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