Do You Wanna Steal a Slogan?

We are nearing the end of our time in Phnom Penh. But we've had a few extra adventures. One night we walked along the Chaktomuk Walk Street. That's a bit of a misnomer as the street is full of cars. But it is next to a wide walkway along the river. Which river? Let me tell you.

There is a walking part, look to the left.

Long before the city of Phnom Penh was a city with the name Phnom Penh, this region was called Chaktomuk. It means "the place where four rivers come together." Now, this isn't four rivers merging into one river, or even three rivers in and one river out. It is actually two rivers in and two rivers out. Chaktomuk is where the Mekong River (or Upper Mekong River) meets the Tonle Sap River. But then, just downstream of the confluence, the river splits into two separate outlets: The Lower Mekong River and the Bassac River. You know how sometimes rivers split and then come back together so you get islands in the river. Well, here the river splits and it never comes back together. Both the Lower Mekong River and the Bassac River flow separately through Cambodia and a chunk of Vietnam and reach the East Vietnam Sea at two different places.

Boats named for a Monkey God

We were walking along the Tonle Sap, just upstream of the confluence. We bought a bowl of noodles and soup that was being carried on a yoke over a woman's back. We saw party boats along the river. It was a very lively and full atmosphere. (It was also a public holiday.)

Maybe this is a large creature riding a small elephant. Or maybe he is just one virile guy.

The next day we visited a big wat called Wat Phnom Daun Penh. There was a temple with lots of representations of Buddha, people praying, and offerings, including a two dollar bill.

The rare two dollar bill. So rare it is worth two dollars.

We also stopped at an ice cream shop called Mixue. It is a chain that we have seen in several Southeast Asian countries, but this is first time we stopped in one. I was fascinated by their posters and slogans. Mixue has, as its illustrated sales creature, a snowman who wears a crown. They call him Snowking. Here is the general slogan written in English.

Hey, Snowking, are we a happy family?

Anyone remember Barney? You know the man-sized purple dinosaur that was on children's television? I think they stole this slogan! But if you are thinking, "hey, it's just a coincidence," then check out the following.

It does end in Snowking, not snowman, so totally different.

If any of my Lehman Engel BMI friends see this, tell Kristen. But remind her that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

I admit that I did enjoy one of their advertising posters.

When squeezing isn't enough

Putting that lemon in its place. Maybe this can spawn a new Olympic sport: Citrus Boxing.

Probably not. It would upset the SPCSF, the Society for Protection from Cruelty to Sour Fruits. And you don't want to get that organization on your bad side!

Bonus signage

Singulars and Plurals and Atrocities

Let me pose this question to you: What is the singular of boba?

The Independence Monument in Phnom Penh (which has nothing to do with boba)

I assume many people know what I mean by boba, especially those in the western half of the United States. Boba are tapioca pearls found in drinks, often called boba tea. I learned that boba were created in Taiwan, and the name is based on the Chinese word for breast. If you are from the eastern half of the United States, you probably call this drink bubble tea. I'm not sure where the dividing line is.

In Southeast Asia, it is called boba, and there are plenty of varieties of it. You don't even have to get tea, which is good for me, since I am not a fan of tea. There are many other flavored drinks with boba in them. Half of the fun for me is capturing and sucking out each individual tapioca pearl with my straw. But what do I call just one tapioca pearl?

We asked our kids and my son says the singular of boba is boba. The internet agrees with him. But I prefer to use bobus. So when I get one successfully out through my straw I say "bobus!"

A small wat

Right now, Alrica and I are in Phnom Penh and it leads me to a second question of similar form. What is the plural of Prius. I'm going with Pria. You would not believe how popular Pria are here. First, Toyota and Lexus hold a gigantic share of the car market here, if what I see on the streets is any indication. Hybrids are very popular, and the Toyota Prius is everywhere.

Three Pria side by side parked at a mall.

We arrived in Phnom Penh on a Sunday night. They have a brand new airport, less than two months old. It is very new looking, super clean. But it is also a long way out of the city. We took the local bus to get here, which cost us 1500 Cambodian riels (about 38 cents) per person. For the most part it was great, but we waited a long time for the bus. When it did finally arrive, Alrica had an experience with another passenger that would be one of those stereotypical American experiences, except I don't think he was American (based on his English, but he could be an American who learned English as a second language.) This man only had US dollars and didn't have any Cambodian riels. The bus driver had no way to take US dollars. And the man said to Alrica, "Why won't he take dollars?" Alrica replied, "Because we're in Cambodia."

But before we lambast this poor traveler, I want to explain he isn't entirely unreasonable. The US dollar is sort of a semi-official and semi-unofficial currency in Cambodia. And the history of it is somewhat unique in that it wasn't a governmental decision. Here's what happened:

Later in this post, I will talk some about the Khmer Rouge, which was a political group in power in Cambodia from 1974 to 1979. One of their many misguided ideas was to eliminate money from the society. They discontinued making riels and destroyed the banking industry. Riels returned in 1980, but the confidence that Cambodians had in their banks was gone.

There are a lot of chained off sidewalks (because people use sidewalks like parking lots) but either is problematic for pedestrians

In the first half of the 1990s, the Khmer riel (which is what Cambodians call their currency) underwent rapid hyperinflation. People would see a day to day change in their purchasing power. They had the same number of riels, but they could buy so much less than the previous day. The volatility of the currency was wild and both merchants and consumers were suffering. Then, in 1994, merchants stopped accepting riels. This wasn't a governmental policy. It was the people themselves who couldn't rely on the currency to still be good tomorrow. So businesses started accepting only US dollars for purchases. Soon, everyone was using dollars. Cambodian banks were stocking US currency in the ATM machines.

Why US Dollars? A few reasons. It was a very stable currency. The UN was sending humanitarian aid, often in the form of US dollars. And many Cambodians abroad were sending money (generally US dollars) home to their families.

Eventually, the government got riels back in circulation with an unofficial exchange rate of 4100 riels to one US dollar. But that is unofficial and it does fluctuate. Right now it is about 4000 riels for one dollar. In the villages, only riels are used. But in the cities, lots of businesses like hotels and restaurants will take dollars. In fact, plenty of them give their prices on the menus in dollars. They will also take riels. And if you get change, it will almost always be in riels. They government is trying to phase out US dollars, which is not going well. But they did phase out $1, $2, and $5 bills. So businesses can't make change that is less than $10 in dollars. It has to be in riels. So Cambodia today really runs with two currencies. Dare I say they have currency concurrency?

Back to the man on the bus. Unfortunately for him, public buses (which cost way less than $10) are one of those businesses that does not take US dollars, only Khmer riels. In the end, some of the Cambodians on the bus put up the money for the man to ride. (And the bus driver was also going to let him ride without paying.) That's how kind the Cambodians are.

On Monday, we took a cooking class. We made Green Mango Salad, Yellow Curry Chicken, and Banana Palm dessert. It started with a trip to a market where we bought our meat and vegetables and fruits and dry goods. Then we returned to the hotel/restaurant where we got to peel, slice, mix, and cook. We enjoyed the fruit of our own labors (and the vegetable of our own labors) for lunch.

Alrica in her cooking hat with her green mango salad

Here is another bus story. On the way back from the cooking class, we took another local bus. This one was very crowded and we had to stand. No big deal. But there was a Buddhist monk on the bus. You always know Buddhist monks because they are bald and wear orange robes. The monk had a seat. (Even if he hadn't had a seat, someone would have given him one, he's a monk.) The monk, who only spoke Khmer, talked to another man who was also standing that spoke both Khmer and English. And the bilingual man explained to Alrica that she had to move further back in the bus. Apparently, it is not acceptable for a woman to have her head higher than the monk's head. Or at least not in the direction that the monk is facing, not where he can see. So either Alrica had to sit on the floor (and there wasn't room for that) or she had to move back so she was behind the monk and out of his range of vision. Naturally, Alrica moved. We try to be considerate of other cultures and their beliefs. But the American in me was also thinking, "but this is what happens on buses! Why take a bus if you can't handle something that naturally occurs on a bus?"

My yellow curry, rice, and banana palm dessert

Tuesday we visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. It was super informative, but not fun. Still, it is important that this event is never forgotten. Here is a brief overview.

During the Vietnam War, the United States bombed the bejeebies (technical military term) out of Cambodia to try to disrupt the North Vietnamese Army's supply lines. This devastated the countryside and agricultural sector of Cambodia and sent many people into the cities. But there wasn't enough work for all these people and it was a crisis. Faith in the current government was lost. In 1975, the Cambodian Communist Party, which called itself the Khmer Rouge, gained tons of support with a promise of change. They took power. But their vision was horrifying.

The leader of the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot, wanted to return Cambodia to its agrarian roots. The Khmer Rouge military marched into the cities on April 17, 1976 and immediately began clearing them out. They told the people that more US bombings were expected and they were going to be moved for their own safety until the bombings were over. This was a lie. In truth, they moved people out into the countryside. Everyone was moved. Phnom Penh had been a city of 3 million people and soon it was a ghost town. Cambodians were all made to be farmers (or a few other professions like blacksmiths that could support farming.) People who had no idea how to grow rice were told to grow rice. The government demanded 3 tons of rice per hectare per year, regardless of the quality of the land where these people were working. Of course, it wasn't possible. People were weak and starving.

But that's not the genocide. It gets worse. The Khmer Rouge considered some people the "old people." That has nothing to do with age. It is the people who were engaged in farming and the old Cambodian professions. Others were "new people", including the educated, those working in banking, medicine, or education. These new people were shipped off to "security centers" which we kept secret. They were considered enemies of the revolution, enemies of the Khmer Rouge. They were tortured in horrible ways to get confessions and to name co-conspirators. Then they were murdered.

The Tuol Sleng Genocide museum was one of these security centers, called S21. The government took over a high school (no longer a high school since they eliminated education.) They turned it into a prison camp. Here people were held in leg irons, treated like animals, barely fed, and tortured up to three times a day. It wasn't just the "new people" either. Anyone who fell out of favor with the Khmer Rouge was sent to a security center.

Once you finally confessed to the satisfaction of the interrogators, you were sent to die. They didn't want to waste bullets, so most people were killed by bludgeoning and then had their throats slit, just to make sure. Children were separated from parents and killed.

Tuol Sleng Building C. The barbed wire is because someone managed to jump and kill himself. They didn't want that. You weren't allowed to die until they killed you.

S21 ran from 1976 until liberation in 1979. The Vietnamese army marched into Cambodia and flushed the Khmer Rouge out of much of the country. The Khmer Rouge fled to places near the Thailand border and the people were freed. And even after this, the United Nations, the United States, the United Kingdom, and China continued to accept the Khmer Rouge as the official government of Cambodia for another couple decades. But back to 1979, when the staff at S21 learned the Vietnamese Army was approaching, they destroyed as many records as they could. They had some prisoners there and killed 14 of them on the spot. They took a few more with them as they relocated. It is estimated that over 18,000 people were imprisoned at S21 while it was in operation. Only 12 survived. And the destruction of records meant most of the prisoners are, to this day, unidentified. Their families don't know what happened to them, or even if they were at S21 or one of the other security centers in the country.

It is a horrible piece of history, but I am glad I learned more about it. It is these atrocities that we must never forget.

Sadly, it is not the only one. We speak of atrocities and genocides in the plural. But one day, maybe we can speak of their count being zero. That should be our ultimate goal.

Wat a Day!

Today was Wat Day Wednesday for me. Alrica is attending convention sessions for Adobe. These are at very convenient daytime hours if you live in Pacific Time. They are perhaps not as convenient middle of the night times if you are in Thailand. So after being up much of the night, Alrica then had a morning session (morning to us, evening in the West Coast of the USA.) While she learned about amazing things she can do with Adobe  products, I went for a bit of an exploration.

That is a roof! Or is it multiple roofs? And why isn't that word rooves?

I visited three separate wats. Remember wat means a Buddhist temple. I put on pants (instead of shorts, because you are supposed to be sure your knees and shoulders are covered when you enter a wat and yes, the pants only helped with the knees, but I was also wearing a shirt so my shoulders were covered too so you can stop worrying) and headed out. Each of the wats was within walking distance of where we are staying in Nonthaburi.

People leave gifts for the spirits. Red is considered auspicious and brings fortune and is symbolic of what was once a blood sacrifice. So Fanta Strawberry is the offering of choice.

Wats are beautiful in many ways. First, the roof is almost always a spectacle. Lots of layers and graceful curves. Then there is statuary. There are many Buddha statues, of course, in all kinds of poses. But there are plenty of othr statues as well. I don't know what some of the creatures are. Some look sort of like orcs in Western fantasy stories. Others are dragons or maybe something like angels. And usually there are so many details and bright, bright colors. Quite splendid.

One of the orc-like creatures. Maybe a demon, but I feel like it is meant to be a good guy.

I was able to enter two of the three temples. You take off your shoes and your hats when you enter a Buddhist temple. Inside one of them, the walls were covered in murals that told elements of the Buddha story. I don't know the Buddha story very well. But one of the murals captured my curiosity.

A regular railing? Why? We could have a dragon!

On the front wall of this temple was a mural of the Buddha (though I would later learn he isn't quite the Buddha yet. He is still Siddharta Gautama in this mural.) He is under a tree on what seemed to be the shore of a lake. In the lake were several swimmers, most of whom looked human, but a couple of them were blue, so not so human. And there was one more larger blue person on an elephant walking through the lake. On the shore, near Siddharta, is a bare breasted woman and she is holding her long hair. Out of her hair spouts the water that is pouring into the lake.

The mural is on the wall behind the statues. Sorry Buddha is blocked.

The problem with my picture of this mural is that there is a hanging lamp. So from any angle I could get a picture, that lamp is blocking Siddhartha. But you can see the swimmers, the blue man on the elephant, and the woman with watery hair.

The temple with the mural inside

So I looked it up to find out who this woman was and here is what I learned. Siddharta is meditating under the Bodhi tree. At this point there is no lake there. Siddharta is super close to reaching enlightenment. And a demon named Mara doesn't want that to happen. (I think it is Mara on the elephant.) So Mara comes with his army which includes demons but also temptors and temptresses. He is going to tempt Siddharta with earthly pleasures and thereby keep him from reaching enlightenment.

Such vibrant colors

But Siddharta is too far along in his path toward enlightenment to fall for this. He stretches his right hand down to touch the earth. In Buddhism, that gesture is referred to as the "calling the earth to witness" mudra. When he touches the ground, the goddess of the earth, Phra Mae Thorani appears a beautiful woman. She is there to testify about the Buddha's merit and how much of it he has accumulated after living many lifetimes. As proof of this, she wrings her hair and out of it pours lots and lots of water. This is all the water that had been stored from ceremonial libations that Buddha had performed over his several lifetimes.

This is a different temple, similarities, yes, but different temple

If you've seen the Lord of the Rings movies where Arwen calls forth the river which washes away the Nazgûl, imagine that. (I know in the book Arwen isn't even there, but I'm going for the visual.) This is what happened when Phra Mae Thorani wrung her hair. The water rushes out and washes away Mara and his army. And Siddharta is free to continue his path toward enlightenment.

I like to imagine Phra Mae Thorani singing her own version of "I'm Gonna Wash that Man Right Out of my Hair" from South Pacific. But her lyrics would probably be more like "I'm gonna wash this horde away with my hair and send it all away." Except, she'd probably be singing in Pali, the language of Buddha. And I don't know if the syllables would work out in Pali.

I hope Alrica learned a ton from her conference. But I got all these lovely pictures and even lovelier memories. And I didn't need a single Adobe product for that.

Spicy Desserts

You may recall in a recent post, I was discussing El Nido, Philippines. In that post, Not My Idea of Paradise, I talked about the villains in various movies who wanted to get away to a tropical paradise. But they never do. Instead, they get their just desserts. That seems wholly unfair. Desserts are good, why should the bad guys get good stuff?

However, in this case, those outlaws and evildoers are not getting the pleasant kinds of desserts. They are getting just ones. And desserts are not nearly so sweet when they are just. At least, that's how I'm taking it. Also, they aren't even getting any kinds of desserts. We pronounce the phrase as "just desserts", but it is actually spelled "just deserts." Like the bad guys are receiving very arid landscapes. You might be wondering how terrain without rain relates to the proper punishment being doled out to those who wrong others. It comes from a now archaic meaning of the word desert, which means deserve, but as a noun. So the villains are getting just what they deserve.

I suppose the heroes could also get just deserts, but we tend to only focus on the justness of the desserts served to the bad guys. But what does this have to do with anything? I'll get to that now.

Wat Thinnakorn Nimit (I'll get to it in a nimute, get it?)

In Thailand, you can buy lots of desserts. A particular favorite of ours is mango with sticky rice. But today, we bought a new one, and it wasn't super sweet, nor all that just. It's spicy. We are getting our spicy desserts. We bought some krang krong. Specifically, we got krang krong grob, which is crispy krang krong. But what is it? It's dough that is deep-fried and then coated in some sweet dessert like sauce. Except the sweet dessert like sauce includes chili. Because, you know, Thailand. So after the first piece for each of us, Alrica generously declared that I could have the rest of it myself. Isn't she sweet? Like a dessert should be?

Krong Krang

We are staying in Nonthaburi, Thailand. And we are having a very nice time. The food is amazing, and a regular meal costs about two dollars. If you splurge you could find meals for five dollars. If you go into Bangkok to some of the high end tourist areas you can find meals for ten dollars. But locally, we are generally in the two dollar per meal territory.

Check out the sheet on our bed. Making a knockoff product by knocking off the r.

Mostly this week we have been getting a lot of work done. But we did enjoy a couple of outings. On Wednesday, we walked to the open air market and the Nonthaburi Pier. It was interesting. At the point we entered the market, all the stalls were selling vegetables. Only vegetables! No fruit for you. Well, wait, there is one exception: Limes. There are limes in the vegetable stalls, but only limes. I suspect it is because these are limes that are used like you would use a vegetable when you cook.

No shortage of chili peppers

But as we walked through the market and got to other sections, now there were all stalls selling fruits, but no vegetables. (And no limes. At least not that type of lime.) And in another part of the market we found stalls selling only flowers, no fruit, no vegetables. There is no overlap between these sort of stalls. If you sell fruit, don't you dare put a vegetable or a flower on your stall! That would just confuse the whole works. I should clarify. These are fruits and vegetables not as a botanist would define them, but as a chef would. Like tomatoes and chili peppers, those are both fruits in the botanical definition. But you only found them in the vegetable section. By the way, if you wonder why I don't know if there were limes in the fruit section, well, just because something is green doesn't mean it's a lime. For example, tangerines.

Orange on the inside, green on the outside

Walking back from the market, we stopped at the Wat Thinnakorn Nimit, pictured above. The word Wat means temple. And the cool thin(g) about this wat is how thin it is. Maybe that's why it's called Thinnakorn. Like a skinny unicorn. Probably not, because the th in Thai is pronounced like an aspirated t rather than the th sound of English. So this would sound more like Teenakohrn in Thai.

The people of Pompeii may feel uneasy, but what a delicious way to go!

I have a question. Check out the picture above. I took this at a Dairy Queen here in Nonthaburi. Dairy Queen is very famous for its blizzards. But now they have moved into other natural disasters. Here they are advertising volcanoes. Is that a DQ Thailand thing? Or is that happening in other countries too?

Check this out. We stopped at a 7-11. First, you have to understand, 7-11 is a big deal in Southeast Asia. It is somehow central to the whole structure of society. And you can get so many more things at a 7-11 around here than you can at home. But along with our purchase, we got these adorable stamps.

I'm familiar with Hello Kitty. Not so much with Butterbear.

I looked it up online. It is some sort of promotional thing here in Thailand. You can use your stamps almost like cash. My three stamps are each worth 1 baht meaning, if I hold on to them I could have a discount of about 10 US cents on my next 7-11 purchase. But the big thing to do for the Thai is to collect lots of them. There are apparently books you can get where you paste your stamps and if you get enough of them, you can turn them for merchandise. You could get a Butterbear Rice Cooker or a set of Hello Kitty Tupperware. I imagine I am just going to forget I own them and they will be thrown away at some point.

I know I shouldn't do that. Because if I do, poor Hello Kitty and Butterbear aren't getting fair treatment. Or dare I say, they aren't getting their just deserts. Or their spicy desserts.

Dumplings (and other things) in Taipei

Taiwan is a pretty fun island. I should be careful saying that, as I have only visited a small portion of the island, the northern coastal region. Right now, Alrica and I are in Taipei. We have had several fun days here, with several beautiful sights and interesting museums and wow, so so many dumplings. (And other dumplingesque victuals.)

The Lungshan Temple

We arrived in the afternoon. Our first day was mainly spent in getting to the hotel from the airport and then wandering a bit in our neighborhood. We had to find dinner, and just a couple blocks from the hotel we stopped and got an order of pork dumplings and also xiaolongbao. Xiaolongbao are a must have in Taiwan. They are also dumplings, specifically soup dumplings. In addition to the meat filling of the dumplings, there is also broth inside, really flavorful broth. We've now eaten xiaolongbao several times, and there is a method. So, as a complete expert after four days, I am going to give you the lay of the land, or the lay of the bao.

Step 1: Use your chopsticks (you don't get forks here) to pick up the xiaolongbao from the top. You don't want to break the outside dumpling dough that holds the inner goodness.

Step 2: Set the bottom of the xiaolongbao in your dumpling sauce.

Step 3: Now lift your xiaolongbao and set it in the spoon. You are generally given one of those wide flat-bottomed spoons that you see at Chinese restaurants used for soup.

Step 4: Poke a hole in the dumpling dough so that some of the broth within comes out into your spoon.

Step 5: Sip the yummy broth.

Step 6: Lose patience and just eat the xiaolongbao already!

Moving on from dumplings and soup dumplings, on our second day, we took a tour. We met our guide and the rest of our tour group at the Taipei Main Station. From there we took a bus. The first stop was a village called Shifen. In Shifen, there is a lantern festival. The big business there is selling these gigantic lanterns, probably about three feet tall. And you light some fuel source in an iron ring, your lantern fills with hot air, and then it floats up and away taking your hopes and dreams to the gods. This is somewhat literal, though I'm sure they don't make it all the way to the gods. But you do write on the outside of the lantern, well, actually paint. But you are painting letters. So maybe you're writing and painting all at once.

We wrote 52 (our 52nd country), "happiness" in Chinese, and Euler's solution to the Basel Problem.

We wrote hopes for ourselves, hopes for our kids, the Chinese characters for happiness, and I wrote a math equation for good measure. Then up and away went the lantern.

Alrica at the Jing An Bridge and if you look closely, a lantern in the sky behind her

We also walked across the Jing An Bridge, had some peanut ice cream rolls (which are exactly what they sound like), and admired the Taiwanese version of a total tourist town. My usual rule for tourist towns is you know you're in one when there is a fudge shop. Well, I have to account for the fact that fudge isn't the thing here. But if it were, there would have been at least one fudge shop.

The Shifen Waterfall

From the village of Shifen we went to the Shifen Waterfall, just a bit outside the village. Here we crossed a suspension bridge to get to it. There were lovely views, but it isn't running very fast or with that much water. It has been very dry of late in Taiwan. Our guide showed us a video of the falls the day after a typhoon passed. I mean, it's not Niagara Falls, but it was a much more violent flow than what we were seeing the day we were there. Still, violent or calm, it was beautiful.

View from Jiufen when the sun was still out

View from Jiufen after the sun had set

After the falls we headed into the mountains to a city called Jiufen. Jiufen is a steep city on the side of the mountain. You walk up 400 steps to get to the top. Here we saw views of the ocean from up high, we enjoyed the architecture and the sunset, and we wandered the narrow streets full of lanterns and shops.

Jiufen streets lit by lanterns (and Alrica's smile)

After that we returned to Taipei, a bit overheated, a bit overtired, but it was a great trip.

Vending machines are everywhere here. And entire shops full of "the claw". You know, that arcade game where you try to get a claw to grab a toy. Entire shop with just those "the claw" machines.

The next day we visited the National Taiwan Museum. It had a lot of exhibits, but its general theme was that of natural history. We learned about the formation of Taiwan from plate tectonics. We learned that during the last ice age, it is believed that the Taiwan Strait was not water, but rather a land bridge connecting Taiwan to mainland China. During this time, many animals used that land for hunting. But when the waters rose again, some went west to China and some went east and ended up on Taiwan. The trouble for those on Taiwan was its size. There wasn't enough food and space for them and they died. So there are fossils found in Taiwan of rhinoceroses, Asian tigers, and more. Many of these species had died in Taiwan well before any humans moved in.

The Chiang Kai Shek Memorial

Today we visited Liberty Square. This is a large plaza with an impressive archway gate. Then inside there is the National Concert Hall on one side and the National Theater on the other. In between is an open square, currently being decorated. But when it is not being decorated, it is a space for public dissent and demonstrations. Beyond the square is a long stretch called Democracy Boulevard. And at the end of it is the impressive Chiang Kai Shek Memorial.

The National Theater

The size and grandeur of these buildings is staggering. And at the base of the Chiang Kai Shek Momorial, every hour, there is a demonstration by the Taiwanese military that involves a lot of twirling and throwing of rifles with bayonets. The soldiers involved in the performance wear stark white uniforms with stark white helmets. (Is any color other than white ever referred to as stark?)

Look at those uniforms. Stark, am I right?

Tonight we went to the Lungshan Temple which is a Buddhist and Taoist mixed temple. The architecture is breathtaking and it is very beautiful at night. From there we headed to the Guangzhou Street Nightmarket. Here we ate sausage in sticky rice (which is crazy, the sticky rice is shaped like a sausage, but then they cut it open and it is used as a bun), taro balls, sweet potato balls, and, you guessed it, dumplings.

That is not a typo. They are honestly selling phallic cakes. On the street!

Tomorrow we leave this lovely place. But we might have to come back one day. We'll miss it here. Especially the dumplings.

Over seven thousand islands but only 18 days

With 7,641 islands in the Philippines, and a strong dislike for travel days, planning country number 51 was especially challenging. It seemed like a good time to test AI travel recommendations so I asked it where we should spend two weeks in the Philippines and drilled down from there. After getting specific ideas of places, hotels, and activities, I consulted some friends who had been recently and read all I had time for on Facebook and I was ready to book. Our decision was to spend 2.5 weeks in the Philippines at three different locations:

 

El Nido, Palawan. This was our beach week. We stayed at a small inn on the Caalan Beach access road which had a very local feel. The road isn't wide enough for a full-size car so tricycles are the way to get around and when it rains, the road is muddy up to your ankles and the locals typically walk around barefoot, a reasonable accommodation to the weather. Internet was crazy strong for a backwater place like this at around 200 mbps but the power went out frequently and the water often went with it. El Nido City is run entirely by the tourism industry. Off the main drag, we could get meals at a closer-to-local price of about 130 Pesos (US$2.25) but inside the city (a 15 minute walk), those exact same meals would run closer to 400 Pesos (US$6.91). We loved the silogs and banana shakes! 

As you walk the streets, there are tour operators on every block and people everywhere trying to sell you things. The big thing here is island hopping tours labeled A-D. We did Tour C which went to five different islands and focused on snorkeling. It was amazing! Since it was off-season, we got a 10 percent discount on the tour putting it at 1600 pesos (27.48 each) plus another 100 pesos each for the rental of the snorkel gear and water shoes. Over the next 7 hours (rain or shine) we visited five islands with different characteristics each. Water shoes were essential and kayaking was an option that we skipped. This was by far our best day!

The beach right at El Nido was rocky and not swimmable but a short tricycle ride put us at soft sandy beaches that were worthy of a day of relaxation. Each of the main tourist beaches were well equipped with restaurants but didn't have working showers.  

Cebu City. An hour long flight away is this lovely city of less than a million people that pays homage to its Spanish colonial roots as it grows to meet the needs of its expanding population. While it is possible to do day trips to swim with whale sharks and turtles, those tours leave at 3 AM and return around 10 PM and we just didn't have that energy. Instead, we dug into the history and cultures that was so unique to the region. We visited the site of Magellan's cross which was built to memorialize the visit of Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 and wandered past the Basilica and the Cathedral (pants are required dress code here!) before spending an hour exploring Fort San Pedro, built as a Spanish defense in the 1700s.

 

Now hungry, we made our way to the Carbon Market. This is a local market that sells fruits and vegetables along with handmade goods and all sorts of grocery items. We saw more mango here than all the people in the city! Making our way upstairs, we stumbled upon a variety of food stalls selling assorted dishes for under 100 pesos ($1.72). We tried several different options before deciding that we had had enough of the heat and were ready to return to our air conditioned hotel. Since the streets near the market would not be navigable by a grab car, we headed for a more major street and found a tourist focused food hall which lead to our first taste of the Lechon dish that Cebu is known for. 

 

With an early morning start to beat the heat, we took a Grab to the Cebu Taoist Temple. The temple is on the top of a beautiful hill overlooking the city in a gated community. Dressed appropriately in long pants and following the requested silence mandate, we explored the grounds and learned a bit about the Tao beliefs. 

 

Closer to our hotel near IT Park, we took full advantage of the night markets and street vendors, even buying rolls from a guy that cooked them in an oven attached to his motor bike. And we got to enjoy the mango smoothies that became a staple of our diet here. 

Manila. With only a couple days left in the islands, we met up with a US friend who has an office here to explore the capital. We learned the story of Dr. Jose Rizal, national hero from the Spanish Colonial era, visited San Sebastian Church, and immersed ourselves in the National Museum of Anthropology (they speak over 175 languages here!), before heading to Makati for our Night Street Food tour. We tried all sorts of new foods (some good and some not great) and enjoyed live music as our guide shared his life experiences. 

 

 

Finally, for our last full day in the Philippines, and with a few final pesos to spend, we headed over to the Singing Cooks and Waiters restaurant where Erich joined in on the fun! 

This is definitely a place we will need to return to! Each stop had its own feel and culture and foods and yet there were some commonalities. First the facts: everyplace we stayed used electrical outlets that would fit US plugs, cars drive on the right side of the road but I wouldn't rent a car given how bad the traffic and roads are (and Grab ride-shares or tricyles are cheap), lots of places don't have toilet paper in the bathrooms and don't allow you to flush so bring your own or get used to the sprayers. 

But the fun stuff: We discovered that Filipinos love to sing! In every grocery store or restaurant, music would be playing and the staff would be singing along, often loudly. We learned that the heat is pretty oppressive here so staying hydrated is important. Obviously they believe so too because all over the country, you will find filtered water dispensers. You grab a plastic bag and plug in a single peso and you get a bag of water!

Finally, Filipinos are proud of their beautiful islands and love to share all that they like about them. Hope you enjoyed us sharing this!