Canada 2015 - Clan Reunion

September 2015

The event that brought everyone together...

Xe&J Tie the Knot!

And here's the fam, doing our thing

Canada 2015

Okinawa for Rich's birthday, May 2015

Although a month has passed since our trip to Japan (can someone stop the Earth from rotating so darn quickly?), impressions of Okinawa are still fresh in my mind. Here they are, along with the photos of our weekend jaunt in May across the East China Sea.

We arrived in the Naha airport in the early afternoon on Saturday and found out everything we wanted to know from a super helpful woman at the airport visitor center. Most importantly, she narrowed down for us all those coastline options to one beach in the south that’s mostly enjoyed by locals. She had the bus schedules and a map of where to catch our bus, since the main terminal was under construction. She also helpfully dissuaded us from going to the Okinawa aquarium – famous as it is, it would take 3 hours of bumping along on a bus, one way. Yuck. And we really only had 1.5 days to take it all in!

the many lion-dog guardians of entryways of Okinawa

I think Rich’s description of Okinawa as “old-school futuristic” hits the nail on the head. Naha, the capital, feels like a place that was once ahead of its time, but froze at that point in its development. 

Monorail tracks stretching into the distance

Exhibit A: the monorail (monorail, MONORAIL! hehe) that runs – at most – 4 times an hour and moves at a quaintly slow pace. It was entirely way too packed for any more people to squeeze in on Sunday afternoon. Imagine the groans of a whole platform full of hopeful passengers, some with suitcases and obviously heading to the airport, as our train pulled up, crammed with people like sardines in a can. Everyone seemed to take it in stride, though. We had bought 48-hour monorail passes and certainly got our money’s worth, even with the conservative amount of traveling that we did in our time there.

This is not our hotel... haha... but a UNESCO-protected
ancient gate outside of the castle

But backing up to Saturday afternoon. We checked into the conveniently named Okinawa Hotel, which turned out to be a great choice. We’d booked it for its bargain price and a few good reviews, mostly recommending its quiet location that’s still close to the main artery – Kokusai Dori, or International Street. The hotel was – just like most of the city – kind of homey and old-fashioned, but the service was impeccable, everything was clean, they had a small onsen (hot soaking pools) section and didn’t charge us extra for using the AC (I’d read in several other reviews, mostly of small B&Bs, that the AC was hooked up to a coin box you had to feed at expensive rates).

another (restored) gate at the castle

We dropped off our stuff and struck out for Shuri Castle – “a must-see” seat of the local government in days gone by. We loosely followed this helpful walking tour, although at some point realized we didn’t have it in us to do the entire lengthy stroll. We poked around the afore-mentioned International Street in the evening and it seemed primarily gaudy and touristy, but Rich did manage to lead us to the second floor of Makishi Public Market where seafood restaurants were still going strong.

Although Sunday had originally called for rain earlier that week, by the time we landed the skies promised to stay blue and sunny, so Sunday morning we got up early, enjoyed a fab breakfast buffet at the hotel and got on a bus heading to Mibaru Beach. 

Clockwise from left: salmon, veg and pickles, natto, rice and Japanese curry sauce,
miso soup, seaweed, congee and yogurt with fruit.

Just like the rest of the city, it was calm and semi-deserted. The tide was waaaay out when we arrived, so we had to walk and walk and walk to any swimmable depth, but that also meant that as the water came back in, it was warm as a bathtub. We stayed out there for ages. There were also an army of hermit crabs keeping us company in the little cove we chose as base camp. My main impression of the seaside there was the super clear water! It was so clean and pristine. I never thought of Japan as a tropical paradise, but I’d have to describe Mibaru Beach as something akin to that.

We spent ages looking for a place to eat when we got back to town. After much on-foot effort, we gave up finding the port where the tourism lady recommended we get fresh sushi. But, we did eventually find a traditional restaurant where we had Okinawan specialties like fried noodles, “sea grapes” seaweed (yum!), braised pork belly and some random deep-fried stuff.

That’s about the highlights of the trip. I hope we can return one day with more time and an international driving permit so we can rent a car (they seem to be very strict about that). Another possibility is that we’ll go to one of the outlying islands, which are even more tropically luscious. Ishigaki is a possibility; it’s even closer to Taiwan and barely developed. A friend of a friend said it was amazingly natural, and they just rode around on bikes. 

Sayōnara for now, Land of the Rising Sun! 

See all of the photos here: 

Okinawa

On Thoughts – Living in Turbulent Times

Our minds can rage like tempests at open sea, dark clouds of confusion obscuring the light, gales of emotion knocking us off our feet. The waves rise up ready to swallow us: rage, anxiety, dread crashing down on us, one after the other, until we’ve gulped too much fear and the end seems near. Our fingers gripping the illusory railing finally go limp and we plunge overboard…

… and sink deeper into stillness. The ocean’s depths are the blissfully calm waters of our innermost minds, welcoming us home. Silence ― rich with possibility, containing all within itself ― surrounds us.

Let us pause here. This is the place of peace and power. This is where we return each time we take a deep breath. This is where our small selves have dissolved into the cosmos, unfurled finally from the constricting views we’ve cinched tight around who we think we are.

Next time the storm comes, you can close your eyes and return here.

Peace is a choice.

With a silent prayer, riding on the breath,

choose peace.

Bali! - Chinese New Year 2015

Though most people who read this blog have already seen our Bali photos, I thought a short write-up on what all we experienced was in order.

Looking back on it a month later, the trip feels a bit surreal. I find this true for all travel, because it plucks you out of everyday routine, which allows for more wiggle room in terms of who you are and how you are in the world. Of course, the exotic locale (an obvious change in climate/scenery/food/language, etc.) only added to the surreal feeling. Same for my head cold, which had really bloomed into full-blown status by the time we finally got out of our taxi after an hour of intense traffic along Bali’s congested highway from the airport. Still, I was determined to make the most of our holiday (and I hope didn’t whine too much about being sick ;)

Bali really is a dream – the nature is just so vibrant and lush. Ubud has a palpable sense of art interwoven with spirit and we ate and lived like kings, because it’s so affordable – much higher quality for your money compared to Taiwan. The food was fresh, mostly local, often organic and always delicious. We stayed at Swasti Eco Cottages (highly recommend) in a bungalow and then moved to a gorgeous Javanese house (actually deconstructed in Java, transported to Bali, restored and rebuilt there by our super-nice Air BnB host and artist Made).

Because the climate is tropical year-round, dwellings just need to provide shelter and our first one didn’t have any glass in the windows – just shutters for light and privacy. Nature really comes to you – both of our places were visited by some small animals (cats? lizards?) who apparently wanted to leave us the gift of their poop. Ha. Nothing too gross and certainly better than finding big spiders.

We saw lots of monkeys, which was always entertaining. The Monkey Forest in the middle of Ubud is their sanctuary and handlers/caretakers casually stroll around, some egging on tourists to get a monkey to climb on them by offering a bit of food. They do seem insatiably voracious and mischievous. One was gnawing on a business card that a young Chinese couple somehow lost to its grip. Another grabbed someone’s water bottle and was dousing passers-by from a high perch. Another was grabbing and chewing on a guy’s T-shirt. Our favorite was the monkey that climbed on a girl’s head to get a banana she was holding and then just sprawled on its belly, still on top of the girl’s head, to munch the fruit like it was the most natural thing in the world. I should have taken more photos.

 

It’s the end of the wet season and we got poured on big-time on several days. Again, it’s warm, so not that big of a deal, but we waited it out a few times, watching the torrents literally engulf the downhill roads in a foot or so of water. We also bought a double-person raincoat for riding the scooter. It’s our romantic souvenir – two hoods on a single poncho. <3 o:p="">

All in all, I can see why everyone falls in love with Bali. I’m glad we were in Ubud at the end of the low season, as it must be a zoo during the tourist rush. I hope we get to go back with more time on our hands to explore the rest of Bali and I wish everyone the same. Thank you again to my sweet love Rich for this fantabulous 10-year-anniversary gift. What a sweetie, that guy!

Here is the full photo album:

Bali!! CNY 2015

P.S. – amusement is in the details –

Our flight back was with Philippines Air and I just wanted to share some strange, (archaic-colonial?) use of English from the crew announcements and airport signs:

“Please accomplish your landing cards.” à fill out

“Passengers may avail themselves of the free shuttle to Terminal 2.”

“You must divest yourself of electronics prior to going through the security check.”

Our trip to Kenting for the NYE break

Rich and I spent January 1-4, 2015 in the south of Taiwan. It was really windy-blowy the first few days, but in the 20s and our last day we spent lounging around on the beach, even hiding out from the sun under an umbrella.

Here is a small collection of our photos. Excuse the low quality of our mobile phones.

Kenting Jan 2015

We only took one video - me being silly as I tried to battle the wind to stand up straight for a photo. Little did I know that Rich was filming the whole time. Ha.

More of Ana's imagination in print

I've been putting it off, but just before the new, November issue of my magazine comes out, I finally scanned the very fist article I wrote for biz Interactive English, published in October. It's about family values in different cultures, as seen in movies.

The graphics really bring the story to life.

Speaking of graphics completing a story, I also scanned The Pretty Please Princess, which is one of the 10 readers I wrote for William Language School earlier this year. It's simply AMAZING to see something you started from scratch come through all the steps into a bonafide fully-finished book. I am so grateful for this experience! I don't get my name credited on the published version, but I'll just chalk that up to humility training. ;)

click on the image to see the whole book

I've always thoroughly enjoyed writing, so it's quite a dream come true for me to be doing it now, day in and day out. I hope you enjoy a few of the words I put together. More to come!  : )

The View from the Sixth Floor

I now both live and work on the 6th floor (of different buildings, of course). 

Continuing with the number six trend, I'm in my sixth week at this new vocation as a writer and editor of Biz Interactive English Magazine. I’m quite delighted by this position, as I get to research all sorts of topics (even economics and finance, which I knew embarrassingly little about.) More importantly, day in and day out, I craft words into new and original pieces of writing. Once the October issue comes out, I'll be able to scan a few pages of what I've done so far, but November will be the first volume where nearly all the English content is "penned" by yours truly. I feel that this past month and a half has really let me dust off my writing cap and some measure of whimsy and ingenuity has been creeping back into my written word.

In some way, nothing’s made me feel more like I’ve stepped into the ranks of 上班族 or “office workers,” than acquiring a few accoutrements of the trade. I've got my gel wrist pad, tea stash, cutting board and fruit knife (with a built-in peeler!) and -- drum roll, please -- a metal lunch tin. I expect you are re-reading that last sentence with a "je ne comprends pas" feeling. Ha! Gotcha. Unless you're from this part of the world, it would be a mystery. In fact, on my first day here I opened what I thought was a small refrigerator and stared at its insides, trying to compute what I was looking at. 

this is not my photo, but the feeling is the same

It is, in fact, a “steam box” for your metal containers full of food that you place in upon arrival at work and retrieve again, all warm and ready to go, at lunch. As I write this, I've realized the "steam" part in the name must be from the old-fashioned models. Ours just seems to use electricity, so in fact is more like a low-temperature oven. Anyway, here is my very first lunch, cooked by Rich in a barbecue bonanza for Mid-Autumn Festival.

Happy workdays to the rest of you, wherever you may be! J

Vilnius

When I bought my flight from Tallinn to Prague, the cheapest deal I found was with Air Lituanica, Lithuania’s airline, which I would later find out was in fact celebrating its big one year (oooh aaah ) anniversary during the very month I flew with them. They keep luxuries to a minimum, with teenie 30-passenger aircrafts (at least mine was) and the only freebie being hard candies in the colors of the Lithuanian flag. You even had to pay if you wanted a glass of water.

It was additionally the cheapest option because I had a 6:15am flight to Vilnius followed by a six-hour layover before continuing on to Prague (the layover being longer than both flight times put together). Being on an adventure, I thought – why not, save money and see one more Eastern European city. For some reason it’s taken me all these years of traveling to realize that sometimes saving money on a flight in fact ends up costing same or more, in taxi fare to/from the airport late/early when no public transport is available and in this case, having a romp through Vilnius’ Old Town, buying some food and souvenirs. So, there we have it, a lesson learned.

After I booked the flight, my Dad also reminded me that I am in fact one quarter Lithuanian by blood, although I never had a chance to meet my Lithuanian grandfather and remembered next to nothing of our trip to Vilnius, Riga and Kiev when I must’ve been eight or nine years old. Intrigued all the more, I looked forward to my brief rendezvous with this country.

Artur, back from his graduation 

By sheer good fortune, our Lithuanian friend Marina who hasn’t even lived there herself for twelve years, nevertheless lined up Artur, a friend of hers to meet me in the brisk cold of 7:20am and take me to the Old Town. I was profoundly grateful because I’d read countless accounts of shameless overcharging by taxi drivers and had such a short time there. Furthermore, through miscommunication this friend had shown up at the airport the previous Friday, when I was just on my way to Tallinn, at the same ungodly hour of 7am and was a bit frantic, wondering if I’d gotten lost or what. Nevertheless, he came back a week later, with a fountain of facts about the city that he related while driving here, there and everywhere, in a condensed tour of where I could go on my own while he attended his graduation ceremony, insisting he would pick me up again in two hours and drop me back at the airport. That is some incredible chivalry.

By the time I was left to my own devices, my head was spinning a bit from lack of sleep and dehydration and an overabundance of facts and chill temperatures – it was 8C. I made a beeline for the first coffee shop that was open (Inn Coffee We Trust…. hehehe…) and got my morning caffeine and some food. Then I bundled up again and struck out for a touch of sight seeing and souvenir shopping.

@Inn Coffee We Trust... I know I do!

This church - called St. Anne's - immediately grabbed my attention. Wikipedia says that the original was built for Anna, Grand Duchess of Lithuania, but destroyed by fire in 1419 and then rebuilt at the start of the 16th century, now serving as "a prominent example of both Flamboyant Gothic and Brick Gothic styles." How could I not love it?

A monument to Grand Duke Gediminas in Cathedral Square, apparently showing the moment he dismounted his horse and declared the land would become his new capital.

Vilnius is not a big city and its Old Town is also quite small, though lovely and a UNESCO Heritage Site as of 1994. As time wore on, the sun came out and I no longer felt like I had to be in survival mode on the streets. The main souvenirs available are linen, amber, a mishmash of Slavic knick-knacks that probably had been made in China and were being sold by Russians, yet there were some original paintings and handmade clothing and art pieces. I especially loved this little design gallery called elementai, located at Stiklių gatve (street) 14 - goods cost more, but were clearly made by locals and the woman who ran it just had the nicest air about her.

Literatų gatvė (Street Of Writers)

For some reason I'd been craving crepes and had a delicious spinach creation smothered in aged-cheddar sauce at the Senoji Užupio picerija pizzeria/Italian restaurant just across the river from Old Town in a section of the city called Užupis, which is in fact an independent republic as of 1997 and its name means "over the river."

Up next, another tiny airplane ride to the capital of Czech Republic. Whoop whoop!

Even more photos of my half day in Vilnius

A day in Estonia's capital

After a week of wholesome family time in Tartu, I was off to Estonia’s capital Tallinn. Coming from Taiwan, the landscape was decidedly very western-hemisphere-ish, at times reminding me of Ontario (eg. fields of blooming yellow canola) and at times of Belarus, with stands of white birches. Either way, I was feeling like I was getting closer to my roots.

 At the Tartu Botanical Gardens the day before, I’d spent a good half hour wandering and smelling the flowers – many simple and understated in their appearance, but giving off outright enchanting, subtly layered aromas. I thought it was a good metaphor for the Norse Europeans: fair-haired and often dressed with simple elegance, yet full of color and creativity that comes out in their folk art.

On the bus ride, I saw a deer and its calf paused at the edge of the forest and many storks, stretching their gangly legs in nests atop power line posts, on a break from delivering babies, I guess. Two hours later I was at the Tallinn airport, where I left my luggage in a locker (awesome value at €3, which gave me 15 hours to explore the city with just a small pack on my back) and got into the city center with a half hour to spare before the daily two-hour free tour that took us through the Old Town’s cobblestone streets and condensed history.

window of music shop

Looking down on the Lower City. Pfft... peasants, the lot of them!

The Town Pharmacy of Tallinn, one of the oldest working apothecaries in the world (1422 or earlier)

The tour gave me a great overview of Estonia’s beginnings all the way to its independence through the peaceful Singing Revolution, which culminated in its break from the USSR after two million people across the Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania formed the Baltic Way, a long chain of people holding hands. 

The tour also gave me enough of Old Town magic that I felt quite good about striking out into the more boring architecture outside of it to explore what else Tallinn had to offer. For one, it was a sprinkling of hipster cafes that I couldn’t possibly cover in one day, but I did my best and visited three:

1) Must Puudel in the Old Town, full nooks with Soviet era decor, such as photo books of the Olympics Games from the 70’s and 80’s and Russian reggae playing on the stereo. Teehee.

2) F-Hoone, which means F-Building, in the industrial-cum-artsy zone of cafes and local designer shops now called Telliskivi Creative City. I practically stumbled into that place chilled to the bone and thoroughly enjoyed my hot spinach soup and chai soy latte, in this space big enough to be a small train station.

3) Boheem, on the edge of somewhat shabby but interesting Kalamaja area with plenty of old decorated wooden buildings that seem like backdrop scenery in a fairytale.

It seems all Tallinn cafes love to use colorful napkins, no white in sight. That’s hipster for you.

I also walked to the Seaplane Harbor Museum, although it was closing, so I just took a few quick photos of propellers and skeletons of Viking ships, all bathed in an eerie underwater-like blue light. It seems like it’s well worth exploring, with interactive exhibits and a cool interior all around.

You're telling me I can just walk up to this thing?

Just a bit down the coast is the old Battery Prison, which was famously closed in 2005 by the UN for entirely unsuitable conditions, including a rare strain of tuberculosis, which was mysteriously killing off the inmates until its discovery. I got as far as the front gates and to be honest, I really didn’t feel compelled to walk much further in, even though this is a popular place with the locals.

After dinner, I slowly made my way back to the hostel, contemplating how the shabby Soviet-era box apartments may have been the landscape of my life had I not been whisked out of Belarus for a new life in Canada by my brave parents, shortly before the fall of USSR in 1991.  

By 9pm the sun was juuuust starting to think of setting and it would be light again when I woke up at 3:30am to catch a 6:15am flight to Vilnius - I was so far north! No wonder it was so cold, with the temperature ranging between 10-16C.

At the hostel, I enjoyed a throwback to my old backpacking days, sitting around and chatting with other travelers and then I tried to get some shut-eye, which was soon interrupted by a loud buzz-saw snoring competition by the two younger guys in the room. Ha!

Although I got to practice my Russian with the older generation while in this little country, knowledge of it did not help me much with the Estonian language, which is close to Finnish and somewhat to Hungarian and remained a fair mystery to me, though I learned my standard introduction to a foreign tongue: Hello - Tere! and Thank You - Aitäh!

Back at the Tallinn airport with lots of time on my hands, I took ample photos of the cute single terminal, which really seems like a collection of some people’s living rooms.

This is my gate, I kid you not

And just like that, I was leaving Estonia, mere days and weeks before such musical shows as The Offspring (ha), Steven Seagull Blues Band (ha ha) and the Song Festival, which would be quite cool I imagine – a once in five years festive celebration of Estonians’ love for choral music, which even earned the country their independence.

Next stop: Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, on a five hour layover and then – Prague!