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The Adventure Continues...
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
My Inbox was Open in Bangkok
...Okay, just to clarify, I accidently left my gmail open on a public internet console and Sonia had to sign out for me. Not that that's outta the way...I can't even apologize for not updating this in a LONG time, the truth is life here has become normal to me, so things that were different when I first arrived have become natural. In other words I keep running out of material...but on a recent trip to Thailand I was inspired with more material. Bangkok is exactly what you think it is like; crowded, polluted, full of white Europeans/Americans/Australians and Thai hookers, chaos, and somebody trying to make a quick buck off of you. We did the whirlwind tour, visiting the famous temples, getting massages in the place where Thai massage originated (this was the shit -- never been so relaxed in my life -- not even after a big ass spliff). Before we arrived, we were directed to a tailor who made custom suits for people; his clientele reads like a whos who of global business and politics. He has made suits for the entire Bush family, our man Lloyd Axworthy, RCMP chiefs, Secret Service, CEOs, and regular folks. These guys have business cards from EVERYONE, oh also Vijay Singh! I spent about 800usd here and sheldon like a G, but we found a better tailor next door -- the place Sonia got her stuff done. This guy was a little more friendly and didn't act like we were lucky he was serving us (I guess working for Dumbass Bush gives one an ego). For anyone that is interested, we're bringing this tailor down to Toronto for fittings, thats right YOU TOO can get custom suits done for a fraction of the cost. Okay I'm getting tired of typing. We also went to Chiang Mai which is a little north of Bangkok. Here we rode elephants, went hiking, bamboo rafting, learned thai massage, and thai cooking. I went to this cafe called the "Rasta Bar", with some Brit kids, and you know what happens at the Rasta Bar ;) -- remember the Chocolate Thai we used to smoke? Well guys, I found the motherload. It was a great high after soooo long, but couldn't bring any back to Singapore (death penalty). Back in Bangkok we checked into this hotel that had two rooms; one with a big bed and one with 2 smaller beds. The big bed has "curious white stains" on it and handprints on the ceiling. Needless to say we all slept in the smaller beds. Now I'm back in Singapore with a shit load of work to do. I won't be travelling again until April where I'll go to Shanghai and back to Phuket. This is my last post for a while -- peace out.
Saturday, February 26, 2005
@ the Buddhist temple (largest in Bali) look at the freakin sky!
Playing card and drinking Bintang (bali beer) at some club owned by a canuck.
Our first hotel's pool at night (the sun is still setting in the back)
Me infront of the still active volcano -- notice the black soil around it!
Bali-wood
Yes yes, I know I've been slacking in updating the website, but for those that know me it was only a matter of time before this practise fell by the wayside. Anyway, now that I'm up and about let me fill y'all in. P.S. Ass thanks for getting that package through to me. I've been doing a lot of school work to catch up and get a little ahead so I can dick around for April so I haven't travelled much since my last trip to KL. Reading week just passed and I visited Bali, yes the official honeymoon spot for most of the world. We were there for 5 days, 4nights. Gema, Sheena, Sonia, and I went together; upon arrival our driver asked me if I was a "friend of oil" meaning a sheik cuz I had three women with me. Haha, little does he know -- shoulda shown him my bank account. Anyway, our first hotel was at the famous Kuta beach. Famous for drunken Aussies and big ass waves. Our hotel was pretty much dreamy, luch tropical greenery and a nice ass pool. I was a little disappointed though in my initial appraisal of Bali. The area was quite dirty and the ocean was not inviting (after Phuket anything is pretty much nasty). The waves were fucking crazy though, we swam out far and were getting tossed around by the waves --> i was spun under water 360 degrees by the force of one wave. I made my out of the water pretty quickly after that. The first few days we did the sightseeing thing. Saw a volcano, batik painting, lush green rice terraces, and some temples. We also visited a black sand beach in the north of Bali, drove by vanilla/coffee plantations, and bathed in hot springs on the side of a mountain -- crazy! Oh, I've left out the people of Bali (obviously most are nice) but EVERYWHERE you go someone is trying to sell you something. And not trying to sell you once or twice, they will literally follow u down the street asking you if you want sculptures, fake watches, etc. Lying on the beach every five seconds someone would yell "Hello hello, you want sarong, you want straw hat?" Do I look like someone who'd wear a sarong? Fuck. Also when you do buy something they'd start at $150,000 rupiah, then you work them down to $10,000 -- fockers. I got a few things, but my favourite was dvds for $1 cdn each! I bought 45. And no, no one can borrow them when i get back. Now for the cream of the trip. Nikko Bali. Yes it deserves its own sentence. This place was maybe the most beautiful hotel I've ever been in or seen. It was just breathtaking -- I'll post pics soon. I splurged here and got two massages. One hot stone, and one aryuvedic massage where they pour oil on your third eye (between your eyes on your forehead) for 20 minutes. It was amazing. K I'm runnig outta things to say -- I'm kinda bored of this area, I wanna hit up Bangkok, and then try and make my way to Cambodia, Tokyo, or Shanghai ...
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Phuket - (fuck-et)
This trip, by far, has been the highlight of my exchange in Singapore. Aside from the cheap ass plane tickets, the trip was amazing from the cab ride to the airport in Singapore to the flight back from Phuket. The cabbie was quite entertaining given that it was 545am when we left for the airport. He had lived all over the world and told us many stories about Singapore, Bush, Osama, Vietnam, etc. So fast forward, we arrive in Phuket after a 1.5hr flight (I closed my eyes and badaboom badabing we were already landing); we waited at the airport for Xavi to pick us up. The Spaniards and Germans had arrived in Phuket a day earlier and so had booked hotels and cars for us. He picked us up in a brand new Honda Jazz (SiR)! We checked into a homely looking hotel; room per night was 700bhat or 20bucks a night. I shared with Sheldon (but thats a different story ;). The first thing we did was drive to a shooting range/ATV course. Xavi and Sheldon shelled out the 20CDN in cash for a chance to shoot one round with a 9mm. 10 minutes later we were all riding ATVs, it was scary at first as I didn't know how to control the back brakes, and the course was somewhat challenging (going up 70 degree slopes, coming down wooden bridges that looked like there were going to break), but the experience was incredible. I was drenched in sweat and dust cuz I was at the back and those fuckers kept skidding around in front of me raising up a huge dust cloud. So what did we do after getting all hot and dirty? Drove straight to the beach! This beach was the most beautiful thing I've seen. The locals said that it was so much cleaner since the tsunami dragged all the garbage and shells, etc out to sea. The water was crystal clear with sandy floors. That night we went into Patang Beach, where the tsunami hit hard. Many stores were boarded up from the damage, but there were a lot that were open. We ate dinner at a place that sat right infront of the waterfront, it must have been hit hard; the waiters had this lost look in their eyes and were very sombre but we wanted to give our business to them anyway. The next day was incredible. We rented a 400hp Miami Vice looking speed boat for 60 cdn each (8 ppl). Our first island stop was 1.5 hrs away and so the captain put the pedal to the metal. I've never been on a speed boat before so it was scary at first. We were getting tossed around like marbles in a matchbox, my palms got sweaty from holding on to tightly to the rail. The scenes were gorgeous though! James Bond island was nothing great, bought some stuff for my mom and sister. It was a surreal place though, in the middle of the ocean just green and so pure. Lunch was at a water village on stilts, it was crazy! Bought some more stuff for my mom and sister. The later part of the afternoon was where it was at. The island they took us too was probably the size of 4 football fields. It had white, powdery sands and crystal blue water. We went snorkelling, I was a fuckin pansy and it took a while before I was comfortable to swim with the fishes. We also went swimming, I mean just writing about it is putting a smile on my face. I will definately go back before I leave here. That night I just got an oil thai massage (easy Greig, Toops, Sanji, and all you nasty fuckers that go get massages in TO), ate some food and passed the FUCK out. What a weekend!
the island was totally ours -- the sand was fuckin incredible kinda like cottonelle meets red path sugar
Sheldon with a 9mm and his target sheet (notice the near bullseye)
This is where they filmed "The Man with the Golden Gun" -- Bond, James Bond.
Friday, February 04, 2005
Gaylord Avenue...
As my title suggests, I was thinking of Lobo the other day; not because I missed the bastard but because I met someone who said that she was from Puna (in India). Does Lobo even read this? Can someone tell me what he is doing with his hair these days? Anyway, I thought I would shed some light on Singapore's precarious and hidden political diseases. To make a long story short, Singapore was a shitty island during the early 1900s. Around the 1960s, after gaining independance from Britain/Malaysia, the reins of the government were given to a UK-trained lawyer (a Singaporean). Mr. Lee Kwan Yu, is known as the father of Singapore. He travelled to the US and spend some time at Harvard to study how the US works, in essence he picked up models from all over the world and instilled them in Singapore. He and his government personally transformed this island from a third world fart to a first world country. But all is not well here -- after discussions with cabbies, floormates, etc. I've noticed a definite unrest in the country. Everything here is owned by the government, namley Lee Kwan Yu et al. (his sons are both Prime Minister and CEO of Singtel largest telecom in Singapore). Wow, these guys have their hands in everything here, the country is really run like a firm. The transportation system is owned by the government, everything is dictated by them as well. I'm risking my life by letting you guys in on it so listen up and appreciate this insight ;). So we went to a speech that the Father of Singapore was holding at NUS. Several students had questions for him, but he dismissed them and even went to the extent of riducling them. Everyone is tracked here with their NRIC number, they also tape overseas calls, etc. Its crazy, people even come into our room when we're not in town (how do they know we're outta the country??) -- its a conspiracy i tell you. No I'm kidding, its probably not that bad, but I am surprised to which extent this company is run by a few figures; now one can argue we are also controlled in Canada by a few hidden few -- here its different though, they even control media outlets...mom's the word.
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
COME SOON TO A THEATRE NEAR YOU: JAPANIMATION II - SWEET DREAMS AND CHINESE WONDERS...HAHAHA THIS GUY GOT CLIPPED AT THE POOL, THIS IS NO JOKE!!!! THANK GOD GEMA HAD HER CAMERA -- BOOYAH!!!! 
petronas twin towers, (i know you see three, but hey i was born like that...what can i say?
