Dear Reader, (if any still exist)
Grab a mug of tea, a cup of coffee or stein of beer and sit back for a little while. Put on some music, might I suggest something that it doesn't root itself in lyrical content so as to not distract you from what I am about to write.
Four weeks ago I returned from what I would call the most incredible experience of my YOUNG adult life. I journey through the backpacker trail of south east asia. It occurred to me on the trip that everyone has a different expereince along this route from Thailand to Cambodia to Vietnam to Laos and then back into Thailand for a delayed flight back to Singapore. I really shall begin at the beginning then and therefore, make sure your tea or coffee is really hot because it shall not be once I have ceased to type this tale.
The trip begins on an early morning on some day of the week. It was great to be unaware of the day of the week as time progressed..amazing to not know the time, the day or the date really. I arose cascading out of my dorm room bed and its foam matress to the sound of chirp chirp from my cell phone alarm clock. It is so gosh darn cute really.I arrived at Changi Budget terminal for my 650am flight to Siem Reap where I was to be for literally one hour before boarding a bus to Bangkok to meet up with Caitlin. Why fly to Siem Reap??? Free flight given to me from my lovey parental unit. This free flight tunred out to be a blessing and also a curse.
So, so, so bumpy. I was ill prepared for how rough that ride would truly be also, not planning ahead, I had no food or water for the journey until we stopped at some road side shack of a bar to have a beer and something I can't recall.......and water. This was my first pay toilet experience actually, there were many more. The bus ride took a total of 14 hours; the warnings in the guide books and online testimonials do not lie. So poor. Next time I take the trip I think a sleeping pill, which is available over the counter readily, will come in very handy....Vallium maybe?? The road was lined with shacks selling gasoline in dusty coke bottles, bulls, cows, defunkt tuk tuks, and herds of children playing in the muddy water or bathing or working. I also tried to make conversation with an Austrian girl and a Norweigien couple...both attmepts failed. Maybe it was the dirt that I had to scrape off of my face that made me an unwelcome guest at their tables. I feel like the dirty face was a combination of gross and character building. Caitlin and I were to be in Bangkok for around 7 days and the city is alive and has an energy unlike any others that we visited. It has an energy, a vibrance, a speed and a kindliness mixed in with an odour of swindle and cheat. Thai people really do have huge hearts though. What I notice most, in all of asia that I have seen acutally, is that people are less stressed then we are in North America. They are more easily made happy. HUGE generalization, and I wouldn't necessarily say the same about Singapore but all in all, happy and hard working people.
When I first laid eyes on Caitlin I said "you need to go the hospital...today"
In south Thailand, where she was before we met up, she had gotten some infected bug bites that were looking, well, dangerous. I am so glad we went. In fact, when we pulled up in the tuk tuk, they brought out a wheelchair and sat her down and off we went.....the wheelchair was unnecessary but really damn funny. Wat after wat, temple after temple we settled in for our stint and saw the extremely golden palace and took a river cruise in the evening admiring the skyline of the city we now called our temporary residence; afterall, we needed our vietnam visas. Visas obtained, floating market viewed, vallium purchased, we headed to Siem Reap Via....oh NO..the same route I had taken a week prior. I was not thrilled, in fact, I was the opposite..maybe even annoyed and unenthused. This is where we met Nick-a man who runs two orphanages in Siem Reap. We decided, or rather, I enforced, that I would not be taking a bus back through that awful journey..how could I? The mess would be just too much to bear. A Toyota Camry would be our choice vehicle and at 20 bucks a pop...it needed to be done. It cut an insane 4 hours off of the travel time and left me feeling a million times better. Anyways, Nick invited us to volunteer at his orphanage and teach english the following day which we embraced wholeheartedly.
Working with children has always been a passion of mine really. These children were beyond eager to learn. We arrived and we stayed there for a total of 4 hours. Playing with them, teaching the months of the year, the days of the week, the seasons, some emotions and some other random english. The most joy came from watching them interact and watching them be children. Children who had nothing but love. I wish that I could be content with a cold well for a shower, a ball with which to play and a dorm room. Also, the outdoor classroom had been donated and built by an organisation in Singapore...I felt proud of Singapore (my temp. home)
When we left, the kids sang a cambodian song for us and I wanted to let the tears start then. Then i witnessed the message they had written on the board for us "We will miss you because we need you" it said. I still held on. It wasn't until Caitlin and I boarded the tuk tuk and drove away that I lost it more than I have in a long time. I mean, great...I helped out for four hours, who do these kids have now? God, it left me feeling amazing and useless all at once.
Later that night we arrived at the other orphanage in Siem Reap and were treated to a traditional Khmer Rouge dance by the children. They study dance and music for 4 hours each day and they appear to love it and do amazing job of capturing your heart within seconds. The monkey dance inparticular had my attention. The kids were rolling around on the ground and scratching their armpits and being all goofy like a little monkey might...so amazingly cute. Then, we handed out Christmas gifts that had been donated by a school in Australia and my heart melted..they thought the boxes were the gifts; they failed to look inside until we showed them. Tears again and a departure on the same tuk tuk. Who said vacation was all giggles? It was thus far every emotion from sad to happy from glad to crappy.
Food Poisoning Day 1 for Caitlin.
This was attempt number one for Caitlin and myself and Sara, a dutch girl we had met, to go to Angkor Wat and Thom and others. Needless to say, Caitlin was not well in the morning but forced herself to come along. Well, I don't know if she was the most recent person to vomit on Angkor Wat but I can only assume. Back to the tuk tuk and back to "Hello Paradise" guest house to get well...in two days. I went to the war museum and witnessed some weapons of the Khmer Rouge who brutally killed 3 million civilians in the late 70's instead. Again- uplifting. OH GOD!!
I am going to leave off there for now actually..no sense in having cold tea..unless it is in chinatown in Toronto for those who know what that means.Grab a mug of tea, a cup of coffee or stein of beer and sit back for a little while. Put on some music, might I suggest something that it doesn't root itself in lyrical content so as to not distract you from what I am about to write.
Four weeks ago I returned from what I would call the most incredible experience of my YOUNG adult life. I journey through the backpacker trail of south east asia. It occurred to me on the trip that everyone has a different expereince along this route from Thailand to Cambodia to Vietnam to Laos and then back into Thailand for a delayed flight back to Singapore. I really shall begin at the beginning then and therefore, make sure your tea or coffee is really hot because it shall not be once I have ceased to type this tale.
The trip begins on an early morning on some day of the week. It was great to be unaware of the day of the week as time progressed..amazing to not know the time, the day or the date really. I arose cascading out of my dorm room bed and its foam matress to the sound of chirp chirp from my cell phone alarm clock. It is so gosh darn cute really.I arrived at Changi Budget terminal for my 650am flight to Siem Reap where I was to be for literally one hour before boarding a bus to Bangkok to meet up with Caitlin. Why fly to Siem Reap??? Free flight given to me from my lovey parental unit. This free flight tunred out to be a blessing and also a curse.
So, so, so bumpy. I was ill prepared for how rough that ride would truly be also, not planning ahead, I had no food or water for the journey until we stopped at some road side shack of a bar to have a beer and something I can't recall.......and water. This was my first pay toilet experience actually, there were many more. The bus ride took a total of 14 hours; the warnings in the guide books and online testimonials do not lie. So poor. Next time I take the trip I think a sleeping pill, which is available over the counter readily, will come in very handy....Vallium maybe?? The road was lined with shacks selling gasoline in dusty coke bottles, bulls, cows, defunkt tuk tuks, and herds of children playing in the muddy water or bathing or working. I also tried to make conversation with an Austrian girl and a Norweigien couple...both attmepts failed. Maybe it was the dirt that I had to scrape off of my face that made me an unwelcome guest at their tables. I feel like the dirty face was a combination of gross and character building. Caitlin and I were to be in Bangkok for around 7 days and the city is alive and has an energy unlike any others that we visited. It has an energy, a vibrance, a speed and a kindliness mixed in with an odour of swindle and cheat. Thai people really do have huge hearts though. What I notice most, in all of asia that I have seen acutally, is that people are less stressed then we are in North America. They are more easily made happy. HUGE generalization, and I wouldn't necessarily say the same about Singapore but all in all, happy and hard working people.
When I first laid eyes on Caitlin I said "you need to go the hospital...today"
In south Thailand, where she was before we met up, she had gotten some infected bug bites that were looking, well, dangerous. I am so glad we went. In fact, when we pulled up in the tuk tuk, they brought out a wheelchair and sat her down and off we went.....the wheelchair was unnecessary but really damn funny. Wat after wat, temple after temple we settled in for our stint and saw the extremely golden palace and took a river cruise in the evening admiring the skyline of the city we now called our temporary residence; afterall, we needed our vietnam visas. Visas obtained, floating market viewed, vallium purchased, we headed to Siem Reap Via....oh NO..the same route I had taken a week prior. I was not thrilled, in fact, I was the opposite..maybe even annoyed and unenthused. This is where we met Nick-a man who runs two orphanages in Siem Reap. We decided, or rather, I enforced, that I would not be taking a bus back through that awful journey..how could I? The mess would be just too much to bear. A Toyota Camry would be our choice vehicle and at 20 bucks a pop...it needed to be done. It cut an insane 4 hours off of the travel time and left me feeling a million times better. Anyways, Nick invited us to volunteer at his orphanage and teach english the following day which we embraced wholeheartedly.
Working with children has always been a passion of mine really. These children were beyond eager to learn. We arrived and we stayed there for a total of 4 hours. Playing with them, teaching the months of the year, the days of the week, the seasons, some emotions and some other random english. The most joy came from watching them interact and watching them be children. Children who had nothing but love. I wish that I could be content with a cold well for a shower, a ball with which to play and a dorm room. Also, the outdoor classroom had been donated and built by an organisation in Singapore...I felt proud of Singapore (my temp. home)
When we left, the kids sang a cambodian song for us and I wanted to let the tears start then. Then i witnessed the message they had written on the board for us "We will miss you because we need you" it said. I still held on. It wasn't until Caitlin and I boarded the tuk tuk and drove away that I lost it more than I have in a long time. I mean, great...I helped out for four hours, who do these kids have now? God, it left me feeling amazing and useless all at once.
Later that night we arrived at the other orphanage in Siem Reap and were treated to a traditional Khmer Rouge dance by the children. They study dance and music for 4 hours each day and they appear to love it and do amazing job of capturing your heart within seconds. The monkey dance inparticular had my attention. The kids were rolling around on the ground and scratching their armpits and being all goofy like a little monkey might...so amazingly cute. Then, we handed out Christmas gifts that had been donated by a school in Australia and my heart melted..they thought the boxes were the gifts; they failed to look inside until we showed them. Tears again and a departure on the same tuk tuk. Who said vacation was all giggles? It was thus far every emotion from sad to happy from glad to crappy.
Food Poisoning Day 1 for Caitlin.
This was attempt number one for Caitlin and myself and Sara, a dutch girl we had met, to go to Angkor Wat and Thom and others. Needless to say, Caitlin was not well in the morning but forced herself to come along. Well, I don't know if she was the most recent person to vomit on Angkor Wat but I can only assume. Back to the tuk tuk and back to "Hello Paradise" guest house to get well...in two days. I went to the war museum and witnessed some weapons of the Khmer Rouge who brutally killed 3 million civilians in the late 70's instead. Again- uplifting. OH GOD!!
I now, am into my fifth week of classes maybe and am rehearsing for the chinese opera in which i am playing the lead- scholar Zhang. This is going to be crazy but so fun and difficult. I thought shooting myself in the mouth and "going there" emotionally on stage were hard...how about learning a completely different style of performance alltogether and singing and dancing with it in an experimental chinese opera in Singapore? WOW
okay, lines to learn and songs to sing
bye bye
okay, lines to learn and songs to sing
bye bye
