Tech Tuk Tuk

So earlier in the day I sold my Samsung Note.  Why?  Because there is a new one on the way and the price on this one will drop as soon as it is released, because the battery life was never what I wanted it to be, because it was sometimes just too big, because a new iphone is near too and that is interesting even if I know that Apple has slowly become that 1984 ad where it mocked its' future self, then plus I wanted a bigger tablet to read books on and to hook up a bluetooth keyboard to and do things like blog entries like this one completely mobile.  So for all those reasons I sold the Samsung Galaxy Note - but we will always have Paris together - those crisp beautiful 8 megapixel pictures of the Place de la Concorde, but it is all Galaxy Tab 7.7 at this point.  But this is the story of how I got my new Tab 7.7 and the mysteries of the Tuk Tuk.

It started with Singh or Digi Singh, as his email pseudonymed him and an ill advised late night trip to meet down in front of the Starbucks on Khao San Road.  He had already talked me down to an incredible bargain price on the device.  But out with the old and in with the new.  Anyway, he asked to meet at midnight, I agreed, selecting the place carefully.  I am suspicious, device hidden, no money on my person.  I mean this is everything you shouldn't do, midnight craigslist deal in Bangkok???  But the difference is the police station is next door and Khao San Road has its night face on.

Youngsters too young to drink in America have already bought their fake ID for back home, stashed them away to be claimed or not in the airport by TSA and are now on their third or fourth round.  You know, the last one you might remember clearly.  They are thinking something like, wow, wouldn't it be cool if there was something like this in America...  Then this big baldheaded Black guy comes along and blows even that memory and now all I remember is the sweat on his head.  Damn it is still so hot, oh my god... and so the night on Khao San goes.  But I am not on Khao San for that, or the inviting looks, or the questioning looks.  I have rushed past all that to catch up with Digi Singh and his sweaty baht notes, crumpled.  It's like I am selling the Note into some torrid uncouth digital slavery of some kind.  Nah, actually he came with his wife, who looked really nice, probably her I was emailing.  He was buying it for her, but I could tell from the look in his eyes he wanted it more for himself after seeing it.  I could see him weaving a story for her of why he needed it more, as I was explaining how to use it and what not to do and so on. More on that later...  So no funny business and our deal is done.  He and his wife are already there when I arrive with money in hand.

Next day we head out on tuk tuk.  Riding in a tuk tuk is an adventure in itself.  It begins before you get in.  Most of the drivers solicit your business, particularly when it is clear you have other business to attend to, elsewhere, where they can't go.  Then when you need one, they are nowhere to be found, not to mention that if they are they will try to extort every baht from you possible.  They will start out at some insane price, double what a cab would cost, and slowly bring it down.  I mean a dollar or so isn't a big deal, but there are principles.  Who wants to ride on the back of a hot hell trap for twice the amount you would pay to ride in a semi-normal airconditioned cab?  Then of course there is the expression of implicit 'knowing' etched into the face of some of the drivers, like they know some things I might not be ready to know. All that said, they are a cheap and easy, although, crazy, horrifying, fast way to travel.

I am on the way to Bangkok's Chinatown, Yaowarat, to shop for the tablet.  I will get on to describing Chinatown proper some other time.  It really deserves its' own post, just because, but that is for later.  We are interested in one particular part of Chinatown, the electronics market area.  There is about a two or three block area where there is nothing but buildings dedicated to cellular phones and communication technology.  There are rows and rows of stores selling cellphone parts and cellphone accessories and cellular phones and tablets.  So I figured I would make my way either there or this other mall a little further away called MBK to make a purchase.

A tuc tuc driver approaches me as I am walking to look for a cab.  Candice frowns.  "Tuc-tuk?"  He asks the question innocent enough, as I shrug to Candice I ask, "how much to Chinatown?"  He insists that we don't want to go to Chinatown, after I insist, he counters, nothing open in Chinatown.  I'm thinking, "What?"  Then, he asks why we want to go.  I tell him about the tablet I want to buy.  He slowly shakes his head, as if giving permission.  Then, "200 baht."  200 baht, I tell him is too much.  He asks how much I want to pay.  I tell him for that much I could get a cab there twice and then some.  Then he has an idea.  I see Candice shudder.  He tells us we go with him to two shops and then all we will have to pay him is 20 baht, maybe less.  I already know the deal and agree.

The first place we head to is a tailor.  I am kind of geeked to be going to one, because I have avoided them for a while.  The tailors on Khao San road all have a bad name, because their quality is said to be poor.  I don't know if it is true but it stands to reason, so I have been avoiding them, even though they are friendly and really try to connect with me, in particular.  I think that is just the Nepalese mafia doing there thing, but they seem to be nice, but I don't need a cheap cheap suit.  I need a nicely tailor made inexpensive suit, after the weather changes from being so damn hot.  So our driver takes us to a tailor, away from our normal touts.

So we walk into the tailor shop.  The deal is, if the tuk tuk drives a customer to these places, he gets free gas, they give him a gas card or something.  Most of the time they waylay people, but they have all asked me for permission and given a free or next to free ride if I agreed.  If I have nothing else to do I will, but so far I have been to a couple of tour companies, a couple of tailors and a jeweler.  I found out, if you ask the driver, he will take you to the type of shop you want to go to, if he knows one that he can get a gas card for driving you to.  I mean, I haven't bought anything at one, but I started talking to the tailor at this shop trying to build a relationship.  I figured at some point I might buy a suit and maybe I could try a shirt out and see if he could make a quality shirt.

However he got angry when I told him I wanted a business card so I could think about it and maybe visit again.  I wasn't expecting that, I mean to me, you have to build a relationship with a tailor.  That is kind of a close bond.  The Nepalese mafia was happy to give me a card and are friendly to boot.  But no, this tailor, he just wanted to measure me, take a deposit and like that be done.  So we left as he was pouting.  The tuk tuk driver saw some of this and asked as we got back in, "are you okay?"  I felt debased.

We next head to a travel agent.  A young woman is selling us a trip to the south of Thailand.  Apparently there is this island that has a full moon party going on this weekend.  Whatever goes on there at this party requires a full day recuperation added to your itinerary.  Her manager and her just know that is the trip that we need... we decline.  They assure us we have to go because there is a full moon this weekend, and not another one for a whole month.  "I am like, really? How could you predict that?"  I try to let her down gently because I mean, I would have thought about some trip, but not that one and then the other trip was vastly overpriced.  But I did find out there is a monastery where buddhist monks care for tigers.  I thought that was the coolest thing.  Maybe in the future we will go there.  I assume the tigers are not a threat or they are distanced from unsuspecting meat, I mean tourists.  I will have to research that one a bit.  As for the moonlight party, that will have to wait about 13 or so odd years, I will be 53, Jacob, my youngest will be 18...

So we are back in the tuk tuk racing through traffic, cutting off cars, other tuk tuks, motorcycles, pedestrians.  I think, maybe I should carry something to give the confused cut off pedestrians we pass by, you know, on future tuk tuk trips, flowers, donuts, fruit.  We arrive, the driver stops about two blocks from our destination and motions the direction that we want to go toward to hit Charoen Krung, one of the main roads in Chinatown.  I hand him 20 baht, or 66 cent, for an adventurous ride of about 3 miles.

Chinatown at dusk

Candice comments about walking the last few blocks and I point her attention to the traffic that surrounds us.  It is never a good idea to sit ten minutes in traffic for a two minute walk.  She agrees and we walk down the way to cellular heaven, or something more like a cellular flea market.  Time is running out, at 5 PM the cellular merchants start closing up and the restaurants and street food come out.  We aren't there for that today though, but as a side note they sell barbecue shrimp that it is inexpensive and delicious, at least that is what they say.

We are here looking for a tablet though and there is so much to see.  There is a motorcycle driving on the sidewalk towards us as we try to cross the street.  We move to avoid him.  We cross and are here.  There are no name, generic tablets directly in front of the building we are approaching that cost about a hundred bucks, but I want something with a name attached, a Samsung or Acer or Sony.  We go more towards the back of the first building, there are smiley faced antenna plugs and colorful cases and giggling school girls and neon colors all around.  They giggle or look at the tall Americans confused as we move past.  We pass by ipad screens sold as replacements and other parts labeled and stretched out.  We go upstairs and there is more of the same for four flights.  After that I figure we should try another building.  Smiling schoolgirls giggling, more neon, more cloned tablets, still not what I want.  Then we find it... and she wont budge on the price.

MBK Center and deals galore...

I finally agree on the price, but she only has it in white.  NO DEAL.  As we walk back towards Khao San Road, towards Dinso Road, where we actually live, Candice gives me a hard stare that indicates we will be taking a cab home.  She is cool though, and we make plans to head to MBK the next day, where we will continue our hunt for the tablet deal of the century.













So long for now...

     

Kids at MBK

Bangkok

Bangkok, my first thought was that this reminded me of my old favorite city in the world - before the hurricane came and ruined it even more, New Orleans.  That thought came as we were on the way in from the airport, and it has been that way ever since.  I love Bangkok, awesome, fast moving, mellow people, good food, great shopping, and people coming in just to be here, every single day... and I haven't even been to the other side of town yet.

Khao San Road has been our base area.  I will describe this as many peoples' base area.  If you are a backpacker type you will probably start out here.  The area is centered around so many Buddhist temples it isn't even funny.  Plus there are cheap accommodations, cheap food, cheap t-shirt, cheap fruit drinks and the list goes on.  The history of the area is that the Buddhists were in the area keeping it chill, with not that much money, but ultimate vibes.  Then the hippies came, and while they were in the business of morphing into yuppies, and whatnot, their children started coming and so on and so on.  Meanwhile, the area managed to maintain just enough of its charm, and plenty of hawkers and touters came along, selling anything from cheaply tailored suites to as certain movies would claim, snake's blood.  I haven't seen any snake's blood, but I do know where a snake park or museum is on the other side of town, and I have heard snake's blood is sold in Chinatown, but that is another blog post, because Chinatown in Bangkok really deserves its own blog post, plus I plan on walking over there tomorrow.  However, if you want a cheap, cheaply tailored suit, apparently, Khao San is the place, especially if you want the very special, soul brother discount.

Philosophical Question - Do White Americans get greeted as - OObama - with the look of a used car salesman and that magical pointing finger gesture thingy, or is that reserved for Black American visitors (the Black Americans that no one except touts believe exist).

Answer - Doesn't matter, just be thankful W. has left the building... wherein you might be getting spit at, given the finger or cursed, I mean literally cursed, not cursed at.  Anyways...

Khao San Road at night

Some of the walkable cool things to do close by the area we live in, known as Rattanakosin, are exploring temples, hopping on the boat to head down or up river, or of course grabbing a bite on Khao San Road, people watching on Khao San Road, visiting the Golden Mountain, which is free or just finding a park to chill out.  Rattanakosin is kind of the center of all the temples in town so if you just walk down the street in any direction a wat (or temple) will cross your path.  It is funny seeing the buddhist monks out and about, and if you go out in the morning they will be out seeking donations for their food for the day.

Last week we walked over to the Grand Palace and pondered going in.  Since we are on a pretty tight budget this month, I suggested we actually go in on the next trip.  I am sure it will be nicer on the inside than the outside, but at 400 baht a person that is some 2400 baht, or 80 dollars, that's a lot of Thai noodles, or at least that was my thought at the time.  So we took some pictures of the opulent outside and laughed as the intercom system reminded visitors not to believe anything touts said about the palace being closed, in a very sterile voice and to only listen to the completely disinterested guards' advice about where the entrance was.

Earlier in the week I had mentioned to Candice that there was this meditation center that offered free classes in one of the temples.  I thought it would be cool to at least peek inside.  So naturally, after thinking how cool it would be to do something for free, rather than pay 80 dollars, we run into a sign in front of Wat Mahathat, offering free mediation classes.  I figure because it is so early in the morning, we might not get our meditation on, but still, something tells me to go in.  I am a bit afraid to go all the way into the inner shrines to buddha and what not, but this lady sneaks up behind Candice and becomes our tour guide.  Immediately I start to wonder, but just the night before we had this conversation about letting someone sell their story, because sometimes touts aren't all bad, or something like that.  Or was it that all friendly people aren't touts, you get the gist.  Anyway, she has us take our shoes off and takes us in the back of temple and gets to work.


She starts off stating that she is a tourist too, "we same, same" and she is from Chang Mai, she has her game tight.  Then she blows it, because she knows every tourist sight and destination, not to mention her perfect English.  But it was a good thing she was there because she did two things for me.  The first, she took us into all the areas in the temple I wouldn't have gone, she apparently has some kind of buddhist mojo working good...  She bows to buddha and is trying to work her mojo on Candice, while sizing me up.  She mentions that she is a midwife which I think is so cool.  She also shows us the beautiful Black buddah, making note of it, as I did.  Then she did something else that was both good and bad.  She advises us how to take the boat around town and tells us where we can get discount tickets to do so, of course this is the tout.  But she arranges a tuck tuck to take us to her tourist agency and then back to our guest house for 50 baht.  I mean, I didn't want to hear the tout, but I had been avoiding tuck tucks, just because.  By her doing that, she helped me see them as a practical, although a scary as hell travel option.  I mean, everywhere isn't a cab travel location, for those, you have the tuck tuck.  Mostly I prefer the boat, an express boat trip on the river costs 15 baht per person, that is like 50 cent.  Who could beat that?  So a tout isn't always a bad thing, well at least not a bad bad, bad thing.  Of course, I didn't buy any tours, but I am just saying.  I mean, in the tuck tuck we were both laughing about her intimate knowledge of Bangkok, having only been here twice from Chang Mai, but on the other hand she told us of a really cool detination,   Anyway, after that day we started going more and more outside the Rattanakosin area and made it into Chinatown.

Shanghai

Noodles @ 3:00am

Shanghai is a huge city in which every corner holds little wonders that you couldn't imagine. The small part of the city that we got to see was intriguing so I'm sure that the rest of it is even more fascinating. We arrived at the airport around midnight or 1:00am.  The line at passport control at the airport was pretty long, though it moved along fairly smoothly. It took us at least an hour to make it to the front of the line. Seeing as though we didn't have a Chinese visa, we were prepared for questioning and paperwork once-overs.

The guy at our booth scanned out passports, asked a few questions, then called his supervisor over. Soon afterwards we were directed to some bench seats a little further away and told to wait. And wait, and wait. In a little while, the supervisor told Orlando that he was waiting for flight confirmation from Sri Lankan airlines. They wanted to make sure that we would be out of China no later than 48 hours from then. There was also the issue of our hotel. We had only booked one room online, planning to secure another room when we arrived. Apparently they were a little wary of this, but they let it slide anyway. After what seemed like forever, we were finally given our 48 hour pass and released from passport control. 

It turns out that our baggage had been removed from the 'merry go round' and had been stacked neatly on a luggage cart for us. Not having to go on a mad hunt for our luggage, piece by piece, was a welcome surprise. One of the first of many to come. 

Asari and the Pagoda

We arrived at the hotel and it appeared to be a fair amount of staff still on duty. Someone showed us to our room upstairs, and then we were on the hunt for some food. Orlando and I go down to the receptionist to ask if she knows where a restaurant is where we could eat. The hotel restaurant is closed, but she directs us to this section on the other side of the lobby where there are bags of snacks and all different kinds of ramen noodles. This just wouldn't do. After a few days of mediocre to horrible food, we wanted some real sustenance. So we tried to get her to understand that we wanted to go out. She insisted that no, no we shouldn't go alone because everything was closed. Finally, she understood that we meant serious business and called one of the staff on the phone to take us out. The streets were pitch black, but there were still people mingling about, and there was a little convenience store that was open too. But we walked on past that. Whoa this guy was walking fast! Orlando was keeping up but I was having a hard time doing so, luckily where we were going wasn't far. We ended up at a street full of food carts. One sold skewers with different mushrooms, onions, and other veggies on them to be grilled, along with soups. Two others sold stir fried noodles. We got six orders altogether and the total was 30 yuan which comes about to about 5 dollars. What a bargain!  They tasted amazing, the best food we'd had in a long, long time. The guy that took us to this gem of a place refused to take a tip or food from us. How awesome. We slept like babies until 2pm the next day.

We did a little shopping the next day, bought some excellent Taiwanese oolong at a reasonable price. The people we came across all looked as we passed by. And I mean they looked, as in stared. But they were very friendly and courteous so I had no complaints.

The next day, the hotel called us two taxies and we made our way safely back to the airport. As we borded the airplane I thought to myself that we would surely have to make it back here for a longer stay.

Vienna Hotel in Pudong, Shanghai

Carrefour Shanghai

Advertisement for an english language school, they are everywhere!

Shanghai Pudong Airport

Hungarian Surprise

Budapest, Hungary is nothing like I expected it to be. Having some of the old imagery and stereotypes in my mind about Eastern Europe, and the old Soviet bloc countries; I was expecting a run down, desolate, inefficient airport. I expected the countryside to be much of the same. It turns out that I was pleasantly surprised. The airport was very modern and clean, and the people helpful and friendly. It was quite late when we arrived, but finding a taxi was no problem, as they have a system set up where you can go to a little booth and order one. You receive a ticket with the taxi number on it, so you know which one is yours when they arrive. Even at that hour of the night, it only took less than 10 minutes for the driver to get there. We arrived at the hotel, which was only a short drive from the airport, and the desk clerk was waiting for us. The inn was very clean and comfortable, with a very reasonable mini bar as well which included mineral water, soft drinks, beer, nuts and chocolate bars. The next morning we explored the grounds of the inn. The surroundings were very green, with fruit trees and evergreens all around. There was a little play area for the children, along with picnic tables for outdoor dining. All in all, we had a very comfortable stay and look forward to visiting Budapest again, for a longer visit next time.

Onward Travels...

So we were chilling in Fez, for six weeks, which is a long time for Fez.  Two weeks is probably a prefect amount of time.  My favorite of the medinas of Morocco was probably Essaouira, and two weeks is probably good for that medina too.  We spent a month in Essaouira, but both Fez and Essaouira are excellent places to save money if you live like a Moroccan and not like a European while visiting.  With two and a half odd months in country, our visa was expiring!  Well, technically you don't need a visa to visit, if your stay is under three months as an American citizen.  But the point is the same, we would have to either make a short jot out of the country and come back, akin to a visa run, or leave altogether.

 

Natasha, we make it to Moscow... now what? I dunno Boris!

So we started weighing our options.  We knew in the end that we wanted to visit Asia, and come back around, so that was one option.  Option two was to go on to Egypt.  Option three was to visit India.  Option four was to head to Tunisia which is a short flight away.  The problem with Asia is that in order to stay beyond a month or a few months in a country you have to have a plan and a visa.  In China, you must have a prearranged visa, and you better not overstay.  So we figured if we were going to China, Candice would teach English.

As a backup we would consider one of the other countries in the area where you could visit for a few months, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, etcetera.  In the end, we might visit all the said countries, but the point is we decided on Asia, choice one.  The tickets were a killer, heading to Shanghai first and then onward to Thailand.  Actually, the trip went from Fez to Pisa and Pisa to Budapest via Ryanair, cheap flights and cheap flights.  Budapest to Moscow and Moscow to Shanghai via Aeroflot, Not as bad as it could have been.  Then from Shanghai to Bangkok via Sri Lankan Air, damn good flight, damn good service.


Let's just say that we had jetlag.  The time difference was 9 hours from Fez to Shanghai, and we lost one of those hours on the way to Thailand, then we had to spend the night at the airport in Moscow.  In Moscow, the kids were pleasantly surprised to find that a Baskin Robbins was open at about 3 o'clock in the morning.   So for all you know-it-alls who would never let your kids eat ice cream at 3 AM in the airport in Moscow, what time is that in Boston?  Quick!  I didn't think so.  So we let them each get a scoop, with their own money, since they wanted it right then, instead of waiting till at least 6 or 7 in the morning.  Your money, your rules.  Also, we managed to score a couple cuban cigars, just to taste.  After spending some time in Ybor City, Tampa, I must say there really, really is a difference in taste too.

Everyone eventually drifted off to sleep in Moscow except me and Asari.  Jacob tried to fight hard as well, I think he even made it too.  He was the main lobby for ice cream.  But Asari was awake to be awake and keep me on my toes.  We started naming capitals cities by alphabet and had made our way to about x when a Russian who spoke English fairly well asked if he could sit down.  There was an open seat next to Asari.  We acted like we didn't hear.  Before I could shift to sit in that seat he sat down.  We are both thinking, where will this be going and how do we get off.  He is excited to see Jacob and I am unexcited about this, wondering if I need to send him about his way or get security.  He is also carrying a beer.  I get him to start talking.  He is a soccer player from a military team, apparently.   He has a vacation going to Hurgada.  Apparently he misses his kids, I try to relay that it is good that he misses his kids, but my kids are mine, and to back off.  Slowly he comes to understand.  In the meantime, since he is holding this huge Russian forty ounce, and in an attempt at good will and diplomacy, and since the airport is practically empty, I tell Asari to keep an eye on things as I walk with this guy to get him out of our hair.

I hear Candice slowly waking, and we head out to buy me a beer.  Half way down the walkway, we see one of many vending machines, selling cold beer.  Why I would want a beer at three o'clock in the morning is beyond me, but here I am with one in my hands, trying to mentally convert it into a cappuccino.  In addition, I now have a contact in Moscow, although, I don't know when I will ever use that contact.  When we return, I find Candice and the girls awake and bundled together.  Apparently, some big Russian had stole Leah's sleeping bench.  I was about to get mad, then I thought, it is public space.  I mean, what would you do on the bus?  And he didn't steal it to sleep on, he and his family used it to sit down.  Still, it wouldn't have went down if I was there, but you can't keep every crazy Russian in check at the same time, as one person.  Once I figured that situation out, my newfound Russian friend's flight to Hurgada began boarding.  I encouraged him not to miss it.  He boarded on the way to Egyptian bliss.

A few hours later and we boarded our much better flight to Shanghai.  Although the food was indeed awful  the people were much cleaner and no drinking was allowed on the flight.  The flight from Budapest to Moscow was a few hours, the one to Shanghai from Moscow was nine hours.  So you can imagine what it would have been like to be on a plane with a bunch of drunk smelly people all that time.  However, since this was a larger plane on a longer flight, I assume they considered that when making it a non drinking flight.  The only problem was the food.  I had requested vegetarian food, but it had been denied along with our advanced seating request.  But I blame that on the ticket aggregator, you really do get what you pay for.  Let's just say that the salmon they brought out in the salmon salad looked like someone had chewed it and spit it in the middle of the poor wilted lettuce.  We should have brought more snacks, nine hours is an incredibly long time to share an orange and a few nuts.

Finally, Ice Cream

So after a few hours of aeroflot, we landed in the land of heavenly street food.  Well that is true of both Shanghai and Bangkok.  In Bangkok on the street wonderful Thai food for the equivalent of a dollar.  In Shanghai, even less.  The food fresh, heated on a wok right before your eyes.  No meat, no problems.  Even with the meat, probably no problems.  Blended mango juice, starfruit juice, dragon fruit juice, coconut water, all one dollar or less.  But back to Shanghai.  We stayed our two days in Shanghai out near the airport, so we didn't really do Shanghai big, we will do that in the future.  The area we stayed in was still pretty populous, and we had all these Asians looking at us like we just came in from the moon.  I guess for them we did.  However, everyone was friendly, cool, and easy going.  No one at our hotel accepted any kind of tips for anything, big shock after Morocco.  No one was impatient and there was a general good vibe for such a huge international city.  In addition, I experienced absolutely no racial problems while I was in Shanghai.  I have read some people saying that China can be funny, and while I was only there for a few days, I experienced none of that.  Most service people seemed to understand some English, but once again if they do not, they are apologetic and even might blush.  I understand four Chinese words, but it is important to know how to say at least, thank you, right?

Asari stayed awake the whole time

Thinking of Ice Cream!

  

So we are now in Thailand for the month, we are moving on to Malaysia for the next month and from there maybe Bali or Goa.  Who can tell?  I guess we might base that one on where we want to be to ring in the 2012 event.  Whether you believe it or not, it should be a good reason for a nice party, no?  Next time, we find out if I really am the tallest man in Bangkok!

Pad Thai

Ramadan!

Ramadan!  Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, where Muslims fast for the entire month.  Devout Muslims refrain from eating, drinking and sex from sunup to sundown.  Ramadan.  First thing I noticed on Ramadan was that there were a couple of dogs down the street from my new flat, the garden apartment, getting, shall we say, intimate.  I took that as a bad omen.  I mean, love is love and so on, and you can't tell two animals to say, get a room, but I mean, this is Ramadan, and these are the dog days of summer.

Empty on the way into the medina

Later that night, we wake to banging and barking in the entrance way to our apartment, there are three or four apartments in the building.  It is the dogs and cats who have busted into the closed door and began fighting, waking the whole building up.  One of the neighbors is yelling at them to get the hell out, in Arabic.  They flee, but they are back the next day.  One of them is even gracious enough to leave a little present.

Jacob's birthday fell at the very beginning of Ramadan, lucky for him, the holiday hadn't really began, I guess it started at daybreak the following day.  We went out for pizza, eating at one of the best restaurants I have visited in Fez.  The place was called Vesuvio and they had killer pizza and general Italian food, we had the eggplant as well.  Everyone, especially Jacob, loved it.  Although, next year he said he wanted McDonalds.  By that time, I think he would have figured on something a little more upscale, I mean you do plenty of learning during your fifth year.

So back to Ramadan.  The first day, we head to our normal place to be, Barcelona Cafe.  I mean, the place has it all, the decor straight from the matrix, wonderful staff, tasty 100% fruit drinks, fans and a very clean bathroom.  The regular staff is all gone, there is an older woman, who kind of is always around.  Anyway, she lets us in and makes our drinks.  She was awesome, and we drink away and pick up our vegetables and fruit in the medina.

Inside the medina

On the way back home, a man speaks, then comments, good start for Ramadan, and kind of sneered.  I mean, I never professed to being Muslim to anyone, if asked to a mosque, temple, church, I will attend, and study said teachings.  That I do.  I would consider converting to any of the above too, but if someone asks if I am Muslim I say I am studying.  Because I am.  But I study plenty of things...  But, that said, I think it was easier for most people to assume I was Muslim, because they don't see many brothers here, especially with big families who stay for a month at a time.  Most people come here for a weekend in a tour that might include two or three other cities.  So I had many people confused.  However, most people ended up loving us, once they understood we were just there to relax and try to understand them and their city.  Anyway, dude should have known from his own religion that there are exemptions to ramadan for those travelling and those ill, both of those I was.  But he was a hater anyway, mad at me cause he couldn't eat no vegetarian halal ribs, or whatever, till the sun went down.

A quiet morning at the medina

So now time passes and Ramadan is under way for a few days.  Everything that would be open early is closed, maybe for the month, maybe not, who is to say?  Some things open up after one or o'clock in the afternoon, some things stay closed.  So we got to go around the medina with hardly anyone present, for a few days.  After a while things picked up.  Then as things got busier, particularly in the afternoon, people got angrier.  Cabbies raging, road rage, and intermittent craziness.  I generally would ignore the rules about travelling during ramadan in the past, but now I will definitely consider them more.  Things can get hectic, especially when you are trying to prepare to leave the country, as I was.

The funniest thing that happened to me was when I was actually in the airport getting ready to leave Morocco.  I am in their immigration and passport control line.  They look at my passport and ask, if I am American.  I answer, Yes.  I damn well claim that one every time, because you don't realize the value of it, until you leave.  So I am like yeah.  So he looks at me suspiciously then asks, was your father American?  I almost am ready to bust up laughing, and answer - as far as I know, then I answer quickly, yes.  He looks at the lady officer next to me and they stamp my exit.  Ramadan goodbye.  Next stop Pisa.

As a bit of an addendum, I found this very interesting article concerning Ramadan in Egypt.

malade, très malade ...

So we had gone raw.  Meaning in this case only fresh fruits and vegetables, maybe cashews and almonds.  No food dehydrator, no blenders. Of course we had plenty of fresh squeezed orange juice.  We were living in the Palais and things were looking good.  Sure it was a bit dated, but we had our own kitchen and we were a bit off the beaten path, it was quiet and most days we were left to our own devices, I think maybe two tour groups came through the whole time we were there, to view the other areas of the Palais.  Sometimes as the sun would set, the world would calm and cool air would rush in through the open windows and doors.

Then the stomach came.  It came with a rush.  We both wanted to blame the melons.  It really had to be the melons.  The ones that look like huge cantaloupes on the outside but are more like honeydews on the inside.  I mean it had to be them, I ate one right before it hit, and I was really loving it.  I was hearing Dr. Latham on his tape, talking about cleansings and good melon cleansings.  I'm thinking, hell yeah.  Gonna clean all this old mess right out of me.  If the worse thing is the runs, then I can deal with them.

Then with a wretched twist, my stomach felt like it hit the floor, cramping incessantly.  It continued this as I continued getting dizzy, dizzier, then with the dizziness came chills and hot flashes.  Then, the cramping got worse, followed by mad dashes to the bathroom.  This went on for a few hours, as the cramps got worse.  Then after a while, I got dehydrated.  After a minute I passed out in the bathroom and woke up on the floor.  Because I started feeling dizzy before I passed out, I knew to make my way to the floor, but I passed out before I fully made my way down.  Moments after, Candice was there to make sure I was okay, because of the sound of my body hitting the floor, but okay I wasn't.  I had cracked something or pulled something in my back falling down, bumping into what ever pretty hard.  I couldn't move.  Slowly, slowly, slowly, Candice moved me to the bedroom, and helped me lay down.  Painfully, I waited for the next trip to the bathroom, where I couldn't make it, due to the pain and inability to walk.  Mind over matter though, right.

My mind is pushing me to thoughts of which hospital I will go to, and how I will get the neighbor to call.  I am figuring that if I can manipulate my way out of the bed and make the trip to the bathroom, I might not need to go.  I had strained some muscle clearly, and I figured it would be closed for business  at least four or five days, meaning I would be off of my feet.  But we go to the medina everyday for fresh fruit and veggies.  Plus, we are due to move to another rental in four or five days as well.  My stomach has not relented...  I wonder if the Adinal left over from Egypt will work, it hasn't expired.

My stomach didn't relent for at least four days, it really isn't 100% now.  It is in the 98% region.  This also ruined my raw food transition, because, in the end you want to clear everything out, but it needs to leave as a solid, sometimes... and in an orderly fashion.  In that regard, I was just a running fountain.  Well, you get the idea.

When my landlord came to help us move to his other flat, the garden apartment, which was beautiful, by the way.  I could tell that I was sicker in appearance than I felt, which was pretty horrible, by his expression.  I could barely move myself, let alone my suitcases.  Luckily, he was a big help, and he and a nephew, pretty much took care of the move.  The apartment was also on the first floor.  I managed after about a week at that apartment to get back to normal.  However, I think this bout of the stomach illness, in Fez was the worst I care to remember.  Luckily the Adinal from Egypt worked, because the stomach illness laughed at the Imodium from Marrakesh.

For all practical purposes the stomach illness cut two weeks from the trip and I can't blame anyone's cooking, because we were eating nothing cooked.  It was just the luck of the draw, and that melon.  Afterwards, we stuck to watermelons (just like the ones back home), peaches, nuts, and a pizza here and there for me and the kids.  Had to get solid.  The funny thing about that is that right when I was looking for some type of cooked food, anything, Ramadan hit.  So all the local restaurants, most of them were closed.  So my hopes of a regular movement were dashed.  But there was always Pisa, where we had a flight layover scheduled!  So there you have it, as we prepare for another bout of going raw again.  A picture or so to remember the medina by...

Entrance leading to the medina, nearly empty due to Ramadan

Moscow

While China was not what I expected, Russia kinda was. The flight from Budapest to Moscow was not the most pleasant. The flight attendants were a little bit mean and the men on the plane were smelly, even more so than you would find in Morocco, oddly enough. One guy in front of me almost made me pass out every time he raised his arms or shifted in his seat. The guy behind us wasn't much better, but luckily we were able to adjust the air vents to block his smell from drifting up to our seats. To make matters even worse, the food was absolutely horrid. Probably the worst airplane meals we've ever had the displeasure of tasting. 

As we arrived to Moscow, we were shuttled to an area for transit passengers after our carry on bags were scanned again and passports scrutinized. It was after midnight when we arrived so the food choices were limited.  One interesting thing to note was the huge cans of beer that could be bought from the vending machines very cheaply. 

We were in for a long layover so we tried to get comfortable. A woman in the transit passenger lounge told us that if we ventured out into the main lobby, we would find seats in which we could really stretch out and catch a good nap. We wandered into the airport, but all we could find was these bench seats that looked harder and more uncomfortable than the ones in the lounge that we had just left. The only advantage to these was that they did not have armrest on them, therefore you could conceivably lay down if you wanted to. 

It was pretty empty that time of the morning, so we had as many seats as we wanted. We brought four benches together and tried to get comfortable. The boys didn't want to lay down, they were looking at the hard benches very skeptically, eventually CJ relented and went to sleep while Jacob reluctantly curled up in the corner of a seat and sleep took over. As I drifted in and out of sleep, I heard more people begin to fill up the lobby area. 

Soon I heard a man arguing in Russian. I looked over groggily in the general direction of the voice, and I saw a man taking Leah's bags off of the seat and shooing her away so that he and his family could sit down. Leah was fast asleep when he began his diatribe, so she hadn't a clue as to what was going on. I told her to get her bags and come sit down next to me. Orlando had gone walking with a new found friend on his way to Hurghada who was a little drunk and scared to fly. I had looked the man up and down, he was sweaty, beefy and tattooed. Not someone whom I wanted to confront. So I kept my mouth shut and just had her and Asari move closer to me.

Being somewhat wide awake after that encounter, we watched the hours tick away while waiting to board our flight to Shanghai.  The Baskin Robbins counter was right next to us. Jacob did his best Jedi Mind Trick impression and ended up with some ice cream, along with the rest of the kids. That served to cheer them up a bit.  Another hour or so, and the gate from which our flight was leaving was finally on the board. That being set, we drifted closer to the area to try and find seats closer to the gate. 

Three tiny greasy, garlicky and overpriced roasted potatoes later, we were on our way to Shanghai. And not a moment too soon.