Well, we spent two nights there. I'm not sure exactly what that entitles us to, but it was a good time. It was a short 40-hour visit, but we saw a lot of the city, making it worthwhile. I think one word adequatly describes 80% of my Bangkok experience: hot. The city was ridiculously hot. I'm not sure, but I'll guess ~95 degrees with 90% humidity (I might be exagerrating, but you get the picture). Not only was the weather hot, but the food was hot (tasty, but hot).

While in the city we toured the King's palace grounds and temple--all of it was incredible. On of the most enjoyable places within the grounds was the temple that holds the old and famous Emerald Buddha (he is actually carved of jade, but his is very green, thus known as Emerald). While visiting this area we learned how adored the current Thai King Rama VIII is (it is not uncommon for people to wear Lance Armstrong-like "live strong" bracelets that say "long live the king"). The current king is 80 years old and at ~60 years is the longest reigning monarch in history. Pretty interesting stuff.

We also visited the renowned Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho ("Wat" is Thai for temple). This was also quite incredible. As you may have seen lately in the news, Thai people are deeply intertwined with Buddhism and very much respect the teachings of Buddha, so this was a fascinating visit as well.

Bangkok turned out to be a "must see" and like many other areas, I would have loved just a few more days . . .

written by  GoBlue on June 5, 2007 from Bangkok, Thailand
from the travel blog: Carl's Circuit
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first glimpse of Angkor Wat at sunrise

Leaving before sunrise to see monolithic temples bathed in the first light of day ... enigmatic faces carved into hundreds-of-years-old rock ... age-old Hindu and Buddhist stories ... the persistent chorus of sellers asking for "just one dollar" ... a monsoon-like downpour ... cows in rice paddies ... aromatic Khmer curries ... the sounds of toads, birds, and insects in the jungle at night ... school children commuting by twos and threes on adult bicycles that dwarfed their young bodies ... motorbikes and tuk-tuks going every which way (including straight into other motorbikes -- yes, I witnessed a nasty collision) ... the back of my trusty tuk-tuk driver ... clouds of dirt and dust that I tried not to inhale for kilometers on end ... motorbikes carrying wooden cages full of squirming piglets (or just a giant boar lying awkardly on its back) ... that same pig, except decapitated with flies buzzing around, for sale at the market ... screaming naked children asking me to give them my ice cream as I sat in town waiting out the rain.

Angkor Wat upper terrace at sunrise

Angkor Wat upper terrace at sunrise

A kind gentleman from the Palm Village Resort whisked me and my backpack away, and we set off for the hotel which was slightly outside of town. He was very apologetic when we turned off the main airport road onto a bumpy dirt road... and onto another ... and another... and they just got bumpier. Our conversation was interesting, though. He acknowledged that times have been very hard in Cambodia, but there's a lot of optimism for the future, and that "maybe the next time I visit these roads will be paved!"

I really was struck by just how underdeveloped Cambodia was. According to my guidebook, the area around Angkor Wat was well-developed for tourism, so I guess I assumed I wouldn't see much of 'authentic' Cambodia except for the temples. In actuality, I saw a lot of rural life, which was clearly a struggle. Traveling from my hotel to town or the temples (since I was staying in a rural area in between the two), as well as riding north of town to Banteay Srei and south of town toward Tonle Sap, I saw people working in the fields and living in primitive bamboo housing... in short, a pretty tough life.

Bayon temple in Angkor Thom

faces of the Bayon

sausages and hogs (ok, not exactly Harleys, but you get the idea)

schoolgirls

the mother of all temples

A little more background on Kuta: almost every street I walked down, I initially have the feeling that I shouldn't be there because it might not be safe. Quickly, I realized that the seven foot wide street/sidewalk combo is actually safe despite dozens of motorbikes flying around in both directions and cars barely squeaking by and almost pinning me to the side of a building . . . as I walked down the street there was a local every three feet asking if I'd like to buy some of their goods. "Excuse me mister, you look, look it is cheap, cheap . . . you like it, it is good, good." I also got a lesson in negotiating from a local 17 year old kid named Coco. He told me I could rent a surfboard from him for 90,000 rupiahs ($10 USD) for two hours and I responded by saying, "woah, thats expensive". He told me "to bargain, its good for you, good for me".

At the end of the day, the Bali people are good people who are trying to make some money to support themselves or their family. Ever since the bombings in Kuta (2002 and 2005) they have had incredible excess supply without much tourist demand. Most of the people there make ~1500 Rupiah each day ($1.50 USD), so they are doing their best to survive. Still, despite what are probably slightly desperate times, they were very welcoming and for the most part trustworthy.

Other than hanging out in Bali, Joc and I were fortunate enough to surf the last morning we left (the waves were amazing). We also took a few days to go into the island of Java to the town of Yogyakarta. We visited one of the 7 man made wonders of the world, the buddist temple Borobudur--absolutely amazing

We also visited the temple of Parabanan, also very cool . Other than these great temples, I found the town of Yogya (Jog-ja) to be not very impressive, slightly dirty and not incredibly safe feeling. Still, really happy for the experience.

To wrap up Indonesia, I give it an 8 out of 10 to visit and a high recommendation.

PS - Did I mention that we visited a monkey forest and a small monkey bit Jocelyn? It was quite amusing since he didn't break the skin or cause any damage. So far on the trip, Joc has hung out with kangaroos, kualas and now monkeys . . . pretty cool.

written by  GoBlue on June 3, 2007 from Denpasar, Indonesia
from the travel blog: Carl's Circuit
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That's why the timing was so ironic that just a day later, I received notice of my new assignment within American Express. While I knew I was returning to American Express Interactive, otherwise known as AXPi, I had no guarantee as to which manager-level position I'd find myself in come August 6. It all depended upon staffing needs at the time, and while I knew my VP would do his best to place me in a position that matched my marketing interests, I also recognized the possibility that I'd be needed in a role that was more technical and/or project management-oriented. This, along with all the other unknowns of life, contributed to me feeling rather emotionless about starting work. I wasn't unexcited, but I wasn't jumping out of my skin, either.

I am now officially brimming with excitement, and here's why: I will be working in a role that is perfectly matched for my skill and interest areas, and I'll be reporting to my dream manager -- a person who was a true mentor last summer and was absolutely my first choice.

Here are the details of my new gig:

MANAGER, EMERGING CHANNELS

The Manager, Emerging Channels will join American Express Interactive to
maximize the value of emerging technologies such as text messaging (SMS) and
Really Simple Syndication (RSS). This individual owns these channels and is
responsible for developing and implementing a strategy for new marketing and
servicing opportunities. Working closely with business and technology
partners, s/he will assesses business needs, customer appetite and the
competitive landscape. S/he will then continue to implement new text message
and RSS programs, analyze results and revise the strategy accordingly.

Key areas of focus are developing concepts for new campaigns with our business
partners, managing key vendor relationships and developing a long-term strategy
for emerging channels.

Qualifications:

The successful candidate for this role must be a strategic thinker who can
interpret customer and competitive data and develop a clear direction for the
emerging channels. Must be able to synthesize technology with the American
Express business model. Relationship skills are critical as this person will
work across business units and manage multiple vendors.

Key skills: relationship building, project management, analytical and
communications skills, experience with developing and delivering effective
presentations. Must be able to independently manage work in a fast-paced,
dynamic environment. MBA preferred.

Presenting Sponsor of Jennie's Great Southeast Asian and Australian Adventure

written by  GoBlue on June 2, 2007 from Ko Samui, Thailand
from the travel blog: J-Mac's Junket
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Yogya was a great contrast to Bali: very few other tourists, no beach, great temples and an active volcano overlooking the city. Pictures to come, but the temples were stunning and our guide Eddie did a great job leading us through both the ruins and the spiritual, religious, philosophical and scientific underpinnings of Hinduism and Buddhism. We got up at 4:15 this morning to catch a sunrise-ish (turns out our information was false and we had to wait an extra 40 minutes until it was open) view of one of the temples. Several wanderings later and we are back in Kuta (Bali) with 1.5 more days ahead of us.

Tomorrow is either going to be a cultural tour or a day of beach, surfing, good eating and massages. Hmmm....

written by  GoBlue on June 2, 2007 from Yogyakarta, Indonesia
from the travel blog: Joc's Journeys
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First, Happy Birthday to me! ;) Yes, today (the 31st) I turn the big 3-0. While I found that yesterday I was not all that enthusiastic about it being my “last day as a twenty-something”, today I am fine – no more aches and pains than usual, and although I temporarily forgot my login password, I think it’s more the heat than senility.

Updates since my last blog:

Carl and I part II in Sydney after Mom, Dad and Theo left: Maddy, Dave, and Dave’s luggage finally arrived all in one piece, and we enjoyed some more walking around Sydney, visited the zoo, and had a few fun dinners (including homemade fajitas one night). We also hit Manly Beach, a famous one, and rightfully so. There I discovered that despite being a fairly proficient body surfer, I have no surfing talent whatsoever.

We also went on a wine tour (thanks to Chris for organizing). I think this was covered in Carl’s blog – “highlights” included our destroyed fan belt adventures (leading to driving back in the dark), some good wine tasting, and (the winner) koala and kangaroo feeding and petting. (See http://youtube.com/watch?v=CQdC4vWIxDw for a particularly entertaining clip of Matt and the roos). That was a great day. I would have liked to have had more time in Sydney (and with Chris, specifically – fun catching up with the bro). Melbourne was calling though, so we moved on…

Melbourne was fantastic, though as with Sydney, I wish we had another few days – or even a week, in this case. The climbing was fantastic, but unfortunately we only got three days of it. We stayed at the Emu Holiday Park, which was quite something in and of itself (see below), ate extremely well (fajitas, Indian curry, pasta parts I and II), and in general had a great time. Highlights of the Melbourne trip include:

Driving on the left: Quite an experience. In my opinion, definitely made easier by the fact that the steering wheel is on the right (so the whole experience is backwards), but required some verbal self-coaching (“left left left left”) at first.

Climbing: Awesome. The first day was at the Grampians, and despite arriving to find 3 groups of ~50 kids each on our target climbs, we had a great day, getting all 5 of us (Jennie had not yet arrived) up “Waxman”, a great beginner climb. We then found another nice area with another “easy” one and a ~5.8/9. The next day we returned earlier, but still didn’t beat the kids so settled on a third “instructional area” that turned out to be great – I did my first trad lead in about 5 years and quite enjoyed it.

We picked up Jennie that afternoon and the following day went to Arapiles for a multi-pitch climb. “Connifer Crack” ended up being quite a bit harder than we’d anticipated (great job Jennie for getting through that rather stout “warm-up” climb after a year off of climbing!). As expected with any 6-person multi-pitch effort, we had some adventures including a rope-stuck-on-a-tree toss, one particularly difficult crux, and no obvious rappel rings. However, we got through it and in the end I really enjoyed myself. We had one short rappel on our improvised down-climb that was particularly fun – kind of like spelunking.

That was all the climbing we did, and I have to say I have the itch – can’t wait for Thailand and Vietnam!

Kangaroo Tales: Turns out to most Australians, kangaroos are like deer in the US: prevalent pests that make driving at night treacherous. They are, however, amazing animals!

Our first exposure to them happened our first night at Emu Holiday Park. Carl and I went back with Vicki, one of our hosts, to check on some linens. In the course of the walk from our cottage to the house, she told us more about her rescue efforts (they are a refuge for all local animals, except snakes (Vicki doesn’t like snakes)). She generally tries to raise orphaned roos in twos and threes so they have friends and are properly socialized, and right now she has two: Peg and Logan. Peg and Logan were the best ever! Vicki brought them out in their pillow case sacks (where they sleep and in general hang out) and we got to hold them. So cute, alert, energetic, shy…in general, captivating.
Other points of note:
• Logan is a “bag boy” – ever so much more comfortable in his pillow case sack than out of it. We approached them one morning and he and Peg saw us, freaked a bit, and started leaping giant half-circles around the group. Vicki then opened a pillowcase and called Logan, and he tumbled in head-first in a summersault at full tilt. Very funny.
• Peg was orphaned in a car accident (like them all as far as I can tell) in which her mother was killed and her right front paw was broken. She needed surgery to put some wires into it, a surgery that was quoted at up to $1600. Vicki splinted the foot as a temporary fix, then called around to try to get someone to do it for cheaper. She finally found a place on the other side of Melbourne that would do it for free, so she packed Peg into the car for the 6-hour drive there. X-rays showed, however, that Peg’s foot had mended well under Vicki’s split, so no surgery was needed – go Vicki! Peg was still pretty stressed by the trip, however, and got sick. She and Logan are now both on antibiotics, though, and doing quite well. Vicki says that all told it takes ~$400 to raise an orphaned roo until it is ready for release.
• Vicki and Alan have been doing their rescue efforts for 9 years and have never turned away an orphaned roo. (That’s what they mostly have, though they also get wallabies, emus, wombats, etc.). They have thus raised many roos, many of which come back to help with the next batch. For example, Cal and Jack, who were released a few months ago, come back about once a week and take Peg and Logan out for the night, then bring them back in the morning. When one of their roos gets pregnant for the first time, the female comes back to show their "parents", knocking on the front door with her front paws, and then when Vicki or Alan opens the door opening her pouch to show them.
• Male roos watch the little ones too, though the joey of one of their graduates was recently left with a young buck longer than the buck cared for, so he knocked on the front door with the little one in tow, and when Vicki opened it he took off and left the little one with her. Males, incidentally, can stand well over 6 feet when they’re full grown – huge!
• In the roo hierarchy, wallabies are way uncool, with the swamp wallaby being the lowest of the low; many other roos and wallabies won’t even acknowledge a swampie. Why are they so disrespected? “They fart (“faht”) a lot”, per Vicki.
• Roos are incredible animals. According to Vicki (some of these facts are so amazing that I would probably double-check them, but here they are nonetheless): the females mate once, but carry up to three embryos at one time. Male and female embryos must be kept at different temperatures in the body, and through this process the mom knows the sex of her embryos and can choose which one to have when (usually they have one at a time, but that's not a rule). The roo is the size of a jellybean when it’s born, at which point it climbs into the mom’s pouch.

The roo theme in general was a highlight of Melbourne. There were, however, some darker sides to it. The first night we had a near miss – I was driving, the road was through a national forest and very windy, and it was dusk/dark. I slowed down to about 20kph and we were all working to spot them (all told there were more than 15 sitings). One little guy nearly did it though, jumping about 3 feet in front of the passenger side bumper with no warning. Fortunately, I was “covering the brake” like we learned in drivering school and although everyone got quite a fright, no one was hurt. A few days later, however, as Carl was doing 20kph, a tour bus zoomed by us going 4 times that speed, and before its tail lights were out of site I spotted one on the side, looking strange at first, and then obviously hit a few seconds later. We make brief eye contact, and then as a group decided that we didn’t have enough information on diseases and aggressiveness to investigate in person, so we went straight to Alan and gave a report. He came back 45 minutes later with small good news: no joeys involved. However, the young male was dead when he arrived. Spread the word: Australia Adventure Tours is bad!!!!

We saw some great sites and found a nice hotel where we enjoyed a night of relaxing, wine and cards. Highlights from the sites include:

Travel Stresses: Turns out Jet Star has a weight limit of 20 kgs per person (not per bag). Upon our first check-in, Carl and I were 27kg over, subject to an additional $100 charge each time we flew! Fortunately, perhaps because of the genuine shock on our faces or because the Chapmans had just checked in 15kgs each, we were able to put a lot more weight in our carry-ons and escaped the first charge. On our way to Bali, knowing that this would be an potential issue, we split up the weight more amongst the group. At first weighing, we were 8kgs over, but we asked the woman to redo it zeroing out for the plastic bins that they put all backpacks in. She politely asserted that it wouldn’t make a difference, but it did actually remove 6kgs, and with me carrying one of my clothes bags on, we made it through. Unfortunately, however, 5 minutes later my $50 awesome leatherman and our first aid kit scissors were confiscated in security – oversights from transferring into our carry-ons weight that would otherwise have been checked. I am still mourning the loss of my knife, but am trying to get over it.

Bali: So now we are here in Bali, an obviously southeast Asia country in the sense that our backpacker area is jam packed with hawkers of various cheap wares, tons of good food, tons of sketchy food, and relentless sun. The beachfront in our area is as long as I have ever seen, and later today I look forward to finishing my book (My Sister’s Keeper, which I started about 24 hours ago – amazing read), going in the ocean and getting a massage! Happy birthday indeed…

Tomorrow we fly to Yogyakarta (a town on another island that is rumored to have incredible temples). We return Saturday night for another day and a half of beach lounging, and then it's on to Bankok and then Chaing Mai. I can tell that this trip is going to go very quickly!!!

written by  GoBlue on May 31, 2007 from Bali, Indonesia
from the travel blog: Joc's Journeys
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I won't write too much since Carl and Joc have been furiously typing away for the past couple of hours while I took care of a few other things (yes, MERP, anything for you!). I'm enjoying my time here and transitioning nicely to SE Asia after my time in Australia. Being back in this region reminds me of how much fun it is to get lost exploring the winding roads of the town (while avoiding the motorcycles racing around you of course!). It's been also great to catch up with my friend Migs and his wife Saori. Migs dates back to my undergrad days and has been working out of the World Bank's Jakarta office for the last few years. It's been fun catching up and having a quasi-expert of the area around - and great timing since he's headed back to the DC headquarters in a few months.

Anyhoo, have fun checking out pictures up until this point - thanks to Joc for loading up multiple cameras' worth! And a big Happy Birthday to Joc too! Carl, Joc, and I are off to the beach. Life is tough for us right now...

Poppies Cottages

"can we please take a picture with you??"

Hanging out in a cafe in Bali

Hanging out in a cafe in Bali

Hanging out in a cafe in Bali

Happy birthday Joc!

Just wanted to post a few quick photos from the last day and a half on Koh Phangan:

All this aside, it has been enjoyable so far. Our first night in town we went out to eat at 12:30am after arriving, discovering that Kuta really doesn't sleep. We ate an odd restaurant that was pretty dead but for the heavy bass club music pounding inside (there was no one in there either, despite the "dancing till we drop" invitation on the sign outside).

Last night we grabbed dinner with one of Vivian's friends who lives in Jakarta now. We also met up with a handful of other Ross folks, including Ben, Kevin, Tiphanie, Irena and Nathalie--good times. We are actually looking to repeat tonight by grabbing dinner and drinks to harken in Jocelyn's 30th birthday. More to come on this, but for now, Happy Birthday, Joc!!!

written by  GoBlue on May 30, 2007 from Denpasar, Indonesia
from the travel blog: Carl's Circuit
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Once I discovered the Chapmans (or the Chapanese, as Carl has taken to calling Dave and Maddy) were headed for Koh Samui on the same flight that I was planning on taking two days later, I decided to try my luck at getting on their flight tonight instead. I was practicing my "damsel in distress" schtick all evening ("you mean my flight is actually on Thursday?? Oh no!!"), so even though the ticket agent originally told us that there was "no way" I would be able to fly standby, my plaintive look changed his mind. One quick phone call, and abracadabra: I now have a boarding pass and a seat next to Mrs. Chapman. (Mom, Dad, Chrissy, and anyone else who actually cares about my exact whereabouts: this means I'm now on TG980 on May 29 instead of May 31.)

This early departure is by no means intended to imply that Australia (and Victoria, specifically) is no less than spectacular. It's been a great time since I met up with the crew. We've had terrific weather, amazing wildlife spottings, cozy cabin accommodations, tasty meals, and lots of games of cards. However, now that Melbourne is socked with rain, I decided to forgo my last two days of solo city-exploring in favor of more beach time. Koh Samui, here we come!

A few more notes on the past couple days:

-- After making it halfway through our two-pitched rock climb at Mt. Arapalies on Saturday, I decided that I was officially retiring from rock climbing. It was a beautiful day, but the climb was more difficult than any of us anticipated, and it was not a very good warm-up for me. (After all, my muscles are rusty after 2 years of b-school non-use.) However, despite yelling "I HATE THIS!!!" several times on the way up the second pitch, I (eventually) made it to the top and enjoyed the great views. Three cheers once again to Jocelyn and Carl for leading us safely through a long, technical climb: by the time all six of us made it up and then down together, it had turned into an 8-hour adventure on the mountain. Afterwards, my knees looked exactly like they did after climbing at Red Rocks last Spring Break... purple. Ouch.

-- Sunday was more of a relaxed day, with an amazing hike to the Pinnacle lookout at Grampians National Park. We even managed to see McKenzie Falls before dusk. The highlight of the day was our visit with Peg and Logan, the young joeys being raised by our innkeeper. The couple that ran the cabins/campsites where we stayed are very involved with Wildlife Victoria, which rescues animals.

Viv and Cal the Kangaroo (18 months old) - fast friends

Christi kayaking

Now I know how high corn grows...

-- Monday we set out for the Great Ocean Road

The gang at the Grotto along the Great Ocean Road

The 12 Apostles along the Great Ocean Road

No, this really isn't a postcard. It's an EXCELLENT Ocean Road.

That's about all for now. I'm looking forward to lazing about on the beach for a few days before heading to Siem Reap on Saturday to see the temples at Angkor Wat. This weekend is the full moon, so there will be celebrations galore out on the islands of Koh Samui and Koh Pangan. I promise to post pictures next time I get to a computer that will let me!

written by  GoBlue on May 29, 2007 from Melbourne, Australia
from the travel blog: J-Mac's Junket
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