more awesomeness around England

I came on this journey, somewhat of an extended vacation with a purpose, but found myself pulled to do all the crazy touristy things in a frenzy. It is now Thursday, May 26th, I think. I'm having a hard time keeping track of days and dates. According to Ben, my Brooklyn boy, it's day 19 (20 now, I guess) of my sabbatical. Hardly feels like it's been that long since I had to "work for money!" Feels like this is the life I've been meant to live! We'll see how long this sentiment goes on for. Truth be told, in the background of all this touring, I've been approached by a friend at Chronicle Books for some consulting work which has gotten my brain churning. They're one of the few companies I've been interested to work with in a long time.

Harry and I had a museum day the past Saturday, perusing art work dating back to the 13th century at the National Gallery by Trafalqar Sq. Then we finally made it into the British Museum, which harbored a spectacular interior, architecturally as well as its BCE collection. Unfortunately, we only got to see very little as it closed at 5:30. Ah well, more reason to come back. These two, plus many other museums, are amazingly free! Puts a whole new meaning for society to appreciate history, art and culture, me thinks.

On Sunday, we took a bus tour to Stonehenge, with side trips to Windsor Castle and Oxford. Windsor, teeming with worldly collections of prized artifacts was quite fascinating to say the least. The kingdoms of England's reign was evident here, with items from India, Africa, China, etc. Yes, there was a gargantuan wall sized painting of a chinese diplomat. This, Karma, my new Tibetan friend from Switzerland, hypothesized could be the fellow who signed over Hong Kong?! Nothing to be seen from Malaysia however... what could they have taken? Rubber sap and tin ore?!

Getting to walk around Oxford was the closest I'll probably get to fulfilling my story that never was from the summer at Berea College when I was signed up to volunteer with Oxfam. But due to my straight-bookishness, had applied for a work visa which got denied. At Oxford, I did see several of the Oxfam stores, much like the Salvation Army shops in the US. Nothing too exciting, but it was sweet to be able to walk the streets of such an erudite, perhaps pompous town! When we got back into town, we had dinner at Rasa Sayang, an awesome Malaysian restaurant in Piccadilly Circus, my apparent favorite hood in London.

The past Tuesday evening, I volunteered at Streetlytes with Martina, who's been involved with them since its inception just a couple of years ago. Streetlytes is a grassroots organization started by a couple of drug addicts turn good who wanted to make something more of their lives. They now serve food to the homeless. A couple of the guys in the picture far right below are from the streets themselves, who came in to just help out. Martina and I ran into them by their pitched tents when we later strolled through Parliament buildings trying to catch a glimpse of Obama. Embarrassingly, we learned Ron and Nick hadn't taken any of the sandwiches from our work earlier, whereas Martina and I had split one! Lordy. I do wish I am staying longer in London so I can truly do some good work here myself... not just taking sandwiches, of course.

For my yoga blog on this journey, please see yogamagi.blogspot.com

Thanks and adieu!

lots of love and hugs,
~Magi

Two perfect days

London sightings

The last two days have been perfectly beautiful. I went jogging over at St James' Park, where Buckingham Palace is, taking the longer route of the tube instead of just running there as I didn't realize how close to the hotel it actually was. Afterwards, I stopped by Westminster Abbey and got to explore the school grounds as well as the cathedral itself. Upon my first perusal of the Royal wedding photo book, I've come to conclude that Prince William looks much better when he doesn't bare his horse teeth. It was actually sunny out yesterday, so I hope I got my vitamin D intake for the day. Oh, and I also got scolded by Abbey staff for taking a picture of the choir practicing...and somehow, I got in without a ticket, unintentionally.

In the evening, Harry and I made our way to the British Museum, which purportedly closes at 8:30, according to a Lonely Planet online article. False info. So, we had an awesome dinner at Cafe Rouge instead. Harry and I've had dessert every night this week. But thankfully, we've been able to walk it all off. Right.

This morning, Harry woke me up asking if I wanted to go for a run and I just told him to have a good one. He didn't seem to get the message and asked me again, upon which I got up and lazily agreed to. Today was even warmer than yesterday! We had a beautiful run over to the Palace. Then I met up with Martina, my new Irish friend and AirBnB host. We walked over Portobello Market and had a wonderful afternoon browsing the shops. She seemed to know quite a few people around the market. The walk to the market was highlighted by passing the house boats moored on the canal in Maida Vale. Then in the evening, I made my way to Triyoga in Soho, by Oxford Circus, for a fabulous vinyasa class.

Harry met up with me later at Oxford Circus where we had a fantastic Brazillian dinner at a quaint restaurant tucked away in a corner, away from the Circus crowds. I certainly hadn't expected or planned for any culinary amazement on this trip, particularly with my "unemployment budget" but repeatedly find myself so. No complains here! And yes, sightseeing excursions have become the main focus this week, largely due to the proximity of Park Plaza to all things AWESOME in downtown London. We are going to sadly miss this hotel and it's location.

big ben

This is my first recognizable sighting of London, Big Ben set against the Houses of Parliament. It is situated right at the other end of Westminster Bridge, with London Eye (the giant ferris wheel) on this side, which is where Park Plaza is, the cool swanky hotel I'm bunking at with Harry! How lucky can I be?!

Yesterday evening, I jumped on the infamous red double decker bus (#159) to Piccadilly Circus, not quite knowing what to expect, in search of Wong Kei, Jeremy's favorite chinese restaurant where he's been to over 500 times. How can anyone not want to check this spot out? Kind'a reminded me bit of SanTung in San Francisco. But the Chinatown that is part of Piccadilly Circus is what blew me away. Or maybe it was just the crowds? Massive! Absolutely massive! But also, quaint at the same time. The buildings seemed almost out of a movie. The streets, two lanes wide at best. And get this -- the Chinatown here is CLEAN!

Harry and I later took a long walk from the hotel back to Piccadilly, passing by Trafalqar Square where I got a good history lesson on Lord Nelson from Harry. We later had some Snog for dessert. My legs are sore today, so I didn't venture out much except to jump on the first bus that came along and then deciding where to go. I ended up at, guess where? Yep, Piccadilly Circus! I recalled the Singaporean restaurant, Rasa Sayang (c'mon, it's really Penang food, Jeremy. It is the Republic after all!) that Harry and I chanced upon on our walk. I ended up having Curry Noodles for 7 GBP, about US$11, which would buy approximately 10 bowls in Penang. But hey, I am in London...

london eye

My first sightseeing trip of London. Notice the bagpipe player as well the jogger toting a bag pack, which has been a fairly common sighting in these couple of days... maybe it's just tourist needing to do a quick run. I'm not sure.

Settling in to London

I arrived at Heathrow a couple of nights ago, and stayed at the Renaissance by the airport since I got in quite late. Interestingly, while queueing along the immigration line, I noticed Guruji in his...well, guru outfit. He approached me later at the convenience store after we both passed through (this was my first official declaration of a yoga teacher as profession!) And he asked, "Are you from Malaysia?" I think I've ever only been asked that less than 5 times my entire life, even if ever before. Majority of the time, I get asked if I'm Phillipina (both in and outside of Malaysia/US) or on the fewer occasions, Chinese. Guruji, it turns out hails from Malacca, a little old town in Malaysia and we both ensued an hour long conversation. Quite intriguing, that Indian man. He is now a friend on Facebook as well as Skype!

The next day, I headed out to my first AirBnB lodging, a last minute booking I made with Jake since Jill had cancelled on me just a few days prior. Upon arriving at Jake's, I was aghast at how dismal the conditions were. Thankfully, Jake declared the room not ready and offered me a release of our contractual booking in lieu of a shared room, also of appaling condition. I quickly emailed Martina, who had noted her recent return from a 4month trip to India. And she thankfully called me within 20 minutes. I am writing from her computer at this moment. Needless to say, Martina was a god-send! Her home is just about how I would like to have mine and her character, delightful.

I'm off to my first yoga class at Triyoga by Primrose Hill!

ciao,

~Magi

Departure from SF

LEAVING SAN FRANCISCO

It took my whole village to get me packed up and out of San Francisco. Everyone pitched in in incredible ways. Miranda and Mel were the initiators, having taken my love-seat/arm chair a month prior and then another load of stuff later. Matt is storing my Honda Rebel. Raylan picked up my A/V electronics, whatchamacallems. Melody came by with baby Vivian to sweep up sentimental things that would have taken me days to pack which took her a couple of hours. Mei Li packed up more nitty gritty stuff and removed darn stubborn nails from the walls. Ulka and Claire took away car loads of STUFF. Donn was the most indispensable, helping me 3 days straight with everything and anything, from morning till midnight. Ernie helped by taking in my bed set, which Andrew and Donn helped deliver. Jim shreded/scanned important docs. Susan took some flower pots with her. Gita bought my deskset. I got to visit with Tsering, an old college friend, briefly with a load of household goods. Aumarie and Peter helped take in my last pile of storage items. And that was the only way I could embark on this journey physically...and emotionally.

I still can't get over how much STUFF I accumulated in the 8 years that I lived on Lone Mountain in the shoebox studio apartment. But there you have it. It's now all crammed into a 5' x 5' storage unit...and Miranda & Mel's house! Oh yes, and Ernie's spare bedroom! Thank you all, again and again.

Their physical assistance was enfolded in the emotional support I needed to get me going. It is largely because of all the wonderful people in my life that I've managed to get to where I am. Unemployed. Hahaha... just kidding. (Sense the nervousness?) Well, that was part of the game plan. It is because of the support of all these great friends and family that I found strength in myself to leave a job I've not been happy with for way too long, and to embark on this yogic sabbatical journey.


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NEW YORK

I've been in Nyack, NY for 4 days now with Elizabeth. Her house is absolutely adorable as is this quaint little town. I'm loving it here. It was just the right environment for me to come to after all the crazy hustle and bustle of packing up San Francisco. Today, we went for a long walk along the Hudson and watched "The King's Speech" - quite the apropos movie for my upcoming trip!

Last night, I went to a party at a neighbor of a friend of a friend's house in Brooklyn with Ben. No, that was not a typo. (Thanks, Melody!) It made me fall in love with Brooklyn. The variety of people at the party, the host, the food... the culture. I've never seen myself living in NY till last night. Ben was a great date too, coming along in the admittedly awkward circumstance! It was a lovely gathering and a wonderful way for me to start my state of unemployment!

This was taken by Ben somewhere in Soho shortly after my disengagement from Cengage.

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WHY THIS JOURNEY?

Why not?! I've been wanting to see more of the world for years...and I truly mean to see. To experience the culture, the people, the architecture, the way of life. And what better way than through the lens of an aspiring yoga teacher? Through my travels, I'm hoping to uncover a yoga path that I can hopefully carve into my future as a yoga teacher. Having just completed the 200-hr training, this is the continuous path of that learning, which I realize will be a lifelong journey.

In every town I visit or stay at, I'm hoping to both 1.) reconnect with an old friend, 2.) discover and learn about the yoga scene and make connections for furthering my path as a yoga teacher. The sight-seeing bit is largely the add-on! On the sidelines of all this, I'm exploring ways how my yearning to serve human rights at large may come into play with the focal point/trip eyed on Auschwitz in mid June.

In the Summer, I will end up back in my hometown of Penang, Malaysia. I will finally get to spend some unhurried, quality time with my Mom & Dad... something I've not been able to do since I left the country 19 years ago. In the 2-3 months, I also plan on visiting friends and yoga sites around Phillipines, Thailand and Bali.

Then ultimately, I will spend another 2-3 months in the Himalayas, primarily in Rishikesh. It looks like my yoga teacher friend, Catherine, will be there around the same time! I hope to visit with a college buddy in Nepal and then perhaps later in the year, end up in South India, towards Bangalore and Mysore.

It is an exciting time in my life. Thank you! I am so ever grateful to be able to embark on this journey.