We made it!

We're in Alaska. Ah.

Right now we're on a ferry en route to Juneau from Ketchikan, in southeast Alaska. We actually spent the first couple days of our trip in Metlakatla, on Annette Island about an hour by boat from Ketchikan. It's a reservation where Josh's mom grew up. She was one of 11 kids, so you can imagine how many relatives he has on the island.

The weather has been absolutely perfect. A little cloudy, but no complaints here. We were able to borrow cars or ride with people and check out a bunch of different parts of the island--beach, rainforest, an old airstrip in the middle of nowhere. Within town, though, pretty much everything is within walking distance. We spent a lot of time with various relatives--mostly at his grandma's house, which was sort of the center of activity (at least for his family). A number of uncles and cousins are carvers and two of them were working on totem poles while we were there. So cool! I got a paddle from his cousin Kelly. Also super cool. And all of the relatives are really nice and friendly--he has tons of cousins his age, so it was fun to hang out.

We happened to be in Metlakatla right before their big celebration, and during a big reunion so we were able to see some native dancing. Awesome. We even got video! I'll figure out how to get it up on YouTube as soon as we get home.

Metlakatla is so peaceful--a true small town where people leave their doors unlocked and when a store is closed you can call the owner at home. Unfortunately there aren't many jobs there, but people are excited about a new road being built to make it easier to get between Metlakatla and Ketchikan.

The ferry we're on is really nice. There's a cafeteria, a bar, showers and even informational talks. Very cool. So far we've seen seals and a couple of whales. Hoping to see more on the way! Tonight we stop off at Petersburg, another small town, and then we'll board a different ferry for the rest of our trip to Juneau. (With a cabin so we can sleep.)

I'm working on posting photos to Flickr, but the connection here is pretty slow.

On our way

On our way
Originally uploaded by mercoop

Here we are at the Sacramento airport. We fly to Seattle tonight and then head to Ketchikan, Alaska, where we'll meet up with Josh's sister. His uncle is going to pick us up in a boat and bring us to Metlakettla, a small island in southeast Alaska. Off we go!

Video!

I finally figured out how to get my videos on here. Here's numero uno. It's Hong Kong's skyline at night--every night they do a 20-minute light show with music. It's pretty cool. This is the skyline of Central Hong Kong, as seen from Kowloon.

Here I am again

Last year, when I visited China, I loved it so much that I vowed to return. But I didn't really know when I'd make it back to this corner of the world. Well, here I am again. Not exactly the same place--but at least the same corner! And here I am traveling again. It reminds me of so many good times!!! I do miss this lifestyle of discovery--finding myself in new, exciting and sometimes intimidating cities, meeting people from near and far. But I also remember that it can be a lonely lifestyle, so for the moment I am happy with this briefer form of adventure.

These past two days in Hong Kong have been wonderful. The weather was perfect. Yesterday I went to Lantau, the biggest island in Hong Kong. Here I visited the largest outdoor Buddha--very impressive, sitting high on a mountaintop (which naturally has steps leading up to it that you can't help but climb). It was awfully touristy, but a very nice break from the big-city life.

I had a dream last night that, for various reasons, my flight would be delayed until the 28th of March. Hmmm ... But sadly today I go home (so, M, you can tell everyone I'll be back Sunday afternoon :P). It's funny, although my flight is something like 14 hours, I arrive in San Fran BEFORE I leave from Hong Kong. Ha. Darn 16-hour time difference!

Anyway, I wish I could post more pics now, but the connection here is slow. I also took some cool videos I'll do my best to post on YouTube. I'll let you know when they're up.

Neato

Before I left, one of my co-workers joked that I should try to find an alt weekly to bring back for inspiration. Well, I actually found one! The HK Magazine. And it's quite good! Lots of attitude. It's obviously run by expats and even has things like Free Will Astrology and Savage Love. Ha. Maybe I'll visit their office tomorrow ....

High above Hong Kong

High above Hong Kong
Originally uploaded by mercoop.

What can I say about Hong Kong except that it's high? It seems that every building in this city is a high rise. And by far one of the ugliest is the Bank of America building. D'oh!

As compared with mainland China, Hong Kong is extremely wealthy--there's an Armani or some other designer store on seemingly every corner. It's very Western for an Eastern city. I can't say most people speak English, but most signs at least are in English, so it's easy enough to get around. And there are a lot of foriegn businesspeople, especially in Central Hong Kong--one of the nicer districts.

Hong Kong is a difficult city to pin down. It's extremely fast-paced--it's virtually impossible to find a lazy streetside cafe good for people-watching. But at the same time it's got random lush, green parks that make for a wonderful break from that fast-pacedness.

I'll hold off complete judgment until I've had more time to digest it all, but all in all, Hong Kong is a lovely city. But it's no Shanghai.

In the city

IMG_0156
Originally uploaded by mercoop.

Today we took a Manila adventure. We started with the original walled city, built by the Spanish, called Intramuras. Very cool. I think the neatest thing about it is that there is still so much going on inside the walls--there are schools in old convents, restaurants in old jail cells. And the oldest church in the Philippines is there.

From Intramuras we checked out some of the flea markets in Chinatown (but first we had lunch and I tried ox tongue--not bad!). Craziness. Traffic in Manila is total chaos, and getting in and out of Chinatown was, well, not easily done. From there we hit the complete opposite end of the spectrum--Makati and the Green Belts. High-end everything. Nice--but a far cry from the $1 T-shirts they were selling in Chinatown or at the beach!

Tomorrow I leave for Hong Kong. I can't believe my stay in the Philippines is already over!!! How sad! I've had such a great time with Lille and her family--and friends. To the Boses--THANK YOU!!!

Ah, the beach

I forgot how much I missed the beach! Swimming in the ocean, smelling it in the air. Ahhh. It's so beautiful here--on the island of Boracay. Though we've all gotten a bit too much sun, no matter how much sunscreen we've slathered on. Simply put, the island is awesome. We've pretty much stuck to one part of it--White Beach--because it's where all the action is. The way the guide book described it, I expected it to be like Phuket, in Thailand. It is ... sort of. It definitely reminds me of Thailand. But the people here are so much more friendly! And there are actually locals here, or at least Filipino visitors, unlike Phuket, which was 90% foriegn tourists. Anyway, I've tried lots of local foods. Guess what? I ate chicken butt! And wonderful seafood. We had the best oysters the other day. I think it was my first time!

I'm staying with my friend Lille and her friend, Anne. Lille's mom and a couple of other friends are here too. I didn't make it to the wedding, but I crashed the end of the after-party. Super fun! It was at a beachside bar that had sand for floors. So everyone just kicked off their shoes to dance. During the wedding, Farrah, another friend with Lille and her mom, and I got beachside sunset massages. One hour for $7. So nice. And yesterday we all took an island-hopping boat ride and got to watch the sunset from the island of Puka (you know, like Puka shells). And thankfully, despite about 36 hours of travelling (my flight from San Fran to Hong Kong was 15 hours!!), I'm not jetlagged. Phew!

Anyway, just wanted to update. I'll fill in more later--with pictures! :)