Anti-Malarials: worth it?

Friends, I vomited today and not for the reason you think. While I've broken about half the "safe food" rules* the travel clinic gave me, I did want to heed one bit of advice: take anti-malaria pills. This morning I started the course with one pill on an empty stomach in preparation for my trip northward in the coming days. 25 minutes later I'm vomiting in a supermarket toilet. Coincidence? Considering nausea and headaches were expected side effects, I think not!

But now what? Clearly I can't keep them down. There's another type of pill that's really expensive - like $5/pill and I take it my whole trip. Do I seek them out and invest? I'm pretty sure all these pills only have a ~50% rate of prevention and the chance of contracting malaria is small. After all, the folks living in the cities I visit get along without taking $5/pills. It's a pretty controversial topic amongst backpackers according to what google has shown me. What do you think I should do?

*safe food rules included No Street Food and obviously that wasn't going to happen. I promise I'm still using good judgment with what I eat and have accepted the risk as part of the reward.

Katie

Bangkok day 1: pictures

Too many stories to tell, so here's a couple of pictures from the Grand Palace and street Pad Thai. Yum! More to follow. <3

Hong Kong Day 4: pictures

Hong Kong Day 4: Lantau Island

Or: cold misty adventures away from Hong Kongrete.

I braved the weather to witness Big Buddha's shrouded figure.
I reluctantly decided against hiking only to find my 'wisdom path' turn into a trek halfway up Lantau Peak. I turned back the first time my shoe slipped on the wet rough hewn stairs. (No bueno!)
I heard the Buddhist monks chant while on the mountain if I held my breath and stayed still.
I drank hot milk tea in a shop while listening to "Circle of Life" and "I am 16 going on 17..." I may or may not have sung along.
I shivered my way through Tai O's historic fishing village and got lost among the "squatter huts."
I used up every last dollar on my Octopus mass transit card and had to negotiate getting the proper change for bus fare in broken English.
I swore off traveling anywhere my toes could go numb ever again (not really) (maybe if I had more coffee).
I officially spent more on coffee & tea per day than food. How much longer can I blame this habit on jetlag?
I said goodbye to a wonderful host and confirmed a new one for Bangkok.

I'm on a bus from Tai O to the HK airport. Even after typing out these experiences, I'm struggling to accept that I am actually backpacking Asia for two months and yes, this is my life. Good thing I have a few more weeks for it to settle in :)

Pictures to follow next post. I want to add more than one and last time I tried that, blogspot ate my text.

Keep the comments & emails coming! I write for you :)

Love,
Katie

Hong Kong Day 3: Dim Sum

Evidently food may be a common focus for me! I started the day meeting a dozen couchsurfers at their weekly Sunday dim sum lunch. Embarrassingly, I only just learned that dim sum refers to a wide variety of small plates of food (a local compared it to tapas.) I tried almost everything that came out and had the grandest time with all the different flavors. Everything was great except for the chicken feet fried with peanuts. I don't think tendons are my style :)

I believe some of the dishes were:
Har Gow: shrimp in rice flour casing
Siu Mai: minced pork and shrimp parcels topped with crab roe
Lohr Bahk Goh: mashed turnip pan fried with chives, dried shrimp and Chinese salami
Chung Fun: rolls of rice pastry filled with pork and smothered in soy
Lai Wong Bau: steamed buns with egg custard; another with BBQ pork
Chicken feet with peanuts!

Then part of the group joined me on a mad dash through crazy markets for coffee before taking the Star Ferry to Lamma Island. We only had an hour there so we stuffed ourselves (surprise!) with extremely fresh seafood: scallops with rice noodles and garlic, razor clams, calamari and fried rice with a bottle of Chilean Pinot. Then back on the ferry in time to see the famous hong kong light show and meet friends at a pub. We ended the night eating hot pot rice with beef and egg.

Today I am off to explore Lantau island before headed to Bangkok this evening!

Hong Kong Part 2: food text

Yesterday we ventured to Shau Kei Wan's main street, which is famous amongst HK foodies for its "snacks." I ate, to wit: Egg Waffles gai daan tsai: crispy pouches with a warm, soft filling.  Oh my Goodness so addicting. Fish balls & soft rice rolls with a soy, sweet and sesame sauce Golden fried chicken nuggets (I know!  Tasted like they use buttermilk with pepper) Then in the above pictures we have: Orange-y soup: spicy sour soup with mushroom Fake shark fin soup with some ginger sauce added Dumplings Fish dim sum Dumplings in soup, added red Sichuan sauce; I think the dumplings had pork and chives. Then later we stopped in a very old school cafe for hong long milk tea with coffee and French toast! Quick update for today- I'm on my way to meet a large group of couchsurfers for dim sum in the city.  Special thanks to my host and his girlfriend for showing me how they love to eat :) PS If you sent me an email for the mailing list, I tried to subscribe you using the form at the end of the blog.  Please check your email and confirm/deny if you want to be on the list.

Hong Kong Day 2: Food!

Hong Kong day 1

Very long day of my travels, complete!

Yesterday I went to the Railway museum and the history of HK museum. The jetlag was so bad I actually napped in the museum after several cups of coffee! Honestly, I enjoyed the journey to the museums more than the exhibits. I strolled through so many shopping centers and open air markets. Fresh meat complete with hooves or entrails dangled from hooks alongside boxes and boxes of dried fruits, salted fish, and fresh vegetables. I even grabbed a "spicy pork with garlic & chives" bun for a snack. There's no rush (and no getting lost) when it's just you wandering through the streets. I never felt lonely, or nervous, or scared - only joy that I'm here. I am so happy I came out here traveling alone. It's exactly where I should be and what I should be doing. Thank you all for supporting me.

Now my friends, I set out on a culinary adventure. My host and his girlfriend are taking me into Central to try many "Hong Kong snacks." I will try my best to take pictures and notes for you, but it will never compare to the taste!

Sadly the weather looks to be gray and rainy for the entirety of my stay, so this picture may be the best I get of HK. Enjoy:

Starbucks is a godsend.

Thank you Starbucks for 20min free wifi and a very needed shot of caffeine!

The bucket list for a drizzly day in Hong Kong includes many museums and a lot of food & coffee. I've got the railway museum, art museum, and history of HK on the list.

So far I can't stop staring at the huge skyscraper apartment buildings and thinking about all the people that live there. How do you define community when you share space with thousands of people? What does "neighbor" mean? How much of your identity comes from your location? It's so different than Long Beach. On the plus side of this much density, the public transportation is amazing and heavily favored by the locals. If only Los Angeles could do that!

Not much to see here with regards to bicycles - though you know I'm looking!

I'll update again tonight when I get home. Until then,

Katie

PS I had created a group in my contacts for the mailing list, but apparently on mobile I can't just select a group. You'll have to settle for the blog for now. It may take me until I find a PC to troubleshoot this one, sorry!

Landed!

Hi friends!

I am landed safely in Hong Kong at a ripe 6:30am.  My flight was uneventful - almost enjoyable considering I was stuck in one place for over 15 hours.  Cathay had individual plugs for electronics, free whiskey and unlimited movies/entertainment.  Not too shabby.  If only I could say the same regarding how I look!

More to come as I explore HK!

Katie

Taking off

In the airport, I met a young man that's from Hong Kong. He's lived alone in the US for 20 years and it's his first time back to HK in 10. Last month, he saw his father's face via Skype for the first time in ten years, and they both cried. Now he flies home to reunite with his family.

I couldn't have asked for a more poignant story as I embark on my travels. Thank you, my friends and family, for supporting me and believing in me. I am so very blessed to have you in my life and I will not forget you while I am temporarily gone.

Katie

How would you like to communicate?

Fellow country(wo)men,

Blogger lets me update by sending emails, which is awfully convenient.  If you dislike following blogs, twitter, or my facebook feed I can send you an email that I'm alive.  Please send me an email at KatieGoesToSEAsia@gmail.com if you'd like to be on the mailing list.

Much love!
Katie

Itinerary and Not Freaking Out

Hi friends,

I want you to know that I am Not Freaking Out.  In case YOU are, please follow me here and/or send me an email so I can keep you on the "Katie is alive!" mailing list. Seriously, I plan on staying alive so I'm just creating this for you.

I will check in whenever I have internet access so you know "Katie is alive" and also that I'm having a great time.  Much love to Sandra for loaning me her iPod Touch to make it easy. 

I plan to eat a ton of food that won't give me food poisoning, take a bicycle ride whenever traffic won't kill me, and make more friends that I can ever remember.

My inspiration and rough itinerary:
http://www.travelfish.org/trip_planner/thailand-indochina-tour1

I also plan on touring the Thai islands afterwards, with some variation on this theme:
http://www.travelfish.org/trip_planner/thailand-jungle-islands

I leave tonight for Hong Kong and return April 17th. 

I love you all very, very much and look forward to our reunion!

PS credit to Emily P for the photo to the left <3