Seven people you meet in Thailand?(ironically there are tshirts that say ood guys go to heavenad guys go to pattaya)


 


Is it pathetic to go out for the occasional drink alone? Is traveling alone pathetic?Everyone I meet seems to question how lonely it must be to adventure alone, or lack of adventure alone.From all the  so jealous?comments, I would suppose that my solo journey are kind of cool and from that same logic, it would then negate the pathetic aspect of getting inebriated alone.


One and Two: The biggest part missing from my weekly routine (ironic ehh?) is not going out to see much of the night life. So on my last night in Bangkok, I decided to keep it simple and just head to the lounge in the residence, 87 remix.Other than my usual banter with bartenders as it seems to be my forte, I befriended a fellow Indian. Sunil please read. These bandana wearing wannabe hip-hopsters are literally unavoidable second only to those in the country where they sleep on top of each other due to the population crisis.Sunny is an Indian born in Thailand who can barely speak any Indian dialect but speaks fluent Thai and English.Very interesting.Apparently, I was also talking to the DJ of the club. Midway into the conversation, sunny had to leave me hanging to mix up the bumping hip hop bhangra.


While he left me alone, it left a perfect open seat opportunity for one skinny frail looking Thai female to plop her bony frame into the stool beside me.For the record, I have no interest in whores!I can even remember her name. All I know is that I ignored her for the first hour but gawd aren they persistent. Slowly as her chair started inching over and I was working on the 8th Macallan, she introduced herself and luckily the bar was closing. 2 am went home.Phew.


Three and Four:I took a day trip tour offered by the Shangri-La to Ayuthuya on Tuesday.The Conrad is a bit far from the middle of town to find local tour agency and of course they would be recommending their guests a more cr鋗e de la cr鋗e experience, and I got that. Other than enjoying a deluxe yacht cruise with a 5 star buffet on the way back down the river, it was more so the company I was with that reminded me  was a bit out of my league? It quite normal for a Chinese to make small-talk with a fellow Chinaman, but he just turned out to be gay with his gay boyfriend living together in England and here in Thailand for a New Year gay bash. AWESOME.The Chinaman was the more effeminate one, but I ended up speaking more to the other half, a Barbados born-Englishman.Bourgeois as expected and he working for the upper echelon of tour companies, we talked of nothing but communist revolutions, Barbados independence, Kofi Annan, Thai politics and SEA PLANES!(of course I the babble mouth, but yes did contribute my knowledge of seaplanes have been in an amphibian before).


Five: The speedod swiss.They love elastic loin cloths, how can you blamem, I do think the women love it.Unfortunately for me, the one sun bathing next to me by the pool happened to be a blabbermouthed octogenarian~ if not more, with the Austin powers pectoral rug.We chatted about hotels and I recommended him the Ritz-Carlton in Singapore.He moved onto art and I got lost, so I pushed him back into Swiss, Austrian alps and skiing gradually integrating beer and cooking (the train of thought was ski resorts/beer/food).Even with Swiss being a small little regimented anal retentive country along the lines of a Singapore, the great thing about Europeans is you can always talk to them about omen?


Six:Blonde ?Swede ?and my scuba guide. Here the flip side to the spectrum. Phuket has absolutely amazing, and its no surprise to anyone that foreigners end of getting tuck?down there. Seeing sunsets every day, being boats with views of all the islands and beaches gives you nothing to complain about, if youe even actually using your brain to think.Family in Sweden but she hates the cold, so worked in Honduras for a while, lived in new Jersey for a bit, goes home every so often for 2 weeks at a time, but now she in Phuket. The open-aired zephyr mentality is quite refreshing especially when it goes along with huge 4m manta flying around your head underwater.


Seven: European Muay Thai Champ.


Solace manipulation: Ie lost some of the head turning shock upon arriving to foreign nations but still doesn mean the sights aren tight banging son.Here my holiday season, enjoy.


welcome to the kingdom












 





dear cyber world....


i am alive...a bit in a frenzy after hearing news even though tardy reading the headlines...grateful for the ability to do just that....i was in pattaya when the monster struck....and luckily it didn't do anything to the other side of the coast, being that the shoreline and civilization are inches away from each other and me 'schnudged' sun bathing right on that 'line of no return'. Instead of heading windsurfing this morning, I cancelled my 2nd night at the hotel and hopped on a bus back to bangkok this morning which is where i am now.....so thanks to everyone for their emails and frantic concerns....it's very touching...and also puts a weird spin on how i approach the rest of the trek...


to think....those images you guys see of patong and phuket....i was just there 4 days ago...and would have been 1. at the beach hotel  2. on a boat 3. in a kayak 4. underwater diving....all 4 options would have graced the shoreline with splattered chink....i'm sure of it....jeezus..even walking on the street over there would have been deadly....in saying all of that...i'm a bit worried for all the people that i met over in phuket....blegh...score one for mother nature....


can you believe this death toll?...and to hit somalia?....1/3 of everyone tourists?!?@#?!#@...it's HIGH SEASON HERE?!@#?#!@?....


"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish, and the tyranny of evil men.


 Blessed is he who in the name of charity and goodwill shepards the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brothers keeper and the finder of lost children.


And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger, those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers.


And you will know my name is the LORD, when I lay my vengeance upon thee!"


Pulp Fiction
(Partly from Hesekiel 25:17)


way to show who's boss ehh?


on another note....can you guys believe the order of the ukrainian people's...congratulations to ushenko...i mean...these are the same people who were under soviet rule 10 years ago....embrace democracy...embrace it! (i don't really know if i fully advocate democracy or kommie as one necessarily being better than the other...other than the obvious reasons where i personally benefit from a democracy...but it sounds right to cheer it on....)


alacazar - i went to see a cabaret show in pattaya....and uhh...just wait till i post some pictures...there's no way in hell anyone would ever believe these men were women....my gawd.....look it up online and search for pictures...or wait another week till i post...

2 things:


i hate it when i sign on the computer and get no email....unfortunately...it only comes second to seeing that i'm losing money at the same time!....my gawd...someone make those biotechs move for xmas....celebrex is OKAY!....VIOXX helps cancer!  come on guys....move those big puppies for me......


few more questions: someone tell me 1. is google worth $180+...2. what in the world is carly fucking fiorne whatever her name is doing with hp....and 3. why of all the places i decide not to buy a language book....it has to be the place where the language barrier is the roughest to get around.....friggin lost my hotel business card with directions on it today...and it took me a good 10 minute hand gesturing english-thai babbling...map pointing left and right...2 maps actually because his was in thai and mine english....to finally get my way  home ...withayu...WIITHHAAYUU...


WWWIIIITTTTTHHAAYYUUU!!!


being on vacation...anywehre in the world really...as the tourist...you're bound to get swindled and cheated on here and there....really part of the learning process and in other ways...hard to avoid....learning curve is skewed so when you start to catch on..they add new twists...my latest encounter was this morning with the cbbie.....cheated out of an extra 100baht thsi morning....its only 2.5 bucks US..but i just got this bitter feeling in my mouth about it...soo friggin annoying.....i hope he bites his tongue 15x the next 2 weeks.....


ranting and raving about how robust every asian plate that is served becomes quite another "exhausting" travel experience...i guess this is why most vacations are designed for shorter periods of time...so one only takes a break from their natural habitat then quickly crawls back to that comfort hole....by blaming my american tastebuds....and possibly in conjunction with a foreign-xmas....i'd have to say that i'm probably craving something that doesn't explode in my mouth...stick to one solid salty flavor...cut the flavor and herbs to a maximum 2...garlic + variable....and give me the fat albert ration size....


when proofreading-rereading a blog or a personal journal entry....do you find that one uses the conditional a whole lot more than necessary?  or the fact that everything has a rationalizing or justifying clause?  is this the sheer natural fluidity of an insecure mindset....or is it due to the vast public audience a web blog attracts, hence one can only find solace where there's a safety net?...


 


 

thailand


for a person that doesn't eat thai cuisine at all in new york...in fact, i actually try to avoid it when peers suggest places to eat, I LOVE THE FOOD HERE...oh my goodness, everything is soo insanely flavorful from the generic pad thai dishes to the extra wonderfully tasty tom yum goong....even all the home made cuisine on all the tours i've taken have been surprisingly delectable....


so i've finally hit the one place on my trip that i'd definitely like to revisit....oh...keep in mind that i've only been to phuket so far...5 days there..and i just landed in bangkok today....which reminds me...5 days of NO EMAIL AND MY INBOX IS EMPTY....U HOMO'S...what are you guys doing!?@#?@!.....anyways...landed in phuket on the 19th...and well...kind of spent the first night DRUNK due to joannes 5 shots of JD in 10 minutes....and the next day hungover....laying on the typical thai beach movie depiction.... the islands of thailand are a geographical wonder....its mezmerizing to be waking up to clear blue skies and sunshine day after day....i've caught sunset 2 or 3 days in a row....and the view of all the islands in the horizon line just makes everything more surreal....i'd maybe even go as far to say that my day trip to hong and panak island into bat caves and lagoons was a wasted trip....despite how awesome i thought the views were that day...because the next 2 days...my eyes almost ppopped out of the sockets....


2 days...6 dives...and ur looking at an advanced open water diver...yahoo! (hot swede blonde instructor didnt hurt either)....didn't catch a manta on the deep dive (next time im heading to hte similans)....that was a rough dive too.....racha noi proved pretty rough..and a bit sea sick for me....but the NIGHT DIVE at racha yai was INCREDIBLE...oh man...night diving is quite an experience....i get trigger friendly....so when i get those pictures developed i'll post them up...wait 2 weeks again.....the next day....I SAW A TURTLE!?@#!@....3M long turtle just hanging out underneath me then swimming right next to me..dum dee dum.......whoa!


so....of course i'm the backpacker known for "not roughing it" and spent my nights in patong beach at a pretty top end bungalow resort....not too shabby if i actually spent more time there.....spent most of the nights soaking in the lights of this one street ( can't remember the name)...but one street with bars packed basically on top of each other....and whores oozing out of its pores....if you get lucky....a lady boy will be gleaming out in ur face belting out his girly mannish voice........NUTS.....i hear pattaya is an even bigger party...but i'll soon find out.....


alrighty....8 days in bangkok....7 now....maybe less if i head to pattaya....until then...


merry xmas.....

another DEAR SUNIL post:


thanks to all the bday wishes...


after going through my pictures...korea and taiwan really look very similar...


chiang kai shek memorial versus gyeongbokgung palace




can you really tell the difference btwn the night markets?




battle of the street foods





what smells worse: squid or tofu.....





 


the fam + auntie wang....




sorry guys...as i've explained in the previous post...the past week has been one huge blurr..."excess"...no pictures of my birthday (probably smart of me not to bring out the camera cuz i'd probably lose it)...big thanks to jeff/jason/frank/david for taking me around everynight....till macau or back in taipei for chinese new years...whichever comes first...


where should i be for new years?


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 

withdrawal


holy mother of hizzly bizzle...i've been going through some pretty wretched withdrawal the past 24 hours...if i've been posting that there's been somewhat of a lack of excess amidst my travels...then let me state right now that i've taken just about 10 years off my life the past 4 days....i don't think i've come home earlier than 6am the next morning only to go running around taipei by noon showing off my latest line of clothing - "the sweats".  clubbing, lounge hopping, hostess bars (with my aunt), and just staying at a friends house proves no different than new york nightlife...but 4 days and maybe 10 bottles later (underestimating because the memory is lacking)....i'm not gonna go as far to say the taiwanese have iron lungs but rather they must enjoy hangovers 10x more than the average joe...


i think this would be the first time im admitting alcohol withdrawal....not really something to be proud of but anytime i'm feeling cruddy the next day with a heavy case of the shakes....it's never lasted longer than up to bed time....last night i was unable to sleep for longer than an hour at a time...each time waking up in cold sweat with a ridiculously palpitating heartbeat.....ironically...i'm quite used to waking up the morning of my birthday in a terrible state....(unfortunately this year its without the normal bunch of homos)...this lingering shaky feeling didnt go away after 2 sessions at the gym but only after 3 glasses of wine during the wedding i attended today...


4 weddings on my 24th year....and 2 more lined up Q1 of 2005 not to mention a rmB  in recent planning of next steps....dun really know what to think of it yet 'cept the fact that we have reached a legit age in life (if not already) and i just might be flopping around the world avoiding it....


i'm gonna guess we're staring the night off at eden again....and everything after that...i'll try to update you guys tomorrow in singapore...where i'll be uploading some pictures...


cheers guys.

having a toothache anytime anywhere is miserable as is...but when you get one overseas you really sit there and lull over how helpless you are with this parallyzing son of a bitch....i haven't gotten to the point where i'm looking up foreign dentists and cursing a lack of global health coverage...but i have passed by ice skates in a sporting goods store and visualized cast away part 2....the most unfortunate thing is that the pain hits the most when im drunk....gawd...its awful....


so the toothache coincides with a bit of a lull in the "adventure" portion of the jules verne trilogy...(sometimes i wonder why i write like that...its even pretentious when it comes out of my head)...spent the first week hibernating and recovering from the previoius month....coincidentally, when i was rested and ready to go out, mother effing TYPHOON...so..without a decent weekend of partying and a convincing grandmother....i stayed another week...its been a bit more productive...


night market night market....street food in singapore is one thing...where government health inspections are strict, but in taiwan...amidst fermented tofu and shrimp fishing carnival games...u try not to wonder if the there are schwarzanegger microbials in ur intestine and congealed duck blood soup....even though i just finished a 512mb memory card....i haven't felt like taking any pictures here....the only ones i have are of food i think....and i think im probably taking these pictures just to post them here...so enjoy...(u'll have to wait till next week)


for a guy who's scouring the globe....i seem to be going to the gym quite a bit....i joined california fitness for 2 weeks....and seeing a gym full of chinese people is a little odd to be honest....i no longer find myself next to stallones, ray lewis' and wonderwomen.....instead....as buff as chinese people can get...they're just about my size....the most disturbing thing is that the female to male ratio is NO GOOOD.


i'm seriousslly starting to think greenspan and the bush admministration is taking its weak dollar policy a bit too far....sinking rates in 2001 to record lows and then allowing another 3 years to pass before any signs of a future high yield domestic currency....aiding an american mentality of NOT SAVING (and pushing away the rest of the world who saves too much)....i guess it makes sense to allow an economic surge from re-financing and increased disposable income...but then its time to bring back those rates....close that budget and trade deficit....i  try to throw in the republican fiscal policy here...but with a war going on...im just not sure we're taking the right course of action here....has the fomc kept rates low to keep tourists coming for the primary terrorist target?  does bush have personal ties to companies with heavier global business? p&g??  i mean...he sure is screwing me over on my overseas expenses...but screw him...i've bought tons of sterling and yen....!  whoever trades forex...email me please..i got some questions......


so the rest of the globe is at a crossroads scared to finally cut off links with the biggest current superpower in the world (lets minus american buying power in the equation for a minute)...its been no secret that americans are no longer revered with awe and inspiration....an american company doesn't have the best selling car in its own country....math tests just revealed americans at the bottom of the barrel AGAIN....US basketball is no longer dominant (in fact it doesn't even place)....so let me also add that the whole "just cuz you're from the states and speak english so chicks automatically dig you" HAS NEVER EXISTED IN MY LIFETIME.....the era of ford and edison have passed....the US has probably hit its dark ages as a shift in power moves to rmB (b is capitalized for a special someone who has plans to get married real soon)


so here in lies the problem....its duely noted that as china opens up its doors to the world....a sea of opportunity floods the world....at age 10...i said "im american" and hated chinese school on sundays....at age 23...i say "shit i should have put more effort into chinese school" my mom's "i told you so's" is coming true....its the first one of those slow developing 10 year "i told you so's"


anyways....im heading back to singapore on the 13th...phuket on the 17th...22nd its off to bangkok.....