London PRIDE

London's Most Fabulous were out and about for the PRIDE festival and they did not disappoint. In the spirit of celebration, I have decided to name the best and worst of the day.

And so, ladies and gentlemen, the award goes to...


Best phrase on a t-shirt - there's a tie in this category, because I just can't decide between "It's exhausting being this fabulous" and "Some people are gay. Get over it."

Best phrase uttered by a gay man - "that's so gay. " I befriended the gay couple beside me, and they, of course, were judging the train wrecks (or, as they called them, "gays without a cause") right along with me. The two of them reserved this particular phrase for those whom another gay friend I know would deem "unforgivably gay".

Best Protest against a Protest - the gay men and women waving rainbow flags and chanting "God loves everyone!!" as a response to religious picketers.

Best crowd I've yet seen in Trafalgar Square - I've now joined the crowd on both Chinese New Year and Canada Day, and this day probably saw more people milling around Trafalgar than both of them combined. The announcer said that over 1 million people were participating in the day's festivities - that's a LOT of people supporting PRIDE! Well done, London!
     edit: Since drafting this post, I've been reminded that I was also there for the Royal Wedding... during which the entire area AROUND Trafalgar was also packed. I also attended the Harry Potter premiere there more recently than PRIDE, and I had to stand in the middle of the street OUTSIDE the square just to see the screen. So I'm still giving PRIDE an award for excellent supporter turnout... but I suppose it's not the best crowd I've seen there.

Best show of support without flaunting promiscuity - while last year's Vancouver PRIDE day was amazing, I had to admit that the thing it seemed to promote the most was a promiscuous lifestyle. On the other hand, London's parade had 0 naked people prancing about, 0 packages of lubricant handed out, and very few clubs represented. Instead, there were loads of political, school, and religious groups whose supporters were happy to dress (somewhat) more conservatively and be just as proud of their support of the GLTB community.

and now for the worst...

Worst evangelistic idea (possibly ever...) -  set up right next to (and I do mean right next to, as in directly beside) the parade route were a group of men and women holding signs with Biblical verses printed on them. The preacher, oblivious to the crowd and its disinterest or disapproval, carried on with his (to most of this crowd) incomprehensible "Christianese" speech. I get that you think you are acting in love, and I understand where you stand on this issue, but come on... Did you really think that you were going to convert the masses this way? In this location, on this day? Give your head a shake.

Worst wardrobe malfunction - one of the drag queens in the parade was sporting ridiculously high heels, which clearly had been damaged at some point in the festivities. And the method of fixing chosen? Packing tape. Ugly, brown packing tape. I mean, honestly! You couldn't have used some ribbon, as I saw another queen doing? Wardrobe fail.

Worst handout of free swag - pamphlets and stickers. And that's it. No lollipops, drinks, condoms, flags or mardi-gras-style necklaces (all of which are handed out like they're going out of style at both the Victoria and Vancouver PRIDE festival parades). Lame. But, on the bright side... I didn't have to figure out what to do with all of that stuff afterward!!

Overheard by a Canadian: Episode 10

In a Year 2 class, after I'd finished a Robert Munsch story:

Boy: "That was WICKED!"
Me: "Do you like Robert Munsch as much as I do?"
*boy cocks his head and thinks for a moment*
Boy: "um...no."
Me: "But you just said the story was wicked!"
Boy: "oh. oh yeah. Okay, then yes."

Royal Ascot

To be fair, I hadn't heard of it before moving to England. But as soon as I got here, people were telling me it was a not-to-be-missed event. This is a day marked on high society's social calendar. The Queen even attends (and yes, we did see her as she processed along the race track in an open carriage - and this time I had a front-row seat)!

And so, I donned my large-brimmed hat, dressed up all fancy-like (which, if you've spent much time with me you'll know, is quite the rare occurrence) and headed to the races. And it was Fabulous-with-a-capital-F! Every gentleman and lady was dressed to the nines. There are actually dress codes that must be adhered to, and they vary depending on the ticket you purchase. But regardless of station, nearly every woman had donned a hat, or the ever-popular fascinator. Men wore suits and tuxes with tails (with major hot-points going to those who chose to add a top hat).

The races themselves were actually quite exciting. Although I didn't bet anything, I chose a favourite for each race (based on the highly scientific method of "which horse has the best name?"). I did pretty well, actually, for the first half of the day... But my method fell apart a bit after that and it was probably a good thing I didn't have any actual money on the line!

But even without having any vested interest in who won, it was still exhilarating to watch. The excitement of the crowd tangibly swelled around me as the horses approached and the race neared the finish line. Various names were shouted as betters cheered on their steed. And everyone else, like me, just shouted and cheered for the fun of it!

I couldn't help but notice the horses and jockeys responding to the energy of the crowd too. As they neared the finish line, I could see the horses' muscles working so hard, and the jockeys urging their animal to go faster and harder. It was almost as if the two of them fused into one muscular and powerful being. I know that sounds a bit hokey and poetic, but honestly, I've never seen anything like it!

And after all the races had concluded, I headed over to the Bandstand with Richard and Pippa for a good old-fashioned bandstand singalong. And I'm so glad I did! It was definitely a highlight of the day. Little union jacks were waving all over the place as the slightly-inebriated crowd belted out tunes by the likes of ABBA and The Beatles. The people were loudest, however, when they clutched their hearts, flung their arms over each other's shoulders and swayed gently back and forth for the more traditional English tunes: God Save the Queen, for one. This was English patriotism like I've never seen it, and quite something to behold. Definitely worth staying for.

Thailand: The Return Journey

After our 10 days in Vietnam, it was time for Joseph and I to venture back out on our own and leave our new friends. I was unexpectedly quite sad to leave them! I guess I hadn't really considered that I would make some true friends on this trip. So to our "Back Of The Bus Brigade" (Aimee, Buckles, Casey, Moby and Allan), along with our new London friends (Nathalie and Jarlath) and our always fabulous Kiwi girls (Jenna and Emma), I just want to say that I do miss you and hope that our paths cross again! You will always have a couch to crash on whenever you choose to visit!

But enough with the sappy stuff...

On our way back to London, Joe and I had 3 flights and a long layover in Bangkok. So of course, this was a recipe for more adventure and even more mishap!

It started at the airport in Hanoi. After going through Passport Control, we were standing in the security line when a guard approached me, asked for my passport...

...and then ran away.

Yes. You read that correctly. He ran away with my passport!! After a stunned moment, I gave chase! He was absolutely NOT getting my passport out of my sight! I followed him to two different secure areas where I was clearly not allowed to be standing, but I didn't care. Without much English, no one was really able to tell me what the problem was. I could see (since I stood behind them as they entered information into their computers) that my details were producing some kind of error message. After about 10minutes (and what FELT like an hour!) they just handed it back to me and sent me on my way. They should really make it a part of border guard training that it is inadvisable to seize innocent passengers' passports and then run away. Someone should really tell them that doing so is likely to induce mild panic. I would even be willing to provide a first-hand account, proving this, if they'd like. Really. I wouldn't mind.

Once we got back to Bangkok, we decided to make our way into the city, mostly for a way to kill our nine free hours. On the subway, we met and started chatting with a man who told me he was 65 years old and still travels all the time and moves from city to city every few years when he gets restless. I love this. I hope that when I'm 65 I still have the energy and love for travel that I do now. I guess I always assumed that I'd have to give up my own tendency to get bored with a city after a few years. But maybe not...

The thing we noticed most about being back in Bangkok was that the system of bartering is much different from that in Vietnam. The shop owners just seem much less interested in bringing down their asking price. In Vietnam, we were getting things for half or even a third of the original price, once we got used to playing the game. But in Thailand, low-balling and walking away just didn't have the same effect.

We have a few personal theories to explain this (none of which are based on anything resembling research or fact, mind you): it could be that this city, and the Khao San area in particular, are frequented by more tourists, so shop owners are less motivated to do business with each one. It could also be that this influx of tourists has accepted higher prices, and over time the average or accepted price has been driven ever higher. We also postulated that it could have something to do with the initial mark-up; if it's lower here than in Vietnam, then it could be that the selling price needs to be nearer the first offer in order to maintain a profit. And finally, we wondered if it could be related to the standard of living here; perhaps the people of Bangkok require a higher sales level to afford the same necessities as their Vietnamese counterparts.

~~~~~

Overall, the two weeks I spent in Southeast Asia were absolutely amazing. This trip, as I've mentioned, was completely unlike any other I've been on.

I learned a few things about myself too. For one, I am absolute rubbish at bartering. Mind you, I did get a little better after practicing so much, but I'm still not very good. I just can't get past the fact that the amount we're haggling over is so insignificant to me, and would be so valued by the shop owner! I also saw in myself a certain hesitancy to take advantage of opportunities. Most of the time this was driven by funding issues (either not being able to afford the activity or not having regular access to my money due to the credit card problems I had). But I kind of wish I was more of the type of person who just did things, without really thinking about it. I want to be able to come home thinking that I took advantage of every opportunity. An area for growth, I guess.

I also learned some things about Joe... spending every minute with someone for two solid weeks will do that! I think the most enlightening fact is that Joe can literally sleep anywhere at any time!! He would say to me, "I think I'm going to fall asleep for a bit..." and then BAM! he was asleep, just like that. I took to calling him "Captain Narcolepsy", a nickname that has actually kind of stuck! (he referred to himself as such just this past weekend, and we got back nearly a month ago!)

Vietnam: Same, Same, but Different

"Same same, but different" - it's a phrase often used to explain things in Vietnam. It's usually set up as a comparison between something we'd be familiar with and the particular item being described. But it also became somewhat of a mantra for us throughout the trip, and many of us even bought the t-shirt.

And, as it turned out, our last few days in 'Nam were just that: "same, same, but different." Same beautiful scenery, same busy schedule, but different adventures.

Our stories-to-be-told from Hanoi began the moment we stepped off the bus. One of the women we'd seen lugging baskets draped from poles accosted Jenna as we stepped out at our hotel. Since Jenna didn't want to buy her pineapples, the woman just hefted her pole onto Jenna's shoulder. The idea here, of course, was that someone would take Jenna's photo, and then the woman would charge her for that picture. Well, when a different woman tried it with ME a few minutes later, I decided to play a bit of a trick myself. At Joe's suggestion, when she refused to take the pole and baskets back from me, I just turned and started walking down the street! Completely ignoring her protests, I walked about a half a block down the street before she started getting a bit panicked and heaved on the basket to stop me. Needless to say, she didn't bother asking me for any money!!

On our way to the Temple of Literature that afternoon, our local guide, Friday (thanks for the Rebecca Black interlude there, Joseph...) told us a bit about the city. Since we were back in the land of crazy traffic, he told us that there is actually a scooter for every two people in the city, and that 70% of the population travels this way. No wonder we were seeing them everywhere and avoiding about a million of them every time we tried to cross the street!

I found the gates to the Temple (which was later converted to a University) the most fascinating part. The characters at the top of it read "heart" and they've inscribed "intelligence" over the exit door. The idea is that the university looked for people to admit who had integrity and a good spirit, THEN trained them to be knowledgeable while they were there.

~~~~~

The final stop on our tour was an overnight junk boat to Halong Bay. This is a collection of nearly 2000 islands, which made for an absolutely stunning view as we sailed along. We visited a beautiful cave system as well as going kayaking through a bit of a cave and next to some beautiful cliffs. This was, of course, a huge highlight for ocean-loving me!

photo credit: Joseph Liu

While on the boat, we were fed the most amazing seafood feasts - crabcakes baked in a crabshell, giant prawns, heaps of clams, fish prepared in a variety of ways. Lunch and dinner were great! Breakfast, however, was a little weird... It was almost like they tried to give us breakfast AND lunch at the same time, but in the wrong order. We were served the following, in this order:
  1. Fries
  2. Chicken
  3. Calamari 
  4. Eggs
  5. Veggies
  6. Fish
  7. Rice
Keep in mind that we got one dish at a time, never knowing what was coming next, and sharing the dishes with everyone at the table. So by the time we got that rice, we were all full and had already finished eating the fish. Pretty ridiculous meal, all around. But, that's okay. It was more than made up for by the awesomeness of the overnight stay in beautiful Halong Bay!