Back to reality

Now that I'm back in Montreal and Frosh week is winding down (aka no more Boustan, Pizza, beer and fast food eats) I thought it was about time to reincorporate vegetables into my diet. Checking out what I had in the fridge I decided to recreate the famous Montreal bagel and locks, but this time in the form of a salad. After spending all summer in Asia I feel like I've missed out on the summer season of fresh vegetables in Montreal so this is one recipe that will help me compensate. And boy did I miss fresh fish while I was away!

Bagel and Locks Salad

Ingredients
2 cups baby spinach or fresh salad greens
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
2 spring onions, diced
1/4 cup low fat Kraft cream cheese divided into two parts
2 tbsp capers
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
3-4 slices of fresh smoked salmon
Bagel chips to serve

In a bowl, combined the spring onions, olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice and half the cream cheese. Whisk together and add a tbsp water to thin the dressing. Season with fresh cracked pepper. In a salad bowl add the spinach and layer with tomatoes and slices of salmon. Add the rest of the cream cheese (either in chunks or cubes). Sprinkle on a few capers and sliced spring onions as a garnish and add a generous amount of cream cheese dressing.

I didn't have any bagels in the house today but I recommend slicing a bagel very thinly (into chip like pieces) and toasting them in the oven. They go great with the salad and add a nice crunch.

Fresh salad greens

Dressing - capers, cream cheese, olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice

Fresh garden cherry tomatoes

Cream cheese dressing

Fresh smoked salmon

Cream cheese

Salad complete!

Home Sweet Home

Padang Padang Beach, Bali

After taking a boat, bus and cab to Padang Padang beach and checking the availabilities at 3 hotels we finally found somewhere that fit into our budget. We'd read good things about this beach which was supposed to be famous for its surf breaks. We got to the hotel late, paid the cabdriver and soon realized that where we were was a place where you absolutely needed a car or a motorbike, which we did not have. There was really nothing around our hotel and we were feeling kind of ill from the gas fumes on the boat and the bumpy bus ride so went back to our room early. The next morning we got up early since it was our last day on the beach. We had breakfast (fried rice with chicken and egg for me, nasi goreng the Idonesian specialty, and a fruit plate and pressed sandwich for Katie). We were one of the first people on the beach and were a bit disappointed by its size. The beach was small and surrounded by cliffs, and was beautiful. The surf breaks were far out and not very visible so we didn't get to see too many surfers in action. We saw many people jump on their boards and paddle out but because of all the cliffs we didn't really see them take the waves. Katie decided she wanted to deal with her money situation (basically she had none) and we were told that the closest ATM was 6km away. Too bad we didn't have money to take a cab 6km. After stressing out a bit (mostly on my part, Katie usually doesn't stress much) Katie found a money exchange and changed in some American $ for Indonesian Rupiah. Now we had just enough money to pay the cab the next day and eat dinner that night. We stayed on the beach most of the afternoon and I finished my 5th book of the trip (The Girl in the Picture, a non-fiction story about Kim Phuc, a famous Vietnamese war symbol). Once the sun started to set we walked the 10 minutes back to our hotel and had a dinner. We were a little disappointed that we didn't get to see Uluwatu, but we found out that to get to the famous breaks there you had to swim on a board through a cave which was recommended for advanced surfers only. We didn't have money or a car so we opted not to go. We ended the night by watching yet another True Blood episode (I was captivated, Katie fell asleep within 10 minutes) and the next morning we packed up and headed to the airport. Bali was a beautiful island, and the next time we visit (hopefully with a little more cash in our wallets) we'll know to rent a car so we can really explore. 

Tubes at Padang Padang Beach

Sunset at Padang Padang

Bangkok

We arrived in Bangkok after a layover in Jakarta (and having to pay another 150,000 Rupiah to leave the country bringing the bill to 55$ just to fly in and out). We cabbed to Khoasan Road for one last night out in BKK. We stayed again at Rambuttri Village, and this time had to pay a little more for a twin room because they only had ones with TV and fridge this time. We dropped off our bags and headed out for some Tom Yum soup, but not before Katie stopped off at the clinic to get some meds for yet another rash acquired in the lovely land of Asia (I think if we stay here any longer we'll slowly die off). We actually dressed up so that we could go for a drink at the famous Lebua State Tower rooftop bar, little did we know that flip flops (the only form of footwear we've worn for the past 6 weeks) were not considered "fashionable" and we were denied entrance to the bar. The lady kindly told us that they were open until 1AM and we could come back when we had on nicer shoes. After looking around a few streets and realizing there was nowhere to get such aforementioned shoes we gave up and went back to Khaosan. Katie immediately felt sick and we decided that Bangkok was giving us the cold shoulder and we called it a night. A few hours later, around 4am the same stomach pains Katie suffered from hit me and I was in and out of sleep until 9am. What a fairytale ending to our trip. Regardless, we were still happy to be back in Thailand and had developed a softening of our hatred towards Bangkok.



On our last day in the big city we went to our favorite Thai place for a pork omelet and fruit plate and waited out a light rain shower. We went back to our room, packed our bags for the last time and checked out of our last hotel. The next bed we'll sleep in will be our own. Now only 8 hours to kill before the shuttle bus to the airport picks us up. Bangkok -> Helsinki -> London -> Montreal. Should be home by Friday night at 9pm.

Little did we know, once arriving at the airport to check in, we found out that we're being re-routed to London and skipping our Helsinki layover. This is great news after we had been dreading the 3 flights. The 12 hours to London wasn't so bad and Katie and I mostly slept through the night. After getting to London we set our watches back 6 hours and waited out the 12 hour layover for our flight to Montreal. The flight to Montreal came and went and here we are, back home in Montreal. Asia, you've been a wonderful place to explore and I look forward to the next time I see you. 

Chang

Last night on Khaosan Rd.

Bali

Bali

Kuta

So it turns out we took the longest way possible to get to Bali. After getting on our flight which we thought was going to Jakarta, but was really stopping first in Singapore (where we had to get off the plane, wait 20 minutes and then re-board) we landed in Jakarta and had the hardest time ever finding our connecting flight. The airport had multiple terminals, which thankfully I found out from an Indian man I sat next to on the plane. We tried to get to Terminal 1, but it wasn't easy. We had to check in again, try to find out if our bags were going straight to Bali or if we had to pick them up and recheck them (in the end we didn't), go through another 2 security checks, buy a Visa into the country (25$, which we also were unaware of) and finally we emerged outside. But we didn't want to be outside, we wanted to find our connecting flight. We asked someone how to get to Terminal 1 (unlike every other airport in the world, there was no staff helping you get to where you had to go and no airport shuttle train system to get you there) and they replied by telling us to take a Taxi (how convenient that this man was a taxi driver). Ok, enough of this sh*t, there was no way I was paying for a taxi to get me to a connecting flight that I had already paid 200$ for. Finally we found out about a yellow shuttle bus that was supposed to mysteriously show up and take us to where we had to go. After waiting 20 minutes, and the anxiety building up about whether or not we would get to our flight (there is an hour difference between Jakarta and Bali so we didn't really know what time it was) the bus showed up and actually did bring us to where we needed to be. Finally. After arriving at our terminal I relaxed a bit and we boarded the last flight from Jakarta to Bali. After getting off the plane in Bali at 11:30 we found another Belgian couple to share our cab with and we were delivered to Poppies Lane II on Kuta beach. We quickly found a room for 250,000 rupiah (more expensive than we had paid at any other crap hole we stayed at, and that's what this place was) and by that time (1:00AM) we decided to try and concur Kuta tomorrow and not venture out sober. The next morning I woke up and saw Katie's fear stricken face. She had gone to the bathroom in the middle of the night and had seen a "mini-tarantula" as she called it, so we obviously could not stay there again. We strapped on the backpacks once more (now heavy with all the stuff be bought in Vietnam) and found somewhere else for a little bit cheaper (200,000 rupiah, which is about 25$). We woke up early and hit the beach. Kuta is known to be very loud and boisterous and we didn't take other traveller's advice and stay away. The beach was lined with stores like Top Shop and Billabong and fast food places like McD's and KFC (they really love the KFC, I think we saw like 5 of them). We ignored all the offers for "transport" and "motorbike" and finally found the white sand beach that is Kuta. The sun was out and the breeze was nice so we didn't feel the heat. The waves were big and most of the beach had the red flag "do not swim" warning (perfect for beginners learning to surf). After chilling out for a bit and being glad to be back on the beach Katie and I had our first surfing lesson. A group of Balinese surfer dudes taught us how to get up on our boards and then brought us out into the waves. They helped us get out and choose a wave to take and after a few tries Katie and I were able to surf into shore. After an hour or two of surfing (and a few breaks in between) we were exhausted and called it quits. Who knew surfing could be so exhausting? We explored the town for the rest of the day and then went out to the local hotspot Skygarden that night. The place was cool, located 4 stories up and on a rooftop. We had one of their free drinks, then threw it out (pretty sure it was not vodka in there) and continued to drink Bintang. We had a few more drinks downstairs and then headed to Bounty (known to be full of teenage Aussies). This place was weird. There was a mix of young and old, and a Balinese woman with her baby boy trying to get money from tourists. Katie and I were turned off by the fact that there was a baby in a night club at 1AM and decided to go to bed. After buying a pack of Tam Tams and sharing it between us we passed out.

Surf Lesson

Kuta Beach

The next morning we woke up to the sound of a tour driver knocking at our door (we had hired him the day before to take us around Bali). We quickly dressed and despite our hangovers followed him to his car. The day was a bit of a let down, there was a lot of driving involved and little sight seeing; we hadn't realized Bali was so big and the roads were small, windy and filled with traffic. First we drove to Monkey Forrest in Ubud and wandered through a sanctuary of hundreds of monkeys. One of them even stole a cracker right out of my hand. Next we drove to Kintamani, a volcano that last erupted in 1969. We ate lunch at a restaurant that overlooked the volcano. The place was beautiful, but it was a bit disappointing to see that the lunch was buffet and was more than expensive. We were starting to get the feeling that we were being pressured into things we didn't want; its hard to know what your getting from a private tour. We thought we would be in control, but it didn't seem to be the case. Driving a little further, we came to rice fields on a hillside which were beautiful. We talked to a local and found out that the rice crop was harve3sted 3 times a year and took one month to plant. The rice grown in these paddies was enough to feed one family all year. The Balinese eat rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Back in the car, we drove another few hours to Jimbaran beach. Our driver dropped us off int he parking lot of a restaurant and again we felt pressured. We walked out, along the beach in search of a restaurant that we chose, only to be followed by him. We told him we were going to choose where we wanted to go and we would meet him in one hour. I didn't eat because I was still full from lunch, but Katie who hadn't felt up to eating at the volcano ordered fresh seafood. We sat on the beach and watched the sunset which was beautiful. Our driver then took us back to Kuta and we thanked him, glad to be back to making our own decisions. Having booked a trip for the Gilis the next day (we had to wake up at 6AM) we decided not to go out. Instead we went for Indonesian food (now I was hungry) and watched a movie until we both fell asleep.

Monkeys in Monkey Forrest

Kintamani Volcano

Rice fields

Sunset at Jimbaran beach

Gili Trawangan

We took a ferry (round trip 700,00 RP = ~80$) to Gili Trawagan early the next morning. We were picked up and driven the hour and a half to the pier. this place was in no way organized. Trying to keep an eye on where our bags where being taken, trying to get tickets for the way there and back and trying to buy breakfast was no easy task. Just as we got our tickets we saw our bags being wheeled away so we ran after them. As the boats were being loaded it started to downpour. We waited under a rooftop and as the last bags were loaded onto our boat, no one has told us what to do so we decided to try to get on the boat ourselves. Someone from the docks told us we weren't allowed but we yelled "our bags are on there!" and we were allowed to board. We squished 3 people into the small seats on the boats and finally took off. The ride was bumpy and the inside of the boat was hot. After an hour and a half, and after dropping off passengers in Lombok we arrived on Gili Trawangan. We dropped our bags of at a homestay (150,000 RP a night) and headed for the beach. Now we were in paradise. We stayed on the beach until we were shaded and then went back to our room to shower. the place boasted having fresh water showers, but after using it we decided the salt content was slightly less than ocean water. We walked along the beach until we came to a seafood restaurant that had what we were looking for (Fortuna Cafe). We took advantage of the all-you-can-eat salad bar and were then served fresh grilled squid and prawns. Dinner was more than delicious. We headed back to our room (didn't seem like there was much going on on the Island due to Ramadan) and watched The Tourist. We fell asleep to the sounds of Ramadan prayers being blasted over a loudspeaker next to our hotel (even earplugs couldn't block out the noise) and then were woken in the middle of the night when their prayers started before the daily fast.




Happy to be back at the beach


The next morning we woke up early again and headed to the beach. We had breakfast at a small cafe (Cafe Gili Trawangan, really good eggs Florentine) on the beach that had huge bean bags instead of chairs. We chilled on the beach until noon then decided to rent bikes and bike around the island. After starting out we soon realized that the paths on the quiet side of the island were mostly sand and we had to walk our bikes half the way. After touring the island and realising that we really were on the best beach we parked our bikes and rented some snorkeling gear. The beach sand drops off quickly to coral reef and fish can be seen all round. The current was really strong and we had heard a story of a snorkeler being swept out to sea so we stayed close to shore. A little disappointed that we didn't see any turtles we gave up and read our books on the beach until the sun was gone. We ended up at another seafood place that night, choosing a huge squid that came with rice and salad. They grilled the fresh squid for us right there and we ate and had a drink for around 6$ each. I wish seafood could only be that cheap at home! After dinner we watched Bad Teacher which was planing at a makeshift outdoor movie theatre by the beach and then headed to bed. Tomorrow we head back to Bali to check out Uluwatu.



Sunset in Gili Trawangan



Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh

Day 3 in Hanoi
After our Ha Long Bay cruise, we returned to Hanoi, glad to be back at May de Ville. We spent one last night enjoying the flatscreen after searching out dessert in the bustling city. We must have walked for over half an hour looking for a cafe that served brownies. After trying about 6 places we finally found Highlands Coffee that had what we were looking for. It was not the best brownie I've had, but it definitely satisfied our chocolate cravings. The next day we lounged in the hotel's common room, caught up on all the True Blood episodes we missed and waited for our flight to Da Nang.

Hoi An

Night 1
We arrived at the Da Nang airport around 9:30pm and for the first time we could not find any travel agenecy or tourist info booth to help us out. We decided that taking a cab to Hoi An seemed to be our only option even though we had the feeling we were being ripped off. A cabbie who spoke English ushered us into his taxi and promised to take us wherever we wanted to go. We found out this was not the case when we told him the hotel we wanted to go to and instead he insisted on dropping us off at the closest hotel he could find in Hoi An. This didn't turn out to be the worst thing ever, even though we ended up paying almost double for the cab than we should have. The hotel receptionist was very sweet and gave us advice on where to shop, not to carry our money in our pockets and to ignore any women who kindly called us dear and invited us into their shops. We quickly learned how to navigate the small city thanks to her advice. We went out for a late dinner of Pho and then called it an early night (seems to be the trend in Vietnam, where everything closes around 12).

Day 1
We woke up early and headed to the tailors so that Katie could get the clothes that she had been dreaming of tailor made to her liking. When we got to the shop I couldn't help thinking that I could use a tailor made trench coat, so they fitted me as well. After an hour of choosing clothes and fabrics and finally deciding on the styles we wanted, I ordered a knee-length classic beige trench, and Katie ordered an off-grey one, along with a silk blouse and a silk camisole. We were instructed to return the next day for fitting. We wandered around the small town of Hoi An, choosing souvenir gifts for our friends and family back home (we decided we could finally afford to carry extra stuff around now that we only had a week and a half left of our trip). We lunched on fresh spring rolls and Pho and enjoyed strolling around the small town. For dinner we tried the local specialty of grilled sea food, and White Rose, a shrimp stuffed rice paper dish. We ended up at a Japaense light festival and for good luck I bought a candle-lit red lantern and set it afloat in the river. We wandered on and stopped at a bar that had happy hour until 10pm and had a few 50 cent beers. My first headache of the trip hit, and we headed back to the hotel so I could grab some Advil. We ended up watching the last of our downloaded True Blood episodes and fell asleep.




Lighting a Japanese lantern for goodluck



Day 2
We slept in (after learning how loud or hotel was we wore earplugs to bed) until 11:00am and then had a quick breakfast before heading back to the tailor's. My jacket fit perfectly, but Katie's items needed a bit more tailoring. We were told that everything would be ready for pick-up the next day. We decided that today was a good a day as any to check out the beach. We took a taxi to the beach that cost about 3$, paid 1$ to rent a chair for the day and finally lay down to relax and read our books. Hoi An is such a small town and after walking around for a few hours we figured that we had seen all it had to offer and did not feel guilty about going to the beach. We read for a few hours under a cloudy sky and then just as the rain hit we headed to the nearest restaurant to have lunch. We ordered fresh grilled calamari (according to the menu "calamary") and then taxied back to town. The rain had ruined any hopes of us getting a tan anyway. We showered and walked to a small cooking school called Gioan for our first lessons in Vietnamese cooking. We made pumpkin soup, fresh spring rolls with shrimp, Pho (noodle soup with beef) and aubergine in a clay pot. Everything was amazing and suprisingly simple to make. We decided that the best way to end the meal was by heading out for some icecream. I ordered one scoop of mango and one scoop of cookie and couldn't have been happier. Katie and I made out way back to the small bar Treats, had a few more 50 cent beers, I lost twice in two games of pool and then called it quits. Around 9:00pm we walked over to Tam Tam Cafe and met up with our friend Fishman and his girlfriend Andrea (clearly they have been following us around on this trip) and we had a few more beers and chatted about our trips. Once the atmosphere at Tam Tams died down we had a few more drinks at Dive Bar and at 1am we got kicked out. We said goodbye to Fish and Andrea and made our way home. On the street that runs through the market rats were running back on forth across our path. When one got too close to me and knocked over a crate I bolted and Katie followed suit. We ran through the street screaming and laughing until we safely arrived at our hotel. Rats are just one thing you cannot get used to no matter when you are in the world.

Hoi An Beach

Cooking our way through Asia

Fresh spring roll with shrimp

Beef Noodle Soup - Pho