2January2010
Posted by oulin under: O Space.
2009 went by in a circle. It started in the Philippines for CNY, and now ending in the Philippines for the New Year’s Eve of 2010, both in Cebu Island. I didn’t plan it that way. It just happened and I think it’s better like this. It gives it a little dramatic feeling.
2009 has certainly been a very special year in my life. After mumbling countless times in the past five years about leaving Shanghai, my visit in Malapascua early this year helped to confirm the decision. While swimming in the clear turquoise color water gazing out to the horizon, I realized I could never be satisfied living in the pale city of Shanghai and sipping Starbuck’s coffee every morning at my pathetic looking office desk. The idea to travel around for a long period of time formed in my mind since I read the book written by the Lonely Planet’s founders three years ago. I remembered talking to Didier about it back then that we should leave our jobs and go off for a year traveling and diving. I never gave up that idea. I was still trying to figure out what I should be doing as my new career and how I should pursue it when the travel plan became a detailed picture – first in China then South East Asia. I was simply tired of the commercial work environment where everyone just focused on the profit in the very near future. I was a consumer, a materialistic person, shallow and selfish in many ways. I couldn’t’ see myself contributing to the society or helping the world and those in need. I wanted to do something, something more than just about myself. Working in education with NGOs became my new goal in career. That’d be what I would do after finished traveling. After thought it through, I felt “safer” to leave things behind and start over again with a goal in mind. Then, I counted my money and it should be enough for me to travel for six to eight months. It’s a pretty good length of travel time. Within two months, I left my old job, moved out of my lovely apartment (oh, I still love that place so much and miss the bbq on the giant terrace!), packed my life away, hugged and kissed my dear friends goodbye, jumped on an over night train to Beijing, my first stop in the journey. I secretly thought that’s quite romantic the way I left Shanghai
No doubt it has been a journey of lifetime. Seven months flew by as if I just left Shanghai yesterday. I lost the concept of time and dates soon after the journey began. The absolute freedom of time, of whatever I wanted to do seemed quite overwhelming in the beginning. I remembered after one month on the road, I said to myself that I missed working. Oh well, I ditched that idea the very second I hopped on another over night train heading to another new place. I was surprised to find myself quite adaptive being a backpacker. Most of the time, I was being very positive and enthusiastic. I learned how to live within a budget although I from time to time did indulge myself with good food and some shopping 
I learned how to smile (when was the last time you smiled at a stranger passing by?) I awed at almost everything I saw. I didn’t complain much about the tiring transportations. I ate any local food and mostly enjoyed it a lot. I kept my curiosity and open mind to anything new. I learned new sports, tried out new activities and physically challenged myself. I was eager to learn about different cultures and traditions. I was easily fascinated by the nature and its mighty power affecting the human life. My eyes were opened and my heart became bigger. The world seems very different to me now.
It’s toward the end of my travel. I finally felt the urge to go HOME – in any sense that means Shanghai. I miss my friends so much. I couldn’t wait to see their smiles and hug them again! Especially I realized a new chapter was entering my life. I can’t wait to tell them about it! I will shorten my visit in the Philippines and take Vietnam out of the list. I am going home soon! My wish for the end of the journey is to dive with the whalesharks in Leyte!
Another sleepless 28 hours hopping from one kind to transportation to another, I arrived in Panglao, Bohol on the New Year’s Eve. It’s a gloomy rainy morning. Though, the white sand beach and the different shades of blue color of the ocean were still unbeatable. New Year’s Eve was with all the wonderful elements, big group of interesting and dynamic people from Shanghai, beautiful beach, BBQ feast on the beach, firework, full moon, good music and local rum and coke 
The night ended by listening to the waves and sleeping on the beach.
A brand new year arrived in an impeccable way!
5December2009
Posted by oulin under: travel.
I am sitting in this Belgian café in Kuta, Bali trying to recollect the memory of my days in Cambodia. It feels like ages ago especially with all the half naked blonde people running around on their roaring motorbikes with surfboards attached.
It wasn’t too complicated to cross the boarder from Laos into Cambodia. The $1 bills I particularly saved up for this country became very useful since that point. US dollar was use just as much as the local currency in Cambodia which was quite bizarre to us at first. With my great travel buddies Lena and Jess, we spent a couple days in Phnom Penh for the killing field and PIO’s orphanage and school at the slum. Learning about the history of Khmer Rough reminded me a lot of the Cultural Revolution in China although it’s a completely different issue. However, the similarity in craziness shook me just the same. Failing to hear back from Riverkids, I decided to volunteer with PIO after my trip to Sinhanouville. Then we headed to Siem Reap. There were still sights of damages from the typhoon all over the country. Red earth was washed off from the mountains and fields covering the main highway as we were riding on a bloody road. It was raining in Siem Reap most of the time. Fortunately it was sunny when we were visiting the most interesting parts of Angkor Wat. After seeing so many images of these amazing wats, it’s still fascinating to be inside them. It was indeed a miracle how the ancient people managed to move those massive rocks and built their holy temples. And the stone carvings were so incredible that I was obsessively looking at them which made my neck ache after the morning. Of course that we couldn’t immune from the lure of the night market and both Jess and I bought many Kramas (local scarf) 
I have to say the Cambodian food was still my favorite during this trip. It’s so rich in flavor mixed by herbs, ginger, saffron and coconut milk. I attended a cooking class and learned how to make Amok my favorite dish from scratch!! I kept some recipes and would definitely try to cook them later on.
Lena left us for Vietnam after 3 days in Siem Reap and I parted with Jess after our trip to the seaside a few days later. I started my one week volunteer experience with PIO two days after I got back to Phnom Penh. It was definitely the most rewarding experience I had in my life. All the kids were absolutely gorgeous and so eager to learn. They were living in absolute poverty but with dignity. All were very polite with only hope for love instead of any material items. They offered me their great affection and the sweetest smiles in the world. I played with them in between classes and learned their little games. I taught them how to bowl using the plastic pins and balls, and it became their favorite game after school. I wished I had more time for them. I was teaching mostly grade 5 and 6. I tried my best to teach them as much as I could in that week. Not only teaching English language, I also encouraged them to think out of the box, be creative and do more independent thinking. It’s obviously a new concept to them that one question could have more than one answer. Their eyes widened and jaws dropped when I told them they should even challenge the teachers sometimes. Haha… Yes! my dear children, you can be smarter than the teacher sometimes! By the end of the week, I felt so connected to the children especially the six-graders. They all wrote me a note about themselves so I could remember them in the future. Nothing could compare this fulfilling feeling that I might have made a difference in those kids’ lives. This extraordinary experience confirmed my thought of working with NGOs in the future. Quitting my job in Shanghai and seek for change in that direction probably was the most correct decision I’ve made in my life
Ah, I shall soon send those kids their photos and some gifts before they thought I forgot about them already!
For more photos, please go to: “http://www.flickr.com/photos/37833026@N06/sets/72157622570246371/
18October2009
Posted by oulin under: travel.
Laos is sadly the most heavily bombed nation in the world. During the height of the Vietnam War, more than half a million US bombing missions were carried out between the years 1964 to 1973, now knows as the Secret War. It delivered more than two million tons of explosive ordnance on the country. This includes an estimate of more than 266,000,000 anti-personnel sub-munitions, known as “bombies” in Lao, released from cluster bombs and a recorded number of 500,000 missions based on the U.S. bombing records. 30% of these ordnances failed to explode including 78,000,000 bombies. These UXO contaminated 15 provinces with 25% of all villages in the country and are still causing casualty and injuries nowadays. 
The Lao National Unexploded Ordnance Programme (UXO Lao) was established with the support of UNDP, UNICEF and other stakeholders in 1996. The main tasks are to reduce the number of casualties caused by UXO through risk education, and increase the amount of land available for food production and other socio-economic development activities through UXO clearance activities. The UXO Lao include the following provinces in the operation: Luangprabang, Huaphanh, Xiengkhuang, Khammuane, Savannakhet, Saravane, Sekong, Champasack and Attapeu.
Although with the enormous effort of the dedicated members and continuous supports, financially and technically, from many countries, due to the difficulties of the operation and lack of human resource, UXO Lao only succeeded to remove or destroy 801,013 items (3983 big bombs, 371,869 bombies, 5,744 mines and 419,417 other UXO) from 1996 to 2007. It covers only 0.47% of the unexploded bombies. What a poor percentage. If it couldn’t receive more international attention and supports and continues in this pace, Lao people will not be able to lead a normal life without their daily nightmare in a hundred years! 
I went to visit the UXO Lao Center in Xiangkuang Province with my new friend Iona from Scotland, who, like many Europeans, had never learnt about the Secret War. We found the office was situated in a very limited equipped one story house 2km outside of Phosavan. Mr. Khing Pet gave me a brief introduction of the operation and the area they covered in this province. There are normally 15 teams sent out everyday to carry out different tasks, including clearance and roving. When I asked if there was a possibility for us to visit a bomb site they are working on, he made a quick phone call and grinned at us: “ This is your lucky day. We have a team working only 20km away getting ready for an explosion. I will take you there.” That became one of the most unforgettable experiences in my life.
A video will be loaded on Youtube after it’s edited, which link I will post here once it’s done. I was not allowed to climb higher or get closer to have a clear shot of the explosion. Therefore the explosion scene shown in the video might not seem as powerful as I witnessed. I am hoping more people will be aware of this fact and take action in helping this country out of its poverty caused by the cruelty of a war they were not supposed to be involved in.
For more photos, please go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/37833026@N06/sets/72157622609684234/
18October2009
Posted by oulin under: travel.
A long-tail (a slim shaped boat that’s popular in South East Aisa mainly for transportation) took us from Chiangkhong, the Thai border, to cross the Mekong and arrive in Huayxai, the Laos border. It took literally only 3 minutes to cross the river. After a quick and simple immigration procedure, we were in Laos! Kacey and I were debating whether we should take the common 2 day slow boat or a 10 hour bus to Luang Prabang. Since time was limited for Kacey, the bus seemed to be a better option. The first encounter with the Lao people was with the aggressive tuktuk drivers at the border. They were like a gang that controlled the tuktuk business around the border. They were asking for 20,000 kip/person to the bus station. We protested. The head of the gang with a pad in his hand refused to bargain with us and stopped some hesitated drivers to take us. I raged and marched away even though I had no idea which direction to go and how to find another tuktuk. Fortunately 200 meters down the street, we stopped a passing by tuktuk and he agreed to take us there only 8000kip/person. It was the most “painful” bus ride I’d had since travelling though. We were on a dirt road full of holes and bumps most of the time, and the bus was running barely 30km per hour. The 10 hour ride turned into 14 hours. When we arrived in Luang Prabang, it was almost 4am. 
Although with the constant frustration dealing with money oriented guest house owners, tourist agents and un-flexible café staff, I adored Luang Prabang. The waterfall in light turquoise color, the monks in their red-orange robes, the beautiful temples, the cafés and restaurants in colonial style buildings concurred the exotic and romantic feeling of this country. The smile of the local people just melted my heart. We got up at 5am to attend the giving to the monks. In the blue dawn light, sincere Buddhists sat on the straw mats they laid on the side of the streets, with food and flowers next to them patiently waiting for the monks to arrive. Groups of monks showed up in line quietly from different directions around 5:30am. It’s so quiet around. All we could hear was the sound of the flapping of the monks’ bare feet on the floor and the clicking of the tourists’ cameras. I was fascinated by the beauty of this peaceful scene. People were still holding up their faith although they had been suffering from wars and poverty. 
Communication was a big headache during my stay in Laos though. People barely spoke in English. I took a pretty good practice of sign language. As days passing by, I got used to this way of communication and felt much less frustrated. I deliberately skipped Vang Vieng where people mostly go there to indulge themselves with tubing on the Mekong and get drunk while doing that. I wasn’t that intrigued by the idea of meeting drunken silly western travelers. I went east after Kacey flew down to Siem Reap. Ever since I heard about Laos’ painful history of the Secret War and watched some of the documentary, I meant to visit one of the most heavily bombed areas by the Vietnam border. In Phosanvan, I was lucky to be received by the Provincial Coordinator of the UXO Lao center there. I was shown to a bomb field they were working on and witness the explosion. It was an incredible experience and I was astounded to learn some of the facts about UXO. I put this in another context with more details.
On the way to Phosanvan, I met two fun Scottish girls, Selina and Iona. We enjoyed each other’s company very much and travelled down to Vientiane together. It’s a lovely former colonial city with many cute cafés scatter around the center. The city was wrapped in an enthusiastic festive atmosphere. The biggest festival of the year was coming. The boats were getting ready for the big races, loads of observation booths were set up along the river, carnival facilities were set next to the market, ear-splitting cheesy pop music was hovering in the air. All the guesthouses were organizing parties. We were definitely influenced by festive scene. We wandered around the market among thousands of people, enjoyed the delicious grilled fish and cockles by the river, and even had a little sophisticating cocktail moment at the Spirit House. Unfortunately, because of the miscommunication of the boat racing’s actual schedule, seemed everybody had a different answer, I bought the bus ticket to Pakse on the evening of 4th. The boat racing was on 5th. I only got the chance to join the locals to send a candle boat down the Mekong hoping it’d help realize my good wishes. Salina, Iona and I hugged and kissed each other goodbye in the busy night market. Then I boarded my sleeper bus sharing a bed with my next travel buddy Lena.
Lena and Jessica were so amusing. We traveled together from Pakse to Dondet and later into Cambodia. We laughed and made fun of the situations that frustrated us. We shared our experience and stories, starting with traveling then soon extended to family and relationships. We also made fun of each other’s funny habits. It was a lot of fun traveling with these two girls. We created a system making announcement of the day declaring the moment we felt happy or upset. But mostly we announced when we felt happy.
Laos, once was called the Elephant Kingdom, and now maybe more known as the most bombed country in the world. I expected to experience poverty and harsh reality of its struggle from the shadow of the cruel Secret War. But after a short visit of 20 days, I found I was more touched by its spectacular nature, people’s warm smile and their determination of developing the country.
For more photos, please go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/37833026@N06/sets/72157622485174875/”
