#This series is so good and I'm only like three quarters into VOLUME 1 OUT OF LIKE 13

[shiroselia]

I have just finished the section with the garden party. And I have so, so many thoughts.

First of all, I'm so glad I'm reading the light novel because that section with Jinshi after Maomao and Gaoshun discuss the poisoned soup was Sexy. I love Jinshi so much what a fucking loser <3

Second of all. POLITICS. I LOVE POLITICS. I'm deliberately spoiled on a decent amount of things because I'm terrible with biological relations and keeping track of family trees so I know ehm. most things about the royal family so to speak. But all of that is already starting to be really interesting.

What I give more of a fuck about though is just how much lady-in-waiting politics there is. Like we're introduced from the VERY moment we meet Gyokuyou that she was "too few" ladies in waiting and that it's honestly a little bit obscene for her to only have 5 with Maomao. BUT EVERY SINGLE TIME. SHE'S PROVEN RIGHT TO HAVE THAT FEW. It shows how intelligent Gyokuyou is, how aware she is of her own position, and the position a lady-in-waiting is in. AND it immediately prepares us for just how. downright cruel a lot of the others are.

It's honestly a bit jarring how genuinely nice and honest and inherently good-natured about their job Gyokuyou's crowd is when we see Lihua's ladies-in-waiting almost kill her. How Lishu's food-tester intentionally give her food she is allergic to because. it's fun to humiliate a child I suppose. Like I don't know the contrast is stark, it's obvious, and it's supposed to be. And it's Fantastic.

Honestly I cannot emphasize enough how good this series is about discussing feminism and womanhood. The politics of women of all walks of life, especially the specific challenges women of high status that should "have it all worked out for them" face. It's so fucking good actually. It really is that fucking easy huh.

[shotgunlagoon]

i'm really interested in learning how to speak, write, and read in Japanese. Are there any websites or textbooks you learned from?

yeah! I really like all the resources i’ve used so i’ll try to explain them as best as i can here under the cut.

i recommend using genki as a textbook. it’s not necessarily super entertaining or anything, but it’s a good textbook that makes it easy to learn the concepts it covers. i’d recommend the workbook as well. genki has two textbooks and two workbooks than can take you to intermediate japanese. I started translating while i was still working through genki 2, if that helps you get an idea of how much content the books cover. you might be able to find pdfs, but honestly i’d say buy them. the audio cds that come with the textbooks are very good. just trying to mimic the audio can dramatically help your pronunciation.

the main criticism i have about genki is that it does tend to oversimplify some grammar concepts in order to make them easier to learn. that’s fine, but you do need to learn things properly once you have a handle on the easy version. to make up for that, i recommend getting the dictionary of basic japanese grammar. you don’t need all three, even just the first should cover everything you need for at least 3-4 years. while it is a little bit on the pricey side, i can’t emphasize enough how useful it is. the explanations are very very good. the appendices at the end have tons of useful information. the examples with the entries are very thorough. it makes sure to go over the nuances of specific grammar points. it refers you to related grammar points to make sure you can compare them easily and see how they’re similar and different. it’s a lifesaver. however it is not a textbook; it’s a reference resource. so use it to look up grammar you learn in genki or encounter in the wild and want more info on. only criticism i have for The Dictionary is that it uses romaji, but honestly, i don’t even care that much. it’s too useful to be picky about something like that.

for kanji, i recommend either using wanikani or anki. they’re srs programs so they basically give you flashcards and when you answer the flashcard correctly, they increase the time interval until you see it again. so basically at first you only need to remember the answer a couple hours later, but eventually you’ll be able to recall it even months after not running across it. wanikani isn’t free, but you can make a free account and use the forums. lots of people have made useful anki decks to use that you can find on the wk forums. also, it’s a great community that’s happy to help you along on your japanese learning journey.

besides actual stuff to study, i got lots of japanese music to listen to. i also bought a couple volumes of yotsubato. it’s a very easy manga series that’s great for beginners. i’d say you can try reading it about ¾ of the way through genki 1. you can start trying to read it about ½ way through genki 1. drama cds are also good for listening practice. lang-8 is nice for writing practice. hinative is useful for asking questions to native japanese speakers. you don’t need to do all of these things, but you do want to make sure to expose yourself to japanese regularly to start getting used to it. it can be kind of intimidating at first like “holy shit it’s a totally new language aaaaaaaaahhhhh” but once you start hearing it a lot it becomes easier to be like “hey!!! i knew half those words, and i can guess the meanings of like a quarter more! nice!!!” music is also cool because as you learn more you start understanding more and more of the lyrics. honestly i was a bit devastated to learn how many of my favorite songs had incredibly depressing lyrics but it was worth it.

those are the main resources i used but there are some other ones that are often recommended. i’ll list them but i’ll also include the reasons i prefer not to use them:

first up: tae kim. he just has some… very incorrect content. and i don’t like how his stuff is structured. lots of people like it because it’s basically a free textbook but you get what you pay for and tae kim has many issues that i feel make his content a bad idea. if you want to use him, make sure you check what he’s saying against other resources.

next: imabi. i actually like imabi a lot. however it’s not an easy resource to use. as the creator is a linguist, it tends to use somewhat difficult vocabulary to describe japanese. i’d recommend you try reading through a couple pages and see if it’s the kind of thing you like. the content is good, it’s just hard to understand. it’s still always useful as a reference. just maybe not as your main resource. 

there’s lots of japanese textbooks that people will recommend but as i’ve only used genki and japanese from zero, i don’t have any opinions on those. if you can find pdfs to try looking through them, go ahead and do that. maybe you’ll like one of those more! minna no nihongo is one of the ones i hear a lot. japanese for busy people is popular too. i wouldn’t recommend japanese from zero since it goes VERY slow. 

besides everything i’ve written here, there’s tons of stuff out there on the internet. participating on forums like wanikani is a good way to hear about those. make friends who are learning japanese so you can practice talking with each other. it can be hard talking to natives, but it’s easier talking to a friend. just be careful not to get used to using bad grammar lol. make sure you check if you’re correct and fix your mistakes before they become bad habits.

good luck! i kind of wrote a lot but i hope it helps you. let me know if you have any more questions, i’m happy to answer. :)

[akalittlemisscrazy]

Backpacking Escapes: Siem Reap

Siem Reap. A backpacker’s dream and our last stop after 50 days of traveling. Of course the big attraction of this city to tourists is the temples, particularly Angkor Wat. For our first day we rented bicycles for $1 a day as suggested by a blog Rachel had read. All I can say is dear God I’m impressed if they actually managed to actually cycle all 3 circuits in 2 days without melting. With a proper dirt bike I may have been able to, although I would be very tired after a grand total of approximately 150 kilometres. But honestly what killed us was the heat. I’d recommend bringing A LOT of water or at least some money for the street vendors (who thank goodness sell ice cold water for normal prices instead of trying to rip you off. Absolute life savers).

We cycled the small circuit; a total of 43 kilometres in 36*C heat on the most rickety bikes I’ve ever seen. Even though I was a bit stiff by the end of the day I sti enjoyed this experience. The highlights of this route include Ta Prohm (accurately nicknamed Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider temple) with some spectacular Strangler Figs engulfing the doorways. I love how despite all the restoration and conservation efforts, they have haven’t pushed the jungle completely back. This keeps the mysterious forgotten world aura surrounding these temples in tact.

Srah Srang was once the 'Royal Bathing Pool' for ritual bathings. It was so perfect I just couldn’t resist dipping my feet in, much to Rachel’s amusement as she watched in confusion as I suddenly threw my shoes off saying “Why not?!”.

Bayon Temple is so drastically different to all the other temples that it is somewhat curious to explore. It originally had 49 towers; today 37 towers remain with almost 200 faces carved facing in 4 directions. Despite its slightly cluttered feel, this temple was mysterious and beautiful in the evening golden light.

Angkor Thom means ‘city centre' and is actually the collective name for the area including the Terrace of the Elephants and Terrace of the Leper King. Make sure to fully explore these areas, particularly between the inner and outer walls as there are many wonderful carvings that are still well preserved down here. See if you can find the 5 headed horse, the elephants and the 5 headed Nagas.

Our final adventure for our first day here was our “shortcut” home. And by “shortcut” I mean Google maps told us there was a road running down to join the riverside track. In reality this was a very narrow dirt path winding through the jungle, then along a road that was more pot holes than actual road through the village-like outskirts of Siem Reap. On the bright side I’m fairly sure we were the highlight of the day for many many children who all rushed out to say to hello to us as we passed by, then sprinted back inside to tell their parents about the strange girls. Honestly I’ve never said hello so many times in such a short space of time – it was so endearing 😊. The people here are so friendly, warm and open.

Angkor Wat sunrise is probably the number one thing you’ll hear people recommend, for a very very good reason. I mean, just look at this beauty:

I don’t think words are even necessary; these photos speak volumes for themselves. No filters - that's just genuinely what it looked like. Yes it meant dragging ourselves out of bed at 4.30am but at least today we’d had the sense to book a Tuk Tuk driver for $12 each who took us to Angkor Wat for sunrise, then to all the way out to Banteay Srei (which by the way is worth the journey away from the city. It's only a small temple but it has a wild beauty around it and the grounds are also lovely), then finally around the Grand Tour of Angkor.

Another major advantage of getting up early meant we had a lot of the temples to entirely ourselves. Literally Queens of Backpacking ❤️

For our day off we decided to simply wander. Something about the twisting streets screams 'explore me' and it has one of the best vibes we’ve had from any city. It is quirky and interesting, and the people are so lovely. We decided to walk towards the riverside and stumbled upon an old map for the 'Historical Quarter Walk' which held a view interesting sights.

Before long we arrived at the Royal Gardens Park, nicknamed Bat Park for a very good reason. We flopped on a bench in the shade for a quick drink and both had the same sudden almost simultaneous moment of realisation. Rachel’s jaw dropped as I gasped 'Holy cow...'. Looking up we realised the trees were full of hundreds and hundreds of fruit bats hanging from the branches.

Having found our own little peaceful corner watching these bats occasionally flutter from tree to tree, we spent the rest of the afternoon lounging here. The park is very quiet and sleepy during the day but wakes up in the evening. Apparently if you want an outdoor Zumba class this is the number one place to go. We passed 3 on our way out of the park.

Another highly recommended activity I’d found on Pinterest was the Happy Horse Ranch. Another 5 gold stars to Pinterest – this was BRILLIANT. We’d started going into animal withdrawal so a three hour hack seemed to be the perfect cure. This is the best way we’ve come across to see the picturesque countryside. Endless fields of rice plantations and lotus flowers stretched out all around us. There’s nothing quite like feeling of wind running through your hair as you canter through such a peaceful gorgeous place. And to top it off all the horses here looked happy and healthy. This place easily gets a 10 out of 10 and I’d gladly go again. Our guide (Kong) was very friendly & helpful, the views spectacular and the horses perfectly matched to our experience levels (a.k.a. we can both handle a slightly fizzy spooky horse, personally it makes the ride more enjoyable than plodding along on an old cob! Even if it is slightly more difficult to shimmy past a water buffalo threatening to charge at you when you’re also trying to persuade your horse it’s absolutely fine if she just keeps on walking).

Artisans Angkor was simply an incredibly lucky break. We’d been googling free things to do in the city when I came across a brief mention of this silk workshop around the corner from our hostel. It ended up being so much more – by simply turning up at the door you get a free guided tour around the workshop where they make wooden carvings, stone carvings, silver inlays, jewellery and some stunning silk garments. You really get an appreciation for the amount of skill and how long it takes to make these masterpieces. Some of the stone sculptures take 4 months to complete. The tools they used are recycled from old motorbike and tuk tuk springs. These artisans also help with the restoration of the Angkor temples, recreating some beautiful statues based on the original designs. During your tour you may even get to try carving yourself (then realise how hard it is and watch amazed as the guy turns your scribble into a masterpiece).

The next day we returned to the workshop to get the free shuttle bus for another free tour (I love that Asia is cheap, but free is even better ❤️), this time around the silk farm itself. Hats off to whoever first looked at a cocoon made by a worm and thought “You know what? I bet that will make a really nice fabric”. I learnt so much here and it didn't cost us a penny. Artisans Angkor use over 60% of their sales income to give back to the local community and provide so many people with jobs & support. Definitely high up on my recommendations list. It's such a shame more people don't know about this. Go go go people.

And that's it....

The end of my Backpacking Escapes series. For now at least! Thanks to the fellow travellers I've met along the way I've now got a list of new places to visit and things to try as long as my arm, and I can't wait for more adventures. South East Asia has truly been a dream, and I would say it's been a once in a lifetime trip - but how can it be when I'm so in love and so desperate to come back?! I'm certain this won't be my last visit to Asia, but rather the first of many.

Bon voyage for now my friends! I've got a couple more blog posts planned but it's time to go home. To those of you still travelling make the most of every moment! And those of you who aren't....

What are you waiting for??