delicious Indian sweets. These things are so rich and delicious, it is probably best to split them between two people.

3. Ride the MRT. The MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) is the incredibly efficient public transport train that travels to most areas in Singapore. The MRT comes every few minutes and is used by a large majority of the country. Apparently there is a large tax ($40,000) for people who wish to own private cars. Also, Aunt Sandy said most of the cars are sent to other countries after 10 years. So, it doesn't make much sense, unless you are uber rich, to get a private car. This means that thousands of people ride the MRT everyday. Besides being a convenient place to enjoy some air conditioning, it is a great place to people watch. Just riding the MRT gives you a good flavor of the diversity of Singapore.

4. Go to a hawker center, any hawker center, and try some random foods. Maxwell Food Center in Chinatown is a good one.

5. Drink a delicous Tiger beer on a hot day, preferably with some spicy food. Beer tastes much better when it is hot out.

First Days in Singapore

Ahhh... I do love Singapore! This is my fourth time to this country and I am constantly amazed at how well run it is. Although the country is small, it is endlessly interesting. On of the best things to do is just go to Orchard Road (the main shopping area), find a good bench, and just sit there and watch people.
Singapore is extremely diverse. The majority of the people here are Chinese, but there are also major populations of ethnic Malays and Indians.
Of course, one of the best things about coming to Singpore is testing out the endless array of food at the Hawker Centers. Hawker Centers are groups of permanent food stalls. The food there is always delicious, very cheap (about S$2.50-$4.00), and can be found everywhere. No matter where you are in Singapore, a hawker center is not far away.
The fun thing about traveling with someone else is that always get to try two things at each meal: your own dish and their dish! Double the fun! Eric and I have mostly been eating at hawker centers. Today we went to West Coast Food Center for breakfast. To start out with we got Singaporean coffee (SO GOOD!!!!! I'D MOVE TO THIS COUNTRY SIMPLY TO DRINK THIS EVERYDAY!!!!) After that Eric got something called Mee Rebus, which was noodles in an interesting sweet and spicy curry sauce. This dish was from a Muslim food stall.
For lunch I went to a Thai stall and got a noodle dish and Eric got fish ball noodles. Fish balls are interesting. They are not bad, but they have a strange consistency. Sort of a mix between rubber and hard boiled eggs. Anyway, after that we went and got some fresh fruit (mangos, bananas, and young Thai coconut) for smoothies later on.
Aunt Sandy and Uncle Vic left for Canada yesterday morning. On the night before they left we went out to a fabulous Burmese restaurant called INLE. Wow! This was my first experience with Burmese food and it was fantastic! I have heard one description of Burmese food from someone else: "a mix between Thai and Indian." But, I don't think you can call Burmese food a mix of anything. For anyone who visits, I highly recommend the yellow bean appetizer. Mind blowingly good. For dinner, I ordered some sort of noodle dish that had chilis, chicken, sesame seeds, some vegetables, and some other spices that I could not identify. INLE is inside Peninsula Plaza near the downtown area. As it turns out, Peninsula Plaza is sort of like a "Little Burma." Inside the mall are all sorts of Burmese provisions shops. After dinner we all wandered around the shops looking at all the Burmese ingredients. Out of all the shops, I think I could identify maybe two things. No wonder the Burmese food tasted so unique: because I had no idea what any of the ingredients were!

Eric and I share a similar travel style: we like to just walk around aimlessly for hours. So far we have covered quite alot of ground in Singapore. We went to Chinatown, Little India, the financial district, Clark Quay, Boat Quay, Orchard Road, Bugis Market, and much more. Walking for hours is great because you see the way people live everyday.
I think my favorite area in Singapore is Little India. I was talking to Aunt Sandy about this and she said many people think Little India is the antedote to Singapore's almost sterile cleanliness. It definitely has alot of character, but in my opinion, so does the whole country. I was disappointed to find out that my favorite area of Little India, Tekka Market, was closed for construction. Oh well. We wandered around Little India and found a Hindu temple. It must have been an Indian holiday because the place was packed full of people eating special food watching yogis walk around doing blessings.

On The Road Again....

Greetings from Singapore!
I seem to have woken up today and found myself in Asia. This is my second major backpacking trip to in SE Asia and I couldn't be more excited. I arrive in Asia this time not by myself, but with my boyfriend Eric in tow. We are both travel addicts affected by wanderlust, so I think this experience should be fantastic. It will definitely be a much different experience than my first Asia trip. On my previous journey through this area I was traveling mostly alone. I got up when I wanted, went to sleep when I wanted, and traveled wherever I wanted. It was pure independence, and one of the best experiences of my life.
But, I am equally excited to share those experiences with someone else. On my previous trip I found myself constantly overwhelmed with emotions, thoughts, sensory experiences, and wonderment that I was content keeping to myself and writing down. But, it is great to be able to share those things with somebody else. On my first trip I learned that value of the written word. I wrote everything down, which equated to 12 full journals by the end of my 10 months abroad. I vow to continue to write everything down that I feel. I have found great pleasure in flipping through my old journals. It is entertaining, and often hilarious to see what sort of things I was thinking on certain days... It is nice to be able to read what I felt on my first day in Asia, and later my first day in Kathmandu. The feeling I had when I first stepped off the plane in Kathmandu, I think, is a once in a lifetime feeling. Everything that lay ahead of my was unknown. I didn't know anything about traveling, bartering, eating foreign foods, gesturing, or Nepali toilets.
At the beginning of this trip I did not have that same nervousness that I did then. I feel much more experienced. That first trip gave me the confidence to feel like I could take on anything, and I will take on anything that happens during the next three months.
Eric and I will be traveling in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. (At least that is the plan at the moment.) I will continue to keep note of what happens on my blog: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Both of us consider ourselves very adventurous travelers, so I have no doubt that we will come in contact with some pretty interesting people, food, and situations in general.
We will also be experimenting with some organizations that I have heard alot about and have been excited to try out. The first is called WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms). We will be working at one or two organic farms in Thailand, which I will be sure to report lots about. We also hope to try out
Couchsurfing.com. It is gonig to be a great three months!

On The Road Again...

Greetings from Singapore!

*Note: Everything below the this line is from my 2007-2008 Asia trip. It may be confusing because I will be going to many of the same places that I visited on my previous trip.
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