A few new pics over at my Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25243091@N08/
Stay tuned for a new blog soon!
วันพฤหัสบดีที่ 26 มิถุนายน พ.ศ. 2551
วันเสาร์ที่ 21 มิถุนายน พ.ศ. 2551
Solo in Singapore
So my flight here was on the 19th June. The night of the 18th/morning of the 19th was Ko Pha Ngan's infamous full moon party. I knew I had to take it easy, just the 2 buckets of vodka this time. The usual happened, I lost Brad, met a brummy courtesy of my Villa shirt, got mugged by a Thai girl while asleep on the beach (luckily the pocket she picked only had about 200 baht (just over 3 quid) in it) and I woke up hungover on the beach with sand all over my body which now even 3 showers later I still continue to find. I then had to make my way home to the bar where I'd left all my luggage. After saying all my goodbyes (including Brad who will stay on in Thailand another month) I headed to the pier for the midday Ferry to Ko Samui which has the nearest airport.
The ferry was extremely sombre, or should I say, hungover. Everyone had a bottle of water in their hand, paint still on their face and nobody talked. After a transfer to the airport I got to experience Samui aiport. It's quite amazing. Imagine a regular airport, with terminals, check in desks and luggage desks, but all outside. Roofs only covered the desks and terminals themselves, the walks in between were all outdoor. It was like walking through a town, parks, gardens, fountains, benches and courtyards. Aftter meeting another fellow brummy and Villa fan from Erdington courtesy of the Villa shirt I was still wearing, I proceeded to fly to Singapore.
Upon arrival I grabbed my luggage, checked an internet station for cheap hotels and proceeded to get some money out. Before realising I had no idea what the money was worth. I thought 100 dollars would cover me, but that turned out to be around 37 pounds. I've had bad experiences with taxis from airports, the drivers seem to see you as walking cash machines. So I headed to the underground system and asked the lady at the desk which station was closest to my hotel.
The hotel was in Geylang, about halfway between the main shopping centre, The Orchard and the airport, about a 12 minute ride either side. After a good night's sleep I decided to become a tourist again. Too many times in Ko Phangan, after being a resident of 5 weeks, I was the one advising the newcomers where all the hotspots were. Now I was a full on tourist, snapping photos and crossing the road whilst reading a map. After a bit of shopping I went to see the new Incredible Hulk film, then headed to the DHL balloon, a tethered hot air balloon that rises 150 meteres into the sky, I couldn't wait. It was closed for yearly maintenance. Darn. So as it began to get dark I headed to the night safari, which is where you get to view all the nocturnal animals up close and personal, I'll put up some pictures later.
Today I made up for the lack of a hot air balloon by going up the Singapore Flyer, a big wheel exactly the same as the London Eye. I'm now at the airport waiting for my flight to Sydney where I shall encounter my first family member for 3 months. I'm meeting my Dad who has brought along my treasured Hawaiian shirt I had inexplicably forgotten to bring on this trip. Theres alot I hope to achieve in Australia, lets see what happens. First things first, lets see if they let me in on this working visa.
The ferry was extremely sombre, or should I say, hungover. Everyone had a bottle of water in their hand, paint still on their face and nobody talked. After a transfer to the airport I got to experience Samui aiport. It's quite amazing. Imagine a regular airport, with terminals, check in desks and luggage desks, but all outside. Roofs only covered the desks and terminals themselves, the walks in between were all outdoor. It was like walking through a town, parks, gardens, fountains, benches and courtyards. Aftter meeting another fellow brummy and Villa fan from Erdington courtesy of the Villa shirt I was still wearing, I proceeded to fly to Singapore.
Upon arrival I grabbed my luggage, checked an internet station for cheap hotels and proceeded to get some money out. Before realising I had no idea what the money was worth. I thought 100 dollars would cover me, but that turned out to be around 37 pounds. I've had bad experiences with taxis from airports, the drivers seem to see you as walking cash machines. So I headed to the underground system and asked the lady at the desk which station was closest to my hotel.
The hotel was in Geylang, about halfway between the main shopping centre, The Orchard and the airport, about a 12 minute ride either side. After a good night's sleep I decided to become a tourist again. Too many times in Ko Phangan, after being a resident of 5 weeks, I was the one advising the newcomers where all the hotspots were. Now I was a full on tourist, snapping photos and crossing the road whilst reading a map. After a bit of shopping I went to see the new Incredible Hulk film, then headed to the DHL balloon, a tethered hot air balloon that rises 150 meteres into the sky, I couldn't wait. It was closed for yearly maintenance. Darn. So as it began to get dark I headed to the night safari, which is where you get to view all the nocturnal animals up close and personal, I'll put up some pictures later.
Today I made up for the lack of a hot air balloon by going up the Singapore Flyer, a big wheel exactly the same as the London Eye. I'm now at the airport waiting for my flight to Sydney where I shall encounter my first family member for 3 months. I'm meeting my Dad who has brought along my treasured Hawaiian shirt I had inexplicably forgotten to bring on this trip. Theres alot I hope to achieve in Australia, lets see what happens. First things first, lets see if they let me in on this working visa.
วันเสาร์ที่ 14 มิถุนายน พ.ศ. 2551
Still in Thailand
Well im here for 5 more days. It seems June's full moon was slightly earlier then I had thought and thus i don't need to get a new visa in order to stay on for it. However i have a flight to catch the day after, which could be problematic. I've spoken to many people at these parties at 8-9 am saying how they've got a ferry to catch in 15 minutes but they can't even remember where their room is. I'm determined not to be that guy, I'll have to take it a bit more easy then say, the last half moon party 3 days ago where I lost my adidas trainers. Easily done I know.
As for other news? Well i was kicked out of my resort (which i had overstayed my welcome by about 3 weeks) because they were overbooked and needed my room. I moved down the road to a decent, cheaper place lacking in air con and neighbouring people who believe a door has to be slammed at 1000 decibels otherwise its just not worth bothering. How is a guy supposed to sleep at 2 in the afternoon? I saw some thai boxing, for free out of the back of Harvey's bar, one of the fights was 2 kids who couldn't have been older then 8, quite brutal. The only thai boxing I'd seen prior to this was a brawl on the street between 2 thai guys involved in a fender bender of which one ended up getting knocked unconcious....then having his head banged against the concrete road. I also saw a guy drive his moped into the curb and fly over the pavement into a ditch. It made me grimace somewhat but its entirely natural on this island. Most people are sporting the renowned 'Ko Pha Ngan Tattoo' which consists of a big graze on their leg or arm, from such a fall. I think i'm the only person i know not to fall off so far (touching wood) even Brad fell off yesterday (he's fine).
To have driven a moped for a month and not fallen off is quite a feat, thought i nearly ran over a kitten yesterday. Someone had dumped it in the front basket of my moped and me starting the engine had frightened it, made it jump out and then it seeked the spokes of the wheel for security. It was unscathed but still homeless. But seeing as Brad is staying here for another month or 2 he offered to look after it. Seeing him drive down the road with a kitten in the basket of his moped was a sight to behold.
The next blog will come from Singapore, I'm looking forward to moving on as too many times in this last month or so I've been the one seeing others move on whilst I remained stationary. It can get a bit annoying staying in the same place for too long, watching people pass through. On the 19th, I will leave Thailand....For now.
As for other news? Well i was kicked out of my resort (which i had overstayed my welcome by about 3 weeks) because they were overbooked and needed my room. I moved down the road to a decent, cheaper place lacking in air con and neighbouring people who believe a door has to be slammed at 1000 decibels otherwise its just not worth bothering. How is a guy supposed to sleep at 2 in the afternoon? I saw some thai boxing, for free out of the back of Harvey's bar, one of the fights was 2 kids who couldn't have been older then 8, quite brutal. The only thai boxing I'd seen prior to this was a brawl on the street between 2 thai guys involved in a fender bender of which one ended up getting knocked unconcious....then having his head banged against the concrete road. I also saw a guy drive his moped into the curb and fly over the pavement into a ditch. It made me grimace somewhat but its entirely natural on this island. Most people are sporting the renowned 'Ko Pha Ngan Tattoo' which consists of a big graze on their leg or arm, from such a fall. I think i'm the only person i know not to fall off so far (touching wood) even Brad fell off yesterday (he's fine).
To have driven a moped for a month and not fallen off is quite a feat, thought i nearly ran over a kitten yesterday. Someone had dumped it in the front basket of my moped and me starting the engine had frightened it, made it jump out and then it seeked the spokes of the wheel for security. It was unscathed but still homeless. But seeing as Brad is staying here for another month or 2 he offered to look after it. Seeing him drive down the road with a kitten in the basket of his moped was a sight to behold.
The next blog will come from Singapore, I'm looking forward to moving on as too many times in this last month or so I've been the one seeing others move on whilst I remained stationary. It can get a bit annoying staying in the same place for too long, watching people pass through. On the 19th, I will leave Thailand....For now.
วันอาทิตย์ที่ 1 มิถุนายน พ.ศ. 2551
Been a While....
So the full moon party was great, I came out unscathed just with a bit of a hangover. I lost Brad half way through the night but we met up with the Germans (mentioned previously in this blog) from Bangkok which was quite cool. By about 10 am i found myself asleep on the beach with music still playing and people dancing all around me. A guy called Dave, a fellow villa fan from Gloucester who I've known for a couple of weeks now had woken me up and it began again. More drinking and then we decided it'd be cool if we skimped on a taxi fayre and walked the 5-6 miles home. We got halfway to our credit before jumping in a taxi. After a giant English breakfast I stumbled into the resort around 1pm, and went to sleep on the pool table.
The problem now is that I enjoyed the party so much I want to stay on until June's full moon. However, the party occurs the day after my visa expires. Meaning that in order to stay on until the next one, I'd have to do the famous 'visa run', ie going out of the border into Burma and then turning around and coming right back in again for a month's extra stay. I'm not sure it's worth the hassle so I'll probably head into Australia as planned, more then likely, alone. It seems Brad will probably do the visa run and stay here....check out his blog to find out why, I'll nag him to do one.
So that's my situation, stay tuned for more!
The problem now is that I enjoyed the party so much I want to stay on until June's full moon. However, the party occurs the day after my visa expires. Meaning that in order to stay on until the next one, I'd have to do the famous 'visa run', ie going out of the border into Burma and then turning around and coming right back in again for a month's extra stay. I'm not sure it's worth the hassle so I'll probably head into Australia as planned, more then likely, alone. It seems Brad will probably do the visa run and stay here....check out his blog to find out why, I'll nag him to do one.
So that's my situation, stay tuned for more!
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