profoundfluxpudding

From something as small as soap to something as big as Angkor Wat, Siem Reap is full of awesomeness:

1. The temples – this is obvious. Besides the famed Angkor Wat, there are many more amazing temples. Some of the other ones we saw: Angkor Thom, Bayon, the Women’s Temple, and the Jungle Temple.  I felt really sick during the tour of the Jungle Temple – but still found it amazing. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was filmed here.
2. Wanderlust store – I love the owner of this store and everything in it. Read about it in the Huffington Post article I wrote  on the founder of Wanderlust.
3. Our tour guide Phal. In his spare time, he coordinates the building of wells for communities near Siem Reap. Just $100 can build a well for 6 families. He also encouraged these communities to set up small stores and now they sell some really cool bracelets made from repurposed water bottles. All around awesome.
4. Gourmet Khmer food. Especially loved lunch at Sugar Palm  and dinner at Aha.
5. The land mine museum was especially powerful. The soap sold at the museum, created by NYU School of Design students to “wash away the mines” is a great example of using design for good.
6. Tuk tuk rides to the temples.
7. Bicycling through the village with my mom and dad. And then relaxing at the pool afterwards.
8. The beautiful and extravagant suite at Le Residence. My parents deserve that level of luxury, not me. But luckily, they are generous to share. Everyone knew our name at this place!
9. I got lots great recommendations from friends. We couldn’t even try them all! Be sure to have brunch at the Grand hotel, pastries at Blue Pumpkin, drinks at the FCC, Khmer food at Viroth’s and Continental food at Nest.
10. My floppy hat. I bought this hat in Bangkok for a few bucks. It saved me on in Siem Reap during the hottest month of the year. And, as my sister pointed out from the pictures – it totally pulled together all my outfits.

I have been in Bangkok for one week now. Despite the fact that I still have to sit at a desk from 9-5, I have taken this opportunity to explore the city. Here are some of my favorite spots so far. I don’t pretend to be an expert on this city, but if I had to write a New York Times 36 hours in Bangkok or a Daily Candy Goes to Bangkok, this is what I would include:

Saturday

MORNING: Even if you had a late night at Zense enjoying great cocktails at the sky bar in Central World, wake up early to go for a walk or jog at Chatachuk park before it gets too hot (MRT/BTS Mo Chit). When you are sufficiently sweaty and hungry, walk over to the MRT and go one stop south to Kamphaeng Phet. Here you will find a beautiful fruit and vegetable market. There are also several venders cooking up every Thai dish under the sun. I strongly recommend the fresh fruit juices and the coconut sweets.

If you are not in dire need of a shower, cross the street and take this opportunity to explore the Chatachuk Weekend market. According to Lonely Planet, this market sets the standards for markets around the world. It is huge and overwhelming, but filled with so many treasures – from dog clothes to house plants. My favorite parts of this market are the endless amounts of hipster tees and vintage dresses. Nancy Chandler’s map is really helpful and can come in handy if you get lost somewhere around the army attire.

AFTERNOON: No time to rest because the Grand Palace closes at 4 PM! This place is swarming with tourists so its hard to concentrate on its beauty  and history. Everyone jokes about the tour guides holding up umbrellas, but they are for real here. I was angry because the guard did not think my knee length skirt was long enough or that my wrap sufficiently covered my shoulder so I had to rent clothes to wear. Its an important site to see, but get out of the tourist trap as fast as possible and head down to the river. For 3 baht, take a ferry across to stop 10 and go to Wan Long market, a second hand market with no tourists. You have to dig around a bit, but the market is full of  vintage dresses and shirts, acid washed jeans, gems, vests, and shoes. Grab some street food for a snack if you are tired/hungry. I recommend the rice crepes with raisins.

EVENING: Head back across the river and walk to Khao San Road, where backpacker culture began. If you do this soon, you might walk through the Red Shirts camp like I did. I was nervous to be walking into a government protest, but it turned out fine. There is even more shopping to do on Khao San, but at this point, it all might start to blend together! Its time for a drink! Sit by one of the outdoor bars and enjoy some fine people-watching.

Eat some pad thai on the street before heading over to Suansae Bar and Mertz art space. This place was created by a group of young Thai friends and is at the epicenter of Thai hipster culture. Enjoy a movie in the art space followed by a discussion.  The party goes on all night long on Khao Son Road. You may find yourself swept up and taken to a bar in the heart of the red shirts camp. If not, look here for more bars and going-ons in this area this traditionally backpacker area that has been reclaimed by hip young Thais.

Sunday

MORNING: grab a smoothie and some vegetarian food at Banana Family Park in Ari. There are delicious smoothies and food that is so yummy that most people cannot believe its meatless… If you need more market time, jump on the BTS and go two stops to Mo Chit for round two of Chatuchak. If you are done with that craziness, get a Thai message at Body Tune, right next to the BTS stop in Ari.

AFTERNOON: Spend the hottest hours of the day at the Bangkok Arts and Culture Center. The place has spunky, funky exhibits ranging from wall graffiti to influences from Japanese pop art. Apparently, since World War II, Japan is the country that has had the most influence on Thailand and this is visible through art. There is also an art library on the first floor. This is a trendy place to grab a coffee and read a book. There is a really cool ice cream shop with flavors like global warming.

MBK is right across the street – enter this shopping center and gawk at all the gadgets and stuff you never knew you could buy.

Its hot outside, but don’t less this dissuade you from taking a HOT YOGA class at Absolute Yoga (BTS Chit Lom). If visiting the Grand Palace gives you a taste of history, taking a yoga class among the fitness-minded modern Thais gives you a taste of today’s culture. There are nice showers so that you can refresh for the evening.

EVENING: End your busy weekend with a relaxing evening of hummus and shisha on Soi Arab. Experience the cross-roads of culture and wonder at how much Bangkok has to offer.

OTHER SUGGESTIONS (compiled from my trip and insight from Bangkok residents and friends who have visited):

• Suan Lum night bazaar
• evening flower market in Chinatown
• Wat Pho and Wat Arun temples
• Jim Thompson House
• Saxophone at Victory Monument (Thursday nights are best). There is lots of street food outside
• Prime Massage – ask for Jit or Bob
• Dasa used bookstore/cafe (near Phrom Pong BTS)

Rice is really important. The majority of people in our world have diets consisting mainly of rice. 2004 was the International Year of Rice  (IYR). There is a trendy New York City restaurant called Rice that acknowledges the importance of rice around the world.

Rice is so variable and it is perfect for a gluten-free diet. I am in the right part of the world to love rice  because Vietnam is the world’s second largest exporter of rice (Thailand is the first).  I eat rice in more ways than Forrest Gump eats shrimp. I can name so many different forms and variations of rice: jasmine rice, glutinous rice, pho noodles, bun noodles, rice paper, rice pudding, brown rice, red rice, rice and beans, and on and on. However, it was only yesterday that I discovered a new type of rice: GABA rice drink.

I found this drink at Lemon Farm, an organic and macrobiotic grocery and cafe in Bangkok. The drink is made from GABA brown rice and five types of beans. There were real kidney beans in this drink! (This might have grossed me out before I decided to love che).

Brown rice that germinates for a longer time than usual has GABA, an amino acid produced from the brain that helps block the neurons that produce anxiety and stress. So GABA naturally reduces stress and anxiety and has other health benefits. (I’ve done some Internet research)

I’m a strong believer in better health through amazing foods (and of course, the reverse: packaged foods, added hormones, and corn syrup are killers). I think this GABA rice drink is a superfood and it will become big trend real soon (mark my words!). I’ve been drinking Kombucha for years and now it just finally made it as a “trend” on the New York Times Thursday Styles. NYT can be slow to pick up on trends! (well, to their credit, there was an article about Kombucha in 1994, but it was not about the fad.)

It will only be a matter of time before Hollywood health gurus and yogis start walking around cities with their GABA rice milk drinks. In a few years, The New York Times will write about this new trend.  Instead of gabbing about GABA, I should probably find a GABA brown rice drink to invest in….

Did you know that rice could be so trendy?

*This is really in-depth and probably not that interesting unless you really love me or you are planning a trip to Burma.

DAY 5:

• Spent the morning enjoying the relaxing town around Inlay Lake. We bicycled 45 minutes on a rural path to a hot springs. The road seemed to go to no where, so we climbed a deserted pagoda for a better view. Sure enough, the hot springs were just around the corner! There were only a few other people there. Each pool got hotter and I felt my circulation and digestive system improving with each wince of heat. We another typical multi-course meal at Smiling Moon. I was most excited by the avocado with rice crackers and fried bananas. We relished every moment of the day and finally showed up at the hotel at 4 pm to begin another long drive to Mandalay.
• The roads were not good. In some parts, they were just dirt. We shook and rattled for many hours. We stopped to get dinner along the road and continued driving into the night. We finally arrived at the ET hotel in Mandalay at 2 am.  From my 2 am viewpoint, Mandalay seemed big, dirty, and unspectacular.

DAY 6:

• We spent the day around Mandalay. It is the places nearby that drive tourists to this sprawling and dusty city. We wanted to be in the monastery at Amarapura by 10:30 AM so that we could see the thousands of monks line up and eat breakfast. This turned out to be kind of uncomfortable because there were many tourists who wanted to watch monks eat.  We felt guilty taking photos and quickly left to go to the longest teak bridge in the world.
• The bridge was also a touristy attraction, but the little cafe that we found to drink a strawberry drink at was authentic and delicious (The outhouse I peed in afterwards was also authentic, but not delicious).
• Next, we went to Sagaing Hill, a hillside that is full of monasteries and pagodas. It is the place were monks go when they are stressed out. One monk quietly showed us around. He kept wanting to take photos of me in particular places with my camera. What I really wanted was a photo of him taking a photo because his maroon robe matched my camera perfectly.
• Stopped by a few more pagodas, got picked up by another monk who sat down with us for tea, and then headed back to the city.
• That night, we walked through a night market on our way to see The Mustache Brothers – the comedy/dancing troupe that is infamous for criticizing the government.  The main guy talked about how the government was rich and the people were poor, about how the government is always watching, and about one of the brothers that was sentenced to jail. And then there was a lot of silly dancing.
• We tried to grab a late dinner, but the city was dead by 10 pm. We finally found some Indian briyani on the street, but the little children begging by my side made me completely lose my appetite.

DAY 7:

• We rented bikes for the day – a clutch decision.
• Started the day with a climb up Mandalay Hill to a pagoda. I really enjoyed the morning stair workout. Besides this hill, the city is completely flat.
• There just was not that much to do in Mandalay and it was hot so we decided to go to the pool. The local Olympic-sized pool looked great for swimming laps, but not that inviting for reading besides it. We sauntered in with an affected air to the Mandalay Hill Resort and enjoyed a lovely afternoon of dipping in the pool and reading. It was a nice break for us, but seriously, I cannot believe that people would come to Myanmar to stay at 5-star resorts and hang out by the pool the whole time. What’s the point? If that is what you want, sit by the beach in Thailand!
• After a five-star shower, went to TooToo, a home style restaurant. While it is listed as a MUST go in Lonely Planet, there are no signs of it selling out to tourists. Completely authentic mush!!
• Savored our last hours playing connect four in a bar and then at 8 pm, began the overnight drive back to Yangon. This drive was really scary because I knew the driver must be getting tired. The night was a complete haze of roadside tea and peeing off the side of the road.

DAY 8:

• Finally arrived back in Yangon around 10 AM. I was dizzy and exhausted.  I really wanted to run the Hash House Harriers at 3 pm so I set out to energize myself: a lemongrass drink, a lime drink, and a coffee drink.
• Still felt woozy, but really wanted to run. Good thing because the Hash turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the trip. We met a bunch of expats and were able to get a feeling for the expat life. Turns out, they were surprisingly normal! The run was about an hour – through thatched-roof huts and dry fields. At one point, the monks and villagers were pointing us which way to go!
• By the time the run and following festivities ended, I was exhausted and satisfied. Tomorrow we would leave early and spend the day shopping at the weekend market, getting Thai massages, seeing old friends, and eating pad thai in Bangkok

People seem to want more information on this trip. Vietnam Airlines is opening up a direct flight from Hanoi – Yangon soon so I think more and more people from Hanoi plan to go to Myanmar.  While everything is still fresh in my mind, I might as well craft a little travel guide based on my trip. My friend Dave sent us a lot of information from his trip that was really helpful. There really is a dearth of information flowing in and out of Myanmar so this is my attempt to help others who want to go!

DAY 1:

• We arrived to Yangon and were met by the friendly staff from The Motherland Inn (2). This backpacker hostel is Lonely Planet’s “our pick.” It was not glamorous, but the people were really nice and there was a good breakfast. One of the staff members, Zaw Zaw, helped us plan our whole trip. He convinced us to go by car with a driver so that we could see more of the country and save time commuting around airports. I HATE car trips so was wary, but ultimately decided it was the best decision. Based on what we wanted, Zaw Zaw said we should go to Bago (spend the night in Taugwoo), Kalaw, Lake Inlay, Mandalay, Amarapura and Sagaing, and then back to Yangon
• We spent the rest of the day exploring Yangon – went to the market, ate a questionable cold rice noodle      salad (the woman mixed it with her bare hands), walked along the Strand and stopped in at one of the   fancy hotels near the British Embassy, and saw the very impressive Shwedagon Pagoda during sunset.

DAY 2 (Valentine’s Day):

• Ate a dosa for breakfast on the street (for some reason the idea of eggs at hostels makes me squirm). The dosa was delicious and we enjoyed it with Myanmar tea – like Indian tea, but not spicy and with condensed milk…hmm…. We got in our car, our home away from home for the next few days, and headed to Bago.  Our driver did not speak any English, so Aung was there to be our semi-guide. He was nice and easy-going, but did not speak enough English to really tell us much about the sites.
• Bago is like a miniature Bagan – we went to so many pagodas that it became an endurance event. After not being able to walk around and have our shoeless feet burn anymore, we decided to get our palms read. According to some guy at a pagoda in Bago, I have a brave mind and a lot of leadership capabilities (well he said some other things too, but I only chose to remember what I liked). We ate some mushy curry and headed to Taugwoo. On the way we saw a little fair and asked the driver to stop. It was such a “genuine” and not touristy experience. I bought some sticky rice in bamboo and we rode possibly the sketchiest fair ride ever.
• I think we stayed at a nice place in Taugwoo but we never saw it in the daylight because we arrived after       dark and left before dawn.

DAY 3:

• Started with one of the longest and most uncomfortable car rides of my life. We finally arrived to the quaint town of Kalaw and had lunch at Everest Nepali restaurant. We did not have time for the standard hike from Kalaw to Lake Inlay, so we did a five hour trek. It felt so great to stretch my legs.
• Our guide was a really interesting and well-educated man in his 50s. He told us  about his life and a lot about his thoughts on the government and the people. He thinks that tourists are important because they help inform Burmese people about the world outside. He asked as a lot of questions about American politics that we tried to answer as honestly as we could. He said that most people do not know about other types of government, all they know is fear. He tried to compare the Burmese people to an Aesop’s fable called “We got the leader we deserve.” His point was that the people are smiling Buddhists who do not plan for the future. Our trekking guide seemed to double as a medicine man for the towns that we visited. Ha handed out medication to an old woman and a young girl. Tourists give him money to buy medicine so we chipped in as well.
• We bought some really cool paintings from Law Ka Nat art gallery and went to Sam’s Family Restaurant for dinner.

DAY 4:

• After buying some warm blankets at the market, we are off again. I was not happy to get back in the car, but the ride to Lake Inlay was only three hours. We arrived to our hotel and immediately rented bicycles.
• Biking on retro bikes around the paths outside of town made me feel like I was in another era, in another world. I immediately thought how good of a place this would be for a fashion catalogue photo shoot.  We stopped for lunch at Green Chili, a really beautiful restaurant that looks way more expensive than it actually is.
• For the afternoon, we did our tour of the lake. I did not realize that the lake was so inaccessible – you have to get on guided motorboats to get there. The boat ride was great, but the whole tour seemed a little weird. A big draw is a monastery where bored monks have taught cats to jump…did I mention I am NOT a cat person? We went to a cigarette-making workshop and a weaving workshop. We opted out of seeing the women with long necks. These women wear metal braces that elongate their necks. It was first done so that young girls would not be attractive to men, but now more and more girls get this treatment because tourists like to take photos. Lonely Planet advised us not to stop for photos. It is times like these that you realize what profound impacts tourism can have on society. I will forever be a more conscience tourist.
• We went to a winery restaurant called The Viewpoint for dinner. Shan food is better than most Myanmar food – lots of soups, salad, and avocado! Apparently Shan kings would be served 300 plates at each meal. Five was way too much for me… Still, it was another gorgeous restaurant. Not exactly what I was expecting from Myanmar, but there is definitely some upscale tourism here (with money oftentimes going straight into the the hands of the government)

I just got back from seeing two documentaries at Cinematheque – a cultural mecca for movie lovers that has become one of my most frequented spots in Hanoi. Both documentaries were extremely intense and relevant to my right here, right now life.

The first documentary was The Most Dangerous Man in America. The film told the story of Daniel Ellsberg’s leaking of the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War. Ellsberg had been a Pentagon insider before he completely turned into an anti-war activist. The film was especially relevant because I am now an American living in Vietnam; a country that was ravished by my country not too long ago. This documentary reiterated how much of a mistake that war was and I was once again reminded of the brutalities of the war. I was reminded that it is amazing that, as an American citizen, I am even allowed to be a guest in this country, let alone treated kindly. I was also inspired by Ellsberg’s determination to break old ties and stand up against government for what he believed to be right.

I could have easily gone home after seeing The Most Dangerous Man in America and felt satisfied, but the next film was Burma VJ. Considering I just got home from the country, it seemed like a good time to see this documentary. The smuggled footage tells the story of the 2007 riots in Yangon.  The monks started with a peaceful protest, but the government took violent action against them. Monks, students, and journalists were beaten and shot. The government turned off the Internet so that images could not leak out. There was an imposed curfew.

I knew that the country has an extremely dark cloud over it from the military regime and that the people live in fear, but I did not realize how extreme it was. Watching this movie did not feel like seeing problems in a faraway land –I had JUST been at that same pagoda and the scenes of Yangon, monks, buses, and men in longyis looks a lot like what I have just seen.

Moreover, in the scope of history, 2007 is really just yesterday. This brutality is still occurring and I was in the country and only saw a few pieces of evidence of the junta (one police bus with people sticking their heads through rails, the new capital, a trekking guide saying that people live in fear, and what seemed to be forced labor). What is crazy is that the government tries hard to put on a good face for tourists, so it is possible to travel throughout the country and not have a clue what is really going on. While I had a clue, I never thought about undercover police patrolling the streets and did not understand the extent to which fear fills the air. In 1988 and 2007 people have tried to protest and it has been forcefully suppressed. There are supposedly elections coming this year, but no one seems to have much hope for change.

It was 10:30 when the second documentary ended. I had not yet eaten any dinner, but did not feel at al hungry. I biked home through the streets of Hanoi in a daze. I cannot believe the horrific acts governments and people will commit in the name of fear or power. I’ve never considered myself a passionate activist, but maybe it is about time I make my actions coincide with my beliefs. I did leave the Ivory Tower to put myself right in the middle of the action. So now what?

Everyone loves the sun, but I really love it. More than that, I need it. I tell people that I have some chlorophyll cells and like plants, I need sunlight to create photosynthesis so I can survive… and then I got weird looks and they say, “you mean Vitamin D?” Whatever, I rely on the sun so much that used to have a sunlamp to combat Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). I thought moving to SE Asia would mean the end to SAD days, but I guess I should have figured the sun never rises in the winter in Hanoi.