Taking the time to have a meal outside

A guy I used to work with used to love eating his lunches outside during the summer time.  There was once I joined him at his favourite spot near Yonge and Bloor, where we used to work.  It was in a small parkette near a firehall and a condo, a quaint little square that obviously had caught the attention of others as it was packed.  During my entire time there, I wondered, how was he able to do this everyday?  And more importantly, why am I not doing this everyday?


It wasn't until I quit my job back in February that I was able to truly appreciate eating a meal outside.  Granted, I didn't do this while I was still in Toronto - it was still pretty fucking cold outside, but I did more of that in Taiwan, where it was 25 - 30 degrees Celsius everyday.  I sat on a Starbucks patio, or a bench in my local park, or just a busy walkway in downtown Taipei - it was just good to eat, reflect and people watch.  


So apparently, this has been the best day in London for a while - it's been raining like mad lately, so with the sun out, I decided it was a perfect day to walk around and eat breakfast outside.  

What it looked like outside my hotel window this morning.

I indulged my inner nerd this morning and decided to go to the British Natural History Museum.  Well, it was also a cost effective move as the admission is free.  Grabbing a croissant and a lemonade to go, I headed to the museum which is only a 10 minute walk away from my hotel.  This was my first time at the museum as the last time I was here, we didn't have a chance to go inside and look around.  When I turned the corner and saw the building, I was just mesmerized.   Everything about it was impressive - the gates, the colours of the facade and especially the lush green lawn that surrounded the compound.  

A perfect place for breakfast.  

Sitting there for an hour was a bit of a challenge and something I still need to work on, which is slowing down.  I inhaled my food (likely because I was hungry) rather than savouring each bite.  I did think to myself after 15 minutes, so what now?  All the other times I had sat outside for lunch, I was either eating with someone, reading something or surfing online.  With none of these options available, I had to start training myself to sit back, observe, and enjoy the surroundings like these fine people below. 

A small part of me wonders why I didn't do this more often when I was working...

I encourage everyone to take some time out of their day to sit outside and have a meal.  Don't make the excuse that you can't do lunch because of work, well, there's always dinner.  Have a picnic, sit on your balcony or find a park bench or any bench for that matter and feed your stomach, your senses and your soul.  Trust me, it really gives you perspective on what really matters out of your day.

Final Day in Hong Kong

It's very comforting to know that there's always a Starbucks near with wifi, a cool beverage and comfortable seating to rest your weary, walked to death feet.  Surprisingly in Hong Kong, where everything else is super cheap, especially the food, a Starbucks Iced Coffee is just over $3 CAD.  But hey, for a small reminder of home, it's kinda worth the deal.


I decided to have a bit of a quiet day considering how much I've done over the last three days in Hong Kong and Macau.  With my flight being midnight (and of course, this time, I am sure of when my departure time is...), I had pretty much a day to kill, and it was time to explore a bit more of the Kowloon side of this city.  

It's no surprise that the day has been perpetually cloudy (see the exhibit above).  It's been pretty much like this for the entire time I've been here.  However, walking along the Avenue of the Stars this morning, having this cloud cover really helped because in this climate, you can either fight the humidity or the sun, not both.  The Avenue of the Stars is located on the Kowloon waterfront with a gorgeous view of Hong Kong Island.  Hong Kong, the Hollywood for Asian cinema, has its own mini walk of fame with the most famous icon being that of Bruce Lee's statue - in honour of the king of Kung Fu cinema.  My advice, get there early - like 8am early as tour groups start rolling in around 930am and to get a clear shot of the statue sans mainlander tourists, you're looking at at least a 10 minute wait if you want them to clear out.

Hiya Bruce.

After the stroll along the promenade, it was time to visit Kowloon park, located conveniently beside Tsim Sha Tsui (or TST) station.  This park is so big, it even has it's own McDonald's stall selling iced drinks and ice cream.  Smart.  

Kowloon Park Art Piece.

I saved the afternoon for museums as they were in close proximity to one another and all had free wifi and air conditioning.  There are three points of interest here:

- The Hong Kong Museum of Art
- The Hong Kong Space Museum
- The Hong Kong Cultural Centre


If you're stuck for time, the latter two can easily be avoided.  The Space Museum was ancient with exhibits from when I was a child visiting the Ontario Science Centre for the first time.  I guess it's a commentary on our progression as a race on space travel.  We've stalled in our progress to put people into space.  With the shuttle program coming to an end last year, it's so sad that the passion we had for space travel when I was a kid in grade school has started to fall by the wayside.  

The HK Space Museum - a sad commentary on our progressions with space travel with horribly dated exhibits.

My walking tour ended with a stop at the Kowloon docks where you can catch a ferry to HK Island, which used to be the main form of transportation before the MTR, now it's mostly a tourist pursuit.  At the docks, you'll find the HK Cultural Centre - a quick pit stop for air con and then head outside to take a photo with the famous clock tower.  Sneak in one more photo of the view of HK Island.  It's worth it.

Clock tower.

I've seen that Junk ship before at Stanley Point!

I've been really impressed with this city - four days was a perfect amount of time to take in the sights, sounds, tastes and the nightlife.  It was great to meet up with friends that I haven't seen in a while and even better navigating a city (well, two if you count Macau) solo but feeling like you were a pro.  I guess I'm a bit seasoned now traveling on my own.  A friend once asked me, "doesn't it get lonely being a solo tourist?"  It does get annoying at times that no one is there to take a photo for you, but what I love about being by myself in a foreign place is that I dictate everything - where I go, at what time, what I eat, what I spend.  Nothing makes me happier than being a super control freak on vacation.


Of course, there's always a downside to every place you visit - HK is the less hygienic cousin of Singapore, with random water droplets falling down on you as you roam the sidewalks (just don't think about it, and if one gets in your mouth, it's time to take that Immodium).  HK is a good place for only a couple of days - not an extended stay unless all you want to do is shop.  And there are some social problems that you notice that get to you - including the shocking amount of seniors who pick out of garbage cans and beg on the street.


I'm lucky I've gotten to see some of the major ports of call in Asia like Taipei, HK, Singapore, KL and Saigon.  Each have their own personality, grit and polish.  Of course, I'm biased when I say that there's no place to me that beats Taipei.  It truly has become my home away from home.


This ends my Asian journeys for now, until I go to Japan and Korea with a few friends in the wintertime.  Can't wait to see what Tokyo is like in the winter.  So for now, zai jian Asia and hello Europe!

Ni Hao, Macau!

This is what it looked like when I left Hong Kong this morning.  Having gotten up at an ungodly hour (6am) to catch the 830am Turbojet into Macau, this sudden downpour was not making me a happy traveler.  Looking at the forecast for Macau as I left the harbour, there were calls for thunderstorms.  Fuck.


The good news was, once we had reached Macau's ferry terminal, the downpour was merely a light drizzle.  Being light on my feet, the goal was to make it to immigration before the mainland Chinese tourists got there (Remember boys and girls, when going to Macau, you must bring your passport).


The port is a wealth of information - not only can you get a great map that highlights a historical walking tour of the main peninsula (see my recommendations from that walking tour below) but the money exchange desk is not busy at all and gives a better rate than on the HK side.  All you need if you're doing one day in Macau is approximately 300 - 400 Macau Petacas (approximately $50 CAD).

After hopping on the bus, head for the southwestern part of Macau's main peninsula (the other two parts of Macau are not worth going to unless you're visiting family or want to gamble because that's all that's there.  You'll start at the Ama Temple (highlighted above).  Get there early as the Chinese tourists are all there as of 930am and take the best photo spots, as again, highlighted above.  This temple is actually older than the city of Macau itself and houses all three main Asian religions in here as inspired by the people who lived in the area.

Macau's rich naval heritage comes from a combination of the Chinese and the Portuguese.  Throughout the city, you'll find artwork, like this Junk boat above on the pavements.  There are stars, moons, fish, mermaids.  

The Jesuits make quite the mark on this place as they were the initial people who colonized the area for the Portuguese.  They were also responsible for educating the local population (thanks to one Jesuit Priest named Marco Ricci).  They then converted everyone to Catholicism and the impact of that are found throughout Macau as one famous church after another (most dating back to the 15th century) can be found.

The Portuguese are also responsible for the colourful facades and the Mediterranean style architecture found in places like the Senado Square, now mostly a shopping district, it was the cultural centre of old Macau.  Here, you'll find tourists up the ying yang, but locals also congregate and shop. 

After Senado Square, head to Macau's landmark photo - the Ruin's of St. Paul's.  Built in the 1600s, the cathedral, the largest in all of Macau was destroyed by a fire.  Only one side of the building was spared which has miraculously now been turned into the most popular tourist destination of the city.  Don't forget to go in and walk up the walls - here's the view of the Macau Skyline from the other side.

After all that walking around, it's best to have some time to think.  While it's not on the historical tour path, the Jardin Luu Lim Ieoc is a must go destination.  With a large coy ponds and several pagodas to rest, it's a perfect break to mark the last quarter of your trip around Macau.

The coy pond in the Jardin.

Tourist Tips and Tricks:

- Take the ferry from Kowloon's China Ferry Harbour Terminal - with Turbojets leaving every half hour, and taking only an hour to get there, this is a really convenient way of getting to Macau.  The cost should be about 166HKD or $25 CAD

- On the boat, take the time to fill out the immigration cards (offered at the concession stand).  Do one for both Macau and for your return to HK since you can't get up to take pictures anyways.

- Once you get to Macau, go to the departures floor to check the times for the return ferry.  Make sure to leave before 530pm, as that is the last ship to leave at the daytime rate (saves you about $2 or $3 CAD)

- You can also change money on the departures floor.  Better to do it in Macau than in HK as it's a better rate.

- On the ground floor, you'll find a Tourism Office with free maps - take the blue covered "Macau Tourist Map" with a photo of the Ruins of St. Paul's on it.  It's a smaller map than the other one (green cover) provided and it has a great historic walking tour route.  

- Stick to the Macau peninsula for the sights - there's nothing really to see across the bridge on the other side.

- Take the # 10, 10A or 28B bus to your first destination on the walking tour - Ama Temple.  This was a great walking tour guide as it allowed you to go to the furthest point and walk back from there.  There are some points along the way that you don't need to see - here are the ones I found to be the best.

Terence's Walking Tour (with timing):

(1) Ama Temple (10 minutes by bus to get there - 5.20 MPC to get there)

(2) Maritime Museum - right beside Ama Temple

(3) Moorish Barracks (5 min walk uphill from Ama)

(4) Lilau Square (5 mins)

(5) St. Lawrence Church (7 min).  You'll want to go inside, you can't take pictures, but it's still cool to see.  Take a water break here as well.  The heat gets to you.

(6) Dom Pedro V Theatre, St. Augustine's Church (4 mins)

(7) St. Joseph's Seminary and Church, Sir Robert Ho Tung Library (1 min)

A devout parishiner prays before Mary at the Seminary.

(8) Senado Square (10 mins) - take a rest here.  There's a Starbucks for some much needed iced coffee and air conditioning.

(9) Holy House of Mercy, Lou Kau Mansion are all near Senado Square - mostly photo ops

(10) St. Dominic's Church - go inside and take photos (5 min)

The alter at St. Dominic's.

(11) Ruins of St. Paul's (10 mins) - stop by Koi Kei Bakery for Portuguese egg tarts.  2 for 14 MPC or $2 CAD.  Honestly, I don't like egg tarts and I couldn't stop eating these.  Buy some for breakfast the next day.  Also, go up the face of the side of St. Paul's - great picture of the city below.

Mmm...egg tarts.

(12) Na Tcha Temple and Old City Walls (2 mins) - right beside St. Paul's and a quick photo op.

(13) OFF THE TRAIL - Casa Garden, Protestant Cemetery (20 mins roundtrip back to St. Paul's) - you can forego this part if you want.  It was okay, just some rich guy's house.  Take a rest at the gardens for water.  No need to stop for a washroom - you've sweated out all of the liquids.

(14) Mount Fortress - right beside St. Paul's - you'll want to spend at least 30 mins to an hour here admiring the view of Macau.  There's plenty of benches to rest your already tired feet.

Ready...Aim... The view from atop Mount Fortress looking at the Hotel Lisboa.

(15)  Jardin Lou Lim Ioec (20 mins from St. Paul's) - a great place to sit by a pond and reflect and take in the soothing sounds of the crickets and secada beetles (I dunno if that's what they are called, but maybe I'm just thinking of Neil Sedaka...who knows).

(16) Tap Seac Square (5 mins) to admire the old colonial architecture.

How can you not love buildings with this much colour and personality? @ Tap Seac Square

(17) Cross the street to catch the #8 or 12 to the Macau Cultural Centre (3.20 MPC or $0.50 CAD)

(18) Walk across the street after getting off the bus and go to the two photo op points of the Science Centre and the Kun Iam Deity statue.

(19) Walk back to the same bus stop to catch the number 3A, 10A or 12 back to the Harbour to leave (3.20 MPC)

Stop 18 - The Macau Science Centre.

Kun Iam looking upon the city of Macau.  She thanks you for walking about 20 full kilometres today.

All in all, this tour took me from 10am - 130pm to complete.  Not bad for almost 4 hours of continuous walking.  Bring a 2L bottle of water - I drank it all by stop 16.  The turbojet does not take you back to Kowloon Harbour, rather, the Macau Harbour on the HK side.  

Macau is a must see - and a great way to collect a stamp for your passport.  Easy and fast to get to, super cheap if you're just going to walk around and take in the sights!  You don't even have to book a hotel!

First Stop - Hong Kong. AKA Eat, Pray, Shop.

Ni hao, Buddha. @ Lantau Island

When I was planning my European adventure, I decided to have a brief pit stop in Hong Kong before kicking off the two month roadshow.  I had been to Hong Kong only once, when I was a five year old kid.  Needless to say, I remember nothing from that trip.  It just so happens that when I visited Hong Kong at that age, the Tian Tan Buddha that you see in the photo above wasn't even built yet.  (Fun fact: it was completed in 1993 - kinda takes the "WOW" effect away from it as I had always thought that it was some ancient monument.  Still, it's pretty fucking awesome.)

Since Cathay Pacific's hub is in HK, it just made sense to have a brief repose - 4 days, 3 nights before my 16 hour flight to London.  HK is incredibly convenient transportation wise (and cheap).  With $1 CDN = approx. $7 HKD, my budget of $200 CDN is likely to last me the entire time here (with a side trip to Macau).  


I had gathered several suggestions from my friends about what to do with my time in HK, some of them involving friends that now live here.  My sample itinerary for my four days started shaping out like this:


Day 1*: Lantau Island, Dinner with Raquel
Day 2*: Bus out to Stanley Point, Afternoon around Central HK
Day 3: Macau and Mong Kok Night Market
Day 4: Kowloon Park and Museums, Avenue of the Stars, Dinner with Sadella before my midnight flight (I wrote a secondary post to cover this part of my journey)


*Travellers Tips located at the bottom of this post.


My dad, after hearing about my spending four days in HK, asked, "what is there to do there besides shopping?"  He had a point - the shopping culture around here is crazy, which I found out during my walk around Admiralty and Causeway Bay today.  Being the traveller with many more places to go, shopping was at the bottom of my agenda.


Getting into HK midday, I decided that Friday afternoon was probably the best time to avoid the big tourist crowds at the Po Lim Monastery.  The trip out to Lantau from Kowloon takes about 40 min on the MRT (subway) and then you'll have to take a cheap (approx. $18 CDN) gondola ride to the Po Lin Monastery, which takes another 20 mins.  Given my love for gondola rides (as seen in my previous blog on the Maokong Gondola in Taipei), my excitement was palpable. 


The views from the ride were amazing.  What's great is that they give you a map with tips on points on the ride in which you get the best views for photos.  And they weren't lying...here are some of the great snapshots I took:

The buildings here are painted with bright colours.  Nice touch.

On your left, you'll see a stunning view of Lantau Island and the clouds that top the mountains like whipped cream.

On your right, you'll see the sea.

Once you arrive, you're greeted by a recreation of an old Chinese village with stores like Starbucks and Subway for those not eager to try the local cuisine.  Pretty easy to bypass this area and head to the Buddha.  Along the way, do stop and enjoy some of the arts and craft stores.  There was a huge mask outside of one that I had to take a picture of.

You'll soon come across a gate with a path lined with 12 statues - each of these statues are a guardian of an animal on the Chinese zodiac.  At the end of the path, there's a sign that causes no confusion of where the Buddha will be.

There's about ten flights of stairs for you to take to get up to the Buddha, not for the faint of heart, I saw one man huffing and puffing his way up while a monk, who was definitely in his 80s, marched right past him with the speed of a teenager.  Now that's devotion.


Once you're done with the Buddha, and it's easy for the trip to get cut short due to the fog that rolls in to make the entire area look like heaven, or a scene out of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, head to the Po Lin Monastery for some quick snapshots of the amazing temple and even light some incense outside.

As the fog rolled in, I was expecting to see some ninjas fly out of the sky.

Burn some cool smelling incense.

The alter in the temple.

So after all of this walking around (the whole trip there and back took about 4.5 hours), I was one hot mess.  That's the thing with being a tourist in Asia, you're constantly sweating and need to take at least three showers a day to keep from looking like a melting candle.  A quick shower and change at my hotel and I was out to meet a friend from Toronto.  What was supposed to be a dinner (at a great, but eclectically decorated restaurant known as Satay King), turned out to be a night of dart playing at a local bar where I met my friend's new friends from the UK - Chinese people with British accents are so fascinating!  We drank until 2am, which, from what I hear is early by HK going out standards.  God, I'm old.

Satay King's weird interior decorator had a Moroccan themed style with full sized statues of famous people and pirates.  Here I am with Obama.

With that partying, I had slept in until 10am today.  One of my friends Rachael had told me to take a double decker bus to Stanley Point and spend a couple of hours walking around out by the bay.  It was worth the trip - $6 CDN was all it cost me, round trip for some amazing views of the waterfront and the south point of Hong Kong island.  Here are some of the points of interest:

The rocky pier that people write their names on (mostly couples - gag me.)

Blake Pier

Repulse Bay Beaches.

I met up with Raquel again in the afternoon and headed to the shopping districts of Admiralty and Causeway Bay to see what my dad was talking about.  The malls here make the Eaton Centre in Toronto look like a shitty strip plaza with a Biway.  Pacific Place had the most incredible washrooms ever - no wonder the line ups were long to get in there - with wood panelling and classical music, who wouldn't want to stay in there to rest after a day of shopping?  Time Square didn't disappoint either - big department stores like SOGO have set up shop and the mainland Chinese were there shelling out the cash.  During lunch at a great noodle place, the table beside us had bags upon bags of merchandise.  I could tell by their accents they were Shanghainese, which made me wonder why they would come all the way to Hong Kong just to shop when Shanghai has a pretty impressive shopping district of their own.  Oh, mainlanders, you can never understand them.

Noodle soup which I ordered that was supposed to contain beef, but came with mushrooms instead.
Best not to ask questions.

Time Square - feed your consumerism.

Pacific Place - I rate the washrooms here a 14 stars out of 10.

That brings an end to two of my four days in HK.  Headed to Macau tomorrow for what promises to be a day filled with walking, historical monuments and Portuguese food and drink - a great preview for what I can expect when I actually go to Portugal next Thursday.


And with that - I bid you all a good night.


TRAVELLER'S TIPS:
** Note: Costs are all quoted leaving from Kowloon's Yau Ma Tei Station.  If you're staying on the HK side, costs might go deviate by 7HKD as the MTR pricing to cross the bay is that amount.


Getting to Tsim Sha Tsui - EAT
- Take the MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui (otherwise known as TST) 4 min by MTR, or 4HKD - just over $0.50 CAD
- Head out gate B2 - you'll end up in shopping and eating Mecca
- I recommend walking one street down and over and eating at Satay King in Camvaron Plaza (5th floor) near Cameron and Camvaron intersection
- Try the Ribena and Green tea drink and eat the glass noodles with beef curry and try the naan like bread with yellow curry dip.  A meal between two people shouldn't cost more than 200 HKD or less than $30 CAD.
- Take pictures of the decor and post your funny comments to Facebook.


Getting to Lantau Island - PRAY
- Take the MTR to Tung Chung Station (35 mins by MTR, 16 HKD or $2.25 CAD)
- Exit at Gate B, Head towards Nyong Ping 360 Cable Car (past the bus depot)
- Head up escalators to the paying platform (note the payment centre at the bottom of the escalators are for the buses only, NOT the cable cars.
- get in Non-Reserved line up - 125 HKD is a roundtrip ticket ($18 CAD)
- must see are the Buddha, Po Lin Monastery, there's a Starbucks with free wifi near the cable car exit if you need it.


Getting to Stanley by Bus - SHOP
- Take the MTR to Admiralty Station (10 min by MTR, 11 HKD or $1.75 CAD)
- Exit at Gate B, exit the station and walk right to the #6 bus stop.  You'll know you're there when you see Pacific Place and large office towers across the street.  
- Take the #6 or 6X to Stanley (7.90 HKD or $1.10 CAD to get there)
- Sit at the top of the double decker on the left hand side window to get the best views and picture taking opportunities 
- Get off at Stanley Market (should take 50 mins depending on traffic)
- If you like shopping, spend time at the market, if not, head to the Promenade and to the left you'll have the beach, to the right, you'll have Blair pier and a Junk Boat cruise.  There's also a food area near the pier for you to stop and eat either at a restaurant or at Starbucks (again for the free wifi).  A number of restaurants are situated along the pier overlooking the water - they are pricier, but worth the view and the people watching opportunities.

Chapter II: The Lhasa Express - A Day With the Train

After our three days and two nights in Xining, we rushed to get to our train - the Lhasa Express.  From Xining, the train takes 24 hours to get to our final destination.  There are two starting points - both from the coastal regions of China - Beijing and Shanghai.  The trip from these two points takes a full three days to reach Lhasa.  Trust me, after 24 hours on a train, I couldn't imagine spending three days on this moving tin can.  I can understand why there was a Murder on the Orient Express.

I was about to murder someone on this Orient express.

The whole experience first starts in the Xining train station.  The station is PACKED, full of migrant workers heading back to Tibet.  I mentioned before that we were rushing for the train as we were delayed in a car accident, we were to board at 730pm and we got there at 710pm, just in the nick of time.  But, this is China, and we were informed that the train was delayed by 30 minutes (this turned out to be untrue, as the real delay time was almost an hour and a half.)

Xining Train Station.  Nowhere to sit except for the ground.

We got into our "Comfort Class" cabins - a tiny room with six bunks in total.  Someone had already occupied our beds before Xining, so I was greeted with remnants of hair, used tissues and what I'm pretty sure was a nose nugget on the pillow.  Having inherited my dad's paranoia on germs, I immediately changed the sheets, stuffed them into the overhead luggage compartment and made a makeshift bed out of a novel (pillow), bedsheets (jacket and sweatshirt).  


People have told me there's something romantic about train travel.  The hum of the engine, the gentle rocking back and forth, and the incredible scenery that passes you as you zoom along the track.  Clearly, these people haven't travelled by train in China.  The hum of the engine is replaced by the bodily noises of other passengers (I heard a fart from down the car that still gives me nightmares), the gentle rocking is replaced by your constant moving around in your bunk to find some proper way of sleeping, and the incredible scenery...well, yes, there is incredible scenery outside - I can't really dispute that.


Here's a quick recap of what my day on the train was like:


THE GOOD - 
You have a lot of free time on the train.  This allowed me to think and write, stare out the window and meet some interesting folks to practice Chinese with.  The thinking and writing take up most of my time.  During my trip in Tibet, I kept a journal that I scrawled out my ideas for short stories, novels and to keep a track of my travels.  I muse over some of the chicken scratch and try to decipher what I was trying to say.  You can't really blame me for terrible writing, I was always in a moving vehicle when I was jotting down my thoughts.  The views from the window in my room were spectacular as we climbed from an elevation of 3000 km above sea level to approximately 4200 km at our highest point.  The landscape morphed from tundra to grasslands to deserts all within a span of a couple of hours.  

Farmland.  Yes, people actually can grow things here. 

Canada?  No.  Tibet. 

A red river.  Both scary and beautiful at the same time.

I also had a chance to meet a new friend.  Hong was his name, but his English name was Henry.  He was travelling with his best friend (who was grumpy due to altitude sickness), and their sisters.  Hong and his best friend's sister were both in their early 20s and studying engineering in Wuhan.  I had some preconceived notions that because China's government censors everything, the youth might have been ignorant to some of the things going on in the world.  In fact, I was the ignorant one.  These guys were just as educated as we all were, and actually quite skeptical of what their government tells them.  The love Western TV and all have hopes to travel abroad.  However, traveling outside of China is a dream for them as VISAs are not given out by the Chinese government to young people, for fears that they'll leave and never come back.  Talk about overprotective parenting.


THE BAD - 
There's literally no space to do anything.  The number of times I hit my head on the luggage compartment doors as I climbed to the top bunk was countless - well, I think I forgot how to count due to the concussion I must of suffered for hitting my head so much.  The corridors were lined with people from 5am (when the lights came on - WHY GOD, WHY 5AM?!) and was packed until 10pm.  Travelling from our cabin to the dining car took a better part of ten minutes and it was only four cars away.


And this was just the sleeping cabins - I couldn't imagine what life was like in the sitting room only cars.  I snuck a peek (the cars were on the other side of the dining car) and the people looked so miserable, I was really hoping they found solace in the fact that they were going to a spiritual mecca and that this trip was worth it.  It seemed that I wasn't the only Westerner that was having a hard time adjusting - I had a tough time fitting into the bunks, I can't imagine what the six foot German guys had to deal with (they looked miserable too).

No room.

THE UGLY - 
This is summed up with two words: Squat Toilet.  Worse - a squat toilet on a moving train.  I believe you are required to hold a level four gymnastics license in order to attempt this feat.  One has to balance themselves both for the squat and to adjust themselves accordingly for the train movement all while trying to make sure their pants didn't hit the ground and that the poop coming out of your bum hit the bowl and not your pants.  It was a multi-tasking experience and thankfully, my dad reminded me to take toilet paper with me before I went because, by the time I went, someone had stolen the roll from the bathroom.  


This room was so scary, I couldn't even bother taking a photo for you to share in the disgust.  After going the first time, I made a deal with my gastrointestinal system - cooperate and we'll never have to experience that room ever again.  I ate and drank very little due to this and likely caught my cold/flu because of this.  I do not wish this experience on any of my worst enemies.  Well, maybe to my worst boss ever.  Just kidding.


Well, I learned a lot on this journey and I'll share with you some of my thoughts that I had jotted down on the margins of my notebook:


- "Always appreciate a good toilet - you'll never know when you'll encounter a squat one."
- "Train travel is fun once and teaches you the lesson of working hard to earn money for a plane ticket."
- "Chinese youth are just like our North American youth - heads down, eyes on a screen, texting away."
- "Best to bring an Ambien on any train journey - sleep is the best activity to participate in on a train."
- "With all this complaining, I'm still one lucky bastard to get to experience this trip."


And an obvious choice for a song to pair with my time on a train is Soul Asylum's Runaway Train.  The lyrics to this dark ballad points to a guy who's super depressed, likely over a lover.  My theory is that it's more likely he's been on a train from Shanghai to Lhasa for three days.  Fuck, I'd be depressed too.

UPDATE: After watching the music video, the band highlights the issue of runaway teens.  There's nothing funny about that.


Up next - my Lhasa adventures (much better than the train!)

Looking towards the next two months in Europe and the Future.

Fifteen days.  The perfect amount of time for rests between my two big trips this year.  With China, Tibet, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia knocked off my travel bucket list, I look forward to my next two months in Europe.  

I had some epiphanies on my trip to Asia, of which my need to work on my procrastination was identified and then ceremoniously set aside for a later time (my lack of movement on my Asia blog posts is evidence of that).  One of the more important epiphanies is my sense of optimism and how it has changed over the last decade.

When we were young, we spent an overwhelming amount of time thinking about what we'll do when we get older.  When I was five, I wanted to be a singer.  When I was thirteen, I wanted to be a medical examiner (I had a weird obsession with the show Quincy M.E. before CSI became uber popular).  When I was eighteen, I was overwhelmed with the choices of what I wanted to be and do when I became an income earning adult.  This focus on the future filled me with hope, optimism and happiness - more than my 140lb body could contain.  

I'm not sure at what point which I stopped looking forward and started looking back.  I guess, I can't pinpoint a time, but perhaps a period in which this happened.  When I was 22, I wanted to be eighteen and have university to start all over again.  When I was 25, I wished I was ten years old and had no bills to pay, no responsibilities to attend to.  When I turned 28, I wished I was seven again, with my family all happy and together.  Needless to say, the latter thought was pivotal in my decision to quit and depart on this adventure.

What happened to make us this way?  When do we stop looking less towards the future and start dwelling on the past?  We become preoccupied with the niggles of the present and start drowning in the regrets of what we coulda, woulda, shoulda done.  This shift in the scales between past and future prevent us from truly reaching our potential - with each shift of the weight back to the past, our hopes and dreams seem to sink with it.

These past four months of being off have provided me with some perspective of what I need to change about myself.    I have to stop regretting decisions of the past and realize everything has led me to a point, this point, in which I have an opportunity to make some great life changes.  I look forward to my months in Europe where I can live a carefree life, eat amazing food like it's my job and overwhelm my visual cortex with the sights of Europe.  I look forward to the new experiences with friends and new friendships I'll forge along the way.  I look forward to finding inspiration for some short stories or perhaps a novel.  And I appreciate the fact that I'm one lucky son of a bitch for being able to take this trip.  I really do.

For those of you curious of where I'll be, here's my itinerary - which is pretty much set:

Hong Kong - June 8 - 11

London - June 12 - 13

Lisbon - June 14 - 18

Porto - June 18 - 19

Faro / Lisbon - June 20 - 21

Madrid - June 22 - 24

South of Spain - June 25 - June 30

Barcelona - July 1 - 3

Zagreb - July 4 - 6

Split - Dubrovnik Cruise - July 7 - 13

Paris - July 14 - 22

London - July 23 - Aug 2 (OLYMPICS BABY!)

Edinburgh - Aug 2 - 11

London - Aug 12 - 15

Taipei - Aug 16 - ...

So here's to looking forward...and never looking back. 

Always look forward.  Looking back is a waste of time.