Twenty-eleven, in Review

Another year has passed by, so it's time for another annual review! Here's a look back at what I've done over the last twelve months, or rather where I've travelled to, 'cause I've spent a lot of time up in the air since January 1st, 2011!

January was rather uneventful, but I managed to finish up my most recent tattoo. Soon after I blogged about a sort of realization I came to, about my self esteem and self perception. Not really heavy stuff, but personal stuff. Suffice to say I'm at a much better place now than I was a year or two back.

February marked the beginning of my worldly travels for the year, with a quick jaunt down to Mexico for reading week with a few friends. We may have only been down there a scant three days, but we stretched those hours to the maximum extent and had an absolute blast. Some people thought we were foolish for spending so much on so short a trip, but I can't say I have any regrets about going - even the unscheduled stay in Texas! I can still remember those buffalo hot wings. Mmmm.

A few weeks into March I participated in the Cut for the Cure, a UBCO fundraising initiative (started by some friends of mine a few years back) for the purpose of cancer research. This time around I actually shaved my head, which wasn't as terrible as I imagined it would be. In fact, I think I managed to pull off the look and since my fear of having an odd-shaped skull didn't materialize. Huzzah! I may or may not shave the ol' noggin again this year.

Nothing happened in April, apparently. No blog posts, no trips: only one exam and a few papers.

After moving back to Victoria in May, I barely had enough time to unpack before jumping a plane to Turkey. I was there for two weeks with my family, and had an absolutely amazing time. I still miss Turkish food (especially Turkish breakfast, those Mediterraneans know what's what) and long to go back one day.

June was my only full month at home for the summer, and for the most part it was fairly laid back. I met up with lots of friends for coffee, put in some time at the Gap, and celebrated a very low-key 22nd birthday.

However, I also went to Vancouver for a big concert, Janelle Monáe and Bruno Mars. Mars was good, but I was there for Janelle. Boy, did she deliver! Easily one of the highlights of my concert-going experiences.
 
July took me and two bags across the Pacific Ocean to Singapore, my new home for the next five-ish months. I had been to the city state ten years earlier, but I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Nevertheless, I fell in love with the city almost immediately, and count the journey as one of the most important parts of my university education. 

I met a tonne of rad people out in the tropics, some of whom I hope to see again soon. Despite being so far away from home, I still managed to fall in with a Vancouver crowd (figures), so I know I'll be seeing them again in the near future.

In August I did the first bit of my Southeast Asia travelling, a short ferry from Singapore to Indonesia. It's one of those trips that, while it was difficult to enjoy it at the time, will always be remembered with much laughing and inside jokes. Like, "We are just so cool."

The month also marked the beginning of my classes at NUS, my first Singaporean club experience, National Day celebrations, and a music festival. Not bad, eh?

September took me to the island of Borneo, to Sarawk province and Brunei Darussalam. Although I went alone, I joined up with some other backpackers to see the various sights in Miri, Mulu, and Bandar Seri Begawan. The jungles and mountains were a welcome change from urban Singapore (even though the meaning of "urban" in Singapore is a whole lot more green than in North America). 

When I came back from Borneo I attended the F1 Grand Prix and saw Linkin Park in concert. Another full month.

Compared to other months, October was a little more quiet. I took a relaxing vacation to the tropical island of Tioman in Malaysia, where I took full advantage of the sun to get my tan on. Long story short I fell asleep near the equator and got a sunburn. Surprise, surprise.

I also checked off one of the big Singapore Bucket List items: swimming in the Marina Bay Sands infinity pool. It was rad. Mad rad, even. 

By the time November rolled around I still wasn't tired of flying around the world, so I went to Macau and Hong Kong. Macau exceeded my expectations, Hong Kong didn't live up to them. I ate lots of food, sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes downright strange; went to a few theme parks; toured each city by foot to a point that I forgot what exhaustion was; and took far too many pictures in Disneyland.
 
Well, by December I really was tired of all the travel, but I still needed to see so much. Somehow I managed to fit a week in the Philippines, two days in Siem Reap, an afternoon in Kuala Lumpur, a day in Singapore, and countless hours in airports and airplanes into the sixteen days before I went back to Canada. It was quite the whirlwind, and I'm still not quite sure how I survived it. A fine end to a great year, I must say.


photos by: vcateyesv, me, me, kanikey, Janelle Monáe, me, me, me, me, Ed Coyle, Ezyan Y.

the Noms in Macau and Hong Kong

This might not be the best place to start off a blog post devoted to what I ate on my last trip, but hey, this was the first thing I ate in Macau! And what just is it? If you guessed "crispy fried pigeon," you're correct! You don't win a prize.

Pigeon actually isn't that bad. It has extremely dark, tender meat, though not very much of it. From what I remember of duck and goose, it's more similar to those than to chicken. For once, something that doesn't taste like chicken!

One of the foods that Macau is known for is the Portuguese egg tart. Yes, Portuguese. Macau was a colony of Portugal until recently, and the European influence is plain there. Egg tarts are common in Asia, but the Portuguese take on the Asian staple is simply delicious. Flaky pastry, sweet egg custard, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. The tart is also subjected to flame like a crème brûlée. É maravilhoso!

On the pastry note, bakeries were extremely abundant in both Macau and Hong Kong, much to our delight. Many cakes were eaten, some familiar, such as the chocolate and hazelnut creme cake pictures, and some were a little more localized, like the purple yam and red bean cake I sampled in Hong Kong. It was gone before I could take a photo, but yes, it was in fact purple.

Due to some amazing stroke of luck, our one-day visit to Macau fell during the Macau Food Festival. Rad! Food prices were a little steep, but that was fine, it was a festival of food. A gluttony fair, if you will. We loaded up on meal coupons and sampled quite a few of the different stalls. I remember having some spinach gyoza, Portuguese sliced meats baked into a cheese roll, and samosa with three sauces. Some lemonade with sour plum was consumed as well.

The other two travelling with me had some dim sum among other things, and so our last mean in Macau was a super success.

The first meal in Hong Kong was significantly better than the first in Macau (the pigeon, if you remember). We hit up a fancy-looking deli and market for some sandwiches, which were actually quite inexpensive and very, very good. Mine was a smoked ham sandwich with mustard, tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, and apples. Mmmm. It was good to have real bread. I don't get sandwiches very often in Singapore, and when I do they're from Subway. Sad panda.

Also in the deli market was a bakery with pastries (of course), where more egg tarts were purchased. There was also a giant gingerbread house castle. Like, massive. I didn't eat any of it, but it deserves to be mentioned. It had towers. And spires. And icicles. And trees. And an old babushka (not sure why). I can't explain well, so here's a better photo. Amazing, eh?

Later on in the Hong Kong trip we ascended Victoria Peak via tram, one of the essential tourist activities in the Pearl of the Orient. At the top there are two malls (of course), one of which had a New York Fries. Which served poutine. I went into hysterics. The other guy travelling with me lives in Austria, and had never heard of poutine, so, like any self-respecting Canadian, I introduced him to the caloric goodness. For those of you who don't know, poutine in a Quebecois dish consisting of hot French fries, fresh cheese curds, and brown gravy. Best.

At this point, you might be noticing a lack in, how shall I say it, Asian food. I really did eat "Asian food" most of the time, but the delicious and momentous things just happened to be, well, not.

However, our second day in Hong Kong we jumped on the tram and rode it to the end of the line to see what we could see. We happened upon a dessert café that offered many typical Hong Kong deserts. Most of them involved mango, and most were a sort of pudding or soup. I had a mango-based dessert, which also had dragonfruit, pomelo, and sago. Sago is just a starch that, at least in Hong Kong, is usually found as an edible pearl similar to the black tapioca pearls in bubbletea. The dragonfruit was my favourite, but mango is starting to grow on me.

This last photo wasn't our last meal in Hong Kong, but it was the last food photo I took (aside from the Mickey Mouse waffle). It's also proof that we consumed Asian food, although this wasn't my plate. But this one looks more pretty than mine. Mine looked like a pile of brains. But it was more delicious than that. I think. Never had brains, so I can't compare.

Anywho, suffice to say that it was a delicious trip!

all photos by me, more of Flickr.

a Photoblog: the Loyal City of Macau

all photos by me, more on Flickr

Back from Pandaland

I'm back from the China SARs! I have over 500 photos to comb through and exams to study for, so the forthcoming blog post will have to wait a bit. That, and I'm beat. This happy panda needs a nap, pronto.

Oh, and contrary to what this post implies, I saw no pandas in China. Only Disney characters and a really big Buddha.

photo by Christopher Allison Photography

Tripping Out: Anticipation

One of the main reasons I chose to study abroad in Singapore was the opportunity to travel. These are the trips I have lined up before the semester ends.

Pulau Tioman is in Malaysia, and will provide me with my first real tropical island get-away since arriving in Singapore. Yes, this is an island in the tropics too, but it doesn't have beaches like Malaysia! And that Indonesia trip was a beach-less disaster. Fun, but a disaster. I'm hitting Tioman for a weekend at the end of the month.

I just booked a flight to Macau for the middle of November, during the reading week before exams. I know, I know, I'm supposed to study during reading week. Pfft. Whatever. I'm an exchange student, I'm expected to be a slacker here. So it's off to Macau!

And just what is Macau, you ask? It was (apparently) the first European colony in Asia, settled by the Portuguese. It was also the last colony to be abandoned, which occurred in 1999 in a hand-off similar to Hong Kong. Now it's regarded as the Las Vegas of Asia. Should be fun!

After Macau I'm hopping a ferry to neighbouring Hong Kong, which will make up for the bulk of my reading break trip. I honestly have no idea what to expect in Hong Kong, aside from Disneyland (and yes, I am planning to go) and dim sum.

Counting down the days is difficult, especially knowing how much I have to get through before I leave on this trip. Namely two small group projects due in the next week or so, a paper due on the 7th of November, and two papers due the 8th of November. Ack! Hard to believe it'll all be over in two months.

photos by CW Ye, Toby Simkin, and Ed Coyle