Travel Talk … musings and marvels with Maria Joao | formerly "Out of Asia…OR my year in China"

My Birth month with no blogging…

Posted on June 3, 2010 by musecruz

I have a group of friends that coined the phrase – ‘birth month’…cause you can never celebrate enough of “you”…well one friend in particular – who I miss terribly. I’d like to say that my lack of posting in May was due to whooping it up for May, my birth month – and I did – there were 2 trips to Beijing and then one long one in late April when we had a week off school…but it was more because of all the big and small decisions to be made about where, how, when and what I would be doing with my life…with our lives. We are definitely closer to an answer with that one – it is ever changing and always coloured by the latest gossip, mood, goals, opportunities, re-determinations and/or really long phone calls with friends and family, but… it looks like I may have to change the byline of my blog…to “my years in China”.

Here are some zippy titles I came up with for stories I wanted to write in the last month but never did:

A Mother in the Motherland – all about my mother’s 10 day trip to China. My small Portuguese-Canadian retired mother traveling across the Pacific Ocean to see what her daughter was up to on this side of the world…I am so happy that she came…to experience somewhere she thought she would never see – Peking! I think I wrote a few lines – here they are:

My mom just left back to Vancouver after a 10-day trip to China. To see me, our home here, to see Beijing and do something she never in her entire life saw herself doing – going to an exotic locale by herself and in her words, (even though we were all tired tourists for 4 days straight in Beijing) having – ” the most consecutive days of relaxation time in my life! “.

Pretty much what I just said –and then I thought I would show some cute photos, like these ones:

Me and Ma at the Summer Palace on the final days of China's cold season

The Maria's and Mao

The Wall

Tian'anmen with my man

Ma and the crazy street eats!

Mom on our verandah...the warming of Spring and constant construction zone

Another post I thought about writing was about the genesis of my blog title – “Out of Asia”…I was going to call that one Blog Title Inspiration = Lifetime Aspirations…i.e. I named my blog after watching Out of Africa again with Meryl Streep on an pirated Oscar DVD collection that cost less than $20 during my first month in China (of course randomly your Oscar winning actors can slip into Mandarin all of a sudden but other than that it was a steal!)

Should I photoshop my head on Meryl's?

The film opens with the line - “I once had a farm in AahhhFRICA”…in that pristine accent of hers accompanied by such a flawless performance that makes me ache for my first love – Acting. So the blog is definitely a nod to that – my lifetime aspiration…if not an Oscar then to do Oscar worthy films…to be in them with people who win them…or really when it comes down to it who am I kidding? It would be great just to be able to earn a steady living doing what I love – really love. Sighhhhhh…Of course I love other things: …travel, art, writing – even some aspects of teaching. :-0

Categories: My China Daily, Op Ed | Tags: getaways, musings, Update | 2 Comments

Welcome to my office…

Posted on April 15, 2010 by musecruz

a close up of my desk today

Please note that there are no less than 4 calendars in some form seen here on what is a half view of my desk. One of said calendars is NOT the brown notebook lying on the desk. They are as follows:

One day planner in the foreground for both personal and school-related items.
One flip calendar seen on the left given to all teachers by the TEDA education bureau. School related deadlines only.
One day planner/lesson planner/mark book in the big blue binder lying diagonally against the magazine file. No actual ‘magazines’ but instead every Canadian-history-made-easy textbook one can possibly find on campus. I plan or try to plan all my classes in this binder which also stores grades, notes, class lists, detention lists, meeting doodles etc.
And finally, the self-made Days Left in China countdown calendar clipped and taped to the wall that I take great joy in taking one page off of every day, shredding and then looking at the remains of said number in the trash can by my desk.

Thank you.

Another view

The teaching hallway...my 4 different classrooms are all down here.

Ya, right!

What I felt like today trying to answer my students pre-exam questions. There are several of these not-so-well-done taxidermy dioramas throughout our teaching building. ???

Categories: My China Daily | Tags: musings, sci-fi, Update | Leave a comment

80 days…relief if not resolution.

Posted on April 11, 2010 by musecruz

Sleepy Sundays are great.

This tiger just wants to take a long nap…wake me up when I’m home Toto.

That is all.

Don't wake the tiger unless you want a paw in the face!

Categories: My China Daily | Leave a comment

88 days to go!

Posted on April 3, 2010 by musecruz

Celebrating friends' March birthdays

Those aren't presents - they're all fireworks!

Sparkler anyone?

Well you're never gonna survive...unless...you getta -

-little craaazeh. ... campfire fireworks debris.

8 is a lucky number in China…it is time for some of this luck, coupled with the fact that it is indeed my year – The Year of the Tiger roared in this Valentine’s February 14th – to rub off on me! On that day I was sitting in a hammock on Koh Payam beach…which seems very, very far away now.

I am reticent to say that spring is here, even though the heat has been turned off in most public buildings for a few weeks already, including of course, our school. However it does definitely look like the winter is behind us: temperatures are hovering at around plus or minus 10 degrees Celsius; the protective plastic sheeting has been removed from the shrubbery and trees in the surrounding parks and boulevards of TEDA by multitudes of trucked-in migrant workers; and the plant beds which housed long-dead annuals are slowly being replaced with those in bloom. Spring right?

We have definitely been guilty of hibernating both literally and figuratively since returning back to full time teaching in TEDA. My lack of posting in March can attest to this hibernation. It was still frightfully cold when we returned at the end of February – just in time to savour the 24-7 final week of Chinese New Years fireworks. At one point fireworks were being set off in our courtyard where another high-rise is about 50 feet away. Not sure that even the ebullience of Team Canada winning gold at the Olympics back home would have allowed for such a by-law violation in Vancouver – but here it’s fireworks anywhere, anytime!

I returned and immediately did some spring cleaning – totally rearranging our apartment and felt good about that. But work woes (plus frozen toes as the concrete building that is my workplace is currently colder than the outdoors) and the uncertainty of what our future holds and where it may be holding it has definitely taken its toll. But with the seeming coming of spring, I think that I myself feel like taking off the proverbial long underwear and making changes: with new concrete plans and people and places to look forward to. And thus the countdown was born…my year in China will come to a close – in 88 days. I know I have learned much, endured much, taught a lot and surprised myself too – with much more of that to come in the 3 months ahead and a heck of a story at the end of it — maybe even a book right Ingrid? 88 days and counting…

I would definitely love to toast to spring! To rebirth!

*We have not been complete shut-ins. There have been some nights out and a short girls trip to Beijing last weekend to temper the grey skies with. Looking forward to our week off at the end of April whereupon my mother will touch down in Peking. Tenho grande saudades da minha mãe.

Late February girls night in TEDA at the Parrot Restaurant

The girls at the Parrot in TEDA

Preparing for some fresh air in TEDA

New shoe show-off, Beijing

Vic's Nightclub with Trinhy, Beijing

Categories: My China Daily, Op Ed | Tags: linkedin, musings, the human condition, Update | Leave a comment

Seafood savouriness in ‘Ramshackle Town’

Posted on February 7, 2010 by musecruz

This week we finally got around to taking the scooter out to the nearby fishing village or as our friend Drew likes to call it ‘Ramshackle Town’. From what I can see on the web, this fishing hub provides most of the fresh catch for all of the restaurants in Cha-am and even nearby Hua-Hin. It was definitely a picturesque locale and while not super welcoming, we did not get any ‘get-out’ growls either. There were one or two other Farangs wandering about and when we left we saw that there were quite a few more restaurants on the outskirts catering to the visitor and not just the residents.

Former fishing vessel

I say not ramshackle in my opinion because there is no air of desperation in this town…things are orderly and comparatively clean. Perhaps this is what I see because I do remember seeing the African immigrant shanty towns erected in between building clusters and on hilltops when visiting Portugal as a child in the late seventies and early eighties. That was poverty – the desparate inbetweenness that people can just drive by without a second look. These people here do not seem to be living in poverty but simply living – carrying on the day-to-day activities of centuries past that ancestors look down on and smile at:

Ancestral offerings on the lookout point

The area is peppered with restaurants – some more bare bones than others – and seafood for sale. Dominated by two parallel rocky outcroppings, each of which we rode out on taking numerous pictures along the way. We finally settled at a welcoming seafood (obviously) restaurant under an awning to shelter us from the constant wind. I decided I had to start having my seafood fill while in Thailand. My people, the Portuguese, are of the sea and I had been neglecting my seafood taste buds in favour of all the other Thai savouriness there is to be had, that and the fact that my travel partner is not a fan of the fish.

waiting for the night time squid catch

We settled on three dishes – a crab fried rice, mackerel cakes and garlic sand fish. Accompanied of course by some chilled Chang beer. We weren’t sure how the sand fish was going to be done or how big or small said fish was going to be. It turned out to be smallish fried fish with its chopped garlic just as well done. The fish itself was fairly tasteless but still satisfying to be picking through the bones a la Algravia. The crab fried rice was a bit on the dry side and I was thinking the crab itself wasn’t super fresh. It was the mackerel cakes were the big hit – moist on the inside, crispy on the outside, served with a lovely lime chili paste with just the right zing.

Overall, the meal was still tasty and satisfying and what we didn’t finish ended up being the feast of our new feline friends!

our seaside resto, only one other table of patrons

the 6 page menu

Crab fried rice...everything comes with a side of cucumber - refreshing!

Mackerel cakes - the winner!

Sand fish...enhhhh...should have upscaled it with the Halibut.

Always a welcome accompaniment!

Still tasty...

...for all!

Categories: Food + Beverage, Voyageurs | Tags: cheap eats, food+beverage, getaways, linkedin | Leave a comment

The art of Thai Massage

Posted on February 6, 2010 by musecruz

La Moon...pre-massage

So here we go…second Thai massage…fifth massage in Asia. Let me tell you good cheap massaging- it is NOT getting old. This massage was less acrobatic and more instinctual than the last one I had here. Less pain…more relaxation. More creams, more attention to detail, more ritual…just …more.

This is my roomy massage outfit

Not that the last massage I had here was bad, far from it…it was a good, honest full-body Thai massage. By full body I mean your whole body gets attention as well as the masseur using their full body on you in the massage process. Not only their fingers, palms and elbows but their feet, thighs, and torso are used to manipulate, prop-up and work into your various muscles. From your feet to your hips, your fingertips to your temples, these women calm and cajole your muscles through a sacred ritual of witness.

Cleansing of the feet before we begin, thank you.

First you are given a roomy outfit to change into – Thai pants and blouse – see above. In China, you are also given pajama-like outfits to change into but they are often flannel (even in summer) and ill fitting with elastic waists and too-small head openings. We were provided with a locker and key to put away our things and on we went to one of many massage rooms. Ours was empty of other clients – so it felt private and welcoming and had the de rigueur calming Buddhist chanting soundtrack playing when we entered. This time – even though I had taken the consideration of showering just before I came (I was thinking of my masseur) – we were given a quick foot bath before beginning. Always a good idea in Thailand as most people are wearing open shoes of some kind and you are often, as was the case in this establishment, obliged to take off your shoes before entering so you never know where the feet have been last.

In summary, I suppose I would have to say that I would have liked the massage to be harder overall – I am short but I am not frail. Although my body was much more relaxed this time around than it was last time when I was still recovering from my cold and had not yet adjusted to the rhythms of vacation time, I was still a bit worried that it was going to be too much. I think my masseuse sensed this and proceeded accordingly. Or maybe that is just how they do ladies here – with less oomph than the guys. Later, I discovered that they do indeed do a more relaxing massage than most — i.e. Roland wasn’t grunting and breathing through the pain as he did last time. I do kind of like that kind of hard massage and yet I enjoyed this one more so for the lack of it – if that makes any sense.

Unguents mixed and used on me

I truly felt that I was being taken care of and my muscles were being carried through some sort of ritual exercise. That saying that you should “treat your body like a temple” was certainly applicable here. Everything from the praying over you before beginning to the mixing and rubbing of the unguents on the spot made you feel special and as if you and your masseuse were one person. She was working harmoniously to extract what was no longer needed in my body, bringing out its best. While, as I said, she didn’t ‘work me hard’ the whole way through there were certainly moments. Such as when she put the full weight of her body over me with both hands firmly compressing my hip bones, I did indeed have to breath through it.

My massage bed

And breath through it all I did, a calm serene breath that almost lulled me to sleep and I never fall asleep easily, least of all in public places. In the end a lovely ginger tea was served to calm the insides before departing and heartfelt Sawasdee-ka’s were given all around.

La Moon in Cha-am – simply charming.

Categories: Voyageurs | Tags: linkedin, massage, Update | 4 Comments

Prepping for the beach – in China.

Posted on February 4, 2010 by musecruz

So going to Thailand means going to the beach…going to the beach means showing off flesh…showing off flesh for women means prepping of the flesh. The flesh needs to look its best and be shown off in its best light — this means among many things such as waxing, shaving, pedicures, and a host of lotions and creams – a new bathing suit.

The shopping trip which most adult women dread with the same fierceness other people save for route canals at the dentist. I am not one of those women, sure I’m not particularly confident in my thighs, but confident enough overall to not put off such an endeavor in the hopes that one day I will look like Giselle – I don’t, I won’t, and I don’t want to. And although my initial pre-teen growth spurt foretold of an enviable future tallness that could have had me strutting the world’s catwalks…I am about as tall today as I was when I was 12 – ’nuff said. I have since learned that the best things come in small packages, no? I digress… Shopping for a bathing suit in China in the dead of winter was still far from the most therapeutic of experiences.

Fortunately, I had discovered, just a few weeks before leaving on my vacation, the sports mega-store many fellow teachers had already frequented – Decathlon, a European one-stop clothing and equipment store a la MEC. I previewed their swimwear through their UK site online thinking there is no way China stocks the same stuff…but it never hurts to look first. I had already seen some cute cheap string bikinis for everyday variety that I was going to go back for and hoped they had my size. (I perused them while picking up some vital fleeces for layering in the Chinese winter — I have never worn so many layers in my life! and I have braved Toronto and Montreal in the winter!)

Anyhow…after hearing that my girlfriend had gotten her first one piece in years, I started to think that would be a good idea too – a nice flattering but functional one piece for all the scuba diving and snorkeling I have yet to do. So with my first 3 choices in mind…I headed off to the deceivingly close mega-box store. Just a hop, skip and an underpass away from the school. With snow up to my knees and ice patches to jump I arrived relatively unscathed having decided the underpass was too dodgy to risk with no real pedestrian path. I gratefully flagged down a cab after navigating my way around the school perimeter took 15 minutes.

OK…it is my personal certainty that every single business in China is grossly overstaffed – usually with individuals who are not well versed in the product they are so intent on selling you. Decathlon was no different. However, its vast warehouse enclosure offered you some privacy while shopping as salespeople were dispersed rather haphazardly therein. A little too much privacy was my experience as while I found someone to point me to the fitting rooms (with my online choices in hand!)- they disappeared after that – never to be seen again which made me have to get my five layers on and off twice to go back for different sizes at the other end of the warehouse. This might have had something to do with the fact that there were maintenance men complete with hard hats working on scaffolding overhead – really close to my fitting room — which was really only a port-o-potty type plastic shell with, I discovered when I heard them working overhead, a full square opening at the top…so theoretically said maintenance guys could have been having a peak while I changed from one bikini to the next. Likening my port-o-potty to a desert display case – full of new chilled delights.

Meaning ….. all this was done in a completely non-heated warehouse space. So basically I was exposing my naughty bits to sub-zero temperatures. Not the most comfortable, indeed more like excruciatingly ludicrous, experience! Granted, maybe they thought not many people would be trying on their swimwear line at this time of year (but there are also lots of yoga and other sports gear for sale that involves showing just as much skin) …but having public shopping environments made comfortable by any heating whatsoever is never a priority…i.e. I could see my breath in the air. This, unfortunately, did not come as a surprise to me — it was a long line of public spaces kept at near glacial levels in China. If you’ve read my other posts – this includes the school that I teach in. So why is this? It is both a dose of miserly with a big dash of superstition. See, not only does it save money not to heat (or for that matter cool – really looking forward to sweaty summer in China!) spaces, but invariably the doors to these spaces are kept wide open if not many or all of the windows as well. Why, you ask? Why to let in the healthy cross breeze of course! Never mind that the air outside has enough pollutants on any given day to equal a year of air quality readings in say Toronto, for example, or that with the Siberian wind chill it’s nearing -30…no…air is healthy! Need air circulation for optimum health! Personally I am of the mind of the European superstition holding more water – catch a chill – catch a cold.

Anyhow, after my purchases…I decided to head back on foot via the underpass – the girls said it was okay and they had done it. How bad could it be, right? Wrong. Another bone chilling experience in both weather and near fatalities as I scurried my way back and forth across the highway in China traffic (no one stops or slows down for pedestrians ever…EVER!) trying to get the best foothold beside the snowdrifts currently taking up residence where the makeshift footpath would have been mid-highway. I arrived home much later popsicle cold, but safe.

I landed in Thailand one week later — and so did my head cold.

Nevertheless…here we are. Plus 2 cute string bikinis for a steal

Imagine the bikini

My new one-piece

Categories: Fashion and Style | Tags: its all about appearances, linkedin, Welcome to China! | Leave a comment

Thailand. Take 2!

Posted on January 28, 2010 by musecruz

Let me just post some visuals as that is always a crowd pleaser!

driving the Cha-am countryside

Buddha is everywhere, Petchburi

The King is everywhere, Bangkok

Monkeys are most places...Petchburi

and of course there are elephants! Hua Hin

Food requires it’s own post. It is cheap, it is good and it is EVERYWHERE!

But I think I gotta go for a sunset dip in the Gulf of Siam, excuse me.

Categories: Voyageurs | Tags: getaways, linkedin, Update | Leave a comment

china gal in Thailand.

Posted on January 20, 2010 by musecruz

4 days so far in Thailand…the food is fantastic and the scenery even more so, even though I have got a really bad cold (It was already peculating before I left China) that had me spend most of one whole day inside, with the caveat that I could still see the waves lapping up on the beach through the window in my reclined position on the living room rattan sofa.

To be here finally relaxing is so great- it will be a long unwind.

Thoughts?

Even though we are by no means in the most Western or touristy of places (in fact the beach here is deserted most of the time which is FANTASTIC! Dad, are you listening?) …it seems much more…well….civilized. Not as much aggression or tension in the air – the air itself is cleaner…and as widely reported, the people are friendlier. Cha-am is a place where Thai’s come to vacation (2 hours or so southwest of Bangkok) and is busy on the weekends but not so much during the week. Still, I have spotted a fair share of Westerners everywhere (mostly of the Northern European retiree set) including Robert’s next door neighbours. I guess with so much beach front in one country not all of it can be packed – so this is one of those beach fronts.

Of course one must always remember that being on vacation anywhere is automatically better than working anywhere…BUT…let’s just say Roland is developing a plan to somehow make it work here. OK…enough with the inside, gotta go sit on the recliners at the empty beach front resort next door – maybe ordering a drink will get me use of the pool as well? Always worth a try — again – IT’S EMPTY! A pristine beach front like this in Vancouver would be packed to the gills and the real estate through the roof!

Not here…not yet….Hmmmmm….

in front of Robert's condo

The Brand Boys

Dream house anyone? The beach is RIGHT in front!

Dream House anyone? The beach is RIGHT THERE!

Categories: Voyageurs | Tags: getaways, musings, Update | Leave a comment

Scenery…upon request. Part 1

Posted on January 12, 2010 by musecruz

As more friends and family and random Russian readers come upon my blog…I welcome all your comments and critiques, with love of course.

I just got my first request in today from Toronto – where my dear friend is experiencing the same weather as me – sunny and cold – albeit I’d guess less polluted. He asked for more scenic pictures…and so with 35 more exams to mark…and Thailand on the brain (3.5 days to go!)…and my Huoluo You neck ointment working its magic…here we go. For Greg, a scenic retrospective.

love, maria.