Saying Goodbye to Asia -- For Now

Today is my last full day of this amazing trip.  It is unbelievable to think that it's now nearly over and that the next time I post something here it will be from back home in London.  I am ready to go home.  A month away is a long time.  But there are many things that I will miss and that will ensure that I keep coming back: first and foremost, the people.  Everywhere I've been I've met amazing people who are not only kind and generous and caring in themselves, but who also understand my passion for writing and using my writing to help the lives of children.  By talking to them I am beginning to clarify in my own mind what it is that drives me, what it is that I hope to be able to accomplish with whatever talent and energy I have.  There's more to think about on that score, and more to talk about.  But for now I can say that my time here has helped to crystallize for me who I am and what I want to do with this next chapter of my life.  Clearly a new chapter is opening. It is exciting and a bit frightening to think about, but my big piece of luck is that I have family and friends who support me in my hare-brained schemes.

I will also miss the heat, even the humidity, and the incredible plantlife that it produces.  Perhaps my favourite part of Singapore has been the huge botanical garden which exists smack in the middle of the city, producing a variety of flowers and trees that rivals the city's variety of architecture.  It's beautiful and it's free.  Here's a few photos to whet your appetite.

Along Singapore River

If it's Saturday, it must be Singapore.....

When I arrive someplace new and I'm tired and jetlagged and hot, my favourite thing to do is take a boat trip.  My family hates these hoakey things, but I confess that I love them.  They may not be cool, but they're cool, if you know what I mean.  Now, I've been to Singapore once before so I have a basic idea of the city, but I arrived late last night, I have an appointment later this afternoon and actually, thirty minutes tootling along the river was just what I needed.

I must admit that in my most cranky moments, I've called Singapore "the Epcot of the East." Just like that part of DisneyWorld which no kid wants to go to, Singapore is a series of iconic (perhaps trite) distillations all in one place. Every bit of Asia has its own little section.  But I'm not so tired and cranky anymore and I know that such an assessment really isn't fair.  Setting it's politics aside (ahem) this is a small island that grew from nothing into a big city which has old and new co-existing, and an extraordinarily diverse population all living together.  Plus, if you're a city lover like me, it's really beautiful.

 The river along the main business area is studded with statures like these of centuries-old merchants hawking their wares and kids jumping in for a swim.









The river is lined with quays that show the old shophouses backing up against the towering skyscrapers. These shophouses are now mostly restaurants, and beside the crazy amount of shopping here, Singapore is known for its food.  More on that later.....

Luang Prabang, Laos

I'm now briefly back in Bangkok with an overnight stop before heading off to Singapore and the last leg of my Excellent Adventure.  But as we know, all work and no play makes all of us rather dull, so for the past few days Mr. D and I have taken our holiday in Luang Prabang, Laos.  I've never known much about Laos except that I wanted to go there.  I now know a bit more, but my curiosity is definitely peaked. Luang Prabang is known for its many, many temples and monks, and every morning at 6 there is a silent procession of all the monks through the streets of this small city where the locals and tourists give offerings of food to each one.  It's a beautiful way to start a day, even though it meant waking up at 5.30.  We packed a lot into the 3 days we had there: a long boatride down the Mekong, a visit to a cave filled with thousands of Buddhas, a swim in a waterfall, a museum or two, a performance of traditional dance by the Laos Royal Ballet, and many temples. Above and below are some of my favourite photos.

The Kids and I in Phnom Penh

Last night I had the most remarkable experience.  Just like we did in Siem Reap, the kids and I featured in a fundraiser for Anjali House.  But this one was different.  It was held in the garden of a beautiful, restored French colonial bank that now serves as one of Phnom Penh's best restaurant's, Van's. The audience was full of supporters and various VIP's, the most important one of which was Her Royal Highness Princess Bopha Devi.  I have pieced together a short film to show you all that happened.  Yes, you see me briefly speaking and having my picture taken with the Princess.  But more importantly, you see 4 of the kids I had worked with read their work in front of this rather special audience.  It amazes me how articulate, relaxed and poised these kids were.  Teenagers anywhere in the world would have been uncomfortable in such surroundings.  And these four kids, Sreyline, Srey, Saroun and Sopheak, were pretty nervous to start, especially about meeting royalty.  But they never wavered.  We were so proud of them.  But even more importantly, they were so proud of themselves.
   Mr. D flies in tonight and then after one more day, my Cambodian adventure is over....for now.  We head off to Laos for a few days holiday, and then I finish my month with several days in Singapore.  But I now know I will be back.  I am more committed than ever to maintaining this work I am doing here.  And Cambodia, for whatever reason, remains my own special place of inspiration.  Take a look and watch these kids.  Anjali House now provides educational and health support to over 100 street children.  They are all equally special.  And if you would like to learn more, get involved, or support their work in any way, please go here.

And thanks to Andy Brouwer, guest and Cambodian blogger extraordinaire, for these photos.  His blog is here.

Researching a Novel: Land Mines

While in Cambodia, I am doing the bulk (I hope) of my research for my next novel which is also going to be set here.  Without giving anything away, it will concern caring for children land mine victims.  Cambodia is still among the countries most riddled with live landmines and villagers are constantly stumbling upon them.  The devastation they cause is just one more enormous obstacle facing this country.  I wanted to learn more about them, how they work, and how victims are rehabilitated.  In Siem Reap I visited the Land Mine Museum which was founded and is still run by Aki Ra, a Cambodian who has made it his life's work to defuse mines throughout the country.  Here in Phnom Penh I visited the Kien Khlang National Rehabilitation Center,  and the Cambodian School of Prosthetics and Orthotics (CSPO) which is run by the UK-based NGO, Cambodia Trust, and which trains technicians to create the devices, fit them to the patients and oversee their physiotherapy.

    As a bit of a science nerd, I found all this absolutely fascinating.  As a writer, I'm intrigued with the power of the visual images and the experience of actually being present in such places.  Already I can feel the book taking shape, new plot tributaries being dug and, as always, new characters being born.  Yesterday, I spoke to a group of 85 teenage students in the International School of Phnom Penh, and this idea of how one researches a novel was the main question which kept coming up. They couldn't believe that my research for A Clash of Innocents was all done via holiday snaps and internet searches, but it was.  To write Tangled Roots I did take a trip to Moscow with specific research needs in mind and it certainly made a huge difference, but a writer can't always travel such distances and not all writers feel the need to.  I have now done it both ways and although both ways work, I personally find that my own need for verisimilitude is so strong that I do prefer actually having the chance to visit the place I'm writing about.  But the good news, strangely enough, is that my memory is so bad that despite photos and notes, much of what I have experienced on site will undoubtedly become very hazy by the time I sit down to write.  It's the confluence of experience and imagination which works best for me, I think.  Where in the world I will actually be sitting when the writing takes place is another interesting question, though.....

A Day in a Tuk Tuk in Phnom Penh

Well, I made it to Phnom Penh. Talk about culture shock! Siem Reap is a sleepy village compared to this. But the best way to show you - and to experience it -- is from the back seat of a tuk tuk. But first a story....as I sat there, I held my camcorder up and videotaped lots of what went by, as you'll see.  Some of this was the various embassies I passed, Japanese, Malaysian, French, British and, well, all was fine until I passed the US embassy when we were pulled over.  Who are you? What are you doing?  Why are you doing it?  I should have known.  Even the US Embassy in London would have stopped me if I was filming them.  So I and my guide started jabbering in English and Khmer and they told me to wait until the Head of Security came by.  Was I nervous? Well, a bit. More angry with myself for not thinking (I know my parents will be reading this -- you never get too old to worry your parents). But anyway, the Head of Security came by who was an absolutely lovely Cambodian woman.  She asked all the right questions.  I gave all the right answers.  And I told her I would happily show her the film and delete whatever she wanted me to delete.  She kept patting me on the shoulder and said "Don't worry. Relax. You are American. I believe you." But she took my name, and my passport number and the hotel where I was staying, and she watched my video and asked me to delete the 6 seconds of footage of the outside of the building.  All part of the experience, eh?

So here is my seven minute video of a trip (sans any footage of ANY embassies) through the streets of Phnom Penh, with some stuff all tourists would see and plenty they wouldn't. To be honest, I still love this city.  It is absolutely exhilarating.  Decide for yourself. And just in case this doesn't play for you, you can view it on Youtube here.

The Anjali House Kids read Their Writing

The Anjali House Literary Magazine entitled "Wonderful Words: Imagination is Our Best Power" is now launched.  Tonight was the party celebrating our work together and it was such an overwhelming experience, I'm really at a loss for words.  So much for being a writer.  But it's not my words that are important, it's the kids', so here is a video of the event. Forgive the darkness of it. It's their voices that count. You know, I must be one of the luckiest people on earth....
(If this video upload doesn't work, you can see the film here.)

Anjali House Writing Workshop

I've just gotten back from my last day of working with the kids.  I know I've said it before, but I just can't believe it's over.  I may have written an entire novel about time (that's my first book, Tangled Roots, for those of you who may not know it), but I still can not get comfortable with the speed of it.  Thankfully, though, I will see them all tomorrow evening, otherwise my heart would really be breaking. A local restaurant has agreed to host and sponsor our launch party for the Writing Workshop and their new literary magazine which the kids decided should be called Wonderful Writing: Imagination is The Best Power.  I certainly can't argue with that.  Hopefully, I will have a video to show you on my next blog of the kids reading from their work.  But for now, I thought I'd give you an example of what they have written.

Over the course of the week, we worked on both poetry and short stories.  To get them started, I had them write a piece together.  I taught them the word "brainstorm," which they thought was hysterical.  We brainstormed ideas for our joint poem or story and then, after I started them off with a few words or a clause, they all took turns contributing.  At the end, we also made a list of possible titles and then we voted for the best one.  They especially enjoyed that part which we laughingly called "democracy in action."  So here is a story jointly written by the 13 students in the Young Adult Program of Anjali House, Siem Reap, Cambodia:

The Famous King and the Good Guard

Who Loved Their Country

It was a very hot day and the guard was tired from carrying the umbrella of
King Jayavarman. Vuthy wanted to relax . He sat under a tree near the temple. He fell asleep, but an enemy soldier approached. He woke up Vuthy and captured him. He took Vuthy to his king. The King of the soldier wrote a letter to King Jayavarman. The letter said: "Your guard has been captured. You must bring a golden statue or there will be war."

King Jayavarman received the letter. He was very angry and nervous about his guard. He wrote a letter back. The letter said: "I will bring you the statue. Do not kill my guard. We can compromise."

When the King read the letter, he was happy because he knew he would receive the golden statue, but when the statue came, he did not send back the guard. He killed the guard and so there was war. The war lasted two months.

The ghost of the guard, Vuthy, came back to help his country. And so, King Jayavarman and his soldiers won the war. King Jayavarman’s Queen and his people were very happy.


                                
                                                  

Teaching at Anjali House

So here's the bad news -- my week with the children of Anjali House is halfway over.  I can't believe how fast it is going.  The kids are fantastic. The ones I am working with are in the "Young Adult" group, between 15 and 19.  They are so similar to kids anywhere...silly, scared, bold, timid, bossy.  But they do know the value and crucial importance of education, and they are thirsty to learn English.  Anjali House has a wonderful program where they ensure that these poorest street kids are given the chance to go to school and take lessons all day.  Cambodian schools are halfdays and cost money.  Anjali House provides the school fees and then provides after or pre-school programs in English, photography, general studies, games. My mission is to teach the older ones about poetry and stories.  But really, the goal is to better their English and have them begin to feel comfortable with the idea of expressing their feelings and thoughts in words.  At the end of the week we will publish the first Anjali House Literary Magazine, which will be launched at a fundraising event on Saturday night.

I had no idea what I would find when I first arrived on Monday morning. I barely slept Sunday night for the excitement and the nerves.  But what a wonderful surprise was in store for me.  I'll show you around:

A Day in Siem Reap

It is a short and east flight from Bangkok to Siem Reap, but it meant a world of difference to me.  I fell in love with Cambodia five years ago -- almost to the day.  And as I touched down onto Cambodian soil, I knew that love was really still there.  How and why these attachments grow, I couldn't tell you.  But they do, and this one not only did, but is still going strong.  The last time I was here I arrived by coach. There was an airport then, but the one I arrived in is new and beautiful -- dark wooden low-lying buildings, statuary and air conditioning!

The late afternoon was spent acclimating myself to the new hotel. As far as the entire staff goes,  my name seems to be Mrs. Susan.  I think I like it.  The director of Anjali House came by to greet me and go over the plans for the week of classes and the setting up of the new ongoing Writing Workshop.  This is, of course, the main purpose of the tour and the real reason why I'm here.  Yes, I'm trying to sell books and raise money.  And of course I want to see sights, meet new people, and eat tropical fruit all day (jack fruit, mangoes, papayas, passion fruit, tiny bananas, ugly fruit, and all sorts of other things with names I've forgotten).  But this new ongoing workshop where, via the wonders of the internet, Khmer children and UK writers can continue a joint artistic dialogue, is for me, the main event.  But more on that over the next few days.  Right now,  I thought I'd take you for a tuk tuk ride through the streets of Siem Reap.

Bangkok Sightseeing

When I was planning my trip, I knew there would be many intensely active days, and I especially knew that my time in Siem Reap would be very busy, so I decided to give myself a few extra days in Bangkok to time adjust, relax and sightsee.  It was definitely the right decision.  The past two days have been very busy, but in a very different way.  I've seen a lot, walked a lot, had a few massages (yes, a few!), ate a lot.  For my friend J.D. who seems especially interested in the food, I'll say that I did eat plenty of pad thai, drank iced lemon grass tea, ate green curry with chicken served in a coconut shell.  But my favourite of all is a little "amuse bouche" of an undisclosed edible leaf filled with a collection of nuts, scallions, lime bits and sauce.  You pop the whole thing in your mouth for a taste sensation.  Marvelous!

A dear friend of mine from the States is on her way to Bali and so she stopped over to spend these few days in Bangkok with me which made sightseeing that much more fun.  We saw Wat Po with it's giant reclining Buddha, marble surroundings and coin ceremony where you place one coin in each of twenty or so small bowls, saying a specific prayer or blessing each time.  There is also the Royal Massage School on the grounds of this collection of temples (wats) and that's where I had a 50 minute foot massage...beyond belief.  After that, we visited the Royal Palace with it's own series of wats, one of which houses an exquisite emerald Buddha.  That evening, I met Jenny and her husband for a drink at the aptly named Vertico Bar with it's panoramic view of the city and then onto a full Thai meal, ordered by Mr. Jenny :-) who speaks Thai and very much knows what he's doing!

 The next day, Saturday, began with a Sky Train ride to the Chatuchak Weekend Market.  The Sky Train is Bangkok's mass transit and although it was intimidating at first, I soon got the hang of it.  For a Londoner, it was a revelation -- quick, comfortable, on-time, air conditioned, and because it's elevated you get a sense of the urban planning which otherwise seems non-existent.  Chatuchak is a market of thousands of stalls, crowded together and mostly under cover, selling everything from parakeets to leather belts to aromatherapy soaps.  It is huge and crowded and noisy and steaming.  A real experience.  The picture here is of a stall selling musical instruments.  We spent a few hours there and then, en route back to the river and the hotel, we stopped for lunch at the Siam Peninsula mall.  From one extreme to the next.  The photo of the escalators gives you an idea.  After more pad thai and lots of water, we ended our day with an hour long canal boat tour through the back waters of the city where temples sit next to ramshackle huts next to riverside villas. 

And now, I'm off to Siem Reap.  I can't believe my time in Bangkok is already over. I really feel as if I've gotten comfortable with this incredibly busy city.  There's talk of my running a workshop here next year.  It would be amazing to be able to come back and do that.  But let's not get ahead of ourselves because the main show is about to begin.  Next stop, Cambodia.

Bangkok: Nielsen Hayes Library

Today was the big event in Bangkok, my presentation at the Nielsen Hays Library.  It's a beautiful place with a long history.  My friend, Jenny, is very active there and worked hard to get the event organized.  She was nervous that there wouldn't be a large enough turnout, but she had no reason for that.  We had a terrific audience, nearly 40 people, I suppose.  And they were not only very attentive and responsive, but they bought lots of books!  I decided that today's event should be in support of a Thai children's charity, and Jenny suggested SET, a charity which is quite reminiscent of the Cambodian charity which I will be supporting over there.  You can read about SET here.  While we were preparing for the talk, the heavens opened up into a good old fashioned tropical storm, complete with lightning and thunder.  But that didn't deter us or our audience.  And as it happened, the storm was over and the skies were clear as I talked.  Here is a video I made of the Library.  This is my first attempt at taking and downloading my own film, so bear with me.  It does give a good idea of the place, though, and it's short.  Now I have a couple of days free to do some sightseeing before I head off to Siem Reap and a very busy week of workshops, research and events there.  Once again, thanks so much to Jenny for organizing the Bangkok leg of my tour, and to the blogosphere for bringing us together!

Bangkok!

I made it! Here I am in Bangkok after a happily uneventful flight where I even got a few hours of sleep. Stepping off of the plane into the jetway  I could feel the incredible heat seeping through the walls and as I walked down the long sets of corridors of Bangkok Airport I found myself smiling like crazy.  All the anxiety had disappeared and I was just incredibly thrilled and excited to be here.


It took about an hour to get to the hotel, which is beautifully situated on the river. From  my window you can see the boats crisscrossing back and forth.  From where I'm situated, you have to take a ferry to get to anything else and I love knowing that my day starts with a boat ride.

And it did start early -- given the jet lag.  My friend, Jennie, has arranged my two Bangkok events for me, and the first one was to meet with her writing group.  We were due to begin at 9.30 and getting to the cafe where it is held was a bit of a challenge.  The traffic in Bangkok is horrific and the taxis don't necessarily speak English so Jenny suggested I take the Skytrain (BTS).  Thankfully, she came to collect me at the station and together we made our way to the Bitter Brown Cafe in the Ashok area -- very downtown, very hustle and bustle, but the cafe is quiet and cool with the same sorts of coffee drinks (iced and otherwise) that you would find on any corner in London or New York. What a marvelous way to start off.  The five of us sat around a corner table, chatting about the hows and whys of writing, sipping coffee and tea.  Yes, that's me - photographic evidence thanks to Jennie and her instantaneous facebooking. And yes, it is hot out there!  People are saying the hot season has come early.  That's fine with me.  I couldn't be happier.
  After the meeting, Jennie took me to a wonderful local restaurant for a divine lunch of Thai food.  I thought I knew Thai food, but already I'm discovering new tastes, like some sort of leaf that you wrap around a selection of nuts, citrus, scallions, sauce like a package that you then pop into your mouth.
And then it was time to say goodbye, knowing that we would be spending the entire next day together as well.  The powers of blogging -- this is a good time to reflect on how wonderful it is.  Jennie and I met through our blogs, and now here we are, spending days together, chatting away as if we've known each other for years.  And in a way, I suppose we have.

  When the afternoon was over, we walked to the nearest BTS station, and armed with very explicit instructions on how to maneuver my way through the Sky train system and back to my hotel, I set off.  Given the fact that I am notorious for my terrible sense of direction, I made it back quite easily and without any hiccups at all.  But how can you complain when the view outside your train window looks like that photo above.


And now, I think it's time for a nap, maybe a bit of some poolside sitting and sipping, then dinner....ah, the life of a writer :-)

Tomorrow -- my big event at the Neilsen Hays Library.   See you afterwards.