My life in Cambodia

 This is me.

 

These are the things that crawl around while I sleep. It's a beetle, about half the size of your thumb. They're also the stupidest creatures on the planet. They can fly, but always flit about like a drunk man in a helicopter, crashing into walls and the ceiling.

 

These are some of my students, I volunteer at a nearby school and I teach English to some of the kids around town. They're happy because they got t-shirts from a volunteer.

This is them cleaning up our classroom. The fellow in back is our Khmer teacher- his name is Passet and he helps with the translating.

This is the general road condition (dirt / gravel) and the general backdrop. (ocean) We did get a few paved roads put in last year though.

This is where I spend most of my days. Seriously. The water is almost as warm as bathwater, and it's a joy to swim in. Why would I leave?

This is what I play with. Cambodia is full of wild cats and dogs. They breed like crazy, so there are oodles of puppies and kittens.

 
This is us trying out our first art day. It was, as expected, chaos. I never should have brought out the glitter. There is still glitter all over our floors and tables.

 
This is the the kids playing after class. I have to maintain order or they'll fight over the frisbee. They're great kids though, and I really enjoy playing around with them.

Here are some cute monkeys. A friend showed them to me, in a random spot of the jungle. It's not part of a nature reserve or a zoo, it's just where they hang out.

 
Here's a video of some cute, baby monkeys.

This is a scorpion. A living one. A friend of mine found it at her hostel and kept it as a pet. His name is Napoleon and he's huge. Yea, don't walk barefoot.

Getting off the grid. Going to Cambodia.

There's a lot to dislike about Cambodia. Poverty, hunger, and corruption are all rampant. Crossing the border is a pain in the ASS. There's no such thing as health and safety laws. Ground travel is always hard, as most of the roads look to have been built around the late 60's.

But my first day back in my little beach town, I was reminded why I returned. It's hard to explain without sounding a little pretentious, but it's the first place I've been to in a long time that felt real.

What do I mean by real?

Well, I think that in this modern world it's become hard to find something that's not polished and glazed over to resemble everything else. We westerners have a tendency to embrace the facade; we go to a foreign country and then eat only Burger King and Mcdonald's. We visit somewhere exotic, then expect the locals to speak perfect English. We spend so much time and energy getting as far away from home as possible, and then seek out all things familiar.

And so many people encourage this behavior that when you truly want to get away... there just aren't many options left. It's gotten so bad that I find myself fleeing from places with Mcdonald's, and movie theatres, and Disney gift shops. I've run from paved roads, and shopping malls, and women with little chihuahuas inside Gucci handbags. I've run from big screen TV's and people who talk about what embarrassing thing celebrities are doing now. I've run and run and now... I've arrived.

Birthday boy in Bangkok

The king turned 87 on December 5^th, and Bangkok threw him one hell of a party. 
 
The king even made an appearance, or, almost. His appearance was canceled at the last minute. Hundreds of thousands (millions?) of people wore yellow in honor of the king, and as you can see in the pictures, yellow is everywhere.
 

Politics divides the citizens of Thailand, with people fiercely loyal to either side. But the king, who has very little power in the government, tends to stay away from politics. Instead he goes around the country giving money to poor people and creating projects that make jobs. You know, things the government should be doing. So, while people may have different political loyalties, they all love the king.

He commands great respect in the country, and his face is EVERYWHERE. Just look at the people who turned out to see him. This picture below represents a TINY fraction of the people who went to honor the king. Seriously, to my left was a massive field, the size of three or four football fields- filled end to end with people.

Also, obligatory fireworks.

Side note: People often think of Bangkok as the place to come party and get drunk and be obnoxious. But that's really only with foreigners. Even though there were massive crowds, the locals were super respectful. I didn't see anyone drinking, and I didn't see anyone acting like an ass. I mean, come one, this is Thailand. Not Korea...

What's that smell?

The end of summer has a unique smell in Seoul. I liken it to the subtle odor of burning farts; other people say it's more like vomit. Either way it’s not pleasant.

In September or so, these berries emerge from the Gingko trees that are all around Seoul.

The berries fall to the ground, I actually got hit by a few on their way down. People will step on the berries, as they coat the sidewalk and they’re impossible to avoid.

As they get squished and bake in the autumn sun, they let out a pungent fragrance. The skunks of the plant world maybe. So if you're in Seoul in late summer / early autumn, watch out for the berries!

Check out this article if you really want to learn all about smelly trees of Seoul.

http://e360.yale.edu/feature/peter_crane_history_of_ginkgo_earths_oldest_tree/2646/

The Pope is in Seoul

The pope is in Seoul, and it’s kind of a big deal. It’s the first time a pope has come to Asia in 15 years. Also, North Korea threw a bit of a tantrum at his arrival, launching some rockets into the ocean. I don’t know what they were hoping to accomplish with this action.


Seoul practically shut down at his arrival. There were police EVERYWHERE. Seriously, everywhere. Estimates put the police numbers at around 30,000. Estimates also put the number of attendees at the pope’s mass to be around a million people. An actual million people. So the streets and train stations within a 5 kilometer perimeter were all shut down.


There were also some protests when the pope arrived. These protests weren't against the pope, but were using his arrival as an opportunity to highlight the issues going on in Seoul. Two of these big issues are workers’ rights and wages, as well as the ferry tragedy, which took the lives of hundreds of people, mostly high school aged children.

Overall, it's been an interesting experience to see just how a city reacts when the pope comes to town. Also, pope shirts...

Japan on $30

Question: it’s your last night in Japan. You have no lodging. You have 30 dollars, minus the 7 dollars you spent on ramen. What do you for a whole day and night?

As an icing on the cake, all the hostels, hotels, and couchsurfing spaces are full because of a festival you didn’t know about when you booked your tickets. So even if you had money, you STILL wouldn’t have a bed to sleep in.

The answer to the quandary… Manga café!

Manga cafes are open 24 hours. They have a vast supply of Japanese comic books and computers, and you can even rent a small room. Other times it’s more of a cubicle.

You pay per hour, usually between 3 and 6 dollars per hour. I got my cubicle and it was surprisingly comfortable. The floor of the cubicle was a pad, about as soft as a bed, and it had enough room for me to stretch out in, and even came with a pillow. The people were all very quiet, and there was even a shower in the bathroom.

Now, due to my lack of funds I could only afford a cubicle for 6 hours. 9 pm to 3 am. I was out on the street at 3 am, and had several hours until my 12 o’clock departure.

Having spent 7 dollars on the ramen, 20 dollars on my manga café, I had 3 dollars left. Now, in most countries, 3 dollars won’t get you much more than a candy bar and a soda. Not so in Japan! You actually have a lot of options here.

711, Family Mart, Daily Miyazaki are all convenience stores with some great options. $1.60 slabs of fried chicken. $1 rice balls. $1 cups of sake (for the drinker on a budget). But when you’re looking for cost, taste, and the feeling of being full, nothing beats a Matsuya (or the almost as good Yoshinoya).

You’re gonna want to go with the gyudon. This is a bowl of rice with strips of grilled beef and onions on top. It’s served alongside a small bowl of miso soup and all the water you can drink. The cheapest option and smallest portion size is about $2.30. But a $2.80 bowl is surprisingly filling, and many people actually struggle to finish this one.

So at this point it’s 4 am, I’m out of money, and have about 8 hours left until my departure. Not a whole lot to be done. I had no money for bus fare so I walked to the ferry (about two miles away) and spent the rest of the morning enjoying the sunrise, practicing my Japanese with a homeless man, and trying to stay out of the rain.

Long story short: when you’ve got next to no money, and no substantial options for food or lodging, just know there’s a manga café and a Matsuya waiting for you. Also, bring cash to Japan, never expect a foreign bank card to work, even if it’s worked countless times before.

Korea (in pictures and video)

This is a toilet

This is an outdoor gym

This is a statue

This is how the cool kids cross rivers

This is a frozen-over, Han River

These are some wild bunnies (they're so used to humans that you can practically walk up to them and pet them. Also, this picture was taken about 100 feet from the outdoor gym. Yea, this park kicks ass. Pump iron, AND play with bunnies.)

This is how poor people exercise (Before he discovered there was an outdoor gym 5 minutes from his house, or when he's feeling lazy, or when the yellow dust from China becomes intolerable. It gets really bad actually- the dust, not the laziness.)

Although, I shouldn't joke about poverty- this is what REAL poverty looks like. (He's collecting recyclables to sell them. These people, mostly elderly, can be seen all over Seoul)

This is a traditional Korean style hotel. (The floor is the bed- seriously you sleep on the hard floor. And the tiny door is the door to the bathroom.)
 

This is food (donkasu)

This is a bakery

In Korea, People walk where ever they want (except on the sidewalk, that's for cars)

This is a recent protest (Many workers are also having a sleep-in around the Samsung building. Hundreds of people, sleeping on the ground in sleeping bags, trying to get their point across)

FAILURE

Let’s talk about failure.

Failure is one of our biggest fears, probably up there with drowning, or talking to a cute girl. This fear is so strong that we pass up great opportunities for relationships, jobs, life experiences, and friends. And it’s a shame.

What many people don’t realize is that failure is the greatest teacher we will ever have. It has been teaching us since we could burp, and it will follow us for the rest of our lives. It will be there each time we fall, and it will be there each time we succeed, just waiting for its chance to offer us another lesson. 

My advice to people out there is to not shy away from their failures. Embrace your mistakes. Take the time to examine and learn from what you lack, then come back stronger and determined as hell to succeed next time.

Now, I want to share with you some of my failures; believe me, there are MANY. It took me well over a year to design my first book cover (See the book cover here!), and in that time I made A LOT of mistakes. Like, a lot. And in the spirit of owning up to my mistakes, I’d like to share with you some of these atrocities.

This was one of my earliest designs, and it
depicts a fictitious character in the book-
The Bear Dragon

I tried crossing out words to make it seem more mysterious

This was one of my favorite covers
because it so well depicts a scene
that Charlie imagines in his head
late in the book.

My very first cover design for the book.
Oh, the nostalgia...

Thanks for checking out some of my failures. I have dozens more just like them, possibly more. And while these covers were not good enough to be the face of my published book, they represent a significant part of my education in design. I'm grateful for the time I invested in them, and they have definitely helped to make my newer book covers MUCH better. You can check out the cover that I eventually DID use for this book here, and you can also see the cover for my newest book here.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

Check out JDBenabides.com for all my work!

My name is Julian Benabides, although my books say J. D. Benabides on their covers.
I'm passionate about two things right now: writing and traveling. Sure, I enjoy photography and teaching as well- but when you talk about a passion- something that starts a fire in you that you just can't contain, it really comes down to two things. Writing. And Traveling.

So I'm making this blog to pass on my knowledge, share my embarrassing stories, and hopefully entertain a couple people out there. I'd love to offer some travel tips for those who don't want to get scammed, and those who are looking for the courage to take a chance on adventure. I'd also love to give some advice to the young author who, more than anything, just wants to see his/her name on the cover of a book.

People advise against mixing interests in your blogs; they say to limit your blog to just one thing. But I honestly think that writing and traveling have a lot in common. Traveling (By traveling I mean: $3 hostels, backpacking, sharing your bed with strangers you just met on the bus) and writing both involve a great sense of adventure and discovery. They both push you to be better than what you are right now. They both require a good deal of dedication. And they will both drive you to HATE them at times. (If Writing and Traveling were people, I'd love them about 80% of the time, and want to strangle them about 5% of the time. The other 15% we'd just be friends.)

So join me on my travels, follow me as I write books, and just remember- you're awesome.