Staycation

Living in Rondon doesn't mean you have to leave it to enjoy it :) Well, err, actually, it does mean that, but you don't have to leave the country to enjoy it *grin*

One of the best holidays I've had, is at the Lakes District. You get the freshest air, you get the greenest view. Value for hiking effort. All about 5 or 6 hours outside of Rondon.

What's a "Staycation", I hear you say? It's when there's a GFC (the one that didn't hit Australia but Australians seem to think it did... and it makes me think of KFC) and you can't afford to leave the country for a holiday. So you take a break and eksplore (my retarded "aks" key doesn't work on my MBP anymore) your own territory.

Most high-larious thing - I was the only one without hiking shoes, and I was the only one who survived without injury ;)

Anyways, enough rambling, here are some proper rambler piks :P

Here endeth my travel tales...
It wouldn't have been the same without the Ladiezzz :)
*MUAH*

Things I saw in Cambodia

Firstly, did you know Tin Tin had a mishap in Cambodia?

I never read this one:

The beauty:





Me in ruins (800+ year old ruins!):

The poverty.
Where a woman with a baby rows up to us and begs for money:


The fried stuff (crickets and spiders):


The evil:

Even though we'd pledged it would never happen again after 1945, it happened between 1975-1979. My parents wouldn't have survived. My brother born in 1972 would've been shot. I would've starved to death if I made it. 2 million people died. 8000 skulls are piled up high in the killing fields. So how can we say we've learnt our lesson?

New York in stereo

I'm walking in the rain with my hoodie up. I'm surprisingly used to rain now :) Tiesto plugged in, deep beats playing as I run across giant wet streets.

"Wasted all this time, searching...
Brought me to my knees..."

10am, sitting on a bench outside Balthazar waiting for the girls. The Ting Tings rocking through me.

"Folks got high at a quarter to five,
Don't you feel you're growing up undone!
...Imagine all the girls - ah ah ah aaah ah ah ah!"

Catching the metro downtown with PvD and a perfectly timed track.

"I watch the sky turn black to blush,
Head still spinning from the rush,
Of all the things I did the night before...
And looking down from my hotel,
These dawn lits streets begin to fill,
With memories of you and I...
On a New York City night..."

I like this. It's like I'm watching New York as a 24/7 movie. The personal soundtrack puts an even bigger smile on my face. Suddenly being unemployed isn't such a bad thing. Not when I get the rare chance to ketchup with those I hearts. Lots of giggling, lots of cocktails and beers, hotdogs in a phonebooth bar, taxidermied animals, peeking through holes in fences, *squeealing* out loud Bon Jovi lyrics somewhere on Avenue C... It's just me being... happy (^_^)

Gracias especiales:
:: AdF, PdF & SH for the birthday flight over :D
:: Pepper Pants *grin*, Tocca, SM & H for the good times. Again! Again! :D *MUAH*

Where have I been?

Topping up my tan in Ibiza :)

(kudos: vision7media - Thanks Paul! :) )

Our very neon hotel:


Dinner @ Pacha:

Throw in Space Opening in the middle:

(Proud of myself - white dress stayed white!)

Finished up with cocktails and sunset @ Cafe del Mar:

That's it, no more Ibiza for me. I'm officially getting off the Venga bus ;) (Erm, but could potentially be coaxed back on for an Armada night :P )

M-San: You should've been there!!! *accusatory glare*

@$*# hippies!!

I guess I should've read through the website more thoroughly... Because I sure wasn't expecting a HIPPY COMMUNE :P

I don't know, you tell me.

Does this (from the website):

Look like this (IRL)?

I guess, what I'm shitty about is that I paid a LOT of money and was totally unprepared for:
:: The lack of meat in my meals (I guess, one solar panel is not enough to justify a fridge);
:: The freaking cold showers;
:: The lack of heating in my tipi;
:: The holes in my tipi;
:: The freaking mossie invasion (I suspect because there's a pool of stagnant water closeby);
:: The numerous bugs in my bed when I woke up;
:: The freezing temperatures (lucky I brought my thermals, because those ended up as pajamas every night);
:: The beach that wasn't on my doorstep;
:: The lazyass surf instructor.

I wouldn't be so upset if I hadn't paid _so_much_squiddies_ for the experience. Where the f*ck did my squiddies go?

Even more upsetting to me is - at the time, I was reading about Fidel roughing it out in the jungles and sugar cane fields with his compañeros. He was a leader who would never ask more than he could give, from his team. Whilst me, the rest of the group and the hippies (aka WWOOF'ers *blah*) were roughing it out in this valley in the middle of nowhere, the creator of this "retreat" was living it up in a civilised town. That's right, he wasn't living by his creed. He had internets :P This picture of him here, that's *definitely* NOT what he looks like now :P

Commendable aspects:
:: The eco toilet was suprisingly clean, albeit out in the open. I just had to remember to mark every bowel movement.
:: The Anusara yoga was awesome :) I never slept in because I wanted to make it to yoga in the mornings.

Oh, the surfing. No, I didn't stand up. I was too busy trying to paddle out!!! It was really nice to finally see an European beach with surf though :) I loved it, so didn't really care that I couldn't surf because I was still out in the turbulent waters. Finally!

Btw, Faro is the City of Geriatrics. I have never been on an Easyjet flight filled with OLD people before. All jostling to get onto the plane first. It's bizarre. I imagine this is where European grannies and gramps go "out to pasture".

The People (cubana cinco)

My perception of Cuban people changed dramatically over 24 hours. On my first day in Habana, I was talking to anyone who wanted to talk to me. Everywhere I went, whenever I stopped, *someone* always wanted to talk to me. You know me, I'll talk to anyone... until I got hustled a couple of times. Unfortunately, the few who took advantage of my friendliness, ruined it for everyone else. After that, I refused to talk to anyone.

I guess everyone does what has to be done to survive in a bad economy, but I hate the fact that I'm forced to doubt anyone's intention.

This is me, minding my own business, with
Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" just infront of my hotel:
(Notice the white speck at the top right corner)

This is me, reading for a few minutes:

This is what I saw when I looked up:

DUHN-DUNH-DERN!!! *Egad*
Err, harro... weren't you a speck less than 10 mins ago?!?
"No, I don't want to salsa with you no matter how many times you ask" :P

Not all Cubans are after my money...
There's an ice-cream parlour called Coppelia in Habana Vedado. It's *the* place to go to for ice-cream. There are unbelievable lines into this place at multiple entrances. Groups are led in by security guards. Unfortunately, if you're a foreigner without local pesos (there are two currencies in this country), you're not allowed in. You're only allowed to order at the ice-cream counter outside. Guess who didn't have any local pesos? So after talking to the security guard in my pitiful Spanish, I ended up waiting in the foreigner line. After awhile, the security guard takes pity on me, shoves 10 local pesos into my hand, and tells me to go in with the next group into Coppelia.

What I see are stools lining a long bar, with large white freezers against the walls. Chuffed that I beat the local crowds, I take a seat at an empty stool and order fresa. Out comes a plate with five giant scoops of strawberry and something else *shrug* Hey, I got my ice-cream, I ain't complaining.

As I leave Coppelia, I find the security guard to thank him and offer him foreign pesos in return. He refuses my money and says it was his treat. That's a nice change :)

Then he starts asking me which hotel I'm staying at. Then he starts giving me knowing raised eyebrow looks. That's when I made my exit :P

Maybe not all Cubans are after my money, but my booty's a pretty high price to pay for five scoops of ice-cream!

Revolution anyone? (cubana cuatro)

(Note: If you can't see the slideshow in your reader, go to the post)
The timing of my trip to Havana was spot-on, with the 50th year of celebrating Revolution Day. Yup, Fidel has stood up to the US for 50 years. Did you know Fidel holds the record for the longest speech ever delivered at United Nations, clocking in at 4 hours and 29 mins. His longest speech on record in Cuba is 7 hours and 10 mins!! This is a man with plenty to say.

Fidel addressing the masses at Revolution Square in 1960:

With loud speakers blaring, "Viva Raul y Fidel! Viva Cuba!" over and over again, thousands of people parade through Revolution Square with slogans, flags and posters of Che and Fidel.

Revolution Square today:

Can you spot Raul Castro? :)

Here he is!

Viva Revolution! Viva Cuba Libre!