Singapore and ahead

Last week Aug
Did a trip to Singapore to see the Cloud forest and Flower Dome and visit New Creation Church with Pastor Joseph Prince. Was quite cool. I met a girl, Philippino, who is currently a sex worker and feels trapped by family obligations to continue earning money but does not want to continue this lifestyle. We had some long talks about options and I am connecting with people in the Philippines to help her get out. She is wavering as she is making these steps and feels she will never be truly loved. She is a kind girl and I want to see her free.

I met this super cool guy Andrew, India. He is searching for work in Singapore and we had a great time visiting and he invited me to visit him and his wife and mom in India. I will at some point.

Sept looking forward
Am headed to the beach on east coast Kuantan and Terenggau. I will focus on finishing my current level of projects. Hopefully meeting up with friends ive met on the trip.
I am working with my cousin Jon to meet him in some point in South Korea and hang out while he sets up living there. So Korea is in my future and I hope to see my new friends again.
I am heading still slowly towards Papa New Guinea, New Zealand and Australia.

It is now 5 years since making the choice to find adventure and life on the road. Its been interesting, frustrating, great meeting new people and seeing things and finding center again to bounce to new chapters.

Recovery ankle and teach English

In Vietnam, I bought a motorcycle to keep off my ankle and then rented a room. I ended up staying for 5 weeks. I found an excellent rehab program for my ankle. HEM-ankle rehab. I got videos recorded for Live Dreams Life Coaching and reedited my book Skin Hunger. It's nearly done. Yes! I connected with Linh again from the airbnb. It was great to see a familiar face along the road. I stayed in a cool building with a couple from South Africa, Matt, and Vietnam, Linh 3! And their small dog, Cuzzy. I was on the 21 floor and on the roof was a garden area and temple. On the basement level was a supermarket. It was convienant.

My ankle started getting much improved quickly. I looked for English camps in Taiwan and Malaysia, trying to go their next. I got hired in both places. I flew to Hong Kong on the way to Taipei. I got to spend two days there seeing the cool, international city. It is amazing to cross on a boat in the day and night to see the city. I liked the vibe and mix of west and east cultures. They speak Cantonese.

Next back to Taiwan. June, 2017 now.
I met a lot of great teachers and had a nice roommate, Kimberely, during the training time. Mostly we played games. Then we went off to our respective camps. Sue, South Africa and I were the two teachers at our camp. There was staff Danny and Fanny, Kathy. Sue and I, each had teaching assistants. Kevin was mine and helped greatly for me to interact with the 22 students in my class. We rotated classes so I also taught Sues' class of 21. She had the more beginning students and mine were more advanced. We had an incredible class. The kids were 11-12 years old. We would have a lesson for 30 minutes and then games for 20 minutes. For the closing ceremony, my class put on a skit of a talent contest, I played my guitar and the students chose me to win. It was sweet, but my voice was dying from speaking so much and singing and having a bit of a cold.

Then I had a one day switch to the camp in Malyasia. I managed to come in and ride over with the kids from the Singapore airport. They were quite tired by the time we rolled in at 4am. I got to live in a Villa on a golf resort with some great flatmates. Molly, Dallas, Mason and Gina. We would do a daily unwind of the day and then relax. Molly and I fell into a pattern of swimming and laughing, nearly drowning for at least an hour every night.
We had 8 hours of teaching with 8 students per class. It was interesting to meet the Korean students and learn their English names and personalities and teach them some English. The kids were super sweet and kind. Of course, being away from their homes with all new friends sometimes was a bit stressful. The kids had activity days and then would be wiped out the next day from too much fun or even be a bit sick. They were all able to progress in their levels of English.
I met a great friend, local Malaysian teacher Zu. We ended up having a great time talking and laughing along with Amardee, UK guy. Seriously I have a new lifelong friend. She took us to local restaurants and answered our questions and was a friend. This was very special to me.

I was able to do some day trips to Singapore with Molly where we met up with Dallas and Mason for a great outing. And another quick trip to Kuala Lumpur with new friends Megan and Cassie.

Another incredible thing was the kids heard I was playing worship music and asked if they could come. So many came and we enjoyed being together and having fun and bringing them snacks. It was fun to play my little guitar and sing.
I still have not recovered my voice from the long days of talking and swimming in the evening air and having yet another cold.
The kids have impacted my already good feeling of Korea with another layer of how incredible the people are. We have kept in touch on fb.

Ankle slows easy travel time

March 10-2017 Injured my ankle quite severely in Danang, Vietnam. Was walking and twisted it and had to stop and then put ice and two hours later did a major twist while standing and could not put weight on it for one week.
I did get help from the wonderful ladies at the hostel, Linh T. who made sure to call a doctor who did a hostel visit, took me on her scooter to get cash and go get an x-ray and food. She was so awesome and I had a lot of fun with her talking.
I hitched a plane to meet up with friends in Hanoi and walked a bit on my ankle which made it worse. So I stopped walking much and then got a cold and I was stuck in our airbnb. Although, this Linh C., was also quite kind, I did not enjoy being stuck in one place. I was demotivated to do anything. My friend took care of me, making herbal steam baths for me to cry my misery into.
April 11, 2017
Despite my ankle not being fully recovered, my brain needed new things to interest it. I flew to South Korea. I went to look for a community I might live and then to find an English teaching job. I got to hang out with my friend, Anna, who I had met in Vietnam in January. She gave me the tour of Seoul. It was a very clean organized city after coming from the organized chaos of Hanoi.
I enjoyed seeing the tourist renting traditional Korean outfits, Hanbok,and taking pictures. We saw the river that is now running down the middle of the city and the changing of the guards at the Deoksugung PalaceWe did touristy things of walking in the Hongdae section of town where students hang out.
Then I took a bus to the coast Busan. I met some nice people at a local international church and the hostel where I stayed. My new friend, Jaime, UK, and a Chinese girl and I went to try some food. She wanted to go halfway across town to eat beef intestines. Jaime tried to do his best and eat some, and I tried a few. They were very chewy without much flavor and we decided that we were not fans. Jaime, Johnny and Hanik, Czech Republic, and I decided to travel to Jeju Island together. We ended up taking the night ferry which was great fun. We met another interesting UK guy Ashok. He had been living in Russia and teaching. So we had bunk beds on the boat for the 12-hour journey and then all followed Ashok to Skuwalker Guesthouse. My ankle was still a problem. I was unable to walk more than an hour a day on flat surface. My friends did a hike up the Hallasan mountain, 9 ours! I did some cool adventures to the lava tubes with Nuri, Dutch, and Karol, Poland. They were super fun guys and it was fun. I went up to see the volcano with Jaime too. We took loads of pics as he had a Ted, teddy bear on his backpack and it drew a lot of attention.
Another day on the bus, Jaime and I met a Korean guy. He got off the bus to socialize and wait for the next bus while he bought us a coffee. I asked him what were the key ingredients in Kimchee. He somehow misunderstood and thought I wanted his personal secret recipe which he refused to give me. I started guessing-cabbage? Paprika? Salt?  He would only shrug and say, "Could be?" It was quite funny.
Then we ran into Johnny and Hanik and walked around the beach, took silly pictures and built rock towers. We ate at a restaurant local seafood and kimchee.
In the hostel, they requested I play my guitar. It became a nightly ritual. One night, a cool Korean guy, who could not speak much English was asking me to play. Finally, I relented. I came and played a song. At the end of the song, people were commenting but then all eyes focused on him. He raised his hands in the air, as if grasping for an idea, he pursed his lips looking for the words and then he said, "Angel voice!"  We all laughed at his hilarious expressiveness and it was sweet how much he enjoyed it.
Another night * , Austrian guy and *, Korean staff sang along with me. It was great fun for me to have a different kind of participation.  We sang and really enjoyed our time together.
Jaime and I flew back to Seoul and went with Alma to Sowan city. A fortified city that you can walk around the walls. This day, my ankle was quite improved, although I did try to stop and take breaks to not exacerbate my condition. We went to a fried chicken restaurant where Alma ordered for us beer, chicken and a side of chicken ass-holes. Apparently a chewy, specialty. Jaime said it was better than the beef intestines we had previously tried. ; )

I felt a bit nervous of the tensions with North Korea and decided to head back to Vietnam to recover my ankle. On the way back, I stopped by Taipei. I really liked it. I stayed in the Bear Capsule Hostel. You are in a cocoon and have a tv, blue lights and mirror and outlets. If I ever have a house, I'll build some cocoons for guests to sleep in.  I visited Life House Church Taippei, and the people were so amazing. I planned to return.