The Rebecca Project

Latest Posts

A New Chapter: Heading Home to Reconnect with Myself

Published by Rebecca Raspberry // The Rebecca Project

Plans were made a while ago, now, around pizza and diet soda when both of us were missing home, missing our families and needing some space from constantly being around each other. A holiday from the holiday. Some time alone. A reboot. And then it happened. The day arrived where two big jets would take the American and I in completely opposite directions.

A big, ugly jet just took the love of my life far away from me, from South East Asia. This is not the first time such a thing has happened, and it won’t be the last, I’m sure. But that doesn’t alter the fact I’m still melancholy. He’s my best mate, and we have spent every waking moment with each other for months on end. It’s odd not to have him around. I miss him more than I imagined I would.

My plane has yet to arrive, so I’ve been wandering the three terminals at Changi for hours, thinking, feeling, and embracing the sadness. I feel vulnerable right now. I feel exposed, highly visible and alone. It reads on my face, in my body language. I can’t ascertain if I am hungry or just feel as though I should be.

This trip to South East Asia has been so hard and it’s taken a lot out of both of us. Somewhere in the nexus of the Unites States, Australia and Thailand, my sense of self went AWOL. I have forgotten what it feels like to just be me. To consider my own needs and wants, and not have to compromise. To understand what it is that my heart truly desires, and what I seek to achieve, what brings me satisfaction. When your sense of self is tied up in someone else, they are unable to bring you happiness, irrespective of what they do. I have fallen into the habit of not thinking for myself, and ignoring my own needs.

Taking some time out for myself to put the pieces back together.

This next month or two of life is about reconnecting with myself. I need to be ‘cool’ with myself again. My journey starts here, in Changi Airport. Alone. I’m on a mission to return home to Sydney and to reconnect with my loved ones. But I’m also there to work on reconnecting with myself. I am so grateful to be able to drop everything and do this, and I am lucky to have a partner as phenomenal as the American. Supportive, encouraging and wise.

They say that all hearts require absence to make them grow fonder. This is our aim, and we hope in the meantime to make ourselves into better versions of ourselves. I hope we succeed.

Celebrating Australia Day, Stateside

Published by Rebecca Raspberry // The Rebecca Project

I have penned a little something in honor of today, Australia Day, over at Ustralian: the hub for everything Aussie in the United States.

Whenever I see that old Qantas ad with the schoolkids singing Peter Allen’s ‘I Still Call Australia Home’, I break into large, heaving, homesick sobs. Those words, the sweeping music, the images of the physical beauty of the country in which I spent most of my life – it’s the perfect combination to tug on the heartstrings of Australian expats everywhere. Even though I have not lived there for more than six years, I still call Australia home. Read more…

Australia Day is the day we give our nation three big cheers in honor of her birthday (and she’s looking pretty good for 225, don’t you think?). We kick back with family and friends, with good food, cold drinks and great conversation. It’s a day where we celebrate the traits that make us great: ingenuity, irreverence, cheekiness with a keen sense of humour. It’s also a great opportunity to engage in hearty debate over the issues that affect us, things like whether we should ditch the Queen and become a republic, and whether or we should change our flag.

As for our Australia Day celebrations here in Kuala Lumpur, they’ve been pretty low-key. We’re currently staying in a pretty reasonable hotel in Chinatown. I spent part of the day in the lobby of a fancy hotel, enjoying a Teh Tarik whilst I did a little writing. I wandered around the Petaling markets whilst they were setting up, and then returned to our room to listen to Triple J’s Hottest 100. I have barely heard any new songs in 2012, but I was pleased to hear that Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop” scored the #1 spot. I first heard Thrift Shop when I was back in Sydney last November and thought it was pretty bad ass.

And tonight, we added this little guy to our family unit. We call him Teddy.

We don't buy trinkets when overseas as a rule. But we both fell in love with Teddy, so he's coming home with us.

We don’t buy trinkets when overseas as a rule. But we both fell in love with Mr Bean’s Teddy, so he’s coming home with us.

Happy Birthday, ‘Straya!

Snapshot: Pets in Thailand

Published by Rebecca Raspberry // The Rebecca Project

*Warning: ultra-cute puppy photos in this post!

A dear friend, a dedicated animal activist, asked me about the treatment of animals in Thailand. I recall from my previous trip back to South East Asia that animals were not treated particularly well. But now, it seems to be a different story.

Dogs are carried in purses, and cats wear jackets. They are taken everywhere with the family, even on the back of motorbikes. One of our favourite cafes in Chiang Mai, the Funky Dog Cafe, was named after the owner’s favourite puppy. Even the dogs at the random backwater bus stations have seemed cared for. The American-style treatment of pets has arrived in Thailand, albeit to a lesser degree (most Thais don’t have $100 to burn on a diamonte-encrusted collar).

I still can’t ignore the fact that there are many animals being mistreated, particularly in the hunt for the tourist dollar. I actively chose not to ride the elephants, or cuddle a drugged-up tiger and I am happy with my choices.

But yes, there’s still a significant number of mangy street dogs, but far fewer than in memory. And many of them seem to have taken refuge in the grounds of the temples. There, they are fed and cared for by the monks. It’s nice to see.

Buddhists try to show kindness to all beings, and this includes animals. However, they believe that souls who are carrying misdeeds from their past life are reincarnated as animals. Animals cannot engage in acts of self-improvements, they are destined to be reborn as animals until their bad karma is exhausted.

Tea for One: Tasting Herbal Teas in Chiang Mai

Published by Rebecca Raspberry // The Rebecca Project

Spana Health Station in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Beneath a bright orange guesthouse, sits a small, unassuming tea shop in Chiang Mai’s Old Town. Guided by three pairs of shoes separated from their owners, I left my thongs at the door. I crossed the threshold, and found myself in a tea shop slash spa and body products shop. An interesting combination. The lights were dimmed slightly. I found myself whispering, “Sah wah dee kaaaaa,” to the woman behind the counter. She returned the pleasantry in full voice.

I had wandered into the shop for two reasons. One: I had tasted the sweet complexity of baelfruit tea during a Thai massage, and wanted to broaden my tea-drinking horizons even further. And two: My aim was to enjoy some ‘me’ time – a must when you’re travelling as a couple.

Lek was the woman who ran the tea/spa supply shop, called the Spana Health Station. I asked her about her teas, and she sprung into action like a lithe cat. She was passionate about her teas — it was so wonderful to connect with her. She was most gracious with her time, spending a good twenty minutes explaining the taste, preparation methods and benefits of her assortment of herbal and green teas.

Did I have any ailments?
What was I seeking to alleviate?
What tastes did I enjoy? Sour? Sweet? Bitter?
These were just some of the questions Lek asked me before she suggested a blue tea, called Butterfly Pea. Thais believe the Butterfly Pea quenches thirst, and improves both urination and eyesight. It sounded interesting, so I took a chance. Lek told me Butterfly Pea was actually a flower that she grows in her garden and assured me no actual butterflies were harmed in the making of this tea. I laughed.

Lek served the Butterfly Pea to me in a cute teacup with matching saucer, accompanied by a stick of cinnamon to be “used as a spoon, to stir,” she said. My taste buds encouraged me to add a little sweetness to the mellow brew. She offered me the choice of traditional sugar or stevia leaf, and I opted for the latter, adding two small leaves and stirring gently with the cinnamon stick.

It was perfect. The turquoise brew was refreshing, calming and different. I sat back in the little chairs on the shop’s front deck, soaked in the afternoon sun and watched the traffic wiz by.

I wrote in their Guest Book at Lek’s insistence. There were messages of encouragement from all over the world: Russia, Japan, Australia, Cyprus, Scotland, Argentina, England, the United States. It was interesting to see where the folks who love a good cuppa hail from. I asked Lek if I could take her photo, and she asked if she could take mine. We each snapped a few shots of each other, and a few moments later, my mug was smiling back at me from her Facebook page, immortalized forever at Spana CM.

“Make tea time a special moment, making yourself comfortable. Lift a cup of herbal tea, inhale the pure scent…and feel the bliss and goodness of life.”

The literature Lek gave me about the teas and their properties encouraged me to “make tea time a special moment”. Yes, and yes! This meditation over steeping leaves speaks to me. A moment each day, of silence and solitude and reflection with a good cuppa. What could be more engaging than that?

Further info: Spana Health Station, 38/2 Rajvithee Road, T.Sribhum, A.Muang Chiangmai, Thailand 50200.

I Left my Heart in San Francisco

Published by Rebecca Raspberry // The Rebecca Project

[Source]

I was sixteen when I first laid eyes on The City, and I have loved it everyday since. The thrill, the freedom, the excitement of a big city, and the appeal of a foreign city. It was my first taste of independence, even though I was on a school trip with 29 other students, and chaperoned by my maths teacher.

San Francisco was the first port of call, and it’s where I left my heart. I told my parents of my plan to live there. And a little over a decade later, I returned to San Francisco to make it my home. It’s something I am really happy to have achieved.

[Source]

The city is physically beautiful, but if you’ve been reading this blog, I’m sure you’re already aware of this (like here, here and here). Some of my favourite parts of the city are the pristine hills of Marin provide the perfect background to a shot of the Golden Gate Bridge on a clear day, and the silence of the office buildings downtown on a Sunday afternoon. You’re never short of a crackpot (or four) in the city, and there is always parades, protests, or police activity. You can tell which nation’s diplomats are in town by the flags waving in the omnipresent wind outside the St Francis Hotel.

But I left San Francisco. I left because I needed a change – a change of scenery from the frantic pace of living right downtown, and the space in my timetable to work on other projects. I had enough of the sirens at all hours of the night, of not having a convenient place to buy groceries, of lacking that real ‘neighbourhood’ feel that makes the rest of San Francisco fascinating. It had become old, tired, claustrophobic. But in retrospect, that may have just been me.

[Source]

Everyday, I think about returning to the city I love. Spending evening eating sushi with friends, weaving myself into the story of their lives, and having them in mine. Of spending time with family — football games, baseball games, graduations. Dreams of eating cheese on a lazy Sunday afternoon in Cole Valley, people watching on the Marina Green, or enjoying a fruity ale and fancy pizza in the Inner Richmond. I imagine the opportunities that await me in a city bursting with energy and creativity.

I don’t know if the next step will be returning to San Francisco for good. But I do find that it’s the one place my heart yearns for, particularly when I see these photos from Phototropic, a Frenchman who has made his home in the Bay Area.

*All photos by Phototropic. I highly recommend you pay his site a visit.

Snapshot: Culinary Adventures in Chiang Mai

Published by Rebecca Raspberry // The Rebecca Project

Here’s a quick snapshot of what our meals have looked like since we set down our packs in Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand:

We wake up late here in Chiang Mai. Our main meal of the day is breakfast, and that usually happens anywhere between 2 and 4pm. For the first meal of the day, I start it with a cuppa tea, the American with coffee. We like to eat eggs on toast, or croissants with fruit, or a bowl of fruit, yoghurt and muesli.

Dinner has tended to be something Thai or Indian, somewhere within the Old Town. I have a favourite Indian place that makes a spicy dum aloo (potato curry) with garlic naan.

My favourite restaurant is the Bam Boo Cafe on Ratvithi Road: I love the vibe, the food and the liveliness. The hostess, Thom, is a dead-set riot. She has one of those infectious personalities and loves connecting people. She’s fascinating to watch when in full-flight. I love their vegetable fried rice, and usually pair it with a mango and lime fruit shake. Occasionally, we’ll stop by one of the street vendors making rotees for dessert — banana pancakes with chocolate sauce and a touch of condensed milk on top. Yum!

Food here is pretty cheap, but it can be a gamble — you never really know what you’re going to get. The other day, a lady forgot our order so she just made it up. True story. For those who want hard numbers, this should give you an idea:

Fruit shakes – 35 Baht (US$1.15)
Vegetable fried rice – 50 Baht ($1.66)
Pad Thai – 50 Baht ($1.66)
Banana pancake with chocolate sauce and condensed milk – 20 Baht ($0.66)
Dum aloo – 60 Baht ($2)
Garlic naan – 40 Baht ($1.33)
White rice – 10 Baht ($0.33)
Paddle Pop ice cream – 8 Baht ($0.26)
Caffè latte – 50 Baht ($1.66)
Small baguette – 10 Baht ($0.33)
Chang beer – 40 Baht ($1.33)
Large pot of tea – 50 Baht ($1.66)
Small bottle of Coke Zero – 17 Baht ($0.56)

I just read a post today by Nomadic Matt called 30 coffeehouses to visit in Chiang Mai, that I stumbled upon on Twitter. Looks like I’m going to develop quite the caffeine habit as I make the rounds!

Fresh, handmade rotee from a street vendor in Chiang Mai.