Around the World Trip 08/09

hello all

well I've got about 20 min to kill before my buddy Tai comes to pick us up and take us to his home which is just north of Bangkok. I'm not sure what to expect, but we have about 2 more weeks here in Thailand, and are now in his hands.

My last entry made Phi Phi sound a little lame, but that evening we went and hung out at the "hippies bar"...and from that night forward our experience in ko phi phi was epic. We became friends with all the guys who work (and pretty much live) at that bar. We ended up spended about 6 days on the island, and time pretty much just flew by. We were on island time, and nothing seemed to matter. Our friends Beea and Patrick hooked us up with a long boat and took us cliff jumping, and snorking at Maya Bay (where the movie 'the beach' was filmed). The Princess of Thailand died last week, and to mourn her death all the bars were closed for 3 days. But it worked out well for us because all of our friends got 3 days off from work and invited us to hang out with them. We spent our evening hanging on the beach listening to them play their guitar and sing tai songs. We'd drink singha beer, and fish until the sun came up, and then sleep for a couple hours on the beach. All over the island are stalls that sell banana crepes with nutella for under US$1. Cameron and I gave ourselves 1 week to island hop around the south of Thailand, and I'm stoked we spent the whole time with our friends on Phi Phi. I'll never forget my happy hippies boys: Patrick, Beea, DJ Do Do, DJ M, Ting, Flo, Joey, Alex (DEEK), Peter, Adam, Smoth...friends forever and ever

So we left Phi Phi on Sunday, and headed to Bangkok. We decided to stay in China town rather than the part of town known as "the backpackers ghetto", because we wanted to really experience bangkok.

well Tai just called so I'll finish this entry later.

love love

mattie

Well we've made it to Thailand. It was kind of intense crossing the border though. We thought we bought a ticket for a "bus" but we ended up getting picked up in a van packed full of muslims at 5am. I wasn't very happy thinking we were going to be stuck in a small van packed with 14 people for 12 hours. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to get to the border, and when we pulled up the driver rolled down his window. I was holding my passport and one of the dudes with a big gun pointed at me, and then pointed at my passport. I showed him my USA passport through the window, and he nodded and let us through. It was nuts, and getting through immigration was crazy cause there were about 10 lines, with at least 50 people in each. This guy tricked us into changing lines, but the line we got into wasn't moving. Our driver grabbed us and let us cut in a different line and we could hear people behind us grumbling saying, "That should not be the way!" I'm just glad we found our driver and got out of there. So we got through, but then the driver got me, cam and 2 other girls in the van and left the rest. I was all, "what about the other guys?" nobody spoke english, but then we ran into a few more of them down the street past the border. There were about 14 people in the van when we started, and only 7 made it past the border (I'm still not sure why they were left). We drove right past customs, so nobody searched our bags..again it was a little sketchy. I fell asleep, but an hour later they woke me up and told us to get out. So we get our stuff, and our driver pays a guy driving a tuk tuk (a thai version of a jeepney). I'm like half awake going, "holy crap...where the hell are we?" all the signs are in thai characters so i can't read anything, and it's raining, and i have no idea where this guy is taking us. well we pull over and this nice thai couple get in the back and explain that this tuk tuk is taking us to our bus that will take us to phuket. we pick up another 8 guys in the tuk tuk, with all of our luggage in the rain. It was a tight squeeze, and Cam kept getting mad that my bag was on his foot =p. Then we finally get to the bus station, and they put us on an actual bus that seated about 16. Me and cam grab a seat in the middle, but then the bus driver makes us sit in the back seats that dont recline. Well the bus isn't even half full, so i switch seats as soon as we start going. I was just glad to have leg room, and not be cramped in a van. so we start going, and the driver puts on this violent war movie that's dubbed in thai, and he puts it on full blast. So now i can't sleep cause there's these images of people stabbing eachother, and i can hear screaming and gun shots, and women being rapped and whatnot. but the worst part was the driver was watching the movie instead of the road! Well we haven't had a chance to change money, so at our first stop we couldn't get food or water. Then at the next stop a few hours later there was an ATM but it was broken. We had been traveling for about 8 hours now with empty stomachs and little water...we figured it was cool we could just wait for phuket. We got into Phuket around 3:30pm...got some money from the ATM, and found a cheap place to stay (it's the same place Leonardo Decaprio stayed in the first scene of the movie The Beach). Phuket sucks though...it's a dirty city, and there's no beach. We booked a ferry to this island called Ko Phi Phi (where they filmed The Beach), and thats where all the action is.

People here in Phuket aren't as nice as the people in Penang...they really don't like us here. I keep getting mean stares from locals, and I told the guy at breakfast that it was the best banana pancake I had ever had...and he just turned around and walked away. He didn't even smile or look at me. All you can do is laugh and take in the culture I guess...

So the following day we got onto a ferry full of pale Europeans, and headed over to Ko Phi Phi. We talked to a couple of guys who had been to the island before and they said we were going to love it there. The ferry ride took about 2 hours, and it was fun because we sat on the floor on the upper deck and got a little sun. I'm so glad we travel light because it makes it so much easier getting in and out of places. We got right off the ferry, while most people had to push through the crowd to find their luggage. The hostel we wanted to stay at was full, so we walked a little further and found a room with 2 beds for the same price as a dorm bed...so it worked out. We have to share a bathroom but it doesn't really matter. Ko Phi Phi isn't at all what I had expected. It's basically an island for tourists...All the locals are in the tourism business. We got a beer, and decided we didn't want to spend any more time in the island and had to figure out a cheap way to get somewhere else. We started to read our lonely planet book...and realized that everywhere is like this, and Phi Phi is the lesser of the evils. We're a little bummed that southern Thailand isn't as rich with culture as we had anticipated. As we sat drinking our beer, the 2 guys we talked to on the boat rushed past us. They ignored us at first, but then walked up and told us the hotel they wanted to stay at was too small and they had to find a new room. It cracks me up because when we mingle with other travelers everybody wants to blah blah blah about how much they know about a place, and they act like they're better than you in a way. This guy had that attitude (Oh I've been to Phi Phi 4 or 5 times...it really feels like I'm going home)...and here he is freaking out about a hotel room, and struggling with his heavy bags.

anyway...we pay for the beer and walk to a dive shop next to our guesthouse. It's kind of nice here on Phi Phi because everything is fixed. There's a ton of dive shops, but everything is the same price so you don't need to shop around (the shops are like that too. it's the first time I've seen price tags on items so you can actually walk inside and look without the shop keeper throwing things in your face giving you a "special" price). We booked a dive to the wreck site, and then went to get dinner. It's hard to find thai food here...there's a lot of burger stands and fish and chip restaurants. We got some BBQ at an all you can eat place...they charged B$200 for woman, B$250 for ladyboys, and B$300 for men. I thought that was cute. We got to bed pretty early because we had to be at the dive shop at 7am the next day.

We had a blast diving...I feel like we chose the right boat and company. Our guide was from Germany, and he's a cook too so we had a lot in common. Plus he used to work with the guy who certified me in Maui...small world. So it was cameron and I with our guide, and a French guy with his guide. I was stoked we weren't going with a big group. We saw a lot of other boats that had come from Phuket with 50+ people...so we really had personal attention, and became friends with our guides. The water was really clear, and we got to go pretty deep. I did some underwater photography and ended up getting some nice pictures. It only ended up being $140 US each to do 3 dives...I feel like we got a great deal and got to dive under great conditions with good company.

We got dinner at this cute restaurant run by a family. They were sweet and we may go back to them to book a snorkel trip. We walked down the beach and ended up chilling at this one bar all night. The bar tender was wearing a Santa Cruz shirt, and when we told him we were from there he was stoked. All the locals working at the bar were fun and friendly...they kept making us laugh. It was happy hour so a beer was less than $1us. Cameron chilled at the bar, and I sat and watched this guy performing on the beach. It was such an awesome night...I'm glad to be hanging out on an island. I miss the ocean.

This morning we both woke up with headaches and weren't in the best mood at breakfast. I went down the street to change money, and as I walked back I got caught in the rain and got totally soaked. The rain let up for about an hour but it just started again. When it rains here it pours for like 30 min, and then stops. I really do hope it clears up cause there's not much "indoor" stuff to do here...and our room is small with no AC.

So we got 2 or 3 more days here on Phi Phi...then we get a Ferry back to Phuket in the morning and catch a plane to Bangkok where I'm going to meet my friend Tai. I can't wait to see more of Thailand, but I'm hoping I get a chance to get a tan while we're here on the islands.

Hello All,

Much apologizes for not keeping up with the blog...but internet cafes can be sluggish in certain areas, and also can be very hard to come by. Next time I travel I might consider bringing a small dourable laptop.

Well we traveled all around Bali for about a week. It was a great experience! Our family friends have a house in a small village called Budugul, and they hooked us up with their driver and let us stay at their house for a few nights. It was such an incredible experience. Indonesia is a Muslim country, but the island of Bali is mainly Hindu. Hindu is such a beautiful religion, and we have enjoyed visiting the different temples. Gus, our driver, his wife gave birth while we were in Bali so he could not be with us for a few days. He left us with some of his friends, who ended up showing us the "real" Bali. They took us to see the schools of Dolphins on a little fishing boat on the northern coast very early in the morning. We saw soooo many dolphins and got to watch the sun rise over the mountains. They took us to the hot springs where we floated in the water for a while. I met a group of school kids, who were so excited to talk to us and practice their english. We also went trekking and saw a bunch of waterfalls and ended up having our feet covered in leeches. haha...next time we go trekking we are investing in a good pair of socks. I asked them in broken english if they had cock fighting in town...these guys didnt speak much english. they nodded and took us on the scooters over to the chicken fighting arena. It was such a surreal experience (most of our trip has been pretty surreal so far) watching how the betting system works and whatnot. Our friends even took us to the local shop where they locals get food, and I got to go into the kitchen and take pictures and talk to the family about how their kitchen works. They seemed happy to open their home up to us foreigners. We spent a day in Ubud and saw all the monkeys in the monkey forest...but I must say that I really don't like monkeys. If you reach into your bag they think you have food and they jump all over you. They stole this girls sunglasses and ate them. I really don't like monkeys. At our hotel in Ubud I talked to one of the pool boys, and when I told him my name was Mattie he said, "Mattie!? That's a TERRIBLE name. In Balinese Mattie means Death." I told him I had been on the island for a week and nobody told me what my name meant. He said it was because they were probably scared to tell you what it meant because I might get upset. We had a good laugh, and after that I always asked the locals about my name. The pool boy, K.T., gave us a water bottle full of Arak, the local alcoholic drink. Sadly we didnt get to meet up with his friends and go out drinking with them, but he's sweet and left us the bottle at the front desk. I find that all the locals are so nice....

oh man...I wish I had time to tell you more about Bali. It was so much fun. I really want to go back to Indonesia and maybe see some of the other islands.

On our plane ride from Jakarta to Singapore we sat next to this guy from New Zealand who lives in Indonesia and teaches english. He was in Singapore for 2 days to update his visa. We wanted to stay in a hostel near to his hotel, so we ended up sticking together and riding the MRT into town. We stayed in little India during Deepavali, so the streets were decorated in lights. It was so gorgeous, and all the Indians were in a festive mood. The hostel we stayed at was a lot of fun...we got to meet a lot of travelers coming the other way. Singapore is a very expensive country...so we just walked around a lot and became experts on the MRT (which is super efficient...you never have to wait more than 2 min for a train). We went to Raffels and sat the Long Bar and had a Singapore Sling and ate peanuts and threw the shells on the ground. They invented the Singapore Sling at that Bar, and we looked around and every table had a singapore sling. It was S$22 for one (which is about $15 US), but I didn't feel too bad about it because later on that night I realized that a beer at a club was S$16. I'm glad we got to experience the famous Singapore Sling and Raffels. Our Kiwi friend, Kyn, met up with us and we went and ate hot pot in China Town. He lived in China for a year, and he wanted us to experience some of his favorite Chinese food.

We took a bus from Singapore to KL, and the bus driver dropped us off downtown instead of at the bus station in China Town (which is next to the hostel we wanted to stay at). We asked the guy to take us to the station and he said it was too far and to just take a taxi. We re grouped and changed some money and figured out how to get there taking the public train. We have found that taxi drivers always try and scam you, so we stick to the public transportation when we can. The hostel we stayed at was awesome...we met some cool people. We spent a night drinking at the Reggae bar down the street which was very colorful and had a good mix of locals and travelers. But again, booze is pretty expensive in KL. We took a bus to the Batu Caves one day, and were shocked at how close to the highway they were located at. In Jan/Feb Hindus make their pilgrimage to the Batu Caves, and thousands of Hindus parade there with hooks in their backs pulling carts. We watched this on a globe trekker episode...and we knew it wasn't during the Pilgrimage, but were shocked at how touristy and close to the highway it was.

KL was a crazy city...we ate a lot of street food. Saw a psychic at a coffee shop. Smoked shisha in the middle eastern part of town. had a great conversation with a man from Iran.

We took another bus from KL into Penang...it was a little stressful at the bus station. They sold us tickets and lied about the time...twice. You live you learn right? Well we got into Butterworth, and figured out how to take the ferry into Penang. We walked through Little India, and found a cute Guesthouse that is situated in a museum. The owner is very sweet, and was watching the election on BBC in the lobby. We walked around the town for a few hours, had dinner at a Thai restaurant. We drank at a bar in front of a hostel, and they have live music every night. We talked to the members of the band, and they are a lot of fun. I've found that the people of Penang are the nicest people I've met on my journey so far. In the morning we woke up and found that Obama had won. We watched the speeches in the lobby with the owner and talked politics for a while. it's incredible how the world in so excited about Obama being the next president...it really fun traveling and getting a different perspective. We had some awesome Indian food for breakfast/lunch, then rented bikes. Cameron couldn't take the heat so he went back, but I decided to find a beach. I rode about 5 miles, and parked my bike at this hotel. I walked through the lobby like I was staying there, and then chilled on the beach for a couple hours. It was really nice...but the bike wasn't so good so I'm pretty sore today. That night we met up with our Uncle Brad's friend, Ed. Ed is from the Bay Area, but has lived here in Penang for about 8 years now. He took us to get some street food, and we had a blast talking with him about our travels so far. He's been all over south east asia too, so it was fun swapping stories. I'm really glad we got to spend the evening with him...it really does make a difference when you have a contact in a foreign country.

After Ed dropped us off we went back to the bar to listen to the band play. We were there for about 30 min, when the cops showed up and the music stopped and everybody had to give up their IDs (we of course didn't have to because cops don't touch travelers). I asked a muslim guy sitting next to me why they were there, and he told me they were looking for Muslims. It's against the law for a muslim to be "with" another muslim if they are not married. So they were searching the hostel to see if there were un-married muslims sharing a room. I was shocked that they had the authority to do that...but we are in a Muslim country and that's the way it goes. If you get caught you are taken to jail and fined, but the owner of the hotel/hostel gets an even bigger fine. It was kind of intense...but I talked to the group of Muslims sitting next to us and they are really cool kids. They all go to school and work really hard...we also talked about the election in the US. They got their ID's back, and all of them left the bar.

Well today is our last day in Penang. We took a bus up to the Se Ke Lok Temple....and had a blast. It was the most interesting temple I've been too yet. it's on the hillside so you can see the entire island from up there. On the bus, there was a guy reading the paper and it had Obama's face on the cover. He pointed at it and said, "Peace!"...we smiled and gave him the thumbs up. I really do love the people here...I'm going to be sad to leave.

So we get up early tomorrow morning at take the 5am bus to Phuket. I'm excited to get to Thailand...we'll island hop for about a week, and then we head up north to bangkok to meet my friend Tai.

Well that was the cliff-note version of our trip so far. I'll try and write more once I'm in Thailand. The exchange rate is better in Thailand so internet cafes will be cheaper.

I miss everybody back home, and look forward to seeing you all very soon.

Take care!

Mattie

Well we've been going for about two weeks now, and finally we have found some time to sit and use the internet. We are currently in Bali, Indonesia...we arrived around 12am yesterday and luckily found a room at "Un's" (www.unshotel.com) with AC for the night. Our Taxi driver from the airport tried to scam us and get us to pay $70US for a 10 min ride...so I played dumb and we got away with paying about $7.50US. Un's had no rooms available for the week, which is unfortunate because it was such a cute little surfer hotel. We got a room at the Hotel Lusa, (www.hotellusa.net) which was half the price, for 3 nights. We spent today writing in our journals by the pool, walked Kuta Beach, and just relaxed. We've had a pretty packed trip so far so it was nice to take an easy day.

Day 1 of our Trip:
October 7th, 2008

We depart from SFO international around 1pm, and fly United to Hong Kong. It was a 14 hour flight and we literally had the WORST seats on the plane. Cameron had the window, I had the middle...and they stuck us next to the food/drink cart station. It was noisy and bright the entire time so it was difficult to sleep, plus they played terrible movies. Needless to say we were both happy to land in Hong Kong. We had a couple hours to kill at the airport, so we went to the food court and ordered some dim sum, and pearl milk tea. I was shoked to see that they have "smoking lounges" at the airport, which is basically a small room where people pack in and light up. Our flight from Hong Kong to Manila was pretty painless. We flew Cathay Pacific which had much better service, more leg room and better food. I think we were both a little anxious when we Landed around 11:30pm.

Alain’s Auntie Davina was picking us up, so when we saw her holding a sign with my name it was a huge sigh of relief. Auntie Davina is such a sweetheart…she took us right to our hotel and gave us a few tips (basically don’t drink the water and don’t leave your hotel because it’s a bad part of town). We stayed at the hotel Copacabana, but neither of us could really sleep because we were so excited to be in The Philippines.

Day 2:
October 9th, 2008

We get up early and go get breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Cameron orders Longanisa with rice and a fried egg, and I got the pancakes. Longanisa is a local sausage which is on the sweet side…and he loved it. After we eat we pack up our things and get a taxi to the airport, where we catch a plane to Tacloban where Alain and Joe are meeting us with an “entourage”. Alain Uy was born in The Philippines, and moved to Chicago when he was 10. Alain and Joe worked together at a restaurant called Moto in Chicago, and have been close friends for about 5 years now. Alain’s cousin was getting married in Tacloban…so he extended the invitation to Cameron and me when he learned we were going to be traveling in the area.

So we land in Tacloban, and are met by Joe, Alain, Jun Jun, Ton Ton, and Arvin. Joe and Alain had got into town a day earlier, and they were telling us stories about Sherwin’s “bachelor party” they had had the night before. They told us about what had happened to Joe the day before. Apparently all the local kids call white guys they see "Joe", because they associate them with G.I. Joe. Whenever we walked down the street we'd have kids yell out, "HEY JOE! give me your money!!". Joe didn't realize it was common for kids to call white guys "joe". So Joe and Alain are at the mall, and a group of school girls run up to Joe, and then run behind a counter and all say, "What's Up Joe?!" Now Joe thinks he has been mugged by this group of 10 year olds, and starts searching for his wallet. He thinks they mugged him and read his name on his drivers lisence, and were messing with him. "Hey Joe" became one of our little jokes throughout the trip. They drove us to Uncle Pequito’s house where a lot of the family members were staying. We met a whole lot of the family, and their servant had a buffet of local food layed out. His house is huge! They have servants and drivers, and a huge courtyard with a fountain. After we ate, we got a ride to our hotel that was located downtown. It’s owned by Alain’s Uncle Jack. We got changed and then went over to another cousin’s house and had dinner. At this point I’m going on very little sleep, jet lag, and some culture shock. We all sat at a table with Uncle Pequito, and drank Tuba (fermented coconut sap) from plastic bottles, which we watered down with coke, and listened to Uncle tell dirty jokes. It was such a surreal experience. After dinner we drove to a Karaoke Bar with 2 MC’s that looked like hookers. It was such a good night. I got up and danced with Uncle Pequito, and after a few beers Cameron got up and sang Grease Lightning. We were there until about 3am…and then finally called it a night.

Day 3:
October 10th, 2008

Cameron, Joe, Alain, Ton Ton and I hired a driver and crossed the San Holico Bridge into Samar. It was such a beautiful drive, it kind of reminded me of the road to Hana in Maui…we saw water buffalo, rock formations in the water and a lot of schools. It’s crazy to see the extreme poverty, and to see how these people live off of so little. We got to this beach resort and rented a bamboo raft with a covered picnic table in the middle. They pulled us out off shore, and we swam in the emerald green water and ate lechon (roast pig) and rice. It was such a gorgeous day, and it was nice to get away from the busy city.

We get back to Tacloban, and Cameron Joe and I crash at the Hotel while Alain has to go to the rehersal dinner for the wedding. Jun Jun comes to pick us up and take us to the house for dinner. It’s a huge family party, and we all kind of feel like outsiders because we don’t really know anybody. After dinner Cameron and I talk to this guy who told us his name was Bob (and we later find out it’s something else) who had been living in Texas for a year or so. He was super funny, and later on that night sang great karaoke. I ended up passing out with Alain upstairs, and when I woke up around 1am I find that most of the family is gone and it’s only Jun Jun, Bob, Cameron and Joe sitting around the table singing and drinking. Cameron grabs the remote and says, “I love this song!” as he starts to sing Roxanne by the Police. It was such a fun night…we really got to know the family a little bit better.

Day 4:
October 11, 2008

It was a pretty lazy day. We sat around and played texas hold-um at the house for about 5 hours. Ton Ton, who had never played before, ended up winning almost every game. We rode a jeepney into town, and Cameron and Joe hung off the back and got a lot of stares from the locals. Tacloban isn’t a tourist destination at all. The only other white people we saw where creepy middle aged men buying prostitutes. I didn’t a white woman until we got into Cebu. We took another Jeepney later on that night, and I rode on the back and got even more confused looks. I learned later that women don’t ride hanging off the back.

Day 5:
October 12, 2008

Today was Rizza and Sherwin’s wedding day. Joe Cameron and I got a ride to the Church from Uncle Jack. We got there pretty early, and spent some time talking to Jack about business and politics. He’s a really amazing guy, and told us later that we were part of the family. It was a beautiful Catholic wedding. Rizza and Sherwin’s sons, Ryan and Rafael, were the ring bearers and they were super cute. Ryan is 5 and Raffy is 3…those kids absolutely love Joe. After the ceremony we went back to the hotel, and Joe wasn’t feeling very well. He took a long nap and decided to come to the reception even though he wasn’t feeling so great. We sat with Jun Jun's girlfriend Meme and her friend Elise. The reception was absolutely beautiful. The cake was spectacular, and the mayor and his wife were there. Two different girls who had won the Philippino version of American Idol got up and performed for Rizza and Sherwin. When it came time to throw the bouquet, they did things a little differently because Rizza wanted to keep the bouquet. They had the guys sit in chairs in a circle, and the girls stood in front of them with a blind fold on. I partners up with Joe, but they made all of us take 4 steps to the right. My new partner, Chris, sat there with a beer in one hand and a glass of whiskey in the other. They gave us ladies a plate with a peice of wedding cake, and we had to feed the men. Chris refused to eat the cake, so after everyone else had finished...we were "The winners". We had to sit up front with Rizza and Sherwin, and Chris put Rizza's garter on my leg with his teeth. We then had to cut a peice of cake and feed it to each other. Joe and cameron yelled out, "Shove it in his face!"...But I didn't want to offend the family (we were the only Americans in the entire room). After we fed eachother the cake, we linked arms and drank a glass of Strawberry wine. Lastly they told us to kiss for 12 seconds...you should have seen the look on Joe's face. I put my hand over his mouth and kissed the back of my hand. There was multiple video cameras filming this, so I'm sure the family will be laughing at my expense for a long time. It was a lot of fun though...and Rizza and Sherwin were happy that I played along. Cameron basically stole the show though. Everyone started dancing, and this girl wanted to dance with Cameron. They were killing it out there on the dance floor, and little Ryan even jumped in and did a power slide on the floor beside them. It was such a good night....

Day 6:
October 13th, 2008

We went and saw the statue at McArthur park. We also went to the old Governers house that had been turned into a museum. Her house is spectacular, and it's kind of controversial because the country is so poor. Alain took us to his old school, but none of his teachers were working there anymore. As we left his school a group of girls asked if they could take our picture. It's funny how the locals are just as amused by us as we are of them. We ate at this awesome restaurant called Ocho that night. They have a counter of fresh seafood, and you pick what you want to eat and how you want it cooked, and they make it for you. This guy in front of us grabbed a crab, and then screamed when the thing pinched him. Alain ordered us a nice bottle of Pino Grisio...it was really tasty and nice change from all the filipino beer we had been drinking. After dinner we headed over to the Colloseum and met up with all the cousins at a bar. We all lined up and played tippy cup (a college drinking game), ate appetizers, and then Alain ordered a bottle of Tequilla and we did shots. We danced to loud hip hop music, and even the waiters and bar tender were taking shots with us and dancing. It was nice seeing Rizza and Sherwin loosen up as well. She had been so tense from all the wedding details, and now that it was all over she finally let loose. I feel like we made some life long friends that night...Sharon and Norm invited us all to their wedding next September in Chicago. I'm hoping we all end up meeting again next year.

Day 7:
October 14th, 2008

Cameron, Joe, Alain, Meme, Jun Jun and I hop a plane over to Cebu for the night. Tupei (Alain's cousin) picks us up from the airport and drives us to our hotel located downtown. It was about an hour to get there, and along the way we saw some extreme poverty. Cebu is the second largest city in The Philippines (Manila is the biggest), and it's almost overwhelming how some of these people live. I saw a group of street kids that reminded me of the characters from the movie "city of god". Whenever you're stopped in traffic the kids come up to the car and bang on the window asking for food. I saw so many dirty hotels that charged by the hour. The first white woman I saw was in Cebu...but I only saw one. All the white people visiting the country are middle aged men buying prostitutes. It's so sad, and none of us wanted to be associated with that kind of behavior. I really didn't like Cebu. That night we drove around the city, went to a casino where Cameron won $100P. We went to a couple different bars, and the highlight of Cebu was when Tupei took us to have street BBQ after the bars. We ate chicken skin, and chicken intestin, and little sausages. It was super tasty...and maybe not the most santitary but definetly an experience.

Day 8:
October 15th, 2008

We check out of our hotel, and Tupei gives us a ride to the ferry station. We take a boat over to Bohol, and meet up with Alain's auntie Meyin.

I’m going to go and get some dinner with Cameron…I’ve been on the internet for a couple hours now. I’ll finish this entry later

Well Cameron and I are about to embark on the journey of a lifetime. We leave Tuesday, Oct 7th from San Francisco and will arrive October 8th in Manila. We're meeting some of my friends there, and have been invited to a filipino wedding. Not quite sure what exactly to expect in the Philippines, but luckily we'll have a local family showing us around the islands. We plan on visiting Bohol and Palawan...but nothing is set in stone and we can easily change our course. We'll be in the Philippines for two weeks and then are either going to catch a flight into Brunei, or fly directly to Bali.

So as of right now we plan on visiting:

The Philippines > Brunei > Indonesia > Singapore > Malaysia > Thailand > Cambodia > Laos > Vietnam > Nepal > India > South Africa > Egypt > Europe...

This is a very similar route that my parents took 20 years ago, so it's going to be interesting for them to see how much these places have changed in 20 years. My parents are incredible people that I look up to, and I'm so grateful that we get to experience something so incredible. We're absolutely blessed not only that we get the chance to take this trip, but also because we have some amazing people helping us out along the way. We have contacts in various parts of the world who have been gracious enough to offer us their home...there are also a handful of people who have given us great advice and travel recommendations. I can't express how thankful we are for all the help we've recieved.

I'll be updating this blog as often as I can...check back in to see where in the world we are at. We'll be gone for about 10 months, but I can't wait to see everybody when we get back to the states...