Just one reason Morocco is definitely better than China!

On the bus from Fez to Merzouga, police found inside an unclaimed suitcase full of drugs.

I've been in the desert village Merzouga for 3 days. Every time I see the red sand dunes, they're just as beautiful as when I saw them the first time, and I know I'll miss the sight a lot after I leave here. Only the abandoned water wells remind me that the beauty has a lethal side.

Just one reason Morocco is better than China: it allows Facebook!

Happy new year to ya'll!

Tannerie, backgammon and loads of hash...

Yesterday was half stressful and half relaxing, but fun overall.

I got up at 5:30am and walked around the medina to take photos, then I came to the Tannerie where thousands of goat skins are dyed everyday in dozens of small open pits. Goat skins are carried in by donkeys, then they are thrown into specific pits for desired colours. This is all done solely by human hands and feet, which dates back for centuries. I stayed till noon and took hundreds of photos, hopefully will have a couple keepers.

When I got back to the guesthouse, there was an English guy Ben who told me about his trip to Merzouga in the Sahara desert and recommended this tour organiser called Mohammed Sahara. We walked over to Mohammed Sahara's cafe and I was immediately impressed by him and agreed to paying Dh 350 for the camel riding tour with a night sleeping in tent in the desert. Now I have to talk a bit about this Mr. Sahara. He runs a little cafe here in the medina, and says he has family in Merzouga who run the tours. However, Mr Sahara is locally better known for his hash supplies (the sort that you would have on speed dial), even some policemen are his frequent customers. So the cafe is popular with locals, tourists, muslims, christians and others.

At the cafe I also met Ben's companion, Adolf, from Iceland. And Americans Josh, Amanda, Emily, David and a few Spaniards. Everyone was having an awesome time, and I was especially proud that I learned to play Backgammon, and it was fun! Just a couple of hours ago, this girl Emily was robbed in a back alley while walking with her boyfriend, and she was slit in the arm by a machete! We saw her stitched up elbow with medical wraps. Later on we found out that the police had caught the bad guy and who was said to be a junkie. What a night! Finally came back to the guesthouse around 2am.

Tomorrow, overnight bus to Merzouga.

Not Chinese tea vs. Moroccan tea, but Chinese tea + Moroccan tea

Took a grand taxi from Meknes to the ancient city of Fez today, which cost just Dh 20, or US$3 under. In case you ask what a grand taxi is (you know you did). Well, if you are still in university (that means if you are drunk and stoned most of the time), then a grand taxi is a Mercedez sedan that is older than you, and has 2 passengers in the front and 4 in the back (not counting the dead one in the trunk, jk).

So it is almost new year, most hotels are already full, especially the cheap ones. I had to knock door to door to find a bed that is within my price range which is less than Dh 100, but it is all Dh 150 upward (and my request to pitch my tent on their open roofs were politely refused). Finally, with the help of a young man, whom I tipped Dh 10 later, there is a family guesthouse that has a room (which fits in only a single bed). It is run by a Berber woman, and she wants Dh 90. Now the bargaining begins. After several rounds of serious yet cheerful price slashing by me and compromising by her, we finally agreed to paying Dh 150 for 2 nights. I felt like a winner. Maybe she did, too!

After I settled in and was about to go out and do my tourist duties, she invited me for tea and snack (now we know who the real winner was, haha.... jk). She showed me some Chinese green tea and some mint tea leaves, then she boiled them in the pot together, and added spoons of sugar. So the resulting flavour is strongly minty and sweet! It seemed just what I needed, now I am ready to get lost in this maze like ancient city.

Oh, her name is Titi (roughly translated from the Berber pronouciation). If this guesthouse had a name, I would highly recommend it to you!

Rain, rain, rain, Morocco is wetter than I thought.

[This Moroccan keyboard layout is so different, and therefore so difficult to type on] Arrived to Casablanca yesterday. After two 9 hour flights and a 4 hour stopover, I was so tired that I slept for 12 hours last night. Cant wait to head further south for some drier weather.

Leaving for Africa tomorrow

Dubai, Morocco, then West Africa.

What is driving like in China?

urmmm..... it's like Walmart on Black Friday, but everyday!

1st post from behind the Great Firewall of China

If you're reading this, then you're most likely living in a country other than China (and maybe North Korea etc).

In here, no Facebook, no Youtube...... even most of the free proxy websites are blocked. And most importantly, my favourite online dating website (haha, just kidding).

So today I finally got fed up and decided to use a paid VPN service to re-connect with the outside world and enjoy once again the free flow of information that I had so long taken for granted.

But still this paid/temporary access to free information cannot take away a strong feeling/fear in me that I and millions other Internet users in China are being watched 24/7. It's frustrating.

So much to love and to hate about China.

NOT happy with the Moroccan Consulate

I just received my passport back from the consulate and got the visa stamped on it (I was getting worried I might not get it back in time for my flight to Beijing this Sunday). However, they only put down "un voyage" on the visa as opposed to 2 entries that I had applied for and paid for.

The single entry visa costs $31, and 2-entry visa costs $46. So now I think the Moroccan Consulate screwed this(me, to be precise) up and OWES me $15!!

[UPDATE, 7 Dec 2009] After emailing the consulate,  now they are sending back to me the $15.

My 1st post, of course it's about food!

Ever since Jeff took me to the Kogi taco truck in west LA last Thursday, I'd been craving for more. Now one of the Kogi trucks came to Fullerton (where I live) tonight. After waiting in line for well over 1 hour, my aunt, cousin and I ordered 15 short rib tacos, 1 kimchi quesadilla & 1 black jack quesadilla. You know, food like this really gives me an orgasmic feeling. So tonight, I was one happy boy ;)