Crossing Boundaries, whatever that means

I can haz Japanese?

I am currently in Bangkok, Thailand amidst the protests and political unrest that is in its seventh week yet I’m finding myself rather unaffected by it all. Sure, it’s bullshit, I find the entire situation very “un-Thai” and embarrassed for my own country. The amount of bad press and situation these protesters have put the nation in makes us all look like uncivilized barbarians. I can get into this further, but this short post is mainly about how I’m not recognized as a Thai here.

Since last time I visited Thailand, which was down to Phuket and Krabi last March, every person I spoke to here seem to think I am a foreigner. If I can get a dollar for every time someone asked if I was Japanese, I’d be able to buy a new laptop. Anyways, all I wanted to post to remember this moment by is yesterday while strolling with Nikesh down at Jatujak Weekend Market, a shop owner (of course) asks where I’m from and says I look Japanese. Nikesh then comments later on that the first time he noticed me, he also thought I was Japanese, to which I playfully threw a fit for being in “my house” and not recognizing I was Thai. But then …

“People if your own fucking country don’t even think you’re Thai!”

Never truer words.

It’s a little difficult to differentiate Thais from other Asians particularly because our ancestry is a mix of Chinese and Indian immigrants; combinations of both result in a variety of looks. I guess I must have mutated a bunch of the Chinese genes and mixed them with growing up in the states to equal Japanese.

Physical appearances are a funny thing. I sort of enjoy a look that’s rather ambiguous, but at the same time, it sucks a little to not be able to look like you’re from where you rep.

Yummy yummy, happy happy

For my mom’s visit, she requested to go to Lantau Island to see the Tian Tan Buddha, or more commonly known as the Big Buddha. I’ve previously visited at the end of January with some friends from the program, so I felt like an expert at getting my mom around and traveling HK like I’m totally a local.

We arrived to the Central Piers a bit after noon. A bit hungry, I bought a noodle soup from a street stand that costs 18 HKD ($2.37 USD) for your choice of noodle type and three condiments. I had rice noodle, fish balls, vegetables and shrimp balls. Made an absolutely delicious snack!

I find it silly how the Chinese pretty much puts anything in a noodle soup and call it a meal. So far, I’ve had pork chop, chicken wings, mini-hot dogs, fried egg, among other foods, in noodle soups as lunch or dinner. Noodle soups in general aren’t all that filling, but it’s just awkward to have these weird combinations of soup and things that shouldn’t be soupy, i.e. hot dogs. My mother used to throw random food like that in our food when I was growing up, but that was only because she wanted to get rid of the leftovers. I had no idea this is actually real food in restaurants in Hong Kong/China.

We took a ferry over to Lantau Island, or Mui Wo in Cantonese, — on my first visit, it was a beautiful sunny day so we all walked around the boat to catch some awesome views. This trip, however, was rainy and foggy, so I passed right out on the boat ride. About 40 minutes later, we arrived. The rest of the Lantau Island trip will go by my first visit because it was significantly more memorable.

On my first trip, we all decided to grab lunch first. Close to the pier, we found a small village with little restaurants overlooking the beach. Somehow, we left it to my roommate to choose a place, and she made a good call on a great seafood place that sold single dishes as cheap as 35 HKD ($4.45 USD) for one giant plate of fried rice with a choice of meat. The restaurant owner/staff were also very friendly and accommodating, and it helped that one of our friends spoke Cantonese. The boys ordered giant bottles of Heineken which came out icy cold — literally. 

Everyone got their own dishes although we could have easily shared them family style. I happen to love family style eating; you get to sample a bit of a variety of dishes and don’t have to wait for your own plate while you salivate over your friends digging into theirs. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m usually always the last person to receive my dish. But anyhow, who was I to argue with seven other kids?

After a quick lunch, we took a bus over to Tai O, a little village on the other side of the island. We were given options to rent bicycles, but collectively decided there were not enough time to make the rent worth our money. Instead, we all walked around the village looking at fresh seafood squirming in water and local snacks sold on the street. 

Afterward we decide to finally make it to the Big Buddha, and caught the last bus going over to Ngong Ping. The bus rides were extremely bumpy, which only made things more fun. I recall bouncing right off my seat several times through speed bumps and sharp turns, yet I was having a ball. We also got great views of the beach, farms, and waited for cows and buffalos to cross the street. Certainly was an interesting sight.

At the Ngong Ping area, we got lost figuring out where exactly Big Buddha was. It turns out, we were actually five feet away from where we stood to see it because views of the statue were blocked off by trees. Fail on our parts. We also took pit stops to check out more sceneries of the mountains and the monastery.

It’s crazy to say that only a few weeks before that, I’d been at the Great Wall, and I live less than an hour of travel away from the Statue of Liberty. 

We hiked up the steps to the Big Buddha, steps which seemed miniscule to me compared to walking up the Great Wall of China. When we made it up, I felt super inappropriate. I had no idea the buddha was at Lantau Island, and mistakenly wore a mini tank top dress with shorts. In traditional Buddhist ideals, I might as well be wearing a midriff baring shirt and a mini skirt. It was in no way respectful and I felt embarrassed, but hey, I didn’t mean to do it on purpose nor did I know I was going to be at a spiritual place. I took this lesson for my second trip with mom and wore long jeans and t-shirt :)

I have a slightly odd obsession with jumping photos (something about the movements our eyes are often to slow to catch). Although this pic was a fail, it captures my “epic hair,” something my friends here have pointed out in most of my photos of the uncontrollable hair, and the mountain views were amazing.

Realizing that we had no time to catch any bus back to the pier, we decided to walk through the touristy section of Ngong Ping 360 to check out the cable car rides. We made it right before 6 pm, when they were selling the last tickets before closing down. After contemplating if 74 HKD ($9.61 USD) was worth the ride, we decided to go for it because there were no other ways to go home that we could readily figure out.

Let me know you, it totally was worth every penny. The eight of us was enough to get an entire cable car to ourselves, and minutes into the ride, we were so blown away by the sights that we’d completely forgotten the money we spent. Our timing was also perfect, the sun began to set as soon as we got on the car, and by the time we entered the Hong Kong island, it had gotten dark enough for the city to be lit up. 

That night we ate at Temple Street across from our lodge. It was the first time having “pot rice,” which is simply rice and a choice of meat in a stone pot. You pour in soy sauce from old gatorade or plastic bottles and let the lid infuse the flavors a little more before digging in. It was inexpensive and tasty, but not enough for me to crave or eat it on a weekly basis. This thought was not shared by my friends who are in love with pot rices — the restaurants they sell them are open late and one order is only 18 HKD ($2.37 USD). Student budgeting for the win?

Although I’d spontaneously gone on the Lantau trip my first time and unexpectedly dropped a lot of money, I had absolutely no regrets. Some of the best things in life are done with no planning whatsoever, much of it is the case on my experiences abroad so far. I could never have expected half the things that has happened to occur, but I’m having the most beautiful time. I’m visiting wonderful places, meeting great people, and falling in love with life all over again. That, to me, is absolutely priceless.

The Great Wall of Bargaining

(Before, I start, I know I’m way behind in these Mainland China posts, but I really do want to go in depth with each experience so bare with me that the entries are not timely whatsoever!)

We spent a few days before our trip to the Great Wall lectured by various professors, left to roam an urban art district, visited the Olympic Village where the 2008 games were played and shopped in a tourist market. None of these particular events were that exciting because they were either not very interesting or we weren’t given enough time to appreciate anything. Also, I do not enjoy getting left out in the cold, so imagine my feelings that after wanting to sit in a hot bath from the freezing wind, we were dropped off at a street to walk mindlessly for an hour. I love art and museums, but that’s a total summer thing.

With that, I’m skipping to the main event.

Before the great wall, I knew I needed real shoes after sliding and falling on the Xi’an city wall with my cheap, vintage $10 shoes. But when in Beijing, there were no place better to shop than where the locals did. Using my one semester of Mandarin 101, three of my lady friends and I ventured to a mall where I fell in love with a pair of zipper boots. The shopkeeper asked for 450 yuan ($65.22 USD) and I immediately rejected and walked away. Our strategy was to keep walking back to see how much lower she’d offer, then we pretended to be interested with shoes at the stores surrounding her shop. It was a bit mean but I was on a budget, so as soon as I yelled “100 yuans ($14.49 USD)” to her and she finally gave in after the fifth walkby, I bolted in the store and tried the boots on. Size 37. SOLD. She asked us where we were from, and when she learned we were mostly Americans, she complimented with “You guys are good.”

I don’t have asthma, but it sure felt like I did as I began to walk up the Great Wall of China. At the beginning we were given the choice of paying for a cable car ride up to the top, but my grandmother insisted before I came to China that if she can make it, there is no reason I should not go up by foot. Although I am sure she took her sweet, sweet time in a nice, warm weather and we were given a few hours in deep freeze.

It started with a large group who decided to also walk up, but minutes later I found myself slowing down to catch my breath. Luckily, I was with three other girls who were willing to take their time with me as I fought through my sore throat which became a burning hole in the neck the more I gasped for air. Also, I was not alone; another groupmate was also suffering throat issues perhaps in a worse condition than mine. Though the closer I saw the top of the walls, the more encouraging it was.

I say this with the least exaggeration possible, but never in my life was I ever so proud of myself. Here I was on top of the manmade great wall after riding around the Xi’an wall just a week ago. I might be a skinny little girl, but inside I am an unfit, fat person. Nothing was more physically accomplishing than standing up there, knowing I’d finally made it.

At the very top, I caught up with a group of friends who decided to take photos. Wanting to make it into one of them, I ran into the photo but slipped and fell flat on my ass in the process. Needless to say, the boots did not help me whatsoever. Face in the sky, I laughed, but my tailbone hurt for weeks. How’s that for making grandma proud?

(Photo by Shirley Wong)

The wall felt endless. Being on this wall is definitely an experience of a lifetime. I do hope to revisit and perhaps strike a similar pose in another decade.

For the return trip, I paid for a toboggan ride down which was not only fun but gave me another great view of the mountains. Though I could not feel my fingers or my thighs by the end of the ride, it was totally worth the 45 yuan ($6.52 USD). We ended the great wall trip with a Chinese version of hackysack, where the beanie is replaced by a feathered weight. I never got good at the game, but it was a nice way to start putting sensations back in my toes after “skidding” down the great wall.