The Riola Family Travel Tales

Our New Home in Capitola

2008-11-19T07:33:00.000-08:00

11.19.08: We’ve been in our new, temporary home in Capitola for almost a month now. Because we returned with no jobs, we didn’t want to go through the credit process of a traditional leased house. So we are in a month-to-month vacation rental for the time being. We came here during a great time of the year. Not only because of the beautiful weather, but because the summer season has already passed and many vacation rental owners were looking for winter renters. The house is fully furnished. We didn’t want to go through the hassle/cost of having our storage containers shipped here, just to move everything again in a few months. Because of this, we are still living with what we had in our luggage, plus the boxes of stuff we shipped “home” along our journeys, plus what we put in our cars when we left. Of course, two of our surfboards were easily accessible when we landed here in CA! On one hand, it is nice to still be living “minimally”. On the other hand, it is killing us not to have some things. I know Sean would LOVE to get started on shaping his next surf board, but all his tools are locked up in storage. I have had to purchase a few things that I’d otherwise be able to get in storage, like some office supplies, a printer (to print out resumes) and some other small household items.

Overall, I am happy that we spent a few more bucks to get something more comfortable to live in than “just a box near the beach”. We LOVE the “Jewel Box” neighborhood in Capitola, where our house is located: small tree-lined streets and cute little well-maintained houses with mature landscaping. We’re about three streets down from the bluff that overlooks the Capitola pier and village, and you can see the entire Monterey Bay if it’s clear. From there, you can walk right down to the village. And on a big swell, we walked down with a board and surfed the jetty while Kai happily played on the sand. On other surf days, it’s about 1/2 to 1 mile to The Hook and Pleasure Point breaks. We do have to drive there, but are working on getting some cruiser bicycles instead.

Unfortunately, we are still unemployed and feeling the pinch. Right off the bat, I came across a couple opportunities that I would have loved. But, they came and went quickly. Since then, I haven’t seen as much. And to be honest, it’s hard to concentrate on a job hunt because I’ve still been in “culture shock” being back here. The wonderful spring-like weather has not helped either! Instead, I’ve been occasionally catching some waves, discovered a new yoga class, and have been looking around for pre-schools that Kai can eventually attend. We also celebrated Kailani’s third birthday with a small gathering here at the house. Sean also sent his resume to a couple places with no luck. His previous employer has no problem re-hiring him again. But, it would mean a harsh commute. So, it would probably be just until he can find something closer. In the past couple of weeks, a couple of our friends have also joined our ranks. (They were laid-off.) Coming back to US soil when the economy fell apart was a bit harsh. But, at least we were able to be back to vote and hope that everything will slowly pick-up now. We are still hopeful that it will just take a little bit of time. Overall, life is good! :-)

California: Sunnyvale, Santa Cruz and a Road Trip Up North

2008-10-06T08:39:00.000-07:00

Kailani painting her race car tires black

Two sisters out for sushi dinner

Look at all those groceries. Starving student no more!
(The beer was Sean's!)

The view from Highway 299

Taking the Audi through the drive-through Redwood tree

The Mendocino Coast

Fort Bragg

Happy to be back in California!

10.06.08: Our plane from Lihue, Kauai to Seattle wasn’t exactly on time. We ended up leaving around midnight and the plane was scheduled to land in around 7am after a 5 hour flight. It hardly seemed enough time to get any sleep, but we survived. From Seattle, we had a few hours layover. I at least managed to catch a few Z’s lying across the chairs at the gate.

Kailani cried more than ever when we touched down in San Jose. I’m sure it was just lack of sleep, but I couldn’t help but wonder if she knew our trip was over. After Jimmy picked us up from the airport and we got settled, we decided to get a bite to eat for lunch. Of course, we ended up going at Whole Foods. I do have to admit that it WAS nice to grab a bite to eat there, and to see all the familiar good foods that they sell. Since we hadn’t eaten any “official” Mexican food since we left the country in February (yummy fish tacos in Kauai are the closest we got) we invited a few friends for Casa Lupe in Sunnyvale for our first dinner. The re-connection with our friends was great, and good ole’ Casa Lupe food was just the same as ever. Sometime that day, Kailani asked if we could go on an airplane again. It was kind of heartbreaking to tell her we didn’t have any plans to anymore. Thanks, Jim and Jen, for the ride and putting us up for our first night back!

The next three days of being back in the Bay Area, we stayed at the Saunders’ house in Sunnyvale. (Thanks guys!!!!) For Kailani, longing for “some friends to play with” the past several months, it was the best place to stay. She is one month older than Noah, and the two have “officially” known each other since conception as his parents and older brother were living next door to us in our duplex at that time. They are so similar in demeanor and personality; you would think they are two peas in a pod! Everyday, we commuted over-the-hill to Santa Cruz to look for a temporary house. The drive got old fast. And, we never really found one that stood out as “the one”, but had a few options to choose from.

That Saturday, we also visited a nursery school in Santa Cruz. It was a little too early for us to start thinking about it, but they were having an open house that we didn’t want to miss. We were also honored that we were able to be there for little Mosley’s first birthday party. Kailani had a great time painting wooden cars as she so carefully painted the wheels black, avoiding everything else. I was impressed!

Later that day, we hit the road and drove up to see Caitlin in her new off-campus apartment for two nights. Since she was living in furnished on-campus housing last February when we left, we put all her bedroom furniture in our storage containers. Needless to say, her apartment is fairly minimal. Sean and I made a bed on the floor with a small pile of blankets, Kailani got Caitlin’s “loaned” mattress, and Caitlin got the couch that her roommate, Dana’s mother bought them. Since the “starving student” can’t afford to normally eat sushi, she took us, including Dana, to The Boathouse for dinner. I do have to say it was good, and reminded me of the old Hanamaru days. Kailani’s getting to be an old pro at using the chopsticks. Perhaps, the amount of time she spent in Asian has paid off! I played a reverse-role by bringing our dirty laundry to her house. But, made up for it by taking her grocery shopping and making two large pots of her favorite, spaghetti sauce, which we froze the excess for later. As we left Caitlin’s, we decided to stop for a tasting at Stubb’s, the only organic winery in Marin County. It was situated in hills above Petaluma and the landscape reminded us of New Zealand, except not as green. I didn’t realize it when I found the place, but they didn’t have a tasting room. Instead, Mary Stubb popped open a couple of bottles for us to try in the dining room of her beautiful house. They had a really nice Pinot Noir and good, not-too-oakey Chardonnay. Making this pit stop proved to be a worthwhile treat.

From there, we continued up north to Weaverville, in the Trinity Alps, to see friends, Karen, Mark and almost-eight year old Emily. The weather was great this time of year and we really enjoyed landscape and beauty of California, especially now that we can compare it with everything else we’ve seen. I used to dread the drive up Highway 5. But this time, I saw things that I never gave a second look at before. Kailani and Emily play extremely well together. So again, she was thrilled to have another friend to play with. While Emily was at school, Karen took us for a visit to a local winery. Unfortunately because it was harvest time, the staff was in the vineyards picking and their tasting room was closed. Still, it was interesting to go from the bare branches of Australia and New Zealand, where it was just warming up from their winter, to the full leafy vines of California during the fall. Later that afternoon, Karen, Kailani and I had the pleasure of accompanying Emily to her soccer practice, while Sean and Mark decided to bike there. It was just a few miles away, but as the crow flies, meaning you had to get over a mountain range. It seemed to take a while, but for Sean not riding in at least a few years, he survived fairly well. That night, I checked the internet, just to see if there were any new postings for rental houses, and found a sweet deal that I couldn’t pass up calling, right on the beach and for a great price (in exchange for it being on the market, which didn’t bother us any).

The next day, we left Weaverville via Highway 299 to Eureka and down the coast on 101. This was breaking new ground as we’ve always rushed back down on Highway 5. It was beautiful drive alongside a river and Sean vowed that we’ll be going up there again soon so he can try fishing. We stopped for lunch at Lost Coast Brewery where Sean says he had the best oysters and chips ever. I do have to agree. I had one of his oysters, and they were pretty awesome. We also had the Ten Beer Sampler for $10, and it included two additional samples of their seasonal beers. How can you pass that up? Our favorites were the Downtown Brown, Winterbraun and the Indica Pale Ale, which had a bit of a skunky taste. As we continue down south, we drove past some of California’s giant redwood trees which were absolutely stunning. It was definitely the biggest forest area we’ve ever been to and doesn’t come close to anything we’ve seen in the past eight months. We even decided to drive through the tourist magnet drive-through redwood tree. It’s too bad Kailani was napping at that point. But, Sean and I still got a kick out of taking a picture of our well-missed and beloved Audi going through it. From there, we hit Highway 1 west through some of the windiest hills we’ve ever drove to the Shoreline Highway, where it hits the Mendocino coast. Sean was getting tired of driving, so I took over, relishing the way the Audi handled every twist, turn, ascent and descent. If you ever want to truly test drive a car, I highly recommend taking this route which is NORTH of the Mendocino Coast (not Highway 20 or 128 that most people take from the Bay Area). That night, we ended up finding a great little room right on the cliffs overlooking the harbor in Fort Bragg, and it didn’t cost an arm and a leg. I guess it helped that it was the middle of the week and I don’t think it was considered high season. Although, with such beautiful weather this time of the year, one would think it should be.

The next day, we woke and drove straight down to Santa Cruz. I would have loved to make another couple pit stops, but we were playing phone tag with the “sweet deal” house broker and wanted to view it ASAP. We at least took the scenic drive down Highway 1 from San Francisco to Santa Cruz. Again, we got to see California in all its autumn glory. Taking a few extra days to take this little road trip definitely proved to be worthwhile in our opinions!

When we saw the house, it was everything we expected and then some. (The “some” would probably be the slight view of the 26th Ave. beach.) But, we still had to go through the application process, and it was going to take a couple days for the owner to make a decision. We found a room at a local Best Western, but only for one night because they were fully booked beyond that. The next day, we looked and looked for something else. But because it was the weekend, we couldn’t find anything decent and inexpensive. I suggested we go to a campground. But, we didn’t have any camping gear and Sean didn’t seem to think it would be comfortable shoving everything into the front seats, putting the back seats down, and all of us sleeping back there. I wonder why… ;-) Eventually, we found ourselves aimlessly driving around town with a car full of all our belongings, wondering what to do next. We were really feeling “homeless” by then. We finally ended up taking a room at a place where I was less than thrilled over it’s cleanliness, but kept telling myself it was only for one night.

As it turned out, the owner of the house STILL hadn’t made a decision. We again found ourselves driving around, wondering what to do while waiting for him. We still hadn’t seen our friends who live in Santa Cruz, Tammy in full blown pregnant magnificence, or their new house, as they had moved there after we left. So, we ended up showing up at their doorstep unannounced. They ended up offering us to stay with them and it sure beat the “dirty” motel room. So, we took them up on it and ended up there for the rest of the weekend, after we had dinner with other friends, Jim and Jen from Sunnyvale. I’m sure Jim and Jen were planning on coming to see us at our new house, but that obviously didn’t happen as fast as expected now that we were waiting for the “sweet deal”.

Again, staying with John and Tammy ended up being a blessing. Kailani loved playing with their girls, Maiah and Ella, and it was such a treat to spend time reconnecting with them. Tammy, the girls and I took a trip over the hill to the mall for some last minute things she needed for the baby and I was able to get some much needed “essentials” myself. Meanwhile, Sean helped John by crawling under the house with him for some renovation work. We can’t thank you guys ENOUGH for putting us up, especially so unexpectedly!!! When the broker for the house finally called me back, we found that they took another applicant. I wasn’t heartbroken but a little irritated, mostly because we waited when we could have moved into our second-choice house, albeit pricier and not right at the beach. But, we wouldn’t have been aimlessly driving around “homeless” and bouncing around like we did. Still, I don’t think I really have anyone to blame but myself, for waiting around for the house.

Promptly that Monday morning, we signed a month-to-month lease and picked up the keys to our new furnished bungalow/cottage in the Capitola “Jewel Box” neighborhood. The process to find a house definitely took us longer than expected, but the place is comfortable and it’s where we now call home, at least for the time being… :-)

Kauai, Hawaii

2008-10-01T08:37:00.000-07:00

10.01.08: Packing for Kauai seemed increasingly difficult, despite sending yet another box of stuff back to the mainland. We decided to leave our New Zealand board on the Big Island as a “family/community board”, but we also retrieved a duffel bag full of summer clothes and Bali artwork that Tutu and Caitlin hauled back from Australia for us. We are also carrying some cooler weather clothes and Kailani’s new car seat, so it seems like a lot!

We arrived at the Kona airport with what we thought was plenty of time to spare. After going through security, we plopped down our carry-on stuff in the lounge while I went to the bathroom. I heard an announcement about our flight boarding, so we picked up our stuff and went to the gate only to find that it wasn’t open just yet. We went back to the lounge and didn’t even have a sip of our drinks yet when they announce the gate’s now open. Urgh! But, at least it took off with no delays. But, before making it to Kauai, we arrived in Honolulu for an hour layover. We made the best of it by having lunch. Although the delay on our second flight was only a short one, it did seem to make us feel like we got into Lihue, Kauai with no time to see friends or do anything else that night. When we checked-in to our condo at Poipu, they gave us a complimentary upgrade to a two bedroom, two bath that was super spacious. After spending six weeks cooped up in a tiny campervan in New Zealand, it was pretty luxurious to have such a big place!

The next day was our friend’s, Rory and Lisa’s, wedding day. It wasn’t until the afternoon, so we made use of the first half of the day by going to Poipu beach. Sean rented a board and paddled out while Kailani and I played with a rental boogie board in a shallow little lagoon that was perfect for little one’s. Kai practiced standing up on the board and we also took turns pulling each other around on it. Later, we ran into Lisa’s brother, Paul, his wife, Sarah and their four kids. Luke, third oldest, found a crab and Kailani played with the four as they made a “home” for the crab in the sand. Paul, Sarah, Sean and I reminisced about New Zealand as they spent a year living there several years ago. Before heading back to the condo to get ready for the wedding, we made a stop to the Kukuiula market in Koloa town to get some essentials for the kitchen. I was happy to find that they had a pretty decent selection of organic and natural foods, so we’ll be going back there, I’m sure.

The wedding was a short walk down, between our condo and the Grand Hyatt, where Rory and Lisa were staying and where the dinner reception was. They picked a spot on the beach for their ceremony based on a turtle sighting in the water. And, just as we walked up to that spot, we saw some there. I’m not sure if it was on purpose or not, but there was also a nice “right” peeling onto the rocks. The ceremony was intimate with about 30 people there. And, their minister did a beautiful Hawaiian-style ceremony. It put a tear in my eyes when Rory and Lisa included Lisa’s 16 year old son, Mikiah, in the ceremony by presenting him with a ring as well. Rory and Lisa have been together for 13 years, so we already view the three of them as a “family”. But, we feel so honored to be invited to wedding to make it “official” and grateful that we were able to make it. We can‘t be happier for them, especially because Caitlin, Sean and I have had the pleasure of camping, snowboarding, traveling to Costa Rica and hanging out with them since Caitlin and Mikiah were young groms playing with each other. We are all bummed that Caitlin wasn’t able to make it. Dinner at The Tidepools at the Hyatt was a great finish to the ceremony. We had some great conversation catching up with Rory’s brother, Pete, his parents, as well as meeting the rest of Lisa’s family and their friends. They served Lisa’s favorite wine, Cakebread Chardonnay, as well as a Napa Valley Silverado red (Cab, I think). And, the food and service was outstanding as well. I devoured both the salad that had a hint of macadamia as well as the crab cake appetizer. For the main, Sean and I both chose the oven roasted banana-macadamia crusted Mahi Mahi with a perfectly-cooked scallop and shrimp. Kai chose the kid’s steak. I asked if they could substitute her mashed potatoes for rice and mentioned that she was ¾ Asian, and our server chuckled. Oh, I can’t forget the chocolate mousse “bomb” for dessert that I devoured and put me over the top.

Although the wedding reception ended with us all making plans for the next morning, things seemed to fizzle out. I’m sure it was the wine talking, and it caught up with us that Friday morning. Sean lost his voice talking to everyone the night before and I was feeling tired as Kailani woke up at the crack of dawn. Sean managed to make it out for a surf session with Rory and the boys, and JUST as Kai and I were going to meet up with Lisa at the hotel for a swim in the pool, I ended up finding Kailani lying between our couch and coffee table with tears in her eyes. I’m not sure what that was about, but we ended up not making it. I put her in bed for a nap instead. Later that afternoon, Sean took Kailani to the Hyatt for a swim session with Rory while I went to the market. And, later that evening, everyone from the wedding gathered at our condo complex pool area for a BBQ.

On Saturday, we figured it was about time we venture around the rest of the island. We grabbed Rory’s brother, Pete, and went for a ride. As we headed north, we rang up our friends who we met in Bali, Abe and Darrah. They were adding some barbed wire fencing to their property as their two cows escaped and were partying with the neighbors. We decided to stop by. We were in awe as we looked around the landscape surrounding their property – two HUGE rocks jutting up the top of the mountain behind them, and a river mouth opening out to a beautiful beach on the other side. Pete later admitted that he was wondering where the heck we were taking him. But, just the same as how we felt about Abe and Darrah, he was pretty stoked to meet such cool and friendly locals.

We were still in awe over such lush and green landscape as we made our way up north. Our next stop was Tunnels Beach right near “the end of the road” (the furthest north you can go) where we went into the large and deep tunnel. It seems so large, until you walk out of it and see that it’s one small part of this huge, huge sheer face cliff. The afternoon was topped off first with a shave ice (we had macadamia ice cream with coconut and pineapple shave ice) as well as some pretty good fish tacos, probably the closest we’ve gotten to Mexican food since leaving the US (although we still don’t count is as “true” Mexican).

Sunday, we were back at our local beach for some playtime for Kailani in the lagoon while Sean and I switched off surfing at the break nearby. Later that evening, we were scheduled to go to a luau with folks from the wedding, but plans fizzled out, mostly when news that it’s held indoors got out. We still had another great dinner, but at a pizza place instead.

Monday, we were scheduled to leave for the mainland, but not until late night. We spend the early part of the day packing up…again. And then, our friend, Clinton, who moved over here from CA came by for a visit in the afternoon. Timing seemed to be perfect for us to give him our leftovers (including some extra soaps, TP, etc.) and he recently moved into a new studio. After having one last dinner, we received an escort to the airport from Clinto. He definitely knows his way around the Lihue airport and everyone knows him as well, because he works there for United. We are truly appreciative of all the hospitality that we’ve been given during our stay on this island! Thanks all!

The Big Island of Hawaii

2008-09-25T15:11:00.000-07:00

09.25.08: After going to be around 2-3am, there was some effort to wake-up that morning in Honolulu. We didn’t have much time to spend at the hotel but to eat the free and unfulfilling continental breakfast and go back to the airport. Somehow, we underestimated and Kailani was down to her last pull-up. So, we were really testing her potty-training skills. I pulled out the cheap Channel knock-off sunglasses that I picked up on a beach in Bali to find that the arm had broken off and it was not repairable. :-( While waiting for our plane at the airport, we grabbed lunch. I got the Kalua pork sandwich and Sean got some chicken teriyaki skewers. Even though it was airport food, it was still nice to have Hawaiian food once again.

Luckily, the flight to Kona was on-time and there were no other hassles, unless you count the Hawaiian Air $25 oversized luggage fee for the surfboard (as opposed to it being free on Air New Zealand). As we got off the plane, memories of spending the night there last Christmas due to a cancelled flight home came back to me. Boy, wasn’t that a fun night! Tutu, aka Grandma Karen, was there to greet us with lei’s and all. She just moved into her recently-built new home just two days before, so we were grateful that she was able to find time to pick us (and the board) up. She even had Kailani’s new car seat that I ordered and had shipped there. First order of business was to hit a store for more Pull-Ups as well as some essential groceries since the new house had an empty fridge.

At Tutu’s new home in Waimea, we were honored to be her first house guests. Even though I was expecting to unpack it myself, she somehow pulled off setting up a room for us to stay in. The last time we saw the house was last Christmas during the framing process and came together beautifully, even with the dust still settling. Waimea is quite higher in elevation that most would think it gets in Hawaii, so the weather can get rather cool at times. But, the view of the valley below from Tutu’s house is spectacular when there’s no bog (this sulfuric fog from the volcanoes) and it’s clear.

The rest of the week was not your typical tourist agenda. We were there to help Tutu and her move, acclimate and get settled back into the US, as well as get ourselves looking decent for the wedding next week. Although there was only a three hour difference from New Zealand, that night, I ended up with a serious case of jetlag, worse than anything I’ve experience so far. I just couldn’t sleep all night! By morning, I couldn’t pull my head up off the pillow and was moving pretty slow. Fortunately, we didn’t have any early plans.

Tutu still had yet to pick-up her second car, the convertible PT Cruiser, from her old condo in Waikoloa Beach. So we headed there. We also stopped by The Sunglass Hut in the Queen’s Marketplace nearby. I tried on about five of their less expensive sunglasses before the sales guy suggested a pair of D&G’s. They worked pretty well, but I still tried on another twenty pairs before giving-in and getting them. I can’t believe I went from a cheap ole pair of Channel knock-offs to an actual designer pair. Sean ended up getting a pair of Arnette’s as well. It was great not to feel so “naked” anymore and we were both feeling a bit more “civilized” again with some decent shades that weren’t all banged up and scratched. Back at the condo, we packed-up more of Tutu’s odds and ends in the two cars. Now that the condo’s vacant, is also up for rent. It’s very tempting to think of moving there, especially when the owner is tempting us with weekly “Date/Kailani and Tutu” nights. It’s fully furnished, so all we’d have to do is roll our suitcases in and jump across the parking lot to the pool with our new shades. :-) With two cars full, we went back up the hill to the new house in Waimea and spent the rest of the day digging through boxes looking for essentials like a spatula.

Saturday morning, I went to my first yoga class since we left California. I was excited that there was an Anusara class (that I also attended last Christmas) at the studio, No Place Like Om, right in Waimea. After the class, I had a nice chat with instructor Katherine, also the owner of the studio and found that No Place Like Om had recently converted to an Anusara-only studio. Isn’t Waimea lucky?!? She also told me that Santa Cruz just finally got an Anusara instructor that just recently moved into town since we left CA. So, at least I won’t have to commute to the valley for Anusara classes.

After, Sean, Kailani and I headed to the Waimea Farmer’s Market. Although it was fun to see the different booths with produce and crafts, I didn’t shop much. The thought of trying to eat up all the leftovers during our last three days in Auckland stuck with me. There were a number of booths selling ready-made food as well. Sean got the typical Hawaiian pork lau lau and pork teriyaki lunch plate. I had a few bites and worked hard not to devour the rest of it. It was good!

Later, we headed to the Kona airport to pick up a small moving van and then back to Tutu’s condo to move a few more pieces of furniture. After going back to Kona to return the van, we headed to the Kona Brewing Company for an early dinner where I had a beer sampler with: the Fire Rock Pale Ale, a good ole’ standby; the Macadamia Nut Brown Ale, a seasonal beer and one of our new favorites; the Pipeline Porter, made with Kona coffee and our favorite last time; and Seasonal Stout (don’t remember the name exactly) which I’d have to say was even better than the Pipeline Porter. Before jumping in the car and heading home, we stopped by their “Growler Shack” in the parking lot and refilled the “growler” (gallon jug) that we had purchased last Christmas. This time, we got the Macadamia Nut Brown Ale. Yummmm!

Sunday was our beach day. We went back to a beach that we really liked during our last visit, Pine Tree (aka O’oma or Kohanaiki, not exactly sure) for some surfing. It’s right near the Kona airport and it takes about 20 minutes to go down a ½ mile road in 4-wheel drive. You can actually camp there too. We were blessed with waves again at this spot, so Sean and I took turns with our New Zealand board. Even Kailani caught some waves. There’s this part of the beach that’s protected by a reef area and forms a perfect “baby pool”. While Sean was out, Kailani spotted a couple of 4-5 year old boys playing there with boogie boards. We grabbed one of Tutu’s boogie boards and I was pulling Kailani around on it and pushing her into some waves. She started watching how the boys were doing it, and pretty soon, she was jumping on the board from the shoreline, paddling out, and Sean (who ended his session) would turn her around and push her into the waves. I got some pretty good footage of it and hopefully will be able to post it up. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc68qhR5miI and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkttdSYZdnk)

After Pine Tree, we went into Kona to the Verizon store. I was feeling even more “normal” again when they were able to re-activate my phone. Unfortunately, I had to get a Hawaii phone number that will have to be changed to a CA number when we get there. But, it’s sure nice to have a phone again that you don’t have to worry if you have enough pre-pay minutes left! I also picked up a couple other goodies. First, a Bluetooth headset since hearing that there’s a new California law prohibiting anyone from talking on a phone while driving. Second, an internet USB card for my laptop. So, we won’t have to search for wifi hot spots anymore and worrying about purchased time running out. Ah, technology!

Later that night, we ordered pizza for dinner. I do have to mention that I could barely stop eating the Zesty Fiesta pizza, which had chorizo, sausage, tomato and jalapeno peppers (which I picked off, but still had “essence” on it). It was reminiscent of the Golden Greek from Jake’s in Sunnyvale that we used to get.

On Monday morning, I accompanied Tutu to her Pilates class, my first time ever. I felt like I was fumbling a bit and sweat a lot. But, it felt good to stretch out the soreness from the yoga class two days before and was fun to listen to the ladies chit-chat.

After class, the four of us headed to Mountain Thunder, an organic coffee farm up in the hills of Kona. They do free tours every hour, where we learned everything you think you could possibly know about coffee: the four processes it goes through to make it; the different colors, sizes and roasts available; what good coffee should be like; etc. I know this place must be really good with their marketing because they have appeared on several television shows, apparent by the TV playing a DVD of all their appearances at the farm, but I do have to say that I’m impressed with the quality of their stuff. And, although I actually don’t normally drink coffee anymore, I still will never look at a coffee bean the same again. After the tour, I was also able to take Kailani down to check out their pig, baby goose and chicken. She always gets a kick out of seeing animals.

The rest of the afternoon, we spent getting lunch, doing some errands and shopping for outfits to wear to Rory and Lisa’s wedding in Kauai next week. For what seemed like a small selection of shops to choose from, we did quite well. However, we did have remorse in spending that money when we went back home to watch CNN and find out how bad the stock market did that day! Watching what they have to say about the Presidential and especially the Vice Presidential candidates was a little more entertaining, but still depressing.

On Tuesday morning, the contractor, cable guy, window covering guy, AV guy and Concrete Pete were all at the house finishing up loose ends. It was also our last full day on the island, so we left to take care of stuff: dump run (there’s no garbage pick-up in Waimea), post office, market and lunch. We then decided to go back to the beach for a quick afternoon surf session. We cruised by Hapuna beach, hoping for some variety, but it was flat. So, we ended up back at Pine Tree. It was also pretty small there, but at least there were waves. Kailani was so excited to go “surfing” on the boogie board again that she pulled her clothes off and got dressed into her bathing suit herself. Sean went out and I took Kai into the water right after we had a couple of mongoose sightings. She did so well that I didn’t even have to retrieve her after pushing her to shore on a wave. She’d jump off the board, turn it around, jump back on it, and paddle back to me (with the slight help of a mini-current). I have a feeling that if she spent enough time in warm water, I’m SURE she’d be surfing in no time!

Later that night, Tutu treated us to very-easy-to-go-down lilikoi margaritas and dinner at the Kawaihae Harbor Grill Seafood Bar, down the hill and near the shipping port from Waimea. It had been drizzly all day in Waimea, so it was nice to escape that, sit outside on their lanai and enjoy the fresh sea air for the night. The geckos were out and Kailani had fun watching them, if not watching the PSP. The food was great and it was especially nice to have such a nice going-away dinner and spent with Tutu!

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

2008-09-25T12:36:00.000-07:00

09.25.08: In Auckland, we woke up at the crack of dawn for our 11am Hawaii flight for a number of reasons. First, the hotel said our taxi could take up to an hour plus to get to the airport during morning rush hour traffic. Second, we had the rental car seat to return. From there, we needed to hop on an airport shuttle. And then, we had to retrieve the surfboard and we were advised to check-in early because boards are only allowed pending space available. Well, the taxi took no more than twenty minutes; the shuttle was probably no more than five; and I’m sure we were the first one’s to check-in for our flight. After all that, our flight was delayed by two and a half hours! At least there was one good, shocking thing. Air New Zealand doesn’t charge oversized baggage fees for surfboards. Yep! US carriers can typically charge $125. So, I didn’t believe it until it happened. With our half day spent waiting for our flight to take off, we ate both breakfast and lunch before we were given refreshment vouchers, drank our way through the vouchers, and did some last minute shopping at the Auckland airport, spending way more than our budget allowed.

The plane ride was about nine hours and felt even longer than that. With as much flying as we’ve done, I thought I’d be able to endure it better. But, that’s one of the longest legs we’ve done in the past several months, and it felt like it. Kailani flew like a champ. She was pretty happy the first part of the flight, took a really long nap in the middle, and woke up in the groggy and quiet state where she sat on my lap and watched on-board videos until we landed.

When we finally landed in Honolulu, it was September 25th at midnight. (If our plane wasn’t late, it would have been one day earlier due to a short hop over the International Date Line and a three hour time difference.) Because we checked-in so early, our luggage was the last to come out. I was amazed when we passed through immigration and customs with only a couple questions and were allowed to enter onto US soil again. Not that there should be any reason to believe otherwise, it’s just felt like we’ve been gone so long. I was sure glad we decided to book at The Ohana airport hotel when the free shuttle was right there to pick us up and the ride was only three minutes long. Although the hotel was recently remodeled, it was definitely nothing to rave about. But, it was close and good enough to crash for the night. Once in our room, it took us some time to settle down, but we were finally able to get some sleep.

Auckland: Part 3

2008-09-21T12:24:00.000-07:00

Check out the beautiful colors on those Hallertau brews.

From the Auckland airport, "Good Bye New Zealand!"
(Notice the new pink, organic cotton tiki shirt in both pictures that Kailani refuses to change out of.)

09.21.08: Our third and last time in Auckland hasn’t been very exciting. We drove into a campground in south Auckland, near the airport, from Raglan, made dinner and crashed for the night. The next day, Kailani bee-lined it right to the playground and made friends with a couple older girls (four and six, I think) from Australia who were just ending their trip here as well. It seems many people use this campground as their last stop (pretty obvious, due to the full trash/recycle cans and leftovers in their kitchen) before returning their vehicle to the airport and flying out. Their family of five had been camping around both the north and south island for 59 days, which beat us by a week and a half. Wow!

After that, we started getting ready to leave the country for Hawaii. Our first stop was to Kumeu, to go back to the shop where we got our board. We wanted to return the book, New Zealand Surf Guide, that Bryan, the owner of Hardcore Surf, let us borrow. We also talked about selling the board back to him, but ended up liking the great price that he sold it to us for, and decided to keep it. Instead of selling us a board bag, he was nice enough to package it up for our flight. He supplied a cardboard box and we ended up using our NZ wool duvet as cushion. That worked out great, as it was an investment to acquire and I hated to see it left here, but didn’t think it was worth it to ship/carry home.

Kumeu is also a wine region, and after taking care of business, we were hungry for lunch. We ended up at the Hallertau Brewbar and Restaurant, co-located with the Riverhead Winery. Sean ended up with a beer tasting “paddle” and I ended up with a sparkling fruit wine (boysenberry, feijoa, pear and apple cider) tasting “paddle”. We had some great seafood chowder as well as trying their ostrich burger (with a slice of beetroot, which is standard in all Oz and NZ burgers). Along with the warm apple crisp and Westbrook Dessert Reisling (which they call dessert wines “stickies” here), all was great.

Our last order of business was to check into a hotel so we could unload all our junk and sort it out, pack some, send some home via post, throw away trash, etc. I thought I finally found a place, but as we got there, it ended up being RIGHT in the heart of Auckland with lots of people walking around and traffic. They didn’t have a car park (parking lot) on-site, but had a loading zone in front and garage around the block. When I went in, I came to find the garage wasn’t tall enough to fit our camper. So, we spent the rest of the afternoon driving around until we found another room. Although this suburban motel unit wasn’t as nice as the downtown apartment, it was on the ground floor and had free parking right in front of our door.

The next day, we were still taking care of business, packing and shipping some stuff back to CA. We ended up with a TON of stuff! Luckily, we were able to get a box from the hotel, and ended up needing/getting another from the post office. And the cost for shipping those boxes back? Let’s just say…ouch!!! After that, we went to lunch at a quaint little café down the street in Parnell. Then, we went back to our room to sort out the rest of our junk.

On Wednesday, we took a ride to the airport so we could drop off our surfboard to be stored for a day. We figured it would be easier to take it while we still had the camper, rather than trying to find transportation that would be able to handle it. After, we went to the Auckland CBD (downtown area or “Central Business District”) for some lunch and last minute souvenir shopping. Last time we were in Auckland (on our way to Kelly Tarlton’s Antartic Adventure), I spotted a sign for a Chinese restaurant that looked good. Unfortunately, I couldn’t figure out where it was again when it was time to eat lunch that day. This time around, I finally figured out where it was. So, that’s where we went for lunch. The restaurant is called China and it’s right off Quay Street sort of behind the big Foodtown. They serve Yum Char (dim sum) all day, and we all ate more than we thought we would. There were lots of people eating there, but not so many that we couldn’t get a table, and many Asians. For us, that always seems to be a good sign. (Well, Asians at least in Asian restaurant.) Fortunately, we walked some of it off doing that last minute shopping. From there, it was time to drop off our camper. With that and the afternoon almost gone, we went back to our hotel, finished packing everything up and set the alarm clock for the crack of dawn.

From Aotearoa (New Zealand) with aroha (love, same as “aloha” in Hawaiian) here are just a few things we will most remember about this country: the beautiful green landscape and the friendly people; great waves in clean, CLEAN water; beaches teaming with life, all the mussels, oysters and kina (urchins, or so Kailani calls “Ivans”, from the movie “Surf’s Up”) that we ate; how unpopulated it is compared to California (as I say, just as many sheep and cow in NZ as people in CA). I’m sure there’s much, much more than that too!

Raglan

2008-09-17T15:02:00.000-07:00

Raglan's Famous Long Left-Handers

At the Waingaro Hot Springs

...and the Big Splash!

Some YouTube Videos of the waterslide:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM3-Y0zxP8c&feature=user
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HssNL185fCg

09.17.08: After several hours of driving, we finally arrived in Raglan in the dark. Right as we entered town, it started raining for the first time in probably about a week. We drove around looking for Solscape, where they had cabins and these cute little cabooses to stay in, as well as a supposed seven campervan sights. Sean had trouble finding the reception area, and ended up knocking on the door of a guest staying in the front house. It turns out that John is from Pleasure Point in Santa Cruz. I think this is the second American we’ve run into in the past month of being here. The reception area ended up being closed, so we started looking for a campsite on our own. We couldn’t find anything. Apparently, they were going through some construction (building some spacious new cabins with a beautiful view) and there were now only four campervan sights and all were occupied. It was dark and late, so we ended up parking in their lot and crashing for the night.

In the morning, we woke to find we were up on a hill with a view overlooking one of Raglan’s best surf breaks in Manu Bay. Luckily, management was able to “bump” one of the cars from a campervan sight to another spot, as it was really only a construction worker’s car parked there. Unfortunately, we were also charged for spending the night in the car park, but it was a small fee and well worth it. It turns out that Phil, who owns the place, actually grew up in Cupertino until Junior High. We also met some more Americans, three gals from Oregon who had just arrived to New Zealand the night before. From NZ, they were going to Australia and then Bali, basically a backwards route from what we took. Again, small world!

We went about 8 km back into town to have breakfast. This sleepy little beach town, considerably large for New Zealand standards, has a really creative and artistic flair to it that you can see from many of the houses and in the cute shops in town. We ended up at the Tongue and Groove café for breakfast where I ordered the Nasi Goreng. I guess I was feeling reminiscent after talking about Bali with the Oregonian girls. It ended up being one of the best I’ve ever tasted, perhaps even better than anything I had in Bali.

The rain continued throughout the day, either pouring like buckets or clearing-up for a while. We drove around, checking out all the different surf breaks, but it was pretty much blown out and victory-at-sea. We heard from a couple locals how the swell had just hit a couple days ago. (The “should have been here yesterday” line) We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around at the campground hoping that the next swell that’s supposed to hit in the next couple days will bring good waves.

On day two at Raglan, the weather and waves didn’t really change. We had breakfast at Tongue and Groove again, and explored the boutiques around town. After that, we had to find something else to do. We ended up a few kilometers up north to the Waingaro Hot Springs. It wasn’t nearly as nice as the one’s in Lake Rotorua or Lake Taupo. In fact, the water might have been chlorinated. But, my back was in desperate need of a chiropractic adjustment and Sean’s has been bugging him too. I’m sure it’s all the driving we’ve been doing. At least they had some fun little slides for Kailani. And JUST as we were ready to leave, they turn on their two warm water hydro-slides, The Big Splash, 450 ft and New Zealand’s longest water slide, and the Kamikaze. We had a blast going down and made friends with another surfer/snowboarder Kiwi guy named Karin who invited us to go back to his place to hang out and have a proper shower. Unfortunately, out of the one day that we actually had plans, it happened to be that day.

We headed back to Solscape and met up with John and his girlfriend Lisa, both from Santa Cruz, for a sunset glass of wine on their cabin’s deck with a view. We had a great time chatting with them as they seem to me like a good representation of the Santa Cruz population. It really made me homesick to move back there and be a part of that community after all these years.

On Saturday/day three at Raglan, we originally planned to be heading out, but the weather and waves finally cleared up. So, of course we had to stay longer. After going to another café for breakfast for Eggs Benedict (so rare of me to eat!), we went to Wainui beach, a beach break. I let Sean go out first while Kailani and I collected all these cool little “swirl” shells that neither Sean nor I have ever seen before. After watching him struggle (and loose his Eggs Benedict) paddling out, I decided to pass. We ran into Kelly from Oregon again, who was also looking exhausted. After chatting for while, we took off. We were heading back to Solscape for another night, but ended up deciding to drive by Manu Bay to check it out. It turns out that the waves there were looking better. Manu Bay is known for it’s long left hand breaks and reminds me of the Hook in Santa Cruz, except it’s a left and there are some sketchy rocks to get out past instead of reef. Sean went out (to redeem himself) until it started dropping.

When we went back to Solscape, all the campervan spots were taken. We were also liking John and Lisa’s cabin, and they left that day. But unfortunately, someone else beat us to that too. Luckily, there was another cabin available, The Ivy House. It was actually the first house built on the property, what I nicknamed “The Hobbit House”, covered with ivy and ended up having just a nice of a view. Since the bedroom was in a loft on the second floor, you also had a view from there. It was pretty rustic, but we ended up loving it’s charm. It was also pretty nice to stretch out, be in a “real” bed and under a “real’ roof for the night.

On Sunday, we checked out and headed back to Manu Bay for one more session. The swell had dropped, but still there were some waves. We took turns paddling out and then hit the road back up north to Auckland.

Wanganui

2008-09-16T22:36:00.000-07:00

Mount Taranaki

White Cliffs Organic Brewery

09.16.08: We drove north from Wellington for a few hours and finally decided to stop for the night in the town of Wanganui, along the west coast of New Zealand’s north island. After checking out this campground that had a shower and toilet for every campervan sight, we decided that a tiny grass “parking lot” behind a motel with little outhouses between each sight was a little too crowded for our taste. So instead, we went to a campground near Castlecliff beach and surf break. The beaches on the west coast are a lot more rugged, with black sand and a lot of driftwood, rather than the white sand and gorgeous blue waters of the east coast. Unfortunately, the waves at Castlecliff were also pretty blown out. So, we had dinner, an early night, checked the barely breaking waves the next morning and continued our drive up north.

Highway 3 meandered along the coast for a few hours but then cut inland when we got near the Taranaki District, aka Cape Egmont. This area looks pretty strange on the map. It sticks out from the island and has a huge mountain, Mount Taranaki, right in the middle of it. The mountain is high enough to get snow and is a ski area. Driving up to it reminded us of driving towards Mount Bachelor in Oregon. The strange thing about this mountain though, is that all around it is coastline. So, you can actually be at the beach with a snowy mountain as your backdrop. Although you can take Highway 45, aka The Surf Highway, along the coast around Mount Taranaki, we opted to drive right up north to the town of New Plymouth to check it out first.

In New Plymouth, we found some decent waves at Fitzroy beach. I was a little lazy. So, I let Sean go out first while I stayed in the camper and took a quick nap. Kailani played around with and inside the big box that we store the surfboard in. She keeps asking for a playhouse, but Sean thinks that we can get away with giving her a large cardboard box and cut window holes in it. ;-) Unfortunately, the tide started dropping and waves died right as Sean went out. So, by the time he finished, there was no use for me to go. We hit the road again.

Just as Kailani fell asleep for her afternoon nap and we were all ready to make some tracks, we come upon some signs that say “Brewery coming up in 1200 liters”, etc. I didn’t think we were going to stop until we came upon the actual brewery and noticed that it was an organic brewery. White Cliff brewery, in the middle of nowhere, was one of six organic breweries in all of New Zealand (and one of two on the North Island). We tasted a wonderful Mike’s Mild Ale that reminded me of a chocolaty porter and had a nice and refreshing conversation with the owner, originally a school teacher from South Africa, who really takes pride in her organic, non-filtered and non-pasteurized brew (fermented and non-pasteurized being especially good for digestive health). They also sold some organic Feijoa Sparkling Wine, a Plum Port and Pinot Noir from the South Island. Along with some organic macadamia nuts, we walked out with a little of everything. With all these bottles of organic wine and beer and only a week left in New Zealand, I’m sure we’ll be leaving with some of it. I also came upon a brochure there, advertising the web site, organicexplorer.com, listing organic food, eco-accommodation and ecotourism businesses. I haven’t been online to check it out, but am still a little bummed that I again didn’t know about this when we were planning our trip here. But what can you do?

Again, we got in the car thinking that we were now going to make tracks. But further down the road, Kailani woke up and we ended up stopping at the town of Mokau looking for something to eat. Seeing as it proclaims to be the whitebait capital, we went to The Whitebait Inn where I ordered a whitebait burger. Whitebait seems to be one of the country’s favorite foods and are little white fish, smaller than anchovies, that are caught in rivers and streams using a net. The burger was pretty good, as well was the fried oysters and scallops that Sean ordered….of course, accompanied with chips. Finally, we headed off and made tracks to Raglan.

Wellington

2008-09-15T22:35:00.000-07:00

We didn't get any pictures of Wellington, but some of the cute ducks at our campground.

09.15.08: We left the Wairarapa Valley south towards Wellington, which sits on the far south of the North Island and surprisingly is New Zealand’s capital city (not Auckland). As we drove over a mountain range into the Wellington area, Sean mentioned how the hills reminded him of Highway 92 going over Half Moon Bay. We spent the night at a campground in the Lower Hutt Valley, and ventured into the city the next day. Just like Auckland sort of reminded me of Seattle or Portland, the city of Wellington, as I’ve heard before, appeared to look similar to San Francisco. It’s right near the water and the building architecture is similar, but without a homeless population, dirty streets, parking problems or zero-lot house lines.

The first thing we did was spot a New World market on the way into the city. I read that the city’s New Worlds tend to be larger than rural ones and we needed a few things. So, I was happy when there were things there that I hadn’t seen in other markets in a while. After, Kailani was getting hungry and I was in need of a Chinese food fix. So, we headed to a restaurant that our Rough Guide called the best Chinese place in the city. Unfortunately, it was closed. Having just fed the parking meter, we wandered down the street to find another place, and had a Yum Char (dim sum) lunch, which was decent. We had to wolf it all down fast as Kailani wasn’t having a great time there, even after being the one who was asking to eat.

After lunch, we wanted to take a ride on Wellington’s cable car, which takes you up a hill to their botanical gardens. Just as we were driving up to the cable car station, Kailani proceeded to fall asleep for her afternoon nap. Seeing as how fussy she was during lunch, we ended up passing on the cable car. It’s not like we haven’t ridden on one before anyway. Instead, we did a drive-by of the botanical gardens to at least see what it was about. Going up there, we got a good feel for what the city looked like. The downtown area had plenty of shopping opportunities, which I could have used a shopping fix too. But, we decided to take advantage of the nap time and hit the road from Wellington up north, this time on the west coast of the island. It seemed weird how familiar it looked when we were going out of Wellington as it looked kind of like the suburb of Daly City, south of San Francisco. But when we were finally out of the suburbs, it was back to looking like New Zealand. The freeway turned back into a two lane road that went in and out of small towns with no stop lights and green rolling hills with sheep and cows, more and more as you got further from the city.

Wairarapa Valley

2008-09-14T22:34:00.000-07:00

Middleton Model Railway

Yummy Cymglyn Farmhouse cheese!

09.14.08: In the afternoon, we left Hawke’s Bay south towards Wellington, drove a few hours, and ended up at a town called Eketahuna for the night. The campground is fairly simple, but only ended up costing $12. Again, at least it sort of makes up for the extravagant lunches we’ve had the past couple days. Sean and Kailani were able to do some fishing in the stream near our site before it got dark, although didn’t end up with anything…again. We were still pretty full from lunch, so dinner was simple: salami, a gouda-type organic cheese, crackers, grapes and some Millton un-oaked Chardonnay. Considering that I thought we got a pretty substantial chunk of cheese that morning at the Farmer’s Market, it sure disappeared pretty fast.

Our stop in Eketahuna was not only because it was en route, but there was also a farm that makes organic cheese that I wanted to visit, called Cwmglyn (pronounced Coom-glin). Apparently, they were also famous for having The Middleton Model Railway. I tried calling to see if they would be open on a Monday morning, but my phone was out of batteries and kept dying. However, the night before, I asked the campground manager how to get there, and she pointed us 10 minutes back up the road north to Mangamaire. The town was not more than a couple buildings and there were no obvious signage towards the farm. After going around in circles, we finally found a local walking down the street to ask. It turns out that the farm was not north of the campground, but south. After all that, we finally found Cwmglyn, but the sign outside said it was only open on the weekends unless prior arrangements were made, and it was Monday. However, there was another sign that said the shop was open. We didn’t know what to do, but the owner finally came out to open the gate that leads to the property. So, we were in luck!

It turns out that the 7 acre farm consists of four milking cows, a steer and Biddie and her husband (didn’t catch his name) Fraser-Davies, originally from the UK. The model railway was HUGE and Biddie’s husband was kind enough to turn it on for Sean and Kailani. As well, they had a few toy railways for Kailani to play with. Meanwhile, Biddie fed me samples of her cheese, which were named by which cow’s milk it was made from. We had some of Emily’s cheese, one mixed with cumin and one with fennel, as well as a “Mystery” cheese, unknown because the label wore off during the aging process. I also had a nice chat with Biddie about her cows, the milking and cheese making process, how raw milk is illegal in New Zealand, how another local farmer gets past the law and how they are hoping that it will change soon, since raw cheese is allowed to be imported from Europe. It turns out that they farm with organic methods but can’t afford to pay the $2,000 to become certified, now the second time we’ve heard this. Biddie also had some awesome-looking glass and metal cloissone art pieces for sale in their shop. But apparently, all the affordable pieces are snatched up too quick. With more cheese in hand, we continued our drive down south.

We headed further south through the Wairarapa valley, also known for being a wine producing region. I thought we were going to just go through the town of Gladstone, but ended up having Sean stop the car when we passed by a sign for an organic winery, Urlar. Unfortunately, the winery didn’t even have a Cellar Door (wine tasting room) yet. They were only a year old and had just bottled their first vintage. The bottles weren’t even back from the bottling plant in Hawke’s Bay yet. Hopefully, it does well and I get a chance to come across this wine in the future.

Our next stop was for lunch, in the town of Martinborough, the region’s wine capital. We had sandwiches and a glass of wine each (good, but not great) at the Village Café, right in the center of town. After, we went next door to the Martinborough Wine Center. Although the town is supposed to have many Cellar Doors close to town and within walking distance of each other, we were feeling pressed for time with a little over a week left in the country. So, the Wine Center was our one-stop-shop to learn about the region’s wines. They were tasting a few wines from a local winery (Three “something”), that was not so impressive. But, they also sold all the other region’s wines. I asked if there were any organic wines, and Amanda, who worked there, pointed me to Vynfields, which I took a couple bottles of with me to try.

As Amanda inquired me about my interest in organic wines, I came to learn that she recently purchased 15 acres of farmland (for personal use) with her WINEMAKER partner and they were learning about biodynamic AND organic farming (after also traveling around the world for 8 months). It turns out that they are a member of WWOOF, an organization which matches travelers who are willing to work on organic farms, with the farms. I looked into doing this in Europe when we were originally planning our trip, but ended up putting it on hold “until Australia or New Zealand”. Some of the farms in Europe required more time than we had and/or weren’t child-friendly. Amanda mentioned that their farm animals certainly seemed to be child-friendly and they adopted 21 baby lamb who were either rejected by their mothers or their mother had died during the birthing process and they needed to be bottle-fed. Wouldn’t Kailani have been the perfect helper for that? I couldn’t sleep that night because I was kicking myself for missing the opportunity to stay on a farm that would have been perfect for us! If only we had more time...

Hawke’s Bay

2008-09-13T13:34:00.000-07:00

A tamarillo at the farmer's market

Sean and Kailani at Te Mata Peak

No kangaroos in the vineyards like in Oz. This time, it's sheep!

9.13.08: We left Lake Taupo late morning to go a couple hours east back to Napier. We didn’t do a whole lot when we got into town. We were starving, so our first priority was to find somewhere to go for lunch. We ended up at a warehouse converted into a nice restaurant near the wharf just north of town in an area called Ahuriri where we splurged on oysters, a steamed shellfish “bucket” (really a bowl, but the biggest darn bowl I’ve ever seen) and some (unexpectedly fried) crab ravioli in a lobster bisque sauce. Sean loved his Mac’s Sassy Red beer, made in Wellington. And I had the local Brookfields Sauv, although not my favorite Sauv. Ever since we’ve been in New Zealand, Kailani has been asking for rice, sometimes with chicken. The only things they ever seem to have on the kids menu are things accompanied with chips. But luckily I asked, and they were able to serve her some fish with rice. She enjoyed the rice. We didn’t really taste the Grand Marnier in their Grand Marinier Crème Brulee, but it wasn’t half bad either.

Afterwards, we headed down the coast just south of Napier to a campground in Clifton. The greatest thing about it was that it was free AND right along the coast. We thought it would make up for the extravagant lunch we just had. We laid low that night, but Sean tried some fishing again the next morning, unfortunately, with no luck.

On Sunday morning, we left our campground and we headed to the Hastings Show Grounds for the Farmer’s Market. I was excited that we were finally somewhere that had a Farmer’s Market AND we were there during the weekend, when they usually take place. To top it off, we were also in a pretty good produce growing region. Organic produce seems to be very rare to find in NZ’s grocery stores (I think I’ve only gotten apples and bananas), and from asking at the last health food store I went to, it’s pretty much only sold at Farmer’s Markets. Still, I have to say that it was not that plentiful there. However, we did walk away with some good organic cheese, spelt bread, stir fry greens and a cup of coffee for Sean. As well, Kai got an organic yogurt smoothie, I got a fresh “liver cleanser” juice (apple, orange, beetroot and lemon), some stir fry venison meat to go with the greens and some “heat and eat” meatballs in marinara sauce. So, we were stocked up pretty good. As well, I finally found out what a tamarillo was. It’s a fruit that you scoop out of the skin with a spoon, similar to a kiwi. But, it’s red and tastes like a fruity tomato, which makes sense why it’s also called a tomato tree fruit.

After the Farmer’s Market, we headed back towards the coast, hitting Te Mata peak on the way, which I believe it’s about 300 meters high. It was a beautiful clear day, and from the lookout on the top, we had some stunning views of the bay. It had also just recently snowed on the peaks of the mountain range opposite the ocean, so there were some great views that way too. I have to admit that I was a little shaky walking around at the top, stepping around sheep poop. It looked like rolling hills from one side. But on the other side, it dropped off almost vertical. Hopefully, we got some good shots with the camera.

From Te Mata peak, we went back near our campground to Clear View Estates winery. We were hungry for lunch again and Kailani was getting pretty rambunctious in the car. We read that this winery had a restaurant and a children’s play area, so we were sold. As expected, it was right across the street from the coast. The restaurant was rustic but the food was gourmet quality. The wine wasn’t half bad either. So, what else can you ask for? We ordered our lunch and went to the tasting room to pick some wine to go with our food. Sean got their signature dish, made with all local ingredients, for a regional Hawke’s Bay competition. It was a “lamb rack” (as they call it) accompanied with some wilted greens and roasted shallots in a phyllo dough cup. And to go with it, he had a glass of the Pinot Noir. I had the steamed flounder and salmon. Both fish were wrapped together and almost looked like a scallop when it first came out (with the orange part attached, the way they serve scallops here). It was accompanied with a shrimp and spinach orzo. And to go with that, I had the “Unwooded” Chardonnay. Kai had chicken meatballs. Although it came with spiral pasta and marinara sauce, that’s all she would eat before heading back to the play area. And for dessert, we all split a warm apple cake with (a rum?) cream sauce, topped with ice cream, and a glass of dessert Chardonnay. We also walked out with a bottle of their Gewürztraminer and Pinot Noir. It was complete indulgence!

Although I was hoping to do more wine tasting in this area, none of the wineries stood out as a “must see”, and we are starting to feel pressed that our time here’s running out fast. But, I do feel satisfied that we were able to take advantage of what this area, known as the culinary capital of New Zealand, has to offer.

Lake Taupo

2008-09-11T13:33:00.000-07:00

09.11.08: We left said good-bye to the chicken, cows and horses at The Waipatiki Beach Farm Park, went south to Napier, filled up on gas, and then headed an hour and a half west to Lake Taupo. As usual, more rolling hills with sheep and cows and the weather was rainy and windy.

We checked into the Lake Taupo Top 10 Holiday Park, mostly because we read that it was a recently-built, modern facility and it was that time of the month again. No, I’m not speaking about female stuff. We figured they would have some good internet facilities to take care of bill paying. Needless to say, we didn’t do anything that much exciting that day. I found a post office to send my “starving student” daughter some money, and spent most of the rest of the day paying bills and taking care of business (including booking our flight back to CA. So mark the date, October 7th!), while Sean and Kailani played in their playground, complete with another bouncing pillow. However, we did find a great little café in town called Fine Fettle that served organic-if-possible, wholesome food. I got a Caesar salad, Sean got the mussel chowder and Kailani got the wheat-free, dairy-free lasagna.

We liked that restaurant so much, that the next day, we were there again for breakfast. Sean got the eggs benedict and Kailani and I shared the buckwheat pancakes. As well, we also had a detox juice with a double shot of wheatgrass. Yum! This is the second time we’ve ordered pancakes for breakfast, and both times they’ve come with bacon and grilled bananas. So, I’m guessing those are the standard fixings for pancakes. All was good again. In fact, we also ended up with a frozen package of their takeaway mussel chowder, to eat later.

We moved down the road to another campsite, The Taupo DeBretts Spa Resort, where they had campground facilities, fresh hot mineral water pools, warm water playground and a spa. We spent most of the afternoon jumping around, trying the various pools. And, our adrenaline-junky daughter kept asking to go down their “Dragon Hydro-Slide” (luckily with warm water) again, and again, and again! It was at least 2-3 stories tall was fast enough to turn me sideways at least a couple times. Needless to say, Kailani tucked herself in and slept well that afternoon for her nap. And Sean and I took turns that evening getting some spa treatments. After that, so did we!

Waipatiki Beach

2008-09-10T13:32:00.000-07:00

09.10.08: We left Gisborne down south towards Napier, where the turn off West to the center of the island would take us to Lake Taupo. We knew we wouldn’t make it all the way there, so we decided to spend the night at a campsite called the Waipatiki Beach Farm Park, which was 35 kilometers north of Napier. Driving down, we went past the usual green rolling hills with sheep and cows. (Can I mention enough how many green rolling hills with sheep and cows we’ve been past?!?) But, also went through a forest where there were some pretty steep grades and sharp switchbacks. In fact, the biggest one had a name, Devil’s Elbow.

As usual, it started to get slightly wet, and I was wondering if it was such a great idea to camp so far out of civilization if it was going to be like that. Luckily, it started to clear up right after we checked in. I thought this place would be fun because it was not only a farm, but right on the beach. Although there were cows, horses and chicken right on the property, we didn’t do much with them. But, the beach ended up being this hidden gem in a cove that only had two other houses there besides the campground. Unfortunately, the waves weren’t rideable. But, Sean tried his hand at fishing another time, unfortunately with no luck. Still, we were in awe as we watched the sun set on this beach with not another single soul around.

Gisborne

2008-09-08T13:31:00.000-07:00

09.08.08: In the afternoon, we arrived in Gisborne from the East Cape after driving for quite a few hours. We figured that, if the weather was still windy and wet, at least we would be “in civilization” and there’d be stuff to do. We checked into a camp site right near the beach.

The waves were small but lining up, and it looked way mellower than the past two places where Sean got his butt kicked. So, I decided to go out. Out in the water, the waves were actually a bit mellower and harder to read than I expected, but it was still fun. When I got out, I talked to an older fellow who was out there with me, on a 12 foot board. He recommended I go to a local shop where they hire longboards, if that gives you any indication what the waves were like. But at least, the swell should still hold until the next day. And still, it was nice to get wet.

So the next day, it was Sean’s turn to go out. Kailani and I found a GREAT playground across the street from the beach, where they had this really fun “Rocktopus” ride. It was four tires, each hanging from a pole, off a pole in the middle. Not only did they swing around, but also back and forth in a seasaw motion. I would put her on it, run and push the tires around, and then jump onto one of them. Sorry, hard to explain, but she had a good time for quite a while.

After that, we went to a local eatery overlooking the beach for lunch. This was a place we had never been to before. While we were parking our car, Kailani instantly wanted to go into the restaurant and talked about playing with toys. When we walked in, she bee-lined it right to a corner of the restaurant, and behind this partition where staff could get stuff in storage, and found a couple baskets of toys. Don’t ask me how she sniffed them out! Very strange! Anyway, I had some pan fried tarahiki (white flaky fish) and Sean had some fried scallops. Both came with chips. Kailani had the kid’s fish and chips. I tell you, these Kiwis really like to eat everything with chips!

Later in the afternoon, we headed a few kilometers out of town to the Millton winery. I had been looking forward to going there as it is a biodynamic and certified organic winery. I seriously can’t remember the last Chardonnay I actually liked. So much to my surprise, they had one that was non-barrel fermented that was very pleasing to my palate. It was very light, both in color and taste. And, not too oaky or buttery like California ones tend to be. The other two that they were sampling that day were also really nice. So, we walked out of there with a couple of Chardonnays as well as a Chenin Blanc and a Malbec. To top off our culinary experience, we stopped by a local fish monger by the wharf, Real, where Sean picked out some mussels and more tarahiki.

After returning back to the camp, it was my turn to go into the water again. The swell was definitely dying by that point, but still I caught a few fun ones right before the sun set. We cooked a nice dinner in the camp’s kitchen that was previously deserted that morning. That night, a group of university students who were traveling around studying rivers took over the place. I think they might have been the same group that was camping with us on the East Cape, but it’s hard to tell since we went to bed so early that night. Kailani is sooo intrigued by people that age, she barely ate any dinner. I’m not sure if it’s because she has an older sister that age or what. Hard to tell, but she was entertained by watching them.

East Cape: Te Kaha and Te Araroa

2008-09-06T13:25:00.000-07:00

One of several sceneries along our drive.

Kailani and Baby Bear, during our "East Cape Sunrise Pajama Party"

The sun rising on the East Cape

Early morning herding of cows along the road

09.06.08: From our campground in Ohope, we stopped at Whakatane to quickly stock-up at the local New World market before heading off to the East Cape. During the drive, it was a beautiful, blue sunny day. So far, the East Cape seems a lot like California about 50 years ago, with stunning coastline views and beautiful, blue ocean water, but without as much development or people. I took a TON of pictures because of the beautiful scenery, although it’s kind of hard in such a bouncy moving camper. As we drove along, we were hoping for some good surf spots. But the swell died off and nothing was really breaking. We stopped at a campground in Te Kaha. Again like in the northern part of the North Island, I think we were only camping there with one other person. That afternoon, we walked over to the beach and trolled around on the rocks along the point. Sean found a couple of small oysters and a sea urchin that we ate right there and casted his fishing line a couple times with no luck. Kailani picked-up a good some paua (abalone) shells to add to her collection. Unfortunately, we didn’t catch anything for dinner, so grilled tuna and cheese spelt bread sandwiches and Pitango minestrone soup it was.

The next morning, we continued our drive further towards the tip of the East Cape and stayed at a camp site in Araroa, which boasts the most easterly cinema screen in the world. (More on this below) From there, you could walk right out to the beach, granted you didn’t mind stepping around cow patties. Dairy is New Zealand’s biggest export! Along the way, we found the family that owns the campsite, fishing in the river for white bait, these tiny little fish that they fry up and the kids say they eat like chips. Boy, do Kiwi’s like their chips! They seem to serve them with everything, and apparently compare other things to them in order to get their kids to eat stuff. Anyway, we made it down to the beach, but the waves were a mess. So from there, we hopped back in the camper and drove down the street to Hick’s Bay. It was a more sheltered cove and looked more surfable, although I let Sean go first. He caught one wave and struggled to get back out after that. So, I passed. That night, we went to sleep as early as we possibly could, which wasn’t hard considering how secluded and peaceful it was on the East Cape.

We woke up at 4:30am the next morning so we could drove to lighthouse on the furthest point on the East Cape to see the sun rise. Basically, that point is the furthest east spot in New Zealand, and because of time zones, New Zealand is considered the furthest easterly country in the world. So, when we saw the sun rise, we were the first in the world to see it, and we might have been the only one’s that day. When we got to the end of the road where the lighthouse was, there was only one other guy there crashed out in the back seat of his car. It’s hard to say whether he was there to do the same thing or not. But at that point, you had to get out of your car to walk up several hundred steps to actually get to the lighthouse. Considering how cold, windy and slightly sprinkling it was, and the fact that we were still in our PJs, we opted to park off the side of the road and watch it from the window in the back of the camper, still in our PJs. Sean fixed himself a cup of coffee, and Kai and I played like we were having a pajama party. As far as the sun rise, the sun had to break through the clouds, but it was still fun to see.

From there, we took off to our next destination, which has to be the earliest we’ve taken off in the morning ever. Heading down the coast, we were still on the hunt for some good surf spots. I’m sure Sean was on a mission to redeem himself from the day before. Unfortunately, nothing looked that great. We ended up driving for several hours. Every time we came upon the next camp site, it was still sprinkling and windy. So, we figured we’d keep driving. Otherwise, we’d be stuck in the camper all day with crappy weather. We ended up driving all the way out of the East Cape towards the town of Gisborne. I guess that’s what we get for having so much time left in the day. Finally, towards the outskirts of Gisborne, there was a beach called Makarori, where the waves were lining up. Again, I let Sean jump out only to find him back before I was halfway done with my cup of tea. Apparently, there was still quite a current going on out there. Since we were so close to Gisborne, we decided we’d just go to a camp site there.

Whakatane and Ohope

2008-09-04T23:43:00.000-07:00

09.04.08: We arrived in Whakatane early afternoon. The drive was easy and there was no rain. It was a mid-sized town and had a cute little downtown area. We went straight through it to Whakatane Heads, a surf break, to see what was going on. It was situated right at a jetty where the boats go out to sea. A swell had just hit that day and the waves were pretty huge, but not quite hitting at the right direction. There were a few guys going out, but neither of us were ready for something like that. I hate to sound like a fair-weather surfer, but what else can I say? We watched for a while and then headed to a local fish and chips shop for a seafood basket plus some paua (abalone) fritters. The later was not quite what I expected. But still, all was pretty good.

After lunch, we headed to a Top 10 campground a few kilometers down the road in the next town, Ohope. It was right along a large expanse of beach, which kind of reminded me of Ocean Beach in San Francisco. We parked right along it and it was nice to hear the sound of the ocean swell all night long.

The next morning, Kai insisted we go to the playground before we headed back to Whakatane. There was a health food shop downtown that I wanted to stop by to stock up on a few things. Then, we went back to Whakatane Heads. The swell went down a bit. But still, neither of us was up for going out. Instead, Sean decided to fish off the jetty while Kai and I trolled about the beach. No luck with the fish. But, it was fun to see Kai picked up a stick and act like Daddy, pretending to cast out her rod and reel the line back in. After, we went into town to a coffee shop to check up on the internet. Before heading back to the campground for the night, we made a pit stop at the Ohiwa Oyster Farm to pick up some dinner.

The night before, we noticed that the campground had some lovely-looking cabins with decks that faced right towards the beach. (FYI, there were also some awesome-looking ones at Pariki Beach as well.) So that night, knowing that we were on our way to the East Cape, where we heard it’s pretty remote and we’d be more-or-less roughing-it, we decided to see if we could get one. We got lucky. They had one more available, just for that night. The inside was just as nice as it looked from the outside and dinner on the deck was great. It was a slight disappointment that the oysters came in a punnet (plastic container) instead of on the half shell, but they were still good. The fried fish, squid ring and scallop were good too. Though, I do have to admit that the chips are really starting to get old on me… They not only come with fish, but with almost every other dish around here. That night, we thoroughly took advantage of the nice shower for what seemed like hours, I cut Kailani and my fringes (bangs) and we enjoyed stretching out for the night. Later that night, as we were watching what three channels that we received on the TV, I felt our building shake. First, I thought it was the neighbor in the unit next door, but it started to shake harder. That’s when we figured it was an earthquake. It wasn’t a big one considering what we’ve gone through in the past. If I had to guess, it was probably about a high 1 or low 2 on the Richter scale, but just enough to sit there for a couple seconds and wonder if all is OK. We figured we were surrounded by volcanic activity, so what can you expect. After that, we slept soundly for the night.

Staying in that cabin for the night ended up being a great way to wake up and celebrate our fifth year wedding anniversary. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been married for that long and the presence of Kailani makes it feel like she’s been around for much longer. But overall, it’s hard to believe that it’s been five years, and now we’re in New Zealand and we’ve been “on the road” for over six months now. Just like our wedding day, we’re still hanging out on a beach. Our cabin was just as nice as our room at Seascape, so I have no complaints, only appreciation.

Rotorua

2008-08-31T20:22:00.000-07:00

Sean and Kailani on the luge

Hangi Feast

Maori Show

Watching the green rolling hills with sheep and cows at our campground at the Waikite Thermal Pools

Wai-O-Tapu

08.31.08: From Papamoa, we drove into the Lake Rotorua region. I read in our Rough Guide how you can smell the sulfur coming from miles away, so my nose was on guard. I didn’t smell anything until we finally came right into town. Then, I looked to the side of the road to see a sign that said “Wastewater Treatment Facility”. So, I’m still not sure what I was smelling…

We stayed at the Top 10 Blue Lake Holiday Park (Campground), just a few minutes from the city of Rotorua. It was set right across the street from Blue Lake. There were pine trees on one side of the lake that were obviously planted. It’s pretty strange to see trees growing on a mountain in rows. I read somewhere that they are actually California pines that were planted as an experiment to see how they would grow. Apparently, they ended growing four times faster than in CA. On the other side of the lake is native bush mixed with ancient cycads. It’s quite an interesting mix.

This region has been a popular tourist spot for years because of all hot springs in the area. Because of this, it’s grown to have a number of other tourist activities to do as well. After settling into our camp sight, we were given a perplexing number of brochures to look through. But, we finally settled on a small but diverse list of categories to conquer: hot springs, Maori culture, thrill ride and animal experience for Kai. After, we went on a walk on a trail that went around the lake. Sean and Kailani stopped to throw in a fishing line out while I continued around the lake. Unfortunately, there were no fish when I got back to them. So, we went back to the campground and made dinner. The campground had DVDs available for rent and it was refreshing to see a movie that we’ve never seen, Madagascar.

The next morning, Sean went fishing again. Kailani and I stayed in the camper and ate breakfast. She insisted we watch Madagascar again. I’m glad that we needed to return it after that. Although it’s a good movie, I’m sure if we bought it, it would have been watched a zillion times by now. Again, Sean came back with no fish. But this time, the trail was closed for “Tree Felling”. I think that’s what they call when they purposely clear trees from the forest so they don’t fall down on their own and cause an accident.

Later that morning, we headed down to town to a store called The Outdoorsman Headquarters. Technically, Sean still needed a fishing license in order to fish at the lakes. Luckily, we were camping at a lake that’s OK to fish in, because he found out that it’s illegal to fish at the next lake over, Green Lake, since it’s Maori land. I started browsing through their selection of New Zealand merino wool thermal insulating clothes. The weather had turned cold that morning (FREEZING!), so timing was just right. I ended up picking a camisole made by Icebreaker. Still, I’m kicking myself that I didn’t also get a long sleeve shirt. It’s so incredible warm and soft! If you are in cold weather, I’d definitely recommend this stuff! I also strolled into their footwear department. I was still wearing my Keen sandals with socks. My toes were also freezing. For two weeks in Australia, I (as well as Caitlin and Tutu) had been on the hunt for some new Uggs, but never found anything that looked like good quality or style. Later, we found out that Uggs was actually bought by an American company. I guess that’s why there is a better selection of Uggs in the US than in Oz. Go figure! Anyway, at the store, I found a great pair of Merrell boots with fuzzy detailing and lined with Thinsulate. (No sheepskin, but that’s OK.) Nothing was cheap, but definitely worth it.

From there, we went to the Skyline Skyrides, took a gondola 200 meters up to the top of Terawera Mountain for great views of Lake Rotorua and then did some luge rides down. There are a number of places in town where you can get your adrenaline kicks: zorb, sky diving, bungy diving, etc. I’m sure Sean and I would be up for all of it. But, it was nice that we actually found something that was for the whole family. We all had a fun time. Kai was able to ride tandem on the luge. So first, she went with Sean, then with me, then with Sean again. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t the greatest. It was misty up there and it kept looking like it was going to start pouring. But from a positive perspective, it motivated us to go down faster. At first, I was wondering if it’d be too much for Kai to handle. But after every ride, she kept asking to go again. We might have an adrenaline junkie in the making. When we were done, we got back into the gondola to go back down the mountain. It started raining pretty hard, so I guess we were just in time. Later that afternoon, we went back to the campground so Sean could go fishing again, this time legally. Unfortunately, the rain never let up.

The next day, we checked out of our campground at Blue Lake and went to the Waikite Valley thermal pools. The great thing about there is that they have a campground attached to their facilities and if you stay at the campground, you can bathe for free. As you are going to Waikite Valley, you take Highway 5, named The Thermal Explorer Highway. As you go, you can see big clouds of steam coming all up and down the road, hence the name. At the campground, we settled in and had lunch before jumping into the pools. Sean had the lamb stroganoff with couscous and I had some kumara and something (I can’t remember, but it was a Maori name) soup. We were impressed with both. The stroganoff sauce had a kick of cinnamon, which I think disguised the normally gamey flavor of the lamb well. At the pools, Kai found a friend to play with, another two and a half year old, Hannah, who was half Kiwi and half Cambodian, from Rotorua. Her parents owned St. Andrews bakery in town. Just as some other locals that we met there said, they preferred this place over others like the Polynesian Spa in town because it’s much more sedate and less crowded.

Later that night, we went to a Maori show and dinner run by Mitai (equivalent to a Hawaiian luau). There, we saw a performance of traditional Maori dance, music, song and chants. Then, ate a hangi dinner, where the chicken, lamb, potatoes, kumara and bread are steamed to perfection in a Maori earth oven (which I think is heated by hot springs). After dinner, we ended the night with a bush walk around the village where we saw glow worms and spring water pool that bubbled up several million gallons of water daily, and had freshwater eel and trout living there. Although it was not the most intimate way to experience the Maori culture, it was still fun and interesting.

The next day, we went to the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, where Sean wanted to see the Lady Knox Geyser that goes off every morning at 10:15am sharp. No, it doesn’t naturally go off at the same time every day. In fact, naturally, it would go off any time between 24 to 72 hours. But every day, a ranger puts a soap-like substance into it (I’m sure, some kind of surfactant), which releases it’s surface tension and makes it go off. We all did our “oh’s” and “ah’s” and then walked around the rest of the park to see more bubbling thermal hot pools. You can see several different colors in the water and on the land, depending on the presence of what minerals there are. The rest of the landscape was a mix of native bush with what appeared to look like a holocaust zone.

In the afternoon, we went into town to the Rainbow Springs Nature Park for the Kiwi Experience. We toured a conservation center dedicated to reviving the rapid extinction of the kiwi bird. We learned everything you want to know about the kiwi, went through their working nursery and got to see live kiwi in their nocturnal room up close without any glass barriers. I was so proud of Kailani in the later environment, as it was absolutely necessary to be quiet. She wanted to see them so bad, she did exactly what she was supposed to. Later that afternoon, went back to the campground to have lunch in their café (more well-done deep fried Dory and chips for Sean, and a chicken burger with mango chutney for me) and bathe in the hot pools again. It was so nice there, we couldn’t get enough!

Our last morning in town, we went to Hannah’s parent’s, St. Andrew’s Bakery, for a quick “takeaway” breakfast. Sean had the best steak and mushroom pie he’s ever had. I had egg rolls that were so good, Kailani, who has never cared for them, stole the rest of what I had. After stopping by the local New World to stock up again, we were off a couple hours back toward the coast to Whakatane.

Papamoa Beach

2008-08-30T20:21:00.000-07:00

08.30.08: After leaving the winery in Bethlehem, we hit the nearby town of Tauranga. Past that was a stretch of beach along a peninsula. Because it was lined with pine trees, it reminded us of Manly Beach in Australia. Although this is a surfable beach, again the water was flat. Just our luck! At the very tip of the peninsula is Mount Manganui. It seems like such a strange sight that there’s this little volcanic mountain that sticks off the end off that tip of land, but there it is. You can hike up it. As well, there’s a campground at the base that has hot springs. I wasn’t too keen with the fact that they were chlorinated, so we passed and went further down the road.

We drove down the coast until we came upon another Top 10 campground at Papamoa Beach. We didn’t spend more than a night there, but do have to give mention of what great beachfront facilities they had there. The playground had what they called a “jumping pillow”, which was a big inflated “pillow” set into the ground for kids to jump on, just like the one at our campground in Ondres, France. (See Kai on it in blog entry dated March 12, 2008.) The bathrooms were worth mention too, with details like the marble tiled floors/walls and Hans Grohe faucets.

The next morning, we went to a café for some good stomach-filling Sunday brunch, another one for some free internet time and a Happy Birthday call to Sean’s mom. And then, we hit the road again. For the first time, we headed inland, towards Lake Rotorua.

It seems like, since we’ve come south of Auckland, that there are generally more people than in the Northland. But still, this country is so peaceful and less populated than so many other parts of the world. This, along with all the beautiful scenery and beaches, it is really starting to make me feel like I’m more relaxed than I’ve been in years! Yes, we ARE enjoying New Zealand immensely!

Hahei and Hot Water Beach

2008-08-28T20:20:00.000-07:00

08.28.08: From Auckland, we drove to the Coromandel Peninsula and headed to a place called Hot Water Beach. The New Zealand Surf Guide said there was a campground there, but our camping atlas didn’t show one. We were hopeful when we saw the little tent picture on the road sign pointing that way, but couldn’t find anything when we got into town. The town itself was very cute. There were probably only three businesses, a café, a market and a surf shop, and the rest were cute little cottage style houses mixed with modern-designed houses nestled on the cliffs in the cove surrounding the beach. Again like Muriwai, it reminded me of Aptos, but less country and more as it was being re-built with nicer houses in the 90’s. We stopped to ask one of the locals about the campground and found that it had closed a year or two ago. Also while we were talking to him, we found out that a swell had just hit the day before. That day, the waves were barely breaking. Just our luck! And, as Sean would say, “We should have been here yesterday!”

Considering how beautiful the weather was and I hadn’t used our new board yet, I decided to paddle out and catch a few ripples. This beach was named one of the 10 Most Beautiful Beaches in the World and that it was. After I got out of the water, we watched the sun set while some guy fished at the shoreline with a bottle of wine. We thought “What a life! What else do you need besides a bottle of wine and a fishing pole?!?” Finding another campground was not an issue. There was one a couple kilometers down at the next beach called Hahei.

The next morning, we headed back to Hot Water Beach. But this time, not for waves. New Zealand is literally a hot bed of geothermal activity and Hot Water Beach is one example of this. Underneath the sand, there are reservoirs of water that are heated by hot volcanic rock below that. So on a low tide, you can dig a hole in the sand and, if you’re lucky, it’ll fill with hot water. As we approached the beach, two of the three local shops advertised they had spades for hire (shovels for rent). We should have grabbed some. Instead, we went straight for the beach to check it out. There were already several holes dug, some of which had bathers sitting in them and others were empty. It took some testing to see which holes had the right temperature. Some of them were too hot and others were cold. Finally I found a good one that wasn’t too hot for Kailani. The hole was shallow, so I dug deeper with my hands as I sat in it. After a while, I got pretty good at shimmying my feet and butt into the sand to get deeper into the water. Kailani had a great time jumping in and out of the holes and playing in the sand. Sean made friends with another bather, Manu from Hamilton. The next thing I knew, they were picking mussels off of a 10-15 foot rock that sat about 10 yards out in the ocean. Sean also met Manu’s friends, who were out getting paua (abalone) and sea urchins (don’t remember the Maori name for that one). After learning that you didn’t even need to dive for the paua, Sean ended up trying his hand at it, but no luck. The tide had started to come in by then. Manu’s friend was also nice enough to give Sean a couple urchins for us to try. For how big and spiny they are, it’s surprising how little you actually eat from them. But, they tasted good.

We decided to leave for the campground and cook the mussels. Unfortunately, we had no more white wine. I looked in our atlas and found a nearby winery. As we got close to Purangi Estates winery, I had some uneasy feelings about being in a pretentious wine tasting room after spending my day rolling around in the sand. But as we walked up to the building, it was so rustic that I was surprised that it was still standing. We were also the only one’s there, so no worries. We met Danny who was doing the pouring in the tasting room. I believe it was his family who owned the winery. He started talking with his fast New Zealand tongue, and we could only get 50% of what he was saying. Somehow, I caught something about surfing and fishing at Hot Water Beach yesterday, and then realized he was talking about me. Ah yes, who else would it be but the guy fishing with the bottle of wine? He was a very interesting guy to talk to, not only about wine, but he had some interesting stories and tidbits about all things native and the history about New Zealand, feijoas, Maori and kauri trees to name a few. And, he wasn’t afraid to tell the truth either. The winery made a small selection of wines from grapes, but also made quite a few fruit liqueurs. Mostly, because the growing conditions on the Coromandel Peninsula are really not the best for a huge variety of grapes, but there are other fruits that are grown that they can ferment. The feijoa liqueur seemed to be a popular one. After talking with Danny for a while about the quality of what we put in our mouths nowadays, I finally asked him if they use any sprays on their grapes. As it turns out, they’ve been growing organically for over 20 years, before “certified organic” was even invented. They just haven’t bothered to pay to be certified, probably because they are such a small winery. So after a fun visit, we left with some Sauvignon Blanc for our “Hottie Rock Mussels” and a bottle of Merlot Malbec. Back at our campground, the mussels were great and I had some Pitango Tomato, Basil and Ricotta Risotto to go with it. This place definitely has our vote as one of our favorite spots!

The next day, we hit the road again, this time heading a couple hours south down the coast. As it got closer to lunch time, we were getting hungry. We ended up stopping in the town of Bethlehem at the Mills Reef winery. I read that they had a café, so thought we could do some tasting and lunch. This winery ended up being the exact opposite atmosphere as the last. It had some gorgeous gardens and nice outdoor pavilion area and their “café” seemed more like THE place to go for a weekend brunch celebration. There were several well-dressed large groups eating there, probably celebrating birthdays or something. Luckily, we got a table outside and away from the crowds. I got the macadamia and panko crumbled fish and chips and Sean got a dish with fish, shrimp and scallops, prepared three different ways. It was all very good. Kailani wasn’t hungry, but played around in their pavilion area (as long as we could encourage her to do so). The waitress was nice enough to bring a few tastings of their best wines to our table because I knew it was probably not going to be a good idea to spend any bit of time with Kailani in their tasting room. We ended up with a couple glasses as well as leaving with a bottle of their 2007 Hawke’s Bay Pinot Gris Reserve.

I’m usually a red wine drinker, but I am growing fond of the New Zealand whites, at least so far. They seem to have more flavor and complexity. Or, perhaps there is more seafood around here to go with it. I’m not sure. I seem to have better luck with the bottles from the wineries, rather than ones from the grocery store. I’m sure it’s for several reasons. However, it sounds like a good idea to make it a point to get wine from there. If anything it’s more fun that way!

Auckland: Part 2

2008-08-27T20:20:00.000-07:00

08.27.08: From Houhora Heads, we hit the road for several hours towards Auckland until we were back at the Westfield mall in Otewa Valley, the northern suburbs of Auckland. Going back to the same ole New World Market made it quick stop for groceries. After, we hit The Reservoir again for another pretty good dinner of oysters on the half shell, BBQ ribs and a salad. Again, we were impressed. The oysters were topped with some kind of seaweed slaw with a hint of mint, and dab of wasabi mayo. It was quite an interesting combo, subtle enough in taste to just compliment the oysters. The ribs were nothing worth merit, but the side that it came with was really good. It was a casserole made with chorizo, kumara and tomatoes. The sweet of kumara and the spicy of the chorizo in a tomato sauce rather than the usual milky/cheesy sauce was a surprising change of pace. Later that night, we found our way to a campground in North Auckland, the only non-waterfront location so far (and the second non-beach location) and crashed for the night.

While we were driving back to Auckland from the Northland, I read about a couple of places that I wanted to check out. So, when we woke up the next morning, we needed to plan how to get there. Waikete Island, aka The Wine Island, was the first place. You needed to take a ferry to get there and it was pretty cost-prohibitive to take our camper on the ferry. So, we thought about just going as passengers on the ferry for the day. But, I couldn’t find any information on public buses over there. Also, there were not guarantees that wineries would be open for tasting because it was low season and many are only open on the weekends. So, we scrapped that idea. If I’m lucky, maybe we’ll try to go there again when we’re back in Auckland to return the camper, before we fly back to The States.

But getting to the other spot, Kelly Tarlton’s Underwater World and Antarctic Adventure was a piece of cake. So, we checked-out of the campground and drove further into the city to get there. This was definitely another place for Kailani. They had some of the HUGEST stingrays we’ve ever seen. And, although it’s not the first we’ve been to, Underwater World has the world’s first transparent underwater walk-through tunnel. We saw sharks, stingrays, fish and turtles swimming around and over us. And best of all, because Kailani’s been watching two movies recently, Surf’s Up and Happy Feet, both of which feature penguins as the main characters, it was fun to see their rare Fiordland penguin conservation area. To view them, you get to ride a Snowcat (that’s specially geared towards being a ride) around this loop where the penguins swimming and hanging out on the ice. Overall, it was a short but fun little trip.

Afterwards, we were hungry for lunch and seafood sounded great. We headed back towards the Auckland CBD (Central Business District) to find some food. Considering we were right there near docks, it was a bummer that we never found a seafood restaurant. Instead, we found a food court near our parking lot and ate some Thai noodles. They were worth eating and we were pretty hungry by then, but definitely not anything special.

From Auckland, we hit the road again. This time, we were headed a couple hours southeast then northeast to the Cormandel Peninsula. Again, it was easy driving, not hard to navigate with our road atlas, and we went past more rolling hills with lots of sheep, although more cattle were starting to appear as well. We also went through a scenic reserve forest that was absolutely stunning.

Houhora Heads

2008-08-26T20:19:00.000-07:00

08.26.08: Houhora Heads was really just a place to stop over on our drive back down south to Auckand. It seemed like a nice little beachside campground on the east coast of the Northland. But, we only had time to eat dinner and crash. Again, I think there was only one other camper on the grounds. In the morning, Sean woke-up early and went fishing, but got skunked again. Then, we headed back towards Auckland.

Shipwrecks

2008-08-25T20:18:00.000-07:00

08.25.08: We again headed from the east coast to the west a couple hours, this time to Shipwrecks Bay, aka Ahipara Bay. After going through more rolling hills with lots of sheep and some farms, it felt like we were getting further from civilization. Then as we got towards the bay, there was a small town where most of the houses were built in the same style as mobile homes with mostly corrugated siding. A few kilometers away, there was a small town as well. I noticed that many walked around with bare feet in the local Pac-n-Save.

Before getting to the campground, we saw that most were driving right onto the sand to hang out. We did the same. There was a break in the rainy weather and it was clear and sunny for a change. So, Sean and Kailani played in the sand for a while, while I put together chicken and chunky Thai satay sandwiches for lunch. As the tide came up to the campervan, we decided to move to the Te Kohania Camping Ground, which was only a couple feet up in elevation. This was Maori land, so they collect a “koha”, aka “fees”. It was definitely the most rustic campground we’ve stayed at so far. There were no electrical hook-ups, kitchen or laundry. And, I preferred to use our own bathroom facilties rather than what I saw. Besides the groundskeeper, I think there was only one other camper staying here. The swell had supposedly hit, so Sean surfed later that afternoon. It looked a bit mixed up and crazy for my taste and I was lazy, so I passed.

The next morning, we woke-up and looked out the window to see a group of about five dolphins frolicking in the ocean right in front of our campervan. Though we’ve seen this several times in Santa Cruz, it’s still always an awesome sight! Sean ventured out to do some fishing while I stayed back waiting for Kai to wake-up. Instead of fish, he came back with another bag full of mussels and some pictures of sea lions that were hanging out right there on the rocks at the bay’s point. He also noticed the swell was dying, so he jumped out surfing again. When Kailani finally woke-up, I fed her breakfast and we went out to get a closer look at the waves. As we were walking over the rocks on the bay’s point, I would have probably tripped right over a baby sea lion had Kailani not spotted it out for me. This beach was definitely teaming with life! Getting a closer view of the guys out in the water, it was looking pretty fun. I was ready to do a quick jump in water after Sean. But wouldn’t you know it, it started to rain again. So instead, we jumped into the van and fixed ourselves another awesome lunch of mussels steamed in Ascension Voigner, butter and a squeeze of lemon. Shipwreck’s definitely got our vote for “best spot” so far!

After lunch, we drove up to Cape Reinga, the furthest north you can go on the North Island. (New Zealand is broken up between two islands, The North Island and The South Island.) The Northland is what the northern part of the North Island is called. And basically, it looks like a long rectangle dangling off the south part of the North Island. Somehow, it appears like a straight shot up to Cape Reinga. Not quite! It was way more twisty and windy than we though. And in fact, we went through the Raetea Forest which contained the Maungataniwha mountain range. But finally, we made it there. There is apparently a lighthouse right at the tip. As well, you are supposed to be able to see where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean by difference in the color of the water. Unfortunately, there was road construction at the end of the road that blocked our view. At least, we were able to see each side of the tip. Seeing the vast Pacific Ocean out there brought up thoughts of how the ancient Polynesians crossed it in forty days with seventy five canoes. Boy, were they brave! We headed back down south, stopping halfway at Houhora Heads to spend the night.

Huruku Falls and Waitangi Treaty Grounds

2008-08-23T20:17:00.000-07:00

A view of the falls from our camper.

A carving in the Marae (Maori meeting house)

Ngatoki Matawhaorua, the world’s largest war canoe

08.23.08: As we left Mangawhai towards the highway, I was got a call from Caitlin. The school year was starting at Sonoma State, there were things I need to take care of and I hadn’t been connected to the internet since our first day in New Zealand. It didn’t appear that any of the other campgrounds had internet access, except for the second one we stayed at in Muriwai. And there, when the groundskeeper let me on his computer, the keyboard all the sudden stopped working. So, I passed. Along the highway, we found a lodge that had a huge banner advertising they had internet. I walked in to find an internet “machine” where you stick $2 coins in and it gives you a certain number of minutes. I stuck the money in the machine but it wasn’t connecting me. I asked for help from the lady tending bar only to find that it was broken. She refunded my money, but we were out of luck with the internet.

As we continued our drive, it didn’t rain hard, but it was steady. So we just bee-lined it all the way up. Our next stop was the Huruku Falls campground, which sat inland, next to a river and waterfalls. The view of the waterfalls right from our camper definitely gives this place some merit! AND as if by luck, this campground offered wifi. So with access to the internet, I spent most of the afternoon catching up on business again as well as finishing up on some blogs from Australia. Sean and Kai explored outside, enjoying the sounds of the rushing waterfall and feeding the local ducks the leftover ends of my Pitango 7 Seed Sourdough Spelt bread. That night, it rained so hard we could barely sleep!

The next day, we woke to some very rushing waterfalls. Sean originally wanted to fish, but the water was rushing way too hard to even do that. The water looked like chocolate milk. So after getting dressed, we went to the nearby Waitangi Treaty Grounds. It was along the coast and we did see a couple surfers out in the water enjoying the new swell, although I personally didn’t even see anything breaking out there.

Our first stop at The Grounds was their café for lunch. I heard great things about their meat pies last year while doing some travel research. It struck me as strange that a café adjoined to a big tourist spot would get such good merits. But, there were more locals than tourists enjoying their Sunday brunch there, so that was a good sign. I ordered the smoked eel and kumara (a NZ sweet potato that you see on menus everywhere) cakes on top of a salad with farmhouse cheese and a glass of Sauv. Sean got the scallops on top of a homemade ravioli with a Steinlager (which he says tastes different than in The States). And, Kai got the chicken nuggets, chips (fries) and a Phoenix Organics apple and feijoa juice. The feijoa is a green fruit that is related to the kiwifruit but doesn’t have fur. To me, it looks like a small mango and tastes like a soft tangy pear. Anyway, all was phenomenal! (…except for maybe the chicken nuggets, which were “standard”.) Afterward, we still had some room to try the lamb pie, which was good, but nothing like our first dishes.

The Waitangi Treaty Grounds is described as “the most symbolic place in New Zealand for Maori (original natives) and Pakeha (non-Maori, usually white)” because it was here in 1840 that Queen Victoria’s representative William Hobson (U.K.) and nearly 50 Maori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi. The short version is that it was supposed to afford Maori protection and guarantee them rights over land and resources. After the treaty was signed, the settler population grew, demand for land increased, and the government passed laws that gradually stripped Maori of control of their affairs. This led to the New Zealand Wars of the 1860’s. From my perspective, the first part sounds very similar to the history of the US, where white men came in and declared land as theirs, when natives were already living on it, then “gave” it back to them. Later, they wanted to take it back.

Anyway, the Treaty Grounds consisted of the Treaty House, colonial style, built in 1833-34 and has displays on how the settlers, aka “white folk”, lived back then. Also, there’s the Maori meeting house, built between 1934 and 1940 as a cooperative effort between all Maori tribes, rather than one single tribe. That had some pretty cool tribal carvings inside. Also housed on the grounds is the Ngatoki Matawhaorua, the world’s largest war canoe built from two huge kauri (New Zealand native trees) by five northern tribes and measuring over 35m in length. It seats 80 warriors and is traditionally launched very year on Waitangi Day, a New Zealand national holiday. We basically ran from one sight to another, because it was consistently sprinkling and looked like it would rain harder at any moment.

So far, New Zealand seems like it’s hard to unbury it’s history, especially anything before when settlers came. So I’m glad that we learned a bit more about it. However, I’d still like to know more about it’s native Maori culture. So hopefully, we can dig up more as we explore the country.

As we headed back to the campground for the night, we stopped by a grocery store. I ended up finding Primal Earth organic shave gel for Sean who had been in need of some for quite a while. When I got back to the campground, I read the label to find that it was made locally and was impressed by what and how it was made. I wish I would have seen what other products they had available! I think they also have a shop in Wellington, so I’m hoping I run into these products again.

Mangawhai Heads

2008-08-22T20:16:00.000-07:00

08.22.08: The Mangawhai Heads campground was located right near the ocean waterfront, next to the boat docks. Again, along with one other couple, we were the only campers there. But during the summer, I’m sure this place fills up with boat owners. We were really only using this as a stop off for our drive further north. So, after eating dinner, crashing for the night, doing laundry and a quick trip to the playground before the rain came again, we were on the road again.

Unfortunately, the past few campgrounds haven’t had recycling facilities. A chain of campgrounds called Top 10 that have some of the nicer facilities, advertise that all of their campgrounds have recycling. We bought a membership with them that gives us a discount whenever we stay there, but they aren’t everywhere we are going. Hopefully, that pays off. Still, I’ve been saving up our empty containers, bottles and used paper. Luckily, in a tour book our rental company gave us, I found a listing of recycling facilities in the Northland. It came in handy as we were on our way back to the highway. We found a facility and were able to still get that stuff where it belongs. Yea!

Pakiri Beach

2008-08-20T22:40:00.000-07:00

Sean and his partially filled bag of mussels.

I know it's alot of sheep pictures. But, there are alot of sheep here!

08.20.08: In the morning, Muriwai beach was gray and rainy again. Sean woke up early and checked out the beach – stormy seas. So, I didn’t even bother. Although it is a surfable beach, it was obvious there was nothing happening that day. There was only one other family at the campground. They were Kiwi and had two little boys. The father was also taking a year off work to spend time with his kids. They mentioned that the country’s going on 50-something days of consistent rain and it’s the wettest winter they’ve ever had. As a matter of fact, we ended up hearing this from many people. I’m pretty sure all the Kiwis think the island’s going to flood out soon. But, we also hear hopeful news that the wet spell should be ending soon.

Even though we really didn’t do anything, going to Muriwai still had it’s benefits. While we were leaving, we saw another surf shop called Hardcore in the nearby wine region of Kumeu. They even sold surfboard blanks for shapers. Bryan not only gave us a great deal on a 7’6” board that would do us just fine (mass-manufactured in Thailand, not hand shaped), but he threw-in a bunch of extras like fins, wax, a loaner copy of the New Zealand Surf Guide and an offer to buy back the board when we’re done. True New Zealand hospitality at it’s finest! Also in Kumeu, I stopped by a store called Green Grocers, a natural foods store. They seemed to sell mostly gluten-free packaged foods, no fresh produce, which I could have used. But I got some rice and quinoa pasta, sauce and some Ecover biodegradable dish soap. It’s good to see at least there were stores like this in operation. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to try any of Kumeu’s wines. But hopefully, we will when we come back to return the book and sell back the board. I like what Bryan had to say about the local wineries, “If you own land here, what else are you going to do with it besides have sheep or grow grapes?”

From there, we headed about an hour and a half further north and back to the East coast towards Goat Island. We were heading further out of the Auckland area and more into green rolling hills with mostly sheep and some cows grazing. From there on out, the “freeway” turned into a two lane road going through the hills, sometimes becoming the main road of a town, and every once in a while, it would go through mountainous forest.

Unfortunately, the campground we were heading to at Goat Island was closed for the season. It would have been great to stay in that area. Consequently, there were no goats. But, the waters between mainland and the island were sooo blue and clear that snorkeling is offered there. Anyway, we had nothing to do but head further north where we found a campground at Pakiri beach. It wasn’t too far from Goat Island and just as nice. Besides one other guy who consequently was also from The States, we were the only camper there again. That night, we ate one of several heat-and-eat packets of Pitango organic soups/risotto (Tomato Soup, Vegetable Minestrone and Carrot, Leek and Spinich Risotto) that I got from New World at the mall. They aren’t half bad and fit into our tiny fridge quite nicely. If we find more, I’m sure we’ll be stocking up on more.

The next day, Sean woke up early and tried his hand at fishing while I slept in. I guess I was still catching up on sleep after waking up early so many times in Australia, something he doesn’t seem to need as much as I do. After he came back empty-handed, we all ventured to the beach. Sean talked to one of the guys who worked at the campground and got a tip that there are some mussels growing on the rocks between Pakiri Beach and Goat Island, a 20 minute walk down the sand. It took some foraging, but we finally found those Green Lipped beauties, along with one sole clam that I found. With a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from New World on hand, we steamed them in that, along with a bit of butter and lemon juice. Boy was dinner great that night!

The next morning, we packed up and hit the road. We were out of Sauv (what the Kiwi’s call it) and just in case we ran into more mussels, we decided to stop by the Matakana wine region on the way towards the highway for another bottle. We ended up at Ascension Winery, which also had a café. So, we did some tasting and then had a great lunch: oysters on the half shell, squid fritters (essentially like crab cakes, but cut-up squid instead of crab) and a bowl of chunky split pea soup. Meanwhile, Kailani, who would normally be a terror in a tasting room, was able to play with the toys in their kid’s play room. It was great that we picked a place that proclaims to be a family winery! With a bottle of dry, crisp Voigner for mussels and some Holy Cow Waiheke Island Merlot Malbec for drinking, we hit the road again.

We actually didn’t make it that far. Just down the road from Matakana was a place called Sheep World. Just as the name suggests, it’s kind of a cheesy theme park dedicated to sheep. But, I figured that Kai likes to see animals and she was a trooper at the winery, so this stop was for her. We made it in time for their daily sheep show. And again, because it was off-season, there was only one other family attending. The guy that ran the show basically showed us what they do at a sheep farm, how they use the dogs to herd them and demonstrated how you sheer a sheep. Sean volunteered to “sex” the sheep. No, it’s not what it sounds like! Each sheep was marked a different color (on a real farm, their ears would be clipped to indicate their sex) and he had to put each sheep into their appropriate pen as they came at him: pink are girls, blue are boys and no color indicated a hermaphrodite. I got picked for the sheep shearing demonstration. The sheering tool was essentially a really burly hair clipper. So, after 12 years hairdressing, it didn’t feel all too different, except I had to hold down a sheep with a dense afro. I’m sure that the last part of the show was Kailani’s favorite. We were able to feed the lambs (baby sheep) with milk bottles. Since there were so few of us, we were able to feed two rounds of lambs. Both times, the youngest lamb of the bunch went to Kailani, who was also the youngest human of the bunch. After the show, we took a bag of feed out to the farm, and visited all the other animals: alpaca, pigs, goats, chicken, donkeys, etc.

We hit the road again, this time to find one more place to stop at, the town of Wellsford. This time, it was a shorter stopover. We just needed some groceries. I was pretty stoked to find an organic butcher. I’m not sure why it was named Tidal Flow, considering they only sold chicken, pork and beef. But, we did pick up some awesome Scotch Filet steak and sausages. Luckily, the campervan has a freezer within the fridge. So, we were able to keep it in there until we were ready to eat it. Also next door was a Four Square market. This chain seems to be the standard in smaller towns.* There was only one package in stock, but I got some Naked Naturals Chunky Thai Satay sauce that ended up being a great compliment to our leftover roasted chicken. We spread this in lieu of mayonnaise (we didn’t have any) for chicken sandwiches as well as on crackers, again with leftover chicken, and both were quite yummy.

* In larger areas, you can find a New World and in medium populated areas, you usually find a Pac-n-Save, which seems to be the same as the chain in The States. Both Pac-n-Save and New World are owned by the same company.

Auckland Area, New Zealand

2008-08-16T22:23:00.000-07:00

08.16.08: We finally arrived to Auckland, although 4 hours later than expected. Air New Zealand gave us some food vouchers at the Sydney airport plus dinner on the plane, so we were well fed. We found a shuttle and went to our hotel to crash for the night. I found The Centra hotel on the internet. Not that it was anything spectacular, but for a refreshing change, our recently remodeled room was just like what the pictures looked like.

In the morning, it was cold and rainy. I took advantage of using the internet from a real desk, and did some bill-paying and other business that I was badly behind on. I figured it won’t be as easy once we get into our campervan. We also called Jucy, our campervan rental company, to change our pick-up time and ask for a ride to their office. For some reason, they scheduled us to pick-up at 5pm, but we had to check-out of our hotel at noon. They were happy to move it to earlier as their offices close at 5:30pm. They also didn’t have a problem with picking us up. So we sat in the hotel lobby for at least 45 minutes while Kai bounced off the walls. When I called to see where they were, they said they couldn’t pick us up because we were near the airport and our campervan was at the Auckland city office. She offered to call a pre-paid cab to take us there, but that wouldn’t work either because we didn’t have a car seat for Kai. I sure wished we had that nice car seat we donated in London. But then again, there was no use lugging it for 3 months throughout Asia, where they would insist she sit on our laps in cramped shuttle buses anyway. She was understanding when she saw that we had requested a baby seat with our rental. So in the end, someone at their airport office picked us up with a car seat and took us to their airport office. Then, we jumped into a cab with the car seat, and went to the Auckland city office.

It seemed like, by the time we finally got the campervan, it was just about 5pm. But, at least we got there. Seeing the campervan was a bit of a disappointment. The older white Toyota Hi Ace high top looked a bit chintzy compared to our European Ford Nugget (Dodge Sprinter body with Mercedes diesel engine) with Westfalia camper kit. It was either that it wasn’t laid out as well, it was older and a bit more beat up, didn’t have as much storage space or because it was tagged all over the outside with their logo and “cutesy” tag line. But, somehow we were able to fit all our stuff in it and didn’t see all the bangs and scratches when it was full. And, when we got on the road, we saw that all the other campervan companies that we considered also had logos. We only had to live in it for a month. And the best part, this one had a shower, toilet and hot water. That has definitely been a bonus when you have a toilet-training two year old. And, she’s finally starting to do better with the toilet-training, now that we have our own toilet.

Our first few days with the camper was nothing all too exciting. I guess we needed a couple days just to get set-up and rest. Some time around this point, Kailani also got a mild case of the sniffles, followed by me. So, that was also a reason to take it easy. From Jucy, we took the camper to our first stop, The Warehouse, a discount housewares store. Considering the weather, I knew that we needed more than the one thin comforter that Jucy supplied. They also only gave us two of every eating item (plates, cups, spoons, etc.) and there were three of us. So, we walked out of the store with some extra kitchen supplies, a coffee press for Sean and a nice New Zealand wool-filled duvet on sale. I took the duvet out of the box and it totally smelled like farm. But it did keep us warm. After a week or so, the smell dissipated. After a late lunch at a nearby pub, our next stop was a campground that was recommended by Joel at Jucy, in Orewa, a beachside suburb about 20 minutes away from Auckland. We got a nice, beach view spot. But, it was already dark. So, we checked-in and went to New World, one of New Zealand’s chain grocery stores. I was happy that I was able to find some Venerdi 7 Seed Sourdough Spelt Bread and organic yogurt. But, the rest was pretty standard stuff.

The next day, we still had a couple things we needed to get: a SIM card for our cell phone (Vodaphone was closed both at the airport upon arrival and near the Warehouse), an iPod charger (My adapter fell apart in Thailand. At least, the camper’s stereo had an aux line, but my iPod’s so old, it doesn’t keep charge anymore.), and I was hoping for some more socks for Kai and I. We found the nearest Westfield shopping mall. (Yes, the same company that owns shopping malls in California also owns some both in Australia and New Zealand.) I was wondering how difficult it was going to be to find the stuff we needed. But right off the bat, there was an Apple store right at the entrance. iPod charger? Check! The rest wasn’t too hard either. I was stoked that I was even able to find Smartwool socks, which I prefer because they fit me well AND at a decent price. I was shocked at how expensive wool socks were in Australia (about $40-45 USD/AUD), hence me still needing some. There was just one thing I couldn’t get, a SIM card. For some reason, both Vodaphone stores in the mall were sold out. Maybe fifth time’s a charm?!?

After shopping, we decided to eat a late lunch before heading back to the campground. We ended up at this restaurant at the mall called The Reservoir. And THIS, of all places, is where we started to really experience the great food and wine of New Zealand. I suppose it could have been a fluke, but the New Zealand Green Lip Mussels in Thai Red Curry sauce accompanied by a Hawke’s Bay Sauvignon Blanc was absolutely phenomenal! And, that’s only the beginning!

The next morning, we packed up and checked out of the campground. After finally hitting a Vodaphone store that was both open and stocked, I finally got a SIM card…for $35. Ouch! They were only $3-5 USD in Asia. But compared to Australia, everything else seemed to be back to a “normal” price, besides that.

From Orewa, we headed about an hour away to Muriwai, stopping at a surfboard outlet on the way. I forgot. There was ONE more thing that was on our shopping list, a surfboard! Sean saw a nice, new board that he liked. But the price seemed a bit too high for. So, he decided to wait and see what else there was. As we drove from the west coast to the east coast, the landscape went from suburban neighborhoods to gentle rolling hills to a the beachside community of Muriwai, where there was only one or two small markets and a handful of mid-size houses probably built around the 70’s-80’s against the hill going towards the beach. It reminded me of the area of Aptos, CA that’s west of Highway 1 and east of La Selva, without any of the recent-built large houses. By the time we got to the Muriwai campground, it was late afternoon. We tried to take a walk on the beach, but the weather was still a bit cold and gray, and then started to rain on us. So, we ended up having an early dinner, “movie night” and lots of needed rest. Hopefully, things start to liven up a bit!

New Zealand

2008-08-15T15:34:00.000-07:00

We've been in New Zealand, but I haven't had the time to write about it yet. But, will do so soon..... Much love to all, The Riola's

Lower Hunter Valley and Departure from Australia

2008-08-14T22:03:00.000-07:00

Spot the native animals in the vineyards. How often do you see that?!?

08.14.08: After being spoiled by all the availability of good wine for 2 months in Europe, then not really anything for 3 months in Asia, we got to Australia and I was happy to drink some good stuff again. I wish I could have done more wine tasting in Europe. So, I suppose I was on a mission to do some in Australia. Outside of Sydney is a big wine producing region called the Lower Hunter Valley. We couldn’t really find a good mode of transport on our own, so we ended up booking with Boutique Wine Tours. (Caitlin was lucky enough to enjoy the wine also, as she was old enough to drink in this country!) We had to wake up at the crack of dawn AGAIN, and I was seriously ready for another day of rest. But we had to meet the coach at Circular Quay at 7:50am, which meant we had to leave our apartment to walk to the ferry by 6:30am. Luckily, all we had to do was stumble (from lack of sleep, not from too much wine…yet!) on with six others and sit there for a couple hours drive. The tour took us to a handful of smaller boutique wineries, a café for lunch, as well as The Smelly Cheese shop and a chocolatier for cheese and chocolate tasting too. The nice thing about the tour is that they also took requests. So, I inquired about organic wines and voila! They took Sean, Caitlin, Kailani and I to an organic winery, Tambourlaine, while the others went to some of the other wineries nearby. It was great to ask the winemaker some questions. We found out that it took them 12 years to finally become certified and they are still on their way to becoming biodynamic. I was always under the impression that, because organic wines don’t have pesticides, which are made from sulfides, that the wine would contain less, even though there are still some sulfides that naturally develop during the fermentation process. As I found out, their wines have about 80% less sulfides. Good to know for anyone that can’t usually drink wine because of the sulfides…

Fortunately, Kailani took a brief nap during our first winery tasting. It must have been the early morning wake-up. But, during our last winery tasting, Kailani, who was so patient with all of this boring wine business, finally had it. I took her outside to run around while the rest of the crew was inside tasting, and finally decided to give her a snack. But she got a bit crazy, bounced her chin off the pavement and got a pretty good war wound. I’m just glad it was only pavement rash and she didn’t break a tooth or bite her tongue! Luckily, the rest of the coach decided that she was such a good girl, that she deserved to pick which DVD to watch on the ride home. So, Happy Feet it was. That kept her entertained until she fell asleep again. Just like the other nights, when we finally got back to Sydney, took the ferry to Manly and walked back to our apartment, we collapsed for the night.

The next evening, Friday, Caitlin and Tutu were flying back to Hawaii. And, Sean, Kailani and I were flying to Auckland, New Zealand the day after that. But, someone else had dibs on our apartment, so we had to move out again. Luckily, Manly Surfside had another apartment available down the street, but it still meant we had to move, which was still a minor annoyance with all our luggage in tow. When we went to check-out/check-in, were “bumped” to another apartment, a 3 bedroom 2 ½ bath “luxury” level one. Too bad it was just the three of us for one night, instead of all five of us for the entire week! Still, it was nice. After shopping for a few more last things on The Corso, Caitlin, Kai and I trekked to the Manly ferry while Sean and Tutu took their luggage, plus one large duffel bag of our Bali artwork and our summer clothes, in a taxi. This time from Circular Quay, we took the train to the Sydney airport for one last dinner with Caitlin and Tutu. By the time we took the reverse route, got back to the apartment and packed up our stuff a bit tighter, it was late.

And, of course...we had to wake up at the crack of dawn AGAIN, one last time, to get back to the airport for our 11:30am flight. It was so early that the Manly ferry wasn’t running yet. Luckily, the Manly JetCat, a faster catamaran, still ran at 7am on a Saturday morning. Taking that just meant that we couldn’t use our week-long pass, and we had to pay for another ticket, but at least we got there. Go figure, that when we arrived at the airport and stood in line for what seemed like forever, we finally get to the ticket counter to get told that they cancelled our flight due to bad weather. Luckily, there were still seats left on the 3:30pm flight. While waiting, we already got two different contacts from New Zealanders on the same flight as us who told us to contact them when we get there. Talk about a friendly country! Anyway, all I kept thinking was that I could have been sleeping in our luxury apartment for a few more hours if only they we had a phone number for Air New Zealand to call us and tell us of the news. Oh well!

I’m very grateful that we again got lucky with weather while in Sydney. Although it was cold, at times bone-chilling cold, it didn’t rain with the exception of an hour or so when we were shopping at The Rocks weekend market, and we were under a tent at the time. Unfortunately, we didn’t get lucky with the waves. They were small the only day we went surfing. And, it got flatter the rest of the week, except of course, the last day we were there. But then again, we ended up with more than enough to keep us occupied. As far as a cancelled flight from Australia to New Zealand due to bad weather, I guess it tells you what we are in for when we arrive.

* I also want to give a big thanks to Gabi, who told me about Port Douglas. You are right. It was a nice place!

Dim Sum with the Au's, Sydney Wildlife World and Aquarium

2008-08-13T14:29:00.000-07:00

From left to right: Aunt Patricia (my mom's sister), me, Caitlin and Leanne

Left to right: Kailani (hiding behind a toy), Tutu, me, Caitlin, Aunt Patricia, Leanne and, the belated birthday boy, Uncle Henry

Kailani with "Bruce"

The underwater tunnel at the Sydney Aquarium

08.13.08: After a lazy morning of recovery from the day before, we finally made it on the Manly ferry to go back to Sydney. First, we met my Uncle Henry, Aunt Patricia and Cousin Leanne for a dim sum lunch in Chinatown. I’m so very grateful that we finally got the chance to see them! It had been years, but all still looked just as young and healthy as ever. They walked us over to the Darling Harbour area, where we parted ways and entered the Sydney Wildlife World.

The first part of this “zoo” was all the scary, deadly, yucky bugs and snakes that Australia is inhabited with. Then, it got better. After that was a display of the nocturnal animals, then kangaroos, koalas and butterflies. At the kangaroo area, we had the pleasure to meet an indigenous guide, Jimbinyan (I know I’m butchering his name!) who was a delight to talk to and gave us a brief didgeridoo lesson. Hopefully, Sean and Tutu remember what to do when they get home with use theirs. Anyway, if you see a new movie come out called To Hell and Back, he has the starring role.

Next door, we entered the Sydney Aquarium. Of course, Kailani especially liked seeing the coral reef exhibit, where Nemo, Marlin and Dorie live in the anemone. They also had a great walk through tunnel where the sharks (aka “Bruce”…for Kailani), stingrays (aka “Mr. Ray”), turtles (aka “Crush” and “Squirt”) and other sea creatures swam around you. If you don’t know about any of the names that I’ve mentioned, you will have to see the movie, Finding Nemo.

After some shopping and dinner at Darling Harbour, it got late really fast. After some annoyance trying to get back to Circular Quay with as little time and walk in the cold as possible (because taxi drivers couldn’t take all five of us in one cab and were a bit rude about it), we finally made it back home for another late night collapse. As you might be able to tell, the afternoon’s attractions were really more for Kailani than for any of us. But, I think we all enjoyed it as well.

Katoomba and the Blue Mountains

2008-08-12T14:06:00.000-07:00

The Blue Mountains
(It's named after that becaue the Eucalyptus trees give off a blue glow when the sun rises.)

Scenic World glass-bottom cable car

View of the waterfalls from Scenic World

(I wish I could have taken a picture of what you see through the glass, but my camera doesn't do well through glass. So, you'll have to use your imagination.)

This must be an old car not in use anymore. But, it gives you an idea of what the incline is like.

08.12.08: We woke up at the crack of dawn again and took the ferry to Sydney where we took the train to Katoomba, a small town in the Blue Mountains, which is also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. From there, we booked a hop-on, hop-off “carbon neutral” trolley tour. I asked the drive what made it carbon neutral and he had no idea. I’m guessing that the company pays for carbon offset. It included a ride down into a canyon on Scenic World, a glass bottom cable car over 600 feet above ground. From there, we took a ride down The Katoomba Scenic Railway, the steepest incline railway in the world. (52 degrees) I believe this must have been originally used for transporting coal before it became an amusement ride, as there was a lot of old coal mining displays when you got down there. After a brief hike though the rainforest, we took a ride back up the other side of the canyon via another cable car. If I were to describe Katoomba and the Blue Mountains from a Bay Area native’s perspective, imagine taking a 2 hour train ride from San Francisco to the Grand Canyon. Instead of the Colorado River at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, there’s rainforest. Now, imagine taking a cable car across the Grand Canyon, but the floor is glass. You get the picture. It was absolutely stunning to get out of the city and there’s this HUGE canyon. As you took these rides down, it just kept getting better. The only drawback was that the air was so chilly. I don’t know if that could have caused a stunning reaction too. But I don’t think so though!

After that, we jumped back on the trolley and headed to the next town over, Laera, for a late lunch. By the time we were done there, we caught the last trolley of the day back. The driver took us through more areas along side the Blue Mountains for more fabulous views. After that, we headed back to Sydney then Manly so we could stumble into our apartment and crash.

Manly Beach and Sydney: Part 2

2008-08-09T13:56:00.000-07:00

The view from our Manly Surfside apartment

The view of the Opera House from the base of the Harbour Bridge

The view of the Harbour Bridge from the Opera House

08.08.08: We boarded a late evening plane from Cairns back to Sydney. By the time we arrived, retrieved our luggage from storage, got a taxi and got to Manly, it was about midnight and we were beat. The apartment we booked for the week was not available for the first night (what’s up with nothing being available that weekend?!?), so we checked in to a “family studio” (a room with 3 beds) at Manly Backpackers. I’m glad we didn’t decide to stay there for the week, because it was a pretty tight fit and the place wasn’t all too well maintained. There was a sign indicating that you need to shut the bathroom door while showering or else the smoke detector would go off and you would be charged minimum $250 for a fire department visit. But when poor Tutu slid the door, it would just fall off the tracks!

The next day, we spent most of the next morning “moving” from there to another apartment with Manly Surfside. Check-out at Backpackers was at 10am and check-in at Surfside was not until noon. So, we had brunch at The Corso, Manly’s main pedestrian street. Afterwards, we found a weekend market, selling handmade crafts. Sean and Kai picked up some Uggs for a decent price. (I’m still kicking myself that I didn’t get a pair myself! It’s two weeks later and I still have only one pair of shoes, Keen sandals with socks…what a fashion statement!) When we were finally able to get into the apartment, I was ready to collapse. Unfortunately, we had to pass on going to my cousin Richard and family’s house for the celebration of his dad, Uncle Henry’s birthday. Luckily, the apartment was MUCH more equipped than the first, and was right across the street from the beach. We all LOVED waking up in the morning to a view of the beach, even though there were no waves all week. Later in the afternoon, I finally worked up enough energy to rent a board and go surfing in the little waves with Sean while Kai hung out with Tutu and Caitlin. It’s fairly rare for us to go out together. Usually we have to “take turns”, so it was a treat. Luckily we went, because it got even smaller later in the week and we would have been too busy to go anyway.

On Sunday, we took in the typical Sydney sights. We started by taking the ferry from Manly to Circular Quay and then walked over to The Rocks, a historical neighborhood, for lunch. After lunch, we strolled through their weekend market which sold more handicrafts. At the end of the market was the base for the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Originally, Sean, Caitlin and I thought about doing the “Bridge Climb”, where you could tie yourself to a cable and walk over the top of the bridge. Tutu doesn’t do heights and volunteered to watch Kai. In the end, it would have taken several hours and hundreds of dollars, so we just walked the pedestrian sidewalk halfway across, back and over to the Opera House. It was just as well because it was a windy day anyway. At the Opera House, another UNESCO World Heritage site, we opted for a tour. It proved very worthwhile as we got to see the inside of the big auditorium, made of native timber from floor to ceiling, marveled at the architecture of the inside of the building which is just as impressive as the outside, and heard the tragic story of how the building’s architect still to this day hasn’t seen the completed building. (Note: I was so impressed with the Opera House that I told Sean if they hired me to do event planning and we could live in Manly, I might just do it.)

Monday came and we realized we still had yet to book flights or a campervan in New Zealand for the upcoming weekend. So, we ended up taking a “day off” to go online and get stuff done, and then do some shopping along The Corso. As it turned out, I finally found not one, but THREE health food stores in Manly. Their selection of organic foods seemed to be limited to non-perishable stuff. Unfortunately, we already stocked up for the week at a big grocery store chain, Coles, which has a very limited selection of organic food. But at least, it was good to see that Manly residents DO have more of a selection than the conventional grocery store chain.

Kuranda

2008-08-08T03:04:00.000-07:00

Kuranda Rainforest via Sky Cable

Kuranda Scenic Railway

Caitlin and Kailani's new koala friend

Sean and Kailani feeding a wallaby (essentially, a small version of a kangaroo)

08.08.08: On our last day there, we had one more tour. This time we went south, past Cairns, to Kuranda, also considered a World Heritage site. The first part of our day, we took a cable car up over the rainforest canopy. You could get off a couple times on the way up and view different parts of the forest and scenic views like huge waterfalls. At the top of the cable car was the town of Kuranda, where you could eat lunch and explore for a while. So, after our meat pies, Tutu went in search of a digerido. Sean, Cait, Kai and I went to a Koala Sanctuary. It’s one of the few places where you can actually hold one. As we found out later, it’s illegal in the state of New South Wales, where Sydney is. I’m not sure if it’s for humanity reasons. But, the gals at The Sanctuary told us that each koala is only held for a few hours per week, and the koalas didn’t seem to mind. They normally sleep for 20 hours a day and the one Caitlin held barely even woke up! Also there, we got to feed wallabies, which are smaller versions of kangaroos. It was pretty fun. Kailani still keeps asking to go back! After our time in town, we boarded the Kuranda Scenic Railway train, originally built in 1891. We snapped off many pictures as it was very scenic: going through the hills, seeing into a valley of rainforest, and going past more waterfalls. When we were finished, the driver was able to take us to the Cairns airport for our flight back to Sydney. How well did that work out!

Overall, we had a great 6 days up in North Queensland. After almost every local told us that it was pouring rain the week before we got there and the weather was again supposed to pick-up the day after we leave, we really felt like we lucked out. So far, we were able to see three UNESCO World Heritage sites, all of which were well worth it. And, there’s still more to come!

Lower Isles, Great Barrier Reef & Port Douglas

2008-08-06T03:03:00.000-07:00

A little too small for all of us to eat, but at least he caught one!

The island we went to at the Lower Isles, Great Barrier Reef

08.06.08: We again woke up early for another snorkel cruise to the Great Barrier Reef, this time to the Lower Isles, a different part of the reef. The boat, The Sailaway, was more of a large yacht with sails with an intimate crowd of probably around 20-30 passengers. Just like the rest of the week, the weather was excellent and it was looking like another epic day of snorkeling. I had the seasick bags on hand and was on guard with Kailani. But, I also made sure to feed her breakfast well in advance, and she seemed to be doing better. Unfortunately, halfway out to the reef a gentleman started having medical issues and we had to turn around and go back to Port Douglas. The slow boat seemed to take forever when we needed to get back for medical help ASAP. When we finally got back, the cruise company offered to reschedule the trip or to continue the day on another boat that hadn’t left shore yet. Since we only had two more days left, we took up their offer for the later. So our next boat, part of the Quicksilver’s mega-fleet, held at least a few hundred passengers. But, at least the day was not completely lost. It took us to a tiny little island where there were shuttle boats that took you from the mega-boat to the island, or you could jump on a smaller glass-bottom boat and view the reef without getting wet. The later was quite convenient for Kai. Although the last part of our day, she finally decided to swim out, with the aid of a noodle and her sister, and swam over the reef (with no snorkel). I was pretty proud that she made it out!

Thursday ended up being a slower day. I’m sure we would have collapsed had we not had this day! Tropical Nights didn’t have room for us anymore. But, they located rooms for us next door for our last night. So, after packing and moving, Kailani spent the afternoon with a babysitter. Kailani keeps asking for “a friend to play with”, so she was excited to have someone to come and play with her. I’m sure she didn’t expect that “friend” to be so grown up. But, Julie brought some different toys to play with and they had fun. Meanwhile, “the girls”, aka Tutu, Caitlin and I, went shopping in Port Douglas. Although I didn’t get anything, it was nice to not have to chase Kailani through a store, putting everything she puts her hands on back. Sean took his new fishing pole that he got for dirt cheap from the outlet mall in Sydney to the pier, where he made a friend to fish with. The rest of the day, we popped open a bottle of wine, lounged and went to a local pizza place for dinner. Kailani made another friend to play with. This time, she was the same size as Kai!

Daintree National Forest

2008-08-05T03:01:00.000-07:00

"Scarface"

Cape Tribulation

From left to right: Gloria, Tutu (aka Grandma Karen), Caitlin, Sean, Kailani and Baby Bear (Kai's beat-up best friend since last December, who's travelled 14 countries without a passport!)

08.05.08: We did another full day tour, this time up North to the Daintree National Forest, anther UNESCO World Heritage Sight. The tour company, Tony’s Tours, didn’t allow children on their “standard” tours, which usually hold 6-8 passengers. But, because we had 4 adults plus Kailani, it was cheaper to charter our own car, rather than the four of us going and getting an all-day babysitter for Kailani. We quickly found out why they don’t normally allow children when Kailani had a temper tantrum getting into the car seat and kept squirming out. I guess she really got used to not having to sit in one for the last 3 months in Asia. Chris, our guide, could not drive without her being in her seat, and had to pull over several times. But finally, with the help of movies on the PSP, she cooperated. Our first stop was a stroll around the Mossman gorge. Chris explained the evolution of the forest, pointed out several indigenous plants, toxic fruits and how they were used as medicine. We also had a rare sighting of a platypus. Then, we jumped on a boat cruise up a river for more crocodile sightings. This time, there were more crocs cruising around and the driver could get us up pretty close. He all knew them by name, ie “Fat Albert” and “Scarface”. Fat Albert WAS pretty huge! Next, we drove up the road and stopped for tea and a stroll on the beach at Cape Tribulation, where Captain Cook sailed his damaged ship for repairs. It was very scenic. We also saw a HUGE lizard just cruising around the picnic area. It must have been at least 6 feet long. It’s so hard to believe that those things are allowed to just roam freely amongst us tourists! Our next stop was for a picnic lunch, swim in the river and stroll through a private area in the Daintree National forest. Lunch was grilled steak, sausage and fish, several salads and damper. The later is a non-yeast bread, offered throughout Australia but the best was our first. It is eaten with butter and “brown syrup”. The bottle didn’t say what it’s made of, but it tastes like honey. Of course, you could also eat your damper with vegemite. But after a micro-taste of the stuff, I opted for the mystery syrup. The swim was in freezing cold water. But, Chris guaranteed that crocs won’t be swimming with you. They are smarter than us humans, and don’t swim in water that cold! I’m pretty sure we burned off our lunch trying to stay warm in the water. Later, Chris, who was getting married to a Thai woman two days later, gave us more commentary of all the indigenous animals and plants, the later was 80-90% toxic to humans. He pointed out soo many plants, trees and creatures in the forest walk that we wouldn’t have known about otherwise. Overall we were very impressed with the day, especially with the information we learned from Chris. Hope he had a good wedding!

Outer Great Barrier Reef

2008-08-04T03:00:00.000-07:00

The Poseidon

08.04.08: Early Monday morning, we were off on a boat out to the outer Great Barrier Reef for a day of snorkeling. We all felt that seeing this 8th wonder of the world and UNESCO World Heritage sight was an absolute must before it might not be there anymore. When we were in Ko Tao, Thailand, we heard how there used to be so much more reef, but how it’s dying because climate change has increased the water’s temperature by 1 to 2 degrees. What a sad reality that is! Although the boat we were on, The Poseidon, seemed a bit too large for our taste carrying probably 100-150 people, it was nothing compared to another boat, The Quicksilver, which carried more like 300. And, we did like the fact that it made three various stops that was determined on the conditions of the day, which meant that they didn’t always stop at the same place, thus minimizing damage to the reef. The great thing about when we went out was the fact that it was whale sighting season. And as luck had it, we saw whales three different times: on the way to the reef and twice on the way home. The first time, we saw at least 5 whales as close as 15-20 feet, warming their bellies by lying on their backs. Even the crew was excited and taking pictures. After that was the journey to the reef. I was pretty tired that morning and, although I’ve never gotten sea sick before, was feeling a bit green. Perhaps, I overdid it on the wine the night before, after not having anything “good” for several months in Southeast Asia. But somehow, I never expected poor Kailani to beat me to the punch (considering no issues after several boat rides throughout Asia), losing her entire breakfast as she was sitting on her poor sister’s lap…facing her! After cleaning up both girls, we finally made it to the reef. Kai and I decided to sit it out. But, Tutu, Caitlin and Sean had a great time snorkeling. Our second dive sight, the water was 24° C (72° F). Didn’t sound too cold, but with the wind, was still way too cold for Kai. She was just not going to jump in! I got to jump in for both sights #2 and 3 and they were both pretty spectacular. Caitlin sighted a squid at sight #2. At sight #3, it pretty much resembled “The Drop-Off” in the movie, Finding Nemo, which we’ve been traveling with and have probably seen at least 1000 times. Basically, we can almost recite the entire movie. Anyway, Sean dove down the deepest he’s ever been. And, he got to touch the largest clam he’s touched, probably at least 4 feet wide. After he got out, I went out. Caitlin and I had fun exploring together. We found several large clams as well and anemones that housed several “Nemo” clownfish. I tried my hand at diving as well. But, I can’t compare to Caitlin, who can go down about 30 feet after learning on her kayak/camping trip to Palau with Tutu last summer. On the way back, we had two more whale sightings. The last was also pretty spectacular because it was a mother and a calf. Overall, we all had a great day. Even though Kailani got sick in the beginning and didn’t get to go out in the water, I think she had a great time just being on the boat and seeing the whales.

Port Douglas, North Queensland

2008-08-02T02:59:00.000-07:00

Port Douglas Estuary...crocodiles and all!

The Lady Douglas

08.02.08: We stowed a couple bags in the Sydney airport and flew on a three hour Jet Star airlines flight up to Cairns. Getting off the plane….ahhhhhh!! We were back near the rainforest and it was warm and humid again! After finally locating our shuttle, we left for an hour’s drive up to Port Douglas for the next six days. By the time we got there, it was pretty late. We found a menu for “takeaway delivery” and ordered ribs and chicken wings for dinner. It was pretty good. But, the restaurant ran out of corn so just didn’t include it. And, the side of salad, supposedly enough to feed a family of four, could have fed just one of us, despite a rather pricey bill. Then again, everything in Australia seems to be pricey so far! I suppose I could have been cranky and hungry, but they heard an earful from me…

The next morning, we decided to start planning what we wanted to do. With six days and everything we wanted to do, we could have spent at least a few weeks there instead. (So be prepared to read a lot below!) Still, we booked five tours through the owners of Tropical Nights, a small complex of town homes that we were staying at. The place itself was quaint but nothing spectacular. But, we were very impressed with Peta and Alan’s hospitality and friendliness. Although, we haven’t met anyone less friendly and polite as they are (with the exception of a few taxi drivers). Later that day, we walked into town, got the opportunity to stroll through their Sunday market where they sold handmade crafts and fruits/veggies, and then got some groceries for the week. Then later, we walked back into town again for tour #1, a sunset cruise on an old fashioned steam wheel boat called The Lady Douglas. The cruise went down through the estuaries, where the main attraction was spotting crocodiles. We had fun snapping off pictures of the few that we saw as well as just the cruising itself.

Sydney: Part 1

2008-08-01T02:37:00.000-07:00

07.30.08: We left Bali for Sydney on a redeye. It was way past Kailani’s bedtime, and she totally cried on the plane when she had to put on her seat belt for take-off and landing. Two other kids around the same age as her seated next to us took turns with her crying. But at least they all didn’t do it together. Thanks to earplugs and an eye cover, I got at least a couple hours sleep and didn’t feel as bad as I expected to be. We landed in Sydney around 7am. We have never seen soooo many surfboards at an airport luggage claim before. After the most rigorous entrance into a country by customs, we were allowed with a little bit of food that we were carrying and our Balinese wood carvings which we had to claim on the customs form. When we exited the building….burrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! There was definitely a climate change!

While we were in Bali, for some random reason, I decided to check our friend Rory’s tour schedule on his band’s web site. As it turns out, their last show in Australia was the day before we arrived in Sydney and they were playing in the outskirts of Sydney. It ends up that he flew out the morning that we flew in. What a bummer that we ended up missing him for the SECOND time on our trip! (First time was when we were trying to get from the Italian Alps to Munich.) But, third try should be a charm. We WON’T miss him when we go to Hawaii in October!

We went to the apartment we were to stay at. Caitlin and Tutu (aka Grandma Karen) had already arrived from Hawaii the night before. When our taxi drove up, we saw Caitlin watching out the window for us. I can’t tell you how great it was to see my other “baby’s” face, as well as Tutu’s. Kailani was so happy to see her big sister. She didn’t forget her big sister one bit. Thanks to Tutu and Caitlin, for bringing lots of requested goodies for us! It was such a treat, even though all that organic food was sprayed with insecticide on the plane by Australia customs! After long hugs, we spent most of the morning settling in, letting Kai and Cait play together, catching up and then went to lunch. The next order of business for all of us was to get more cold weather clothes. The Riola family arrived with mainly shorts, t-shirts, tank tops and open-toed shoes. (Technically, I also had a pair of jeans, a sweatshirt for me and Sean, and a thin sweater for Kai. But still…) The Sanchez’s (aka Caitlin and Tutu) also underestimated the weather and could use a few more things. Talking with local taxi drivers, it was also usually cold for this time of year. Luckily, there was an outlet mall within walking distance. Walking there, it was way more westernized than Asia. But, we heard some strange sounding birds that made us definitely feel like we were somewhere that we’ve never been to. At the outlet mall, we actually ended up with a lot more than I thought we’d find. Although, it didn’t seem like we paid outlet prices. Later that evening, we got a visit from my cousin, Richard, who brought a box with our wetsuits and cool weather stuff that we shipped from Amsterdam last May, minus anything much for Kai since she would have outgrown it all. We can’t thank you enough, Richard and Libby, for storing that box of our junk at your house!!! It was also nice to see Richard and catch-up over sushi dinner.

The next morning, after a slow start and a trip to the market for breakfast stuff, we took the bus to Circular Quay then ferry to Manly for late lunch and to scope out the area and accommodations to see if that’s where we wanted to stay after going up north to the Cairns/Great Barrier Reef area. There is a surfing beach, the area is nice and taking the ferry to the city is convenient. So, we’ll probably be back next week. On the ferry, you pass right by the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. It was quite a stunning view, especially on the return trip when it was dark out and the city lights were lit.

On Saturday morning, we packed up and headed to the airport, this time for Cairns. Since its a few hours up north by flight, we’re hopeful it’ll be a bit warmer. Between the five of us, the addition of a box AND shopping, we had TONS of stuff. So, we stored a couple bags at the airport. (Not cheap! …but then, nothing at this country seems to be thus far.) Security at the Sydney domestic terminal seems to be the most lenient we’ve seen so far. They never asked for an ID anytime before boarding (usually, we have those passports out for several checks) and they actually allow liquids on their flights. Since I’m in the air as I type, all I can say is that, so far, everything else about the flight seems to be going smoothly. We keep telling Kailani how we’re flying to see Nemo. She’s only seen that movie about a thousand times. So hopefully, there won’t be a shortage of “Nemos” on the reef’!

Seminyak: Part 2

2008-07-30T03:53:00.001-07:00

07.26.08: We left Medewi and went back to Seminyak for our last 5 days in Bali. Since we loved it so much, we stayed at the villa that we stayed at before. I was looking forward to spending more time on the beach in Seminyak since we were either on the road or at the villa last time we were there.

Our first night, the fridge was still empty. So, we headed over to the local “see and be seen” bar, Ku De Ta, for sunset drinks and a snack. My foot cut-up was pretty tender and the first margarita (or hard alcohol) I’ve had in over 5 months seemed to make it feel better. One thing led to another and we ended up staying later than expected. Finally, Sean dragged me from the crowd I had befriended and we finally went home. It was also a much more expensive night than expected, so we made it a point to avoid that place in the future.

Still, our first day was consumed with renting a scooter, getting spelt pancakes for breakfast at a really nice health food restaurant, Earth Cafe, stocking up on groceries and a ride into Kuta to pick up sweatshirts and a cheap board rental. All the Oz’s we talked to in Medewi scared us with how cold it was over there, and all we had were shorts, flip flops, t-shirts and tank tops. We ended up with the sweatshirts, but no board.

The next day, we finally charged it right over to the beach for a pretty fun session in the waves and sand. I tried to avoid walking on sand as much as possible, but couldn’t avoid jumping on a board (that was rented at a premium on that beach) and playing in the waves for a while. When we got back to the villa, Dr. Sean had another good wound-cleaning session on my foot. Later that night, we went into Kuta to see Tom Curren play at the Hard Rock, along with the release of a new surf movie, Walking on Water, produced by a philanthropic group of surfers. Tom played a few songs, but we skipped out on the movie because it was getting late and Kailani needed dinner fast. As we sat in the Hard Rock Café, it felt like we were back in The States, but not in the right way. We probably would have preferred Indonesian food again, but this location was convenient. Oh well!

There was supposed to be a big Rip Curl competition in Padang Padang on the 28th and we hired a driver to take us there. When we got there, we found that Rip Curl delayed the competition until the next swell, which would be the day we leave. Seems that we just keep missing swells everywhere expect to have surf. It was still fun to see the beach and area. Later that afternoon, we decided to start taking advantage of the inexpensive 100,000 Rp ($10 USD) massages while we can. John, the owner of our villas, hooked us up with his masseuse, Putu, who came to the villa while Kailani napped and put us in bliss for an hour each.
Later that night, we got a visit from Banker and Celine from SF, who we met in Medewi. It was great to spend the evening with them again, even though we weren’t very prepared to have them at our villa and basically had to “ration” the pasta I made that night. Sorry guys!

The next morning, we ended up back at Earth Café, where we found Celine and Banker again unexpectedly. This time, we shared what I call “good pancakes” rather than the “bad pancake” we shared in Medewi. It’s so nice to hang with others who feel the same way about healthy living as I do! We were also honored to take with us a copy of Banker’s movie, which we look forward to watching on our flight to Sydney. Unfortunately that day, the waves in Seminyak beach were really flat. So again, we didn’t spend as much time there as we would have liked. At least, we had a great pool at our villa to play in. Again, we had Putu come for another hour each of massage bliss. She did a great job working out my calf, as it got all knotted up from hobbling around on my tore up foot!

As we prepare to depart this beautiful island that we’ve fallen in love with, we look forward to being in Australia and most of all, seeing some familiar family faces, especially Caitlin’s. But, we are also sad to be leaving this place so soon. We would have loved to spend more time here….ALOT more time here! Our last night here, we were drooling over this completely restored 1951 vehicle from Russia (looked kind of like an old topless Landcruiser) when we ran into it’s owners, Tish and Ocho, a Javanese couple that are developing some property in Seminyak. Tish was right when she said Bali has everything: rich culture, beautiful scenery (especially the rice paddies), beaches, great surf, EXTREMELY friendly people, and an inexpensive cost of living (with a little bit of effort). We just hope to be returning as soon as we can! Terimah kasih for the wonderful experiences and Selamat tinggal Bali!

Medewi

2008-07-25T23:45:00.000-07:00

Left to right: Celine, Banker, Wayan, Sean, Mariano and Paita

07.25.08: I’m sitting here with a rash and feet so cut up that I can barely walk on them, trying to figure out how long we actually stayed in Medewi. Yep! We had an awesome time there! (I think it was 8 days.) Thanks Kevin, who we met in Kata, Thailand, for the tip on Medewi. You were spot on!

So, we got a ride from Ketut, who works at our villa in Seminyak but had the day off, to go 2+ hours up north to Medewi. The villa we stayed at for the first two days, we booked online last minute. It had an ocean view because that was all that was available. But, after staying at our brand new “oasis” in Seminyak, the place still seemed really overpriced and a bit worn. Although there was a nice reef right outside where Kai got to check out all the ocean creatures like sea urchins, local reef fish, and even an octopus swimming around in the pools at low tide, it was also not right at Medewi. You had to catch a ride from the hotel shuttle a couple kilometers down the street or walk about twenty minutes along the beach. It might have also been that my stomach still wasn’t doing good (which finally subsided after a couple days with the help of GSE and charcoal), but overall we were not impressed with it. Besides Sean trying to do a little fishing off the reef (but not catching anything), our only other goal there was to start looking for another place right at Medewi.

After two days, we moved to Medewi Beach Cottages. This place was not anything to rave about either. Our first room was really dark and even more “worn”, but at least the price was appropriate, it had a nice pool and it was right there. I suppose, if we weren’t a “family” and didn’t spend as much time inside, it would have done just fine. But after a couple days, an ocean view room became available, which was way more spacious and had a large window that looked out to the beach which let in light.

As far as Medewi itself, we spent most of our time with Sean and me switching off surfing and teaching Kai to swim at the pool, along with a couple massages, one not so good and one great one. There’s not a lot out there. As a matter of fact, no internet access except one computer with a modem line at the first place we stayed at. Also, there were only about three places to eat, all of which were not great. But, we made some great friends there. First, there was Abe and Darrah from Kauai. They were there for Abe’s work. His partner, Peter from Australia, lives in Medewi where he puts together Bale Maker pre-fab Balinese wooden houses, and then ships them over to Abe in Hawaii, who puts them up. We definitely want to check those out further. It was perfect to talk to them since we’ll be going to Kauai in October for a wedding. We also look forward to that local style BBQ that Abe kept talking about. Abe and Darrah had full-on Hawaiian style going on! Next, we met Banker and Celine from SF, who were on their honeymoon. We had a lot in common and instantly felt like we had been friends forever. (We haven’t been around Californians for a while!) They both totally charge out in the water! We had a great time with them, especially when we all got invited to Mariano and Wayan’s house (incidentally, Wayan does a GREAT massage!), a local family, for a Balinese dinner of some awesome crab in coconut milk curry, rice and grilled fish topped with a sweet, hot sauce. After dinner, we ran into Jacques and Cheryl from Australia, who are building their house in Medewi. (Poor Cheryl! Every time I saw her, I’d drill her about what it takes to buy land and build. We definitely want to know more about this!) They clued us in on this cart that made what Celine calls “Bad Pancakes” (she doesn’t usually eat wheat either), which were like a waffle sandwich, without the waffle ridges, filled with local Bali chocolate, lots of butter, crushed peanuts and sweetened condensed milk. Yummmmm! After Banker and Celine left, we spent some time hanging out with Roland from Guam. He also felt very familiar and seemed very Californian, maybe because he went to school in San Diego and had family in the Bay Area. Shaun from New Zealand leaves every winter to escape the cold. He helped us out with some places to check out there. Hopefully, we can meet up his fiancé when we get there. There were also James and Erik, a couple of single guys from Manly Beach, Australia, looking for some action at a resort predominately occupied with families and couples. Manly is a place where we are considering staying at when we go to Sydney, so they gave us some good info. Then there were another few Californians we chatted with, a family from Marin County, and Tim and Ann from Monterey, whose kids finally left the house so they are finally getting their “second honeymoon”. (Yes, I know the feeling!) Their first was spent at Plaskett Creek. (Ahhh…we miss camping there!...although we hear it’s seeing it’s share of fire right now.) Last but not least, there were the local boys, five of them, all in their 20’s, from a family of eight, and they all surf and hung out right at their mom’s little “warung” at the point, where she sold drinks and snacks. They are also who we rented boards and booties from, and one of the brothers, Harris, drove us back down south when we left Medewi.

As far as the beach, it’s a pretty long left point break, a kind of a mushy break that could bowl up once in awhile on the inside, surrounded by rocks and lots of sea urchins. The waves get better during high tide and so does the paddle in and out. But nothing beats the morning with no wind and nothing but glass with maybe a hand full of people. I let Sean surf the first day when the swell hit, and then went the next day when it was dying down a bit. The selection of boards to rent was fairly dismal. The best we could find was a 6’ 10” which had finger-groove pressure dings on the rails. It floated, but I was already nervous enough being in foreign water surrounded by rocks. Needless to say, I didn’t catch much and was REALLY missing our boards in CA, especially because almost everyone else had their own boards with them. To top it off, I seemed to catch some type of rash. They say there are little “sea lice” out in the water that can bite you. So, just as my body finally got “used to” mosquito bites that were soooo uncomfortable for me (incidentally, there are virtually none here), I was itching like a flea-bitten dog again. But finally, I broke out the homeopathic remedy kit and either the Ledum or Rhux eased it.

The second time I went out, we at least found some old long board with fins way too small for it. It was a bit chattery, but it worked. The tide was pushing to high, the waves were well overhead outside and there were some huge clean-up sets that pulled me under. First, one pulled out my ponytail. Then, another held me under so long that I had time to wonder if I’d had enough air. The last tossed me around enough that I couldn’t tell which end was up until I opened my eyes to see where the sun was shining from. But then, I lost my contact lens. After that, I decided I’d better work my way in. When I finally caught a wave inside, my hair, one big dreadlock at that point, was covered over my half-blind eyes. So, I spent half the wave pulling it away so I could see. When I got out, I decided I had enough of Medewi waters. An Australian guy who paddled out with me ended up getting out at the same time as me. He had nothing else to say except what I was thinking.

Next, it was Sean’s turn. He immediately woke up first thing in the morning, itching pretty bad to go again. When he finally came out, a half a day later, he had a big smile on his relieved-looking face. He said he finally got the monkey off his back and that it was one of his more epic sessions ever. I didn’t think much of it. But our last morning there, I changed my mind (with a little encouragement from my other half, who added this line in) and decided to go out again before breakfast. After I rented the long board, I went to Hadi who always had booties for me to rent. This time, someone got them before me. So, I walked out over the rocks, with no booties, during low tide. I kept my eye out for urchins, but still all the rocks were covered with little prickly barnacle things. Out in the water, I could feel my feet in the water were all slashed from the walk out. I was patient and finally a good set came through and a wave right to me. I was a little slow getting up but at least made the section so I could take it all the way to the end. At that point, I knew that I too had gotten the monkey off my back. :-D After waiting a bit, I decided I’d better go in before Sean, Kailani and Harris would be waiting for me so we could leave town. Getting out was the next issue. I tried my best, but it was just too hard to avoid not slipping on the rocks at least a few times. After my shower, Sean got to play doctor on my feet for about an hour, pulling out a couple urchin spines and scrubbing out the dirt from the inside of my cuts with a toothbrush. I hadn’t even eaten breakfast, but the pain was enough to “need” a beer to handle it. I still get the chills thinking about that toothbrush! As I’m typing right now, I’m getting more use out of my homeopathic remedy kit by soaking me feet in a tincture of Hypericum (for nerve damage), along with some calendula (heals the skin) and GSE (antibiotic). Next will probably be some Silica to expel the spines that Sean couldn’t get out. Ahhh….Medewi!

PS: I take it back about “no mosquitoes”. Later that night, one of those stupid buggers snuck into our room and bit us all up while we were sleeping!

Seminyak

2008-07-12T22:46:00.000-07:00

Cremation Ceremony in Ubud

Cremation Ceremony in Ubud

Dreamland. No waves...but it's still quite dreamy, eh?

07.12.08: The selection of places to stay in Bali seems quite diverse, especially in the mid-range level. For budget, I’m sure you get a cheap dive. And at the high-end level, there seem to be many large chain luxury mega-resorts that charge several hundred dollars per night. For our stay in this area, I chose to look for something that had a kitchen since it’s been several months since I’ve had one. This led me to several individually-owned vacation rentals. We didn’t plan very well. So the day before we left Ubud, I took the first place that replied back to me. We ended up at Latitude 8, a complex of 4 villas, owned by Jon and Susan, a very friendly couple who also own a B&B where they live in Maui. We got the pleasure of meeting them since they happened to be staying in Bali while we were there. For a fraction of what you’d pay for a luxury resort or even something comparable, we have a brand new, 6 month old, 1 bedroom villa, outdoor kitchenette and OUR OWN private SALT water pool (very rare to find here) with solar heated water. This place is AMAZING! I feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven….and I wonder what I did to deserve this! Yes, it’s more than what we should be paying. But, is it worth it? YES!!!!! We were pretty sad to find that we could only get 5 nights there.

So with that said, our first half and full day there, we hung out at the villa, took dips in the pool, and rented a scooter to stock up on food and check out the beach and area. The only thing that made it less than stellar was that the weather was unusually cool for that time of the year. Don’t get me wrong. It was very pleasant, probably in the high 70’s. But just not so hot that you are forced to cool off in the pool. I was worried that Seminyak might be a little too crowded for our taste. But it’s just far enough away from the tourist-centric area of Kuta. You still have restaurants and shops around, but not too many crowds. However, we enjoyed dinner right at the villa, at Warung Riola, consisting of vegetable stir fry, brown rice and snapper.

The next day, we got a driver to take us about 45 minutes away to the south tip of Bali. Originally, we were going to hit surfer mecca, Uluwatu, but the driver recommended we check out Dreamland first on the way, because it had a good sandy beach for Kailani to play on. As it turned out, we could see both Uluwatu and another break, Padang Padang, down the coast from Dreamland and there were no waves. So, Dreamland it was. Sean rented a board and mucked-it-up in the water while Kai and I played in the sand, getting attacked by ladies wanting to sell clothes and give me a massage. It seemed like a good excuse to tell them “maybe later”, that I couldn’t get a massage while watching the kid and then it was my time to go surfing. But when Sean got out of the water, I was forced to escape them by going out, even though the waves died even worse. Sean was ready to leave by the time I got out of the water and that seemed like another good excuse for the ladies. But, he still had a beer to finish. So, I thought I was compromising when I agreed to a half hour instead of an hour. They got my money anyway. Instead, two ladies massaged me at once….not that it was torture or anything. As a matter of fact, I technically had a SIX hand massage, as Kailani joined in on the action. But, one bummer about being on the beach is that the sand gets in the way, so you technically get an exfoliation scrub too. Lesson learned: You might as well just expect to get a massage while on Bali’s beaches…unless you can handle the pressure! Again, we had another delightful dinner of spelt pasta putanesca and salad at Warung Riola.

The day after that, we had the same driver take us back to Ubud so we could see the big cremation ceremony that we saw the town preparing for the week before. It was definitely a big event. Parking was nearly impossible and there were crowds lining up and down the main street hours before anything even happened. Of course, sitting there waiting for the action, it seemed like the sun decided to come out full strength and every Balinese standing around you was smoking. After a couple hours, Kai and I couldn’t take it any longer. So we ducked into my favorite Ubud café, Bali Buddha, for some lunch and a Balinese health tonic. (They also had a little market where they sold homemade kombucha!) Sean came in too, but then went back down to the street when he heard drum beats coming toward us. Finally, the procession was coming down the main street from the Ubud Palace toward the cemetery. The cremation was for the former King and Queen of Ubud, who ruled one of several provinces of Bali. One of the two had died a few years ago, followed by a recent death of the other. In Bali, they bury recently deceased and then wait until the right day on the lunar calendar for a cremation ceremony where they usually cremate several people at once. This time, they waited for both spouses to pass before having the ceremony. Usually, it’s not such a big ordeal, but this was for a very well-respected King and Queen. It felt like the entire island was there that day. The first to come down the street, one after another, were two big paper mache bulls, each carried by a large crowd of men accompanied by drummers and musicians. After that came two very elaborately decorated, very tall towers. There was also a man standing at the top of the tower waving to the crowd. I believe that he was the Prince. We don’t quite remember all the specifics, but the ceremony has something to do with bodies going into bulls because bulls are considered sacred, and the tall towers are to get closer to the heavens. Somehow, a cremation happens between all of this. It was quite a sight to see, and we were honored to be there for it, although it all seems very tough to explain yet very amazing to see in person. As Sean was down in the crowds, taking pictures of it all, he said it was so packed that it was like he was in the front row of a big rock concert. Luckily, Kailani and I still got to see what was going on from afar, from the balcony of the restaurant. That night, Warung Riola cooked up some steak, brown rice and salad.

After our day in Ubud, we were a bit wiped out and unfortunately my stomach wasn’t doing that great. So, we spent the last day in our villa hanging out, taking dips in our private salt pool, eating up the last of the food and booking our next destination. That night, Warung Riola cooked up some more spelt pasta with tuna marinara, a specialty dish acquired from a European campervan.

Ubud

2008-07-09T02:09:00.000-07:00

07.09.08: I didn’t really feel like we were “in Bali” when we were in Sanur. But Ubud definitely changed all that. We stayed for 3 days, but we could have stayed at least a couple days longer. I was getting used to booking rooms last minute because it was no problem in Thailand or the Philippines where it was low/rainy season. But here in Bali, it’s high season. I also found that most of the mid-range places don’t have the ability to book online. So, the morning that we were to leave for Ubud, I was on the hotel’s phone. I thought I could use up the last of my credit on my Singapore SIM card, but didn’t read the fine print that said you need at least $8 SIN to dial internationally. Oops! Somehow, we lucked out with the first place I called, which was my first pick, Alam Shanti. They had a no-show the night before and it was even the room I was interested in. We took it for the 3 nights it was available. We found later that they were completely booked for the entire months of July and August. So, we REALLY lucked out! For a price, they were even willing to pick us up in Sanur. So, that was a relief not to figure out how to get there.

Ubud is situated in the middle of the island and not by the beach. It’s also Bali’s capital for arts, crafts and culture. On the ride there, we already saw rows of shops where they were making and selling wood and stone carvings, and lots of other art/craft work. We were already drooling over it all! When we arrived at Alam Shanti, we were blown away by the tranquility of the place. It was a beautiful Balinese compound of 10 rooms a block down from the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary. You walked into our room through traditional Balinese wooden doors where it had a large poster bed with mosquito net and large bathroom with big tub. But, most of all, it had a HUGE veranda with breakfast table and TWO day beds to lounge on and view the nearby rice paddies and listen to chicken, ducks, frogs and other creatures in the background. Every morning, we were served breakfast out on the veranda. I got the Balinese black rice pudding or jaffle (toasted bread pocket) filled with cheese, tomato and avocado, and Sean got cheese omelette. This was accompanied with fresh fruit and juice, homemade toast and croissants and Balinese coffee or tea. After, you couldn’t help but get sucked into a day bed after eating, to continue absorbing the surroundings while you digested: chickens cackling, ducks quacking and the calming hum of all the kites that they like to fly in the rice fields just to name a few.

That afternoon, we dove-in to see what Ubud had to offer. You have to walk around or through the Monkey Forest to get to town, and we were already greeted by the local monkeys a few steps down from our place. In town, there were shops filled with handcrafted artwork, jewelry, carvings and more. We only window-shopped that day, figuring out prices and exactly what we really wanted so we could figure out, logistically, how we were going to get it all home. But, we did end up getting some organic wine, organic Gouda cheese, salami and a baguette. I guess some of our ways from when we were in Europe are dying hard! It was nice to be in a community where healthy food, yoga, arts and culture are abundant! As we got a bit lost in the streets, we stumbled upon a restaurant called The Bebek Bengil, aka The Dirty Duck Diner. Not your typical restaurant, the place had several standalone pavilions, each with a knee height table and cushions, set amongst the gardens with rice paddies in the background. They also served up some awesome crispy fried duck! Another great thing about where we stayed is that they offer free shuttles to/from town. So, just as you’ve walked far enough, you pop into a café for something to eat or drink and call for a pick-up. Our hotel also has a fairly long list of cultural performances happening every night. This ended up being VERY convenient! That night, we went out to see a wayang kulit (shadow puppet) play. It was a little drawn out, but interesting to see nonetheless. The narrator had a great voice and interesting how they choreograph the play with music. When Kailani got a little too loud and squirmy, I took her outside to find a window where you can see what they are doing “behind the scenes”. It was a bonus for us!

The next day, we spent some time exploring the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, feeding the monkeys bananas and seeing the temples. There are three temples and they believe the monkeys are there to protect the temples. After, we walked into town. I was on a mission to find this restaurant that I saw on Anthony Bourdain’s show, No Reservations, called Warung Oka Ibu. As we walked there, we window shopped a bit more. We also walked by the Ubud Palace, they actually had the streets closed off because the community was getting ready for a Cremation Ceremony the next week. We learned that they usually bury people as they die, then have a mass cremation later. This ceremony was a bigger-than-usual one, because it was for a local king and another local politico. They were building very large paper mache structures and crafting tons of other little decorative pieces for the ceremony. They would carry the dead up one of the “tower” structures, drop the bodies into a “bull” structure and then light it on fire. We hope we can go back to Ubud to see it happen. We finally found Oka Ibu, and the place was packed. We sat on a ledge amongst others who couldn’t get a table and ate our roasted suckling pig topped with a spicy concoction (except for Kai’s plate), simply served with rice and a vegetable saute. It was as good as Bourdain made it up to be, especially the sweet crispy skin that was basted with coconut water the entire morning. Even Kai kept asking “More pig!” I was very happily vegetarian for 7 years of my life. But, the past couple days of duck and pig carnage has been pretty delightful too! Now if I can just work it all off…. After that, being fat dumb and happy, we called for a pick-up and spent the rest of the afternoon “digesting” on our veranda’s day bed, as well as another mad scramble to find somewhere to stay next. I took the first place that replied back to me.

That night, we went to the restaurant next door, where they had a dance performance. One dance was called a butterfly dance, where the women held “wing” fans and fluttered them as they danced. We especially liked the children’s rabbit dance, where the children had rabbit ear hats and hopped as they danced. The last dance was considered a “flirting” dance and dancers picked audience members to come up and dance with them. I nailed it when I said that Sean would be picked. I was pretty bummed that, when he went up there, he had our camera still in his pocket, so no embarrassing shots. Of course, because I was laughing at him getting picked, a gal came up to pick me. Trying to figure Balinese dancing is a lot harder than it looks!

On day 3, we went into town to actually buy some of the great pieces of art work that we’ve been drooling at. Later that day, we had a Balinese cooking class at the same restaurant that we saw the dance at the night before. It was great to see the place in the daylight. The place was very similar to the Dirty Duck, with several private small eating areas set amongst the gardens with rice paddies behind it. They also had a great vegetable and herb garden and our teacher, Wayan (means “first child”, so there are several Wayan’s in Bali), pointed out what everything was. The class was fun. Sean and I were the only students. It was interesting to see what is typically used in Balinese cooking as well as to simply cook for the first time in months. It was also nice to have someone there to play with Kailani while we cooked. We made nasi goreng (fried rice), grilled chicken salad, chicken coconut curry and sweet and sour shrimp. My favorite dish to learn was the black rice pudding that I’ve been eating every morning for breakfast. It ended up being very simple to make too! After all the cooking, the three of us got to eat what we made for dinner. Unfortunately, we were not too hungry after all that cooking. However, they were nice enough to pack it up and I had some more the next morning.

The next morning, we packed up and got ready to leave. As previously mentioned, I really missed not having a kitchen for the past 2 months. So when we picked out our next spot, I got a villa with kitchen. Ubud happened to be having their weekly organic farmer’s market, albeit very small. But, we went there to get a couple things before leaving, as well as a couple more paintings that we had our eyes on but didn’t get a chance to get. Now with a whole carload full of stuff, we drove off to our villa in Seminyak by the beach. And, our list of great places to stay got longer when we arrived!

Sanur, Bali

2008-07-06T02:48:00.000-07:00

07.06.08: OK, maybe not for young one’s and/or party animals, but our 7:30pm flight from Singapore to Denpasar, Bali seemed late for us! When we finally got on the plane, Kailani fell asleep fairly fast. This can be nice for Sean and me not to have a two and a half year old jumping all over the walls and us. When she woke up towards the later part of the flight, she was completely burning up. Of course, our thermometer was in our check-in luggage, so I didn’t know exactly how bad it was. I was not only afraid that she might have caught the same bug that Sean had in Singapore, but was wondering if Indonesian immigration would allow her into the country! (They did check her temperature at the Hong Kong airport.) Fortunately, she did cool down, just a bit, when we disembarked. Now, the only thing we had to worry about was how to pay for our visa-on-arrivals, as we didn’t have enough cash, and they didn’t take credit cards or traveler’s checks. We ended up having to “sneak” past the immigration line to get to luggage carousels where they had ATMs. Blame it on being tired I guess, but I couldn’t get my head around the $1 USD to 10,000 Indonesia Rupiah conversion rate, so we got tens of dollars worth out, thinking we were getting hundreds. This, we did a couple times too! Of course, the immigration lines went from almost nothing to long and slow by the time we got back there! But, we were allowed into country #13 with nothing more than a long wait.

Our hotel in Sanur, The Paradise Plaza Hotel, run by American chain Radisson, was as nice as expected. I booked it that way, figuring I didn’t want any unexpected surprises arriving in a new country so late. I also booked us a “bonus” room with an outdoor but covered large size bathtub, rain shower and toilet area. Just outside that was a zen garden, a bonus to look at while bathing, showering or doing other things. By then, Kai’s fever seemed to subside. I checked inside her mouth to find a new molar in the way back corner. Just as you think the “teething” phase is all over, here comes a new one! I was just so grateful that she wasn’t sick!

The next morning, we did find one little “bait and switch” with our hotel. One reason we picked this hotel was because we thought, if for some reason we didn’t want to go to the beach, this place had a kid’s pool, complete with water slide. Unfortunately, it wasn’t ON the property, rather a couple kilometers away at the Paradise Plaza SUITES. But at least they provided an hourly shuttle that ran from one property to another, the shopping area and the beach. Unfortunately, we decide to jump on the shuttle during the driver’s lunch break. Good thing a taxi’s only a couple bucks! The water slide was fun. I kept telling Kai about it before we got there, and she seemed scared to do it. I told her she could try the “baby” one first. When we got there, she didn’t want to go on the baby one, she was all over the big one…over and over and over again… After that, we decided to check out the beach. We go to pick up the shuttle, but this time we missed it by a couple minutes. Again, at least the taxi’s cheap. When we got to the beach, I realized why our guide book said Sanur’s nickname is “Snore”. Usually “snore” sounds much better than “big party beach”. But, this place seemed to be right in between, not much going on but local kids playing on the water near the boat harbor, but not a secluded tropical hideaway either. There were very way less restaurants or shops than what we were expecting. But, we did manage to find something to eat. After, we started walking toward the hotel. Kai fell asleep in the backpack carrier. When we got across the street from the hotel, I noticed a sign for an organic spa. We went inside to check it out and ended up with massages for two in the couple’s room, Kailani napping on a massage table mattress on the floor at our heads. It worked out wonderful and we both RELISHED it immensely! For ~$10 USD each, the price was a bit high but EXTREMELY worth it, after having a bad massage in Phuket which lead me to the chiropractor. Sean also had an extremely short and unrelaxing one there too. They also sold the infamous Balinese salt, so we took some home and had a “family bath”. Later that night, we walked out to catch the shuttle to the “shopping area” to find dinner only to find it doesn’t run that late. The hotel’s transportation desk was happy to get us another taxi. But for some reason, the lady kept suggesting other places besides eating at the night market. We kept saying “No, we WANT to eat local food” and “Yes, we are OK with eating at carts!” OK, maybe Sean and I were talking for ourselves, because we did end up having to get some McD’s for Kai, who doesn’t care for spicy. (That’s about the 2nd time in her life she’s eaten it!) Kailani was also still giving people at the Night Market a Thai wai (hands in prayer position and bowing her head) and saying “Kup Kun Kaw” which is “Thank you” in Thai. We all need to learn to say “Terimah Casih”, which means “Thank you” in Indonesian!

Our 2nd day in Sanur, we were really lazy. We woke late and decided to try the hotel’s all-you-can-eat dim sum. After the feast, it was about time for Kai’s nap, so we walked down to the beach with her in the backpack, which usually puts her out. As soon as she was out, we headed back to the organic spa. It wasn’t quite like the first time. Kai woke up in the middle. But, she went back to sleep, so Sean was at least able to finish his massage. (His masseuse woke him up after she saw Kai rolling off the mattress and tried to console her, but couldn’t.) Later that day, we packed up for our next stop on the island of Bali and ate a light/fast dinner next door to the spa.

Singapore

2008-07-01T00:06:00.000-07:00

July 1, 2008: First, apologies for this being so long...I don't know how it happens!

We left for the Phuket airport at the crack of dawn for our flight on discount airline Asia Air. Getting onboard, Kailani was putting up a fuss and wouldn’t stay in Sean’s arms. Next thing we knew, she was crying about her arm. The flight attendants were nice enough to offer ice packs throughout the flight, but she was still crutching it with her other hand. After a couple hours, we were in country #12. At the Singapore airport, it was pretty plush with foot massaging machines, internet and showers, all free, as well as a 24 hour medical clinic that we stopped into but decided not to wait for the doctor to come while our luggage went around a carousel. We jumped on their MRT (Mass Rapid Transit). It reminded me of Hong Kong as it was clean and efficient and said “Please mind the platform gap.” in perfect British English, as well as Chinese and Indian, I think. Although, people-wise, it’s definitely a land all of it’s own with Malay, Chinese and Indian cultures, as well as a good portion of expats, all living together. Very cool!

We arrived to the middle of the city, near Little India, to Hangout at Mt. Emily hostel - not your average hostel. It’s actually one of the hippest hostels I have ever seen, very clean and modern, decked out with Ikea furniture. It’s not the cheapest, but reasonable for Singapore standards. If only it had at least one thing framed hanging on the wall. Our private room had its own bathroom and view of the city. (No dorm sleeping for us. I wouldn’t subject anyone to sharing a room with Kailani!) On the top of the building, there was a lounge area with a view and an ankle pool, although it wasn’t full. At the bottom of our building, there’s a restaurant with free, unappetizing breakfast. They also offer lunch and dinner, but it’s nice enough that I don’t really have anything to wear. Next door, there’s also a nice park with playground. We figure we haven’t been to one since the indoor one at a Manila shopping mall. But then again, who needs one when you have a pool or a beach! Next door on the other side, there’s a nice bar where you can lounge on the deck in the evenings.

Luckily, Kailani’s arm didn’t seem to bother her after her nap. So, I guess we saved a doctor’s visit. We went down the street to some random dive for a late lunch of one of Singapore’s dishes, chicken rice. We were still pretty wiped out from the early rise, so we didn’t manage to do anything else besides wash stinky beach clothes and go to the bar next door for dinner (which consisted of appetizers, we weren’t too hungry) and a couple pretty good Bloody Mary’s for me and Sean tried the Singapore Sling.

Singapore has a pretty long list of tourist attractions to offer and I was also looking forward to hitting all their food stalls. With only 5 days there, we were originally just going to jump in right away and see what we could tackle. But, the next morning, Sean was still feeling wiped out. So instead, we decided get business done our first day - hit the post office to pick up a package we had mailed to us via Post Restante that never arrived, mail home another package of junk, get a new SIM card for the phone and do some shopping. Most would think of shopping as picking up local handicraft souvenirs or getting a new wardrobe. But for me, that meant going to a natural health food store. They haven’t existed in the past 2 months of trekking throughout the Philippines or Thailand, So, it felt like I was back in civilization again! We also haven’t seen a laundry machine in that long, which hasn’t been a problem to hand wash most of our clothes. But, my poor jeans (only warn occasionally), our sleep sheets and our towels haven’t been washed since the UK. Also in the Philippines and Thailand, you can’t really find anything “natural” there (except coconut oil and aloe vera in lieu of lotion in Thailand). So, we went to a store called SuperNatural for non-chemical laundry liquid and body products. It sucks to have sensitive skin like me! I got so excited over all the organic food, that I walked out with a large bag (a reusable one, which the guy commented I must not be from Singapore, because nobody ever brings their own…) FULL of kombucha, Newman’s Spelt Pretzels, wheat free vegan chocolate cookies, some fruit to eat for the day and other snacks. It’s probably a good thing that we didn’t have a fridge, or even a kitchen for that matter, or else I would have bought sheep yogurt, goat milk and everything else in the store. I say “good thing” because the prices were EXORBITANT. A 16 oz bottle of High Country Kombucha, produced in Colorado, ended up costing $18.50 Singapore dollars ($13.60 USD). One bottle! I made Sean turn away from the register as the guy totaled the bill. AND after all that, I didn’t walk out with any laundry liquid or body products! Somehow, I never saw them on the shelves…

Then, we had lunch and witnessed Singapore’s “real” national past time, shopping. We strolled down Orchard Road, their big shopping street with side-by-side mega malls. Although Sean commented that the guys look pretty “normal”, we both noticed that there were some extreme fashionista Asian women, mostly decked out with short, straight bangs, pale skin, lots of eyeliner, high heels and short, what Sean calls “garbage bag” mini dresses. Inside one mall, Paragon, they had stores like YSL, Gucci and Versace. There was also a Shu Uemura “Tokyo Lash Bar”, where you could get very obviously fake lashes of every length and thickness as well as blue ones, ones made of lace, or spider webbed ones. That was a trip!

After that, we got pretty sick of carrying a bag full of groceries. So we headed back to our hostel. Sean was still feeling wiped out and then proceeded to get very sick. I hope it wasn’t that his body went into shock with such healthy food after not having it in a couple months! And, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t anything he ate for lunch, because we shared. But, it could have been a bug that I had, but worse. Because I wasn’t feeling well two days before we left Thailand. All I know is he was sicker than anything I’ve ever seen in him. Kailani and I went downstairs to the “fancy” restaurant for dinner. Unfortunately, there were no others close by. I had to play a movie on the PSP (held under the table to be discreet) to keep her entertained and quiet. When we finished our Chilean sea bass, we brought some plain congee up to Sean.

On day 2, we were still taking it easy. I was still on a mission to find laundry liquid and body products. We finally found body products at a store called Brown Rice Paradise, and laundry liquid at a chain grocery store, Marketplace, which is similar to Andronico’s or Droeger’s in CA. They had cantaloupe from Japan that costs $100 Singapore dollars (~$66 USD), although it did appear absolutely perfect. Then, we went to Japanese for lunch. Sean was able to stomach some udon. Later, we hit the park next to our hostel for some playground time and research on Bali. We felt good enough to adventure out that night, so we went to the Lavender Street Hawker Centre. Hawker Centers are basically food courts, ie a bunch of food stalls, and they are ALL OVER this city. Our guide book mentioned that this one is less frequented by tourists. But I swear, Sean was the only white guy (and only half-white at that!) that I saw there. We went to the stall with the longest line and found they had dumpling noodles. It tasted great! We also got a couple dim sum plates simply because it sounded good. Sean mentioning that the siu mai was one of the best he’s tried, even though he was still only able to eat one bite. Of course, we had to wash it down with some of Singapore’s Tiger Beer, the replacement for Thailand’s Singha and Chang.

The next day, we ventured to the Singapore Zoo. Normally, I’m not one that likes to see animals all caged up. But, this zoo was really a world class zoo, with natural surroundings that made the animals not appear caged. They also had a great selection of exotic tropical animals – all the one’s that are really fun to see, and they looked happy to be in that climate! They had the world’s largest collection of primates, including a bunch of free roaming orangutans that hung out on the tree tops above the trails where you walked. It really made you feel as if you were just walking through a jungle with paved walkways, not your typical zoo. We had such a good time there, we ended up staying until they closed, rather than what I thought would be a couple hours. We figured we were on a roll, so we decided to walk next door to see the Night Safari next. The Night Safari’s grounds are entirely different, but are under the same management as the zoo. It focuses more on nocturnal animals. For that one, our feet were getting tired, so we took a guided tour on a tram, followed by seeing a show that was pretty entertaining.

On day 4, we were still on a mission to sample everything Singapore has to eat in their Hawker Centres. This time, we took the MRT to Chinatown. Originally, we were looking for the Chinatown Complex Food Centre. But somehow, we ended up at the Maxwell Road Food Centre. Our guide book said that this was one of the best anyway. Again, I just chose the stall with the longest line. This time, I had rice porridge with fish. Sean didn’t luck out as much. He wanted the Dragon Soup Dumpling, but they were all out. Instead, he got the gyoza and chive pancakes, which were just OK. So then, he ended up also getting some roasted duck and rice, which ended up being better. We were stuffed, AND we were still a bit tired from all the walking the day before. So, we ended up deciding to see Singapore’s Chinatown by their old fashioned mode of transportation, a trishaw, even though it is now just a tourist attraction. I was happy when they settled for more than half of the quoted price, as I wasn’t expecting them to agree to that low. It’s basically a bike with a sidecar attachment. It was great! We hired someone to burn sweat rather than burning any CO2 into the air. Our guide showed us around, pointing out various buildings and temples while dodging people and cars. Later that night, we decided to try Singapura Restaurant because it was right down the hill from us. At first, we couldn’t find it. It ended up being in the ground floor of what appeared to be an apartment building. As we entered, Sean noticed a picture of Anthony Bourdain from the Travel Network show, No Reservations. The place appeared to be famous for their cold crab, which we of course got. We also tried the Kway Teow (sautéed broad rice noodles) and an excellent dish of scallops with broccoli. Overall, we felt like we stumbled upon a great hole-in-the-wall.

Our last day there, we figured we still didn’t get a chance to get any Indian food, although we WERE technically staying in Little India, granted our place was really on a hill above it. So, we headed to the Tekka Mall food court for lunch. I was a bit bummed that there was really only one Indian food stall. When I attempted to order something, their naan bread was still not done. So instead, I ended up with another Singapore dish, curry chicken noodles. (I think the later’s called Laska.) Eh, it was alright. After that, we packed up, took the MRT back to the airport and, after some free beer, playground time with Kailani’s new friend Noemi from France and spending the afternoon hanging out at the pretty nice Singapore airport, we finally took off to Bali via Singapore Airlines that evening.

Kata Beach, Phuket: Part 2

2008-06-30T18:50:00.001-07:00

06.30.08: We only planned to stay here for a few days. But, we ended up at Kata Beach for a week and a half. Yes, we really got sucked into this place! As a matter of fact, we probably would have stayed longer, but our 1 month visa’s for Thailand ran out on us. Sure, we probably could have gone down to some “official” offices to have them extended. But in the end, we still want to have time in Bali/Indonesia. So, it was time to leave….

The past week in Kata Beach, we didn’t venture far at all. Most of the time, we woke up, had the hotel breakfast included in our room rate, and went to the beach to play in the sand and switch off surfing. The swell picked up, then it rained for a day (internet and “getting stuff done” days), then the weather got better and we surfed again. Another day or two, it would rain again, but only long enough for us to duck into a restaurant for a drink or lunch. When the swell started dying, we rented a longer pink, flowery Walden board. Then, borrowed Kevin’s really, really long board. (He’s pretty tall. Plus, more about him below.) We made some great friends who all hang out at the surf shop, Phuket Surf, that we’ve been renting our boards from. Every few nights, we’d go to a BBQ at the bar, The Tube, also managed by the same as Phuket Surf and where the Kata Krew hangs out at. Kailani’s best playbuddy is Jum, who works at Phuket Surf and at The Tube (and needs to take a day off!) and charges on the waves with her gal friend who she lives with (wish I could remember her name!), both of whom I think of as a “Thai Blue Crush…without the scardey-cat white girl”. I kept talking Jum to come home with me to surf the waves in Santa Cruz!!!! I’m sure she’d just love it! There’s also Jenny the sweetheart, radio station DJ, who is half American, grew up in the states as a kid, but then moved to Thailand the later half of her childhood years. She also charges in the waves. Next, there’s Caleb, born and raised in Bangkok, but now lives in TX as a teacher and comes here every summer. He was nice enough to give us the scoop on everything that goes on here. Then, there’s Marco, originally from So. Africa, then he decided to move to Asia. He said this was one of the first places he stopped at and he has now been there for 2 years. I can see why! Also visiting Thailand while we were there was Kevin, originally from Belgium, then moved to Thailand but now lives in Melbourne, Australia with his Thai wife, Nup (sp?), and their two kids, Catlin (sp?) and 3 ½ year old Anthony, who Kai had fun playing with. And, of course there were a few others: Mark (half Thai too), Jum’s friend’s mom, who does all the cooking at The Tube and also lives above The Tube, the bleached blone guy who does all the instructing, and some of the other members of The Kata Krew that I’m failing to mention. We all appreciate their hospitality and friendship!

After almost of week of extending our days at Kata Poolside Resort, they finally told us someone else had dibs on our “poolside” room. That ended up being OK though, because we were spending more time at the beach and not “poolside”. We also had troubles with their wireless access that we had to pay for. So, we moved next door to the Sugar Palm Resort, a swank modern place that had free wifi for a few hundred Baht more AND it worked. Foodwise, we really never found a place that we really loved. Mostly, we ate at Kata Mama, next door to Phuket Surf, only because it was more reasonable and we could hang out and chat with the Kata Krew. The last night that we were there was the best meal so far. Somehow, we ended up conveniently getting ourselves invited to a dinner at The Tube that was really more for “family and friends”. We had some great grilled squid, fish, mussels, and clams and some saucy chicken wings, spicy noodles, veggies and other home-cooked Southern Thai food, made by “Mom”. The company was great and it was the prefect way to end our stay at Kata Beach and say goodbye to “The Krew”!

Overall, I think it’s safe to say that this has been the best stop on our trip so far….especially because of the friendships we have made….ok, and because of the surf too! Who knows, maybe we can come back and Gloria could help Walup (sp?) put together the next Kata surf competition, considering that they need volunteers and I could bring some materials to make some boards for the local crew.

Kata Beach, Phuket

2008-06-24T00:04:00.000-07:00

06.21.08: Our boat came from Ko Tao back to Ko Samui late in the afternoon, we ate take-out dinner in our room (including some wonderful banana fritters!) and headed to the airport at the crack of dawn. Our flight to Phuket was actually on time this time. It was again on Bangkok Airways, “Thailand’s Boutique Airlines”. I’ve come to the conclusion that Thailand has completely over exploited the word “boutique”. Yes, “boutique hotel” is a common title. “Boutique living quarters or spas”…OK. But, “boutique airlines”?!? Come on!

We decided that taking a mini-van to our beach/hotel would be a convenient, inexpensive means. We jumped in and I was thinking that they must make some good money considering they can stuff at least 10 tourists in there for 350 baht (~$11 USD) each. Halfway there, the van pulls off the road and a woman opens the door telling everyone that they need to get out, go into the office and show their tickets. I stayed in the van, but Sean and Kailani went in. There, they tried to sell all the passengers all these tour packages: elephant rides, island hopping, snorkeling/scuba diving, etc. Sean said it was like sitting in a timeshare presentation. He had to say “no” a hundred times. I’m glad that he did. Personally, I wouldn’t have bought anything out of principle, considering we were essentially hijacked.

We were the last passengers to be dropped off because we were going to Kata Beach. Most were going to Phuket’s most popular beach, Patong, which seemed as crowded and congested as Bangkok, only next to the beach. There, Sean and I looked for signs of tsunami damage but only saw a bunch of fairly new shops and hotels near the beach. We finally made it to our hotel, Kata Poolside, where we were stoked when we found that our room was literally poolside. We got one of the two rooms there where, out the back door there was a deck with a ladder going down into water, into the pool. Yes, RIGHT into the pool! So of course, we had a good session playing in the pool. Later, we headed a block down to the beach to find that it is, although not as popular as Patong, still a fairly developed beach, similar to Hawaii. But, that’s OK with us because there’s surf! We had some lunch, checked out the board rental options and it started raining. We headed back to the hotel just in time for Kailani’s nap. Later in the afternoon, we went back to the beach to pick up a board. Sean and I switched off surfing and making sandcastles with Kailani. The waves on this beach break were not that particularly huge. But, after not surfing in a while now, it’s nice to start out slow. And, who cares when the water’s this warm! Anyway, the swell is supposed to pick up in the next few days. We also ran into our friend, Strick, who we ended up having dinner with that night. Afterwards, we tried an outstanding banana pancake from a cart outside our hotel. Either we have the same taste in places to visit or Lonely Planet has quite an influence on their readers. Whatever the case, even though we just met him a week ago, it was nice to see a familiar face.

On Sunday, we woke up, ate breakfast and…of course, went directly to the beach. And, the waves did pick up a bit. We did more switching off, surfing and playing in the sand with Kailani. Everyone at Phuket Surf, aka “The Kata Krew”, in true Thai style, are all really friendly and laidback. Although not nearly as bad as Boracay, I did see some trash wash up on the shores. While out in the water, I ended up fishing out a large plastic bag. I decided to take it ashore and fill it up with trash on the beach. It was nice to see that the guys that worked on the beach renting out lounge chairs threw it away for me. It was also nice to see that my surfing legs came back to me! We’re also seeing some color change to our skin. Unfortunately, I lost my sunglasses to a wave while taking Kailani out there. But, there are lots of cheap knock-off replacements. So, I picked up a pair of cheap (but not nearly as cheap if I weren’t so desperate for some) “Channel” ones. Early afternoon, we took a break to eat lunch and put Kailani down for a nap. Unfortunately, when she woke up, it started raining again. Considering that we are here during rainy season, I guess we have really lucked out with the weather so far. We really can’t complain over an hour or two of rain as it’s no problem to go back to the beach for a late afternoon surf session.

Ko Tao

2008-06-18T00:02:00.000-07:00

06.18.08: In the morning, we packed up one bag, left the other two at Eden Bungalows and caught our ride to the ferry pier. There was a full moon that night, so the pier was filled with ravers going to Ko Phangan for the Full Moon party. We were looking forward to a quiet and peaceful island. The boat was not quite as slow as I expected. Instead, it was a high speed catamaran. It took about 2 ½ hours to get to Ko Tao. We got off the boat and got attacked by everyone there trying to sell you a taxi ride or scuba tour. But, we found our resort’s taxi waiting for us. A “taxi” there is a 4-wheel drive Toyota Hi Lux pick-up truck with two benches in the back. I thought the dive industry must be doing good because I saw some nice-looking trucks with burly wheels. But as the paved road turned into dirt, I realized you HAVE to have something like that. To get to our bungalows on the other side of the island, you have to go up the mountain in the middle, and then down the other side. The roads were extremely steep and deeply rutted. The truck slid a few times going downhill when the driver hit the brakes. He was a pretty good, cautious driver too. Luckily, it wasn’t raining. The landscape was absolutely amazing – lush, green tropical forest with HUGE boulders strewn throughout. It looked like something they try to create on a movie set, like Jurassic Park. We felt like we were on some type of Disneyland ride. And throughout all this excitement…our baby decides to take a nap!

We arrived at the Diamond Resort in Tanote Bay, put our stuff down and checked out the beach. After that, we were getting pretty hungry, as we skipped lunch while getting there. We sprayed down with mosquito stuff and sat down at the outdoor restaurant. The spray didn’t seem to be doing much. I sprayed down again, but it still didn’t seem to be doing much. So, we promptly ordered and went back to our bungalow to change into long sleeves and pants. I got back and our food was there. But STILL, those mosquitoes, way larger than I’ve seen so far, were biting me through my clothes, even when I was sitting over the mosquito coil that the staff had lit for us! By then, Sean was freaking out, and he usually doesn’t freak out that easily over something like that. He left me to go back to the bungalow to change too. I quickly tried to eat and ignore all the mosquitoes and their fly friends swarming around me and landing on our food, but seriously could not maintain composure. And by then, Kai was starting to cry. One of the gals there tried to offer me some spray, but I was already over trying that. Finally, she suggested that we eat in our bungalow. Apparently, there’s one hour of the day, late afternoon/early evening, when the mosquitoes come out, and it was that time. Luckily, eating in our bungalow kept us away from those pesky critters. There were still three flying in our bungalow as we ate, but that was nothing compared to the restaurant. Sean forced me to eat and ignore them. But after we were done and Sean left to return the empty plates, I gave them a good whack. One big fat one left a nice bloody mark on the wall. I couldn’t help but to leave that one hanging on the wall just like a hunting trophy head. (I usually miss, but was pretty determined!) Later that night, we ventured out to the beach again. By then, the mosquitoes were gone, the full moon was shining bright and the glistening water was absolutely calm. All the sudden, our trauma was erased. It was absolute peacefulness and we were on an island paradise!

The next day, we had nothing to do all day but frolic on the beach and play in the crystal clear and warm water to cool off when it got too hot on land. I tried to remember some yoga moves. Then, I gave an impromptu lesson to Kailani who was trying to copy me. Sean rented a snorkel and swam around checking out the underwater life. Supposedly a lot of the sea life and reef had died from the 1 to 2 degree water temperature change over the past few years. After exploration, it was nice to see that there was still a lot life down there even though you can see that some of the reef is dying. It was very fortunate to have seen what was there today because it just might not be there tomorrow. After lunch (with more swarms of flies, but we weren’t too bothered by them…they didn’t bite.), I got a 300 Baht (~$10 USD) Thai massage under a beachside hut with the sound of the gently lapping water in the background. Later in the afternoon, we hid in the bungalow during the “witching hour”. Then, we headed back to the beach for another moonlight session. This was a great session for us lying on the rock in front of the moon light gleaming on the water listening to Jack Johnson and realizing how far we have come on our journey. It’s hard to explain how peaceful and thankful we felt to have had this experience. We could have only wished that others could also experience this feeling.

The next morning, we did a bit more beach frolicking and then had to pack up and leave. I erred on the side of a short trip to this island because it was so remote. I didn’t want to take too much and didn’t know how we’d fare. But in the end, we were sad that our time there was so short. But, I think we ended our trip there just in time. Back at the ferry pier, after Sean picked up his new favorite fruit, mangosteen, we saw HUGE crowds coming off the ferries. I suspect, since the Full Moon Party was over, everyone was now coming here looking for some peace and quiet, even though they were all coming at the same time. As we were leaving, we were glad we had it to ourselves!

Thanks to Chris and Heather for recommending this place! :-)

An Interlude about Kailani

2008-06-17T02:51:00.000-07:00

(Ko Samui Airport)

06.17.08: I just wanted to note how many changes I’ve seen in Kailani just in the past week. Though we’re not ready to turn our heads for a minute while she’s in the pool, she was really progressed with her swimming. But, that’s to be expected with all the time she’s spent in the water lately. I also see that her face is changing. I noticed that, in pictures, she doesn’t have as much baby fat and looks more grown-up. Her smile has changed from the “pirate face” (squinty nose look) she used to make to a “real” one. She’s walking with less of a waddle. And, she’s definitely using more words and speaking with longer sentences.

In addition, she’s learned how to say “Hello” and “Thank You” in each country’s language that we’ve visited: French, Spanish, Italian, German, Chinese, Filipino and now Thai. Here in Thailand, she’s also learned a “wai” greeting, holding her hands together by her heart and bowing her head when saying “Sawadee Kaw” (Hello) or “Corp Kun Kaw” (Thank You). And, she’s learned customs such as, when she bows to Buddha that her toes should tucked behind her.

It’s so fun to see our little flower bud blossom before our eyes!

Ko Samui

2008-06-13T23:37:00.000-07:00

06.13.08: We spent one last, fast night in Chiang Mai and went to the airport for Ko Samui the next morning, Friday the 13th. Our plane was delayed again for about 2 hours. At least, Bangkok Airways let passengers hang out in their VIP lounge, offering drinks and snacks. It also had wifi, which was perfect since we hadn’t booked anywhere to stay yet. The 2+ hour ride seemed a bit long as Kailani was getting grouchy but wouldn’t take a nap. But finally, after stopping her from playing with the attendant call button, one came up and gave her a puzzle for 4-8 year olds to play with. I guess she was pressing it for a reason… ;-) To my surprise, she somewhat figured out how to put the puzzle back together.

The island of Ko Samui is where I spend the majority of time at when I came to Thailand last time, around 10 years ago. As we landed, I could see from the air how much more built-up it had become. As we deplaned, I noticed that one other gal and I were the only Asian passengers. That’s the most Westerners I’ve been around since landing in Asia a month and a half ago! I expected mostly tourists in this beach-resort atmosphere, just like in Boracay. But there, the majority of tourists were Filipino, not Western. I couldn’t recognize anything from our taxi ride to Bo Phut beach, a.k.a. Fisherman’s Village, where we were staying. Finally, after settling into our room and going onto the beach, I realized that this was the same beach I stayed at on my previous trip. I actually only spent one night here, frankly because it was a little TOO quiet for me since I was traveling alone. Before, there were only a couple fishing boats, local kids playing on the beach and a couple Chinese chophouses. Now, there were modern yachts and boats in the water, and development all along the beach. The chophouses were now converted into modern restaurants, mostly cooking Western food. That was kind of a disappointment to see. Personally, I don’t see why you would travel all the way to Thailand to eat predominantly Western food when there’s Thai. I think I could eat Thai food every day. So that night, Sean and I enjoyed a romantic sunset beachside dinner, sitting on large cushions with table low to the ground, at this modern Thai restaurant called Starfish, with nice décor and red walls, all without having to get a babysitter. Kai had fallen asleep and was lying on a cushion next to us as we ate. It was pretty nice, but we could have just as well eaten at a divey little shop or street stall. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any. Poor Kai got all bit up from mosquito bites laying there. We put long pants on her. But still, they got the bottom part of her legs and tagged her a couple times on the face and arms. Since then, we’ve been more diligent about covering ourselves with spray.

Kailani found a great playmate who was also staying at the Eden Bungalows, 4 year old Elizabeth from Kent, UK. Elizabeth shared her floaty toys with Kai and the two played together in the pool a good half of our first day. We also enjoyed chatting with John and Theresa, Elizabeth’s parents, and John’s mom from New Zealand. We were also going to rent a scooter later in the day, but Kai played so much in the pool, she took a long nap. When she woke, it was raining sheets. After the rain, it was dinner time. For some reason, you really didn’t see anybody eating at any of these upscale places. Since that’s all we could really find, it’s a wonder where all these people you see on the streets are eating at. But, there was one place that we saw some people eating at, a supposed “California” style BBQ restaurant, The Shack, that played blues music. The bacon-wrapped asparagus, mango salmon and Sean’s rib/chicken combo were all good. But like everything else here, I could feel our wallet getting lighter.

The next day, we got a scooter and drove around the island. After almost getting run over by others who rented a car and tried to drive through narrow streets like the one where we were staying on, we decided against that. So, Sean drove our little pink scooter, with our “biker babe” Kai on his back in the carrier, and me behind the two of them. Of course, three people riding on a scooter, one being a two year old, would be unheard of in The States. But this was quite the norm here, not that it made it any less dangerous. Sometimes, you would see up to four people on one scooter and some kids smaller than Kai. Some even had a small seat for baby attached to the bike right in front of the regular seat. Sean was a good, careful driver and at the very least we all had helmets. Our first stop was right down the street, to see the Big Buddha. There, we already got a flat tire. And of course, it was at our expense to get it fixed. I’m sure the guy that rented us the bike just filled the flat tire up with more air right before he gave it to us. But, the cost of rental and repair was still less than getting a taxi. Next, we headed to Chaweng Beach, which is where I spent most of my time the last trip here. I knew there would be more development than 10 years ago, but there was way more than what I could have imagined, complete with Starbucks and a 24 hour Burger King. Of course, the road is now paved. I was surprised to even recognize a couple places still standing from 10 years ago, tucked behind all the development around. We stopped for some breakfast and Kailani instantly fell asleep. We have never seen her fall asleep like that in the morning. The only thing we can figure out is that it’s from the movement of the scooter and/or she went into complete overload with the excitement of the bike ride and the wind in her face. After eating, we ran into a family from Denmark that we met while in Chiang Mai - Rune, Tina and their two little girls. Small world! After a brief chat, we walked down to the white sand beach with crystal clear shallow water protected by an outside reef. It was beautiful, but way more crowded than our beach. Sean was a bit miffed by the staff at our bungalows upon check-in and I thought it was a bit pricey for what you got. So, we were also hoping to find somewhere else to stay at. But in the end, we ended-up deciding that we liked where we were at, especially because Kailani had such a nice play buddy there. Still, we decided to check out the Amari hotel, which was where I considered staying at, but the last minute internet rates were still a bit steep unlike in Chiang Mai and Ang Khang. By the time we found it, we were hot and Sean was ready for a beer. I ordered one and tried out one of their lounge chairs on the sand. Next thing I knew, Sean and Kailani left the beach and jumped in their pool. Their kid’s pool was the perfect depth for Kailani to practice her swimming, not too deep but not too shallow. She had a blast. So for the rest of the afternoon, we made ourselves at home on their lounge chairs, using their towels, in their pool and using their toilets, all for the price of a couple beers and lunch for Kai, rather than the cost of a room. Still, the food was not cheap. But, at least we compensated by buying lunch there, instead of completely freeloading and eating lunch from one of the makeshift BBQ guys that roam up and down the beach! From Chaweng, we hopped back on the bike to see the rest of the island. But by then, Kai was falling asleep again. So, we headed back to our bungalow for the rest of the day. That evening, we had another session in the pool before dinner. There we met Strick, who’s from…of all places….San Jose and works for Google in Mt. View. For dinner, we tried another upscale Thai place, Samui Spice. It was less than stellar but food was OK. But for the price, I much preferred Starfish.

Day 3, we took the scooter for a ride to the side of the island that we didn’t see the day before. Kai started to fall asleep again, so we took our first pit stop for lunch at a more “local” looking place near one of the ferry piers where I got some epic roasted duck curry. I still have yet to have bad Thai food since coming here! Then, we stopped at the bottom of a trail where you can hike 2 km up to some waterfalls. As we stopped, I realized that I did this hike last time, but didn’t know where I was going and only hiked 90% of the trail, stopping JUST below the waterfalls. It was nice to break new ground and actually SEE them this time! By the time you get all the way up there, you’re dripping wet with sweat. So, we stripped and cooled off in the water for a bit before going down and continuing around the rest of the island. Sean wanted to find this temple that had a mummified monk, complete with sunglasses and a cigarette hanging from his mouth. But unfortunately, we never found it. After stopping briefly for some supplies at the grocery store, we finally made it all the way around the island back to our bungalows. I believe it takes around 55 km to go all the way around. So, it’s not like it’s a big island. But, you also don’t go that fast on a scooter either. As we entered our village, the traffic had stopped. A local girl had wiped out on her scooter. She appeared alright as she was able to get up and walk. But, that was enough for Sean to see. He promptly returned our bike after that. We finally looked a little harder and found a reasonably-priced divey Thai place for a light dinner of spring rolls and noodles that night. Yea!

Day 4 was another “rest” day. We had another long morning session in the pool with Elizabeth. Kailani had such a great time playing with Elizabeth that she actually started to fall asleep in the pool while in the floaty. Guess it was time for a nap. Then, while Kai had her afternoon nap, Sean and I got busy planning out the next couple weeks. We needed to book our next stop to Ko Tao, but couldn’t do that until we decided whether we wanted to go to Kuala Lumpur, and if so, how much time we wanted to dedicate to see the rest of Malaysia. There is a Malay island near the Thai border that sounded very nice; especially because it’s in the Andaman Sea which I hear is beautiful in its own right. But, it would take some backtracking to get to, flying down to Kuala Lumpur, and then going back up by land. Unfortunately, we read that crossing the Thai border into Malaysia by land is quite unsafe. Our other option was to skip Malaysia and go directly to Singapore for a few days, and then spend the rest of our time in Indonesia/Bali before meeting Caitlin and “Tutu” (Caitlin’s grandmother) in Sydney. It was a toss up because I’d love to see Malaysia, but spending a good portion of time in Indo/Bali without having to move around so much sounded really nice too. During our research, I started reading about Phuket. My impression was that it would be too developed for my taste, even more than Ko Samui. Our friends from Denmark also commented that they cancelled their trip over there because the weather was not so great. But, depending on where we chose to go, we could have ended up there en route. As it turns out, there is one beach there that actually gets surf AND if there’s weather, the waves get better. It’s also situated in the Andaman Sea and you could fly there directly from Ko Samui. SOLD!!!! So in the end, we booked a boat ride and bungalow for a couple days in Ko Tao, one more night in Ko Samui, and then a flight to Phuket before heading to Singapore. (That’s unless we change our minds again…)

That night, we packed and then found another great place to eat. It was not too expensive or upscale, but more pleasant than a dive. It was called the Happy Elephant. I kept passing it up because it looked like all the other places. But, I think it’s been around for a while. There’s one part that you can see from the street that looks like a new addition (hence overlooking it) and a whole other side that looks like it’s older. They had a couple guys playing live music, little kittens wondering around looking for table scraps and a couple rocking wooden elephants that they put right next to our table for Kai to play on. They did a really nice whole steamed fish that you get to pick, simply seasoned with soy sauce and green onions, just like we make. But, they do theirs wrapped in a foil pouch on the BBQ. We had it with some sautéed veggies in oyster sauce and steamed rice. It was just like how we cook – YUM!

One last observation is how many farang families we saw walking around with nice strollers here. Personally, I didn’t think twice about not taking a stroller to a third world country like Thailand. But, I suppose my impression was that the roads were unpaved, and now they are. Still, they aren’t very smooth, there are no sidewalks and there can be many puddles after torrential rainfalls.

Doi Ang Khang

2008-06-10T20:40:00.000-07:00

06.10.08: I don’t think I’ve seen Sean any more nervous than this part of our trip so far. We decided to go from Chiang Mai up north to Doi Ang Khang, about three hours away, up in the mountains near the Thailand and Myanmar border. We decided to rent a car and Sean’s never driven on the left side of the road before. In the end, he did great. It’s only one left turn from the hotel, up a paved highway/road for 75% of the way, and another slight left up the hill…..up a very STEEP hill that our gutless little rental car seemed to barely make it up. But, we made it! In the end, it was nice to have a car so we could take our own route and see what we wanted along the way.

Personally, I think this might be the best part of our trip so far. We are staying at the Ang Khang Nature Resort, which consists of little cottages that have a very cabin-in-the-mountain feel to them (complete with that musty smell…) I wasn’t sure how much it would cost. But again, I was able to score a pretty nice last-minute discount on their web site. (It is owned by the same parent company as the hotel in Chiang Mai, hence the same type of web deals. Actually, looking at this resort’s web site is how I found the other one.) In this area, apparently called Thailand’s “Little Switzerland”, the weather is very temperate, especially in contrast to Bangkok and even Chaing Mai. It’s somewhere in the 70’s. The elevation is 1,400-1920 meters (4620-6336 feet). Going up the hill, I saw pine trees growing amongst bamboo in the lush forest. The atmosphere here is utter peacefulness, almost a bit unnerving with rambunctious Kailani (sometimes lovingly called “Demolani” or “Crylani” when she’s having a breakdown). The resort is supposedly run by someone who is very ecologically-conscious and they serve organic food produced by the Royal Project Foundation (more below). We took a walk around the very large grounds in the evening. Cottages are spread out between the absolutely stunning gardens. We tried to point out to Kai as many indigenous as well as imported plants, flowers and fruit/nut trees as we could recognize. I believe all the imported plants probably came from the Royal Project (again, below). It’s low season right now and we were the only one’s staying at this fairly large resort. Regardless, we were blessed with fairly clear weather. It only rained for a few minutes our first and last days.

Besides visiting some of the hill tribes in the area where they produce local handicrafts, another attraction to Doi Ang Khang is the Royal Project Agricultural Research Station, adjacent to our resort. This is the very first station of the Royal Project, set up in 1969. The Royal Project is an effort, put forth by the King of Thailand, to help nomadic hill tribes in this northern region of Thailand. Research is carried out to find alternative crops for them to replace the previously cultivated opium poppy. This is not only to curb drug problems for both tribal members and the world, but to stop the slash-and-burn methods of opium cultivation that was destroying the forests and watershed areas. Hill tribe people are encouraged to farm in appropriate, permanent areas, keeping the forest and farming areas separate. This area had been previously deforested, and it is now covered with fertile forest again. The Research Station covers the introduction of temperate-zone fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers from other parts of the world. They now grow Western berries (strawberries, raspberries), grapes (and make wine too!), lettuce, artichokes, macadamia nuts, avocado, kiwi, etc. It even covers growing linen, livestock farming, fishery, capital costs and marketing, rehabilitation and conservation of natural resources as well as social, health, education and cultural aspects of the hill tribes. His Majesty’s guidelines were quoted as “Keep the procedure as short as possible, work as quick as possible, in the manner of attaching gold-leaf to the back of the Buddha. Don’t perform to show off, but to help those people to be self-reliant.” It seems like quite an impressive undertaking if you ask me!

What we expected when we walked into the Research Station was far less than what we found. The grounds were spectacular! We spent at least a good hour or more just on the first 10% of what there was, checking out the nursery/store (where they sell products made from the crops, like peppermint tea and macadamia nuts that we purchased) and the bonsai garden with exotic plants and a stunning rock garden. The Royal Garden next to the clubhouse and restaurant was pretty impressive too. Again, we enjoyed trying to recognize all the different crops and pointing it all out to Kailani. After a pretty good walk, we also visited the Baan Khum village (Thai Yai and Chinese Yunan descendents), next to the Research Station, and picked up some raisins and dried strawberries that I’m almost sure were grown by the Royal Project. Later that day, we also drove around, visited the Angkhang Pagoda and Nor lae Village (Palong descendents) which sits so close to the Myanmar-Thai border that the guard station is right at the end of the village. Along the way, there were a large group of kids of all ages walking down the road. I wish I could have taken a picture or video of their smiley, happy faces waving at us as we drove by. But, because I know some tribes in the area don’t believe in having their pictures taken, I was sensitive to taking pictures of anyone. We waved and said “sawasdee kha” to them. Some said it back to us while a few said “hello” or “hi” back to us instead. That mere interaction melted our hearts!

The next day, we took the scenic route out of Ang Khang, back to Chiang Mai, which takes you past a few other hill tribe villages. Because the route also straddles the Myanmar-Thai border, it also takes you past a couple more guard stations, which can be a bit unnerving when you get stopped. But, we passed with no issues. Between the mountainous forests are farming areas, which I’m sure some are receiving the benefits of the Royal Project. But, most was a plant that we didn’t recognize. We are still trying to figure out what that might be. Once out of the mountains, near Chiang Dao, we decided to visit one of the several elephant camps in the area. Recently, we purchase for Kailani a Babar the Elephant book and the movie, Horton Hears a Who. So, she gets excited over elephants right now. It was a bit worrisome to think that it might not be the most humane thing to support. I definitely did not want to see an “elephant show” for this reason. But, unsure how to gauge what good living conditions should be, we decided to at least pay them a visit. I try to think of it as no different than how Americans and other cultures have domesticated and stabled horses, except that elephants do more work in the forest. (Perhaps, wishful thinking!) We ended up at the Mae Taman Elephant Camp, mostly because it was the only one still open, and about to close right after we arrived. In the end, we decided to take a short ride on one of the elephants. It was a more thrilling ride than Sean and I expected. We expected the elephants to be large, but they are truly amazing when you are sitting on one. After the ride, one of the mahouts (elephant trainer) brought out a smaller elephant and let Sean and I take turns sitting on it bareback. Being able to get so close to the elephants like that is truly an experience that we won’t easily forget.

Chiang Mai

2008-06-07T20:32:00.000-07:00

Those are oranges. Even though they are green in color, they're actually very sweet.

My birthday cake.

Just a picture of Kailani looking cute! :-)

06.07.08: I woke-up our last morning in Bangkok to a knock on the door. Delivered to me was a huge pancake, the size of the plate, with some fruit and a lit candle on it. It was a wonderful birthday surprise arranged by my dear husband the night before. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate my birthday than in Bangkok! After our last breakfast of winter melon soup and chicken and tomatillo green curry on the Bangkok streets, we headed to the airport for our flight to Chiang Mai. For once, it was on time. Although, they did change gates on us, so we were running back and forth a bit.

Arriving in Chiang Mai, you could sense a bit more peacefulness in the air. The weather is also slightly more temperate. Don’t get me wrong, it is still a city and there are still motorbikes, scooters, tuk tuks and cars buzzing around like a free-for-all. And, after being out for half a day, you are still dripping wet with sweat. But there was a little less buzz, dirt and congestion going on…just a little. At our hotel, I felt a little “bait and switched”, just like Hong Kong, because our hotel room didn’t look like the recently renovated ones as shown on the web site. But we did get an excellent last-minute deal, therefore able to stay at a class of hotel above what we normally would, so I can’t complain. With Kailani, having a pool at the hotel is a great commodity. They had a beautiful one lined with aqua-colored crackled glaze tiles (just like the dishes in my kitchen). Chiang Mai is approximately 700 years old. The Old City of Chiang Mai is surrounded by a moat and partially standing walls. The neighborhood where we were is just outside the city walls, but on a street of boutiques and cafes. We wondered around the first night for what seemed like a while, looking for a place for dinner, somewhat missing the street stalls of Bangkok that you could practically trip over. We couldn’t find this Thai place that we were looking for, so settled for a restaurant called West, owned by an Aussie where only Western food is sold. Of course, after, we found the Thai restaurant. It looked pretty cute, quaint with an old-fashioned feel, so we went in for dessert, fresh fruit and black sesame paste balls, mochi on the outside, served in a sweet syrup. I haven’t had those sesame balls since my mom served them for Chinese New Year.

Sunday, we started with a really good breakfast buffet at our hotel. We weren’t feeling the best, probably catching what Kailani caught in Bangkok. So later, we thought we’d fight whatever we had off by taking a tuk tuk to an organic juice joint/café that I read about in our guide book, Juicy4U. Unfortunately, it was closed on Sundays. So, we headed to the Sunday Walking Street where they close off the main drag and open food and craft stalls. I thought I got my shopping all done in Bangkok. But there was a much better quality of things to buy here, rather than the mass manufactured cheap clothing/stuff on Thanon Khao San. There are definitely some creative and artistic people here in Chiang Mai. There were also some great handicrafts from the local hill tribes. One of our favorites was very intricate the metal wall art pounded into three dimensional images. Unfortunately, most of it, I wouldn’t want to carry in my luggage another halfway around the world. So, besides getting a cotton skirt, we strolled, ate mango with sticky rice (my new favorite dessert), Kai got another bottle orange juice (freshly pressed right in front of us this time) and Sean got some fried chicken elbows….yes, I said elbows! We also got 60 Baht ($2 USD) foot massages. We were surprised how long this street went down. By the time we reached the other end, we were ready for more foot massages! Unfortunately, they didn’t offer any on that end of the street.

Monday, we took advantage of the breakfast and pool in the morning. Then, we made attempt #2 to get juice at Juicy4U. Luckily, they were open. :-) But, I was a little bummed to find out they were out of wheatgrass. :-( Still, it was nice to have fresh, organic juice like I used to make daily at home and chat with the owner who knows her thing about nutrition. (Kai must be getting really spoiled with what I would call “fake juice” because she wouldn’t have anything to do with it, and she used to drink it every day with me.) At first meeting, she right away invited me to go to yoga class with her. Little did she know how much I would have LOVED to go, but wasn’t dressed for it, nor would Sean or Kailani be prepared to let me go since we already had plans. Her boyfriend owns a yoga studio too. And, once she sells Juicy4U (it’s on the market), they plan on opening a larger place where they can offer classes and retreats. I’d love to go back there when that happens! From there, we headed to the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar. We picked up a couple pirated movies, Kung Fu Panda and the latest Indiana Jones one. We seem to have taken a liking to buying movies and CDs lately, I suppose because they are so readily available and cheap. We tried to look around the Night Bazaar more, but I guess we were finally shopped-out. There was some absolutely stunning, beautiful Lanna carved wood art there. But again, it wasn’t something I’d be carrying halfway across the world with me. We found pleasant Thai place for dinner on the way to the hotel and then headed back to pack up for a trip up north to Doi Ang Khang in the morning.

Bangkok Part 2

2008-06-04T20:14:00.000-07:00

Making Pad Thai on the streets of Bangkok

Floating Market

06.04.08: Kailani woke up with a sniffly nose. I think it’s a cold and hope it’s not because she’s inhaled so much darn exhaust in this city! Needless to say, we’ve been taking it a bit slower the last couple days in Bangkok. Honestly, regardless if she was sick or not, we’d be fine without rushing to see all the sights this city has to offer. And, there ARE lots of sights to see. We’re still having fun just wondering around our neighborhood, mostly when we want to get something to eat. On the sidewalks, in front of the stores are stalls that sell food, clothes, souvenirs, etc. It feels like the city (or at least our area) is a big flea market. We’ve still try to sample all the different street foods. Most dishes are about 25-35 Baht (~$1USD) each. We FEASTED the other night, going to three different stalls where we got soup (simple pork spareribs and greens in broth that reminded me of what my mom used to make), curry (the guy called it mild, Sean considered it HOT), stir-fry noodles, jook (rice congee, one of my favorites) and a roasted lemongrass catfish on a stick. And, we only spent 105 Baht (~$3USD).

But we did do a couple noteworthy things. Something I didn’t get to do last time here was to experience why they call Bangkok “the Venice of the East”. So, we started Thursday by going on a canal boat/ferry. I wanted to make sure Sean and Kailani had their share of seeing Buddha, so we decided our destination would be Wat Traimit in Chinatown to see the Golden Buddha. I don’t see how you can pass up seeing a 3 meter tall, 5.5 ton solid gold Buddha. We followed with another swim session back at the hotel. The next day, we signed up for a tour that took us via bus then long tail boat to the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. It was said that this is the oldest floating market. But really, it caters to tourists these days, selling mostly souvenirs. Still, it was fun and we got a couple new things for Kailani, one being a toy Tuk Tuk. After taking a HUGE nap, she started racing her toy Jeepney against the Tuk Tuk!

Unfortunately, I wish I would have time to do a couple more things: go to the Aw Taw Kaw Market, which sells organically grown fruits and vegetables; take the Sky Train, which wasn’t running last time I was here; or take a yoga class because I found that Absolute Yoga actually offers Anusara classes. But also, five days seems like enough time in such an intense city such as this. Hopefully, there will be a next time!

Other random notes/thoughts: So far in Thailand, I’ve only seen recycling containers today at the Floating Market - pretty much a disappointment. When we have used bottles/cans, we leave them in our hotel room. We HOPE they recycle. It’s a contrast from Hong Kong, where I refused to leave empty containers in the hotel for fear that they’d just throw it away. Most Hong Kong locals carry bags that are probably full of their prized purchases. Instead, I’d carry our recycling around in a bag. I shocked some old guy digging around in the garbage looking for used cans, when I gave him what I had in my bag. In the Philippines, although it was hard to find a garbage can, no less a recycling can, we did find “biodegradable” containers (for composting?) as well as a MRF (Materials Recovery Facility) on Boracay. Unfortunately, the facility is only really used for materials used by the resorts and not by the locals.

It was pleasant, but not too shocking to find biodiesel available in normal gas stations a couple times in Europe. I think we were actually in need of diesel and bought some once or twice. I didn’t expect to find any, but did see it available, also at normal gas stations, a couple times in the Philippines. Today, on the road on the way to the Floating Market, I did look to see if it’s available here. Unfortunately, the signs are all in Thai, so I can’t understand it at all…

Since arriving to Asia, I’ve been using calendula oil to ease itchy mosquito bites. Though it’s not really for that, it is supposed to ease inflammation, which hopefully would ease itching. It’s the only thing I had. While we were with Sean’s Aunty Vicky, we stayed in her guest room/home office. I found a book on her bookshelf. I believe it’s called Jerry Baker’s Garden Tonics. It said that if you rub a wet bar of soap on mosquito bites, they’ll go away faster and get rid of itching. It’s also supposed to work for bee stings to help pull out the stinger. So, I’ve been rubbing soap all over my bites since then. The best thing, we received a couple bars of all natural, botanical Waikoloa Bob’s Insect Repellent soap last Christmas. So now, it’s serving double duty. We rub ourselves with soap before going out to keep those pests from biting, plus ease the itching. It works great! I feel semi-normal again, not itching like a flea-bitten dog. J (OK, now that I just typed that, I went out and got all bit up! Not because it stopped working, but because I probably should have applied another, fresh layer.)

Bangkok

2008-06-02T04:45:00.000-07:00

Us in the Tuk Tuk

One of the statues at Wat Phra Kaew

One of our favorite food stalls

06.02.08: After leaving Manila on Monday, we had a stop over in Hong Kong just long enough to walk to our connecting flight. Then, we arrived in Bangkok late in the evening and took a taxi directly to our hotel. It’s probably been around10 years since my last whirlwind trip to Thailand and they built a new airport. Even after going through Hong Kong’s, I do have to say it’s quite impressive. I read that, once up to full capacity (which I’m not sure if it is or not yet), it’ll be the largest in Asia. My first impression of Bangkok is that it’s really modernized since I’ve been here last! We were quite worried when the taxi driver looked perplexed as he read the map/address that I gave to him, printed out from the hotel’s web page. Especially because it was two blocks from Khao San Road, which is a big time farang (Westerner) backpacker’s hangout. Aren’t taxi drivers supposed to know where everything is?!? Luckily, I already got a new SIM card for my cell phone at the airport. So, I called Villa Cha Cha and he was able to find out where it was. He kept saying it must be a new place.

The next morning, we wondered around, found somewhere to eat breakfast, stocked up on supplies (water, diapers, etc) and jumped in the hotel’s pool. Villa Cha Cha has a very nicely decorated lobby/restaurant/pool area with lots of Thai and Indonesian decor. Besides think walls, the rooms aren’t half bad either. After reading our guide book, it seems to be a real deal for what you get. As mentioned, it’s a couple blocks from Khao San Rd., which really doesn’t excite me to hang out with a bunch of dreadlocked farangs listening to loud house music. Perhaps, 10 years ago. But back then, I didn’t go to there. But it really is SUCH a feast for the eyes, as well as taste buds, even just walking around the streets on our block. There are food stalls selling all different types of foods, some pre-made like spring rolls, potstickers and curry, and some made right in front of you like pad thai or noodle soups. I even found a stand that made fresh juice…and was excited to have a couple shots of wheatgrass! Of course, there are also lots to buy like cheap clothes, souvenirs, Thai-style decorations and artwork, pirated DVDs/CDs. I took advantage of the shopping and ended up with a couple pieces of cheap clothes (USD $3-6/piece) that, of course, didn’t really fit great when I went back to our hotel to try them on. Sean got a half hour outdoor massage (hand, arm, shoulder, neck and foot) for 120 Bhat (USD $4). It was fun, at least for the first day. I’m sure we won’t be hanging out that much as watching a “freak show” (especially at night) also gets old.

In the afternoon, we took our first tuk tuk ride. I guess a tuk tuk will now replace jeepneys and tricycles as a mode of transportation. They are DEFINITELY faster than a tricycle. I though they only have the equivalent of a scooter/Vespa motor. But when we asked the driver, he said it as a Dihatsu 500 CC engine running off GPL (propane). You could tell he had some tricked-out exhaust. I thought I was going to have blisters on my palms from holding onto the bars so tight. Kai was still in my back carrier and I didn’t want to squish her nor fall out.

We visited The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew, practically a city of temples within its walled grounds. I think there are around 200 buildings, and they are absolutely gorgeous! Basically, we were seeing Catholic cathedrals in Italy, and now Buddhist temples in Thailand. Although I could appreciate the intricate detail and work put into cathedrals, I love the style of the temples. Wat Phra Kaew is also where the Temple of the Emerald Buddha is, which is really made of jade, one huge chunk of it, not from emerald. A short walk next door, we visited Wat Pho where there is a giant, gold reclining Buddha. Almost too big for his building, the 46m long/15m high Buddha illustrates the passing of the Buddha into nirvana (death). I kind of wish that we hired a personal guide, at least for Wat Phra Kaew, but I was too cheap to get one. I found myself very interested in learning more about everything like who are all the different Buddha’s and what they represent, and would have loved to have someone there to explain and ask questions. Although, I’m sure we’ll get the chance to find one at another temple soon.

By mid afternoon, we were completely wet with sweat, especially because you need to dress in appropriate clothes (covered skin) for the temples. So, we jumped into another tuk tuk (easy enough to tell the driver to take us to Khao San Rd.) and went back in the pool. It’s been pretty nice to have a pool to “come home” to! Although still not popping her head above water, Kai’s really becoming comfortable in the water and can hold her breath for quite some time. Our little “surfer-in-the-making” is almost jumping in too fast for comfort and she can paddle her way from me to Sean, or vice versa, standing about 8 feet apart. I was getting tired just watching her swim back and forth without taking any breaks. Needless to say, we took her back out to the streets for some dinner afterwards. Quite honestly, there are so many street stalls around our neighborhood that I’m not sure if we’ll eat at another restaurant in Bangkok again!

Iloilo

2008-06-01T04:30:00.000-07:00

This is Aunty Vicky's father, AKA Sean's grandfather. Do you see the resemblence?!?

"Please can we take one with us, pleeeease?!?!"

From left to right: Aunty Vicky, Sean, Kailani, Gloria, Uncle Esme and Kenneth (their driver)

Kailani eating cassava cake

06.01.08: Again I’m on an airplane, a Cathay Pacific 747-400 to Hong Kong to be exact. (Then, we transfer to a Bangkok-bound plane.) After pre-boarding at 11:40 am for a 1:30pm flight, we finally took off the ground about 1:15pm. We sat almost as long as it takes to get to there! I’m fairly impressed with the plane and service. It’s only roughly an hour and a half flight, and they ACTUALLY served us some sandwiches (with beer/wine!). Each seat has a TV screen, and the best part, each seat has an electrical plug outlet. Unfortunately, I found out later the outlet didn’t work, my battery halfway drained. Air New Zealand was also pretty nice. I used to like Lufthansa, but I notice the crew disappears quickly after take-off and doesn’t offer you anything anymore. Air Philippines is supposedly worse than Philippine Airlines. This was said as we saw Philippine Airline planes take off to Iloilo more than once as we sat there waiting for our Air Philippines plane, and the two are sister airlines. Asian Spirit had some really old planes. Kai’s seat cushion wouldn’t stay put. But, they did have a nice departure lounge in Caticlan. It had a beautiful lush garden and was like an oasis!

Anyway, we just got back from a couple days of visiting with Sean's Dad's sister, Aunty Vicky and her husband, Uncle Esmereldo Haro, who live in the town of Oton, 45 minutes from the provincial capital of Iloilo. Sean’s been kicking himself that he waited until our 2nd week in the Philippines to call her. We thought she lived further south in Mindinao, which has Muslim presence and can be a bit dangerous. Turns out she lives on the same island, Panay, that we landed on to get to Boracay. You land on the north part of the island to get to Boracay and Iloilo’s on the south side. So basically, we already flew there, went to Boracay, went back to Manila, then North to San Juan, and BACK down to Panay again. We’ve done a lot of backtracking here in the Philippines, to and from Manila, etc. I left the planning up to Sean, thought he had some big master plan, but I guess it didn’t happen that way.

Aunty Vicky and Uncle Esme moved here from WA state 3 years ago, and are STILL re-building their retirement house that’s Uncle’s family house. At least they are currently living in it though. Building a house in a 3rd world country is quite different than in the states. EVERYTHING has to be done by hand. There are no machines to do anything. But, I have to say that their house is coming along quite nice. They actually purchased the TREES for the rails for their stairways and then had the wood milled. There are some quite gorgeous touches to their house. We were definitely in Uncle’s home town. On Aunty and Uncle’s street is the Severino Haro bridge, named after one of Uncle’s relatives. On the next street is a small market named Haro. Uncle went to elementary school down the street from that. There’s a local town called Haro, the rich side of the family. There’s another town called Jaro, pronounced the same, the poor side of the family.

We were seriously treated like royalty and we only met Aunty and Uncle once for a few minutes, when they came down to see Sean's dad, after years of no communication with him. They fed us WAY too much, three very square meals, and there was much evidence on the scale in our Manila hotel room after our visit. Immediately upon our arrival, we were whisked away from the airport by their driver in their fairly new Nissan SUV to a seafood restaurant, complete with live entertainment. They also have two maids at the house that were more than willing to play with Kai and feed her when she wouldn’t eat for us. Having maids isn’t what you’d typically see in the states, but more common there. I suppose if I had 7 kids and retired, I wouldn’t mind having a couple maids to take care of a fairly large house either!

The next day, we took a drive a couple hours up the coast to the town of Conception. Before we left, I was reading our Rough Guide Philippines book about the area. It seems that either way you go up the coast, East or West, it said that there are very little or no services/accommodations for tourists. I believe it said about one area “be prepared to camp or sleep in the beach”. We drove through small towns, rice paddies and undeveloped landscaped. It was gorgeous, and we learned a lot about the way of life such as rice cultivation, etc. from Aunty. Outside of Conception, we had another big lunch. Kai again wouldn’t behave and eat, until I pointed out to her that we had cassava cake for dessert. The smile on her face in the picture that I took of her eating it is priceless! Then, we went into town. It was a very rural, remote town and there seems to be a lot of controversy over building coal burning electrical plants in the area. Sean and I were glad to see banners that pointed out the health hazards associated with them: asthma, lung cancer, etc. Aunty and Uncle planned for us to find somewhere to stay for the night. But, they had a hard time finding anywhere besides taking a ferry to a remote island resort. I was surprised that they even found a tourist office. I let them take the lead and Aunty Vicky came out with a place for us, but then asked Sean to go in and see about activities. It seemed like it took him long enough to plan an entire month of activities, so a warning light went off in my brain. By then, Kai was bouncing off the back seat walls, strung out from cassava cake. I went in there, and as I suspected, there was some elaborate plan for a full day of island hopping and snorkeling that they were trying to decide upon. Mind you, all we only planned for was a couple days of visiting with Aunty and Uncle, not some elaborate island holiday (which I was also afraid of who would pay for it). The clouds were also starting to loom over, so I bursted the “plan bubble” and we took off promptly back towards Aunty and Uncle’s house just before it started to rain.

The next day we were back at a mall. It really seems to be a social staple in a Filipino’s life. But, I needed another phone card and Sean wanted a shirt, so it worked out. Shopping was followed by lunch at a Chinese restaurant, where Sean and I goofed because we ordered a little something form the menu after Aunty already ordered enough for us. Later that afternoon, we went to Aunty and Uncle’s local resort/beach (just for day visitors, no accommodations) for a sunset swim in the pool. Later, we went back to the house for another feast for dinner. The maids don’t cook, but Uncle’s niece comes in to do it for them. The next day, we went to the Iloilo Museo for some more history about the town and local area. Unfortunately, there were mosquitoes galore, and Sean and I left the place feeling like we were feasted upon. We weren’t prepared with our trusty spray because it was daytime. I wonder how I’m going to fare with two more months in mosquito-land, seeing as my allergic reaction to bites leaves me itching like crazy. Just as I thought we just agreed that we all ate enough the past couple days, Aunty and Uncle took us out for one last lunch before our flight, at another niece’s seafood restaurant on the beach. It was called “our going away party”, a little something to bribe us to come back for their 50th wedding anniversary in 2010. I loved the beachside setting, the décor, they really took care of the fish tanks and loved what their sign said, “Better than fresh, live!” Just as I thought I couldn’t stuff anymore in my belly, we feasted on some grilled catfish (each one simply prepared on one skewer), lobster, crab, diniguan (blood pudding/chocolate meat, pork in pig’s blood), a traditional vegetable dish, lechon and whole young coconuts split open with a straw to sip it down. I’m sure I probably forgot some other dishes.

Overall, we've had a great 3 weeks here! The beaches in the Philippines have been gorgeous! I've also LOVED the landscape, especially the tropical foliage and rice paddies. As far as the rural towns and the city of Manila, it wouldn't exactly be for everyone. Not an easily accessible or picture-perfect vacation spot. There are definitely some dirty dusty areas. But if you have enough patience and courage for adventure, you can find some stunning scenery. Overall, it's been a good way to get used to undeveloped Asia, since there's more coming up for us. It's definitely a third world country, but they also embrace the American lifestyle. So in a way, it's foreign but familiar. Everyone speaks English. So at least it's easy to communicate. But, I can’t wait to be revisiting Bangkok and Thailand next!

San Juan, La Union

2008-05-28T18:33:00.000-07:00

28 May 2008: I’m typing while on a plane from Manila to Iloilo to see Sean’s Aunty Vicky. We finally took off, after a 2 ½ hour delay. It’s about time! But, here’s a little bit about our previous trip.

Last Friday, we took off from Manila to San Juan, La Union which is in the Northern Luzon Province, considered the surfing capital of the Philippines. I asked our hotel concierge, Jun, how much it would cost to get a driver to take us there and he first gave us the “hotel” price. I asked him if there was any less expensive option and he hooked us up with Arvin. Unlike “drivers” in Europe, Arvin was not dressed up in a black suit, driving us in a slick, black Audi A6. Instead, he had an old white Toyota Corolla with peeling window tint and the strong scent of air freshener. But, it got us there! Apparently, there was confusion the evening that Sean called and arranged the ride. Arvin and his buddies already had a few beers. He picked us up expecting to take us to San Juan, Batangas, not La Union. That’s about halfway to where we wanted to go, so poor Arvin was in for a much longer day than he expected. He probably said goodbye to his family and told them he’d be back in the afternoon, but ended up getting home that night at 1:30am! Going down European freeways, 200-300 kilometers would have taken us 2-3 hours. In the Philippines, that same distance took us approximately 6 hours. Luckily, he didn’t charge us any more than the quoted price.

We left the bumper to bumper traffic of Manila down an expressway and I thought we were on our way. Shortly there after, we were on the MacArthur Freeway, a one lane road going through town, after town, after town. In between, there might be a large field with a caribou (water buffalo) or two and sometimes goats or chicken. Somewhere in the middle, we also saw quite a bit of damage from the typhoons that hit the Philippines the week before, the one’s that put a damper on the Boracay weather. This area was the hardest hit from the storms and we went through a couple towns that probably didn’t have electricity for a week. In this smoky area, they were still cleaning up the downed trees and power lines and burning branches. Some of the shacks were completely obliterated and corrugated metal roof tops were pulled up like an orange peel. Arvin was a good driver, but to drive in the Philippines is quite sketchy. I don’t think I’d attempt it, and I’ve driven in Central America. There’s this kind of organized chaos that takes some getting used to. Everyone goes wherever, however, to get to where they need to go. They honk every time they come up to someone, and they attempt to pass everyone they come up to. I still wonder if they need to replace their horns, which is unlikely in the US.

We stayed at the Sunset German Beach Resort where our stark room consisted of concrete floor, stucco walls and a bed platform made of brick. It reminded me of a large prison cell. I supposed it’s good for withstanding typhoons (although that area was not hit hard the week before) and rowdy surfers. It wasn’t smelly and there were no bugs. And at least, I didn’t have to worry about tracking sand in there or Kai breaking anything. The owners of the resort, Jan (German, pronounced “John”) and “Naynay” (Filipina wife, name literally meaning “second eldest daughter”) were very friendly, the rest of the grounds were very lovely with lush foliage and the food was excellent. Kailani instantly took a liking to all their very slim cats, including the smallest kitten she’s ever seen. It probably easily fit in Sean’s palm. Sean ate his share of homemade German sausage that was better than anything we had in Germany. And, their Filipino food was great too! The best part was that you just walked right out onto a beach, probably about a mile long, where you were lucky if you saw anyone. The sand wasn’t quite as white as Boracay, and the water wasn’t as blue as either. But, there wasn’t garbage all over the beach like in Boracay either. The water was warm and the weather steaming hot, so it was no effort to jump in and get wet. Unfortunately, the waves on this beach break were only ankle high. They only really pick up when there are typhoons. So yes, if we’d only flip-flopped the weeks we went to Boracay and San Juan, it would have been perfect.

We made the best with what we had and taught Kai how to ride waves on a boogie board for a couple days. Then, we graduated her to a long board. (The board was apparently left by Ken Kneeve (or Kim Kneefe?) from, of all places, San Jose. Apparently, he worked in management for BMW and would go there yearly. One year, he told Jan he was switching to Ford, the American car market took a dump and he never came back again. Thanks for use of the board!) Sean and I switched off on the board, sometimes with Kai laying on the front. She’s getting really brave in the water now. She kept jumping off the board or out of our arms and trying to swim. She’s able to hold her breath, kick her legs and paddle her arms. But, her head still doesn’t want to pop above water for her to breathe. Hopefully soon! Unfortunately, we all ended up a bit pinker than we should have that day, mostly my back and Sean’s. We enjoyed the longboarding a bit longer than expected and didn’t sunscreen our backs as we should have.

We started changing our minds about staying there a week. If we did, we’d only have a few more days left before flying to Bangkok. And, anywhere else we wanted to go to was a journey not worth just a couple days. So, the option was to stay in the “prison cell” for an extra half week, but that was getting old. Or we could say in Manila, but there was not much we wanted to do there. Also, guilt about flying halfway across the world and not seeing Sean’s aunt got the best of us. So, we called Arvin for a ride back to Manila. Of course, the waves picked up a little the morning that we left! The ride was almost as grueling as the ride there, but we managed. I took advantage of having Arvin there and asked all the questions I could think of about things in the Philippines, like “What the heck is up with all the ‘Pig Fattening Service’ signs on the side of the road?” and “What do they do with the goats?” and “You mean they only eat the goat meat and don’t milk the goats?!?!”

In Manila, I was finally able to get online and book flights to Iloilo, where Sean’s aunt lives. I tried to do in San Juan, but had trouble paying by credit card. I finally broke down and we went back to the mall to get a used cell phone (armed with some advice from Arvin), and Sean got Kai some movie downloads for his PSP (which we’ve had issues downloading ourselves). Oh yea, it’s actually MINE, given to me by Sean for Christmas! ;-) Going into the area of the mall where the cell phones and other techy stuff is sold is like an indoor flea market. All around you are the women at their counters trying to get your attention, with their singing voices, saying “Sir, Ma’am”, “Ma’am, sir, blah blah blah for sale for cheap!”. It’s hard to explain, but I don’t think I’ll forget what it sounds like. The other thing we hear a lot are the ladies that come up to Kai asking “Hi baby, what’s your name?” and “How old are you?” It’s hard to explain. You just have to hear it.

Boracay Part 2

2008-05-17T17:57:00.000-07:00

Us on Puka Beach, Boracay Island

Sean's Sand Turtle (Kai and I made one too, but not quite the same quality as this one.)

The two very full, very heavy bags of trash we picked up, just from the little stretch of beach we were hanging out on.

The boat we took from Boracay Island to the Catlican airport. See Sean lugging our huge suitcases on that flimsy little plank?!?

17 May 2008: Apparently, we arrived to Boracay right in the middle of a big storm, with another one right behind it called Cosme. The day we arrived was also declared the official beginning of monsoon season. Good timing, huh? Sean’s been pretty nervous about the storms coming in and out of the area and keeping close tabs on the news, especially the one that just hit the Luzon province, our destination next week. We’re crossing our fingers that weather won’t an issue for the rest of our stay in this country.

The first five days in Boracay were less than stellar weather, lots of wind and fast gusts of rain, even some thunder and lightning. But we made the most of it, either staying inside, letting Kai nap well and watching TV including an American Idol marathon. We got to see an entire season, so we were prepared for the season finale. And when there were small breaks in the weather, we’d go out and play in the sand/water or go out to eat. Sean enjoyed body surfing and skim boarding. One night, he taught Kai how to play pool downstairs from our room at Mango Ray. Kai enjoyed making sand castles with some sand toys we bought her. Sean liked eating Filipino breakfast every morning, with rice, corned beef and fried eggs. Kai liked having juices made from fresh fruit as well as her daily yogurt from a European deli that we found in D’Mall. There, I also found some Tuscan mineral water, cheese and salami, and lemon for my daily morning drink, hot water with a squeeze of lemon wedge. I became addicted to one of the restaurants in D’Mall, Aria, where we ate at least once a day. They served Italian food. Although I’m still “over” pasta after Italy, they had salads made from organic lettuce and arugula and pizzas made in a wood fired brick oven. We also tried some other places there, such as a place that had great BBQ and a sushi place. Our last night there, we got a tip to take a short tricycle ride down to the other side of the beach, to this place, D’Talipapa. It was similar to D’Mall, with souvenirs stalls, etc. But, it also had a fresh fish, meat and produce market area. We picked up a Lapu Lapu fish, the local fish, as well as a couple huge prawns. From there, you take it to one of the stalls that offer cooking services, where they grilled it up for us and served it with vegetable rice. That was definitely a cool experience! Too bad Kai decided to nap the entire time!

On day two, we moved accommodations from Le Soleil de Boracay to Mango Ray, just a couple doors down. We pretty much moved from a bona fide hotel to a small 10 room operation. But, it’s fine with me. The place is quite sufficient, and they gave us a break so we’re saving a couple thousand pesos. The bummer is, after we went through all the trouble of checking out of the first place, moved our stuff into the second place and settled down, they tell us that they made a mistake and we can only have our room for 3 days instead of 5. The offered us other rooms, but I don’t like any as much as the one we’re in. Only one comes close, but it has two twin beds. I really didn’t want to move again! The other bummer is that the room smells like insect killer spray, which it didn’t when we first saw it. (I hope that’s not why Kailani and I can’t seem to do anything but sleep!) After the first night, these fast little baby ants started coming out of the woodwork. So, now I understand why. So for the last two days, we moved to The Tides, a “designer” hotel right in D’Mall. Although the price goes up even a tad higher than place #1, I don’t care to stay at Mango Ray out of principle. It’s quite a bummer! I guess we’ll be sampling a few places along this stretch of the beach. I might as well review them when we’re done. I’ve also come to the conclusion that my backpacker days are over. I’d rather stay in nicer places than I used to a decade or two ago. Good bye backpacker and welcome flashpacker status, with child in tow!

The last two days, the weather finally got better. It cleared up in the afternoon. So after dinner, we played in the sand by moonlight with live music from one of the bars in the background. The next day, we hired a driver to take us to see the rest of the island. He took us up to the highest peak with a great view. At the entrance, the owner of the land (you had a pay a few pesos) Kai saw her first live monkey, who decided to lunge at her. It scared the heck out of Sean and I, but we both grabbed him before he could do damage. Then, we went to another beach called Puka Beach. (ie puka shell necklaces) Puka beach was described to us as “just like White Beach back in the 80’s”. It had beautiful white sand as well, and the clearest, bluest water we’ve ever seen, but no resorts, shops, restaurants or people. We would have loved to stay there, but we weren’t prepared and didn’t want to make the driver wait for us. So, we went back to White Beach for more play time. Unfortunately, the recent storms must have pushed a lot of trash onto the beach, or trash was washed into the water from runoff. We’re not sure. But, it was pretty hard for me to play around without seeing it everywhere. While playing with Kai, I started with picking up what was floating next to me, and what I was walking over. Eventually, we had two HUGE bags full of trash, and that was only from the small stretch of beach where we sat. I’d say 95% of that was plastic, mostly bags. Unfortunately, what you see sold in stores are lots of small bags/packets rather than larger bottles of cosmetics, soaps, detergents, etc. We saw lots of these in the water, as well as plastic bags that held food snacks and candies, and shopping bags. Originally, I wanted to think that it was a culmination of currents picking up stuff from neighboring countries and all landing there. But, all you had to do was read the label on the bags to find that they were all manufactured in the Philippines. It was a sad reality. We carried the trash up to the foot path and couldn’t find any trash cans to deposit it into either. Finally, we were at the reception area of our resort, so I asked the staff they could take it for us. The gal said “your husband must be very environmental”. What’s up with that?!? “Your husband”? Anyway, Kai still had a great time making sand turtles and “swimming” in the water. She’s really getting brave getting out there, going underwater, and paddling her arms and kicking her feet.

On our flight back to Manila we were actually bumped to a flight a couple minutes earlier AND no delays/cancellations, yea! On the shuttle/ferry to the airport, we met couple, Eileen and Mark, who was also staying at the Tides. We had a nice time hanging out at the Asian Spirit pre-departure lounge that Mark pointed out, rather than the stuffy, overcrowded area that everyone else was at. Thanks Mark!

Back at the Mandarin in Manila, we’re making the most out of the two days here. The room came with a similar model MFC printer as what we own. So, we photocopied stuff we’ve needed to do, sent letters off, repacked, consolidated and found another stack of stuff to send home. We did laundry, which now consists of sink washing and hanging with the AC on, if we can stand it that cold (although I know, not the most energy efficient). Then, we finish drying with the hair dryer and iron as needed. We used their business center to print etickets. Then, we ventured to the mall, a huge Filipino past time. I tried to get a new SIM card from our Spanish Vodaphone cell phone. But, the phone’s software doesn’t seem to be compatible (or reprogrammable), despite what the guy that sold it to me said. So, we might just have to buy a whole new phone. Urgh! And one more thing, we watched the season finale of American Idol. Not that I’m a huge fan, but after that seeing the whole season…of course HAD to see the end! :-)

Manila to Boracay, Philippines

2008-05-12T20:32:00.000-07:00

An "average" Jeepney (Some are way more tricked out than this)

Arrival at the airport and we get the max the ATM would allow, 4000 pesos, equivalent to USD $100. Looks like alot, huh?

Tricycle (Look at how they load them up on the right.)

12 May 2008: The overall impression that we had of Manila, from several people that have been there, is that it’s not the place you would want to visit, but the place you need to stop over at in order to get to some of the places you want to visit in the Philippines. With that said, we were expecting dirty, crowded and not so pleasant. We also heard that you can get screwed when taking taxis. So, with the exchange rate on our favor, we splurged and got a nice hotel that offered a driver to pick you up at the airport. We had our camera ready to take a picture of this guy holding up a sign that said “Riola”. ;-) But instead, we found that we needed to check-in at our hotel’s airport waiting lounge. On the way to the hotel, I saw two modes of transportation popular in the Philippines, jeepneys and tricycles. Jeepneys are these crazy Jeep-like vehicles that have an extended covered bed with two benches facing each other, to hold 18-20 passengers. They fully trick them out with Pinoy (Filipino) style graphics and lighting all over. Tricycles are motorcycles with side car attachments that hold up to five passengers, if the driver allows one or two passengers to sit on the back of his seat. It’s crazy to think that a motorcycle, designed to haul one or two passengers, can still haul that many people. It’s hard to describe, so I hope to take some pictures.

Sadly, just like in London, we spent an entire day and two nights at our hotel without leaving. At least this time, we did leave the building, to go swimming. We needed to make arrangements to get to other places in the Philippines (which are cheaper to make while you are there), and luckily our hotel had a travel agent. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to check one of Manila’s big pastimes, the mall. Because, I do need a new cell phone SIM card now that we’re in on a new continent. After the first night, I noticed that they upgraded us to a “Club Level” room, so decided to see if we were also allowed into the Club Lounge for free services. Unfortunately not, but for a mere 2000 pesos, we could. After paying for late night room service for dinner, we figured that the drinks, snacks and breakfast offered were worth it. We took full advantage of happy hour and hor’s oeuvres. The next morning, while going in there for breakfast, Sean noticed that some guy walking in at the same time as us looked familiar. He put his stuff down on a table and went to the buffet to get breakfast. We noticed that he had a script, Road Raiders. I tried to take a good look at him and but it was awkward when he looked back at me. Since I didn’t know who he was, I left it at that. The hotel, having such great service, asked us if we would like to sit in one of their open board rooms. We did have a two year old with us and I’m sure they didn’t want her to disrupt the calm atmosphere of their Club Lounge. While eating in the room, Sean finally figured out who the familiar fellow was, at least where he noticed the guy from. He said “It’s Mr. Brown!” referring to the movie Reservoir Dogs. He was the guy who had the cop tied up and was to cut his ears off. After breakfast, when the driver took us back to the airport for our next destination, he told us that “Mr. Brown’s” name was Michael Madson.

Our next destination was the island of Boracay, via flight to the city of Caticlan. Manila’s domestic terminal was pretty much as I expected it, not so modern and crowded full of Filippino’s. Sean described it as the DMV. I’d say it was that times a hundred. I didn’t see a Caucasian person anywhere, until I finally looked harder and saw a few hovering in the corners, trying not to stand out. It’s pretty strange being in the Philippines, because most are speaking Tagolog to me. Although a bit flattering, it’s starting to get a bit annoying to keep having to ask them to speak English to me. All have been surprised to find that I’m not Filipino and that Sean actually is (at least half). We actually arrived to the airport for our 12:30 flight early enough that they bumped us to the flight an hour earlier. It didn’t matter much though, because our flight was delayed due to bad weather at our destination. I do have to mention that this was the smallest plane that Sean’s ever been on, so he had butterflies in his stomach the entire wait. Finally, we were able to board the plane. But, our plane landed at the heavily raining Kalibo airport instead of Caticlan. From there, we were put on a shuttle bus that took nearly 2 hours. The bus was entertained with the movie The Transporter. I read the very expensive Lonely Planet Thailand book that I picked up on the way to the Hong Kong airport, and then a bit of the Rough Guide’s The Philippines. (I decided I like Lonely Planet books over Rough Guides.) After a while, I looked outside to see flooded rice patties with buffalos. It hit me that we were definitely out in the countryside of a third world country now! From the bus, we ended up at the Ferry Terminal that’s supposed to take you to the island of Boracay. But again, because of the weather, the ferry wasn’t operating. Our hotel shuttle was supposed to pick us up there. But instead, we ended up on another shuttle going back the other way. And then, we were put on this big outrigger boat with motor that finally took us to the island. From there, we were finally put into the hotel shuttle to our hotel. Still, we had to get out and walk down a path along the beach, with rain going sideways, to the hotel. Even at the hotel, because of the weather, our poor bell boy had to carry, or should I say lug (rather than roll on a cart) our luggage to our room, taking the long way around, because parts of the path to our room was all flooded out. We finally ended up at the hotel in time for dinner, instead of early afternoon. By then, we hadn’t eaten since breakfast. We ate like pigs. The hotel had a buffet full of typical Filipino food: rice, grilled fish, BBQ beef kabobs, pork (would you like some fat with that?), etc. Sleeping that night, we woke up many times, hearing it dumping really hard. It wasn’t a great start to our “island paradise” visit. But, at least we have a week for the weather to hopefully die down.

Our next morning in Boracay, we woke and had breakfast buffet at our hotel. Again, it was typical Filipino food. Sean had rice, corned beef and a fried egg. I had rice congee. After, Kai and I played in the pool a bit. The shallow end of the pool had this gradual slope to it, which was great for Kai to run around in. Then, we headed down the path along our beach. It’s called The White Sand Beach and is beautiful with the softest sand we’ve ever felt. I’m sure will be even better when the weather clears. There are several rumors, but one is that it got its name from the local word for cotton, “borac”. It was still raining on and off. Along the path, there were other resorts (they call anything that you can sleep in a “resort”), restaurants and lots of people trying to sell you sunglasses, watches, jewelry, etc, much like Mexico or Thailand beach areas. We were staying right in the middle of the 7 km stretch of beach. To the south, it seemed to get more “Tijuana-esque”. To the north end of the beach, the beach broadened out and there seemed to be higher end resorts. Two sad sights were small children begging for money towards the southern end of the beach. Also scattered throughout, we saw a few Caucasian men with their young Filipina girlfriends. One couple we walked behind, the girl’s stature looked like she couldn’t be more than 15 years old. It’s a sad, ugly reality! I’m sure we’ll see more of this, especially as we get into Thailand. We explored Boracay’s “D’Mall”, basically an open air cluster of shops selling souvenirs and other things that tourists might want, also with a “food court” area. We snacked on some BBQ chicken at the place that was crowded with other Filipinos. We were to be in Boracay a week, but only booked our hotel for 2 nights. It was nice, but booked by the travel agent at the luxury hotel in Manila, and we weren’t sure if we want to spend that much if not necessary. So, part of our exploration was to find a less expensive place. The last half of our day, we played in the waves and built sandcastles. After dinner, again at the hotel, the wind really started howling and the power even started flickering on and off. Luckily, the hotel had back up power. But, it seems that we arrived for a pretty good storm.

Earthquake in China

2008-05-12T18:09:00.001-07:00

I still need to post an update on the rest of Hong Kong. But for those that heard about the earthquake in China, although it might have been quite possible to feel it from Hong Kong, from what we gathered on the news, our plane to Manila left 15 minutes before it happened. Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims of this powerful quake.

Hong Kong Part 2

2008-05-10T20:32:00.000-07:00

The Farmer's Market

The producers of the Farmer's Market heavily discouraged the use of plastic bags, so offered to take home your veggies wrapped in banana leaves instead. Pretty cool, huh?

10 May 2008: On day 3 of 4 in Hong Kong, the weather actually cooled down comfortable enough to the point that we weren’t sweating like pigs. We made it to Maxim’s at City Hall for dim sum early enough too. Although we made it 20 minutes after opening and before the “rush”, we still waited 45 minutes for a table. Not too bad but it’s still tough when you’re hungry. I felt sorry for the people after us that were told they’d wait an hour and a half! Both Kailani and I especially liked the sesame balls. But, everything we got tasted great, and even the service was great! (Again, thanks Leslie!)

We decided that the rest of the day was dedicated to Kailani, both options were outdoors. Unfortunately, it started dumping rain. I noticed the Post Office was open that day, Saturday, and closed on Sundays, and we were leaving on Monday. So, we decided to go back to the hotel to pick up some more stuff we wanted to ship back to California. We gave up on hanging onto any extra clothes “just in case”. It just seemed too hot to hang onto an extra sweatshirt, closed-toed shoes and socks. Somehow, one set of everything (minus the closed-toes shoes for Kailani, because she somehow lost her Vans in the parking lot at the goat farm in Amsterdam. Don’t ask me how!) still ended up being a rather large box of stuff again. Yes, we’ve shipped out THREE boxes of stuff from the last THREE countries! We are hoping that we ACTUALLY make some type of dent in our luggage situation this time!! Ironically, we went to the IFC mall after. It’s located in the stock exchange building, the tallest building in the city. Again, it was sparkling clean and pristine with high end shops. Fortunately, we didn’t end up with more than a couple drinks (while Kailani napped), a cheap tank top for me and facial moisturizer for Sean from a place called the Organic Pharmacy, originating from the UK. Of course, I would have loved to buy up everything in that store, but resisted. I do see how Hong Kong has some really great retail as they seem to get stores selling from each side of the continent, Europe on one side and the US on the other side, as well as Asian stores. I hear even the American stores have things not available in the US. For dinner that night, we headed back Temple Street. We gave in and also picked up the movie, Horton Hears a Who. How can you beat the US $3 price tag?!?

Overall, the timing of our rescheduled plane ride seemed to work out well in the sense that we weren’t too jet lagged. There have been a few moments we’ve had to fight to put Kailani down to sleep at night, and we’ve had to wake her up in the morning (hence waking up too late for dim sum). But it’s definitely not as bad as when we arrived in Europe. I myself have been staying up late and waking up early. Maybe there’s some thing in the air in this city that never sleeps. But, I’m sure that won’t last. I’ve heard going west to east is “supposed” to be harder than going east to west. Overall, it doesn’t seem to be as hard as I expected. I’ve already had my share of mosquito bites. Luckily, not for Kailani. I’m crossing my fingers! I used to be allergic to them as a kid and would swell up real bad. I keep thinking how it’ll be worse the further “into” Asia we go, but we’ll see!

Our last day in Hong Kong, Mother’s Day, and the rain cleared up. I wanted to go to the Star Ferry Central Pier for their organic farmer’s market, hoping to find some fresh organic fruits to munch on for breakfast. We encountered the STRANGEST thing on the way there. We walked under one of Hong Kong’s above-ground walkways and heard the sound of packaging tape ripping off the roll like you’ve never heard it spun before. Tere were about a hundred or so Philippino women with very large boxes either packing or unpacking their boxes, or both. The boxes were so large, they were standing inside them to see what’s in them. To this day, we still don’t understand exactly what they were doing on the streets of Hong Kong. I was quite impressed that Hong Kong even HAD an organic farmer’s market. It was quite small, about 8 or so tables. But unfortunately, there was no fruit or anything else to eat without cooking, mostly vegetables and maybe some lettuce and tomatoes. It was still cool to see that they were doing something of that nature to help the planet. They also had signs explaining how to reduce CO2, the consumption of plastic bags and other environmental issues. There were a couple other free activity tables too. One had used paper to make origami and another rolled the paper into “straws” and weaved it into baskets, etc. Then, there was another table selling baking soda, biodegradable soap, beeswax and essential oils. Then, there was another table next to that where you could make your own lotion, lip balm, etc. with the beeswax and essential oils.

We headed back to the IFC mall, ate brunch at a “Western” restaurant. I do have to say that, even though we were in the People’s Republic of China, my ribs tasted pretty good. Then, we jumped on the bus to Ocean Park, a theme park. It was either that or Disneyland, “the happiest place on earth on a smaller scale, good for smaller kids” (as quoted by Leslie). In the end, we decided that we can also see Mickey Mouse in CA. But, Ocean Park had the panda bears, which I wanted to see, and we wouldn’t get that chance anywhere else. I do think it’s sad that they are in captivity. But in the end, the urge to see them won. The bus driver was horrible! Every time he started, the whole double decker bus jumped. He kept hitting the gas and letting go, like he didn’t know how to keep a steady pace. Ocean Park was a lot larger than I thought. It’s set on a hill, with attractions on both sides. We had to take 3 long flights of escalators to the top, then a cable car over and down the other side of the hill. The bears were soooo cute! I didn’t want to leave and wished we could give them a big hug (although I hear they are naturally aggressive)! I had to wake Kai from napping so she could see them, but I think lack of nap was worth it. Again, it was sad though, to see them in captivity. Although translucent and with ventilation, their “home” was covered with roof. It was clearly marked “no camera flash”, including attendants that held signs up. But still it was ignored. Everyone spoke very loudly. And, this is what they have to live with all day long. Still, I was grateful to be able to see the panda bears in person.

For dinner, we headed to Yung Kee, a Chinese institution that’s been there for decades. It is well known for it’s roasted goose, so that’s what we got, on top of another slew of dishes. Their food was excellent and their service was over the top. It felt like we had one waitress, with a very pleasant voice, just dedicated to us. Like in Venice, it’s amazing how a pleasant voice can really change your dining experience. Of course, we paid for it in the end. We were shocked to find that the bill was twice as much as what we expected, a whole steamed fish taking up half the bill. But, it was our last day in Hong Kong and definitely worth the experience.

On the way to the airport the next day, we “splurged”, paying US $4 for a taxi to the Kowloon MTR station instead of lugging our stuff down the street from one MTR train to the Airport Express train. We didn’t expect to find that they already had airline check-in desks at the Airport Express station. We weren’t even at the airport yet, but we could check-in our luggage before getting on the train. Now that’s service! The Airport Express train was fast, smooth and very plush. In a nutshell, it was even more impressive than London’s. Arriving at the airport with a little extra time, we had one last opportunity for dim sum lunch at Maxim’s. Luckily, the flight took off and was on time, except for the pilot saying we left a “couple minutes” late. Cathay Pacific even fed us a hot lunch for a mere 2 hour flight. Not that we were hungry, but I was surprised. We were shocked to find that the China earthquake, although thousands of miles from Hong Kong, must have hit minutes after our plane took off, and feel like we are being looked after.

Hong Kong

2008-05-08T20:59:00.000-07:00

8 May 2008: In a nutshell, for the first two days in Hong Kong, we seemed to take a lot of showers basically with our clothes on. Because, they needed to be washed every time we wore them because we were sweating so much. What a contrast from always trying to find heat in Europe all spring! We also seemed to take almost every mode of transportation available (except a taxi): ferry, bus, tram, bus, ferry, MTR/underground/metro, gondola, bus and ferry. By the way, like in London, they don’t call their “underground/metro” a “subway”. A “subway” is an underground tunnel that you walk down into to get to the other side of the street without having to get run over. Here are the rest of the details:

I heard that Hong Kong was a 24 hour town, but apparently not true with the airport. Because our plane landed at 2am, public transportation was not operating at that hour. Finally, we found a bus that was going into town, and it was free. I thought the price was great. I didn’t find out until we were on it that it was actually as shuttle provided by the airline because of the hour that we landed. So, that made more sense. Going into town, the bus was to make several stops. I had no idea where our hotel was except it was on Nathan Road. But Nathan Road was apparently a really big road. Luckily, a couple from Hong Kong that we befriended at the hotel the night before pointed out that the bus was about to pass by our hotel. She spoke to the driver in Chinese for us, and got him to stop right there, instead of making us get off at the stop down the street, where we would have had to get a taxi back the other way. The guy at the reception desk at our hotel was surprised to see us checking-in at around 5am. (Yes, it took us almost 3 hours to get off the plane, get our luggage, go through immigration and get on the bus into town.) I thought the hotel’s web site boasted remodeled rooms and 43 inch plasma TVs. Our room had nice décor, but was slightly worn and no plasma TV. But, we were too tired to deal with it. And anyway, we weren’t there to watch TV. Originally, I wanted a room at the YMCA (apparently not just a gym in Hong Kong), which was right on the harbor. But, they didn’t have any rooms available. In retrospect, we are in a different neighborhood down the street, but it’s not bad. It’s only a 15-20 minute “window shopping” walk to get to the harbor. Nathan Road is a big busy shopping street, like being in Times Square, NYC, but on steroids. There are tons of people, traffic, diesel fuel fumes, and at night, signs are all lit up everywhere. But, our room is in the back of the building, so it’s quiet. Also, the Temple Street Night Market and it was only 2 blocks down. But, I digress…

After checking in, we took a nap, and then headed to grab something to eat for lunch. If you haven’t already guessed, my favorite food is dim sum. I suppose it’s comfort food. My mom, born and raised in Hong Kong, used to take me to dim sum in San Francisco as a child. So, being here is like seeing where half my genes are from, although no family live here anymore and it’s a completely different place than what it used to be, so I’ve heard. It’s too bad that Caitlin couldn’t join us here, especially since we’ll be here for Mother’s Day. (And everyone at school is apparently going home for the weekend, except her… L) But, she’s in California for a good purpose, educating herself in college. Anyway, we were still too tired to seek out the “best place”, but the hotel recommended a place across the street. After not having it so long, I was surprised when they placed the food on the table and Kai pointed to it and said “Dim Sum!” I didn’t think we ate it THAT much! Then, we walked down the street to the Star Ferry and took it into Central. It was complete culture shock walking down Nathan Road with a mass of people, traffic and smog, and we were already sweating from the heat just walking out from inside. We decided to take the Peak Tram up to Victoria Peak for a view of the city. There’s supposed to be a bus that takes you to the tram, but somehow we couldn’t find it. Don’t ask me how we got so turned around because we had very good directions, compliments of my former colleague and now currently living in our old house, Leslie, who was raised here. (Thanks Leslie!) Eventually, we found some signs that pointed to the tram. But, I didn’t catch that it was to the tram, not the bus to the tram. We started walking that way. I try very hard not to look like a lost tourist, but I guess it didn’t help. Some guy stopped us and asked if we were looking for the tram. He said it was too far to walk and bus was a few blocks back. Mind you, “a few blocks back” was that much more sweat, so we were bummed we had to back track. He suggested that if we wanted a view, to go up the building that we were standing right in front of, the 70 story Bank of China Tower. The 42nd floor was open to the public. It was a great suggestion. After cooling down in air conditioning, watching the view, we headed back to the bus stop. We settled into our seats only to find the bus already stopping. Huh?!? I guess it wasn’t that far after all! Once on the tram, it was a really, really steep climb! This is the path that they used to CARRY people up in sedan chairs (and maybe rickshaws too?) in the olden days. We met Danny from BC, a rafting guide who was here coaching a hockey tournament. Of course, Sean heard the word “hockey” come out of his mouth and instantly befriended him. We chatted with him while marveling at the view for a while, and eventually ended up having a drink at the Lookout Café. Then, took a billion pictures looking down at the city during sunset, went back down the hill via tram and bus to Central, took the ferry across the harbor to Kowloon, snapped a bunch of pictures of the buildings all lit up and walked back to our hotel.

The next morning, we woke up late. I’m sure the flight caught up to us. But unfortunately, we missed Maxim’s at City Hall for dim sum and I was bummed. It’s supposed to be one of the best. (Again, thanks Leslie!) But, if you don’t arrive within a half hour of opening, the wait can be 1 ½ hours long. And, it was too late.

So instead, we jumped on the MTR (underground) for the first time. During the past two months in Europe, we’ve had our share of public transportation, especially trains, undergrounds, metros, etc., whatever you want to call them. We concluded that Italy had the slowest/sloppiest systems and Munich had what seemed to be the fastest and most efficient. In Munich, you could actually FEEL the underground train coming minutes before it came, by the wind blowing out the tunnel, because the air pressure between the tunnel and the train was so tight down there! At least to us, it seems to run parallel to how they engineer cars. Mind you, we own and LOVE our Audi! I also have two Vespas, neither of which are currently running. To get to the point, we’ve experienced our share of in Europe, and Hong Kong’s underground railway is even more impressive than Munich’s. It’s cleaner than anything we’ve seen thus far. They have DOORS to keep you from seeing/falling into the rails when trains aren’t there. Signs and maps are clear. (Being a former British colony, everything’s clearly marked in English and Chinese.) And overall, everything’s sparkling clean and very efficient. Aside from the street outside our hotel, which really isn’t THAT bad, Sean mentioned that Hong Kong doesn’t really feel like “the Asia” that he was expecting. Especially in central Hong Kong, he called it Disneyland. It seems like a great “gateway” into the rest of Asia that we’ll be seeing, except maybe Singapore, which seems to be the “real Disneyland of Asia”, so I’ve heard.

Anyway, we took the MTR to a new attraction which wasn’t here when I last visited Hong Kong, the Ngong Ping 360 cable car (called a “gondola” at ski resorts). It starts at Tung Chung, near the airport, and takes you to a neighboring island, Lantau Island, first with a view of the sea, and then the Hong Kong airport, where you marvel over this monstrosity built on a man-made island. As Sean mentioned, the city planners must have loved building this airport because they could shape it any way they want, rather than having to work with what they’ve got. Then, the rest of the ride is over completely undeveloped county park land. It’s such a peaceful contrast from what’s outside our hotel! It’s tropical, lush hills and valleys, and what we hope to find more of during the rest of our visit to Asia. Finally, it drops you off at Ngong Ping village, which has several cultural multi-media attractions that we didn’t participate in. I don’t remember this village being here last time I visited the area. And frankly, it appears to all have been built recently. Instead, we were starving. So, we had lunch at one of the restaurants, a Japanese noodle bar. The village is also right next an attraction that I had the chance to visit the last time I was here, but Sean and Kailani didn’t get to see, the Tian Tan Buddha Statue. It’s the largest seated outdoor bronze Buddha in the world and up a flight of stairs that consists of a whopping 260 steps. And although not ancient, maybe 10 years old(?), I still love seeing any Buddha. It’s also right next to the Po Lin monastery, which we visited after. From there, we took the bus down to the island’s ferry terminal, going past more public park and what looked like some awesome woodsy areas to picnic or camp at, and some beaches I wouldn’t mind spending some time at. It’s too bad that we don’t have more time to explore more of this island. On the ferry, we went back to our hotel, again right at sunset, and snapped off another set of pictures of the harbor all lit up at night.

As our new friend, Danny, and I were discussing the day before, it’s such a spectacular sight, but a shame to think of all the electricity it must use to light up this city (especially hearing of all the coal-burning power plants in China)! It’s also a shame to see all the shops on Nathan Road using air conditioning while having their store fronts open. But, neither Sean nor I expected Hong Kong (or Asia in general) to be too environmentally aware or health conscious, and are pleasantly surprised at certain things. First, we saved our recycling, hoping that we didn’t have to throw it away, something we also practiced in Europe. Fortunately, we found several recycling bins along Nathan Road to put paper, plastic bottles AND bags (very rare), cans and glass in. Although almost everywhere in Europe had recycling bins right on the street, Spain even had compost bins on the streets. Amsterdam of all places (which seems to have a very liberal attitude with everything else) seems to be worse than Hong Kong when it comes to finding recycle bins. Sean, former smoker, also seemed to notice warning signs everywhere about the effects of smoking, and that they smoke less here in Hong Kong than in Europe. Last, I have also found shops that sell organic food, although not anything fresh, except eggs, and they were right there at the MTR station. I’m happy to see that these issues really ARE global issues!

We arrived back in Kowloon that night and decided that we needed to eat. Sean was also willing to check out one of Hong Kong’s outdoor markets. As we found out from looking on the map, the Temple Street night market was only a couple blocks down from our hotel. So, that’s where we went. Again, I went there and ate dinner there during my last visit. All I remembered from last time was that I ate at some “hole-in-the-wall” that had rickety tables and chairs right on the street. But I didn’t get sick, so was willing to do it again. From where we started, there didn’t appear to be as many eating options as I remembered. So, we took the one of two places that we saw. It was a challenge for us to deal with Kai, wanting to eat things up off their sticky table, but we survived. We continued to stroll down the market, window-shopping, but not wanting to get anything that we’d have to lug in our already large pile of luggage that we were carrying around (half of our black suitcase which Sean calls “the pharmacy”). At the other end of the market, we came upon a rather large crowd of people eating. Hmm…OK, that’s where I must have eaten last time! Luckily, we didn’t eat that much at the first place, so we sat down for one more dish and a large beer. After, we strolled down the market again. But, we didn’t fall prey to Hong Kong’s famous ritual of buying consuming material goods that you don’t really need, at least not thus far. We only purchased what we consumed. I’m sure we’ll get at least a few things somewhere along the way though!

London Part 2

2008-05-04T20:41:00.000-07:00

4 May 2008: It’s pretty pathetic, but we spent two nights and one day inside our airport Sheraton hotel room, only going downstairs occasionally to get some food. But, what can I say? It simply felt great to have such a big space (compared to the camper) and our own bathroom with a tub, so we relished in it. Kailani also picked up a cold on the flight, so we wanted to make sure she got rest. But, the saddest thing about it was that London was having unusually warm weather the entire time we were there. We spent half our time indoors and all those cold weather things that we were still lugging around were completely unnecessary.

At least, I was able to book a room at another place while at the Sheraton. So after day two, we ventured out of the building to central London via bus and “The Tube”, to Vancouver Studios. It wasn’t easy with so much luggage (that we keep vowing to scale down on), but we managed somehow. This is where I originally wanted to stay. I guess they were all booked for the weekend, but had a room for Monday and Tuesday, which were our last two days in London. I’m not sure if that had anything to do with Monday being a bank holiday or what. Vancouver Studios was situated in a neighborhood with almost all white, 4 storey buildings. We aren’t sure what type building they would call it, but we concluded it’s closest to “Colonial” style. There are so many of these buildings in the neighborhood that I would think someone could almost get lost if they didn’t pay attention. Inside Vancouver Studios, it kind of reminded me of a B&B, but each room has a small kitchenette, hence why I wanted to stay there. So, they don’t actually provide a breakfast. Although quite smaller than the Sheraton, our room was decorated very classic, but with a simple beige/white color scheme. The kitchenette and bathroom were both very modern. The bathroom had a cute raised-bowl sink and what they call, Power Shower, although barely big enough to squeeze in. They upgraded us to a room that also had a balcony that I never went out to, scared that Kai would follow me and fall off. Overall, it was cozy.

After moving from hotel to hotel, we started by having lunch at a local pub on a street called Queensway. Sean ordered sheperd’s pie, but they were out. So, he had fish and chips, and I had a falafel burger. Then, we decided to venture a couple tube stops over to South Kensington to check it out and grab dinner (and diapers…and an armful other things) at Whole Foods. We used to live and shop near the new Cupertino Whole Foods, the biggest on the West Coast. We also visited their corporate headquarters and flagship store in Austin. Then, at the beginning of this trip, we shopped at one in NYC. So why not see it in London too! Let me mention again, that the weather was wonderful and that I was wearing flip flops… :-) I must have been really sick of hotel food at that point, because our roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and salad tasted the best ever. And, sitting at the dining table in our room felt really cozy and homey too! I think that I could live there. Although, I’m sure the small space would get to me eventually.

The next day, we finally got out and saw London! We started by taking the Tube to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards. Unfortunately, there was such a huge crowd, I couldn’t see a thing. So, we went back to Victoria Station for a Cornish Pasty. Sean got traditional chicken and I got chicken curry. (Still thinking of the chicken curry empanada in Spain, but it wasn’t the same.) Then, we signed up for a one of those hop-on/hop-off double-decker bus tours. I thought it was supposed to completely loop within two hours, but it seemed reeeally long. But, at least we got to see everything. I caught Kailani’s cold at that point, so maybe it just seemed longer than it really was. We also made a couple pit stops, at Harrod’s for some gawking over expensive purses and their amazing food halls. And then, we headed to the London Eye for a ride. Again, it was great that the weather was on our side, because the view was spectacular while riding the London Eye. We concluded the day with picking up some “take away” Chinese food. I didn’t think that we’d be eating Chinese food until actually being in China, but the roasted meats in the window looked pretty good, and ended up tasting as good as it looked!

Our last day in London, we packed up, sent more stuff home at the Post Office, which coincidentally didn’t seem to help. We didn’t pick up anything new and had the same number of bags fully packed. Don’t ask me how! Anyway, we stowed our stuff and walked around the neighborhoods surrounding our studio until heading to the airport for an afternoon flight. I do have to say that I also enjoyed the location of our studio, right between the Bayswater District and Notting Hill. We had Queensway, a big shopping street with restaurants and where the Post Office was, right down the street from us. Then, we went to Portabello Road, where there’s an outdoor market. Then, we went to Westbourne Grove, another shopping/restaurant street where I found a market, Planet Organic, and got “one more thing for the road” (which we learned how that saying came about on our bus tour). I know. More things to lug! But, just some cough drops for me and cookies for Kai.

Going to the airport, we took the Airport Express train. I was shocked at the price of the tickets, but we were already at the station. When on the train, it was a very quick, smooth ride. There were a lot of business travelers on it and I can see how it is convenient for them. When we checked in, we were informed that our flight to Hong Kong was cancelled due to a power failure. I don’t know the statistics exactly, but it seems like at least 90% of the time this year, either our flight has been delayed or cancelled. This has never happened to me so often! At least, they told us right off the bat this time, as opposed to Hawaii during Christmas-time, where they made us wait 5 hours before sending us away. So, we went off to a hotel that was provided by Air New Zealand! We were a bit skeptical what Premier Inn was going to be like, but it ended up being a pleasant surprise. It was quite fresh and new-looking, we were greeted with hors d’oeuvres and wine, Kailani got a kid’s activity backpack, and there was even an indoor playground. We ate the complimentary Indian buffet dinner and slept early, since the airport shuttle picked us up at 6am the next morning. I almost felt like we were with a tour group. We met everyone on our flight that was staying there, ate with them, and were on the bus and airplane with them. After that, the flight took off as planned. Everyone on the plane was given a box of chocolates and the flight crew was very pleasant. Our original flight was to be an overnight flight, but now it was all day long. So I was worried that Kai would be bouncing off the walls. But, waking up so early, she took a long 4 hour nap. There was also a TV screen, remote and kid’s movies on every chair. So she was entertained with that. When we landed, we even got compliments from our neighbors about how quiet she was. And in a way, it was probably also good that we didn’t fly the day before, because I had another day to recover from my cold.

Pictures Posted

2008-05-04T02:14:00.001-07:00

Now that I finally have a decent internet connection, I was able to post pictures in almost all the Europe blog entries. (But, not NYC...yet.) Yea! So, feel free to cruise through the past entries to see them. Enjoy!

PS - Please keep those comments and suggestions coming! We love getting them! :-)

Amsterdam to London

2008-05-01T01:40:00.000-07:00

1 May 2008: It was the day before we were to leave Amsterdam and the continent of Europe. We decided to check out of the campground we were staying at, Gaasper, get more goat milk (Kai drank it up fast) plus the AWESOME pistachio ice cream and check in at the campground we stayed at when we first arrived in Amsterdam 2 months ago, Zeeburg. We needed to return the camper in the morning and it was closer to the center of town, where B&W Campers is. We also know the route to get there. Unfortunately, Zeeburg didn’t have any openings. I suppose I should have expected this as this WAS the big holiday weekend. But, I thought I saw people “moving out” that morning at our current campground. Oh well! Fortunately, there was a sign pointing to another place right down the street. “Down the street” was a bit further than expected. Signs took us right outside the city to the countryside (lots of grass, goats, sheep, etc.) and right next to the bay coastline. We went past a long, little town with one street that was pretty much a one-lane street, even though traffic went both ways. They had the cutest TINY little cottage style homes lined up there! Just after that, we found the campground. It was not more than a mobile home park, at least right on the water, with a small lot for campers, mosquitoes flying around, dingy bathrooms and no laundry facilities or internet access, both of which I was planning on doing that day. We made the best of it and finalized our packing, dirty clothes and all. Like always, we had so much stuff that it would barely fit in our bags, but we stuffed them in there well. And STILL, we didn’t have any reservations for London…and it was a bit nerve-wracking in the back of my mind. Returning the camper the next morning was uneventful, except all the jokes about all our luggage, from both us and Rene at B&W. At least, with all our stuff, we got to the airport on the train. From there, we bought a new duffel bag, repacked everything and got online to see about London hotels. JUST as I was finding stuff, my time expired and it was time to get to the gate. Then, we found out that our flight was delayed by an hour. So, I tried to get back online, but couldn’t connect at the gate, nor would my computer cooperate with me (dead battery, kept wanting to install updates). After we landed in London, we were actually questioned through immigration. The lesson to be learned is to ALWAYS put down a place where you will be staying when filling out those immigration forms…and don’t tell them you don’t have a job! And, I thought they really never read that. Oops! So, after fumbling a bit, I finally told the guy that we are “Property Managers” and (a tiny fib) were going to stay at the Marriott, that we knew they had rooms available but I was just unable to go online to book the room. He let us through. We proceeded to the Hotel Reservation desk at the airport. The guy there had just as much trouble finding a room for us in Central London as we did. After 25-30 calls, I finally told him I’d settle for an airport hotel. It was getting late and at least the commute to an airport hotel would be shorter. I also figured, if we have to stay at an airport hotel, we might as well stay at somewhere nice. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve LOVED staying in our camper for the past two months. It’s been great to have the same place/bed to call “home”, a toilet if you need it, a fridge to keep food cold and the ability to cook what you want. But, we were also looking forward to having “our own” bathroom, one that you don’t have to walk outside to get to and a shower you don’t have to wear flip flops in. Once at the Sheraton, we laughed at the fact that we no longer have to walk sideways or duck our heads below the bunk anymore. (Not that we couldn’t fold the bunk away everyday, but it takes effort.) We ended ordering a feast from room service, took showers, Kai played in the bathtub and flopped down into a heavenly king sized bed for the night. It’s been a pleasant change, but we also need to leave. I was willing to pay more for a nice room, but our wallets are also getting thinner with the food and handy internet access right in our room. At least, I’m finally able to stay online with a reliable connection, book a room for the last two days of our four days here and update the blog with pictures. (Yea!) And, Sean’s catching up with the news and the Sharks on TV. But, we need to leave the building to see London!

Queen’s Day in Amsterdam

2008-04-30T04:08:00.000-07:00

30 April 2008: Queen’s Day is large national holiday in the Netherlands. I believe it’s a celebration for the Queen’s birthday. It’s always on 30 April, but people actually start partying the night before. But for us that night, I bought Sean some chicken so he could make adobo. I was craving some “home cooking” and we needed to eat the rest of the food in the camper before we returned it. And what else do you expect; we have a two year old!

On Queen’s Day, everyone dresses in orange. I believe because it’s the Queen’s favorite color. Luckily, I already had an orange shirt to wear. We picked up a cute orange t-shirt for Kai at a souvenir shop. And, Sean got a green Amsterdam sweatshirt. The shop was already sold out of orange ones for him. Dressed for the occasion, we hopped on the trolley towards the center of the city around noon, when the celebration starts. First, we decided to hit a part of the city where we haven’t been to yet. The past few days, we kept going to the same neighborhoods because we were on a mission to get things done, we thought it would be nice to explore somewhere else. That didn’t work out as well as planned. We got to the street, but couldn’t even SEE the street, much less see anything else besides all the people that were no less than 2 inches beside you at every angle. As a matter fact, I’m not sure if I was standing on street, sidewalk or what! So after picking up a lumpia for the road, we decided to head back to the same ole’ neighborhood that we might not get so lost in. Looking back, I’m not sure if it mattered, because we got lost wandering around in that neighborhood too. And, getting lost didn’t really matter. There was something around every block to explore anyway.

Queen’s Day is a mixture of a huge citywide street festival and flea market/garage sale. They close off the streets, erect food and drink booths and have stages with music/entertainment/DJs around every corner. People also sell their used stuff on the sidewalks. It would have probably been smart for us to sell some of our stuff, but we didn’t want to be tied down with it. I’m not sure if it’s an organized event, but there was also a large procession of boats going down the canals with people partying and loud music/DJs. It was an absolutely crazy event to see! As the afternoon went on, garbage cans started to fill up and litter on the streets was piling up. So by then, we tucked ourselves away in this tiny little restaurant somewhere along the canal near Leideseplein. (Darn, I wish I could remember the name of it!) Figuring we were about to leave the country of cheese, we indulged with some cheese fondue and a wonderful salad with warm goat cheese while watching the craziness, including a procession with Brazilian drum beats, walk by outside. Overall, we are thrilled that we were able to be in town during the right time of the year to experience this holiday. If you ever get the chance to go to Amsterdam around the end of April, do try to be there for this!

The Netherlands was the one country in Europe that I had the least expectations about and am pleasantly surprised by it. There’s this kind of bohemian vibe here. Cities are exciting and bustling, yet easygoing. And, there are also so many outdoor settings to go to for absolute calm and peace. In both settings, there are all different kinds of people from all walks of life on bikes. The bikes all look the same, old and beat up. They are definitely a form of transportation and not a status symbol! The culture is so immensely diverse, yet traditional is also valued. It is evident in their architecture. You see very modern, industrial designed office buildings and homes that are very classic-looking. Best of all, with such a diverse population, everyone still seems to live cohesively. It’s just such a lovely thing!