Carlos' Cebu

I'm now about four cities behind...and am even back on US soil now!


The last month went by so quickly I haven't had much quiet time to pen down my travels, thoughts or taxes. This trip to Cebu came about when I was in Cambodia emailing my old buddy, Carlos, who used to live in the SF Bay area. We'd become instant buddies from when we met on Dave's dragon boat team in '00. Then about 5 years ago, from his corporate burnout at Genentech, he packs up, heads back to his hometown, opens a pizza joint, gets married and has a kid. There you have it!


I knew my trip to visit Carlos was going to be a grand one when I was treated to a manicure and haircut at one of his salons on the day I arrived. Right, the pizza joint has been long gone. I kind'a like his new business venture better. For the rest of the week, Carlos took me around Cebu, one day snorkeling with whale sharks and actually standing under a cascading 100ft tall waterfall (something I've dreamed of doing in a long time) to chilling out on an island that took not even 10minutes to circumnavigate! We had many lovely meals at his house with the family. Maddie, his two year old gal loved strumming the guitar while Nani sang to her. Adorable!


Swimming with the whale shark was probably the most unreal experience...these huge gentle fish would glide by and seemingly not bothered by the many snorkelers abound. They were so close by I could easily reach out to pet them. Ok, yes I did, and yes, I got scolded. So, I didn't do it again, even when my fisherman pushed me right over the top of one I could just about see what each gill looked like... The thought of getting whacked by this gentle giant did cross my mind, but thankfully I returned to shore safely, only with lacerations from jelly fish...


I'll be going back in a heartbeat!

Seeing Saigon

Beautiful colonial architecture, good food, war memorabilia off the wazoo, the Mekong river, friendly people, warm balmy weather, a million motorcycles, no traffic lights. This is Saigon. Or what is aptly known as Ho Chi Minh City. I personally prefer the name, Saigon. Having spent a week there, I would head back in a heartbeat. I love Vietnamese food...a cross between Thai and Chinese, not too spicy, not too oily! Having eaten at many such restaurants in San Francisco, I was excited to chow down a storm where it all originated. The coffee here is much like what I grew up drinking and hence, I couldn't get enough of. My favorite purchase is one of those quaint metal single french presses I'd seen so many times in Vietnamese restaurants back in SF. OK, that and my Sommerkind red leather ballerina shoes I'd hunted for through my travel from Europe to Asia in the last year.

One cannot escape visiting HCMC without running into historical sightings of the war that tore through Vietnam. It made me intensely curious to learn why Americans were there in the first place. Perhaps it's one of the reasons tourists flock there...and so I did visit the CuChi tunnels, a series of underground network dug out by the Viet Cong, which inadvertently defeated the GI's. One had to be quite tiny to crawl through these tunnels, and be able to withstand immense heat and humidity. I've yet to fully comprehend this war, but thanks to my Uncle Mick, I now have a fairly good picture of history...all the way back to the Roman empire!

I didn't have any specific agenda in visiting HCMC...but I knew it would spark my interest in learning the history of this region, plus I'd get to eat one of my favorite ethnic foods! Travelling through Asia had been one of my "big plans" in this year off work, which is sadly coming to a close. Often, I'd hear from friends and meet people back in SF who'd seen more of Asia than I ever had (nevermind the fact that my first time on a plane was at 18 heading to college in America!) So, I've spent these last several months to discover and learn more about this part of the world I grew up in. It's funny how the locals commented how I looked like one of them, whether I was in Cambodia or Vietnam! I know that will be the case when I head to Phillipines in ten days. I know ever more so now too, how lucky I was to have grown up in Malaysia, sans the racism that still abounds today, where there is hardly any remnants of war. My Dad grew up during the Japanese occupation and hardly likes to tell stories of that era. But we didn't have masses of people being tortured or killed, whether by fellow country men, or conquerors.

People must be crazy...and sometimes, I do wonder if religion makes us so. Many wars have been fought in the name of God...or Allah. Obviously, even till today. In Vietnam, I had the opportunity to visit the CaiDai temple, where multi religions converge under one roof. In the temple's main altar, the figurines of Kwan Yin, Buddha, the 3 Gods of Taoism - the Hock Lock Siew dudes, Jesus Christ and Lao Tsu all sit staring down at the congregation and many tourists alike. What a brilliant concept! I'm just wondering why Shiva isn't up there as well. Apparently, my mom says he is present at a local Chinese temple near our house. But I suppose to be fair, if Shiva or Rama and Buddha can share temples, then Allah could also probably be there. I hope I don't get questioned by the Muslim Syariah police here -- good thing I'm heading out'a here! Adios!

Phnom Penh royal treatments

After my month of teaching two full courses at Chea Sim University in Prey Veng, the last day of which I was finishing grading from 9am - 5pm, plus hanging out with the girls at FDCC (Foundation for Development of Cambodian Communities) till 7:30, I got to Phnom Penh ready for some RnRnRT - rest 'n relaxation and retail therapy. I got in early yesterday morning and went straight to bed at my cute little guest house, Alibi, which I highly recommend. It's very central and tucked away from the main street, a block away from where all the other noisier guest houses are. After strolling around the Royal Palace in the afternoon, I browsed shops on Street 178 (the Artsy street) and had a light dinner before my 2hr spa session. Today, it was just all retail therapy. I headed to the Russian Market in the morning and was quite disappointed with the quality of goods there. Though, I did get a suit for all of US$28. But Psar Thmey more than made up for it. I had a way too good lunch at Romdeng, a restaurant that's much like Delancey Street in San Francisco, where the workers are brought in from the streets, though the ones at Romdeng are mostly homeless youth with no incarceration history as far as I'm aware. It's a project started by Friends International, a very admirable NGO (non-governmental organization, or non-profit business.)

Having had a lunch for two by myself, I later walked an hour to the expat area of town in hopes of losing some of it...only to find this one particular TripAdvisor highly rated restaurant already closed, at 9pm. So I hop on someone's scooter to get back to Alibi and had a salad for dinner at the Lazy Gecko, finishing off with some banoffee pie. :) Getting around Phnom Penh is quite interesting. Of course, there are tons of tuk-tuks here hustling for business, charging around US$1-2 per trip. The scooter pickups cost a bit less, but more harrowing as one often finds oneself sitting in the middle of traffic while the scooter inches its way across the madness. No helmet of course. There are the cyclos too, but one tried to charge $5 for a short trip.

I found this website especially helpful for tourist info on Cambodia: http://www.canbypublications.com/ -- though the prices listed are a year or two behind times. The cost of Phnom Penh is highly targeted at westerners, both tourists and expats. But thankfully, lodging is still very affordable, where basic accommodations run from around $25/night, many owned/run by Frenchies. Food adds up to about $8/meal sans alcohol, with healthy portions at chic, modern restaurants. If you're gastronomically adventurous, the local fare runs only about $2-4.

I've hurriedly wrote this blog entry so I can return to it when I come back to Cambodia in the future. It's a wonderful country to be in, not quite yet over run by tourists and the locals are so humble, friendly and always sok sabbai.

first week of classes

It's Sunday night, and I'm happy to have survived my first full week of teaching at Chea Sim University of Kamchaymear in Prey Veng. I had a full weekend of 8 hour day long classes, and morning sessions Mondays - Fridays. Thankfully, Prey Veng keeps to an agriculture schedule of long lunch breaks (2-3 hours) to stay out of the mid day scorching sun.

I am teaching Consumer Behavior and International Marketing, probably two of my favorite business classes. It's like studying psychology and cultures, from a modern practical perspective. Yes, yes, then there's GDPs, Lorenz curves and such. It's been tremendously intriguing reading these textbooks I've not looked at since college. The more I do, the more I realize how they tie in to the everyday workings of the world today, and mine as well.

In response to a question in my weekend class about what or who their managers are like, one guy said in Khmer, "my wife is my boss." These students continue to surprise me with such responses! When I spoke about India's lack of population control, another guy says, "ah, they're not using uh...those things...um, condoms" -- well, thankfully, I'm not here to teach them about that! In my lectures, I try to keep a yogic mind in tact...talking a lot about ethics, sustainable economies, environmental practices and stressing the importance of keeping true to their values and traditions. Each day though, I have to think hard and fast, how any of this textbook stuff or my jabbering will help these youngsters (18-25 year olds) build a more promising future for themselves, their communities and Prey Veng. In 3 weeks.

There is not a single traffic light or signal in this village. This is a town where the streets really have no names. Everyone goes around at a leisurely pace on their bicycles and even motorcycles. I've been catching sunsets by the lake any day I'm not volunteering at a home for girls, founded by my friend, Diane, who kick started this trip for me. The most "modern" store is the convenience shop attached to the brand new gas station around the corner from my hotel. There are quite a number of tour buses that go through town a couple times a week, stopping by the hotel restaurant. They are tourists from around Cambodia and Vietnam. I've seen less than a dozen foreigners/westerners in my ten days here. And there's a slew of international non-profits here, from Red Cross to Unicef.

A favorite spot is the lake front stretch where I continuously witness breath-taking sunsets. My usual ride is to head out of the hotel after my 3rd shower of the day around 5:30 and just chase after the sunset. Sometimes, I stop by the street vendors on my way home, getting some corn or local delicacies for dinner. A few days ago, I rode around these intriguing circular rings of streets that I saw appear on my ipad map. They turned out to be dirt roads that ended with a big Buddhist temple right in the center. Buddhist chanting was being piped out through loud speakers, much like Muslim prayers back in Malaysia. I got many stares, but even more smiles.

I am here for just another two weeks. They're gonna be the quickest days, I can tell. I'm not sure how much I'm doing for these folks, maybe they more for me. My student translator said as we parted from our weekend class this afternoon, "the students say they like it so much, learning from you. You're not like the other teachers here...they don't keep us back for so long" -- I'm not quite sure if that was meant as a compliment as he was laughing. So I laugh too.

Prey Veng, Cambodia

I'm in a little village called Prey Veng in Cambodia, about 55km
between Kampong Cham and Phnom Penh, not too far from Vietnam. I got
here just 4 days ago and have settled into my little hotel room
nicely. It's to be my home for this whole month. At 3 storeys high,
it is one of the tallest buildings in town. The point at which I got
"comfortable" was when I was able to buy some toilet paper and instant
coffee packs. It's funny how these items are really all I need to
make me feel OK wherever I've been around the world. Ah, clean,
drinkable water is essential too and I've been supplied with plentiful
bottles of them here. Yes, clean underwear is great too, so I should
add detergent to that list of "basic comfort necessities." Granted, I
did pack my handy dandy single cup water heater, and metal mug in my
carry-on sized luggage (expandable of course!) Having lived out of
suitcases now for over 8 months, I'm keenly aware of items that are
unnecessary or certainly too heavy for me to lug around. And sure,
living at home with my parents in Penang doesn't actually count as
"living out of a suitcase" but I sure wish it has something to do with
dumping some emotional baggage!

Why Prey Veng? Why Cambodia.

I first visited Cambodia in 2009, doing the somewhat touristy thing in
Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, having dragged my sister along. But I had
come here with a mission to learn more about the Khmer Rouge regime.
My "photo blog" can be seen at: khmerrougecambodia.shutterfly.com

Cambodia is one of the poorest nation in the world, largely due to
that time period which ended not too long ago. I was deeply intrigued
with the genocide in this country as it occurred at a social class
level and not so much about religious, ethnic or political strife as
does many other mass killings in history or those of today. It's the
poor, albeit mad, killing the smart. Khmer Rouge wanted to wipe out
the middle class, anyone who was educated and "level" out society.
I'm not sure if it's all just communism gone awry, but I had vowed
back then to return to this country to do something more positive.

When Diane, a friend of a good friend from grad school proposed the
idea of volunteer teaching at a village university several months ago,
I jumped at the opportunity. I met Di the day before I left for
India. So I've been anticipating this project since and am quite
delighted to be here. The idea behind setting up a university in this
small village sits on the concept of bringing education to the rural
instead of taking kids out of their homes into cities. Chea Sim
University of Kamchaymear is located in several villages and has an
average of 1,000 students each.

I must say my biggest delight so far has been this loaner blue
bicycle. I captured these images riding around town yesterday. Ah,
except for the one picture with me in it of course. That was taken at
a wedding Mr. Rady, the University director took me to. As with the
few weddings I've been to, there's lots of drinking to be had. But
here, Cambodian style karaoke with dancing is the in-thing. I'm not
convinced it's only "in" at weddings, as Rady had a video music CD
playing repeatedly on the 1hr journey to the wedding spot and back.
It is also televised widely here, with people sitting around watching
it endlessly. Never mind Matt Damon's on screen or some international
news channel, as is available on my little TV in the hotel room. It's
all about the singing and dancing, Cambodian style! Classes start in
two days!

5 weeks with Mom&Dad

January 24th, 2012

It's been 5 weeks that I've been back in my hometown, and yes, staying at my Mom&Dad's. That, in itself is a feat. OK, I did spend about 8 weeks at home prior to the 3-month India trip...and yes, that was also an accomplishment. Thank you! I think at that time, I was still reeling from having packed up my life in San Francisco, leaving a 12year career and travelling through Europe for 2 months. So I did a whole lot of nothing...happily. Save for the almost daily yoga practice, I lazed around at home, met up with friends, and slept some more. This time around, I'd hoped to get out and about a bit more. But the whole week or two after I got back from India, I had no space/energy/emotion to be with or for anyone. There was just so much to digest. Literally. Yes, I'd gotten sick in Calcutta actually. Thankfully, for only 24hrs.

Since my parents do not celebrate Christmas, that made it simple for me. Though it was one of the quietest, if not uneventful Christmases I've ever experienced, it was probably just what I needed. I got to spend a few days with one of my childhood best friends, Lay Hoon, going around old haunts (particularly lots of food spots) in Penang. Both of us spent New Year's eve with her very cosmopolitan and lovely friend's family.

Being in Penang just means eating a whole lot as evidenced in the pictures. Every meeting with a friend or relative is an occasion for food. Wendy and I took another childhood friend's mom to a german restaurant I fell in love with and for a 2nd dessert, had the most expensive durians (those thorny looking fruit.) Mom&Dad and I met up with a cousin and his family visiting from Australia over some sumptuous nyonya cooking. After hiking to Pantai Kerachut, a couple childhood friends I've not seen since leaving Penang in 1991, and I pigged out at an awesome Indian restaurant that is now the venue of our class reunion in a couple of days for Chinese New Year.

Ah, yes, and then there's Chinese New Year...or Lunar New Year, whichever you please. It's my first one back in Penang since I left 21 years ago. I didn't quite know what to expect anymore. When we were kids, it was great fun visiting relatives, friends and who knows who some of those people were, collecting ang pows (red envelopes with MONEY in them) - yes, cold hard cash! Does anyone wonder why the chinese are so money minded? Anyway. I had to insist on taking Mom&Dad to a new restaurant, Chinahouse, for our CNY eve reunion dinner since they hadn't made any plans. Thankfully, it was quite a pleasant experience. The next morning, as I got ready for my first Chinese New Year of the Dragon day (after an hour of yoga, showering and ironing some clothes) I came downstairs to find Dad had already left to visit friend/relatives on his own. WTF? "Enter the dragon" brought a whole new meaning to this house and there went my morning's yoga practice! Mom had even told him to eat lunch on his own as she was thinking we could go back to the yummy Indian vegetarian restaurant. Wow. What a blow to my anticipation! And here, I was worried about nosy relatives and those unidentified ang pow giving individuals of past questioning my marital status!

So. Hummmmmm.... mind you. It's only the second day of CNY. I've cooled down a tad since while still processing all this, and the last 5 weeks. In a few days, I head to Kuala Lumpur to meet up with friends and relatives before flying out to Cambodia for my 1-month volunteer teaching stint at a university in Prey Veng. God bless those kids I'm about to tutor. Ahhh, I still have a few days to recover...one more day of yoga to teach at Inner Peace Yoga Circle in Pulau Tikus, where I've been fortunate enough to get on the schedule! When I disengaged from my life in San Francisco on this yogic journey, I'd planned on spending extended amounts of time with Mom&Dad. At a corporate job and apparently at the most "hard-working" , it was hard to fly all the way home only to spend 2-3 weeks at best with them. For the most part, it's been an uneventful trip. But I constantly have to recall every yogic principle I can think up to keep an even keel. And from yesterday's re-appearance of the dragon in me, I obviously have a looooong ways to go from yogic-hood. Definitely not in this lifetime!

Last stop: Kolkatā

Kolkatā (new name of Calcutta) was such a pleasant surprise of a major Indian city.  Yes, it's huge (4+ million  people in the city proper; 14+ area wide)  and yet it felt manageable.  The story of how I ended up coming through this city lies in the first 2 weeks of my trip to India.  In a desperate attempt to get myself 6 hours north of New Delhi to the town of Rajpur, I'd miraculously made the night bus that ended up an 11 hour trip.  Sunil was the nicest gentleman I could have been so lucky to be seated with on this arduous bus ride.  He was on the way (in his last minute plan) to visit his daughter at a boarding school in Mussoorie.  We ended up chatting quite a bit of the 11hr journey, especially since there was little chance of us getting any sleep in the most bumpy, noisy and cold bus ride ever!  With his warm Nepalese nature, he'd invited me to visit with his family should I be going through Kolkatā...and so I did!  

Aparna, Sunil's wife, was able to show me around the city for the 3 days I was there.  It was great fun getting to see the city with a "local" companion.  The highlight of my trip here was visiting Mother Teresa's Mission of Charities.  Much of the rest of my tourist sightings were seen from the car ride through the city, which was such a contrast to my experience in India until then!  Eating masala dosa and Mumbai coffee (y.u.m.) in a very modern shopping center was almost surreal.  I still don't get the whole idea of discarding the cute little red earthenware cups from which I downed much deeelicious (and what I believe to be doped up) chai.

There is just so much life here. So much grandeur.  So much poverty.  So much pollution.  So many people.  So much trash.  So many colors.  So India. 

silence in BodhGaya

I was in Bodh Gaya only from Dec. 14 - 17th and yet it had such a profound impact on me. Perhaps because I spent most of my time there at a buddhist meditation course in silence. Or that I didn't leave the compounds of Root Institute for 3 days except a couple of hours on the first and last afternoons. I'm not quite sure... I think it's probably more of the former. I've never had to be quiet in one stretch for so long in my life, not that I can recall anyway. And this was only for 3 days! Can you imagine what I'd become had I signed up for the 10 day vippasana meditation course, which I had been contemplating?

Being silent brings a sense of peacefulness I don't think I've ever experienced. Never having to speak. What?! Now, not being allowed to speak at home or in school is one thing...but when one is out in the "free world" and after 2.5 months of meeting awesome people through India, yakking one's heart away, this was quite the aftermath of a crescendo to my time in India, Varanasi being the height of a crazy time. From the constant life/death in Varanasi to the quietude in Bodh Gaya... I ended up not really able to socialize much when I returned to Penang just a little over 2 weeks ago! Therein, the oxymoron. Magi =/ unsociable.

I haven't even started about sitting in lotus pose, in hour long meditations 3 - 4 times each day. My legs on the first day had that tingling, numbing sensation that almost felt like they were going to break into pieces. And yes, I was most certainly nodding off that first afternoon's meditation, having just arrived in Bodh Gaya early in the morning after catching the 5:45am train from Varanasi. I persevered and was never so happy to be done with my day that day, passing out at around 9:30pm!

On the second day of the course, I was able to put in some yoga time, on the roof top of the dorm! At that point, and even to some degree, till now, I was feeling the aftermath of Usha's classes in my hamstrings...I must've torn some muscle fascia! Anyway...I'm very happy to have participated in the retreat, though I don't know if I would go back to Root Institute. It was a bit overly westernized for my taste, where all the food served largely catered to the western pallette. BUT. It was a great space to be in. The temple is beautiful and the grounds very well kept. The rooms, bathrooms etc. were all super clean. It was just so unlike much of what I'd experienced in India thus far...

Outside of Root, I loved witnessing the masses of monks at the Mahabodhi Temple. They had come from all over the world for a 10-day Tibetan festival graced by the Dalai Lama and more were on the way! Next, a night train to Kolkata! Shhhhhh!