'Accomplishments' whilst unemployed

Created clever Someecards
i received 5 stars on a couple of them!

Improved my Dance Dance Revolution skillz
up to level 5!

Reading
Books! Magazines! Internets! I am so up-to-date on current events now. exciting!

Watched all of the Sotomayor hearings
I did mute some parts.

Podcasts!
www.yourfriendsmusic.com

Scanned college photos

Discovered the Northeast
visited Boston & Philly for the first time!

added lots of contacts on LinkedIn and Facebook
social networking is so fun! i also deleted my myspace account. sorry if you got spammed.

Watched lots of movies/tv
ok, not that much. but i finished season 1 of Arrested Development and saw several movies that i wanted to see since 2004 but never did because i was too busy.

I'm sure there are other more relevant and important things that I've done. but my short-term memory isn't what it used to be.

Tomorrow, things i still haven't done whilst unemployed. it's sort of long and i may not even get around to it.

22 cover letters, 154 days unemployed

I'm back in the states, hopping from city to city. sending out cover letters, not getting interviews. how many more days until i find a job?

leaving thailand

so in exactly 12 hours, i leave bangkok. six weeks have already passed. i had a great time hanging out with gong gong and family and friends, discovering thailand, and visiting vietnam. i ate pad thai for the past 2 days and had a mango blizzard at DQ today. i am bringing back lots of different thai food/candy that i hope will pass through customs and won't get crushed in my overstuffed suitcase. i still haven't finished going through emails (1,313 in my inbox! i'll never win), i only read 2 books (actually, that's a lie. i still haven't finished the other one. but i did read the thailand and vietnam guidebooks, and several news mags from 2007/08 - i was just catching up), there were days i sadly did not eat mango, and i don't have a job. but it's time to move on to the next step in my life, whatever that may be.

i'll post later with details and photos about vietnam and thailand now that i'll have time and my laptop. i wasn't online as much as i thought i would be (a good thing) and my internet connection was slow and in thai. i didn't really miss the internet, just a wifi connection. and i definitely did NOT miss my blackberry.

my flight leaves at 11:55am on Friday, may 1st from bangkok. a 3 hour layover in taipei, then leaving at 7:50pm on friday, may 1st and land in San Francisco at 3:55pm on friday, may 1st. i do love time traveling. and i will be there just in time for my pau pau's (grandmother) 90th birthday.

saw wat dee ka, thailand. kap kuhn ka!

Vietnam....kind of like Bolivia

but much hotter and fewer motorbikes. And Vietnamese is harder than Spanish. I am in Hoi An now, on the central coast of Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh City was sweltering and incredibly crowded. There are ~9 million people in HCM and ~6million motorbikes!* Crossing the street is tricky but I'm convinced motorbikes will just go around me and I only need to look out for cars. At least, I know which direction to look in as they drive on the 'right' side of the road, unlike Thailand.

Yesterday, I went to the Mekong Delta towns of My Tho and Ben Tre, about 2 hours from HCM. Boat trip to 2 islands, lunch, rowing down a canal, horse carriage ride, bee hive visit, walking through orchards, visiting a coconut candy 'factory, and watching rice paper being made was a bargain for ten bucks! I didn't even get bit once!

I've already eaten pho three times, had ben xeo (which was delish), and had young coconut juice straight from the coconut twice.

Hoi An is apparently known for tailor-made clothing and has the best food in Vietnam. We'll find out manana!


*According to the guide.

Now in Vietnam

Landed in Vietnam this morning at 9:15am. The airport was empty, as was the plane. A little weird. It's only 1pm and I've already had some pho and young coconut juice, gone to the biggest market, picked up some mango and rambutan, and checked into my hotel. My sis-in-law-to-be is from Vietnam and her aunt and uncle are taking good care of me. I'm so lucky! Tomorrow is the Mekong Delta. Tuesday evening, I'll fly to Danang and then stay in Hoi An for a couple of days, then to Hanoi and Halong Bay for the rest of the trip!

Never Sit Underneath a Coconut Tree

view from Gong Gong's house at dusk of the tung na (rice paddy) and coconut trees by the rice farmer's shack










My grandfather is 90 years old (91 in Chinese years) and has seen a lot in his day. He is a newspaper man and has been the editor of several Chinese newspapers since the age of 26, appointed by the Chinese government. With an editorial to write every day, he has always been full of advice and has very strong opinions. Even now.

Every morning, he wakes up and sits on the porch overlooking the tung na. His house is about 30 km from Bangkok and can be considered suburban and is pretty peaceful. While we were sitting watching the rice farmer make his way back to his shack and listening to the birds singing, he turned to me and said, "Never sit underneath a coconut tree. A coconut can fall and hit you on the head. Banana and mango trees are ok though. We're sitting by both right now. You should eat the mangos and bananas from my trees." It isn't the same as when he told me to go to law school but at 90, I'm glad he's still looking out for me.

The tung na, however, can be very noisy. At night, the frog and insects raise a racket. In the morning, the farmer shoots blanks to scare off the birds - cranes, etc. Or he will start plowing at about 7am for the entire morning. No need for the water buffalo anymore. Sad, i'm sure they are much quieter. not that i want my sabbatical to interfere with the farmer's means of income and the production of food. i'd just like to sleep in.


a water buffalo, much like the one that saved my grandfather when he was a little boy after he fell into a rice paddy. this one is very old, each ridge in the horns represents one year. this one was saved from the slaughterhouse. proceeds from the park go towards buying buffalo from the slaughterhouse. one can cost about 5,000 baht (35 baht = $1).

pic taken at the Buffalo Preservation Park in Su Panburi, 2 hours north of Bangkok

Thailand is in the news

In case you haven't heard, protesters crashed the ASEAN summit going on in Pattaya, a beach town south of Bangkok (haven't gone there yet; very touristy and beachy place). Asian leaders evacuated via helicopter and ferry, protesters were arrested, chaos ensued. Read http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/world/asia/12thai.html for a brief update.

I'm not going to dissect the issues here. But basically, red shirts support the ousted former Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, and the yellow shirts support the monarchy and current government. The yellow shirts shut down the airports in December. The red shirts have vowed to protest every day until the current prime minister resigns. (It is a crime to criticize or insult the king) Protests have been going on every day since last week causing traffic jams beyond what is normal Bangkok traffic. Furthermore, we are in the midst of Songkhran, Thai New Year. Monday is an official holiday and most Thais take the whole week off to go home to spend time with their families.

Complicated situation that I'm trying to get a handle on. But, it seems like I can't get away from protests and demonstrations that shut down the government whenever I travel abroad (see e.g., Bolivia). Hopefully the situation won't deteriorate that much. Bang Bua Thong is very peaceful by comparison and I'll be sure to avoid wearing a yellow or red shirt for the rest of my time here.

photo of the Rama IIX Bridge, the newest bridge in Bangkok honoring the previous King. taken from a riverboat cruise on the Chao Phraya River.

some pics

a delicious thai dessert - Lod Chong Nam Ka Ti
made from rice flower and mung bean and eaten with coconut milk over ice













a tuk-tuk

















guarding the gates of the royal temple

still in bangkok!

I'm still here! had trouble with the blog. internet is slow and everything is in thai. but i think i figured things out now.

havent had much time what with sightseeing and visiting family and the rain storms, but i promise to blog more. highlights include: visiting the royal temple, going to the ancient capital, being deathly allergic to the sea and anything found in it, taking a ferry to Chinatown, visiting temples by longtail boat, and visiting a lychee farm! did you know there are TWELVE kinds of lychee?

im still working on my thai but with my grandfather and MaryAnn speaking to me in TeoChew (their Chinese dialect) and Mandarin, it's kind of slow. i also get all the words confused. however, i am able to bargain (somewhat) in Thai and can give directions (sort of).

Thai New Year (Songrat) is this week. they celebrate by throwing water on each other. and shooting water guns at each other.

i just bought my ticket to Vietnam for April 19th. will be there for 10 days and then back to Bangkok for a couple of days before i head home. i can't believe i only have 24 days left!

So wah di ka* from Bangkok!

I am finally in Thailand! we arrived to Bangkok at 11:50am Sunday morning. after some difficulty, we found MaryAnn in the airport and went to my grandfather's house. we had a light lunch with Gong Gong, then took a very long nap and went to bed at 8pm. this morning, had coconut juice, cha siu bau* (BBQ pork buns) and white corn for breakfast.

MaryAnn was on her way to the market and my cousin and i invited ourselves along. she called for extra moto-taxis. but as i was running down the stairs, i saw MaryAnn speed off. my cousin was on the back of another one and the third motorcycle was sent away right before i got there. sad, i thought, and a little weird. i waved goodbye and stayed with Gong Gong. 15 minutes later, a moto-taxi pulled up and brought me to the market. apparently, Mary Ann thought me and my cousin would ride the 2nd one together. not sure how. MaryAnn had fun introducing us to her friends and we got to practice our Thai phrases (hello and thank you). we stopped by the 7-11 (with slurpees!) for the AC and to buy more cha siu baau, which was discounted from 30 to 25 baht after 10am! it's about 35baht to $1. instead of motorcycles, we rode a tuk-tuk (a motorzied cart) home.

and, my 30baht 1hr is up at this internet cafe,,


*The phonetical spelling of Hello in Thai.
* Cantonese!

Leg 2 - Complete

in the Taipei airport right now. i just tried to post but the Taiwanese internets wouldn't let me, so take 2.

so...it's 7:30am here, which means 7:30pm in DC? i haven't slept in days so it doesn't even matter anymore. landed at 5:40am after a 13 hour and 15 minute flight. i slept for about 4 hours, off and on. had dinner and breakfast (didn't get the congee) and watched 2 movies. it wasn't as bad as i thought it would be!

the flight to bangkok is at 9:15am. my step-grandmother, Mary Ann, will meet us there and we'll head straight to my grandfather's house in Bang Bua Thong. it will be 91 degrees there today. i can't decide if that is better than the 38 degree weather in DC yesterday morning.

this journey is taking a very long time....

Leg 1 of Trip complete

I am currently in San Francisco at my Chinese grandmother's house doing last minute prep before heading to the airport for legs 2 and 3:

SFO to Taipei
1:20am - 6:20am
which is really a 14 hour flight. i hope my sleeping pill works. i've been saving it for a special occasion.

Taipei to Bangkok
9:15am - 11:50am
and 3 hour flight

looking forward to the 11 hour time difference!

Podcast moving to YFM

please go to www.yourfriendsmusic.com for podcasts of Red Pandas For Real!

Episode 2 will be up soon. promise.

You're going to Thailand???

Yes! I'm going to Thailand!

When are you leaving?
March 20 at 9am, i fly out to San Francisco and will leave for Thailand at 1am on March 21st.

when are you coming back?
I'll be back to SF on May 1st to celebrate my grandmother's 90th birthday. I'll head to DC around may 9th or so.

why are you going?
my chinese grandfather is 90 and i haven't seen him in 9 years since he left the USA (after 40 yrs!) when Bush was elected. i'd like to hang out with him before it's too late.

why does he live in thailand?
my great-grandfather moved from china to thailand for work and sent for his chinese wife (my great-grandmother). they then had my grandfather in thailand and he grew up there . my step-grandmother is also thai. so my grandfather considers thailand his home and has fond memories of water buffalo and mango.

what are you going to do there?
hang out w/the fam, sleep, take mandarin lessons from my gong gong (grandfather), learn to cook thai food, volunteer at a local NGO. if you know of one, let me know!

so you quit your job?
yes, i did. while i enjoyed my time at EB, i need to make this trip.

are you crazy? in this economy????
no, i am not crazy. i know. but the business of saving kids will unfortunately be around for awhile and will always be hiring. i'm looking for something in international development/policy/law, preferably something to do with saving the kids. i'm looking in DC, NYC and SF. if you know of anything, let me know!

are you going to travel while you're there?
yes, i'll travel around thailand and head to cambodia and vietnam April 19-April 30. you should join me!

i miss you already.
i miss you more! you can hear my voice on my podcast Red Pandas For Real! here: www.yourfriendsmusic.com

....wait, you're half-Chinese???
yes. it's like you don't even know me. sigh, here we go again:
Bolivian father + Chinese-American mother = Bolivinese-American nattyq

Red Pandas For Real! Episode One

i've been missing those college radio days. thankfully, some friends convinced me to get back into the music and came up with this fun project!

so here is my first podcast:




Episode One

Blonde Redhead - Misery is a Butterfly
Mirah - The Garden
Apsci - Robosex
June of 44 - The Dexterity of Luck
The Presets - Are You The One?
Kid Cudi - Day 'n' Nite (Crookers Remix)
The Black Ghosts - Any Way You Choose to Give It

Podcast forthcoming...