So I have mixed feelings about this... I just officially paid extra monies to change my flight to Toronto one week sooner than expected. Reason being, I haven't seen my mom in a year (as she's been working in Kenya) and she's currently in Toronto and leaving on the 15th of this month back to Mombasa. I was due to arrive on the 17th and would have had to wait until December to get a chance to see her if I didn't make the change.
I'm glad I'll be getting back to see family and friends, but at the same time, with the knowledge that in a week and a half my adventures will come to an end, I'm a little bit sad. I feel this experience has changed me as a person in many ways, and I know that I'm incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to travel around for so long.
I hope that I will continue to have these opportunities, and hope to continue to make the most of them, by learning more about the customs and cultures of the world. I know I've been fairly lazy with my blog lately, but I've had a string of weak internet connections, so uploading pictures and videos hasn't worked out. I'll make sure to post pics and vids in the weeks after my return... which is now only 10 days away.
I'm in Bangkok now and just got back from watching a Muay Thai Boxing match- which was pretty nuts. I'll post another update from Hong Kong.
Looking forward to seeing friends & family very soon!
Hakim
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Bali & Jakarta
So here's my long awaited first post about the Asian leg of my trip. I'm in Manila right now, hiding away from the tropical rainstorm that's raging outside. I'll be hitting up a museum later on today, and also the Rizal Park, which hosts martial arts displays every Sunday afternoon (weather permitting- so hopefully it clears up!).
So my time in Bali was incredible. I spent the three days I was there in a village called Ubud. Ubud has historically been the artistic centre of Bali and numerous western artists have moved to the village to continue their work there. Unfortunately, the secret of Ubud has been let out, and it's become a lot more commercial over the years. When I went, there were plenty of tourists out and about, though it's still a safe haven compared to other places in Bali like Kuta Beach.
On my first night in Ubud I spent an hour or so wandering the pungent streets of the village, trying to avoid falling into one of the many potholes in the road. It was a very unique experience, I was followed by stray dogs, cats and chickens for much of my night of exploration. I did find a nice restaurant that served very cheap traditional Balinese food (approx. $2CAD for a meal)
The second morning I took a trip to the Monkey Forest Sanctuary- a site with a bunch of Hindu temples devoted to worshipping the monkey. It also houses hundreds of Balinese long-tailed macaques- a group of very cheeky monkeys. I was actually attacked by the monkeys on three separate occasions- on one occasion the monkeys thought it would be a good idea to cling onto my hair and face... that was a fun experience. Apparently, the monkeys also like iPhones, because one of them tried to steal mine:
Aside from the kleptomaniac monkey and the let's use Hakim as a jungle gym monkeys, I did manage to snap a few pics of some very cute baby monkeys:
After the monkey sanctuary, I went to the market in Ubud which had a lot of arts & crafts, but was definitely designed to rip off tourists. I did buy a couple of things though, after much haggling =)
The evening was spent going to a traditional Balinese dance. On my second night I went to the Legong Dance and on the third night I went to the Kecak Dance. Despite having the same subject matter (the Hindu Ramayana Epics) both dances were very different in nature. The Legong was more of a typical dance, with elaborate colourful costumes, while the Kecak had a chorus of 100 men, chanting and swaying in a trance.
Dance pics!:
^Legong Dance
^Kecak Dance
On my last day in Ubud, i stumbled upon a traditional Balinese cremation ceremony. That was unlike anything else I've ever witnessed. They've turned funeral processions in Bali into tourist attractions, but understandably so- it's a spectacle that I doubt any other culture celebrates as elaborately. There is a 100 man band that is split into two sections, one which leads the funeral procession and one which follows it, another 100 men are charged with carrying the giant tower, which the body is stored in for the procession, and the giant bull which the body is stored in for the cremation.
Here is a picture and video of parts of the event:
I also have a 6 minute video which covered most of the procession so if anybody wants to see that, they can just let me know when I get back. Aside from all these events, I went to a few art galleries in Ubud, which really surprised me with their breadth and professional setup. I also got a chance to walk along the Campu Ridge, which had some great lookouts to the rice fields surrounding the village
As soon as I stepped off the plane in Jakarta I knew that the city was very heavily polluted. The hotel I was staying in was also highly questionable in terms of hygiene, and the rumours about it doubling as a brothel were indeed correct. I encountered at least a half dozen sex workers on the street outside my hotel while trying to find dinner on my first night in Jakarta. Naturally, on my first morning there I woke up with a massive headache and ended up quite ill throughout my stay in the city. I did end up visiting a doctor in Singapore and again in Kuala Lumpur and thankfully after taking anti-biotics for 3 days I'm feeling much better. Unfortunately I didn't get to see much of Jakarta while I was there, but I do have a picture of the national monument, taken when some friends of my family took me out to see the sights for a few hours.
And that was my time in Indonesia! I'll post my Singapore and Manila updates fairly shortly- I'll save KL for when I get back and visit more of the city =)
PS- If the videos don't work- which they don't seem to be doing for me, try going to my youtube channel and watching them there http://www.youtube.com/user/hkassam
So my time in Bali was incredible. I spent the three days I was there in a village called Ubud. Ubud has historically been the artistic centre of Bali and numerous western artists have moved to the village to continue their work there. Unfortunately, the secret of Ubud has been let out, and it's become a lot more commercial over the years. When I went, there were plenty of tourists out and about, though it's still a safe haven compared to other places in Bali like Kuta Beach.
On my first night in Ubud I spent an hour or so wandering the pungent streets of the village, trying to avoid falling into one of the many potholes in the road. It was a very unique experience, I was followed by stray dogs, cats and chickens for much of my night of exploration. I did find a nice restaurant that served very cheap traditional Balinese food (approx. $2CAD for a meal)
The second morning I took a trip to the Monkey Forest Sanctuary- a site with a bunch of Hindu temples devoted to worshipping the monkey. It also houses hundreds of Balinese long-tailed macaques- a group of very cheeky monkeys. I was actually attacked by the monkeys on three separate occasions- on one occasion the monkeys thought it would be a good idea to cling onto my hair and face... that was a fun experience. Apparently, the monkeys also like iPhones, because one of them tried to steal mine:
Aside from the kleptomaniac monkey and the let's use Hakim as a jungle gym monkeys, I did manage to snap a few pics of some very cute baby monkeys:
After the monkey sanctuary, I went to the market in Ubud which had a lot of arts & crafts, but was definitely designed to rip off tourists. I did buy a couple of things though, after much haggling =)
The evening was spent going to a traditional Balinese dance. On my second night I went to the Legong Dance and on the third night I went to the Kecak Dance. Despite having the same subject matter (the Hindu Ramayana Epics) both dances were very different in nature. The Legong was more of a typical dance, with elaborate colourful costumes, while the Kecak had a chorus of 100 men, chanting and swaying in a trance.
Dance pics!:
^Legong Dance
^Kecak Dance
On my last day in Ubud, i stumbled upon a traditional Balinese cremation ceremony. That was unlike anything else I've ever witnessed. They've turned funeral processions in Bali into tourist attractions, but understandably so- it's a spectacle that I doubt any other culture celebrates as elaborately. There is a 100 man band that is split into two sections, one which leads the funeral procession and one which follows it, another 100 men are charged with carrying the giant tower, which the body is stored in for the procession, and the giant bull which the body is stored in for the cremation.
Here is a picture and video of parts of the event:
I also have a 6 minute video which covered most of the procession so if anybody wants to see that, they can just let me know when I get back. Aside from all these events, I went to a few art galleries in Ubud, which really surprised me with their breadth and professional setup. I also got a chance to walk along the Campu Ridge, which had some great lookouts to the rice fields surrounding the village
As soon as I stepped off the plane in Jakarta I knew that the city was very heavily polluted. The hotel I was staying in was also highly questionable in terms of hygiene, and the rumours about it doubling as a brothel were indeed correct. I encountered at least a half dozen sex workers on the street outside my hotel while trying to find dinner on my first night in Jakarta. Naturally, on my first morning there I woke up with a massive headache and ended up quite ill throughout my stay in the city. I did end up visiting a doctor in Singapore and again in Kuala Lumpur and thankfully after taking anti-biotics for 3 days I'm feeling much better. Unfortunately I didn't get to see much of Jakarta while I was there, but I do have a picture of the national monument, taken when some friends of my family took me out to see the sights for a few hours.
And that was my time in Indonesia! I'll post my Singapore and Manila updates fairly shortly- I'll save KL for when I get back and visit more of the city =)
PS- If the videos don't work- which they don't seem to be doing for me, try going to my youtube channel and watching them there http://www.youtube.com/user/hkassam
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
two weeks
Hah, so it's been a good two weeks since my last post... I doubt anybody reads this anymore... but I'm putting a reward out there. The first person to comment on this post will get TEN THOUSAND Indonesian Rupiahs from me when I get back home- now *that's* a lot of money.
Anyways, the last couple of weeks have been a pretty crazy adventure. Started off in Auckland where I was staying with my mum's uncle and aunt. It was a nice harbour city- reminded me of a smaller version of Sydney. I also went to a Baha'ii service with my relatives, who introduced me to a lady from Indonesia who asked me to send a package to her sister in Jakarta who in turn showed me around the city... but that's me getting ahead of myself.
Heeere's Auckland:
After Auckland I went to Wellington by train. It was advertised as an incredible scenic experience. While it was quite a view, I don't think it compared to what I saw in the South Island. The city of Wellington itself though was a lot of fun to visit. As the capital of New Zealand, it had the country's Parliament, and it's best museum- one of the better one's I've ever been to. There were also a bunch of really nice cafes on Cuba St. in Wellington. It was also the city where I watched the FIFA World Cup Finals... though I had to be up at 6am to do so.
Welly pics:
After my 2 days in Wellington, I had to fly back to Auckland- because I already booked my ticket from Auckland to Bali before adding Welly as a destination. The Auckland to Bali flight had a connection in Sydney. This meant that in 24 hours I flew from Wellington to Auckland to Sydney to Bali. Crazy stuff.
Anyways, I'm going to save my Indonesia and Singapore posts for when someone claims that Rupiah prize!
Goodbye =)
Anyways, the last couple of weeks have been a pretty crazy adventure. Started off in Auckland where I was staying with my mum's uncle and aunt. It was a nice harbour city- reminded me of a smaller version of Sydney. I also went to a Baha'ii service with my relatives, who introduced me to a lady from Indonesia who asked me to send a package to her sister in Jakarta who in turn showed me around the city... but that's me getting ahead of myself.
Heeere's Auckland:
After Auckland I went to Wellington by train. It was advertised as an incredible scenic experience. While it was quite a view, I don't think it compared to what I saw in the South Island. The city of Wellington itself though was a lot of fun to visit. As the capital of New Zealand, it had the country's Parliament, and it's best museum- one of the better one's I've ever been to. There were also a bunch of really nice cafes on Cuba St. in Wellington. It was also the city where I watched the FIFA World Cup Finals... though I had to be up at 6am to do so.
Welly pics:
After my 2 days in Wellington, I had to fly back to Auckland- because I already booked my ticket from Auckland to Bali before adding Welly as a destination. The Auckland to Bali flight had a connection in Sydney. This meant that in 24 hours I flew from Wellington to Auckland to Sydney to Bali. Crazy stuff.
Anyways, I'm going to save my Indonesia and Singapore posts for when someone claims that Rupiah prize!
Goodbye =)
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Christchurch/Queenstown/Auckland
Well it looks like I already broke my promise. It's not my fault! The Christchurch and Queenstown hostels both had limited bandwith on WIFI.
So my last day in Christchurch was a lot more interesting. I stumbled upon a Maori concert on my way through Cathedral Square. The Maori are the indigenous population of New Zealand and from what I've seen so far, protection of Maori culture here is a lot better than our treatment of native Canadians. Here's a short clip of their concert... they were pretty awesome =)
Maori performers!
After that surprise encounter, I made it out to the Gondola, which gave pretty cool views of the city and surrounding geography. In retrospect it wasn't nearly as cool as the Queenstown Gondola which I got to enjoy just a couple of days ago. Here's a shot from each:
Christchurch Gondola View
Queenstown Gondola View
Clearly Queenstown wins on the Gondola battle. Oh, sidenote, the Queenstown Gondola also has a luge track at the top of the mountain. THAT was a lot of fun.
The busride between Christchurch and Queenstown was pretty long (8 hours) but it was incredible in terms of the scenery we passed through. The Southern Alps were visible for the majority of the ride, but unfortunately Mt Cook, the tallest mountain in New Zealand was covered by cloud that day (that always happens to me!)
Queenstown was effing cold when I got there... well compared to what I'm used to for July. The daily high would be around 5-7 degrees, but for most of the day it was around 0C. I also went on a day cruise to Milford Sounds, part of the Fiordland National Park in New Zealand- A park so big that it's about the size of the Netherlands. That trip has so far been the highlight of my time in New Zealand- the most magical scenery I've enjoyed in my life. The weird thing is I also met a dude who lives in Toronto and graduated from Queen's Artsci '09. All the way in some random town in New Zealand! Totally random. Anyways, here are a couple of pictures from Milford:
So that was the extent of my trip to the South Island. I arrived in Auckland, North Island, New Zealand last night and spent my first day at the Auckland Art Gallery and the National Maritime Museum. Both were pretty cool, but I preferred the Art Gallery. I'll be back soon with more stories! (probably Friday morning EST)
Peace out!
Hakim
So my last day in Christchurch was a lot more interesting. I stumbled upon a Maori concert on my way through Cathedral Square. The Maori are the indigenous population of New Zealand and from what I've seen so far, protection of Maori culture here is a lot better than our treatment of native Canadians. Here's a short clip of their concert... they were pretty awesome =)
Maori performers!
After that surprise encounter, I made it out to the Gondola, which gave pretty cool views of the city and surrounding geography. In retrospect it wasn't nearly as cool as the Queenstown Gondola which I got to enjoy just a couple of days ago. Here's a shot from each:
Christchurch Gondola View
Queenstown Gondola View
Clearly Queenstown wins on the Gondola battle. Oh, sidenote, the Queenstown Gondola also has a luge track at the top of the mountain. THAT was a lot of fun.
The busride between Christchurch and Queenstown was pretty long (8 hours) but it was incredible in terms of the scenery we passed through. The Southern Alps were visible for the majority of the ride, but unfortunately Mt Cook, the tallest mountain in New Zealand was covered by cloud that day (that always happens to me!)
Queenstown was effing cold when I got there... well compared to what I'm used to for July. The daily high would be around 5-7 degrees, but for most of the day it was around 0C. I also went on a day cruise to Milford Sounds, part of the Fiordland National Park in New Zealand- A park so big that it's about the size of the Netherlands. That trip has so far been the highlight of my time in New Zealand- the most magical scenery I've enjoyed in my life. The weird thing is I also met a dude who lives in Toronto and graduated from Queen's Artsci '09. All the way in some random town in New Zealand! Totally random. Anyways, here are a couple of pictures from Milford:
So that was the extent of my trip to the South Island. I arrived in Auckland, North Island, New Zealand last night and spent my first day at the Auckland Art Gallery and the National Maritime Museum. Both were pretty cool, but I preferred the Art Gallery. I'll be back soon with more stories! (probably Friday morning EST)
Peace out!
Hakim
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Christchurch
So I realized this morning that I'm not spending 4 days in Christchurch, it's 3... which is a really good thing to have realized because my whole trip would have been thrown off if I had missed that bus tomorrow morning!
Christchurch has been nice, It's a pretty sleepy small town. While the population of 350,000 may suggest that it'd have more of a small city feel, much of the city shuts down by 5pm and there's not much going on in the evenings. Yesterday I visited the Christchurch Cathedral- one of the more famous spots in town- and climbed to the top. Afterwards I went punting (gondola style boat) on the river Avon, which was really nice and relaxing... reminds me of when I went paddle boating with Queen's friends through the Amsterdam canals =)
The most amazing thing about Christchurch so far was the flight in. The views over the southern alps were magnificent. Later today I'm going to the cable-car gondola about 20 mins out of the city, so I should be able to get some great photos from there. Unfortunately, the hostel I'm staying at has limited bandwith, so I can't upload photos to the blog unless I want to pay a crapload of money. I'll post a few next time I have unlimited wifi!
Next post will be from Queenstown in a couple of days!
Cheers,
Hakim
Christchurch has been nice, It's a pretty sleepy small town. While the population of 350,000 may suggest that it'd have more of a small city feel, much of the city shuts down by 5pm and there's not much going on in the evenings. Yesterday I visited the Christchurch Cathedral- one of the more famous spots in town- and climbed to the top. Afterwards I went punting (gondola style boat) on the river Avon, which was really nice and relaxing... reminds me of when I went paddle boating with Queen's friends through the Amsterdam canals =)
The most amazing thing about Christchurch so far was the flight in. The views over the southern alps were magnificent. Later today I'm going to the cable-car gondola about 20 mins out of the city, so I should be able to get some great photos from there. Unfortunately, the hostel I'm staying at has limited bandwith, so I can't upload photos to the blog unless I want to pay a crapload of money. I'll post a few next time I have unlimited wifi!
Next post will be from Queenstown in a couple of days!
Cheers,
Hakim
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
TASMANIA!
I think any name that ends in "mania" makes a place automatically cooler. Like... take Oshawa for example- one of the more boring cities in Ontario. "Oshamania" sounds so much more exciting!
Anyways, I got back from Tasmania, or as Aussies call it, Tassie a few days ago. I've been totally swamped with getting things organized for the rest of my trip that I haven't been able to get around to updating things here, but I'm doing it now!
The Boat:
I took the boat to Tasmania, cause that's so much cooler than flying. It was your typical ocean liner; restaurant, bar, movie theatre, casino etc. It was pretty cool watching world cup games while out at sea though!
Cradle Mountain:
My first stop after renting my car in Devonport- where the ferry docked- was Cradle Mountain National Park.
Ideally, it's supposed to look like this:
On the day I was there, it looked like this:
It was cloudy and wet... so the scenery wasn't nearly as spectacular, but it didn't stop me from going on an adventure regardless! Before I went on my hike I stopped by a Tasmanian Devil sanctuary and got to see and pet one =)
The Hike
Now this is a bit of a crazy story. I must admit I was being really REALLY dumb that day... because what I did was pretty dangerous. It's recommended that you hike around Cradle Mountain with a friend because it's some pretty rough terrain. I made the trip there alone,but I figured I could handle it since I've done a bunch of hiking on my own before. Anyways, I was halfway along the trail and I saw a sign that pointed in a different direction which read "To Lookout"... so I went for it. DUMB MOVE. About two hours later I realized I was actually 3/4 of the way up the mountain. Couldn't see a thing above me or a thing below me, cause I was in the clouds. At that point, there was no more trail, it was a chain guiding you up a bunch of VERY steep rocks.
This would be the less steep portion of the chain climb... I put my camera away after I took this so I could hang onto the chain with both hands as I climbed up. Both the chain and the rocks were VERY wet and slippery. Sounds dumb right? Well here's the worst part: I wasn't hiking in boots. I undertook this whole adventure wearing my chucks. Yeah. I'm a dumbass.
Anyways, I eventually got to a point where I saw a sign that read 2 hours to summit... at which point I had nowhere near enough time to get all the way to the top and all the way back down again, so I just turned around and made the highly tedious journey back down.
This calls for a before/after picture
Me before the hike with my ride!
Immediately after getting back down from the mountain.
There's a line between being brave and being stupid, and I crossed it.
Launceston
After that experience, I decided to play it safe and not take any more risks for the rest of the trip. I drove to Launceston just after sunset, and found a radio station on the way that calmed my nerves quite a bit. Indie rock, with some of my favourite bands featured =)
Launceston is a really nice old town with a lot of character. I only spent a night there, but it was an awesome place to visit. Within the city is the Cataract Gorge, where I took a nice long walk the next morning.
Hobart
Hobart is the largest city and capital of Tasmania. On my way from Launceston to Hobart, I heard that Australia had just sworn in their first female Prime Minister on the radio. Pretty cool to be in Aussie with all the political goings on... though not as cool as Toronto for G20.
I really enjoyed Hobart, the Inn that I stayed in was a really old building (19th century) and the owner was this really funny middle-aged Aussie lady who had some choice words to say about the new PM... we ended up talking for like 3 hours! I went for a midnight walk around the city, which was incredibly beautiful
So that was my trip to Tasmania! After Hobart, I drove the 300km to Devonport the next morning and had another 12 hour boat ride back to Melbourne. At the moment I'm just wrapping up packing, seeing as I'm leaving for New Zealand in about 12 hours. I also promise to have at least 3 updates a week from now until I come back home. SO PUMPED!
See you all soon!
Hakim
Anyways, I got back from Tasmania, or as Aussies call it, Tassie a few days ago. I've been totally swamped with getting things organized for the rest of my trip that I haven't been able to get around to updating things here, but I'm doing it now!
The Boat:
I took the boat to Tasmania, cause that's so much cooler than flying. It was your typical ocean liner; restaurant, bar, movie theatre, casino etc. It was pretty cool watching world cup games while out at sea though!
Cradle Mountain:
My first stop after renting my car in Devonport- where the ferry docked- was Cradle Mountain National Park.
Ideally, it's supposed to look like this:
On the day I was there, it looked like this:
It was cloudy and wet... so the scenery wasn't nearly as spectacular, but it didn't stop me from going on an adventure regardless! Before I went on my hike I stopped by a Tasmanian Devil sanctuary and got to see and pet one =)
The Hike
Now this is a bit of a crazy story. I must admit I was being really REALLY dumb that day... because what I did was pretty dangerous. It's recommended that you hike around Cradle Mountain with a friend because it's some pretty rough terrain. I made the trip there alone,but I figured I could handle it since I've done a bunch of hiking on my own before. Anyways, I was halfway along the trail and I saw a sign that pointed in a different direction which read "To Lookout"... so I went for it. DUMB MOVE. About two hours later I realized I was actually 3/4 of the way up the mountain. Couldn't see a thing above me or a thing below me, cause I was in the clouds. At that point, there was no more trail, it was a chain guiding you up a bunch of VERY steep rocks.
Anyways, I eventually got to a point where I saw a sign that read 2 hours to summit... at which point I had nowhere near enough time to get all the way to the top and all the way back down again, so I just turned around and made the highly tedious journey back down.
This calls for a before/after picture
Me before the hike with my ride!
Immediately after getting back down from the mountain.
There's a line between being brave and being stupid, and I crossed it.
Launceston
After that experience, I decided to play it safe and not take any more risks for the rest of the trip. I drove to Launceston just after sunset, and found a radio station on the way that calmed my nerves quite a bit. Indie rock, with some of my favourite bands featured =)
Launceston is a really nice old town with a lot of character. I only spent a night there, but it was an awesome place to visit. Within the city is the Cataract Gorge, where I took a nice long walk the next morning.
Hobart
Hobart is the largest city and capital of Tasmania. On my way from Launceston to Hobart, I heard that Australia had just sworn in their first female Prime Minister on the radio. Pretty cool to be in Aussie with all the political goings on... though not as cool as Toronto for G20.
I really enjoyed Hobart, the Inn that I stayed in was a really old building (19th century) and the owner was this really funny middle-aged Aussie lady who had some choice words to say about the new PM... we ended up talking for like 3 hours! I went for a midnight walk around the city, which was incredibly beautiful
So that was my trip to Tasmania! After Hobart, I drove the 300km to Devonport the next morning and had another 12 hour boat ride back to Melbourne. At the moment I'm just wrapping up packing, seeing as I'm leaving for New Zealand in about 12 hours. I also promise to have at least 3 updates a week from now until I come back home. SO PUMPED!
See you all soon!
Hakim
Saturday, June 5, 2010
deets yo!
PHEW!
So yesterday was payday, which also meant flight booking day... and I can now thankfully say that 90% of my flights for the rest of my trip are booked... here are the places I'll be visiting and when I'll be there:
June 22- 12 hour ferry ride from Melbourne to Tasmania
June 25- return to Melbourne
June 30- Leaving Melbourne to go to Christchurch
July 3- Christchurch bus trip to Queenstown
July 6- Queenstown back to Christchurch airport for flight to Auckland
July 13- Auckland flight to Bali, Indonesia
July 16 Bali to Jakarta (not yet booked, maybe I'll take a boat!)
July 19 Jakarta flight to Singapore
July 22 Singapore flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
July 24 KL flight to Manila, Philippines
July 28 Manila flight back to KL
July 31, KL flight to Bangkok, Thailand
Aug 3 Bangkok flight to Hong Kong
Aug 17 Hong Kong flight to Toronto
SO! Some pretty intense traveling coming up... lots of flying, but I'm trying my best to make this trip carbon neutral =)
Also, I know Bangkok isn't really 100% stable right now, but that almost makes me want to go there more... plus I got a free flight, which makes things even more enticing. Anywho, expect almost daily updates starting June 22!
So yesterday was payday, which also meant flight booking day... and I can now thankfully say that 90% of my flights for the rest of my trip are booked... here are the places I'll be visiting and when I'll be there:
June 22- 12 hour ferry ride from Melbourne to Tasmania
June 25- return to Melbourne
June 30- Leaving Melbourne to go to Christchurch
July 3- Christchurch bus trip to Queenstown
July 6- Queenstown back to Christchurch airport for flight to Auckland
July 13- Auckland flight to Bali, Indonesia
July 16 Bali to Jakarta (not yet booked, maybe I'll take a boat!)
July 19 Jakarta flight to Singapore
July 22 Singapore flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
July 24 KL flight to Manila, Philippines
July 28 Manila flight back to KL
July 31, KL flight to Bangkok, Thailand
Aug 3 Bangkok flight to Hong Kong
Aug 17 Hong Kong flight to Toronto
SO! Some pretty intense traveling coming up... lots of flying, but I'm trying my best to make this trip carbon neutral =)
Also, I know Bangkok isn't really 100% stable right now, but that almost makes me want to go there more... plus I got a free flight, which makes things even more enticing. Anywho, expect almost daily updates starting June 22!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
dunnyjacked.
So this afternoon at work I needed to take a tinkle... but everytime I turned to head towards the bathroom, somebody else rushed in ahead of me... I notified a colleague of this pattern and his response? "You got dunnyjacked mate!"
word.
word.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Sydney days 3-5!
Hey!
So the last three days in Sydney were such a whirlwind, I didn't get a chance to post anything while I was there! I'm gonna do my best to remember what happened back then- I've had a pretty full on* week of work back in Melbourne.
*"full on" = Australian for intense
Day 3:
Took a nice walk in the morning down to the Sydney Botanical Gardens, which actually had the most incredible view I've ever experienced. The Sydney Harbour has to be one of the most beautiful spots in the world. Here are a couple of pics from that morning:
On my way out of the botanical gardens I bumped into another German backpacker (who took that photo of me). Apparently he had visited Canada! Well Winnipeg to be precise... we had a lovely discussion about how wonderfully exciting the prairies are.
After the botanical gardens I took a walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge... which is surprisingly long- over 1km! I took my time, took some photos and enjoyed a nice view of the city from North Sydney on the other side of the bridge. Another feature of North Sydney is the amusement park- Luna Park... I was very frightened by the entrance- it's certainly nightmare inducing...
Luna Park was closed on that day, but the entrance was still open, so naturally I walked through it anyways... I was the only person in the park at the time... I was sure some clowns would pop out of nowhere and try and kill me...
After that frightening experience, I hopped on a train back home and hung out on the roof of the hostel, which also had a pretty incredible view. Michael (my German friend) intro'd me to his German crew which he had just met at the hostel... and we sat around a picnic table making fun of each others countries until somebody had a great idea to switch the radio station to classic rock... So I spent the night bonding with a bunch of Germans in Australia belting out Born in the USA =)
Day 4!
Took a free walking tour of Sydney in the morning with Michael, though we got caught in some pouring rain... it actually rained every single day I was in Sydney, I'm pretty sure the trip was kinda cursed... Anywho, the walking tour was a lot of fun and really informative, we got to see the city from the eyes of a real Sydneysider! and yes, that is what they call people from Sydney...
So the last three days in Sydney were such a whirlwind, I didn't get a chance to post anything while I was there! I'm gonna do my best to remember what happened back then- I've had a pretty full on* week of work back in Melbourne.
*"full on" = Australian for intense
Day 3:
Took a nice walk in the morning down to the Sydney Botanical Gardens, which actually had the most incredible view I've ever experienced. The Sydney Harbour has to be one of the most beautiful spots in the world. Here are a couple of pics from that morning:
On my way out of the botanical gardens I bumped into another German backpacker (who took that photo of me). Apparently he had visited Canada! Well Winnipeg to be precise... we had a lovely discussion about how wonderfully exciting the prairies are.
After the botanical gardens I took a walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge... which is surprisingly long- over 1km! I took my time, took some photos and enjoyed a nice view of the city from North Sydney on the other side of the bridge. Another feature of North Sydney is the amusement park- Luna Park... I was very frightened by the entrance- it's certainly nightmare inducing...
Luna Park was closed on that day, but the entrance was still open, so naturally I walked through it anyways... I was the only person in the park at the time... I was sure some clowns would pop out of nowhere and try and kill me...
After that frightening experience, I hopped on a train back home and hung out on the roof of the hostel, which also had a pretty incredible view. Michael (my German friend) intro'd me to his German crew which he had just met at the hostel... and we sat around a picnic table making fun of each others countries until somebody had a great idea to switch the radio station to classic rock... So I spent the night bonding with a bunch of Germans in Australia belting out Born in the USA =)
Day 4!
Took a free walking tour of Sydney in the morning with Michael, though we got caught in some pouring rain... it actually rained every single day I was in Sydney, I'm pretty sure the trip was kinda cursed... Anywho, the walking tour was a lot of fun and really informative, we got to see the city from the eyes of a real Sydneysider! and yes, that is what they call people from Sydney...
Michael was a soccer star back in Germany, quite a tall dude actually!
In the afternoon I checked out Sydney's Chinatown, but it wasn't nearly as cool as the one in Melbourne. They did have a bit of an interesting market area called Paddington (Paddy's) Market, but again, it wasn't as cool as Victoria Market (its rival) in Melbourne.
In the evening I went to go see a show at the Sydney Opera House. It was a play about a marriage that was broken up by a charming young lady. Very good acting; the only problem I had was when I got to the Opera House, my seat was double booked and they bounced me around to about 3 different seats before finally making me sit in the back... I got shafted by the Opera House! *not cool*- again a sign that my trip was cursed...
Day 5!
So the day before on the walking tour the guide told us to go see the Sydney Fish Market Auctions which happen every day at 5:30am... obligingly, Michael and I were up at that ungodly hour to go see the second largest fish market in the world... unfortunately we didn't hear that the auctions only happen Monday-Friday... and it was a Saturday... so we woke up early and walked halfway across the city for nothing *cursed!* anyways, I got a couple of nice shots of Sydney at dawn:
After that little incident we headed back to the hostel since it started to pour again... and ventured out again in the afternoon to check out the art festival that was going on in Sydney at the time... it was a bit like Nuit Blanche with fun and interesting art projects all over the city, except it was spread out over 2 weeks instead of one night.
One of the spots that the festival was being held at was Cockatoo Island which was only accessible by ferry... so we took the ferry over and checked out some wicked art!
I left the island early so I could check out the Contemporary Art Gallery back in the city before it closed... and guess what... as soon as the ferry left the dock it started pouring again! Though this time it was totally worth it... there was a beautiful double rainbow over the Harbour and I was once again treated to one of the most incredible views I've ever experienced:
That evening I went to the best place for pie in Sydney, but there was a super long line. I decided to stick it out anyways, and that was the best decision I made all trip. This big bouncer-looking dude comes out of his fancy car and hands me a $5 bill and says "I'll give you five bucks to hold a spot in line for me while I wait in my car". I told him to keep his money and I'd hold it for him anyways, but he stuffed the bill in my pocket, so I wasn't going to say no. Anywho, I waved him over when I got to the front of the line and he asked what I was going to order and bought my dinner for me! I think all that bad karma from everything that had happened on the trip up to that point came back as free pie and five dollars =)
Well that was pretty much the extent of my trip to Sydney, I did check out a pretty sweet cafe that night and spent a few hours writing. Other then that, just packing and making sure I made my flight on time! Hopefully I haven't bored you all with the longest post of life... stay tuned for more in the next few weeks! (probably not much until next week though- got a full week of work coming up again!)
Cheerio!
Hakim
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
sydney day 2!
Woo!
Sydney has treated me awesomely so far... today was a pretty rad day, the weather was great and the activities were even better. Visited the Australian Museum with my German friend and had a lovely conversation about politics, society and education... the Museum itself wasn't the best- a couple of the more popular exhibits were closed for renovations, but it was still a fun trip.
Around lunchtime, I googled "best Pho in Sydney" found a place that had a pretty strong consensus as the #1 pick, hopped on a train across town, and had a nice bowl of Pho. It wasn't as good as some of the stuff in Toronto, but it hit the spot real good... I was craving Pho for a whilee...
In the evening, I decided to hop on a ferry and check out this suburb beach area called Manly... the sun had already set by the time I got there so the beach was completely abandoned... it was freaking awesome being the only dude on the beach, feeling the waves tickle my feet =D
Later I headed back to a bit of a posh area around the Harbour called "The Rocks"... ended up spending $17 on dessert and coffee... I felt less guilty because dinner only cost me $2.15 in Manly...
anyways, that was day 2... hopefully day 3 will be just as awesome! (considering its me planning it, it probably will be)
Photo time!
Sydney has treated me awesomely so far... today was a pretty rad day, the weather was great and the activities were even better. Visited the Australian Museum with my German friend and had a lovely conversation about politics, society and education... the Museum itself wasn't the best- a couple of the more popular exhibits were closed for renovations, but it was still a fun trip.
Around lunchtime, I googled "best Pho in Sydney" found a place that had a pretty strong consensus as the #1 pick, hopped on a train across town, and had a nice bowl of Pho. It wasn't as good as some of the stuff in Toronto, but it hit the spot real good... I was craving Pho for a whilee...
In the evening, I decided to hop on a ferry and check out this suburb beach area called Manly... the sun had already set by the time I got there so the beach was completely abandoned... it was freaking awesome being the only dude on the beach, feeling the waves tickle my feet =D
Later I headed back to a bit of a posh area around the Harbour called "The Rocks"... ended up spending $17 on dessert and coffee... I felt less guilty because dinner only cost me $2.15 in Manly...
anyways, that was day 2... hopefully day 3 will be just as awesome! (considering its me planning it, it probably will be)
Photo time!
Sydney Opera House from the ferry
Sydney Harbour Bridge from the ferry
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
sydney day 1!
Wow.. what a long day...
As most of you have probably already heard, I missed my flight this morning to Sydney... I had to pay an extra $75 to get onto the next flight (the original ticket was only $28) and wait another 8 hours in the Melbourne airport. Anyways, after all that I made it into Sydney at around 4:30pm
My first impressions of the city are very good... Even though it's been pouring rain since I got here, I really like the feel of the city. It has more of a "big city" vibe to it than Melbourne, which appeals to me in some ways.
The hostel I'm staying in is pretty nice and the people that I'm sharing my room with seem super cool- two Italian girls and a law student from Frankfurt, its a good mix =D
I spent the night eating the best pizza ever, at this gourmet pizza bar called Zachary's (ranks as the seventh best meal I've ever had) and going for an evening walk in the city.
Here are some photos from my first night!
As most of you have probably already heard, I missed my flight this morning to Sydney... I had to pay an extra $75 to get onto the next flight (the original ticket was only $28) and wait another 8 hours in the Melbourne airport. Anyways, after all that I made it into Sydney at around 4:30pm
My first impressions of the city are very good... Even though it's been pouring rain since I got here, I really like the feel of the city. It has more of a "big city" vibe to it than Melbourne, which appeals to me in some ways.
The hostel I'm staying in is pretty nice and the people that I'm sharing my room with seem super cool- two Italian girls and a law student from Frankfurt, its a good mix =D
I spent the night eating the best pizza ever, at this gourmet pizza bar called Zachary's (ranks as the seventh best meal I've ever had) and going for an evening walk in the city.
Here are some photos from my first night!
Sunday, May 16, 2010
sanctuary!
Yo!
So it's high time I post an update here... been far too long... Anyways, yesterday I saw my first kangaroo! yay!! To commemorate the event, here's a small tribute to the great Steve Irwin aka the Crocodile Hunter
The video was supposed to carry on a bit longer, but I guess I accidentally hit stop... oh wells...
So yeah! I saw kangaroos, koalas, wombats, wallabies and all other sorts of Aussie wildlife at the Healesville Sanctuary. Totally rad place to be. Highlight of the day (besides befriending a kangaroo of course) would be watching this toddler ask her mommy what the Emus were doing (it) and the resulting explanation
I'll post a crapload of photos when I finally get around to uploading stuff onto flickr... work has been prohibiting that lately, but hopefully soon..
Oh and good news! I'm leaving for Sydney in less than two days... so that means a whole lot more updates! YAY!
So yeah, if you wanna check out what the biggest city in Australia looks like from my eyes, then check back often this week- I'll be posting daily while I'm there!
So it's high time I post an update here... been far too long... Anyways, yesterday I saw my first kangaroo! yay!! To commemorate the event, here's a small tribute to the great Steve Irwin aka the Crocodile Hunter
The video was supposed to carry on a bit longer, but I guess I accidentally hit stop... oh wells...
So yeah! I saw kangaroos, koalas, wombats, wallabies and all other sorts of Aussie wildlife at the Healesville Sanctuary. Totally rad place to be. Highlight of the day (besides befriending a kangaroo of course) would be watching this toddler ask her mommy what the Emus were doing (it) and the resulting explanation
I'll post a crapload of photos when I finally get around to uploading stuff onto flickr... work has been prohibiting that lately, but hopefully soon..
Oh and good news! I'm leaving for Sydney in less than two days... so that means a whole lot more updates! YAY!
So yeah, if you wanna check out what the biggest city in Australia looks like from my eyes, then check back often this week- I'll be posting daily while I'm there!
Koala Jump!
Skippy and Me :)
Monday, April 26, 2010
big city life/coffeecrazy/queenscliffe
G'day mates!
So once again, it has been about a week since my last update... I'll likely continue at this pace until I have some more exciting stuff on my agenda, I'll probably be hitting up Brisbane & the Great Barrier Reef sometime in May and hopefully seeing Tasmania sometime in June. After that, I'll likely stop work, hit up Sydney, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, then back home... Hopefully I can fit one of the Philippines, Thailand or Indonesia in there as well! So yeah, this blog will be lighting up around July/August, because that's when I think I'll be doing most of my sightseeing.
Anyways, I have been somewhat active in the city over the past week, I've signed up to volunteer at the Amnesty International office here, and I plan on spending a bunch of my free time there while I'm in Melbourne. I've also been hanging out lots at the State Library of Victoria, a beautiful building with lots of study space and free WiFi... I tend to do the bulk of my reading/writing there when I have free time :) There's also a chess room where people can go play chess, which I know sounds super nerdy, but I think I'm gonna go check that out over the next couple weeks...
One very important thing to mention about Melbourne is the coffee culture. I know I've spoken to a few people back home about how Melburnians go nuts over their coffee... but it's seriously tripping me out. There's no such thing as filtered coffee here- just espresso drinks... and its highly frowned upon to have any sort of flavouring in your coffee... so if you're drinking a vanilla latte right now, you would be shunned in Melbourne. The coffee here is actually pretty good, and even though I'm a tea drinker, I can say that I've enjoyed some of the best coffee in the world at these cafes.
As I've mentioned before, I'm staying on the Mornington Peninsula, which is an area just southeast of Melbourne, along the Port Philip Bay. The Peninsula has some pretty sweet beaches, but also some of the most beautiful and prestigious wineries in Australia. At the end of the Peninsula is a small town called Sorrento, which is linked to a small town called Queenscliffe on the other side of the bay via ferry. The bay is the main link from Melbourne to the Ocean, so I see a lot of cargo ships and stuff outside my window everyday. Anyways, I hopped on the ferry to Queenscliffe a couple days ago, and it was a really quaint old town right on the water.. lots of pretty old buildings and a great lookout point over the bay.
With work and the 1.25 hour commute each way into the city, not a lot of my time spent over the past couple of weeks has been blog-worthy, but I promise I'm earning money to bring you some incredible stories over the next few weeks/months!
I'll close off with a few pics I've taken over the past little while..
Aussie Rules Football!
Birds of Queenscliffe
Queenscliffe Sunset
Hopefully all these pics don't take too long to load! I'm still going to put up a lot more on a flickr site when I get time... look for another update next weekend! :)
So once again, it has been about a week since my last update... I'll likely continue at this pace until I have some more exciting stuff on my agenda, I'll probably be hitting up Brisbane & the Great Barrier Reef sometime in May and hopefully seeing Tasmania sometime in June. After that, I'll likely stop work, hit up Sydney, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, then back home... Hopefully I can fit one of the Philippines, Thailand or Indonesia in there as well! So yeah, this blog will be lighting up around July/August, because that's when I think I'll be doing most of my sightseeing.
Anyways, I have been somewhat active in the city over the past week, I've signed up to volunteer at the Amnesty International office here, and I plan on spending a bunch of my free time there while I'm in Melbourne. I've also been hanging out lots at the State Library of Victoria, a beautiful building with lots of study space and free WiFi... I tend to do the bulk of my reading/writing there when I have free time :) There's also a chess room where people can go play chess, which I know sounds super nerdy, but I think I'm gonna go check that out over the next couple weeks...
One very important thing to mention about Melbourne is the coffee culture. I know I've spoken to a few people back home about how Melburnians go nuts over their coffee... but it's seriously tripping me out. There's no such thing as filtered coffee here- just espresso drinks... and its highly frowned upon to have any sort of flavouring in your coffee... so if you're drinking a vanilla latte right now, you would be shunned in Melbourne. The coffee here is actually pretty good, and even though I'm a tea drinker, I can say that I've enjoyed some of the best coffee in the world at these cafes.
As I've mentioned before, I'm staying on the Mornington Peninsula, which is an area just southeast of Melbourne, along the Port Philip Bay. The Peninsula has some pretty sweet beaches, but also some of the most beautiful and prestigious wineries in Australia. At the end of the Peninsula is a small town called Sorrento, which is linked to a small town called Queenscliffe on the other side of the bay via ferry. The bay is the main link from Melbourne to the Ocean, so I see a lot of cargo ships and stuff outside my window everyday. Anyways, I hopped on the ferry to Queenscliffe a couple days ago, and it was a really quaint old town right on the water.. lots of pretty old buildings and a great lookout point over the bay.
With work and the 1.25 hour commute each way into the city, not a lot of my time spent over the past couple of weeks has been blog-worthy, but I promise I'm earning money to bring you some incredible stories over the next few weeks/months!
I'll close off with a few pics I've taken over the past little while..
Aussie Rules Football!
Birds of Queenscliffe
Queenscliffe Sunset
Melbourne Museum & Queenscliffe Post Office
Hopefully all these pics don't take too long to load! I'm still going to put up a lot more on a flickr site when I get time... look for another update next weekend! :)
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