Happy Aussie New Year

Well, it's 8pm on New Year's Eve. Most likely after I'm done catching up on my emails, I'm going to brace myself for the crowds gathered around the Harbour Bridge to watch the fireworks to go off at midnight. It's a bit of a turn off esp. b/c it'll be a long walk to the harbour from where I'm staying in Sydney but I figure I'm only in Sydney once, I'm going to make the best of it.

So Christmas with the Allan's was pretty cool and pretty tiring. I was expecting to just sit by and watch the family open presents but lo and behold, I was totally included in the festivities. I got SO many presents from the Allan's. Mr and Mrs Allan bought me my first ever bottle of cK cologne. I've never even worn cologne in my life. I'm pretty excited.

After Christmas lunch w/ consisted of cold meats, salads, and bbq prawns and an Aussie dessert called Pavlova, I had a nap and a quick walk around the lake before the hoards of guests started to arrive. The Allans hosted an open house and tons of people dropped in. I was pretty tired and exhausted by the end of the night.

I had the option of going w/Phil's parents up the coast on Boxing Day to visit "Nanna" and I jumped at the chance to see more of Australia. We went up to a small town called Morriset that sits on Lake Macquarie. Over the next 2-3 days, I sunbathed (worked on my tan), went rowing for the first time, went sailing, and planted a tree among other things. Phil's parents and Nanna were awesome and so hospitable. During my time there, cricket games were on inthe background on TV pretty much all day long. It was a nice time to just relax and catch up on sleep esp. after 3 consectutive nights of clubbing including Christmas Eve. It felt a bit irreverent to go clubbing on Christmas Eve but I had a good time. ;)

On Friday, I headed down to the beautiful city of Sydney. It is absolutely gorgeous. It's what Toronto could be if it was on the ocean (e.g.Vancouver). It's a huge city. It was great to see ethnic people again. I met up w/ my friend Maggz who I met in China, and fittingly enough, we went to Chinatown for lunch. I was very desperate for some Chinese food. I love Allan home cooking and all, but I am half Chinese and I need my rice, chinese vegetables, tofu, and cocktail buns. ;) You should've seen me in Chinatown, I was ecstatic. Afterwards, Maggz showed me around to all the iconic symbols of Sydney including the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, etc. It was fantastic. We ended up getting sucked into the biggest tourist trap ever. We paid $30 to have a cocktail inside an ICE bar called Minus 5. yes, everythingis made of ice, you wear a parka and gloves, and even the glasses are made of ice. A bit tacky but it was a fun experience. It made me think of home (Canada). ;)

Yesterday, I hit up my first Aussie beach - Manly Beach and got to ride the ferry through Sydney Harbour. More exceptional views and the beaches are everything that I imagined it to be - beautiful people, boardies, surfboards, lifesaversin their yellow and red uniforms, and reminders on the loud speakers to swim between the flags. I've also had ample opportunity to sample nightlife here in Sydney and I'm having a great time. Aussies are so friendly and while it's not intentional, whenever I tell people that I'm on a tight budget b/c I'm a backpacker,people keep buying me drinks. I swear it's not intentional, but it works for me. ;) It makes for cheaper nights out.

Anyway, tonight is New Year's Eve. I hope you all have an awesome New Year's. I'm off to New Zealand on Tuesday for 2 weeks. I miss you all. To be honest, I am starting to feel a bit homesick. I miss my friends, the regularities of life, just being in Vancouver. I'm in no rush to jump into a Vancouver winter but I'm thinking more and more, I'd like to be home for summer. We'll see how things go. Until then, *HUG* and "Happy New Year"

A little bit of Christmas cheer

So I've arrived in Canberra - my new home for the next 4 months or so. It was sort of daunting arriving in a place that is going to be home for the next little while. Phil's mom picked me up from the airport. I have a new room - it's Phil's mom's sewing room so it's a bit "pretty" so to speak. I don't feel presumptuous enough yet to add my own personal touch to the room - but who knows, maybe all the floral patterns will grow on me.... ;)

Canberra if you don't know is the capital of Australia. No, it's not Sydney or Melbourne. It's Canberra. It was created as the capital city in the 1920's. It has a population of just over 330,000 but the city is freakin' massive. It's not exactly urban sprawl per se- it's just sprawling with houses and buildings dotting the landscapes. Canberra sort of reminds me of Calgary. This is also the city of roundabouts. I feel completely disoriented when I go anywhere b/c I keep going in circles everywhere. Lots of rolling hills. There's been a drought in AUstralia for the last few years, so the grass is a nice shade of yellow/brown. I've also seen two dead kangaroos so far on the road - apparently it's quite common. I can't wait to see live kangaroos.

I'm excited to be here. It's going to an experience to say the least. It's also experience living with Phil's family. As you probably know - I come from a small family. My dad passed away when I was 9, so it's just been my mom and I. At Phil's house - he has 4 sisters, mom, dad, and even a family dog that is terrified of me. When I sat at the dinner table yesterday - I felt like I was watching a TV show - maybe Leave it to Beaver or something. It'll be an interesting Christmas.

Today, I went job hunting. I had a few interviews lined up. The good news: there's lots of interesting work to do, from fundraising, to planning events, to advocacy, etc. The bad news: it's gonna be all volunteer work by the looks of it. Not exactly financially sustainable but I figure I could do a few months of volunteer work and still be okay $$$-wise. It'll be really interesting work. I was meeting w/ the Deputy CEO (Mike) of the St. Vincent de Paul SOciety (essentially, they're a Catholic Salvation Army, and they're called "Vinnies"as per the shortening of every word possible in Australia). So anyway, Mike asked me if I had time to go do a delivery out in the boonies of Canberra. A single mom just moved out to this farm house in the sticks and 'literally doesn't have anything. We drove out about an hour into the countryside and dropped off mattresses, Christmas hampers, toys, and some furniture. The expression on the woman's face was priceless. The two kids were SO excited. It really was a privilige to be a part of something like that.

It actually felt like CHristmas to me. I really haven't been in the Christmas spirit. After traveling through Asia and suffering from a Christmas carol / commercials / lights deficit, it doesn't really feel like Christmas. But today was cool. Really cool.

Anyway, just want to wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS. *HUG*

A Canadian Down Under

So I made it to Australia! I am officially in the Southern Hemisphere. This is a picture of me and my mate, ("friend" in Aussie) overlooking the Yarra river which runs next to downtown Melbourne. Highs of 25C and sunsets at 9pm... umm... so yeah, I'm loving summer weather down here in Australia. I met Jeremy when I went to Europe in 2004.

So far I've been really enjoying my trip to Australia. It's very similar to Canada but more laid back and warmer. People in Melbourne tell me that in winter - it's "freezing." It drops to about 7-8C in Winter... I think I can handle that.

I've just been relaxing these last few days. It was Jeremy's bday that day that I arrived. And on Sunday, my friend Phil got me tickets to the Robbie Williams concert. I'm not a Robbie Williams fan by any stretch of the imagination but it was definitely really cool.

Melbourne is a nice city. Sort of reminds me of Vancouver. It's very livable. Lots of parks, decent mass transit options, lots of neat artsy areas and neighbourhoods. I've been impressed w/ the food so far. It's interesting adjusting to life in Australia. They have weird phrases for everything e.g. she'll be apples, a good chin wag, and they shorten a lot of words e.g. Christmas = Chrissy, Breakfast = Brekkie, Sunglasses = sunnies, Australia = Oz, and it goes on from there... That and all the prices include GST and tips, so you don't need to tip down here.

I went for my first 10K run this morning. Good times. I'm actually really looking forward to working in the near future. I have a few job interviews in Canberra on Friday. But even then, I wont' start work until I get back from New Zealand in mid-January.

I hope all of you are doing well. Take care, John

More pictures...

PICTURES
1) Faces of AIDS - he's 4 years old, both his parents are dead and he is HIV+ He lives with his grandma in a small hut
2) Faces of AIDS - the mother is HIV+ and lost her arm to cancer 8 years ago. She is very poor and cannot find a job. Her 11 yrs old daughter has epilepsy. She can't afford to buy any food to eat.
3) Faces of AIDS - the woman on the right is HIV+. She is currently on ARV's. She is very poor and to support her family, she is considering moving to the border of Thailand for work. She can't go away for longer than 3 months b/c she will need to get a new prescription of ARV's. The social worker (the man pictured on the right) says that she will die if she doesn't get ARV's. She answers - no work equals no food which equals death.
4) One of many temples in the Angkor park - the coolest playground ever
5) I sat and watched the sunset from the top of that structure 2 nights in a row. It's a really, really steep climb
6) Angkor Wat - the main temple
7) Another cool shot of the Angkor Wat complex
8) Sunset in Sihanoukville
9) Beaches of Sihanoukville - jealous? ;)

Leaving SE Asia

So I’m keeping this brief b/c my flight to Sydney is in a few hours. I made it to Hong Kong alright. I last left you in Mongkol Borei – a little rural town in Cambodia not even mentioned in the Lonely Planet. It’s not exactly a tourist destination. I spent the night staying w/ an NGO worker. My favourite memories are eating mac & cheese and sitting in the hammock looking up at the stars in the sky. It was great!

The next day, I followed an AIDS home-based care worker around the countryside and we visited various different people in the villages. I heard snippets of quite sad stories. When I get a chance, I will try to post a few pictures from that day – the faces of HIV/AIDS in Cambodia. A common thread was poverty. These people need ARV’s but they also need opportunities to generate incomes for themselves. I’ll mention more when I get the pics up. Thankfully, a lot of them have access to ARV’s so they’ve been given a second lease on life. I also visited the local hospital and AIDS clinic in the afternoon. Then I caught yet another crazy bumpy taxi ride jammed full w/ people to the Cambodian border town of Poipet.

I spent the evening hanging out w/ a bunch of young NGO workers who work in Poipet. Poipet is a very interesting place… Most people just pass through and avoid spending time there. But I think it gave me tremendous insight into Cambodia. There’s a strip of land between Thailand and Cambodia that is a sort of no man’s land. It’s just full of casinos. There’s no gambling in Thailand allowed but lots of Thais come to the casinos. Gambling is not permitted in Cambodia, but Cambodians are allowed to work in the casinos. I think there are a lot of other shady activities that happen in the area – as is w/ any wild west border town.
The next morning, I crossed the border with hundreds of other Cambodians going to Thailand to work for the day. And it’s amazing to see the difference – big dirt roads, poor people, slums on the Cambodian side, and then once you cross over to the Thai side – it’s pretty smooth sailing along paved highways. So I eventually got to Bangkok and caught an earlier flight back to Hong Kong, which I was very happy about. I had a day in HK just to do errands – cut my hair, print photos, and go for dim sum w/ the fam. Onto Australia in just a few hours……………. :D Wohoo!

A few more SE Asia pics...

A few more pictures....
1) The kids that i visited at the orphanage in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. They are very lovable!
2) The genoicide musem in Phnom Penh - a high school transformed into a prison and a place where they tortured people
3) The pictures of victims - they are remembered.
4) The Cu Chi tunnels near Saigon are VERY small
5) These women helped me part w/ a lot of money at the tailor shops in Hoi An, Vietnam
6) AFter a day of shopping, you need to spend some time at the beach to relax in Hoi An.
7) Halong Bay near Hanoi in northern vietnam was gorgeous.
8) Yeah, our boat in Halong Bay did NOT have a sail... oh well...

Playgrounds of Cambodia

Hey folks,
I'm currently sitting in an internet place in a small little town call Mongkol Borei. It's a town that is not even in the Lonely Planet - that's how off the beaten path I am at the moment. Craziness...

So I left off in Phnom Penh. I headed down to a place called Sihanoukville for 3 days and it was the beach getaway that I needed. It's right on the southern coast of Cambodia. Ít's no Southern Thailand, but it was nice beachey area. I got a guesthouse right on the beach for cheap, cheap. It was crap accommodations but that's okay, I didn't spend much time sleeping in my guesthouse. I spent plenty of time alternating between sunbathing and swimming, and getting massages, and fresh fruit right on the beach from vendors. I am now a slightly darker shade and I hope to keep working on that in Australia. It was great, I didn't do anything except sit at the beach and meet up w/ people for drinks at night. THe first night there, I was dancing till 4am, and then the second night, I passed out at 9:30pm.

After another evening in Phnom Penh, I headed to Siem Reap, the town that is located near the Temples of Angkor. It's a nice little town and I can't imagine how much money (i.e. tourists) pass through there. I haven't seen so many Asian tour groups since China! But the temples of Angkor are absolutely amazing. It is seriously the biggest playground ever. ALl you do is climb to the top of them, wander around in the ruins. Every time I saw a big tour group, I was just duck down some hallway and I end up in all these random places. There's the temple where Tombraider was filmed (All you Angelina Jolie fans). I sat on the top of Angkor Wat two nights in a row watching the sunset. I desperately wanted to post some pictures today while in Siem Reap but the power went out in the town twice. And I have some people waiting for me right now so I can't be too long.

But just wanted to catch you guys up. I've been having a blast this past week. Cambodia rocks.

Anywho, I have 48 hours left in SE Asia before I take off for HK for one night, and then it's on to AUSTRALIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yep, I'm excited.

So is there still snow in Vancouver? ;)

First Impressions of Cambodia

So I made it to my last country on this year's SE Asia tour - Cambodia. I've been here for 2 nights now. It was yet another interesting experience crossing the border. Thai-Laos was by boat. Laos-Vietnam was by air. And now Vietnam-Cambodia was by bus. My friend, Karen, who I was traveling with and I insisted on getting our own visas at the border and not paying our bus guy $5 to do it. So we had to get off the bus and get the visas, which was alright. But then we went through a quarantine office and to fill out yet another form and finally, we got a health notice for the low low price of $1. And then we had to pay another $1 to ride a bike to catch up w/ our bus at the rest stop. So we did come out $3 ahead. That paid for dinner. ;)

Cambodia is definitely the poorest of the 4 countries that I've visited in SE Asia. It didn't take long for me to see swarms of children, barefoot and dirty begging for money. It broke my heart and they would even keep tapping on the window of the bus. It took a lot for me to close the curtain. The roads aren't as good as the other 3 countries - but still decent for the most part.

We arrived in Phnom Penh (the capital) at night with no place to stay. I felt very claustrophobic when I was essentially mobbed by 20 motodup drivers all wanting to take me to a guesthouse. I finally walked away from it all w/ Karen and another girl we met on the bus. About two hours later, I eventually led us to this guesthouse that looked a little dodgy even when I first saw it. But it was getting later and later and hotels were sold out.... So I think this "guesthouse"does a brisk side business in the evenings. When I returned later that night from dinner and drinks, I saw a chique looking Cambodian woman running down the stairs with a handful of cash. WEll, that and the bar downstairs is full of beautiful local women and 2-3 old white men... hmmm.....

For dinner, we found a restaurant whose profits go to supporting 24 orphans - who have lost their parents to AIDS, landmines, etc. We had dinner there again last night, and there was a performance. Needless to say - the children were absolutely delightful and adorable. I'm going to visit this afternoon and probably engage in a lot of tickling and thumb wars as I have been warned.

Cambodia is a country with an absolutley brutal history. The Khmer Rouge which controlled Cambodia from 1975-1979 was responsible for the death of 2 million people. Today's population is only 14 million I think - so that's a lot of people. They killed all the rich people, intellectuals, diplomats, political ppl, etc. I visited the Tuol Seng genoicide museum where 17,000 people were kept and tortured. The worst thing about it is that it was a former high school. A school - normally a place of learning and growing - became a prison for 17,000 people. I could barely stand to look at all the pictures posted of all the people who had passed through. Even a chin up bar was turned into an instrument of torture as people would be strung from it with their arms and legs behind their back. Earlier this morning, I visited the Killing Fields - big mass graves were people were routinely shot, or rather to save bullets, bludgeoned to death in front of a pit and tossed in. It's a sobering reminder of how evil mankind can be. How is it possible for man to do this to another man. Thinking about it makes my stomach turn. I've seen my share of war museums and concentration camps now through my travels - the saddest thing of all - is that genoicide continues today - in places like Darfur. Will burnt down villages and mass graves in Africa become tourist attractions 10 years from now?

Okay, enough of the heavy stuff. Cambodia is pretty cool. Not nearly as developed as the other countries I've visited. I'm still looking for M&M's. - my staple food. From the brothel, I moved to the guesthouse that is part of the MCC office. MCC in case you don't know - stands for Mennonite Central Committee and was one of the organizations affiliated with my One Day For AIDS campaign. Next week, I will be visiting an AIDS project in a fairly remote area. But they've kindly allowed me to stay here w/ them for a few nights. It's been cool to hang out here and meet development workers.

I've also been having fun riding around on motorbikes here. Not me driving per se- but riding on the back of them. There aren't really any taxis - so "motodup"is the most efficient way to travel. The phone booths are also quite interesting here. Big glass boxes with prices listed on them. But there's no phone there - just someone sitting there with a cell phone. Anywho - that's it from me right now. Cheers.

Leaving 'Nam

So today I leave Vietnam. I'm leaving a day earlier than planned. I'll be in Cambodia by tonight.

I've really enjoyed my trip to Vietnam. I still put it as my favourite country of the 3 in SE Asia. After the shopping mecca of Hoi An - we headed down to Nha Trang - a nice beachside town. Some call it the next Phuket of Vietnam - but I don't think it'll make it. It doesn't seem particularly safe. I heard the most stories about muggings, and sexual assaults in Nha Trang - more than any other city in SE Asia. And while we were there - sure enough, one of my friends was assaulted on the beach briefly during the day in broad daylight.

Don't get me wrong - Nha Trang was fun. It was one girl's birthday - and we all went together on an island hopping boat cruise. We just went from one mini island to the next, having fun. It was pretty awesome. A beautiful day. I had a nasty sunburn by the end of it - but a few days later - I am a slightly darker shade now - or at least, my farmer tan isn't as nasty. ;) There wasn't much else to do in Vietnam except hit up the "Nha Trang Sailing Club" - which isn't a sailing club by any stretch of the imagination - but a rowdy night bar/club where all the backpackers go at night. The bucket drinks there - ORV - orange juice, red bull, and vodka are very potent. I was pretty much done after 2 buckets.

We arrived in Saigon yesterday morning, blurry eyed and about 5:30am on the overnight train. We got in so early and there were four of us - so we hired a private taxi to go visit the Cu Chi tunnels.

The Cu Chi tunnels were built by the Vietcong (North Vietnamese) during the war. It's quite the network of tunnels. And they have rooms down there - kitchens, weapon making rooms, hospitals, etc. I can't imagine living down there. We had the opportunity to crawl through a couple of tunnels to get a feel for it. It was hot, dark and stuffy - and quite the overall experience. I can't imagine living in the tunnels. We also got to see the booby traps that the VC would lay to keep the South Vietnamese & Americans out. The tunnels actually got quite close to Saigon. We saw old American military hardware and big bomb craters.

In the afternoon - we visited the War Remnants museum in Saigon which was a sobering reminder of just how awful war is. It turned my stomach and I had difficulty holding back tears at various points as we went through a lot of pictures of the war. Pictures of the My Son (or was it My Lai) massacre, victims of napalm burns, and Agent Orange. We also saw a tiger cell where political prisoners were kept and depictions of torture scenes. Fair enough - some of the content of the museum is Communist Vietnamese propaganda - but you can't deny the brutality of war. And the fact that in every way - innocent civilians get caught in the cross-fire.

I walked around Saigon on my own for a bit afterwards - taking in the sights. Saigon is just another busy city so I decided to leave a day earlier than planned. There wasn't much else that I wanted to see.

I also just said goodbye to Phil. He's flying to Southern Thailand today. I have mixed feelings I guess. I'm ready for a 2 week break. We've been traveling together intensely for 5 weeks and we've discovered that we are VERY different travelers. I tend to be organized (read: uptight and anal retentive) and he's more laid back (read: borderline irresponsible and careless). ;) Phil hasn't read my blog yet so I can say these things. ;) So it'll be good to travel on my own for a bit. I initially had some apprehensions about traveling on my own - but I'm looking forward to it.

I feel like I've experienced and grown so much over the last 10 weeks - more so in SE Asia than in China b/c I was on a tour in China. It's been challenging. I've learned about myself and how I interact w/ people. A lot of it has to do w/ self-esteem issues, I think, and my "over" concern about what other people think of me. And my own internal thoughts and feelings that I feel like I need to conform to the other people around me in order for them to like me. Many times on this trip - I've felt peer pressure to do certain things and think certain ways. I'm trying really hard to become more and more comfortable just being me and learning that it's okay if I"m not buddy buddy friends w/ every person that I meet. So yeah, life goes on.

Two more weeks in SE Asia before I take off Down Under for SUMMER in Australia. Woohoooooo..... apparently there's some freaky weather in Vancouver as of late. Bummer... ;)

Love you guys lots. Take care, John