Around the World in 8 months

AUS & NZ

OZZY: OK, so I know it’s been a little while… What can I say, the Aussie lifestyle of relaxing and taking it easy got to me. Since I last blogged, I finished up my stay in Sydney and I headed out to New Zealand for 6 days with Marie-Michele and my sister. New Zealand was awesome (I’ll post some pictures soon). I felt like i was on the set of the Lord of the Rings (well, I kind of was). We started off in Christchurch, which is the largest city in the South Island. There wasn’t much for us to see there, it’s a very quiet town, but we did see some demolished buildings from a pretty crazy earthquake they had not long ago. Then we drove our way through turqouise lakes and snow-capped mountains into Queenstown. Queenstown is every adrenaline freak’s wet dream. You can skydive, bungy, swing, jet boat, zipline, raft and any other crazy activity that you can think of, they’ve got it. The jetboating really freaked my sister because the jetboat squeezes in between canyons with barely inches to spare. Then, I went on the world’s highest swing at 150m up with a 300m arc. The others didn’t want to do it even though I really tried hard to convince them. I was pretty scared as I was hanging high above a canyon, waiting to freefall for 8 seconds. It was such an adrenaline high. Our last stop in New Zealand was Auckland, which was a bit of a letdown. It’s sort of like a smaller Sydney, but less people, less actions and less things to see. At least we were only there for a day.

We flew to Melbourne from Auckland so I could visit my family that lives there, as well as see another part of Australia. We drove along the Great Ocean Road for two days, where I saw Koalas among other great scenery. The last two days in Melbourne have been really relaxing, nothing too crazy. It was nice to spend time with the fam and take it easy. Melbourne too is a really hip city, yet different from Sydney, with it’s mixture between old and new and outlandish architechture.

And now, as I’m sitting in the Melbourne airport after being “randomly searched” for the 5th time in the last month (even the guy at Check-in laughed and said: “You must have lots of problems at customs with that picture”), I’m super excited to meet back up with my friends, Fagen and Netta. I really don’t know what to expect in Vietnam, other than utter chaos. I guess that’s a good start. I promise not to keep you waiting another 10 days before I write again, besides I feel that I’m going to have quite a bit to tell.

Oh, and I found two new foods I love in Australia: TimTams & Sticky Date Pudding.

P.S. A little shout-out to Marie-Michele and my sister Marie for spending time with me, having me over for the past two weeks and travelling around with me and even spoiling me a little bit (even though my sister would never admit to that).

Hanoi: Day 1

Fagen: Netta and I landed safely at the airport and got off to go through immigration. We were met with our first contact with the Vietnamese…an angry women. She took our passports, looked at our visas and pretty much through them back at us. We grabbed our luggage, which took FOREVER, and made our way out of the airport. We were greeted by a representative of our organization, Volunteers for Peace in Vietnam. We got in a car with him and another driver and headed out to where we were staying, known as the Peace house. This was also our first experience with Vietnamese drivers….Netta was gripping my hand the whole time. He was swerving in and out of traffic, honking all the time, cutting other cars off, and driving very very fast. Once we made it to the house safely, we thanked g-d for sparing our lives and went to our rooms to sleep. The bed was essentially wood with the thinest mattress conceivable, think of a cushion you put out on patio furniture… only thinner. We also got a pillow that was equally as thin.

When we woke up we met some of the other volunteers and had a breakfast of bread and cheese. They’re very nice. Most of them are from Australia, one from Canada, and a 3 from Denmark. We talked about what to expect and how the people are in Vietnam. After breakfast, we were taken on a city tour of Hanoi, we went to the Museum and Ethnology to learn about the ethnic minorities in Vietnam, of which there are many… but they’re all almost identical so i don’t know why they are classified as ethnic group. After that, we went to the Old Quarter to eat lunch. Lunch was incredible. We had noodles, steamed vegetables and very good meat. We then walked to a famous ice cream place and ate some of the most incredible ice cream that I’ve ever tried. We went to different markets and saw all the shops in the Old Quarter. It is a very touristy area as there were a lot of foreigners and many English signs. We saw many tourists travelling with their children. As it turns out, Vietnam is one of the safest places to travel and so many people bring their kids along. Vietnamese people are very nice; they wave and say hi and try to speak English with us.

After the Old Quarter, we headed back to the Peace house for supper, which was essentially the same food as lunch. We hung out with the other volunteers and then went to bed…We had orientation early in the morning

Vietnam

Fagen: So I know I haven’t posted in a while…It’s been quite busy so I haven’t had much time to get on a computer. Vietnam is one of the coolest places I’ve been to. They have no traffic rules so everyone drives wherever they want. There is no traffic lights, no matter how big the intersection is. There is constant honking and it’s not out of anger, it’s to tell people not to smash into them or stop suddenly. there are so many people on the road that they all drive motorcycles. To get onto a bus, you have to run and catch up to it and jump on or off while it is driving. There are shops everywhere and massive markets selling everything. There is poverty in Hanoi, but not as bad as I thought. There is a booming economy, as many people have told me. There is construction everywhere and improvements to infrastrcuture. 

In terms of the Socialism, It doesn’t seem to be very apparent. There are votes for presidency and free enterprises. Anyone can open up a business and there is no police interference in everyday life. The only thing that is noticeable is that there are some, but not many, propaganda posters and the most beautiful buildings are government ones. 

Food is amazing…noodles, pork, rice, and just everything is so good. I can’t explain it.

People here a very very friendly and love to practice there english with you. They say hi to everyone. Everyone is talking and laughing with each other. There is not alot of violent crimes and everyone trusts each other. 

Well that’s a general overview of the country and I will fill you in more on our daily activities another time. 

Ozzy-land

G’day mate! Let’s put some shrimp on the barbie!!

Ok, so I haven’t actually heard anyone say the second sentence yet. I was greeted in Sydney by the lovely customs officials who, for some reason were suspicious of me, and it took 20 minutes to look over my passport and ask me questions, but they finally let me go (maybe they couldn’t believe my name is Ozzy?). After that, you also have to go through quarantine, which is very serious in Australia. Finally I was out and my sister and Marie-Michele were holding up a sign “Welcome down under” upside down to welcome me. Most people didn’t get why it was upside down but I’ll forgive them. Even though I was tired from the flight, we headed out the same day to wine country and to see the kangaroos because it was my other sister’s last day in Sydney (she was also visiting, and we had a nice family reunion).

Some of the kangaroos were massive, and even though they looked cute while hopping, they can be prettty dangerous if they decide to kick you. After feeding them loads of bread, we continued on to the Hunter Valley, which is basically an excuse for people to get drunk at 2 in the afternoon, and for free. We sampled all kinds of wines, cheeses and olives before heading back home.

Today, we walked all around the city all day. It’s really nice. It’s sort of San Francisco meets Miami meets New York. The whole city is surrounded by bays. I saw all the famous places (opera house, harbour bridge, etc) and tried their famous meat pies. In the evening, when our feet were already tired we sat on the harbour, ate and smoked shisha (isn’t life hard???) hehe

Good on ya

Tokyo Day 3 and 4

Ozzy, Fagen, Netta: Today we decided to have a little sleep in so that we can have energy for the New Years Eve party tonight. We woke up at around 11:30 and went to the Imperial Palace and the Senso-Ji Temple. The Temples looked like temples and the Imperial Palace was surrounded by a giant wall and guarded all around by guards. Needless to say, this afternoon was not so interesting.

We did however did a travellers version of Shabbat with bread, candles, and grape juice from the gorcery store next to the hostel. We took a short nap in order to get ready for the night to come. We looked online and found a club in Shibuya called club WOMB. It is one of Tokyo’s best rated clubs and it had a big part happening tonight. We made our way to the club with only 15 minutes to spare before midnight. We toasted with vodka red bull and shots of tequilla instead of traditional champagne. The club was HUGE. There over a thousand people that night and the music ranged from progressive trance to tribal to high tempo japanese electro music. There were lights flashing everywhere and We were both very surprised that no one around us started having seisures and comvulsions. We stayed at the club till around 4 and when we got outside, we entered a new Tokyo. This Tokyo was characterised with garabage EVERYWHERE and people lieing on the street, puking and passing out anywhere. Crows began eating the vomit of the young japanese alcoholics and this was by far the dirtiest we have ever seen Japan.

We got home and set our alarms for 10, giving us an hour till check out time. You can only geuss what comes next. The alarms never rang and so we woke up at 11:30. We went downstairs, and told the receptionist our story. She looked at us in utter shock and disappointment and told us we had half an hour. We rushed to pack everything in half an hour and went downstairs to get ready to go to the train station. We took the bullet train because it was less expensive and faster.

Note from Fagen: I don’t understand how there can be one train that is faster, more high tech, better quality, then another train and yet still be cheaper. This to me defies the laws of economics.

Now we are at the airport waiting for our respective flights to Vietnam (Netta and Fagen) and to Australia (Ozzy). We wont see eachother for two weeks so we’re gonna blog sereparlty about our experiences. bye for now and happy new year to everyone!!!

Tokyo Day 2..

NETTA: We woke up as early as we could (which was not really that early 10:.00 a.m) and we went to the famous fish market.. it smelled horribly fishy. After wandering the streets and looking at crazy sea food animals we decided to try  some of the most famous sushi in the world. we waited more than half an hour when we realized that we could just take out the food and not wait in line. so we got our food and we sat at McDonald eating this crazy expensive sushi. it is really not the same kind of sushi you would find at kanda. After eating sushi we were still really hungry so we found the one Israeli restaurant in Tokyo. restaurant is a big word it is more like a food stall with three stools. we ate falafel and chilled with Ronen the guy running the place who also gave us tips on where to go out.

We visited the famous Sony building, a six story monument to the electronics giant with all kind of cool tech stuff inside. Fagen and Ozzy found these really cool ultra small and modern laptop computers and mistook the price of the computer with the price of the case, $60. as they were planning on how many to import to Israel (around 10 to so many family and friends) and were desperately trying to convince me that i need to buy one as well. when we inquired on how to  purchase them, the clerk gave us the ACTUAL price of $600. two really sad boys left the sony store empty handed and slightly depressed…

OZZY: At night, we headed out to Roppongi, the foreigner filled party area, where we were constantly harassed by various club promoters, but we had our sights set on a place recommended by the hostel employees, GASPANIC. Clubbing in Japan is different, to say the least. We had a great time, although some of the people there were a little odd and creepy. Unfortunately, as we were rushing to catch the last metro back to our hostel, Netta realized that someone had managed to slip their hands into her purse and steal her wallet. Luckily, she listened to my previous advice, to keep her most important stuff in her money belt, so all that was lost was some money and bank cards. Happy New Year to the asshole who stole her purse :)

FAGEN: I’m kinda exhausted of writing after my last massive post but i just had mention something that happened today. We were hanging out in our room when Netta made possibly the funniest comment I’ve heard in a while. Ozzy was telling us about his roommate in the first hostel he went to in Tokyo. They slept in the same dorm room in bunk beds but didn’t know each other…this is common for hostels. Netta asked a question, as she does so often, about the sleeping arrangements…it went something like this:
Netta: “I don’t understand, so you slept in a room just like this?”Ozzy: “Ya, it was  a little smaller, but ya, why?”Netta: “Wasn’t it weird to sleep in the same bed, next to a complete stranger?”
Ozzy and I locked eyes, and immediately burst out in uncontrollable laughter. We explained that clearly it was bunk beds similar to the one in our room, and not a double size bed. We couldn’t stop laughing and making fun of her for the rest of the day… We love Netta.

Great Start! part 1

Fagen: Finally I can stop being jealous of Ozzy and I can make my first post. With so much on our minds, Me and Netta got to the hostel and got ready to go out an hit the city. This came as a shock to Ozzy that we had been on airplanes for 17 hours but still wanted to go out. We just wanted to see everything and wanted to see it right away. We noticed many things that were different from the 514:

1. everything is so clean.

2. everyone is proper, professional, but VERY shy. 

3. No one seems angry, from what I can tell from facial expressions, but everyone seems rushed. 

4. Waitresses do not accept tips

5. and this one is fact from the over 100,000 people I have seen today. NO ONE IS FAT. We saw 1 overweight Japanese man. Everyone is skinny, boy and girl.

6. and this is coming from 3 people living in Montreal, there fashion is so far ahead of our time. Everyone is into the latest fashion and brand names, young and old.

Note: the combination of 5 and 6 makes the women here beautiful. OMG are they good looking.

7. There is such little crime… I didn’t hear one siren yet and people just leave there bikes on the street and anywhere with no lock on them. 

Anyways, back at the hostel. We asked the receptionist at the hostel and she told us of a cool restaurant near Shibuya, the “Times Square” of Tokyo…you know the one where all the pictures of it is just a swarm of people crossing the street? Well Ozzy and others told us that it was a Wednesday night so it shouldn’t be so packed. We took the metro and right when we got out of the metro car, we were squished up against each other…no joke. We made our way through the tunnels and up the escalators to the outside. IT WAS PACKED full of people as far as the eye could see. I have never seen so many people before, and I have been to the Big O when it was full. I can only imagine what it’s like on a “busy” night. We made our way through the swarm of people, taking pictures of the chaos as we walked along the street. Good thing Ozzy had been there before so He knew where to go. I was just mesmerized by the lights and the people.

We get to the restaurant and it turned out to be a prison/E.R. themed restaurant (theme restaurants are a huge deal in Tokyo and our everywhere). Netta and Ozzy never told me it was themed so they got a good laugh when the waitress put hand cuffs on me and walked us to our table…which was in a prison cell. It was all you can eat/drink but you had to pay extra for each plate/drink you did not finish. We foolishly orded ALOT of food and drinks…by the end of it I wanted to vomit. After that we walked around a bit and then headed back to sleep off the pain in our stomachs. 

When we got back to the hostel, I had to use the bathroom to…you know…all that food we ate…I think you get the picture. The toilet seat had to have been the most beautiful toilet seat I’ve ever seen. It was heated, yes heated, and had 2 sprays, one was for butt and the other was for butt and girl parts (I accidentally used the butt and girl parts one…it felt great). They had 5 pressure levels and it had a button that made flushing noises so that other people around can’t here you. There was also a sink that would run water when you flushed the toilet. All in all. great first day. Part 2 coming soon…

Bad Start..

So now that the three of us are reunited again (Netta, Daniel & Ozzy), we’re going to specify who’s writing each post to make it easier for you guys.

NETTA: Chicago airport is known to be the most disorganize airport in the world. Today we realized why. When we got to the airport we went to our gate but apparently it was switched.. obviously there was no announcement so we missed our flight. We waited for the second flight but because of our lack of organization we missed that one as well. Now, i am writing this blog from Chicago airport sitting on a lonely bench in the middle of the packed terminal….

Before my mom and dad freak out, and i am sure that they are now looking for immediate flights to Chicago.. I AM JOKINNNNNG! Fagen and I are in Tokyo.. everything went very smooth. The flight was surprisingly fast. There was a lot of entertainment on the flight and i think we were too excited to really dwell on the 14 hour flight.. We met Ozzy in the airport which was nice becuase we have not seen him in a while. Ozzy (our tour guide) was already very familiar with the subway system and he led us to our hostel..

as we were making our way to the hostel, i have noticed that japenese people are very fashion forward. I thought that  in north america we are very  brand concsious, but i was proven wrong. In Tokyo the men, as well as women are very fashion concsious. The men are also very aware of their hairstyle. There are mirrors everywhere in the metro. I was expecting women to be the ones making up but it was the opposite. men were constantly looking at the mirror adjusting their hair.

We also took the train to Tokyo and everyone seemed to be very formal. As each employee entered the cart, they first bowed and the continued…  they were also dressed very proper, including the hat and the white gloves..

Now we are getting ready to go out so i just wanted to tell everyone i really do miss you..

Fruits?

Since I’ve gotten to Japan, I haven’t had any fruits. No one here really eats them. I finally bought some yesterday because I missed them so much. I paid $7 for two apples! TWO apples not two pounds of apples. I also bought some clementines and a piece of pineapple. Fruit never tasted so good, and I’ll never take them for granted again!

Falafel/Ginza/Apple Store

I was supposed to wake up early this morning to visit the Tsukiji Fish market, but I just couldn’t wake up. The prospect of smelly fish in the morning wasn’t good enough motivation for me. When I finally did wake up, I went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government offices, where there is a free observatory 45 floors up with a nice view of Tokyo. After that, I walked around Ginza, which is the equivalent to New York’s 5th Avenue. While there, I spotted the Ginza Apple Store and I remembered that my left earbud of my iPhone earphones stopped working. I was really hesitant to make a Genius Bar appointment because I thought to myself “I spent so many hours in an Apple Store working there, did I really come halfway around the world to sit in one?” But there was an appointment available in 10 minutes time, so I decided to bite the bullet and stay at the store. (It’s the only Apple Store I’ve ever been to that there aren’t any stairs, just elevators as it’s 4 floors). I wasn’t that impressed though because they take me until 15 minutes after when my appointment was scheduled for (What’s Ginza compared to Fairview Pointe-Claire). With my earphones replaced, I continued to walk around until I stumbled upon Falafel King, a lonely looking little food stall that was completely empty. It was an Israeli joint, and I ended up having a nice chat with the guy working there, who moved to Tokyo because his girlfriend is studying here, about our experiences in Japan while eating some falafel. We then both had some Tea with Na’ana before I decided to head back to the hostel to meet up with the two Aussies.

Yalla Bye