tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46925903918344714332024-03-13T22:35:46.184+01:00Lil'Fel Rocks the WorldA Female Driven Travel Guide. 100% IndependentUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4692590391834471433.post-47861999543868961432023-03-17T23:42:00.002+01:002023-03-17T23:43:06.422+01:00LA sucks, until it blows open your soul<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Random essay plus old tips from a friend</h2>
Growing up a tomboy, I learned to mock an air-headed valley girl accent before I even knew where said valley was. Embarrassingly, the reputation of cali's fatuity never quite left me. In fact, it got worse before it got better.<br />
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My first visit there was en route for Coachella last year. That sucked. The people I met at parties or while networking seemed not only vain, but horribly desperate to appear important with thin smiles, incessant name dropping and self-laudatory monologues. A different brand of desperation was mirrored in the street, with drug addicted homeless people camping out downtown and around Venice. The tent laws on public space and agreeable climate make Los Angeles a destination for folks who don't have a roof over their heads. I felt I was seeing LA in a funhouse mirror, with the top and bottom horribly skewed but tied by one obscured commonality.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm_6i-kqVZpd1K_tV5YVyRzBr64Fi8bJtiCNEubwpGZNoPdHVz6q7XiTrQ_ppDLg6DSV9mJ7Eu9ST46JbLbe5GgCOkF5Ukdmm5LCyv1jXkCfmsd4V1DZ7btZSoiJOu4mAev9UN6E0iBrgN0fnwsXT33XLlHTlP_bETRrn1HtfawI6ZNr7qYQjPmujHNg/s4032/LA%20Jeff%20Koons.JPEG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm_6i-kqVZpd1K_tV5YVyRzBr64Fi8bJtiCNEubwpGZNoPdHVz6q7XiTrQ_ppDLg6DSV9mJ7Eu9ST46JbLbe5GgCOkF5Ukdmm5LCyv1jXkCfmsd4V1DZ7btZSoiJOu4mAev9UN6E0iBrgN0fnwsXT33XLlHTlP_bETRrn1HtfawI6ZNr7qYQjPmujHNg/w480-h640/LA%20Jeff%20Koons.JPEG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>My thoughts summed up</i></div><br /><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
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But it got better. I had multiple opportunities to go back to Los Angeles and dig beneath the surface. What I found was emotionally complex and compelling. It draws some of the most talented creatives in arts and writing. There are edgy concerts, incredible street art and graffiti artists, and cafes and restos are fresh- daring to be bold.<br />
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On desperation: Being the best only risks stinking when it's in process and/or when it fails, but when it succeeds you have so much to be thankful for in this nuanced city. Each neighbourhood has its own micro-universe too. It does suck because it can be easy to feel isolated when you don't believe in cars, but living locally takes on a new meaning and can be key to happiness there I think. Like finding your local haunts and living near your friends. I personally stayed in echo park, silverlake, venice beach and DTLA, listed in order of preference.<br />
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I also posit that it's not a place to simply travel for tourism or work. I gather LA, like Paris or Singapore, requires you to stop moving and trying and just live it. Admittedly, I feel an aversion to the city I visit quarterly for business. I actually feel afraid and I wonder if it's fear of the isolation. Or perhaps the fear of being a nobody is a disease that runs rampant in LA. What really changed my mind though was the beautiful and genuine people I've had the chance to work with, and friends from a past life.<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Indie Guide to Los Angeles</h2>
Here is a list succinctly put together on mobile by an old school mate in Paris who spent the last 10 years in Los Angeles, Emilien. He has a book where he decries exactly the above misconceptions of this city, arguing that unlike urban centers where everything is easy, LA requires energy to find the gems. I am currently making my way through this list, albeit slowly with work visits slowing me down. I encourage folks to check him out for a deeper LA view.<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Best Museums in LA</h3>
<b>Getty Center (Brentwood)</b><br />
"The Museum that will blow your mind and still blows mine, especially on saturday evening to see the sunset from above the city."<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Weisman foundation (Beverly Hills)</b><br />
The secret crazy museum in a Beverly Hills mansion that features every major artist from 1950 to 1990. Go on website to both ok ahead. Free visit on invitation only during the week.<br />
<br />
<b>The Broad (Downtown)</b><br />
Saw one of the most beautiful musical art installations there.<br />
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<b>LACMA </b><br />
Largest art museum on the west coast. Contemporary<br />
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The totally underestimated museums in Pasadena and absolutely world-class. Spend the day at Garden and then do Norton<br />
<b>Huntington Garden & Norton Simon (Pasadena)</b><br />
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<b>The best LA galleries</b></h4>
Gagosian (Beverly Hills) Regen Projects & Matthew Marks (Hollywood) Blum & Poe (Culver City) Hauser & Wirth, Francois Ghebaly & Night Gallery (Downtown) David Kordansky & Kayne Griffin Corcoran (Miracle Mile)<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Shopping </h3>
The fashion / contemporary art shop only in LA<br />
Just One Eye (Hollywood)<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>The hip stores</b><br />
Opening Ceremony (Hollywood)<br />
Mohawk (Silver Lake)<br />
Clare Vivier (Silver Lake)<br />
Maxfield (Malibu, Hollywood)<br />
Alchemy Works and Poketo (Arts District Downtown)<br />
<br />
The cool gift to bring back<br />
Heath Ceramics (Hollywood) Tortoise (Venice)<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Things to Do in LA</h3>
The Hip Hotel<br />
Ace Hotel (Downtown) with Acne, APC, Aesop nearby a Banksy wall painting<br />
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The cute secret gem to walk around<br />
Venice Canals (Venice)<br />
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The up-and-coming area<br />
Arts District Downtown around Hauser and Wirth (Downtown)<br />
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The secret amazing building you’ve seen in so many movies<br />
Bradbury Building (Downtown)<br />
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The paradise beach<br />
Paradise cove (Malibu) the atrociously expensive parking is reimbursed if you get drinks or lunch<br />
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The great hike<br />
Temescal Canyon (Pacific Palisades)<br />
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The movie theater where the movie industry goes<br />
Arclight Hollywood (Hollywood)<br />
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The hollywood actress fitness obsession<br />
Soulcycle (Brentwood, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills)<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Food & Drinks in LA</h3>
Start with this November 2016 article:<br />
https://goo.gl/MP2hzj<br />
<br />
My absolute favorite. Modern and amazing. The Chef is a friend.<br />
Trois Mec (Hollywood)<br />
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The restaurant to make your friend from NY move to LA<br />
Gjelina (Venice)<br />
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The great middle eastern food<br />
Kismet (Echo Park) Bavel (Downtown)<br />
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The hidden gem that is offering fermented Korean food, mostly vegan, so so amazing and creative. Maybe the lab of the future in an ugly strip mall<br />
Baroo (East Hollywood)<br />
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The post-modern breakfast and lunch delicate and delicious<br />
Destroyer (Culver city)<br />
<br />
The Burger. End of discussion.<br />
In-N-Out (LAX, Venice, Westwood, Hollywood)<br />
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The cheapest ticket to France, the brasserie that cooks like my grandmother would<br />
Petit Trois (Hollywood)<br />
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The amazingly delicious Food Truck that started the Food Truck revolution<br />
Kogi BBQ (Venice every saturday at noon)<br />
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The other fantastic food trucks<br />
Guerilla Taco (fancy tacos) Â Mariscos Jalisco (seafood tacos) Cousins maine lobster (lobster roll) Jogasaki (sushi burrito) Coolhaus (ice-cream sandwich)<br />
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The market that's being turned around and is now a foodie heaven<br />
Grand Central Market (Downtown) in front of bradbury building<br />
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The hip pizza/pasta<br />
Jon & Vinny's (Fairfax)<br />
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The gastronomic restaurant in LA, specialized in seafood, of course<br />
Providence (Hollywood)<br />
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The Steak to eat in a Richard Meier room with Baldessari paintings around you<br />
CUT (Beverly hills)<br />
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The organic local fresh lunch/brunch on The water<br />
Malibu Farm Cafe on Malibu Pier (malibu)<br />
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The BBQ<br />
Barrel and Ashes (Studio City) or Bludso's (Compton, Hollywood)<br />
<br />
The Hipster Brunch<br />
Sqirl (Silver Lake)<br />
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The Modern Bakery and Coffee for breakfast<br />
Gjusta (Venice)<br />
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The Hipster Thai<br />
Night + Market Song (Silver Lake, West Hollywood, Venice)<br />
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The sexy downtown italian restaurant that you have to book ahead weeks in advance<br />
Bestia (Downtown)<br />
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The Old School Hollywood<br />
Musso & Frank (Hollywood)<br />
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The fantastic sushi in the weirdest place<br />
Shunji (Santa Monica)<br />
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The vegan restaurant to feel some hippie-new age vibe<br />
Cafe Gratitude (Venice & Hollywood)<br />
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Rihanna and Gwyneth's favorite old school italian<br />
Giorgio Baldi (Pacific Palisades)<br />
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The jetset japanese restaurant to eat over the water<br />
Nobu Malibu (Malibu)<br />
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The bar for the perfect rooftop sunset<br />
Rooftop bar at Hotel Erwin (Venice) book ahead a table<br />
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The incredible Sichuan restaurant spicy and delicious in San Gabriel Valley - go there late during the week late - 2 hours wait during the weekend<br />
Chengdu taste (San Gabriel Valley)<br />
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The modern french-asian restaurant<br />
Cassia (Santa Monica)<br />
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The tasty and crazy popular korean barbecue<br />
Kang Ho Dong Baek Jeong (Korea Town)<br />
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The hollywood hangout<br />
Chateau Marmont (Hollywood) book a table ahead outside<br />
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http://www.facebook.com/pages/LilFel-Rocks-the-World/284473376434?ref=ts#!/pages/LilFel-Rocks-the-World/284473376434?ref=ts</div>Feliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434170085570100614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4692590391834471433.post-28129593055847350352021-02-09T21:30:00.003+01:002021-02-09T21:30:47.538+01:00On Human Connection and Life Abroad - 5 Lessons<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">One hungover Sunday in Bangkok while equipping myself with the fundamentals of Latin such as </span><i style="text-align: left;">ad fondum</i><span style="text-align: left;"> (bottoms up) and </span><i style="text-align: left;">nunc est bibendum</i><span style="text-align: left;"> (now we drink), I came across some serious wisdom nuggets from my old boy, Horace. He said:</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Caelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt. Which translates roughly to this:<br />
<br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>
Those who cross the sea,</i></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>
Change the skies,</i></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>
But not their Souls.</i></b></span></div></blockquote><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />I found this especially salient for the young and restless such as myself. I had spent the last 12 years living in foreign countries, moving every 2 to 3 years. While I loved the beach parties and the (INSANE) professional growth, it became clear that life <i>a l'etranger</i> wasn't just a walk in the park. </div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m1wbON2SNFw/YCLuhK7s8eI/AAAAAAAAMkw/qIqxcnOgeake9RhQeiln3LQE53nB9YBaQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/lilfelrockstheworld%2BIndia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m1wbON2SNFw/YCLuhK7s8eI/AAAAAAAAMkw/qIqxcnOgeake9RhQeiln3LQE53nB9YBaQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/lilfelrockstheworld%2BIndia.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Dream of Living Abroad</h3>
Coming from a family of oldschool Guyanese immigrants who thought the only professions worth pursuing where DLEs (doctors, lawyers and engineers), I had a very sophomoric understanding of what IR entailed as a degree and even a potential career path. I was admittedly pulled by a nebulous dream that I may work abroad one day, first as the foreign correspondent for a major newspaper, then later realizing I'd rather make news than cover news, as a part of the Canadian foreign service or the UN. You see, I really didn't know what other degrees could light my rocketship out of Toronto, and international business courses at the community college sounded dreadful.<br />
<br />
I don't think I was alone in my ambitions to travel the world and do good. Most of the kids in my first year classes thought they were going to study international law and fight the good fight for human rights. I know maybe 4 people who have maintained this path.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AWtVwfEra1M/YCGXg8VTkjI/AAAAAAAAMjc/GSLHU7YMufggqmvwDdEsRpQyIkKdbScOACLcBGAsYHQ/s604/saints%2Bcharity%2Bball.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="604" data-original-width="453" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AWtVwfEra1M/YCGXg8VTkjI/AAAAAAAAMjc/GSLHU7YMufggqmvwDdEsRpQyIkKdbScOACLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/saints%2Bcharity%2Bball.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>One of the best parts of an IR degree is feeling like you're in the adult version of Dead Poets Society</i></div>
<br />
<br />
To skip the long version, I'll tell you this: I enjoyed an international career path albeit not the public sphere one. I've worked in Paris, Jakarta, Bangkok, and Singapore in my adult life. My career path looks like the following:<br />
<br /><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>International Relations Degree </li><li>Exchange in Paris</li><li>IOM Summer Internship Bangkok</li><li>UN Internship Jakarta || Disillusionment/Disappointment with non-profit world|| </li><li>Entrepreneur in Jakarta </li><li>B2B Marketing Director in Thailand </li><li>JVP Operations in Singapore </li><li>MBA Student in Paris</li></ol></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">While there are a gazillion reasons to study or work abroad, there are some tough moments too. I've shared some lessons below to help anyone in their considerations. I hope it helps, dear travelers! </div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><h2>1. There are no such thing as long vacations, only visiting my home and family when I have time off</h2>
<div style="text-align: left;">For the first couple years of my career I couldn't afford to fly home all the time. When I was an intern for the ILO in Jakarta, I stayed abroad for two whole years. I missed weddings, I missed family members having babies, I missed funerals, I missed thanksgivings with my grandparents whom I love like my own parents, except with the added pressure of time that is absent with others. When I finally could afford to pay my own way I vowed to never miss the important moments. The problem with making money is that the new limitation became time. In Asia and America the standard is 15 days off. I would split a week for Canadian Thanksgiving in October and then a week to make Christmas vacation last. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I loved seeing everyone, but it was when I would see my friends and family from back home doing week long treks in mountains and exploring places that were hard to get to, I noticed there may be a difference in travel styles. Not to say I didn't have crazy holidays, but I hacked it by ensuring I built time in between jobs to travel and do my thang. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The other hack is of course to earn enough where you can pay for your whole family to come along with you on some adventure!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h2a-VqcLj3c/YCGojCYrFjI/AAAAAAAAMj0/bOIFPivcr900Eq-J7hEffi9_pFp3tPDxwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1316/grandparents%2Bvancouver.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="1316" height="312" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h2a-VqcLj3c/YCGojCYrFjI/AAAAAAAAMj0/bOIFPivcr900Eq-J7hEffi9_pFp3tPDxwCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h312/grandparents%2Bvancouver.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Our first family vacation and my Queen grandmother refused to wear a hoodie. I eventually forced it on her and made her look like the inner bohemian she truly is!</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2>2. I will never again have one group of friends </h2>
Perhaps what makes someone good at living abroad is the ability to make deep connections quickly. Being guarded and closed doesn't work when you move every couple of years. Not-by-choice solitude is painful. I've had to put myself out there and open up to people I just met. Of course, I had a proclivity for drinking then that helped a lot. This blog exists partly because partying around the world is an amazing way to meet people and break down formal barriers that exist in normal social settings. Living as an 'other' in a foreign place also has a way of forging deep bonds. I guess it's normal, trials and tribulations help unite.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">However, falling in love with friend groups is amazing but it has also been brutal. At the ILO I remember seeing some Australian permanent staff there, maybe a couple years older than myself. Everyday one woman, Miranda, would walk by and never say a world to us the interns. I didn't understand it. We were the same age living in Indonesia, wasn't that enough of a reason to start a conversation? Apparently not.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pUdMk3brDus/YCGziPA6qWI/AAAAAAAAMkk/Ep6DrRZwUuwP0DnsYXuzWPoGEHwm3ajEACLcBGAsYHQ/s1350/fel%2Bhector%2Bbottle.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pUdMk3brDus/YCGziPA6qWI/AAAAAAAAMkk/Ep6DrRZwUuwP0DnsYXuzWPoGEHwm3ajEACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/fel%2Bhector%2Bbottle.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i> My bestie from Paris moved to Bangkok and had a baby there! When she moved with her new family it was tough. Now we are back in Paris together though!</i></div></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Later, we finally convinced her to join us for drinks in our building's hot tub (jakarta is over the top like that), and she explained that expats don't make friends with interns or short-term folks because it's not worth it. I understood when I decided to stay in Indonesia for long-term and I made friends with the fun interns. We had amazing weekends exploring volcanoes, cooking together and laughing all the time. They became my best friends, but when they left...I felt like a layer of my skin was being peeled off. I felt raw and exposed. Left behind. We had spent only 6 months together.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I was 23 when I felt that pain. Ten years later I've learned some stuff. Like, it doesn't serve anyone to be jaded! A beautiful hippie in Bali told me about a man she dated only for a few months but changed her life and worldview. I've adopted the mindset that every connection is meaningful even if not forever. The ones that last, last forever. The same Miranda mentioned above recently came to Paris, and even though I hadn't seen her for years (I visited her in India, and she visited me in Singapore) she told me the news about her getting engaged and we spent the week together. I had tears in my eyes.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Now, I've moved back to Paris and am doing an MBA. I've moved in with 3 classmates and I feel a whole round of life friendships being formed. I am also reconnecting with old friends too. I know it's different than if I had stayed in Toronto my whole life. My group of friends would evolve and expand to some extent, and I would have the luxury of intimacy of time. I don't have that, but I am grateful for the other intimacies that come from living abroad together.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fWWkYySRdWU/YCGrqe2WETI/AAAAAAAAMkQ/fBwGcatiyDspdAl4VwLQmWaIcwgFwlBugCLcBGAsYHQ/s1080/fel%2Bkelsey%2Bcucumbers.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="1080" height="210" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fWWkYySRdWU/YCGrqe2WETI/AAAAAAAAMkQ/fBwGcatiyDspdAl4VwLQmWaIcwgFwlBugCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h210/fel%2Bkelsey%2Bcucumbers.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><i>When I thought I was too old for new friends I made a best friend in 2018. We bonded over facials, burritos and love. </i></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><i><br /></i></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">3. Your friends abroad become your family - choose your roommates wisely! </h2><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">One of the most important and hard lessons I learned was that of flatmates. The expat life has its ups, but as expressed above it comes with the down of missing your family. To decrease this divide ever so slightly, I found out that living with friends or people who could become close friends changed my life all together. In the first apartments I had in Bangkok I lived with anyone who had a spare room that was close to work. I even tried living by myself. When I lived with a set of great roommates, I felt the loneliness levels of foreigner life go down. </div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Being in a new place is isolating enough due to language, culture, and distance from loved ones. Why not go easy on yourself and room with people who can make you smile daily.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><h2 style="text-align: left;">4. My heart would break (a lot) from long distance relationships.<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></h2>I love adventure, I love what's new and novel, and living abroad surrounded me with people who drink the same juice I did. Falling in love with foreigners is inevitable. The weirdest part for me was to realize that every small encounter I dared to pursue had a default expiry date, a ticking time bomb attached to the neck. As globalized as the world is, borders are still as annoying as shrunken panties under a pair of tight yoga pants (huh?). Job contracts inevitably end, visas run out. Your relationships are handled like temporary contracts that each party tacitly understands the end date but does not ever acknowledge it until the very end. And the sad reality is that not every one of your romances will be worth dropping or changing your life trajectory over. Whereas in your home hood, each relationship in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an asshole/crazy bitch force. Time and distance are not forces that fact into normal relationships.<br />
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Anyways, I realized that just because I couldn't /wouldn't follow them to their home didn't mean I didn't care about them. Or that it doesn't hurt any less than normal relationships. It does. Don't let it stop you from having torrid and all encompassing romances though! Just prepare yourself for the constant tick-tock of time and how you handle yourself when the clock stops.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VtN314wXpEQ/YCGpWRx6LuI/AAAAAAAAMj8/U99zS3OfuEgPVvzjrOOVzsl1cK9mavPzACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/sam%2Bfel%2Bbday.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VtN314wXpEQ/YCGpWRx6LuI/AAAAAAAAMj8/U99zS3OfuEgPVvzjrOOVzsl1cK9mavPzACLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/sam%2Bfel%2Bbday.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The journey of love here began in Singapore on a beach!</i></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><h2 style="text-align: left;">5. I have to consider that my kids won't have the same upbringing I had</h2><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I grew up climbing trees, riding my bike like a psycho explorer around the neighbourhood, playing in mud and talking to birds. I grew up in the suburbs of Toronto went to public school with values I had no idea were values like multiculturalism until I moved to countries that didn't respect the same thing I did. I always thought it was a given that my kids would have what I had. But the longer I stayed abroad, the more I realized that I wouldn't be moving back to Toronto. </div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c4aHxysq_VA/YCGrOIMH2jI/AAAAAAAAMkI/yPffBGsEDmcVezum7W5WU9RqIV_w7v3nACLcBGAsYHQ/s604/fel%2Btimes%2Bup.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="604" data-original-width="453" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c4aHxysq_VA/YCGrOIMH2jI/AAAAAAAAMkI/yPffBGsEDmcVezum7W5WU9RqIV_w7v3nACLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/fel%2Btimes%2Bup.jpg" width="480" /></a></div></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I have loved Paris for a long time and see it as a place I mayyyyy actually settle down. But what does that mean for my unborn babies?! They'll grow up in a concrete jungle with a Parisian laissez-faire attitude? Their nature exposure will be limited to country houses on the weekend? </div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">While I'm older than I used to be, the kids question is still far away. I don't know. One idea that has floated through my head is to be in Asia from ages 0-4 to be able to afford extra help and then...put them in a Canadian International school? Let's cross that bridge when we get there darling. </div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had a lot of feelings come up when I moved from Singapore to New York, albeit temporarily. One feeling was insane excitement to be surrounded by the world's BEST (so excited I did a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B3Lu0RvBBcR/" target="_blank">political flash at the Guggenheim</a>). The other was the unhealthy side of excitement—mind fucking FOMO to a degree that I think is only possible in NYC. </span><span style="font-family: "cambria"; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wondered if I would be able to bring all my <a href="http://www.lilfelrockstheworld.com/2017/05/why-i-decided-to-do-10-days-of-silence.html" target="_blank">mindfulness learnings</a> from India and Vipassana to a city that moves so fast. </span><span style="font-family: "cambria"; white-space: pre-wrap;">I felt at times trapped by the allure of skyscrapers, unable to meditate an hour a day and bummed because I could no longer take six months in India to find inner peace. As a working lady in the fashion industry, my primary reprieve was wine, happy hours and overpriced yoga to relieve stress. Anxious feelings built up in me, largely because of my relationship with control. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While demanding clients, Trump’s unbelievable politics, virus and more are impossible to avoid, what I could</span><span style="font-family: "cambria"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> control was how I managed my stress and emotional wellness. Some friends are even stressed about being stressed. Let that go, take a breath. I</span><span style="font-family: "cambria"; white-space: pre-wrap;"> wrote this while there as reminder to myself and to my homies living in the fastlane of life. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "cambria"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Think differently about stress</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "cambria"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> A </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3410434/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "cambria"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Harvard study</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "cambria"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> cited in the </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/guides/well/how-to-deal-with-stress" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "cambria"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NY Times</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "cambria"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> shows that our bad perceptions of stress effects on health actually </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "cambria"; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">increases</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "cambria"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> stress. The common view of stress is that a naughty hormone called cortisol along with adrenaline gets released into our systems and that increases risk of cardiovascular disease, heart attack and high blood pressure. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "cambria"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So instead, next time your heart speeds up and your breathing quickens from an upcoming presentation, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "cambria"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">think of stress as your super power.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "cambria"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Your heart is working harder and body is mobilizing energy to get ready for the challenge. Your faster breathing is more oxygen getting to your brain so you can think clearly. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "cambria"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Harvard Study informed participants of this practical view of stress before public speaking + a test and found that their performances were significantly higher than those with the typical perceptions. They smiled more, had more confidence and their physiological signs of stress were less pronounced. Embrace your body’s ability to help itself. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "cambria"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Emotional Wellness </span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "cambria"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Breath like a Buddhist</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "cambria"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before Buddhists sit down to meditate they are told to do this simple exercise to put them in the right headspace. Breath in 3 breaths of peace and exhale any worries about the day. Imagine Peter in Hook when he relearns to fly. Breath in happy thoughts and imagine them expanding in your chest and body into lightness. Too often we allow situations that we cannot control in that moment scar our emotional wellbeing and affect us more than it deserves to. This simple practice is great to do in the morning to start your day, on the subway or before or while in a stressful situation. Google’s happiness guru, gives great advice for bringing happiness into each moment, with his </span><a href="https://qz.com/818998/googles-former-happiness-guru-developed-a-three-second-brain-exercise-for-finding-joy/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "cambria"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">‘thin slices of joy,</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "cambria"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">’ framework.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "cambria"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mental Alertness</span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "cambria"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do Headstands</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "cambria"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is long considered the King of Yoga poses and is used in eastern practices as a way to quickly increase blood circulation to the brain, eliminate drowsiness and for those who are distracted by sex too much, can move your focus up from the lower regions of your body to your mental faculties. The headstand can be done any time and may be held for 15-20 breaths. This is nature’s free energy boost. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Be Kind to Yourself</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "cambria"; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Who am I? What's my purpose? Why am I here? Am I doing enough? Will I ever be good enough?</i> are all questions that can haunt our waking mind and once they start, can spin into a crazy vortex that we lose control of and ends up being something like anxiety. In my opinion, examining our worldview or <i>weltanschauung</i> if you want a snobby German word, is probably the most important thing to halt the vortex. One key phrase has helped me calm down in times of stress, <b>"You can only do your best."</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "cambria"; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sounds simple, but before a presentation or big pitch I take a second, breathe and all the stuff above and remind myself with a small kind smile that I can only do my best. Whatever, laugh at me, but I swear it helps. It's different for the manic view that we MUST BE THE BEST ALL THE TIME, RAWRRRR, while achieving the same goal. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Be Kind to Others</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Vietnamese thinker and monk Thich Nhat Hanh wrote that for him to live a happier life, it helped to see people with love, even strangers. The Buddhists practice the concept of 'universal love,' meaning that they want to have love and compassion in their hearts for everyone, from the bodega shop owner down the street to your beloved little nephew to a mosquito that is about to bite you. Living life with kindness in our hearts fills us up with the good shit, like smoking weed but like love hormones. It makes us able to handle stress better, eyes shinier, hair glossier, all that love stuff is accessible, according to the Buddhists. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">But how to do it in a New York minute? In his book, The Art of Communicating, he recommends a simple practice: Simply say in your mind or out loud to people you cross paths with, <b>'A flower to you, a Buddha to be.'</b> Imagine you are giving them a flower of happiness, no matter who they are. I swear I tried this, and even on a bad day my hard ass heart would soften as I felt love for my brother men. Sounds cheesy yea? I dunno, give it a try and see if you feel warmth flood your chest. How can your head not exit your ass when you're giving metaphorical flowers to the world?? </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "cambria"; white-space: pre-wrap;">That's all I have for the moment. Also FYI I'm back in Singapore. If you want to read more about Vipassana in India and how I burnt myself out and rose from the ashes or whatever, <a href="https://www.moursalien.com/notes-moursalien/2020/01/11/burnout-and-vipassana-5-tips" target="_blank">check this post</a> on my secret adult blog. Also, do you have tips to surviving stress in a big city? Please share :) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lilfelrockstheworld/" target="_blank">live adventure on insta</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: purple;"><b>Indie Guide to Singapore: Nightlife as a Youngish Adult</b></span></h2>
When I <a href="http://www.lilfelrockstheworld.com/2010/08/indie-guide-to-singapore.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">first wrote</span></a> as a fresh International Relations 23 year old grad, Singapore was at best disappointing and at worst a sterile Asian Disney World with no authenticity and soul. I (illegally) spat in the face of its perfection, feeling cheated and misled. How dare you say you are an Asian city when you lack the chaotic and affordable beauty that Bangkok and Hong Kong effortlessly ooz? Singapore's biggest point of pride as a Southeast Asian oasis was my biggest point of disgust.<br />
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Seven years later I'd probably jump back in time so I could slap old (young?) me in the face.<br />
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I’ve seen the light. Forget my <a href="http://www.lilfelrockstheworld.com/2010/08/indie-guide-to-singapore.html" target="_blank">last post</a>. It was the ramblings or an
adventure starved, coddled westerner looking for a reprieve from stability. Asia was supposed to be a land ripe with possibilities, Singapore you could get arrested for chewing gum. I had just broken from the shackles of university (but not student debt), climbed a mountain in Papua New Guinea and then expected to put on my nice western clothes, pay western prices for a beer to hang out with westerners? Forgive my young self, but it kind of beat the point of travelling across the world. Singapore for a fresh adrenaline addicted graduate was a waste.of.time.</div>
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But I
write to you today as a third-jobber who has spent the last four years in Bangkok, and 2 years in the chaotic, traffic-ridden city – Jakarta. I've finally moved here. I make money, I read the business section sometimes, I go to the bank and pay bills and stuff.
I’m AN ADULT. And yea, I gotta say, if you’re not on a shoestring budget, there is a lot love about this place. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Actually, I have become vociferous on the matter. You can
drink water FROM THE TAP. You can breath AIR. You can walk OUTSIDE and not in a
mall. If you dare accuse me of my standards dropping faster than my chances of getting married, I will slap you across the face and then
quickly run to cover you in sweet, sorrowful kisses. You may be right, World. You
may be right. Indeed, having lived in the most tumultuous, horrendously polluted city in the
world has skewed my standards for what I like in a place. </div>
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But beyond my spinster level standards of city love, age and where you are at in your life will determine how much pleasurey pleasureness you can extract from Singapore. Graduating the lens in which you view the world from teeny Wayfareres to Madmen Clubmasters will help bring into focus so many more amazing things that may be blurred by your cheapness. When I first wrote, I wanted the craziness of Bangkok and instead got the Asian adopted
cousin of Orlando or Ottawa. Now I quiver and bite my lip thinking of things
like public transportation and non-creepy white old expats. Oh jaded Felicia,
what have you become?!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Anyways, I prevaricate. <o:p></o:p></div>
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If you are not a debt ridden student, this
guide may work for you. If you are, don’t waste your precious young dollahs in Singapore. This is a city
best enjoyed for expats around Southeast Asia with a serious amount of
disposable income and friends who live in the city to show them a good time.
Come here for a reprieve from all the good things of Asia, for a dose of home.
Things work here, punctuality is like actually a thing, people speak English,
there are green spaces, lots, they have wholesome activities beyond nightlife
like comedy and trivia nights. Prostitutes and easy women are not rampant, the
men and women seem like the best of normal people, full of career and ambition,
what more can I say? The Debbie to the downer is that this all comes at a
price, a high one. Taxis, clubs, food are pretty expensive compared to the rest
of Asia. If you've come from Europe then it’s on par so don’t be shocked. <o:p></o:p></div>
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People say that, like its ugly cousins Ottawa and Orlando, Singapore lacks a soul. They are not 100% wrong. Don’t
expect Echo Park, meatpacking district or Melbourne, but as long as your expectations
are in check you can have an amazing time here. But I tell you what, there is
an electricity in the air that I don’t feel in Jakarta or Bangkok. It feels alive, like
your spidey party sense is constantly tingling. There are so many
interesting people doing interesting things and it's in the air. I can become
addicted to this smell of energy and excitement! Jakarta does not have that. If there is a party, there
is only 1 or 2 max and everyone you know will be at one or the other. Singapore,
it is possible to be overbooked. Your social life is amazing. It is hard if you
don’t know people, but anyways I’ll give you my recommendations of best nightlife in Singapore if you're into non mainstream bro-ey crowds.<br />
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<i>(Fyi, I wrote most of this post as a 25 year old but never published. 6 years later, my sentiments and love for Singapore remain true.)</i><br />
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Where to Party in Singapore (electro, house, chill vibes)</h2>
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Dancing</span></h3>
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<a href="https://goo.gl/maps/ATWJWxfPubk" target="_blank">The Great Escape</a><br />
It's a party in a parking lot, often with live tunes and non-pretentious fervor. It has a great indie movie theater attached to it as well.<br />
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<a href="https://goo.gl/maps/S5devVwUuts" target="_blank">Canvas</a><br />
This place defies Singaporean existence. It is grungy and underground, playing house and minimal music till 5am. Best part is that it is in the center of Boat Quay and has an amazing view.<br />
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<a href="https://goo.gl/maps/RQoubyj2v1L2" target="_blank">Kilo Lounge</a><br />
Most well known of the house, edm music spots. Always reliable for a good time and is in Tanjong Pagar. Open till 3am. I would nickname this place The French Nest. Shitty part is the $20 SGD cover.<br />
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/icecreamsundayssg/" target="_blank">Ice Cream Sundays</a><br />
This is an event that happens monthly and they have some of the music and vibes I like the most in Singapore. Daytime, electro house music and sexy cool people. Check out the facebook page here.<br />
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<a href="https://goo.gl/maps/LqU4o9NWCvF2" target="_blank">Tanjong Beach Club</a><br />
This beach bar is the epitome of Singapore Bro's Club - shirtless muscled dudes walking around with little puppies to bait model-esque babes. Nonetheless, on a Sunday you can go enjoy volleyball, beer pong and good vibes with your homies. It's a great daylight adventure, regardless if you're a bro or not. We like to picnic with our own booze and music a bit away from the bar itself.<br />
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<a href="https://goo.gl/maps/f7U653bZVzG2" target="_blank">Senor Taco</a><br />
Salsa lessons every Wednesday for $10 SGD starting from 8pm and then a hot live band afterwards. I've recently attempted to become a twinkle toes with the lovely folks here and it is addicting! Also a great place for awkward dudes to dance with babes.<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Drinking</span></h4>
Singapore loves itself a good afterwork drink. Around 6pm the streets are buzzing with handsome people and men with pit stains as they soak in the tropical night air. Whole streets are popular for afterwork drinks: Club Street (on weekends it's car free and filled with French), Amoy Street (Classier), Haji Lane (Artist alley and tiny boutiques), Robertson Quay(more mature crowd). Below are a few highlights.<br />
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<a href="https://goo.gl/maps/yRmLL61cwXk" target="_blank">Native</a><br />
<b>Best for: Impressing your visiting boss</b><br />
Everything is this bar, from the rustic furniture to the graffiti and cutlery is made in Southeast Asia. Good for an intimate night with close friends, a date, or where to show off to your colleagues visiting from out of town. They tell a story with each drink they give you and make their own gin in house. Recommend the coffee gin for surreee. Note: It's a pricey establishment. Notebis: Go to the sketchy karaoke place across the street. It is filled with SPARKLES and looks like a David Lynch film.<br />
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<a href="https://goo.gl/maps/Rzfmw49cELD2" target="_blank">Little Part Cafe</a><br />
<b>Best for: Catch up with friends</b><br />
On a street with heritage protected shophouses (see intro photo), this tiny cafe bar has a wonderful sunset vibe, with fresh green breeze and lovely reprieve from city life. I would recommend walk around the neighbourhood to get selfies with the insta-worthy houses and relax your tired vanity with a cold glass of white! Food is meant to be decent too, with some vegan options available!<br />
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<a href="https://g.page/Maison-bespoke-food?share" target="_blank">Maison Ikkoku</a><br />
<b>Best for: Spontaneous date</b><br />
<span style="text-indent: 0cm;">A tiny shophouse dive bar best enjoyed later in the evening.</span><br />
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<a href="https://goo.gl/maps/Xy9Mgw83TAq" target="_blank">Smoke and Mirrors</a> <u>or Aura</u><br />
<b>Best for: Impressing a date or visiting friends with the rooftop view</b><br />
Has one of the best views of the city in the opinion of several friends! Cool for a visit at the National Gallery (same building) first and a drink or two for sunset. Drinks start around $22.<br />
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<a href="https://goo.gl/maps/6dqALN33UiH2" target="_blank">Employees Only</a><br />
<b>Best for: Getting loose in a suit</b><br />
This place has the set-up of a speak easy, but it's own popularity has killed the vibe of something underground. It is always filled with second-jobbers and banker bros but is a good time if you want to sway a bit to Queen and other popular fun tunes. Sometimes you may not get in!<br />
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<a href="https://goo.gl/maps/SqhZwPMc79p" target="_blank">Blu Jaz Cafe</a><br />
<b>Best for: Culture injection</b><br />
Or anywhere on Haji Lane. I've come here to watch open mic poetry nights and listen to live jazz bands. It is an amazing hub that supports the creative scene in Singapore. If you want to see what lies beneath corporate Singapore, I recommend checking the schedule of what's on here. Though, don't recommend the food (the falafels are dry as). Good vibes ftw.<br />
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<a href="https://goo.gl/maps/mvnEoWX52nE2" target="_blank">Cafe Gavroche on Wednesdays</a><br />
<b>Best for: Catch up with friends</b><br />
Free flow rose for ladies on Wednesday nights in a cute French resto in Tangjong Pagar. Perfect place for a gang of girls to let loose! And if you're feeling super basic then you can head to Bang Bang club for 3 free mixed drinks and sloppy dancing (don't go till about midnight though).<br />
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<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BhZd7dun28w/" data-instgrm-version="9" style="background: #fff; border-radius: 3px; border: 0; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.5) , 0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: 99.375%;">
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BhZd7dun28w/" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">Poetry night in Singapore was not square at all (maybe a bit phallic shaped). Disney rendition about dick pics and this woman with ODE TO BITCHES, that gave me goosebumps. "You don't swallow, you spit fire," she said. Another poet on love:" He may have taken your heart but not your spine. Stand up." #Singapore #singaporepoetry #feministart #lilfelrocksSG</a></div>
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A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lilfelrockstheworld/" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" target="_blank"> Moursalien</a> (@lilfelrockstheworld) on <time datetime="2018-04-10T17:14:47+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Apr 10, 2018 at 10:14am PDT</time></div>
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<br />
<a href="https://goo.gl/maps/tPK1t5KJZ692" target="_blank">Skinnies Lounge</a><br />
<b>Best for: Getting loose with your teacher friends</b><br />
This is basically an American college bar. There are hockey jerseys and hand drawn pics on the wall, a ceiling filled with a diverse collection of dick pics, beer pong outside and Oasis on repeat. Always teeming with the younger 20 somethings of Singapore.<br />
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Others<br />
Potato Head (Beautiful decor, casual drinks)<br />
Tiong Bahru Club<br />
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<b style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0cm;">Some Notes</b></div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>This list is not exhaustive. Everyone has their spots. This blog is ultimately about us sharing, so do let me know if you have any recommendations or feedback.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>It takes me on average about 6 months to write a blog post because the more money I've earned the less soul I have (jk i hope). So if you want to see Singapore on a more regular and daily basis, I highly recommend the lazy man's version of blogging <a href="http://www.instagram.com/lilfelrockstheworld" style="text-indent: 0cm;" target="_blank">(instagram)</a><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">. The videos are daily loves of the city.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">To filter all the irrelevant shiz, use the hashtag </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/lilfelrockssg/" style="text-indent: 0cm;" target="_blank">#lilfelrocksSG</a><span style="text-indent: 0cm;"> for my latest recommendations. There is a lot deep stuff about vintage shopping in Singapore and pretty trees.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">Next post should be about favourite food spots in town, with a VEGAN lens woo. Please send me some recommendations so I have more than zero to write about. </span></li>
</ul>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Other Travel Guides in Asia you Might Dig</h3>
<div>
<a href="http://www.lilfelrockstheworld.com/2016/09/indie-guide-to-best-non-tourist.html" target="_blank">Indie Guide to Bangkok Eats</a></div>
<div>
I spent four years in this city. Here is an extensive list of how not to be a sucka tourist. </div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.lilfelrockstheworld.com/2015/07/pasar-santa-vintage-shopping-jakarta.html" target="_blank">Vintage Threads in Jakarta</a><br />
Discovered a cool market filled with hipsterpreneurs<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lilfelrockstheworld.com/2017/05/why-i-decided-to-do-10-days-of-silence.html" target="_blank">I burned out working in tech, here's what I did about it</a><br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Cool Tunes</h3>
Always hear this at the French cafe, Merci Marcel, next to my office and makes me want to raise my nips to the sun.<br />
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<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iZAqaykiS70" width="560"></iframe>
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http://www.facebook.com/pages/LilFel-Rocks-the-World/284473376434?ref=ts#!/pages/LilFel-Rocks-the-World/284473376434?ref=ts</div>Feliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434170085570100614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4692590391834471433.post-62966903693320745292018-04-02T09:30:00.004+02:002018-04-25T18:33:32.245+02:00Graffiti in Indonesia: #throwback Interview with Artist Wormo (2012)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial";"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">There were many things that frustrated me to hell about my time as <a href="http://www.lilfelrockstheworld.com/p/indonesia.html" target="_blank">fresh grad in Indonesia</a>: the typical traffic jams, poor public infrastructure, and lack of green spaces in Jakarta, but its art remains unparalleled in the region (i</span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial";"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">n my humble opinion as a six year standing resident of Southeast Asia). </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; white-space: pre-wrap;">And as a 24 year old, I had the unusual, albeit coolest opportunity to sit down with Indonesia's best underground artists to understand their perspective for my local art magazine/biz +sixtwo. I am sharing one or two here b</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; white-space: pre-wrap;">ecause when you hit 30 years old, it's a time to start re-reading books and looking backwards for a fresh perspective, I heard. Currently, I am reexamining my opinions about Jakarta. More on that another time. See below for street artist interviews from the city that raked my patience but had an art community that kept me infinitely intrigued. </span><br />
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<h3 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">An Interview with Jakarta Street Artist Wormo (September 2012)</span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the colourfully inclined, growing up in Jakarta can be difficult. The grays and beiges of city life just beg for rupture and graffiti artist Wormo, aka Arem Kaleva are part of a group of artists that are injecting colour into the public sphere. His work showcases vibrant neon colours, bold typography and the little monsters seen crawling about distinguish the walls of which he has tagged. Wormo is smart, well spoken and his street art is driven not only by his need to break daily routine but also from a belief in the freedom of public space and expression. Arem took some time to meet up with me and explain his work, his beliefs and the life of a graffiti artist. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5EeBJOe4wCk/Wr-sotM62OI/AAAAAAAAFuk/SvGx4FIfoTAnYaIZkfhexUVY2zo44lVEwCLcBGAs/s1600/Wormo%2BArem%2BKaleva%2Blilfel.png" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; white-space: normal;"><img border="0" data-original-height="619" data-original-width="661" height="598" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5EeBJOe4wCk/Wr-sotM62OI/AAAAAAAAFuk/SvGx4FIfoTAnYaIZkfhexUVY2zo44lVEwCLcBGAs/s640/Wormo%2BArem%2BKaleva%2Blilfel.png" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: black; white-space: pre;">Source: </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/mr.wormo/" style="white-space: pre;" target="_blank">Instagram: Mr. Wormo</a></span></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-ecf1ea04-7a4a-af2d-3970-b402d63f6eaf" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">So, why the name Wormo?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">My main character is a worm and so Wormo. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I started off by painting </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">worms that eat the concrete. In Jakarta there are too many concrete walls </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and so much grey! So this worm eats it down and adds colour to the monotony. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">What did you want to be when you were a little boy? </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I have always loved drawing. My family and uncles are artists </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and that gave me my love for colours. In highschool I pursued graphic </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">design but I never thought I would be an artist. In Indonesia you couldn’t </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">l</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">ive as an artist at this time. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">What turned you from graphic design to street art? </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">In highschool I did mostly tags. Then in 2004 my work partner thought, </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">“let’s paint on the street!” We were both graphic designers and it was boring to </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">sit in front of a computer all day. We would would grab a beer and just go to break the routine.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Is graffiti art?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Yea of course. Quality graffiti is. Even the tags you can see the quality. Everyone has a style. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">What's your opinion on the street art scene in Jakarta? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Street art in Jakarta is going up and up after experiencing a slump post 2007. Before we all </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">knew each other in the scene but now I see a lot of quality work now from youngsters I don’t </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">know. Compared to Yogya, they’ve always had a different style. I think they were the first to </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">paint in the street and it’s awesome there because it’s just more common to do street art. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">In general Yogja is more artistic, and now there is an emerging hip hop style whereas before </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">you could see a trend of characters and big murals. Also, it’s better there because it’s a smaller </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">city. Here you have to take a motorbike and taxi to get anywhere!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Two words to describe your work. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Colourful. Organic. </span><br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4USDQOd--Gw/Wr-tfdicxVI/AAAAAAAAFus/r6fUTlpiuc8o6jntkKlIqnMSq_VwVqvXQCLcBGAs/s1600/Wormo%2Bjakarta_streetart%2Blilfelrockstheworld.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="782" height="474" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4USDQOd--Gw/Wr-tfdicxVI/AAAAAAAAFus/r6fUTlpiuc8o6jntkKlIqnMSq_VwVqvXQCLcBGAs/s640/Wormo%2Bjakarta_streetart%2Blilfelrockstheworld.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Source: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/mr.wormo/" target="_blank">Instagram: Mr. Wormo</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Where does your international inspiration come from? </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Suiko from Japan, Main Street Killahs (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">MSK) crew from LA, </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and CMK Crew from Boston. I think Japanese artist have a very </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">distinct style because their writing and culture is so different. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">When you're not tagging walls, what's your day job?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Graphic designer for Blitz Mega, movie theatre. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Free movies? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Not really. Two vouchers every three months.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Is there a difference between graffiti and vandalism?</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">For me both are important. Vandalism is the urge to put your </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">name everywhere. But quality is important, and that’s where the art is. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Graffiti is all about freedom. I also believe that since we see so much advertising in </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">public space we have the same right as artists to display our messages whether it be </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">vandalism or graffiti. Just because they have money doesn’t mean they have the right to f</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">orce people to look at it. We also have that right. </span></div>
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After grinding the corporate stone for three years in the tech startup scene of Southeast Asia, I decided to take time off to pursue an MBA (spoiler alert: didn't go). But my first order of business was to <a href="http://www.lilfelrockstheworld.com/2017/05/why-i-decided-to-do-10-days-of-silence.html" target="_blank">master the discipline of mindfulness</a>. And thus began my Great Indian Odyssey with a silent retreat for 10 days in Rajasthan, tantric yoga for a month in the holy city of Rishikesh (tantra's not the naughtiness you think, pervs) and studying Buddhism in the Himalayas less than a kilometer away from where the D. Lama himself lives! Before becoming an ancient wise one, I faced many challenges traveling as a woman in India- absolutely not mindful of my womaness in a society still largely trying to come to terms with its gender outlook. Below is my guide to being an idiot the moment you step off the plane and first impressions of a country I have come to love.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7tSUb4G7JTA/WqiWVNY2bYI/AAAAAAAABzE/_WBg1mdkWXAXXKbjNAsqQDHYFmEeAIKyACLcBGAs/s1600/female_traveller_delhi_india_lilfelrockstheworld.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="872" data-original-width="840" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7tSUb4G7JTA/WqiWVNY2bYI/AAAAAAAABzE/_WBg1mdkWXAXXKbjNAsqQDHYFmEeAIKyACLcBGAs/s640/female_traveller_delhi_india_lilfelrockstheworld.jpg" width="616" /></a><br />
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<i style="text-align: center;">Not wearing tight clothes is one key to not being dumb. (Vintage cuban shirt from Bangkok's Chatuchak market, $3.3 USD btw omg)</i></div>
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<b>Getting to Rishikesh from Delhi: An Idiot's Guide</b><br />
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1. Arrive at midnight in Delhi with no hotel booked, a dead phone and without an adaptor to charge it. Planning is overrated. People have voices. Ask locals for help. This is especially useful when they don't speak English. The only thing you need to know is your destination. In this case? Rishikesh because you're a unique snowflake who wants to do yoga on a gap year.<br />
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2. Despite having not the slightest clue of where to go and how to get there, learn Indian sign language fast. This consists of varying finger pointing intensities and mysterious head bobbles. Once you have mastered the language you will learn you must take public transportation to the ICBD, Kashmiri Gate. It may take an hour and you may be the only girl of a bus full of men, but when did that ever turn out badly?<br />
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3. Wear your tightest clothes. With a disturbing lack of women in public spaces, especially when travelling by night, put unnecessary effort in coveting the heavy blunt stares of Indian men. Breath in the fresh air of repressed sexuality, girls! It's a whole new ozone really.<br />
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4. Once at the dingy public bus station at 1am, continue to converse with more people who don't understand English. If you're lucky, the ticket sellers will be sleeping and will give you a dismissive bobble. The Sleeping Bobble may be interpreted as liberally as you want. When extracting info from sleeping men gets too exciting, proceed to walk around in circles past rows of more sleeping people. Contemplate laying next to them, until someone takes pity on you and buys you tea, samosas and biscuits.<br />
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5. After an hour of local bus station loitering and fruitless Rishikesh inquiries, accept the biscuit from a kind biscuit man who uses said biscuits to (successfully) soften the news that there is in fact no bus to Rishikesh at 2am. Embrace the sense of dread that looms over your exhausted body. This vulnerability look, coupled with your butt forming lulu lemons, will attract a counsel of Indian men who will gather to help you find your way. Trust them when they say that Hardwar takes you to an hour outside of Rishikesh where you can transfer buses. They say too many choices make you unhappy, right? You're laughing now because right now you have none.<br />
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6. Finally, board the gaudiest red bus with a half inch level of grime on seats and a door that doesn't close. You'll be free to enjoy the soothing honks of a bus gone mad, impossible weaving (swerving?) through traffic and high-pitched Indian songs for the next 5-6 hours. Use the chaos and your impending death as a way to get a head start on Buddhism ideals of transience that you had come to India to learn in the first place. Don't try to read the <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-erasure-of-islam-from-the-poetry-of-rumi?mbid=social_twitter" target="_blank">New Yorker's article</a> about Islam erasure in Indian poetry because you'll puke.<br />
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7. Arrive early morning alive and reborn really where a blue eyed mystic man will greet you. Do not be alarmed when he menacingly shakes a wand of peacock feathers at you and chants in deep undertones. May be a hex or he may just be a Harry Potter fan. If you wish for the occult entertainment to continue, keep refusing to give him money while avoiding eye contact/ his spells.<br />
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<u>Important Note: </u>You may be the only female again on the bus travelling alone. Calmly clutch your belongings and put on a polite but firm smile. Best to avoid confrontation when people (men) sit too close to you or whisper 'I love you' while you're sleeping on the bus. What's lovelier than waking up to a stranger an inch from your face looking at you?<br />
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8. And finally trust the high rickshaw driver who offers you a joint when you arrive in Rishikesh city still without phone, internet, hotel or plan. Laxman Jhula he says, while he pulls a deep drag and insouciantly hauls ass around moribund mountain roads. The journey will cost you 200 rupees. Tip: Ganga View Resort is beautiful but pricey (3000 rupees per night).<br />
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9. Nine hours of excitement and travel later warrants a nice meal. It may or may not give you <a href="http://www.lilfelrockstheworld.com/2010/08/how-to-survive-travelers-diarrhea.html" target="_blank">chocolate rain belly</a> and where the toilets may or may not have a seat and/or toilet paper.<br />
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10. After finally settling in Rishikesh from Delhi as a solo female traveller, make a video about Rishikesh as a solo female traveller because you're meta like that.<br />
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What's the lesson here? Planning is for squares.<br />
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http://www.facebook.com/pages/LilFel-Rocks-the-World/284473376434?ref=ts#!/pages/LilFel-Rocks-the-World/284473376434?ref=ts</div>Feliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434170085570100614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4692590391834471433.post-15993857372528895632017-08-11T00:47:00.093+02:002023-03-17T23:11:40.076+01:00Vipassana Meditation in India - 10 Days of Hell and Bliss<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Damn, I wrote this in 2016 when I was fresh out of this insane 10 day retreat of absolute silence - The OG of the dopamine fast that is being touted in Silicon Valley. It's been sitting in draft form for 7 years, but after a friend's bf expressed interest, I decided to dust off this old piece and let it see the light of day. </div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoeSwwbX73WYM4A9cLhp7QLxy6dKqxwNf98usBB4N3NyRaqvw3WEwSyw0QHYJRqlx-JWHH55ZYLbeQgRWUCduOTaP60jSSOABoNCyZcmX8EZ7lwBzvgtwcvGaTFA2dciDXNB0njvfaaepjLvUHgthPmKJe9_mVjpRDPTqGqN-EC7wIp3t82GnxpLLssQ/s4032/Vipassana%20stilness.JPEG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoeSwwbX73WYM4A9cLhp7QLxy6dKqxwNf98usBB4N3NyRaqvw3WEwSyw0QHYJRqlx-JWHH55ZYLbeQgRWUCduOTaP60jSSOABoNCyZcmX8EZ7lwBzvgtwcvGaTFA2dciDXNB0njvfaaepjLvUHgthPmKJe9_mVjpRDPTqGqN-EC7wIp3t82GnxpLLssQ/w480-h640/Vipassana%20stilness.JPEG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>Seven Years After My First Meditation</b></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Seven years later - what's the impact of Vipassana? In brief, I know now what I'm capable of. I know what the brain can do/heal/feel in a way I've never experienced without enhancements. I got a glimpse of human magic. But like an old bike in the rain, shit gets rusty. That body magic you learn fades over time because the environment is so unique it is hard to replicate that complete void of stimulation. But while I don't practice vipassana anymore, it still changed my life in a profound way. It was my gateway drug into spiritual practice in general. It taught me how to sit still and listen when there is noise everywhere else. I know my body in a way no lover ever will. That's a skill that will never get rusty. Once you know, you can't unknow, you know?</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Ten days may seem like a lot, but if your heart yearns for stillness or more don't ignore that call. </div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggyX155UHoZgtDeAje-A69HGppP_jKivxbuvocjHn7QI3kcHqmbfuWDUV4xhZQTLl1t6QRS_e0NQrbYElt8nayFmS_et-ZI_NDCB8Rnv_15l0d2a_cta7ABFxRPQ9xfbp_V7XddNiAOmAi4OLGPX9CMe5yBJpshxAspTExzBFIWCxzQY8fwmGTN7VsYQ/s720/vipassana_ace%20ventura.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="720" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggyX155UHoZgtDeAje-A69HGppP_jKivxbuvocjHn7QI3kcHqmbfuWDUV4xhZQTLl1t6QRS_e0NQrbYElt8nayFmS_et-ZI_NDCB8Rnv_15l0d2a_cta7ABFxRPQ9xfbp_V7XddNiAOmAi4OLGPX9CMe5yBJpshxAspTExzBFIWCxzQY8fwmGTN7VsYQ/w400-h259/vipassana_ace%20ventura.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;" trbidi="on"><i>This could be you. </i></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b><br /></b><b>Post-Vipassana Play by play: How was it? (From 2016)</b><br />
When friends ask this question, I explode like an insanely happy puppy who has its masters come home to play. It was a question I literally cogitated on for ten days, thinking about how I would talk about it. As I had no pen and paper to record the symphony of clear thoughts that bubbled to the top of my clear mind, I apologize in advance for just trying to recall by memory. But one thing is for sure.<br />
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No one prepares you for how bloody hard it is. And this is the true raison d'etre of this post. So everyone can be mentally prepared better than I was.<br />
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It took every ounce of discipline I had in my body to not quit and run out the door. The silence I was prepared for, in fact, it was so beautiful to be alone with an uncluttered mind, I could cry looking at the multitude of shades of green in nature and other cheesy sentimental artsy shit like that. What was hard, however, was how excruciating and uncomfortable your body is. And how boring the actual act of meditation training is.<br />
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I thought it would be all plasma-river floating like Jim Carrey and beautiful thoughts when on break! But no, it is 90% of you sitting in a hot room that looks like a bible camp basement and loud fans and grey carpet, shifting positions on your sore ass maybe 5x every 10 minutes, forcing yourself not to keep staring at the clock behind your head. When you have this much time with emptiness, the minutes crawl like a tarantula exploring the bakck of your neck. It's especially hard in the beginning because you're not used to sitting all day. What makes it worst, even perhaps unsupportable, is that they forbid you to do any sports, yoga, situps in room, or fast walking. Your body is literally rotting from lack of stimulus. But that's the point. They don't want any new sensations in your body so you can meditate better. Quell the monkey brain.<br />
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Key takeaway here: Mentally prepare yourself to have your body be in physical agony as well and to be bored as all hell until day 3 or 4. It does get better.<br />
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<b>The Vipassana Technique</b></h3>
They actually teach you two techniques. The first is super lame and ineffective (at first). They tell you to merely breath, but don't visualize or verbalize any mantras or objects. They say that any other techniques are not to be used because it will detract from the efficacy of the practical one. "Observe the sensations of your breath in your nose." You are told to do this from 4:30am-9pm at night. Do you realize how long that is, especially when you can't lean against anything, just sit tall like a Buddha?!<br />
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<b>The Practice: 10 Day Breakdown</b></h3>
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It was in Day 1-4 that I had my most serious crisis to leave. Here is the breakdown summary.<br />
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<b>Day 0: </b>Sign Five Precepts to participate. No intoxicants, killing or stealing - I mean, I guess so. No Sexual Misconduct. A quick glance at the creatures in the room make it clear that there will be no temptation. The group consisted of 47 women, 90 men, made up a majority of Indians with maybe 20% foreigners who all seemed in mid 20s and 30s. The white girls had either bird or star tattoos or dreadlocks. There were a couple vanilla French girls and a ton of Indian ladies, who I couldn't help but think that this was the only way they could escape the materfamilias responsibilities without pissing off the family. Silence and privacy in an Indian joint home must be more precious than gold..<br />
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The rooms are made for one-two people, have hot water (but no showerhead), a hard mattress, book shelf and good windows to keep out mosquitoes. Cement walls.<br />
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<b>Day 1: Pain and breathing. </b>Sitting for so long is uncomfortable and breathing while focusing on air in and out of your nose. It is boring and your neck will hurt from the multitude of times you try to (smoothly) twist around and peep at the clock.<br />
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<b>Day 2: Breaththrough! </b>Moments of nothingness from concentration of the nose and breathing. Can feel nose pulsing with sensations. Boom! Get too excited and unable to find that nothingness for another 8 hours. Create game of guessing the time and turning around to check it. Soccer leg muscles dying.<br />
<b><br /></b><b>Day 3: Misery and Sickness, Walking dead, monkeys. Meaning of life?</b> Contemplate leaving. My mind is rushing wildly with miserable thoughts. Contemplate the meaning of life. Why are we sitting here suffering in silence when the world is full of adventure? Start to feel sick. People around me look like zombies walking around the courtyard on lunchbreak. Eyes are black, shoulders slumped. The monkeys that romp around the garden depress the eff out of me with their single mindedness- all they do is fight, fuck and play in between. Isn't that what humans do, but in destructive and more complicated ways? Why do we try so hard to pretend we're more than those goddamn monkeys? I fall sick, start crying about the futility of life and stay in bed for the afternoon.<br />
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<b>Day 4: My Way of the Ninja - A New Resolve is Found. Monkey's inspire</b>. Still in bed wallowing in misery and mild fever, I drag myself for a walk in the courtyard. The silence has cleared my mind and I notice the 5 different shades of green of the leaves on the trees, bushes, surrounding mountain forest, flower leaves and more. The layers of beauty dazzle me I hadn't noticed before. The monkeys, instead of pissing me off with their monotony, inspire me. What makes us different from these monkeys, I thought, was a) our ability to appreciate beauty and b) our ability to be disciplined. I resolve to be more than the monkeys, that the best of what humanity is push ourselves beyond our monkey minds. I decide I will stay at the Vipassana and I will be disciplined, because, if I can't push myself and do this hard thing, I won't ever be able to push myself. I will always give up, if I give up now. I make a gang symbol with myself, lest I forget my resolve. It is two fists together over my stomach (or manipura chakra, for those who know what that is).<br />
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<b>Day 5: Miracle! Plasma space body. </b>My mind shuts off for more than an hour. I stop looking at the clock, I am perfect blackness, flying through space. I feel like Robin Williams in Hook when he finds his happy place and flies only to wake up and fall to the earth again when he realizes what he is doing. I am careful not to get excited this time. I repeat to myself, "I am nothing. I am nothing." I allow my ears to hear every single bird called, and monkey sound in the surrounding jungle. I feel like a super hero suspended in plasma land with no body, only a gigantic consciousness that could feel everything and nothing. The bell for the break rings, I do not move. I stay deep in this moment for 2 whole hours. My feet start to get pins and needles and I eventually am roused. I am overjoyed that I "got it."<br />
<b><br /></b><b>Day 6: Why can't I feel that thing again? Depression ensues.</b> Super excitement reinvigorated my resolve but to my chagrin, I was not able to get to super plasma land again. I could hear my ego ripe with expectations and disappointment but was powerless to shut it up. I sit the day of meditation in thoughts about love and life, sometimes happy, sometimes dark. My mind drifts to the last book I read, Jonathan Franzen's Purity, is replaying in my mind. A difficult time with a past amour, replays over and over too. I cannot concentrate. I start to berate myself as weak minded. I sit there, and allow my thoughts and memory to wash away the time..<br />
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<b>Day 7: Vipassana technique and the disciplined mind.</b> I make a new resolve for my mind. I will try to be disciplined for at least 1 hour a day and allow myself to contemplate life and work the rest. I make a deal with myself and sign it off with my gang symbol over my stomach. I AM disciplined. The Vipassana technique is very different from the initial breathing one. This one focuses on scanning the entire body for sensations, and then neutralizing them. Not being excited or disappointed by anything you feel because we want to eliminate craving and aversion from our thought process, and that must start with the physical sensations of our body. Teacher asks us to try to not move our legs, to sit through discomfort of 9 hours a day crossed-legged. I use the pain in my legs as a sensation to study and neutralize. I've also limited my food intake to half a banana and black tea so I could use my hunger as something to practice my discipline as well. I've never been disciplined in my life. I felt a solid strength growing in me.<br />
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<b>Day 8: Hyper awareness and the meditation cells. We</b> finally get to go into the pagoda and meditate privately. I am relieved for privacy and decide to lie down (maybe take a nap heh) and practice Vipassana, then something crazy happens. I feel my body alive in sensations! There is a pulsing, vibration all over my body, like it is buzzing in the middle of a church bell. I am hyper aware of everything and I am at a loss to comprehend what is happening. I dismiss ideas of energy flow and I think that it must be how the pagoda is built, channelling sound vibrations or something... I love the pagoda, it allows me to go deeper.<br />
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<b>Day 9: Several people have left. </b>I notice that one of the beautiful girls with an intoxicating sexual energy had left too. It is amazing how much is communicated in a language that isn't spoken. The way someone walks, holds their head, catches your eye. We may have been silenced, but we were always communicating somehow. What I learned was how to listen and observe and to feel. To open new sensory channels to understand the world around me. When the dirt of our mind settles, our thoughts and understanding become clear. I felt my internal writer's voice able to sing with the clarity and sharpness of a single trumpet. I had never felt so clear-minded. I also learned how to make deals with myself to concentrate. When a stray thought would wander it, like a bee that slipped in through the open window, I negotiate with it and say, "I will play with you later, thought, but right now I am focusing."And like that I am able to shoo it out the window for a bit. I regret not being able to write. It was one thing my mind was begging for every day. I composed a song in my mind, so I wouldn't forget some of my breakthroughs.<br />
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<b>Day 10: It's over. We</b> have a half day of meditation and we are allowed to talk at lunch time. It was the weirdest thing to break the silence for so long inside our minds alone. I almost didn't want to talk. Just wanted to be alone and write and write and write. But in the end, I was excited by the women around me and their journeys. We had to meditate in the afternoon, but disturbingly, that 1 hour of conversation was circling around my mind like an ominous storm cloud. I found it difficult to clear them out. My crystalized mind had begun to be tainted by the real world. I feared it would be a sign of things to come. The 10 days of silence was a luxury. That became evident to me. What I didn't know was, how would this hold up in the real world?<br />
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The first time I heard about meditation, it was in the philosophical film Ace Ventura. A pillar in my young life.<br />
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I spent my life thinking it was for mystics, monks, my childhood crush Jim Carrey and kooky creatives like David Lynch and it basically gave you magic power skills. Then some years ago I started hearing about actual people I knew claiming to be doing this meditation business. I had no idea what meditation entailed except mind flying and sitting calmly for a long time. I'm not going to lie, I still wrote it off, thinking meditation was NOT for me. Why? First, I'm not a believer in anything metaphysical. I play sports. I am an extrovert. My hyperactive mind is part of what makes me, me. Plus, it sounded dull.<br />
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Then a couple things happened. First, a good friend would not shut up about it. In fact, once we were out in Jakarta he went to look for a rose to buy from some old guy on the street. I thought it was sweet, but unnecessary to buy me a rose because we were just homies, no need to try. I let him know as much.<br />
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My first impressions of meditation are thanks to Jim Carrey</div>
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"Uh, the rose isn't actually for you," he said awkwardly, "It's for my Rose Meditation, a new technique I'm trying out."<br />
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What? It took four years from this night in Jakarta to convince me that he wasn't just making that up to cover his wounded ego. But one of my best friends, Justine, explained that there are types of meditation that don't require one to resort to the casuistry of the cosmic believers and zodiac types. The brain and our thoughts can and should be trained for maximum efficiency, like other parts of our body.<br />
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My mind creaked open slightly like a vast heavy door, but at least is was open! Prior to this, I thought of meditation with the polite disdain reserved for conspiracy theorists at awkward highschool gatherings. The final straws to blow my brain door wide open came when Rose friend's father, who was a serious man, diplomat, all round rough, tough American man (not typical hippie) told me that he was convinced by the effects of meditation. That was an unexpected source.<br />
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It helped clear his mind, calm him down and make him happier, he said at dinner in Hong Kong with Rose Boy and our friends. Second, another friend studying a PhD at Columbia told me about solid research that showed the benefits of meditation and mindfulness. Third, another friend, highly academic in nature decided to give it a whirl while he took a sejour in India. He said it was fantastic. Finally, my little brother did it while he was in Thailand and it changed his life and helped him deal with his anxiety issues. In an age of over-information, I value word of mouth recommendations above all and in 2016 I was presented with five of them.<br />
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<b>Taking Back my Mind</b><br />
The final impetus came when I felt trapped and helpless with my digital consumption habits. It happens to us all- we say we wished we had more time to read, to play sport, blog (...ahem) etc etc, but in fact we waste so much in microactivities online - a video here, a post there, a tweet there, but in the end we lose all of our "free" time. And I love social media and sharing, but somehow I had lost the motivation to write long-form stuff as much as I used to pre-mobile internet age. I listened to a great London School of Economics lecture that really crystallized my frustration. It said that our attention has become a commodity cheaply put up for sale. Jingles touch our ears, flashing banners catch our side vision, even smells pollute public spaces in an attempt to win your attention, that the newest luxury product is not a car or a watch, <i>it's silence. </i><br />
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<i>Jingles touch our ears, flashing banners catch our side vision, even smells pollute public spaces in an attempt to win your attention, that the newest luxury product is not a car or a watch, it's silence. </i></blockquote>
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Silence. It took 29 years of loud, hyperconnected living to finally yearn for the luxury of silence. And discipline. I wanted to take back mastery of my mind. Especially working in marketing and reading about Nudge Theory, the seminal work of U Chicago's Thaler & Sunstein. It highlights how much human behavior is influenced by being absolutely thoughtless, from snacking on a bowl of nuts merely because they are in front of you to the ability to alter opinions by changing the nature of how something is presented or marketed. We make snap decisions in a vacuum of information, and they don't always serve our best interests. I couldn't cut off the internet or social media, because it is too integrated in social and work life, but I was frustrated with the status quo and of course wanted to become a super human.<br />
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<b>My First Meditation Experience, Hong Kong </b></h4>
So on January 1, 2016 on a Hong Kong rooftop on a cool hungover evening after NYE, Rose Boy mentioned above offered to show myself and our other friend Marco a couple meditation techniques. We lit some candles, ravaged the couch for cushions and moved up to the rooftop for some calm vibes. Being underslept, I was pretty sure my first "meditation" would consist of the special Deep Somatic Technique known as falling asleep. But a miracle happened and I wasn't tired at all.<br />
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I was able to succeed at stopping the Blitzkrieg of thoughts assaulting my brain! And in the process of calming the chaos of this melon, I fell into a deep plasma-like river of bliss and calm for a couple minutes. I knew I needed find a way to figure out the meditation practice asap.<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;">Noble Silence and a Secular 10 Day Retreat in Jaipur</span></h3>
There are a bunch of apps that are supposed to be good to get into meditation. Head Space comes up a lot. But I wanted to walk the path of my little brother and do a Vipassana. This is a ten day retreat of absolute silence with no reading, writing, gestures, eye contact and nine hours of meditation from 4:30am to 9pm each day (with breaks in between). It is supposed to be secular, in the sense that it talks about Buddha as a philsopher with a good breathing technique that empowers people with the ability to assess before react. It doesn't tread on afterlife and inane religious rituals. It doesn't even talk about chakras and that other mystic stuff that most yogies and hippies subscribe to when they meditate. It's really supposed to be the Marine forces but for your brain.<br />
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So, (big news!) when I left my job of three years this year so I could go back to school, one of the first things I did with my freshly squeezed time was to head to Jaipur India to do the Vipassana Silent Retreat.<br />
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How was it?<br />
It took every ounce of discipline I had in my body to not quit and run out the door.<br />
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<br />Read Part Two: <a href="http://www.lilfelrockstheworld.com/2017/08/vipassana-meditation-in-india-10-days.html" target="_blank">10 Days of Hell..and Bliss</a></h3>
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Before I had ever visited Thailand, I asked my best friend Andrea what she thought of her experience. Normally a talkative sort, she had only one word for me this time: Delicious. </div>
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Her laconic response was apt. Everything about Thailand is delicious. When it comes to food, the Thais know how to enjoy life. Instead of McDonalds or Tim Hortons on every street corner, in Bangkok you'll find a fresh faced Thai woman selling fresh coconuts or a mobile meat skewer man with sizzling chicken, pork and innards brochettes that he can roll away with at any time to find better corners. </div>
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You'll have your neighbourhood fruit lady with glistening watermelons and mangoes cut for your convenience and a neighbourhood noodle soup guy with some spicy boiling liquids with ghostly white glass noodles. Less prevalent but still everywhere are bbq fish and seafood stalls. It still amazes me that nearly anywhere you go to eat Thai food in Bangkok you will be in ambrosial heaven. It almost seems impossible to have gross Thai food. </div>
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That being said, a lot of people will have their "special spots" and personal recommendations. I have no doubt that they are delicious. Permit me a bit of arrogance by saying that I know the BEST of some things. Such as best crab curry in Bangkok, best seafood, best vegan, and best western restaurants! I'm joking of course, I have a penchant for hyperboles. Joking aside, I've been living in Bangkok for three years and have been on an infinite quest for bestness. Here is my best list. If I'm wrong, don't be shy to share your spots!</div>
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<b>Defining "Best": My 3 Pillars of Awesome</b></div>
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My criteria consists of three pillars: taste, ambiance, price. To make it on my list a restaurant has to satisfy at least 2 of 3.</div>
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More specifically, I have an affinity for cozy small spots that don't make you feel like a headless belly to stuff food into. Point blank, I adore shitty hole in the wall spots run by old families that serve their ancient family recipes but as I've morphed into an adult I appreciate fine ingredients, good decor and original art too. What you won't find here are mainstream and tourists restaurants, but the regular local and western haunts of a Guyanese-Canadian living in Bangkok, tried and tested by the gaggles of friends who pass through here every winter!</div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Contents:</span></b></div>
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1. Thai Food & Street Markets</div>
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2. Fav European Dinners</div>
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3. Bangkok Brunch & Coffee</div>
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4. World Foods</div>
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5. Vegan Pick<br />
6. Anti-Recommendation</div>
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1. Thai Food & Street Markets</span></h2>
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<b><b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.supannigaeatingroom.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Supanniga Eating Room</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">, Thong Lor or Silom (Vegan friendly)</span></span></b></b></h3>
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Four words: best crab curry ever. Certainly the best Thai curry I've had in Bangkok with succulent chunky chunks in a rich spicy sauce. The restaurant is small, cute and made for young hip Thai people. Expect Issan food not toned down for weak paletted westerners and for vegetarians in Bangkok there is an extensive menu of vegan friendly Thai food. Despite its micro-aggression kneejerk of a name, this is the first place I take everyone who visits. Side bar: maybe consider reserving in advance if you're a large group as it has limited seating.</div>
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<b>My fav: </b>Crab curry with rice</div>
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<b>Location: </b>160/11 Sukumvit Soi 55 Thonglor</div>
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/7AqcKiH48P/" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">A photo posted by Lil'Fel Rocks the World (@lilfelrockstheworld)</a> on <time datetime="2015-08-30T14:10:07+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Aug 30, 2015 at 7:10am PDT</time></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Lek & Rat, Street Seafood Market in Chinatown</span></b></h3>
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I love Thai seafood more than anything in the world, not hyperbolic I swear. Go to this spot for the lime sauce steamed snapper and make sure to get the spicy sauces to dip the succulent white fish into. I usually order it with a crab fried rice and a side of calamari or prawns. But more than delicious food, this is the ultimate Bangkok experience- sitting on plastic stools on a narrow side walk as tuk tuks whir past in a frenzy. Street food in Bangkok is famous and I thank my old journalist homie for showing me (you may remember him as the guy who took me into the middle of an exploding volcano in Indonesia). Chinatown is also a must see, it has old buildings and a bustling charming vibe of what I imagine the 70s in Bangkok must have felt like. If you are in the area go check out the quiet street of hidden bars, here, especially Teens of Thailand.<br />
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<b>My fav: </b>Steamed white snapper in lime sauce with crab fried rice</div>
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<b>Location: </b>Intersection of Yaowarat Road & Thanon Phadung Dao Street</div>
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BJhDrEZg8-J/" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">No.1 #bangkokstreetfood recommendation is in Chinatown. Every chance I get, I order the steamed snapper in lime sauce with crab fried rice and some other #thaiseafood appetiser ! No better place to take your tourist friends for the heart of Bangkok experience 💪. (Ps. The place is not t&k seafood but the rival next door!)</a><span style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;">A video posted by Lil'Fel Rocks the World (@lilfelrockstheworld) on </span><time datetime="2016-08-25T03:25:49+00:00" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;">Aug 24, 2016 at 8:25pm PDT</time></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.w-district.com/" target="_blank">W District Outdoor Market</a>, Phra Kanong</span></b></h3>
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A bit out of the centre but worth it if you want a good open-air atmosphere with live Thai bands and a variety of food stalls to choose from. Lots of affordable and varied Thai and western choices. I like to get the grilled Salted fish. I know, I'm obsessed with seafood, but seriously it's so expensive in western countries and so wonderfully abundant and cheap here how can one not take a stroll down gluttony lane? The burritos and oysters are also a good call in this arty hipster Bangkok night market.</div>
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<b>My fav: </b>Grilled salted fish</div>
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<b>Location: </b>Corner of Sukumvit 71, behind the buildings, 5 minute walk from Phra Kanong BTS</div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.bangkok.com/magazine/rot-fai-market-ratchada.htm#promo" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Train Night Market (Rot Fai), Ratchadaphisek</span></b></a></span></h3>
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Haven't been here yet but I hear this Bangkok night market is a great bazaar style market with food and vintage clothing with an arty vibe. It is also a smaller version of the original Rot Fai Night Market.<br />
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<b>Location: </b>Ratchadaphisek Road, close to Esplanade Shopping Mall.</div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.cafebangrak.com/love/" target="_blank">Cafe Bangrak, Silom</a> (Vegan Friendly)</span></b></h3>
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Hipsterific, looking like an edgy startup office or Brooklyn cafe where you can enjoy an intensely good vegetarian menu and other Thai delights. Personal fav here is the red curry because it's spiceful and a glass noodle salad. Ate here constantly when I was a vegan in Bangkok.</div>
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<b>My fav</b>: Mushroom red curry (vegan)</div>
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<b>Location: </b>4-6 Soi Saladaeng, off of Silom Road, Saladaeng BTS</div>
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/2nHSzLn46m/" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">One of my fav #vegan friendly spots for delicious #thaifood in #bangkok. Super cool cafe ambiance with very tasty non-touristy flavours. Recommend the mushroom red curry and papaya salad!</a><span style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;">A photo posted by Lil'Fel Rocks the World (@lilfelrockstheworld) on </span><time datetime="2015-05-13T05:56:25+00:00" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;">May 12, 2015 at 10:56pm PDT</time></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.salarattanakosin.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sala Rattanakosin Eatery & Bar, Chao Praya River</span></a></b></h3>
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Apologies if this is a mainstream spot but it's riverside location and fancy Thai food make it the perfect place to take your parents, out of town colleagues or a date. The food is delicious, well prepared Thai food. Discovered there after my company's annual off-site dinner there with our out of town c-levels. I don't remember the price (too expensive) but it was great because of the sunset on the temples and wonderful Chao Praya River glittering as you ate!</div>
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<b>My fav:</b> everything</div>
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<b>Location:</b> Sala Rattanakosin Hotel, Maharaj Road</div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://elmercadobangkok.com/" target="_blank">El Mercado</a>, "The Chef's Market"</span></b></h3>
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!!! Go here. Delectable quality cuisine at an affordable price in the cutest terrace garden patio. Done in an unassuming renovated house, El Mercado has a delicious fresh bakery, wide meat and cheese selections and most importantly deliciously fresh seafood. The ingredients are chosen with an artisanal care you can taste. Their wines are good and go for 100 baht per glass for house wine. Recommend this Bangkok gem for a light French style brunch or dinner and drinks. Beware, it is closed on Sunday!</div>
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<b>My fav:</b> Fish and couscous entree</div>
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<b>Location: </b>490 Soi Phai Sing To (Between Sukumvit 16 and Rama IV area)</div>
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BEk3wO_zHFh/" style="color: #c9c8cd; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">A photo posted by @elmercado_bangkok</a> on <time datetime="2016-04-24T08:21:40+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Apr 24, 2016 at 1:21am PDT</time></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Uncle John French Food, Sathorn</span></b></h3>
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This place is a paradox. It's French cuisine done in ratty Thai street food setting. Uncle John was a top chef in a hotel, quit his job and opened this haute cuisine French place with a very Bangkok vibe. I was shocked when the CEO took all the visiting executives from out of town to this ratty place, but once we got the food, I totally got it. Recommend everything but especially the pan seared foie gras. There are 2 spots next to each other, make sure you do the French one, not European.</div>
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<b>My fav: </b>Pan seared foie gras and duck salad</div>
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<b>Location: </b>Suan Plu Soi 8, Sathorn</div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://bk.asia-city.com/restaurants/bangkok-restaurant-reviews/casa-lapin-x26" target="_blank"><b>Casa Lapin, Sukumvit 26</b></a></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There are multiple locations but this one is big and has the best food and ambiance. It has a beautiful garden and delightful wooden decor and cute design. This is a weekend haunt for me especially for brunch or when I want to lounge around for hours working because of the cozy and cuteness. More importantly, they actually do decent coffee! The coffee brings me memories of Melbourne's strong flat whites. I always go for the poke tuna salad or pumpkin quinoa salad when I'm trying to infuse health into a vice filled weekend. They have great eggs and juice too! The place is home to hi-so (high society) Thais and young professionals.</span></div>
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<b>My fav: </b>Flat white coffee, tuna poke salad and pumpkin quinoa</div>
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<b>Location: </b>300 meters down Sukumvit 26, Phrom Pong BTS<br />
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BA3cI3en49Q/" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">Good morning call. @camille_connelly</a></div>
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A video posted by Lil'Fel Rocks the World (@lilfelrockstheworld) on <time datetime="2016-01-23T03:20:21+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Jan 22, 2016 at 7:20pm PST</time></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cafe Tartine, Soi Ruam Rudee</span></b></h3>
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This is the Bangkok brunch spot because the legit French bakery that seduces with fresh croissants, delightful pain au chocolats, as well as charcuterie platters and an eggs florentine to kill for. They serve the always good, albeit expensive, Illy coffee to tap that Saturday morning caffeine into the veins. It's a cool and maybe sometimes award community feeling there. Expect to see everyone you saw at the big party the night before on their/with conquest from the night before. I don't care though, I am croissant and cappuccino obsessed and this place always delivers!<br />
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<b>My fav:</b> Shrimp eggs florentine, pain au chocolat for dessert.</div>
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/6tyvg9n490/" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">Ah after two weeks #traveling asia for work, nothing beats a simple croissant and cappuccino at my fav #bangkokbrunch spot. Hope to spend the rest of this rare quiet sunday doing cool adult things like framing pictures and buying plants. #lilfeleats lilfelrocksBK #brunch #travelasia #travelthailand</a></div>
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A photo posted by Lil'Fel Rocks the World (@lilfelrockstheworld) on <time datetime="2015-08-23T06:17:06+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Aug 22, 2015 at 11:17pm PDT</time></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Simple Natural Cafe, Sukumvit 31</b></span></h3>
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So many quinoa options paired with super coffee and located in a small alley, how could this place not make it into my heart. Food is fresh, organic and tasty!<br />
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I've lived a while in Bangkok and I love Indian food, so I can say with sincerity that they have amazing dosas (thin pancake with curries inside). My fav is the Mysore masala dosa and I always get the special South Indian style samosas. Oh yea, it's also vegetarian! Don't let that scare the carnivorously inclined because the food is so tasty you won't notice.</div>
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<b>My fav:</b> Mysore masala dosa with South Indian style samosas</div>
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<b>Location:</b> Sukumvit Suites Building on Sukumvit 13, Nana BTS</div>
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BEjcLzlH4y6/" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">I realise this looks like baby shit on a plate but of all the #indianfood places I've tried in Bangkok, this one wins for tastiest, especially the masala dosa and the #southindian style samosas. Ignore the fact it's on a sexpat infested Soi, the resto itself is full of Indian families so you know it's legit and spicy. #lilfeleats #lilfelrocksbk</a></div>
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A photo posted by Lil'Fel Rocks the World (@lilfelrockstheworld) on <time datetime="2016-04-23T19:01:31+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Apr 23, 2016 at 12:01pm PDT</time></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.isaotaste.com/" target="_blank">ISAO,</a> Sukumvit 31 (Sushi)</span></b></h3>
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When you're craving Toronto / US style maki and sushi rolls, this is my #1 sushi spot. Not super cheap though.<br />
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<b>Location: </b>5 Sukumvit 31</div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://bamboopub.com/" target="_blank">Bamboo Lebanese Food, Sukumvit 3</a> (Vegan friendly)</span></b></h3>
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My go to for the least touristy and super sketchy but legit as Lebanese food. Of the many on Soi Arab this one stands out for its super tasty beef schwarma, home made baba ganoosh, falafel a for the vegans. They also serve Russian and Uzbec food. Great place to people watch the crazy sleazy fat dudes and smoke sketchy sheesha. It's seediness epitomises the Bangkok underbelly and I love it!<br />
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<b>My fav: </b>Falafel sandwich, beef shwarma with a side of baba ganoush</div>
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<b>Location: </b>Soi Nana, Nana BTS</div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Top Vegan Pick in Bangkok</span></h2>
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<b style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://mayveggiehome.com/" target="_blank">May's Veggie Home</a>, Sukumvit 16</span></b></h3>
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BEST MASSUMAN CURRY ALERT! Vegan Thai and western food here. Personal favs are the massuman curry (my meat loving friends even come to may for this, it's that good), with brown rice or a May's veggie pattie is done so well. The fresh Vietnamese spring rolls are also winners. But to be honest, all the Thai curries are scrumptious!<br />
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<b>My fav: </b>Massuman Curry (if it wasn't clear) and May's Veggie Burger with homemade vegan mayonaise.</div>
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<b>Location: </b>Sukumvit 16, BTS Asok</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Where Not to Eat</span></h2>
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Condoms and Cabbages, Sukumvit 12</span></h3>
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This is a staple when it comes to tourist traps. The setting is nice, with a lush garden filled with twinkling white lights BUT it fails 2 of 3 of my criteria, such that the food is watered down and bland and it is overpriced. The party trick about the place is that all the decor is made of condoms and they do community work for sexual health. I recommend going for a drink or dessert but go somewhere more delicious for dinner. </div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Enjoy! Please let me know how these places met expectations and share your discoveries as well!</span></b></div>
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When people ask if I enjoyed Wonderfruit , I just heave a deep sigh and look at my half-polished nails in shame. It's not that I didn't enjoy the music art festival (Southeast Asia's fresh, less commercial answer to Burning Man) but more that, my possee and I were not prepared at all. And it's all my fault. Hence the burden of shame weighing my head low upon mention of this magical wonderland<br />
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Listen, using my free time, a resource with ever decreasing amounts of freeness, to plan for partying camping festival weekend is not the top of my priorities. So when my friend asked me to join their shanty town of tents, I figured I didn't need to prepare much except awesomeness and some sweaters. That was a mistake.<br />
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No tent or booked accommodation meant we had to be super resourceful (luckily we were three Canadian champions). Besides being an eye sore, that orange garbage mound you see above also served as a tent when a chair is under to prop it up. The weekend was a bit rough for my old self, but whateves, still loved it.</div>
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Anyways, this post is mega late so I'll just wrap up quickly. Wonderfruit 2015 was a great out of the city experience. It was in no way as magical as what I hear Burning Man to be - lacking volume and probably the right crowd (very family friendly atmosphere) - but something I would do over and over again and probably travel from around Asia to go to. If you imagine it as a weekend camping trip with friends, music and some art and over priced, albeit delicious as, food you will have managed your expectations perfectly. Oh and for a tech plug: the cashless payment system worked very well and was stress free. THE FUTURE!!</div>
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Follow adventure travel and life stuff at Snapchat: lil.fel or tweet and abuse me @LilFel <br /><br />Some of the photos were taken from Cynthia. Check her blog, <a href="http://www.eyesup.co/" target="_blank">here. </a></div>
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Orgasm for the eyes, yawn-worthy for the thighs</h2>
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Day Trips from Toronto - Homeboy Steve & I's "Staycation"</h3>
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After travelling <a href="http://www.lilfelrockstheworld.com/2014/11/jungle-trekking-in-chiang-mai-thailand.html" target="_blank">Thailand's electricity free mountain villages </a>with my old uni friend to erasing our brains on <a href="http://www.lilfelrockstheworld.com/2014/11/indie-guide-thailand--catamaran-boat-parties.html" target="_blank">catamaran boat parties of Asia</a> it
was time to look homeward for some tantamount level thrills on my annual trip to the patria. It's weird, but I've seen so many of my childhood (and non-expatty) friends become paralyzed by the inertia of routine. You know, when one lives in a place for so long that they lose the sparkle for adventure and discovery simply because they are inured to its existence and availability i.e. death of FOMO for anywhere not typically "exotic"?! It's sad and disappointing for returning expats to see such a paucity of enthusiasm for adventure-- the very stuff that becomes the crack that keeps addict expats away from ever returning to normal. So it was nice to see that Steve (Toronto-based) was still up for Toronto waterfall hike in what he called his 2 days off from consulting a 'staycation'.<br />
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Bref! While I wanted to take a second to make recommendations for either newbie foreigners in Canada or urban couples looking for a quickie romantic weekend getaway, I urge against this Webster's Falls at Spencer Gorge experience in Hamilton (this may come as a surprise after reading <a href="https://instagram.com/p/9RxEABn4z1/?taken-by=lilfelrockstheworld" target="_blank">my instagram post </a>on it). <br />
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Webster's Falls: Not Quite Niagara</h3>
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Where we went wasn't the most outstanding waterfall of my life. In fact, I could have pissed more water than that leaking rock face excuse of a waterfall. But I guess not all spontaneity is rewarded by the good vibes that fuel it? <br />
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<i>What the eff is this urethra of a waterfall? </i></div>
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(As you do) we sort of just got hopped in a car at 1pm on Thursday
afternoon from St. George station and had no idea where we would go
except that we wanted to do an epic Canadian hike and it needed to be
basically not more than an hour away. Totally reasonable, no? No. Our late start was due to pure
indolence (so I can't chastise too hard core you other lazy ducks) and it did indeed limit us from doing something more epic, which would have been about four hours north of Toronto. Nonetheless, while on the road to somewhere we frantically searched Hamilton Waterfalls and waterfall hikes on Google and Spencer Gorge is what came up.<br />
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Epic beauty found! But hike difficulty appropriate for your grandma's arthritic knees</h3>
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From the parking lot to the "peak" it is about a 1km hike on a gentle
slope. From here you have an an amazing view of the gorge and the town below. There are two waterfalls at Spencer Gorge. Tuy's waterfall is on the way to the peak and Webster you have to go on a separate nature trail. Sadly, the waterfall hike may be considered
difficult only if you are crippled.<br />
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Undoubtedly, the hike to them is a pleasing stroll through autumnal
flora and you can take a couple winding trails that are about 4km max, but in no way considered strenuous. The trails were all well-defined and without slope (I NEED EXTREME EVERYTHING, RAWRRR). You could go off trail and sit off the gorge rock faces, probably perfect for young Canadian potheads or couples looking for a romantic place to lock tongues. I don't blame them though. It looks like naturally what I imagine people take LSD to try and achieve chemically.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ot94ltOljr8/Vi5cWQWGpuI/AAAAAAAABU8/Z2FiaZGEElM/s1600/Spencer%2BGorge%2BHamilton%2BHiking.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ot94ltOljr8/Vi5cWQWGpuI/AAAAAAAABU8/Z2FiaZGEElM/s640/Spencer%2BGorge%2BHamilton%2BHiking.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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In the end, not all was lost. This autumnal wonderland made my heart cry out in splendor! Listen, World, Canadian
nature in the fall is unparalleled outside of North America and this is the main
reason why I, and anybody visiting Canada should choose this time to return each year. Screw summer! In Asia there are not even season changes! Only wet season and less wet season! The stark contrast to the eye of the yellow cage against a blue sky coupled with the powerful redolence of transient leaves and brisk air makes it a sensory experience you won't easily forget.<br />
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<span style="color: red;">And as this Ted talk aptly explains, the most powerful memories you make are the ones that touch as many of the senses as possible (honestly, one of the most influential talks I've watched from TED)</span>.<br />
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A Fav' Ted Talk on making the best memories ever - Design for the Five Senses</h3>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" mozallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="https://embed-ssl.ted.com/talks/jinsop_lee_design_for_all_5_senses.html" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="640"></iframe>
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My "Hiking" Ontario Summary for Spencer Gorge and Webster's Falls</h3>
If it wasn't for the epic
beauty for the time of year, I would not recommend this for young,
strapping adventurers who like to feel their hearts beat faster.
However, as two old college amigos strolling and having a laugh on what Stephen proudly called his 'staycation'
from entrepreneurial and consulting life, it was perfectly fine for 3-4 salubrious hours.<br />
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<span style="color: red;">I know I have a lot of hella active adventure friends who explore the Toronto outback! Please suggest some Toronto day trips that are equally epic AND sports intense, if you know any better!</span></h4>
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Yellow is the new black - Some music for your autumn hike</h3>
I imagine listening to Pulaski at Night and La Llorona while the cage of yellow leaves held by trees breaks into a flurry of magic that swirls around you while you twirl round and round.. Magic. If you're interested, here is my<a href="https://soundcloud.com/felicia-moursalien/sets/pure-beauty" target="_blank"> playlist of other songs I find beautiful, on Soundcloud. </a><br />
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Oh, and if you want to experience someone who will certainly be famous, before anyone else does, check out this young University of Toronto student I saw auditioning for his opera exam on Philosopher's Walk, Ian Sabourin. I was walking to Trinity and heard, what I thought was the lead singer of Beirut. I stopped and listened and then found the source of the beauty was a live human and not a recording. I had to talk to him, he really lifted my spirits by way of his voice. He told me he was discovered by his professor to be while busking on the streets of Ottawa. Here is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFVsUwmmBiw" target="_blank">young Sabourin when he was interviewed on Global News. </a><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">After almost two years buried away in Bangkok (doing that whole young professional thing in tech startups), I am updating my pick for the best vintage shopping in Jakarta. I wrote about <a href="http://www.lilfelrockstheworld.com/2011/10/indie-guide-jakarta-vintage-and-local.html" target="_blank">Pasar Senen</a> before as a pulsing, sweaty second hand market for the people (ie perfect for a poor UN intern living in an<a href="http://www.lilfelrockstheworld.com/2010/11/indie-guide-to-shopping-best-vintage-in.html" target="_blank"> alley with goats</a>) where through hours of digging you could find purple leather loafers for $8 and even<a href="http://www.lilfelrockstheworld.com/2013/10/jakarta-vintage-threads-in-toronto.html" target="_blank"> designer stuff for under $20</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Pasar Santa is different. To shave the prolixity, it will suffice to say that this Jakarta vintage market has, in the last year, turned from a traditional derelict </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">dump like Senen to a hipster hive (still shabby but given its new context can now be called "edgy") of a hundred or so tiny curated vintage shops selling everything such as old vinyls, posters, clothing, shoes, skateboards and more. The food area is awesome too with a whole slew of vegan and healthy gourmet options. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The shops represent a seriously impressive new wave of young Indonesian entrepreneurs (hipsterpreneuers?!), emboldened both by a changing retail landscape and the never ending quest to beat monotony. Because in a market where there are not many accessible brand options (like China), it's too easy to show up to dinner in the same dress (what I think of as the H&M effect). </span><br />
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The shops have curated vintage stuff that young Indonesians have sourced from abroad like Japan or Europe so you know what you will have is unique. And they take the pain (or pleasure ) out of hunting, adding value through curation. At a much higher price of course. <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">My coolio cat Indonesian friend Sicilia has launched an <a href="https://instagram.com/quirkit.up" target="_blank">instagram version </a>of</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> this because as she said, "So many people don't want to look the same as the mainstream."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here, with an insatiable predilection for second hand bags, I bought my first designer bag by some lady named Diane Von Furstenberg for 1.5 million rupiah (120 USD). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Even more interestingly is the consignment model most of these brick and mortar shops have to aid sourcing and selection. When I bought my vintage purse in the cool black shop with a random selection of shoes and bags, the young cashier told me I could drop stuff off to sell. Just like that, I could be making monayy?! Unless I'm completely out of touch with reality, Toronto or Paris kids do not have the same sense of empowered salesmanship that makes you think that anything is possible. Thoughts?</span><br />
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Anyways, it is quite expensive. It's 30% fee off price to sell in their semi marketplace and if it takes longer than 3 months to sell, you have to pay them 30% for I guess some sort of display charge. This is according to Sicillia, who tried to sell her boyfriend's shoes at the same shop. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now that I work in ecommerce, I am moderately fascinated with how the offline world is adapting. For young Indonesians it seems to be the smoothest transition, as they use digital channels to drive online traffic to the offline and utilizing all the learnings they've gained from the safer online sphere to optimize offline. Sicillia told me that when her shop, <a href="https://instagram.com/quirkit.up" target="_blank">Quirk it Up</a>, gets bigger she will be vigilant in getting more offline presence. Her strategy emulates what many Western brands coming into Southeast Asia are doing as well, leapfrogging brick and mortar and testing with ecommerce. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I am super happy with where Indonesia's alternative scene is heading. I admit to being exhausted by the speed in which trends rip through the country, everyone desperate to jump on bandwagons to revel in the same things, effectively making the hipsters look (more?) like clones/clowns. This eruption of these shops is a protest for individuality in a country with the fourth largest population in the world and I love it. </span></div>
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<a href="https://www.google.co.id/maps/place/Ps.+Santa,+Jl.+Wolter+Monginsidi,+Kby.+Baru,+Kota+Jkt+Sel.,+Daerah+Khusus+Ibukota+Jkt+12170/@-6.2391823,106.8128996,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x2e69f160b9051fd3:0x30311699b6340119" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Directions: </span></a></div>
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http://www.facebook.com/pages/LilFel-Rocks-the-World/284473376434?ref=ts#!/pages/LilFel-Rocks-the-World/284473376434?ref=ts</div>Feliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434170085570100614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4692590391834471433.post-52954373048904024672014-11-30T18:34:00.001+01:002015-10-14T10:11:29.233+02:00Indie Guide Thailand: Catamaran Party Near Bangkok<b><span style="font-size: large;">How to Escape Bangkok for a Day: Ballin' Boat Party in Pattaya !</span></b><br />
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You know what has always made me jealous of my friends living in Hong Kong? Mind-erasing boat parties. When I heard about the libertine expat life of Asia, these nautical tales of music x waves x homies teased my heart with promises of the ultimate adventure! What could be more thrilling than dancing with your friends on a boat in the middle of paradise?<br />
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But living in Bangkok the last year has not really afforded me the opportunities that Hong Kong expats had. I've been NEAR to water, <a href="http://www.lilfelrockstheworld.com/2014/01/indie-guide-bangkok-nightlife-kolour.html" target="_blank">like this Kolour party</a>, but golly I wanted to be the meat in a sky and sea sandwich.<br />
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Enter an alcohol brand that has some talented French people running their Thailand distribution. These French dudes have launched a boat party that takes place on a 71ft catamaran right off the coast of Pattaya, called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dillon-Rum-Thailand/421284314676898" target="_blank">Dillon: La Route du Rhum. </a></div>
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Luckily for him, cher ami and fellow Trinity alumnus, Steve, was visiting from Toronto that weekend. In true Lil'Fel fashion I took his jetlagged ass straight from the airport to the Kolour rooftop party (one of the coolest parties in Bangkok with electro/house djs) a couple hours before we were set to leave on this boat party day trip thing I had heard about from a friend. Jetlag is for weenies. Despite him being in a moribund state of exhaustion it was definitely the best idea ever.<br />
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Here is why this Catamaran Boat Party stole my heart as one of my favourite events in and around my hood. </div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">1. Close convenient ride from Bangkok. </span></b>La Route du Rhum boat party is the perfect paradisiac escape for the Bangkok city dweller as it is a simple day trip just a couple hours outside the city. We took a taxi for 1200 Baht from Asok to Jomtien Pier. We left at 745 am and arrived at 1015am. We didn't need to hire a bus or anything, just jumped in any ol' taxi. </div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">2. Reasonably Priced.</span> </b>For around 2500 TBH you have 8 hours on a boat that goes to a beautiful and secluded island and includes lunch.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">3. Unlimited alcohol.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b>Dillon Rum, obvi. I admit an alacrity for daytime drinking.. They served delicious mojitos, punch and other strong poisons if your heart desired it. But tread carefully! By noon you'll be as lubricated as Hemingway by night (a brilliant drunk who also had the perspicacity to say, "Don't bother with churches, governments buildings or city squares. If you want to know about a culture, spend a night in its bars.").<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">4. Gorgeous & exhilarating! </span></b>The catamaran had a trampoline that we used to skyrocket into the sea..and then eventually tan or chill on. We also stopped at a secluded island where we drank and danced with the local guys. The water was clear and beautiful, nothing at all like the river boat parties in Bangkok. </div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">5. Young cool people & good vibes. </span></b>Not pretentious and stiff with Russian models and money grubbin' old expats (despite it being in Pattaya) nor a scrubster backpacker scene either with dreadlocked elephant panters. The group were young professionals, with an overdose of French people..And you know how I feel about <a href="http://www.lilfelrockstheworld.com/2011/09/stupid-things-french-say-or.html" target="_blank">hanging out with too many French people</a>, right? On se calme, I'm joking. Mostly expats but some Thai people as well. Also, anyone could play their own tunes on the boat, which of course I did with my pirated music (heh). </div>
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Anyhoo, this event is great way to travel outside of Bangkok for the day. With good music, people, drinks and most importantly, paradise I suggest you check out Dillon: La Route du Rhum if you have the chance. I don't know how often it will take place, but the next one will be on December 20th. Unfortunately, I will not be attending because I am going to do something a bit..nuts..for the holidays. Will tell you next time! </div>
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<span style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;">If you don't feel like dancing, jumping, drinking, there is space for tanning too</span><br />
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<i>Camille = French babe</i></div>
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<i>From Toronto to Bangkok to Catamaran Boat Party in Pattaya. What a trooper! </i></div>
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<i>Dancing with my newfound hombre. I brought the music, he brought the whisky. Ying and Yang.</i></div>
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For more photos, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152941240536435.1073741829.284473376434&type=1" target="_blank">check out the Facebook album.</a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">If you live in <a href="http://www.lilfelrockstheworld.com/search/label/Bangkok" target="_blank">Bangkok</a>, you'll like:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.lilfelrockstheworld.com/2014/01/indie-guide-bangkok-nightlife-kolour.html" target="_blank">Best electro party in Bangkok: Kolours</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.lilfelrockstheworld.com/2014/03/indie-guide-bangkok-nightlife.html" target="_blank">Where to find cool dive bars: Toronto in Bangkok</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Boat party music: Crystal Fighters </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Happy Thanksgiving, Bangkok!</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q6AD2xu0MU8/VFZODDswzvI/AAAAAAAABDo/kSpjWJj-Zz8/s1600/happy%2Bturkey%2Bface%2Bbangkok.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q6AD2xu0MU8/VFZODDswzvI/AAAAAAAABDo/kSpjWJj-Zz8/s1600/happy%2Bturkey%2Bface%2Bbangkok.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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I'm delighted to report that it is not excessively hard to find a turkey in Bangkok for Thanksgiving, as I discovered for my Canadian Thanksgiving party feast I had in October—nor is it stupidly expensive. Thanks to the most useful Facebook group for expats in Bangkok, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/DSBKK/" target="_blank">Desperately Seeking Bangkok</a>, I was given great tips from da hood to host the most epic dinner party of my life with the most butterlicious bird to ever enter my mouth. If you are desperately searching for a place to pick one up either for Canadian or American Thanksgiving or Christmas try these recommendations below.<br />
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<h4>
<span style="color: blue;">Did you know </span>that Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving on a different date than Americans?</h4>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jv2qoPu_iqQ/VDVv2lEJ9pI/AAAAAAAABB4/7HS-Mxz_Jfg/s1600/Canadian%2BThanksgiving%2Bin%2BBangkok%2BBieber%2BTurkey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="184" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jv2qoPu_iqQ/VDVv2lEJ9pI/AAAAAAAABB4/7HS-Mxz_Jfg/s1600/Canadian%2BThanksgiving%2Bin%2BBangkok%2BBieber%2BTurkey.jpg" width="200" /></a><i> If this sounds like an obvious knowledge nugget, you need to back.right.up, (hoser). To my chagrin it was obviously not obvious to most of the Europeans I had invited to my dinner (if you're Canadian I'm sure you have suffered at the repeated stings of the world's ignorance). The Canadian day is a day of munificence to celebrate the end of the harvest season the second weekend of October. Whereas the Americans celebrate as a historic symbol of cooperation between the Native Americans and the pilgrims at the end of November. Boom. Knowledge. </i></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Where to find the turkey: <a href="http://www.tops.co.th/en/index.html" target="_blank">Tops Supermarket</a></span><br />
After searching far and wide I found my butterball baby at Tops Robinson Srinakarin at Asoke. It cost a little less than 3000 Baht. I was told that you could find turkeys at Villa Market but for Canadian Thanksgiving I checked at Villa on Sukumvit Soi 11 and I was sorely disappointed.<br />
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<b>Warning:</b> I'm not sure if all Tops carries turkeys. I went to Tops Central Silom and they did not have them.<br />
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<a href="https://www.google.com/maps/search/tops+supermarket+bangkok/@13.7246005,100.6331106,11z/data=!3m1!4b1" target="_blank">Check the map here for your closest locations.</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Cranberry Sauce & Turkey Cooking Supplies: <a href="http://www.villamarket.com/" target="_blank">Villa Market</a></span><br />
You can find turkey basters, oven thermometers, aluminum tins for the oven and basically everything you could possibly need to cook the shit out of your turkey. I was also able to find canned cranberry sauce at Villa Market Sukumvit Soi 11 (but not gravy..).<br />
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<a href="https://www.google.com/maps/search/villa+market+bangkok/@13.7246005,100.6331106,11z/data=!3m1!4b1" target="_blank">Check the map here for Villa Market locations</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">The Result</span><br />
This was the first time I had ever touched, let alone cooked a turkey. I enlisted the forces of my French and Canadian friend and it got ugly. We were all turkey cooking virgins but that did not stop us attacking the hell out of this bird with tubs of butter and youtube video intelligence being consulted every 2 minutes ("Oh, there is plastic bag of guts inside its ass, wtf!"). Being a weekday vegan, this was especially gruelling.<br />
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In the end, we hosted a whopping 27 people in an epic potluck dinner of friends from around Bangkok. Being away from my family on my favourite holiday was not easy, but when you're an expat your friends become your new family and they fill those heart gaps with love, fun and food! If you're away from home this American Thanksgiving, I wish you the best of luck with your turkey fest and if you're on a budget or not uber rich, a potluck is the best way to go. You can invite as many people as you want to share in the festivities.<br />
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If you have any tips of where you bought your turkey and supplies around Bangkok please share! Happy Thanksgiving, World!<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1ACCQbG7wXc/VFZFJy3ZEhI/AAAAAAAABCg/epaTz-VtgOs/s1600/Turkey%2Bin%2Bbangkok.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1ACCQbG7wXc/VFZFJy3ZEhI/AAAAAAAABCg/epaTz-VtgOs/s1600/Turkey%2Bin%2Bbangkok.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<i>My precious. Our relationship is sweet and tender..</i><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ay9tSmTIUu0/VFZFLZheRKI/AAAAAAAABCs/HCgVJ7QQTd0/s1600/angry%2Bturkey%2Bface%2Bbangkok.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="616" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ay9tSmTIUu0/VFZFLZheRKI/AAAAAAAABCs/HCgVJ7QQTd0/s1600/angry%2Bturkey%2Bface%2Bbangkok.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>Then..Horror is unleashed from its pink terrible flesh!! </i></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xzGUXkfogr8/VFZFQT2tM-I/AAAAAAAABC8/axWP-P5sKhc/s1600/turkey%2Bkilling.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="622" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xzGUXkfogr8/VFZFQT2tM-I/AAAAAAAABC8/axWP-P5sKhc/s1600/turkey%2Bkilling.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>A battle to the death. I'm not proud of what we had to do.. Sadly we now suffer from PTSD (post-turkey stress disorder)</i></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dJndguxUmnA/VFZMRFlrYjI/AAAAAAAABDY/s1g7QaTMt54/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2014-11-02%2Bat%2B10.05.09%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="626" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dJndguxUmnA/VFZMRFlrYjI/AAAAAAAABDY/s1g7QaTMt54/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2014-11-02%2Bat%2B10.05.09%2BPM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>The kill is well received. 27 people in an epic feast. First Thanksgiving hosting of my life is a great success (Borat accent*). Everyone cooked amazing food too from around the world with the likes of tarte au chocolat, some pasta dish from Vienna, butterfilled mashed potatoes (french touch again), homemade Indian curry and so much more. </i></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-stda6EA6gNk/VFZMQllo9ZI/AAAAAAAABDU/GlEQx_WO3D8/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2014-11-02%2Bat%2B10.05.35%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="610" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-stda6EA6gNk/VFZMQllo9ZI/AAAAAAAABDU/GlEQx_WO3D8/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2014-11-02%2Bat%2B10.05.35%2BPM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>And what better way to dance off your butterball booty than with a night of dancing? Legendary! Happy Thanksgiving or whatever holiday it is that requires big ass birds! </i></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Cheapest and Quickest Way to Get to the Beach and out of the Political Shitstorm of Bangkok</span><br />
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Need a quick weekend escape from a city that is in the midst of a potential political coup and its upcoming illegitimate elections that could turn violent? Yea, well even though things have been largely peaceful here in Bangkok, I felt a small tickle of an unfamiliar feeling called concern...Concern that the geographical divide that keeps the Yellow and Red shirts from rampant violence would close as conflicting factions came to a head at the polls. How much would it suck to die from some stray bullet not even meant for you?<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8Ten_14AGLs/UvEtpzwEjII/AAAAAAAAAxI/jyH_rfN0eFI/s1600/Bangkok+Barricades+Protests.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8Ten_14AGLs/UvEtpzwEjII/AAAAAAAAAxI/jyH_rfN0eFI/s1600/Bangkok+Barricades+Protests.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I live in one of the biggest protest sites at Asok and (lucky me) I work at the other in Lumpini (above, this is next to the entrance of my office, woo). I ride Red Rhonda (bicycle) every day through barricades that have gotten bigger and sturdier each day. My friend James joked that the size of the barricades is a pretty good indicator of how worried we should be (which had largely been..not at all). Maybe he wasn't wrong. At first in early December the barricades were just a couple tires tall, now they are 6 levels high reinforced with sacks of rice and netting (to catch grenades?!). I've taken up jogging in Lumpini Park and I can't help but marvel at the fact that I am running with my short pink booty shorts and iPhone like I have not a care in the world while maybe 1000s of people have camped into the park refugee styles in non-relinquishing protest to a government they believe is corrupt (and may well be). Proof truly that people have the capacity to normalize any damn situation. These people are preparing for war yet we smile each other in the park while my fat arse struggles to do squats.<br />
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Anyways, did I think it was a good idea to take a weekend trip from Bangkok during the protests? Yes. I've taken to hanging out with a gaggle of French girls and so myself and ten Frenchmen headed to Koh Samet, an island 4 hours from Bangkok. I swear, if you want to learn French go to Thailand over Paris anyday. I speak more here than I ever did in 3 years of dating the ex Parisian amour.<br />
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Koh Samet is the closest island to Bangkok and thus serves as a simple and cheap weekend trip for expats. While, <a href="http://www.lilfelrockstheworld.com/2012/01/indie-guide-to-thailand-koh-chang.html" target="_blank">Koh Chang remains my favourite</a>, Koh Samet is just slightly more accessible. We left comfortably on Saturday morning at 8:30, whereas for Koh Chang you have to leave at like 4 am and end up just exhausted during the day while there. If you have only the weekend do Koh Samet. Long weekend Koh Chang is my first recommendation. AND NEVER PATTAYA.<br />
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Here's our plan if it helps you with yours!<br />
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<b>How to Get to Koh Samet from Bangkok Saturday 8:30 am - 1 pm, 400 Baht</b><br />
Buses leave every half hour and they take you to the pier.<br />
Meet at Ekkamai Bus station: 8:30am<br />
Depart in Mini Van: 9:00am | Cost: 200 Baht<br />
Speedboat: 200 Baht<br />
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<b>Koh Samet to Bangkok Sunday 4:30pm - 9pm, 450 baht</b><br />
Speed boat (11 people): 4:30 pm | Cost: 200 Baht/pax<br />
Minivan (10 people, private): 250 Baht<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UJ8Ae59NYrQ/UvEwFeJJvZI/AAAAAAAAAxU/vdECMDl6KKI/s1600/Koh+Samet+Thailand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UJ8Ae59NYrQ/UvEwFeJJvZI/AAAAAAAAAxU/vdECMDl6KKI/s1600/Koh+Samet+Thailand.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Where to Stay on Koh Samet</span></b><br />
Beach: Tubtim<br />
It is beautiful, has a <b>volleyball net </b>and not super busy. Granted, there tend to be mostly plumpy old tourists, but it's where the group of French alway stay.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Lodging </span></b><br />
<b>Tubtim: </b>700 baht/pax in 3 bed a/c room with towels, shampoo and delicious breakfast. It's not the cheapest spot but the rooms are very clean and the service is nice. As a young profesh' I can afford this preference.<br />
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<b>Phudsa: </b>350 baht/pax for 2 bed fan room. Cheaper option but service is not great and they constantly try to change the price. They don't know how to appreciate repeat customers from what I understand, and I have no patience for that. It's where the other half of our group stayed and where they usually do.<br />
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<i>The group totally hungover hanging out at Phudsa. </i></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Where to Eat the Best and Cheapest Seafood Dinner Everrrr</span></b><br />
<b>Tubtim beachside restaurant. </b>This is not an exaggeration, the barbecue fish I had was the best I had ever tried. They bring it in a dish with a fire under it so it slowly cooks in all the flavours even more. We ordered fish, squid, chicken, crab fried rice, corn, potatoes and beers and it came up to 300 baht/pax (and we had food to spare)!!! Super impressed.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Where to Party</span></b><br />
There are a couple big beachside bars but the gay bar is infinitely more fun. And not fun in a purely straight girl in a gay bar fun, but overall the music is better and the crowd. Our French gang clashed with another massive French gang. While they eyed each other wearily we all ultimately globbed into an island of straight people dancing. Great night that ended in a very modest late night swim!<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ad_46UdOrSg/UvEwVKdkiEI/AAAAAAAAAxc/LLlZqY15xrc/s1600/Koh+Samet+Thailand+Clubbing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ad_46UdOrSg/UvEwVKdkiEI/AAAAAAAAAxc/LLlZqY15xrc/s1600/Koh+Samet+Thailand+Clubbing.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>French boys / mega nerds on the dance floor. </i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Conclusion</span><br />
Last time I was in Koh Samet it was 2009 and it kind of sucked. It was dirty with bottles and plastic on the beach and the people there were not as lively and fun as Koh Chang. But I must say it has come a long way. The clubs are super developed and the clean-up is much better. For a weekend trip from Bangkok when on a budget I recommend this.<br />
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Please share your thoughts if there is anything I'm missing.<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Travelling Thailand? You'll Also Dig..</b></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.lilfelrockstheworld.com/2011/03/full-moon-party-video.html" style="color: #f2984c;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Full Moon Party: The Party With no End (VIDEO)</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.lilfelrockstheworld.com/2012/07/indie-guide-thailand-koh-phangan-and.html" style="color: #ff6fcf; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Non-Douchbag Guide to the Land of Vice: Koh Phangan</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">First Generation Problems</span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7ARFvOJcV-0/UoR7jIlmpTI/AAAAAAAAAss/MGxSSTGQaXw/s1600/Guyana+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7ARFvOJcV-0/UoR7jIlmpTI/AAAAAAAAAss/MGxSSTGQaXw/s640/Guyana+2.JPG" width="637" /></a></span></div>
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<i>The new faces of Canada. My Mom in the 80s</i></div>
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My Guyanese family, especially my grandparents, are surprisingly the biggest brand ambassadors of Canada. Though they have visited three of the world's 196 countries, they have the audacity to claim that Canada is the BEST one. Are they whack? Maybe not. Here's how they broke it down to me.<br />
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"Do you know how hard we worked to come to this country?" They asked me with scowling dark eyes. " Do you know how many people are dying to get into Canada, and you.. you!," My grandfather paused in disgust, as if I was the whack ass one, "You can't wait to leave!"<br />
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How does one respond to that?<br />
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Normally, I feel no more or less Canadian than my white compatriots even though I am the first generation from my fam to be born in this country. So what if I didn't grow up listening to Rush? I like hockey, I'm polite and a strong liberal and say 'sorry' and 'about' in ways that foreigners find weird ( or cute, I like to thin).<br />
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Yet, when my family plays the ol' Guilt Trip playlist with hit songs like 'Responsibility to the Nest' and 'Ungrateful Child of Mine' I quickly remember that in fact, I am different. I am not only Canadian, I am Guyanese. You hear a lot about ABCs and CBCs (American/Canadian Born Chinese), but do you know anything about why there are so many people from West Indies (Guyana, Trinidad) here?<br />
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Once I understood the sad history of Guyana and my family as orated by my family I started to understand why my incessant wayfarer-ness is a life choice they cannot accept.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">A Brief History of Guyana's Exodus</span><br />
Just look around Toronto and Queens New York. These places are rife with people who<i> look </i>indian but sound like a cross between Bob Marley and a songbird. The Guyanese and Trinidadians all showed up in the 70s because shit was going down in the homeland after the ruling British power decided they couldn't handle their colonial empire no mo'. Typical colonial fall-out around the globe at the time was exasperated on the backdrop of the Cold War in the 60's.<br />
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The West Indies' brand of strife was between the Indians and the Africans—the two main groups the British brought over to work the sugar cane fields. Over time, different socio-economic statuses developed between the two, creating a class tension that burst like a pus-filled pimple once the Brits left. Indians, enjoying more economic success, were scapegoated and targeted. Riots were brutal, no one felt safe. It was during this period my grandfather had his house burned down and had to hide in fields holding my uncle, a mere baby at the time.<br />
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In Guyana, my grandpa George at 26 (my age now!) owned land and a shop but there was no way in hell was he going to risk his family through the volatility that Guyanese politics were at the time. He decided it was time to make like a cricket ball and bounce. And that's when the universe smiled at them and a golden gate opened up. The golden gate was Canada's Open Door Policy of the 1970s and the gatekeeper— the revered prime minister Pierre Trudeau. A legend for Canadian immigrants, making faithful Liberals out of them for life. It was a golden gate indeed for so many people who needed it in the terrible global fall-out of post-colonialization in the context of a divisive Cold War. Never doubt an immigrant Canadian's patriotism. I get their vigour. I hope it makes sense to you even if you ain't an immigrant.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1IB0Uw4aLdE/UoR7ZDyV9CI/AAAAAAAAAsk/ZnaSGsRoixI/s1600/Guyana+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="481" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1IB0Uw4aLdE/UoR7ZDyV9CI/AAAAAAAAAsk/ZnaSGsRoixI/s640/Guyana+1.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>My mom and three of five siblings in the early days of Canada life.</i></div>
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But swinging into that open door wasn't easy at all. My gramps had SIX children that he needed to import to Canada from Guyana. And he had had a lot of his assets destroyed in the riots. What the hell was he going to do, right? But he was determined and hardworking. As such, him and my other grandparents worked menial jobs earning meagre wages in order to bring their whole family over to Canada—a stark contrast to the lifestyle they had in Guyana. My grandmother dragged buckets on her feet as she collected worms for fishing bait here, earning 5 cents for every worm she collected (this is the same grandmother who gave me a Versace handbag and a fur scarf..!). My grandfather worked in a hospital as a cleaner. You know how expensive flights were in those days?! My grandfather was also divorced, so he was a single father with those six immigrant children trying to support and shape into what would be the new faces of Canada.<br />
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He lived like a bottom-feeder and slaved away to leave third world's instability so his family could build a better life, one of both security and freedom. And they succeeded, my whole family is in Toronto. Now they all have massive homes and everything they want, they can obtain. It makes me fiercely believe that a country that has a strong presence of these sorts of immigrants has a vein of strength and perseverance pulsing through it that those without can possibly imagine. Sure, there are risks of crime and instability that comes with reintegration, but the longterm effects build the foundation of people that will drive the country… aka us first-generation kids.<br />
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Anyways, fastforward to tomorrow. Grandpa George's granddaughter is leaving Canada heading to Southeast Asia, to a country still stiff with political tensions, underdevelopment, corruption and more. By following my dreams like an old Canadian (re: white), I have veritably slapped him in his face.<br />
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All I can say is that I agree. Toronto and Canada may indeed be one of the sweetest places. Thanks to them I am the holder of one of the best passports in the world—able to travel anywhere, grew up in a just society with good values and an education that has enabled me to go to the places I have. Toronto is an amazing city with great music (Metric, Feist, Austra, The Diamonds) film life (James Cameron, Ryan Gosling, Michael Cera, Ellen Page), food (it's the foodcourt of the world), universities (U of T) delicious tap water and greenery that will make you cry in the presence of its beauty. <br />
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It's only because they left Guyana I have any of the opportunity I have today. I wish they would realize that.<br />
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Anyways, in a very Canadian fashion I will apologize. Sorry for the extremely boring post. Below I've posted some pictures that highlight my love of the city. I am sad to say goodbye to all my friends and family, but honestly so excited to get back! I love Asia. I love the adventure and hope to see you soon!<br />
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<i>Wearing my Autumn hat because I needed it and not because I was forcing fall fashion in hot Asia.</i></div>
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<i>Chinese Checkers with my bro at Grandpa George's house on his 75th birthday.</i></div>
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<i>Trinity College at University of Toronto. Amazing school. Brought me where I am today.</i></div>
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<i>Things like this happen. Canadians love Halloween. Will miss friends. Obvi. </i></div>
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<i>Wide open spaces. Suburbia has its charms. </i></div>
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<i>Access to vegan and organic everything in life does not exist in Asia. </i></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Is your family like this? Any advice on how to win their acceptance? Be a bro, share below. </span></div>
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The (Brief) Jakarta Apartment Guide for Young Groovy Expats</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ojd-F8Vr6C0/UnPfVsx90mI/AAAAAAAAAmk/fwloWqJN5bg/s1600/my+place+jakarta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ojd-F8Vr6C0/UnPfVsx90mI/AAAAAAAAAmk/fwloWqJN5bg/s640/my+place+jakarta.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>Who needs Bali when you live in a place like this?! Jakarta Residence..my home. </i></div>
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As you read through this, you may be sensing a slight psychotic obsession with all things green and TENNIS and health oh my. I am Canadian and these are aspects of life I took for granted up until the point I moved to Jakarta and it was violently ripped from beneath my feet. Things you did with the ease of breathing, like walking to the store or taking the subway, don't exist here. And if you can walk to the store, it is usually accompanied with blackened lungs and clothing from pollution or the risk of being honked at because you're always always always in someone's goddamn way! Why? Because there aren't many sidewalks and you are walking on the street. Ah okay. Calming. Down.<br />
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<i>Photoshoot in the middle of the Jakarta streets with badass artist Kendra Ahimsa</i></div>
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As a result you have the potential (especially ladies!!) to get super fat. I did anyway, even though I went to the gym and had a bicycle..there was just an irreplaceable amount of activity in daily walking that my body missed desperately. Your geography in Jakarta means everything to your happiness. I've never seen a city where it matters so much where you live and that's because the traffic is truly devastating.<br />
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With this guide on where to live in Jakarta I hope to help you make good decisions! Please choose wisely. Ask your colleagues where they live and try to live in some of the places or areas I've recommend below.<br />
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Btw..you will also sense that partying, young people and cool culture are priorities for my ideal hoods and have biased what I have recommended. If that doesn't describe you then this is not relevant.<br />
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Good luck!<br />
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Before You Choose</h3>
You should base where you live on where your friends and social life will be <b>more than your work.</b> Trust me on this one. I lived 5 km (at Lavande Residence in Tebet) from all my friends for the sole purpose of living next to my office and beating traffic daily. It worked (beating traffic to work) but I rarely saw my friends. They mustered the strength to come ONCE in a month. If you breath social life, dinner with friends, watching shows on your couch with your homies, seriously don't make the mistake I did. Traffic is a biatch, but isolation is worse.<br />
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<i>Pasta. Beer. Italians. at my place in Jakarta Residence. Hosting friends and being hosted was an essential part of my being. </i></div>
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1. Jakarta Residence (Central Jakarta)</h3>
Located behind the major shopping centres of Plaza Indonesia and Grand Indonesia, this was my favourite place to live. Everything happens in malls here and I would rather have spiders die in my ears than sit in traffic. I had my gym in Plaza Indonesia and all my friends lived in the same building or in the guesthouses right outside. Only on weekends did I need to venture away from my hood. It's great because it has an enormous pool, pool-side restaurant, neighbourhood where you can go jogging, lots of foreigners and most important for me.. TENNIS COURTS! A lot of people from the UN work there or Lion Air Pilots in training. IMO best bang for your buck.<br />
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1 BR: about 5 million IDR<br />
2 BR: 7 million IDR<br />
*not including electricity and internet<br />
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<b>Why choose Jakarta Residence?</b> You work at the UN or Menara Thamrin and want great facilities without dishing out all of your paycheque for it.<br />
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<i>Weirdest thing about this place was that they built a neighbourhood on the roof of the mall! </i></div>
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2. Thamrin Residence (Central Jakarta)</h3>
Located just next to the Jakarta Residence, this basically is the same vibe and access as what I wrote above. The difference being that the rooms are slightly more expensive and a bit smaller. The plus side is that the pool is better and they have 2 tennis courts rather than one. However it does not have a cool neighbourhood on the roof that you can go jogging on and ignore that you live in a pedestrian-hating city.<br />
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<b>Why choose Thamrin Residence?</b> You want something slightly nicer than what Jakarta Residence could offer.<br />
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3. Taman Rasuna (South Jakarta)</h3>
As an intern I apartment-sat a place for 2 months in Taman Rasuna (tower 6) and I must say I loved the place. It is filled with journalists from the Jakarta Globe and all sorts of expats because it is super affordable yet spacious and with decent facilities. There is a pool on the roof, pool-side restaurant, a tennis court and best of all is that it is built away from the Jakarta chaos with clean, smooth roads. You can walk and jog around there without feeling that death is imminent. Also it is right next to a shopping centre with lots of cafes and bars and a good local mall known as Pasar Senen (that has an Arab shop where you can fresh pitas for the hummous you make!).<br />
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The location is between the centre and further south (Kemang) so it's a good middle point to live for everyone.<br />
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<b>Why choose Taman Rasuna? </b>You work near or around Gatot Subroto or need to go south but don't want to imprison yourelf too far in traffic hell. Also, you want to be around other young people.<br />
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4. Other spots to check out</h3>
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<b>Bellagio: </b>Swanky but crap tennis court. </div>
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2 BR : 10 million IDR min</div>
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<b>Sudirman Park:</b> Cheap, giant pool, lots of Indian people. My intern friends lived there and it was not bad at all when on a budget but want an apartment. </div>
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<b>The Peak:</b> If you're ballin' outta control, live here. Private elevators, giant flats, lots of diplomats living here.</div>
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<b>Suites @7:</b> This is a serviced apartment with a shared kitchen and private bath. Lots of young Germans and ecommerce bros live here. It's very transient and not a place to live for a long time. But you will have an amazing social life!</div>
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1 BR: 5 million IDR/month</div>
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Suburbs and Neighbourhoods to Live in</h3>
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Kemang (South)</h3>
This is a southern suburb that is filled with cool bars, restos, cafes, the Jakarta art scene and more. The expats who live here tend to be here for the long haul. You can find a room in a house to rent usually or rent your own house with people. The bitch of it is that you are in a prison of traffic. If your whole life jives in the south then whateva but if not..you better be prepared to track traffic flows more closely than your own blood pressure. I stayed in Evergreen Townhouses for a while and it was great! But my gym was in Plaza Indonesia so I rode my bicycle every other day for 1 hour to the centre. The pollution was treacherous and ultimately I don't advise it. With most of my friends living in the centre, I was finally compelled to move out of Kemang.<br />
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Senopati (South, SCBD)</h3>
Located between the Kemang and the centre. Jalan Senopati is one of my fav neighbourhoods. There are lots of good outdoor restaurants (recall that most things exist in a mall..well not here). It is close to all the hot spots (Lucy in the Sky, Potato Head, not far from Kemang), and the neighbourhood is kind of green looking. The infrastructure isn't great for walking but it's centrality to party spots and good dining is huge. I had a billion French friends live in the apartments in this neighbourhood.<br />
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<i>Blurry picture of a French party in Senopati apartments. Spot the naked guy? </i></div>
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Panglima Polim (South, Blok M) </h3>
If you want to be in the heart of Indonesian hipsterdom, Panglima Polim (around Blok M) is the place to be. You're surrounded by cool cafes (Coffee Beerian), hipster restaurants (Taco Loco), lots of street art, a skip away form Little Tokyo and beautiful houses and wide streets that have lots of trees. The streets are lined with swanky mansions but it's a great neighbourhood if you're looking for a house. If you want to get even swankier go to Dharmawangsa hood. Not far away and even more green! It feels like a Jakarta escape<br />
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Menteng (Centre) </h3>
Beautiful, walkable and a classic expat hood. The expats here are not your young party animals though. They are seriously mature either in age or career wise. Menteng is filled with beautiful mansions and when it rains the air is fresh and pleasant. For this reason alone I'd live there. If you can find an affordable room to rent go for it!!<br />
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Conclusion</h3>
When I move to a new city I always hope to have the stereotypes laid out in front of me so I can understand what's what. It helps me from getting duped into a place that's not my flava flaves (old people who complain, far away from fun zones) but in the end anywhere that you are able to cut your work commute time while balancing your social life is the promise land. Cherish it.<br />
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Please feel free to share your thoughts and recommendations with others. Sorry for typos, I did this in a rush! My last couple days in Toronto on my long overdue visit to see my family!<br />
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Peace from Toronto, Trinity College<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">New to Jakarta? Check Out..</span><br />
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<a href="http://lilfelrockstheworld.blogspot.ca/2011/10/indie-guide-jakarta-vintage-and-local.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Shopping Guide: Where to Buy Cheap and Vintage Clothing Jakarta</span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">And all the other articles on Indonesia for<a href="http://lilfelrockstheworld.blogspot.ca/p/indonesia.html" target="_blank"> traveling, partying, eating and more</a></span><br />
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I have a lot of bad things to say about the polluted stink hole that Jakarta can be. But one thing I can't hate on is the <a href="http://lilfelrockstheworld.blogspot.ca/2011/10/indie-guide-jakarta-vintage-and-local.html" target="_blank">vintage shopping there (which I write extensively about</a>).<br />
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After a year and a half away from my home tizzle in the T dizzle, I brought my brother back a marvellous <a href="http://lilfelrockstheworld.blogspot.ca/2010/11/indie-guide-to-shopping-best-vintage-in.html" target="_blank">Pasar Senen</a> floral patterned polo as a gift. I negotiated it down to Rp. 5000 from Rp. 10,000 (1 dolllar)! Isn't it fabulous? Kid manages to take my shitty 1 buck gift and rocks a brown belt, boots and a long coat. Perfect mix of the Asia Pacific vibe and Canadian autumn. Unlike last time, I didn't style him. He's learned well.<br />
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My purple loafers with a golden buckle are also one of the best things I've ever found, which I bought for $8. Peeps visiting Jakarta, don't you even think of NOT visiting Pasar Senen. It is a hot sweaty mess but so much fun for vintage shopping. <a href="http://lilfelrockstheworld.blogspot.ca/2010/11/indie-guide-to-shopping-best-vintage-in.html" target="_blank">Make sure you read these tips first</a> so you don't get ripped off!<br />
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Sorry for the quickie guys, I'll explain more about what a Jakartan's repatriation into one of the best cities on earth is like in the next post. It has everything to do with tap water, fresh air, dead leaves, soft grass, vegan options, well dressed humans, interesting conversations, recycling bins, public tennis courts, rollerblading, political correctness, diversity of the world in one city, cheap sushi, and of course family and old friends.<br />
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God, it's good to be home.<br />
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We were basically Jon Snow. The Wildling mount of THE WALL was analogous to my 2640 metre vertical hike up Mount Rinjani, which was fraught with humid air (!) , jungle (!) , volcanic rock (!) and a speckle of monkeys (!) . We may not have averted death by ice boulders, but by the end my fat legs felt were essentially ablaze with wildfire (okay, okay enough Game of Throne references). I suffered physically, but it has been conquered! And despite being stinky, prickly and rockin' a sock tan climbing Indonesia's second highest volcano we were gods on an island of clouds contained only by the endless ceiling of stars above us.<br />
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Right. Gloat-o-clock is over. Allow me to share what was damn helpful to make this trek the best ever that my bestie, imported from Canada, and I did. Please feel free to add or share your experiences too, eh!<br />
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<i>My oldest and best friend comes the Orient to visit me in Jakarta. Great thing about getting older is that your friends have real jobs with real money. They can finally afford to visit me in the obscure corners of the world!</i><br />
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<b>1. Which tour? Pick the 3Day 2Night package</b><br />
Why would you bother submitting your body and time to only go most of the way up a mountain? You're never going to do this again so buck up and go up to the top. We actually did not though, choosing the 1night 2day package instead which just took us to the crater.<br />
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<i>Good Morning! Breakfast with a view at 6:30 am. While we were warm and comfortable, it definitely wasn't easy sleeping. The wind raging around the tent the whole night made us think we would take flight off the mountain side.</i><br />
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It's still awesome, camped out on a crater overlooking the most pristine lake I've ever seen, and sleeping above the clouds. But with the larger package you actually get to go TO the lake and swim + do some hot springs + summit at over 3000 metres. Mild regret, but we were pressed for time / I was scared..<br />
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<b> 2. Price. Don't be an Absolute Cheapass</b><br />
Basically you get what you pay for. For our 2D1N we paid 1.25 million IDR with <a href="http://rudytrekker.com/" target="_blank">Rudy Trekker</a>, which included pick-up and drop off to port, all meals, 1 night free stay before trek, equipment, and porters. Most packages include this stuff, but ours was seriously good quality. They made delicious vegan/vegetarian friendly meals on request, consisting of tofu and tempe curries, the guide was young, strong and spoke english (Dika!), our equipment was warm and the accommodation was beautiful and nice.<br />
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You can get the same thing for around 800k IDR but you get instant noodles, old guides and less good equip. Also, I've heard of some guide packages using small children to porter the heavy equipment up the mountain. Do not be a dickbag just so you can have more money for beers! Make sure they don't use children.<br />
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<b>3. Packing. Don't Stress About Bringing too Much </b><br />
No books, no snacks, no sleeping bag or even flashlight. In our tour everything was included. Plus, you most likely have to carry your own backpack. Do whatever you can to lessen the load. As for books, they may seem like a good idea in theory, you know, reading The Unbearable Lightness of Being while climbing into the sky, but just don't. Your back will be the physical representation of all of Thereza's heart burdens!<br />
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<b> 4. What you should pack. Gloves, Spare T-shirts, and Fleece</b><br />
While climbing, you lose your weight in sweat. Extra t-shirts are key so you don't get cold the higher up you get. Once at the top, make sure you are warm and snug. Fleece and gloves were key for this. ESPECIALLY GLOVES.<br />
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<b>5. So yea..You have to carry your own bag</b><br />
I know it sounds silly, but I didn't know we had to. When I heard we had porters, I thought it was for them to carry everything. They don't generally. However, you can discuss with them to do it. BUT MAKE SURE YOU GIVE THEM AN EXTRA TIP FOR THEIR TROUBLES. I gave my champion porter an extra 100k.<br />
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<b>6. Even if you are a fat ass, you can probably do it</b><br />
We saw mom's, old men do it and yes, my own big booty was able to trudge up to the top. It's a small challenge if you're not fit, but it's not the type of hard that will make you cry blood or anything. Don't be scared and just give'r. If you can, train your cardio before hand.<br />
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<i>Pain face check-in. Not the worst pain face. See the facebook album.</i><br />
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<b>7. Benefit from Lombok's Beauty. Waterfalls!</b><br />
Before or after hike, do some of the nature stuff. Saw the second most beautiful waterfall of my life. The first is in Thailand, but I never thought anything could match this beauty. It made a perfect and massive ampitheatre of green tropical jungle with powerful bursts of water thundering to earth. It's the mythical kind of place you dream of as a child.<br />
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Warning though, it's quite a trek to get there in Senaru. There is one waterfall that is easy and down a path, the other one you have to trek across treacherous bridges with no rails or through an hour of river and rock! Worth it though. Definitely.<br />
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<i>Death bridge. WHAT'S THE POINT OF HAVING SPACES FOR PEOPLE TO PLUNGE TO THEIR WATERY GRAVES?? Indonesia's infrastructure confuses the heck out of me sometimes. </i><br />
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<b>8. Reward yourself with island partying in Gili T. </b><br />
<a href="http://lilfelrockstheworld.blogspot.com/2011/07/indie-guide-to-indonesia-gili-trawangan.html" target="_blank">BEST PLACE EVER</a>.<br />
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Have any more advice? Share it, yo!<br />
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Also, guess what?! I got an iPhone, like an adult!! Follow volcano, snakeblood and other cray cray adventures on instagram!<br />
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<i>Until the next two weeks of adult friendship!</i><br />
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<i>Grade 12 Fel and Ans. Editors of the School paper, bonafide dweebs. Friends4Lyfe. </i><br />
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http://www.facebook.com/pages/LilFel-Rocks-the-World/284473376434?ref=ts#!/pages/LilFel-Rocks-the-World/284473376434?ref=ts</div>Feliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434170085570100614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4692590391834471433.post-8054011079904727222013-02-20T20:00:00.001+01:002013-02-21T09:12:40.834+01:00Indie Guide Jakarta: Vintage Shopping Pasar Senen <span style="font-size: x-large;">Shitty Blogger Apology + Vintage Threads in Jakarta Town </span><br />
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How about we just pretend that it hasn't been SIX MONTHS since my blog post? I feel like a deadbeat dad, a runaway lover, a sad excuse for the person you used to know (somebody!) ! Clues to my infidelity may be found in my <a href="http://lilfelrockstheworld.blogspot.com/2012/08/that-time-i-was-on-tvstart-something-big.html" target="_blank">last post</a>. (Did you check it? Good.)<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d9ydNDsBtXE/USUW7TOIlTI/AAAAAAAAAeg/2IZTT227PaU/s1600/Photo+on+12-10-30+at+11.52+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d9ydNDsBtXE/USUW7TOIlTI/AAAAAAAAAeg/2IZTT227PaU/s640/Photo+on+12-10-30+at+11.52+PM.jpg" width="618" /></a></div>
<i>Basically, I've gained enough weight to drown a diver, so I'll settle with talented artist depictions of me until I can finally fit on a screen again. Slash, I lost my camera. Check out <a href="http://puppetvector.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Basith Ibrahim</a>. A young whipper snapper I'm working with for some awesome clients! </i><br />
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Well well. Who would have guessed that launching your own entrepreneurial venture in Indonesia would be insuperably time-consuming? But more than time consuming, my soul is tied in an infinite dance of love with my job. I thought I maxed out my professional happiness credit card when <a href="http://lilfelrockstheworld.blogspot.com/2010/04/mtv-contacted-me.html" target="_blank">MTV scouted myself</a> and this blog, but turns out I AM MORE THAN A WRITER. I am a business biatch, ho scums! I mean, my blog has always been an outlet for me. A place to fulfil creativity I didn't get in my IR degree and UN life. But now.. there are no need for outlets! Whoah. I love working to build the <a href="http://www.plussixtwo.org/" target="_blank">Indonesian art scene</a>. It's the best of all worlds: creative, business, communications (pretty sure my brain is divided into these 3 sections).<br />
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Anyways, let's get back to being a baller' when living outside of your home hood. If you haven't been convinced by <a href="http://lilfelrockstheworld.blogspot.com/2011/10/indie-guide-jakarta-vintage-and-local.html" target="_blank">this</a>, and <a href="http://lilfelrockstheworld.blogspot.com/2010/11/indie-guide-to-shopping-best-vintage-in.html" target="_blank">this</a>, then I will show you the best round of booty I have ever scoured from the best and biggest vintage market in Jakarta, PASAR SENEN. The best part is that normal Indonesian people think they are too cool for it or can't find crap there, so it is very raw and untapped!<br />
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If you are on a budget because you're a UN intern (like I was) or simply just have become stupidly revolted by the ubiquity of mall culture here (*sidekick a mannequin's head off body), then seriously go here.<br />
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I would have paid top dollar for all this at Top Shop, but in the end spent less than ___ bucks for this. Hold up. </div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">Let's play the Price is Right. </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">How much did these cost? </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;"> a) Blue Blazer with double breast goldish buttons</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">b) Green purse</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">c) Purple leather loafers with gold coloured buckles. </span></div>
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b) Fake leather green bag.</div>
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c) real leather loafers</div>
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<u>Answers:</u><br />
a) Jacket: 20k IDR or 2 euros. At Pasar Senen there is a guy who sells blazers for super cheap!! He is near an exit. Try to find him!<br />
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b) Purse: 40k IDR or 4 euros.<br />
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c) Shoes: 80k IDR or 8 euros. And the most expensive thing I bought that day.<br />
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Alright, I feel like I'm learning the meaning of "growing up". Did you know that sometimes I don't go out, like to an actual party because I'd rather stay in and WORK? I know, that whole sentence is basically the antithesis to my life. I will try to blog more often but right now I need some shut eye, aye? I have some <a href="http://lilfelrockstheworld.blogspot.com/search/label/Singapore" target="_blank">AWESOME things to say about Singapore</a>, which vary a whole hell ton from my first impression of Singapore. Hold tight.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Musical Apology: MOST BEAUTIFUL SONG OF YOUR LIFE</span><br />
Do you ever feel as dumb as a mute when trying to convey feelings of overwhelming joy? You will when you listen to this song. Imagine strapping your heart to rockets that shoot from the earth and explode into a shower of sparkly rainbows that fill the naked blue sky. You start to cry from the sheer number of colours.. colours and variance you never knew existed until this rocket heart rainbow.<br />
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La Llorna (pronounced Girona, as my Spaniard amigo told me) is the original of the Beirut version. I HAD NO IDEA THERE WAS AN ORIGINAL. Anyways. I am sorry for the absence, I hope with sparkles in your ears, you can forgive me and keep reading.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Read more Jakarta Shopping Stuff</u></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">(The Ultimate) <a href="http://lilfelrockstheworld.blogspot.com/2011/10/indie-guide-jakarta-vintage-and-local.html" target="_blank">Anti-Mall Guide to Jakarta </a></span><br />
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<a href="http://lilfelrockstheworld.blogspot.com/2010/11/indie-guide-to-shopping-best-vintage-in.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">There's a Goat in My Alley..or the Best Vintage in Jakarta</span></a><br />
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http://www.facebook.com/pages/LilFel-Rocks-the-World/284473376434?ref=ts#!/pages/LilFel-Rocks-the-World/284473376434?ref=ts</div>Feliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434170085570100614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4692590391834471433.post-39405919657341360352012-08-19T19:33:00.000+02:002012-08-20T21:01:33.895+02:00That Time I was on TV..Start Something Big<span style="font-size: x-large;">On Having Your Blog on Television, Getting Your Heart Ripped out of Your Chest and Working That Artsy Dream Job</span><br />
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Oh god, I've been so embarrassed to post this (that's why it's taken me a year). Hell, I'm a writer/thinker/mastermind not meant to be in front of the camera! Oh well, here's my big interview for Lil'Fel Rocks the World on Canadian television for the show <a href="http://www.rogerstv.com/page.aspx?lid=12&rid=16&sid=4410" target="_blank">Start Something Big</a>, a show about young people going big with their dreams. Woo go blog! Boom!<br />
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The birth of this show is an amazing feat in itself so I have to give some Scarborough flavoured gunshots for this. When travelling or just old fashioned living, I'm drawn to inspirational young people doing crazy shiz with their lives, and Gwen Elliot, the host, is the boss queen of them all. She's MY AGE (25) and went from working at MTV in California to producing and hosting HER OWN SHOW. Don't tell me to shut up. I know, right? Yo, Gwen sauce, can you dish out your magic dust of energy and motivation? Watching her show is badass because she and the other folks she interviews are living proof that if you work hard you can GETTER DONE.<br />
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Anyways, keep on inspiring us, Gwen, and thanks for believing in my blog (but friends please ignore me speaking, "I'm sort of obsessed" and sound like a turd...!!!).<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Music</span><br />
If you can't tell from my obsession with new music, I'm all about indie artists and discovery. Here's a shout out to the amazing music that got used in this. Frackin' hell so much talent out there. Even if you can't hear it well, check them out.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tmcn.fr/" target="_blank">TMCN-Get Drugs.</a> Rock band with an electro vibe from Paris. You know how my heart beats for French electro. <a href="http://www.twitter.com/weareTMCN" target="_blank">@weareTMCN</a><br />
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<a href="http://ilovebodegagirls.com/" target="_blank">Bodega Girls</a>- Ain't That Cold. These guys are from Boston and have a rugged soulful electro sound that makes me want to fly by night. <a href="http://www.twitter.com/BodegaGirls" target="_blank">@Bodegagirls</a><br />
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(Not in the show, but contacted them anyway) <a href="http://www.birdyhunt.com/" target="_blank">Birdy Hunt:</a> Truth. I listen to this French indie band on the reg.' My lovely Parisian friend and photographer of <a href="http://theconcubines.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">The Concubines</a> introduced me to her BF's band. I aurally fell for them and have them on my main playlist since. <a href="http://www.twitter.com/BirdyHunt" target="_blank">@Birdyhunt</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Ps. My Big French Heartbreak </span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QYW1o5FCU44/UDEaSqiuuOI/AAAAAAAAAb8/Bjwjulekb7E/s1600/parispontmariepaulfel.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QYW1o5FCU44/UDEaSqiuuOI/AAAAAAAAAb8/Bjwjulekb7E/s640/parispontmariepaulfel.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>Paris with Big P before I left for Toronto, never to return!</i></div>
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I sort of left out a part of the story. The reason I took so long to post this is because I was heart broken. Like, serious kicked in my chest agony that accompanies losing the love of your life. And I did lose my love. I lost Paris. That job in Paris I spoke about didn't end up happening (ha, bet you thought it was <a href="http://lilfelrockstheworld.blogspot.com/2010/06/how-to-survive-and-thrive-in-long.html" target="_blank">about Big P</a>? This hurts worse..trust me). Even to this day bitterness wells up in me and I want to punch a wall. What happened? Well the work permit was taking a while to get, damn France administration in the summer(why I was back in Toronto at all) and the company just went and hired someone else...while I was waiting! The same day they told me that they were rescinding their offer, I got an email from the consulate telling me I got the Visa. I called the company back in joy to tell them, but they didn't pay attention. The damage was done. Hell, you know I turned down another offer for a job IN PARIS to take this one, eh? It sucks to feel kicked to the curb, but I guess in the end things work out for the better. A company that treats people like that is not one I would ever want to work for, hmph! Lesson kids: Have reasonable expectations for obtaining your international work permits and protect yourselves in the contract for this! I made the mistake of not attending to that, being too young and excited to think things through. ANYWAYS.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Everything heals with time..and better love</span><br />
I'm launching a wicked project at the moment in Indonesia, mapping out the indie art scene, making an online space for it and working to connect these badass underground artists with brands who want to tap into their cool vibes. So like, PR + the goal of my blog in one sweet job. It's called +sixtwo (the country code for Indonesia) and it's the most challenging and fun thing I've ever taken on. Starting a company from scratch! ME. WHAT. I'm doing this with a partner of course. BUT STILL. AHH! Where will this take me next? It's a new chapter in my life. The best part about this is having the chance to get to know a different side of Indo, one I've never dove too far into. Finding the art and talent out of this country is giving me a chubby. More about professional chubbies in my next post.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-URHWO2SnIYg/UDEgmprqWyI/AAAAAAAAAcY/cEtcNpgWgIs/s1600/photo+4+(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-URHWO2SnIYg/UDEgmprqWyI/AAAAAAAAAcY/cEtcNpgWgIs/s640/photo+4+(3).JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>Hanging out with one of Indonesia's most famous indie bands, <a href="http://www.whiteshoesandthecouplescompany.org/" target="_blank">The White Shoes and the Couples Company</a>. LOVE MY LIFE.</i></div>
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Anyways, for +sixtwo, think of the Chinese version, <a href="http://edge.neocha.com/" target="_blank">Neo Cha</a> or the French one <a href="http://elegangz.com/" target="_blank">Elegangz</a>, but for Indonesia. It will be a creative consultancy rather than an agency though. I mean whatever, I'm interviewing and writing about awesome people daily, and helping artists find work. No matter what, this is a great experience and I'm hella excited to share it with you all. More Asia! It's scary to think that this could be the next big path of my nomadic life..Don't worry, Paris, I'll pick you up another time.<br />
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And the icing on the cake, LFRW got <a href="http://www.facebook.com/lilfelrockstheworld" target="_blank">1400 BIG LIKES on Facebook</a> today. Woo! Thanks everyone for the support through my lost days, partying in Thailand, skype advice and blog love and comments. I hope I haven't bored the electrolytes out of you, you need those!<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;">The world's our oyster! When you are feeling unmotivated, there's always Andy Samberg. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span>SNL- Great Day. Ps. I do not condone cocaine, silly fools! Seriously not cool. But Andy is.<br />
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http://www.facebook.com/pages/LilFel-Rocks-the-World/284473376434?ref=ts#!/pages/LilFel-Rocks-the-World/284473376434?ref=ts</div>Feliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434170085570100614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4692590391834471433.post-82468862753240811772012-07-31T20:34:00.001+02:002012-07-31T21:24:48.622+02:00Indie Guide Thailand: Koh Phangan and Full Moon Party<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Koh Phangan: The Non-Douchebag's Guide to the Land of Vice</span><br />
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Thanks to Leo and Tilda Swinton, Koh Phangan was seriously ruined for a good 10 years of my life. Richard's hate-fille assessment of the island in The Beach had me convinced that the island was infested exclusively with scum o' earth <span style="font-size: x-large;"> like this guy</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ey2qn4rvpq4/UBQxlpJboRI/AAAAAAAAAY8/Ok2OEWT2n1s/s1600/kohphanganfreedick.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ey2qn4rvpq4/UBQxlpJboRI/AAAAAAAAAY8/Ok2OEWT2n1s/s640/kohphanganfreedick.jpeg" width="536" /></a></div>
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Because of my barfbag man fear I avoided Phangan like I do second-hand smoke. I didn't need chubby Legend up there crampin' my styles! Only when I found out my friend from Bangkok, Coran, was DJing at the Full Moon Party did I decide to try give it a shot. Since then I've been four times. And not that there aren't a fair amount of said d-bags, they do not outweigh the sheer awesomeness you get from being here. If you love party, adventure, and beauty this island has it all. Believe it or not, when you know where to look you'll find chill vibes, wonderful beaches and secret rave jungle parties. Best to go for about 4 days but it can easily be done in 2 nights or 3 weeks. Do not go here for a relaxed romantic trip. Your sleep count will average 2 hours a night.<br />
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Through my guide I try to point you in the direction of cheapest accommodation, what beaches to stay on, how not to pay too much for alcohol and what are the best parties to get to that aren't just the epic Full Moon Party. It has become one of my favourite islands in Thailand, after <a href="http://lilfelrockstheworld.blogspot.com/2012/01/indie-guide-to-thailand-koh-chang.html" target="_blank">Koh Chang</a>, and hope this guide helps you discover the best of the devil's playground.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">1. Which Beach to Stay On</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Haad Rin Beach: </span>The area that is the most lively and fun is called Haad Rin beach. It's where all the party-goers head for good time central. You have bars playing movies all day, every type of restaurant around and most importantly the Full Moon Party Beach. I personally think it's one of the best beaches in all of Thailand, with sports and beach volleyball everyday, beautiful soft white sand around your toes and a stunning scenery. Nightly parties happen here so it's best to stay in this area so not to risk riding a motorbike in the tricky mountains while even slightly inebriated. The downside is that it's not very quiet and romantic so perhaps not the best place to go in a couple, but a huge group of friends is a must. Taxi is 100 Baht from the Tongsala pier. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Bantai:</span> This is the beach area right next to Haad Rin. It's super developed and where all the dive instructors, bar owners etc live. There are good bars and nice hotels. It's a good compromise between partying and peace and quiet. Personally, not sure why you would go to Koh Phangan for the peace and quiet. If you are going to this island, experience it in full. Downside is that you have to take a motorbike through the tricky mountain stretch to get the main area. Upside? Everything is slightly cheaper. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Mae Haad: </span>Do not stay here unless you are a) doing diving courses b) with your family or partner c) are an old grandpa . Don't get me wrong, it's extremely beautiful and there is wonderful snorkelling here. But it is far from everything fun and you will be spending more than an hour on motorbikes to get into the central area. It's perfect if you are in a couple trying to escape reality, but that's all there is- quiet pretty beach... how long can than entertain anyone? My recommendation is to rent a bike from Haad Rin and do day trips here for snorkelling.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tj4WG6Xn96c/UBOUbwirw3I/AAAAAAAAAXU/eo1uMHlUYpc/s1600/kohphanganroad.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tj4WG6Xn96c/UBOUbwirw3I/AAAAAAAAAXU/eo1uMHlUYpc/s640/kohphanganroad.jpeg" width="478" /></a></div>
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<i>Motorbike daytrip impromptu stop to watch amazing sunset with the boys. </i></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">2. Cheap Accommodation in Haad Rin</span></div>
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<li><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;"><a href="http://lilfelrockstheworld.blogspot.com/2011/03/indie-guide-thailand-cheap.html" target="_blank">Sunset Bungalows:</a></span><span style="background-color: white;"> Simple and quaint bungalows on the hill are the cheapest accomodation you can find in Haad Rin. The best part about it is that, unlike other places where the price rises come Full Moon Party, here stays the same. It has a wonderful view of Sunset Beach, a skip away from the action and the magical Reggae Bar and the management is amazing. Stayed there many a night. </span><span style="background-color: cyan;">Tip: </span><span style="background-color: white;">If you are staying more than 4 days you can bargain a cheaper price. This is true for many places. </span></li>
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<i>Directions: Next to Neptune Villa on Sunset Beach</i><br />
<i>300 Baht/night</i><br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Moonstone Hostel:</span><span style="background-color: white;"> Looks like the Playboy mansion on crack. Everything is pink and flashing but don't let that deter you. The facilities are new, air condition very cold, bathrooms are clean and they make an effort with the small things like blowdryers, hair straighteners, hot water, shampoo, personal fans, individual electricity outlets and lots of mirrors. Perfect for girls getting ready but not limited to the female sex. Also, there are speakers in the room that make it the ultimate spot for pre-partying! Bad sides? The beds are super close together and narrow and most importantly THE STAFF IS HORRIBLE. They don't speak a word of English and are quite rude. While I loved the </span><span style="background-color: white;">accommodation</span><span style="background-color: white;"> I found somewhere else to stay, they were so unbearable and frustrating. Plus, lots of my clothing went missing. I wasn't willing to risk it again, but make your own risk assessments. </span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>Directions: Across from Siam Bank (Purple Bank) 2 minutes from the Haad Rin Pier</i><br />
<i>200 Baht/night away from full moon</i><br />
<i>600 Baht/night during Full Moon Party</i><br />
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<i>Looks like hell for some, but really is some of the most fun you'll have in your life</i></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Yan's Dormitory: </span><span style="background-color: white;">If you are looking for a dorm, good vibe and good people I cannot recommend this place highly enough. Along with Sunset Bungalows this is my top recommendation. Yan, the owner, is a spiritual massouse and one of the most interesting characters you'll encounter in your life. Be prepared for live Buddha demonstrations in his special Buddha room, impromptu "organ massages" and homecooked meals that are included in staying there. The facilities are basic: Bunk beds, air condition dorms and two bathrooms, but staying with Yan is an experience worth much more than all that. He is a bit quirky but his honesty and good nature makes Yan's the best place to pre-party at. We put our own music on, got the paint and Hong Thong out and went nuts. During the day enjoy movies and a comfortable lounge vibe. I stayed for 5 nights and was depressed to leave. The people you meet there are amazing too. </span></li>
</ul>
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<i>Directions: Centre strip of Haad Rin hostel area near Dancing Elephant Hostel</i><br />
<i>200 Baht/night</i><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Fubar:</span><span style="background-color: white;"> Probably the hippest of dorm accomodation in Haad Rin. A young hot British brother and sistah own the joint and give it its groovy vibe. Jo is a DJ and belts out great music especially on Monday night. The bar is comfortable and full of lounge cushions and the people there are the best part. It's an oasis away from the tween ditsy backpacker vomit inducing types. Here, the guys and girls have good in taste in music and are just more interesting. While I've never stayed there myself, I've met so many cool people here and spent many nights drinking and dancing that I'm not sure why I haven't stayed yet. I have seen the place though: clean, cool, solid beds and clean bathrooms. Also, extremely close to Sunset Beach!</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<i>Directions: Sunrise Beach</i><br />
<i>200 Baht/night</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JPG32zIihFE/UBPDOf3Lt4I/AAAAAAAAAYM/np_rLjAobB8/s1600/kohphanganjo.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JPG32zIihFE/UBPDOf3Lt4I/AAAAAAAAAYM/np_rLjAobB8/s640/kohphanganjo.jpeg" width="476" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>DJ and Owner Jo at Fubar for Monday Sessions</i></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">3. Best Parties and Bars</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">Full Moon Party. </span>Hands down of the CRAZIEST PARTIES OF MY LIFE. I do not say this lightly, it is top three. Imagine a kilometre of beach lined with 40,000 people, everyone covered in neon paint, ridiculous headbands and pumped to have the best night of their lives. It's not for everyone, like grandmas. Something you need to experience once in your life. </span></li>
</ul>
<ul><ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;">Tip</span>:</span><span style="background-color: white;"> The afterparties, as you see in the video below are wayy cooler than the party itself. Drink Thai Redbull and prepare yourself for a big one (Do: Mellow Mountain for sunrise and Fubar after). The other thing I have to say is that there is so much more to Koh Phangan than the Full Moon Party. Word on the street is that the parties leading up to and after FMP are the best. Below I've listed them. </span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul><ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Scam alert:</span> </span><span style="background-color: white;">Sometimes they try to charge you to enter. Don't pay, find another way in. </span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="331" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/16159287" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <a href="http://vimeo.com/16159287">Lil'Fel Rocks the Full Moon Party, Koh Phangan</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user3597438">Felicia Moursalien</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">Monday: Monday Sessions at Fubar.</span> If you're sick of One Direction, head here for cute DJs bustin' out badass house and electro every Monday night. One of my fav' nights in Koh Phangan. Check the video above to see Jo and Fubar at the end. </span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">Friday: Guy's Bar is a rave in the jungle. </span>You have to take a boat from Sunrise beach to get there, which costs 150 Baht there and about 200 Baht back. Don't pay more than that and go with a big group of people. This is a party full of house and trans music. It's a neat experience to dance in a jungle but beware! It's a very special scene there with most people dancing with water bottles in their hands and buying very few drinks. Everything is available over the bar and one reason this party is sought after. While this may seem risky in Thailand, the bars that decide to sell anything besides alcohol take special precautions to pay off the police to stay away. </span></li>
</ul>
<ul><span style="background-color: white;">
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">Saturday and Thursday: Eden Jungle party. </span>Saturday is a daytime party and Thursday is in the night. It's near where the Yoga retreat is so you get lots of hippie, ali baba pant types dancing here, but also the locals of the island. </span></li>
</span></ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">Reggae Bar:</span> A little hidden gem of a bar away from the main action on Sunset beach. This bar has fluo writing all over the walls full of inspirational messages written by people on magical trips and a view overlooking the water. Go here to chill out Rasta or magical styles or for a nice beer along the sea! Good people, vibe and music but don't come here to dance. </span></li>
</ul>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ozdp8LEaXbg/UBggaTZeD8I/AAAAAAAAAZc/MAbS5roWIY8/s1600/Kohphangan8.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ozdp8LEaXbg/UBggaTZeD8I/AAAAAAAAAZc/MAbS5roWIY8/s640/Kohphangan8.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Dancing on a table at Half Moon Party, NBD. </i></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Half Moon Party. </span><span style="background-color: white;">This party is amazing. I went to one before FMP and after and I must say the one after was much epic. The music is house/jungle and it takes place in the jungle, cool! Downside is that it's 500 Baht entrance and a 100 baht minimum taxi ride to go. People get painted up and go all out since they're compensating for missing the Big poppa of parties. Some people prefer it over FMP. If you can, do both.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">Mellow Mountain: </span>Same as Reggae bar for what you can buy over the bar and same prices too. Difference being that it is on the main party beach and with a mega wicked view over the ocean and up high. This place is a bit more popular and touristy but still stunning and fun. If you are looking to be closer to the action than this is your best bet. Come here on a night where you don't plan to get wasted off your face, say a few days before or after Full Moon Party.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;">Tip:</span><span style="color: orange;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white;">The two bars on the hill are famous for magic shakes. It's been said that closer to the Full Moon Party that it gets, the more watered down the shakes' potency becomes (More demand, fixed supply = makes sense). So if this is something you want to try, best to do it before or after when it's not too busy. </span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Warning: </span><span style="background-color: white;">Don't leave the mountain with any illicit substance. While the bars pay off the police from coming up to the top and busting people, you will not enjoy the same immunity if you stupidly stumble on the beach with something on you. </span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">4. Cost of Living/ Drinking</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Cheapest day is around 700 Baht. </span>Accommodation is around 200 + (2) 50 Baht for fried rice/pad thai + 40 Baht for fruit shakes + 2 buckets for 150 Baht each. The only way you can do cheaper than that is if you eat instant noodles from 7/11 and cut out alcohol. Most likely you are not a mini girl and you will actually need to drink way more than that. Also, a lot of the parties beyond Full Moon Party require you to pay taxis and/or entrance fees.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eKUKyu8VQd0/UBPGUGLG5iI/AAAAAAAAAYk/WNGqj5tTJDI/s1600/kohphanganrice.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eKUKyu8VQd0/UBPGUGLG5iI/AAAAAAAAAYk/WNGqj5tTJDI/s640/kohphanganrice.jpeg" width="476" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Where to eat? The shacks are on a street with Greenpeace restaurant. They are local food stalls with deliciousness and authenticity for a cheap price. </i></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Motorbikes are 150 Baht/day.</span> This is very cheap but be careful, they charge through the sky if you have even the slightest scratches on it. My German friend paid 4000 baht extra just from a few extra scratches when she dropped it. Be careful. The mountains are a bit tricky but anyone with a brain can do it. Seriously, it's so fun.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Buckets are 200-300 Baht for local alcohol.</span> Any cheaper than that than you are probably getting less than other buckets.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Alcohol in the store 150 Baht.</span> Get a giant bottle for 5 dollars, buy your own mixers and even throw it in a bucket for good measure.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Warning:</span> If you think you are getting a good deal they are probably ripping you off. Buckets for 100 Baht mean they are using local vodka or whiskey that they're hiding behind their bar and sometimes it's not even the real deal. Be careful to see if the seal of the alcohol is broken. One bartender told me the vodka is usually fake. Thai whiskey is the best way to go.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">5. Things to Do</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Rent Motorbikes. </span>It's scary but get over it. They're super easy to learn and as long as you're not a moron you should be okay. You don't need a license. Go slow, get used to it and rent your ticket to freedom in Asia!! Be careful, as I note above.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Hunt Waterfalls. </span>Go with the mates in a giant biker crew and check out waterfalls. Sometimes they're dry and they are more like water puddles. Still amazing and fun to get in nature.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0TyWs3AhZTY/UBgeXmbwIOI/AAAAAAAAAZU/hbjrtnXPQzA/s1600/kohphanganwaterfall.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0TyWs3AhZTY/UBgeXmbwIOI/AAAAAAAAAZU/hbjrtnXPQzA/s640/kohphanganwaterfall.jpeg" width="476" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Don't go chasing waterpuddles. Bathing in dried out waterfalls still a blast. woo. </i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Snorkel in Mae Haad. </span>On your motorbike trip go snorkeling. The coral is pretty cool, the beach is beautiful and calm. Provides a wicked reprieve from perennial waste-case feelings of sleeping till 2 pm and lounging on Sunset Beach.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Go to Mellow Mountain During the Day.</span> Best time to be there is when you can see the view. Whatever you buy up there is best done then too.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Beach Volleyball.</span> The reason sunset beach is my favourite beach is because of how active people are during the day there. The sand is soft and white, the beach is clean and everyone is either tanning or playing sports. Beach volleyball is pretty serious on Sunset Beach Haad Rin. There are usually multiple games for different levels. This is how I spent 3 weeks of my life. Enjoy.<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Follow on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/lilfelrockstheworld" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/LilFel" target="_blank">Twitter </a>for more secret parties, baller cheap hostels etc etc in <a href="http://lilfelrockstheworld.blogspot.com/p/thailand.html" target="_blank">Thailand </a>and the WORLD</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Thanks Shan, Grain and Ashlie for letting me use their pictures!</span><br />
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http://www.facebook.com/pages/LilFel-Rocks-the-World/284473376434?ref=ts#!/pages/LilFel-Rocks-the-World/284473376434?ref=ts</div>Feliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03434170085570100614noreply@blogger.com74169, Mae Nam, Ko Samui, Surat Thani 84330, Thailand9.7318753 100.0135929-56.7895707 -61.705157099999994 76.2533213 -98.267657100000008tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4692590391834471433.post-51080468411408430082012-07-17T22:41:00.001+02:002012-07-18T08:06:37.047+02:00Indie Guide Thailand: Koh Phi Phi<span style="font-size: x-large;">Backpacking the Islands: Drink your Face off in Paradise </span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Is Phi Phi for Me (Me)? </span></div>
<br />
There are only 3 reasons to come to the Thai island of Koh Phi Phi. You either want to a) rip yourself off with overpriced diving b) pretend to be Leo and fatten up your FB photo count with The Beach albums that no one cares about or c) drown your face in buckets of Thai whiskey, sleep all day and then do it again, repeat, repeat, repeat.<br />
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<a href="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/10/01/article-1066285-0079C0A200000258-485_468x307.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/10/01/article-1066285-0079C0A200000258-485_468x307.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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From my scientific research based wholly on personal affinities and anecdotal evidence, I've concluded that 83% of people come because of the insane party vibe. They then partake in other more wholesome activities merely to avoid being the King of Absolute Waste-Casedom slash validate their existence as real human beings with feelings that don't reek of booze.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CrHGl-3r2OE/UAW6PWaaEFI/AAAAAAAAAUg/B8ZgRLmB8Mw/s1600/kohphiphi.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CrHGl-3r2OE/UAW6PWaaEFI/AAAAAAAAAUg/B8ZgRLmB8Mw/s640/kohphiphi.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Came here a couple years ago with mon ex amour. Loved it. Came back this year. </i></div>
<br />
This spot on the west side of Thailand truly is awesome though. The island is tiny with no cars. Everything is jammed packed together creating an amazing village community with the streets lined with cute dive instructors manning the shops, beach bars, restaurants and Thai street stalls. The downside to these close quarters is that it is hard to escape the nightly madness and parties on the beach so if you are coming here with your rosy cheeked toddler and vacay fun, for the love of good parenting, don't.<br />
<br />
And like a lot of the Thai islands, the local culture has been eroded/evolved to feel more like a deep fried Euro-nugget rather than the vibrant Asian island I imagine it once was. Visiting this drunken foreigner Disneyland may be your bucket of alcohol, or it may not be. The one thing everyone can agree on is that it is outstandingly beautiful. Depending on your tolerance for inebriated 20 something year olds and your affinity for beauty, it may be worth a visit.<br />
<br />
For me and most people I know, it definitely is. But, hell, give me a couple years and I will probably be pushing cougar slash creepy-old-lady-without-a-life territory (recently turned 25, it hurts more than arthritis to see all these 19 year old Brits!)<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I2QzNMPTCkI/UAW8xwyvNkI/AAAAAAAAAUw/grHKI55RmOA/s1600/kohphiphiparty2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I2QzNMPTCkI/UAW8xwyvNkI/AAAAAAAAAUw/grHKI55RmOA/s640/kohphiphiparty2.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Phi Phi Friends that we met up with in Koh Phangan. Party doesn't stop in the Islands. </i></div>
<br />
Anyways, everyone has their own recommendations on what's the best on the island. If you're my friend (Caro!!) and are brave enough to face daylight here are mine.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">How Long to Go For</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">4 days is ideal. </span>You can party hard and see all the sites in this amount of time. Personally, I stayed for 7 days and definitely started to get antsy and bored. Partying is groovy but I don't like just sleeping all day or lounging on a tiny beach that is shitty to swim in. Plus, there is no beach volleyball. Others have stayed 10 days or a month and just love it. Depends on what you're looking for.</span></li>
</ul>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Where to Stay</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">Mr. Local Dorm. </span>Really good air condition and an amazing place to meet people. Everyone from that hostel has rejoined in other parts of Thailand. The management is laid back and as far as Phi Phi goes, it's not that expensive. Bad sides? Toilets block quite a bit and are not that clean. Shower pressure not hard either. If you have a good budget and want luxury, this is not for you! The social aspect is its best quality. People I met there ended up all meeting in Koh Phangan and having more mental moments! </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="background-color: white;"><i>300 Baht/night.</i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i><br /></i></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: x-large;">Cost of Living</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large; text-align: center;">Expect to spend</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large; text-align: center;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large; text-align: center;">800-1000 Baht/day</span><b style="background-color: white; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;">. </b><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;">3 cheap meals + dorm rent + 2 buckets of alcohol) and then more when you want to do the fun stuff besides slink around Slinkys. </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">If we use chicken fried rice for our price comparison, in Bangkok it's 20-30 Baht on the street and the cheapest you can get it here is 60. In Koh Phangan Haad Rin it's 50. The cheapest dorms are around 300 Baht, whereas around Thailand you can get it for 100. Diving is more, alcohol is more. The reason being because electricity and rent is extremely expensive here. So locals are not trying to rip you off, but just the cost of living for everyone is higher. The price of paradise, I suppose. </span></li>
</ul>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Things to Do</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hike to the Viewpoint. </span>About a 30 minute walk to the top of Koh Phi Phi. It's beautiful and not too physically taxing. Worth it for your Facebook vanity. Also, it's free!</span></li>
</ul>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>It's Leo!! Or..just my German colleague with a girl's name, Robin</i></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">Camping Trip in Maya Bay (THE Beach!). </span>Most people just do the day trip with snorkelling and a couple hours on The Beach but that sucks because tourists storm the site like tweens at a Bieber concert. Kind of lose the dumbfounding effects of the raw beauty. Best way to do it is cough up the dough and camp out, singing songs around a 'fire' drinking and laughing and ultimately falling asleep to the waves and watching the sun turn the water sparkling purple to blue in the morning. Holy shizzle. </span><span style="background-color: red;">TIP: </span><span style="background-color: white;">The only thing I recommend is bringing your own sleeping bag and pillow because the equipment SUCKS. Didn't sleep a wink cuz my bag was damp and full of sand. Ugh, I'm a princess blah blah, whatever. Also, if you're in a couple, defo do this! I wallowed in my (normally loved) singledom and wished someone would ask me to marry them. The Beach Effect. </span></li>
</ul>
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<i>Price: 2500 Baht with free meals, 2 free buckets, snorkelling.</i><br />
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<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">Kickbox for Booze. </span>Get in the ring at Reggae Bar and weigh the weight of your balls. Having no formal training and experience I merely wanted know what it was like to punch another person in the face. You know, the dreams where you try and try to punch someone but you keep missing? Well, I had had enough. It was awesome and hard and exhilarating. TIP: Don't drink before hand for risk of puking (ahem, Chanine!). Even if you don't drink, you risk puking. Basically, someone is blowing chunks. But hus is the consequence of having your head beat in repeatedly. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p4WJPY-Ies" target="_blank">Watch my video </a>against a giant butch British beast!</span></li>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OoZiG038_0s/UAW-5i9GGCI/AAAAAAAAAU4/4Ha3gnboC4c/s1600/kohphiphifight.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OoZiG038_0s/UAW-5i9GGCI/AAAAAAAAAU4/4Ha3gnboC4c/s640/kohphiphifight.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">Lounge at the Rooftop Banana Bar. </span>One of the only rooftop bars in Koh Phi Phi, you can watch movies nightly at 7 pm and/or get super mellow there daily. They sell stuff over the bar. The Mexican food is great for munching. </span></li>
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<span style="background-color: red; font-size: x-large;">Things Not to do</span></div>
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<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">Diving certification. </span> The diving is better in Koh Phi Phi but it is also hella expensive. It's about 12,000 Baht and that doesn't include your accommodation. I recommend doing it in Koh Tao (like I did) for 9000 Baht + lodging and then doing fun dives in Phi Phi. The island is losing a lot of business because of its high prices that are all fixed. Hopefully in the future they will realize that poor backpackers are not willing to front that dough.</span></li>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Conclusion</span></div>
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Koh Phi Phi is one of the most expensive places in Thailand but also one of the most partylicious. If you are backpacking in Thailand for months or merely there for a couple weeks, this should definitely be one of your stops. There ain't much else to do there except drink and the things I've listed above, but hell is it worth it. Get in and get out quickly with some of the best memories of your life slash trip in Thailand. Bon chance, backpackers!<br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><b>And please, if you have any advice, recommendations on hostels or things to do, please let the rest of us know! </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Music: Beachside Bonheur from Cali</span></div>
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<a href="http://neongoldrecords.com/blog/images/koko.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="338" src="http://neongoldrecords.com/blog/images/koko.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_1054343355"></span><span id="goog_1054343356"></span>This is the perfect music for summer and beach-time bonheur by Ko Ko. First found off my amazing Frenchie friends' music blog, <a href="http://www.lesradissanglants.fr/" target="_blank">Les Radis Sanglants</a>, I have since fallen in love. Whether you are in Thailand, Indonesia or Toronto, Float brings the soul of summer joy! Cheese cheese, shut it and listen.<br />
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<a href="http://www29.zippyshare.com/v/77381482/file.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Download: Float- Ko Ko.mp3 </b></span></a>
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Hey everyone, this post is a celebration to having discovered something mildly cool in Jakarta called <a href="http://salihara.org/" target="_blank">Salihara Theater.</a> This is a neat little joint that screens silent movies and gets bands to play a live soundtrack over it. Tonight I watched my first silent called Nosferatu, the story of Count Dracula getting bored of his boring Eastern European crib and looking to get himself some city ass. Unfortunately, the neighbours weren't really down with his neighbourhood integration, mainly because he travels with packs of rats and coffins of dirt, also he eats people. Not terribly terrifying but still a cool film and interesting use of music played live by French Band, Zone Libre. I'm into the concept, but personally thought they could have used their crescendos in a mega more evocative way. And besides, Edward Cullen will always be my numba one vampire stunna (joking, hello).<br />
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<i>Bref</i>, if you are starving for some alternative culture in the city of nouveau riche/mind blowingly mainstream entertainment scene, despair not! I'm not saying I'm above Blockbuster films and shaking my ace to Moves Like Jager, but sometimes you need to change it up to avoid lunacy.<br />
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Salihara Theater also does awesome arty cool things like poetry readings, book launches, adapted plays and more. The crowd is a mix of international people and rockin' Indonesians too. Boom.<br />
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Tickets generally go for Rp.50,000 general/ Rp. 25,000 student<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Directions:</span><br />
In south Jakarta next to Pasar Mingu, on Jalan Salihara.<br />
16 Jl. Salihara<div class="blogger-post-footer">Become a fan
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To be honest, I wouldn't want to visit Berlin at all. This is one of the few cities along with Melbourne, London and Chicago that I could see myself living in and <i>verdammt</i> loving it. From my brief student weekend there with SciencesPo, my Frenchie university, I fell in love with the affordable, edgy and badass debauchery that pervaded its nightlife. I know in my last post about <a href="http://lilfelrockstheworld.blogspot.com/2012/05/5-german-stereotypes-confirmed.html" target="_blank">German stereotypes</a> I mocked the people to no end, but despite their quirks, Berlin seems exceptionally ow-some.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oYnyUFPHJYg/T74S-f9d5NI/AAAAAAAAASk/8L2-GJStbfc/s1600/berlin8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oYnyUFPHJYg/T74S-f9d5NI/AAAAAAAAASk/8L2-GJStbfc/s640/berlin8.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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Seriously, it holds something irresistible that I haven't seen elsewhere. If <a href="http://lilfelrockstheworld.blogspot.com/2010/06/indie-guide-to-paris-clubbing.html" target="_blank">Paris' nightlife</a> is a classy lady holding many secrets, Berlin is more your carefree hot art house girl, the kind of girl this blog would be besties with (high-pitched girl squeal eeeh!*). London vibes similarly, but because everything is so frackin' expensive it's rather stressful to truly let loose there. Berlin and Jakarta would essentially hate each other-- Jakarta nightlife being that nouveau riche girl with fancy designer bags that her daddy bought her and no clue how to ride a subway. Ugh. While we're playing this city-as-chicks game, Toronto is the younger teen sister trying to figure out who she is. She has so much going on, it's hard to define her yet.<br />
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<i>Cool apartment turned club in East Berlin. Thanks to Paris music man, <a href="http://equipedenuit.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Hugo</a> for showing us</i></div>
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If you are sensing awkward girl-crushing-on-non-human vibes then you're correct. It's mainly because when in Berlin I was blown away by some of the best museums I have ever seen. I'm not a museum junkie or anything, but the Modern Art Museum and the Holocaust Museums blitzkrieged my brain with whoah bombs. They were interactive and bled of history that touched my <i>herz</i>. For partying we headed out to some apartment club thing with graffiti on the walls in East Berlin to see Boys Noize and French electro label Institubes. From only a mere few days there, Berlin showed me parts of herself that even after wining and dining this Jakarta biatch, I am yet to find here.<br />
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Anyways, here's a mini Indie Guide to Berlin Nightlife. These are the clubs I'm going to check out when I go back, recommended by the ex amour and other trusted friends. If you've been, tell me what you think! And please, help with cool recommendations!<br />
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<a href="http://www.berghain.de/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Panorama/ Berghain: </span></a>While this place may look like a holocaust memorial site, it really is the entrance to one of the best nightclubs in Berlin thanks to amazing resident DJ's, techno and house music and parties that don't end till Saturday afternoon. If you are too naive (don't blame you) to know what long ass parties like that means then it may not be your scene, mainly because of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDMA" target="_blank">this </a>. Also, apparently they turn away lots of people at the door. Big ups to exclusivity factor? *Fart noise.<br />
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<a href="http://www.water-gate.de/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Watergate:</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></a>Located in the Kreuzbeurg neighbourhood, this is meant to have insane house and techno music, a panoramic view of the city and LED lights to twinkle up your mind. Don't know much more than that but if recommended by people I love to party with then I seriously can't wait to ch-check it out.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Kater Holzig</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>And..</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Reason 1 Million to Study in France</b></span><br />
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This is our weekend trip to Berlin, on our way to the club racing to make the metro.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">More Berlin music..</span><br />
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Jeez, I didn't think my hyperactive soul could ever be satiated by minimal music but I think the Berlin scene is wiggling its way into my heart and happily hanging out there. Thanks Sascha for sending me the recommendation!<br />
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