A Different Kind of Melbourne Welcome

G'Day mates!  How ya going?

Kind of a long story, so I'm going to try and condense it while still managing to include all the juicy and infectious details.  I will also be using the common Aussie jargon throughout this post, so try and keep up with me here. Haha. I arrived in Melbourne on February 12th after a cool 10 hour plane ride from Phuket.  Upon my arrival I was greeted by my complimentary transportation from the Uni where I met many other American exchange students, which was cool but I was eager to mingle with the locals.

Because I arrived early to Queens College, which was where I was to stay for Melbourne Welcome, I was pretty much the only person staying in the dorms which was pretty scary.  I spent that entire night alternating between having crazy nightmares and laying awake with intense fever, chill, and headache.  In the morning, I had finally hit a wall and spent a good hour hugging the toilet bowl.  At that point, I realized that it was time to give in and ask for a nurse.  Thank god the student staff knew exactly what to do!  I owe them my life!  They immediately put me in a taxi to take me to the ER.  I was just way, way too sick.


I spent a good couple freaking out in the ER when they started asking me about my recent history.  When I told them that I had been traveling through Asia, they immediately started to voice concerns regarding malaria, typhoid, and dinghy fever.  It wasn't long before I realized that I was not returning to the University anytime soon.  Although feverish, I faintly remember receiving concerned expressions from the doctors when I admitted to venturing to rural river farm areas of Cambodia and also swimming in a waterfall in the jungles of Chiang Mai.  Things really started to seem bad when all of the doctors (and even the student leader who took me there) began to wear full hospital gowns, gloves and masks!! So freaky!

After about 7 hours in the ER, an X-ray, multiple blood samples, and other bodily collections; I was wheeled up to my new, glamorous high-rise sweet which was nestled elegantly on in the happening infectious disease department of the awesome 9th floor.  The hospital food was excellently nutritious and surprisingly not to shabby either.  On the contrary, being shackled to an IV drip and locked away in quarantine certainly began to lose it's charm quickly.  I remember listening to my iPod over and over, thinking about what I was missing out on back at the Melbourne Welcome for exchange students.  I also remember when we finally decided to call my mom to inform her on what had happened.  Boy was that fun!  After convincing her that I was fine and well on my way to recovery, she still managed to get a Visa and begin hunting for the soonest flight over.   All of these things just increased my determination to get better!!

I will never forget the final moment when the doctors informed me that I could return back to campus to join back in on the Melbourne Welcome festivities.  All of the tests came back negative for malaria, typhoid and dinghy fever, and the doctors believed that it had been the outcome of food poisoning.  Although Thai hospitals are supposed to be amongst the best in the world, in retrospect, I was way relieved that my body had decided to get sick in English-speaking and westernized Australia.  My biggest joke of this experience was how I had gotten a better tour of the Melbourne hospital before I had really even seen the city. HARDY HAR HAR!  And when I returned to the Melbourne Welcome, all of my USC friends greeted me with the rumor that was spawned due to my mysterious disappearance.  Apparently the running rumor was that I had met some gorgeous Australian girl and run away with her to Sydney.  What a scream! haha

To finish off, I will reveal the mysterious disease that the results led to at my check-up on Wednesday.  It turns out that I had..... drumroll please... a dynamic duo of NON-TYPHOID SALMONELLA and CAMPYLOBACTER.  The doctor mentioned that he believed that it was caused by improperly cooked or infected chicken and also that it was completely out of my system.  I guess there is such a thing as too much Pad Thai in this case!! Haha

I promise I will put up a post on what I've been up to since this prodigiously catastrophic event soon!

ThaIsland-Hopping

Man it has really been a while since I have posted a new blog! I'll get right into it!

So when I left off Danny and I had just arrived in the paradise that is the Thai Islands (or ThaIslands as I like to refer to them), starting at Ko Phangan. So after the epic Half Moon party, Danny and spent the entire following day just relaxing on the beach. We ate an awesome breakfast and really just enjoyed a nice day to relax and recharge in the sun and in the water. In the evening we set off into town to see what was cracking. On our way to the beach, we ate at this burger place that Danny's Lonely Planet travel guidebook had mentioned, called Same Same Burger. To understand the history of the phrase "Same Same," please click here:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=same+same+but+different

Please disregard the offensive third entry. Same Same Burger was by far one of the best burgers that I have not only had in Thailand, but in the world! Danny and I were dying laughing because the burger bar grill guy, among many other ThaIsland citizens, spoke with a very Australian-influenced accent. As he said, "The-eh's something quite propah abayout it," we were certain it was just a regurgitation of what he had previously heard an Australian say about the savory, greasy sandwiches. After dinner, we enjoyed a few drinks on the beach while watching a couple locals spinning FIRE BATONS! It was so crazy and they were throwing them right over us in the audience! Even a little kid was showing off his skills!

The next day, we awoke early and caught a boat over to Ko Tao, where we snorkeled and checked out all kinds of fish! At one point, I was literally surrounded by THOUSANDS of them! I have never seen such fluorescent, bright, speckled, striped, glowing, funky fish in my life! It was like swimming through a kaleidoscope of wild shapes and vibrant colors. We also saw the most awesome views of jungle-covered islands and ginormous rocks from our dive boat along the way. Danny's scuba instructor, P., informed me that I absolutely must get my scuba diving license while in Australia, describing how whales migrate through the Great Barier Reef throughout February and March. So now I am determined to get certified! That night we dined on some ultra-classy street vendor pancakes which pretty much lived up to the title as "the best pancakes in town." The guy flipped them right in front of us, adding sliced bananas and drizzling sweet chocolate sauce and condensed milk over it. YUM!

We made it to Ko Samui the next day, where we stayed at the Lucky Mother, a beachside bungalow hotel. Lucky Mother seriously had the BEST Pad Thai that I have had yet. It was so great, in fact, that I had for lunch and for dinner! The beaches of Ko Samui were absolutely gorgeous! The whole time I kept asking myself, "what am I doing here?," thinking it was just a dream. When nightime kicked in, Danny and I had finally gotten the right idea and strolled over to 7 Eleven to purchase beer, so we could avoid getting ripped-off at the bars who charge like 3X the price! We chilled on the beach, people watching and joking about the crazy adventures we had experienced in such a brief amount of time. We finished the night by rolling over to Green Mango, a techo-hyped club.

From Ko Samui, we jetted over to Ko Phi Phi, which was recently dubbed as "the most beautiful beach in the world." Boy was that an understatement! I think this title should be changed immediately to "the most beautiful beach in the GALAXY!" This beach was a gorgeous lagoon of endless knee-deep crystal water surrounded by the most beautiful sights of green peaks and plateaus. It was like straight off of a postcard... marvelous. I think I may have been a little too relaxed because I managed to get one of the most scorching sunburns in my entire life... we're talking swollen and flaming skin. That was surely some sort of experience. Also, the island was very small with high-end resorts but also cheap, crappy hostels for cheap backpackers like Danny and myself. It was also cluttered with many more vendors and motorcycles. I don't think that I even saw a car anywhere on this miniscule vacation hotspot of an island. This definitely added to the serenity of the island because you could enjoy the relaxing silence, calm lagoons, and beautiful sights.

The party continued right on to Phuket. Now, Danny and I had heard that there was nothing that special about Phuket from other travelers, but boy were they wrong! Danny and I had a blast on the bar street of Patong beach! We played pool and checked out what seemed to be the most epic festival of funky bars, suggestive ladyboy shows, and probably the most incredible magician I have ever seen! This guy was straight up telekinetic! He was wowing the audience with his skills by making money float around his body, through the air, and into his hand!... So sick! Later, we played Connect 4 at Tiger Bar, where you would play the bartender girls for drinks. Of course, they were all Connect 4 geniuses, so my competitive nature lost me about $20 in baht way fast. But I would say it was totally worth it because I stole one of the game pieces as a keepsake! We finished the night by busting a move on the crazy dance floor at Tiger Bar, and celebrated the end to a wild and roaring Southeast Asian backpacking adventure! I may have lost all of my shoes and broken my camera there, but I gained so much more. Righteous memories, phenomenal photos, and a straight-up once-in-a-lifetime experience! I will definitely be traveling through South East Asia again in my life!

P.S. I have updated all of my previous blog posts with URL's to my facebook photo albums from the trip! Check it out! I will be making my Australian post ASAP!

Finishing up in Bangkok, Jungling in Chiang Mai, and Heading to the Ko's

So I am going to try and cut right to the chase here because SO much has happened over the past four days. Danny and I seized our last day in Bangkok to ensure that no wat or temple was left unexplored. We awoke at the crack of dawn and started our day by heading for a tour of the the floating market that lay about two hours Bangkok. This village was described by our travel guidebook as a mere tourist trap, but this river was actually pretty cool. We got to experience all of the villagers trying to to force their handcrafted knickknacks upon us and got a kickass boat tour down the channels. We made it fun by saying that we were going to enjoy our real-life jungle cruise. Directly after that, we shot over to check out the Grand Palace back in the city, which was the final monument to see on our tourist's scavenger hunt list. We saw an awesome tiny Emerald Buddha and once again got to sport some happening donated pants to respectfully cover our legs-- however, this time they were studly drawstring purple doctor's pants. We later boarded our 12-hour night train up to the jungles of Chiang Mai, which was such a blast because we got to sleep on table-turned-beds and view colorful blurs of Thailand from our windows. So fun!

We arrived in Chiang Mai at 7 am and hit the ground running once again. Our Trekking Excursion began that morning at 9 so we had to adjust quickly which was awesome because Chiang Mai was instantly more appealing than Bangkok with its clearer air, lack of humidity and void of cut-throat street vendors. It was purely amazing and such a breath of fresh air...literally! After a quick shower in the pool's bathroom at the hotel meeting spot for our tour, we boarded a jeep with 2 Australian girls, a guy from Canada, and 2 Swiss German girls. It was an awesome group because we were all 20 or 21. We began with a long hike up the mountains to reach our destination. The Canadian guy, Jay, mentioned that he had heard from other travelers that there was a 7-Eleven at the top of the hill, which our tour guide Mr. O later confirmed-- this was easy to believe because the whole city of Bangkok was literally a 7-Eleven heaven with stores posted at nearly EVERY CORNER! After a crazy challenging hike through the jungle, we reached the tiny village where we would spend our night... I was panting like a hog when we finally got to the top but I was way proud of myself for accomplishing that hike haha. To our surprise, the 7-Eleven turned out to be a giant cooler packed with beer and soda-- what a dirty trick! That night we dined on a feast of rice and curry, hung out by the campfire where we simply had a bast! After a few beers, we even decided to run down to the stream and catch frogs to roast. They tasted like CHICKEN! "OH MY BUDDHA!!!"(OMB) -- This phrase became an instant favorite of mine as the locals mock our popular "Oh my God." Haha

The next day we hiked a heck of a lot more in pursuit of a waterfall. The sun was blazing and the company was awesome! We checked out a local school where reality hit again when Mr. O said that only 90% of the schoolchildren we saw would go on to university. Such a bummer, but it was fun to see kids playing tag and reminiscing of good times of pure childhood. We finally reached the waterfall and it was EPIC!! We swam for hours and naturally Danny and I took a ton of photos.. which we later compared to Japanese tourists for by the Swiss girls but it was worth it! Haha. For dinner that night, we enjoyed some fried fuk... which translates "pumpkin" in Thai! OMB!! One of the locals even came over and taught Danny and I some Thai songs, which I can only remember as somthing along the lines of "Du, Hee, Hah, Fo, Di, Mah, Dee, Hah"... or somthing like that but it was way fun to try and sing along haha. That night we slept in huts and were rocked to sleep by the relaxing sounds of the waterfall. AMAZING!

For our final day in the jungle I was so pumped because I knew that we got to ride elephants. This is why I came to Thailand! It was super fun, but a little depressing because the trainers would beat the elephants with long hooks to keep them on track. I guess that's what ensured that they wouldn't kill us or something but it was a bummer nonetheless. We took tons of photos and even got to feed them fresh bananas! Later, we rafted down the river on a bundle of bamboo rods which was pretty fun. We laughed so hard because the grandpa raft instructor continuously tried to throw us off and some real Japanese tourists kept crashing into us. OMB it was such a great time. After making it back to the city and relishing in another authentic Pad Thai, our trekking family reunited again to go see a Muay Thai fight. We were making bets and shouting at the top of our lungs cheering for our favorite fighters. Afterwards Danny and I checked into a hotel that we later learned was a hotspot for Hebrew tourists from all over the world to crash at. So weird haha

For our last day in Chiang Mai, we went to see some TIGERS! This was so great but right when we entered the baby tiger's pen, one playfully decided to take a nibble on Danny's shoulder. OMB! We were so shocked but still managed to squeeze in a quick tour of the long neck village before spending a good hour at a local hospital haha. Even though they insisted he was fine, Danny demanded a tetnis shot. I of course just enjoyed snapping photo after photo of this catastrophic event. If Danny ends of foaming at the mouth on this trip, these may be the last written documents of my life so cross your fingers and praise Buddha that that doesn't happen haha. Our next stop were the islands of Thailand. After a quick flight, we landed in paradise. OMB! BEAUTIFUL! We enjoyed some Long Island Iced Teas and the Thai interpretation of pizza on an oasis and completely relaxed with a view of white sands, copious amounts of lush palm trees and crystal clear waters. This is where the adventure morphed into a vacation and THIS is why I came to Thailand. I could not believe my eyes as the beached looked just like the pictures, and I found myself questioning as to whether I wanted to go home. JK mom. OMB! haha. That night Danny and I boated over to Ko Phangan to crash the epic Half Moon island party that we had heard so much about. It was awesome! People were covered head-to-toe in fluorescent body paint, dancing in the jungle! So many memories of this day on the islands that I could never do justice to blog about, but a few words I can leave you with to describe this day are "Amazing", "Beautiful" and "Kickass!!!" I can NOT wait to get finish this blog, so I can run and dive into the ocean at our beachside hotel! CIAO!

*****Check out my photos from Bangkok here*****

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2043760&id=1049610199&l=5a40d87413

***** And Chiang Mai here******

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2043761&id=1049610199&l=0bccc7b372