After more than a month of travel, we're finally back home. It's crazy to type and read that sentence, and further solidifies the fact that teaching overseas was the best decision I've ever made. The work schedule alone makes up for it.

I've written two blogs now on the whole COVID-19 thing, and I'd like to move on from that. So to put it to bed, Shanghai has had some slight changes. For one, you have to wear a mask when you go outside. End of story. If you don't, well, you won't even get past your apartment complex's gate. But if you somehow did, or took it off, I'd imagine the police would stop you. Coming back from the completely empty airport, I did not see a single person not wearing a mask. The guards at our gate, and at everyone else's, check the temperature of people coming in and out. And they keep track everyone. All deliveries are now left outside at table near the compound gate. And everyone, ourselves included, are quarantined for 14 days. It's a slight adjustment, but I feel much safer being here than I would anywhere else, America included. If everyone has this level of restriction, I'm sure Shanghai will remain on the up and up. Like this past month, we'll have to to continue to wait and see. Until then, I have two weeks to stay at home. But, I am a nerd. This is my element. I'd probably do the same regardless.

Moving on, wow, we've been all over the place in the past month. I alluded to in a previous blog, but Ella's mom and dad came to Shanghai to visit us here. We got to explore the city with them for a few days, but nothing too ambitious. Ella's folks are pretty low-key travelers, often preferring to eat breakfast/dinner at a familiar restaurant close to home, and only go out about 5ish hours during the day. It's their trip, and they're welcome to travel however they like, but if I went to one of the largest and most developed cities in the world, I'd be pretty eager to see as much as possible. Since we only had a couple of days, we pretty much saw things that I've written about before, like here. In short - Shanghai Museum, Shanghai History Museum, walk along The Bund, Nanjing Road. Ella went to a few more places with them, but I was "working" almost every day they were here. That's in quotes because classes were over, I was just desk warming. What I expected to do during this time was to chill and watch movies, but oh no. With a boatload of visas, flights, hotels, and itineraries to plan, I was pretty much full on work mode - made even more difficult with 4 people, 2 of which were more picky. I have learned that being a travel agent would be my personal hell, because frankly it's just too much stress and stuff to keep track of. By the last day of work, I told Ella "I need a vacation from this vacation." I was legit stressed out to the breaking point, with visas being approved just the day before we were leaving. Ugh.

But after work officially finished, we were off to Cambodia! Siem Reap/Angkor Wat specifically. I am going to say this a lot during this entry, but Ella and I had been there before, along with a bunch of others. Angkor Wat was kind of the purpose of the whole trip, that her dad really wanted to see it. I admit, Angkor Wat is pretty amazing. And I do think it is something everyone should try to see once in their life. But I don't think Angkor Wat is worth coming to Southeast Asia by itself. Because after you see it, and say "Wow!", that's about it. So definitely combine it with seeing more of the region. If you're ambitious, you can do Angkor Wat in a day. As previously discussed, we were not on an ambitious schedule, so it was a two day affair.

Something I've learned about my father-in-law is that he is pretty indifferent about most things. He is fine to stay at the hotel, eat noodles, and be in bed by 7. He's only impressed by artsy things, and Angkor Wat impressed him. It's pretty easy to tell, since his normal, stoic look is replaced by smiles and saying "Wah!" as he looks around. My mother-in-law on the other hand, always wants to see things, and thinks everything is amazing. So it's nice to see the two of them really appreciate Angkor, because I think they had a great time. I did as well, because it really is an amazing place to see. Although I probably could have skipped the 2nd day, because I was pretty temple-d out by then. As is obligatory for Angkor Wat, I think pictures can say far more than I can, so here's a bunch of them. Amazing place.

 

 

We also went to the Angkor Museum this time (meh, lots of Buddha statues. You can skip it.) The other new place we did go this time, Artisans d'Angkor, was honestly just something I suggested to kill time the morning before we had to go to the airport. What a nice surprise that was. To me, this place should be the #2 thing to do in Siem Reap, because it managed to impress all 4 of us. They're one of the companies that have a contract to restore the damaged sections of Angkor Wat, along with making some other handicrafts. They also employ some disabled folks, which is a nice touch. They take you on a tour of everything they do, show you how they create everything, and you get to see the "before and after" photos. It's totally free, they don't try to sell you anything, and was just awesome to see the crazy talent they all have. At the end we did buy some stuff from their gift shop, because they were amazing through and through. Definitely worth your time.

After a quick flight, we were back in Bangkok. You don't need to hear me go on about Bangkok. Just look at nearly any blog entry from 2014-2017. Aside from Cincinnati, that city is as much as my home as anywhere else in the world. And it seems Ella and I find ourselves there every year or two for various reasons. And I have a strong suspicion it will certainly not be our last time.

This time though, we were tour guides for mom and dad, to show them the city where we met and called home. I think it's fair to say that they do not see Bangkok the same way we do. It's a loud, busy, and chaotic place, a far cry from the suburban Yunnan they're familiar with. Plus Cambodia is so awash with Chinese tourists, pretty much every restaurant had something familiar to them. Not so in Bangkok. Thailand was different enough to be intimidating, along with the fact they couldn't read anything. So I don't think this was their favorite part of the trip, and shows how their daughter (and son-in-law) are unlike them. I love playing menu roulette, I love big crazy cities, and I love having street food on every corner. But to each their own. We did mostly the tourist track you probably all know. The Siam Museum, Wat Pho, Grand Palace, Jim Thompson House, and The Museum of Contemporary Art. As Thais say, seeing all those places again was "Same same but different". They had changed a little, sure. But being Chinese New Year, there were tons of Chinese tourists. It all felt a little... too much for me, and if I were on my own, I'd prefer to go to a little less frequented but just as good places like Wat Arun, Suan Prakkad House, or the Rot Fai Night Market. But I suppose if this is the one and maybe only time in your life to visit Bangkok, you need to check Wat Pho off the list. It'd be like going to Egypt and not seeing the Pyramids.

At this point, mom and dad left to go back to Yunnan, and a giant weight was off our shoulders. For reference, let's take a typical scene:

Us: "It's lunchtime. What would you like to eat?"

Them: "Oh anything is fine. We're hungry too."

Us: "How about this place here?"

Them: "Sure, that looks good!"

Us: "I'll have the blah and blah please. Mom, dad, what would you like?"

Them: "Oh, nothing here looks good. We brought crackers, we'll eat those for if we're hungry."

Us: "We can go somewhere else."

Them: "No no, you eat. We don't need to eat today."

Repeat, ad infinitum. I'm sure like I, you have experienced the same with your relatives. I don't understand the logic behind either. They're incredibly nice people, and I do like spending time with them - but we have very different ideas of travel. Free to our own devices, we had only one short day to meetup with friends, which was awesome but too short. We had a nice lunch, and then dinner along with a few drinks. Bangkok really is an amazing place as a tourist, and it should be at the top of your list if you haven't been.

But now, we're onto the 4th destination of this trip, just the two of us - Phuket. Obligatory, "I had been to Phuket before", but I didn't really see much. Because frankly, I didn't like it all that much. I kind of still feel the same. Phuket seems geared more towards the rich tourist who pops in and out. Taxis charge extortionist rates, food is on the higher end, and there are a lot of expensive "experiences" for sale. Like, go zip-lining. See the alligator farm. See the giant Buddha statue. See the upside-down house (alright, I did want to go there). But these are like generic, SE Asia retiree tours that I didn't have too much desire to join. Not to mention one of them costs what we would spend in 5 days eating and drinking. So mostly we just did that. We went to the beach a lot also, practically every day. Because all that tourist money goes somewhere, and that's to maintaining a surprisingly clean beach, given the party atmosphere. We did make an excursion to Phuket Town, which I gotta say, I'm more impressed than last time. I think I missed the "nice" part, with its colonial style houses and kitchy shops. It reminded me a lot of Penang, Malaysia (which, standby for that!) We went to these little one-room museums, which are mostly not worth mentioning. However, I have to mention one thing. The star attraction of Phuket, which we knew nothing about, but just stumbled upon in the old town. The Thavorn Hotel Museum.

This is a place that could only exist in Thailand, because it's just so goddam weird. Let me paint you a picture: You open a hotel in the 1960s. It's the nicest, first foreigner run 5-star hotel in the city. Put no money into maintaining it. Open a mining business. Start collecting toys. Take an interest in ancient Chinese medicine. Get really into garage sales. Mining business fails. Buy a farm. Think that one giant alligator skull is cool, but 5 are better. Decide you need to put this all in your failing hotel, along with a fresh haul of WWII Army Surplus gear.

You have just recreated the Hotel Thavorn Experience, and you can see it all for $1.50.

This place just defies all logic. Every corner, I had absolutely no idea what I would see next. Literally you're in a vintage hotel (where people still stay, mind you), but then you turn the corner and there's some sort of excavator. Turn another corner and you have a collection of creepy dolls. Turn another, and there's a bunch of old pianos. I don't know why this place exists, and it just made me awe in wonder. I never knew what I would find next, and the whole time my brain could not compute the randomness of what I was seeing. A++, 5 stars, would recommend.

It was at this point we intended to go back to China. But that was a big "nope", for reasons discussed on the previous blogs. With Ella's visa running out, we had to find another place lay low for a while. We decided on Penang, Malaysia, getting the visa just the night before we were scheduled to fly out (this seems to be a thing, recently). I think for every one of these "last minute visa" days, it took a year off my life. Please. Never again.

After a short flight, we were in Penang. Of course, "I had been here before." But I like Penang, a lot. It's probably my favorite place to chill in Malaysia. While I do maintain Ipoh is amazing, and has the kindest people on the planet, there isn't much to do there after a day or so. Penang has tons of stuff to do, which is good, because we were honestly just waiting until when (if) we could go back to China. We were planning for the possibility of being in Penang a month, so we didn't set ambitious schedules. Mostly eating Indian food, because I'd say Penang is one of the best places in the world to eat it. Of course, India is great too, but Penang is just so much more walkable and pleasant. You also never have to worry about cleanliness, safety, or being scammed. To top it off, everyone is just so damned friendly, Malaysia is the real land of smiles (sorry Thailand - I still love you). We saw some of the stuff I did last time, but also went on a street art hunt. There's a lot of that to go around in Penang, and I think Ella particularly enjoyed how many cats are around, both in art form and real. Of course there was also some kitchy museums, such as the Durian Museum (ooOOOoo) and Sun Yat Sen's former place. I've been to many of his former homes, that dude really got around. We also stopped by the beach, which was definitely not as crowded as Phuket's. Still nice, but I still think Koh Samet is probably the best beach I've been to.

Now here's where our story takes a sharp turn into serious-town. Before I start, let me say that everyone is fine, and it all turned out okay. With that ominous intro, here we go:

Ella had been feeling particularly low-energy lately, but we had been walking under the sun. I've learned that's par for the course with her, sunlight drains her energy like crazy, even with hats and sunscreen. This time was particularly bad though. The next morning, we decided not to go out and just rest for the day. I went out to get us lunch, came back, and found her on the floor of the hostel lobby.

Uh oh.

She was really not feeling well, and came down to get help. An ambulance was called, and we went to the hospital. The triage doctor checked her vitals, didn't see any big emergency, so we did some tests. And waited. And waited. And mostly things were fine. Some messed up electrolyte levels, probably due to her stomach being not-so-happy with her the past few days. They discharged us and send us on our way, along with some medicine. But Ella felt something was still wrong. We hadn't even left the hospital yet before turning back around. This time, they admitted her to see what was up. But, consider the timing when all of this happened, and especially where we live... Yup. This was about to turn into a big deal. They quarantined us in this trailer of sorts, in the parking lot. Now, at this point, I felt this was a silly thing to do. Not that they're cautious, that's great. But we had been waiting around in the hospital for half a day so, you guys kind of missed your chance. After a while, and even speaking with the director of the hospital, they determined we were safe, and she could be admitted. After waiting forever, Ella got a bed around 4am. She had not brought anything, even proper clothes, so I went back to get some things and sleep. Despite our near-celebrity status and a team of doctors watching, I understandably didn't sleep well.

The next two days were pretty uneventful. A lot of resting, tests, monitoring. Physically everything was fine. Ella continued to slowly get her strength back, her stomach began cooperating, and she began sleeping less. It's still an ongoing thing, about a week later. But we're getting back to normal. Anyway, the time eventually came for her to be discharged. This is where I remembered "Ah crap. I have no idea how much this will cost." When they admitted her, they asked for 1600 ringit ($380). I had about 800 on me, and they said that was fine for now.

For now.

So I assume when leaving, I'm going to pay at least the other 800, plus who knows what. I go to the desk, they look over the papers, and I could tell something was up. The guy was talking to the manager, and said there was "an issue". Let me tell you - that 5 minutes of waiting to find out what "the issue" was felt like 100. I didn't even have a ballpark of what the bill would be. Eventually, the guy came to talk to me and said, "The problem is you paid 800 when checking in. Well, the bill for everything was 600. So we owe you 200 ringit, we just need to get the money."

Whew! That was a load off my mind, and will definitely be the only time in my life that a hospital pays me. And hey, two nights in a bed, free ambulance, 3 meals a day, and a health checkup for 600 ringit ($140), who needs a hotel? I'm going to stay in a Malaysian hospital next time I visit.

This is the point where everyone in America picks up their jaw that a stay in a hospital costs $140. Or maybe they're still passed out by the words "free" and "ambulance" being next to each other. And ya'll wonder why I left.

For Ella's recovery/my work week, we booked a nice Airbnb condo out in the suburbs. We honestly didn't do a darn thing while we were there, just chilled and ate. I'm sure I'll have another blog post about teaching online, seeing as how I'll be doing it for the foreseeable future, but I like it. And now, back in Shanghai, I feel good to be home. It's been an interesting, but stressful month. Right now, a degree of normalcy sounds really, really appealing. Even if I can't go outside.

Previously, on "Virus Travels"!

Our heroes were cut off from their home, enduring the terrible fate of being stuck on a Thai beach. With their visas running out, things aren't looking well for our dynamic duo. Where will they go next? Stay tuned for today's episode!

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They went to Malaysia and everything is fine.

A few folks have asked me if everything is still alright. First, thanks for your concern. But yes, everything is fine. Penang has been a good home to us, and in the 2 and a half weeks we've been here, I've noticed a big change in attitude. When we first arrived, the news was dominated with COVID-19. Now people are not too worried. Yes it's serious, and previously I said on Facebook it was currently as deadly as the flu. Which, at the time it was believed to be. Now we know that's not the case, with the number somewhere around 2-3%. Outside of Hubei and Wuhan though, the number is closer to 1%. I'm not trying to downplay its severity. This is still really bad. Each number is a person, and it's easy to loose sight of that. But as we've learned more about it, and see the numbers of new cases fall by the day, it doesn't seem to worry people as much anymore. Everyone isn't rushing to get masks anymore, and things are starting to return to normal. I said last time how everyone was taking it super seriously, and that's true. Disinfecting everything and thoroughly washing hands has become the norm. But it's changed from "I'm doing this because I'm scared." to "This is normal."

So this is the part where I complain about how the mostly, American news is covering this. In short, they're still doing a bad job. But instead I'd like to focus more on what people are not doing. Let's say there was a big tragedy in Louisiana. And Americans just said, "Wow, that sucks. Hope they get it under control." That's about the level of support from the Western world I'm seeing for Wuhan right now. Now you could argue that there's less support because it's in a different country, but I don't see that during the Australian wildfires. And I'm not trying to shame anyone, because donating any time/money/support for any cause is more than you have to do, and it's appreciated. But it does worry me that by appearances, Americans seem less concerned about helping because of language, politics, or something else. Even dumb stuff like this...

...really means a lot. It makes me happy, and shows that people care, even if superficially, about my home. I imagine it makes people in Wuhan feel especially good.

Alright that's too much negativity. Really this whole trip has been very positive for me. I've even started work on Monday by doing online teaching. And I gotta say, the kids seem to be much more engaged this way than they were in class. Maybe it's the computer, maybe it's being at home, maybe it's the parents likely looming over their shoulder. But I'd like this to continue to be a thing. And good news for that. School was scheduled to begin early March, but Shanghai has just announced no school indefinitely. I'm thinking April we'll get back to normal, but who knows? This online teaching is good experience for me, as I've never done it seriously before.

So you may be thinking that means we're going to stay on the beach until... who knows when. While tempting, I just want to go home. With cases and concerns dropping, Shanghai is coming back to life now, although certainly there are differences. There are some restrictions in place, for example no large gatherings, you must (by law) wear a mask when you go out, etc., things are going back to normal. So much is done with apps nowadays, you don't need to leave your apartment if you don't want, and my friends that stayed over the holiday have been fine (albeit bored) by living on home delivery of groceries, food, and packages. Except now they leave them on a table in a common area, and you walk downstairs to get them. Doable. Most of my friends and colleagues have returned, so we're going back as well, once we get a good flight. With the no school or mass gatherings rule in place, I'm not too worried. Kids are gross little germ factories, and while I like them, I don't like them THAT much. And after all this, they're going to be the best trained kids in the world on washing their hands.