pushed open a thick screen door at the far right corner of the

Rod's Travels Around the World

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canada goose deals When my older sister, Jen, gave birth to her first of two daughters I was surprised by how much my niece inherited my brother in law Russ' genes. and half Caucasian (well, a quarter Macedonian), Jessica initially had light hair, big blue eyes and looked 100% white. was thus obligated to do what any younger brother should do: tease my sister and temporarily give her a new nickname, The Nanny, envisioning a Filipino woman in a shopping mall pushing a white baby in a stroller. during the past several weeks in Malaysia, Thailand and Laos I canada goose outlet winnipeg traveled with a Caucasian 26 year old Dutch girl. I didn't push her in a stroller, I'm sure that all the locals and tourists who saw us gave me a nickname, likely The Tour Guide. canada goose deals

Canada Goose online had no intention of visiting Borneo until I read a newspaper article about the island's endangered orangutans while in Byron Bay, Australia. the island is between Indonesia and mainland Southeast Asia, I figured I'd stop by for a couple days to check out the animals and visit a unique place that is slightly more off the beaten track. half a month later I still found myself exploring with canada goose outlet online uk Marte, the Dutch girl, who I also spent time with in Adelaide and Bali. to many Borneo is not a country but the name of the third largest island in the world that administratively contains three countries. home to nearly 19 million people and includes the independent country of Brunei, four provinces of Indonesia and two states of Malaysia. visited nine cities in Borneo, starting in Malaysia's Kuching, where we took a dangerous yet exciting boat ride to Bako National Park into the thick Borneo jungle, through tunnels of overhanging trees, swamps and beaches. However, it wasn't until a 4 hour speedboat to desolate Kapit when I realized that Malaysia Borneo is not at the top of many travelers' to do lists. several days we were the only foreigners and were solely surrounded by locals. fact, this was the case in nearly every city in Borneo. felt comfortable since I blend in with the local Malay (and for that matter, the locals in South America, the South Pacific and all of Asia), but Marte has auburn hair and blue eyes. receives stares everywhere and one afternoon while walking around a shopping mall three teenage girls stopped and asked us if they could take a picture with the white girl. next day, while driving into the bush and further away from civilization, doubts of our two middle aged tour guides swirled through my head. sitting in the back seat I whispered, "I just don't want to be killed." the driver heard me, laughed and began telling us a story in broken English about an Aussie backpacker who was recently murdered. made the next ten minutes extremely uncomfortable but in the end no one was hurt. tour was a great way to see the traditional dwellings of several dozen indigenous families who live together under one long roof. walked through a common veranda that serves as their social area, ate local fruit, drank rice wine and learned that their ancestors were formerly headhunters not the headhunter leeches who keep sending me job prospect e mails but the real ones. the skulls of human heads in a bag was a little disturbing but not as much as seeing satellites along the top of the longhouse. importantly, never trust massage parlors whose owner is an old Malaysian man and whose only employees are six Chinese twenty year olds who are all wearing stilettos and short shorts. too early for a 7 hour night bus in Sibu, we had two hours to kill. we had done in the past, Marte and I decided to get an $11, hour long massage. masseuse was a larger, hideous looking woman who canada goose outlet los angeles after picking her nose offered Marte a $15 "special massage." was quickly escorted to a dimly lit room with only a mattress on the floor and a towel at the foot of the mattress. calling me over, she nervously asked, "Um, Rod, are you sure you want to get a massage here?" nodded (what else were we going to do?) and agreed with the ladies that no special massage would be received by anyone and that we would get massages in rooms next to each other, as we had always done. on my side was legit and the lady was respectful and always placed a towel between my skin and her dirty hands. on the other hand, didn't have the most pleasant experience as legs spread, she received an extensive ass rub and constant hair in her face from the nose picker. we finished, we paid our respects to the pimp, tipped our "masseuses http://www.canadagoosejacketoutlett.com," and ran for our bus. Canada Goose online

canada goose store One of the highlights of my Borneo experience was a three day trek through Bario rice fields and into the jungle. conditions were meager and we had to contend with curious frogs, massive ants, grasshoppers the size of my hand and thick, black beetle like bugs that flew towards and eventually bit our necks while sleeping. these were inside the guesthouse where we stayed, before the trek even started. foolishly ate whatever was offered knowing it was going to be a long day. an hour after we started, my stomach began twisting and I asked our guide, Greedy, to briefly stop so I could have a sip of water. though I could somehow dilute the spices my stomach and offset any acidity. Marte looked for Imodium in her backpack while apologizing for not bringing any toilet paper. only got worse and for the next 20 minutes I walked in complete silence like a robot with straight legs, desperately trying not to crap my pants. I could think about was if there was any toilet paper like material in my small daypack. when I was about to explode, I yelled ahead, "Guys, can you hold on a minute? be one sec." veered due left, ran about 15 feet into the jungle, dropped my pants and let the ants and leaves on the ground have it. felt relief not experienced since a similar tragedy while on a safari in Massi Mara, Kenya. I intended, I opened my daypack, pulled out a perfectly white, never worn athletic sock and stuck my hand in. throwing the now used sock further into the jungle and squirting a bit of Purell onto my hands, I was ready to hike with a neutral stomach, one less sock and a smile on my face. across logs and rivers, drinking water from inside bamboo trees and ripping off dozens of leeches from our shoes, legs, arms and crotches, we experienced a proper jungle trek. was the first time canada goose outlet london I had seen a leech and it surprised me how quickly they were able to attach themselves onto us no matter how briskly we walked and tried to avoid them. felt like I was in the movie Stand By Me as we stopped every 20 steps to scan the person in front of us' body and to tear off the blood sucking creatures. Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, one of only four orangutan sanctuaries in the world, nurses and returns to the wild orphaned, injured or displaced apes. with a few dozen other tourists we attended one of two daily feeding on a platform where the beasts were fed bananas and milk from the Centre's rangers. canada goose store

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Canada Goose Jackets The orangutan lives in the wild in only two places in the world, Borneo and Sumatra, Indonesia. are listed as endangered with the World Conservation Union and constantly face destruction of their native rainforest due to logging for timber, mining and converting tropical forests to palm oil plantations. is also a threat from illegal hunting for food and pet trade. Borneo I witnessed the effects that the big timber companies and the demand for palm oil is having on the rainforest. the world's tallest skyscrapers, the twin Petronas Towers are two elegant buildings that house the country's national petroleum company and a bunch of upscale stores (not to mention scenes in many action movies). Chow Kit market provided us with yet another eye opening glimpse of what merchants sell in Asia. a distinct smell of fruit, fish, and meats, my favorite item for sale had to be the cow hooves. my flight to a country called Laos had a 24 hour stopover in Bangkok and Marte and I ensured that we would make the most of it. had already seen Bangkok's temples and Buddha statues so we chose to solely see Underground Bangkok, walk through the backpacker filled eclectic market on Khao San Road and load up on several $3 vintage t shirts, $8 shorts and $10 photocopied Lonely Planets. waiting to look through a pile of t shirts at one of the stalls a white English guy in his early 20s turned to me and asked, "So how much for this?" yet not insulted that he thought I was a merchant, I replied, "Fi Dolla." couldn't hold back laughter, "Sorry dude, I don't work here." immediately heard my accent and apologized profusely, but I just chuckled with him, realizing that I did look like a local and hadn't shaved since I was in England. Canada Goose Jackets

buy canada goose jacket cheap The night stalls had fake everything, young Thai ladies had much older white "boyfriends" and DVD stores had pirated albums and movies ready to be uploaded onto your iPod. and I ate a delicious banana pancake from a street vendor and we finally settled at one of the outdoor bars to down a few drinks in preparation for one of the most astonishing performances I've ever seen, the Thai Ping Pong Show. something that I had to see but so disturbing and painful that when it was done I vowed to never watch it again. following emotions went through my mind, in order, that dreadful night: excited, nervous, canada goose outlet store toronto disgusted, amused, mesmerized, apologetic, sad and relieved. we sat on San Road a Tiger beer and a vodka and Red Bull, Marte and I met two Canadian girls who had been in Thailand for a month yet had not been to one of these shows. they were leaving the country in three days, Monica was all for it and eventually persuaded Whitney to come. simply thought, "Phew. not so sketchy when I canada goose womens outlet tell others that I went to a Ping Pong Show with three girls." buy canada goose jacket cheap

canada goose coats Surrounded by a group of local men who solicited every tourist walking by for rides to the Ping Pong clubs and similar "Banana Shows," we negotiated with a tuk tuk taxi to drive us to a show 20 minutes away for about $0.35 each. club was located in the back of a parking lot through an inconspicuous restaurant with no signs or lights. only knew it was the right place after we saw five excited travelers enter. was already 1:30am and the last show would end in 30 minutes. agreeing to pay a discounted entry fee of 300 Baht, or $9, which included a free drink, the three skinny doormen explicitly warned us not to take any pictures. pushed open a thick screen door at the far right corner of the restaurant and for the next 30 minutes witnessed indescribable canada goose outlet , unspeakable acts. course, I'll try to describe them. canada goose coats

canada goose clearance sale We entered the bar to booming pop music, multiple black lights and a group of about 12 people all tourists, primarily guys sitting in plastic lawn chairs that encircled an elevated stage with four poles extending to the ceiling on each corner. on the stage was a naked Asian woman, smiling as she pulled a florescent yellow ribbon from between her legs, much like a clown would continuously pull a long handkerchief from his suit pocket. ribbon endlessly flowed out as the three girls and I squeezed into four seats in the front row, ordered beers, canada goose parka outlet received them and began having conversations about how awkward and embarrassed we felt. the ribbon completely came out to a light applause from the audience. lady thanked the crowd with a soulless grin, put her bikini back on and left the stage, only to be immediately followed by another woman, then another, then another. canada goose clearance sale

buy canada goose jacket The next nine acts increasingly made me feel nauseous but by the end I was happy it was over and that I could tick the box for experiencing the other, terrifying side of Thai culture. in awe, the next morning we wrote down what we could remember those poor girls doing without using their hands, feet or mouth: drinking water in then pouring Pepsi out; becoming a bottle opener and a banana shooter; smoking two cigarettes simultaneously; pulling out beads and razor blades; bouncing countless ping pong balls into a bowl; shooting darts to pop balloons; blowing out candles on a cake. hurts me to even write this and I never want to speak of this painful experience again. I'm canada goose parka uk sure I will buy canada goose jacket.