Las Pilipinas

I’m sitting in one of the many internet cafes in the Philippines.  This one happens to be in Dumaguete City on Negros Oriental.  So far, I’ve gathered that the Philippines is the most beautiful country I’ve been to and the people are the bestest.  We spent some time on Siquijor island getting to know the sea, tides, starfishes, and as of yesterday, a few chats with some islanders.

We’re going to make a run for Palawan after this stopover, which hopefully won’t really take the 26-hours that the ferry ride promised.

yesses

Good-byes

Today started quite surreally with a wake up time that I haven’t done in over a month.  I got up at 8:30 to see my friend Aurelia good-bye.  After a night of drinks, we all woke up early for some coffee that I feel we did as protocol rather than necessity.  I’m starting to feel quite sad to be leaving Hong Kong (a feeling I honestly believed wasn’t going to happen), but is probably happening because of the people I’ve met.  For the girls I’ve befriended, all of us will still be in Asia for at least another month; however, not all in the same places at the same times.  And I can’t even begin to start about all the dudes from HKfixed that I’m going to miss, it’s going to be tough as some return from abroad while some of us leave.  But I guess that’s how travels go.  We pass each other spatially but stay connected experientially.  As in any traveller story, Celia handed me her travel guide that has already passed through at least 2 other hands and will continue to keep passing to others.

I’m going to miss the friends I’ve made in Hong Kong.  However, I’ll hold back for now as we’ve still officially got 5 days over the next month.

The Art of Selling

A few days ago, Christy and I were making our way back home after some shopping at the Golden Computer Arcade in Sham Shui Po. The Arcade is a one block wide, two-story shopping mall known as a one-stop-shop for computer and video game related gadgetry. In reality, like much of the shopping in Hong Kong, I think it’s a bit overrated. But with its narrow cramped hallways and overflowing bins of electro-junk, it’s certainly part of the Hong Kong experience.

On our way to the subway, we stopped in front of a street vender with a microphone. A small crowd was formed, observing his demonstrations. This particular vendor was offering shiny high quality looking “German made” kitchenware, specifically a butcher knife and scissors. Soon after we had stopped to watch, a woman makes her way thru the crowd. With a weird mix of hesitance and determination, she stands in front of the salesman’s both, and intently watches. After handing her a knife to feel, she seems impressed, and soon forks over the HK$100 (US$15) for the knife and scissors set. Not to miss an opportunity for a deal, another lady soon steps up and is ready to also walk away with the knife scissors combo.

I’m not sure what it was, but something was a bit fishy about the first ladies purchase. But it was nothing obvious, or quite frankly anything that anyone else seemed to be paynig attention to. But without knowing we were both thinking the same thing, Christy and I began keeping one eye on the demonstration and another on this lady. Instead of walking off, like a satisfied consumer with a new tool/toy, she seemed to indifferently sit back down, only a few meters from the salesmen.

We started thinking she was in on the whole sale. After only a few minutes, we see her, without her knew knives, beginning to once again inch her way thru the crowd. After a few minutes in the crowd, she steps up again, hands over a crisp $100 note, and is handed another knife set!

At this point, we’re not even trying to be discreet, and on more than one occasion, we caught her eyes watching us as well, perhaps wondering if we’d bring attention to their little game. As we were leaving, there was a nice little vantage point in the subway station entrance, in which we were standing behind our knife-aholic, and saw her scope the scene, and then slip the bag of knifes into a covered box. As we chuckled and walked away, she was making her way back into the crowd, presumably for yet another knife set.

So we thought this was all fun and dandy. We got to watch someone’s little sales hustle unfold, yet we didn’t have to suffer from sucker’s remorse. While this sales technique certainly isn’t of a high moral fiber, some might say, in a culture were fitting in tends to be more important than standing out in a crowd, she’s simply giving a helping push to those who already want to own a new shiney kitchen knife.

But fast forward to earlier today, Christy and I were in Tsim Sha Tsui, where I was looking for video cameras. Now TST is a bit of a weird place, if people in Central are hustling stockmarkets, the businesspeople of TST are hustling on the streets. South Asia men congregate and try to hand you flier, sell you hash, or get you to try one of their suits. Africans are walking up and down the streets, seemingly looking for products and deals which they can ship home for a profit. And your Westerners are looking as touristy as usual. On Kowloon main drag, Nathan Rd, there are lined a wide variety of electronics shops. Unlike their Golden Computer Arcade brethren, these stores are mostly street front, with the epyleptic neon signs, and fancy gadget filled windows. Young Chinese men congregate at the fronts of these stores, waiting for their next victim customer.

On the second shop I happened into, they had an above average selection of video cameras. My approach usually is to ignore the salesman, and look at the merchandise. If I see something I’m actually interested in, then I ask about the product next to it. After wasting a few moments, I become disinterested, and beginning ignoring the salesman again, instead looking back at the case. I then inquire about the camera I actually want to see.

At this particular shop, they almost immediately sat me down, forcing me out of the comfort of the browsing mode, and already into negotiating. Now someone’s not gonna make me buy something I don’t want. But it just happens they have the two camera’s I’m most interested in, one of which is a bit older and not so easy to find. I try not to ask prices, because that implies you’re trying to buy the damn thing, and I tend to like window shopping a fair bit, try things out, ask questions, think about it, before I commit.

But I knew this item wasn’t going to be the easiest to find, and I want to get a camera soon, so I can do as much filming before I’m back in the States (especially in the Philippines). When price does come up, he mentions some numbers that are pretty good to work with, better than I was expecting to hear honestly (HK$3000 for the older camera, and HK$5000 for the newer one).

After a few moments of playing with the cameras, I’m thinking I want to think it over, and ask for his card. Now the whole deal with these types of sales, is they want to sell to you know. As they guy said, 90% of people that say they’ll come back, never do. But in this case, I wasn’t bullshitting, I just couldnt decide which camera to go with, since they both seemed well priced for what they were.

But realizing he might lose me, he began dropping the prices. I already had begun leaning toward the less expensive camera, just to spend less, and because I was liking it’s overall feel. At $2600, it wasn’t enough to get me to change my mind, but it was a good start. I still was saying that I wasn’t interested, I even let him know I didn’t have cash on me. But he said credit card was fine, and he came down to $2400. At some point during all this process, I had decided that if I could get the camera for $2000, but not a penny more, I would do it. So at $2400, $2000 was easily in range, especially for such an older camera which surely they’d want to move. So I offered $2000. He came back at me with $2200, which I simply rejected and held with $2000. Perhaps he read that I was shooting more for a price than an overriding desire for that specific camera, he gave me $2000.

To be honest, I was a bit surprised, not that I got him to come down so easily, just that I was actually going to be buying a camera. Very quickly he began asking for my credit card. First, I clarified it would be new, and with the basics such as battery included. He gave me the Asian “Yes, yes” which should usually be translated into “I’m just telling you what you want to hear”.

He runs the credit card, and then tells his guy to call over to the “warehouse” and get the camera. But almost immediately after, he begin’s showing me a “better” camera, the one he likes and uses. The whole thing started innocently enough, and my naive American ass, just thought the guy was making some convo while my camera showed up.

But pretty soon, it becomes clear he wants me to upgrade to this more expensive model, which happens to be exactly the camera I DON’T want. At first, my California get along with everyone style just plays along and I just keep on reverting that I think the camera I paid for is good for me. Soon I began asking about the warehouse, and when it will get here. Each time, he tells his guy to call. Finally, I flat out say “No” I don’t want the camera he’s selling me, I want the one I paid for. He probably was getting tired at this point, and realized I wasn’t budging. So he has his guy call again. This time when he “calls” it just rings a different phone in the shop. Another guy answers briefly, and hangs up.

At this point it was pretty obvious what was up. They never had the camera I wanted, or if they did, they weren’t going to sell it to me for $2000. Whatever the deal was, they told me they had no more. A bit pissed, I ask for the credit card receipt back. He stamps cancel on them, rips it in half, and gives them back to me*. Taking the receipt, I say “OK, so how much for the floor model.” The floor model definitely wasn’t in mint condition, and at this point if they’re walking away with some of my money, I’m walking away with a steal. So he says “Oh, my manager will let me sell, same price.” I look at him, then the manager, and offer $500. I figure I wasn’t gonna pay more than $1000 for the floor model. The manager tell’s me he’d rather throw the money away than sell it at the price. At this point, I’m pissed, and they seem rather annoyed too. While the haggling might have been able to go on, I didn’t really want to give these guys my money, and if they weren’t going to be reasonable, then I’d just walk.

As I left the store, I was feeling pretty shitty. For one, I thought I was getting a sweet deal on a sweat camera. And when the visions of my big movie premiere night vanished, they were replaced with the reality I was getting hustled. And while it seems I didn’t wind up in the hole on this one, I did lose some time, and I let myself get played into their little game. And now I’m back to square one, but now I have a bad taste in my mouth, and don’t really want to deal with buying from those types of businesses. I think in Hong Kong people tend to appreciate making and saving a buck no matter how or why. There’s no value on the service and the experience. As an American, I like a slightly less pressued sales experience. I’m not willing to pay a lot for this, but I am willing to have a certain premium on some items.

*While I got the credit card receipts back, I’m still concerned there might be some way they are going to try running my numbers.

Finally done!

Today I just submitted my last assignment for college. Ironically, this is a paper that was due a year ago, for which I took an incomplete in a class, and am now turning in only a couple weeks before the grade would be turned into an “F”.

On top of that, theres some complications with the graduation paperwork, since I’m a study abroad student, and I guess I inputed the incorrect info on my graduation application. But in time all that will get sorted out. At this point the question I’m asking myself is what do I do now..?

edit: I should add that academically this semester was a complete joke. For one thing I only took two classes pertaining to my major. The one about Corporate Social Responsibility was interesting, but after a couple weeks wasnt proving much new material — it just sorta became a topical current events forum, which was fine with me. The only class, Globalization & Environment, maybe for someone who’s just starting college or completely foreign to these ideas, would gain some insight. But considering that this is basically ALL I get to study EVERY semester, it was bit dull to put it politely.

That all being said, I got to take a video editing class, and now I find myself itching to continue working on video editing projects. This semester also offered me no biological science material, it was all in the realm of social sciences. And that made me realize that while I’m attracted to both fields, at this point in time I think I’m more interested in pursuing work in the biological field. So of course, all that being said, just shows that even when you think you’re not learning anything, you are, just usually not what you expected. But at this point shouldn’t that be expected?

Reflections on a semester in HK

I posted this in my other blog, but I find it appropriate here too.  Enjoy

Today marked the last day of classes for me in Hong Kong — I turned in the last of my final papers. I’m pretty stoked on the topics I wrote about. They are:

1. A case-study of CSR and mining in the Philippines. (this one was a joint paper with Yussef)

2. China’s move up the value-chain and how this affects other south east Asian countries.

3. How Hong Kong is not an effective democracy.

4. Ecofeminism in the context of e-waste and women in China.

I’ve got to say that I’m quite impressed on the breadth of topics I was able to cover. The semester was quite discouraging for me considering the way classes were conducted. To sum it up, there was little participation from my peers, very few of the locals seemed to actually be interested in the things we were talking about, and most of my professors didn’t seem to mind.

But studying in Asia has definitely been a learning experience. For one, I guess I never really knew how different it is from Western culture. Just going back to the CSR paper: I feel that the things companies get away with out here would never fly in America, but this is certainly changing. In the Philippines, where this mining company is setting up to do major damage, community groups (other than the militia) are very well-organized in getting their concerns out there. Certainly, there still are the typical obstacles that they must overcome (corruption in government, greed), but they’re working hard to achieve what they want. By taking the CSR course at CityU, I learned that companies are becoming aware of this issue in Asia, and that Asia isn’t just going to be the world’s sweat factory of products, raw materials, and other exploitative means.

By the resources made available to me in this CSR course, I also found out that China is working to move up the value chain. They’re shutting down factories and banning the processing trade in their country. This ultimately means that these factories are looking to other places such as Africa and south east Asia to remain in business. I think in being an environmental studies student, my initial reaction to this was quite cynical — that the businesses are just moving their filth across the border. But I was pretty surprised to find that countries, especially Vietnam, are aware of the potential harms that factories bring, and they’re taking steps to prevent this through committees on green business. I’m going to be keeping my eye on this topic.

The next paper had to do with something completely out of my realm, but I developed some keen insights on democracy. HK is working towards universal suffrage and democracy, a major no-no in their one-country-two-systems establishment with the PRC. But a timetable has been set and the Hong Kong people and politicians are taking notice and really working to make it happen. They need some changes first (i.e. voter turnout), but just yesterday I read in The Standard that some members of the Pan-Democrats are stepping down to make room for fresh faces. Such a great move to keep the momentum going, I think. All of this, however, made me question the importance of democracy. Without sounding too much like a traitor to the good ol’ U.S. of A., I don’t see what’s so important for them to do this. Democracy isn’t all that it’s cut out to be unless it’s an effective democracy (something HK, nor the U.S. is might I add). But HK is young and ever-evolving. I say do what the people want! Go socialist! (just kidding about the socialist part)

My last piece had to do with women of course. Newsflash: women are being oppressed in China! I don’t think that the PRC is outright doing this on purpose because they certainly have many laws that protect women to make sure they don’t end up working in the slums of e-waste. But as in many patriarchal societies, money comes before the ladies. Bribes and corruption are still prevalent in China and government officials find many more benefits in cash than making sure little Xu isn’t burning old parts of computers. I couldn’t come up with tangible solutions to this problem, but personally I feel that it will definitely need to incorporate elements of development, technology, and women to fix this.

There’s many more things I was exposed to while studying in Asia, just to name a few: peak-oil, Chinese bloggers, setting land aside in Hong Kong for shipping containers, the possibility of putting patches of grass on the roofs of cars to alleviate pollution, one cargo ship in Victoria harbor gives off the equivalent of 10,000 cars of exhaust, “Hong Kong people are pragmatic,” the PRC can be referred to as ‘grandfather,’ Tai Chi and the watermelon exercise, foot-binding was eliminated in one decade, and stakeholder dialogue is key!

A short video of riding bikes in Hong Kong

Transportation in Hong Kong

The movement of people and things is one of those elements which you find in every city, and in many ways it is quite similar. But also there are there variations which make movement unique, and why so often the travel is as much a part of the adventure as the destination. While I’ve by no means become an expert or even used all of the transport available in Hong Kong, I thought it would be interesting to try considering my impressions as an uninformed end user.

My first interaction with Hong Kong transportation was at the Chek Lap Kok International Airport. This is a relatively new airport, operating since the late 90s. Upon arrive we were shuffled on automated walkways (“flat escalators”), normal escalators, and then a tram. All the normal stuff you’d expect from a modern international airport. Whats interest is when first arrive at the airport, its very desolate, but as you get closer and closer to the immigration and baggage claim areas, more and more people start feeding into the same area, tho I’ve never found it to be to busy or hectic.

Leaving the airport you immediately see a sign for the airport express. HK$120 gets you to central hong kong 40 km away in 30 minutes. This train is fast clean, comfy, room for baggage, but very expensive compared to the rest of hong kong’s train system. Taxi is always an option, but will be about twice as expensive, and as long or longer. There are many buses which go between the airport and different areas of hong kong. They have room for luggage and prices are much more reasonable. I think we paid HK$18 for a trip between school and the airport (about half the distance between the airport and school). But travel time is about 1 hour.

But going to the airport is not part of everyday transport for most. What about half of hong kong does use on any given day is the subway system known locally as MTR (approximate daily ridership 3 million; approximate HK population 7 million). Given these numbers, at almost any given moment, the stations a filled with people coming and going, and getting a seat on a train is highly unlikely. However, with a train arriving very 5 minutes or less (sometimes as quick as 1 minute apart in the busy areas during rush hour), one doesnt usually have to wait long for a train. In fact there is almost no seating available in the boarding areas, because usually there is either a train waiting, arriving, or about to arrive whenever you get to the boarding area.

But I’ve skipped over one of the more interesting and known about parts of HK’s transit system, the Octupus Card. This is a normal credit card size card. Once purchasing one of these cards (requires a HK$50 deposit), you add value to the card at ATM-like kiosks. Then when entering and exiting stations, you simply scan the card, and again when you come out of the station you can the card, and it deducts based on how far you travel (Hong Kong uses a zone based payment system). The cards usually scan through wallets and even pursues. However, it does require actively placing the card on the scanning pad. What would be really novel is simply walking through an open scanner and passively get scanned.

Usually the level of congestion when exiting the stations is there is a person immediately in front of and behind you. But there is never really a wait to get in and out of stations. Stations themselves are well marked outside, with signage throughout the vacinity. In fact, if often feels you can never get too far from an MTR stop. Stations are quite large, so there exit points will leave you at least several blocks away from each other, at the furthest points. Each exit uses a lettering system, with a list of streets and landmarks near that exit. Thus it is usually easy to find where you are going, even if you havent been there before. And there are sometimes maps to be found. Additoinally, stations offer many services. The most common are 7-11 and bakeries, ATMs (probably the best place to go when you need to get funds), pay phones (while most everyone has a cellphone in HK, stations are the place to go if you’re out of minutes). Depending on the station, many other things may be find, including tourist shoping, clothing, electronics, shoe repair, etc. What you won’t usually find is a bathroom. In addition, most major stations are attached to a mall, which you are often invariably forced to maze thru in order to find your way outside. The statoins themselves are quite clean and well lit.

Some in the not to distant past, the MTR corporation merged with the KCR corporation. KCR is the commuter train, connecting the further reaches of the New Territories with Hong Kong. KCR consists of two lines, known as East and West. The Eastern line connects to Mainland China, which is a 40 minute commute. But for my the best part about KCR is that you can take bikes on it, which is specifically not allowed on MTR. While the whole process to get a bike on KCR is a royal pain in the ass, in my opinion, at least it can be done. To get a bike on KCR requires purchasing an additional freight ticket (HK$20), taking the front wheel off, waiting for the station attendant to buzz you thru the turnstile, put down your bike and wheel, go back out, scan your ticket, walk thru the turnstile, grab your bike, find the lift (not the escalator). At this point, all you have to do is endure all the stares and wandering eyes. KCR prices seem to be comprable to MTR (one downside of the octupus card is you never really pay attentoin to how much individual trips are costing), and wait time seems comprable to MTR. KCR does have built in TV’s, allowing you to catch up on news and commercials.

Bicycling in Hong Kong, as with so many things, is a contradiction of sorts. Unlike many other Asian cities, cycling is a form of transportation is virtually not existent in metro Hong Kong. In the New Territories (the suburbs of HK) people do use bikes to get to transit hubs, so you will see many bikes locked outside of these points. However, on the Kowloon side you will see people riding bikes, but there are usually delivery people, either with food, or some other kind of product; and you don’t see this activity nearly as much as other parts of Asia. As I’ve been told my one HK cyclist, the general sentiment here is that cycling was the old way of doing things, when people were poorer and less sophisticated. Hong Kong has moved beyond that stage, and so people now tend to look down on the bicycle. Many people will go and rent or bring out their beater bicycle on the weekends, and ride it around a park or river. Beyond this mindset, part of the reason there is very little commuting by bike is because of the traffic and how the public space is allocated. Not only is traffic thick in many placed, but it moves at a fast pace. Taxis, buses, and utility vehicles make up the vast majority of vehicles on the road drive with a heavy foot. Drivers race from red light to red light. And the general mindset is that vehicles have the right of way. Pedestrians in no way exercise a right of way mentality. It seems that if a driver sees a person crossing the road, they simply drive faster, as a way to remind everyone who rules the road. Unlike what I’ve seen in the states, when drivers might do this, but they will get confrontation from pedestrians, walkers here seem to support the car hegemony. Thus trying to be a cyclist, especially one that tries to act like a car, this is quite hard. At times you can have drivers literally staring at you wide eyed and drop jawed, as if simply unable to comprehend your presence on the road. In addition, many places you go with a bike, you will find yourself unaccomodated and unwelcome. Often being told you can bring a bicycle or without a place to lock up. The city has clearly taken an approach to transportation which simply ignored the bicycle as a practical means of transportation. Just getting between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon is possible by only one ferry, which stops running around 11pm.

Ok, more to come, but these are the basics. As for my thoughts about HK transport. Obviously they have a very good transit system. The subway especially is top notch. However, in my few months of relying on the subway instead of biking, I’ve found some unexpected results. For one, it sucks to always be underground. You don’t get to see anything out the window. Also, theres something about just sitting/standing on public transit that seems to create a level of drowsiness. At any given time, I can look around and maybe half the people will be dozing off. Of course, there are other reasons for this, but I find myself quickly tired feeling, for no good reason, after just spending a short time riding public transit. Personally, this makes me realize cycling really needs to be an integrated part of any cities public transit option. Not merely an addition, or in the case of HK, you could even say a purposeful exclusion.

Culture and dreadlocks for sale

The Southeast was once again the amazingest sans a few minor incidents. My personal experience was a bit different than Yussef’s in many ways, but ‘memorable’ if not traumatizing. First, on the bus to the airport, the dude I was sitting next to threw up on himself. It just spilled out of his mouth with all the accompanying sound effects, then spread all over my and my row’s footspace. On the plane, our flight attendant asked if I was with-child. I’m assuming it was because of the dress I was wearing, but disheartening to say the least. Later on in the trip, I got sexually assaulted by a teenage cambodian boy while I was riding my bike. He creeped up on his moto, reached out and grabbed my breast then sped off into the red, hot, Cambodian distance. From here on out, I was on-guard without any more major incidences until we arrived back in Bangkok where I got hit by a tuk-tuk, once again while I was on my bike. Worst of all though was probably the stares I got for being a Southeast Asian woman travelling with an obviously ‘foreign’ dude, especially while in Thailand.

While meeting up with Yussef’s family, we spent some time in Pattaya, Thailand…the home of sleeze and exploitation for big, horny, western men to get it on with little Southeast Asian women or ‘katoys’ (Thai ‘lady-boys’)…but also the home of some beautiful beaches and fun-in-the-sun. Anyway, my point here is that it was quite difficult to try and enjoy the people I was with when my environment consisted of men and women eyeing me down for some sex or competition. In the rest of the Southeast, I didn’t mind getting mistaken for a local, it was actually quite the icebreaker. But it was in Pattaya where I made it clear that I was neither Thai nor a hooker. So to say the least, I dressed ultra-conservative (think black t-shirts in 100-degree weather), and spoke loudly in my American accent.

All of the sexploitation in Pattaya wasn’t the only negative western-local relationship that I encountered. Across most of Southeast Asia I couldn’t get over the outrageous prices that us ‘farangs’ were paying. From Siem Reap to the Thai border (roughly 150km), Yussef and I took a pick-up (think your dad’s early 1980 model toyota) in the blistering sun with 14 and at times 18 other Cambodians hanging off the back, top or side. It was beyond hot, a bit uncomfortable, bumpy, looooong, dusty, and at times unsafe, but all-good cuz it was a local-thing. We paid USD$15 for the ride, which was a bit much, but justifiable to us because we were traveling with our bikes. During the middle of the ride, we stopped for lunch where we struck up a conversation with one dude who was on his way home to Poipet after working for 2 months as a tuk-tuk driver in Siem Reap. I had a great time talking to him until he told me that he and the others only paid 8,000 riel for the ride…that’s USD$2. ‘Say whaaaaaat?’ One of the other passengers even had his motorbike strapped along for the ride as well. Furthermore, when the truck broke down and we had to switch to another truck, the driver communicated to us that he wanted us, and only us, to pay another USD$5. (In the end, our friends convinced him that that was unreasonable). This was the story EVERYWHERE. We paid USD$40 each to get into Angkor Wat, and were expected to pay almost double the price for every sort of transportation we took (be it tuk-tuk, water taxi, minibus, air-con bus, moto, etc) as well as double for every bit of food we bought. Certainly, we didn’t let this happen to us, and showed off our recently acquired haggling skills.

Certainly many will think that this is unfair of us, being that us Westerners are travelling and using up resources with our higher-valued currency. Whatever the case, I feel that the price inflation is outrageous, and the millions of other westerners who came before me are partly to blame. In many of the high-profile places we traveled to, I haggled the extra 50cents off of my water because I felt that if I didn’t the locals were exploiting me as a traveller. To them, I was a bank with a smile, unknowing of the value of money. At times I felt silly for doing this, but in the end, I had to remind myself that if I didn’t do it, then the next time I came, the practice would be so much more common. Inflation certainly also affects the locals. In Cambodia, we found out that gas prices were on the rise. From what I gathered, they were close to USD$2.50/gallon. Could this be the cause of all the extra money entering the economy? I’m not really sure, but I seem to feel that there’s a correlation between the two, and it seems that high prices for tourists still isn’t helping the local economy. (i.e. only half of the income generated by tourists at angkor wat goes back into the restoration, where the other half goes to the biggest oil company in cambodia, and none go to the villagers who live within. Even the child peddlers need to pay the cops to sell their goods within the grounds.)

Upon arriving back in Bangkok, we stayed in the infamous backpacker mecca of the world, Khao San, where everything ‘hippie’ and ‘rugged’ was sold to make your trip more ‘authentic’. There, they sold big hippie-third world-tie with a string-pants that only your most ‘cultured’ friend from Brazil wears, as well as sundresses, bandanas, neat wooden jewelry, etc. And they sold it at unbelievable prices, where if you just wandered off the avenue, it was sold for half the price. I think the Southeast Asians in the major hubs of the region are definitely attune to westerners being a bit careless when it comes to the chance to get a taste of change, and will charge enough for it. They’ll even give you dreadlocks (which I saw half a dozen men and women getting them ‘done’) for USD$20. All of this certainly can’t be blamed on the locals working to feed their families, I blame corruption in high places and the Westerners who pay the prices.

Future traveling will definitely need to be done in less concentrated areas of tourists. The better half of our trip was like our stay in Lam Say, Thailand, where the exchange of good food and company was done in a hut, on the side of a road, with 9 other Thai people who only had their smiles to communicate with. Or on the road between Trat and Hat Lek where a bunch of teenage boys we came upon paid for our meal just before they left. Or even a bumpy dusty truck where the people had so many questions for us but so little words. Other highlights include spending the night on the beach, hyena-dogs, the last leg to Hat Lek, riding into Cambodia, Sy and the boat ride to Sihanoukville, riding through Phnom Penh, Kampot, trekking Bokor, and so many others that words couldn’t even describe. This is the Thailand and Cambodia that we experienced for the most part, and it certainly overcomes that big rain cloud that is exploitation and greed. I just hope that as a traveller I reciprocated the peace and warmth that they showed me while they were being the world’s best hosts.

Return to Southeast Asia

Much of the last couple weeks has been spent preparing for our return to Southeast Asia. Of course, this has meant too much time spent on runaway thoughts of tropical adventures, and not enough time on more practical matters like school work and keeping my room clean.

After a couple marathon sessions at the very resourceful Central Hong Kong library, pouring over maps, travel guides, and road atlases, we finally came up with a plan for the trip. I think we bit off more than we could chew. 18 days to cover a region the size of two Texases. But we were gonna take an early bus to the border between eastern Thailand and southern Lao. Then it was 250km (150m) straight across Lao, until reaching Vietnam. Then perhaps another 100 km to the coast of central Vietnam. Then we’d head on back by bus, and meet my aunt in Pattaya, Thailand, about 150km southeast of Bangkok. After they left it would be off to Siem Reap, Cambodia, to spend a day or so at Angkor Wat, before once again returning to Bangkok, this time to fly back to Hong Kong.

Some comprises had to be made in the planning, and it took us a while to figure out a way to ride bikes in all three countries — of course we’re bringing our bikes with us — but over the last week I think our plan had really grown on us. Then last night, instead of just getting rest before class, I was up reading about bike touring, when I decided to check temperatures for some of the larger cities we’d be near. Turns out where we’d begin riding in Lao has daytime highs around 35C. Ya, I didn’t really register what that meant. And it’s not like we hadn’t checked weather for this time of year. Just for us silly Americans, with everything being in metres and Celsius, it gets confusing to keep track of accurate units. So it wasn’t until I properly converted to Fahrenheit and saw that this was around 100F+ that I freaked a little.

3 or 4 days of riding inland with 100+ degree weather. I like a challenge, perhaps even more than some. But this just didn’t sound that fun. This morning I told Christy what I had realized. For a while we didnt talk much about it. Around noon, it kind of settled. So even tho we had spent many hours of planning, and invested in visa’s to Lao and Vietnam it was back in front of the computer, and back to the bookstore. And tho there was a bit of dragging our feet at first, it seemed prudent to make a last minute change.

Now the plan is to ride along the southern coast of Cambodia. Because of time, a trip to Vietnam will be rushed, and require more money to get a second entry visa to Cambodia, so Vietnam is currently an unknown. Then hopefully we will loop thru Cambodia, stopping at Angkor Wat before returning to Thailand to meet my aunt. After, it will be probably be off to Lao, mainly just to make use of the visa we’ve already paid for.

Thats a rough guess of our plan for how. Who know’s what’ll actually happen. I’m just excited to be riding my bike.

Disney, Democracy and Dreams

The time’s passing quickly these days, and I can’t determine if it’s because I’m just having so much fun or if it’s that I’ve settled in to the joint.  Either way, I feel overdue for a reflection of the life in HK.

Topics in my classes have gotten rather intense lately.  First there was today and the topic of Disneyland.  We were going over some negative press that the corp has received since opening, and I just couldn’t believe my orejas.  Upon hiring their ‘cast members,’ Disney flew a bunch of HK trainees to Anaheim so that they could get learn the disney stylo, and once they were there, they were offered their contracts.  Basically, it said that they sign or face getting flown back to HK and billed for their training session.  WHAT?  No way.  My immediate thought was that this had to be illegal, but then…right, illegal in the states (not to mention, initiated by disney-bad bad corporation).  I had to keep in mind though that work is much different out here.  The security guard downstairs (a lovely middle-aged woman named Yee) works 12-hour shifts EVERYDAY, worked during Chinese New Year, and was still as graceful and pleasant as she always is.  Working conditions in Asia are just too demanding for my chillee-cali lifestyle, but merely considered commonplace here.  So now I’m thinking all sorts of bad things about myself and all my products and supply-chains and cheap labor and exploitation and materialism and on and on….

I’ve known for a while now of the uneven labor standards around the world, but by living in Asia, I witness it firsthand.  This has definitely made an impression on my relationship with products and services.  I feel like this goes beyond fair-trade.  Things are so cheap here, yet soo expensive in the States.  We’ve not only got to make sure the things we buy are sustainable, but also not be suckers for price tags.  I think one thing I really respect out here is the haggling.  It’s an interaction between the buyer and seller on a price they both agree on.  Sometimes you walk away with a deal and the merchant takes one, but in the end, you both come out even.  Unlike store price tags, haggling gives the buyer dignity.

HK is also struggling to become a democracy.  The Pan-Democratic Camp has been pushing for universal suffrage since 2005, and last year, Beijing told them that they may get it by 2017.  Some people are stoked, but the majority of the PD camp want it by 2012.  From what I’ve gathered, it seems that HK is not ready for universal suffrage in 2012.  They’ve yet to agree on whether or not to keep functional constituencies and took 2 years to finally agree that a timetable for universal suffrage was necessary.  Personally I think 2017’s good, I just hope Beijing keeps their word for the sake of people wanting democracy.  That’s another subject I’ve been struggling with:  is a democracy really the best solution for Hong Kong if they want to remain the freest economy in the world?  There’s been some talk about China slowly transitioning Shanghai into the next major hub for trade, which would leave Hong Kong as second to Shanghai. In this case, democracy could be good in that the focus of the nation-state is diverted back to the people.  But then again, what if the current elitist system is what keeps Hong Kong so successful in terms of trade?  Would a democratic society shift the country away from being the connection between east and west?

I come up with a lot of questions in my classes and turn to my classmates for guidance, and the response I get is certainly different from American style.  Rather than doing the usual frown and groan about our flawed system, HK students turn to you with a smile and say, “HK people feel they can’t do anything about it,” or something like, “that’s just the way it is.”  At first I was taken aback by this response (why aren’t you doing anything about it then?  eff the system!), but I’ve come to realize that it’s a miscommunication.  It may sound like people can’t do anything, but it certainly doesn’t mean that people aren’t doing anything.  Check out these kids on fixed-gears, storming the streets of Central where people let alone cars have a tough time navigating the streets.  I think they just need something big to happen first.  These kids are seeing that the labor and political system in HK are changing, and I think that they’ve got it in them to change it to what they want.  One kid in my class said it pretty clear to me, “I’ve got a dream.”  Sounds cheesy I know, but when he said that, I realized that I have one too and with each other’s help, those dreams could come true.  And not in the Disney way where the dreams are quickly shattered when you realized that you just spent two weeks wages in one day, but in the ‘global’ way where we share ideas and help make Hong Kong be the embodiment of the best things democracy offers along with the best things things a traditional marketplace offers.