mila | adventures . cambodia

it started out with our luggage not showing up.  somehow our luggage decided it wanted to take a more adventurous route.  it went to bombay from bangkok and no one knew when it would make it's way to cambodia.  groan.  guess it was time to go shopping.  then petra comes out of the bathroom with this statement... "the green stuff in the little bottle isn't mouthwash".  silly girl tried to gargle with shampoo.  rofl.  it was a great start.


we decided to spend the first day shopping.  gee... i wonder why?  we went to the "old market".  it's a tourist trap quite honestly.  several stalls of the countries local goods.  everything from metal and wood works to fabrics and fish.    we bought enough clothes to get us by.  i would have purchased more but they trade in US dollar.. dollar as in the paper money.  no coins here.  so the smallest denomination they are willing to trade on is a buck.  even for the smallest toy they want to charge a dollar.  it gets ridiculous in some cases.  i don't think i'll be coming back for the shopping.  


we took a trip to a place called floating village.  it's amazing!  everyone lives on "house boats".  people here learned how to swim and maneuver boats before they learned how to walk.  many of them never even learned how to drive or ride a bicycle!  although i should be one to talk, curtis just taught me how to ride a bike last summer.  

cruising through the neighborhood and peeking into their homes you see that they have everything they need.  gardens are found out front and music in the back.  some homes have TVs and monitors.  the village has a floating basketball court, a church, post office and a school.  behind each of these you see little boats parked out back.  the local restaurant is well equipped and the bathroom is cleaner than the ones on land!  the best part of all this is that the shopping is a window service!  the floating produce store comes right up to your doorstep where you can make your selections in the comfort of your home. 


that night we hung out at pub street.  it's the local bar hopping hang out, hence the name.  it's a colorful strip with art shops mixed in with restaurants and pubs.  kids walk the streets peddling goods to the tourists.  street artists -- i only saw one guy actually -- performing daring stunts complete with speakerers on wheels.  down a little ways are food stalls selling local favorites and next to that a 3 story restaurant with a skate ramp on the roof!

mila | projects

i've been working on a project for the last few weeks now and i'm bursting at the seams to share it with everyone.  my high school class and i have been racking our heads on how we can raise funds for our 25 year reunion.  it's a tradition at our school that the batch celebrating their 25th reunion helps to fund the community outreach program that the school maintains.  the outreach program consists of mission schools in the poorer areas of the philippines as well as community support centers in the slum areas.  we are 6 years away from our reunion but we've got a large number to try to hit.  


there is a bridge in manila that has approximately 25 families living underneath it.  they have only this concrete structure and a few pieces of tarp and wood to protect them from the elements.  they have nothing to their name other than their meager belongings and their family.  even with so little they give so much.  it is not uncommon that children are orphaned or abandoned in this city.  communities just like these take those children in and adopt them as their own.  


my classmates have kids of varying ages.  it's hard for me to believe that we even have girls with children in high school already!  i haven't even started down that road yet!  but i digress.  we are gathering our children, ages 5 - 10, and we're having a playdate!  we're meeting at the side of the bridge for some snacks and games.  i'm bringing the lights and we're having a photobooth session.  the beauty of youth blurs the lines between rich and poor.  we are looking to bridge the gap that day with a few hours of fun and a lifetime of memories and even if only one seed sees its way to the future we have made a dent in the world.  a child's smile is universal and we want to share that with the world.


the photographs will be used in an exhibit to be shown in november.  we are hoping to raise enough funds to continue the momentum.  perhaps this can be an annual project.  cross your fingers everyone!


here's a sneak peak on the last trip we were on.  can you guess where this is?

mila | adventure . ubud & singapore

i was starting to feel low the night before but it was my birthday and we had planned on a road trip so i mustered up all my energy and away we went!


ubud (indonesia) is full of artisans!  the most amazing carvings on wood, stone, and other natural materials could be found on the roads of ubud.  i could have spent 2 days just walking through shops.  silver shops and weaving centers were spread throughout the area as well.  from my retail days i remember that the majority of the jewelry we used to order were either made in indonesia or thailand.  i saw it all with my own eyes.  it was amazing!  


the highlight of the day for me though was the monkey forest.  monkeys roam freely in indonesia and most especially at this one temple in the forest.  

this next shot is me taking a picture of curtis and curtis' photo is shown below.

curtis returns the favor... my shot.... curtis taking a picture of me getting this shot is shown below.

all that travelling around in the heat of course we had to stop for some refreshments.  the local beer is called bintang.  then it was onto more temples.  

in the hindu religion, the gods have a kind of caste system.  there are the big guys who always take the highest position, the middle guys and the bodyguards on the bottom.  the gods also have gender.  the offerings vary based on gender and position.  if you are making offerings to the bodyguards the platter might include things like cigarettes and money.  if the god is a female, maybe some sweets to get you through.  the fabrics wrapped around the statues are also based on class and gender.  it's all so very colorful and interesting.  it seems that universally, we as a people give our best workmanship in honor of our gods.

i didn't know it then but the low feeling the day before my birthday was signaling the start to dengue.  i had a fever off and on for the next few days.  we were flying out of indonesia and stopping at singapore for a day and a half before heading back to manila.  it was unfortunate that the fever prevented us from seeing more of singapore.  

singapore is incredibly clean and orderly!  it almost seemed like a movie set it was so pristine!  petra kept saying that it was so surreal.  the taxi drivers told us that singapore is so small it would take an hour and a half to drive from east to west and the same from north to south.  at one point it was a part of malaysia but has since been disowned by them due to politics.  isn't that always the case?  anyway, in all these politics it turns out that indonesia hates malaysia, malaysia hates singapore and they are all leery of the chinese.  can't we just all get along?  sigh.

in this photo... dinesh  is a long time friend i met thru flickr.  he's an amazing photographer!  i've watched him grow thru a simple point and shoot to his new olympus slr.  he's got an uncanny ability to capture street shots that have so much soul.  and as if that wasn't enough, he can also dance!  he's a traditional indian dancer --- it runs in the family.  his mother runs a dance school.

also in this picture is carmela.  a blast from my highschool past.  she's based in singapore but travelling thru asia for work but hoping to take a break at some point.  i'm keeping my fingers crossed for you carme!

milan is also one of my friends from school who is currently studying in singapore to further her career in ob/gyn.  isn't that amazing!  she brings babies into this world for fun!  lol.  petra in this picture was helping her out.... poor girl needed to cover up a pizza stain on her shirt.  petra's being helpful.


singapore at night is beautiful.  the city is all lit up and everything looks so serene.  i was so tired from the fever i opted out of lugging the big camera around.  as soon as i saw the lights go on that night i regretted the decision.  


the underground walkways (and subways) are a girl's dream!!!  it's a mall!!!!!  too bad shops close so early.  well, for my bank account, that may not be a bad thing.