my little adventures.

So just to let you know... I changed my blog - so here's the new one... if you bookmark (that's very nice of you) you can change it to the new one:

http://meghansaunders.wordpress.com

Thanks, sorry for the change (and the link bit wasn't working, so you'll have to type in or copy & paste the url), I know its' a pain...

Turns out summer is over. So I figured it's time to post photos from the trip that kicked off the summer; Europe. I met up and hung out with Mom and Dad in Romania and Turkey, then I stopped by London on my way back to Hong Kong... so this may take a while.

We'll start with Romania - this may take a few weeks, there are loads of photos. If you know my family and I, we seem to have an affinity for taking lots of pictures of buildings. And as we found out on this trip, we also take them from very similar angles and viewpoints, which creates the impossible task of figuring out who took what. So following is just a sampling of the images taken by my parents and I...

Alright, Romania. First off, we went to visit and stay with Kent and Angela, who were great at showing us around. Angela took us to a museum/park with traditional Romanian housing and handcrafts... So here's a few shots of the traditional handmade Romanian goods. The ceramics and eggs had the most vibrancy and colour.

We're not going to dive into Romanian politics because I don't know much about them, but here's a few images of the Palace of the Parliament. Note: It's massive, I don't think the pictures do it justice. In a tour of the building we saw only a handful of the hundreds of rooms. It has a great view of Bucharest and is an impressive site overall.

Next up, we checked out the opera house which was gorgeous, inside and out. It was in great shape and still being used, so we opted to check out the orchestra, as you can see.

Peleş Castle, Dad's new summer home, which is a nice choice in my opinion. This castle was gorgeous, a nice get away up in the mountains, which provided a great drive. And what would a European castle be without a few sculptures... As well we have Mom, Dad and I in a photo - that was a rare occurrence, haha.

Here's a few more of the sites in the countryside and mountains. First, Bran Castle (also known as Dracula's castle), near Transylvania. Next, a wagon of Roma wandering the countryside. We also checked out a monastery on an island that we had to hire a row boat to get to, haha. And a little scenic shot as we drove home from Bran Castle, it is a gorgeous country.

I do have a few more things to toss up, but no more time today, so check back again, I'll add to this post when I get a chance.

So here's a little bit of the fun we have in Hong Kong...

The ING Cup was going on last week, so we a got a little crew together and hit up the football matches last Saturday evening... Sadly, the USA vs. Cameroon match wasn't the best, but Netherlands vs. Ivory Coast did help make up for that. All in all it was a beautiful night, with great games and great company, so you can't go wrong.
Dad and Laur - the soccer photos are for you.

The prior weekend a few of us hit up the beach and it was a delight. Hong Kong is hot, but there's no better way to beat the heat than swimming in the sea. I love it. And since swimming always makes you hungry - why not have a bbq (chinese style) with everything slathered in honey...? Promise, it's a treat (almost as much of a treat as meeting an interesting man named Rick Mango, haha). So here's a little beach and bbq action along with part of the beach crew.

Once again - about time I posted... Here's a few delightful shots - some of it is proof that Brad came to visit and that we are related, others just show the fun we had. So here it goes. Brad came out to Hong Kong at the beginning of May - just a few days before I took off for Europe, so we got to kick it and it was a delight. It'd probably been a year or so since I'd seen Brad last, so the Orient was a good place to meet up again.

Alright, here's the proof that we're related - we both make strange faces in photos... not sure which face is worse, haha. Anyhow, we took the cable cars up to the Big Buddha and saw a big metal Buddha. You may even note that Brad is not accustomed to Hong Kong's heat, whereas, I must have lived here long enough to be able to wear a sweater in heat and humidity... wow, that's a feat.

Next stop, was to the island of Cheung Chau - just a ferry ride away. A quaint little island with hardly any vehicles. Or normally a quaint little island... as you can see the masses were out and the ferry ride home consisted of a 2 hour queue to just get to the boat. Apparently, that's what happens when you go during the Festival of the Bun... haha.

Though the queues were long all over the island, Brad and I got to see the most incredible parade we've ever seen... There was no beginning or end - just random snippets of parade everywhere we went. We' turn the corner and find a little slice of parade followed by nothing. And lastly, we almost got souvenirs for everyone - but they were just too realistic and breakable with those little googly eyes... Sorry, I know you all wanted a dried fish, maybe next time.

Alright - here's the last of Vietnam - I'm working on getting photos of Romania, Turkey, and London up. But this is the first free night I've had in a while.
Anyhow - looking back at the photos I have from Vietnam reminded me of how many colours, smells, and sounds there were. It was fun to see - so here are a few samples of what I saw. Traffic is insane - motos everywhere, but crossing the street could be a death defying experience. Money - for the first time in my life I was a millionaire - too bad that only lasted a weekend. Bundles of incense. This was a door front that opened into a torn-down wreck and was right next door to buildings in good condition. A little bit of the arts - of course I had to add that in - I wanted to sit down and learn how to do the eggshell and lacquer art, but I don't think the tour bus would've waited for me. But here's a bit of the supplies and process of that Vietnamese specialty.
And there you have it: a weekend in Vietnam (there are far more pictures, but these will have to do, haha).

On request, here are some photos of Vietnam... When I get a bit more time I'll finish the post and toss up the rest. Hopefully I can squeeze some more time in this week...

Turns out Ho Chi Minh City has some great buildings... who knew the Post Office would be a tourist attraction? And due to the French influence, they even have a Notre Dame cathedral. We also went to the Reunification Palace.

Here are some of what we saw at the Reunification Palace. There were all sorts of nice conference rooms and what not, but this was the basement. I stopped to take a few photos and walking down that hallway alone definitely had some creepiness going on. It was interesting to see some of the equipment they used back in the day, as well as the barrenness of the rooms.

We had a tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels that are just outside of Ho Chi Minh. Our guide was demonstrating one of the entrances into the tunnels... pretty clever. What makes it even sneakier is how little you have to be to fit in there, I think you couldn't have a waist size above 34... The Vietnamese are small.

Here's a little of the ongoings of the past several months... As you can see, I like music and tend to head to the concerts of those I like, when given the chance. I've been a slacker on the blog scene, we'll blame that on ultra-busy-ness... I'm going to try to be better, I have a few different travels to toss up in the next little bit.

Concerts are a delight... Bjork was great, she's pretty nutty, but fun nonetheless. The pictures are a little blurry, it's the best we could do. But we did have to pretend to be luggage on the train ride back to Hong Kong.

Duran Duran came to town(and a day after my birthday, they must've known) and it was a great show. And a great way to celebrate getting older. They rocked out and had a great set up... you can't go wrong with a huge crowd and the Hong Kong harbour and skyline in the background (pity you can't see it in the pictures that well). We had great seats... about 2 or 3 from the front, definitely a good time.

Here's a random little gathering of photos, don't worry, I'll explain. We've got a little scenic view from a hike, some jelly fish at Ocean Park (not sure why, but they fascinate me), hanging out in Macau with my Scottish mum, and some candy at work... I promise it's candy, despite what it appears to be... oh Asian treats are a delight.

Promise I work, I really do.

So far this little blog has been all my trips and playing, but I really do work too. Now, my work can be confused by some as playing, but it is a valid job. I have been working for a company that designs travel, security products. So here's a little update on what I do. I've been able to work on lots of projects, all sorts of things, from point of purchase displays to bags all sorts in between. The biggest project I have underway is a line of womens bags for 2009, which has been a good challenge, as well as a main reason for staying longer. But here's one of the things I do for work and in particular this project: find fabrics. A colleague and I took a little trip to Sham Shui Po, the fabric district, and did some sourcing.. below is just a small bit of the result.

And there you have it... a little peak into what I do for a living. It's great, definitely a good experience and job thus far.

The things you see...

Asia is a great place, full of all sorts of incredible sites. This past weekend, I went with some friends to Macau and had loads of fun. We saw some sites, ate great food, and hung out with all sorts of friends, but one of my favorite parts was the ferry ride. Here's why...

Promise it's the ferry and not a beauty salon. I almost asked if she could give me a manicure, but we just weren't sitting close enough. And I especially loved the one curler in the other lady's hair... just one. This is one reason why I love Asia, and just thought I'd share.

The Police...

Though musical ability passed my by, I do love good music and was raised on some great stuff (thanks Dad). So, when news of the Police heading to Macau hit my ear, I was all for seeing them. I went with a couple friends, Andrew is in the photos. Pretty much, it was a great way to celebrate Chinese New Year (there were other festivities.. I'll post those later). It was a phenomenal show, from great seats and great company. So no complaints from here. Here's a few pictures of the concert...

Back to Thailand... Time for Chiang Mai.

After Cambodia, Jason and I headed up to Northern Thailand, which was a lot of fun. We saw fewer temples and had a great time... here's a few of the highlights.

Elephants. We couldn't go to Thailand and not see and ride an elephant. We rented a scooter and were on our way. Maesa Elephant Camp was our first stop. Turns out elephants can paint, dance, make music, play soccer... you name it, they can do it... Though the one we rode was a bit stubborn, all in all loads of fun.

We got to see some of the country side on our scooter and it was beautiful, as you can see.

Our failed attempt to find a tribal village landed us in small Thai village. Jason took a great photo of this older woman, she was quite amazing. Once again, we found the kids (that seemed to happen a lot). They were quite excited to be bouncing up and down on some elevated plywood... perhaps their makeshift trampoline... and loved getting their pictures taken.

Lastly, we have the monkey school... they train orphan monkeys to do all sorts of things, like weight lift or ride a bike with an umbrella, I bet they do that in the wild. Jason looks like he could fit right in there, haha, except he's much better looking than the monkeys. And we found that little monkeys want candy just as much as little children do - this little guy tried stealing it from Jason.

And that's all the photos of this trip I'm going to toss up. There are many, many more, but these are among the best and tell the story. There will be more photos of other crazy adventures to come. Thanks for checking out my blog though, hope you like the sites or find it interesting in some way. Ciao.

Even more of Cambodia... and wow, I am slow at getting these up. This should top it off though...

Here is a temple right next to Angkor Wat, called Angkor Thom or Bayon. It had faces carved all over each, one for each of the provinces of Cambodia at the time, I believe. It was another incredible site. I could've explored these temples for months, they were amazing.

Next stop, Ta Phrom, a favorite of one of our little Cambodian friends. This is the temple that was used in the film Tomb Raider, hence its nickname of Tomb Raider. I'm not quite sure why, but the way nature and neglect have destroyed the temple has made it gorgeous. It is an eerie kind of beautiful.

And I think these are my favorites pictures of the whole trip. I fell in love with all the little Cambodian kids (despite all of them wanting to sell us stuff). They were so full of energy and excited to have their pictures taken. We stopped at a roadside stand and hung out with the kids, they loved the candy we would bring for them and it distracted them from selling us stuff for a little bit. The 3 boys came to see us while we were waiting in our tuk tuk. And lastly, this little boy was so sweet, he didn't like his job, but was helping his family. He was a smart one and read a little for us and did a great job. Ah, I would have taken them all home with me if I could've...

A trip to Cambodia is not complete without a visit to Angkor Wat... so here it is...

I first saw Angkor Wat in a National Geographic magazine years ago, and as soon as I saw it, I wanted to go. One of the beauties of living in Hong Kong is being able to travel to tons of places easily... so I finally had my chance to come. It can now be checked of my list of places to visit, haha.
Angkor Wat is surrounded by a huge moat, which makes it seem really far away. It's an incredible sight, definitely did not disappoint.

These are images of the exterior and interior of the temple complex, but they don't do it justice. Being there is definitely an experience, the pictures only give you a tiny glimpse of what it's like.

These are images of some of the details. The walls were covered in reliefs, all telling different stories of the gods and battles and what not. Lots of the remain in good condition, with some shiny bits here and there as people rub certain areas for good luck. The walls and doorways have some of the original paint remaining, and it would be incredible to have seen it when it was built in the 12th Century. There are also many statues and buddhas, though many heads and faces were cut off to be sold in Thailand.

The adventures continue in Cambodia...

We crossed through the border and entered another world, though we didn't quite realize it at the time.

After a long day of bus rides, border hassles, and silly arguments with people wanting to scam us, we made it to Siem Reap, Cambodia and headed to our guest house. A celebration was in order, not only because we were off the bus and the bumpy roads, but because it was New Year's Eve. We found a party in full swing and celebrated the New Year.

We began our adventures in Cambodia by hiking up a mountain with our guide. As you can see, it was gorgeous... and we had the treat of learning a little about traditional Cambodian medicine along the way. The marks on our guides stomach was a traditional remedy, which they will do before going to a modern doctor... I think I'll go with the modern doctor first.

At the end of our hike was the River of 1000 Lingas. There were carvings all over, the sides of the river, even in the riverbed itself. Quite an amazing scene. The linga was a very common symbol in Khmer architecture at this time. One part of the river had a small waterfall with lots of Cambodian kids playing in it. One girl, who we named Hershey, was a little shy, but caught a crab and showed it to us.

From the river, we went to a temple, not sure on the name. But it was gorgeous, with intricate carvings all over it. It seemed like there wasn't a spot they had missed. I can't imagine the hours it would take to do all that carving. There was also some great examples of the ancient writing, sanskrit.

More images of the temples around Angkor Wat. For our first day, we took a tour to some of the surrounding temples around Angkor Wat. These were older temples and provided a good background for seeing the main complex. Again, intricately carved and beautiful, the temples and land around it.

There were lots of kids around the temples, you'll see later, so this little one wandering around was not out of the ordinary. The girl selling scarves was really fun, we had a good laugh with her and ended up buying a scarf from her. And lastly, our tour guide, who was pretty cool and quite knowledgeable... And he loved Tomb Raider (the movie) and AnGelina Golie.

Alright, here's where the adventures begin...
Jason and I planned a 2 week trip to Thailand and Cambodia over the holidays, which was a ton of fun. So here is a small sampling of our pictures and fun.

We started in Bangkok, Thailand...

...and tried some of the local cuisine. You'd make those faces too, if you were eating a bug. That was an experience we didn't feel the need to try again, strange.

Gold. I think that might be a favorite color there. Here's a few of the places we saw: the road decorated in gold; a giant gold reclining buddha; a gold Wat at the Grand Palace; and a Wat with lots of gold on and in it.

We found lots of animals in Bangkok - some alive, some pretty stiff. The birds were nice and very excited about dried corn. Jason found a new pet that didn't bite at him, like all the dogs we saw. And who doesn't love balancing elephants and stone animals with lots of teeth.

Part of the fun of traveling is trying different food, some turns out to be good, some not so good. The fresh pineapple was always a delight, the fruit smoothies became a daily addiction, while the barbecued squid did not. And who wouldn't want to drink cream soda from a bag?

Amidst our wanderings (we NEVER got lost) we found the flower market, which was quite a site. Like a little flower packing and shipping factory up and down the street. It was bright and beautiful and you could even find turtles made out of flowers.

All countries have their quirks and oddities.. so here's a few from Thailand. From top around (clockwise):
a) It's a country full of gents, but apparently you need a small mustache to qualify.
b) Who needs to spend lots of money on dentures when you can bargain on the street... I bet you could find a set for 30 baht ($1).
c) Money fish. That's gotta be worth a lot.
d) Scooters everywhere, and he makes riding a scooter look so good.
e) Tuk tuks... a good way to get around, one would think, turns out if you're white, you get to pay much more (unless you have good bartering skills and the driver's in a good mood).
f) So this little boy wasn't the best musician I've heard, but he got some money for effort.

Temples and religion seemed to be everywhere. Here are just a few of the things we saw dealing with that; some beautiful, some ironic.

A few more of the sites around Bangkok. These were taken at a variety of Wats and other buildings.

Monk bowls. The monks carry bowls to receive alms in each morning. They used to be handmade, but its cheaper to buy them from China (what a surprise...), but we decided to check out the old school way. This man and his family made bowls and he was extremely excited about Canada. He even gave us a "special price" just because I was Canadian... I bet lots of people got that special price too.

Just a few shots from one of our last nights in Bangkok. The city is beautiful at night. It's a pity though we don't have a picture of our dinner from that night. We grabbed some curry from a street vendor... it contained some very questionable meat. I'm not sure what most of it was, but what we did recognize were the chicken feet that not even the street dogs would eat. We also decided to check out some Thai kick boxing. It was just as entertaining to watch the crowd as it was the fights.

Merry Christmas! Haha, once again, a few weeks late on that, oh well. There are a few pictures of Christmas in Hong Kong. I spent Christmas Eve at Disneyland with a few friends, which helped make it feel more like Christmas (it sort of came without me realizing it). On Christmas Day, my friend Jason flew in and we spent the day with some friends here in Hong Kong, the Collins family. It was great fun, we had crowns and everything. So there you have it, Christmas in Asia.