Epilogue to New York stories

Remember how I helped out our Korean dry cleaner by translating a message for one of the dry cleaner's customers? Well, when I contacted the dry cleaner again recently about Craig's shirts, the woman on the phone told me that she told her other customer what I suggested she tell him. She reported that everything is now resolved, and that the customer remained her customer. She thanked me for my help. I was so happy to be of service!

A couple of New York City stories

1. Stereotypical though it may be, our drycleaner/tailor here on the Upper West Side is Korean. I stopped in the other day to tell the couple who own and run the shop about our recent trip to Korea (oh, and also to have a dress altered). We chatted in Korea and English and I enjoyed discussing my visit to their homeland with them.

Before I left, the woman asked me for a favor. She had a problem with a customer’s jacket and she was initially unable to successfully explain the situation to the customer. After telling me the story in a mix of Korean and English, I ascertained what she needed to convey to her customer. I wrote down a few sentences in English that she hopefully will use to effectively communicate with her customer. I hope I was helpful. I was thrilled to be able to use my Korean to help a small business owner.

2. Only in New York City is a doorman paternal... I neglected to check the weather report (am I really my mother’s daughter?!) before dressing for school on Friday morning. I’m apparently in denial that summer is over as I put on capri pants, open-toe shoes, and a short-sleeved shirt to wear to school on Friday (Sept. 11).

When I entered our building lobby and saw that it was raining outside, I paused. Should I go back up to our apartment on the tenth floor to grab an umbrella?

As I stood in the lobby contemplating the time it would take me to ride the elevator up and back down, the doorman said to me, “You can’t wear that today.” “What?!” I asked, shocked that my doorman was offering unsolicited fashion advice. “At least change your shoes,” he continued, “it’s cold and rainy today.” Then I realized that the doorman was looking out for me, dressed for 75 degrees and sunny but confronted with 50 degrees and rainy. “Thanks,” I said, appreciative of the concern, “but I’ll be fine.”

And I was chilly all day at school. Maybe next time I'll accept the doorman's dressing advice.

Paris & Finland

Enjoy.

Slideshows:




Albums themselves:

Around the World - Paris

Around the World - Finland

Why THIS was the summer for our trip (from Seren's perspective)

A new school year begins tomorrow (Thursday, September 10, 2009) and I've spent the past two days at school getting ready for it. I realized that this past summer was THE summer for this trip for so many reasons. From my professional perspective, it was just perfect timing. It is the first time in my five years teaching at White Plains High that I am not teaching a new course. I have the same course load as last year, which alleviates a great deal of summer planning. I have curricula, lesson plans, materials, and ideas from my previous years (plus the confidence of having four years of teaching under my belt), so I could really enjoy our travels and not have my mind in my curriculum building.

Have said that, I have been working my tail off since Monday night preparing for the new year, but it's small price to pay for ten worry-free weeks of travel. Anyway, lesson planning late at night is a good way to deal with jet lag.

Speaking of my teaching....I've said that the best part of being a teacher is having the schedule: built-in vacation and summers off so I can do things like travel around the world with my husband. Perhaps I overuse superlatives, but I could also argue that the/another best part about being a teacher is the fact that every September offers a clean slate. How wonderful to make a fresh start every fall. As my 'roommate' and I set up our classroom and I prepared lesson plans and teaching materials for the first few days of school, I marveled at how great it is to have the chance to improve on my work with such regularity. Every Labor Day, while ridden with nerves and anxiety, offers the hope of a great school year. As my colleague says, "Every year we get a 'do-over'!"

Anyway, this was THE summer to travel and I am so glad that Craig and I seized the opportunity.

Our Israel Photos

Are all here:



Also here.

Others to get posted as we can do it.

Most popular tune everywhere...

Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" [Here in Korea!]. We heard this song in nearly every country (in English). It was hilarious.

We also saw the movie poster for them Pixar flick "UP" in nearly every country. It was funny to see the poster with the same image (see below) in different languages (Hebrew, French, Korean, Chinese, Thai, Aussie English). It was clearly THE flick of the summer.

Fun with Dingos

Reef Videos

This is likely the last post. These are videos from the our day on the Great Barrier Reef. Pictures will eventually follow.

Tectonic Plates

So when we got married, we registered for a nice set of Villeroy and Boch plates.  We thought they were very pretty.  They are now our meat set.  Soon after picking them out, we found out that our friend Aliza had those plates too.  Then after we got married, we found out that our friend Jenny has picked them as her dairy set.  It was all fun and we had a good time.

Upon arriving here, we learned that the same set is the Rogers' meat set.  More than that, they are Tammy's (daughter #1) dairy set and Jo's (daughter #2) meat set.  It's quite the small world, platery speaking.

In case you want to join the club, this is the set.

And now, to bed.

"I have always depended on the kindness of strangers"

My last project when I lived in Korea in 2003 involved directing a production of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire" (in English) with students at Dongshin University in Naju. Blanche DuBois' final line in the play is the powerful "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." I find the line quite meaningful, particularly in reference to my travels. Our experience 'seeing the world' this summer is no exception- our experiences were enhanced and facilitated by the kindness of strangers and friends.

So, thank you to those who helped us on our journey.

Thanks for the family and friends who offered travel advice. Thanks to our parents for being supportive of and excited for us. Thanks to Craig's mother for being our travel agent. Thanks to Leah and Zac for loaning us travel backpacks. Thanks to Hildy for bringing our books and things home from Israel. Thanks to our Pardes friends for making each Israeli Shabbat and our experience at Pardes special and wonderful. Thanks to Max/Mordechi and Lee for a fun lunch with the girls. Thanks to Pascale and her family for having us in their home for a Shabbat dinner in Paris. Thanks to David who traveled from Nice to meet us in Paris. Thanks to the Ceplers for taking us out for a delicious meal when our time in Paris overlapped. Thanks to Kate and Jen for taking us out on our first two nights in Korea. Thanks to Sukyoung for showing us the top of Namsam Park and the Seoul Tower. Thanks to Neil and Annette for meeting us late at night because it was the only time they could spare in their busy schedules. Thanks to my host family for opening their home to us and showing us around Naju and Gwangju for three days. Thanks to Dr. Lee for taking us around Damyang and the Bamboo Park. Thanks to Mrs. Lee for cooking us a delicious dinner. Thanks to the many kind and generous Korean strangers we met who offered us directions, food, drinks, rides, help and smiles. Thanks to the Epsteins for hosting us for a Shabbat dinner in Hong Kong. Thanks to Elaine and Joe for taking us around Kowloon. Thanks to Chabad of Bangkok for boisterous and fun Shabbat meals. Thanks to the front desk of the Buddy Lodge for overnighting our passports and my iPod to Koh Samet. Thanks to the Cantor and his wife for inviting us over when we first arrived in Sydney. Thanks to the Levinsons for establishing a special friendship with the Rogers. Thanks to the Rogers family for opening their home and generously being our guide in Melbourne. Thanks to Ros and Richard for being warm and kind hosts, and thanks to Jo and Darren for being our travel companions and tour guides.

I am certain that I inadvertently omitted others who facilitated our journey. The truth is that Craig and I are lucky to have each other, but we relied on the kindness of others to make this trip the dream-come-true that it has been.

Thank you.

Numbers

Sadly, the end of our trip has arrived. With that sad fact in mind, I decided to compile some facts regarding this experience. For those who like numbers, here we go:

68- Total number of days we are away (June 28-September 3)
21- Hours of flying time (not including our layover in LA) it will take us to travel from Melbourne to New York
16- Different beds in which we slept (excluding red eye flights)
15- Different airports through which we flew
14- Total number of flights, including 3 domestic flights (2 within Australia and 1 within the US)
10- Articles of custom-made clothing (I count suits as two articles: pants/skirt and jacket)
8- Packages we (had) sent to the US during our trip, including three by vendors/shop keepers
7- Countries we visited (excluding the UK and Finland where we merely had stopovers)
7- Languages we heard (and often spoke) in our travels
6.5- Currencies we handled (the half is for Cambodia, where the US dollar is most commonly accepted and distributed, including by Cambodian ATMs. We did get a hold of a few Cambodia Riel, though)
6- Different airlines we flew
4- Underground subway systems we rode (we did use other public transportation systems, but only four underground subways)
4- Continents we visited on this trip (6 total in our lives- we previously visited South America and Africa)
3- New Visas in our passports
3- Massages we enjoyed (one foot and leg, and two total body)
2- Times we changed our trip while traveling (we added a day in Thailand, thus landing in Sydney a day later than we'd originally planned, and we added a day in Australia thereby omitting the day layover in LA--- thank you to our travel agent for helping with this!)

It's really been a dream...

The End of the Road, by Craig

It's 1130 pm on Wednesday night in Melbourne.  Seren is packing.  I'm researching GST refunds and baggage allowances.  We've tracked many miles/kilometers over the last 9 1/2 weeks.  It's been lots of fun and more of adventure than I've ever had in my life.  I've seen quite a diversity of life and nature. 

Today, we went to the Melbourne Holocaust Museum, Jewish Museum, the Melbourne Synagogue, ate lunch in Federation Square, visited the Immigration Museum (Seren did the tour, I did some ultimately-fruitless research in the library) and jump-started the Australian economy (even if it never hit the recession according to today's news).  Afterwards, we went for our last fish and chips and beer meal with Jo and Darren, with Danzi and Jamie joining us for the latter part of the meal.  When we got back home, the Rogers presented us with a beautiful Aussie challah cover (it says Shabbat Kodesh, I think, and has a koala on it). 

This has been a great time.  For some final inventory which Seren will likely expound upon: I used four deodorants, finished one toothpaste, bought one set of q-tips on the road (Melbourne; and remembered that generic q-tips are never the way to go), bought lots of clothing and drank quite a few beers.  And we took probably 2000 photos and posted on the blog more than 160 times.

We saw Korean baseball and Aussie Rules Football; ate Korean sashimi and Aussie and Israeli sushi; sweated in the Dead Sea, Hong Kong, Cambodia and Thailand; went to spas or got massages in Israel (the Dead Sea), Korea, Thailand and Cambodia; drank Israeli, French, Korean, Cambodian, Thai and Aussie beers; used Aussie q-tips; got rained on in Israel (no more than 4 total drops of rain), France, Korea, Thailand and Australia; and had fun everywhere.  We did more than we could ever have imagined.

But alas, the real world calls and it is time to return home.  Until next time...

Love,
Craig

Jodie Foster at WPHS

Joanna emailed me that Jodie Foster is filming a movie at White Plains High School. Well, I just checked my WP email in preparation for the start of the new school year and found an email from the head of the Fine Arts Department in WP. He is looking for me to recommend students to serve as extras in the film. How fun! Perhaps I'll get Jodie to talk to my theatre students about life as a pro!
Never a dull moment...

All good things must come to an end....

We have had a most wonderful time in Melbourne! The Rogers have been so fun and helpful and kind and we are having a ball exploring Melbourne both on our own and with them. Today, for instance, we went into the city, checked out the Melbourne Museum and the Old Melbourne Gaol solo, and then went to Philip Island for the Penguin Parade with Jo and Darren- we had a blast!

Anyway, tomorrow (Wednesday) is our last full day in Oz. We plan to see the Holocaust Museum, the Jewish Museum with Ros before we go into the city alone. We'll meet Jo, Darren, and maybe Danzi for dinner. Then we'll pack and get ready for goodbyes.... All good things must come to end, I suppose, but I'm not super keen on returning to reality just yet.

One funny note about today: Adjacent to the Old Melbourne Gaol is a recently-used jail that we were invited to tour. The tour was not a history lesson, though. Essentially, we experienced what it would be like to get arrested on the streets of Melbourne. We were treated roughly, required to follow directions just so, and put in cells. The experience was funny because it was quite realistic. The jail cell was in use up until 1994, so we are not talking Alcatraz here. It was funky, but the history part of the Old Melbourne Gaol was more interesting, to be honest.

The highlight of the day was without a doubt the penguins, and I know Craig already wrote about it. Perhaps they would be better than 'roos, especially since they spend so much time out of the home/burrow and in the sea...

Hope all is well!

love, seren

We Deserve a Nobel Peace Prize

For this:

N. Korea Reopens Border With South Korea

SEOUL — North Korea restored regular border crossings for traffic going to South Korean factories in the North on Tuesday, while its leader, Kim Jong-il, reiterated his government's call for a peace treaty with the United States.

We'll take the credit for opening the doors of diplomacy.  You're welcome world.

Love,
Us

(from the Nytimes on 9/1/09)

The March of the Penguins

And the rest of our day.  We started at the Melbourne Museum where we saw exhibits on Aborginals of Australia and the development of Melbourne.  Next, we went to the Old Melbourne Gaol (now spelled "Jail") where we toured the Melbourne equivalent of Alcatraz.

And we followed that off with a 2 hour drive with Jo and Darren to Phillips Island for the Penguin Parade.  About 45 minutes after sunset each night, approximately 500 fairy penguins march from the ocean to their burrowing holes in the ground for a few days.  There, they mate and molt.  And they are adorable.  Much more adorable than Burgess Meredith penguin.  This parade lasts for almost an hour and we were able to enjoy the penguins' daily march.  Seren was ready to eat them up.  I had to remind her that they probably don't taste so well.  Unfortunately, we were unable to take any pictures because camera flashes scare the little guys, but this is what they looked like:

Anyway, tomorrow is our last day and we'll enjoy it with some more museums and shopping and fish and chips.

Love,
Us

MELBOURNE

I was warned before we came here that Melbourne is pronounced like "Melbin," and I have now realized that this is because the Aussie accent is in some ways similar to a Boston accent.  That is, both accents drop "Rs."  So, just as I would never call Boston Harbor "Boston Harbaa," I will also return to call Melbourne "Melbourne."

Maybe.

Should we just have kangaroos?

When my parents showed my brother and me the sea lions on Pier 39 in San Fransisco, they joked that they had once discussed whether they wanted to have sea lions or children, and that seeing the cute sea creatures made them second guess their decision.

Craig and I went on a tour of Victoria's Yarra Valley today. We first stopped for tea at a national park where gorgeous native birds dined on bird feed from our hands- it was spectacular. Then Craig and I took a quick stroll through a path in the park. There, we saw a kangaroo in the wild noshing on leaves with a joey in its pouch. We both were so excited---- it was a highlight of the day! It made me think: maybe we should start a family of 'roos...
Craig vetoed the ideas.

From there, we rode an old steam engine train- the old Puffing Billy- for a few miles. Craig and I regressed and experienced the train ride as if were ten years old- what fun it was! After, we grew up and visited a winery where we had lunch and sampled about ten different wines- yum! Finally, we toured a wildlife sanctuary where native animals (kangaroos, koalas, wombats, other marsupials, Tasmanian devils, platypuses, possums, dingos, birds and bats, snakes and other reptiles) roamed around their natural habitat and we could see them up close and personal. What a treat! Again, I wondered if raising 'roos would be easier than children. Think about it: they raise themselves in someone else's pouch, they eat only greens, they sure are quiet, they are universally cute--- sounds like winners! I am sure they would be easier to raise than children, but Craig won't let me find out.

It was full and fun day today! We're sad to think that we have to say goodbye to Australia in just a few days....

Hope all is well!

Sunday in Melbourne

First stop, the Melbourne Aquarium.  Loads of fun.  We saw penguins (omigod cute), sharks, turtles and lots of fish and jellyfish and fish and crabs and lobsters and fish.

Second, we went to the Aussie Rules game between the Magpies (go the pies!) and the other team with blue and red.  The other team one.  The game was fun.  It was in a huge stadium (ie large diameter) with about 50k people.  I'm not going to explain the rules, except to say that it is slow-developing, kind of like soccer.  There is not so much explosive play.  Also, while there are many collisions, because the players don't wear protective gear, they aren't as hard-hitting as in American football.  The rules are quite simple and easy for us to follow as novices.  The hardest part was seeing the whole field from our seats due to the large field of play.  We had good seats care of Simon (Tammy's husband) and went with Jo and Darren.

Next came dinner with Jo, Darren and our hosts.  Some thai.

And now, we're going to bed.  Tomorrow, we're seeing kangaroos.

Tootles

Airline Security

I also happen to be very cynical about airline security.  The only place we took off our shoes was in America on our first flight.  In Israel, they didn't care about liquids on planes (or shoes in metal detectors).  Considering I believe that Israel has the greatest security system in the world, for them not care about liquids or shoes leads me to believe that America's continued practices are a matter of a continued installation of fear within the public than actual security measures.

This truth has been borne out by many security experts on airline security.

Love,
Craig

Lessons Learned in Phnom Penh

It was a few weeks ago, but we visited in Phnom Penh a museum on the site of a former torture prison of the Khmer Rouge.  It's right in the city and was formerly a school, before it was a prison.  Eight prisoners survived the prison, among the thousands who were there.  The vast majority of the others were killed in the killing fields about 12 km outside of Phnom Penh.  One of the survivors was an artist who painted paintings of what he experienced.  One such painting is an example of waterboarding.  Here is a picture, not ours, of what he painted.

America is supposed to be, as President Reagan said, a shining city on a hill, that represents the best that the world has to offer.  We fail sometime, but we must continuously strive to uphold our morals and not compromise them when it suits us.  I may be idealist, but that's what I believe.  That is why I think it is horrible when our nation resorts to undertaking torture (if you want my opinion on the phrase "enhanced interrogation techniques" read 1984 and its take on euphemisms) in the same way that the worst regimes on Earth have done.  Torture is inhumane, degrading and pointless.  There are no ticking time bombs and the information is more likely to be false than true.  For our nation to resort to such tactics and then to try to defend them as necessary is a failure on many levels for our humanity and our goals of being that shining city.

I strongly believe that the architects of America's torture program must be investigate and brought to justice.  America is a nation governed by the rule of law.  It must remain so.

Two last points:
1 - Seren didn't read this and so I cannot say that she agrees.
2 - I will now get off my soapbox and go enjoy Melbourne.  We just booked a tour for tomorrow to see kangaroos!!

Shabbat in Melbourne

Started Friday morning with a trip with Ros Rogers (our hostess) to the kosher butcher and deli to pick up some food.  Seren and I also impulsed purchased at the deli with some kosher pad thai and curry sauces (we'd never seen them before).  From there, we explored the city of Melbourne on our own.  Seren showed me around Melbourne University (where she studied in 2001) and Trinity College (where she lived when she was at Melbourne Uni).  We also shopped at the huge Queen Victoria Market, as well as some local clothing stores (it is cold here, being winter and all, and we don't have appropriate clothing).  In the afternoon, we took a tram from the city up St. Kilda and Dandenong Roads to North Caulfield to the Rogers.  We joined our hosts Richard and his youngest daughter Danzi for services at Melbourne's version of Shira Hadasha (the minyan we went to in Jerusalem).  Thoroughly enjoyed!

After services, we dined at casa Rogers on a delicious Shabbat dinner of chopped liver, gefilte fish, "shake and bake" chicken and lamb chops.  We also had tuna and egg salad (which were funny additions to the Shabbat table) as well as some delicious green veggies.  Ros is a wonderful chef and it was an enjoyable meal.  Also in attendance were Ros's brother and sister-in-law and their son as well as Danzi and her boyfriend.  Shabbat dinner here is very much a family affair and a chance for families to reconnect after the week.  The Rogers daughters try to be home each week and the absent daughters were at their in-laws for dinner. 

Saturday morning, Richard and I went to the local shul.  After a very British fish-based kiddush (fried fish, fish sticks, a whole salmon with forks for the taking), we came home for lunch.  Waiting for Richard and I were Tammy (daughter 1) and her three girls as well as Joanna (daughter 2).  We had meat pies and cholent.  Deliciousness ensued.  I want to try making them when we get home.

After lunch, Richard, Seren & I walked around Melbourne from the Shrine (a war memorial), through the Botanical Gardens to Federation Square (arts center just recently built) and then to the local casino (didn't gamble, just saw). 

We came home, relaxed for a bit before going out for dinner with Joanna and her husband Darren and Danzi.  Pizza and beer.  Then dessert of delicious brownies.  It was a fun time and we really enjoyed it.

Time to go to the Jail.

Sunday Morning in Melbourne

Good morning from Melbourne.  I woke up today early with excitement.  Today we're going to the Melbourne Museum and Melbourne Jail and then a footie [Aussie Rules Football] match.  In the meantime, here's what I did this morning.

Got out of bed and went to watch tv.  I figured I may be able to find some American sports.  Instead, I found Indiana Jones.  Both Temple of Doom and Raiders of the Lost Ark were starting at the same time, so I chose TD.  I was happily watching until a slow part came on, at which point I started flipping the channels and came across the Mets versus Cubs.  The Saturday afternoon national baseball game.  It was the top of the ninth, the Mets had two outs against them and were down 11-4.  Angel Pagan grounded out and it was game over.  I'm quite grateful that I didn't find the game until the very end.  With that, I returned to TD.

Richard came home shortly thereafter with bagels both of the Aussie and "New York" variety.  I think the NY bagels are a little bigger and sweeter though I ate an Aussie one.  It could pass for a bagel in most places outside NY in the US.  It was smaller and not so dense.  But was quite good with butter.

And on to the day...


PS - I also caught Fox News' converage of Ted Kennedy's funeral or motorcade or something and I heard the commentator talk about how this was a great example of American democracy in action and how the USA is a beacon to the world and the world's greatest example of people's participation in governance, and finally, how Sen. Kennedy was well-respected by both conservatives and liberals alike. Wow, can they speak BS up to wazoo? Republicans had zero respect for Ted Kennedy. And American democracy is not a fine example for other nations, because many other nations in the first-world are very happy with their parlimentary system where there are fewer rights, but more government control (and universal health care and the whatnot). Sorry, just had to add that.

Our Custom-Made Clothes

These are our Bangkok choices.  Enjoy.

Love,
Us

Directions

On this trip, I have been to the northern-most point in my life (Helsinki), the eastern-most point in my life (Sydney) and am now in the southern-most point in my life (Melbourne).  Pretty cool.  The western-most point of my life was San Francisco, and we're flying through LA this time.  So won't rival that one.

Love,
Craig

Hi from Melbourne Uni

and Seren's old stomping grounds.  Just exploring and having a great time.  Melbourne is a beautiful city and claims to be the cultural capital of Australia.  I will not get involved in that debate.

Today feels like a crisp, chilly autumn day.  We're trying to find some wool clothes.  Seren bought a nice wool sweater to keep herself warm.  Less men's clothes, but we're looking.  I wish someone would tell Australia though that it's winter.

Laters,

Us

Little Change of Plans

Thanks to our diligent travel agent (thanks Mom), we were able to extend our stay in Melbourne for an extra day.  This came at the cost of our day in LA.  Therefore, we'll be leaving Oz Thursday morning, September 3.  We fly direct Melbourne-LA, have a 2 hour layover and then land in NYC around 5 or 6 pm Thursday night.  We arrive in LA before we leave Melbourne (land in LA at 7am, leave Melbourne at 10am or so). 

Sorry to our LA crew, but we'll see you next time.

See everyone at home.

Love,
Us

Three Video from Cairns

These videos are from a for-profit zoo built on top of a casino. It's not quite Busch Gardens, but it was a fun 45 minutes. There are birds flying around, and various other animals, including crocs, in enclosures.

First, Seren introduces us to koalas.



Then, we watch the koala in action:



And finally, a wallaby:

Couple More Videos

Enjoy.

From the Golden Mount, Bangkok:


From Daintree National Park, outside Cairns, Australia:

Melbourne (pronounced by the locals 'Melbin')

Like Craig, I write this blog entry from the gorgeous home of our hosts. My parents met the honeymooning Rogers on a bus in Israel in 1974. Yada yada yada (lots of phone calls, letters, cards, and even visits and meetings in various parts of the world over the past 35 years), they are wonderful, kind, warm, welcoming hosts to us now in 2009. Richard met us at the Melbourne airport and took us to the home of his newlywed middle daughter (Joanna and Darren). We six (Richard and Ros, Jo and Darren, and we two with the funny American accent) went out for a delicious and fun Italian meal.

To explain/correct Craig's previous entries:
The view flying into and out of Cairns is absolutely stunning because you can actually see the Great Barrier Reef below the surface of the bright blue waters of the sea from the airplane. Gorgeous.

Wallabies are not 'pseudo' kangaroos. Wallabies are marsupials related to kangaroos that look extremely similar to kangaroos, right down to the long tail and joey pouch. Speaking of marsupial, we also saw a koala-- they are so cute even though they are always high from the eucalyptus leaves on which they dine.

We plan to spend time with the Rogers and see Melbourne and the surrounding area for our final week in Australia. How wonderful it is to be in land of Tim Tams and kangaroos and 'no worries' and Vegemite.

It is after midnight local time, so we are off to bed. Hope all is well :)

Scuba Diving

We will have underwater pics eventually, but in the meantime, enjoy these.




Damn, we're good looking!

Hi from Angkor Wat's Sunset

Craig says hi.

A Cairns Writeup

Hi from the Rogers' house in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.  The Rogers are friends of the Levinsons whom they met on a bus ride in Israel 35 years ago.  And they are lovely hosts.  We got here today from Cairns.  And now a discussion of Cairns.  Yes, I know I've left out much of our other stops.

We got to Cairns on Monday afternoon from Sydney.  Upon arriving, we checked into the hotel and did laundry.  After that was done, we walked to the central district, which is basically the tourist center.  We walked around a little.  Seren used some Korean, as Cairns is a big hub for Asian - especially Korean and Japanese tourists.

Cairns (pronounced Cans) is a resort/tourist town in the north of Australia (Far North Queensland) and the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef.  The weather was nice with highs in the upper 20s, lower 30s.  The city was cloudy one day because nearby mountains trap the clouds (and create rainforests).  But out over the sun, it was a beautiful sunny day.

To continue on Monday, we walked around, explored, tasted local beer and had a good general time.  Dinner was at a Thai restaurant run by Koreans, where Seren naturally spoke Korean.  I order "mool" which is the Korean word for water.  It was a nice relaxing day.

We woke up Tuesday morning and were picked up for our cruise towards the Great Barrier Reef.  Upon arriving at a small island (actually a quay because it is sand and not attached to the sea floor), our boat/catamaran anchored and water activities ensued.  First, we took a semi-submerged boat around the reefs and checked out the sea life.  Then we did an introductory scuba dive (30 minute and the instructor never let go of us. Especially Seren.  I never realized how difficult the vertical controls of SCUBA diving were, controlling up and down).  And then we snorkeled.  We loved the water.  And it was beautiful.  Lots of fish in gorgeous colors.  And we found Nemo.

At night, we went out for a delicious Greek dinner, complete with plate-breaking-throwing, something we missed on our honeymoon.

Yesterday, we woke up early for a tour of the rainforests.  We first drove to the Discovery Centre of Cape Tribulation where we learned about the trees and some of the fauna of the rainforest.  Great tour guide and it was beautiful.  Then we drove around the rainforest, and hiked through it.  We went to the beach (just to walk, not to swim).  And saw more.  and drank tea.  And did a crocodile cruise and saw a fully grown female, an adolescent male and little young'in.  And then went to Mossman Gorge, which felt like being in Ithaca.  It was gorges :)

After arriving back in town, we walked around and ate dinner at a local pizza joint, before going to a bar that Seren had her eyes on.  There, we chatted with the locals from Vancouver, BC, Canada.  Many of the migrant, seasonal laborers seemed to be Canadian.  From there, we had "Cold Rock" ice cream, a Cairns takeoff on Cold Stone.

This morning, we packed a lot into a little.  We started our day at the post office.  Then moved on to the local little zoo atop the casino, where, among other things, we saw crocodiles, wallabies (pseudo-kangaroos) and a koala.  So cute!!  From there, we went swimming in the local lagoon.  The beach in Cairns is not so nice, so to encourage tourism, the city built a large swimming pool with a small beach side on it.  It's called the lagoon and is a beautiful spot.  After swimming though, we showered and caught our flight to Melbourne, from whence I leave you now.

Love,
Craig

Cairns Migrant Labor

They're... Canadian. Our bartender is from Vancouver. The taffy shop
owner is from "a town called Saskatoon."

Also, Woolworth's is alive and well in Oz as a supermarket.

Cairns

Have enjoyed our trip to cairns. Scuba yesterday. Today toured
rainforest. Tomorrow to Melbourne.

Bob's your uncle

We spent a few beautiful days in Sydney. How wonderful it has been to be out of the heat and humidity of Southeast Asia and soak up the Aussie winter rays....winter, but still 70 degrees and sunny! Now we are in Far North Queensland (Cairns) and we'll explore the Great Barrier Reef tomorrow!

Craig is having a hard time understanding Australian English. I am getting a kick out of translating for him, too. For instance, 'Bob's your uncle' means 'there you go,' as in, 'turn the key and, Bob's your uncle, you're good to go.' Other very Aussie words and expressions:

* How ya going? (as in, 'How are you going?'; or "how are you?")
* Good on ya! (or "good for you")
* Ta (slang for thanks)
* Sunnies (short for sunglasses)
* Breakky (the first meal of the day-- breakfast!)
* Bikkies (biscuits, or cookies)
* Chalkie (I met a man from Perth in Western Australia who said, 'Oh, you're a chalkie' when I told him I was a teacher back home...get it? a teacher is a chalkie, as in chalk?! Aussies are so clever in they're abbreviations)

Of course, Blokes are dudes and Sheilas are ladies, but you could learn that Aussie slang from any Outback Steakhouse.

So, yes, Australian speak English, but it's not American English, and what a hoot it is!

Hope all is well at home. We'll eat a delicious Tim Tam (the world's best chocolate cookie) and think of you :)

A Tree Near Angkor Wat

At my favorite temple in the area:

A Night at the Opera

So the other night, we saw Poppea at the Syndey Opera House. It was weird. It was presented in the Studio, a small theater for up-and-coming artists. Poppea is a Monteverdi opera from the seventeeth century. This presentation was a modern taking of it, featuring a German liberetto (original was in Italian, I think) and Cole Porter songs. Seren had to explain to me most of the plot. There was lots of gratuitous nudity, plus sparkles and a naked man on the stage even though he was dead (Seneca). I think Poppea is based on Roman mythology or something. I really don't know. Either way, I've learned not to go to modern German operas. Lesson learned. That being said, the location couldn't be beat.

Hi from Cairns

Where the approach into the airport was gorgeous.

Goodbye sydney

Where the weather in a balmy 25 degrees in winter. It almost feels
like a warm NYC October. Were off to cairns and the great barrier reef
where it's warmer. Tough life.

Manly Beach

Is beautiful. And the Mcd has wifi. Very nice. Not as much wifi in oz
as wecwould have hoped.

Hi from Manly Beach

A short 30 minute ferry ride from Circular Quay. We just climbed the
Harbour Bridge. Gorgeous.

At the Opera House

Enjoying a pre-show wine. Beautiful view of the Harbor Bridge.
Afterwards, dinner at the Rocks. Nice night.

Now to see if there's wifi here.

Sydney Opera House

We've been here almost 10 hours and we have yet to see the opera house.  Nonetheless, we just bought tickets for an opera tomorrow night.  Here's the review.  I'm excited.  It should be good.  Verdi's Aida is also playing, but I wasn't going to sit through a 3-4 hour opera.  No way.

 

I'll provide a full review at some point.

Love,

Craig

Ooops...

Even the most experienced of travelers encounter little snafus once in a while. Here is our tale:

Craig and I booked a tourist bus from the Koh San Road area of Bangkok direct to the pier from which we would take a boat to the gorgeous island of Koh Samet. 20 minutes into our journey, while stuck in Bangkok traffic, I reached into my carry-on bag for my I-Pod. When I could not find it (I emptied the contents of my bag on Craig's lap), I immediately looked for Craig and my passports, which I also kept in a special pocket of my carry-on bag. They too were missing.

"Oh %*^@, Craig! Where are our passports and my I-Pod?!"

"Are they still in the safe in the Bangkok hotel room that we checked out of an hour and a half ago?"

Yup- that is exactly where these important (and expensive) items were.

I ran to the tour bus organizers and attempted to hurdle the language barrier to xplain our situation. Could we turn the bus around? Nope. Could I hop off the bus, cab to our Bangkok hotel, then cab back and meet the bus at its next stop? Negative (no more stops until the pier three hours away). Well, what can I do?!?!?! We are in the middle of Thailand without our passports!!!

The bus organizer let me use his cell phone to call our hotel. After a while on the pheon with our Bangkok htoel front desk personnel, we ascertained that indeed my I-Pod and our two passports were in the safe of our hotel room. Craig and I felt better immediately upon confirming this (at least we knew for sure where the items were!).

Now, how to get the items to us...

Koh Samet is east of Bangkok, as is the airport. We didn't intend to return to the city of Bangkok at all before departing for Australia, and we especially had no intention of returning to the Koh San Road area, which is in the western part of the city riddled with traffic.

Could the Bangkok hotel mail our things to our Koh Samet hotel? Yup!!

We gave the Bangkok hotel our Koh Samet resort contact info (and our credit card number). Upon arriving in Koh Samet, we explained our situation to the personell at our hotel. They seemed to understand that we were expecting a very important package the next day.

Well, at that point, there was nothing left to do but hope for the best in terms of the Thai postal service being efficient, so we turned our energy to enjoying the gorgeous resort in which we were staying.

The next day (Tuesday), we took a boat trip around the island of Koh Samet and to visit neighboring uninhabited islands. We snorkeled and swam and enjoyed the view and the boat ride. In the evening, we took a walk to watch the sunset over the water, had dinner at our hotel and played Scrabble on the veranda overlooking the water. While Craig was in the midst of kicking my patootie in Scrabble, our package was delivered. What a relief!

It ended up costing us the equivalent of $2USD and 36 hours without our passports in our possession. A little snafu indeed, but a problem solved quickly solved!

So, now we are in the land of "No Worries" and we will indeed double check the htoel safe before checking out :)

Pass the Vegemite, please

Hello from Sydney! We are safe and sound and are enjoying our first day of exploring Sydney. We are especially appreciating the lack of a language barrier here :)
We explored Hyde Park and a bit of the CBD, and then took a little excursion to the 'world famous' Bondi Beach for lunch, the beach (wow, that water was cold...after all, it is the dead of winter here), and a lovely walk along the cliffs above the water.
Now we're getting ready for Shabbat. We are attending services at The Great Synagogue right on Hyde Park and have been invited to the synagogue's cantor's home for Shabbat dinner this evening.
Hope all is well!

Good morning from Sydney

Where the local time is 630am Friday morning. We're off to an
undecided hotel in Bondi. Laters...

Goodbye Thailand

In the airport in Bangkok, off to Sydney. We have a red eye flight and get to Oz at 6am. See you there.

Thailand was lots of fun. The beaches were beautiful and relaxing. Until next time...

Paradise

We left Bangkok and experienced paradise on Koh Samet. Soft white sand, clear and warm bluegreen water- it has been lovely and relaxing.
We'll share more stories and details from Oz. We boat to bus to cab to the Bangkok airport tomorrow (Thursday) and then fly the redeye to Sydney, Australia. We arrive in the land downunder early morning local time on Friday.
We are A-OK and hope all is well with you :)
love, seren

The North Face, Cambodia-style

Phnom Penh is the transit point for most western products that are
made in Cambodia. Therefore, you can find cheap knockoffs and also
products that didn't quite make it to export. Included in this are
products from the Gap, Banana Republic, Birkenstock (proudly made in
Germany though I don't know if it's true) and North Face, among many
others.

North face big backpacks which go for $200+ in the US start at a
negotiable $25 in Phnom Penh. I bought a murse (man + purse = murse)
for $4 that may or may not be a real North Face murse. Either way,
it's a easy, comfortable and secure way to carry things.

Seren got a pair of Birkenstocks. Neither of us bought Kalvin Clein
underwear (or any other designer, correctly or incorrectly spelled).

Planes, trains, automobiles and boats

We've traveled by planes, trains (subways and 1 commuter train in
Paris), autos, tuk-tuk and we're now on our third boat. The first was
HK's Star Ferry. Yesterday we took a boat within one of Bangkok's
canals. Now, we're on a small transit boat from the thai mainland to
Ko Samet, a beach island about 3-4 hours from Bangkok.

It's a little cloudy and it poured during the bus ride. But the water
looks blue and welcoming. When we get to the island, we'll have to
travel about 3 km to the southern point where our resort is and
oceanfront room (!) awaits.

I know, tough life.

Khoasan Road

Is what I think cancun looks like during spring break. I'll write more
about it later.

Thai Pearl jam

We're in a bar with a guitarist in Bangkok. Full bar. Lots of brits it
seems. A Thai guitarist. We request via napkin pearl jam. He played
(is currently playing) last kiss. Not what I had in mind. Should have
requested something harder, off Ten perhaps. I wonder if he can play
Baba O'Riley?

We also passed a note up for annies song. I'll keep you posted.

Ps now U2. With or without you.

Is a Puzzlement

More tunes I've been humming here in Thailand:

*Pretty much all of "Miss Saigon's" final act takes place in Bangkok:
"Gee, isn't Bangkok really neat? The things they're selling on the street..."

*There's a line in Lola's "A Little Brains" number from "Damn Yankees" that goes something like, "I took the zing out of the king of Siam"

ANYWAY, we heading out of Bangkok city to the beach tomorrow! We'll take a bus to a boat to the small island of Koh Samet for a few days. There, we'll relax at Nim Ma Nora Dee Resort.

Bangkok has been great, but also a bit exhausting. There is no place on Earth like Koh San Road where it is buzzing at all hours. It reminds me of a casino where the day of the week, and even the hour of the day, is irrelevant: anyone can buy, eat, drink, do nearly anything anytime. It has certainly been a treat to experience it!

Speaking of buying and eating:
Craig and I had some custom clothing made for us. Craig bought a suit and shirt (that makes two suits and three shirts custom made for Craig in Asia, as we did some shopping in Hong Kong). I had a nice skirt suit and a silk black dress (classic LBD) made for me. It's been fun going in for fittings and experiencing the evolution of the clothing from design to finished product. We've also eaten well here! We've enjoyed delicious Thai dishes, including Pad Thai thrice, and also the freshest, sweetest fruits.

Besides the reclining Buddha we saw when we toured the Wat Pho temple, we saw a HUGE standing Buddha and a GIGANTIC sitting Buddha today. We also visited the Royal Palace, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the Golden Mount (which afforded us a lovely view of the city), and an old Teak mansion (Jim Thompson's home and silk store). We also browsed in the frenetic Siam Square, checked out a jem store, and met some interesting people. Along the way, we rode in taxis and tuk tuks and a long boat along the canal.

We've shot some great pictures. I realize, though, that the delicious aroma of jasmine flowers and the smoke from the burning incense ubiquitous in Bangkok will not come though in in the dozens of photos we took. I'll remember it, though... :)

Hope all is well.

love, seren

Getting to Know You...

Songs we've been singing since arriving in Thailand:

"One Night in Bangkok" from "Chess"
Every song from "The King and I"
The part of "Miss Saigon" when Chris learns that 'Kim's a barbelle in Bangkok'

All is well here in Bangkok with us :)

What we saw today

Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho:



(15 meters tall by 46 meters long, built of stucco and covered with gold)

Bridge on the River Kwai

The question has been posed to us as to how far the bridge over the River Kwai is from Bangkok and whether we will see it.  It is about 2 hours from Bangkok towards the northwest (I think) and we will not be going that way.  Instead, we are heading to the beach.  We'll watch the movie.  But in the meantime, like the little yoda-like creatures in Spaceballs, we'll just whistle.

Love,
Us

Swatikka from Kho San Road in Bangkok

We are safe and sound and taking in the craziness of Kho San Road! We had a lovely and relaxing breakfast at our Siem Reap hotel, took a tuk tuk to the SR airport, and enjoyed an uneventful 45 minute flight to Bangkok. All checked into our Kho San Road hotel (the 'boutique' Buddy Hotel right ON KSR), we have already mailed our (hopefully) final package home, put up our laundry, and explored the area a bit.

All is well here in Bangkok! We hope you are well, too :)

love, seren

Hi from chabad

Of Bangkok. It's like a JCC with lots if Israelis and a restaurant.
Very out if place. But has ac.

Seren & I

Getting to know you
Getting to know all about you
Getting to like you
Getting to know you like me

Just don't call Thailand "Siam".

Hello Bangkok

Just landed after a 40 minute flight from siem reap, complete with a
vegetarian meal. Time to go to the hotel and do laundry. And before
that, get visas and bahts.

Ironically, we weren't worried about finishing our Cambodian money. We
used dollars almost exclusively and donated $0.75 worth of riels to
charity in the airport. Sorry jeff, there are no coins in Cambodia,
only bills. But we got you a nice crisp 1,000 riel bill (a drop less
than twenty-five cents).

Languages on tv

In our hotel on Cambodia, we can watch tv in the following languages:
English
Thai
Khmer
Hindi
Mandarin
Japanese
Italian
Korean
Malay
Vietnamese
Spanish
French
German
Russian
Dutch
Bahasa
Fuchian

Truly an international hotel.

Last Night in Cambodia

And here's what we did...

 

First, a pizza dinner.  We were just tired of local cuisine.  I love tropical flavors as we experienced here, but if I ate coconut milk one more time, I think I would have thrown up.

 

Second, a stroll through the night market for more bargaining with the locals over silk products.  Bargaining here is more fun than in Morocco, if only because the prices start out much more reasonable (probably because everything is really cheap).

 

Third, a Cambodian massage.  His-and-hers, full body.  Was nice and relaxing.

 

Fourth, a "moto" ride home.  We found a guy who may or may not have been a moto driver (probably wasn't; a moto is a motorcycle-and-driver for hire).  We paid him a dollar to drive us home.  Lots of fun, but it undid the relaxation from the massage.

 

Tomorrow morning, we're off to Bangkok. 

 

Until then...

Love,

Craig

Humidity

Not that I read Seren's entry, but damn, humidity is a killer.  I've never felt so disgustingly sweaty in my life.  There is not a dry spot on my body.  Hong Kong had worse humidity, but at least there was AC is lots of places (which, I think gave me a call).  Here, there is no relief from the weather. 

 

Time for dinner and a massage.

Five things I learned in Cambodia

1. Fish + coconut milk + herbs and spices = DELICIOUS
The 'national dish' of Cambodia is Fish Amok (a really yummy curry dish that is mildly spicy and often served in a coconut shell) and it is delicious!

2. Saying Southeast (and Central) Asia is hot is like saying that the ocean is damp: it is an incomprehensible understatement. Night or day, and in the shade, it is hot hot hot (and humid as hell). I don't drip sweat here- I swim in it, and my clothes are soaked by lunchtime. It's wonderful to be here, but we are appreciative of the lovely hotels in which we're staying that have air conditioned rooms!

3. Tissues (especially those little pocket packs of Kleenex) are invaluable. They can serve as napkins, toilet paper, sweat-wipers (I went through an entire pack of them today while touring Angkor Wat--- I know that is gross for you to read, but just imagine how gross it was for Craig to be with the sweat-ball that was me today), and, well, tissues. When traveling, be sure to bring plenty of tissues!

4. Angkor Wat and most of the the other temples nearby were originally built to be Hindu Temples, though the later temples built in the area were built to be Buddhist Temples (and the Hindu Temples were actually turned into Buddhist Temples in later years).

5. War is bad. There are bullet holes in many of the magnificent walls and doorways in and around Angkor Wat. What a shame.

Craig and I enjoyed a VERY full day touring the many temples in and around Angkor Wat. We even rode an elephant as part of our adventure! We have very much enjoyed Cambodia, and now we are getting ready to head to Thailand. We fly from Siem Reap to Bangkok tomorrow (Friday) morning.

All is very well for us, and we hope you are great, too!

love, seren

Siem riep

Good morning from Siem Riep, which I spell differently each time I write. Today we are exploring Angkor Wat and several other neighboring temples. Should be beautiful. SR is a small tourist town, not as bustling as PP which makes it a little easier to feel comfortable. Just as humid though.

Hello from Siem Reap

We found our hotel and we're enjoying being in a new city here in Cambodia! We're off to Angkor Wat tomorrow :)

Hi from siem reap

Bus worked out a-ok and we're ready to explore our next stop.

Goodbye Phmom penh

Off by bus to siem reap at 815.

Time for Some Pictures

We've had no luck adding videos due to various restraints (no youtube in Korea; 3 hours to upload in Phnom Penh). So here are some pictures from our last few weeks (not necessarily in the right order):

Seren & Dr. Lee, her colleague at Donshin University. We took a tour around Gwangju with him:


I think this is us in a folk village in Seoul. Think Old Bethpage Village or Sturbridge, Mass.


Craig at the DMZ. That door leads to North Korea. If I approached it, that guy would deck me before I even would know what happened.


Seren didn't try (same place):


Seren's host family and our hosts for 2 nights in Gwangju:



Craig, Seren, Elaine (Jericho '98) and Joe, her fiance in Hong Kong

Is that Seren with the shrimp from the Bubba Gump shrimp company at the top of Victoria Peak in Hong Kong? You bet it is!


Hi from the top of Victoria Peak, HK.

Seren with our soju (Korean petrol that is supposed to be palatable, and maybe it really is. A small bottle costs a little over a dollar and can get a lot of people drunk) as we did laundry in Busan:


Before doing a 3D simulation one night in Gwangju (although she got nauseous, Seren didn't throw up).

Seren got her fortune told in Kowloon. The guy said that I was a catch.


In front of a building on the grounds of the Royal Palace in Phenom Penh, Cambodia:


Love,
Us

Phnom Penh

We left Hong Kong Monday and flew to Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Monday morning. Between the quick flight (2 1/2 hours) and the time difference (we gained an hour), we were able to hit the ground running in Cambodia! After checking into our hotel and enjoying the hotel breakfast out by the pool, we walked around the corner from our hotel to the National Museum where we saw a great deal of Khmer art. We walked through the beautiful open-air building observing Cambodian art from its Hindu roots through today's Buddhist art pieces. From there, it was a quick walk to the magnificent Royal Palace. Again, we enjoyed the Buddhist art through the many Palace buildings. After, we traveled by tuk tuk (a small, covered, golf cart-like carriage attached to a motorcycle) to the main Buddhist center on a hill in the middle of town- Wat Phnom. Everything looked beautiful and exotic, and VERY different from anything we've seen thus far in the trip. It's fascinating
to see how a Korean Buddhist temple differs from a Cambodian Buddhist temple. Soon we'll be able to compare Thai temples, as well.

We spent some time yesterday evening walking around near the river (the Tonlé Sap, Mekong, and Bassac rivers meet in Phnom Penh). We found a lovely restaurant with live traditional Cambodian music and dance performances and sat right on the water while we enjoy Craig's birthday dinner.

Day 2 of our visit to Phnom Penh (today, Tuesday, 11 August) started with another yummy breakfast by the pool of our hotel. Then we stepped outside our hotel and found a tuk tuk driver interested in taking us around for the whole day. We started at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. It's a former high school-turned torturous prison run by the Khmer Rouge in Phnom Penh's not-so-distant history. It was chilling to learn of the history that is barely history (the Khmer Rouge came into power in 1975). From there, we traveled just outside of the city to see Choeung Ek, better known as The Killing Fields. This is where victims where taken to be murdered and tossed into mass graves. Victims' sculls have been turned into a memorial, though bone and clothing of the victims are still around the grounds of the Killing Fields.

The Khmer Rouge atrocities have been compared to the Nazi genocide, though the Khmer Rouge had the reverse intentions (the Nazis attempted to create a 'perfect' Aryan race by eliminating any race that would taint the ideal, while the Khmer Rouge murdered the educated, wealthy, successful citizens who threatened the power of the Khmer Rouge). Besides being gruesome and tragic, it seemed rather short sided of the Khmer Rouge. For instance, after all educated medical professionals had been imprisoned or murdered, who was left to care for the ill? The answer was a group of woman, many of whom were illiterate, who were put in charge of health care. The most disturbing photos we saw in the museums today were those of the actual Khmer Rouge militants. These were young boys who looked no older than sixteen years old looking mean and angry and carrying lethal weapons. It was a grim period in Phnom Pehn's past...

After, we decided to cheer ourselves up with some shopping therapy. And here is where we discovered the REAL outlet shopping. Check the label of our clothes. If you are wearing Calvin Klein, Gap, Banana Republic, North Face, or a number of other brands, your shirt/shoes/bag may have been made in Cambodia. We found clothes with labels from many clothing lines we recognized, but items at the market cost $1-$10. We each bought a shirt, I found a pair of shoes, and Craig bought a bag. It was fun shopping. From there we went to the Central Market, a huge French-built market in the center of town (hence its name) where one could buy anything and everything. From edible bugs to watches to shoes to dishes and flatware to clothes to fish to flowers (real and fake), one could shop (ie bargain) at the Central Market and never have to shop anywhere else.

After we said goodbye to our dear tuk tuk driver near our hotel, we walked through a park to the water and enjoyed a rest. We feel that we really experienced Phnom Penh fully.

Tomorrow we are off to Siem Reap by bus. We are looking forward to exploring Angkor Wat tomorrow and Thursday before we fly to Bangkok on Friday morning.

We hope all is well with you!

Hong Kong Impressions

I am so glad that we visited Hong Kong on our way from Northeast Asia (Korea) to Southeast Asia (Cambodia and Thailand). It is fascinating to note how different the countries (culture, food, atmosphere) are from one another!

We packed quite a bit into Hong Kong, but it was striking to note how much of the culture is about SHOPPING! Yes, there are traditional markets, and we visited them (Graham Street Wet Market, Temple Street Night Market, etc.), but there is also an immense amount of upscale shopping to done. I'd never seen so many Gucci, Dior, and Tiffany stores in such close proximity to one another. There are freestanding luxury stores, and huge shopping complexes full of designer shops. And a visitor does not have to look far---the shopping finds you: in walking from the Star Ferry terminal to the escalator to return to our hotel, we passed through a gorgeous high-end mall; the airport had incredible shopping, including Hermes and Jimmy Choo stores.

Did I mention our hotel? When I visited Hong Kong solo seven years ago, I stayed right at the tip of the Kowloon Peninsula across from Hong Kong island. This visit, we stayed ON the island of HK in the Midlevels (about halfway to Victoria Peak). It was a steep walk to our hotel (HK is an incredibly steep volcanic island), but Hong Kong, thankfully, installed covered escalators ascending from sea level to Midlevels. It was VERY cool riding the escalator home. It's a fun way to travel...it's fun that the escalators are a means of travel in Hong Kong: "Craig, should we take a bus home or a taxi or should we walk? No, let's just ride the escalator!"

When we checked into our hotel, Craig smartly used his charm to get us a free upgrade to a suite (Craig's such a savvy traveler). The bedroom of the suit had floor to ceiling windows on two sides and affording quite the city view. We could lie in bed and enjoy the whole Hong Kong skyline from the Midlevels. We could even see some of the harbor and Kowloon! It was high class!

We left HK Monday morning and now we're exploring Cambodia!

Rocking and Rolling Cambodia

Hi from Cambodia.  We are in our hotel in Phnom Penh, having tried to have an easy night.  Right now, I'm uploading some videos and backing up some pictures.  Tomorrow, we are heading to the Killing Fields, which are about 10 km from here.

This morning, we woke up at 530 am in Hong Kong, took a taxi to the Airport Express train and trained to the airport.  Our flight was at 855 am and we made it just in time for last call (our fault, we shopped too much).  We arrived here around 11 or noon, and proceeded to obtain visas.  It's my first visa, so I was excited.

We took a taxi to our hotel ($9, payable in American cash.  The greenback is widely accepted here.  We've only had $0.50 in the Cambodian ried and that's about as much as we will ever have.  Jeff, we're figuring out how to get a coin, if they have).  We even had to take out money from an ATM in the airport to pay for the visas ($20/each) and the ATM spit out greenbacks.  In certain places, however, the exchange rate between rieds and dollars encourages local currency.  That makes sense, it maintain the value of it.

We dropped off our stuff at the hotel and head off for the National Museum which is a collection of Khmer artifacts, as well as Buddhist and Hindu sculptures from throughout Cambodia, dating over the last 1000 years or so.  It was cool.  Our next stop was the Royal Palace, which I don't know if it is still active.  The highlight there (besides a building that was a gift from Napolean III and fits in like a European building would in Cambodia [i.e., it doesn't]) is the Silver Pagoda with a silver floor and one Buddha encrusted with 9,000 diamonds and another Buddha made of emerald or crystal.

Our next stop was via tuk-tuk (motorcycle-powered cab) to see the tallest temple in Phnom Penh (about 90 meters; it's a flat city).  This is a tourist trap, with boys/men selling the right to free their caged birds for $1.  I forget what else was there.  From there, we walked to the night market where there were plenty of fruits and inside-out animals.

From there, dinner on the water, complete with a birthday banana split and then a swim in the pool at the hotel and now bed time.

Good night.
Love,
The Birthday Boy

The Blue Lime

Checked into the hotel. Eating breakfast by the pool.

Cambodia

Hi from phnom penh where it is 1018 in the am (11 hours ahead of new York). Time to experience life here. It's 30 degrees.

On train to airport

We checked in our bags at the Airport Express in hk and now we're on
board the 30 minute train to the airport. Revelry was at 530 this
morning and we're checked in by 630. There may be wifi on this train.

See you at the airport.

Put a fork in it

We went for dinner last night in soho, the hip western area. Dinner
was at a western vegetarian restaurant. I Gad "sausage" pizza, Seren
had a veggieburger. We used forks for the first time a restaurant
since who knows when. Was good. My pizza had goat cheese, something
that had been missing from my diet for a while.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY. CRAIG!

HAPPY 29th BIRTHDAY to my favorite travel companion :)

Hong Kong in 3 days

Day 1:
Victoria Peak, Man Mo Temple, Hollywood Road, Cat Street Market, Graham Street Wet Market, suit/shirt (custom!) shopping, escalator (!), Shabbat dinner at the home of our Pardes Talmud teacher's parents :)

Day 2:
Shabbat services at a gorgeous synagogue- Ohel Leah (established by the Vidal Sassoon family, and therefore related to the Shanghai synagogue we visited, M+D), lunch at the Hong Kong JCC, the Hong Kong Zoo, the HK Botanical Gardens, HK Park (including very cool aviary), tea museum, ceramic and stamp museum, escalator (!), custom suit and shirt fitting, dinner in Kowloon with fellow Jericho High graduate and her fiance, Temple Street Night Markets, Seren gets her fortune told!

Day 3:
Kosher Mart and tour of HK JCC, stroll through Central, subway to Kowloon, Hong Kong Museum of History, dim sum, walk down Chatham Street, high tea at the fancy schmancy Peninsula Hotel, Star Ferry to Hong Kong, dinner in Hong Kong's very fun Soho area, 30-minute foot massages (people doing the massaging, and not fish), escalator (!), blogging :)

We are off to Cambodia tomorrow! Hong Kong has been fun and HOT (hotter than a sauna at a Korean bathhouse)! We hope all is well :)