Pardon our bubbles...

Things are fermenting around here.

More to come.

100 Posts, Or Why I Love Australian Libraries

The State Library of Victoria in Melbourne has free internet - rows and rows of 19-inch LCDs free for all! I'm posting from there now.

And yep, this is the 100th post on Gaz Errant. Woo! Everyone celebrate!

Landed in the Land of Oz...

Yep, I've successfully arrived in the Jolly Old Land of Oz. I'm typing from an internet terminal in Melbourne, VIC. More later (most likely)!

On the road again.

That's right, I'm heading out again, and hopefully restarting the blogging along the way. I've spent the last few months doing some extra-intense slacking here in Wellington, NZ. But tomorrow I head to Oz at 6:30 AM. Melbourne, here I come!

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!