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Resurrecting this blog

It’s been several years but I am back! A lot has changed throughout the years, but a few things have remained constant.

I love travel.

Writing brings me joy.

The purpose of this log is to not brag about my travels, but to try to capture where I am and what I’m doing in graduate school.

I will be moving to a small town in far north Norway for the next few years. I have never been more afraid of doing anything in my life. It’s the right thing to do for me. I hope this fear turns into excitement and eventually joy.

This is not going to be a shiny blog, rather an honest look at travel, living abroad, and the highs and lows of life.

I hope you’ll read it and stay in touch.

Xo Mary

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Ocean Park, Hong Kong

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Dim sum in Hong Kong

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Dall Sheep

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Dog Kennels at Denali National Park

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Grizzly

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Denali National Park

Last summer was the busiest I have ever experienced. Something about being a tour guide kept me extremely busy all summer long. I was happy to experience my first three day weekend the day after my birthday (spent the day tour guiding and zip-lining). Dana came in around 1am after being stuck by controlled blasting. We headed out seven hours later. 

Note our bear canister.

We stopped at Taco Bell for breakfast in Wasilla before the long long ride up to Denali. We never had to stop for construction. Our camper bus left at 2pm and we arrived at about 1pm. We dropped off some books at the Alaska Geographic store before heading to the bus stop. 

Cars are only allowed 15 miles into the Denali National Park, therefore in order to really access the park, you have to pay for a very expensive journey. The camper bus, the cheapest at $35 per person, allows you to move through the park while providing you extra room for backpacks.  

We had an awesome bus driver, Moana. She pointed out all the animals as we took the bus to the far end of the park. 

Dana’s so excited to be in the National Park.

We got some great views of bears. Every hour or so we got to stop for a restroom break. Also to clean our windows:

 Soon we were in Polychrome Pass.

By the time we hit Eilson, the clouds had moved in. Here we were able to jump out of the bus, stretch, use some very nice bathrooms, a visitor center. Dana and I went on a little half mile hike where we couldn’t see anything, but picked some blueberries. 

Close to our campsite the clouds lifted and we got a nice view of some caribou.

We made it to the campsite at around 7pm. The camp hosts greeted us and pointed out some nice sites. By the time we pitched our tent and put all our supplied in a bear shed it was around 9pm. 

We set off on a hike. 

Everything looked enchanting. Overall the hike was uneventful. We walked to the edge where there was a river. I am guessing that when there are no clouds Denali would be visible from here. On the way back in we saw a HUGE bear pawprint. Immediately we started singing Disney songs at the top of our lungs until we finally got back to camp. 

“I wonder if they anyone here could hear us,” Dana said quietly as we grew closer to camp. 

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Blueberries

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From the tram terminal at Mount Alyeska, AK

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Fall in Alaska

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HK Day 3-Sister Day

Today was designated "sister day." I slept hard that night, and struggled to get up, but I wanted to take He Meng to school. He wore two uniforms, one was an active one, the other was a sailor's uniform with a pink kerchief. The school was around the corner from the apartment. It was adorable to see a bunch of three-year-olds wearing uniforms. Let me explain housing in Hong Kong. There is often a cluster of high-rise buildings up to 40 floors tall around a square that might have a park or Chinese chess or tables for old men to play mah jong. There areas are connected via walkway. This is also the level where you would find schools and playgrounds. Often times there would be a supermarket, local chain restaurant, and convenience store. I got a kick out of the local supermarket "wellcome." Underneath all of this would be a level for the market. Each estate has about four buildings. To put that in perspective: 4 people per apartments (what Yin Yin thinks is average) times 10 apartments per floor is 40 people per floor. Times this by 40 floors and you have 1600 people in your building. Times this time four towers in the estate and you have 6400 people in a square block. This is the exact opposite of where I live in Alaska. At school each kid entered by getting their forehead scanned for their temperature and taking a pump of hand sanitizer. Then we were off on an adventure to Cheong Chan Island. It took us a couple of hours to get there. First we had to catch a 10 minute bus to the MTR, then take the MTR to Hong Kong station, then take an hour long ferry to this charming, charming little island. The day previous I learned the word "heeeyy" which meant that feeling you get when you just kick back and relax. Cheong Chan is all about heeyyy. The other attraction are the buns. Big fist-sized buns with a red print on them that translates into "Safety," were everywhere. Forget about safety dance, these are the safety buns. We did not partake in the safety bun, but instead got some street food. Much to my dismay this included more fishballs, this time with satay, and some sort of soybean on a stick. After looking at a couple local shops Yin Yin and I took a nap on a white sand beach, feeling miles and miles away from the craziness of Hong Kong. There was a lot to do on this little island. I would gladly go back to do some hiking and explore where pirates used to hide out. But today was about relaxing. And we did. Until some giant helicopter came along and woke us up. We wandered more. Ended up in a neighborhood where Yin Yin suggested we turn around as to not bother the locals. Food was the next priority. I had recently watched Anthony Bourdain's show "The Layover" where we ate heaps of seafood in Hong Kong and was feeling like doing the same. We walked by an open-air cafe. Yin Yin read the menu which offered a fixed price for $200 HKD ($26USD). This included chili garlic crab, sweet and sour fish (caught fresh, we saw it wiggle), coconut shrimp, sticky rice, bok choy, and tea. This was one of the great meals in my life. As Yin Yin poured the tea over our chopsticks and bowl I asked her what the significance of that was. "Oh we don't trust the establishment to wash their dishes because everything is so quick." We ate and ate and ate. This is typical Hong Kong. A wild cat wound between patron's chairs. We watched as people streamed by on bikes. Workers carrying cargo had this system going where they would gather speed, then hop on the pallets and steer. There were no big cars, only very small official ones. Yin Yin and I fell asleep on the ferry ride back to the mainland. We caught the MTR to near some shopping mall and walked around hoping to catch a sunset. Unfortunately, the clouds were not cooperating. Instead we headed to the mall to get a spot at a popular sushi train. Here, you sat at a table, with a hot water dispenser, an ipad, macha powder, chopsticks, and tissues (napkins). You ordered what you wanted on the ipad, and then whizzing by soon, would be a train filled with your order. You remove the item and send the train back. We spent the next few hours here with Yin Yin's husband and son.

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Fall colors in Alaska

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Instant Ramen Museum Ikeda, Japan

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Matanuska Glacier, AK

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Here, have a picture of some moose and a glacier.

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Some pictures of fall in Alaska. 

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One time I pet a porcupine...