Matt's Travel & Living Blog

Aussie Speak

2010-12-17T22:27:00.000+08:00

After living in Thailand for over a year, the thought of moving to Australia where everybody spoke English was refreshing. There was no need of learning a new language and no more lost-in-translation moments over simple matters. The only thing I'd have to adjust to was the Australian accent, which, compared to a British accent, was in my opinion much easier to understand.

However, within a few weeks of living Australia I realized that there were lots of new words and Australian-unique sayings that I didn't understand and had to be learned. Here is a summary of what I've learned so far about Australian English, or Aussie (pronounced Ozzie) slang.

Lazification of words

Australian slang has a lot of shortened words. The ending of words get chopped off (sometimes a little, sometimes a lot!) and a vowel or two is added to complete the word. The result is a lot of easy to say one or two syllable words. For example, even though my name is Matthew, I've been referred to as Matty or Matto. The Aussie slang for 'sunglasses' is simply 'sunnies', and a mosquito is called a 'mozzie'. I actually like this lazification of words, it just takes some time to get used to. Here is a list of more shortened words that I've used or heard so far, but I'm sure there are lots more!

Arvo - Afternoon
Barbie - Barbecue
Brekkie - Breakfast
Chokkie - Chocolate
Chrissie - Christmas
Gedday (G'Day) - Good Day, as in "Hello"
Esky - Eskimo cooler or insulated ice chest
Maccas - McDonalds Restaurant
Mozzie – Mosquito
Muso - Musician
Pressies - Presents/gifts
Roo - Kangaroo
Servo - Service/fuel station
Sickie - Sick day (from work or school)
Smoko - Smoke break
Sunnies – Sunglasses
Uni – University

Expanding my vocabulary

Based on my interactions with Brits, Australians, and Kiwis and travels through those countries, I thought I had built a decent 'non-American' English vocabulary. I knew that 'French Fries' were actually called 'chips' and that 'gasoline' was referred to as 'petrol'. However, if I was asked to 'open the bonnet on the ute' or to bring some 'snags' and 'fairy floss' to a party, I'd have no idea what was being said!

Outback - a remote, sparsely populated area
Bush - a forest or country area
Bloke - Man
Sheila - Female
Ankle biters - Children
Mate - Friend or Partner
Tucker - Food
Piss - Alcohol
Biscuit - Cookie
Dry biscuit - Cracker
Lolly - Candy (not chocolate)
Scone - Biscuit
Jam - Jelly
Jelly - Jello
Chips - French fries
Chook - chicken
Snag - Sausage
Tomato sauce - Ketchup
Entree - Appetizer
Main course - Entree
Tea - Dinner
Serviette - Napkin
Fairy floss - Cotton candy
Thongs - Cheap backless sandals/flip flops
Jumper - Sweater
Chemist - Pharmacy
Hungry Jacks - Burger King (the name was already trademarked in Australia)
Deli - Convenient store
Bottle shop - Liquor store
Ute - Pickup truck
Lorry - Big rig
Bonnet - Hood of a car
Boot - Trunk of a car
Petrol - Gas
Car park - Parking lot
Windscreen - Windshield
Lift - Elevator
Rubbish bin - Trash can
Hard Yakka - Very hard work
Knackered - Tired, worn out
Chuck - Throw
Lay-by - Lay-away (when shopping)
Tick off - Check off (like checking off items on a to-do list)
Knock off – Finish work, a counterfeit product, or to steal
Ripper – Great, fantastic
Rock up – To arrive
Stuffed – Tired
Ta - Thank you
Reckon - Think
Tuck in - Begin eating
Bloody - Very
Fair dinkum - true, real, genuine

Aussie Sayings

The first Australian saying that I had trouble adjusting to was the greeting, "How ya going?" My first instinct was to translate the sentence to "Where are you going?", but I realized it didn't make sense. It turns out that "How ya going?" is the American equivalent to "How's it going" or "How ya doing?"
The other saying that took adjustment was the word, "ta". After paying a restaurant bill I'd hear the waitstaff say, "ta", or if I opened a door for somebody I'd be treated to a smile and the word 'ta'. Sometimes it was pronounced short and quick, and sometimes it was a longer, "taaaa". What was this 'ta' word? To my surprise, the word 'ta' simply means 'thank you' and is also commonly used in Britain.
Some Australians like to add the word 'as' at the end of an adjective to give the greatest emphasis of the word. Rather than saying "Today is the hottest day", an Aussie would say, "Today is hot as". At first the sentence seems incomplete. "Hot as" what? Hot as an iron or hot as a fire? But no, simply saying "Hot as" means "the hottest". For another example, "That bloke is really really funny" could be said, "That bloke is funny as". If you ask me, it's strange as!
Another popular saying is 'Good onya' short for 'Good on you' which is a congratulatory 'Good for you'.
One saying, or word, that started out as annoying but has since grown on me is 'reckon'. Instead of saying "What do you think" or "I think..." Aussies like to say "Whaddya reckon" and "I reckon..." In the U.S. I rarely hear the word 'reckon'. It is stereotypically associated with an uneducated southern or country person. Now I find myself saying it from time to time.
Probably the most rare and quirky aspect of Aussie slang that I've encountered is the ending of sentences with the word 'but', 'so', or 'hey'. Below is a typical confusing exchange:

Aussie - "I went to the shop just before it closed but."
Me - "...but what?"
Aussie - "Nothing. That was it. I got to the shop before it closed."
Me - "Yeah, but you said 'but' at the end of the sentence like you were going to say something else."
Aussie - "I did? Oh, I didn't mean to."

I've only heard this done only a couple of times, but it always throws me off. Those words have no business being added on to the end of a sentence! It doesn't make any sense! Oh well. I suppose all languages and dialects have these weird quirks.

Sounding Aussie

As an English as a Second Language teacher I would be remiss if I didn't comment about pronunciation and intonation. To me the overall sound of Australian English is a slight American southern drawl with a Boston accent. The first thing that stands out is the pronunciation of most vowels. Aussies love the "oy" sound (as in "oink"), as indicated by their famous call and response chant, "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi, Oi, Oi!" A word like 'tiger' is pronounced 'toy-ger'. The word 'right' is pronounced 'royt'.

The other noticeable thing done is the dropping of the "r" sound at the end of words. Similar to the accent from Boston (think Good Will Hunting), an Aussie would say, "I pahkt the cah in the Ha-vud yahd" (I parked the car in the Harvard yard). I don't mind this lazy form of pronouncing words, but it became a challenge as I was tutoring elementary school kids on why the spelling of words such as pepper, jumper, and flipper end in "-er" and not "-a".

Australian Subway Commercial - a strong Aussie accent

The only time intonation is really used in English is when expressing a question. In this case an upward (or downward) inflection is added near the end of the sentence to indicate that it's a question. For reasons unknown to me, Aussies tend to add this upward inflection to about half of their spoken sentences. This was quite confusing at first because it sounded like a question was being asked but there were no question words and the sentence was clearly a comment or statement. The official term for this is "High rising terminal" and per Wikipedia the origins of it are unknown but it is spoken in Australia, New Zealand, and the west coast of the U.S.

Funny examples of sentences sounding like questions

Australian English seems to match the general personality of Australians - fun, laid back, and with a sense of humor. It's a colorful and pleasing language to listen to and try out. It's 'no worries, mate' when it comes to Aussie slang.

Test your Australian English with these examples:

Aussie Slang

Gedday mate! How they hangin? Fair dinkum, it's a stinker eh? She'll be apples. Chuck a few extra stubbies in the esky, grab some macca's, and head off to woop woop eh?

Translation
Hello! How are you? It is Genuinely hot. It will be alright. Put some extra small bottles of beer in the portable cooler, get some food from McDonalds, and travel far away.

Aussie Slang
In the arvo last Chrissie the relos rocked up for a barbie. Macca brought the bevies, while Raylene brought the snags, a few chops, and a chook. Later, we sat around and opened the pressies and scoffed all the bickies and lollies. Dad drained all the tinnies and ate all the chockies. This caused Mum to do her block. Bummer.

Translation

In the afternoon last Christmas, the relatives came over for a BBQ. MacDonald brought the drinks, while Raylene brought the sausages, a few (beef/pork) chops, and a chicken. Later, we sat around and opened the presents and ate all the cookies and candies. Dad drank all the beer and ate all the chocolates. This made mom very mad. Doh!

Living "down under" in Bunbury

2010-11-25T00:02:00.004+08:00

Paul Hogan in 'Crocodile Dundee'

Before visiting Australia, I really didn't know much about the country. I could name 3 cities (Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth) and I knew Tasmania and New Zealand were in the same vicinity, but I had no clue where they were located. Like most Americans, my exposure to Australia was limited to the "Crocodile Dundee" movies, Steve Irwin (nicknamed "The Crocodile Hunter"), the 1996 Olympic Games, TV shows on the Discovery or National Geographic channels kangaroos, sharks, koalas, and travel shows about the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Harbor Bridge, the Great Barrier Reef, and Ayer's Rock. Oh yeah, I also enjoyed the delicious (and decently priced) Australian wines sold in the US and the yummy food at Outback Steakhouse!

I love the Drover's Platter at Outback!

Reflecting on all my history courses, I never learned anything more about Australia other than its origin as a place for the British empire to send their criminals. Here is some more information about the land down under.

Australian Facts

Australia is the 6th largest country by area, 52nd largest by population
Australia is 80% the size of the United States
The currency is the Australian dollar which currently has the same value as the US dollar
Minimum wage is $15/hour
Has been inhabited by indigenous people for at least 40,000 years
Was first "discovered" in early 1600s by the Dutch
Britain claimed Australia as a prisoner relocation facility in the late 1700s
Experienced a gold rush in the 1850s
Gained independence in 1901 when the 6 colonies united under a constitution to form the Commonwealth of Australia
Australia has 6 states and 2 territories (Northern Territory, Australian Capital Territory)
Sheep outnumber people 6 to 1
The 'dingo fence' in Australia is the longest fence in the world, about twice as long as the Great Wall of China
Over 90% of Australia is dry, flat and arid - 75% of which cannot support any form of agriculture
Emus and kangaroos cannot walk backwards, and are on the Australian coat of arms for that reason
90% of the 22 million people live within 75 miles of the coast

Did you know that all major Australian cities are near the coast?

Home Sweet Home

We arrived in Australia in June and were provided with a temporary apartment and rental car in the city of Bunbury, which is located 100 miles south of Perth in the southwestern corner of Australia. Our furnishings were still being delivered from Thailand and we ended up living out of our suitcases in the partially furnished apartment for a month. Unprepared for the near freezing winter temperatures, we had to buy a heater and some warm weather clothes! The wet season falls in the winter in Bunbury and we had to endure lots of cold, rainy days but it did result in seeing more rainbows within a month than in my entire lifetime!

I saw a couple of wild kangaroos at a gas station in a nearby town

While Amber was settling in with her new job, I spent my time exploring the city and looking for a permanent place to live. I was completely blown away when I first saw the Indian Ocean - it was the most beautiful non resort-town beach I had ever seen. The water was clean (but very cold!) and it had a beautiful shade of blue-green. The sand was white and there was a nice pathway along the entire coastline. I couldn't believe I was living in a place with such a nice beach! Anytime I had an errand to do with the car, I deliberately took the long way just so I could get a glimpse of the amazing ocean.

View of Bunbury and the Indian Ocean

The city of Bunbury was established in 1836 by Britain as a military post for new settlers. A boom in timber for the construction of railways and the gold rush transformed Bunbury from a small colony to a town by 1900. The train station in Bunbury served as a major hub for the region joining the coal, agricultural, and mineral industries with the city of Perth.

The marina in Bunbury

Today, Bunbury is the 3rd largest city in the state of Western Australia with a population of 66,000 people. It is the commercial and cultural center of the Southwest region of Western Australia. The Port of Bunbury has developed into the region's main export channel. Bunbury also provides services, equipment, and housing for the local mining industry (which is why we're here).

Bunbury and the Leschenault Inlet

After our temporary housing had completed we moved into a condo unit in Bunbury and received our furnishings from Thailand. We began to settle in nicely and started to make some observations about living in Australia. The people and scenery were very positive things that we noted, however, the expensiveness and cost of living was higher than the US, and all the store closed very early (by 6pm most of the shops were closed!).

I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of activities and clubs for such a small city. Within a month of arriving I had joined the tennis club, runner's club, and cross-country running club. There is practically a club for every type of outdoor activity including scuba diving, triathlon, and croquet. Also, the beautiful beaches offer plenty of water activities such as sailing, rowing, swimming, and surfing.

My new surfboard!

The city has it's own horse track, skate park, farmer's market, and dolphin/whale center. Additionally, Bunbury is filled with festival and events among its many public spaces and parks. To top it all off, there is a wine region only 15 minutes away with dozens of wineries to sample!

Even though we've lived here less than 6 months, I can confidently say that I LOVE this place!! I can't wait for summer to roll around and experience more of what Bunbury and Australia has to offer.

Video from our balcony and going to the beach

Our Amazing Australian Trip

2010-11-15T13:15:00.001+08:00

While living in Thailand we decided to take advantage of the fact that we were on the other side of the world by taking a vacation to Australia and New Zealand. We figured that we'd never be closer to these places and ought to check them out while we could...little did we know that we would end up living in Australia 6 months later!

This is a daily account of our 2 weeks in Australia (Dec. '09 - Jan. '10) that includes koalas, The Great Barrier Reef, the outback desert, seeing wild kangaroos from a hot-air balloon, climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge, camel riding, a helicopter ride over the 12 apostles, and bringing in the new year on a dinner cruise in Sydney Harbor.
Enjoy!

(Click here to view all our pictures from this trip)

Day 1 - Cairns, Australia

View of Cairns from the hotel

The Cairns War Memorial

We first arrived in the coastal city of Cairns, Australia. This is a popular tourist destination located on the northeast corner of the country and a doorstep to the Great Barrier Reef. After a short nap to overcome the jet-lag, we explored the city by visiting the rainforest boardwalk and botanic gardens. We were surprised to learn that most of the inland areas along the northeastern and eastern coastline of Australia are rainforests! The rainforest boardwalk was a city park with a walk-through rainforest.

The rainforest boardwalk

The other part of the park contained swamp wetlands and a mangrove habitat which are typical of the region. There were information signs dotted along the walkway along with a brochure map which made for a pleasant and informative walk through the park.

The park swamp wetlands

After the park, we made a brief walk through the botanic gardens. We saw some very colorful and interesting flowers, most of which could only be seen in Australia.

Lots of cool plants in the Cairns Botanical Garden

Next to the botanic gardens was a hill that, according to my guidebook, was a short hike to the top that offered great sunset views. The path was windy and steep at times, and was filled with lots of local joggers. After a grueling, sweat-drenched 20 minute hike we made it to the lookout point.

View of Cairns airport and beyond from the lookout

We ended up meeting an older Australian guy and his sister who were friendly enough to take pictures of us at the top and chat about the area. We parted ways with them and made our way back down the hill. At the bottom of the hill we realized that there weren't any taxis around. It was getting dark so we had no option but to walk towards the city, but our new friends from the top of the hill were so concerned about us that they waited for us and gave us a ride back to our hotel! We were blown away by their hospitality and friendliness, and we couldn't thank them enough.

Day 2 - The Great Barrier Reef

The next morning we made our way to the marina for an all-day excursion to the Great Barrier Reef. Upon check-in the crew raised concern that Amber had mentioned that she had used an inhaler within the past year. This meant that she couldn't go scuba diving without a doctor's approval. Amber was quite upset and felt that the entire trip was ruined. We talked to the owner who offered to immediately schedule a doctor's appointment and drive us to the doctor's office in town. After a quick check-up with the doctor, Amber was cleared to scuba dive, but the boat had already left! The owner came to our rescue again and called up a friend who owned a para-sailing boat.

Aboard the para-sailing boat for the 1st part of our journey

We boarded the boat and after a couple of miles we met up with one of the two boats that the owner owns. This boat was a huge yacht with lots of people that were taking a separate day-trip tour of the barrier reef. They actually stopped the boat so that we could get on.

About to board the 2nd boat

After some further sailing, they stopped again and Amber and I boarded a dinghy (basically a small metal raft with a motor on the back).

Getting on our 3rd boat

We were shuttled to our original boat and were able to complete our day-tour as planned. Again, we were blown away with the above-and-beyond helpfulness and friendliness of the people in Australia.

We finally arrived on our 4th and final boat!

The Great Barrier Reef is an amazing place. It is made up of over 2,900 reefs making 900 islands that stretches for 1,600 miles. As part of our package, we were able to scuba dive twice into the reef. This was Amber's first time at scuba diving but she did really well! We dove together with an expert diver who guided us and pointed things out to us (and held Amber's hands the entire time for reassurance). We saw amazing, colorful reef formations and plant life, all kinds of fish including the ones in "Finding Nemo", and we even saw a couple of reef sharks!

A giant clam and beautiful coral as seen from the glass-bottom boat

Enjoying the Great Barrier Reef

Later, we did some snorkeling to see more fish and sharks, and we even saw a sea turtle during the glass-bottom boat tour. We also spent part of the day hanging out on a very small (50 ft by 50 ft) all sand island. All-in-all we had a fantastic time and just kept marveling at the beauty of the reef and water.

Arriving on the tiny sand island

Playing in the sand on the sand island

Day 3 - Kuranda Rainforest Village

The Kuranda Scenic Railway Train

The next day was spent at the nearby Kuranda Rainforst Village. To get there we took the Kurunda Scenic Railway. The railway was built in the late 1800s and climbs over 1,000 feet alongside mountains, through rainforests, next to high waterfalls, and along steep cliff-side ravines. The train contained antique passenger carriageways that were built in the early 1900s. We enjoyed snacks and Australian wine and beer during the beautiful train ride. The waterfalls and views of the valley below from high on the mountain side were beautiful.

Our train ride to Kuranda

At the end of the ride was the town of Kuranda - a tourist park surrounded by rainforest. Our first stop was the Koala Sanctuary which was a small zoo-like park that had all of the most popular Australian animals: Koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, lizards, crocodiles, snakes, and lizards.

Amber, me, and Sienna the koala bear

It was here where we saw our first koala bears and got the chance to hold one! The koala bears looked just as cute as they do on TV, but they do have very long, dangerous looking claws. However, they are very laid-back and it was pretty cool to hold one - although I thought the fur was not as soft as I imagined it to be.

Kangaroos relaxing in the shade

Next, we walked by the wombats, but couldn't see much because they were burrowed in a log. As far as I could see, they looked like big gophers or beavers minus the long tail. After that were the kangaroos and wallabies (a wallaby is basically a smaller version of a kangaroo). They were all laying around in the shade and didn't mind us walking up to them and petting them. Not much hopping action, but at least we got to touch them.

Long-necked (and curvy) turtles

The last area (which Amber did not accompany me to) was the snake house. It was set-up so you could walk through the house on a pathway. The interesting thing was that there was no barrier except for the handrail. I saw several lizards on or crossing the walkway and a couple of large snakes coiled up in a tree only an arms length away from me! Australia is by far home to the most deadliest animals in the world, and I can only assume that these creatures near me weren't on that list!

I almost stepped on this guy!

The next stop was the butterfly park. We saw all kinds of colorful butterflies of different sizes flying about, landing on plants, and feeding.

One of many butterflies in the park

Did you know most female butterfly species mate only once in their lifetime?

The nearby bird aviary which was just as impressive because it housed an abundance of multicolored tropical birds, some flightless birds, and ducks.

Very colorful!

The guides offered umbrellas because the birds liked to land on people's heads and shoulders, and they noted that the birds were particularly attracted to human males. Sure enough, when I entered the aviary I had a bird on my and shoulder and one on my head. The bird on my head ended up taking the button off my cap!

Stealing the button off of my cap

Rather than taking the train back to Cairns, we rode on the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway. This attraction is very similar to a cableway in an amusement park or a snow ski mountain, except this one travels over 4.5 miles up and down mountains right above the rainforest treetops. We could see right down into the rainforest and view the nearby mountains and rivers.

Crossing the Baron River as we depart from Kuranda

The long cableway hovering right above the rainforest

The cableway had two stops along the way. One stop had a viewing platform to the Barron Falls, and the other stop had a boardwalk so that we could experience walking through a rainforest and learn a little about the ecosystem.

The final descent from the mountains was a pleasant surprise and quite spectacular. The landscape dramatically opened up to reveal a vast plain with farmlands and hills that extended for many miles until meeting the beautiful Coral Sea. The city of Cairns could be seen in the distance.

Making the long descent - what a view!

We finished the day by walking through the city and enjoying a nice seafood dinner with local wine. The 3 days in Cairns was a great introduction into Australia, and it was time to move on to the outback deserts.

Day 4 - The Olgas

We spent the morning of Christmas Eve flying from Cairns to Uluru (formerly known as Ayer's Rock) which is located pretty much right in the center of the continent in an area called "The Red Centre" due to the red colored sands of the vast deserts. It was a stark contrast to take off from Cairns seeing vast green rainforests and landing in Uluru seeing nothing but red desert landscape. We were surprised to be greeted by cool weather (low 80s) in the desert. Apparently the remnants of a cyclone from the west coast swept across the continent causing massive storms and cool weather. This area receives only 12 inches of rain per year, and the temperature was above 100 degrees just the day before. We were lucky to experience the rain and cool weather because it is such a rare event.

Amber and The Olgas

We spent the afternoon on a group tour to "The Olgas", or Mount Olga, which are a large group of rock formations known as "Kata Tjuta" (the traditional aboriginal name). Our guide was a local aboriginal (similar to Native Americans in the US) who told us the history of the local aboriginal tribes, their customs, the general stories about the land (the details are kept a secret within the tribes), and how and why the lands were sacred. From a distance The Olgas looked like a row of large gumdrop-like rocks. Up close the "rocks" extend a couple of thousand feet into the air.

The Olgas - up close

We went on a guided walk between two of these large "rocks". Along the way the guide told us how to find water in the desert and how they knew which plants to eat. He pointed out one flower which they added to watering holes so that when drunk by kangaroos it would make them intoxicated, therefore, making them easier to hunt. It was amazing to learn how the aboriginal people successfully lived on the desert lands for generations.

Our hike in The Olgas

There was an exciting moment on the ride back because some wild camels were spotted in the desert. We were informed that camels did not exist in Australia until they were imported from India and China as pack animals to traverse the deserts. They adapted well to the Australian climate resulting in having the largest population of wild camels in the world.

Back at the hotel, we indulged in a wonderful Christmas Eve special dinner. For the late evening, we booked a stargazing tour, but the tour was canceled due to the cloud cover caused by the storm - I was so disappointed!

A wild camel in the bush

Day 5 - Christmas at Uluru

Most people wake up early on Christmas to open presents. Our present to ourselves was this vacation, so to carry on the tradition we woke up early to join a tour to view the sunrise over Uluru. Uluru is also known as "Ayer's Rock". It is an iconic Australian rock structure that sits in the middle of a flat desert. The rock is 1,100 feet high and it takes 6 miles to go around it.

Uluru - a random rock formation in the middle of the outback desert

The rock famously appears to change colors, especially during sunrise and sunset. We arrived at the viewing site while still dark, and were surprised to see a lot of other tourists also crazy enough to get up early on Christmas just to view this rock. We weren't disappointed because the view was spectacular. First, the sunrise itself was impressive. The different shades of color appearing on the horizon and eventually making their way into the sky was just more abundant and rich than I'd ever seen in a sunrise. The rock first appeared as a dull brown color. However, as the sun rose the dull brown changed into a shiny brown, which turned into a dark orange, then deep orange, then light orange, and finally into a bronze-like (but not quite red) orange and brown color.

Before sunrise

During sun rise

After sunrise - the rock changed colors again!

After the sunrise our group had a quick breakfast and we drove around the rock. The guide led us on a short walk to the rock and told us the ancient stories of the rock and how certain features on the rock face were created by legendary (mythological-like) fights and events. With the rain that had passed, we had the special opportunity to see multiple water cascades flowing down the rock and creating small ponds. Additionally, the park was allowing people to climb the park. Climbing is usually not permitted due to hot weather and high winds. More significantly, the aboriginal people do not like people climbing their sacred rock partly due to the path crossing one of their sacred traditional walks, and also due to a sense of responsibility for the safety of visitors. There is also an urban legend about a curse to those who climb it. With all this in mind, we didn't climb the rock!

King's Canyon

Thanks for the reminder!

After a quick lunch, we loaded up our rental car and began driving through the desert. The scenery pretty much matched what I thought it would be like to drive across an Australian desert. It was vast, flat, dry, half covered with red sand or brown dirt and half covered with small bushes or patches of trees. Along the way we saw rolling tumbleweeds, some funky, thorny looking fairly big lizards in the road, wild horses, and wild camels. Four hours later we arrived in King's Canyon in Watarrka National Park. We stayed at the King's Canyon Resort, which was the only accommodation for miles, and being in the middle of the desert it was more of a comfortable motel than a resort.

Sunset viewing at the big tree

As it crazy as it sounds, there is something very attractive about the desert to me. It's a complete escape from the modern world and it forces you to appreciate nature and natural beauty. We spent the evening under a large tree watching a wonderful desert sunset near the canyon face. I was memorized by the explosion of colors and hues in the sky - it was like nothing I'd ever seen before. At one point the horizon in the east was bright blue while yet at the same time across the sky there were blues, greens, oranges, reds, violets, and an almost black atmosphere horizon in the west.

Many shades of blue

As if the sunset wasn't spectacular enough, the stars came out too. Wow! I don't think I ever remember seeing so many stars (and so bright!) in the sky. To top it off we saw some dingoes (wild Australian dogs) walking through the resort. Rather than a traditional Christmas dinner, we dined on pizza and beer at the resort's cantina with the other 20 or so people who, like us, were crazy enough to spend Christmas in the middle of the outback - and enjoying it!

Christmas Dinner!

Day 6 - Climbing King's Canyon

Today's goal was an ambitious one: to spend 3-4 hours on a 6 kilometer climb/walk/hike up, on, through, and around the 1,000 foot high King's Canyon. With the storm system now gone, temperatures would get to 100 degrees, thus, we decided to get up early to tackle the walk in cooler weather. We laced up our recently purchased hiking boats and made our way. The walk started at the base of the canyon, which meant we had to do a very steep 750 foot climb up the side of the rocky edge just to get onto the canyon (loving called, "Heartbreak Hill" or "Heart Attack Hill"). The climb was very taxing, but luckily it was the hardest part of the entire walk.

Near the top of "Heart Attack Hill"

Already, the view was quite good as we could see for miles into the outback. We continued our walk by following the signposts which had us walking along the canyon's edge, squeezing between large boulders, and trekking on the relatively flat top of the canyon.

View from one of the lookout points at the top of the canyon

About halfway into the walk, the path had us descend 500 feet into a chasm within the sandstone cliffs into a real life oasis known as the "Garden of Eden" or "The Lost City". Here, there was a permanent natural spring waterhole surrounded by all sorts of tropical-looking plants tall lush trees, gum trees, bonsai looking trees and enormous prehistoric ferns. A very cool change of scenery!

Looking down into the "Garden of Eden" oasis

After 3 1/2 hours of walking (with lots of water & snack breaks) we completed the canyon loop and made our final descent into the car park just as it was getting to be really hot.

Looking down into the gorge of the canyon

Alice Springs

The next 4 hours were spent driving through the outback to the city of Alice Springs. Alice Springs is a desert city of almost 30,000 people that was established by Europeans in the early 1900s as a gold town and a communication and road link between the north and south of Australia. The aboriginal people of Australia inhabited the land for nearly 50,000 years and many aboriginals stay in or around Alice Springs today.

A scenic stop in the outback desert with a distant view of Mt. Conner

While driving around Alice Springs we saw lots of aboriginal people. They were usually walking together in groups to nowhere in particular wearing no shoes and worn-out second-hand clothing. The dried up river had lots of pockets of people just sitting or hanging out in the 100 degree heat. It was quite odd to see, but I suppose they were doing what they had been doing for thousands of years which is protecting, respecting, and living on their sacred lands.

Full-service and self-serve drive-thru liquor store!

We finished our day by buying a bottle of wine at a drive-thru liquor store and drinking it with dinner at a BYO Chinese restaurant in town. We turned in extra early so that we could get up the next morning well before sunrise.

Day 7 - Outback Adventures in Alice Springs

At 4:00 am we were picked up at the front of the hotel by a small shuttle filled with sleepy or sleeping passengers that was pulling a boxed trailer. We made a few stops at other hotels, met up with another shuttle, and made our way out into the outback. It was still dark and the ride was uncomfortable due to the bumpy, unpaved road. Sadly, we hit a few kangaroos but we were assured it was ok because the area was overpopulated with them. Once we reached the site (a clearing in the middle of no where!) we were split up into three teams and quickly put to work in the dark to beat the rapidly approaching rising sun. Our guide did most of the work but we helped out when instructed. We marveled at the beautiful structure we had just constructed, but couldn't admire at it for long because our guide was telling us to hurry up and get in it! A moment later we were being lifted off the ground and into the desert air. We had just helped assemble and were flying for the first time in a hot-air balloon.

Almost ready for lift off

We looked behind us and saw the other 2 larger balloons trailing us. Their balloons had 10-15 people in them each while ours had 5 including our guide/operator. We lifted higher into the sky, our speed and direction completely at the mercy of the wind.

Our train of hot-air balloons

The sun was just beginning to peak over the eastern horizon. It was a spectacular sight to see the sun rise in the desert. We could see the nearby mountain range, the city of Alice Springs in the distance, and nothing but desert for miles. Looking down we saw several groups of kangaroos hopping across the desert. It felt like we could have been shooting one of those nature films from above.

The rising outback sun as seen from our hot-air balloon

We're really high looking down at the other balloon

After a while the balloons were lowered in some random semi-cleared area of the outback. We helped deflate and roll up the balloon and waited for the shuttle vans to find us. We concluded our hot-air balloon experience with a group breakfast complete with the long standing tradition of enjoying some Champagne. On one of the first successfully manned balloon flights, the pilots carried along a bottle of champagne not to drink, but to offer as goodwill to the farmers whose field their balloon had landed in. The champagne convinced the farmers that they were not in fact demons and acted as an apology for disturbing the land and animals grazing in the field.

Coming in for a landing

Desert Park

The early morning start necessitated a nap. Once refreshed, we visited the Alice Springs Desert Park. The park was a walk-through living museum of the complex desert ecosystem. On the surface there doesn't seem to be much in a desert, but this park showed and explained the abundance of fascinating and unique plants and animals and how they thrived, adapted, and worked together within a sustainable habitat. Most of the animals are burrowing nocturnal creatures specially suited for the desert. Among the highlights we saw were the spiky lizards, stick insects, spiders, field mice, snakes, birds, and kangaroos.

The 'Thorny Devil' lizard

Kangaroos in the Desert Park

Camel Ride

The Camel Whisperer

Our final adventure in the outback was a sunset camel ride. We were picked up by a guy who looked very similar to Paul Hogan in the "Crocodile Dundee" movies. He hardly spoke, but when he did it was just like in the movie. After picking up a handful of people we drove out of the city to his camel farm. He rounded up 5 out of the 20 or so camels and saddled them up for us. The camels knelt on their stomachs as we climbed onto their back.

Our waiting Chariots

These were some tall, strong camels as they each carried 2 people. After everybody was on, we walked in a line into the desert bush on our camels like a desert caravan. It was neat to see our shadows riding a camel against the red desert sand.

Silhouettes in the sand

We were treated to another spectacular sunset as we made our way through the outback and back into the farm. There, we hand fed the camels some hay, took some pictures, and conversed with the owner. Apparently, he had captured all of his camels from the wild and trained them on his own.

Riding into the sunset

Feeding the hungry camels after the ride

This concluded our long, adventurous day and marked the end of our Australian outback experience. After a rustic, awe-inspiring week in the desert we were ready to get back to civilization!

Day 8 - Melbourne

Our 4 hour flight from Alice Springs had us arriving in the cultural capital of Australia - the city of Melbourne. Other than being the host of Tennis' Australian Open, I didn't know much about Australia's 2nd largest city. It turns out that Melbourne has been named as the World's Most Livable City 3 times. It was easy to see why as we explored the downtown area. The city was clean and modern but maintained it's colonial charm, had lots of public transportation, a scenic river, parks, a variety of sporting venues, endless cultural and art events and centers, a nearby beach, and proximity to world class wineries and beaches.

Federation Square

We spent our first day exploring the city by walking to the historic Flinder's Street train station and the adjacent cultural hub at Federation Square. Next, we went to the 88th floor of the 91 story Eureka Tower (highest observation deck in the southern hemisphere) and saw a fantastic panoramic view of Melboure and beyond. Later, we strolled along the river and had a beer at a riverside cafe.

Downtown Melbourne viewed from the 88th floor

To end the day, we dined at a funky Thai-fusion restaurant located in an old, restored warehouse-like building. Minus the hills, Melbourne looked and felt like San Francisco.

We had some beers at this riverside cafe

Day 9 - The Great Ocean Road

Start of the Great Ocean Road (reminds me of 'Jellystone Park')

About 1 1/2 hours drive southwest of Melbourne lies the start of the Great Ocean Road. This scenic road hugs the coastline for 150 miles traversing world class beaches, stunning cliffs and rock formations, and even rainforests. In order to see everything we booked an all day tour on a small shuttle bus. The first stop was the city of Torquay, which is headquarters for all the famous surfing companies - Quiksilver, Rip Curl, and Billabong. We had a light breakfast at Bell's Beach, world renown for it's surfing waves and home to the longest running surfing competition.

Bell's Beach

The next portion of the trip was spent in the bus as it winded it's way down the coastline along beaches, cliffs, and forests. The constant view of the lush land meeting the picturesque Southern Ocean was simply stunning.

Driving along the coast with this view

Our bus turned into one particularly special stretch of forest. This area was known to have wild koalas among the trees. Sure enough, after 5 minutes of slow driving we began to spot a few big brown furry blobs high in the trees. We all got out and walked along the road spotting more and more koalas in the trees. Most of them were sleeping, but a few were curious and turned their heads towards us which allowed great photo opportunities!

Koala in a tree!

After lunch at one of the coastal towns we made our way into the Otways Rainforest. We took a guided walk through the rainforest and marvelled at the massive 100 foot high myrtle beech trees which were reported to be nearly 500 years old!

Walking through a tree in the rainforest

The highlight of the Great Ocean Road were the limestone rock formations jutting out of the ocean, known as the 12 Apostles. The rocks are very impressive from the beach, but we decided to take it a step further and booked a helicopter flight to get a bird's eye view. There were a lot of people that had the same idea as us, thus, we had to wait about 15 minutes in line for one of the five or six helicopters which were constantly picking up/dropping off passengers to be available. This was the first time inside a helicopter for the both of us.

Our yellow helicopter

We saw our tiny yellow helicopter approach and unload it's passengers. Immediately, we were ushered inside, buckled up, and equipped with headsets. The helicopter could only seat 4 people. We sat together in the back while the pilot and a solo tourist sat in the front.

Ready for our first helicopter flight!

Pilot's view of lifting off

Before we knew it, we were well off the ground and racing over the gently rolling grass and farmlands towards the ocean. I was surprised at how smooth, fast, and nimble the helicopter ride was.

Flying towards the coastline

We approached the coastline and could see the finger-like cliff rock formations stretching out from the land to the turquoise sea with the huge "apostle" rock islands not too far in the ocean. It looked so amazingly beautiful that it just didn't seem real. We circled the coastline a few times and the pilot talked about some of the formations below.

Cool little islands just off the coast

Aerial view of the "12 Apostles" rock formations and beyond

And almost just as quickly as it had started, we found ourselves flying inland and landing where we had taken off. What a rush! What an experience! We still couldn't believe what we had just done, yet we couldn't wipe the smiles off of our faces either.

The former "London Bridge"

The rest of the tour was spent at various spots along the beaches of the rock formations. One formation, named "London Bridge" collapsed due to natural erosion and left two people stranded on the newly formed rock island!

Up close with the rock formations

We explored caves, secretly hidden beaches, walked to various lookout points, and learned about ancient shipwrecks and legends. Except for a quick dinner stop at KFC in a small country town, the long day had everybody on the bus sleeping during the 2 hour ride back to Melbourne. Too tired to go out for the evening, we crashed out in the hotel.

Day 10 - The Yarra Valley

My own bar in a winery!

Fully refreshed, we were ready to take on Australia's leading wine producing region - the Yarra Valley. We joined 4 other wine aficionados in the tour van and made the 45 minute drive to the wineries. As expected, the valley was filled with picturesque vineyards one after another. We stopped for tastings at small boutique wineries where we enjoyed the sunshine among the roses, and we stopped at the large scale commercial wineries complete with wine making and cellar tours. Our group had a wonderful wine pairing lunch at the Moet & Chandon vineyard (famous for their champagne) overlooking the rolling vineyards. By the time we arrived at the last stop at the dairy farm we were feeling quite happy. The ice cream and cheeses were so fresh and delicious and were an excellent way to cap off all the wonderful wine we had tasted.

Enjoying our day in the Yarra Valley

Back in Melbourne we walked across the city as we explored the different areas. We ended the day eating a traditional meal of fish and chips on the harbor watching another gorgeous sunset.

Enjoying our last evening in Melbourne

Day 11 - New Year's Eve in Sydney

In keeping the recent Peel tradition of bringing in the New Year at a foreign city (2008 was in Shanghai, 2007 was in Hong Kong) we decided to spend the last day of 2009 in Sydney. To bring in the New Year with style we booked a Sydney Harbor dinner cruise on a luxury catamaran complete with the best view of the fireworks. We arrived in Sydney after the 1 1/2 hour flight from Melbourne in gray clouds and light rain. This dampered our sightseeing efforts, but we took the opportunity to do some last minute party preparations of shopping and getting a hair cut.

Our festive boat for the evening

At around 6:00 pm we boarded The Magestic at King Street Wharf with our finest New Year's Eve party attire along with 100 or so fellow guests.

Our dinner table on the boat

We were served champagne with appetizers and at 7:00 pm we sailed off towards the Sydney Harbor. The rain had passed and the clouds were lifting which offered us a great view of the city as we sailed by.

Cruising along Darling Harbor

Along the shores we saw a sea of people and in the harbor were scores of personal boats with revelers aboard. We entered into the main harbor and had our first glimpse of the Sydney Harbor Bridge and the nearby famous Sydney Opera House.

Our first glimpse of the Sydney Opera House

We sailed under the Sydney Harbor Bridge and passed right in front of the Sydney Opera House. Both were larger than life and looked exactly as I'd always seen them in pictures and on TV. The bridge had a massive lighted Yin Yang symbol on it, which no doubt would be the centerpiece of the fireworks.

The Sydney Harbor Bridge and Sydney Opera House

Our festive vessel was one of the few that was part of the Harbor of Lights Parade, thus, it was allowed to cruise in the center of the harbor for the duration of the evening. We continued cruising into the night circling the harbor as our 5 course meal was served.

The 9pm Family Fireworks Show

At 9:00 pm we were treated to the Family Fireworks Show, an impressive fireworks show in itself, yet just a teaser for the midnight show. After the excellent dinner, the wine kept flowing and the boat had 2 DJs entertaining us on the outer decks. As midnight drew near, we all went to the top deck waiting for the fireworks to start.

Waiting to bring in the new year and watch the big firework show

The electronic Yin Yang symbol on the bridge counted us down into the new year which promptly began with an incredible firework spectacle. Fireworks were not only coming from the bridge, but from different points along the harbor, the skyscrapers, and even from a tiny island within the harbor. Everywhere we turned we saw fireworks!

The incredible fireworks show (picture by Christopher Chan)

Video of the fireworks from the top deck of the boat

We sailed back to port, exited the vessel, and slowly walked through the streets of Sydney back to our hotel. It was estimated that 1.5 million people watched the fireworks in Sydney, and it was quite weird seeing all these people walking and stumbling around downtown Sydney at 2:00 am. It reminded me of those zombie movies with masses of people aimlessly walking around, laughing, yelling, crying, eating, and sleeping.

Day 12 - New Year's Day in Sydney

Downtown Sydney and the Sydney Tower

Today was our scheduled recovery day. Most of the day was spent sleeping in, eating, then sleeping again. I did make my way out to walk around a bit.

A mix of new and old architecture

Since the hotel was only a few blocks from the Sydney Opera House I took the opportunity to get an up close look at it. The iconic Australian structure is quite big and very impressive up close. I always thought it had a pure white color, but instead it had an off-white, almost yellowish tint to it. The original plan estimated $7 million to complete the project in 7 years, however, the final bill was $102 million and it took 17 years to complete!

A closer look at the Sydney Opera House

Day 13 - Sydney bike tour and Bridge climb

Having not seen much of the city, we booked a half-day bicycle group tour to see the best sights of Sydney. We started out in "The Rocks" - Sydney's oldest and most visited area due to it's location at the foot of the Sydney Harbor bridge and across the Sydney Cove where the Opera House stands. The Rocks is now a fusion of modern venues and amenities while maintaining it's heritage and character.

Riding through "The Rocks" district of Sydney

We cycled out along the beautiful shores and marinas of the Sydney Harbor. Then, we rode across the harbor and back using the pedestrian/cycle path of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. While cycling on the bridge we saw groups of people climbing the bridge arch to get to the top, which is what we had booked for the evening - it looked very high! After passing by the Sydney Observatory (home of the oldest continuously used telescope from 1874) we had a rest stop with a beer at one of Sydney's oldest pubs.

A view of the Sydney Harbor Bridge after riding across it

After the break, we rode along darling harbor and it began to rain. We all stopped, put on our ponchos, and continued on. We made our way by the large and vibrant Sydney Convention & Exhibition located at the base of the harbor and slowly weaved through all the people in the carnival-like atmosphere of Tumbalong Park. Even with the dampness, people were out enjoying their time off and spending time at the festival set up at the park. The next stop was Chinatown (the largest in Australia) where we made a pit-stop to munch on some delicious Chinese donuts.

Riding in the rain

Luckily, the rain had stopped and we continued on through the very large Hyde Park (named after the famous park in London), past the Sydney Parliament House (built in early 1800's), and into the sprawling Royal Botanical Gardens.

The Royal Botanical Gardens

The gardens border the banks of the Sydney Harbor and meets with the Sydney Opera House, thus, offering great views of the harbor, the bridge, and the opera house together. We walked our bicycles in the park and saw some unique trees, flowers, and the famed flying foxes (large bats!). Most of the flying foxes were hanging upside high in the trees sleeping - kind of eerie!

The Sydney Opera House

We concluded the bike tour by riding around the Sydney Opera House and making our way around Sydney Cove until we were back in The Rocks. Famished, we took the advice of our guide and went to a pub near the base of the bridge. In addition to the large selection of beer, this pub specialized in pizzas. We choose to be adventurous and ordered an emu pizza and a crocodile pizzas. They turned out to be delicious, especially the crocodile!

Emu Pizza and Crocodile Pizza - yum!

Sydney Bridge Climb

The time had come to experience the ultimate Sydney adventure - the climbing of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. The coat-hanger looking bridge is the world's widest and largest single-span bridge with it's highest point on the arch at 440 feet above the water. Completed in 1932 the bridge was the highest point in Sydney until 1967.

Time to climb the bridge!

Near the base of the bridge at the climbing facility we met our climbing group and guide. We were equipped with special climbing suits and a safety harness. The climb was set up so that each person was connected to the guide wire via their harness at all times while on the bridge. We started out walking on a catwalk on the underside of the bridge. As we approached the water's edge below, we ascended straight up using steel stairs and ladders climbing one person at a time. At one point we were on the same level as the bridge road and could see the cars whizzing by.

Once the upward climb was over, we were standing at the base of the bridge arch itself. As the sun was beautifully setting over the city, we continued to slowly walk upwards (using the handrails!) toward the center along the top of the arch. We took lots of breaks to take in the view, talk about the bridge's history, and to allow the climbing groups ahead of us to take their photos at the top. By the time we made it to the top the sun had set and we could see all the lights from the Sydney skyline and the nearby Opera House. Although from a dizzying height, the view was simply outstanding - the stuff postcards are made from.

On top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge!

The entire climb had taken nearly 4 hours which meant that by the time we were finished most restaurants were closed. Fortunately, we were directed to a nearby late night pancake house. Our last meal in Australia was a yummy pancake breakfast in a very funky/hip version of an I-HOP.

We reminisced over the whirlwind of adventures that we had experienced in the past 2 weeks: cuddling a koala and petting kangaroos, scuba diving The Great Barrier Reef, walking in Rainforests, Ayer's Rock and the outback desert, the hot-air balloon ride, the helicopter ride, the camel ride, New Year's in Sydney Harbor, the Bridge Climb, the food, and the wine. We couldn't agree on a favorite, but we did agree that Australia was awesome and that this was a spectacular trip of a lifetime...and the best part was that we weren't even finished yet!

The next day we boarded a plane in Sydney and flew to New Zealand! Our adventure continued...

(Click here to check out our New Zealand adventure!)

A Week in New Zealand

2010-11-15T13:10:00.001+08:00

While living in Thailand we decided to take advantage of the fact that we were on the other side of the world by taking a vacation to Australia and New Zealand. We figured that we'd never be closer to these places and ought to check them out while we could. Our 2 weeks in Australia were awesome (click here for our Amazing Australia Trip) and we were looking forward to more amazement during our week in New Zealand.

(Click here to see all of our New Zealand pics!)

Day 1 - Queenstown

Stepping off the plane in New Zealand

After 2 adventure-packed weeks in Australia, we boarded a plane in Sydney and flew for 2 hours to Queenstown, New Zealand. New Zealand is known for its stunning natural beauty. As we stepped out of the plane onto the runway, we were shocked to see majestic mountains surrounding the Queenstown airport. What a grand welcome!

View from our hotel

Queenstown is a small resort town of 10,000 people located around Queenstown Bay on Lake Wakatipu which was formed by glaciers. Nestled next to "The Remarkables" mountain range, the city offers absolutely spectacular views of mountains all around.

The beautiful city of Queenstown

We spent our first day walking around the town and taking in the scenery. Having never lived in a mountainous region, the sheer size and closeness of these mountains were truly a treat that we never tired of seeing. We had a leisurely lunch in one of the local cafes then spent the afternoon strolling through the beautiful botanic garden.

Camp street, Queenstown, NZ

Queenstown is the unofficial world capital of adventure tourism. It is the birthplace of commercial bungee jumping and offers the full spectrum of adventure activities from sky diving and snow skiing to whitewater rafting and fly fishing. We made our way into one of the adventure shops to see what activities we could try out. After sifting through all the activities we found one that would meet my thrill-seeking needs while not scaring Amber away from participating. We decided to sign up for the Shotover Jet. This is a ride in a super fast jet boat in a river with dangerously close rocks and cliffs. We booked a ride for the next morning and also booked bungee jumping and zip-lining for the following day.

Lake Wakatipu and Queenstown

We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and ended up watching the "Sherlock Holmes" movie at the local cinema.

Day 2 - Queenstown Adventures

The Jet Boat traveling down the Shotover River

We started our day with breakfast at the hotel while enjoying the view of the lake with the mountains behind it. Next, we made our way into town, checked-in for our jet boat ride, and boarded the shuttle bus that took us to the launch point which was about 10 minutes away. We were quickly debriefed about the ride and given water proof jumpsuits to wear over our clothing. As we waited for our turn to board we got to see the sheer awesomeness of what we were about to do.

Let's do this!

We saw the jet boats whizzing by with screaming passengers narrowly missing the cliff walls, turning on a dime, and quickly accelerating to break-neck speeds. The 15 passenger boats have 520 horsepower and are propulsed and controlled by two jet units thrusting 200 gallons of water per second allowing it to travel 50 mph in as little as 3 inches of water! It was finally our turn to board the boat. I was getting very excited while Amber was getting really worried.

A preview of what we were about to do

Our boat pushed off the pier and we quickly felt the full force of the beast. We passed under a picturesque bridge and made our way into the canyon. Here, the river narrowed down to 10-15 feet in width. The driver made sharp zig-zag turns down the river and we all screamed thinking we were going to hit the cliff walls!

Awesome views from inside the boat

We continued down the canyon until it widened significantly. We were treated to some g-force inducing donuts and figure 8s. The driver saved his best trick for last - a body-jarring 360 degree spin at high speed without stopping! I was screaming for joy while Amber while was screaming for her life!

This picture sums up how we each felt during the jet boat ride!

On-board video of our Jet-boat ride!

We continued our thrill-ride down the river surrounded by unbelievable scenery. We never stopped screaming and were always fooled into thinking that we were going to hit the canyon walls only to narrowly and suddenly turn away from it. This was much better than any roller-coaster I had ever ridden!

Stopping at the crepes shop near the gondola

Back in Queenstown, we made our way to the skyline gondola. The skyline gondola is a cable car system that took us 1500 feet up to Bob's Peak. At the top was a restaurant, observation deck, and summer luge track.

Looking down at Queenstown from near the top of the Gondola

The views from the top of the peak were simply stunning! It was easy to see how glaciers carved out the lakes and valleys through the nearby mountains.

The view from Bob's Peak

After a delicious dinner at the hotel, we were picked up by a shuttle van and taken back near the Shotover River to the Onsen Hot Pools facility. We booked a romantic sunset private hot pool. Each room contained a large hot tub and a large retractable window that faced the river and surrounding mountains.

Time to unwind and relax in style

As the sun was setting, we sat in the tub looking out at the beautiful natural scenery, sipping our wine, and eating chocolates. The weather became cooler after the sun had set, so we closed the large window and enjoyed the view of the stars from the comfort of the tub.

The view from our private hot pool

Day 3 - Bungee Jumping & Wine Country

A trip to Queenstown wouldn't be complete without a bungee jump. And what better place to go than the Kawarau Bridge, the world's first commercial bungee jump site. We skipped breakfast (no need to jump on a full stomach and risk more adventures!), picked up our rental car, and drove to the Kawarau Bridge just outside of town.

Amber's pre-jump picture on the Kawarau Bridge

The Kawarau Bridge sits 141 feet about the pristine Kawarau River in the picturesque central Otago wine region - a perfect setting for a bungee jump. We made our way inside the facility, got registered, got weighed, and had our weight written on our hands so that the jump operator would know what length bungee cord to use. We went outside to the viewing platform and watched a few people make their jumps off the bridge. It looked so fun and my excitement was building!

Amber's bungee jump off the Kawarau Bridge

Even though Amber had already done a bungee jump in Thailand, she was completely terrified to make this jump and only signed up for the jump to prove a point that she wouldn't be outdone by me. She made her way on the bridge, walked to the jump platform, got fitted with the bungee cord around her ankles, and smiled with the jump operator at the camera. After a countdown of "3-2-1-jump!", Amber leaped off the bridge feet-first and immediately began screaming. She screamed the entire way down and briefly paused during the upward rebound only to scream on the way down again. She continued to scream with each successive downward rebound until she was recovered by the waiting raft below.

Amber being collected at the end of her bungee jump

Now it was my turn. I hurriedly made my way to the bridge and quickly realized how much higher it was than the viewing platform. I approached the jump platform and was allowed to be next to jump due to the people in line second-guessing their decision and allowing me to move forward. The person in front of me enthusiastically made their jump and it was my turn. The operator strapped the leg harness around my ankles containing the bungee cord and asked if I wanted to jump dry, touch the water, or submerge half my body in the river below. I opted for the water touch. The pre-jump pictures were taken and I was instructed to move to the ledge, which required awkward tiny bunny hops due to my ankles being strapped together.

My first ever bungee jump!

I looked around and admired the beautiful natural scenery all around, but made the mistake of looking down into the river. It was at this point that I first felt fear and panic. However, it was short-lived because the operator told me to look straight ahead, and began his countdown. It's amazing how many emotions can occur in 3 seconds and how times I switched from fear to excitement, but I was proud that I didn't hesitate when he said jump. I leaped off the platform with chest out and arms out feeling like a bird. The feeling of sheer unobstructed free-falling was for me adrenalin-filled terrifying ecstasy.

What a rush!!!

I though it would have felt like peaceful floating. Instead it was faster than I'd ever imagined with the wind constantly pressed against my face rushing noisily past my ears. The free fall was so fast yet seemed to last forever. I started to feel gravity normalize as I approached the water due to the bungee cord stretching at my ankles. I reached out with my arms to try to touch the water but missed the surface by a mere couple of inches. The remaining rebounds were fun to experience, but they didn't compare to the initial plunge. For 10 minutes after the jump my body was shaking due to adrenalin overload. I was so happy and I wanted to do it again!

Brunch at the vineyard

We decided it was time to get some food to calm our bodies down. Luckily, the winery next door had a restaurant and we were served a traditional rancher's breakfast in their very scenic outdoor patio.

The Central Otago Wine Region

We spent the afternoon visiting various wineries in the region, cheese shops, and driving through some spectacular landscapes. The central Otago wine region is located at the floor of ancient glacial valleys and is the most southerly wine region in the world. Most of the wine produced in the area is Pinot Noir - one of our favorite varietals.

Exploring the amazing New Zealand landscape

After a leisurely day in wine country we returned back to Queenstown, took the gondola back up Bob's Peak, and signed in for our tree-top zip-line eco-tour.

Ready to do some zip-lining

The tour was located in a dense forest on the mountainside filled with large, tall beech trees. We were equipped with our harnesses at the first station and made our first traverse on the zip-line to another platform a few hundred feet away. At each platform we learned about the local environment, how to stay 'green', and sustainably.

Amber's zip-lining descent into the forest

However, each traverse became longer and longer to the point that we couldn't see the next platform. We would zip-line blindly into the forest hoping we wouldn't get stuck in the middle and end up at another platform. The views were great, we were near the tops of 100 ft trees and at times could see Lake Wakatipu and Queenstown a thousand feet below at the base of the mountain. We ended the tour by making a short hike back up the mountain. This was a great activity and I looked forward to returning in the future because they were nearing completion of their last zip-line platforms which allows people to zip-line down the entire way down the mountain!

Upside-down and no hands!

A quick video of my zip-lining experience!

Day 4 - Te Anau

We had a private tour to catch in the town of Te Anau, thus, we started the day by packing our bags, loading the car, checking out of the hotel, and making the 2 hour drive west. The drive was quite spectacular. We rode for miles along the twisty and winding mountainside road that hugged the shores of Lake Wakatipu (2nd largest lake in New Zealand). The landscape became very mountainous and all we could see were stunning peaks and rolling farmland hills as we drove between them in the valleys. The scenery was so mesmerizing that I lost track of my speed and got pulled over with a speeding ticket!

Awesome scenic drive

Te Anau is a small town on the southwest corner of the southern island of New Zealand. It is home to about 2,000 people and serves as the gateway to the 5,000 square mile Fjordland National Park which is full of fjords, hiking trails, and mountain ranges. We arrived in Te Anau in the late morning, parked at the visitor center, put on our hiking boots, and met with our guide. We walked along Lake Te Anau until we reached the helicopter pad. We had signed up for the "Heli-hike" adventure - a guided tour that involved taking a helicopter to the top of a mountain, then hiking along the famous Kepler track for 8 kilometers down the 3,000 ft. mountain, through the forest, and taking a boat back to the starting point.

Our helicopter coming to pick us up

This was our 2nd helicopter ride in as many weeks, and this ride was just as awesome as the first one in Australia. We lifted off the floating pad from the lake and made our ascent towards the mountains. We could see grand mountain ranges stretching for miles into the horizon and the rivers and valleys accompanying them. After a brief tour of some of the mountains and land formations, we landed on Mount Luxmore.

Flying over the mountains

It was beginning to rain, so we put on our provided rain jackets and made our way along the mountain. At this, point we were above the tree line and could see the Te Anau basin, the nearby lakes and the surrounding Fjordland Mountains.

The view from Mount Luxmore

After 30 minutes or so of walking we abruptly entered a silver beech forest. The wet atmosphere, the shade of green of the trees and plants, the moss, and the unique foliage made it seem like we were inside a magical enchanted forest. I wouldn't have been surprised had we stumbled upon a unicorn or hobbit. In fact, our guide informed us that parts of "Lord of the Rings" were shot in the adjacent forest.

It felt like we were in "Lord of the Rings"

We took a break in the forest and had lunch. The guide told us that New Zealand has no snakes or dangerous animals. Animals that were introduced to New Zealand via humans such as ferrets, rabbits, mice, and weasels were destroying the native species of reptiles and birds. Thus, there continues to be extensive efforts to trap and eradicate these invasive animals, evident by the mice and ferret traps we saw along the track.

Taking a break in the forest

The last portion of the hike had us walking by towering limestone cliffs, and we finally ended up on the sandy beaches of Brod Bay on Lake Te Anau. Our waiting boat picked us up and ferried us back to the visitor center. We checked-in to our beautiful countryside cottage, changed into dry clothes, and took a well deserved nap. The rest of the day was spent admiring the fantastic scenery and enjoying a dinner at a local restaurant.

Day 5 - Milford Sound

The next morning we hit the road and took the Milford Highway from Te Anau to Milford - dubbed the most scenic drive in New Zealand. This was a tall order considering the amount and quality of scenic driving we had experienced so far in New Zealand, however, I had to agree that this was the most spectacular drive I'd ever done. The first part of the 119 km road was through rolling flatlands, hills, and meadows.

Beautiful meadow lands

We made a stop and crossed a cool suspension bridge over the Hollyford river that led to Humboldt Falls.

A rickety suspension bridge

A stop at Mirror Lakes

As we approached the southern alps the scenery became more mountainous and we entered a great beech forests. While driving through the towering trees we crossed the 45th parallel - the halfway point between the equator and south pole. Shortly after, we made a stop at the Mirror Lakes. On a clear day the lake provides a perfect reflection of the mountains.

Fall's Creek

Taking a break to enjoy the view

After driving for miles on, around, and between mountains we finally approached Homer's tunnel. This 1200 meter tunnel cuts directly through a mountain and descends 1 feet for every 10 feet traveled. We had to wait for the light to turn red because it is only one way during non-avalanche season. As we exited Homer's tunnel we were met by the stunning Cleddau Valley and it's steep and slow winding roads.

Homer's Tunnel

The winding road through Cleddau Valley

We finally arrived at Milford where we parked our car, walked to the pier, and boarded our tour boat in the light cold rain. Milford Sound is actually a Fjord (or Fiord) and not a sound. A sound is a general term for a large sea inlet (larger than a bay), but a Fjord is a long narrow water inlet created by glaciers. This results in spectacular waterways among magnificent mountains.

Cruising down Milford Sound

Look at all the waterfalls cascading down the mountain behind us

Milford Sound is one of the wettest places on the planet with an average rainfall of 7 meters (23 feet), and it rains 182 days of the year! All the rain creates lots of temporary and permanent waterfalls. The most popular is the Stirling Falls which is 500 feet high. Our boat came right in front of the base of the Stirling Falls. It was deafeningly loud and we were soaked by all the mist created. What an experience!

Approaching the Stirling Falls

We cruised along the fjord looking at countless stunning waterfalls cascading down the steep mountains. Some of the waterfalls were easily 1,000 feet high and disappeared into the air rather than touching the water below. We rode all the way out to the Tasman sea and even some a group of seals relaxing on some rocks.

A group of seals on the rocks

It started to storm as we left Milford Sound - quite an eerie sight!

At the end of the cruise we made a stop at an underwater observatory. We saw the rare 'black' coral (looks white) usually only found in deep waters. Milford Sound has some interesting marine life because the water is made-up of two layers. Salt water from the ocean makes up the bottom layer while fresh water from the rain & glaciers makes up the top layer.

Fish swimming around the white colored 'black coral'

We returned back to Te Anau, enjoyed a yummy local Italian dinner, and spent the evening watching a film at the local theater that featured a collection of videos and pictures of Milford sound.

Day 6 - Doubtful Sound

Departing from Manapouri

Our last full day in New Zealand featured an all-day trip to Doubtful Sound. Doubtful Sound is ten times larger and supposedly more spectacular than Milford Sound. It also required more traveling to access. In the morning we made the short drive from Te Anau to Manapouri and made our way to the meeting point at Lake Manapouri. About 100 of us tourists boarded a double-decked boat that ferried us across Lake Manapouri. The storm from yesterday had passed overnight, resulting in snow on the mountains and a sunny, clear day. We made our way to the top deck of the boat and and took in the amazing views of the surrounding snow-capped mountains.

Our transfer boat at Wilmot Pass

We departed the boat at Wilmot Pass, site of the hydroelectric power station (partly built by Amber's company), and loaded into buses. We traveled along Wilmot Pass Road snaking through the mountains down into the entrance of Doubtful Sound.

'Deep Cove' inlet of Doubtful Sound

We reached the inlet of Doubtful sound, known as Deep Cove. It was a peninsula of water surrounded by steep, lush mountains. There was a small pier where we boarded our touring boat. After a quick safety presentation, we began cruising into Doubtful Sound.

Cruising on Doubtful Sound

After only cruising 15 minutes in Doubtful Sound we spotted a group of dolphins! In accordance with the law, the boat shut down its engines and we all watched on the outdoor decks as the playful dolphins swam by. Some of the dolphins were even jumping out of the water!

A group of playful dolphins

Doubtful Sound is one of the largest fjords in New Zealand. We cruised along the calm waterways for hours and even journeyed out to the much rougher Tasman Sea. It was an absolutely perfect day to take in the incredible beauty that nature had to offer.

A perfect day with beauty scenery

Similar to Milford Sound, this area receives significant amount of rainfall. Thus, the mountains are lush with trees, vegetation, and waterfalls.

I'd never get tired of seeing this

However, the soil on the slopes mountain isn't very deep, and the trees are thinly rooted to the mountain side. If a single tree falls it causes the loosely rooted trees below it to fall, thus, creating a chain reaction of falling trees all the way down the mountain into the water. The result is a vertical scar of bare mountain as seen in the left side of the picture below.

The bare spot on the mountain was formed by a tree avalanche

It's one thing to look at these great photos, but it's quite another to experience it. The freshness of the air, serenity of the water, beauty of untouched waterfalls, and closeness of towering mountains forces you to respect and be in awe of nature. The experience also causes catharsis-like self-reflection of one's life, priorities, and lifestyle. I was ready to drop everything and move to New Zealand!

I love the natural beauty of New Zealand!

Sadly, the tour had to come to a close. We made our way back to Wilmot Pass and toured the hydroelectric power station before crossing the lake and driving back to Te Anau. We spent the rest of the day walking around Te Anau and enjoying a dinner with live music at a local restaurant.

A Moa - a huge flightless bird that were local to New Zealand but are now extinct.

Roadside restaurant in Te Anau

Day 7 - Farewell to New Zealand

Our last day in New Zealand was fairly non-eventful as we had a plane to catch to get back home in Thailand. We made the drive back to Queenstown admiring the amazing landscape one final time. When we arrived in Queenstown I looked up into the sky and saw people paragliding (gliding with a parachute off the mountain down into the city). Everyday day while we were in Queenstown I tried to book a tandem paragliding session but was told it was too windy. Now was the only opportunity to do it, and we are leaving! Oh well, it's something I can look forward to next time.

Bye-bye to Queenstown and New Zealand

Our week in New Zealand met and exceeded all our expectations. We were mesmerized by the natural beauty and spirit of adventure of New Zealand. We sampled just a small portion of what New Zealand had to offer and we wanted more. We only experienced 1 week in only 2 cities of the Southern Island. We vowed to return and explore more areas of New Zealand in the future.

This also concluded our spectacular 3 week vacation. We loved every minute in Australia and New Zealand. We highly recommend these places as a destination to visit at least once in a lifetime. We were so impressed with these places that we were already planning on how to move there. Voila! 6 months later, with a lot of determination, some elbow grease, and a little luck we were moving out of Bangkok, Thailand and into Bunbury, Australia (click here to read about our moving experience!). This trip ended up being an experience-of-a-lifetime in more ways than one!

Arriving in Australia

2010-10-07T00:59:00.001+08:00

From Bangkok, Thailand to Bunbury, Australia

It would be an understatement to say that the move from Thailand to Australia didn't quite go as planned. Well, the actually moving of our belongings was very efficient, but getting to Australia was a different matter. However, considering the epic journey I had to take when first arriving in Thailand, I shouldn't be surprised that an equally epic journey would be required to leave Thailand. During our last week in Bangkok an all-Thai moving crew showed up, meticulously packed our things in boxes, carefully labeled and organized the boxes, and cleaned up their mess all in 2 hours with a smile on their faces. I gave them a generous tip thinking that this job would have taken a full day (and without smiles) back in the US. This was the easiest and most straight-forward part of our move to Australia. It pretty much went down hill from there.

We had about 25 boxes in total for the move

The next day was Amber's last working day in Thailand. It was also the last day of April and the last day of our Thai work visas, which meant we had to leave the country. Now that we didn't have work visas, we were considered tourists. Tourists can enter Thailand and get a 30-day tourist visa at the airport. Once the 30 days expire you have to exit the country, but you can come right back and get another 30-day tourist visa (known as "border runs"). Once Amber knew that her next project would be in Australia her company initiated the process to apply for our Australian visas. It had been several weeks since we applied but it was still being processed by Australian immigration. As part of the visa application, we had to undergo a medical check-up to basically prove we don't have tuberculosis (TB) and other infectious medical conditions. Australia has a zero tolerance policy with TB and will deny entry to anyone known to have TB. My exam went fine, but Amber's chest exam had some spots that were questionable to the doctor so he ordered additional testing via an MRI. Amber being Amber wasn't worried about her own health and the fact that these spots could be TB or some other ailment. No, she was thoroughly mad and upset that she had to do another procedure and that this whole 'possibly having TB business' would delay and possibly prevent her from going to Australia! However, based on the results of the MRI, the doctor believed with 99.9% certainty that the spots were just calcium deposits and nothing else. Later we were informed that Australian immigration would allow her to enter based on these results on the condition that she would do follow up testing once inside the country. With that crisis averted and behind us, it was now the last day of the month and the last day of our current Thai visas. We were assured that our Australian visas would be approved by the end of the week, but there was no guarantee. This left us in limbo. We had to leave Thailand but we couldn't go to Australia yet.

We discussed our options:

1) We could go home and wait for our Australian visas to be approved. However, we feared that after flying for 24 hours to get to the US, our visas would be ready and we'd have to turn around and fly another 24 hours to get to Australia.

2) We could do a bit of traveling to various countries until our Australian visas were approved. This was very appealing but if our visas were significantly delayed then we'd end up spending a lot of money.

3) We could take a short vacation then wait out our visa approval at a major city that has a direct flight to Australia. Bangkok is the ideal choice since it was our home and we can fly direct to Australia, but the city was unsafe and unstable. It had already been declared in a state of emergency because protesters were occupying and shutting down the city's main business/shopping district while armed army personnel were guarding the streets bracing for an attack.

After much discussion we chose option #3 and decided to spend a week in Cambodia then return back to Thailand, get a 30-day tourist visa, and stay near the popular coastal city of Hua Hin (2 hours away from Bangkok) until our Australian visas were issued.

The week in Cambodia was amazing! We stayed in the city of Siem Reap. During our stay we visited the famous Angkor Wat temple and about a dozen other beautiful temples (including the temple where "Tomb Raider" was filmed). The food was delicious and cheap, and the people were very easy-going. We even took an ATV tour of the Cambodian country side and visited a couple of orphanages. The country had been devastated by the Vietnam war and other political events, and it has only recently begun to rebuild. Tourism is fairly new to the country which means it isn't overdeveloped, it's still very cheap, and the experience is very authentic. I highly recommend Cambodia as a stop for people traveling through South East Asia.

(click here to see pics of our Cambodia trip!)

Angkor Wat at sunrise

After our trip in Cambodia we flew back to Bangkok, rented a car at the airport and drove to Pranburi. We booked a room at a local beach resort for a week and planned to relax until our Australian visas were approved. However, one week turned into two weeks, which turned into three weeks. We spent our days indulging in the huge breakfast buffet, relaxing by the pool, walking along the beach, using the spa facilities, playing sports in the resort, exploring the city of Hua Hin and nearby areas, and eating cheap Thai food at family owned beach-side bungalows. I also learned how to kitesurf!

(click here to see more Pranburi Pictures!)

Passing the time with some kitesurfing

Also during this time, the protesters in Bangkok had attacked the government and the army. Buildings, tires, and cars were burned, some of the city infrastructure was damaged, and people were injured or killed. We watched the daily local news in shock and horror as our beloved city was being destroyed (and in some cases just a few blocks from where we lived) and also worried that the airport would be shut down as it was 2 years due to protesting. Using tanks, the government's army finally took control of the situation and ended the conflict. Even after 4 weeks at the beach resort we were still waiting for our Australian visas to be approved! Apparently, all visa applications submitted for Amber's company had been suspended due to a work visa snag with a previous company employee who was leaving the country. It was very unrelated to us and the other applicants, but the immigration office chose to not process anything until the snag with the other employee was settled. We still didn't know when our visas would be approved. We had stayed at the resort for 4 weeks and we had to leave the country again because our 30-day tourist visas were due to expire! We now faced the same decision as a month ago. What do we do and where do we go? We decided to do the same as before and take a short trip to another nearby country with hopes that our Australian visas would be soon approved.

Low tide in Pranburi

We left Thailand again and spent a long weekend in Penang, Malaysia. Penang is an island on Malaysia's northwest coast known as a great food destination of the world and having the best street food in Asia. The food is a fusion of Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Thai cuisine. There are lots of food markets each with numerous food stalls that each specialize in different dishes. Similar to Thailand, a plate of food will cost at most $1 USD. The city has official "food trails" maps and brochures so that tourists can easily find food stalls and food types to meet their tastes. Even though we only stayed for a few days, we had our fill of the various delicious food. We also enjoyed visiting a tropical fruit farm and walking through the city of Georgetown with it's picturesque colonial architecture. However, the best part of the trip for us was getting confirmation that our Australian visas were finally approved!

(click here to see pics of our Penang trip!)

Delicious street-food lunch in Penang

Our flight to Australia was booked and we returned to Bangkok to spend one last day. The city was in a somber mood and still recovering from the recent clashes. It was sad to see entire buildings destroyed or partially burned down, police barracks and barbed wire fence yet to be removed, and shops and businesses still closed down. The surreal moment for me occurred when I passed CentralWorld, the third largest shopping complex in the world. It is a Bangkok icon and a very popular spot for locals and tourists alike. The mammoth complex was destroyed and gutted by fire. This is a place where Amber and I had frequented many many times, yet here it was destroyed and unrecognizable.


CentralWorld - Before	CentralWorld - After

Maybe this was all a sign that it was time to leave Bangkok. We didn't feel up to calling our friends for one last get together as a send off. It just didn't seem appropriate. Instead, we had a quiet dinner together near the hotel and talked about what we would miss about Thailand.

Overall, our move to Australia included an 8 week wait for visa approvals, a tuberculosis scare, a trip to Cambodia, a month waiting in Thailand, a trip to Malaysia, and urban warfare in Bangkok. The next morning we took a taxi to the airport, dropped off our two bags of luggage each that we'd been living on for the past 6 weeks, and boarded the plane for Australia. 7 hours later we arrived in Perth and began a new chapter in Australia.

What I'll Miss About Thailand

2010-09-29T15:39:00.003+08:00

The Grand Palace

My time in Thailand has come to an end. It has been a drastic cultural, life, and even career change for me. From getting the swine flu and being hospitalized for food poisoning to riding an elephant and snorkeling in the Phi Phi Islands, it has been an unforgettable experience. There are a few things I won't miss about Thailand, but they pale in comparison to all the things I will miss. Here are a few of the uniquely Thai things that I will dearly miss.

THAI FOOD

Thai Dinner at The Blue Elephant

There is no other cuisine like it. Thai dishes always carry a masterful balance of flavors that usually includes 2 or more of the following: spicy, sweet, salty, and sour. From curries and salads to noodles and soups, the variety of Thai food seems endless. The abundance of food is in part to the infinite number of street food vendors. Feeling hungry at midnight? No problem, just walk down the street and buy a freshly cooked dish for about $1 US that will taste better than any Thai dish you've had in the US. Accessible, delicious, and cheap food...what more could you want?! "Cheap beer", you say? Well, Thailand's got that too!

A colorful array of tropical fruit at a local market

The other aspect of Thai food that I will miss is all the tropical fruit. Thai people love to eat and share fruit. I've had the pleasure of reliving my childhood by eating fruits such as custard apples, jackfruit, longan, and coconuts. I've also had the displeasure of smelling and eating durian, but hey, at least I can say I tried it.

Thai cooking class in Bangkok

Fortunately, I took the time to learn how to cook Thai food (read about my experience here). It's really quite easy because for 90% of the dishes a wok is all you need! My concern will be finding fresh Thai ingredients in another country. Before coming to Thailand I didn't know much about the cuisine, but I can say with confidence that it is the best cuisine in the world.

THAI CULTURE

Enjoying the Songkran Festival

Thailand is known as "The Land of Smiles". The Thai people are known for their friendly and respectful nature. Based on my experience, I found this to be overwhelmingly true. In general most Thais live a very simple life compared to western standards, yet they live an optimistic, happy, and appreciative life (I think a lot of it has to do with Buddhism). I had the wonderful experience of teaching English to Thai teenagers and adults. The level of respect they gave to all the teachers and to each other was amazing. The younger students would always formally greet the adult students. All students paid attention and participated in the classroom. Disciplinary problems were a very rare occurrence. I noticed that student discussions and ideas would selflessly focus on their families and friends.

My wonderful and always smiling Thai language instructors

Outside of the language center my Thai friends were always overly nice and randomly offering food. Thia people, in general, like to have a good time and not stress about things. Their laid-back, worry free, happy lifestyle is summed up in the popular phrase, "mai pen rai", which roughly means, "don't worry about it" or "it's ok, no problem". This eastern concept of respect to the family/community was quite refreshing to experience and one that the western cultures could take a lesson from.

THAI SCENERY

One of our private islands near Phi Phi

One of the main reasons people vacation in Thailand is the beautiful beaches. Phuket is perhaps the most well known beach destinations but there are many other just as idyllic places around Thailand. One of the highlights of our stay in Thailand was hiring a private speed boat with crew for a day and island hopping near the Phi Phi Islands. Several times we had an entire island to ourselves, complete with white sand, turquoise water, some tropical fruit, and cheap beer - what more could you want?

Haew Suwat waterfall in Kaho Yai National Park

A highlight was elephant trekking through the jungle, and visiting a silkworm farm to see how Thai silk was made. Another memorable experience was spending the day at local Thai wineries. Then, going to Khao Yai National Park to hike up to some magnificent waterfall, and in the evening seeing monkeys and a spotted Leopard.

Bangkok skyline complete with traffic jam

However, for the more urban types of people, there is the East-meets-West bustling metropolis of Bangkok. This city seems to have everything: traffic, parks, public transportation, ultra-modern shopping complexes, markets, a busy river, temples, the Grand Palace, international cuisine, delicious street food, red light districts, a continually expanding skyline, a large international business district, 7.7 million people, festivals, sports, the monarchy, and politics. There is something for everyone in Bangkok, and similarly there is a Thai landscape that will suite one's need.

THAI LADYBOYS

The ladyboys of the Tiffany Cabaret Show in Pattaya

No experience to Thailand is complete without an encounter with a "ladyboy" ('katoey' in Thai language ), which can vary from a male cross-dresser to a male-to-female transgender person. Thailand is widely known as the transgender capital of the world and performs the most sex reassignment surgery than any other country. It is very common to see ladyboys in Bangkok. Many of them dress ordinarily and live ordinary lives, but others choose to flaunt themselves to the public. For the flamboyant type their hair, skin, and make-up is impeccable. They walk as if constantly on a catwalk with a super-model's gait. They are naturally tall and wear very high-heels to gain even more height. Their clothing and accessories are uber-fashionable and generally accentuate their curves and ample bosoms. Their overall appearance and presence is not that of a typical Thai woman, thus, they really stand out.

Amber posing with a ladyboy

For the unsuspecting foreign tourists, this is their first sight of a ladyboy. Needless to say it can be quite a culture shock! Some people, however, simply think that she is just a very stylish and beautiful Thai woman, after all aren't Thai woman known for their beauty? The realization hits when the ladyboy speaks and a man's voice softly booms out from a very feminine body!

Over time the shock value wears off and it eventually becomes commonplace to see and interact with ladyboys. While in Thailand, I was dragged to see the famous Tiffany ladyboy cabaret show. We took pictures with the ladyboys, and afterward my wife admitted that she felt less of a woman because the ladyboys were much more diva than she could ever be. Even more defeating was that for a few of the ladyboys she honestly couldn't tell that they used to be men! Only in Thailand.

Serenity at Ayutthaya

Thailand is truly a fascinating country. I highly recommend that everybody make a visit to experience the above and more. I am sad to close this chapter of my life. Over the past year and a half while living in Thailand I've met some wonderful people and had some awesome experiences. I sincerely hope to visit Thailand again in the future.

According to Bob Marley, "When one door is closed, don't you know, another is open." The door for Thailand has closed, but I am looking forward to the newly opened door that is Australia. Stay tuned for posts about living in Australia!

Comfort at the Thai Market

2010-08-30T13:59:00.001+08:00

It's my observation that we generally live our lives with familiarity and routine. We tend to eat out at the same places, do the same things for enjoyment, hang out with the same friends, etc. This brings us a level of comfort and minimizes the stress of dealing with surprises. However, I think it's good to go out of your comfort zone once in while. The consequences of going off the beaten track may vary from a rewarding experience to an "I'll never do that again!" experience, but in the end you'll likely learn something new about yourself and gain a new life experience in the process.

Kitesurfing in Pranburi, Thailand
A fun getting-out-of-my-comfort zone experience!

I like to continually learn and experience new things in life. I like the sensation of being in a new environment, whether it's mentally or physically, and feeling my way through it, almost as if on an epic journey, until it becomes comfortable. One example of this is learning a new language. If you visit a foreign country for vacation and can't speak the language, it can be very frustrating and unpleasant at times. The journey of unlocking a new language, even just to learn basic conversation, is one that I find amazing. The journey may be more easy or difficult for some than others, but in the end the ability to communicate in another country is pretty cool and rewarding. I went through this journey while learning the basics of the Thai language. It was fun (and frustrating at times) taking Thai classes, doing homework, and trying to speak to the local people. Eventually it became comfortable.

Over time living in Bangkok somehow became routine and comfortable. So I decided to step out of my comfort zone yet again by going to a local Thai food market.

The Food Market on Silom Road

My first introduction to a Thai market was when I took a week long cooking class in Bangkok. Every morning the class began by going to the market as a group. As you can imagine, walking into a foreign food market was quite intimidating. It felt like being in another country within another country. The market was chaotic, hot, and smelly. There were raw meats everywhere, mounds of spices and herbs, tons of fruits and vegetables that I'd never seen before, and shirtless children running around the stalls. All this in the open air in what seemed to be in not-very-sanitary conditions. The cooking instructor would give us a tour and talk about the various foods, then proceed to buy all the ingredients (by speaking Thai) for the day's recipes. By the end of the week I had cooked 25 delicious dishes but I still wasn't fully comfortable at the market. I was ready to start cooking at home but I knew it meant that I'd have to be a big boy and go to the market on my own.

Our instructor showing us the market

First, I had to find the nearest market from home. Luckily, I found one next to the barber shop where I got my hair cut (I would pay $5 U.S. including tip for an awesome haircut and shave! The guy didn't speak any English...we had some interesting broken Thai conversations). Using my trusty bicycle, I made the 5 minute bike ride to the market.

The bicycle ride to the market

Next, I chose which dish I was going to cook for the night - stir fried minced chicken with holy basil. The ingredients I needed from the market were bird's eye chilies, garlic, basil leaves, red chili, fish sauce, and oyster sauce.

Upon entering the market, I immediately noticed that this market was larger than the one from the cooking class but not as busy and it was covered, thus, not too hot inside. The market was laid out with tables or counters where the vendor could lay their wares. There were counters for vegetables, fruit, spices, raw meat, raw seafood, coconut grinding and processing, curries, herbs, canned goods, and packaged goods. To get all my ingredients I stopped at several counters. First was the vegetable counter. Even though I stood out among the all-Thai patrons of the market I wasn't stared at or treated any differently than anybody else. I approached the counter and the elderly Thai woman smiled and we exchanged our hellos in Thai. Unable to determine which basil was holy basil (there are 3 types of basil in Thailand) I asked her which one was holy basil. She happily pointed out the holy basil and even grabbed a plant, tore some leaves and invited me to smell the basil. Yup, it was basil (although I doubt I could tell the difference between the three types by smell). I paid her 5 baht ($0.15) and moved on the the herbs counter. There, a middle-aged Thai man was already helping a customer. I looked at his items and grabbed both kinds of chilies and a clove of garlic. He told me 13 baht, and I paid and moved on. The last stop was at the packaged goods counter where I paid the young Thai woman for a bottle of fish sauce and a bottle of oyster sauce.

Buying veggies and walking around the Suan Phluu market

Before leaving, I decided to go ahead and pick up some green curry paste so that I could make green curry for the next evening. I walked around the market but couldn't find any. An elderly Thai woman noticed my unfruitful searching and asked me what I was looking for. I told her I wanted green curry paste. She directed me to a counter and told the woman there that I was looking for green curry paste, but the woman said she had ran out already. They then directed me to another counter where there were some packaged curry pastes. I didn't know one to choose, so I asked which one was better. They told me both were good, but that one was spicier than the other. I purchased the hotter one, thanked the ladies, and made my way back home with a bag full of Thai groceries.

The entire experience of going to the market by myself was daunting at first. Even though I felt and looked like an outsider, I wasn't treated that way. True to Thai culture, the people there were nice, smiling and very helpful. Absolutely nobody spoke any English, thus, I was forced to practice my basic Thai, but it turned out to be a great way to remember my food vocabulary. The dishes I cooked ended up delicious so I made return trips to the market. Each trip became easier and I felt more comfortable until it became a routine thing to do.

I never imagined that food shopping at a market in a foreign country would become a common fixture of my life, but it has and I'm glad that I ventured to try it out. The feeling of adventure and achievement is quite satisfying and I look forward to more such endeavors. Have you ventured beyond your comfort zone lately? Try it out, you might be surprised at what happens!

Bangkok on a Bicycle

2010-07-15T16:02:00.001+08:00

One of the first things I bought in Bangkok was this folding bicycle

One fascinating aspect about large cities is the seemingly continuous flow of people and activity. Unfortunately, most people are too busy trying to get from point A to point B or too zoned-in on their world of daily routine that they miss what's going on around them. It's a shame that we can sometimes be too caught up in our own lives to enjoy life and not be mindful to take the time to experience, or at least observe, what's around us. People watching, especially in a large foreign city, can be quite interesting and revealing. The culture, lifestyle, and social tendencies appear everywhere through observation of people's daily activities. The city of Bangkok is no exception.

Bangkok at night (Lumpini Park in green)

Whether I'm in a taxi, subway, walking, or riding my bicycle there is always something to see in Bangkok - an elephant being led among the traffic, school kids waiting outside for their parents to take them home on the back of a motorbike, a ladyboy (cross-dresser) propositioning tourists, a family setting up a street-side food stall, monks with cameras visiting the city as tourists, a beggar asking for money in front of one of the many posters of the Monarchy, a protester and an armed soldier having a casual conversation, etc. These activities may be everyday occurrences for them, but for me it is a fascinating look into another world.

An elephant attracting the bar drinkers

Ladyboys after a show (yes, these are all men!)

Behind the scenes of a souvenir street shop

Even though I had settled in nicely within the city and had my own daily routine, I restrained from tuning out my environment and continued to observe the city around me. My daily 10 minute bicycle ride to the house of one of my students was a fairly easy and mundane task. One day I decided to take it slower and observe the hustle and bustle of Bangkok. I was amazed to realize how accustomed I was to the once culture-shocking aspects of this place. The shirtless man pushing his cart in the middle of the street didn't raise an eyebrow. The huge rats picking at the trash didn't startle me. The obvious unsanitary conditions of most of the food stalls didn't make me cringe. The traffic and smog filled air didn't make me complain (OK, maybe a little, but not as much as before).

The point is that I was actually part of the city, within the city, and not just a foreigner in an alien land. It was at this moment that I knew I had to record it. First, as evidence that anything in life can happen. Second, to capture the moment so that in the future I can look back and say, "Wow, that's how I used to live. That actually happened!"

Below are videos I took while riding my bicycle from my home to the home of a private student for English lessons and back home again. The videos were taken from my iPhone and I included written annotations to serve as a running commentary throughout the videos.

My 1 mile daily route by bike to teach private English lessons

My bicycle ride from home to work

Riding back home - Part 1

Riding back home - Part 2

Bangkok Dangerous?

2010-03-26T14:11:00.000+08:00

A blog about Thailand wouldn't be complete without some discussion about the political instability. My arrival to Thailand was drastically altered because Suvarnabhumi Airport (Bangkok airport) was closed due to protesters storming it and occupying it for over a week! Soon after, the ruling government party was found guilty of electoral fraud and a new government was established.

I won't go into details about the different political parties and their stances (they all claim to be fighting for democracy), but it is apparent that they aren't happy with the way things are. Coups and changes of government aren't a new thing in the land of smiles. Since the last military coup in 2006 the Thai government has changed hands four times. There have been 18 coups since the constitutional monarchy was established in 1932.

At first, I was a bit concerned about my safety and the state of the country, especially with the events that unfolded during Songkran (Thai New Year) of 2009. However, since then anti-government protesting has been common place - typically occurring every month. The continuous civil unrest eventually became a normal part of living in Thailand. Yeah, we got the notices from the US embassy about imminent danger and the response would be, "meh, there they go again with the protesting". In reality, there wouldn't be very many protesters and they would conduct peaceful demonstrations.

The latest round of protests in March created a new benchmark regarding tactics. The 'red-shirt' anti-government protesters announced their rally about a month in advance. They claimed that a million people from all over the country would unite in Bangkok to show their displeasure at the current government and cause havoc in the capital city. This allowed both the government and the citizens of Bangkok to be prepared for their arrival. The government had tens of thousands of troops and riot police stationed throughout the city during the rally weekend. Businesses chose to close down during the weekend and some people left the city for those few days to avoid the situation.

The red-shirt protesters did make their way to Bangkok but rather than a million people it was more like 100,000 people - still an impressive figure. The government allowed the peaceful protests continue through the weekend as long as things wouldn't turn violent. They even closed roads in the city to allow the protesters to parade through.

The protesters causing a lot of traffic at Asok Rd and Sukhumvit Rd.

One of the parade routes passed in front of my place of work (in the elephant building). There was a long expanse of cars as far as I could see in both directions with people hanging out the windows or riding in the back of trucks sporting their red clothing and flags. The atmosphere was very festive and cheerful. The street was dotted with supporters wearing red and cheering their fellow party members in the parade. It felt more like a homecoming parade than a political rally.

Near the end of the protester's motor parade on Paholyotin Road

The next day I encountered the protesters again. This time I was riding my bicycle. I rode my bike alongside the protesters and captured video and pictures of the festive atmosphere with my iPhone.

Riding with the red-shirts on Silom Road

Red-shirt protesters on Silom Road

Silom Road

Lots of traffic on Silom Road

Waiting at the light

After a peaceful weekend of protesting, the leaders of the red-shirts wanted change. They demanded the current government to step down and conduct new elections. If the government didn't dissolve within 24 hours, then a "blood bath" would occur. The 24 hour deadline passed without any change - the government was staying pat.

This is when things got really interesting...and really, really grotesque. True to their word, the protesters created a blood bath - of their own volunteered blood. The protesters donated a little bit of their own blood so that it could be splashed on the gates of the government complex and on the property of the Thai Prime Minister. As the blood was splashed, a blood curse was performed against the current government. Below are graphic videos and pics of their work.

Photograph: Athit Perawongmetha/Getty Images

Photograph: Sukree Sukplang/Reuters

Photograph: Athit Perawongmetha/Getty Images

It appears the government will not step down. The protesters are still in town, but their numbers are dwindling. Life has returned to normal in Bangkok, but I'm sure that in the not-so-distant future another rally will be held. Could they possibly do another stunt to outdo the 'blood bath'? Regardless of party affiliation, all this instability greatly damages the image of Thailand to outsiders. Who would want to come to Thailand based on the images above? Sadly, the tourism sector takes a hit after each incident. Thailand has a lot to offer to tourists - wonderful beaches, excellent cuisine, charming people, but unfortunately political unrest is part of their culture as well.

Cooking Thai Food

2010-03-07T20:51:00.000+08:00

“Where has this cuisine been all my life? Why am I in my mid-twenties and just now discovering this amazing food?” These were my thoughts after eating several dishes from the “Thai Cottage” restaurant in Houston. After I sampled the chicken yellow curry I was hooked. It seemed to carry the perfect balance of sweetness from the coconut milk with the wonderfully spicy, aromatic, and exotic flavor from the curry. It was topped with potatoes and carrots and served with steamed rice. What more could I want? I could have literally eaten that dish every day of the year.

The only other Thai dishes I had before coming to Thailand were Pad Thai and chicken satay. My experience in the U.S. was that the Pad Thai was hit or miss, either really good or just OK. The chicken satay with peanut sauce was generally good anywhere and the curry dishes were always flavorful, tasty, and spicy (depending on how you much you dared to try, I typically asked for medium spiciness).

Naturally, when I arrived in Thailand a little over a year ago, I was very excited to get a taste of actual authentic Thai cuisine. One of my first meals included a chicken satay with peanut sauce that blew away anything I had ever had in the U.S. I also tried out Tom Yum Goong for the first time and immediately fell in love with it. This brown soup had all kinds of unidentifiable cut-up herbs and spices in it plus pieces of shrimp, fish, squid, and muscles. It had a perfect balance of flavors - sweetness, sourness, spiciness, and saltiness. Even though it was spicy, the spiciness surprisingly complimented the flavor rather than overpower it. I was left with a tingling hot mouth that felt pleasant which curiously didn't need to be urgently extinguished as is the case with most spicy food. I felt a warm glowing happiness and my taste buds were in bliss. This is when I knew that Thai food was going to be my new favorite cuisine.

Over the weeks and months during my stay here, I have tried many more Thai dishes, most of which I had never heard of before. I've also tried the different tropical fruits including pomelo, jackfruit, custard apple, mangosteen, longan, and durian. I learned how to eat Thai-style with a spoon rather than a fork (spoon in the right hand for eating, fork in the left hand for cutting and scooping food into the spoon) and to eat noodle soup with a spoon in the left hand with a pair of chopsticks in the right hand. The toddlers and kids have it right, eating with a spoon is so much easier!

After a year of eating all this excellent food and telling myself that I should learn how to cook it, I finally took the leap and signed up for a 5 day course at The Somphong Thai cooking school. It is located at the end of an alley off a busy street (Silom road). The school is actually the home of an old Thai lady, Somphong, in a traditional outdoor (and covered) kitchen. Along the main wall are a series of gas burners with woks at the ready. The other wall serves as an open air pantry and display of various fruits, vegetables, herbs, and sauces. In the middle of the kitchen is a large table for food preparation. During the course of the week, I learned that this area is not only where the cooking classes are held but it serves as the hangout spot and dining room for the family itself. I couldn't have picked a more authentic place to learn how to cook Thai food.

The Silom Market

This is how my first day went.

The school is managed and run by Somphong's niece, Koy. The class begins with a trip to the local market. The open-air market is nothing more than a side street crammed with food vendors all along both sides. Koy tells us to be careful of the passing motorcyles and tuk-tuks and leads us to a small walkway that surprisingly opens up to a huge covered market. Half the market is dedicated to freshly cut meat where both live and freshly cut fish are on display for sale. With wicker baskets in hand, we follow Koy to a coconut grinding stall. We see how shaved coconut is made from fresh coconuts (grinding machine), and how coconut cream and coconut milk is made from the shaved coconuts (mechanical press). She explains how to make an order and how much it should cost.

Curry Pastes and bottled sauces

Koy explaining the various peppers

A look around Silom Market

We continue through the market stopping at various points where Koy talks about the various foodstuff there. I learn many things such as: all the curry pastes can be bought (easier to buy than to make by hand, but we will learn how to do it the hard way), shrimp paste is made by marinating a salt mixture with baby shrimp for a year (no wonder it stinks so much!), there are at least a half dozen types of eggplant, at least a dozen different types of pepper (the smallest ones are the hottest), and 3 types of basil in Thailand. Throughout our tour Koy buys and fills our baskets with our ingredients for the day. We make our way back to the school to let the cooking commence.

Our classroom - A traditional Thai style open-air kitchen

We are equipped with a bright purple apron, a matching purple napkin, a wooden cutting block, and a rather large knife. Koy hands us our recipe books and begins the class explaining how to make curry paste. Using a mortal and pestle, we hand grind a mixture of ingredients (mostly chilies, herbs, and spices) until it becomes a smooth paste. The work is difficult but we are rewarded with an excellent green curry paste. She shows us how to cut various vegetables and gives us pre-measured containers of seasonings (sugar, salt, fish sauce, coconut milk, etc). With all our ingredients ready, we go to the wok and cook away as she tells us what to add and how to long to cook. Within minutes, we have completed our first dish, a great looking bowl of chicken green curry. We all go to the back room (thankfully air-conditioned) and try out our first dish. It's the best green curry I've ever had! I may be biased but, really, it was the best green curry I ever had. And I can say that I cooked it – from scratch!

Koy is demonstrating how to cut various vegetables

Woks in action!

The rest of the day, and indeed, the rest of the week followed the same pattern. We prepared, cut, and mixed all of the ingredients first, then we went to the woks and slowly added everything until another culinary creation was completed. Cooking Thai food was, dare I say, actually pretty easy. Looking over the entire process, the most difficult part is collecting all the not-so-common ingredients from the market (I'm sure this is especially more difficult in the US – you'd probably have to go to a special Asian store for some of the ingredients). Once you have everything, the prep time is fast (cutting, chopping, mixing) and the cooking time is even faster.

Ingredients to make Green Curry Paste

Thai cuisine is famous for being spicy. Most people who like spicy food will come to love Thai food. I was never a fanatic about spicy food, but after tasting the local food I've become a lover of spicy Thai food. The secret is not the type, amount, or strength of chilies, but rather the balance of spiciness with flavor. I had great joy learning about this aspect of Thai food during the course. Before preparing a new dish, Koy would explain the specific flavors we were trying to achieve then tell us about each ingredient and how it contributed to the overall balance. For example, Koy would explain that sweet sticky rice with mangoes should taste sweet and a salty (it's not a Thai style dessert if it's not a little salty). Thus, we add coconut milk, sugar, and salt. What pleased me was that all dishes usually had 2, 3, or 4 simple flavors delicately mixed to create an overall masterpiece. Such is the case with Tom Yum Goong. The end result should taste sweet, sour, spicy and salty. For this combination we add (among other ingredients) appropriate amounts palm sugar (sweet), lemon juice (sour), chilies (spicy), and fish sauce (salty). By the end of the course I had a pretty good idea of what to add to achieve a desired flavor.

We also learned some simple presentation techniques. This included making a rose from the skin of a tomato, learning how to wrap chicken in Pandanus leaves (imagine doing origami with banana leaves), garnishing plates with various flowers, and topping dishes with hand-made sauces.

My lovely rose made from a tomato

I've finished the course and learned how to make 25 Thai dishes. I'm still amazed at how easy it is to cook such wonderfully delicious, yet simple dishes. After successfully cooking several dishes at home after the course, I can confidently say that I cook Thai food! :)

All in a day's work

Even though it may be 100 degrees outside, I can understand why people in Thailand will still eat sweatingly spicy food. Thai food makes you happy. It tastes so good, and it's been shown that the capsaicin in chili peppers causes the release of endorphins – the happy chemical. Despite the problems and poverty in Thailand, the people, for the most part, continue to be happy. I think their food has a lot to do with why Thailand is known as “the land of smiles.”

My Culinary Creations!
(Click to see a slideshow of my dishes)

I survived the H1N1 swine flu

2009-08-01T16:26:00.000+08:00

If you don't know anybody that became infected with the H1N1 swine flu you do now. Me. Yes, I managed to contract the virus here in Bangkok, Thailand. I never thought I'd get the swine flu but here I am talking about it.

The H1N1 "swine" Flu virus has been a major story for 2009. The virus rapidly spread itself around the world and quickly developed into a flu pandemic. In Thailand, there were no reported cases at first. However, over time a few confirmed cases popped up from travelers. Then, non-traveling local Thais became infected. Finally, large populations of students in Thai schools became infected. At this point the Thai government stepped in and began their H1N1 initiative. Millions of masks were handed out, schools were closed, public areas were regularly sanitized, and there was more information made available to the public about the flu along with methods of protection and prevention.

Given the worldwide scare and the number of people infected, the H1N1 flu still seemed, to me, like something that "happened to other people" that weren't conscience of good personal hygiene. I like to think that I did a fairly good job being mindful of good hygiene. For example, I always make it a point to never touch my eyes, mouth, or nose when in public places until I've washed/sanitized my hands. This swine flu business is a bit serious but it has also been blown way out of proportion. Plus, I didn't personally know of anybody who had contracted the virus. I thought to myself, "I'll be fine!"

Wrong! I'm not sure how or when I contracted the H1N1 virus, but I did. Here is a recap of the day by day sequence of events.

Wednesday - I felt great. The week before, I had wrapped up my intensive but satisfying 4 week TESOL course. That Monday, I had an interview and received a job offer at a top choice location. With a full week and a half left before the term began, I was excited about the opportunity but looking forward to enjoying some down time. I woke up early so that I could meet up with my fellow classmates, Aey and Kim at the National Thai Museum. We met up, and had a nice English speaking tour of about 15 people on the history of Buddhism in Thailand. Next, we went to a fairly busy market near the river pier and had a long lunch. There weren't that many people in the cafe. Later, we walked around a bit and saw a few sights. Later that night I met up Princeton, his brother, and Princeton's roommate from his mission trip. It had been years since we saw each other. We hung out and ended up watching Harry Potter. As a joke, Princeton wore a face mask because of all the Thai people he saw wearing the masks. We parted ways and I took a taxi back home.

Thursday - I slept in and woke up feeling great. Amber was working and we ended up meeting for lunch. I took the above ground subway (a.k.a. "SkyTrain") and met her at a restaurant in her building. I ordered some chicken curry with a large glass of delicious Thai tea. After the meal, I noticed that my throat was dry and itchy but I didn't think much of it because I rarely drink tea and when I do my throat tends to dry out a bit. I ran some errands and relaxed for the rest of the day, but my throat was still scratchy.

Friday - Again, I woke up feeling great but with some discomfort as my throat was still dry and itchy. That night we met up with lots of friends at Charley Brown's and drank margaritas until the place closed. The alcohol pretty much numbed the feeling in my throat. Maybe it served as a disinfectant too!

Saturday - I woke up groggy. Didn't get enough sleep and my throat was still the same. Met up with most of the friends from the night before at Lumphini Park. It looked like it was going to rain, but it never did. We all had a nice time at the park eating, listening to music, playing cards, badminton, and Frisbee, fortune telling, etc. By the end of the day, I was spent. I came home, showered, and immediately felt really bad - weak, dizzy, and really hot. I assumed that it was exhaustion from being outside all day, plus lack of sleep and water. I had a quick dinner and went to bed early.

Sunday - I woke up feeling like a truck had hit me. My body ached all over. I had a bad headache. My throat felt like crap and I had developed a cough. I felt weak and very tired. My skin was hot to the touch but I felt very cold and wanted to curl up in blankets. I decided that something was wrong and went to see a doctor at the hospital. They took my temperature, I had a high fever of around 101F. They used a long q-tip to swab a sample way down in my throat (not a good feeling, it made me gag, but better than taking blood I suppose) to test for the flu. About 30 minutes later, I was told that I was positive for Influenza type A and I had an upper respiratory infection. The doctor told me I could have the H1N1 virus because it is among the many type A flu strains. For an additional fee, they took another throat sample and sent it to the H1N1 testing center to verify if I indeed had H1N1. The results wouldn't be back for another 3-5 days. The doctor prescribed lots of medicine for me including Tamiflu which is very expensive. About $10 USD per pill!! He gave me 10 pills - 2 per day for 5 days. I came back home and my fever seemed to have broken. I didn't feel hot and cold anymore. I rested for the rest of the day taking many naps.

My Regimen of drugs

Monday - It was a rough night. I woke up every few hours soaked in my own sweat - a pretty nasty feeling. I woke up in the morning feeling awful, weak, and with a constant headache. Unfortunately, we had to go to immigration to renew our visas. I didn't want to go but Amber's company is very finicky about these things and today was the day to go. We spent an hour or so at immigration. I was wearing my mask and trying to minimize my closeness to other people. What would they think if they knew I had the flu? The trip took all the energy out of me. I came home and napped for the rest of the day. My diet consisted of soup, water, Gatorade, and medicine. It was getting very annoying to wake up from sleep or naps in a pool of sweat. I weighed myself and saw that I had already lost (sweated off) 5 pounds.

Tuesday - A slight improvement. The coughing and chest congestion were almost gone - the antibacterial medicine did it's job. A lot of napping during the day. Every time I woke up my body felt like it went through a battle - weary but somehow productive. I felt a tiny bit better after each nap. My body still ached and the headache was still there.

Wednesday - Felt better. I had more energy, less body aches, still had headaches, but the sweating finally stopped. The frequency and length of naps were declining as well.

Thursday - Felt a lot better. I had much more energy and went out for the first time. I walked outside a bit and got some books. It felt good to be outside and walk around. The headache finally went away. I came back and took a nap. I noticed that I lost 10 pounds.

Friday - Felt very good. I had good energy and no more body aches. We decided to celebrate and went out for steak and beer. It felt good to eat such a hearty meal!

Saturday - Felt back to normal. I went to see the doctor for the follow-up visit. He confirmed that I indeed tested positive for the H1N1 swine flu, but that everything was fine now. Good thing, because I started my new job as a teacher in 2 days!

So it took about 10 days from the start of my symptoms to reach full recovery, and I amazingly lost about 12 pounds. Thank you Amber for bravely taking care of me, buying and preparing my food, and making sure I was clean and comfortable. This flu sucked just as bad as any other flu I've had. I have no idea how I got it and I doubt if wearing a mask would have prevented it. I saw so many people wearing protective masks but using them incorrectly! For example, I saw people in the subway holding on to the handrails held by million of other people, then reaching inside their mask to scratch their nose. This is exactly what you're NOT supposed to do people! (on another note, the custom here is to wash your hands BEFORE going to the bathroom, and not after)

I suppose my only "official swine flu survivor" advice is don't be afraid to see a doctor if you don't feel well. I went at the first sign of not feeling well. I'm sure that if I had waited a day or two, the respiratory infection could have gotten real bad, real fast. Lots of people want to tough it out when they don't feel well. Why? Your job or your pride isn't as important as your health. Go see a doctor, get the medication, and rest properly.

The Evolution of Watching Movies

2009-05-24T14:45:00.000+08:00

Watching movies seems to be a timeless form of entertainment. While I don’t consider myself a movie buff, critic, or expert, I won’t pass on an opportunity to watch a good move at home or at the theatre. Naturally, my taste in movies has evolved somewhat over the years. As a child, going to the movie theatre was a family treat. It was a great excuse to indulge in popcorn and candy while watching a rated PG comedy or action film. As a pre-teen, going to the movies was a social event that involved hanging out with friends and a place to meet other people. As an adult, the staple dinner-and-a-movie date was a regular activity.

Interestingly, my movie going experience seems to have evolved in parallel to the development of my tastes. Not far into the “adult phase,” I started to dislike going to movie theatres because the overall experience was no longer pleasant. The price of tickets and food was high. The theatre seemed to be filled mostly with obnoxious, loud, and inconsiderate kids. No movie experience was complete without at least 3 cell phones ringing during the movie, one of which would be answered with an annoyingly loud, full-blown conversation (you know, they have to speak up because there is a movie going on in the background - sheesh). The crying baby is another given. I have nothing against babies crying. It is a natural act. But will the parents wanting to see an R-rated movie please drop off the kids to family, a friend, or a babysitter before coming to the theatre?

Thus, for a while I would rarely go out to watch a movie. However, when Amber and I bought our first house, we decided to bring the movie-going experience home. A big screen high definition plasma TV and surround sound system purchase later and it was done. We had our own movie theatre in the comfort of our home. Although we couldn’t watch the movies titles showing at theatres, we would gladly wait the few months and pay for a DVD or watch them on a premium cable channel. The movie going experience had reached an all-time high.

Now that we are living in Thailand, we do not have a home theatre system. Our cable package, or lack thereof, does not show any movies. As far as DVDs go, there are a million stands littered along the streets with the latest films. But quality DVD’s are hard to come by because they are mostly bootleg copies where someone films inside a movie theatre. Going to a movie theatre wasn’t appealing either because only the biggest, most popular movies from the US even make it to the big screen in Bangkok. Thus, we resigned ourselves to occasionally buy and watch DVD’s at home.

Then, a magical thing happened. We decided to go watch a movie at the Siam Paragon Cineplex. This Cineplex has about 16 screens including an IMAX screen. As soon as I walked into the lobby of the Cineplex, I was completely blown away. First of all, the lobby was huge! It was at least 4 times larger than the largest lobby I’ve seen in the US. The other thing that struck me was how modern and stylish it was. There were several lounge areas scattered about all of which were equipped with hip, plush furniture. There was nice lounge music playing overhead and off to the side was a full scale Starbucks.

The box office

When purchasing tickets at the box office, they show you a video diagram of the theatre and allow you to choose your seats. The ticket price was 140 baht, which is about $4 USD – not bad at all! The concession stand had a wide array of snacks, popcorn, and drinks – including beer for only 60 baht (about $2)! Typical popcorn flavors include regular salted, sweet caramel, and seaweed varieties. At the time, the concession stand was also offering special pink colored strawberry flavored popcorn. I know it sounds kinda gross. But I got a bucket of half strawberry and half regular and it was actually very good! The theatre itself was very similar to any other theatre I’ve been to. The previews and commercials lasted almost 30 minutes. Oh, and just before the movie starts, there was a video tribute to the King of Thailand that we all had to stand for…sort of like standing for the US national anthem. Overall, the experience wasn’t bad at all. One that I’d be willing to repeat should the right movie be offered.

Not too long ago, we decided to watch another film on the big screen. We showed up at the theatre and told them we wanted to see the next showing. The next show was in 30 minutes, but was located in the premium theatre named The Nokia Ultra Screen Cineplex. Sure, we’d try it out. As we were selecting our seats, we noticed there were only about 30 seats in the entire theatre. To our surprise, the cost was 600 baht per person, or about $17 USD. Hmmm…what did we get ourselves into? The answer: complete luxury.

The Ultra Screen Cineplex is a set of 4 premium theatres in their own private wing within the entire complex. It has its own chic bathrooms and a lounge, or galleria as it’s called, for patrons to hang out and wait until the movie starts. The galleria has a full bar with waitresses where ticket holders get complimentary soft drinks, tea, coffee, cookies, and cakes. For ridiculously decent prices, you elect for a beer or cocktail. Among the lounge seating and private tables are massage chairs (full body or leg and foot) to relax you before the movie.

The Galleria Bar

The Galleria main seating area

More seating in the Galleria

Enjoying pre-movie snacks and a drink

After filling up on the yummy cookies and banana muffins, we made our way down the private hallway into our designated theatre.

Look at the theatre seating!

There was an usher there to show us to our seats. The theatre comprised of what I would call Pods. Each pod contained 2 seats, and there were 4 pods per row (4-5 rows altogether). The thing is these weren’t ordinary seats within a pod; they were very akin to first class airline seats. The huge supple leather seats reclined completely horizontal, complete with retractable leg rest at a push of a button. A pillow and blanket was provided, and each pod had ample space for food and drinks as well as its own small coffee table. The usher also doubled as a waitress and took our order of popcorn and beer (Singha for Amber and a Corona for me). The movie screen was a wide-screen with great picture and excellent sound quality (the movies are in English with Thai subtitles). The pods were spaced out so that movie watchers couldn’t bother one another. We could have a conversation with each other knowing we wouldn’t be disturbing other people. The pods on the back row even had private curtains for ultimate exclusivity.

This was easily the most luxurious and comfortable movie experience I’ve ever witnessed. The cost of $17 USD seemed excessive at first, but considering the free food and drinks (and massage chairs) at the lounge, the private and extremely comfortable seating (lying with pillow and blanket is more accurate), the convenient ordering of food and drinks at your seat, the quality of the picture and sound, and the lack of excess people and disturbances, I think it was well worth the price. We look forward to watching all the summer blockbusters in style.

Oh yeah…in addition to these Ultra Screen Theatres, the Siam Paragon Cinema Complex also offers an even more luxurious theatre dubbed the Enigma theatre. According to a review online, instead of seats you get a bed for 2, with plenty of pillows and blankets. Also included are 1 free drink (whiskey, beer included, wine not included), 1 free appetizer, a more private lounge, and far fewer people in the theatre.

The Power of 'Nong'

2009-04-30T18:22:00.000+08:00

My first encounter with the word ‘nong’ was during my first dining experience at a restaurant in Bangkok with my wife. In my experience, Thai wait staff are very friendly and polite yet don’t have as much initiative you would enjoy in the U.S. If I need another drink or a new utensil, the wait staff usually never notice and I have to hail one down. The thing is, the standard hand raise or arm waving with an “excuse me” usually does not work in getting their attention, even as they walk right past you! On this particular day, after my few fruitless attempts to catch a waiter, my wife took over and nearly screamed the word “nong” at a nearby waitress. From my observation the waitress was surprised by being addressed this way and nearly tripped and fell as she tried to locate the source. She saw my wife’s raised hand, realized that it was her who called her, and hurriedly came to our table to attend to us. I was quite amazed at the response.

The response seems to be the same no matter which restaurant we are at or the age or gender of the wait staff. Whenever the word “nong” is said, it seems to send a jolt of attention to the wait staff - similar to a grazing deer that suddenly hears a noise and snaps it head up to locate the source. Some waiters stop abruptly in mid stride, while others nearly spill the tray in their hand. It seems to always get their immediate attention and prompt service. For a while though, I never used the word myself because I didn’t know the meaning and my wife didn‘t know either. It was just one of those things she picked up after living in Thailand for over a year. For all I knew, their reaction could have been because the word was derogatory, though they never seemed to be offended. After a little research, it turns out that the Thai word 'nong' has several meanings and can demonstrate friendliness, politeness and fondness.

Per The Grolier International Dictionary the definition of 'Nong'

1. a younger brother or sister
2. a form of address used by an older person to a younger person as a sign of a certain amount of friendliness or politeness
3. a polite form of address to someone serving you, such as a waiter or shop assistant, or someone in a similar position.

Basically it’s the English equivalent of saying the word ‘sir’ to a younger person(s) of customer service. It is a polite way to get address them and get their attention. I’ve never heard another foreigner use ‘nong’ so it must be a surprise to them when my non-Thai wife addresses them in this manner. This is the secret of ‘nong’. Now, it is quite amusing to witness the numerous foreign diners that get frustrated at their futile attempts to call for service - I was like that once.

It’s all about the power of ‘nong’!

Amber with one of the Thai waitstaff at The Blue Elephant restaurant

*For those interested, the Thai word ‘pee’ is the opposite of ‘nong’. The Thai word ‘pee’ means older brother or sister, and is the equivalent of ‘sir’ when addressing an elder or someone of higher rank or responsibility

Learning the Thai Language

2009-04-29T18:17:00.000+08:00

As of this writing I have completed 3 series of Thai language classes and I am currently taking the 4th. Each class consists of twenty 3-hour days with homework and tests. The first and second class emphasize proper phonetics so that basic conversation skills are learned. The higher level classes teach the Thai alphabet, reading, writing, and various subjects of Thai culture. I am still amazed at the complexity of the Thai alphabet and writing system, yet at the simplicity of speaking. Here are some interesting points I have learned about the Thai language so far.
　
Tones
Initially, the most difficult aspect of the Thai language is to learn are the 5 different tones a word can have. The English language is non-tonal, therefore, most words have only one way to be pronounced. However, a Thai word can have 5 different ways of pronunciation, or tones - each with a different meaning. At first, all 5 tones sounded the same to me! However, with good teaching and practice your brain will learn to distinguish the subtle differences. One must be careful when listening and speaking Thai so that the intended meaning of the word is understood.

The five tones are:
Mid - the word has a neutral, flat pitch. All English is mid toned.
Low - pitch of the word goes down. Imagine a word that is trailing off…
Falling - pitch of the word goes up, then down. Think Doppler Effect - the sound of a train horn going up then down as it passes by.
High - pitch of the word goes up. Similar to the upward inflection when asking a question.
Rising - pitch of the word goes down, then up. The word has a dip to it.

For example, the Thai word “na” has 5 different meanings depending on the pitch and inflection used when speaking the word, as shown below.
　

A common Thai tongue-twister sayng the word ‘mai’ 4 times in a row (but with slightly different tones)

IPA - mai mài mâi mái
Thai - ไหมใหม่ไหม้มั้ย
English - “Does new silk burn?”

Check out this website for audio clips of the different Thai tones.
http://www.learningthai.com/tones/index.html
　

Thai sounds
Another interesting aspect of speaking Thai was learning how to pronounce new sounds. The most difficult new sound for me to learn was “ng”. English words such as ‘wing’, ‘long’, and ‘singer’ all have ‘ng’ sound at the end or middle of the word. No problem there. The hard part is starting a word with ’ng’. Instead of saying “singer”, remove the ‘si’ and try to only pronounce “nger”. Be sure not to pronounce it as “ner” or “ger”, the word must start with the ‘ng’ sound (and no cheating by putting a vowel in front). The trick is to use the back of your tongue to touch the roof of your mouth. Once you’ve mastered that, try out the 5 different tones with it.
A couple of other new sounds were ‘uh’ as in saying “uh-huh” or "about", and ’eu’ which is similar to ’uh’ but with more of a deeper, strained, grunting sound (reminds me of that Master P song, ‘make you say ‘uuhhhh’, nuh-nah na-naah).
　

The Thai alphabet - อักษรไทย
There are 44 consonants representing 21 distinct consonant sounds and 32 vowels. Similar to English, each Thai letter represents a sound. Thus, once you learn the sounds of each consonant and vowel you can begin sounding out words.

Thai Consonants

If you look closely at the consonant table above the you’ll notice that there are multiple Thai consonants having the same English letter equivalent. For example, the letter “T” in English represents one unique sound. However, there are 6 Thai letters that represent the same “T” sound. Even though the 6 Thai letters sound the same, they are uniquely written and fall into one of the 3 different classes of Thai letters. These different classes of letters determine the tone of the following vowel which gives the word it’s specific meaning.

Thai Vowels

As shown above, an interesting aspect of written Thai is that vowel symbols can be written above, below, before, or after a consonant, and some vowels are a combination of 2 or more symbols! Additionally, there are five tone marks that can be written above a letter. Thus, it is no uncommon for a Thai word to have a tone mark written above a vowel which is written above a consonant. Fun stuff! Finally, there are the many exceptions to the already confusing rules and the special cases that aren’t worth mentioning now.

The actual writing of the Thai characters isn’t that bad at all. The characters are fairly simple to draw. The difficult part was memorizing how to sound out and write the ridiculous amount of letters (66 total). It took about 2 weeks of class to memorize how to write the 44 consonants and half the vowels, and another 2 weeks for the remaining vowels.
　

Grammar and Sentence Structure
Now comes the easy part. The Thai grammar and sentence structure is so easy that once you learn a few words you can easily formulate sentences and actually communicate without sounding like an idiot. Here are a few of my observations.

- There is no formal punctuation used in Thai. Brackets, quotation marks and exclamation marks can be used in the same way as in English. Commas and periods are rarely seen.

-Written Thai words are not separated from each other and the letters generally flow uninterrupted until the idea changes. If you look at the newspaper or a book, it just looks like a bunch of long strings of Thai letters.

ผมพูดภาษาไทยได้นิดหน่อย - "I can speak a little Thai"

- The verb “to be” is not spoken. English words such as ‘the‘, ‘am‘, ‘are‘, and ‘is’ are implied.

English
The man is at the bathroom
Thai
man at bathroom

English
Where are your shoes?
Thai
your shoe where?
　

- Verbs are not conjugated. They do not change with person, tense, voice, mood, or number

English
I eat rice
Thai
I eat rice

English
They drank beer
Thai
They drink beer already

English
He stumbles to the bar
Thai
He stumble to bar (now)

-Adjectives follow the word they modify

English
The glass of red wine
Thai
Glass wine red

English
The red glass of white wine
Thai
glass red with wine white

English
The woman with long hair
Thai
Woman have hair long

English
The food was delicious
Thai
Food delicious already

-Although there is a Thai word for “very”, emphasis can be created by simply repeating the adjective

English
A fat dog
Thai
Dog fat

English
This dog is very fat
Thai
This dog fat fat
This dog fat very
　

As in most countries, most Thai people appreciate and enjoy it when foreigners are able to speak a little bit of their language. On more than one occasion I have shocked and impressed a Thai person when I try to speak to them. One time I was getting my hair cut and the barber asked if I could speak Thai. I busted out with my 2 months worth of Thai learning and he was so blown away at how I could pronounce certain words that he said the hairs on his arms were raised! (he showed me too). I am a long way from speaking fluently, but I can get the gist of most conversations. I probably have the equivalent vocabulary and reading skills of a 3rd grader. All in all, learning the Thai language has been challenging and enjoyable. The speaking aspect is fun and not too difficult to get a hang of. The reading and writing is a bit more challenging and it seems to exercise a part of my brain that is rarely used. Now that I know most of the basic writing rules, the pieces are slowly falling into place. It has become less of a chore to read and write and more of a challenging game or puzzle. I would highly recommend a class in basic Thai conversation skills for anybody planning on living in Thailand for an extended period of time.

Muay Thai Boxing

2009-04-20T23:14:00.000+08:00

Muay Thai, also known as Thai Boxing, is the National Sport of Thailand. It is a type of martial art that utilizes punching, kicking, elbowing, kneeing, and grappling techniques within close quarters. Muay Thai has been an interwoven part of Thai history for hundreds of years that originally developed as a type of self-defense against foreign invaders. Over time it became a rite of passage for Thai men to take up training in this martial art and it even became required as part of military training. Muay Thai, along with soccer, is by far the most passionately followed sports in the country. There are numerous training centers and schools throughout the country where fighters start training as young as 7 years old with the ultimate dream to fight in one of the two famous boxing stadiums in Bangkok, Lumpini or Ratchadamnoen.

To see what the hype was all about, I decided it was time to experience my first Muay Thai match. We arrived at Lumpinee stadium about 30 minutes before the night fights began. The ticket window was closed but there were plenty of ticket agents walking around ready to make a sale. The agent informed us of the price, 2000 baht for ringside seats and 1500 baht for regular seats. She showed us inside the stadium so we could look for ourselves. My first impression was that this is the type of place I would expect to see secret, underground cockfighting to take place. The stadium was covered with low walls. Naturally, there was a boxing ring in the middle. The ringside seats were nothing more than 3 rows of plastic chairs along the 4 sides of the ring. Shortly beyond the ringside seats was a chain-linked fence where behind it was the regular seating consisting of wooden benches that makes a general bowl shape up the farther they are from the ring. There seemed to be much less lighting in this area as well. We quickly decided to pay the extra 500 baht for the ringside seats.

One note on ticket pricing – the price of Muay Thai tickets are different for Thai people than for non-Thai people. Non-Thai people must pay 4 times more per ticket than a Thai person! It is blatant discrimination, and of course it is very legal. This is Thailand we’re talking about, where it is not uncommon to see job ads in the newspaper specifically seeking workers that are young, female, and beautiful. I think the assumption is that most non-Thai people that will watch Muay Thay are tourists with money to spend. Also, the better fights are scheduled during the week rather than the weekends so that they cater to their Thai audiences.

We ended up getting front row ringside seats because of our early arrival. Here is one noticeable sign we saw in English. I suppose it’s not honorable for a woman to be in the ring?

Before the fights begin, they play the national song and we all stand to pay our respect to the King. Next, the first pair of boxers enters the stadium and get in the ring. Before each fight, both boxers perform their own unique dance to pay respect to their trainers.

Both fighters are performing their pre-fight ritual, called “Wai khru ram muay”.

So the first fight began, and the one thing that stood out was that these fighters were just kids! They looked to be about 12 to 14 years old weighing around 100 pounds each but carrying six-pack abs on them! While they didn’t show as much grace and power as the adult fighters, they were throwing around some vicious looking kicks and knees that left no question that these kids could kick my butt!

We were sitting near one of the ring corners and could see the fighters getting prepped for the next round and coached by their trainers. A Muay Thai match consists of 5 rounds that are 3 minutes each. Points are scored through execution of strikes and other techniques as observed by 3 judges. A match is decided by a knockout or by points.

During the fighting, there is a band that plays some sort of traditional music. This serves the same purpose as the soundtrack of a movie or television show in that it cues the audience about the emotional intensity of the events. As the fighting becomes more active or violent, the music increases its tempo and the audience gets louder. The whole thing creates an atmosphere that is unique in a sporting event - it is why fans pay money to see sports live rather than watch in on television.

The video above shows two fighters dancing in the ring as time was running out in the last round. I suppose the exhausted fighters were killing time until the final bell rang.

As we progressed through the 9 scheduled matches, the age and skill level of the fighters also increased. Knockdowns were more common and blood was even drawn on a couple of occasions.

As the night continued with better fights and more alcohol, the atmosphere became more lively and charged. The crowd would cheer and yell each time a fighter landed a hit. Looking at the stands between rounds, I noticed it was packed of people - mostly men that were drinking and smoking. I saw a lot of gambling going on with people madly waving their hands signaling their bets and discreetly passing money. Even the people with ringside seats were thoroughly enjoying the matches. There is nothing quite like a sports arena in a developing country filled with enthusiastic fans. The madness of it all is that we are all watching the spectacle of two people trying to hurt one another. Good stuff.

Excited fans during a particularly good match.

This fighter got knocked down with a couple of knees to the chest. Ouch!

Presentation of the main event fighters.

Top level fighting from the main event.

After the main event was finished, they formally presented the two fighters with their checks. There was one more mediocre fight afterwards but half the crowd had left already. The overall experience was very interesting. I didn’t expect to be entertained very much because watching live fighting really isn’t my thing. But I was pleasantly surprised at how captivating and thrilling it is to watch people fight each other amongst a crowd of people cheering and yelling. Though I admit that I feel a bit guilty about it as well. Muay Thai is a unique style of fighting that is brutal yet carries traditional aspects with the live music and pre-fight dancing. Having gone through the experience, I recommend that all visitors of Thailand, even those that don’t regularly watch fighting, attend a live Muay Thai match. It is an interesting aspect of the Thai culture that is best experienced in person.

Happy Thai New Year - Songkran Festival

2009-04-20T18:14:00.000+08:00

The Thai New Year is celebrated by the 3 day Songkran Festival from April 13th to April 15th (although some cities hold the festivities a week before or after the official date). Traditionally, the festivities are supposed to be a low key affair. Friends and family pour small amounts of water and dab the face with a flower-water mixture as a token gesture to bring good luck, comradeship, and cleansing for the new year. It is a time to pay respect to elders and monks with food and gifts, as well as cleansing of one’s home with a “spring cleaning”.

While these traditions are still maintained, the modern festivities of Songkran have transformed into 3 chaotic days of brutal water fighting, partying, and mayhem. The traditional practice of pouring SMALL amounts of water and DABBING the face with a flower-water mixture has been taken way out of context. Every man, woman, and child in the country is armed with a water gun and/or a bucket of clay-like mix ready to douse the nearest person with water and smear their face or body. Anything that moves is an open target – people, cars, motorcycles, and animals alike get victimized.

Here, in the Silom district of Bangkok, masses of people are aimlessly meandering the streets dousing each other. There is music playing in the background to jam to and plenty of food stalls to stop by for a snack or drink. The street vendors sell all sorts of water guns ranging from Winnie the Pooh toy shooters to the more serious super soakers, as well as plenty of bottled water to replenish the spent ammunition.

More chaos in the Silom district.

A popular Songkran activity to do is to pack a bunch of friends with lots of water guns and buckets in the back of a pick-up truck and cruise the streets throwing water at everybody. These are the hard-core Songkran nut jobs to be wary of. They typically have a 55 gallon drum of water to share between them and have no shame slowing down or stopping in order to repeatedly throw buckets of water (sometimes with ice!) at unsuspecting targets.

I wouldn’t dare drive a motorcycle during this chaos. This poor KFC motorcycle delivery guy couldn’t escape getting sprayed.

More people on motorcycles getting sprayed. Unfortunately, this is where the dark side of the festivities comes into play. According to the Bangkok Post, the 2009 festivities produced 2,468 auto accidents resulting in 2,658 injuries and 220 deaths. Most were alcohol related, but some were directly caused by impairment due to water and/or clay mix thrown onto the vehicle or driver. I personally witnessed people throwing buckets of water at cars and motorcycles that were going at least 40 mph.

The white, clay-like mixture is covering this guy and his motorcycle. Man, I’d be pissed!

The popular motorized 3-wheel open air taxis known, as “tuk-tuks”, are a favorite target.

I decided to observe the festivities first hand, but of course I ended up getting soaked by passer-bys on the street along with this gang of revelers.

Getting my face painted by a random Thai person. The shirts we are wearing are the traditional festive Songkran shirts marked by their bright colors and flowery design.

All in all, the Songkran festival is not so unlike some of the Western Holidays in that the original meaning has been somewhat lost so that the holiday is used more as an excuse for commercialism and partying. The generally atmosphere is very festive. A lot of fun is to be had, and getting soaked during these scorching hot days isn’t too bad. So it’s goodbye to the year 2552, and hello to 2553 (based on Thai solar calendar, you can google it). Happy Songkran to Thailand, or as they say, “sa-wat-dee pee mai” (Happy New Year).

Lunchtime Food Hawker Stalls

2009-03-08T21:36:00.001+09:00

One day I decided to bring my camera to take pictures along my 10 minute walk to Thai language school. I usually leave around noon and always get to see how Thai working class people go out for lunch. Yes, the McDonalds and KFCs are packed during lunchtime, but it seems that the majority of Thai people buy and eat lunch on the streets at Food Hawker Stalls. These food stalls are nothing more than an average person with raw food armed with a burner and a wok.

The standard set-up is a central stall where the raw food is stored and cooked. Surrounding the 'kitchen' are portable tables with umbrellas (for the rain) and chairs where the patrons sit and eat. Afterwards, the dirty dishes are collected, washed in a bucket, and re-used.

In the above picture, the kitchen is located on the corner with seating along the front of the Family Mart.

I walk by this set of tables everyday and it's always packed full of people.

The food stalls are always busy during lunch and usually have a small line of people waiting to be seated.

Customers are waiting for their food. The variety of food is amazing because each stall serves slightly different food - soups, meats, seafood, rice dishes, vegetables, curries, pad Thai, desserts, fruit, drinks, etc. The aroma and look of the food range from beautiful to grotesque. The sanitation practices are very questionable. The wash bucket where the dirty dishes are given a once-over before re-use is not clean looking at all. I often wonder how long raw meat has been sitting out, especially when I see flies in the area. I guess I understand why the U.S. has the FDA and other health organization to monitor and regulate food given to he public. Given my recent hospital visit, I have made a promise to myself not eat street food no matter how enticing it may smell or look. The flip side is that the food is so cheap and convenient. I could get a full plate of food for less than $1 USD. All the Thai people do it, and I never hear about them getting sick but I suppose they have the advantage of lifetime immunity. It's a tough call but I'll be safe and not eat the street food. We'll see if I change mind later.

No sidewalk is safe from the food hawkers. Even Starbucks is immune - can you see the front entrance of Starbucks in the above picture?

Lunchtime is over. Time to clean up and pack up.

A food hawker stall on the go. Everyday these food stalls are rolled to and from their nearby homes.

I happened to see another hawker pushing a cart down the street with woven goods.

Based on my observations, these food stalls are very popular and successful. The owner's and families that run these stalls seem to maintain good business. With the economic crisis looming, if push comes to shove and I need to earn money I will start my own food hawker cart cooking fish and curry with rice.

Food Review - Charley Brown's Tex-Mex Cantina

2009-02-21T16:17:00.001+09:00

One thing that I've really missed about living in Texas is the great tasting Tex-Mex food. Whenever the desire hit me, I could always count on some good chips & salsa, refreshing margaritas, and sizzling fajitas. I remember my first experience at a Tex-Mex restaurant outside of Texas. It was in Delaware. It had been 2 months since I moved from Texas and I was craving some margaritas and fajitas. I figured I'd treat myself with a birthday meal paying homage to my Texas roots. I asked my friends and co-workers about a good Tex-Mex place in town, and the overwhelming majority of people recommended one particular establishment, commenting on the great margaritas. Sounds great to me! It's the night of my birthday and my taste buds were waiting in anticipation. I pulled up to the place and it looked just like a typical Pappasito's restaurant back home. The interior had the same with the Tex-Mex decor and they even had Spanish music playing. So far so good. I looked at the menu and saw a nice selection of food and margaritas. I ordered a plain house margarita on the rocks and the chicken fajitas. My drink arrived along with the chips and salsa. The margarita tasted like crap. They've added too much sour mix, the sour mix itself is bad, and I can barely taste any alcohol. I knocked out that weak margarita while finishing the first basket of chips & salsa (which were ok, nothing spectacular) and didn't feel anything. I called the waitress over with the drinks menu and ordered another margarita - a plain margarita with 3 top-shelf tequilas in it. This should have done the trick. Nope. Although I could taste the tequila, it had a dull, flatness to it. It was missing that limey kick. To make matters worse, the food came out and it was awful! The rice tasted like Rice-a-roni, the beans were the wrong type and flavor (I would have accepted refried, charro, pinto, or black beans), and the chicken had no flavor. It was obvious that all they did was cook a chicken breast on the grill with minimal seasoning and cut it into strips. Where was the Tex-Mex flavor? Apparently not here. Half-way through my disappointing meal I mustered up the courage to order another drink. I picked the biggest, baddest, most expensive margarita on the menu dubbed, "The Texas-rita". It had everything, the name, top-shelf tequila, triple sec, and even Cointreau - this is exactly how I make my margaritas at home. Once again I was sadly disappointed. They used some other orange liqueur that dominated the drink to a point that it didn't even resemble a margarita. Deflated and almost defeated, I had one savior to lift me up - dessert! It was my birthday and I'm sure some free dessert would be in order. I asked the waitress for the dessert menu and asked if they had any specials since it was my birthday. This is when the final blow came. She explained to me that they did not serve dessert. What?! No flan or fried ice cream or fruit? Is this some sort of sick dream? I wanted to cry. The only positive I can give for this establishment was the staff. The waitress apparently felt sorry for me and presented me with a bag of M&Ms she had in her purse and had the entire wait staff sing happy birthday to me at my table. It was a nice gesture, kinda pathetic for a birthday dinner. That's what I get for eating Tex-Mex outside of Texas. This place was a joke of a Tex-Mex restaurant. I felt sorry for all the local people eating here thinking this is authentic stuff. A Taco Cabana would put this place in shame. Despite this horrendous experience, I tried in vain to give other Tex-Mex restaurants outside of Texas a chance. Again and again, I was disappointed. To save myself from anymore disappointment, I vowed to never eat Tex-Mex outside of Texas.

When my wife kept insisting to try out this Tex-Mex place in Bangkok, I was highly skeptical. Good Tex-Mex in Thailand? Yeah, right! I was happy to be proven wrong. This gem of a restaurant pleasantly surprised me with their authentic tasting chicken fajitas and margaritas. Charley Brown's now ranks among the best Tex-Mex restaurants that I've ever been to.

Charley Brown's is a small place with a nice open-air front patio located on a side street of Sukhumvit Soi 11.

The decor is a mix of Americana and Cantina where you soon forget that you're in Thailand.

Looking at the bar.

Our table with condiments at the ready and a fresh basket of chips & salsa. I was very impressed with both the chips and salsa. The chips were salted to perfection and had a nice golden, crispiness to them. The salsa had a nice spicy kick to it with a hint of sweetness. It had finely diced tomatoes and was neither to thick or runny.

The margaritas were a perfect complement to the spicy salsa. These puppies were nice and strong and actually tasted like a margarita. It's always disappointing to order a margarita at a bar and get something that tastes like crap. These were the real deal.

The fajitas came out sizzling and smoking and all the fixins were awesome. The tortillas were nice fluffy, the rice was actual Spanish rice, the refried beans were spot on, and the shredded cheese was awesome (apparently imported from Wisconsin). The chicken itself was flavored just right and had that authentic Tex-Mex flavor to it - it wasn't just a chicken breast cooked over onions, cut into strips, and labeled as fajitas like in other places.

To top it all off, they had the most amazing ice cream dessert I've ever had. The B-52 ice cream is a heavenly blend of ice cream with vodka, Kahlua, and Bailey's.

As far as Tex-Mex restaurants go, this place has earned my respect. Great, authentic tasting food and drinks. What more can you ask for? It's a nice change of pace from all the Thai food. I can see myself eating at this place every week and never getting tired of it.

Window Cleaners

2009-01-27T18:33:00.000+09:00

I was sitting at the computer desk at the condo looking out through the living room balcony at the Bangkok morning. The view was pretty much the same as any other day, maybe a little less hazy (from the smog) on this day.

I glanced at the tall building next door and quickly did a double-take - there was a guy on the side of the building!

This guy in the orange shirt was hanging off the building trying to be like Spiderman! Naturally this caught my attention so I sat and watched this guy for about 30 minutes. From my observation the guy was hanging by a rope that was attached somewhere to the roof of the building. At first I couldn't figure out what he was doing. Eventually I saw that he was running wire along the crown-molding looking thingies on the building. There were two other guys stationed on the highest landing of the building just below the rooftop and they seemed to be guiding and instructing him. I get bored of watching him as I knew that he probably wasn't going to fall off the building nor was he doing some type of cool stunt. It turned out that he was changing/replacing the color of the neon lights on the building that are turned on at night.

The very next day I was at the gym on the 5th floor of the condo. The outer walls of the gym are nothing but glass so that you get a nice view of the city as you exercise. I was running on the treadmill getting a nice burn. I looked to my right and saw a guy on the outside of the glass slowly lowering into view. He was wearing a helmet and a body harness, and there was a rope attached to him that went up beyond my view. He was sitting on a wooden plank that had a bucket of water tied to it. He had a rag in one hand and a windshield wiper in the other hand. Somehow the window was wet on the outside and he was using the small handheld windshield wiper to clean/dry the window. As I finished my workout, he worked his way at cleaning the entire window and eventually lowered further down to clean windows on the floor below. I watched in amazement at how this 40-story modern looking building was getting it's windows cleaned. I simply assumed it would be done by a couple of people working on those platform things that have rails on each side and are lowered from the top. Nope, not in this case. It's done by a guy tied to a rope sitting on a piece of wood with a bucket of water and a squeegee! How crazy is that?! Is that even safe? I had to get a closer look, so after my workout I grabbed my camera and went outside to check it out.

I went to the front of the building, looked up, and saw two guys cleaning the windows.

Wow, this guy has a pole extension on his windshield wiper.

This is the guy I saw while in the gym.

I think he ran out of water and had to be lowered to replenish his bucket. What a job! I bet the view is great, but I just wouldn't feel very safe. I'm not sure if this method would meet OSHA regulations.

As I am about to post this blog, I look outside and see a whole crew of people on ropes washing the windows on a huge building! Check them out.

Look at them go!

So in two days I've observed people hanging off the side of tall buildings from a rope to perform routine work. I am surprised but not surprised at the same time. I am slowly learning that this is Thailand, not the U.S. Things are done a little differently here, but it's not just Thailand. Things are done a little differently in a lot of places that would appear non-conventional to a Westerner. These things range from driving and eating habits to work ethics and politeness. I look forward to observing more of these differences while living overseas.

Water is Cheap in Thailand!

2009-01-26T00:33:00.000+09:00

Regarding the drinking water in Thailand, it is always highly emphasized to never drink the tap water and to always drink and cook with bottled water. Even the Thai people don't drink the tap water. Easy enough. This hasn't been a problem so far. What has surprised me is the abundance of bottled drinking water and the ridiculous price.

I thought that constantly buying bottled water would become a hassle. To some degree this is true. Yes, it is a hassle to buy water every week, but fortunately bottled water is just as easily available to buy in Thailand than in America or any other country I have visited. I can walk into any corner store, 7-eleven, or gas station and find plenty of bottled water.

I also thought that constantly buying bottled water would become an expensive, yet necessary, habit to incorporate into everyday life. To my surprise water is extremely cheap in Thailand. The picture below is a six pack of 1.5 liter bottles of drinking water. This six pack of water cost me 59 baht at the Shell gas station next door. At the current exchange rate of $1.00 = 35 baht, this comes out to only $1.68!

What an awesome deal! If my memory serves me correct, the cost of one of these 1.5 liter bottles in the U.S. would cost about $1.50 depending on the brand name and where you purchased it. I knew bottled water in general was a rip off, but seeing these low prices in a country like Thailand really drives the point that U.S. consumers are being screwed with bottled water prices. The cost of producing water can't differ that much from country to country, I'm sure the methods are very similar. The only other reasons I can think of for this price discrepancy is that perhaps the labor wages at the bottling facilities are so cheap in Thailand that they can afford to sell at a much lower price, or it is a simple function of supply and demand. The supply of bottled water seems to be about the same in both countries, but the demand is greater in the U.S. Everybody in the U.S. seems to be addicted to bottled water, almost as much as coffee or fast-food. Another idea is that since most Thai people buy bottled drinking water, the price had to be lowered (possibly forced by the government?) so that it would be affordable to all Thai people.

I'd like to believe that at least one of these theories are true, but I'm too lazy to do the research. Otherwise, the U.S. bottled water companies are basically getting away with robbery, making a crap load of money hand over fist just because they can (and we let them). It's no secret that convenient products will sell well to the typical lazy U.S. consumer, and evidently tap water wasn't convenient enough! I could go into tree hugging arguments about the quality of tap water versus bottled water (federal standard for tap water is higher) or excessive build-up of plastic bottles in landfills due to bottled water demand, but I won't bother. It's really the price difference that amazes me. If shipping costs weren't so expensive I'd make a killing exporting this water to America. Maybe if I said the water was blessed by a Thai Buddhist Monk I could make some money...hmmm...oh damn, this idea has already been taken!

http://www.holyspringwater.com/

Oh well, I can't complain. I'm happy that I can easily get water for these many hot days in Thailand.

Christmas Eve and Christmas 2008

2009-01-16T22:30:00.000+09:00

I've always marched to a slightly different beat and celebrating holidays is no exception. Last year's holidays were spent in Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong. This year, Christmas was spent in Bangkok, Thailand. Even though 95% of Thai people are Buddhists, they go all out with the Holiday theme and decorations. This is especially true at the major malls and stores where there is Western money to be made. I quickly became annoyed with the cheesy Christmas songs they played at the grocery store. And I think it was out of place when I would hear the songs "White Christmas" and "Let it Snow" in Thailand - perhaps it will be appropriate after global warming occurs.

The morning started out as any typical Christmas eve would by cooking a breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast. Next, was a 30 minute car ride through the legendary Bangkok traffic to Amber's job followed by an hour and a half long car ride to the immigration office in the small coastal town of Sri Racha (pronounced 'see rah-cha') to get an extension of stay on my visa. Why go to the immigration office in Sri Racha instead of Bangkok? Apparently, it is much easier to get a work related visa approved in Sri Racha than in Bangkok. The way they see it in Bangkok, you can only get a work visa if you provide a service or skill that a Thai person can not perform. In other words, a foreign work visa is a way to potentially take away a job from a Thai person. Since Bangkok is a huge metropolis with many skilled workers, it is very difficult to justify getting a work visa in their eyes. However, Sri Racha is a small town with lots of construction work and not too many skilled workers, especially in the technical or managerial fields. Therefore, it was easier for Amber to get a work visa approved. As an expat spouse, I had to apply for mine at the same location.

Mind you that Amber and I spent over an hour at the Sri Racha immigration office the previous day. The small building (maybe 10ft by 20ft) had about 8 desks filled with stacks of paper and an army of stamps manned by Thai government workers donning their official uniforms. The waiting area was in front and contained about 30 chairs, which were always occupied. Each desk had two sitting chairs opposite of the government worker for the applicants to sit and show documents. It appeared that each desk had a different function and an applicant had to flow through each desk to show documents, get paperwork stamped, and move on to the next desk. Thankfully, Amber's company was kind enough to provide a Thai-speaking HR representative to handle the bureaucratic maze for us. During the previous day's encounter, Amber was able to get her extension of stay, but I was told that my 'documents' needed to be checked. I guess it took them less than a day to check my documents, and so there I was at the immigration office for the second day in a row. I noticed on both days that just about every applicant coming into the office brought a gift basket and presented it to the Thai government workers. There was a table in the back filled with baskets that overflowed to the floor! These weren't special Christmas baskets (as I mentioned Thailand is a largely Buddhist country) and the applicants bearing these gifts weren't denied stamps and seemed to have their paperwork processed faster. *Lesson learned* - bring a gift basket to the immigration office. Luckily, I only waited for 15 minutes this time and got my needed stamp for my visa on my passport. I'm positive that if we would have brought a gift basket during our first trip I wouldn't have needed to make another trip. Oh well, a trip to the immigrations office was an interesting way to start Christmas eve.

I was dropped off at Amber's job and we decided to have lunch together at the cafeteria in her building. The cafeteria resembled a typical food court at a mall with many food stands along the wall and tables spread about in the middle. The only thing was that everything was in Thai - the people, the food, and the menus. By method of pointing at pictures, we ended up getting some dumplings, a chicken plate with rice and cabbage for 2, bottled water, a fresh fruit smoothie, and a scoop of coconut ice cream for dessert. All this cost about $8 and it was delicious and filling!

I spent the rest of the day lounging about at home while Amber finished her day at work. When she got home, we went to the gym and worked out (thanks to my nagging). We were undecided on where to have dinner but we eventually settled on Moroccan food at Nomads. The restaurant also has a club that was hosting a salsa party. Cool, nothing like a little dinner and dancing. Unfortunately, the taxi ride took almost an hour! It should have taken only 15 minutes, but this is Bangkok where the traffic is unpredictable and a traffic jam can occur at any time of the day or night. We did drive by a guy walking his elephant. Pretty neat, how many people can say they saw an elephant on Christmas Eve? One of these days I'll have my camera with me to get a picture of an elephant on a busy street with a Seven-eleven or Starbucks in the background.

This was our second time eating at Nomads. The restaurant had the whole Moroccan theme going on, complete with hookahs standing among the tables. We chose to sit outside because the weather was great, probably low 80s F and we could hear the salsa music in the adjacent bar/club. We had a couple of cocktails and ordered fish, chicken, and lamb. They forgot about the fish, but were apologetic and brought another one for us. The food was good, better than last time. But I think that's because we chose better dishes this time. By the time we finished our food, the salsa party at the club was kicking. The dance floor was surprisingly packed. We found our usual group of salsa friends inside and danced the night away - all the way into Christmas morning.

After the music stopped, Amber and I sat at a table outside and ordered a hookah to be fired up for us. We smoked some very nice apple flavored tobacco and ended up conversing with the group of people next to us. The guy was an American who looked like Tony Soprano, except this guy could dance really well. He had two Thai women friends with him - not an uncommon site in Thailand. We ended up shutting down the place at 2am. We tried to look for another bar that was open, but they all seem to close at the same time. Interestingly, the food stalls on the side of the streets turned into make-shift bars. These bars consisted of a push-cart with various bottles of liquor and beer. After my visit to the hospital, I made a personal rule not to eat or drink anything from the streets. Besides, I'm pretty sure these booze are illegal. But so is prostitution - go figure. We didn't feel like spending time at these dodgy establishments and decided to turn in at about 3am.

I woke up around 11am on Christmas morning. I did my cardio workout at the gym while Amber slept in (Yes, I am a workout freak that will workout even during the holidays). When I came back, we exchanged our presents. Amber got me the adobe Creative Suite 4 package to support my growing graphic art interest. She told me that I didn't have to get her anything because me being there was a present enough, but I had to get her something. I ended up giving her the book, "Confederacy of Dunces". For brunch, we ordered Thai food from the restaurant downstairs. There's nothing like some good Thai food for Christmas! Afterwards, we watched the movie "Get Smart" and took a nap.

When we awoke, we realized that we had overslept. We had dinner reservations with a friend at 7pm - less than an hour! We quickly got ready and saw that we had 20 minutes to go. I looked out the window and could see the long line of cars backed up for rush hour traffic on the street leading to the restaurant. Should we take a taxi that could take 30 minutes or longer, or take the skytrain (above ground subway) and get a boat to the restaurant? We opted for the latter option. Good choice! The skytrain was not busy at all, and we got off at the last stop which was within walking distance to the boat dock at the river. The Chao Phraya River is a major river in Thailand that flows into the Gulf of Thailand and runs through the heart of Bangkok. Its banks are lined with 5 star hotels and condos, and further downstream it contains the Royal Thai Palace. Taxi boats, hotel boats, and dining boats can always be seen on the river, especially at night. This night was no exception. We were at a dock where the hotels sent their boats to pick up guests. After two boats came and went, our boat for the Mandarin Oriental Hotel docked. We hopped on and arrived directly at the riverside terrace restaurant in about 5 minutes. Whew! We made it on time.

The buffet style restaurant had a lovely view of the river. It was set up such that the tables were by the water and the various buffets were arranged by different foods according to the course. In the middle was a large island dessert station that featured custom made crepes. We were seated near the front of the outdoor stage where a spanish guitar player and a singer were performing soothing bossa nova tunes. Within minutes we met up with Mike, a co-worker of Amber, and we were on our way stuffing ourselves. In addition to the western Christmas traditions of ham, turkey, dressing, etc., the buffet also included foods such as tandoori chicken, lobster, hummus, fish, and pasta. I think I made 3 trips to the main buffet and 3 trips to the dessert island! It was certainly a feast. The food was plentiful, the wine kept flowing, and the music entertainment was very nice. Not a bad way to spend Christmas dinner.

For the after dinner entertainment, we decided to check out the hotel's 'Bamboo Bar'. We had been there before and very much enjoyed the live house jazz band. Sure enough, the same band was at it again. The bar had a classy yet tropical look to it, yet the space was small enough to give it a 'hole in the wall' appeal to it, especially with the jazz band occupying it front and center. The band consisted of an up-right bass player, a drummer, a pianists, a saxophonist, and a soulful lead singer that was engaging both on and off the stage between sets. Feeling a bit festive, Mike and I ordered a couple rounds of flaming B-52 shots for ourselves while Amber sipped on a cocktail. For the rest of the night we listened to jazz, drank, conversed, relaxed, and snacked on Durian chips (*see note below).

It had been a low key and relaxing Christmas Eve and Christmas complete with a trip to the immigration office, traffic, spotting an elephant, Moroccan and Thai food, salsa dancing, hookah smoking, relaxation, and lounging around. This is the second year in a row to spend a non-traditional Christmas and I enjoyed them both very much. While it is wonderful to spend the holidays with lots of family and friends, for me it was almost as nice to get away from all the holiday chaos and stress. Regardless of how you choose to spend yours, I wish all of you happy holidays!!

*Note on Durian Chips
For snacks, the Bamboo Bar served fried chips that were hands down the best chips I'd ever eaten in my life. The chips had a silky taste to it that, to me, somewhat resembled pistachios with a touch of sweetness. The waitress told me that they were chips made from the Durian fruit. Known as "the king of fruits", this is an interesting Southeast Asian fruit that will get a blog of its own. The fruit itself smells like raw sewage but tastes incredibly good - the smell is so bad that it is banned in many public places and hotels!

My 'Welcome to Thailand' Moment

2009-01-08T21:14:00.001+09:00

I'll try not to be too graphic for this post. There is no need to glorify or go into too much detail on this one. Nonetheless, this was a notable event that I feel should be documented.

Throughout my first weekend upon arrival in Bangkok I had periodic headaches and feelings of nausea in my stomach. I figured it was due to being tired from the jet lag in combination with eating new foods (mmm...curry). The feelings would come and go - nothing some Tylenol, water, and a nap couldn't handle. However, on Tuesday I was feeling especially bad. My headache was worse and wouldn't go away, and my stomach was more queasy than usual. I ate a snack in the morning with some water and Tylenol and took a nap hoping I could sleep it off like usual. I initially woke up from the nap feeling OK. My stomach was rumbling - OK, good, time to eat again and move on with my day. Unfortunately, these weren't rumblings of hunger. No, these were the type of rumbles that made my stomach churn and were accompanied by my mouth watering. Not good. I sipped on some water next to the bed, but it didn't help. My mouth kept watering. I asked myself if this really happening - am I about to yak? It sure feels like it. Sure enough, my mouth waters to a point where I have to run to the bathroom and out comes my morning snack. It's been so long since I've thrown up that I'd forgotten how much it sucks! The whole heaving uncontrollably thing really does sucks! It's one of those rare times when you are helplessly not in control of your body. Unfortunately for me, my problems didn't stop there. The stomach rumblings were worse now. I'm on my knees in the bathroom next to the toilet trying to recover from the vomiting, when my body abruptly instructs me to drop my pants and sit my ass on the toilet. I won't go into any more detail here, but you get the point that my body was purging itself in more than one way.

At this point I was feeling very weak, nauseous, and hungry so I went and fixed myself some soup and water to put something in my stomach. After only 5 spoons of soup I ran to the bathroom and repeated the same horrific episode. OK, this is getting serious. I can't even hold down a little bit of soup. I called Amber to see if she had any stomach medicine and ended up taking some Pepto we had, but she said my symptoms were similar to something her co-worker had and that I should go to a hospital. She decided to leave work and take me to the hospital. By the time she arrived I had thrown up again and was very weak and getting disoriented. She got her driver to take us to the emergency room at the nearby hospital. I could barely walk when we pulled up. They put me in a wheelchair and took me to the emergency room area. They immediately put me in a bed and within minutes a doctor was checking on me and asking me about my symptoms and what had happened. They took a blood sample so they could make a diagnosis, put me on an I.V., and set me up in a room saying that I would need to stay at least one night there. Within 30 minutes they determined I had some type of bacterial infection from something I ate. I was put on anti-bacterial medicine through the I.V. and a soft diet with electrolytes. By the way, I've never been hooked up to an I.V. They stuck me in a vein on the top of my left hand and left a big-ass catheter in me to attach the I.V. tube. That thing hurt like hell! On top of the ailment I already had, I was also stressing out about the acute pain in my freaking hand. I think it took about 12 hours for the pain in my hand and for me to get accustomed to the feeling of the huge catheter in my hand. Note to self: stay as healthy as possible so that I can minimize hospital visits and avoid getting I.V.'ed or having catheters inserted into my body!

For dinner it took me an hour and a half to eat a piece of toast! For those of you that know me, I eat my meals very fast. Can you imagine seeing me take teeny tiny bites of one piece of bread for over an hour? Each tiny bite made my stomach rumble and I thought I might have to run to the bathroom, but I made it unscathed. By the next morning I was still weak but feeling a little better. I was able to eat all my soup and both pieces of toast for breakfast, it only took 1 hour this time! I napped through most of the day, and by the afternoon I was feeling good, I had most of my energy back but still had a lingering headache. They let me out of the hospital and gave me more medicine to take for the rest of the week. It sucked when they pulled the catheter out of my hand, it left a huge purple raised bump that stayed sore for days. It took me three more days to get back to 100%. I would still get tired easily and the headaches would come and go, but after those three days of eating nothing but soup and bread I finally ventured out and had some great Tex Mex. I wolfed down the meal like my old self and everything was back to normal! The Tex Mex cantina, named Charlie Brown's, was hands down the best Tex Mex I've had outside of Texas (much better than anything I've had in Philadelphia or Delaware). I'll be dedicating an entire blog entry to this restaurant.

All the locals say this 'welcome to Thailand' moment will eventually happen to outsiders living in Thailand. A lot of Amber's ex-pat co-workers experienced the same thing as me, some weren't as serious while others resulted in hospital stays of days and even weeks. I do want to make a quick note that the health care I received at BNH Hospital was spectacular. The staff was very polite, prompt, and attentive to my needs. The nurse outfits were cute too. They wore the classical nurse uniform complete with the dress and little white hats - just like the Joker in the latest Batman movie. I wonder how long I would have been waiting in the emergency room lobby had I been in the U.S.? I still don't know what I ate that caused my infection. Amber and I pretty much ate the same thing for all our meals and we always drank bottled water. It could have been something her body was already used to since she has lived here over a year, but we'll never know. So within a week of arriving in Thailand I experienced my 'welcome to Thailand' moment complete with the first hospital stay of my life. Good times. I can't wait to see what other adventures life will throw at me.

Planes, Trains, Automobiles, and Elephants?!

2009-01-07T21:54:00.000+09:00

I have visited Bangkok, Thailand twice over the past year and a half. These trips across the world were long (24 hours with layovers) but straight forward. They both consisted of taking a 14 hour long flight to China or Japan followed by a 7 hour flight into Bangkok. Let's make it clear that I don’t want to make light of these long flights. The things that got me through these hours of boredom and physical discomfort were listening to my iPod on my noise cancelling headphones (I highly suggest investing in a pair of noise-cancelling headphones for any trip, paired with my favorite tunes on my iPod. It works wonders against crying babies and kids that won‘t shut the hell up), watching several movies, reading a good book, pre-selecting my seats next to empty seats (when available) so that I can sprawl out, my super comfy neck pillow and travel socks (I got them both at Brookstone), and the abundance of (free) wine & alcohol.

So here I am readying myself for yet another long journey into Bangkok to live with my wife, Amber. I am due to leave after Thanksgiving and my plane ticket is already purchased. However, there is one slight problem - the Bangkok airport has just closed down because political protestors have occupied the terminals. They are literally preventing travelers from boarding their planes, and from what I understand some were even on the tarmac! They wouldn’t leave the airport until the current government stepped down and a new election was held. Naturally, the airport had to be shut down indefinitely leaving thousands of people stranded in the airport and in Bangkok.

OK, so the airport is still closed and it’s the day before I fly out. I figure my flight will be cancelled since the airport is still closed. The first leg of the flight is through Continental so I call them up and ask if my flight has been cancelled. They don’t know if the flight is cancelled because the second portion of the flight, which lands at Bangkok, is flown through Northwest Airlines. Fair enough. They give me NWA’s phone number and I call them up. NWA says the flight is still on schedule even though the destination airport is still closed. What kind of crap is that?! Their logic is that by the time I reach Japan and board the NWA flight to Bangkok, the airport might be open by then. Might?! Are you freaking serious?! The airport is closed indefinitely!! There are frickin’ people on the frickin’ tarmac and the government refuses to use force to move them out. This isn’t some picnic, of course the airport will still be closed before I board the plane in Japan. I ask them what kind of consideration or support they will provide if I end up stranded in Japan and they tell me that they cannot offer any help for cases of political/civil unrest. Well that’s just great! I’m expected to get on a plane to Japan knowing that I will be stranded there without any travel assistance until the Bangkok airport opens. I don’t think so. I end up cancelling my flight and getting a full refund. At least I was able to do that!

Well now what? How do I get to Bangkok without flying into the Bangkok airport? The other major international airport in Thailand is in Chang Mai, but this airport is also closed because they diverted all flights into Bangkok there. The only other feasible option is to fly into Phuket and drive to Bangkok, which is over 500 miles by car - roughly the same distance from San Antonio to New Orleans. OK, what about trains from Phuket to Bangkok? I check the train schedule and there are a few trains to choose from, most of them take 8 to 12 hours to get to Bangkok with all the stops. However, there is a problem. The flight arrives into Phuket at 1am and the next train out is at 7am. This leaves quite a long layover at the airport and/or train station. Oh well, I’ve slept on the ground in airports several times while backpacking Europe. I can handle this. My lovely wife decides that this is no way to travel (plus she wants to see me as soon as possible), so she hires a taxi to pick me up at the airport when I arrive in Phuket to drive me all the way to Bangkok.

So it’s set. I get up early the next morning and catch a 6 am flight from San Antonio to Chicago. I slept most of the time and had plenty of room as the plane wasn’t full. I check in at the Korean Air ticket counter in Chicago and get my tickets for the rest of the flights. The plane is boarding when I reach the gate. They serve some good meals on the flight and the wine isn’t bad either. I end up sleeping a lot, reading my book “The Game”, and watching a couple of movies including the new Batman movie and ‘Wanted’. Batman was good but a very long and drawn out movie. I liked the message in ‘Wanted’ but thought the movie could have been put together a little better. The 14 hours surprisingly goes by faster than expected. During the 3 hour layover in Seoul I have lunch at one of the food stalls. Nothing is in English, but they have pictures of the dishes. I pick something that looked like curry chicken with rice and soup. It is actually pork curry, but it is delicious! The 7 hour flight into Phuket is a bit more painful. The plane is full and there aren’t individual TV screens at each seat. We are at the mercy of whatever is playing on the big screen and few drop down screens. The movie is some kiddie movie I don’t care to see. The rest of the time they show clips from various variety shows - weird stuff like acrobatics, Korean funny home videos, stand up comedy in Korean, tap dancing, animal tricks, and tourism stuff. I am glad to finally reach Thailand.

My taxi driver is waiting for me after Customs holding a sign with my name on it and away we go at about 1am. The car is probably a mid to late 90s Toyota Camry look alike. I always forget that the steering wheel and pedals are on the passenger side and that they drive on the opposite side of the road than in the US. It always takes some time to get used to because you always think you are about to get hit during a turn. The driver speaks no English whatsoever but is nice enough to stop every four hours for a bathroom break and to get snacks at a seven eleven. The drive is long and I only take a few naps. After 11 hours we arrive in Bangkok and it becomes apparent that the driver doesn’t know where he's going. He calls like 4 or 5 people asking for directions. We back track and make several u-turns in the busy streets and freeways. What a mess! After all this traveling my taxi driver doesn’t even know how to get to where we’re going?! He accidentally enters a toll way and calls another person. At this point, I notice an exit sign in Thai characters and in English of the street for the apartment. I point at the exit sign and try to pronounce the street name. The street is spelled ’Sathorn’ but the h is silent. So it is actually pronounced ‘sattorn‘. Of course I don’t know this. So I say ’sathorn’ to the driver as I point to the sign. He repeats back ’sattorn’. I nod yes and say again, ’sathorn’. He nods again saying ’sattorn’. Whatever dude, this is the street we need to be on. He exits and motions to me asking which way to turn onto Sathorn. Luckily, I googled mapped the area a week before and have an idea where the apartment is relative to the river. I see the river is to our left so I point him to turn right. We go down the street trying to look for address numbers on all the mid and high rise buildings, but they don’t have any. Finally after a few more blocks I see the apartment building about a quarter mile down (I recognize the building from the picture on google maps). I try to point at the building to the driver but it is obvious he doesn’t know what I'm pointing at or why I'm pointing at it. He ends up taking a u-turn and driving away from the building. I keep pointing at the building but he pulls over and once again calls someone for directions. We are parked in front of the UOB bank building and he keeps repeating UOB on the phone. It is clear they have no idea where he is. After hanging up the phone, I convince him (with more pointing) to u-turn again. I keep pointing at the building until we finally pull up at the correct destination. Geez! I have a better sense of direction here in Bangkok than this guy does! I am finally here. Amber greets me in the lobby and I am introduced to the apartment where I take a much needed shower and nap. The journey had been a long and grueling one.

So here is a recap of my journey:

3 hour flight from San Antonio to Chicago
1 hour layover in Chicago
14 hour flight to Seoul, Korea
3 hour layover
7 hour flight to Phuket
12 hour taxi drive to Bangkok

My trip took 40 hours and consisted of 3 flights and a long taxi ride. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I also drove for two and a half days from Delaware to Texas by myself during the previous week. I’m sure if the taxi would have broken down on the way to Bangkok I would have resorted to a bus or even an elephant to complete the journey! Elephants are cool. I rode one in Thailand before, and as long as you keep feeding them bananas they keep going. I knew that being in Thailand would be an adventure itself, but never did I think that getting here would be so taxing. Oh, and just to make me feel a little better about my trip, the Bangkok airport opened up the day after I arrived! Go figure. But as they say in Thailand, “Mai Pen Rai” (pronounced my-pin-rye) which loosely means ’no problem’.

The elephant I rode on during my first visit to Thailand

What is Thailand?

2009-01-06T17:39:00.000+09:00

I suppose the important question to ask first is "where is Thailand?" before trying to figure out what Thailand is. Well, this South East Asian country is located south of China and borders Burma, Laos, Cambodia, and Malaysia. The country almost has a heart-shaped top to it and has a long skinny part that goes south to Malaysia.

In case you are wondering, a flight from the U.S. takes about 24 hours to reach Bangkok, Thailand. I've taken 3 routes so far: 14 hours to Tokyo with a 3 hour layover then 7 hours to Bangkok, or 14 hours over the north pole to Beijing with a 3 hour layover then 7 hours to Bangkok, or 14 hours to Seoul, Korea with a 3 hour layover and 7 hours into Thailand.

Quick facts about Thailand:

The former name of Thailand is Siam (hence, the famous Siamese twins were from Thailand)
The king of Thailand is the world longest running monarch. He was crowned in 1950 and just turned 81 years old.
Thailand is the world's 50th largest country in land mass - similar to France or California
Thailand is the world's 20th largest country in population - similar to France or the UK
The average yearly tempearture in central Thailand is 92F
Bangkok’s official name contains 15 words and roughly translates to “Great City of Angels, Repository of Divine Gems, Great Land Unconquerable, Grand and Prominent Realm, Royal and Delightful Capital City Full of Nine Noble Gems, Highest Royal Dwelling and Grand Palace, Divine Shelter and Living Place of Reincarnated Spirits”

OK, so what is Thailand? Truthfully, I don't know. Before coming here, I associated Thailand with third-world poverty, elephants, government coups, Thai kick boxing, beautiful beaches and jungles like in the movies "The Beach" and "American Gangster", the tsunami, and wonderful food. In the few weeks that I've spent living here, I've learned that it will be no simple task describing the experience of living in this place to an outsider. Hence, the purpose of this blog, to chronicle and share my experiences of living in Bangkok and exploring the rest of the country so that I can answer my own question of "what is Thailand?".

First impressions so far - the city of Bangkok is unlike any other I've visited. It is a metropolis of contridiction - chaotic but happily content, ancient but modern, dirty but beautiful, obscene but fiercely traditional. It is also hot, rainy, spicy, and lazy. The Thai people are very nice and all the modern conveniences of the west are available.

I look forward to sharingthe new and exciting things to come and hope that my experiences will help anybody out there that will be visiting or living in Thailand.

View of Bangkok, Thailand from the condo