Through the Eyes of a Five Year Old Wanderer

June 14, 2011. We've been home for over a month now. Bella's back in school and loving it. Mark and I were not able to get on the TOC list as we had hoped. We're poor but happy, enjoying some quality 'us' time which we haven't for a long, long time.  We've been playing tennis, cleaning the house, riding our bikes and talking about what we've learned from our family travels ... along with dreaming about future adventures. This is the last post for my blog Travels with Bella. Bella will be turning six at the end of the month. The following post is part of my yearly letter to her.
Thank you for taking the time to read and sharing our adventures with us. 

The real voyage of discovery lies not in discovering new lands but in seeing with new eyes.

(Marcel Proust)

Dearest little chi,

In this year of five, your papa and I took you wandering to far away places. With time, the colours and details of our globetrotting adventures will most likely fade. This book is intended to remind you of why our family took a pause in our busy lives to travel. Together we collected experiences and captured moments which brought us so much closer together in lands so far away. May the blessings along our path this year continue to be bearings throughout your journey in life.

Thank you for showing us the world through the lens of a five year old. You made us don on glittery glasses to see a world filled with magic, play and possibilities. The wisdom of a five year old embraces each moment... a little zen master who understands what it means 'just to be'. There is no need to rush. When it is time to move forward, one must skip with joy in her steps. In your exploration there is an innocence that is so refreshing. There is a curiosity that begins with questions rather than needing answers. It is easy to see the goodness in strangers, to open your arms and invite them in. Our journey was indeed enlightened through the eyes of our five year old wanderer.

Along the way, we have taught one another invaluable life lessons. We worked as a team and navigated our way through new territory as a family. Together we solved problems and helped one another. The road of travel is not always easy. With backpacks on, we challenged ourselves to learn about the world and to take risks beyond our comfort zone. In doing so, we return with new insights about the world we live in and about ourselves. We have reminded ourselves that not all who wander all lost...


I wish you grand adventures, my love, whether they be in your own backyard or to distant lands.
 Mama Chi

Happy birthday my little lotus blossom.  

May you always...

...take time to pause

...find your strength

...rise above

...be mindful in your steps

...celebrate the princess within

...sense your balance

...smell the flowers

...bask in sweet light

...make new friends

... see opportunities in every grain of sand

...follow the path to waterfalls

...walk in the woods

...rejoice in ceremonies

...meditate

...have a twinkle of mischief

...respect your elders

...learn about different cultures

...send blessings into the world

...have a village of loving hands

...be enchanted

...paddle your own boat

...run carefree

...practice your skills

...believe in magic

...be in awe

...delight in natural wonders

...love and be loved

...share your journey

...see outside the box

...find your own rhythm

...dance with abandon

...have a skip in your steps

...care for battered wings

...have eyes wide for wonder

...keep your family close

...be an intrepid explorer

I watch as my little girl returns from her journey with confidence in her steps and a knowing that there is a bigger world out there. In our wanderings, we confirm truths on how we want to live our lives. I truly believe that the blessings on this journey have gently planted themselves into your heart.
Be patient. Be kind. Be gentle.
I look forward to watching you bloom on your path.
blessings, 
Mama Chi
June 2011

Say not, "I have found the truth," but rather, ”I have found a truth.”
Say not, "I have found the path of the soul."  Say rather, "I have met the soul walking upon my path."
For the soul walks upon all paths...
The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.

Kahlil Gibran 

The ABC's of Travel

It has been a week or so since we set foot back in Canada. Mark, Bella and I sit together around the table at our Mayne Island home. Our clocks are still adjusting to this new time zone. It is refreshing to breathe in the clean island air. It is comforting to be back home. Tonight we reflect on our adventures in lands which seem so far away. The alphabet becomes our storyboard. Here are our ABC's of Travel, according to Anita, Mark and Bella...

A 

Australia, airplane, airport, active, acrobats, Ashley, amethyst, Auntie Angie, Auntie Amanda

B

 BIG Buddha, reclining buddha, bamboo swing, Blinky Bill, boomerang, Boroburdor, Bali, Bondi Beach, banyan tree, bats, bicycles, becak, batik, Bund, bargain, blue bottles, bumper cars, 

bouncing castle, backpack, beaches

C

China, cormorant, crystal, chopsticks, countries (5!), cockatoo, 'Climb on!', Chinatown, cherry blossoms, crack in the pants, caravan, Chengdu, Cam

D

dragonfly, dog, Dali, dancing, Dragon Snow Mountain, dunes, drum

E

elephants, escalators, Eric, eat, earthquake, empress, emperor, 'eye' spy, entrance

F

figure 8 knot, fashion, family reunion, friends, fun, fish, floods, full moon, flags, fast train, fruit carving, fish spa, foot massage, faeries

G

Great Wall, goggles, gamelin, Georgina, giraffe

H

horse, hostels, holy bath, heavy bags, Hop-On/Hop Off bus, Hagan Daz, Hong Kong Disneyland, hammock

I

Indonesia, Ian, imagination, ipad, incense, ice cream, indigo, instruments

J

Jucy van, J.J., Java, Jakarta, Ko Jum, jeep, jetlag, journal, jam

K

kangaroo, koala, kecak, kite, Khao San Road, kayak, King of Thailand

L

love, lifeguard, lanterns, long time, longtail boat, Lijiang, lotus pond

M

monsoon, movies, momos, marmot, Marianna, monkey, markets, mango shakes, map, museum, Muk, motorcycle

N

Ni hao!, noodles, night, new, naked, nature, net, noise

O

offerings, Opera House, overnight train, ocean olden times, Olympics

P

paddle, P, P's Guesthouse, paddle, Pillow, panda, pig, pelicans, postcards, prayer wheels, passport, plane

Q

quake!, quartz, quick, queue, Queen of Thailand, quail eggs

R

rockclimbing, ropes, rabbit, rice paddies, rubber

S

skipping, shells, sarong, swing, snake, sunsets, snorkelling, sunrise, squat toilets, swim, sandcastles, 

sand dunes, Shanxi, Singapore, Sydney, Space Mountain, Shanghai, shopping

T

tea tree lake, Thea Sisters, temples, Tim Tams, tree top walk, Thailand, toboggan, tandem bikes, tuk tuk, terracotta warriors

U

umbrella, Uncle C.K., Ubud

V

volcano, vomit, van trip, veggies, vendor, voyage

W

warrior, wallaby, Wayan, worship, wat, waterpark, waves, waterfall, Where in the World?

X

XOX, Xian

Y

yo yo, yak, yawn, Yogijarkarta, yummy, yogurt, yuan

Z

zhu zhu pet, zebra, zoo, zodiac, zzzz...

China

There are places on the road that are not easy to travel. Places where you find yourself immersed in uncomfortable surroundings which challenge your core values and drains the wanderlust within. China was such a place for me. Perhaps I entered its doors unprepared with no means to communicate and with a baggage of preconceived ideas and unrealistic expectations. I am not sure why there was such a disconnect for me as I stepped forward to explore my roots.

China. It is vast. Our travels consisted of one overnight train and 4 domestic flights. It is populated. Land of over a billion. You have to experience it to understand critical mass. The Forbidden City is far from forbidden. It is polluted. The smog makes your eyes water and you walk in an ever lingering layer of polluted grayness. Plastic bottles stack up high in landfills. It is noisy. Never a hour where a honk is not heard or a hacking spit of gob lands near you. It is toxic. Always wondering if there's lead in the paints. It is restricting. Not once was able to access my blog. It is aggressive. Pushy is an understatement. With the masses, it really is survival of the fitness. From shoving to get subway seats to budging through little kiddies in line at HK Disneyland, the term 'queue' doesn't not exist. It is consuming. All the name brands are here along massive glitzy avenues with crowds of shoppers wanting more, more and more. It is connected. Everyone has a cell phone. Rail tracks are being laid to link unthinkable rugged terrains in the furthest reaches of the territory. It is rapid.  Fast trains zoomed us from Shanghai to Suzhou in 30 minutes. You can take the bullet trains connecting Beijing and Shanghai and onward to the Silk Road in record time. It is ancient. The terracotta warriors date back 2000 years. Peking Man used fire and basic stone tools 600 000 years ago. It is agnostic. Not a sign of Easter here. It is communist. I feel an eerie sensation of a third eye watching. It is emotional to witness the faces of elders watching the raising of the  red flag while young pioneers stand in salute with their red sashes around their necks. Mao smiles from the huge portrait that adorns the Gate of Heavenly Peace. A guard dare not smiles at the crowd. A line waits hours to see the Great Helmsman in his mausoleum. It is haunting. I get chills thinking about the tanks which rolled along Tian'an Men Square suppressing prodemocracy protesting students in 1989. How is all gets swept under the concrete rug. It is draining. My emotions get the better of me here. It is hard to explain. I am wiped by week five. It is corrupt. Fake jade stole to my mom, stolen paintings from our hotel and discovering that bribery works. It is fake. Knockoffs abound. A whole pirated film fest in Sichuan on a sick day. It is self centered. With the one child policy, I see little emperors and empresses being closely guarded. Play dates are more difficult to come by as everyone seem to protect their own. The intergenerational family unit is disintegrating, no longer residing beneath the same roof. It is disturbing. Ai Wei Wei, artist and activist, is arrested a few weeks before our arrival. The Jasmine Revolutionaries mysteriously disappear. Tourists are denied entry to certain destinations while monks show tanks on their cellphones. It is modern. The Beijing of bicycles has been taken over by a continual stream of automobiles in a perpetual traffic jam. A disappointing rickshaw tour of the hutongs (narrow alleyways of old neighbourhoods) in Beijing, lead us on a money grabbing tacky visit to swanky real estate housing catering for the Olympics, making me wonder where the original residents disappeared to. It is foreign. I can't understand a word or read the slogans on the walls. Ni hao and xie xie are in my limited repertoire. It is hard. By far, the most difficult part of my travels anywhere. I connect with neither the country nor its people. There is even a greater disconnect with my heart and soul. Even the most prettiest of landscapes are tainted with a superficial wash.
Yet it is my heritage. The reason we decided to pay China a visit in the first place. With its poor human rights record, I hesitated to travel here. I eventually decided it was important to come and witness it for myself. In doing so, I leave with more questions than I have answers. With more frustrations than insights.
The journey here, however, was special on another level. We had a family reunion in Beijing. From there we traveled together as an extended family for 3 weeks to Yunnan Province and then to Shanghai. My mom, dad, my sisters Auntie Angie, Auntie Mandy and their husbands Tony and JJ made their way here. We organized a family tour which provided us with our own personal guide and van. Lisa in Beijing, Eric in Dali and Ivy in Lijiang. They were all very pleasant. Lisa liked to laugh, Eric presented us with roses and Ivy loved to sing. The sights were pretty enough. The green rice paddies, the old cobblestone roads of the old tea and horse caravan trails, the colonial architecture in Shanghai, the grandeur of the Snow Dragon Mountains to name a few. However, the treasures and culture which I had expected to find in this ancient civilization did not reveal themselves to me. The real beauty of this trip was spending time with my family. It was the smile on my mom's face along the Great Wall, standing strong with all her girls surrounded by a canvas of pink cherry blossoms. It was the endless enthusiasm of my dad to play hacky sack at the Temple of Heaven and the thrill of riding a tadem bike. It was playing family majong in Shaxi, enjoying communal meals and cycling along country roads in Yunnan. We laughed, we vented and we vomited. We supported one another in all our trials and tribulations. Mao may have his slogan of Long Live the People's Republic of China. I prefer to rejoice in the Lau Reunion.