Myanmar Expectations

You might recognize the name Myanmar (pronounced me-an-mar, AKA Burma) as it has been in the news quite a lot recently because of Aung San Suu Kyi. Over the past few years there has been considerable changes and reform happening in the country. The military is slowly loosening its grip and the roots of democracy are supposedly taking hold, however frail they might be. For these reasons we have been wavering on whether to visit Myanmar or not. As we have traveled over the past few months we have ran into some travelers and talked to friends who have visited Myanmar and they have all said the same thing: “You have to go to Myanmar!”

In our research prior to deciding to go to Myanmar, we found out that the infrastructure in the country is poor and it is the least developed out of any of the South East Asian countries; traveling there is like going back in time.  A New Zealand couple we met in Vietnam mentioned how friendly everyone was and what a great experience they had. Wowed by all the wonderful stories, we decided that we must go to Myanmar before it changes too much.

As soon as our friend from LA, Justin, arrived in Bangkok we started to make plans. At 8:15 am we were at the Republic Of The Union Of Myanmar consulate in Bangkok to get our same-day visas (1260 Baht or 40USD) and we bought our plane tickets to Yangon, the largest city of Myanmar and the major port of entry into the country. After getting our visas and booking our flight for the next day, we started to read more about Myanmar and quickly realized that no foreign banking is allowed in the country. In Myanmar,  there is exactly one ATM and it only works with a Myanmar bank. You can not pay with credit card because no one takes credit card except for the most expensive hotels in Yangon. To put it another way, when you arrive in Myanmar you are completely isolated from your money, the only money you have is what is in your pocket.  On top of that, every message board we were reading mentioned that the US dollars you bring in has to be crisp without a crease or wrinkle, otherwise, they won't exchange it or it will be exchanged at an even poorer rate.

So the three of us frantically maxed out our withdrawal limits for two days in Bangkok. Being in Thiland, we withdrew Thai Baht from the ATM, paying a $5 ATM withdrawal fee and a currency conversion fee from US to Thai Baht. Then we had to exchange our Thai Baht back to USD since the only currency that all currency exchange places in Myanmar took US dollars (and perhaps Euros or Singapore dollars).  And finally in Myanmar we converted our USD into Kyats (pronounced chyet or jyet).  Just as a tip for anyone wanting to do something similar, at BKK airport you can withdraw a maximum of $500 USD at any of the airside ATMs.  Also, while it is best to have a couple of smaller bills, when you exchange to Kyats, the best exchange rate will be crisp $100 bills.  Plus, the best exchange rate to Kyats is at the Yangon international airport; better than any of the other smaller airports we flew into.

With the stress of getting a one day visa and the concern that we were going to run out of money in the middle of Myanmar, our trip was starting off on the wrong foot.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong was tossed into the trip almost as way point rather than a destination. Anthony had been there before and loves the city so he was willing to return, and I didn’t really have any unique interest, but was up to visit.  So we hopped on an overnight train and nearly 24 hours later, we were in Hong Kong.

Darin in his Bunk on the Overnight Train to HK

Trying to Walk Through the Cars; One of the Many Looks Anthony Got For His Mohawk

In no time, I started to like the city as well. There is something familiar about Hong Kong, which probably has something to do with the 130 years of British rule. Because of this, there is less of a language barrier and it makes traveling that much easier. I would guess that around one third of the menus are written in both English and Chinese, with almost all expensive restaurants having both languages. The cross walks have beeping noises, subways remind you to "mind the gap", and double decked buses swarm the streets. Although the city has over 7 million inhabitants it never felt that crowded.

Tall, Skinny Trolleys of Hong Kong

There is a good big city/small city balance that seems to have been struck. Also, the people of Hong Kong are friendly, polite, and considerate. It could have been because we had just come from mainland China where there exists a different set of social norms to Hong Kong but it seemed to have a much more laid back feel.

Overlooking the Hong Kong Skyline from Victoria's Peak

One day as Anthony was resting from traveling, or resting from me, I went out and explored Hong Kong. I visited a park called Nan Lian Garden in the center of the city. The garden is located next to Diamond Hill subway stop and is surrounded by a shopping complex, schools, and some high rise apartment buildings. Outside the garden you can feel the full force of modern Hong Kong, but inside is an oasis. The garden is one of the meticulously maintained gardens that I have ever seen, so much so that many of the plants look plastic. While walking around the inside of the garden you can't hear the traffic and no one is in a rush to get by, the air almost feels cleaner. The juxtaposition of the calm garden against the big city is as bright as the sun and I tried to capture that contrast in these photos.

Shopping, Hong Kong Style

Shopping is one of the biggest attractions of Hong Kong. When Anthony posted on Facebook that we would be visiting the city, most of the comments included "I just love the shopping in Hong Kong". Even though neither of us are big shoppers we went out and explored this highly diverse shopping. Like most big cities, Hong Kong has all the big name luxury brands: Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Coach, and whole host of stores with names I could not pronounce and store fronts too expensive for me to walk into. It also offers Chinese made shirts for a few dollars and Louis Vuitton (or Luis Vitton) for a few dollars as well.  You can get a good quality tailored suit for only 100 USD. Not needing suits, and having only one set of clothes to wear since we were having our laundry being washed, we ended up in what we think to be a local Hong Kong brand store, Samuel & Kevin.  There, we bought two shirts, a belt, and six pairs of underwear for 425 Hong Kong dollars (55USD). Hardly a bargain but we look great!

Showing off our Snazzy New Outfits at "Dialogue In The Dark"

Dialogue in the Dark

Speaking of "Dialogue in the Dark," its not the best place to show off cloths because the entire exhibit is in complete darkness. Coming highly recommended on Tripadvisor and Wikitravel for activities in Hong Kong I booked us an English tour and we set off. Dialogue in the Dark has nothing to do with Hong Kong per se, since there are exhibitions all over the world.  It's an exhibit/activity that helps you understand, through experience, what it is like to be blind. You are given sticks and explained how to properly maneuver them side to side and then led into complete darkness where you meet your tour guide. Our guide walked us through different recreated urban environments and would ask us questions like, "When can we cross the street?" and "Are there any men's adult magazines on the newsrack?" At the end of the tour, still in the dark, we ordered some drinks, sat down and talked with our guide who informed us that she is in fact blind. Paying for drinks in the dark in Hong Kong is easy because all the bills are different sizes and have various textures that are easly recognizable. I asked our guide if it is hard to tell the money apart in the United States and she responded that its hard because to her they all feel the same, so she separates the bills in her purse and places different denominations in different parts of her purse. 

This was a wonderful experience that we both recommend. It not only helps you understand some of the daily challenges of being blind but it provides a new way on "seeing" the world. On our trip we are constantly running around when sightseeing and to look at one building or another. This exhibit reminded us to listen, taste, touch, and smell the sites as well. 

The Little Things

I thought it would be nice to write a blog about some of the little things that by themselves don’t warrant their own entry but none the less are important and impact our daily adventures. 

Showers

It’s easy to let showers fall into the daily grind of life and forget what they offer. Too often we look at showers as an activity that takes time from the day as a social benefit of others and not ourselves. Our travels has rekindled a lost appreciation for showering. After a long day in the heat, humidity and smog of the cities we visit, even the humblest of showers can be one of the most relaxing and lovely activities possible. Washing off the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on my face at the end of a long day of sightseeing is deeply humanizing. The next shower you take, take an extra second to appreciate it.

 Currency

When arriving in a country we have found it is best to try and adjust to the currency by not thinking about the conversion to US dollars (USD). So when you see a bowl of soup for 7,000 South Korean Won (KRW), you think “that’s a good price” and not “Well in USD that’s about.. $7, so that seems ok.” To get to this level you have to start out converting to USD though. In some places this is easy, South Korea for example is about 1 USD to 1,000 KRW, so drop three zeros from the price and you're good. In Hong Kong it is a little harder with a conversion of 1 USD to 7.7 Hong Kong Dollars (HKD), in these cases it is a little more effort to divide so what works well is to use anchors and do some rounding. For example 10 USD is equal to about 80 HKD, 20 USD is about 160 HKD and so on. Though you lose a little in the conversion doing it this way, it gives you a general idea.  And then you can start thinking, "Oh, 100 HKD for a bowl of soup?  That's way too expensive.  Where's that 40 HKD soup we had the other day?"  

So far Vietnam has been the hardest, not because of dividing but because there are way too many zeros. One USD is equal to about 20,000 Vietnamese Dong.  So a bowl of Pho will cost between 35,000 and 60,000 Dong and yesterday we had dinner for 220,000 Dong. It also doesn’t help that the 10,000 and 100,000 notes look alike and they all have similar designs with the same person.  Some guy named Ho Chi Minh or something. We're just not rich enough to be used to all those zeros.  (Though in Vietnam, Anthony's ATM receipt shows that he's a billionaire, so he has to be careful to not whip out his dong on the street).

We now feel sorry for all the non-Americans coming to the states and trying to figure out our money system since our greenbacks must look so similar to them.

Coffee

Perhaps this deserves its own post, I know there are a number of other coffee lovers out there reading this blog. I'll give a quick blow by blow by country.

Philipines – Here you will find mostly instant coffee served at restaurants, hotels, and mostly anywhere other than chain coffee places like “Starbucks” or “Seattle’s Best”. Civet coffee, known throughout the world as one of the best coffees, are created by the ingestion of the beans by the civet cat, defecated, collected, cleaned (hopefully), and roasted .  Though mostly credited as coming from Indonesia, the civet cat can also be found in Northern Luzon in the Philippines, so you can also get civet coffee here.  With the exception of civet (and the numerous American coffee chain restaurants), not the best place for coffee lovers. Though we didn't get to try civet coffee while in the Philippines, a special thanks to Rex and Me-Ann (Anthony's cousins) who have sent us some civet beans to appreciate when we return to the States. 

Japan – Coffee is not really part of the Japanese culture, and as such you neither find coffee houses nor is it common in restaurants.  Oddly, it can be found at almost every corner in the Japanese vending machine. For those of you who don’t know, vending machines are as much a part of the culture as… fish… almost. This vending machine coffee comes in any possible combination of the following; hot or cold, sugar or not, milk or not, and can or cup. The coffee is surprisingly good for coming out of a vending machine, and will help you start the day. It’s not great but it tastes better than a lot of other coffee I’ve had. So coffee lovers, feel free to come to Japan.

South Korea – South Korea seems to love their coffee. It is hard to give a general assessment because there is an endless array of independent coffee shops and the couple we tried were pretty good.  American chain coffee houses are everywhere here as well. What I can say is you should have no problems finding a coffee house.  

China – Don’t bother, drink tea.

Vietnam – So here is the gem and the reason I wanted to write about coffee and the reason I jump from bed in the morning in Vietnam. I don’t know what the national tourist slogan is for Vietnam, but it should be, “We have the best damn coffee in the world.” You will not find Starbucks or Coffee bean here, probably because any street vendor can make a cup of coffee that would shame the average cookie-cutter barrista (plus, Vietnam is still somewhat anti-American, so you won't find a lot of American chain restaurants). We have had coffee at a number of establishments including coffee houses, restaurants, and our hotels. You might think, as I did, that at an included buffet breakfast, sitting on a warming plate, a glass, diner-like coffee pot would produce coffee close to that of dirty bath water. How wrong I could be.  Even buffet coffee is good. In Vietnam, we have yet to have an even mediocre cup.  All have been better than the average cup of coffee in the states. Should you venture into a dedicated coffee house, of which there are many, for between 18,000 Dong (0.90 USD served black) and 25,000 Dong (1.25 USD served with condensed milk) you can enjoy a gift from the gods. I should clarify that this liquid crack is unlike the drip coffee we have in the states.  First off, the serving size is smaller (demitasse size) and I have no idea about the type of grounds they use or how fine they grind it. This apogee of life nectar is as dark as death and would need an almost equal part of condensed milk before it lightens up. The texture is thick like melted butter, and surprisingly I have never had any grounds in the bottom of my cup. There is nothing bitter or burnt about the flavor, it’s smooth, buttery, and chocolatey. Drinking this luxurious liquid is closer to that of dark chocolate liqueur than coffee. It is possible I exaggerated a little, but we have another week in Vietnam to see how this love story turns out.

Down Days

Packing and unpacking every three days gets tiring. Surfing online for sightseeing and running around all day to various activities gets tiring as well. As I write this I can hear your thoughts, “Whine whine… traveling around East Asia is sooo hard, try working all day like me.” Oh yeah?  Get back to work then...ok don’t… never mind that. I don’t want to whine or sound unappreciative of this great opportunity but at the same time that doesn’t mean that the trip doesn’t get tiring or frustrating. So given this, we have found that taking a day here and there to just sit around, blog, facebook, and watch “Game of Thrones” helps with the constant go go go of traveling.

Great Wall of China, or as the Chinese would say, Great Wall

So China is the largest country in the world and has the largest city (Shanghai) and the largest square (Tiananmen Square) in the world.  Can a country claim any more large-ness?  Oh yeah.  They have the largest wall.  Ok, I'm not sure if that's true, but they do have a great wall.  The Great Wall, actually.  Of China.

For me, being on the Great Wall was actually a bit surreal.  It is just one of those sites that you've heard about all your life.  Like the Pyramids of Giza or the Eiffel Tower.  They're in practically every world disaster movie being blown up, ripped up, washed away, or destroyed in one form or another.  But here it was.  And there we were standing on top of it.  And then walking on it.  And then hiking on it.  Then resting on it since some of those steps were just so damn steep.

Notice how the steps just disappear

Just a couple of tips when going to The Wall.
1.  Wear plenty of layers. It's pretty windy up there but you heat up rather quickly when you want to walk along the wall.
2.  People will sell you stuff on the wall.  Feel free to haggle.  I got a set of 10 postcards for 10 yuan.  That's like $1.20.  And she started off at 45 Yuans.
3.  Take the train or the bus to Badaling (the closest city to Beijing to visit The Wall).  It's cheaper than taking a tour bus and you can spend as much time as you want on the wall and not just 30 minutes like you would if you were w/ a tour group.  You can find information on taking the train here: http://www.seat61.com/China.htm#Great Wall of China

Darin Posing as a Builder

By the way, I don't think the Chinese actually call it Great Wall.  It's probably something else in Mandarin that I would butcher, so I won't even try.  But perhaps if it was translated it would be "Great Wall."  Who knows.

Japan travel tips

So for those wanting to travel to Japan, here are a couple of sage advices from us to you.

Tip #1: Learn Japanese

So you don't really need to learn Japanese to come to Japan. You can always bring your Japanese friend or Japanese sister-in-law with you. We kid of course. Getting around Japan knowing no Japanese and being fluent in English has been more than adequate. Not as easy as getting around the Philippines of course but I have a feeling that it might be more difficult in South Korea, China, and Vietnam. There are plenty of people in Japan that speak English. We really only had one tiny problem, which is why we thought of this tip.

Our language barrier at a Fugu (puffer fish) restaurant in Osaka was quite the experience. We sit down and look over the drink menu and the picture/english menu. We pick out two items from the menu and look over the drink menu. We tried ordering sake and the waitress kept saying "wata". So we thought she was asking us if we wanted water. We said yes. But she kepts saying the same thing after ordering the sake. And after not understanding her questions, our waitress kept giggling and turning to the other waitress in confusion. They too knew little to no English. So we decide that no sake for us. I post the picture in hopes that someone (Fumi) might be able to shed some light on our drink confusion.

So after being settled w/ our dinner order and water for drinks, the waitress comes back and asks us another question in Japanese. She points to the Japanese menu and we infer that we have an option for our meal. Darin thinks we get to choose which part of the puffer fish we want for our bbq plate. So we try to ask the waitress, "head, body, tail" and point to the appropriate body part. More giggling and looking at her waitress friends. After a couple more minutes of this, she runs of and finds another waitress who can speak English. Turns out, we get a choice of sauces for our bbq dish. So having spent around 10 minutes in utter confusion, as soon as the English speaking waitress says that one of our sauce choice is ponzu, I immediately ask for that since I know and like ponzu.

We also got to choose to have vegetables with our fugu. The only thing we were able to decipher from our waitress was mushroom. And the rest we tried to figure out on or own when it arrived. We were able to figure out the bell pepper and the leek, but that was it. There was an okra-looking thing that tasted like a very mild pepper. And there was a potato-looking thing that was crunchy like a water chestnut.

To add to the problems in communication, I see this little contraption on the table and thought it might dispense a toothpick or napkin or something. So I grab it, press the button, and say, "what's this do?" Darin knew exactly what it was but it was too late. The waitress comes by and Darin waves his hand saying "no, no, sorry" in his limited Japanese. The little contraption is generally used to call the waitress to your table. Who knew? Ooops, my bad.

Tip #2: JR Pass

A couple of weeks before leaving for this trip, I had a couple of friends give us this advice to purchase a JR pass. And since you can only purchase this pass outside of Japan, it was best that we purchase it before leaving for the trip. Granted, you can get the pass in other Asian countries as well, but for the sake of simplicity, we just got our pass at a travel agency in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles.

The JR pass allows travel on all JR busses and trains in Japan, which include most bullet trains and at least one line in most big cities. Getting around in cities would require paying for the local metro, but we were still able to get by without doing that since we walked around quite a bit. In total we used a local metro twice in Tokyo and once in Fukuoka. We then used our JR pass six times within Tokyo and six times within Kyoto. But we primarily used our passes to get in between cities which accounted for all of our 7 train rides in our transportation tally. And the best part was that we were able to change our tickets whenever we wanted. We actually changed our city destination twice and changed to an earlier departure time 3 or 4 times.

Our 14 day pass cost us 41,000 yen a piece and doing a rough calculation, our trips would have added up close to 60,000 yen per person. And that doesn't include the reservation costs or the change fees that we might have had to pay. So the pass even gave us more flexibility than what we would have normally done if we hadn't bought the pass.

Darin As a Bullet Train

For those only spending a week in Japan, the JR pass would pay for itself if all you do is Tokyo and Kyoto. A 7 day pass costs 28,000 yen and a round trip ticket from Tokyo to Kyoto is 26,000 yen. With the round trip cost of getting from Narita airport into Tokyo at 3000 yen a piece, your 7-day pass would have paid for itself. If you're an intense traveller and visit 3 cities in 7 days, then you're making some great savings. If you were to do Tokyo-Kyoto, Kyoto-Hiroshima, Hiroshima-Tokyo, it would cost 42,000 yen total. Meaning the 14-day JR pass would have paid for itself and adding more stops and cities would all be savings.

So Darin and I concluded halfway through our Japan trip that the JR pass was a good investment. Even though it cost us close to $500 each.

Tip #3: www.japan-guide.com

Need help figuring out where to go in Japan? www.japan-guide.com. Need help figuring out how much it might cost to get from Japanese city to Japanese city? www.japan-guide.com. Need help figuring out when the cherry blossoms will be in bloom and where to see cherry blossoms? www.japan-guide.com.

I used this site a lot and help me figure out the best way to get to Hida-Takayama and Kinosaki Onsen. Plus the various ideal places to view cherry blossoms. Very helpful site for those english speakers visiting Japan.

Tip #4: Shoes that you can easily remove

You would think that I would know this already, but man, did we have to remove our shoes a lot. I love walking around in socks or go barefoot, so I don't mind at all. What I do mind was having to untie and tie my shoelaces up over and over again. If only there was an invention where i can easily unstrap and strap my shoes. Oh wait. It's called velcro. Sadly, I don't have any velco shoes. Nor did I bring any slip-on shoes. My slip on shoes are dress shoes or a pair of vans (which don't provide much arch support). So I pretty much loosened up my shoelaces instead and walked around with loose shoes and was able to slip my shoes off and on fairly easily.

Tip #5: On a budget? Stay at a capsule hotel

This tip only works best if you're male and not claustrophobic. Yes, I said male. Apparently, there are no capsule hotels for women. And the savings is far greater if you are travelling alone since for two, the savings wasn't as great as staying in a hotel since you're paying per person as oppose to paying for a room.

Our Capsule Hotel in Osaka

Darin and I got to stay in a capsule hotel in Osaka. It was pretty great, but not something we would do regularly as we kept hitting the walls as we moved around in our sleep.

Tip #6: Japan uses 100V for electrical equipment

Previously, I recommended bringing an internation adaptor/converter instead of just an international adaptor. Scratch that tip. Instead, make sure you only bring electronics that accept anything from 100V-240V. The converter we bought in the Philippines didn't work out quite well in Japan and I ended up killing my electric shaver. So I tossed that away and bought a new shaver in Japan. One that takes 100V-240V. So with my international adaptor, this shaver should work anywhere in the world. Now the only thing that Darin and I have than need a converter is the hair clipper. Hopefully, we can start using it again in Korea or China.

Converter and Ziplock

With so many hours on buses and planes, I start thinking of things I should put on this blog. On our way to Sagada, I thought it would be good to provide some tips that I should jot down so that if I ever were to do this again, I would have it recorded somewhere. Or if someone else were to travel for an extended period of time, then I would have tips ready for them.

Tip #1: Get a universal electrical adapter that is also a converter. We brought with us an electric clipper so that I can maintain my mohawk and so that Darin can shave down his head and beard. While bringing the clipper would add weight to our packs, we thought it would save us money in the long run. Well so far, it has cost us more money since the clipper only runs on 120V and it goes kinda haywire if connected to the 220V that is provided in the Philippines. So we went ot a hardware store and bought ourselves a converter. But the only one they had was kind of heavy and bulky. We bought it anyway though I am already thinking that I want to buy a smaller converter in Japan and chuck this one when we do.

Just to expand a little on this tip: I ended up bringing a converter that has an input for a ground pin so that I can plug in my little netbook as opposed to the adapter/converter that only has the two pin input socket. And I also brought an extension chord (w/ the ground input pin) so that we can plug in more than one thing at a time.

Tip #2: Ziplock bags. I brought a few of them. Some of the larger size and some of the sandwich sized ziplock bag. But I've already used up all my spare bags. I've used it to organize all my cords. And I can think of other uses for them already and I've run out. :( I can use them to keep things from getting wet and use them to store wet clothes when packing. And I can organize even more with them if need be. Perhaps I can pick up some more later.