one year in one post...
Ok ok... so it's been a while. As most of you know, I'm heading to Korea at the end of July. I figured I should probably have some closure on my last year in Thailand before starting round 2 of international teaching. So I'm going to listen to the advice of my mother..."Crys, if you wrote less you might actually get through everything." So I'm going to attempt this lack of detail thing. We will see how that goes!
Last time I wrote, Jess was just finishing her stay in Thailand, and Jenn and Amy had just begun... it was wonderful having so many visitors but definitely hectic. And like any good thai vacation we started with a massive ASB trip to Ko Samet. And there is really nothing else I can say about that island... it's amazing. I went about 6 or 7 more times throughout the year, and it was equally awesome every time.
School was school... my new batch of kiddies were amazing. I had 10 kids, with a surprisingly ethnic mix for ASB. They were rowdy, and creative and brilliant... just the way I like it. So all in all it was a great year teaching wise, but that doesn't mean I didn't want to throw them out of the window by the time May rolled around.
Meet the Grade Ones!
In September one of Jenny's wonderful students decided to get hand, foot and mouth disease... which meant a holiday for the rest of the school... thank you Yuta! So we had 4 days off because the school was an unsafe environment... however, it wasn't too unsafe for the thai staff, but don't get me started on the inequity. Lois, Shiela and I hopped on the first plane out of Bangkok en route to Singapore... where we pretty much spent the ENTIRE time shopping. I kid you not. But don't worry, in good Crystal fashion I beelined to the sale racks. It was a nice little break, and helped pass the time until, MOM WAS BACK IN THAILAND!!
So Mom made her 2nd visit to Thailand... and have no fear, I put her straight to work. She spent the whole time in the classroom pretty much doing my job... it was fantastic! I swear, she said she liked it. I gave her a short little trip to Ko Samet. She liked it, except the hotel we stayed at was a little bit noisy for her 8pm bedtime!
Our sailboat ride in Boracay
October break rolled around, and I headed to the Phillipines with Jenny, Allyson, Rose and Katy. It was spectacular. Now normally this section would be about 12 posts long but I'm attempting to keep it brief. We started out in Manila. Our hotel was right by this tv studio... so we decided to stalk some cute Filipino boys who worked there until they gave us tickets to a variety show called ASAP '07! It was amazing... most of the time we had no idea what anyone was saying, and we were the only white folks there... but we loved it! After wandering through the town for a few days we hopped on a plane to Boracay, which was supposed to the the most beautiful beach ever... which is a title that was well deserved. We were there in low season and it was spectacular... I can't even imagine when it's high season. We spent our days basking in the sun (surprise!) and our nights eating and dancing. It was a great vacation. I love the Phillipines. I definitely want to check out more of that country in my travels.
The beautiful beaches of Boracay!
Ok, the rest of the term was pretty uninteresting. A few more trips to Samet and I finally made it to Krabi... which was as beautiful as everybody claimed it to be. The landscape was breathtaking and the water was that colour that is on the postcards. One day we went on a boat tour in one of those sketchy longtail boats and got stuck in a torrential downpour, and I swear I thought we were going to die... but luckily our trusty boatman got us safely to shore.
Christmas time!! Home for the holidays. Yi-pee! I actually got snow this year. Fun fun.
Back to school - again. Not to eventful. A few more beach trips... Tim and his girlfriend Liz came to visit... that was fun. Ummmm yeah... really life goes on... nothing to report...
Until MOM AND MIKE DO THAILAND! So mom came back for her 3rd visit, and this time she brought Mike with her. So obviously, I couldn't put her to work, so we headed down to Phuket for just less than a week. It was fun, the weather was great, Mike got super burned... his review of the beaches... well, they are no Bahamas... but they are pretty nice. So I happily accepted that endorsement.
Shortly after Mom and Mike left, Sonkran Holiday rolled around, and I finally went to Laos. Laos was as wonderful as everyone had hyped it up to be. However, we spent A LOT of time in buses. Jenny and Emily joined me on this particular adventure. We started out on a 12 hour bus ride to Vientiene, which is the capital city. It was pretty nice. It was very much influenced by French colonization, which I liked because we enjoyed many a baguette. After a few hours there we hopped on anther bus, for about four hours en route to Vang Vieng. This is a really cool hippy town with lots of fun eco things to do. We swam in caves, biked through villages, had water fights with Laos children and went tubing down a natural lazy river. Now, this isn't any ordinary lazy river... it is lined with bars and rope swings and zip lines. Loads of fun, and drunkeness (however, not from me!) The other cool thing about the time we went was that it was Laos New Year, and like Thailand they also have a water festival. So the streets were packed with people with super soakers, buckets of water and hoses. There was not a dry person out there. Best way to bring in the new year ever!
Best lazy river ever!
The next morning we got on another bus, for one of the rockiest rides of my life, but the view was amazing. We were heading to Luang Prabang, which is a really beautiful and unique city. We looked at temples, walked through the streets, ate more baguettes, climbed in more caves, climbed an outstanding waterfall. The strangest thing about Laos is that the town falls asleep at 10pm. Literally all shops and restaurants close up, and the once crowded streets actually have tumbleweeds rolling through them. Excepts for a few tuk tuks asking you if you'd like to go "bowling." Highly suspect, yes. But, how could we not check it out? And sure enough... there it was... a bowling alley packed with tourists. Quite random.
Our last spot on the tour was some islands in the south. They are a set of 4000 islands called Si Pan Don. They were really beautiful, and we stayed in this amazing raft house on the river. It was really chill. We rented bikes, and cruised around the islands. Downfall, it was darned hot... and the electricity only worked from 6-10pm. I thought, no electricty, no problem, I'm a camp girl. But, what my highly functioning brain did not realize was that no electricity meant no fan. It was pretty rough. We still had a blast, except for poor Jenny, who was super sick the whole time. My food poisoning held off until we got back to Bangkok, so it didn't ruin any vacation time!
After that, my time at ASB was practically over. I enjoyed my last little bit with my kiddies, started shipping boxes to Korea, and just started shutting down my thai life. Quite depressing... but man how two years fly! May managed to keep us super busy, Jenny had a bunch of visitors, and Stewart, my brother came to town! All in all I think Stew had a good trip. He had a great time doing Muay Thai and jungle treking in Chiang Mai. He had a fun time in Krabi, until his Dengue fever kicked in. He had a not so fun time during is stay in the hospital. But he made it through, and we still managed to squeeze in Hanoi and Halong Bay, in Vietnam. Hanoi was as crazy as the last time I was there. Halong Bay was as breathtaking as everyone said it was. I loved it!
Then Stewy went home, and I headed South to soak in the last of my Thai beaches. They treated me well.
Then I hopped in the plane, after having a baggage argument with the Thai Airways lady, and headed home.
So that is the end of the Thai chapter of my life. Can't believe it's been 2 years! Insanity. I couldn't have asked for a better place to start my international teaching adventure. I will miss it so much, but now (it's taken me almost 2 months to write this!) I am in Korea, and pumped about round 2!
Plus, I'm flying back to Thailand in a week!
Good bye all you loyal blog readers, who have stuck it out through my blog slacking. I'm gonna try to be better with my Korea blog - but I make no promises!
Love to all.
adventures of jess and crystal
More updates...
I'm pretty sure no one is left reading this blog. I suppose that is what I get for being such a disappointment to my loyal fans. So for those few of you who are still around... thanks, and if not, I now have a journal of my adventures, which I'm even worse at writing than these blogs... ha ha.
Anyway for your reading pleasure: Jess and Crystal take Thailand and Malaysia
So we began as all of my friends trip to Thailand begin, a trip to Samet. And it sure did the jet lag well. Days of lounging on the beach, evenings of sleeping and nights of drinking, fire shows and dancing... not a bad start.
After a few days of adjusting to Thai time, we headed to Malaysia, which unfortunately meant spending a night in KL. Blah. Yes indeed, just as horrible as the last two times I've been there. Why is this city such a travel hub? Gosh!
The reason we stopped in KL was to join a tour in Taman Negara, which is an amazing tropical rainforest. It was actually the most wonderful thing ever. Getting there was kinda a pain though. We had to take a three hour bus up to a city near the national park, where we had a few hours to stop for lunch. I use the term city very loosely. There was a police station, this travel center that we were at and an internet cafe. At this point Jess wasn't feeling so hot, so we decided to search for a pharmacy. After asking about a million people for directions and diligently trying to follow those directions for a good half hour, I decided to check my lonely planet's language section: turns out that it was farmaci. How was I supposed to get Pharmacy from that, ha ha, anyway we found it about 30 seconds later and got Jess good and drugged.
To get into the park you have to take a three hour long boat. It was the trip was long and bumpy, but we had loads of entertainment, two Japanese women playing with their hair and then taking pictures of their styles. Seriously enthralling.
We arrived at our cute little bungalow, met our guide, who was wonderful, and went exploring before dinner. After dinner we went on a night hike. First they made us watch an informational video about the wildlife in the region. I tried so hard to stay awake, really I did... but alas, my efforts were not successful.
The night hike was really cool. We saw some cool bugs and plants and stuff. We went to this tree top lookout point, but didn't see anything. Still it was really pretty and fun to wander around in the dark. However, it was then our guide decided to inform us of the jumping dry land leeches. The sit, perched in a pouncing position, waiting for some nice ankles to suck on, when they find the appropriate meat, they lunge at you. At this point, I really regretted not wearing socks. Luckily, we returned from the trek unharmed.
The next day was our big adventure tour day. We began by going to the caves. It was actually the most fun thing I have ever done. Both Jess and I were a little apprehensive, as she is extremely clausterphobic and I am petrified of things with wings - so I was thinking this bat cave was not the thing for me... however, we both sucked it up, got remarkable dirty, and did not suffocate or get devoured by bats.
After the caves, we went on to the canopy walkway. Here I am naievely thinking this would be a relaxing stroll through the tree tops, when actually it was a trillion times scarier than the bats. First things first, the view was spectacular! Breathtaking! Wonderful! However, I could only enjoy from the safety of the resting points between each bridge, because when on the bridge, all I could think about was not plummeting to my death. There was no harness, no helmet, and only a tiny, tiny little net to supposedly stop you from plummeting to your death. I was not convinced. Then you have to practically be a trapeze artist to walk across the two thin planks known as the "walkway." I've been known to be a bit of a klutz, so I really thought this was it for me. Thankfully, I managed to make my way to the end, without tripping on my two left feet.
just kidding...
this was the real one... still, pretty freaking scary!
After this death defying experience, we went to a tribal village and learned how to shoot blow guns. Then we went on a boat trip in the rapids, and then swam in the rapids, all events that didn't make our pulse race in quite the same way as the morning adventures. Oh, also, all of these things included some pretty magnificent hiking to get to each destination. It was also rainy season, so it was super muddy and slippery. Between the two of us we only fell a handful of times. Please take note... crocs are not good for adventure trekking, both Jess Clark and Amy Flannery have proven this point as my hatred for those wretched shoes grows.
The evening was pretty chill, until we realized that you couldn't just keep going north to get to the Southern Island in Thailand that was our next destination. Oooops, just a small glitch in our uber planning. So after much stress and inadequate internet connection, we got a plan - boat/drive back to KL (I can't escape this stupid city), take a bus to Penang, which is a big city island in Northern Malaysia then the next morning take a plane to Ko Samui, where there is a ferry to catch to Ko Pha Ngan, the home of the full moon party. And we thought it would be easy.
So we start out early in the morn to KL, make it there, manage to find our way to the bus terminal, we we had our first real amazing race adventure. We were trying to find the company that was recommended to take to Penang, which of course was sold out. It can't be sold out... we need to get there or we will miss out flight the next morning. So - we run around to a million other companies to try and find a bus going to our desired location, and finally - SUCCESS - except it is leaving right NOW. So we follow instructions to where the bus is, and we wind up in an underground garage, which was extremely inadequately labelled. It was kinda like when you lose your car in a parking lot because you forgot to note the section you were in, except you forgot what your car looks like. So we are looking for buses that had the same name as the company, which none of them did, then we started asking people who wanted nothing to do with us, until finally, I grabbed a baggage guy and wouldn't leave him alone until he took me to my bus. Thankfully he did, and as it turns out, the company name was not on the bus, that would just be too easy.
We arrived in Penang late at night, without a hotel. The first few we tried were full, so we tried a different sketchier one, but whatever it had beds right? Anyway, we grabbed some food and went to bed. Oh we also got picked up by an Aussie. The next morning, we decided to go shopping before we caught our plane. We walked for a while looking for the mall, which of course was closed when we go there, because why wouldn't it be? Then we stumbled upon a little outdoor market which was far to overwheming, so we decided to give up on Malaysia and head to the airport. When we got there we discovered, surprise... our flight was delayed! So we had like an extra 3 hours to kill. So after walking around the smallest airport ever, we just went to the gate and read. After about 20 minutes Jess looked up, and was like, "Hey, is that our plane they our boarding?" I thought, it can't be, it's not supposed to board for 2.5 hours... but we might as well try to find out. So we hand our boarding passes to the attendant and on board we go. Cool - so Firefly airlines is super... they delay the flight, and then change the flight back to the original time without making an announcement or letting people who have already checked in with a different boarding time know. It was ridiculous. Once we boarded the plane, they made an announcement, "Sorry for the delay folks, but we have to remove some baggage from the plane, as two guests haven't come through yet." I'm thinking, yeah, no kidding, because they probably think they have two freaking hours to catch their flight! Also, it's the smallest plane ever, so Jess was a little freaked out.
Anyway, we made it to Full Moon Island. It was great. We checked into our wonderful hotel on the beach and then we had a pretty early night, as all that chaos is quite exhausting. The next day was full moon day. Woo hoo! Jess wanted to go Elephant trekking, so we found a tour, she hopped on an elephant, while I read Harry Potter. After that we decided to chill by the beach. We returned to our beach to realize that by the afternoon, you have to walk a good kilo before reaching actual water because of the tide, so we decided to relax by the pool. Until, of course, it decided to pour rain. So we ran to the safety of our bungalow to rest up for the evening ahead.
On to the Full Moon Party. I don't even know how to explain this experience because you really do need to experience it. Basically, the whole beach is transformed into this massive sea of people. Each bar is blasting music, so as you walk down the beach their are invisible walls that changes it from one music scene to the next. The whole beach is glowing with black lights and flourecent paint. And of course, there is no shortage of buckets. Overall, the night was a blast. Pretty much the best party I've been to, ummmm - ever!
The next day was pretty chill as was the rest of the vacation. We hung out by the pool/beach, ate good food, went exploring. Good times. We took a 12 hour journey back to Bangkok via boat and bus... where we met up with Flannery and Jenn I, and then I gave them all the official Bangkok tour mixed in with their various other adventures.
After that... it was back to school, where I met my new rowdy bunch of wonderful students.
Apparently I had a lot to say about this trip. It was soooo great. More travel adventures to come.
adventures with jamie and jav... (all the rest)
Alright I'm back... with more updates from a million years ago.
After Cambodia, we went to Bali... it was beautiful - again. We stayed at this amazing hotel. It was quaint, only a few rooms, and the manager was really cool. When we arrived we found out the the rollaway bed that we requested had been broken... so poor me, I had to have a room all to myself. And by poor me, I meant I got moved for free to the nicest room in the hotel, and we all got our privacy... it was grand.
Day one: Beach. I loved it. Surprise. Then we went out for extremely overpriced seafood. Jamie was not impressed.
Day Two: The most unimpressive trip to a volcano EVER. We drove for what seemed like forever to this amazing volcano that we assumed we could practically climb inside (I mean it is Aisa) and then the driver stops so we could take some photos that overlooked the volcano from a distance, and then we got back in the car and he is like, "You are done already?" "No," we reply, "We want to see the volcano!" He says, "That's it." What a letdown. But he ended up taking us to a cool coffee plantation which ended being really fun.
Day Three: We went to Dream Land, which is a beach with the most ridiculous waves that I have ever seen! They were huge. At one point I went to get out of the water, and it literally took me about 20 minutes to get out before the waves swallowed me whole. So fun.
Late that night we reluctantly left Bali en route to Kuala Lumpur. I expected it to be the worst city ever, and it did not let me down. KL blew! My advise to asian travellers, avoid this dirty, over-hyped and ridiculously boring city. The only thing notable about the city is the patronus towers, which unless you go like a week in advance to get tickets, they get sold out. We were not willing to commit that much time, so most of our time in KL was spent trying to find a way to change our flights so we could get OUT of KL.
Next was Phuket.... I felt happier already just to be back in Thailand. Originally we weren't going to spend any time in Phuket, just take a boat to Koh Phi Phi... so luckily we got to see the island, which was really nice! We spent a day by the beach, then had a big night out, where we saw a kutoy show (lady boy) which was amazing! I mean if I didn't know they were boys... I never would have known.
Then we wandered around the dirty streets a patong. And by dirty I mean dirty, and by dirty I mean smutty. But alas we managed to find a way to entertain ourselves, and that was with Muay Tai and 50 baht beers. Then we danced the night away. It was tons of fun! The next day was spent recovering from our night of fun!
Then we hopped on a ferry boat and headed to Koh Phi Phi... the hotel was pretty cute, the island was really fun. It was motor free, so you can only get around by walking, trekking or long-tail boating. On this island we met up with a co-worker of mine, and a friend that she was travelling with. We spent the days beaching and the nights enjoying nice seaside dinners, and decadent desserts. And yes family, it was on this island that I got my tattoo. Sorry, but I swear it was sanitary.
Oh also, horrid travel story... I ate chicken.
So here is the tale...
I order a meal of "Vegetables and Noodles."
I confirm with the server that it is in fact Jai (Veggie) Mai Gai/moo/plaa/gung which means NO every kind of meat I know how to say.... he says yes.
Then I get my meal take a few bites and realize yes, that was chicken I just ate in my vegetarian noodle dish... awesome. So I call over the server and say in the best thai I can muster, which was really impressive, I think, "This is not good, I am a vegetarian, I said no meat, I want another dish." Then the server stares at me for a few seconds and then turns his back to me, and doesn't move. I'm like SERIOUSLY! I can still see you buddy. Do something! Grrrrrr. I left hungry.
Anyway, after a few days of relaxing it was time to head back to the chaos of Bangkok. We went to the market, went out dancing, which was fun, because I went to my first Gay bar in Bangkok, which was fun... then Jamie and Jav went home, booo hoooo. And I spent my last few days in Samet, where I met some American travellers who let me hang with them for a few days.
THEN I CAME TO CANADA!!!!! Wooooooo hooooooooooooo. But this blog is not about that, so I will say good bye. I will be back soon to report on the Adventures of Jess and Crystal.
Miss you all.
adventures with jamie and jav... (cambodia)
Alright,
As I mentioned in my last real post in May, Jamie and Javier came to Thailand, and we were on a whirlwind tour of South East Asia. It was wonderful, and we had a blast... but unfortunately I'm now thinking that Jamie and I might kill each other before making it to the finish line of the Amazing Race! (Ha ha - just kidding jame!)
Anyway, I was literally on my first day of holidays and we were already on a plane to Phnom Pehn, Cambodia. I was really excited because I had never been there before, and I had such a wonderful love for Siem Reap since going with dad.
Anyway, it was beautiful, heart breaking, tragic, inspiring... I loved it so much! This city is much more war ravaged than Siem Reap, and you can see the effects of the war much more obviously here. I learned a lot more about the Pol Pot regime. We immediately went to the Silver Pagoda, which was stunning... and Jav took this very brilliant photo.
it's been so long I forgot how to rotate... tilt your head.
From there we went to an amazing restaurant recommended by some friends, convieniently called, Friends. It was an wonderfully fabulous restaurant which was run by orphaned children. It was a good cause and the food was delicious, you really can't go wrong.
After that we went to a place called the Genocide Museum. This was an old high school that had been converted into a prison, and now serves as a memorial to the many, many people who suffered as a result of the war. We walked into prison cells that still had all the torture devices on the beds. Then there were walls and walls of children and adults who were murdered.
That night we watched a movie on the history of Cambodia, which resulted in me catching up on a bit of sleep. Oooops.
The next morning we woke up and headed to the Killing Fields, which are exactly as grim as they sound. The tour began with a 15 foot encasement of skulls. Then we walked through the fields, and our guide showed us remains of peoples teeth, and plants that they used to decapitate people. This man had lost his family to the war, and had lived through it. We were really priveledged to have him as a guide.
That afternoon we hopped on a 5 hour bus on route to Siem Reap. We arrived pretty late at night. So we booked our tuk tuk and caught some sleep. Bright and early we headed to Ankor Wat. We didn't realize that you couldn't book a guide from inside the gates, you had to book one in town, so luckily our tuk tuk driver had connections and found us an amazing tour guide! I'm not gonna go into to much detail about the temples, because you know how I raved about them in my last Cambodia post. They were just as spectacular the second time round.
That night, Jamie insisted that we go to a traditional Cambodian dance show. While the intention was good, the event was kinda a bust. So we concluded our evening on bar street where Jamie bullied me into drinking Mohitos and taking an obscene amount of pictures.
Morning came - and we drove to the airport to BALI!!!!
okay okay i'm still alive...
Hello all,
My apologies faithful readers... I know it has been far too long. Ever since I have developed my facebook addiction I have forgotten all about my blog. I will try to update you major event by major event. It may take a while and it will most likely be long winded. You all know how I am. But none the less... I really should eternalize my adventures here before I move on to my next location.
Happy Reading!
This will be me for the next few weeks - slaving away for your reading pleasure!
the rapid fire update...
Hey everybody....
Life has been grand. So grand I've had no time to breath.
So here's the coles notes of stuff I've slacked on writing about.
Mom came!! It was awesome. We had a blast... and I wouldn't have survived without her. Within 24 hours of mom's plane landing I got four new students with no warning... so, happy vacation mommy... you are being put to work. And she was a lifesaver. I showed her around Bangkok a bit. We went to the market and ate some good food, and met up with some good people. Then we went away for the weekend... plus then I convienently came down with the flu on Monday and Tuesday - so I recovered at the beach. But seriously, we flew down to an island called Koh Mook. It was beautiful and pretty isolated. One day we went on this snorkling tour and they took us to this place called the emerald cave, and you swam for about 10 minutes in a pitch dark cavern, and eventually you see this glowing light and we were in a beatiful lagoon. It was brilliant. After that we chilled at the beach, and read a lot, and had a ball. She was in Bangkok for a few more days, and then much to Mikes exctitement she flew home.
About a month after Mom left I went to Bali. It was an impromptu trip. How good is my life that I can say that I'm taking an impromptu trip to tropical paradise? I know you all are feeling sorry for me right now. Anyway, all my plans for Songkran (thai new year) fell through, so I decided... once again, to leech onto a trip with Kristen and sheila. It was really fun. Bali is gorgeous. We spend a day lounging by the pool. Oh by the way, we stayed at a REALLY fancy hotel right on the ocean... but the ocean was all rock and no beach... so we had to settle for an amazingly, breathtaking pool. The next day we went to Kuta... which is the main beach town. The day after that we went to Ubud... which is a little inland, and has cool little cultural shopping stuff... and they got the monkies. The last full day in bali we spent another lounging day by the pool. The weather was amazing, the company was amazing... I had a blast... I can't wait to go back in a week!
A day after arriving back in Bangkok, I was back on a plane but this time heading to Singapore. I had a workshop I was attending there. My friend Aynsley lives in Singapore, and put me up in her apartment and showed me around when I wasn't at the conference. Singapore is amazing. Probably my favorite place so far. It's just so lush and green and refreshingly clean after life in Bangkok. It's also really modern... and the downside REALLY expensive. A beer is 10 canadian dollars. Insanity! Great town though. I will definitely be back.
Since then I've pretty much stayed in Bangkok... if you throw in a few weekend jaunts to Samet. Life has been mad busy. I've been scrambling to get everything done before the end of the year, I have to pack... cause I'm moving. My friend Martin came over on a layover in BKK. Nicole DeMarsh came on a trip out here for a week. It's been great.
Jamie and Javier arrived on sunday night... so it was good to see a taste of home. They are in Samet right now recovering from jet lag, and leaving me alone with my chaos. They come back on Thursday, and then friday we head on our crazy asian adventure.
Plan: Cambodia, Bali, Kuala Lumpur, Koh Phi Phi, Bangkok.
I will be home late on June 20th. Mark your datebooks. Call me, if I had a phone. Facebook me or email me to let me know when you are around... because I wanna see as many people as possible before heading back out here on July 22nd.
Hope to see you all soon. Miss all you Canadians sooooo much and can't wait to be home.
Sorry that this blog is just informative and not entertaining... my brain is literally mush.
Love Crystal
one night in bangkok...
Hi again!
I still have a bunch of reporting to do on various trips that I have gone on in the last few months... however, there is a story that I want to document before it flies out of my head.
Last weekend a bunch of my friends from work decided to go to this bar district called RCA. This is a trendy area in downtown Bangkok that is lined with about 5 or 6 clubs to go out dancing.
Anyway, I had arranged for a bunch of us to meet up outside one of the clubs. Once I got there I tried to get inside, only to discover that I had forgotten my id. Oooops. But I figured, this is Bangkok, I'll throw the bouncer a couple hundred baht and he will let me in, right? WRONG. No dice. They were not budging. I even had my thai speaking friends talk to the bouncers and nope... no luck.
So we walked down the road to the next bar to try out luck and again, no one was letting me in. So I figure my new night will consist of me getting back in a cab, driving 45 minutes home - grabbing my id and driving 45 minutes back to the club, then dancing for about 45 seconds and then going home again.
Then my friend Bua shouted, "Hey - there's another white girl, wait here!" and she took off. She returned about 5 minutes later with a photocopied passport of Kristen Brandstatter from Austria and told me to use that to get into the club.
At first I was a wee bit nervous, because I've seen Bridget Jones, I know what happens in Thai prisons, and I didn't want to be accused of fraud. However, my friends assured me that it would be fine. So I handed the guy my "ID" and he looked at it really hard, and then let me in.
So then we wandered around the monsterously crowded bar. Ok - the bar was packed with people, but the congestion of the room was heightened by the wacky way that Thai clubs are layed out. They don't really have a dance floor. They have a floor that has all these little coffee tables spread out everywhere... not just bar tables around the perimeter... but ALL OVER. It's quite illogical... but who am I to judge?
Anyway, we found a coffee table to dance around and had a good time dancing for a while. The music was a mix of American pop music, thai rock and thai hip hop. Then at midnight it was Jeff's birthday. I looked over at this group of Thai girls and saw that they had 3 birthday cake candles that they lit, and then had their friend blow out... I thought it was a brilliant idea. So I swiped them off the table, and lit them for Jeff. Then he turned to me and said, "I think I'm gonna cry. I can't believe you brought candles with you! And you've been carrying them around all night!"
I replied, "Yeah! I'm awesome!"
Then around 1 o clock, I went to go outside to get some fresh air, just to discover that the doors were being baricaded by police. "Ahhh, they are on to me and my fake ID!" Just kidding. But seriously there were like 50 officers and then a camera crew and they wouldn't let anyone leave or tell anyone what was going on. So we were just trapped. So I stood in the hallway waiting to be let out and I look over at this Farang guy who was holding up, literally holding, a Thai girl who had passed out in his arms. The guy screamed, "Get a chair." I looked around me... there was barely a floor to stand on... let alone a chair. So I pushed a bunch of drinks off a table and moved the table up against the wall, and we propped her up on that... but she still wasn't responsive. It took both of us to hold her up. The he asked me what the number for 911 was... I had no idea. I later found out it is 191, just FYI if you come to Bangkok.
So I checked this girls pulse... thankfully she had one... I really wasn't in the mood to do CPR in the middle of a Thai club that's being busted up by cops. Then I tapped her face, and tried talking to her. She confusedly responded that she was ok, she just couldn't breath. But, we still weren't allowed out. So I talked her through some breathing excercises, and she said she was ok... and the guy said he was ok... so I left to find my friends. At this point they had turned the lights on and shut off the music.
Eventually, Bua got a call from her brother that there was a door at the back of the club that people could leave from. So we all paraded down to the door and walked right out. At least most of us did. There were still 3 guys that were unaccounted for. We called one of them, and they were trying to get out at another door... but at this door they were making people do urine tests before they were allowed to leave. Crazy!
Then finally one of our friends who had to do the pee tests found us, and said he lost the other two guys... these two guys are really independent and are infamous for taking off without warning, so we figured everything was fine.
We were wrong! I found out on Monday that one of our friends had a false positive pee test, and the police thought that he was on drugs, so they hauled him off to a thai prison! He had to spend several hours in a cell with a bunch of coked out Thai guys. They wouldn't let him call anyone, or call the embassy or anything! After a few hours they let him take another pee test, which came back clear, so they let him go. It was horrible.
Anyway, luckily he lived to tell the tale.
This concludes my rendition of - one night in bangkok!
chiang mai and a bunch of excuses...
Hi again everyone!
So I have a few stories to tell. Hopefully one of the following excuses will satisfy your rage for my lack of blogging. Ready...
1. The usual... crappy internet/really busy!
2. I can't upload pictures because my camera connector was kidnapped and taken back to Canada with one of Lisa's friends.
3. All of a sudden blogger is in Thai... all of the functions... the instructions to upload pictures... how to start a new message... how to finish a message... you can imagine how frustrating it is when you think you are sending something when actually you just pressed the Thai word for delete. Gah! If any computer nerds out there knows how to get my blogger back to english, I promise to be more dedicated.
Anyway, I suppose I should write about my long weekend in Chiang Mai... that I went on in cough beginning of March cough!
The trip began in a bit of a panic. The travel crew was Lois, Emily T, Kristen and I. We got to the airport and first I made the lady at Air Asia very happy if she works on commission and very angry if she doesn't... because I bought about 18 airline tickets in one shot... for when Jamie and Javier come.
Then I get a call from Emily saying that she is still downtown because she has been waiting for a cab for over an hour. She stood at the base of the BTS stop and waited... and waited... and waited...
I had her ticket so I checked in for her... and had a boarding pass issued... but obviously Em had to show her passport to get it. We waited around for a while... but time was ticking. So the three of us went to the gate. I was thinking of my game plan to make sure Emily got on the plane. Fake an injury, pretend to have a bomb, develop a hysterical phobia of flying... but luckily I did not have to test any of these because within literally 2 minutes of boarding Emily arrived at the gate. YAY!
So we had a nice flight, and then arrived in Chiang Mai. The hotel we stayed at was pretty nice. The first morning we just wandered around the city. We did some shopping. Lois did A LOT of shopping. And then went back to our hotel for a swim or a nap and then went out for dinner. After that we went to the amazing Chiang Mai market. Good times.
I liked Chiang Mai a lot, because it's city enough to always have something to do, and it had a lot of character, but it's quainter and cleaner than Bangkok. I thought it would be a lot more lush than it was. We had fun though. The old part of the city is surrounded by walls, so it makes for a very pretty setting.
The next day, we did our tour package day. We began by riding elephants. Emily and I opted not to go, because I felt so badly after my experience in Kanchanaburi that I couldn't do it again, Emily felt the same. However, Lois wanted to go, which was a decision that she later regretted. Kristen went with her. Apparently riding the elephant was a pretty scary experience for Ms. Lois - she ended up black and blue from gripping the seat so tightly.
After that we visited the Karen Tribal Village. It was kinda strange wandering through the village and making a spectacle of the local people. But, apparently the tourism industry is what keeps them off the opium, according to our guide.
The last stop on the tour was AMAZING! We went on a bamboo raft ride down this beautiful river. It was super cool. I got to stern the raft, so basically I had this big, long bamboo stick. At first I tried to do it kayaking styles... but without a paddle it's a lot of effort and completely ineffective. Then I watched the Thai guy and the front of the raft, who was actually steering our boat, and realized that it's anti-canoing. You literally take the stick and poke it into whatever you can, and push off that to move the right way. Once I got the hang of it, it was pretty fun. Although, it's not me if I don't have a klutzy moment... remember that I am one who has fallen out of a paddle boat! So we were getting suspiciously close to land, and I saw the Thai guy turned around and made a weird noise, and seemingly out of nowhere, there was this giant tree right if front of me. So like a champ I took my hand to push off the tree, and proceeded to knock myself right off the raft. Apparently a 100 old tree is stronger than me, who knew? So I quickly slid back on the raft, brushed off my ego, and continued to paddle (or push is suppose). It was smooth sailing from then on.
Good times though.
That night, we met up with some other friends who were in Chiang Mai also, and went out for this amazing dinner at a restaurant right on the river. It was really fun.
Then we went to the Sunday market, which is exactly as it sounds, a massive market only open on Sunday. It had some really good stuff... including the best pair of flip flops ever, which I wish I bought ten pairs of, cause I wear them everyday!
The last day, Kristen and Lois had to leave at lunch. Emily and I had a later flight. So we caught a songtoew and drove up a mountain to go to a temple on the mountaintop. It was really pretty. It supposedly had the most breathtaking view of the city... but unfortunately we wouldn't know because it was pretty overcast.
After the temple we wandered around for a few more hours, grabbed dinner and then headed to the airport.
Overall, it was a pretty chill trip. A lot of fun but relatively uneventful.
Anyway - today I am heading into the city... so I better get ready. Emails are my friend!
Miss you all. Coming home soon... June 20th to be exact.
Apparently if you click on these links you can access the photo albums that I have posted on Facebook. Hopefully, that will make up for the lack of photos in this post.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1934&l=bf84e&id=505066750
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2592&l=2b066&id=505066750
