Asia...in love!!

Last year, as you all know, Jordan and I went to SE Asia for about 5 weeks and had a blast. By the end, though, I was really missing America. I was sad to leave the fruit, the food, the friends, and the laid-back lifestyle but home was calling.

My favorite things: Taiwan...not much I didn't love there, Malaysian beaches, & fish you don't see in Hawaii (like clownfish!).

My least favorite things: melting in the heat, no 舒跑 (shupao) outside of Taiwan, Balinese vendors & "transport" offers, & the most horrible leg waxing experience of my entire life in Sanur, Bali.

Overall, I really, really, really love SE Asia and want to go back again and again. The people are very friendly and so laid back that I really felt comfortable there. It's hard to beat the food and drink in Taiwan and the powder-soft sand on the Malaysian beaches we went to. I don't actually think I could say enough about those three things: people are nice and easygoing, the food in Taiwan is awesome, and Malaysian beaches are fabulous. Shall I say it all again? No? Yeah, I don't feel like typing it a 23rd time either. So from here on out, I'll put up pictures with some comments.

TAIWAN:

Once we landed in 桃園 (Taoyuan) we ate 油條 (youtiao), 饅頭 (mantou), and drank 豆漿 (doujiang) (which I didn't particularly enjoy...sorry Jordan and Aaron) with our Taiwanese friend before going to the bullet train. It was so quiet and I was so tired...but there really wasn't enough time to fall asleep before we got into 台北 (Taibei) so we continued on with me being pretty dang tired.

Shout out to the 台北 (Taibei) 101...now the second tallest building in the world (thanks, Dubai). The view you get from the observation deck is pretty amazing.

Once you buy the ticket to go up, you stand in line and get your picture taken. If you know me, you know that serious pictures from me are few and far between so I was true-to-form and posed for it...Jordan and I were a hit! Foreigners and Chinese peeps alike took pictures of our picture so we documented the fun.

This panda was one of the two that they have at the Taibei zoo and they were crawling around, eating, and generally being extremely cute! Unlike San Diego where you have to pay an exorbitant entrance fee just to get inside the zoo itself, and you're not even allowed to loiter around the panda exhibit to witness them living everyday life in their habitat, we were allowed to stand around until we had our panda fill...I must have taken about a bajillion pictures and a few videos of their incredible cuteness.

Koala = positively the most drunk animal on the planet. Well, you would be too if you ate as many eucalyptus leaves as they do in a day.

野柳地質公園 (uh...Yeliu Rock Park)...this is where you'd find the famous Queen's Head (above) rock formation. Personally, I think Dragon's Head (below, top), or Gorilla Rock (below, bottom) are cooler. We had to wait a gazillion years to get a relatively Asian-tourist-free shot of the Queen's Head.

Dragon's Head

Gorilla Rock

Taroko Gorge...I don't think my photos do the place justice. It's just so beautiful there!

檸檬愛玉. This is positively my most favorite drink ever in the history of the world (Lemon Love Jade...well, it's awesomeness in a cup and I crave it).

Gotta love the Old Navy rejects that the stores in 墾丁 (Kending).

This is my most favorite sign of all Chinglish signs ever! Read it and scratch your heads while laughing loudly to yourself, my friends.

Me on my birthday after a bath with my birthday present. Who else has a husband who surprises you with a container of mango after your shower?

Every Buddha deserves a wet willy!

Hiking one of the "trails" on 大坑 (Dakeng)...I was pretty out of shape so I was really tired by the "end" (we didn't make it to the end of this trail and even if we had made it, we would've had to turn around and come all the way back since there's no way out except the way you came in).

I was so happy...I pet every friendly dog with an owner that I could when I had the chance. Little did I know, the state of stray dogs in places like Bali make me wish euthanization were more affordable in other countries. And coming from the ultimate dog lover, it's hard to believe I would say something like that. But the visible disease, parasites, and tumors coupled with their malnourished state and overall hideous temperament makes their lives incredibly pitiful since American sensibilities and animal rights don't apply over there.

That is one large Buddha. It's the largest of its kind (its pose is unique among Buddha statues).

Just another packed street in Taiwan...it was almost impossible to get in and out of the shops.

We made our way over to 綠島 (Ludao/Green Island) via The Uranus...nearly everyone around us vomited on the boat ride over. I didn't, thank goodness, and I didn't even experience motion sickness which is pretty common for me. The snorkeling is amazing over there!! It's too bad we didn't take an underwater camera with us on that trip. I've never seen so many varieties of parrotfish before!

BALI:

This was, no joke, 10 minutes before boarding. Me, Jordan, and the crew.

A petrol station in Sanur

Why do our American children need so many things to be happy when these kids just need an abandoned, overgrown lot with a soccer ball that desperately needs a pump and only one soccer goal? Will my future kids really need a DS, cell phone, Wii, and a computer to be happy?

We drove down to Uluwatu for the views, the sunset, and the Kecak performance.

Hanuman "flying" over to Ravana's castle to check on Sita - a scene from the Ramayana

The rice terraces of Bali...the rain cleared up in time for this picture but not in time for me to get any photos of the classic ones on the hillsides.

SINGAPORE:

Underground art that I loved.

The Singapore skyline at night from the waterfront.

This is where I stick all my extra coins.

MALAYSIA:

Zainal Abidin mosque, a beautiful white mosque in Kuala Terengganu.

Masjid Jamek mosque, the oldest mosque in Kuala Lumpur.

Some awesome graffiti I saw on the way to the train station.

The water and sand are purely amazing in the Perhentians.

These might look like cool palm trees...but they are used for palm oil, an ingredient in pretty much every processed food you eat (like Oreos). At first, they look so cool and interesting until you see the amount of land being cleared to plant them.

This land was recently cleared to make way for an extension of yet another palm oil plantation. Money from the developed world's processed foods is decreasing the natural biodiversity of SE Asian countries like Malaysia. Know where your food is coming from, what ingredients are used to make it, and what the effects are of using those ingredients. If you still choose to use those products, so be it, just be an informed consumer.

The ever-famous Petronas towers.

We got to see a sea turtle come up to the beach to lay her eggs and then go back to the ocean. What an amazing site! The only problem is, in the morning, people come and take all the eggs to sell them as "souvenirs"or to eat. Not one is left on the beach in the nest where Bubbles Dive Resort is located to later hatch as a baby sea turtle. Sad, right? Don't eat, purchase, or become a patron to any organization, restaurant, or business that participates in turtle egg harvesting.

SE Asia was so wonderful that we're going back again in July for 7 weeks. I know I said 5 weeks was tough by the end but we'll be going to more places and we'll have friends with us this time so it will make a portion of our trip a whole lot more enjoyable. This time we also have the advantage of being repeat visitors so we can avoid some of the newbie mistakes we made last time we were there. I'm excited to be going back. I've gotten in touch with more of my friends that live over there this time so I'll be able to visit them and I'm super stoked about that.

Since the last time we went was my first time really out of the country (Canada is too similar to the U.S. so I didn't count that...and a few hours in Tijuana was hardly anything to call a foreign experience) I was glad we went to Taiwan first. It's western enough to be accessible to the new traveler but foreign enough to let you know you're definitely not in Kansas anymore. Taiwan isn't a place where many westerners go to travel and I don't know why but I don't really want to shout it from the rooftops because if the number of whiteys (which I am) increases dramatically, the whole nature of Taiwan and the specialness of it will change. What can I say, I'm a selfish creature. Another cool thing about sinking your teeth into Asia via Taiwan is that Taiwanese people are really patient and forgiving when you don't know the language or are trying to speak Chinese. Now that I've experienced a foreign trip, I'm glad to be ending this upcoming trip in Taiwan for the same reasons but in the opposite direction. It'll warm me up to a bit of the western before I dive back into the USA.

So that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

~Megan

Winds of Change

A lot has happened since I last posted anything. Jordan updates this blog much better than I do and it's supposed to be mine...haha...well, now it's a family blog. And this half of the family should pick up some slack every now-and-again, I suppose.

Say hello to the newest college graduate from the Foster household! Yes, that's me. I know I'm a Mendez now but you can't take the Foster out of me no matter how hard you try. I've tried to make both sides of the family proud by my scholastic performance and don't intend to disappoint from here on out. Just some minor changes...

Because of Jordan "encouraging" me to get my homework done, we raised my overall GPA from a 3.2ish to a 3.72 with almost solid A's (until the end when I took stats for geographers and population geography). Yay me! I've never been dumb but I wasn't really motivated to maintain 4.0s before. Thanks babe!

Now that school is over, it's as if I have to reinvent myself. Who am I now, now that I'm no longer a college student? There are roles that we all fill in life and with each role comes a certain identity. As a college student most people know a few things about you without even having a face and a name to go with it: how much money you have (none), what types of foods you eat (unhealthy and fast), what type of social life you live (very active either with people or books), and your sleeping habits (who needs sleep?). But when you are no longer a student, what kind of life do you live? What do you do for income? How do you spend your time? Now that you have a little more time on your hands, do you prepare elaborate meals or have you not yet graduated from a diet of mac & cheese and ramen? Who are your friends? Where do you live? All of these things used to be understood and were even provided to you in your "this is who you are" name-badge but now that those former descriptions no longer apply, you must create your own. Now is a time for a combination of reinvention-of-self coupled with applying the tried and true principles and characteristics you have forged during those times of self-doubt, success, and self-discovery.

So then I beg the question, who am I? What do I choose to be now that I don't wear the "college student" hat anymore? Well, my friends, I suppose I'll tell you when I figure it out for myself. While I never went through a crisis nor did I have a good cry about not knowing what to do with myself now that I'm considered a "real grown-up," I did (and still do) have thoughts of who I am in the eyes of others. College was really the last time for a long time when I would be recognized for my own accomplishments. From here forward I will be a wife, mother (well, real baby-makin' isn't until next year...so that one will be a little way off), and whatever title I get at church from my assigned calling, and the girl who lives in apartment #such-and-such. My accomplishments will reflect on my husband, family, and household more than it will be about me and what I offer and how special I am. And...you know what? I'm so okay with that...I totally don't care (for right now) if no one sees me and thinks about the great things I'm doing. Maybe I'll be more concerned with that later, but, for right now, I'm perfectly content to do things at my own pace and in my own way. As long as Jordan notices, I'll be just fine.

I'm just me. I've waxed philosophical and have come out the same optimistic realist that I have always been. Take it or leave it, I'm pretty comfortable just being me.

~Megan

If Everyone Else Were Jumping Off a Cliff...

Warning for those of you who are easily offended, this post may not be for you. You are now proceeding at your own risk.

Housing Prices

Hello boys and girls! Let me tell you a story! When I was 14 years old my mom, brother, and I moved to San Diego. That was the summer of 2000. Does anyone remember what 2000 was like? One memory I hope that remains with me my entire life came in October 2000 at a church meeting. This quote (actually from 2001 but very similar to what I heard in 2000) comes from Gordon B. Hinckley, the president (at the time, he passed away in 2008) of my church:

"The economy is particularly vulnerable. We have been counseled again and again concerning self-reliance, concerning debt, concerning thrift. So many of our people are heavily in debt for things that are not entirely necessary. "

When I heard this, I wanted the people around me to take heed immediately but even after a few months in San Diego, I knew they wouldn't. The results around me in San Diego were amazing. Housing prices were increasing at a crazy amount. I remember one day while in my kitchen thinking, "These prices are not sustainable when wages are not increasing at a similar rate!" Yep, typically 14 year old thinking, right? It wasn't about girls, it was about California housing prices. I told my mom that the bubble would pop in the next couple of years.

Well, I was right about it popping, not very good about the timing. It actually took 7 years.

11 years later I often think about all the resultant suffering. God gave us a Joseph-in-Egypt-type 7 years of excess but too many people wasted it on "things that are not entirely necessary." Very sad. While I could be worrying about the Jazz and their new coach or where Carmelo is going to go, etc, I focus a few minutes everyday on where I want my life to turn out. I am so thankful to live in a country (and a certain part of that country) where I have limitless options and potential if I'm willing to put in the work.

As I have heard and read anecdotal accounts of these hard times, I had an idea pop in my head. Some of you won't like what I'm writing and that's ok. I would be mad too! So in 2007, housing prices in most, if not all, of the country declined at an historic rate. This drop is continuing. My idea was that this wasn't the first time in mankind's history that this has happened. Where have I heard of something like this before?

JAPAN!

Ah yes! The land of the rising sun! I have spent a total of 3 hours in Japan (Nagoya airport) on my way to Taiwan for my church mission. I felt like I was in an episode of the Jetsons. Very modern (at least 10 years ahead of the US in everything) but I digress.

A lot of you might be too young to know this (I am one of these people) but there was a time that Americans feared the Japanese were taking over--that time was called the 1980's. The Japanese were buying American real estate (Pebble Beach Golf Course is one famous example) and Americans didn't like it. Congress was probably glad they passed the Foreign Investors in Real Property Tax Act in 1980 to at least get a cut of the action!

Eventually the 1980's came to an end and so did the Japanese real estate bubble. The following chart shows Japanese real estate prices between 1980 and 2005. This chart comes from efinancedirectory.com:

Sorry for the smallness! So between 1985 and 1990, Japanese home prices in the 6 largest cities jumped from around $125,000 to $325,000 (that's a 160% jump in 5 years). The interesting part is what happened after 1990. While this chart is out of date, it shows that 15 years after the peak, housing prices have not gone up once! Maybe you remember the line everyone in the U.S. was being fed, "Real estate always goes up! It's not like we are making any more land!" (Unless you are in Holland, Singapore, or Hong Kong). Just ask a Japanese about that.

Now for the part that might make you made if you bought a house between 2005-2008. This chart shows U.S. housing prices and is also from efinancedirectory.com:

Does this chart look anything like the Japanese one? Maybe cut it in half and it will look more familiar. I just want people to be a little bit skeptical of the realtors on TV who claim a turnaround is just around the corner, it is possible they are right but just as possible they are very wrong.

Finally, back to what I was saying. Megan and I discuss our future together and what we want it to be. Others don't decide it for us. There is no one I trust more in this world than Megan and no one I trust less that someone who wants my money. Please keep this in mind as I share one of the best quotes I've ever read about this subject. The author of the following wisdom is Kris Calhoun, he wrote this freelance article for Yahoo!:

"My House

The home I purchased in 2008 is probably the worst thing I could have done to hurt my financial future. With hindsight being 20/20, it's easy to look back now and say, "Well, that was a bad move." But at the time, and in the location my wife and I were looking, it appeared that things were leveling out and home prices didn't have much further to fall.

About 20% in reduced home value and two property tax increases (plus a reduction in our homeowner's exemption) later, I'm kicking myself for ever allowing myself to be talked into home ownership (I've always been more of an apartment kind of guy). At the time, my wife and I thought we were doing things the right way. We put a nearly 45% down payment on the home, took out a 5.35% fixed rate, 15-year mortgage, and made extra payments along the way.

It wouldn't be such a terrible thing if we could ride out the storm for five or ten years in hopes of recovering our losses, but we really don't like the area we chose and have found that home ownership just isn't for us (I worry about things constantly and am afraid to go on vacation anymore for fear that something will happen to the house).

So now, for our mental health and happiness, we have put our home on the market and done so at a much lower price than we purchased it for. If it ever sells, it will set me back significantly in my retirement plans, but even I will admit that being happy is sometimes worth more than money -- depending upon the amount of course."

I feel bad for this guy but I'm glad he's now doing what he really wants to do. It just took tens of thousands of dollars to figure it out. So if you are reading this and still can choose what you want to do, remember that you don't have to be like everyone else. "Everyone else" (Japanese or American) got burned. You don't have to join the party to fit in. You can rise above "Everyone else's" mistakes.

As Henry David Thoreau said:

"If a man loses pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured, or far away."

Happy New Year (Some Good Music)

Happy 2011 everyone! It seems like yesterday that people looked at us funny when we'd say "We're graduating in April 2011" since it was so far off, but now it's less than 4 months away.

Megan and I went to Anacortes for Christmas. I replaced a broken window in Megan's parents' house. I felt like such a man learning how to caulk a window after watching a Youtube video, you know, the old fashioned way men learned how to do things.

We also went to Vancouver, BC and ate great Taiwanese food! I don't know why it took me three visits to Vancouver to realize I taught several people in Taiwan who used to live in Vancouver, but I got my Taiwanese food. My favorite part was telling the Canadian border guard the name of the restaurant we were going to find since I only knew it as "老黃牛肉麵" I had to think quickly to translate it.

We also moved into our new house in South Provo. Edward, our dog, moved with us from Washington and he loves it here. I love having him too. There's nothing quite like having a dog living in our home.

One last thing has been on my mind for a while. I love good music and thank my mom for introducing me to great artists as a young child. Megan and I have similar tastes and I'm very thankful as well for that. One problem over the last 6 or 7 years is called, "The Radio" and on this problem are thousands of talentless artists allowed to transmit their horrible "work" to the public.

I'd like to remind anyone who has forgotten what real music sounds like, yes it's old, but guess what? It's way better than 99.93782723729% of what you hear on the radio today.

Go to Youtube right now and listen to these songs!

Turn Your Lights Down Low--Bob Marley and Lauryn Hill
Doo Wop (That Thing)--Lauryn Hill
Ready or Not--The Fugees (swear word alert)
My Boo--Usher and Alicia Keys
Unbreakable--Alicia Keys
You Don't My Name--Alicia Keys
If I Ain't Got You--Alicia Keys
Video--India.Arie
Stay With You--John Legend
I Can't Write Left Handed--John Legend w/The Roots (or Bill Withers, if you prefer)
Almost anything made by Jack Johnson and Coldplay.

Now listen to the radio again and your head will explode!

Happy 2011!

Finding Time

Today in Elders' Quorum we had a lesson on love for God, wife, and the members of the Elders' Quorum. My favorite part was talking about loving our wife. God teaches us that we are to love only two people with all our hearts (God and our spouse). So that means you can't love your wife too much because its impossible! Glad I can't go wrong in some area of my life.

So I got annoyed when I heard many of my fellow quorum members complaining about not having any time to spend with his wife. Maybe someone reading this can explain this one for me, but many of those in the room don't have a job (or have their wife work) and major in something easy. I know I shouldn't judge but it's a little annoying. Megan and I have tough classes, work 20 hours a week, and we still have more time than we know what to do with.

As my favorite Young Men's President taught me, "You make time to do the things you want to do."

One last thing, to show your wife you love her don't buy her jewelry like all the radio ads suggest, but take her on a trip...to anywhere! Unlike jewelry, you won't ever worry about losing it and the relaxation will increase your love. Trust me on this one.

Everyone enjoy their Christmas! We move out the 18th and will be "homeless" until we move into our new place on New Year's Eve with Edward, our dog! Can't wait!

Grateful

I guess it is a little early to break out the "I'm Thankful For..." speeches, but I'm going to do it anyway. I am very happy lately and most of it comes from being married to Megan. Two years have flown by and I'm very excited for the future.

Today I finished reading a book called, "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho. It's amazing. I had several good friends recommend it so being the cheap Mormon that I am, I borrowed it from one of those friends instead of buying it myself. :)

If you haven't heard of it, it's about the story of a boy who desires to live a life more fulfilling than what is offered in his hometown. That's all I'm going to say, you need to read it yourself.

One of my favorite lines summarizes how I've felt about a few people who influenced me but I'm sure they wouldn't recognize me if I passed them on the street. In "The Alchemist," it reads, "He thought of the many roads he had traveled, and of the strange way God had chosen to show him his treasure. If he hadn't...he would have never met the Gypsy woman, the king, the thief, or...well, it's a long list."

A couple of days ago, I made my own list so reading this line really hit me. I think about how lucky Megan and I are to meet so many people from all over. Here are a few.

Balinese/Indonesians

• The Laundry Lady who spoke very little English but had the only dryer in the village we stayed!
• The crazy dude who I paid 4,000 rupiah (40 cents) to give me a ride on his scooter back to our hotel.
• Widhi, our dive trip salesman who accidentally offered us a lower price than I just offered. Haha! A good guy who had recently married.
• Made, our crazy taxi driver who was named the world's best taxi driver by National Geographic (not a joke, he had the article to prove it). "Friends first, money second" was his line.
• The teenage girl who worked at the Internet cafe we stumbled upon in Denpasar. We saw the sign that said, "3.000 Rp/jam" and Megan said, "Now if we only knew what a jam was." I remembered the McDonald's sign that read 24 Jam 7 Hari so we went inside. The girl was very surprised to see two white people in her cafe. She looked at Megan and told Megan her name and Megan reciprocated. A cool experience.

Singaporeans

• The old Chinese guy originally from Penang who had lived in Singapore for most of his life. He sat next to us at the bus stop at the airport. He "helped" us get to our destination (but not before we went the long way). Megan mentioned how his English sounded just like the way old Chinese-Hawaiians speak.
• The hawker centre Chinese guy on Joo Chiat Road who made awesome dumpling soup. He was amazed I spoke Chinese. I paid and then went to the other side of the seating area. I watched as he tried to deliver the soup to the only other white guy in the place (who already had his food). Just like the Taiwanese say, "We all look the same."
• Megan's mission friend, Tiffany Lai, who took us around. We went to Little India, the Arab Quarter, and Bugis. At one point there were some Traditional Chinese characters written on a building. She couldn't read them (Singaporeans read Simplified characters) so I translated them for her. Pretty funny that a white guy had to teach a Chinese person how to read Chinese!
• The Malay kampung hawker centre we walked around before heading to church. All Malays except for Megan and me! Amazing iced drinks for S$1!
• My good friend Nathaniel's dad happened to be in Singapore for business and we ended up at the same ward! He took us out to dinner at Clarke Quay and walked around with us and told us about his experience living in Singapore as an expat.

Malaysia

• The security guard at our hotel in Kuala Lumpur. He locked up our luggage in a side room after we checked out while we explored the city. He asked my name and I said, "Jordan." He said, "Oh, like the country!" Never heard that one before. He asked where we were from and then said, "Oh America, I'd love to live there, but I can't get the visa." Helped me realized how lucky we are to live in the US.
• The pack of boys in Kota Bharu who rode their bikes through the night market. They saw us and rode over toward us. They asked where we were from and said, "Welcome to Malaysia!" So cute.
• The keeper of the Internet cafe in Kota Bharu. When we tried to leave, he was nowhere to be found. We went to the street level and waited for a while. Finally he showed up, "Sorry, I had to take my friend home." Haha, yeah, your "friend," you mean girlfriend.
• Fatima, the old lady who mopped the floors at the McDonald's at KL Sentral. She did that all day. Crazy.

While you are bored, I am very thankful for all of these people. They've brightened my life. The best part about it is the fact that Megan and I have many more years to keep meeting more and more interesting people that we'd never have a chance to meet anywhere else!