Jumpa Lagi, Asia!

Change is afoot! When you follow the school-year calendar, June is always a wild, climatic and hectic time of deadlines, 'year-end' gatherings and flat-out energy. Of course this year will be no different. However after the cubbies have been cleaned out and the bulletin boards are taken down, we will not only be packing up for our annual summer bliss in Canada, we will also be packing and stacking boxes full of our accumulated chopsticks, elephant pants, saris, Buddha statues, lanterns and curry spices, and starting our next chapter in....Europe!

Ok 'Europe' is so vague, I know. More specifically, we will be joining a school in Tirana, the capital city of Albania. So where is Albania and why are we choosing to make it our next home away from home? Well, to start, Albania is sandwiched between Greece and Montenegro, with Macedonia to the East, and across the Adriatic Sea from Italy. Is that anymore clear? If not, don't fret...When we initially heard back from our new school, the first thing I did was plug Albania into the ol' Google Maps. To save you the time....

Alright, so why have we made this seemingly random choice? Well, all with good reason. After six years of enjoying all things Asian, Tyler and I were looking for a new experience both professionally and as travelers. We knew that we wanted to either make a try to fulfill a dream of living in Europe or head home to Canada. We also knew that we wanted to continue to work together at the same school, as well as continue to teach the I.B curriculum. Since we had that frustratingly special mix of quite specific to very general criteria, we decided to blanket both Europe and North America with resumes and wait to see what came back. We heard back from a number of schools, and after a bunch of interviews in half a dozen countries, we decided that the school in Albania sounded like it shared our values when it came to education. (The beauty of working for private schools is they are all different and can have a big range in focus and values...You gotta shop around!) Another big advantage to the school in Albania was it met three out of four of our search criteria. (...Sadly, Albania is not Canada's 13th province 😢)

So professionally, we're happy. Otherwise, what are the things we are looking forward to while living in Albania? Well, to start, we're very excited to have so many European countries at our doorstep, as this isn't an area of the world we've seen enough of--Three hour drive to Greece ✔, two hour ferry to Italy ✔, three hour flight to Switzerland or Spain (eh, Danielle? Ferran&Maria?) ✔. We are excited! Next, being one of the least developed countries in Europe, the cost of living is lower so we won't have the shock of our lives moving from Kuala Lumpur. Most importantly, the food- I predict that I will eat very little but cheese, bread, roasted peppers and pizza until Christmas. Of course, travel in Albania itself; --The curious post-Communist-esqueness, Mediterranean coastlines, mountains, lakes, winding goat-peppered roads..."get my driving gloves, Merla! We're buying a van!" And finally, four seasons! You can all remind me of this when I'm griping about the cold...but for now-- boots, scarves, coats, mitts, sweaters-- items steamy Malaysia would never allow for.
So until we get there and can see for ourselves, we can thank the internet and Lonely Planet for giving us a taste of what we're in for.

See you in August, Albania!
....And until then, we start to say goodbye to our beloved Malaysia, and I can tell ya, it's going to be oh-so-bittersweet.

Beautiful Boracay, Spring Break 2017

This was the second Spring Break we've spent in the lovely, sunny, picturesque Philippines. Although our last trip to El Nido started off a bit more dramatically, this time round it was smooth sailing all the way to Boracay.
Boracay is a bustling island. A very bustling and busy island. We had a great time, but I could understand why it may or may not be the spot for everyone's beach holiday. As our main goal was to unwind and relax, we went the low-key route and didn't get up to too much besides finding a pool or beach-side chair and reading a book. And how hard is it to fulfill those requirements anywhere while on vacation? Boracay's major leg up is that everywhere you look there is an unreal coastline staring back. So with little care to adventure too far, we basically rotated between three locations;

White Beach: As it turns out Koreans and Chinese tourists love the place! The main part of the island, White beach was seriously bumping when we headed down for sunset. Honestly, I was far more impressed by the sheer amount of people walking up and down the beach, than by anything else the beach had to offer. Besides Heaundae Beach in Busan, S. Korea at the height of summer, I've never seen so many people on a waterfront. It was amazing (in a contrary sort of way). White Beach wouldn't be the place you would go to find serenity. It is four kilometres of restaurants, bars and vendors catering to holiday-seekers. Lots of options for food--From local food, tiki bars, huge seafood buffets, Starbucks, Johnny Rockets and TGIFridays-- You can literally find everything there. As it's a pretty busy beach with lots of boat traffic, the water isn't great, however I was really impressed with how well the actual beach was kept! No garbage, no cars, strictly enforced smoking regulations...the quality of the sandy beach was great! We mostly moseyed down this way for an evening sunset cocktail and some dinner, but beyond that we were a bit skiddish of the crowds....

The sunset draws the crowds!

Puka Beach: A bit quieter, but still hustling and bustling, Puka Beach was where we set up shop for a few full days of sun, swim and sand. Puka Beach had stunning water and very little boat traffic, which again, for the amount of people there, has been impressively preserved and maintained. It was an ideal spot to grab a coconut and people watch. Conclusions drawn from a couple days of casually peering over the top of my book and catching a glimpse; 1. Everyone is happy at the beach. Once you've arrived at the beach, there's nothing else to do but splash about in the crystal clear water, push around some sand and lounge. Who wouldn't be happy? 2. A successful star jump group photo is tough, not for the faint-hearted, or those on a time constraint. 3. Western people like to bake in the sun (present company excluded) wearing as little as possible, while the majority of Asians do not. 4. It is extremely difficult to walk backwards on a crowded beach in the sand with a selfie-stick and not stumble---As proven by the lady who, as forecasted by Tyler, literally walked over me and ended up face-down, rolling in the sand (....she should've gotten her head out of the sand ! Har har har ). Initially I reacted with a blasé attitude, but once the lady had resumed her minute-by-minute vacation video, Tyler and I couldn't help but roll around laughing.

Our Hotel: We stayed at a hotel that was away from the heart of the tourist centre of the island (but to be honest there were tourists everywhere). We stayed at a big hotel that had a great pool, private little beach and was located on top of a hill, so beside working those calf muscles all week, we caught both the sunrise and sunset each day! With our duty-free bottle of rum and a bunch of great ham, cheese and rolls we bought at a deli in town, we were happy to post-up by the pool.

 

As you can see we did little else but hang by the pool, and wait for the never disappointing sunset.

Like I said, this was a week of lounging and relaxing, and when we do that we read...a lot! I'd like to recommend a few books for those looking for a decent narrative (nothing too mind-bending, just good stories that popped up at the airport bookstore). Summer is coming..Anyone have a good recommendation?

Macau & Hong Kong-ing

This was one of my favourite holidays and I suppose what made our extra-long weekend (5 days is still considered a weekend right?) away to Macau and Hong Kong such a good one was the pace of it all. We seemed to check a lot off the tourist list, but at the same time had enough time to really relax and enjoy what the city countries had to offer.
We started off in Macau, the most densely populated country in the world--With it being only 28 km2, and pretty much China, there are a lot of people (over 70,000 people per square mile). As this former Portuguese settlement, and Vegas of the East was the closest we've been to China, or Portugal....or Vegas for that matter, it was all a lot to take in.
So before heading to Macau I was at a lunch and chatting with someone who frequents the island (I'm guessing with a heck of a lot more financing than Ty and I). When getting tips on what to do and see he tacked on "And for the cheesiest night ever, there's a super old and one of the original hotel/casino called the Lisboa....you should check it out." At which I could have thanked him for the tip and moved on, but instead, took a healthy swig of wine and boldly admitted "Oh! That's where we've booked to stay!"...No shame.
Upon arrival, the Lisboa was exactly where I'd like my '80's movie to take place. The lights, the chinzt, the florals and pastels, the wallpaper, it was all so wonderful, and made me regretful I didn't pack something a little more tight and bright. Anyway--We were only in Macau one night, so it really wasn't all about the hotel, but it certainly was a great starting point. We spent the day walking around fading between old Europe and old China, checking out the waterfront, and all the big glam and glitzy hotels and casinos. Such a juxtaposing little city! Of course food is never far from our minds, and we were after two things; dim sum and Portuguese egg tarts. I'll get to the dim sum later... but for now, the egg tarts! We tracked down the 'best' spot for egg tarts and lattes (although we came across plenty of spots where the egg tarts were just fine) and buried ourselves into a quick half dozen. I am forever a huge fan!

Fear & Loathing in Macau

Next stop was Hong Kong. We hopped on a ferry and an hour later we were in, what I would say is just maybe the best Asian city we've come across (Ahhhh...how can you choose? There's been a lot of adventures and a lot of love to give each city for different reasons!) I will say that Hong Kong lived up to all the hype and we absolutely loved it. The scenery is beautiful, the cityscape is wild, the wide clean sidewalks are perfect, the parks and public spaces are a treat, the strange and perfect mix of Asian and Western culture was absolutely up our alley. I really can't think of anything I didn't care for (well the Hong Kong dollar is a touch pricey, but you get what you pay for in this world!...As evident by our comically small hotel room). We public transported it all over the city by train and ferry hitting up the tourist spots--

Victoria Peak--A huge line for the tram up, but well worth the views! We mooched around at dusk, and in my opinion The Peak is best taken in at night for the illuminated skyline. There were tons of places up top to have a bite&cocktail. We chose Bubba Gump Shrimp because they had the shortest line....annndd loved it! Don't know why we have avoided this restaurant in the past (besides not loving seafood)....Stupid is as stupid does. The commitment to the theme gets two big thumbs up!

Ngong Ping 360 cable car was a great little stop on Lantau Island. It was a 25 minute ride up through the mountains with pretty specy views of mountainous Hong Kong and the South China Sea. At times it felt pretty precarious hanging high up over the mountains while the wind blew gusts through our gondola, but we just held on tight. At the top of the mountain we checked out Tian Tan Buddha, or simply 'Big Buddha'. Always cool to see a giant symbol of faith, and stretch our legs before heading back down the mountain!

Hong Kong Disneyland was a huge highlight for both of us! Having never been to any other Disney theme park, we were literally children in (multiple) candy shops. Again, we loved the commitment to the theme. From the moment we stepped onto the dedicated subway line outfitted with Mickey Mouse-shaped windows and statues of our favourite characters, to when we staggered outta there at closing, we were swept up.

Besides the obvious tourist haunts, we really enjoyed wandering the streets, checking out some shopping and taking in the hustle and bustle of this very livable and enjoyable city. For us, who have become accustomed and captivated with living in Asia, however still pine away for the familliarities of Western culture, Hong Kong filled the bill. To seek out bargains in the bustling street markets, then find they have sizes that fit my maple-syrup-loving physique, to fill up on amazing dim sum and various hanging meats for dinner, then end your night with a drunk slice where they had allll the dipping sauces and Dr. Pepper, to be squished, poked and prodded while trying to get on the train, then to realize the train is running on time and there's plenty of seats for everyone---Well it was all a bit of a shock in the most pleasant of ways.

Sooo most of our pictures from the trip got eaten up and remain in electronic limbo...and these last pics are the product of a quick Google image search---BUT that certainly is what Hong Kong streets look like at night, that is the Star Ferry that shuttles everyone to and fro on the harbour, and those are the flamingos that chill out in Kowloon Park all day.