I'm back from touring SE Asia!

For 6 weeks I'm staying put in the Philippines until I hop on a jetplane for Japan & Singapore in April. Tough life, right? The month solo backpacking trip was amazing and I finally have pictures to prove it! What better way to kick off the sharing than with food & art ;)

Malaysia:

roti & teh tarik

abc (their shaved ice)

chicken & rice

roti bom

cendol (with a floating person for garnish)

Chang Chang Chaaaaang

I've returned from the Elephant Nature Park! I can't describe how amazing the experience was... so I'll just share what I wrote in my journal:

mae kham kaew, the friendliest!
(photo borrowed from ENP)

Train Station, Chiang Mai
31/01/10

I'm very sad... The reality of the experience is hitting me just now. I loved my time in ENP. From the bonfire to hopping on the back of a truck filled with corn, digging around to find a cob to eat as we drove through the jungle, villages and farmland. I loved quoting 10 things I hate about you with Tori while de-husking corn, and all the volunteers and mahouts gathering around me to watch me draw. And the variety of people here... I shoveled elephant poo with the scifi writer who gave one of my favorite children's book illustrator/writers his big break (SHAUN TAN). I love this town and how the people joke and laugh. I can feel that there is a reason for each person I've met on this trip, that their stories and influences are important, some more than others but significant nevertheless.

And waking up to hear a choir of dogs, roosters and elephants every morning, retiring to bed with dirty feet from the dust, tired from the labor, full from the delicious food (pad siew everydayyyyyy!!) and happy because I accomplished something grand. Seriously, the sand task was the most tiring... Trekking to the beach, shoveling sand into giant sacks (10 volunteers filled about 200 bags of sand), loading them on to the truck bed, then emptying them into the elephant pens. We made two big mounds for the babies to enjoy. We weren't even done loading all the sand but had to escape because the babies were RUNNING to get to the sand. And they doooove trunk first, kicking and trumpeting. Seeing our 3 hours worth of work demolished and destroyed in a matter of seconds was worth it. Then to linger by their pens, watching them play and Lek (the beautiful soul responsible for the park) sing que sera to lull them to sleep...!!! Once the baby was asleep, Justine and I were invited in. The world felt so small in that moment, like it all fit in that little elephant. Oh, and how she snored! SO LOUD! I rested my hands on her stomach as she slept and gave her all the love I could possibly summon.

the baby, pha mai
(photo borrowed from ENP. My own photos to come soon!)

Elephant Nature Park

Ok, first replace Sheila with me and... THAT'S ME! hahaha
I'm minutes from being picked up for the Elephant Nature Park where I'll be a volunteer for a week. I never thought I'd be so excited about shoveling poo. Jo suggested stealing some to make stationary, but I don't know... Last night, I wandered through the Sunday Night Market in Chiang Mai with Carl/Karl (sp?) and snagged a journal just for the week. I'm so thrilled! I was writing in the journal this morning and thought of a couple things:

I'm halfway through my travels now. It feels like I was in Malaysia months ago and that I was there for months at a time. I feel like I've been in this city for more than 2 days. It's amazing how traveling has the capability of making life and time feel longer while usually time moves more quickly as you get older because of relevance and experience. Traveling does making you feel reborn: everything is new and time passes as if you're experiencing minutes and days for the first time.

Adventures in Sukhothai

Hot damn it's been hella days since I've felt so inspired by ancient ruins & architecture. So beautiful there and really, motorbike is the way to explore. I spent so much time sketching in the hot hot heat and drawing portraits of kids in really big chairs and wrinkly old people... I wish I could post them RIGHT NOW! It feels so goooood to draw :)

Thoughts on Traveling...

Here's an email I wrote to some friends while in KL. I realize I coooould post the email updates here. We'll see if I actually remember too :)

Before I left NYC, I went to a group meditation and when Angel read my energy, she said that I was going to meet like minded people. I completely understand what that means now and I only understand it now from these two days in Kuala Lumpur. I feel like people are divided into two groups when it comes to traveling: those who live to travel and those who travel to live. Those who travel to live use it as a way of escaping their reality. Those who live to travel are born with a wide-eyed curiousity, open and excited about how the world is. Traveling isn't an escape--it's what their life is. And I feel that way, and have felt that way ever since I said no to living comfortably in LA and yes to living a mystery life of a nomad. The emails I send, the adventures I have... they don't feel any more special to me than sitting down and having fish & rice with my aunt for dinner at home. Being on my own and traveling through SE asia is just as much an adventure as walking down Broadway in nyc. I don't mean these thoughts to sound snobby or anything... I think I'm just figuring out the type of person I am.

You'd be surprised by how many people I've met who have no fuckin' clue what they want to do with their lives but KNOW they have to travel right now, and for the next 6 months. And we all have an ending destination accompanied by a big fat question mark regarding what to do after that. I'm soooo comforted by this. Before I left I was freaking out and thinking, what the f am I doing with my life? Spending my money and then what? I don't know! Haha. I've met people who are traveling longer than me, have been to more places than me and I'm finding a space where I'm not rare, but part of a community.

Today has been like yesterday... a whirlwind of experiences and meeting people, and I love it. I love that I know so many things that I didnt know before just because I was in a specific place at a specific time.

Tin Can Pillow #1

Tada! I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.
Sweet, now I've earned my trip around SE Asia.
Time to put down the needle & thread for the sketchbook & pen.
Hello Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia & Malaysia! :)
I'll try to post when I can but no promises. If not, see you in a month!

progress report... A+++!

who is she speaking to?!?

stay tuned for the next episode of pillow progress.