I left Hong Kong for San Francisco on the 16th of July, exactly a month after leaving Japan and marking my return to the ‘West’ 19 months after I departed England. I was apprehensive about spending time in the US for a few reasons: I’d been away for quite a while and in that time I’d got used to the Japanese, and Asian, way of doing things, I’ve had a love/hate relationship with the US for most of my adult life, and deep down I just wasn’t quite sure what to expect. On the other hand I was also overly excited: I’d always dreamt of visiting San Francisco, I was also going to visit Seattle, New York and Canada and I was looking forward to having a month taking it easy in North America, giving me time to get used to western life again rather than jumping back into it straight after having left Japan.

With all this mind, and more than enough apprehension about having to deal with US custom officials, I spent 17 hours in planes and airports without being able to sleep, crossed the international date line forward, lost 12h in the process, passed the customs with little hassle and landed in San Francisco feeling like I’d done a very nasty combination of drugs. Seriously, screw drugs. All you need is to cross the international date line with no sleep: et voila, instant feeling mashed-up situation.

I somehow managed to make it to my hostel in downtown San Francisco. My body was 17 hours ahead of the clock on the wall, so I decided to fight off the jetlag by abusing the free coffee and chain smoking. And that’s when it all went a little weird. I was standing outside the hostel, smoking a cig, when I noticed a man on the corner of the street a few meters away looking a little agitated. Then out of nowhere, three people rushed him against a wall, pulling out their badges in the process. They then handcuffed him, searched him (yeilding what looked like a bag of non-descript drugs) and hauled him into an unmarked car before driving off. By the time my mangled brain had put two and two together they were gone and I was left wondering where the hell I’d booked myself into.

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written by Laurent \\ tags: America, California, contrast, cycling, Fisherman's Wharf, Haight, Marin County, media, Mission, Richmond, rough, San Francisco, Sausalito, summer, travelling, windy

Moving on with the pictures I’ve got round to uploading my snaps from Borneo, KL and Hong Kong, rounding off the South East Asian end of things.

All links are below as usual, haven’t forgot this time! Next up will the late entries and pics from my North American leg. I’m hoping to have most of them done by next week as it looks like I’m finally returning to the real world, with a new job that’s likely gonna keep me busy for a bit. I’m also working on a couple of new shows for TTR and RI, links will be up in due time.

Anyways enjoy the pics as always!

Mabul Flickr set

Mabul Kids Flickr set

Sibuan Flickr set

Kuala Lumpur Flickr set

Hong Kong Flickr set

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written by Laurent \\ tags: Borneo, buildings, food, Hong Kong, kids, Mabul, Malaysia, people, pictures, sea, Semporna, Sibuan, South East Asia, Tampi Tampi, travelling

EDIT: it seems I might still be in holiday mode, cos I forgot to actually post the link to the pictures. Ha ha. It’s been added.

Continuing my process of catch up, I’ve finally gotten round to sorting some more pics. This time it’s the pictures of my week in Cambodia, including Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville and the in-between trips.

Looking at the pictures it reminds me just how much of a shock to the system the country was but also how warm and friendly its people were. If you haven’t yet you can read in more details about the shock of Cambodia in my recent post.

Next are the pics from Borneo, Malaysia and Hong Kong and then we move on to the North American continent.

Cambodia Flickr set

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written by Laurent \\ tags: beach, Cambodia, food, people, Phnom Penh, pictures, sea, Sihanoukville, South East Asia, temples, travelling

Having left the peace and serenity of Borneo and the Celebes Sea behind me, I had two more stops in South East Asia before my return to the western world, Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, and Hong Kong. As it turned out they both served as buffers to my return, with a mix of east and west that proved deeply interesting.

Kuala Lumpur was first, with a two day stop-over from Borneo. I’d spent a night and part of the day in KL on my way into the country, but these two days were meant to give me a bit more time to explore the city and get a better feeling for it. I’d been told to expect good things, however the weather turned to shit pretty much as soon as I arrived and I left the city feeling somewhat unconvinced as to its appeal.

The first thing that really struck me about KL when I first got there was how much more muslim it felt on the surface than I ever thought it would. Between the omni present, and at times truly beautiful, mosques, clothes, food, muslim businesses and others, the fact that Malaysia is a muslim country was more than evident within minutes of arriving in the country. I realise that it sounds a little stupid, but the fact is I just didn’t expect it to feel like that on the surface, I didn’t expect it to be so obvious. I’ve never been to the Middle East but I guess to me KL, and Malaysia to an extent, gave me the impression of being very similar to a Middle Eastern country in its appearance, or what I understand and know of Middle Eastern countries through the media and other sources of information.

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written by Laurent \\ tags: capitalism, China, contrast, food, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, modern, mosque, Muslim, skyscrapers, South East Asia, traditional, travelling

So I left Saigon for Cambodia about three weeks ago. I was on a definite food high by then, having found more local stalls and treats around Saigon and also making my first and only restaurant stop in Vietnam. The restaurant was pretty damn good, and not expensive at all. I had some amazing tuna steak cooked with lemongrass and prawns in satay sauce that were unbelievably tasty. More than that though what really struck me was the freshness of the ingredients and how simply they were cooked, with no pretention or attempt at disguising anything - just simple recipes cooked well and with fairly copious portions considering.

As I said before I wasn’t quite sure what to expect in Cambodia, of all the spots I was hitting it was the one place which cuisine I didn’t know much about. As it turned out it wasn’t the most amazing, though I did find some interesting things. Cambodian cuisine seems to be primarily Khmer in origin, which would make sense. But it’s quite different to its Thai neighbour, also Khmer in origin. Thing is there wasn’t that many Khmer spots around.

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written by Laurent \\ tags: Borneo, Cambodia, cuisine, curry, Dim Sum, eating, fish, food, Hong Kong, Indian, Khmer, Malay, Malaysia, noodles, spring rolls, travelling, Vietnam

I left the ruggedness of Cambodia for Malaysia and a week long paradise trip to the south-eastern end of the Malaysian half of Borneo island, on the Celebes Sea coast. My destination was a town by the name of Semporna, which acts as a gateway to diving and snorkelling some of the world’s finest spots. I flew into Kuala Lumpur for a day before connecting to the coast, but I’ll leave more on that for the next post dealing with KL in more details.

As luck would have it I caught a stomach bug in Phnom Penh, a couple of days before flying to KL, and that meant I made it to Borneo feeling less than fresh and happy to be there. Fortunately it turned out to be the most relaxing week I’ve spent in god knows how long and the bug was soon got rid off and forgotten thanks to some of the most wonderful and breathtaking views and experiences.

As I mentioned, Semporna is a small sea side town on the Celebes Sea coast. The brother of a friend of mine runs a dive shop there, and when planning this trip I thought that it would make for a perfect stop before heading back out west, and provide me with my one true ‘beach destination’ after pretty much 3 weeks of cities and countryside (bar the few days I spent in Sihanoukville).

Turns out Semporna has a pretty interesting story of its own, as my mate recounted to me back in Japan. Up until 10 years ago (and even less in the case of some unfortunate tourists in 2003), the place would be frequently raided by pirates, who still roam the Celebes Sea. It all changed when some people discovered an island by the name of Sipadan, and others near it, which offered some of the best diving in the world with waters teeming with underwater life of all sorts, corals and reefs. Soon enough the tourist trade started to pick up in the area, apparently prompting the government to realise the potential of the tourist trade for this part of Borneo and bring in the army and police to help control, protect and monitor the area.

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written by Laurent \\ tags: Borneo, Chinese, culture, Mabul, Malay, Malaysia, Muslim, Sibuan, snorkelling, South East Asia, travelling, underwater

Continuing with the beliefs that words is all good but pictures can speak volumes, I’ve got round to uploading pictures from my time in Vietnam. 3 albums on Flickr as usual, all linked below: Hanoi, Hanoi to Saigon train ride and Saigon.

Made it to the U.S safely, with a nasty dose of jetlag. Got some Malaysia and Borneo updates to do first and then will start on the good old U.S of A. It’s been ‘interesting’ so far and I’m only two days in. Jetlag is a killer though, especially crossing the dateline.

For now though enjoy the pics

Hanoi - Flickr set

Hanoi to Saigon train ride - Flickr set

Saigon - Flickr set

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written by Laurent \\ tags: beaches, food, Hanoi, markets, pictures, Saigon, South East Asia, summer, temples, travelling, Vietnam

I left Vietnam for Cambodia in early July, taking a bus from Saigon to Phnom Penh. The last of my land based trips for a while, it wasn’t the most comfortable, or eventless considering I managed to get on the wrong bus for half the journey, but definitely one of the most interesting. While Vietnam offered an insight into a country recovering from war and moving fast, or trying to anyways, into the ‘modern’ capitalist world that defines us today, Cambodia offered an even more vivid and raw example of that.

As soon as the bus crossed the border the landscape changed radically. Gone were the few apparent elements of modernity I saw in vietnam, replaced by a single tarmac road surrounded by a lot of nothing but rundown buildings, shacks, huts, temples, fields and animals. Even though the journey from the border to Phnom Penh, the capital, was just a few hours it was enough to already give me a feeling that Cambodia is struggling with a lot more than some of its neighbours.

That feeling was repeated once I’d got to Phnom Penh, slightly less chaotic than the Vietnamese cities, but just as noisy, polluted and visibly more grimey. And then it all continued as I connected directly on a bus headed to the south coast of Cambodia and a town called Sihanoukville, a tourist resort of sorts, all beaches, sea and relaxing.

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written by Laurent \\ tags: beaches, Cambodia, friendly, infrastructure, people, Phnom Penh, pollution, poverty, Sihanoukville, South East Asia, temples, travelling, warm

Words is all good and well, but travelling is also all about the sights. And so far I’ve had the pleasure of some amazing ones.

So true to form I’ve started uploading pics from my travels to my Flickr account. First up is Beijing and the Beijing to Hanoi train ride.

Beijing Flickr set

Beijing to Hanoi train ride Flickr set

Vietnam coming up next.

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written by Laurent \\ tags: China, pictures, travelling, Vietnam

I made it to Saigon two days ago. The train ride from Hanoi to Saigon was a lot different to what I’d expected. For some reason I guess I thought the trains would be nicer than the Beijing to Hanoi ones. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Maybe I got the wrong train after all, but while they’re good, they’re also far from modern. More like run down and shaky. Still you can’t complain. The beds are comfy enough to sleep, even if the rocking of the train would probably keep light sleepers awake. Failing that Vietnamese kids running rampant until the early hours and again from the early morning will probably be enough to stop you from sleeping.

The scenery though was a lot more amazing than anything I’d hoped for. The China to Vietnam ride was nice, but far from really captivating in terms of scenery. Maybe it was the grey skies and pollution, but while the landscapes do offer some interest and surprises going through China, they’re something entirely else in Vietnam - a lot more breathtaking, varied and impressive.

The highlight, always mentioned if you read about taking the train through Vietnam, is the leg between Hue and Da Nang, south of Hanoi and just before you reach the middle of the country. The train goes up the moutains along the coast, giving you stunning views of the coast, and if like me you’re lucky to also have sunshine and clear skies during the ride, it’s all the more hypnotic and attractive. Beautiful, unspoilt beaches give way to rugged coastlines where the forest drops into the sea, boats laze in the bays, and small towns pop up in the mountains and the coast, giving you an insight into countryside life in Vietnam. This leg of the journey lasts maybe about 2 or 3 hours, and if you take the 7pm train from Hanoi, it starts at around 9am, the perfect way to start a long day on the train.

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written by Laurent \\ tags: food, Ho Chi Minh City, markets, people, Saigon, sculptures, sights, smells, sounds, south, South East Asia, temples, travelling, Vietnam

Without a doubt one of the reasons and motivations behind my trip, apart from wanting to take a break and see the world, is food. Having the chance to try out local dishes, taste new flavours, discover new things as well as see markets, ingredients and just how people are around food, is something I really love. It was a big reason behind my move to Japan, and I indulged aplenty while there, and now that I’m travelling around South East Asia it’s still one of the things that gets me really excited and hyped when I arrive somewhere.

I’ve been meaning to write about Japanese food in more detail, for well over 6 months now, but lazyness and life got in the way. I’ll get round to it eventually. Looking at my trip so far though, and considering I finished work at the beginning of June, my own little food oddisey started in Japan. With two weeks to kill before I left for China, a friend of mine came over for a holiday and we indulged in all manners of Japanese culinary delights, which was a great way to leave the country.

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written by Laurent \\ tags: bun, China, eating, food, Japanese Food, Peking duck, pho soup, ramen, South East Asia, spring rolls, travelling, Vietnam

I made it to Hanoi early yesterday morning after a 2 day train ride through China and the northern border between it and Vietnam.

The train ride itself was a lot nicer than I’d hoped. The train was comfortable, safe and reliable. Buying the tickets in Beijing wasn’t as tricky as I’d feared and overall it was an amazing journey, giving me a glimpse into China, even though I didn’t stop anywhere along the way. Just looking out of the window was enough to get a sense for the country - field upon fields of rice paddies interrupted by big cities, all concrete tower blocks, dust and factories. At times in the distance you’d see factories pumping out smoke, and as we got further south, jagged rocks and small mountains started to crop up, like those you see on the South East Asian coast, but strangely enough, these were all inland, a weird and fascinating sight. Amidst the fields the sights of people in traditional hats sowing seeds and picking up rice alongside ox pulling carts was a strange - a typical cliche, postcard picture but yet one that is still very true for a lot of rural China.

The cities were also pretty interesting. Having left Beijing’s oppressing pollution and strange architecture, it was actually pretty much more of the same. The influence and power of China’s communist past obviously stretching in all directions, which when you consider the size of the country is a pretty impressive feat. Most of the cities were all concrete tower blocks, dust and busy streets. Very grey, a feeling only made worse by the cloudy sky and huge amounts of smoke emanating from factories both on the outskirts of big cities and randomly found across the countryside.

Arriving in Hanoi, the feeling of chaos and noise I’d felt in Beijing only continued, and much to my surprise turned out to be a lot worse. Though that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. As I’m realising now one week into a month in South East Asia, once you let the chaos just flow around you and learn to walk through it rather than be stunned and scared by it, it’s really not that bad at all. I think more than anything, my time in Japan really made me forget how life in a big city can really be, and this sensation of chaos is only amplified by the relative calm and order I came to learn to live with while in Tokyo. And when I say that, it’s not that Tokyo doesn’t have its own chaos, but it really is a lot more ordered and contained  than anything I’ve seen on the Asian continent so far.

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written by Laurent \\ tags: architecture, chaos, food, Hanoi, hot, new, noise, old, smell, South East Asia, travelling, Vietnam

Having now left China behind, there are still a few things I’ve been thinking about regarding the country and its people. I took a train from Beijing to Hanoi, a two nights, one day journey which gave me plenty of time to think but also observe the rest of the country as we crossed the majority of it going south.

As I mentioned in my earlier post one of the things that really shocked me about Beijing, and which seems to be echoed by a lot of people who visit it or live there, is how polluted the city is. The fact that I visited in early summer when the heat was going up definitely didn’t help, but I was really taken back by how smoky the city was and felt, how dusty you ended up after a few hours of walking around and just how oppresive the pollution felt.

Taking the train south, that feeling was only continued as we crossed provinces, all covered by clouds and a definite sense of more pollution, white smoke emanating from countless factories either on the side of the tracks or in the distance. In nearly 6 days spent in China I saw the sky for maybe 4 hours in total on one day. And that really makes you think.

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written by Laurent \\ tags: Beijing, capitalism, China, communism, contrast, future, Olympics, past, people, pollution, travelling

I left Japan on wednesday this week, on a little ‘world tour’ of places I’ve always wanted to visit. It’s nice to be able to take a break for a couple of months even if the specter of money and ’security’ always hangs up somewhere in the background. Still you only live once and having lost my job at the paper in Tokyo, the occasion to take a break and travel was too good to pass, especially as being in Tokyo meant that parts of the world I’ve always wanted to visit were a lot closer and easier to get to.

The trip started in Beijing, where I’ve been for about 4 days. It wasn’t the place I originally wanted to start my trip from, but I realise now that it’s actually quite a fitting way to start. And that’s because Beijing is truly a world away from Tokyo in many many ways.

Even though my time here has been short, it’s been really vivid and enjoyable, full of surprises, impressions and discoveries. If I had to try and sum up Beijing in a few words it would have to be: smoky, chaotic and surprising.

Chaotic is definitely the impression that will stay with me the most after I leave this town. Coming from Tokyo with its relative organisation, cleanliness and hypercapitalist overtones, Beijing just hits you upside the head. The place is chaotic in so many ways, it took a little while to get my head around it after being in Tokyo for so long. But while this chaotic element is surprising, and daunting, it’s also incredibly refreshing.

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written by Laurent \\ tags: Beijing, capitalism, China, communism, contrast, future, past, tradition, travelling