The kiddies have arrived (not to be confused with kitties). Matt's cousins who live in Korea arrived last night for a long weekend in Singapore. So far I only got a couple of tired hours with them (I hadn't met them before), but I can tell you that this weekend will be different than most in Singapore. They have twin one and a half year olds. They are super interested in everything - including trash cans, dirty laundry, dusty candles...but they're not that interested in the kitty (who even came in to visit this morning!).
I think we will see our life and Singapore in a whole new light!
I'm excited...
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
The Singapore Swing
After a super relaxing day of doing nothing (other than shopping, playing tennis, cleaning and swimming), I went to my friend's house last night for a fancy ladies' party. It was really cute - she and her husband made amazing food, and we all got dressed up and ate good food, drank good drinks, and did that all with china, crystal and silver. It doesn't happen too much in Singapore. Usually I'm a hawker stall kind of girl. It was really fun.After major fears of a hangover, Matt and I got up this morning and met that same friend and her husband (Tenley and Jeff) at this zip line course near our house.
When we got there, I saw the kids' course, which I thought was the adult course, and I worried that it would be unreasonably lame, but in fact it turned out to be really fun. There were four or so zip lines, and the rest of it is going through different types of obstacle courses - like walking on wires, logs, swinging on ropes, climbing ladders, etc. I think we all really enjoyed it. I'm not sure I need to go back there, but it was a really fun thing to do on a weekend (we are a bit running low on those in this country...).Afterwards we went to East Coast Park, walked around a bit, got lunch at the food centre (hawker stalls), and then I was off to facilitate a family Jewish education program at a friend's house. We talked about Shabbat, and I think it went pretty well. We had expected about 20 people, so I planned for that many, but when people started signing up, we saw that there was actually a bigger desire than we thought, so we ended up with FIFTY people. It was total chaos, but we worked through that, and I think our goals were accomplished. Hopefully they liked it.
The cat that we're friends with seems to have a boyfriend. He's always with her, he sort of watches her when she thinks about coming over, and he even was biting her neck and holding her in place at one time (I thought maybe they were going to consummate their relationship, but he just bit her. I feel like she's going to be an irresponsible teenage mother if she gets pregnant. Hopefully she'll make good decisions. Anyways, she's out, and it's 8:30, and I don't know where my kitties are.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Two pictures
Here are two pictures:Kitty in my hair.
Funny drinks in Bangkok (coffee in a bag, which is how all 'to go' drinks are served in this area of the world - I had iced tea like that this morning - green fanta and street fruit - which isn't really a drink).
Friday, January 25, 2008
Nepal in China
Tonight we went out for Nepalese food in Chinatown with Christian. Chinese New Year is coming up the week after next, and man is there a lot of red. You see rats (it's the year of the rat), red decorations, pork in all forms, and ten different sizes of citrus fruits - all to celebrate the lunar year. Apparently there is some agreement with Disney to use Mickey and Minnie all year for the year of the rat. They made their presence in many a'decorations.
The Nepalese food was good too.
Then we played two player Settlers. It stank. I can't believe I'm writing that, but it actually wasn't fun. Don't tell Matt, though, because I still want to con him into playing it with me.
I can't believe Federer is about to lose (it's the replay obviously).
The Nepalese food was good too.
Then we played two player Settlers. It stank. I can't believe I'm writing that, but it actually wasn't fun. Don't tell Matt, though, because I still want to con him into playing it with me.
I can't believe Federer is about to lose (it's the replay obviously).
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Networking
Today I got to hear a super senior analyst at Moody's talk about the subprime crisis and where we're heading with it. It was a speech through the Financial Women's Association. It was quite an opportunity for me, since I'm really just doing admin, and I don't get to use my analysis brain too much.
The speech was great. The women I talked to were great. There was one part that was hilarious to me. People went with a whole stack of business cards (called name cards here). They walk around the room, say "hello, I'm X" and hand them a card (with two hands, obviously). Then they go to the next person and do the same. No one really talked, and they all got TONS of name cards. Rather than say where you work and what you do, you're just both silent and look at the other's name card and then move on. I didn't participate (I only had two name cards - I left in a hurry and forgot them!). It was really funny. They call this networking. I call that dealing (cards).
On another note - you must listen to act three of this episode of This American Life (one of my favorite things that exist in the world). I have to say that I only know one person who has crapped in a "public" place on purpose - it was on a ski boat at camp, and I won't say who it is. I love David Sedaris. Seriously - listen to it.
The speech was great. The women I talked to were great. There was one part that was hilarious to me. People went with a whole stack of business cards (called name cards here). They walk around the room, say "hello, I'm X" and hand them a card (with two hands, obviously). Then they go to the next person and do the same. No one really talked, and they all got TONS of name cards. Rather than say where you work and what you do, you're just both silent and look at the other's name card and then move on. I didn't participate (I only had two name cards - I left in a hurry and forgot them!). It was really funny. They call this networking. I call that dealing (cards).
On another note - you must listen to act three of this episode of This American Life (one of my favorite things that exist in the world). I have to say that I only know one person who has crapped in a "public" place on purpose - it was on a ski boat at camp, and I won't say who it is. I love David Sedaris. Seriously - listen to it.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Subwhere?
Yesterday the MRT was shut down east of Bedok (our stop) to the end. It was shut down for seven hours. There were buses that were chartered to help get people to work. Singapore was in an uproar. This morning it was the top story in all of the papers (actually it was second to the fact that the markets TANKED yesterday). This was the worst shut down forever. No one knew what to do.
I thought this was hilarious. This happened in New York all the time. My boss lived in Brooklyn, and there were many many days where she called and said that her line was closed/stopped/slow - something, and she was late to work. Luckily I could walk to work, so I didn't learn much about it, but I KNOW this happens all the time.
I got to work, and I chose the wrong audience to talk about this with. I talked to my Singaporean colleague about how nuts this was that people were in such an uproar. She said, "50,000 people couldn't get to work." I said - yeah, well that happens all the time in NYC. She kept saying, "they had no buses, no taxis, and they had no way to get to work." There were buses, there were taxis (she took one). I think I was just preaching to the wrong choir.
I thought this was hilarious. This happened in New York all the time. My boss lived in Brooklyn, and there were many many days where she called and said that her line was closed/stopped/slow - something, and she was late to work. Luckily I could walk to work, so I didn't learn much about it, but I KNOW this happens all the time.
I got to work, and I chose the wrong audience to talk about this with. I talked to my Singaporean colleague about how nuts this was that people were in such an uproar. She said, "50,000 people couldn't get to work." I said - yeah, well that happens all the time in NYC. She kept saying, "they had no buses, no taxis, and they had no way to get to work." There were buses, there were taxis (she took one). I think I was just preaching to the wrong choir.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Bouncing Icons and Kitties
You know how when you open an application on a mac the icon bounces? Our friend, the kitty, she loves it. She watches it and gets ready to pounce. She tries to walk on the keyboard.
Last night, my dad and I were ichatting (video chatting), and the kitty was watching him. When his face went off the screen, she was CONFUSED.
She's the cutest
kitty in the world (now that 
Splinter is most likely dead. If Splinter was around, she would be the cutest, and this kitty knows that she's only second to Splinter - hopefully it won't create any weird self-esteem issues).
She's so smart, she even reads the New Yorker.
Last night, my dad and I were ichatting (video chatting), and the kitty was watching him. When his face went off the screen, she was CONFUSED.
She's the cutest
kitty in the world (now that 
Splinter is most likely dead. If Splinter was around, she would be the cutest, and this kitty knows that she's only second to Splinter - hopefully it won't create any weird self-esteem issues).She's so smart, she even reads the New Yorker.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Great Weekend with one sad thing and one confusing thing
So, this was a great weekend. We went out with our friends Tenley and Jeff on Friday night. We ate at a good Spanish restaurant, drank a lot (at least Tenley and I did), and we love them, so it was just plain fun.
Saturday we relaxed a lot, ran a lot of errands and saw a great movie with Matt's friend, Justin. We saw Michael Clayton. I would recommend it. Really great.
Today, Matt and I literally ran errands. We hadn't gone running in a long time, so it was a bit rough (and it was noon, so it was hot...), but we came home with fruit, fish crackers, and ice tea in a bag. (If you don't remember the tea in a bag thing, I will post a picture soon - it's more fun to drink drinks out of plastic bags).
Then, Maria and Peter came over for MANY games of Settlers. Can you ask for a better day? I can't. By the way, the fruit was great - the fish crackers not so much. They smell too strong.
Anyways, the sad thing that all of you probably already know about. I was listening to NPR while walking to meet the peeps on Friday night. I heard about this soldier who was blogging, and he wrote his "last blog" just in case he died, and he sent it to his friend to post in the event that he died in Iraq. Well, he died, and she posted it, and it's just overwhelming.
First of all, I don't know anyone who died in Iraq. I don't really understand what's going on there, and the honest truth is that I stopped reading about it months ago, though I feel EXTREMELY guilty about that. This helped make it much more personal.
Second of all, I can't imagine thinking that much about death, really understanding that it's a real possibility. How sad that so many people probably do that on a daily basis. I only did that when my brother died.
Third of all, I really related to his blogger personality, and how he wanted to have the last word - even on his death. How nuts.
Fourth and last of all, he was blogging for a newspaper when this happened, and the comments on his last posting are overwhelming. He was killed with another soldier, and that soldier's brother was trying to figure out if his brother (the soldier) was indeed killed. You see him learn that his brother did indeed die, you see his father write, his mother-in-law...they're all sort of learning about his death and dealing with it to some extent online - in public. It's really...something. Just overwhelming. Click here to see his last posting. Click here to see the posting on the newspaper's blog.
This is the totally confusing thing:
So, remember that terrible magazine that hated gay people? It said that parents should help their kids realize that they can choose whether or not to be gay. Here's my angry posting about that.
Well, I got a new issue, and it talks about women's fantasies. This is what it says: (I really hope this is not plagiarism...)
To women, fantasies are fun mind games that help them get in the mood: for men, fantasies do more, helping them hold back their orgasms so they keep going on and on.
Women's fantasies:
Anyways, to end on a happy note - two things.
1 - The Federer game yesterday was one of the best tennis matches I have ever seen, and we got to see it LIVE! Yay Australia being only two time zones away!
2 - The kitty who is still unnamed (except if you're Matt and think that her name is Hunter) has started coming into our apartment pretty regularly. She's laying next to me right now. She's just so cuddly and loveable. I'm in trouble. I already love her.
This is really long.
Saturday we relaxed a lot, ran a lot of errands and saw a great movie with Matt's friend, Justin. We saw Michael Clayton. I would recommend it. Really great.
Today, Matt and I literally ran errands. We hadn't gone running in a long time, so it was a bit rough (and it was noon, so it was hot...), but we came home with fruit, fish crackers, and ice tea in a bag. (If you don't remember the tea in a bag thing, I will post a picture soon - it's more fun to drink drinks out of plastic bags).
Then, Maria and Peter came over for MANY games of Settlers. Can you ask for a better day? I can't. By the way, the fruit was great - the fish crackers not so much. They smell too strong.
Anyways, the sad thing that all of you probably already know about. I was listening to NPR while walking to meet the peeps on Friday night. I heard about this soldier who was blogging, and he wrote his "last blog" just in case he died, and he sent it to his friend to post in the event that he died in Iraq. Well, he died, and she posted it, and it's just overwhelming.
First of all, I don't know anyone who died in Iraq. I don't really understand what's going on there, and the honest truth is that I stopped reading about it months ago, though I feel EXTREMELY guilty about that. This helped make it much more personal.
Second of all, I can't imagine thinking that much about death, really understanding that it's a real possibility. How sad that so many people probably do that on a daily basis. I only did that when my brother died.
Third of all, I really related to his blogger personality, and how he wanted to have the last word - even on his death. How nuts.
Fourth and last of all, he was blogging for a newspaper when this happened, and the comments on his last posting are overwhelming. He was killed with another soldier, and that soldier's brother was trying to figure out if his brother (the soldier) was indeed killed. You see him learn that his brother did indeed die, you see his father write, his mother-in-law...they're all sort of learning about his death and dealing with it to some extent online - in public. It's really...something. Just overwhelming. Click here to see his last posting. Click here to see the posting on the newspaper's blog.
This is the totally confusing thing:
So, remember that terrible magazine that hated gay people? It said that parents should help their kids realize that they can choose whether or not to be gay. Here's my angry posting about that.
Well, I got a new issue, and it talks about women's fantasies. This is what it says: (I really hope this is not plagiarism...)
To women, fantasies are fun mind games that help them get in the mood: for men, fantasies do more, helping them hold back their orgasms so they keep going on and on.
Women's fantasies:
- Being overpowered (through rape, for example) during intercourse
- Making love with someone they know other than their partner
- Weaving a detailed fictional scene of seduction in an exciting place
- Pretending they're meeting their partner for the first time and having spontaneous sex
Anyways, to end on a happy note - two things.
1 - The Federer game yesterday was one of the best tennis matches I have ever seen, and we got to see it LIVE! Yay Australia being only two time zones away!
2 - The kitty who is still unnamed (except if you're Matt and think that her name is Hunter) has started coming into our apartment pretty regularly. She's laying next to me right now. She's just so cuddly and loveable. I'm in trouble. I already love her.
This is really long.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Smoking Breaks
This is totally random, but it's something I have been thinking about.
I work in an area with lots of tall buildings, so there are many, many people who come down to the small ground below when they need to access the real world.
During my day, I see many people outside smoking (it's really a small space for so many smokers - I wish the world was non-smoking, but we're getting there...). There's even a guy or two that I work with who smoke. Now, when you're working in a sky scraper, it takes a few minutes to get to the bottom floor. It's enough time that I have to factor it into my lunch hour.
These smokers somehow get breaks during the day - maybe even once an hour or so - to go all the way downstairs, have a 5-7 minute cigarette, and then come back up. That's a significant amount of time when you add it up. Why is it acceptable for smokers to take so many long breaks. What if I went downstairs to buy and eat ice cream 6 times per day? I don't think people would appreciate that (mostly my boss).
So how?
I work in an area with lots of tall buildings, so there are many, many people who come down to the small ground below when they need to access the real world.
During my day, I see many people outside smoking (it's really a small space for so many smokers - I wish the world was non-smoking, but we're getting there...). There's even a guy or two that I work with who smoke. Now, when you're working in a sky scraper, it takes a few minutes to get to the bottom floor. It's enough time that I have to factor it into my lunch hour.
These smokers somehow get breaks during the day - maybe even once an hour or so - to go all the way downstairs, have a 5-7 minute cigarette, and then come back up. That's a significant amount of time when you add it up. Why is it acceptable for smokers to take so many long breaks. What if I went downstairs to buy and eat ice cream 6 times per day? I don't think people would appreciate that (mostly my boss).
So how?
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Dayeinu
In my life a few months ago, I traveled an hour and 20 minutes to work and then back home.
Now, I travel only 40 minutes each way.
It would have been enough.
In my life a few months ago, I couldn't get home before 8, and I was always super hungry for dinner (too hungry).
Now, I can be home by 7, and I am not even in a hurry to make dinner. Today I waited until nine, just because I could.
It would have been enough.
In my life a few months ago, I was so stressed by my job, I didn't really sleep.
Now, my alarm wakes me up, and I forget which country I'm in.
It would have been enough.
In my life a few months ago, I brought my lunch or I had three choices - fishball noodles, AMAZING Malay food, or something Chinese with lots of sauce.
Now, I can bring my lunch, eat a really good sandwich, eat really good hawker food, or eat anything else that I want.
It would have been enough.
In my life a few months ago, I worked in the bottom of a public housing building, and there was a dried up gecko on the bathroom floor (and one in my skirt, if you remember).
In my life now, I'm working in a beautiful building, on a high floor with a great view, in a GORGEOUS office.
It would have been enough.
The only problems are:
I miss my friends that I made at the old job.
I have a hard time wearing fancy clothes each day. I run out of ideas of what to wear, and my feet hurt from wearing heels. How do people do it?
Now, I travel only 40 minutes each way.
It would have been enough.
In my life a few months ago, I couldn't get home before 8, and I was always super hungry for dinner (too hungry).
Now, I can be home by 7, and I am not even in a hurry to make dinner. Today I waited until nine, just because I could.
It would have been enough.
In my life a few months ago, I was so stressed by my job, I didn't really sleep.
Now, my alarm wakes me up, and I forget which country I'm in.
It would have been enough.
In my life a few months ago, I brought my lunch or I had three choices - fishball noodles, AMAZING Malay food, or something Chinese with lots of sauce.
Now, I can bring my lunch, eat a really good sandwich, eat really good hawker food, or eat anything else that I want.
It would have been enough.
In my life a few months ago, I worked in the bottom of a public housing building, and there was a dried up gecko on the bathroom floor (and one in my skirt, if you remember).
In my life now, I'm working in a beautiful building, on a high floor with a great view, in a GORGEOUS office.
It would have been enough.
The only problems are:
I miss my friends that I made at the old job.
I have a hard time wearing fancy clothes each day. I run out of ideas of what to wear, and my feet hurt from wearing heels. How do people do it?
Sunday, January 13, 2008
So...Basically I'm back-blogged. I have a lot to say and I don't even know where to start.
The basics are that Jer was here until Friday - which included me and Matt going back to work and Jer exploring Singapore and then all of us meeting up for dinner in various locations around the country/city/island/town.
Matt and I hung out with friends Friday night, cleaned our house (we have a new mold problem - and it's so grossing me out), went to the mall, visited our friends who just had a beautiful baby girl, went out for my birthday drink (we found a pub down the street that has *good* beer for S$8!!!), I biked (more later), met up for lunch, swam, ironed, played settlers of catan and FINALLY ate some food that was made in our very own kitchen. It was a good weekend.
I guess I'll first talk about my birthday. I turned 30. I feel like that should be a really big milestone. I feel like I should freak out or something like that. I'm sure I had a bunch of expectations about how I wanted my life to be by 30...I guess what happened is that I NEVER expected to be living in Singapore and working at Moody's, so how can I really then explain any of my other expectations? I'm pretty sure that stopped that whole process.
I was trying to figure out how to celebrate it. I guess what I like most in life is friends. I always throw myself birthday parties, non-bachelorette parties, good-bye parties. I think very few people have really thrown me a party before, and I don't really mind doing it for myself - because I LOVE when all of my friends get together (one exception is when Matt and I got engaged, and we happened to be in Chicago right after that and it was my birthday...though I still might have asked Jo and Mike to have all of my friends over!). Anyways, I thought that I should probably celebrate with friends, but then I realized that I have three friends here, and what if they were busy? I also didn't give anyone any time to plan, since we had been in Thailand, so I decided to feel sorry for myself and do nothing (and really not even leave the house that whole day). I'm still not sure how I feel about it.
On to other things. I loved today. My friend Martin from the biking trip in Thailand came over to Bedok (yay for friends who will travel across the country to do fun things with you!). We walked to East Coast Park, rented bikes and biked to Changi Beach. It was about an hour ride to get there, and then we went to the end. We basically followed the beach around two sides of Singapore, went by the airport and ended up on the north side right near Malaysia. We biked back and then walked for about 40 minutes and met Matt at this Swiss bakery near-ish to our house. We had a truly Singaporean experience there.
I don't know if I'll be able to communicate this, but I'll try.
There's a set meal for $12.90 that includes a quiche, salad and soup (and tea).
Matt ordered that. He said that he would take water instead of tea.
When they charged him for the meal, they added up the quiche, salad, and soup separately, and it was more expensive than $12.90. He said that he should get charged for the set meal, but they said that he had refused the tea, so they have to charge him a la carte. So we said that he would pay for Martin's tea as part of his set. She said that we had already asked for separate checks, so that wouldn't work. NO flexibility out here!!
Also, I was out in the sun all day, and somehow I totally forgot to put on sunscreen. I am the reddest Melanie around. Not good for my life expectancy. Such is life on the equator.
The basics are that Jer was here until Friday - which included me and Matt going back to work and Jer exploring Singapore and then all of us meeting up for dinner in various locations around the country/city/island/town.
Matt and I hung out with friends Friday night, cleaned our house (we have a new mold problem - and it's so grossing me out), went to the mall, visited our friends who just had a beautiful baby girl, went out for my birthday drink (we found a pub down the street that has *good* beer for S$8!!!), I biked (more later), met up for lunch, swam, ironed, played settlers of catan and FINALLY ate some food that was made in our very own kitchen. It was a good weekend.
I guess I'll first talk about my birthday. I turned 30. I feel like that should be a really big milestone. I feel like I should freak out or something like that. I'm sure I had a bunch of expectations about how I wanted my life to be by 30...I guess what happened is that I NEVER expected to be living in Singapore and working at Moody's, so how can I really then explain any of my other expectations? I'm pretty sure that stopped that whole process.
I was trying to figure out how to celebrate it. I guess what I like most in life is friends. I always throw myself birthday parties, non-bachelorette parties, good-bye parties. I think very few people have really thrown me a party before, and I don't really mind doing it for myself - because I LOVE when all of my friends get together (one exception is when Matt and I got engaged, and we happened to be in Chicago right after that and it was my birthday...though I still might have asked Jo and Mike to have all of my friends over!). Anyways, I thought that I should probably celebrate with friends, but then I realized that I have three friends here, and what if they were busy? I also didn't give anyone any time to plan, since we had been in Thailand, so I decided to feel sorry for myself and do nothing (and really not even leave the house that whole day). I'm still not sure how I feel about it.
On to other things. I loved today. My friend Martin from the biking trip in Thailand came over to Bedok (yay for friends who will travel across the country to do fun things with you!). We walked to East Coast Park, rented bikes and biked to Changi Beach. It was about an hour ride to get there, and then we went to the end. We basically followed the beach around two sides of Singapore, went by the airport and ended up on the north side right near Malaysia. We biked back and then walked for about 40 minutes and met Matt at this Swiss bakery near-ish to our house. We had a truly Singaporean experience there.
I don't know if I'll be able to communicate this, but I'll try.
There's a set meal for $12.90 that includes a quiche, salad and soup (and tea).
Matt ordered that. He said that he would take water instead of tea.
When they charged him for the meal, they added up the quiche, salad, and soup separately, and it was more expensive than $12.90. He said that he should get charged for the set meal, but they said that he had refused the tea, so they have to charge him a la carte. So we said that he would pay for Martin's tea as part of his set. She said that we had already asked for separate checks, so that wouldn't work. NO flexibility out here!!
Also, I was out in the sun all day, and somehow I totally forgot to put on sunscreen. I am the reddest Melanie around. Not good for my life expectancy. Such is life on the equator.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Two Nights in Bangkok (another guest posting by Jer)
As one who has traveled almost exclusively in the Western world (apart
from Israel, which is still pretty western in most ways), Bangkok is
unlike any city I've ever been to. I loved the energy it exudes and
its ability to cram unimaginable amounts of stuff and people into
remarkably small spaces. I had mixed feelings about the "wild west",
caveat emptor in the extreme, lawless feel that the place had that
made me feel a bit edgy and more vigilant than usual. This was one of
the few places I've been where warnings from Lonely Planet and friends
actually came true. People would appear around every corner trying to
sell us stuff or arrange tours. And finding a cab driver willing to
use his (if there are female cab drivers in Bangkok, we did not see
any) meter could be a major hassle.
One story that captures the sense of what I'm talking about:
Melanie mentioned in an earlier posting that we went to Jim Thompson's
house (the guy she said had good taste). Almost equally interesting
was our trip home. It had taken us about 25 minutes to get there in a
very creatively (i.e., Asian-style, in which all road markings and
traffic laws are ignored in the interest of getting there faster)
driven tuk-tuk, and traffic was now even worse due to impending rush
hour. The woman at the house (Jim Thompson's) suggested that we take
the canal boat for, like, 10 Bhat (30 cents US) per person. We walked
along the nearly-overflowing, smelly and choppy canal for a bit to get
to the dock, where a dozen or so people were also waiting. A boat
going the other way pulled up, so we watched to see how the procedure
worked. Within roughly a second or two, the boat had pulled up while
people more-or-less-simultaneously got off and on, and those who were
even a millisecond too slow (and there were several) watched it pull
away. When our boat was approaching, we were sure to be ready on the
dock.
This isn't, it bears mentioning, like getting on the ferry to Mackinac
Island or something where there's a gangway and people taking tickets
and such. The boats have open sides and rows of benches down low that
stretch the entire width of the boat. You pick a row while on the
dock, and jump onto the side of the boat and step down onto a bench.
In our case, the boat was crowded and nearly full. In the 2 seconds
the boat was docked, I jumped onto the side of the boat. The people on
the bench below me, despite seeing me standing there precariously as
the boat pulled away from the dock, didn't move over. Not having much
choice, I jumped in anyway and eventually the people did move. A scary
moment, though. Once on the boat, there are tarps people hold up (via
strings rigged with pulleys) to avoid being splashed by the nasty,
polluted water. The problem with these being that they're opaque, so
it can be tough to see where you are. Happily we got off at the right
stop and didn't fall in or get too splashed. A unique transit
experience certainly worth 30 cents.
As I said above, another remarkable aspect of Bangkok is its density.
We had already been to Chiang Mai and were aware that much of the Thai
economy is premised on selling inexpensive goods on sidewalks, but
Bangkok still felt crowded. It's not a small city by any means, but
every nook and cranny is packed beyond capacity. When Mel and I would
try to stop on the sidewalk to look at our map, for example, the only
sidewalk space not completely taken up by restaurant tables or
sidewalk vendors was in front of doors. And when restaurant tables
were on the sidewalk they sometimes had nothing to do with the retail
space they were in front of. Sidewalk vendors are one thing, but some
restaurants operated entirely on the sidewalk, kitchen and all! And
when we walked around in Chinatown there, the pedestrian traffic was
absolutely wall to wall. Mel and I got separated several times
because I was insufficiently aggressive (apparently) in my walking.
But even those crowds didn't stop the occasional motor biker from
trying to get through.
Also remarkable for its density was the Weekend Market we went to.
Imagine an art fair, a few flea markets, a couple food courts, a busy
Chinatown, your local pet store, and a couple factory outlet stores
all rolled into one. Now multiply this image several times, and add a
couple thousand more people than you think should reasonably fit in
that amount of space. You now have a vague sense of what the market
was like. We wandered around for a few hours and only saw a small
fraction of it. We also drank fruit shakes and bought some noodles
with fish balls at a food stall for lunch.
from Israel, which is still pretty western in most ways), Bangkok is
unlike any city I've ever been to. I loved the energy it exudes and
its ability to cram unimaginable amounts of stuff and people into
remarkably small spaces. I had mixed feelings about the "wild west",
caveat emptor in the extreme, lawless feel that the place had that
made me feel a bit edgy and more vigilant than usual. This was one of
the few places I've been where warnings from Lonely Planet and friends
actually came true. People would appear around every corner trying to
sell us stuff or arrange tours. And finding a cab driver willing to
use his (if there are female cab drivers in Bangkok, we did not see
any) meter could be a major hassle.
One story that captures the sense of what I'm talking about:
Melanie mentioned in an earlier posting that we went to Jim Thompson's
house (the guy she said had good taste). Almost equally interesting
was our trip home. It had taken us about 25 minutes to get there in a
very creatively (i.e., Asian-style, in which all road markings and
traffic laws are ignored in the interest of getting there faster)
driven tuk-tuk, and traffic was now even worse due to impending rush
hour. The woman at the house (Jim Thompson's) suggested that we take
the canal boat for, like, 10 Bhat (30 cents US) per person. We walked
along the nearly-overflowing, smelly and choppy canal for a bit to get
to the dock, where a dozen or so people were also waiting. A boat
going the other way pulled up, so we watched to see how the procedure
worked. Within roughly a second or two, the boat had pulled up while
people more-or-less-simultaneously got off and on, and those who were
even a millisecond too slow (and there were several) watched it pull
away. When our boat was approaching, we were sure to be ready on the
dock.
This isn't, it bears mentioning, like getting on the ferry to Mackinac
Island or something where there's a gangway and people taking tickets
and such. The boats have open sides and rows of benches down low that
stretch the entire width of the boat. You pick a row while on the
dock, and jump onto the side of the boat and step down onto a bench.
In our case, the boat was crowded and nearly full. In the 2 seconds
the boat was docked, I jumped onto the side of the boat. The people on
the bench below me, despite seeing me standing there precariously as
the boat pulled away from the dock, didn't move over. Not having much
choice, I jumped in anyway and eventually the people did move. A scary
moment, though. Once on the boat, there are tarps people hold up (via
strings rigged with pulleys) to avoid being splashed by the nasty,
polluted water. The problem with these being that they're opaque, so
it can be tough to see where you are. Happily we got off at the right
stop and didn't fall in or get too splashed. A unique transit
experience certainly worth 30 cents.
As I said above, another remarkable aspect of Bangkok is its density.
We had already been to Chiang Mai and were aware that much of the Thai
economy is premised on selling inexpensive goods on sidewalks, but
Bangkok still felt crowded. It's not a small city by any means, but
every nook and cranny is packed beyond capacity. When Mel and I would
try to stop on the sidewalk to look at our map, for example, the only
sidewalk space not completely taken up by restaurant tables or
sidewalk vendors was in front of doors. And when restaurant tables
were on the sidewalk they sometimes had nothing to do with the retail
space they were in front of. Sidewalk vendors are one thing, but some
restaurants operated entirely on the sidewalk, kitchen and all! And
when we walked around in Chinatown there, the pedestrian traffic was
absolutely wall to wall. Mel and I got separated several times
because I was insufficiently aggressive (apparently) in my walking.
But even those crowds didn't stop the occasional motor biker from
trying to get through.
Also remarkable for its density was the Weekend Market we went to.
Imagine an art fair, a few flea markets, a couple food courts, a busy
Chinatown, your local pet store, and a couple factory outlet stores
all rolled into one. Now multiply this image several times, and add a
couple thousand more people than you think should reasonably fit in
that amount of space. You now have a vague sense of what the market
was like. We wandered around for a few hours and only saw a small
fraction of it. We also drank fruit shakes and bought some noodles
with fish balls at a food stall for lunch.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Fruits in Thailand (Guest Blogging by Jeremy)
One of the best things about Thailand is that you are just about never
more than 50 yards/metres from somebody who wants to sell you fresh
fruit or related products. Carts full of sliced pineapple, papaya,
watermelon, etc. that go for about 30 cents (US) are just about
everywhere. In extremely touristy or remote areas, the price might go
up to 60 cents. Slightly less common, but still nearly-ubiquitous
(perhaps on every second street corner), are vendors selling bottles
of fresh-squeezed orange juice from small, brightly colored,
tangerine-like Thai oranges (75 cents or so US); and others making
banana shakes (around 1 dollar).
The banana shake deserves a paragraph of its own. Vendors happily make
shakes from other fruits, it's true; and they're pretty good. The
banana shake, however, is something sublime. I tried to eat at least
one a day for most of our stay in Thailand and was largely successful
in this endeavor. The recipe varies a bit from location to location,
but most involve some combination of fresh bananas, crushed ice,
coconut milk and a bit of sweetener. Variation in how these are
combined rarely seems to affect quality, with the main exception to
this being a shake I had in Chiang Rai where the woman added
sweeteners from like 80 different bottles and it tasted more like a
Jolly Rancher than a banana. More surprising in quality was a shake in
Chiang Mai that was possibly made by the restaurant owner's kids, who
seemed to be running the place for the night. I believe 8 children
aged 8 - 14 or so were involved in making this shake (I'm not
kidding), the procedure for which inexplicably involved 5 or 6
giggle-filled trips to the kitchen to grab mystery ingredients, and
several cycles in the blender (which was on the sidewalk, where I was
standing and watching the ordeal). Not once did they taste the shake,
but somehow the end result was delicious.
It will not come as a surprise to at least some of you that I was
looking forward to eating mangoes in Thailand. Even though mangoes
were theoretically out of season during my visit and therefore
unavailable in local markets, it was still possible to get them in the
cities and at some restaurants. This was quite fortunate, as it
enabled us to eat mangoes with sticky rice in the morning at our
favorite breakfast place in Chiang Mai. This is more commonly eaten as
a dessert by Thai types, but I can assure you it makes a delightful
breakfast -- fresh mango, sticky rice steamed and then soaked in
coconut cream, and all coated with a bit of sugary/coconuty glaze.
Washed down with a banana shake or fresh orange juice (see above).
What could be bad?
It does bear mentioning that moving around all of these fruits and
vegetables is a nontrivial operation. Happily, virtually every family
in the agricultural areas of the country that we visited seems to own
a small pickup truck and/or a motorbike. In this context, neither of
these is a recreational vehicle. On more than one occasion during our
bike trip, for example, we would be biking on two-tracks through the
jungle and run across a local on a motorbike. In the US, locals in the
woods on motorbikes are folks who enjoy breathing engine exhaust, race
along at speeds meant to generate adrenaline, and then go home to
watch NASCAR. In northern Thailand, two-tracks in the jungle are
thoroughfares for the hill tribe people -- and the motorbikes would be
laden with bamboo poles or oranges or something. Speeds were slow so
the goods wouldn't topple over. And when we saw pickup trucks in these
areas, they were inevitably loaded well beyond capacity -- sometimes
20 feet into the air -- with whatever could be crammed on them. It was
pretty impressive.
Speaking of our biking trip, we saw just about every kind of tropical
fruit tree/plant that you can imagine -- bananas, papayas, pineapples,
longans, pomelos, oranges, lychees, jackfruit, peanuts, mangoes and
probably also a few that I'm forgetting. We did not, however, see any
mangosteen trees. The mangosteen, as some of you may know, is a small
purple fruit that I discovered in Chinatown in Toronto. It has a thick
skin and flesh that is white, sweet but slightly tart, and wonderfully
creamy. I knew they grew in Thailand so I asked our biking guide where
they grow. "Mangosteen?" he laughed, "They grow further south. People
cut down the trees for firewood because there are so many in season
you can get them for 5 Bhat (about 15 cents US) per kilo!" In Toronto,
they go for about $5/pound. I feel cheated somehow.
Stay tuned for another guest blog post on other foods in Thailand.
more than 50 yards/metres from somebody who wants to sell you fresh
fruit or related products. Carts full of sliced pineapple, papaya,
watermelon, etc. that go for about 30 cents (US) are just about
everywhere. In extremely touristy or remote areas, the price might go
up to 60 cents. Slightly less common, but still nearly-ubiquitous
(perhaps on every second street corner), are vendors selling bottles
of fresh-squeezed orange juice from small, brightly colored,
tangerine-like Thai oranges (75 cents or so US); and others making
banana shakes (around 1 dollar).
The banana shake deserves a paragraph of its own. Vendors happily make
shakes from other fruits, it's true; and they're pretty good. The
banana shake, however, is something sublime. I tried to eat at least
one a day for most of our stay in Thailand and was largely successful
in this endeavor. The recipe varies a bit from location to location,
but most involve some combination of fresh bananas, crushed ice,
coconut milk and a bit of sweetener. Variation in how these are
combined rarely seems to affect quality, with the main exception to
this being a shake I had in Chiang Rai where the woman added
sweeteners from like 80 different bottles and it tasted more like a
Jolly Rancher than a banana. More surprising in quality was a shake in
Chiang Mai that was possibly made by the restaurant owner's kids, who
seemed to be running the place for the night. I believe 8 children
aged 8 - 14 or so were involved in making this shake (I'm not
kidding), the procedure for which inexplicably involved 5 or 6
giggle-filled trips to the kitchen to grab mystery ingredients, and
several cycles in the blender (which was on the sidewalk, where I was
standing and watching the ordeal). Not once did they taste the shake,
but somehow the end result was delicious.
It will not come as a surprise to at least some of you that I was
looking forward to eating mangoes in Thailand. Even though mangoes
were theoretically out of season during my visit and therefore
unavailable in local markets, it was still possible to get them in the
cities and at some restaurants. This was quite fortunate, as it
enabled us to eat mangoes with sticky rice in the morning at our
favorite breakfast place in Chiang Mai. This is more commonly eaten as
a dessert by Thai types, but I can assure you it makes a delightful
breakfast -- fresh mango, sticky rice steamed and then soaked in
coconut cream, and all coated with a bit of sugary/coconuty glaze.
Washed down with a banana shake or fresh orange juice (see above).
What could be bad?
It does bear mentioning that moving around all of these fruits and
vegetables is a nontrivial operation. Happily, virtually every family
in the agricultural areas of the country that we visited seems to own
a small pickup truck and/or a motorbike. In this context, neither of
these is a recreational vehicle. On more than one occasion during our
bike trip, for example, we would be biking on two-tracks through the
jungle and run across a local on a motorbike. In the US, locals in the
woods on motorbikes are folks who enjoy breathing engine exhaust, race
along at speeds meant to generate adrenaline, and then go home to
watch NASCAR. In northern Thailand, two-tracks in the jungle are
thoroughfares for the hill tribe people -- and the motorbikes would be
laden with bamboo poles or oranges or something. Speeds were slow so
the goods wouldn't topple over. And when we saw pickup trucks in these
areas, they were inevitably loaded well beyond capacity -- sometimes
20 feet into the air -- with whatever could be crammed on them. It was
pretty impressive.
Speaking of our biking trip, we saw just about every kind of tropical
fruit tree/plant that you can imagine -- bananas, papayas, pineapples,
longans, pomelos, oranges, lychees, jackfruit, peanuts, mangoes and
probably also a few that I'm forgetting. We did not, however, see any
mangosteen trees. The mangosteen, as some of you may know, is a small
purple fruit that I discovered in Chinatown in Toronto. It has a thick
skin and flesh that is white, sweet but slightly tart, and wonderfully
creamy. I knew they grew in Thailand so I asked our biking guide where
they grow. "Mangosteen?" he laughed, "They grow further south. People
cut down the trees for firewood because there are so many in season
you can get them for 5 Bhat (about 15 cents US) per kilo!" In Toronto,
they go for about $5/pound. I feel cheated somehow.
Stay tuned for another guest blog post on other foods in Thailand.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
This Land is my Land, this Land is Thailand
We all (Mel, Matt, Jer and Josh) just got back to Singapore from an amazing experience in Thailand. This is long. Feel free to read part now and more another day. Click here for 1/4 of our pictures. Click here for 40 more.
After my last posting, Jer and I flew to Bangkok and met up with Matt and Josh (Matt's friend since age 11). In short, we spent a weekend in Bangkok, flew down to Phuket, bussed up to Khao Sok National Park for two days, vanned to Krabi, taxied to Ao Nam, boated to Railay and stayed there for about five days. Then we boated to Ao Nang, taxied to Phuket airport and flew home.
A bit more detail...Bangkok was filled with lots of people, vendors selling things on the sidewalk, wats, and amazing food. We stayed in the tourist area, packed with street food, cheap clothes and fake IDs. Jer and I visited the Jim Thompson house (after nearly dying at least five times in the tuk tuk ride on the way over). He (Mr. Thompson) was one man with amazing taste.
Friday night we met up with Phu and Ryce, two of Matt's friends from grad school. We had a great dinner - in terms of the conversation and the amazing dishes that Ryce chose. Yum. My favorite dish was the shrimp with noodles.
Saturday night we met up with Matt's other friend Noi and her husband Bob. This time we dined on the river and also ate amazing food. My favorite dish was the pomelo salad.
Sunday we flew off to Phuket. One might think that when you're staying at a big hotel in the centre of touristville you might be able to find a way to get to the airport for less than US$50. We finally did, but it took a lot of inbred fighting (between the four of us - mostly me, though) and a man who tried to get an extra $10 at the end. Also, our ticket didn't say which airport in Bangkok we were flying out of, so we (mostly I) were worried the whole taxi ride about going to the wrong airport.
From Phuket airport, we taxied into Phuket town, ate at a bus station restaurant and hopped on a local (but air conditioned!) bus to Khao Sok National Park. It ended up being a four and a half bus ride up the coast and then inland. We saw an area called Khao Lak which was totally devastated by the tsunami. The truth is, though, that we have no idea what it looked like pre-tsunami, so I can't comment on that.
Somehow when we got dropped off on the side of the highway, there was a woman waiting for us (not that she knew we were even on that bus - I seriously don't know how she got there), and we hopped in the back of her pick-up truck to get to the Nung House.
The Nung House was an experience in and of itself. Matt and I got the honeymoon suite - at the end of the row of shacks. We did have a toilet, and we even had a cockroach and three snails, but they had no shells! We had blue curtains and a frilly pink mosquito net. We had water when we were lucky, and a manual flush toilet. Matt and I were okay with our room, but Jer and Josh, down the road, were "less impressed."
We stayed in this rustic area in order to access Khao Sok National Park. We all woke up at 7 in the morning to get a start on the hikes that Lonely Planet recommended. We stopped in at the visitors' centre and asked about the leeches that were briefly mentioned in the LP book. They said they hadn't heard of any leeches this year, and we should head out, and the trail to all of the seven waterfalls should take us all day. We were pumped and started walking.
Jer didn't feel well, so ten minutes in, he turned around.
Josh was h
ot and uncomfortable and after 45 minutes, and the first waterfall, he turned around.
Turns out they were the bright ones. When Josh left, Matt checked his feet and found the first leech. 35 leeches later, Matt and I saw a few lame waterfalls and were pissed and bitten. It took us three hours to get to the end, and it took us 50 minutes to get out. We stopped at the visitors' center on the way out, and the guy said that if he had told us about the leeches, we wouldn't have gone on the hike, so he didn't want to do that. Oy.
On Josh's way out, he was pointed at and laughed at, and then 20 people (he said they looked like they might have been Thai or from somewhere near Thailand) surrounded him and took a picture with him.
We ended up sitting at the restaurant at the Nung House for about 2 days playing euchre and a bit of hearts. Luckily they had great food and it ended up being great atmosphere, so we had a good time, but we weren't too happy about the park. As Jer put it - "Khao Sok khao sucks."
We took a minivan on a crazy ride to Krabi. As expected, they dropped us off outside of Krabi, and we had to use their collaborative tourist services to get ourselves out of there. We had run out of Thai Baht, so we asked how far it was to Krabi town. We were told 1km, so Jer and I decided to walk to change some money. After 10 minutes of walking, we stopped into the only hotel we saw, and we asked how to get to Krabi town. They said to take one of the pick-ups that has benches in the back, and it should cost about 10 baht a person. It was about 5 km away. We hopped on the first one we saw, and we asked to be dropped of in the centre of town. Jer and I started relaxing and high fiving each other. Then we realized that we had NO idea where we were, and that after we got money, we would have to get back to Matt and Josh. We watched every turn and even asked a guy on the truck where we were, but it was impossible to get a straight answer. After finding a place that was open (new years day...), we tried to find a truck back. When trying to make sure that we would get dropped off in the right place, no one spoke English, and we couldn't figure out how to tell them where we needed to go (apparently the road has no name!). We walked (and sweat) for about 30 minutes, and finally we hopped in the back of a truck that would get us to the right place if it kept going straight. We ended up getting back, and it was quite an adventure.
We had to trust one of the collaborators, (though he did want all of the money up front, which we obviously refused), and for a small amount of 800 baht, he promised us we would end up at our hotel. We drove for 15 minutes, got off at a pier, walked with all of our stuff out to a long tail boat, jumped in and ended up on Railay East. Our final accommodations were much nicer than the previous two. Josh was happy.
This peninsula is basically the most beautiful place I have ever been. It has amazing limestone cliffs sticking out of the blueist, most gorgeous greenish waters. The beaches were unbelievable. We explored the island, and then Josh, Matt and I took a boat into Ao Nang, across the bay, to find out about kayaking and diving. It was a super touristy area with lots of places to eat and sleep. I'm not sure I loved it, but it did have a great, laid back atmosphere.
The next f
ew days were filled with gorgeous beaches, an outstanding kayak ride around the cliffs and islands, a totally shady snorkeling trip, awesome diving, lots of pad thai, a couple awesome hikes/walks, and nights of euchre and hearts.
Some highlights included the following.
During lunch our first day, we spotted a cat that looked like a VERY SICK version of the cat that we're friends with at home (Matt calls her Hunter, and I still refuse to give her a name). This cat even had the same meow. We were watching her through lunch. When we were finished eating, but we hadn't yet paid, the cat walked over to Matt's chair and jumped up on the chair, which made him jump up in order to make room for her (she was really gross looking). It was hilarious.
We signed up for a sunset snorkeling trip, and the trip ended up being gorgeous and fun, but it was super shady. The company never took our names or hotel room numbers or anything, so if god forbid something happened, they would have no idea who we are. In addition, they told us to stay in bud
dies, but they never checked that we had buddies. There was no one watching us, so if someone needed help or became a distressed swimmer, there was no one to help them. At one point, when everyone was snorkeling, they switched boats, and the new boat was way farther out. People who were snorkeling saw their boat driving away. Then, to top it all off, we came back in a long tail boat with NO LIGHTS on it, IN THE DARK. I didn't freak out as much as I could have/should have. We did see good fish, we saw an amazing sunset from a beach that was perfect, and the food was good.
The morning that Matt and I woke up to go diving, I could not stop scratching my legs. I had noticed some bites the couple days before then, but I thought they were mosquito bites (I didn't think about the fact that they were only on my legs...). That morning, I had TONS all over my legs and feet, and they were miserably scratchy. I looked on Matt's legs, and he also had tons
of little red bites (though he didn't seem to have the same allergic reaction that I did...), and I realized that we had bed bugs. Yuck. The hotel's solution was cortizone cream. They also offered to have someone spray in our room. We made them switch our mattress since they couldn't switch our room. Nevermind that the maids wanted to put the same sheets and pillows on the new one, but it was only one more night...
Wednesday, Matt and I had met a taxi driver in Ao Nung who said that he would drive us to the Phuket airport on Saturday. He said he would meet us downtown at 10:30 am. I was a bit untrusting, but we realized that we would find something to get us there if we paid enough money. Today, at 10:25 when we got off our long tail boat with all of our stuff, sure enough, the taxi driver was waiting for us on the beach and even carried some of our stuff up to the car. He was the friendliest guy ever, and he indeed took us to the airport, and we left the most beautiful place on earth (that I have seen so far).
Again - click here for the highlights of our pictures. Click here for 40 more.
I have lot
s more to say, but I will write more about it all this week. This is just too long. Tomorrow I'm turning 30. Wow.
(Title of this blog compliments of Jer)
After my last posting, Jer and I flew to Bangkok and met up with Matt and Josh (Matt's friend since age 11). In short, we spent a weekend in Bangkok, flew down to Phuket, bussed up to Khao Sok National Park for two days, vanned to Krabi, taxied to Ao Nam, boated to Railay and stayed there for about five days. Then we boated to Ao Nang, taxied to Phuket airport and flew home.
A bit more detail...Bangkok was filled with lots of people, vendors selling things on the sidewalk, wats, and amazing food. We stayed in the tourist area, packed with street food, cheap clothes and fake IDs. Jer and I visited the Jim Thompson house (after nearly dying at least five times in the tuk tuk ride on the way over). He (Mr. Thompson) was one man with amazing taste.
Friday night we met up with Phu and Ryce, two of Matt's friends from grad school. We had a great dinner - in terms of the conversation and the amazing dishes that Ryce chose. Yum. My favorite dish was the shrimp with noodles.
Saturday night we met up with Matt's other friend Noi and her husband Bob. This time we dined on the river and also ate amazing food. My favorite dish was the pomelo salad.
Sunday we flew off to Phuket. One might think that when you're staying at a big hotel in the centre of touristville you might be able to find a way to get to the airport for less than US$50. We finally did, but it took a lot of inbred fighting (between the four of us - mostly me, though) and a man who tried to get an extra $10 at the end. Also, our ticket didn't say which airport in Bangkok we were flying out of, so we (mostly I) were worried the whole taxi ride about going to the wrong airport.
From Phuket airport, we taxied into Phuket town, ate at a bus station restaurant and hopped on a local (but air conditioned!) bus to Khao Sok National Park. It ended up being a four and a half bus ride up the coast and then inland. We saw an area called Khao Lak which was totally devastated by the tsunami. The truth is, though, that we have no idea what it looked like pre-tsunami, so I can't comment on that.
Somehow when we got dropped off on the side of the highway, there was a woman waiting for us (not that she knew we were even on that bus - I seriously don't know how she got there), and we hopped in the back of her pick-up truck to get to the Nung House.
The Nung House was an experience in and of itself. Matt and I got the honeymoon suite - at the end of the row of shacks. We did have a toilet, and we even had a cockroach and three snails, but they had no shells! We had blue curtains and a frilly pink mosquito net. We had water when we were lucky, and a manual flush toilet. Matt and I were okay with our room, but Jer and Josh, down the road, were "less impressed."
We stayed in this rustic area in order to access Khao Sok National Park. We all woke up at 7 in the morning to get a start on the hikes that Lonely Planet recommended. We stopped in at the visitors' centre and asked about the leeches that were briefly mentioned in the LP book. They said they hadn't heard of any leeches this year, and we should head out, and the trail to all of the seven waterfalls should take us all day. We were pumped and started walking.
Jer didn't feel well, so ten minutes in, he turned around.
Josh was h
ot and uncomfortable and after 45 minutes, and the first waterfall, he turned around.Turns out they were the bright ones. When Josh left, Matt checked his feet and found the first leech. 35 leeches later, Matt and I saw a few lame waterfalls and were pissed and bitten. It took us three hours to get to the end, and it took us 50 minutes to get out. We stopped at the visitors' center on the way out, and the guy said that if he had told us about the leeches, we wouldn't have gone on the hike, so he didn't want to do that. Oy.
On Josh's way out, he was pointed at and laughed at, and then 20 people (he said they looked like they might have been Thai or from somewhere near Thailand) surrounded him and took a picture with him.
We ended up sitting at the restaurant at the Nung House for about 2 days playing euchre and a bit of hearts. Luckily they had great food and it ended up being great atmosphere, so we had a good time, but we weren't too happy about the park. As Jer put it - "Khao Sok khao sucks."
We took a minivan on a crazy ride to Krabi. As expected, they dropped us off outside of Krabi, and we had to use their collaborative tourist services to get ourselves out of there. We had run out of Thai Baht, so we asked how far it was to Krabi town. We were told 1km, so Jer and I decided to walk to change some money. After 10 minutes of walking, we stopped into the only hotel we saw, and we asked how to get to Krabi town. They said to take one of the pick-ups that has benches in the back, and it should cost about 10 baht a person. It was about 5 km away. We hopped on the first one we saw, and we asked to be dropped of in the centre of town. Jer and I started relaxing and high fiving each other. Then we realized that we had NO idea where we were, and that after we got money, we would have to get back to Matt and Josh. We watched every turn and even asked a guy on the truck where we were, but it was impossible to get a straight answer. After finding a place that was open (new years day...), we tried to find a truck back. When trying to make sure that we would get dropped off in the right place, no one spoke English, and we couldn't figure out how to tell them where we needed to go (apparently the road has no name!). We walked (and sweat) for about 30 minutes, and finally we hopped in the back of a truck that would get us to the right place if it kept going straight. We ended up getting back, and it was quite an adventure.
We had to trust one of the collaborators, (though he did want all of the money up front, which we obviously refused), and for a small amount of 800 baht, he promised us we would end up at our hotel. We drove for 15 minutes, got off at a pier, walked with all of our stuff out to a long tail boat, jumped in and ended up on Railay East. Our final accommodations were much nicer than the previous two. Josh was happy.
This peninsula is basically the most beautiful place I have ever been. It has amazing limestone cliffs sticking out of the blueist, most gorgeous greenish waters. The beaches were unbelievable. We explored the island, and then Josh, Matt and I took a boat into Ao Nang, across the bay, to find out about kayaking and diving. It was a super touristy area with lots of places to eat and sleep. I'm not sure I loved it, but it did have a great, laid back atmosphere.
The next f
ew days were filled with gorgeous beaches, an outstanding kayak ride around the cliffs and islands, a totally shady snorkeling trip, awesome diving, lots of pad thai, a couple awesome hikes/walks, and nights of euchre and hearts.Some highlights included the following.
During lunch our first day, we spotted a cat that looked like a VERY SICK version of the cat that we're friends with at home (Matt calls her Hunter, and I still refuse to give her a name). This cat even had the same meow. We were watching her through lunch. When we were finished eating, but we hadn't yet paid, the cat walked over to Matt's chair and jumped up on the chair, which made him jump up in order to make room for her (she was really gross looking). It was hilarious.
We signed up for a sunset snorkeling trip, and the trip ended up being gorgeous and fun, but it was super shady. The company never took our names or hotel room numbers or anything, so if god forbid something happened, they would have no idea who we are. In addition, they told us to stay in bud
dies, but they never checked that we had buddies. There was no one watching us, so if someone needed help or became a distressed swimmer, there was no one to help them. At one point, when everyone was snorkeling, they switched boats, and the new boat was way farther out. People who were snorkeling saw their boat driving away. Then, to top it all off, we came back in a long tail boat with NO LIGHTS on it, IN THE DARK. I didn't freak out as much as I could have/should have. We did see good fish, we saw an amazing sunset from a beach that was perfect, and the food was good.The morning that Matt and I woke up to go diving, I could not stop scratching my legs. I had noticed some bites the couple days before then, but I thought they were mosquito bites (I didn't think about the fact that they were only on my legs...). That morning, I had TONS all over my legs and feet, and they were miserably scratchy. I looked on Matt's legs, and he also had tons
of little red bites (though he didn't seem to have the same allergic reaction that I did...), and I realized that we had bed bugs. Yuck. The hotel's solution was cortizone cream. They also offered to have someone spray in our room. We made them switch our mattress since they couldn't switch our room. Nevermind that the maids wanted to put the same sheets and pillows on the new one, but it was only one more night...Wednesday, Matt and I had met a taxi driver in Ao Nung who said that he would drive us to the Phuket airport on Saturday. He said he would meet us downtown at 10:30 am. I was a bit untrusting, but we realized that we would find something to get us there if we paid enough money. Today, at 10:25 when we got off our long tail boat with all of our stuff, sure enough, the taxi driver was waiting for us on the beach and even carried some of our stuff up to the car. He was the friendliest guy ever, and he indeed took us to the airport, and we left the most beautiful place on earth (that I have seen so far).
Again - click here for the highlights of our pictures. Click here for 40 more.
I have lot
s more to say, but I will write more about it all this week. This is just too long. Tomorrow I'm turning 30. Wow.(Title of this blog compliments of Jer)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)