Starfishes in Xian

Earlier this year I decided that I would do a different type of trip in the summer. I heard that there was a special bunch of Starfishes in Xian so I decided to visit them myself. This trip to Xian did not involve the terra cotta warriors nor the Muslim quarter. I went there to volunteer at a foster home for special needs baby, called the Starfish Foster Home. This foster home takes in physically disadvantaged babies at a very young age and puts them through surgery. This allows them to rejoin the "adoption pipeline" and be matched with a loving family faster. The founder is a South African woman, Amanda de Lange, who moved to China and established this heaven for disadvantaged babies.

The foster home is nestled in a high-rise residential complex and occupies four apartments. One apartment is for newborn babies, one for older babies, one for toddlers and one for volunteers. Compared to other orphanages in more rural areas, this one was much cleaner, safer and more comfortable. However, it is extremely important that these children are in the best possible environment because they need such an environment to recover from their surgeries.

I spent the majority of my time working in the original Starfish Foster Home apartment with the toddlers, usually 1 to 2 year olds with a few babies. The newborn babies are the easier ones to care for as they mostly sleep and eat, but the toddlers, oh boy! The noisiest apartment is no doubt the one I worked in. When I first walked in, most of the babies were slowly waking up and the older toddlers were watching Mr. Wiggles, their ultimate favorite show ON THE PLANET.

rare moment of peace

A couple of the toddlers are cruising in their PJs with a bottle in their hand, staring at me and wondering who this tall stranger was. Then as they all woke up, it was breakfast time. 

feeding factory line: one nanny vs five to six kids

my moment of glory:
teaching two-year olds how to feed themselves (and each other)

Breakfast, and all other meals, is like a warzone. You put (as fast as you can) as many toddlers on a feeding chair as possible and just grab a bowl full of food and start feeding one baby after another.  Toddlers don't just sit there, they stand up, steal other babies' food, throw their bottles, cry, smudge their food, cry more....and it goes on and on. It's madness but you need to make sure they are all well-fed so they can grow and stay healthy.

After the feeding frenzy, its time for play. The older toddlers are allowed to go outdoors and expend their energy. Each nanny or volunteer will take two to four kids in a stroller and let them stay out till 11ish. The complex is quite kid-friendly, with little playgrounds (albeit worn out) and green areas. During this time, the babies get to interact with the neighbor kids and you can see how the lack of constant parental attention affects the children's development. The older toddlers tend to snatch away other kid's toys. Each nanny in the foster home is responsible for three or four children. There is a limit to how much attention and stimulus they can provide the children with. Most notably, the older toddlers tend to lack discipline. When a kid cries the nannies or volunteers tend to shove a toy at them or snack to keep them quiet. When the toddlers fight over toys no one is there to mediate or teach them to communicate. Despite the clean and safe environment the foster home provides them with, it is obvious that this is not enough. These babies need a loving home to provide them the love, attention and guidelines necessary for their development.

the three muskeeters

sweet sisterly love

After some crazy (and HOT) hours outdoors, we return to the apartment and its another feeding frenzy. By the end of lunch, babies are dozing off or throwing tandrums because it's naptime.

ZZZzzz

Around 1:30 pm, babies slowly wake up to enjoy another afternoon of fun. It is too hot in the summer to go outdoors so the babies stay indoors. The apartment literally turns into a playground with Mr. Wiggles or Barney in the background along with cries, screams and laughter.

cabin fever, no doubt

cross-dressing, another favorite past-time

why can't we go out? 

The day ends with dinner (last war of the day) and BATH TIME! Bath time is another warzone (closer to armageddon) because some babies just HATE water and there is always screams and sobs There is one bathroom in the apartment for use, so we fill the bathtub halfway and throw in two to three kids. It's all joyful until the older toddlers decide to wage Water World War and the whole bathroom is splashed with water. The sink is also used to wash the young babies and another plastic tub is filled to wash younger toddlers. The whole bathroom becomes a baby-washing machine. In comes baby 1, ready set....WASH, cry, shampoo, cry, wash, cry, cry, soap, wash, wipe, PJs and out the door. Next baby, so on and so forth. You think your job is hard? Try washing five babies in a row and you'll get your arse whipped. The clean and happy babies then relax to Mr. Wiggles with milk bottles in their mouths and all start getting ready for bed.Voila! Daily life of a Starfish baby.

I volunteered there for two weeks and there were (many many) times when I thought I would never make it through the day but it becomes all worth it when you look at their eager beaming eyes and listen to their contagious laughs. Despite these babies unfortunate past, each and every one of these babies have fought to survive. It's impossible not to feel grateful of your own family when you are exposed to these strong babies. If they can survive all odds, we all can get over the little glitches in our fortunate lives.

In July, I witnessed Virginia's (now Zoey) adoption,
which was such a bittersweet goodbye.
It brings me much joy to see her loving her new life (photos here). 

The amount of work Amanda has put into the foster home is incomprehensible. The love and effort of all the nannies who care for the babies and the beautiful spirits of the babies have touched me deeply. I recently visited two babies who underwent heart surgery in Hangzhou and it is so comforting to see that all these Starfishes will soon find loving homes just like little Virginia.

Caroline a week after her heart surgery and recovering rapidly.

Charlotte, a new baby to Starfish, who also received heart surgery this month

There are many ways you can contribute to Starfish, you can learn more on their official website.
You can also follow Amanda's blog here.

New Orleans sans Mardi Gras

Sometime this February, when I was hibernating from DC's snow-calypse, I decided that I needed something warm and comforting, like sunshine and soul food. So I convinced three other friends and we planned a 48-hour trip to New Orleans in April.

New Orleans is all about the Mardi Gras and that's pretty much what you hear about it. That and Hurricane Katrina. Well, that is what we thought before we arrived and we could not have been more wrong...

Mardis Gras leaves its mark on the trees

I don't really know how to categorize this post because frankly, my trip was quite nutty (sans mardi gras), so I'll begin with our accomodation.

Bed & Breakfasts
NOLA has all the name-brand hotels but it also has plenty of cozy and beautiful bed & breakfasts. After some research, we found Avenue Inn Bed & Breakfast in the Garden District. Staying at a B&B is the best way to explore all the beautiful old mansions in NOLA and experience the friendliness of its people. We were greeted with fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies at the door and settled into our lovely room shortly. Joe the innkeeper has a precious sense of humor (it became hard to tell when he was joking and when he was not), and him and his wife stock up their dining room to make sure no one goes hungry. They are not intrusive but very resourceful, the perfect hosts. Right across the B&B is the tram which will take you directly to the French Quarter

The oldest (and functioning) streetcar system in the US

No need for wedding band, there's plenty on the streets of the French Quarter.

More weddings, is NOLA the new romantic capital?

Wedding crashers on segways

Foxy Talent
A dear old friend of mine from back in my days in Rome happened to be working in New Orleans when I visited and she kindly invited me to see her at work. She is a pupeeter and is currently working on the crew of the Fantastic Mister Fox  show at the Contemporary Art Center (CAC). Frankly, at the beginning when she invited me to the puppet show, I just thought "isn't that for kids?". Wrong.

Basically this show is probably the greatest puppet show on earth. Remember as children when you thought you could go inside a book and be part of the story (at least I did)? Well, this is the dream come true. You sit in the audience at the start like an ordinary puppet show, then a door appears in the big story book on stage and you eventually crawl out of the story. I don't want to give to much away because you really have to experience it to truly understand it. Basically a group of young and talented artists got together, collected cardboard boxes over a year and constructed a 3D interactive stage that takes up the whole top floor of the CAC. Each "page" is built into a set/stage and you go (crawl) into Mr. Fox's home, the village, the barn and so on. Each stage is landscaped magnificently with     cardboard and planted with subtle, humorous, grown-up-inside jokes. By the end of the show, we all felt ten again. The excitement of crawling into a new scene and overcoming challenges along with Mr. Fox were one of the funnest moments of my adulthood. Believe me, this all won't sound so nutty once you've tried it.

Canoe in the Bayou
I'm going to share something that is rather foolish and private but I promise it has something to do with the Bayou. My interest in the South came to me while I was re-watching the all-time romantic chick-flick, The Notebook, on my laptop sitting in my dorm room. The scene where the dude canoes the chick (Rachel McAdams) on his boat in the swan-filled swamp was forever locked in my memory. My inner romantic yearned to be in the place that made the scene so beautiful.

Yup, that's the scene

So I googled this and that and came across Barataria Preserve. Next thing I know, my girlfriends and I are on an Avis-rented car driving down middle-of-nowhere in Louisana trying to find Bayou Barn, where our chariots (canoes) await. The barn is a bit remote and our GPS couldn't find it. So we get lost, find a couple of Southerners BBQ-ing at 8AM, ask for directions, turn left and right and voila-- Bayou Barn! Another thing worth mentioning is that when I pitched this "day trip" to my friends, we all somehow came with the mental image of being canoed in the Bayou (like when you sit in the gondolla in Venice and a handsome Italian stud sings and pedals you around). See below.

So that's what we were expecting...in the Bayou...in Louisana

Wrong again. Very very wrong. In the Bayou, YOU do the pedaling. No handsome singing Italian studs either. So we follow the canoe-delivering truck and finally arrive at the Preserve. Every cano-er is already there and we are fashionably late, like all city-dwellers. Then we do something Sex-and-the-City-esque; all four of us girls step out of the car and spray mosquito repellent fanatically over every exposed flesh. Turns out there are no bugs in the Bayou (our guide gently breaks this news to us once we joined the group). After a quick brief, everyone prepares to board their canoe (turns out we are the only four people with no canoe experience). Inspecting all the others visitor's dress code, we decide that our Prada and Marc Jacob bags should probably stay in the car, not exactly Bayou-chic. And off we go!

Reality hits: two beautiful (albeit sweaty) lonely ladies on a canoe without the singing stud

Turns out that canoing is a bit more different than kayaking and it also turns out that going to the gym doesn't really prepare you for the labor-intensive two-hour trip. The beginning of the bayou is narrow so it instantly fills up with ten or so canoes. My dear canoe-partner and I struggled at the beginning; instead of going straight towards our destination, we zig-zagged towards it. 

Narrow bayou where we initially zig-zagged our way through

Then our soft-spoken guide breaks it to us that a couple hundred thousand alligators reside in the bayou. Apparently no one has been eaten by one yet, but at that moment I surely thought I would be the first. After a couple more zig-zag struggles, we finally started going straight and when we looked around, it was beautiful. 

You know how happiness creeps in to your life during the oddest moments? I was on a canoe with a partner who was ready to give up on me, surrounded by couple hundred thousand alligators and had a tiny frog chillin' on my leg, but I felt blissful. When your surrounding is tranquil yet filled with vitality, the beauty of the place does something to you. Urbanization has made it so much harder to access nature but when you go out of your way to immerse in it, the reward often exceeds your expectations. If you're still wondering, I never found that scene in The Notebook but I left the bayou with a scene that was my very own.

On the Quest to Praline Bacon
On our last day, we were on the quest to find the praline bacon. It sounds too good to be true. Nutty, sweet, salty and fatty all combined into a little piece of meat, could there really be something so sinful? We heard that this little brunch place in Faubourg Marigny called Elizabeth's is this bacon's place of birth. We tram' it to the French Quarter to catch a cab, and luck would have it, there was a marathon that day. No cars allowed in the district and so we started walking (Google Map on mobile is possibly the greatest invention). Turns out no one walks in the South; but we're from the East Coast so we walk, a lot. Fauberg Marigny is a bit of an artsy district filled with street art.

Some graffiti to show NOLA's musical side

NOLA, also known as Crescent city

 B got the memo to dress roses

somethings just cannot be erased

Walking among the playful street art was fun but some of the wreckage from Katrina was still present, and sobering. The walk definitely worked up our appetite and we treated our selfs to some contemporary soul food.

Hail Elizabeth! Creator of praline bacon and other edgy soul food dishes

praline bacon lived up to its expectations!

Eggs florentine with fried oysters--delicious!

If that is not enough, walk back to French Quarter and grab a beignet (a little piece of fried doughy-goodness covered in powder sugar) from the famous Cafe du Monde.

over flowing powder sugar (beignet long gone before camera was out)

beignet factory line

New Orleans turned to be quite eventful, even without mardi gras. The city is beautiful, full of culture, history and music and its people are quirky, friendly and strong. There is something inspiring about this city and is really worth a visit.

"Though we travel the world to find beauty, we must carry it with us or we find it not." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Arabian Bliss: Oman

Smooth touch down in the quaint airport of Muscat, which is drastically different from the hustle-bustle of DXB. The energy is calmer and the people friendlier which puts me immediately at ease. Muscat is much smaller and glitz-free compared to it's neighbor, Dubai. No futuristic skyscrapers here; all the buildings are built with traditional white-washed domes or arabesque windows. Omani men are dressed in the traditional white robe with a colorful turban and women are veiled and dressed in black robes with decorative borders - their version of fashion statement (Omanis may like to stick to their traditions in terms of their clothing but they are actually very progressive for the region. Its government has three female ministers, women are allowed to drive and the people enjoy a drink now and then). The uniformity of the city and its people's disdain for hyper-materialism is immensely refreshing.

Oman is an oil-based country and that's $1.2 per gallon!

Cheaper than a pack of gum.

Chedi picks us up with cold towels & icy Evian prepared;

I'm already relaxed.

What to bring: Sunscreen, cardigan and pants (for crazy indoor A/Cs and the Grand Mosque), sunscreen, scarf (use as veil) and more sunscreen.

We finished three bottles in a week.

Arabian sun is no joke!

Contemporary Arabia Chic
We spent seven nights in Muscat, splitting our stay between two resorts. First resort was the Chedi, which is part of the GHM luxury group and its style is known to be minimal and luxurious.

(Lobby)
visitors are graced by beautiful hanging lamps under a tented roof

The resort's perfectly manicured lawn and minimalistic architecture blends in peacefully with the clear blue Arabian sky and the royal blue sea. The environment is calm and blissful but what really makes it worth staying is its service. Every staff is diligent and attentive.

Two pools available. This one by the beach is for 18+

The food at the Chedi is also fantastic. Their main restaurant by the lobby has an open pastry kitchen at the entrance and there's nothing more heavenly than smelling fresh-baked pastries every morning. I also had one of the best waffle and eggs benedict ever here.

Bye bye beach diet

dining under Baccarat-lit sky

Besides the sinful pastries at your disposal, everyone must try the lemon mint. It is simply the best creation made to beat the desert heat. It's simply fresh mint, lemonade and ice blended together.

The Chedi was my favorite resort among the two. It is simply more refined and cozy. However, it does have its own faults, which is its beach; it was not as well-maintained. Shangri-la, on the other hand, is blessed with a magnificent beach.

Arabia Chic
The Shangri-la Barr Al Jissah hotel is nestled between earthy-red mountains and the sea at the Al Jissah beach. The resort itself is gigantic and consists of three hotels, Al Waha (best for families), Al Bandar (suitable for groups) and Al Husn (most private hotel; no minors under 18 allowed). We choose to stay at the Al Husn to escape the people and the moment we walked into our room we knew we made the right choice. Al Husn residents are the only ones with access to the magnificent turquoise cove.

Al Husn's private cove

The resort style is more "palace style", this translates into glitz, gold and patterns. I personally found it visually exhausting and borderline tacky. The resort was also too big. Al Husn resident had access to all the other hotel's facilities but we never bothered leaving the hotel. At Al Husn, you also have daily complimentary afternoon tea (15:45-16:45), where you can snack on some delicious scones and chocolate fondue, and they also offer complimentary canopies and drinks from 18:00-19:00. Mini bar in the hotel is also complimentary but breakfast buffet not so complimentary-- it'll cost you a wopping $30 (approx) per head. Besides the usual beach resort facilities, it had a spa village and gym that was a 5-minute buggy ride away and also had a Heritage Village, which is basically a small shopping center.

camel rides available at Al Bandar

half a kilometer of lazy river linking Al Waha & Al Bandar

The (rich-girl?) souq
In a world where multi-national brands dominate people's lives, it's always hard to find unique pieces to add to your home/wardrobe. Therefore, I always save up before my travels so that I can pick up some unique pieces of accessories/art/antique that I stumble across. The Muttra souq is along the Corniche (below), which is beautiful during sunset.

The Muttra souq is a treasure chest filled with pink-hued rubies, emeralds, dark blue sapphires, gold and silver. However, the souq is not cheap, so if you're expecting Bangkok-Chatuchak-market prices, you're in the wrong place. Oh, did I mention the souq takes credit card? Bring yours.

All the precious stones making me dizzy

After some cringing, I bought a hand-made mother of pearl clutch
and hand-woven double-plated sterling silver clutch.

And a pink ruby and emerald necklace

My favorite shops are the Damascus Technical Handicraft center (selling beautiful wooden furniture and mother-of-pearl boxes) and the Ali Baba Gift Town (a store stuffed with treasures, from antique coins to hand-made silver accessories to colorful glass lamps).  Muscat was also once a prominent trading port, hence antique collectors can find anything from biblical coins to Roman daggers to 18th century clocks.

I could easily spend a day at Ali Baba

Damascus Technical's beautiful handcrafted boxes

Carpets and lamps hanging together on the roof of Ali baba

The Shatoosh
While browsing in a pashmina store, I was pulled over by its shopkeeper into an attic to inspect Persian carpets. Seeing that I was not interested in the carpets, the shopkeeper props open a suitcase and displays an array of solid-color pashminas. The moment I touched them, I knew that these were very very special pashminas; they were simply the softest and most delicate things I have ever touched, EVER. Mr. Shopkeeper then whispers: "Ma'am, you like shatoosh? Antelope hair, very nice." Not realizing what it was, I gawped at the price tag and left swiftly. Still fascinated by this delicate textile, I decided to do some research that evening. Turns out shatoosh is as illegal as ivory and is made by Tibetan antelopes. They were over-poached during the 80s and now on the brink of extinction. Back then, a shatoosh could easily sell between $2000 to $15,000 (jaw-drop) and was worth more than gold! The story of the shatoosh is that its thickness is 1/3 of human hair, and it is so soft that a whole scarf can fit through a ring.
I obviously did not purchase the product but wonder why do all beautiful things in this world carry guilt?


Foodie Alert! 
The sea is a vital part of the Omani's life and diet, so expect plenty of fresh seafood along with fresh bread and delicious mezze. For something chic, the Chedi's The Beach Restaurant is a fantastic outdoor location for dinner. For something more grimmy (and delicious), Turkish House is the place. Portions are big, so bring your appetite.

fresh baked bread everywhere in Oman

grilled calamary with garlic mayo and fries, on bread

Another sweet spot is Kargeen Cafe. Depending on the weather, you can choose to sit outdoors under the star-lit sky or inside a carpeted cottage house (with A/C). (Muscat restaurants review here)

A fantastic bread stuffed with cheese, olive and tomato.

Shuwa, is a traditional Omani dish eaten during celebrations.

The meat is marinated with vinegar and spices, then wrapped in banana leaves

and cooked in the earth for more than a day.

During this trip I've also developed a newfound obsession with dates stuffed with almonds and Omani coffee, which is coffee blended with a variety of herbs to give it a sour-y yet fragrant taste.

These tiny little things are packed with vitamin-B, iron and fiber.

Beyond the resort
The fantastic thing about Oman is that you have options outside of the resort. Do visit the Bayt Al Zubair museum for a little culture (OMR 2 for entry/person). The gallery across the museum also has contemporary Arabic art that is worth visiting. The Grand Mosque should no-doubt be on every visitor's list. And here's why:

The main prayer hall's stunning chandelier and dome

And there is the world's largest Persian carpet. 

More chandelier-studded ceiling

look at the details!

I'd recommend a day trip to Wadi Shab for the adventurous travelistas. It is a beautiful desert oasis only 1.5 hour away from Muscat. My fear of height prevented us from realizing this trip because you have to cliff jump into the pristine cove.

Maybe I'll be brave enough next time...

Oman is a true gem in the Middle East region and I encourage everyone interested in the region to visit it. I was pleasantly surprised by this peaceful little country and will definitely be visiting again. For travelistas who wish to escape the city completely, I recommend Six Senses Zighy Bay, where you can paraglide into the resort! (detail account of the resort by Johnny Jet here)

More travel posts coming up, so please keep checking-in!

"If our lives are dominated by a search for happiness, then perhaps few activities reveal as much about the dynamics of this quest-in all its ardour and paradoxes- than our travels." - Alain de Botton