Asian Exploration: food

What springs to mind when you think of Cambodia-Maybe Ankor Wat or Angelina Jolie's kid comes from there? It's the poor cousin of Thailand? It's not really featured in any TOP 10 lists to see in lonely planet and I may now confidently say "superbly underrated!" Cambodia may even sneak in above Vietnam for me! It was truly remarkable! Although, I still love Vietnam, Cambodia has an untouched beauty about it, whereas the likes of Ho CHi Minh feels like touristville (on par with Bangok ) where every jolly taxi driver or cyclo driver is trying to milk you for all the possible Dong they can get! We (Kirst and the two JOs) did so very much indeed in 2 weeks that to transcribe my untidy, scribbled diaries onto the more modern convenience of a desktop would just take hours and hours and would be BORING! So instead-a "photos HIGHs" section will follow the itinerary with all things worthy of mentioning!

9 Jan: Arrive Siem Reap (ancient temple exploring, bicyclin, fish eating feet, massages)

10Jan: Siem Reap ( fish amok, beautiful apsara scultures, Tomb Raider temple, tuk-tuk rides)

11 Jan: Siem Reap and overnight bus to Sinokville (sleezy, old, fat, desparate man hang out)

12 Jan: Nomad Island (mango shakes, fresh grilled fish, crimson sunsets, hammocks reading "First they killed my Father", snorkelling, phosphorescence in the sea at night )

13 Jan: Nomad Island (aka paradise)

14 Jan: Nomad Island (aka more paradise)

15 Jan: Phnom Penh ( Killing fields, Security Prison 21, Palace, best con-artist book seller aged 10 that got us to buy 5 books)

16 Jan: Phomn Penh ( beautiful orchids, a chat with a monk, a fried frog!)

17 Jan: Chau Doc (cyclos, a motorbike ride, a tour of the floating villages and feeding fish)

18 Jan: Can Tho ( a bustling river-front with everythign on sale from Bonsai to new clothes all for Lunar New Year)

19 Jan: Can Tho ( Floating market cut short, a medicine women and a visit to the local public hospital- oh adn Sauteed snake!)

20 Jan: HO Chi Minh ( Getting screwed by a cyclo driver, Reunification palace, Ben Thahn Market)

21 Jan: HO Chi Minh ( the most delicious meal at teh same restaurant twice in one day, war remnanats museum with a great exhibition of war photographers, Ho Chi Minh City Museum)

22 Jan: Ho Chi Minh and fly back to Incheon Korea. ( A Vietnamese cooking course with a famous American chef and one long flight home)

HIGHS in pictures!

All the different types of Transport- ferry, boat, speed boat, bus, over-night bus that screeched like a beginner violinist for all 10 hours, a tuk-tuk, a cyclo ( human pushed wheelbarrow), a mini-bus, a motorbike, a bicycle, taxi-legal and illegal!

The unbelievable detail of the centuries old temples! My favourite being Banteay Srei! I could have spent another few days here! I loved the beautiful little side streets, the markets, tuk-tuks and the looming ancient era every now and then as temples seemed to shoot out from the beautiful rice paddies! I loved the apsaras-the beautiful breasted women and the majestic lions!

The flowers! Oh the orchids! Uncle John would have loved them! Somethign I have missed so much from home! Nothing like warmer climates for sunshine and flowers!

The paradise of Nomads island was incomparable to anything I have experienced before. Complete tranquility and isolation from the rest of the world: hammocks, books, snorkelling, fresh fish, a mice invasion and magnificent sunsets!

Of course beautiful people are never hard to find in South East Asia-especially little kids! My goodness! I just want one! This little kid-Fong ended up massaging my legs! The girls at the bottom sold us beautiful bamboo made dragonflies and birds! " only 1$ lady"! There Englsih was far better than my kids at school -sad how "struggle for survival" is a wonderful catalyst for learning!

Of course another moment worth mentioning is the horrific tragedies of war both in Vietnam and Cambodia that has left horrific evidence of its destruction. I questioned the ethics of having a memorial containing everyone's skulls at the killing fields and the horrific pre-execution photos of prisoners at S-21 in Phnom Penh. It just doesn't make sense to me! Any of it.

And of course, what would a great trip be without food-glorious food! Oh and markets-how can I possibly forget those! I have never tasted such delightful things. Kirst and I spoilt ourselves to a cooking Kirst on the last day with a trip to the local market and a course which happened to be with the famous American chef-John Ash. Very cool indeed!

Thank you Cambodia and Vietnam for a wonderful stay! Many happy memories, laughs and photos!

Love

JO-explorer!

xxx

After being back in South Korea for over 5 months and having Lisa already visit me from Japan, I have finally got round to write about my adventures in JAPAN!!!!

My wonderful friend of 15 years Lissy Lau has given a day-to-day account of our adventures in Tokyo
http://becoming-reesa.blogspot.com/2010/10/meeting-up-of-old-farts.html

and Kyoto and Osaka,
http://becoming-reesa.blogspot.com/2010/10/kyoto-and-little-bit-of-osaka.html

which are impeccably written and can be found on her blog. Check them out!

AS for me, I am going to give you an overview of my experience as best as possible!

Somehow for whatever reason- I found Japan very similar to France! :) Maybe because I love France and LOVED Japan. Nevertheless, I will now with my love too for Alliterations describe my Japan experience with a giant big "F"!

Fast trains- Never in my life have I felt so overwhelmed my efficient public transport to the point that it is just petrifying! EISH! Lisa's poor iphone could not take the pace-it was just as intimidated by the cacophony of railway lines as we were! :) Nevertheless the high-speed trains were impeccable when we were able to eventually locate the correct platforms!

Fashion- Everyone in Japan is not necessarily stylish-but everyone definitely spends a great deal of time and effort on their particular fashionable outfits! Compared to Korea this was insane-dressing to have others stare was more the norm than not, and it wasnt uncommon to see one person wearing leather boots, fur, stripes and floral on the same outfit. But just as the French,they definitely exuded a sense of flair about it! I thin what I loved most was the daily wearing of kimonos around the street. The women looked absolutely beautiful. Lis and I found out that it definitely wasn't all that pleasant an experience with several layers of clothing plus ropes so that your breath is sucked out of you!

Fun at heart! For a nation with such a horrific history of war, the Japanese sure know how to have fun and relax! My favourite experience of this was in Hirajuku Park where everyone is merely enjoying themselves: either playing guitar or in a drum-circle, reciting some poetry, playing badminton or even better playing with a giant bubble machine! WHAT FUN!

FOOD! The Japanese just like the French love food-but only the best! Along with a nifty little price! EEEK! I loved the ookonomiyaki and bean filled Yatsuhashi! :) One day in Sendai, I treated myself to a gustatory overload! It was tremendous! I paid about R300 for 6or so small little bits of everything! I sat at the train station exit and critiqued every morsel- smell, presentation and of course taste! :) Was such fun!

Fine living at a fine price! Nothing in Japan comes cheaply! I mean nothing-eventually i stopped even converting it was just too depressing! But high price means high quality! Everything in Japan is of the best standard- even weddings which we were lucky to stumble upon! WHOOPPPEEE! Here is a glimpse of fine dining( R75 for a piece of cake), a very cool art exhibition at the Mori Art Museum, the golden pavillion and the castle in Osaka!