Flashback: Summer in Beijing

And now, a blast from the past: July and August in Beijing...


















I arrived in Beijing on July 19. I've got to admit that at first, I was a bit disappointed. I was tired, and a little burnt out from the constant travel of the previous couple of weeks. I checked into my accomodations, registered at my school, and collapsed.

Because of my burned-out status, I couldn't really appreciate the Forbidden City as much as I probably should have. It's a beautiful place, but completely loaded with tourists (yes, I know the picture looks like it's deserted), and we were sort of rushed through it. I went with a group from school, and it felt like I was on a middle school field trip!



On the plus side, the Forbidden city has dragon turtles.













Next major landmark I visited: the Temple of Heaven. This round temple is constructed with no nails, just interlocking pieces of wood. By this time, I had settled into Beijing, and I was definitely able to appreciate the sights.













And where had I settled in, you may ask? Well, I rented a room from a Chinese family. It was me, a Chinese couple and their small daughter, and a Japanese student, all living happily in a three-bedroom apartment. After a week or so of living there, my landlady started inviting me to eat with the family. Whenever we spoke, she would make laugh as I dove for my dictionary to try to express something or understand what she was saying to me.

Settled in Welly

How long it's been since you've heard from me! I wonder if anyone's still checking in? Well, if you are, then you should know that I'm back in New Zealand (after coming back to the states for my brother's wedding), and that I've got some free time upcoming. Which should mean updates. I won't promise anything, as we see how well that's worked in the past. So, hopefully updates soon! In the meantime, here's a picture of my current home: Wellington, New Zealand. Not the best picture, but I'll get some better ones up eventually.

What craziness is Gaz up to now?

canyon swing
Originally uploaded by Gaz Errant.

What craziness indeed?

No post needed. Watch and enjoy.

If it's not working, try this.

New Zealand!

Huka Falls
Originally uploaded by Gaz Errant.

Yep, I'm in New Zealand, and internet access here is mighty expensive. Here's a few pictures to let you see what I've been up to! I've been caving, sledging, surfing, and drinking loads of fine, fine wine. More when I can.

Koh Tao Sunset

Koh Tao Sunset
Originally uploaded by Gaz Errant.

Just a little taste of what Koh Tao was like. I'm up in the mountains now, in Pai, Thailand... More when I get WiFi again and don't have to pay per minute for the internet!

Koh Tao, Thailand

Hey all! I'm in beautiful, sunny Koh Tao, Thailand. I've been scuba diving here since yesterday morning, and it's great. Unfortunately, internet access is slow and expensive, so no big updates or pictures for at least a few more days.

Where's Gaz, Again?

Yep, I'm still alive and well. Yep, I stopped posting after getting caught up to Shanghai. Yep, I'm still going to catch up!

Life in Beijing has been great, but it's been a different schedule, and I neglected to work the blog into said schedule. I'm leaving Beijing today, headed off for a week around China. You may not see an update until a week or so from now, but I will update relatively soon with photos and reflections on Beijing.

Shanghai: July 14-18

The 14th of July. Bastille Day, eh? I’m on the train to Shanghai. I’ve been on the train for 4 hours, got another 19 or so to go. Ya. Long long train. I’m sharing my compartment with a middle-aged materials science professor from Hong Kong, a 20something guy who crawled into his bed as soon as we left (although he’s mostly been reading, not sleeping), and a middle-aged woman who has barely entered the compartment the entire trip (she’s mostly sitting and standing in the hall outside). The compartment is comfortable enough, and they come by with food for sale every so often. Of course, they come by at lightning speed, calling things out in Mandarin. The only reason I was able to get food is because the 20something decided to get some food and stopped the food person. I just pointed at what he had gotten to get the same thing.

15th. Still on the train. Slept fairly well thanks to an Ambien, earplugs and an eyemask. After waking this morning, went to the restaurant car and got a fried egg and two pieces of wonder bread. Gah, the egg had been fried in about 50 gallons of oil. It was literally dripping with oil. Ugh. Should have had the congee. Anyway, still have several hours until we arrive in Shanghai. I’m running out of things to do. Only 2:45 left on the computer battery, and who knows how much on the ipod or ds.

Later on the 15th. At the hostel. Got to Shanghai at 3:30, off the train, wandered looking for an ATM. None at the station. Luckily found one after about 10 minutes of walking. Then to the ticket office. “English Service” line, no problems, got ticket A-ok. Then to the subway. People have no idea of a line here – they kept edging in front of me, or trying to. So I just pushed back. Eventually made it to the ticket machine, got my ticket, headed on to the crowded train. Got off three stops later, couldn’t find exit 9. That’s because I had to head to the other line to find it. Oh well, walked all the way around People’s Square, no idea where Jiangyin Road was. Stopped at a Starbucks, iced latte, cashier gave me vague directions. Which ended up being good enough, as I saw a sign for the place soon after leaving Starbucks. It’s right behind the giant Marriott. Checked in, it’s a really nice hostel – my room is large, giant bed with fresh sheets, towels, a real desk, AC… My only quibble is that I can’t get a WiFi signal in the room. Le Sigh. So right now I’m sitting on a couch across the hall from my room. Oh well.

Dinner tonight consisted of the remaining peanut butter and wheat bread I had from Hong Kong. I had walked around the block looking for food, but didn’t end up with anything more than a bottle of water. At least I got that.


16th of July. Shanghai. Morning. Wake up, brush my teeth. The door locks automatically, so I stick out the deadbolt to keep it from shutting when I go to the bathroom (which is right next door). I put on the same shirt as yesterday (the new Lafuna short-sleeved button-down shirt that was covered in sweat not just yesterday, but the day before as well), wonder if I’m going to stink badly, then forget about it. I need to do laundry tonight, but there’s no dryer. I’m not looking forward to hanging all my clothes to dry. Oh well. This morning I need to see some sights. I’m meeting Terence (who I met through BoardGameGeek) at 1:45.

Headed out for a walk around Shanghai. Saw the Bund, was surrounded by touts trying to sell paintings. Very annoying. Then I headed back to the hostel, met Terence, his wife, and his baby son Timothy. They came by in a cab, picked me up, we went to a café. Talked with them a while – Terence is a lawyer, doing M&A work for a Singapore firm here in Shanghai. Used to be a RPG gamer, but got out of it because of a lack of players in Singapore. Now it’s just board gaming. He’s a quite nice guy. We got along really well. Evelyn headed off with Timothy, and Terence and I played some San Juan and some Mamma Mia!, which would play much better with more than 2 players. Then we walked around the neighborhood a little, had a few xiaolongbao, then headed up to Terence’s place, where we talked more about tv, comics, movies, games, etc, etc… It was a very nerdy evening. Then some pasta made by Evelyn. Finally, we headed down to the pirated dvd store, where I picked up season one of Huff and Munich (munich was useless – it was in Russian with horrible English subtitles – I just left the damn thing at the hostel). Terence walked me back to my hostel, and that was that. I watched a couple episodes of Huff (which was good), and then sleep.


The 17th. Woke up, did laundry. After hanging the laundry, headed out. Walked to Yuyuan, the “Old Town” area of Shanghai, had some more xiaolongbao (better than the day before’s), then walked to the French Concession area. Some nice architecture, but mostly just shops there. Had some good tea, but didn’t buy any.

18th. Check out, leave bags at the hostel. Walk back down to the Bund and around. Dumplings for lunch. Back to hostel, get bags, off to train station.

Hong Kong: July 9-14

The trip to Hong Kong started well, as on the Emirates flight, I got a free Manhattan. And had some decent duck curry. Got to Hong Kong, bought a tourist Octopus card, took MTR to my station (no problems), checked in to rather crappy hostel in good area. Wang Fat hostel in Causeway Bay.

Had McD’s for dinner again because I couldn’t find a cheap decent place to eat. It's disgusting how many times I've eaten at McDonalds on this trip because of unfamiliarity with my surroundings. I'm really going to try to stop doing that. Causeway Bay is a major shopping area of Hong Kong – so lots of shops but I couldn’t find the restaurants. Back to the hostel, met Dave from Canada – he invited me to come out with them later to watch the World Cup final (at 3 in the morning) but I declined (as I would have to head to the bank first thing in the morning).

July 10, headed to the Visa office first. I was going to get it done at the hostel, but they wanted to charge HK$850 (for express service – only option), when the visa office cost was HK$390 (two day service). Walked from Wan Chai MTR station, got a bit lost looking for it, eventually found it. Waited for a while (take a number). Then handed over my application and passport, was told to pick it up Wednesday (the 11th). So easy. Anyone getting their visa through the hostel is getting scammed bigtime. Then to the bank. Found the correct HSBC branch, made my deposit for the Mandarin program. Back to the hostel, where the desk guy tells me he won’t make a copy (even though their description on the hostel booking site says, "Free Photocopies and Faxes"). Then says he will for $2 HK. Then the copy is crappy, so it's useless. He tells me to go to the shopping center around the corner. I do. There’s no copy place there. Obviously, the desk guy was both an idiot and an ass. I walk around and find the Hong Kong main library. There, I find a copy machine, a fax machine, free internet, and AC. Spend a couple hours there getting things sorted out. It’s a really great library – New York should take notes.

Back to the hostel, then out again. To Tsim Sui Sha, one of the other shopping areas. Walked around for quite a while, eventually bought a DS Lite + one of those flash card readers filled with games. Back to the hostel. Sleep.

July 11. Dropped off laundry (thanks to Troy from Australia, who told me about the place, which was 1/3 the cost of the hostel laundry service). A quick trip to the China Travel service, where I bought my tickets for the train to Shanghai on Friday. Then I ascended the Peak. Took the MTR to Central Hong Kong, walked around, then all the way up Victoria Peak. I was COVERED in sweat by the time I made it up (it had rained in the morning and was incredibly humid). I mean really, I could actually wring torrents of sweat out of my shirt. It’s very odd, but there’s a huge mall at the top of the peak. The AC was very welcome, as was the Frappucino and free internet access at Pacific Coffee Company. Took the tram back down to central, then headed over to Mong Kok looking for trainers. Couldn’t find any in my size. They have small feet here. But I did buy an iPod nano. Heh. WASTING MONEY!!!! Crap. I am horrible at this budget travel thing. But I did need to replace my old iPod, which was stolen in Indonesia... Had a great lunch of Congee and Chinese Broccoli. Then back to the hostel again.

July 12. Me and my nano go to the Art Museum. Walked to the Convention Center, then took the ferry across to the museum. Which is free on Wednesday. They had a great exhibition on the Etruscans – apparently 2006 is the “Year of Italy in China”, which is a bit odd. Nice museum, but the building was very ugly. Walked around the Avenue of the Stars, took pictures of Chow Yun Fat’s handprint and the Bruce Lee Statue.


Found a bag for my DS and my nano. Then back to the hostel, then out again to look for trainers one last time. Success! A comfortable pair of Merrell trail runners. Once back at the hostel, I ate dinner (I had been eating food from the grocery store for a couple days at this point to save money) of ramen with dumplings. Then after waiting a while for purposes of digestion, I went for a short run to test the trainers, which fit well. That’s it for the 12th.

The 13th. Walked all the way to Wan Chai ferry pier to Pacific Coffee. Then back to the hostel where I switched rooms (surfing the internet in the meantime). Then out for another walk, went to Times Square (a big mall), bought a shirt for too much money, had more Pacific coffee, played some DS, then back to the hostel again. Spent the afternoon relaxing - it's just too easy to spend money in HK, and I didn't really feel like sightseeing any more right then.

A few thoughts on Hong Kong. Interesting place. But almost as expensive as Tokyo. I could live here for a while if I had a job… But not as a tourist. It’s a city that really revolves around shopping. The bright lights are all over here, but they are far less technological than Tokyo’s. There are tons of big, lit up signs that look like they’ve been around since the 40’s. There are giant buildings everywhere, and most of them are filthy, at least on the outside. Most places I’ve been inside of are actually nice.

Five Nights in Bangkok: July 4-9

Arrival in Bangkok (on the 4th of July). Got to airport, found ATM, all good. Found the correct bus immediately. Then got to the Hostel (Suk 11, Soi 11 Sukhumvit). Nice place! I had a double room for myself, with AC. The place is full of dark wood, and the hallways are designed like alleys over streams… hard to describe. But the TV room had HBO. Heh. And the place had WiFi. Beautiful. That evening, I used the Wifi to research Mandarin courses in China. Not sure why, but I did. And I ended up finding that several of them started in July and they were the last ones I’d have a chance to take! Ahhhh! So I emailed the University of International Relations in Beijing, asking if I could still apply for their program. Then ate some food from a street stall, walked around a bit, found a used bookstore (which I would revisit several days later), walked around a bit more, headed back to the hotel.

Next day (July 5). I got a response from UIR, saying I could apply, just had to pay a late fee. So now I’ve got to get to China, get a visa, get all my necessary documents for the program, have a place to stay, etc, etc. And the program starts July 20! Heh. So I start working on things. I book a flight for July 9 to Hong Kong, which will get me in on a Sunday, since I have to go to the bank on Monday to make a payment into UIR’s account (at a certain bank branch). I book a hostel (end up booking too many days, more on that later). I call home and get my mother to help me out with academic records (eventually I just get a digital confirmation of my UM graduation, and they accept that). I fill out the application form and fax it to Beijing. Whew! Then I head out to see some of Bangkok. I take a river taxi up from the bottom to the top of the muddy, muddy river. It’s a horribly rainy day, but Bangkok is a sight. Walk to Khao San (the backpacker ghetto of Bangkok), hate it instantly. What a horrible cesspool of backpacker scum. Ugh. But I did find a used copy of the Lonely Planet China there (although it ended up having two pages on Beijing ripped out – bastard previous owners). Then I started walking back, and it started pouring. I mean, I really experienced the monsoon. The rain was torrential (see picture on Flickr). I was completely soaked, finally grabbed a cab to Siam square. From there, tried to go find the Settlers Café ( a new gaming café in Bangkok), but was unsuccessful (mostly because I hadn’t paid attention to the directions the last time I read them). Went back to the hostel, watched some TV, checked some email re: the program, more street food (green curry), fruit from street vendor (so many fruit vendors – it’s wonderful!).

July 6. Ok. Started with grand plans to sightsee. Instead, walked to Siam, got a latte, watched Pirates of the Caribbean 2. Not as good as the first, but still fun. Trying a little too hard to be Empire Strikes Back. The theatre was gorgeous. And again, all the kids and teens were actually quite for the movie. Oh, and the trailer for Spiderman 3 rocked my socks. After the movie, went to find Settlers Café again. This time I found it. Woo! Was welcomed by the staff, and soon found myself teaching all the employees how to play Power Grid. Fun! After that, we were going to play Princes of Florence, but never got to because the place got so busy. I spent a lot of time hanging with Daryl (the manager) and Ni (one of the employees). Taught a group of customers how to play Puerto Rico. Then played several games of Blokus with Daryl and two of his friends from his Thai language class (he was Singaporean – that’s where the first Settlers Cafes are). I won each time. Heh. Daryl invited me to eat dinner with him and the employees. Yum. Closed out the place, then headed home.

July 7. Out to do sightseeing. Saw Wat Po, beautiful temple with the huge reclining Buddha. I mean, really huge. And shiny. Also got a massage there. Walked around a bit, got some Pad Thai, went back to the used bookstore, sold some books, bought some books, then headed back to Settlers… Taught them Princes of Florence ( and lost), ended up teaching another group to play Puerto Rico. Closed the place out again.

July 8. Last day in Bangkok (for now). Didn’t do much. Went to the weekend market – they have everything there. The place is crazy huge. I’m planning on doing all my Christmas shopping there right before I leave in November. There I bought a pair of khaki jeans and a small backpack. Then back to Settlers because I had forgotten to pay my tab the night before. They wouldn’t let me pay, and I ended up playing a few games of Lost Cities with Ni, and then Villa Paletti and Settlers with some Thai girls who hardly spoke any English. Finally, headed out of Settlers Café for the last time (this trip), and back to the hostel. Went to Cabbages and Condoms (weird name, good restaurant - found it in the Lonely Planet) for dinner – had some great green curry.

July 9. Had the Suk 11 free breakfast (which I’d been having for the last few days – pineapple, watermelon, papaya, croissants, muffins), then got a latte at Serendipity down the street while reading the paper. Bangkok is a great place, nice and cheap and fun. But wet and full of traffic as well. A few days earlier when I took that cab it took about an hour to go a couple km. I have no idea how people commute there! Anyway, took a cab to the airport (not much traffic on Sunday), had lots of time to spare so I got a manicure/pedicure there. How metrosexual of me, I know. Never had one before, definitely will again. Then had to get more money out of the ATM because I had forgotten that there was a departure tax to leave Bangkok. 500 Baht! Well over 10 bucks! Why they can’t add that onto tickets is beyond me. Gah.

Oh, and when on the subway, always remember:

Singapore Once More: July 3-4

July 3. While waiting in Tokyo airport, some ass destroyed my Mac power adapter. At least he gave me cash to get a new one (although if I had known how much an adapter cost I would have gotten more money from him). Arrived at Singapore Airport at 2 am. Slept on airport chairs until 6 am. Then took the MRT to my hostel (The Hive), waited a couple hours, and thankfully when they let me in they actually gave me a bed immediately! Woo! But I ended up not sleeping then. Ate some toast, had some instant coffee, then headed out to walk to Orchard road. Saw a couple cool temples along the way – the temples in Singapore are SO colorful. Almost overly so.

Eventually made it to Orchard Road. Decided to go see Superman Returns on the huge digital screen there. It was a pretty good movie – Brandon Routh didn’t seem like he’d live up to the role in the beginning, but he grows on you. Spacey was fantastic as Luthor. Kate Bosworth sucked as Lois Lane. The crowd was great too – no talking, even though there were a bunch of teens and kids there!

After the movie, headed to the Mac store to get a new adapter. Ended up buying the international adapter kit, because that was about $60 (which is how much the guy gave me). A full new adapter would have cost $100!! Crazy.

Walked back, stopping along the way at the Newton Food Center – a hawker center which had just been redone – nice tile roof, well-designed, full of food. I had some Chilli Crab that attacked me. Seriously, it jumped up about a foot off the plate and spewed sauce and crabmeat everywhere, including all over me. Luckily it didn’t hit the woman sitting near me! Actually, the woman had too much fruit at the end of her meal, so she gave me some papaya. Mmm… papaya. The crab, incidentally, was delicious. Difficult to eat, as crabs so often are, but delicious. Spicy and sweet.

Continued back to the hostel, checked email, ate again ( I think – that afternoon is a bit of a blur – oh, actually, I remember trying to find my fruit guy, but he was closed. Damn fruit guy), then sleep. Next morning, more toast, plus leftover papaya, then MRT to the airport. Then Singapore airlines to Bangkok. Nice, short flight with a good meal and wine.

Last Tango in Tokyo: June 29-July 2

June 29 - started at Kohikan Coffee – these people are crazy serious about their coffee! Bunsen burners and pyrex beakers and individual percolators. That type of insanity produces quite tasty coffee, though. Then I walked all the way from Asakusa to Shibuya (clear across central Tokyo). First I went to Akihabara again, thinking maybe I could find something to buy for people back home. Then I realized I’ll just get stuff months from now in a cheaper country. Then on to the imperial gardens, very nice, but somewhat unimpressive for Imperial Gardens. unimpressive. This was followed by a trip to the Meiji shrine – quite beautiful, although the walk there was almost better than the shrine itself. Spent a little time just walking around here, trying to avoid the crowds. Finally, a walk to Shibuya, and a coffee at the Starbucks overlooking Hachiko square,

the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world. Met a teacher named Will there, we talked for a while. He’s in Japan with a class full of high-schoolers – seems that he got started teaching (in the U.S.) by teaching English in Japan years back.

June 30th. Got up and reprehensibly got some McD’s breakfast. Then back to the hostel for a few hours of relaxing and pic uploading. Once I finally left, I walked to Ueno, through Ueno park, then all the way to Ikebukuro (stopping along the way at the Thunder Dolphin rollercoaster at the Tokyo Dome – great coaster right in the middle of Tokyo!). Had some crappy revolving sushi in Ikebukuro. Walked around, Ikebukuro is pretty much like the rest of the shopping districts here. Grabbed the Yamanote back again, then a shower at the hostel. For dinner, went back to the good Kaitensushi place to make up for the crappy one in Ikebukuro.

July 1. Last day in Tokyo. Woke up, went walking around the hostel area. Passed by the Edo Tokyo museum and the Sumo stadium (Ryogoku). Unfortunately, I missed the most recent Sumo tournament! Had a couple pastries for breakfast in Ryogoku. Then it started raining. Hid from the rain in the food area in one of the big department stores and got a couple sticks of yakitori (one chicken and broccoli, one chicken with some sweet sauce), and a toro maki. Ate the yakitori right away, saved the maki till I got back to the hostel. Waited out the rain in the hostel, and later went out for dinner with some guys from the hostel – Kokoichiban Curry for my last dinner in Japan.

Hiroshima: June 26-28

The train ride took about 4 ½ hours, often punctuated by intestinal problems (sorry, it's the truth). Then I arrived at Hiroshima, found a map, and used it to locate a cheap (by Japan standards) hotel (wasn’t ready to go back to a hostel yet). Took the streetcar, dropped my bags at the hotel, stayed in for the evening.

The 27th – walked around Hiroshima. Saw the Peace Memorial Museum, which is an excellent museum on the bombing, and Hiroshima both before and after it. Also many other memorials, the A-bomb dome, then a trip back to Hiroshima station for my reservations for Tokyo, walked around that area a little – saw a few temples. Was feeling ill, so I took the streetcar back to the hotel. Though about going out later but didn’t, as my digestive system really didn’t want me to.

The 28th – Hiroshima Castle, which has an excellent Samurai Museum within it, then more walking around Hiroshima. Had breakfast at the hotel (as the day before – complimentary breakfast including rolls, boiled eggs, cereal, yogurt, etc, etc). Then back to the station, and back to Tokyo.

Back to Tokyo: June 25-26

And now I'm almost a month behind the times! Ok, here's an update from the Japan days:

June 25: a train ride to Shinjuku followed by a long walk underground towards the Park Hyatt. The surprise was perfect. As we walked by, I said “ooh, the Park Hyatt! this place is amazing. Let’s go look inside!” So Marina agreed, and we headed up to the entrance. Then the porters tried to take our bags, and Marina said “no, no, we’re not staying here!”, and I said “yes, we are.” She was flabbergasted, and remained so for a while. An attendant took us up to the 41st floor, where we were seated at a desk, and a very friendly person took our info while chatting amiably with us. Then he took our bags and led us up to our room on the 47th floor. The room was spacious by Tokyo standards, with a huge king-size bed, a 30 inch plasma tv, and a gigantic bathroom with separate shower stall and soaking tub. We both showered off the travel funk, then headed out to go to Harajuku and Roppongi. Harajuku is the teen shopping area, tons of goth and punk stores that Marina loved. Then subway to Roppongi, which was pretty sleazy. Although we did get some good pork chops there.

Next day (the 26th) it was raining. We relaxed. Marina felt very ill, unfortunately. I got some breakfast at Excelsior Caffe downstairs. Then we walked (mostly underground) to Shinjuku station. Picked up a donut from Doughnut Plant (the one from the L.E.S.!), then took the train to Tokyo station, where I sent Marina off to the airport. A few minutes later, I boarded my Shinkansen to Hiroshima.

I swear I'm trying here.

Really. I'm in Beijing, and I thought I'd have my internet situation sorted days ago. Theoretically, by the end of this week I should have reliable internet access at home, so I can start making real posts again. For now, I'll let you know that Mandarin is really difficult, China is quite interesting, and I'm pleased to be taking a break from travelling to a new city every 3-5 days. Knowing that I'll be coming back to the same room for the next week is a welcome break - I'm able to unpack my bag and not pack it up again for a month and a half!

Test post: Behind the Firewall

Just a quick test to make sure my posts still come up from mainland China. Apparently China blocks access to the "blogspot" domain, but not the Blogger service itself... Anyway, I can still access my content via other means, I just wanted to make sure I can post.

Upcoming on Gaz Errant...

Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be catching up on journals and pictures (Kiso Valley entry below is an example). I'll also be living in China! That's right, for the next 7 weeks I'll be living in China, and from the 20th on, I'll be studying Mandarin. Hey, I figure that it's the most useful language one can know nowadays. Anyway, as I'll be in one place for a while (starting July 19), I shouldn't have any problem keeping all of you readers up to date. Assuming my internet connection works. Fingers crossed, people, fingers crossed.

Kiso Valley: June 24-25

June 24. We headed out early to catch the train to Nakatsugawa, then subsequently to Nagiso. The train to Nakatsugawa was a limited express, and the Nagiso one was a local train. Lots of stops, we were the only Caucasians on the train. Actually, we were the only Caucasians we saw until we got back to Tokyo the next day. The Kiso valley, where the villages of Tsumago and Magome are, contains a well-preserved remnant of the old Edo-period Nakasendo highway. Both villages are very much preserved in the Edo style. Beautiful old buildings, and a winding path through a mountain pass connecting the two villages. We arrived at Nagiso, looked around a bit before realizing that the bus sitting in front of the station was the bus to Tsumago. So we took the bus, arriving in Tsumago 15 minutes later. We headed up into the village and realized that we had no idea where to go. We looked around for a while, then Marina asked for directions at an ice-cream shop. With a little work, they were able to find it on the map, and we headed that way (stopping at the tourist center where I found an English map which had out minshuku on it!).

Arriving at the minshuku (Shimosagaya), we found a small girl who spoke no English. Hah! She directed us to come upstairs, and pointed us to a room. We dropped our bags, had some welcoming green tea, and headed out. We started along the trail to Magome, not realizing that we had already passed our last chance to get water. Or food. For 7 kilometers. Uh-oh. The trail passed through a couple small (4-5 house) residential areas, along with completely wooded paths (and two waterfalls!). We ended up drinking some water from a couple spigots on the way (which may have come back to bite us in the ass – literally- a day later…), then got some dried currants from a shop and drinks from a vending machine at the highest point of the trail, the Magome pass. Then we descended into Magome, which was as nice as Tsumago, but we didn’t have much time to see it – we had missed the last bus back and a taxi would cost $30! So we decided to double-time it back. We jogged most of the way! 7 and a half km, up and down mountain paths. We were quite tired when we got back, but we made it in time for dinner. After a quick change, dinner in the dining room. It was amazing. Some salted fish, some thinly sliced ultra-rare beef, rice, pickles, tempura, and other things. Along with some plum wine. Then we each took a relaxing bath, then walked around Tsumago. We saw fireflies – in fact, it was time for their firefly festival – the streets all lit up with candles, and everyone around going up to a specific place where there were tons of fireflies. Pretty cool.

The next morning, another amazing meal (rice, pickles, egg, various other tidbits), then a bus to Nagiso, local train to Nakatsugawa, limited express to Nagoya, and finally a Shinkansen back to Tokyo. I wish we could have stayed more than just one day in the Kiso Valley, and I'd definitely like to come back to visit again in the future.

So far behind!

Yes, yes, I've fallen behind on updating and need to get on that. I've been very busy planning the next phase of my trip, which involves heading to China and learning some Mandarin. I'll try to catch up as soon as I can!

Hiroshima Castle

Hiroshima Castle
Originally uploaded by Gaz Errant.

Just thought I'd throw one of the better shots from flickr on here for those of you who haven't clicked over there recently. Hiroshima Castle had a bit of a "haunted castle" feel to me. It's an extremely faithful recreation of the original castle, and the Samurai museum inside is excellent.

Kyoto: June 22-24

The morning of the 22nd we headed out to Kyoto. Nice Shinkansen Hikari train ride – those bullet trains sure are quick. Beautiful scenery often interrupted by tunnels. I watched an episode of Deadwood (thank you, high-speed internet connections in hostels). When we arrived in Kyoto, it was pouring rain. We trudged through the rain (stupid me, I forgot to use my rain cover for my pack), got soaked, and eventually arrived at our hostel (K’s House Kyoto). Checked in, then showered, then tried to go to the costume museum, which was closed for the month. Instead ended up seeing a temple in the center of Kyoto, the Nishi-Honganji temple. Then headed back to Kyoto station to get food. In the Isetan department store there, they have an extensive prepared food area in the basement. We got pork chop on a stick dipped in miso sauce and supermarket sushi. Both were delicious. Back at the hostel, we met a bunch of fellow travelers and ended up going out for several hours of Karaoke. Fun and excitement.

Next day (the 23rd), walking around Kyoto. A beautiful day, thankfully. First, we walked to the Kiyo-mizudera temple, up on the mountain to the east of Kyoto Station. Beautiful, sprawling temple complex, unfortunately filled with hordes of tourists. Probably the most beautiful place I’ve been to so far. On the way up the hill Marina found a perfect Super Lucky Cat to bring home. Afterwards, checked out the Kyoto Craft Center, then a kindly old Japanese man directed us to the correct bus so that we could cross Kyoto to get to the Golden Pavilion. We got there just in time (about 20 minutes before they closed).

Tokyo: June 17-21

2:30 AM on June 17. I had been up already, really, since about 2, so I shut off the alarm on my phone and alarm clock. Then got all my stuff downstairs, and headed out to grab a cab. Got to the airport, and had to wait for them to open check-in – the woman who checked me in asked why I was there that early! Argh! The woman I had spoken to on the phone earlier TOLD me to be there that early! Anyway, spent several hours hanging out in the airport, got on the plane, watched The Hustler (which I had never seen before), watched some of A Bug’s Life, then arrived in Tokyo.

Despite rumors to the contrary, everything in Narita airport is in English (in tiny letters under the kanji). I waited in an interminably long immigration line, then got the Keisei line train to the city. 1000 yen for a 75 minute train. On the train I saw a bunch of Chinese girls with maps, so I asked one if she got the map at the airport. She said yes – apparently in my haste to find the train I missed the free Tokyo maps. Stupid. She gave me a map, which was of limited use to me, since it was in Chinese! Got to Asakusa (after 1 transfer), walked a little while, found the hostel, checked in. The hostel was filled with loud, annoying college-age kids talking about how drunk they had been the night before, and how drunk they were going to get that night. Ugh. The showers required you to walk across the common area in order to get to them. Weird.

Walked around Asakusa a bit, saw the big temple (Senso-Ji), found the tourist info center to get a map. Found a laundry and washed off some more of the dirt from Taman Negara (I had done laundry in Malacca but it didn’t seem to remove much dirt…). Then out to find some noodles – ended up going to a place known for their tempura soba. Entering a restaurant in Tokyo, you are greeted by pretty much every staff member. When you leave pretty much every staff member says thank you and goodbye 100 times. The food was good, but not cheap – 15 bucks for a bowl of noodles with a little shrimp tempura.

Next morning (the 18th), went out looking for breakfast, ended up at McD’s again (it pains me to type this admission, but I've gotta be honest) because I was intimidated by not being able to understand any signs in Japanese… Took the subway to Ueno (was going to take it to Akihabara but I didn’t realize that they were two different lines (one Toei and one Metro) and in order to transfer between those you have to have a special ticket. So I walked from Ueno to Akihabara, the electronics and anime capitol of Tokyo. Such cool stuff here, that I really want to buy. From all categories. Heh. There are girls dressed in maid outfits advertising for the maid cafes (where you get tea and snacks served to you by one of those girls). Stores have girls in cosplay outfits advertising for them. Japan is a strange place. Got some rice and beef from a place called Pepper Lunch – a chain place that was quite tasty.

Walked back along a different route to see a little of untouristed Tokyo. Relaxed a while, bought a phone card, then headed out to Shinjuku - Shinjuku is one of the “bright lights, big city” parts of Tokyo. It’s one of the places they always show when they show Tokyo on tv. The huge tv screens, neon everywhere, etc.

Next morning, headed out late, got noodles (the cheaper places here have little ticket machines where you put your money, then give the ticket to the person serving the food at the counter). Then walked to Akihabara to get an adapter so I could charge my camera battery. Walked around a little again, then up to Ueno – saw Ueno Park and its giant pond full of lilypads, got a little lost, but just headed in the direction that I thought I needed to and eventually made it back to Asakusa. Was quite tired by this point. Relaxed a couple hours, then headed out to get some conveyor belt sushi – tasty, but not cheap. 13 bucks for a small meal – had 9 pieces of sushi, and none of them were large. I later discovered that this place was voted the #1 kaiten-zushi place in Tokyo.

On the 20th Marina arrived. That morning, I headed over to Shinjuku to drop off my luggage at the Sunlite Shinjuku hotel, then headed over to Keisei Ueno station to get the train to Narita. At Narita I waited a bit, found a working ATM to get some cash, and then Marina arrived. She exchanged some cash, and we headed to the JR Office to exchange our receipts for JR passes. Then we got on the Narita Express to Shinjuku station. A pleasant 1 hour trip, wherein we caught up a bit and talked. All the while she had no idea we were going to a hotel instead of the hostel. Luckily, she had forgotten that the hostel was in Asakusa, and we were headed to Shinjuku. Once we arrived, we walked for a while, then stopped at Starbucks to get Marina some coffee, which she claimed to sorely need.

Then to the hotel. Masha was surprised, and happy about our own real room with a real bathroom. We unpacked our things and showered, and then walked around Shinjuku a bit. Had dinner at a noodle shop – I had a pork chop with curry and Masha had some noodles with a tofu tempura. We wandered Shinjuku, including Kabukicho, the red-light district, and then made it a relatively early night – she had just been traveling for a long time.

Next day - the 21st – around Tokyo. After a breakfast at the same noodle shop, we headed to Ginza for some Kabuki theatre. We saw a play/dance about a general who won a decisive battle thanks to information from a fisherman who he then killed. Years later, the general was confronted by the fisherman’s mother. If I remember the name, I’ll fill it in here later.

Afterwards, we walked around Ginza, and went to the Sony center, where I decided I must have a Blu-Ray player and an HDTV. MUST! Then we got our ticket reservations for the train to Kyoto, and tried (unsuccessfully) to visit the Imperial Gardens (they were closed). Stymied in our sightseeing efforts, we headed to a great sake bar in Tokyo Station. A bunch of temporary tables on a concrete floor, 70 different sakes. Deelicious.

Japan pics up!

Lots of Japan pics up at flickr. More to come, and I promise that I'll get some journals of Japan up as well, soon!

I'm still in Japan!

Yep, and I've been to Tokyo, Kyoto, the Kiso valley (Tsumago/Magome), and Hiroshima. Updates on at least some of my adventures here will be forthcoming in the next couple days!

I'm in Japan!

Tokyo's great. Expect full updates and lots of pictures in a week or so!

Singapore Again: June 16-17

Took the bus back to Singapore, walked from Lavender bus terminal back to the hostel, dropped my stuff, went for a long walk looking for food – eventually had a carrot cake (not what it sounds like - it was some sort of omelette) and some UNBELIEVABLY good fruit. Soursop, mango, and honey melon. The mango was the best – sweet and tangy. And the soursop (which tastes just like sour apple) was perfect as well.

Malacca: June 13-16

In Malacca, stayed at the Travellers’ Lodge, a decent place with aircon and hot showers (shared). The morning of the 14th, I headed out into Malacca. Had some roti canai and kopi again for breakfast, then walked to the Maritime Museum (housed in a recreation of a Portuguese galleon). It was a fairly interesting museum, focused on Malacca’s history vis-à-vis the ocean, trading, etc. It also had a section on the actual ocean (wildlife, etc). Then I walked through town square (leftover from Dutch colonization), then Chinatown (where there were a lot of cool things to buy, but all too big to get home). Then St. Paul’s hill, where the bones of an old Portuguese church stand. Finished up by passing by the big mall (wanted to look in the Tokyo Lonely Planet book).

Malaysia Pics Up!

Check out my flickr site, where there are new sets of pictures from both Kuala Lumpur and Taman Negara, Malaysia. Some good shots in there, I think.

One Month Out

Well, it's been a full month now since I left New York. It's been a great trip so far, but the last couple of weeks have felt a bit rushed (because I wanted to do as much as possible before by flight to Japan). I'm really looking forward to Japan now, though (only two days away). And after Japan, my pace should slow down a bit. I have no deadlines after I get to Thailand, save that I fly out November 1. I think I'm going to spend the first week or so after Japan relaxing and figuring out where I want to go until November.

Taman Negara: June 10-13

Taman Negara is one of the oldest primary rainforests still in existence. 130 million years old. That's some old jungle.

June 10, out early, more roti canai, long walk to the bus. Nice AC bus up to Kuala Tembeling, then a 3 hour boat ride in a very narrow shallow wooden boat. Fun! Got to Nusa Camp, staying in a hostel room, six beds, only one me. Big group of Singaporean Malays staying in some of the other hostel rooms – there are cottages and chalets here as well. It’s pretty empty, really. Had dinner (the meals here were rather uninspiring). Then a night walk – if you ever see green reflections of your flashlight in the jungle at night, it’s a spider. Heh. Saw spiders, a snake (climbing a tree!), a scorpion, other bugs.

June 11, hike up Warisan hill – pretty steep climb, nice views at the top. All of my tour stuff is with Barry and Sharon, from Canada – they’re birders. So there’s constant “ooh, look” followed by an identification session from their books. They seem like nice people, though. Back for lunch, then the Canopy walk – Asri, our guide, takes us in the boat to the walk, which is the longest canopy walk in the world. Precariously swaying rope bridges 40 meters above the rainforest make for a good afternoon. Then a little rapids shooting, but there weren’t many of us in the boat so we didn’t get that wet.

June 12, a walk to Asli Waterfall. Swam at the waterfall – it was great. Then a trip to Gua Telinga, a cave. Tons of bats, a snake, and squeezing myself through very tight places (I’m glad I’ve lost a few pounds!). I got very dirty and sweaty, and I REALLY needed to do laundry.

June 13 was a day of travel. 2 hours downriver (by myself), then 3 hours on the bus, then a walk to Puduraya Bus Terminal, then finding the right place to buy a ticket, then waiting an hour, then a 2 hour bus to Malacca, then a 20 minute bus downtown.

Kuala Lumpur: June 8-10

8th of June - the bus to KL from Singapore. It’s a nice bus – individual tv screens (watching Halloween H20 – heh – crappy horror on a bus in Malaysia), food, water, big plush seats. Not a bad way to travel. On the way into Malaysia, had to go through Singapore customs about 30 minutes after leaving, on the Singapore side of the causeway bridge. Then through Malay customs on the other side. A bit annoying, but it didn’t take too long. I should be on the bus about another 2 ½hours.

When I arrived at KL, took a couple minutes to find the LRT system, then tried to get money and couldn’t. Bad news. Then tried a different ATM, less money, and was able to. Ok. So I take the commuter train one stop to get on the Putra LRT to Masjid Jamek and then change to the Star LRT. Which I then take to the end of the line. After 45 minutes of walking around (and worrying that I was not going to find the place before they left for the day, I found the travel agent in some random office complex in northern KL. Ok, get up there and then find out that they only take cash. Gah. So I head back down, and lucky for me, the ATM nearby is one of the ones that actually works for me. I take out more cash, get back upstairs, the guy there gives me some water, and I get my package paid for. Back to the LRT, to my hotel next to Puduraya bus station. Craphole, dirty shared bathroom, but I have AC and a power outlet. So there’s that. Plus, cheap internet in the lobby. So I drop my stuff off, head out for some food. Walking for a little while, then stop at a hawker center in little India. Had roti canai and something else with chicken in it and rice – I still don’t know what it was, but it was damn tasty. Then back to the hotel, after seeing Merdeka Square and a few other sights (including Chinatown, which is very similar to Canal street in NYC) along the way.

Next morning (the 9th), walking around KL. Roti canai for breakfast, walked to Berjaya Times Square (big mall), freaked out a little because money wouldn’t come out of the ATM, then found different ATM that worked. Saw the Petronas Towers, walked some more, actually ended up getting lunch at Fridays (after the money incident I really just wanted some western food), hamburger and fries and lemonade. I wanted a western meal! So sue me. I went nearly a month without one.

Singapore: June 5-7

I went to Orchard Road, the main shopping district, where I found a “Visitor Hospitality Lounge” that they set up for the Great Singapore Sale, where I was able to sit for 15 minutes in an awesome massage chair in the AC, with a guy bringing me free drinks. Now that's a nice thing after walking around for 4 hours. Tried to go to Borders to read a bit and have coffee, but you can’t do both here! No unpaid merchandise in the café area. Stupid Singapore. I eventually got a hazelnut latte at a Starbucks, and I have to admit that it was delicious. I just needed a little Western coffee... I miss real coffee.

Had chicken murtabak for lunch at the Wisma Atria food court. So tasty. Sort of like an Indian quesadilla with curry. Eventually headed back to the hostel, did a little internet research on travel to Kuala Lumpur and Taman Negara, made a reservation for a package trip from KL to Taman Negara, then decided to take the luxury coach to KL. Headed out to find the Copthorne Orchid hotel – took the MRT when I should have taken the bus (MRT just doubled back on itself), then walked a long way to find out that they don’t take credit cards… Walked all the way back to the MRT station, got cash, headed back on the bus. Got tickets for Thursday morning, then caught the bus back to Little India.

Went to Sentosa Island on the 7th. Meh. Decent beach, tons of Singaporean teens playing beach volleyball. Had a tasty smoothie from New Zealand Natural. Took the MRT to the cable car – waste of money. Walked by the Sentosa Merlion, then down the beach, then to the Southernmost Point in continental Asia. Woo. Then a nature walk, then back to the hostel.

Updated Wayfaring Map!

See where I have been:

Yes, I'm still here.

Sorry for the lack of posting. I've been holed up in the jungle for the last several days, so I haven't had access to the internet! Before the 17th there will be updates catching you up to the present, along with new pictures at flickr. Can't promise anything more than that right now!

June 4-5: Bali

The trip back from Gili T to Kuta, Bali was a long one. Left Trawangan at about 8:15 AM on a boat to Bangsal (about 25 minutes). Then an hour and a half bus ride to Lembar harbor, Lombok. Then a 5 hour ferry ride to Padangbai, at the end of which the captain attempted to park us at the ferry dock no less than four times, backing up and doing a 360 after each attempt. This process took about an hour. He was either drunk or it was his first day.

After we finally got off the boat, another bus ride, to Ubud, where everyone but me got off the bus. So it was just me and the bus driver for the last hour, getting me to Kuta about 8 PM. I got off the bus, avoided the touts and quickly found a nice clean cheap room to spend the night. Then a quick dinner, and a pirated copy of X-Men III. God, I'm glad I didn't pay to see that in the theatre. So bad.

The next morning, a bit of walking around Kuta, then off to the airport again.

New pictures

Coral
Originally uploaded by Gaz Errant.

Head over to my flickr to see some new pictures of the trip!

To June 4: Advanced!

So, after the last post, I decided to stay a bit longer in Gili Trawangan and get my Advanced PADI certification. A few more days, a few more dives, a few more walks around a tiny sun-drenched island. Not a bad way to spend my days.

Aside from the fact that the dives were all great and I fully intend to start diving as often as possible, there is little to report about the rest of my time in Gili T.

New Posts

A whole bunch of new posts below, detailing the journey from Singapore, to Yogyakarta, to Ubud, and finally to Gili Trawangan where I am now. Some pictures should be forthcoming soon, but internet is horrible out here so it's a bit tough. I'll see what I can do.

Gili Trawangan, Lombok (May 25-now): SCUBA

So on the way to Gili T, I met James, Andrew, and Frauke. We got to know each other a little on the ferry over, then I suggested that we try to find a place to stay together to get a discount – more rooms = cheaper rooms. They agreed, and after two hours of waiting in Lembar harbor, followed by a half hour bus ride, followed by another 45 minute boat ride (this time in a pontoon boat – it was great getting off the last bus and walking down the beach to get on the little wooden boat!), we arrived in Gili T.

The four of us then walked down the dirt road, looking for a place to stay. There were several touts trying to get us to their places – the island was pretty empty, it seemed. So we looked at a few different places, but ended up going back to the first place we saw – Donau Hijau – because it was the cheapest, even though it was falling apart a bit. My room now has a major problem with black ants. And the walls are coming apart a bit. And the mosquito net over my bed is full of holes. Oh well, I’m saving money.

After finding Donau Hijau, we went out for dinner (I had an excellent grilled snapper at the Beach House restaurant) in the rain, had a few beers, then saw a little of V for Vendetta (several bars here show illegal copies of movies on various sized screens – you just have to buy a drink to watch), but it was a horrible copy, so I went to bed.

Next morning, Andrew and I set out to look at the diving options in Gili T. We didn’t go far. As we walked into the first place (Blue Marlin – right next door to Donau Hijau), we met Bob, who would become our Open Water certification instructor. Bob was friendly, the place seemed very professional and came highly recommended from the guidebooks. We were sold. $325 later, we were on our way to PADI certification. The course involved watching some horrible videos, studying the PADI book, quizzes and tests, pool work, and 4 open water dives. Putting on the SCUBA gear and breathing underwater for the first time was amazing. I have always loved the water, and being able to just stay under for long periods of time without worrying about coming up for air was a perfect experience. The first open water dive was even better. We had perfect visibility, and we saw all kinds of sealife – turtles, lionfish, sea snakes… I loved it. As we progressed, it became much easier to navigate down there – neutral buoyancy is a good thing. Each of the dives was special in its own right – we saw sharks, nudibranchs, I’ll have to fill in more from my dive log later. The first two dives were to 12 m, the second two to 18 m.

Ubud, Bali (May 23-25): Fire Dance!

I left Kuta early after a breakfast of bananas and a quick run down to the beach to swim. The bus to Ubud only took an hour – I ended up here at Agung Oka. Decent little place, large room with huge patio, nice tea and good breakfast. Dingy bathroom though.

After arriving, I walked around looking for some food – ended going somewhere and getting essentially the Indonesian combo meal – sate, gado gado, and chicken curry. Very tasty. Also had the best drink ever – mixed juice of lemon and pineapple! Mmmm… I had it again this afternoon, actually.

After getting my bearings and walking around a little, I took a short nap, then headed out again. Eventually went and bought tickets for the Kecak dance show. The show was good, the music was provided by a large troupe of men (and later women) and was extremely trance-inducing. Chek-chek! Chekcheckehckehcekcheheckchek… The main part of the show was a story that I still have to research involving some women, and maybe a king, and a bunch of monsters. Then two women who danced and kept pulling a James Brown routine (they fell and some of the women from the chorus ran out and helped them up). Finally a guy in a horse costume danced over hot coals resulting from flaming coconut husks.

May 24 I woke up and headed out walking. I bought a ticket for the next day's bus to Gili Trawangan, then walked for a few miles to Goa Gajah, or Elephant Cave, a temple carved into a cliff face a couple miles outside of Ubud. I think I walked about 6 or 7 miles that day. Came back, relaxed, napped, went out for lunch/dinner, then came back and relaxed some more. Life here sure is tough.

Next morning, May 25. Got up at 5:50, packed the few things I hadn’t last night. Luckily had time for breakfast – French toast! And fruit salad. The proprietress was very nice, I paid her for the room and then I was off. Waiting on the corner of Sugriwa and Jembawan for a few minutes, but nobody was coming – so I called Perama (the transport company). The guy apologized and came right out. I’m telling you, I would have been screwed without the phone. So I got to Perama to wait for the bus to Pandangbai to the boat to Lembar to the bus to Senggigi to the boat to Trawangan, and what is the first thing I do? I twist my ankle, the right one, the worst one, something fierce. Shiny black tile, shadows, and a step down at 6:45 AM conspired along with my own stupidity to put a serious hurting on me. Luckily it wasn't nearly as bad as I originally thought, and several days of swimming has fixed it right up.

Yogyakarta (May 20-22): Temples galore

As I said, bed around midnight (on May 19) to get up and head to the airport. Next morning, left the hostel, uneventful trip on the MRT to Changi Airport. Which, by the way, is awesome. Spent morning there having a little food, watching a little TV while sitting on comfy easy chairs each with their own speakers (Nexus Lounge)! They even have a “resting area” with chaise lounges to sleep on.

I arrived in Yogyakarta and headed to the hotel which had been recommended to me: Setia Kawan. It was a beautiful little place owned by a painter. The walls were covered in gorgeous paintings in bright hues. Pictures on flickr when possible...

4:30 on Saturday May 21, wake up, shower, headed out on my tour to Borobudur and Prambanan.

As I boarded the minibus, I met my traveling companions: Julia, from Germany, Ariane, from Switzerland, Jun, from Japan, Alan, from Malaysia, and two more people whose names I never got, one from Italy and one from Indonesia. We headed out to Borobudur, catching a glimpse of erupting Merapi in the distance. Unfortunately, the rest of the day was too cloudy to get a good look or picture. Oh well.

Borobudur: beautiful, impressive Buddhas everywhere. See pictures. At Borobudur, constantly harassed by touts selling random crap.

Then a quick stop to see a nearby temple with the largest Buddha in Indonesia. He wasn’t really that big.

Then on to Prambanan, the highlight of the day. As we walked towards the temple, we saw a large gathering of locals – apparently we had stumbled onto some festival. Marching bands made up of little kids (no older than 6 or 8) were performing with great concentration. These kids were dedicated. And quite good considering their age. And the crowds really got into their performances. Also at the festival was an Indonesian rock band, which we watched for a couple minutes.

The temple itself was much more interesting than Borobudur, at least for me. It was actually many small temples to Hindu gods: got some good pictures of Ganesh and Vishnu. While there, was attacked by hordes of Indo schoolchildren looking to practice their English. It was cute for a while, but then got old. Ariane and Julia apparently got some good pictures of me being mobbed. Oh, and many, many Indonesians asked if I would take a photo with them. Which I did.

Singapore (May 19): A long walk

Ok, so after lunch on May 19, relaxed for a while, then I headed out to find a small backpack (the messenger bag ain’t doing it for walking around). On my way out, saw Will returning from losing a pedal on his new bike. So we headed out together, he for a wrench, me for my backpack. Headed to Mustafa Center, which we found out is like the Walmart of Singapore. You can buy anything there. However, I was not satisfied with the prices of the backpacks. And come to think of it, we probably should have looked for Will’s wrench there. But we didn’t, and neither of us ended up getting what we went out for.

After Mustafa, Will and I headed out to get lost a little bit. We walked through Little India, Kampung Glam, saw the Golden Mosque (beautiful, but not as impressive as it sounds). Then we found the park that joggers and bicyclists use on the Singapore waterfront. We saw crew facilities and what appeared to be a crew team as well. Walking, walking, walking. Quite a long walk on the waterfront deposited us at the Esplanade, which apparently has a bunch of hip shops and restaurants. Then over to Suntec City to see if the Fountain of Wealth was fountaining. It wasn’t. But we did determine that everyone in Singapore goes through the malls to get home. AC is a great motivator, I guess.

Finally, we headed back to the hostel to shower and relax. It took quite a bit of relaxing before we were ready to head out again, but we did, going out for some dinner at a hawker center. I had Char Kway Teow (check spelling), thick noodles with shrimp. Mmmmm, good. Carbs are great. Especially after walking all afternoon.

Back to the hostel again, where we had a few drinks with Helen, Jamie, Emma, Scott and Paul. Anyway, had a good time with that crowd, though I went to bed around midnight and they apparently went out afterwards and didn’t make it home until 3 am.

Gili Trawangan: Sharks and sea snakes.

So, first of all, I'm ok! I am quite far from Yogyakarta, where the massive earthquake happened yesterday. Currently I'm on Gili Trawangan, a small island off the northwest coast of Lombok, Indonesia. It's a very relaxed place with very little in the way of internet connection, and no wifi connections (and hence no picture updates for a while).

Here on Gili T, I've been taking my PADI Open Water certification. No better place I can think of. The dives have been amazing - I have my final certification dive this afternoon. I'm even considering taking my Advanced Open Water cert here as well (budget permitting, of course).

Unfortunately, I've really fallen behind in writing up the trip! Since my class is over today, I may have some time in the next couple of days to write up posts on my computer and then transfer them (via thumbdrive) to the site. Hopefully.

Hope you are all well, sorry about the long time between posts and the lack of pictures! I will attempt to rectify asap.

Ubud: Spotty Internet

Just a brief post to let you know I'm still alive and well, and currently in Ubud, Bali. Since last posting, I've gone through Yogyakarta, Kuta, and just got here today. Seen lots of amazing things, taken lots of good pictures. I'll update more in a few days when I've written my posts beforehand on my computer rather than compose while using pricey internet cafes!

Singapore: Merlions and Tigers and Bears

Merlion
Originally uploaded by Gaz Errant.

Oh my.

Thursday in Singapore - a walk around the waterfront, includng Merlion Park (pictured). This fish/lion hybrid looks out over the water, just south of the giant Esplanade theater complex.

After walking around for a few hours and picking up my plane tickets for the next leg of the trip, I headed to the Singapore Zoo. It's an excellent zoo, with several areas where you are walking right with the animals (most notably a couple of marmosets who were hanging out 5 inches above me). Had some Thai curry for lunch, watched a show, and headed back to the city, where I proceeded to buy a phone. Exciting.

Spent the evening talking to a few people in the hostel, then turned in relatively early - still not completely adjusted to the time difference.

Singapore: So Tired

It's nearly 7 PM Singapore time. I really need to keep myself awake for another two hours or so before going to bed or I'll end up waking up at 4 in the morning.

That's all, really.

So far, Singapore is like a giant shopping mall with an equally large food court. I'm not putting Singapore down, mind you, just noting that there are stores and "hawker centers" (areas with a few or more individual stalls selling food) EVERYWHERE.

Singapore: Day 1

Laksa
Originally uploaded by Gaz Errant.

Remember the laksa I mentioned below? Here it is in all its glory. I will reiterate that cockles are not tasty. Not the worst thing I've ever tasted, but I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to order them.

More pics of my first day in Singapore up at Flickr.

First Trip Pictures!

IMGP1271.JPG
Originally uploaded by Gaz Errant.

Ok, head on over to Flickr to see the first pictures of the trip. Nothing too exciting yet, just pictures of the flight and airports...

I'm tired and in Singapore. And Singapore is awesome. My first meal in Asia was a bowl of deeeelicious laksa. Well, delicious except for the cockles. I discovered today that I don't really like cockles.

Guess Where I Am.

I'm blogging from the plane.

I'll blog more when I get there.

50 points for the first person to get the song reference above. So, the flights are going well, if a little long. I'm about 3 hours from Singapore. I'm tired but I've slept all I can on this flight, which means I expect to be somewhat jetlagged today. I figure that as long as I can make it though until a decent hour tonight, I should be fully reset by tomorrow. I can only hope.

And I'm off!

I'm about to leave for the airport! I'm feeling equal parts excitement, anxiety and fear. Hopefully the latter two will dissipate as I get going.

5 Days and counting...

Well, today was my last day at my job. It's treated me very well for the last three years, and allowed me to save up the money to head out on the trip. So although I was happy to head out on my new adventure, a (admittedly small) part of me will miss the security and routine of my job.

There's very little left to do at this point. I need to pick up a couple things for my first aid kit, I should probably plan my route from Singapore a bit more, but otherwise I'm free. The next few days will pass rather quickly, I'm sure.

Monday at 9:30 PM I get on a flight to Singapore.

Homeless and loving it.

Well, I made it out of the apartment. Actually, everything went amazingly smoothly. No problems with the truck rental, the parking of said truck, moving all my crap into the truck, driving to Long Island, unloading all the stuff at Atom's house, making it back to Brooklyn.

I'm currently typing from my temporary home, at the some of friends who are willing to put up with me for a week and who live around the corner from my (former) apartment. Which makes it very easy to head over to my apartment tomorrow and clean up and throw things away!

Sorry there haven't been updates lately - been too preoccupied with work and the move and preparing for the trip. But now it's almost here - only 9 days until I leave.

Smarter airfare searching.

Forget Orbitz, Expedia, and all those other airfare sites you use now. If you're not using the sites below, you're wasting valuable time, and probably not finding the lowest fares:

Kayak
Mobissimo
Sidestep

All three search for lowest price car and hotel deals as well! They allow you to be as vague or as specific as you want in your searches as well (for example, after you run a search for flights, you can use a slider to set your maximum price).

Go check them out.

Uncanny.

I was just looking through the blog archives, and I realized that thanks to all the changes and delays in my trip, I will now be leaving on the one year anniversary of this blog! May 15, 2005 was my first post. May 15, 2006 is my first flight. I couldn't have planned it any better.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...

Well, I've been AWOL for a bit, having been sick and then out of town. And in that time, there have been some major changes to the trip.

The impetus for the changes was my brother's wedding in November. Since I have to be back in the States then, it makes the most sense to split my trip into two parts, before and after the wedding. Unfortunately, I had to be in New Zealand by July 7, which put certain restrictions on how I could structure my trip.

Those restrictions are now gone. The wonderful people at New Zealand Immigration were extremely accomodating, and gave me a five-month extension on my working holiday visa. So now I don't need to be in New Zealand until December 7. Once I had this extension, I made several extended phone calls to Delta, attempting to (a) change my flight to NZ to after the wedding, and (b) get a new flight to Asia before the wedding.

The upshot of all this is that I am flying to Singapore on May 15. From there, I will be exploring Asia for 5 1/2 months, heading back to the States on November 1. Then I will be heading out again November 16, leaving for New Zealand and Australia.

Obviously, I've decided to forego Europe and Africa (which were possibilities on this trip) in order to focus on Asia and Oceania. Which is fine by me - I'm still going to visit Africa sometime, and I've spent a decent amount of time in Europe already.

And who knows, I could always add more to this trip if I get the chance...

Completely unrelated to the trip.

In fact, I can't even utilize this on the trip (except for very short periods when I'm uploading things to the site or emailing). But I just had to point out Pandora, a new service for finding music based on music you already like. It's free, it runs in your browser, and it works extremely well. Check it out.

Another similar site: Last.fm. I like Last.fm's organization scheme better, but Pandora works in your browser, and Last.fm requires you to download their software.

Miami Beach

Miami Beach lifeguard
Originally uploaded by Gaz Errant.

Over the weekend I spent an afternoon on Miami Beach. It was a gorgeous day - 80 degrees, breezy, and the water was perfect. Here's a few pictures.

More new gear

More new gear
Originally uploaded by Gaz Errant.

And here's another exciting entry in the "stuff Gaz bought" saga. Although this one includes items that were either "borrowed" from my parents or bought by them. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

As before, click on the photo to head to Flickr and see details on all the items.

Where's Gaz?

Well, it's been over a week since the last post - I've been down in sunny Florida relaxing on a long weekend. Got a few pictures to share and a few new items of gear, so look for a couple updates later this week.

A monster of a tripod alternative?

One of the items I've been thinking of purchasing for the trip is a mini tripod,as I'd like to get the best photos I can on the trip. Now, however, I'm considering this instead. As you can see from this Gizmodo review, Monsterpod is a small lump of goo that apparently replaces your tripod. It can stick to any hard surface (or so they claim). I'm going to do a bit more research on this product, but if it actually performs as well as it claims, I'll probably buy one for the trip.

Mmmm, delicious.

New link on the sidebar - my del.icio.us links. del.icio.us is a social bookmarking site - you add your bookmarks and tag them with appropriate words (for example, travel, rtw, and blog would be some appropriate tags for gazerrant). Others can view your bookmarks and search for sites by their tags. My del.icio.us bookmarks will be here. There's nothing there yet, but as I find new sites related to travel, gear, or anything else I find interesting, I'll be posting them.

Paragon shopping spree!

Paragon shopping spree
Originally uploaded by Gaz Errant.

Yesterday I went to Paragon Sporting Goods in Manhattan to purchase some gear - here you can see the results. I got a towel, a sleep sheet, a travel shirt, and several other items. Click on the photo to go to Flickr, where I've tagged the photo with information on each piece of gear.

More technical difficulties.

Unfortunately, I made a small error while updating the site, and as a result I had to re-load my template. So now the links, my countdown clock, my visitor counter, etc., etc., have to be added back onto the site. This will happen in the next few days. I've learned my lesson: ALWAYS BACKUP!

New banner, obviously.

I fully expect that the first thing you notice upon visiting today or later is the new banner at the top. Please feel free to give me your comments on it! And if you don't see it, let me know so I can fix it.

Technical Difficulties...

Just so anyone reading knows, www.gazerrant.com may be down for the next few days, as I do a little work on the web presence. The blog will still be accessible at gazerrant.blogspot.com.

*UPDATED* www.gazerrant.com should now redirect you back to the blog.

Wayfaring Maps

Wayfaring seems like an interesting resource. Right now it's still a little wonky - I could not get the map to show my route going west from L.A. to Seoul (apparently Wayfaring has problems with the International Date Line right now). Hopefully it will get the bugs worked out, though, and I'll be using it to display a routemap and points of interest from the trip.

SCUBA

For a while now, I've been planning on getting SCUBA certification before my trip. However, time and money have both been an issue lately. I think I may have stumbled upon a solution, though: I'm just going to get certified on my trip.

And this is where I'm going to do it.

Dashboard test

Just a quick test post to see if my new Dashboard Blogger widget works correctly.

The List

So I've used Google's new GooglePages function to put up a quick pack list. It's incomplete, and I'll be updating it more this weekend. But go ahead and check it out! I've also added a link on the sidebar.

the iBook

the iBook
Originally uploaded by Gaz Errant.

More new gear - this time it's my new laptop! The old laptop, though still great, was at the end of its warranty, so I decided to get something newer, faster, and with a 3-year warranty. Applecare is great, as they have technicians all over the world. If my iBook goes crazy in Malaysia, it's no problem.

The Specs: 12" screen, 4.9 pounds, 1.33 Ghz G4 processor.

New gear!

IMGP1149
Originally uploaded by Gaz Errant.

Behold my new travel sandals, sitting on my mess of a desk. They're Keen Newports (Keen is the brand name, not an adjective. Though they are indeed keen). I'm only bringing two pairs of shoes on my trip, and this is one of them. The other is a pair of Timberland trail shoes.

I just quit my job.

Well, I gave notice, really. I wanted to end things on very good terms with my employer, so I just gave what amounts to 3 months' notice. My bosses took it very well - they seemed rather jealous of the trip. And they were both very supportive.

Between the doctor visits, talking to my building management, and giving notice at my job, things are happening very quickly now. May's going to be here before I know it. The trip has always had somewhat of an unreal, dreamlike quality to it. That quality is fast fading, and it's being replaced with the knowledge that this is real, and that I'm leaving the country for most of a year in only three months.

Good news and bad news.

Well, bad news first (always the best way to go): due to various circumstances, I'm having to put myself on a much more stringent budget until May in order to save the amount of money I was expecting to save. In fact, I may not actually save quite as much as I expected by the time I leave. It's unfortunate but unavoidable.

So I'm cutting back on any costs I can. No more eating out, no more Netflix, no more buying ANYTHING that isn't for the trip. I have two short trips planned between now and May that I'm still going to go on - but only because I've already made the plans and paid for the tickets.

Now, the good news: I started getting my vaccinations this morning. Wonder of wonders, my insurance apparently covers them. I had heard horror stories about the cost of vaccinations, and that insurance generally didn't cover them. But mine does. I got a Polio booster, Tetanus booster, Typhoid, and the first Hep B shot. I go back in a month to get the second Hep B (I might get Yellow Fever and Meningitis then just because my insurance covers it).

I've also bought a pair of pants! Ex Officio Fatigue travel pants - REI.com was having an amazing clearance sale, so the (normally $100) pants were $17. Of course, since I bought them online, I didn't have a chance to try them on, but at that price I'm not too worried. I can always send them back if they really don't fit.

Meerkats!

Meerkats!
Originally uploaded by Gaz Ebo.

Thought I'd spice things up with a post from my Disney photos. The weekend was great - hit all the parks, plus we saw La Nouba (the Cirque du Soleil show at Disney). At Animal Kingdom, not only did we get a GREAT safari (see all the pictures on Flickr), but we got to ride the new Expedition Everest ride (which doesn't officially open until April).

A world of difference from what my upcoming trip will be like, but it was a great weekend nonetheless.

100 Days, Part III

Ok, so 100 days (once again) passed over the weekend. I was at Disney World, so I couldn't post. But things are progressing nicely.

This morning I had my physical. I'll be waiting for bloodwork results for a few days, but otherwise I'm in great shape (although I could stand to lose a little weight). I've got an appointment with a travel health specialist this Friday to start getting my vaccinations out of the way.

I've contacted my apartment building's leasing office, and it seems like breaking my lease may be my best option. They confirmed that they wouldn't give me any problems subletting, but I think that it would be far more trouble than it's worth (unless I find out that someone I know well needs an apartment). The building is full, so it's likely my apartment would get rented as soon as I moved out. I'd just end up losing my security deposit.

Ok, this time I REALLY mean it.

I guess I will have yet another 100 days post... Although this one will be the last. I have finally booked AND ticketed the tickets! I now leave on Sunday, May 14, at 6 AM from LaGuardia.

I actually moved the tickets by choice this time, as Korean Air has recented upgraded the planes they use on several routes. The route I was previously booked on was NOT one of those routes, so I've changed my flights to route through Chicago. Hopefully what this means is that I will be in a more comfortable seat, with a larger TV screen and wireless internet access on the plane.

And I now have 4 more days to get things done.

Incidentally, it took me about 3 hours on the phone (between yesterday and today) to get the last 3000 miles into my Skymiles account. There was some miscommunication between Amex and Delta. But I eventually got to 150,000. Thank you, Skymiles.

#1 Priority - Vaccinations

One (partially) down! I got an appointment with my doc, next Tuesday morning. Now I have to start figuring out which vaccinations I want to get, so I can take the list to discuss with him when I get my physical.

100 Days and Counting! (aka A Bit of Deja Vu)

Well, it's 100 days away. Again. And right now I'm having some more Delta issues. Hopefully I won't have to put up a "100 Days and Counting - Part III" post...

I still haven't gotten on ANY of the things I need to get done. Mostly because I've been focusing on my trip to Disneyworld this weekend. Oh, and I figured out at least one more thing I have to put on the list: Insurance! I need to get travel insurance for my body and my gear. I've been doing some research on this already, but it's another cost to put on the "buy before leaving" list.

But at least I've already done my taxes. Soon I'll have that extra refund money socked away with the rest of the trip funds. Things are looking up financially - I definitely think I'll be able to put away enough for the trip and for my cushion to return to without putting myself seriously in debt.

Ok, I think I'm going to call my doctor right now to schedule a complete physical and the vaccinations.

We've moved into May now...

Ok, a tiny setback has happened, causing me to push the initial flight by 10 days. The Delta Skymiles that I expected in my account by today have not posted yet, and as such I was unable to book the April 28 flight (the deadline was today). So, now I'll be flying out on May 10.

The good news is that I have booked my layover in Seoul. I'll be in Seoul until June 12. Well, actually, I'll be in Korea and Japan until June 12. I plan to take my week of Japan before I hit NZ (it's much easier to plan the RTW ticket that way). June 12 I fly from Seoul to Auckland. Then, perhaps a bit of snowboarding, and off to Australia.

At least this gives me 10 more days to get all my preparations taken care of.

100 Days and Counting...

Well, the title is self-explanatory. 100 days remain before I head out on my trip. And there's a heck of a lot to get done in those 100 days. The list:

Get out of my lease
Store/sell my stuff
Tell my job I'm quitting
Get vaccinations/physical
Get all necessary gear
Draft tentative itinerary (to avoid monsoon season, etc)
Get deferments/forbearances on my loans

In the next few days, I'm going to sit down with this list and figure out the priorities on it. Right now I know that I plan to tell my work about my plans at the end of February (giving them about 6-7 weeks notice). I also know that I need to start getting the vaccinations very soon, otherwise I risk not being able to finish them before I leave.

My New Year

As of 8:33 PM tonight, I will be 30 years old. My new year starts today. And this new year is looking like it will be the best and most interesting one so far.

When I put on my headphones this morning and hit play on my iPod (random playlists are wonderful), the first song to play was "Throw It All Away" by Toad the Wet Sprocket. Now, I'm not one for superstition, but if this isn't a sign, I don't know what is. The lyrics:

Take your cautionary tales
Take your incremental gain
And all the sychophantic games
And throw ’em all away

Burn your tv in your yard
And gather ’round it with your friends
And warm your hands upon the fire
And start again

Take the story you’ve been sold
The lies that justify the pain
The guilt that weighs upon your soul
And throw ’em all away

Tear up the calendar you bought
And throw the pieces to the sky
Confetti falling down like rain
Like a parade to usher in your life
Take the dreams that should have died
The ones that kept you lying awake
When you should’ve been all right
And throw ’em all away

With the time I waste on the life I never had
I could’ve turned myself into a better man

’cause there ain’t nothing you can buy
There is nothing you can save
To fill the hole inside your heart
So throw it all away
Won’t fill the hole inside your heart

Help me to empty out this house
Wool I’ve gathered all these days
And thought I couldn’t do without
And throw it all away

Ok, not all the lyrics are appropriate. I'm not planning on having any TV bonfires. But the song is about change, about giving up the things that are holding you back as a person. And that's a big part of what this trip is about for me.

A few minor changes to the plan.

Ok, so no matter what, my current flight to NZ is not going to change - I have to enter NZ before July to activate my WHV. But I'm thinking that perhaps I will only stay in NZ for a couple weeks in May, touring around auckland and the north island, and then start on my RTW going westbound. That way, I'll hit Australia at a good (read:cooler) time, head through Asia in the summer, and end up doing Europe (a little bit) in the fall, and then returning to NZ to work in NZ's spring/summer, rather than its winter.

I know the plans keep changing right now, but I feel like each change makes my trip better and better. The new plan would allow me to do the working part of my trip towards the end of the trip, when I'll actually need the money, rather than at the beginning, when I'll have a lot of cash to work with. I think this makes more sense financially. As well as climateally. (Yes, I know that's not a word. No, I don't care.)

Look to your right.

That's right, you see a countdown clock. Because I have tickets. TICKETS! I've used my Delta Skymiles to get a business class round-trip ticket to Auckland, NZ. I leave LaGuardia at 4 PM, April 28, 2006.

So much to do, and only 16 weeks to go. This is getting exciting.