Matt's Travels

A Brave New World

2008-03-28T08:46:00.000-07:00

It's been a few months since I last wrote but I'm back in Boston now. It's been a busy and cold winter here as I've been working a lot to save for my upcoming trips as well as trying to see all my friends.

Now that I have the created this website, I will be updating the blog more often. Next month, I'm writing a series of articles about my travels for Lonely Planet, which I'll link here.

Next month, I am also going to The Netherlands for awhile as well. In July, I'll be leaving home again for Europe and then I'm moving to China for awhile before I spend the holidays in Thailand again. I miss Thailand a lot!

Besides just what I do, I'm going to start blogging about travel related subjects and stories I read!

I'm excited about having a whole website to myself! Feel free to comment about it- I'm new to the web design thing and if you have any suggestions or find mistakes, let me know! I'd love to hear them!

Things I learned while in OZ...

2008-02-13T07:56:00.000-08:00

Men there like mullets. Mullets of all types. No one else likes them but Aussie men and all classes of Aussie men. I can't figure out why but for some reason, Aussie men love the mullet, which is fine, because I like laughing at them so it is a win win situation.

The Chasers War on Everything is one of the best things Aussies have on television. It's a political comedy show that really rips into their politicians.

A bottle of water is 3 dollars.

They aren't called operating hours but trading hours.

And, for some reason, businesses stop "Trading" around 6 pm. I know Aussies love to be slackers but why close a store at 6? What about the after work people? This is true for not only small towns but also big cities like Sydney. I tried going shopping at 7 to find everything closed!

Aussies love to gamble. There are casinos everywhere!!!!! I love to gamble. That's a bad combination.

Flip flips are thongs and thongs are g-strings and g-stings are g-strings.

The Gold Coast is a lot like Florida.

Aussies like to drink. A lot. They drink all the time. Except they don't drink Foster's because that is Australian for shit.

They have tough drinking laws, and given what I said above, I found it a weird paradox. They tax the crap out of drinks. (A 6 pack of beer is between 12-18 dollars) They can pull you over and give you random breathalyser tests (and drug tests for that matter too) and you really can't say no. They have what is essentially a one strike and your out policy too. Weird huh?

Burger King is called Hungry Jack's.

They eat a lot of fish and chips. and sometimes Kangaroo.

And a lot of (bad) Asian food.

East Coast Aussies hate Aborigines.

The Outback ones tend to have more understanding.

Aborigines got the shaft worse than natives in North America.

Someone from Queensland is called a banana bender. Someone from New South Wales is called a cockroach.

Castle, a movie about red neck Aussies, is a must must see.

Perth is the other side of the world to most Aussies and everyone wants to go there.

If you get pulled over in Australia, you get out of the car and go over and chat with the police. They don't come to you, nor will the shoot you the second you step out of the vehicle. The exact opposite from the states. Be warned- stay in your car here. Over there, the cops take it as an insult!
Don't insult rugby or cricket.

When it's all said and done, Australia is just like America and hence, I was a little disappointed.

Western Australia is the place I pictured OZ to be- outback, cool cities, and endless deserted beaches. Australia has over 36,000 km of coast line.

Aussies are still some of the nicest people I have meet while traveling. Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!

Sydney

2008-01-13T07:52:00.000-08:00

Originally, I was going to be in Sydney for New Years but my plans fell through and I ended up in the rainy weather of Surfer's Paradise again, where because of a cyclone there were no fireworks. Though I did party hard, it wasn't the best New Year's I've ever had. But I digress, for I am finally in Sydney. And I love it.

It's an amazing city. I can't quite put my finger on it but there's something about Sydney. It has charm, class, it's beautiful, and exciting. In short, amazing. Besides Perth, it is my favorite city in Australia. If I was moving back to Australia, I'd live in one of these two. I came to city and meet up with some people I've been traveling with on and off throughout Australia. In OZ, everyone goes the same way making meet ups real easy. It was with those friends that I first gazed on the Sydney Opera House and Harbor Bridge. Standing in front of them for the first time was breathtaking. Though they are man made, they are stunning and beautiful to look at. I stared out at them for awhile, taking them in- the icons of the city. Seeing them was a highlight of Australia, in some ways just as great as Uluru.

Most of the time I was in Sydney it was cloudy but the weather did clear up to have a few good days. I spent those days wandering the city, which surprisingly is really walkable (everything is within 20 minutes of something!). I explored King's Cross, which is an interesting mix of backpackers, clubs, crack heads, and prostitutes. The main strip of the area, Darlinghurst Rd, is filled with bars, backpackers, and bums. Here they all mix in together to form a cheap and seedy area that at night gets pretty wild. Yet once off that street the whole area changes and becomes quite the posh living area. Old 18th century homes, some of them looking like English cottages, dot the streets next to recent condominiums and high rises. The streets are clean, the people friendly, and the area filled with little green spaces. All of which is within easy walking distance to the park that over looks the harbor. I was pretty impressed with the area despite its seedy reputation.

I was most impressed with the gardens and opera house area. The Sydney Domain/Royal Gardens are massive and quite lovely to wander around in. It's easy to spend hours in the area. I walked around for about an hour and saw maybe less than half of the trails and I'm not a slow walker! It's definably a good respite from the craziness of the city. Sydneyers would agree as there were heaps of them sunning and hanging out in the park the day I was there.

It's from this place where you get the iconic photo of the Harbor bridge and Opera House. I took loads. In fact, I took loads of pictures of the opera house and bridge every time I went near them. I didn't do the bridge walk thought because at 300 dollars, it was out of my price range….well, that and my intense fear of heights kept me away. And of course, I meet a fellow MySpacer while I was there. She showed me Darling Harbor which seemed a great place to take your family, girlfriend, or just go out to eat- nice trendy restaurants there. We didn't go to them but we did go to the Chinese Garden. Great place! Highly recommend it! Thanks Lou Lou for the good time!

Sydney is everything it is hyped up to be.

Holidays Down Under

2007-12-27T07:42:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays from Byron Bay!

For the past few weeks, I've been traveling south towards Sydney on Australia's Gold Coast. There are 300 days of sun here but apparently, they don't spread them out because since I've been here, I've only had 1 day of sun. It's not doing wonders for my tan. It's not dong wonders for my liver either- The Goldie,as it is called, is pretty much the party place of Australia and I've been doing my far share.

Brisbane, my first destination on Eastern Australia, wasn't that thrilling. It was a big city with nothing really to see in it. It had some good restaurants and clubs but I preferred Melbourne over it. I spent about 5 days there. I got to see some friends of mine (even one from Thailand!) but I was glad to leave.

I headed down to Surfer's Paradise, heart of the Gold Coast. After about 5 days of partying, I dragged my hungover self to Byron Bay to meet some friends for Xmas. The Gold Coast is like being in Florida. Nothing really different. Surfer's could have easily have been Ft. Lauderdale. Byron Bay is nice and much, much quiter but it too is like a million other places. I've been finding the East Coast to be a lot like other places and nothing about it makes it distinctly Australian. I felt much more in OZ when I was in WA or the Northern Territories.

Xmas was fun. Not really much to do. Xmas eve was a big party here and a very late night. I was going to Sydney for New Year's but those plans have since fallen through and am going back to Surfer's Paradise for the New Year. From there, its up the east coast to see the Great Barrier Reef, then flying to Sydney before I catch my flight to New Zealand.

All in All, nothing to exciting to report. Hopefully the weather will get better and I'll start getting a tan. I have less than a month left here in Australia! It's amazing how quickly time has flown here. I feel like it was just yesterday I got here.

and to think..it is almost 2008!

Fun with Immigration

2007-11-30T07:36:00.000-08:00

Australia is known for being tough on immigration. Unless you are Kiwi or British, they don't really like people here. I'm not sure why but the Aussie governemnt tries hard to keep people out, even when they are allowed to come here. In fact, they just love to harass people at airports.

Tons of my friends have experienced the annoyance of being stopped and questioned for no real reason.

When I landed in Perth, I went through passport control and, after getting my stamp, I walked off to pick up my bag but not before an immigration officer stopped me. "Can I see your passport?" she asked. "Sure" I said and gave it her. "Do you have your airline tickets for Australia?" "I have one printed out." I gave her the ticket to Broome to Dawrin. "Well, how are you getting to Broome? "Bus" I said. "When? Where are you staying in Perth? For how long? With who? Whose your friend? What does he do? Where does he live? How long are you here for? Why are you here? Can I check your bag?"

And so, I answered an endless series of inane questions to which I had no answer. "I'm traveling and I tend not to make too many plans in case I really like a place." "Well, step over here so I can look in your bag." Ok. Then that followed by more questions. "Where are you coming from? What are you there for? Why are there so many Cambodian visas in your passport?"

After about 20 minutes of this utter waste of time, she finally gave me my passport back and said "Enjoy your trip."

Yes, I had just recieved a lovely welcome into Australia.

-Matt

The Northern Territory

2007-11-30T07:35:00.000-08:00

Usually on a holiday, people tend to sleep in past dawn, relax, and stay out late enjoying the freedom they worked for. Apprently, I missed that memo. Since I've left Western Australia (actually, even in WA), the latest I have slept til is 8am. The cause of this catastrophe has been the relentless camping I have done.

Since I last wrote, I spent 4 days camping out in the Bush. (No, not that kind of bush!) After Broome, I flew to Darwin to go camping in the world heritage park of Kakadu. This park is famous for waterfalls, gorges, Aboriginal rock art, and, of course, crocidiles. Despite waking up everday at dawn by flies and loud birds, I throughly enjoyed the park and it has been a highlight of my OZ trip so far. I saw stunning gorges filled with cool, clear blue watering holes and waterfalls where we were able to cool off from the 110 degree heat. Our guide, Darrin, was an aboriginal who knew a lot about the land and its history, telling us stories from the Dreaming as well as pointing out bush food (which we ate!) and Aboriginal uses for a lot of the plants. I really enjoyed the park and the hiking was amazing. Darrin took us off the beaten track a few times and showed us some amazing vistas that overlooked a lot of the park and gave us great sunsets. I even got to witness a bush fire close up.

And yes, I got to see some crocidiles up close....but not tooo upclose. We took a nice little boat cruise through the South Alligator river to witness crocidiles doing what they do best- eating. It was a cool experience.

Yet now I can't sleep late, rising too early for a holiday. After Kakadu, I went to Uluru (Ayer's rock), smack in the middle of the desert, where temperatures reached a high of 50 C (I think 130F?) so that I could wake up at 4am each day to watch sunrise at Uluru and start out for early hikes. Despite the sheer lack of sleep, it was beautiful seeing Uluru and seeing the outback. Central Australia is a lot like Arizona andf hiking around King's Canyon was like hiking the Grand Canyon and Sedona. Sadly, I couldn't hike to the top of Uluru because it was too windy that day and t here was a risk I'd fall off the rock. Maybe next time the weather will be better.

What I found the most amazing were the stars. With no ambient light at night, the land was lite up by the night sky. Millions of stars shone bright and I saw numerous shooting stars. I stared up at the unknown constellations watching the Milky way be milky and trying to find the Southern Cross.

The whole experience was amazing and I met lots of great people. The two dutch guys I met in Kakadu were there and these two English girls- all of whom will be in Byron Bay for Xmas and Sydney for New Years. And I meet a really cool (and hot) German girl.

Currently, I'm in Melbourne. It's wierd being in the cities. I've been out in the desert for a month and it was great. I learned a lot about the land and the Aborigines. Now, it's time to see urban Australia.

-Matt

Western Australia (or Western America?)

2007-11-19T07:30:00.000-08:00

I'm in love with Western Australia. (and WA women!) This is what I thought OZ would be like. A vast expanse of densely populated red earth with endless miles of deserted beaches. I'm currently in Broome, up north in the outback. Currently, it is 120 degrees and very humid, though I don't mind the humidity since I'm used it to because of Asia.

I've spent the last week going up the Western Coast, covering the distance between NY and LA. (Australia has 36,000km of coast line!) I would have liked to have spent longer going up the coast but because of how my schedule works out and how the bus worked, I couldn't. However, I am going to come back to Australia and just spend the whole visa here in Western Australia! It is that good.

I took a backpacker bus up to Broome since Greyhound is just a bit cheaper but doesn't include any of the activities I got to do! The ride was pretty cool though there was a lot of driving each day and would have been better if I did hop off and stay places for a bit. However, our driver, Wes, a real western Aussie of a guy, was pretty cool and knew a lot about the area so I got to learn about the area.

So far my favorite stop was Coral Bay, a little town of 120 people. Its right on this national park reserve and you can go out snorkeling into the reef. If the season was right, I could have swam with whale sharks but alas, their migration ends in September. The reef around is teeming with life and I got to swim with some leatherback turtles, dolphins, and rays. (At another stop on the way, I got to feed some dolphins!!!) I loved this place. The beach was amazing and the ocean out here is stunning. Though cold, the Indian Ocean is an amazing turquoise blue…it's postcard perfect!

We've been driving around the outback too, through small mining towns of about 100-2,000 people. Coming from a city of 12 million people, there is really NOTHING to do. Each town has one pub and a supermarket and, if it's big enough, another pub! All of these are little mining communities and I got to stop in one because our bus broke down. Actually, it broke down three times. The first two we had to get out and push it (I got photos of that!) The third time though, the engine blew up a little as the fan fell off the engine and we got stuck an hour outside this little mining town. We got towed back and while Wes went to get a new van, we stayed at the bar and hung out with the miners. They are hard folks and they are filthy rich! Miners out here get about 100,000 dollars a year! Had a good time and eventually we made our way out of the town to the national park we were heading too.

Western Australia looks like the southwest of America. Though the earth maybe be a bit redder (but it's like Sedona, Arizona), the scenery is the same, just on a bigger scale. There are areas that look like Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Sometimes it follows the same landscape pattern as the southwest and sometimes it mixes it up. Either way, I love it. I loved the Southwest and I love this even more. We went to this one national park, Kiljarri, and I went swimming in these lagoons under waterfalls and hiked gorges and it was simply amazing.

I'll stop fawning about it now but needless to say I have loved it out here and I'm glad I started out in WA and not the east. This has given me a great impression of the country as it is without the party, party atmosphere of the scene back east. This is the OZ I pictured in my mind and this is the OZ I will come back too. (Not that there isn't a lot to love on the East coast but I liked the relaxed, easygoing, friendly, say hello to the neighbor attitude of the West!)I'm here for a week in the heat before I head to the top end and go to Darwin! I've seen lots of the aborigines but I'll leave a whole blog post for that!

Cheers!

Matt

The Accidental Teacher

2007-11-04T07:25:00.000-08:00

Before I left the states, people often asked me if I planned on teaching while away and I swore I never would- I didn't want to be a teacher, I certainly didn't want to work, and I certainly had no desire to spoil an uninterrupted 16 month holiday. Yet here I am writing about Bangkok, a city I have only come to love because I stopped and became a teacher.

It was an accident I became a teacher in the first place. Like all major decisions in my life, this one was made with little thought- I just did it on a gut feeling. It may sound silly to make such major decisions without much thought, but for me, it's never really turned out bad. (Traveling the world, getting an MBA, switching University- all made in split second). So my one month stay in Bangkok to learn Thai turned into an 8 month adventure because I had just signed up for a gym and figured- why not stay here?

As a tourist, I had always- ALWAYS- hated Bangkok. Many people love it but for most tourists it is nothing more than the way station to better and cleaner places in Asia. There isn't much to do in terms of tourist attractions, it's polluted, the bars are really overpriced and unless you are going to shop until you drop, its pretty boring. Most people stay 3 days and decide that's too much. When I first came back in November, I decided one day was too much and after resting one night, I went to the beaches.

However, after living here, I have grown to love Bangkok. I wasn't thrilled about coming back at first but the longer I have been here, the more of Bangkok has opened up. There still isn't much in terms of "tourist" sites but I've come to realize there is a lot to do here. You can paintball, wakeboard, ice skate, bowl, eat at a million restaurants, shop until you drop, there's a million markets and social events every night of the week, the beach is only a few hours away- your options are endless. There's good and cheap non-touristy bars filled with ex-pats- Cheap Charlies (my personal favorite), Charlie Browns, The Dubliner, The Londoner, and even to an extent, Coyotes. You have the famous clubs like Bed Supper Club, Glow, and RCA. There are the cheap Thai places on Thong Lor and Rachada Soi 4. Then when they all close there is always Tunnel and Spicy- two great after hours places to stay ridiculously drunk at. If I knew about all these places when I was a traveler, my image of Bangkok might have been different.

Where ever you are, the people are important and there are amazing people here. Bangkok is an international city if there ever was one and during my time here I have meet people from all over the world. One of the things that I have loved so much about being here is that everyone is very friendly. Go to any of the bars, strike up a conversation, and you've probably made a new friend. For the first few months I was here, I was with my traveling friends, and then went underground to save cash but over the last few months, I've been going out and every weekend it seems I meet new people. I've meet a great group of people over the since August and I will be sad to leave them!

Back in July, I was thinking about leaving but I toughed it out because I realized, I hadn't really done much here so I decided to stay and live a little. Bangkok has been great. I've really come to enjoy it. I could never settle in Bangkok, few people really do. However, it is a great place to stay for a while. If I liked my job more, I might have stayed a bit longer. There is a lot I won't miss (pollution, traffic) but I will miss my friends, I'll miss the vibrant social scene, and the cheap, delicious street food (where am I going to get food at 4am in states!!!!!). I'm happy with my time here- I learnt Thai (not fluently though), saved for my trip next year, lived overseas, learnt a new culture, made international friends, and just overall had a very exciting time. I'm glad with my quick decision to stay. It's been thoroughly rewarding and stopping to live in another country was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Thailand

2007-10-28T07:17:00.000-07:00

I first came to the land of smiles in 2005. I was planning a little trip with my friend. I had wanted to go to the Galapagos islands but he said how about Thailand? It's cheaper. Sure I said.

That little change brought much larger change into my life. During that trip, I decided I was going pick and roam the world. I couldn't wait to come back to Thailand in November 07 for a few months of beach fun. I never intended to stay as long as I have but, after returning for what I thought would be just a few months, I find myself only now leaving…some 10 months later.

I've never liven anywhere besides Massachusetts so living abroad has been a real eye opening experience for me. I learned a lot about people, culture, and myself. One of things that I love most about Thailand, and especially Bangkok, is that it is so multi-cultural. So many people pass through here that you meet a wide variety of people and personalities. It's allowed me to learn more about people and become a bit more social and friendlier.

Another great thing about Thailand is the food. Thai food is amazing- where else can you get 50 cent meals on the street at 3am in the morning? Thai's love to eat- all day, everyday. 12pm, 6pm, 10pm, 4am! It doesn't matter. As a consequence there are food stalls and vendors and restaurants open at all hours of the day. Need a 4am snack? There will be someone open near you for sure. The food is also delicious- one of my favorite things to get off the street is the noodle soup as well as the snack food you can munch on. In Thailand, you never go hungry as long as you got 20 baht in your pocket.

Sure, I will be back here again but, as excited as I am to go, I will miss some things when I leave. The weather is amazing, the food yummy, and the people- well, Thai people are really happy and friendly. (And no, its not because they want your money!) Sure in the tourist heavy areas, there is a monetary incentive but, for the most part, Thais are very happy and friendly and will ask you a million questions if you sit down to have a conversation with them. It's great because it helps me practice my Thai and learn a lot about their culture. Plus, they are also very respectful and polite to people, which is a nice change from West (though they really need to learn how to form a proper queue!).

Though I leave it now, I know I will be back again. Thailand is my second home and I could never go away for good. I'll always return and holiday here, especially now that I know Thai, I know people here, and I know (some of) the culture. Thailand is an amazing country with a rich diversity of things to do, places to see, and people to meet. It may be a major tourist destination but all those people come here for a reason right? And once you get off the beaten path, you see an even more amazing side of Thailand.

Pop Khun Mai Khrap Bratit Thai. Doo Dooi.

Running Down a Dream

2007-10-07T07:01:00.000-07:00

Life in Bangkok has had its share of ups and downs. For awhile now, I have thought about leaving. My original intent in staying in Bangkok was to learn Thai but then I stayed longer to teach.

Yet in July, I had problems with my job but thought to myself "I haven't done much but work I can't leave yet!" So, as my last post made clear, I went out and partied. I found friends, I'm dating a girl- life is good. For the most part.

My job irritates me. My boss is a major asshole and my hours are slowly being cut away. My schedule changes weekly (sometimes daily) and it is hard to have an normal social life or even get to the gym! With less money, I'm needing to save more- an impossible task now that I got out more. Combined with my psych ward style room, I'm irritable and wanting to leave. It's no longer in my economic interest to stay- I won't save what I need to save if I stay here like planned until January. Moreover, sadly, much to my GREAT GREAT dismay, my friends are no longer going to be here for New Years as they will be partying in Australia. After 4 yrs in a row of Thailand, they are taking a break.

That's even less incentive for me to stay. So knowing that I really only had 2 more months of work left anyways and given that I wasn't even gonna make enough money to compensate for my stress and Asshole Boss, I decided that it was time to leave.

As of November 12th-ish, I will traversing the Land Down Under. It was a hard decision to make- mostly because of the new girlfriend. I've known I've needed a holiday for awhile (I've had 8 days off in 6 months!) and was going to use the next visa trip to take one but it was too expensive. I decided since people weren't coming over the holidays and I hate my job, I'm going to leave. I'll get a 30 day tourist visa and head out when it expires.

It was tough because of the girlfriend but I knew this was only a temporary relationship when I got into it and despite the good times, I'm not ready to settle down with one girl- hell, I can't settle down in one place yet! However, she didn't take the early departure well but I digress....

I'm happy with my decision now. I'm at peace with my time here. I feel like I did do a lot. I learned a new language, lived in another country, had a good job (despite the boss), saved for another year of travel, made some friends and made some good friends, did see a lot of bangkok, partied, and will spend my last month partying more. I may not have seen as much of the country as I wanted but I'll be here again for a wedding and to travel next holiday season!

While I wondered for awhile- was I leaving because it was the right thing to do or was I leaving because I was just running away but I realized it doesn't matter. I never intended to stay forever and I did what I came here to do. The beauty of a nomad's life is when you aren't enjoying it, you can leave. And I haven't enjoyed my job for months now and with me working less, why stay there if I'm not going to get paid? and if I'm not going to work, I'm going to travel.

The once again Nomad,

Matt

Life in Bangkok: The Ex-Pat Scene

2007-09-13T06:58:00.000-07:00

Bangkok is a city of 12 million people. It sprawls out for miles from the city center. It lacks a concentrated public transportation system leading to huge amounts of traffic- a ride that would take 15 minutes in no traffic can take over two hours during the day time. All of these cars lead to poor air quality and a hazy skyline. Yet somehow in this chaos, the ex-pats of Bangkok all seem to find each other.

When I first moved to Bangkok, I assumed ex-pats were either generally rich old men or teachers with a few people working for big companies. I figured that especially if they were young, they were probably a teacher. Then I started to get friends. I found out that that wasn't the case. A surprising number of people WEREN'T teachers and instead worked for many, many international or local companies. Apparently, it wasn't as hard as I thought to find work here- it just takes some time and a few connections. (Neither of which I had when I arrived)

The Bangkok Ex-pat scene is vast- I couldn't tell you how big it is but I can tell you this: Everyone knows each other, everyone drinks hard, and no one stays more than two years.

The Bangkok ex-pat community is so close that Kevin Bacon would be proud. If you don't know them, your friend or your friend's friend does. I've meet seemingly random strangers who know my boss, or know my co-workers or know my boss's friend or have heard of this or that person. Bangkok has a weird six degrees of separation going on....and to make it worse, everyone here loves to gossip.

We are also a group of hard partiers. Bangkok has a never ending supply of ex-pat bars and after hour bars that are packed no matter what day of the week it is. Many of my friends give new meaning to going to work with hangovers. There is this one bar- Cheap Charlie's that is filled every day it is open. It is the pre-game place in Bangkok and on Wends, you can find all the ex-pat girls at Coyotes enjoying their free margaritas before people move to the trendy Bed Club. It's a wild scene and a lot crazier than Boston ever was. It's the most fun I've had in awhile!

Yet the downside is that no one stays long. Few people ever stay more than a few years and it is rare to find people, especially younger ones, who stay longer. Most who do are tied to contracts. Typically, most people stay a year or a year and half before they go. It's a very transient group but then again, that gives it some of its appeal. Everything is always new, the faces always changing, and the excitement always there.

As a tourist, few people love the city, especially me. As a resident, Bangkok opens its secrets to you and comes an exciting place. I love Bangkok- its a wonderful city and my group of friends could be like the UN it is so eclectic. Though I may be living large and spending away money for Europe, I'm having a blast. If you ever come to Bangkok, find an ex-pat to show you the real side of the city, not the boring touristy part most people only see.

Australia: The Packing Begins

2007-08-16T07:09:00.000-07:00

With only 3 more weeks left before I head to the Southern Hemisphere, I've been getting myself ready. I've got my things to do list in hand and have been slowly checking it off- visiting sites, eating at my favorite restaurants (or place I've wanted to try), buying stuff, and going out and partying. This week I also may just head down to the islands to go learn to scuba dive.

The closer it gets, the more excited I'm getting. I am going to do a grand tour of the continent country. I fly into Perth on Nov. 8th and head up the west coast to Darwin, then down the center to Melbourne and up the coast through Sydney for New Years and finishing in Cairns before I head to New Zealand. I figure, it will be years before I even have the chance to come back and who knows what can happen in that time- Australia is a long way from ANYTHING (except New Zealand)!!

I am a little gutted though because when I planned my trip before I left and then re-planned when I moved to Bangkok, the dollar got a lot better of an exchange rate. I have watched as about 800 dollars in money has just vanished- POOF!- as the exchange rate went down by 20 cents. That's a lot of cash to a backpacking fool like myself.

My budget shattered, I strive on. I'm going to do this right and so despite spending into my savings, I'm going to do what I wanted before the currency collapsed. A lot of people rent a car and drive around but I don't have a license nor in the mood to hitch with some fellow travelers going my way as I have friends to stay with and am in a rush to make it to Sydney for New Years! That means to get to all those national parks and marine reserves, I'm doing the anti-backpacker thing and signing up for tours. BOOM! There goes my budget but at least I'll see everything I want to because I ain't coming back this way for years and who knows where I'll be then! So screw it! Sign me up, heres my ATM card, bring on the fun that is Australia. Beer, babes, and beaches.

Life in Bangkok: Stay or Leave?

2007-08-03T06:48:00.000-07:00

I'm at a crossroads- do I stay or do I leave? I dislike my job (teaching test prep sucks!), friends keep wanting me to join them in Australia, and I'm restless after being in one place for 5 months.
Yet at the same time, I'm not really ready to leave Bangkok. I have a nice gym membership here, I'll just be coming back here again in December for new year's, and, well, I haven't done anything here. The first 3 months I spent just with all my travel friends who kept passing through, and the other months were spent working 60 hr weeks. (Today is my first day off since May 7th. Almost 3 months of straight working!!)

So if I leave now, I have no real fun memories of Bangkok. But the thought of working, even at less hours, for another 4 months? BLAHH. For now, I've decided to cut loose a little bit- go out and meet more people (met some cool expats this week!) and overall, have more fun. But I have buyer's remorse when I do that- every dollar spent now is less I'll have for Europe. I just can't win in my mind.

For now though, I'm throughly confused but will stay here until at least mid-September when my visa requires a renewal. This is going to be a last minute decision and one where I wish could clone myself to do both. Sadly, I don't have that option yet. My friends Paul and Dane told me not to overthink it so I'll just go with the flow. I have no real attachments so I can move with the wind.

Other than my confused state, things are trucking along. Thanks everyone for all the comments on the LP website over the course July. I'm in desperate need of new music but I have no idea what is out. PLEASE give me some recommendations! I've been new music deprived for a year now and need something new before I angirly through my IPOD against a wall!

Oh and I am throughly addicted to Facebook! You can import your buddy list to see whose on it and I found people I haven't spoken to in years!!! It's great! Plus, I don't spammed like I do on MySpace. Who here as facebook? Add me! or tell me how to add you!

-Matt

Life in Bangkok: Moving Up!

2007-06-13T06:44:00.000-07:00

I am officially now a Bangkokian.

After 3 months living in a guesthouse, I have finally moved out of the tourist ghetto and into an apartment. I had always been weary of making this move because I didn't like the idea of committing to contracts and deposits. Plus apartments downtown are muy expensivo. But mostly, I didn't like the idea of being "settled." I liked my vagabond ways and didn't want to be tied down.

But now that's changed. My friend told me his apartment block rents without contracts and is cheap. So I went and checked it out. It was small but it is right downtown by the subway, has air conditioning, and my friend lives there too. So I took the plunge and made the move. All that is missing is the internet but I'm sure I can sneak onto someone's wireless!

I also am opening a bank account here. It will save me money because now I don't have to western union money home every month. I'm going to mail an ATM card to my parents and have them withdraw back in America! It will cost me a third of Western Union. I also found out I can get traveler's checks at the bank cheap too. I wish I knew all this before I sent money back home last month.

I guess this means I'm finally settling into a groove. I have a hectic work schedule but I think moving downtown is going to change my experience here in Bangkok. I'll be closer to the nightlife, the malls, the movies, work, my friends, and my sushi bars. I guess I am coming to terms with it all. I still yearn for the freedom of the road and the thrill of stepping into a new city for the first time but for now, living here, in this city, isn't so bad.

Other misc. Bangkok things:

My New Visa
I had to get a new visa since mine ran out. I went to get 30 day as my 90 day has expired and I can't get a new one until August. I went to sign up for the visa run and was told I was going to have to overstay my visa because the border control doesn't count 180 days in country just 180 days since your first day here. It didn't matter that I haven't spent 180 days here, my first day was Nov 28th so I couldn't get a new visa until after May 28th. Of course, they just doubled the overstay fee on March 1st so I was going to get whacked with a nice fee.

Additionally, I had to get proof I was leaving the country within those thirty days. It didn't need to be real, I just needed sometime. My friend just got a piece of paper from some travel agent and paid them a few bucks for it. I bought a flight to Singapore though because in August I actually have to go to get my 90 day visa. So I paid 60 bucks for a flight I knew I would need to change only to arrive for the visa run and find out the rule they created no longer mattered and I didn't need any exit proof any after all. They need to get some rhyme and reason into the system. Visa rules are changed on a monthly basis and it is quite a hassle. I can only imagine the new changes the next time I go. For a country who loves Farang, they love to make it difficult for us to stay here.

Misc. Items:

I saw Ocean's 13. Better than Ocean's 12 but still no Ocean's 11. It's entertaining though and has some comic moments. I'm going to buy some Armani, Massimo, Dolce/Gabana, and other expensive clothes before I go home. They are half the price they are at home! I also got a new book- The Sushi Economy. If you love sushi, go buy this book! It's a good read.

I need a dentist appointment.

I need to get a new passport. I filled mine!! YAY!!!! I'll fill the second one too before I get back home!

Bangkok Reviews of the Week:

Restaurant: MK. Despite having my initials, this place wasn't that great. Thais love it. Ask any Thai their favorite place to go eat and its either Fuji, the Japanese restaurant, or MK. I personally didn't find it that great. Its like Korean BBQ except with soup. You order lots of stuff then cook it in boiling water. It was tasty but I didn't see what the fuss was all about. I'd rather just go to a Korean BBQ and grill up some meat. I did like their sauce though- that was delicious. I wish I could have taken some of it home- I'd put it on everything. In fact, I'd go back just for that. If you are in Thailand, find an MK to glimpse Thai culture but the food isn't going to be the selling point.

Bootleg Movie of the Week: Fast Food Nation. Based off the novel about the fast food industry, I was really excited to see this movie. I loved the book. It's part of the reason why I became a vegetarian so long ago. Given that the book was so amazing, I hoped the film would be too. However, given Hollywood's nack for making bad movie versions of books, I knew I would be dissapointed....and I was. The movie tried to touch on all the issues without really touching on the issues in any depth thereby impacting the viewer in no way. It wasn't a documentary but a real movie. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that the movie lacked any substance. DO NOT RENT THE MOVIE! Don't waste your money.

Life in Bangkok: Thais at the....

2007-05-15T06:36:00.000-07:00

Movies.
I saw Spider-Man 3. It was a fairly good movie. I had higher expectations though. The action in the movie was the best part. Out of the three movies, the action in this was the best but the story…not so much. They tried to pack too much into the movie- three villains, a love story, and an inner personal struggle. They didn't really explore any of the plots well. They had some pretty unbelievable scenes and even more unbelievable resurrections with the villains. And the black Spidey! That could have been a whole movie unto itself. In the comics, it's a huge story- in the movie its semi-minor subplot. They turn the character into a bad 70s movie character! Overall, I give it a C+. It's worth seeing in the theaters but it's a poor end to the series.

However, I'm looking forward to the rest of the summer! There are so many good movies coming out! There's- Pirates 3, Fantastic Four 2, The Bourne Ultimatium, The Simpsons, Transformers, Knocked Up, Harry Potter, Oceans 13, and probably a few others I can't remember right now. I'm going to be busy at the theaters and buying bootlegs on the street.

Seeing a movie in Thailand is an experience. If you thought they played a lot of commercials in America, come to Thailand. They have double the amount we do. It's not like you can skip them because they mix in all the good previews with them. I saw this very strange commercial too. This old man is coughing and coughing and coughing. I'm thinking ok this is a anti-smoking ad. At the end of the commercial, they wheel the guy into the ER with his son yelling "dad, dad, dad" and it turns out the ad is for life insurance. Heavy ad for insurance! I wasn't a big fan.

Moreover, right before the movie everyone stands up and pays respect to the King. Imagine standing up for the Queen or Bush? No one would do it! But the Thais love their King. (I'm going to explain their die hard love in another post.)

Finally, they have people come and take you to your seat (because here you have assigned seating, though you do get to pick your seat. Cool huh?). Also, the theater is posher than anything you could imagine (private lounges, a Starbucks, café), and you can rent couches to lie down on. Overall, seeing a movie here is more fun than back home….except coke and popcorns are all super-sized. Can't a brother get a small!

Gym.

Working out is a pretty universal activity. There's only one way to run, one way to bend your knee, one proper way to bench- proper workouts are universal. Or so you would think. I go to one of the big chain gym in Bangkok and when I rest between sets, I look around and watch the Thais workout. I've come to notice a few things you would never see in America. For instance, cell phones. Thais work out while talking on the phone or texting. They put the headset on and keep on talking no matter what the exercise. Thais love their cell phones. LOVE THEM. If you date a Thai or know a Thai, you can expect a plethora of text messages during the day and so this love follows them into the gym. I see Thai's constantly sitting on machines just talking on the phone or if they are using a leg machine, working out while talking. In the states, you can't talk out and workout at the same time- it's a hazard but here? Just talk and pump it, talk and pump it!

Another thing I have noticed is how bad Thais work out. None of them have good form. None of them use the machines right. All of them put too much weight on. Most of them here hire private trainers and even they don't teach the form right. The meatheads at my gym back home would be appalled! I keep seeing guys do double what they should do, woman barely do anything. I've noticed many farang (myself included) correcting Thais in their workout. I just don't get how they can be so bad at it. It's not rocket science!

Next week I start my new corporate job. I'm very excited about it. It will give me a more predictable schedule. I am going to start my Thai classes again. (That way I will actually understand what Amanda says to me!) I'll have a better gym schedule and I'll have some free time to teach private lessons on the side! All in all everything is awesome.

-Matt

Bangkok City Highlights

Illegal Bootleg Movie of the Week: Blades of Glory. The new Will Farrell movie was funny but it was no Talledega Nights. There was less product placement than in Talledega but also less hilarious moments. It was a good bootleg to watch and a good movie to rent, but I don't know if I'd watch it in the theaters. It was pretty disappointing.

Life in Bangkok

2007-05-07T06:31:00.000-07:00

It's been about two months since I've started working and I am already worn out. It's going to be tough goings for the next 8 months. Come to think of it, it will be tough goings when I get home and have to do this for 40 years…..I shudder at the thought.

So I quit my job. Well, one of them. I am now just doing corporate training because that is where to make bank. The other job was nice and all the married English men (yes, of course to Thai wives!) were pleasant enough to talk to but the pay was shit. It would be fine if I was living here on a more permanent basis but when you are saving for another year of travel, you need an above average salary. Doing corporate training, I'll make double and work less. As an added bonus, I no longer have to make my own lessons because the company provides everything!

I also have insomnia. Lately, I can't fall asleep before 2 and I can't wake up before 10, which makes those days when I need to be up at 8am really hard. I think it is from worrying. What do I have to worry about? The one thing we all worry about when we have nothing to worry about (or when we have a lot to worry about): money! I simply do not have enough. I need about 10k for the trip to India, Europe, the UK, and either Nepal or Fiji. Plus I need another 1500 for my trip to Japan in August. I need a 3-month visa and need to travel outside of Thailand to get one. Japan is a place I've never really seen so why not go there? Then there are all the little life things that pop up, plus visa costs, plus the fees I need to pay to send my money back to America. It all adds up. O and did I mention that I have about 3k in credit card debit that I accumulated due to…well, I'll say bad financial management to be nice. So really, I have lots of expenses and little money to pay such expenses.

So I've been worrying about money lately especially my ability to manage my debt. I hate debt and I kick myself for getting into because now I have to figure out how to pay most of it off without having to come home early. Right now I'm looking at coming home with about half of it paid off. Cry for me Argentina.

Other than that on my mind, nothing much is going on right now. I lead a fairly typical working life. I wake up, I go to work, go to the gym, come home and sit on the internet, watch a movie, and repeat. It is much like my life back in America. I'm back in the working world now. (I don't say real world because this mode of living isn't so real. But that will be an upcoming post.) So that is about it for now. Sorry to bore you. I was going to include more stuff but I wanted to keep this short. I have a lot to talk about actually.

Bangkok City Highlights:

Restaurants of the Week: NONE.

Illegal Bootleg Movie of the Week: Little Children. This movie is a little known independent film starring Kate Winslet as a suburban housewife who hates her mundane life and finds excitement in an affair with another married man. It's a good movie about taking charge of your life. (They use Madam Bouvarie as a metaphor throughout the movie.) Overall, I thought it was pretty good and worth a rental.

Mall of the Week: Siam Paragon. Talk about posh! I went to see Spider Man 3 here and I was blown away at how posh this place was. Bangkok has many, many upscale places but this is one of the most upscale. I heard it was upscale but surprised to see just how exactly upscale it is. There is free wi-fi, leather couches to sit on, and the information map is a touch screen computer. The stores all cater to a very rich and touristy clientele. Even the book store was expensive. But if you want trendy, expensive electronics, clothes, furniture, sports equipment or whatever- this is place to shop in Bangkok.

Life in Bangkok: Songkran

2007-04-22T06:29:00.000-07:00

I never would have guessed that when I left America I would be away for 3 years. I expected one year but now it has been three. Thos years have flown by. The year of the pig was only 3 months! Confused about what I am talking about? I'm talking about how it is another new year- welcome to 2551! Last week, was the Thai new year, marking the 3rd new year's celebration I've had since I've left home. It was also by far the best. While I had considerable fun ringing in the Western New Year, I have never seen anything like Songkran, the Thai New Year.

It's hard to describe the sheer craziness that is involved during this 3 day (yes, 3 days!) celebration. Songkran is about renewing yourself for the New Year and washing away the sins of the past. So for 3 days everyone has a huge water fight and then covers you with flour. Imagine a country where everyone stops so they can have a national water fight and you still wouldn't even be coming to close to the madness that is Songkran.

I live in the tourist area of Bangkok and it also happens to be the major area for Songkran. During this 3 day festival, streets are shut down, sidewalk vendors told to move and 100,000 people flood in to take part in the most insane spectacle I have ever witnessed. Everyone, young and old, is on the streets spraying you with water and occasionally wiping your face full of flour. You can't walk in this area and not get wet. If you are dry someone will get you. The all day water fight carries on into the night as people have dance parties in the street and major roads are shut down to accommodate them. Trying to make it through these parties is near impossible.

What is truly amazing about this holiday is how friendly everyone is about it. Everyone is so polite about covering you in water and smearing flour all over yourself. Many will say "sorry" while they do it. As you get involved in big water fights, everyone is all smiles. Walk down the street, spray stranger, and they just laugh and spray you back and go on. You could never have this type of festival in the West- people would get drunk and start fighting each other or riots would break out. "Hey man, don't get me wet!" we would say. Here it is all smiles.

But then, like always, there are the cops. I was walking down the street firing people and I hit a cop. After speaking some Thai to his fellow officers, three of them started moving towards me with looks on their faces. Now we all know what happens when cops get involved so I was unhappy to seem them, especially as they began walking closer to me and drawing their weapons. I was shit scared to be honest with you, especially when they started yelling at me in Thai. They came closer and fired so I did what I one would do in a situation like this- I fired back. They got me good but I managed to soak one of them pretty bad before one snuck behind me and cover me with cold water. Three against one in a water fight is tough. But we all had a good laugh and I got photos with them.

Overall, it was a blast and it is truly hard to convey the insanity that is a 100,000 person water fight but rest assured it is a crazy scene. I can't wait to return to it next year. I had some pictures on my friend's camera but her memory card got a virus and all the pictures were erased. There were some good pictures there too- classic "Myspace" photos if you will. Next year. Next year.

Bangkok City Highlights:

Restaurants of the Week: Zen. This is the other major sushi restaurant in Bangkok. It is not as good as Fuji but they have Toro so I tend to go there when I want to treat myself to that. Other than the Toro, it's a good restaurant but not the best. Like I said before, Bangkok has awful sushi. I would say it reminds me of Takeshima back in Boston. The miso soup is decent. The edamame is really good though.

Illegal Bootleg Movie of the Week: Little Miss Sunshine. I can see why this was Oscar nominated. This was a great movie and hilariously funny. Steve Carrell is great and the heroin smoking, cocaine snorting, horny Grandfather is even funnier- I think he was the best part of the movies. I highly recommend this movie.

Mall of the Week: MBK Center. Need a cell phone? Come here for some nice stolen ones. In fact, the cell phone I got stolen during Songkran has probably ended up there by now. You can get anything little electronic accessories here. Cellphones, batteries, video games, etc. It's a good place to buy things cheap- mostly because everything is stolen!! I also love this place for the food. There are about 4 sushi bars, and an amazing food court. It has awesome food from everywhere- India, the Middle East, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Western, a juice bar---awesome. The dining room is super fancy too with people come by to clean your plate. It makes me wish for that kind of dining back in America. I'd probably go shopping more.

Life in Bangkok: A Creation Story

2007-04-11T06:25:00.000-07:00

In the beginning, there was the word. And the word was God and so God created all the people and he cooked them. Some of them came out too raw (whites), some of them came out too burnt (dark skinned Thais), but the rest came out a perfect golden brown (everyone else)- a color everyone should aspire too. Or so goes the story taught here (and I do mean taught in schools here!).

Thailand is a nation that has never been conquered by anyone. They gave away a lot of land in order to prevent that from happening. This history of independence has given the Thais a superiority complex. If the Japanese are the snobs of East Asia, the Thais are the snobs of Southeast Asia.

As a tourist who spent nearly 3 months here between two visits, I learned quite a bit about Thai culture. It's hard not to when you stay in someone's country for so long. I picked up some Thai, learnt about the "Wai", about their history, and countless other things. Yet as a tourist one can only learn so much. Without settling into a culture, there is only so much you can see moving about. You see the big traits but the ones down the side streets elude you.

When I moved here, I expected I'd see a lot more of those side streets. Sometimes I explore side streets to my delight, sometimes I can't wait to turn back. This is one of those things that makes me want to turn back but yet keep looking over my shoulder.

Thais are very racist against people of dark skin. To them it's a sign of being poor and low class. In the West, we love to get dark or tan for it means we have time enough to take a holiday, to relax. We compare tans and are jealous of those with them. We go tanning. Overall, tan is good.
Not here. Thais avoid the sun at all costs. Thais are always shielding their face and skin. Outside workers will cover every part of their body even if the weather is a cool 100 out. Light skin is prized a bring possession here. (As it is in most places in Asia.) I understand the historical context behind it but it's amazing that though so much of Thailand has changed yet this one thing has yet to move forward too. Thais pride whiteness so much, it takes about 10 minutes in a 7-11 to find a brand of sunscreen or lotion that doesn't include some form of skin whitener. The Thai women love farang men because it means that their children will be light skinned. My students often comment to me about how dark they are and how sad it makes them, how they get picked on, and how they have spent thousands of dollars trying to bleach their skin. I saw a woman who had blonded her hair and bleached her skin so much it looked raw.

Thai racism goes beyond just an obsession with whiteness. For example, I wasn't the first in line for my job. My boss had interviewed another guy before. A British guy. A British Indian who she says was more "English than the queen." But the Thai management didn't want him because he was "too dark." Heaven forbid a DARK skinned person teach you English! Moreover, all the actors in Thailand are pale skinned. You'll never see a dark skinned TV as a famous TV or movie personality- or at least I haven't yet.

I love Thailand. Thais are a great people. They are friendly, happy, and interesting. I was told this story last week and it made a lot of little things make sense. Don't get me wrong- the racism here is not like what it is in the West. There are no lynchings, no ghettos, and no Thai version of the KKK or Nazism. Here it is more subtle. A general preference to being white and holding "whiteness" on a pedal stool as something to aspire too. It's more of snobbery, a holding onto a time when a select upper class lounged indoors, while the rest labored in the fields. Old habits that die hard.

-Matt

Life in Bangkok, pt2: Settling In.

2007-04-03T06:22:00.000-07:00

I'm not very happy about it- the realization that my travels are over for now. I've been here a month now and it's finally hit me that I'm here for awhile. I'm pretty depressed about it. It's not that I don't like living here or that this won't be an interesting and fun time, it's just that I'm sad to be in one place for awhile. I don't think I realized how tough it would be to stop traveling. It's even worse that I live in the traveler area of Bangkok and am reminded of all things traveling all the time as I watch people go to and from places, meeting exciting fellow travelers, and still living free. Then there is me who sits there and thinks..shit, I have to be at work in the morning. If I feel like this now, I wonder what it will feel like when I finally stop traveling next year. This is just a temporary break and if I can't cope with this, I don't think I'm going to be ready for a permanant one.

I keep thinking about moving on and how it's 9 months away. Everyday gets me a little closer. I know I need this job to keep traveling but the long and short of it is that I'm sad to be done traveling for awhile. I want to keep going. There are so many places to see! So many people to see! Right now I have friends at the full moon rave and I had every intention of being there but I had to cancel my plans because I have work tomorrow. I'm not cut out of the working world anymore. These 9 months are going to go slowly!

Speaking of work, I got a second job. Now I am working 40 hrs a week, 6 days a week. BUT on the plus side the second job pays double what the other job pays. Now I am making serious money....if I keep working like this and if the rest of the months follow like they are, I may never come home! HAHA. or I'll be able to take a nice holiday to Japan and afford a few nice things in Europe.

Other than my feeling of sadness over getting back into the work force and my new job, nothing is going on. All my travel friends have finally fled the scene. Except for a few random visits in May, that is it until the end of the year. That makes it even sadder. At least when people kept visiting I still felt like I was traveling and now all my connections to the last 8 months are gone. sigh. I know some people here though so it isn't all bad.

Now, this week in Bangkok:

Restaurant: Taste of India. The best Indian food I've had in Thailand. The vindaloo was amazing, the nan yummy, and the sauces very flavorful. And surprising this place is located on Khao San Rd! Who would have thought the best food would be in the tourist ghetto?

Charcoal Grill. Another Japanese restaurant. This was awful. The quality of the fish, the selection, the variety of rolls was just awful. A lot of Thais eat here but but I think it is more for the Korean BBQ than the sushi. I won't becoming back here again! O and their miso soup was basically just water. The service was decent though.

Movies of the week: Date Movie. So bad it's not even worth talking about.
Friends with Money. This movie is about 40yr old women who are in the midst of mid-life crisis's of varying degrees. It stars Jennifer Aniston as a maid with "problems." It was actually pretty good. Jennifer Aniston does a good job at playing the troubled soul like she did in the movie The Good Girl. She isn't the best actress but in these dramas where she has to be the sad soul, she nails it perfectly. Probably has something to do with the fact she can relate these woman to her life. :)

Life in Bangkok, pt 1

2007-03-22T06:17:00.000-07:00

Before I get into Bangkok, let's first by saying I took a little holiday to Ko Phi Phi, one of the resort islands of Thailand to visit the Swedish girl and her friends. It was a great, albeit expensive trip. I waited to long to book my flights and paid double what I should have. These Swedish girls are really only wanna be backpackers! They spend money like it is going out of style and buckets of alcohol are expensive. But, no worries, because now I have a job, Uncle Sam gave me back 600 extra dollars, and I just found 300 dollars in an account I forgot I had. So no worries.

Phi Phi was great. Basically I spent 5 days on the beach, in the ocean, watching football (Manchester destroyed Bolton. Aresenal still sucks. and Liverpool are still wankers), and drinking buckets of alcohol. I ran into an English couple I meet in Vietnam there. Very random but they were leaving the next day.

The island was filled with Swedish people. When I was there in November, it was totally different- now it feels like Scandinavia in the tropics. If they weren't Swedes, they were from Norway. There was only a sprinkling of English and other people around. Given how much I'm not a fan of Swedes (ironic huh?), I was a little annoyed. I've meet some great Swedes but mostly they stick to themselves and talk Swedish! Bastards! I know you speak English! I'll say this though- After Phi Phi, I need to move to Sweden. I've never seen such a high percentage of hot girls in any one nationality. I got whiplash. Even is just beautiful. Even the ugly Swedes are still hotter than most American girls. I also saw God there too. He was in the form of a Norwegian girl. How do I know that was God? Because only God could be that perfect.

Now I'm back in Bangkok. I started work today. It's weird trying to teach someone the English language and having to explain what words mean and grammar. I've been reviewing the classes and course material. I've come in early a few days to create a cheat sheet for me so I know the proper names and definitions for all this grammar. So far my schedule isn't that full but I'm promised I'll get 40 hrs. I hope so. I need to work at least 40 hours in order to keep traveling. I can always find part time work too. During the summer where it gets 40 degrees or more, I have no problem working 8 hrs a day, 7 days a week. I'll earn a lot of money and not sweat all day.

Sadly though, I had to quit my Thai classes. Work was getting in the way and work comes first. I have about half the hours I bought left and got 6 months left to use them. Hopefully I will find time to do so. I keep practicing and before I left, I made the teacher just teach my sentence structure and grammar. I can learn vocab on my own but I really need to learn sentence structure. So for now I just practice on my own and when out on the street, though I still am not used to thinking in Thai.

Since I will lead a boring life for most of the week, I decided on the mandatory day off, I will explore Bangkok and visit tourist sights and one of the many, many shopping malls here. This way I have something to write about. Plus I'll blog on all the bootleg movies I see and the restaurants I eat at. So without further ado, here are this weeks picks:

Restaurants of the week: Fuji (Japanese), Mai Kadee(Thai). Fuji is the big Japanese restuarant chain in Bangkok. Sadly, Thailand lack a lot of good Japanese food and the best places also tend to be chains. Fuji is pretty good. Compared to the US it is cheap but here a meal costs a lot. I like the food there. The miso soup is pretty good. The sushi is good but they lack a good variety of things to get. The menu is pretty basic. Mai Kadee is a Thai restuarant I first found I when I came here 2 years ago. It's a vegetarian place right near Khoa San Rd. It's in all the major guidebooks. Whenever I come to Bangkok I always eat here. This is some seriously good food. I take wheoever I am with here. Everyone always love it...even the meat eaters. Some of the best food I have had in Thailand and I trade any visit to Fuji for ths place. Now, I leave near it and I'm very happy about it!

Mall of the week: Pantip Plaza. Need a computer? Ipod? CD? Camera? At Pantip, you can get it all. Pantip is the elecontrics mall of Bangkok. Everything is sold here and everything is cheap. I bought my laptop and Ipod there. It's an electronic lovers orgasam here. You can get whatever you want cheap. If you come to Bangkok, stop here and pick stuff up cheap!

Bootleg movie of the week: Ghost Rider. This wsa a made hollywood summer movie. Once again Nicholas Cage proves he can't make a good movie. National Treasure was better than this and that's saying something. The movie was great quality though. They must have gotten a digital copy because this was not shoot in a movie theater by some sketchy guy. In fact, I was more impressed by that than the movie itself. Don't waste your money on this film...it's so bad.

Life in the Big City

2007-03-08T06:13:00.000-08:00

Since my last post, I've been settling into Bangkok. I've had my first week of classes and my head is swirling with new Thai phrases. Pom mi Puat Hua!! (I have a headache!) But, I'm getting the tones down even though MAA said 5 different ways still sounds the same to me. Say one word the wrong way and you insult someone. Speaking of which, I know how to call people ugly, stupid, and tell them to fuck off. I'm picking the language up and that is cool. I have class all this month and by the end, I hope to have a good enough base to be able to understand and say most things. Since I'll be here for awhile, I'll get practice.

I found myself a guesthouse in a predominetly Thai area. Incidently enough, the hotel I stayed at 2 yrs ago on my first trip to Thailand is down the block. I guess everything comes full circle. It's cheap enough but I wish it had A/C.

I joined an awesome gym. I take nice hot showers there. It's way better than the gym back home and I've been going everyday. I'm determined to get bulk back. It feels good to be back in the gym. I also bought an IPOD, a laptop, and have a cell phone now. It's nice to be having a settled life for awhile. I wake up go to class, go the gym, run some errands, study, and as of now, get my pictures sorted. Soon, I'll do more sightseeing of the city. Check out the 100s of malls. There is a mall for everything here. See the places and temples I haven't bothered seeing. Check the parks. I'll be living in "the real world" or as I like to think of it "the boring world." Though since I'm expat living, it is still more exciting than the 9-5 life back home.

My life is going to get more regular even soon. Why? I just took a job teaching English. Yeah you read that right. I have a job. A teaching job. My parents told me to use my degree so, instead of using the Masters they implied, I'm using the BA. Same same but different. I'm now going to be living in Bangkok until the end of the year. It's a pretty good job and I'll be able to save between 8 and 10 thousand dollars depends on how many hours I decide to work and how thrifty I am. (English teachers can get paid a lot here if they have any sort of qualifications, qualifications I apprently have. Of course now, I need to go buy some proper work clothes- T-shirts and flip flops don't cut it!)

Next month, I am going to move into a posh apartment though because I'm not living through the monsoon season without A/C. 110 plus humidity is not my idea of a good time. That will be my only real expense...that and my French classes. I decided I want to learn french as well as Thai...be quadlingual. It will help when I go back to Europe.

Yup, I'm going back to Europe too. Since Bangkok is all about working to travel, I will both work a loy and be thrifty. This way I can go to all the other places on my list, put Japan back on said list, and then go to India and Nepal (hike Mt. Everest), and go back to Europe next summer in time for the European soccer cup. I'm going to go to France, England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Eastern Europe, and some countries I've already been too. Probably Sweden too.
So at this rate, all of you back home will see me in September 2008. All of you in OZ/NZ,will have to wait until the beginning of next year. My European friends will see me again next year too.

BUT if you are ever in Thailand, anyone here has a free place to stay in Bangkok and I'll host any of your friends too. It's only right I return the goodwill I've gotten on the road to others.
That is my story for now. I'll post regular updates on life in bangkok. Good things to see, resturants, bars, etc.

-Matt

Angkor Wat

2007-03-03T20:43:00.000-08:00

Nothing I write here will do Angkor Wat justice. It is so magnificant, so amazing, so stupendous that any words I write will fall short and the only way to really see what I'm talking about is to show you lots pictures. Alas, I don't have them up yet. I'll be posting them in a few days (along with lots of other pictures) so for now, my words will have to do.

Angkor Wat is the massive ancient Khmer capital in western Cambodia. Active from the 9th to 12th century, it was the center of Khmer civilizaton. It ruled Cambodia, Laos, parts of Thailand, and Vietnam. It was massive. So is the capital- it has hundreds of temples. One of them required 80,000 people to maintain it. I thought Tikal was great but Angkor Wat makes Tikal look like it was built by children. Angkor Wat has over 100 temples, is spread over about 60km, and is just amazing. Some of the temples are masterly carved, contain detailed statues and reliefs about religion, politics, life, war. I took over 500 pictures in the three days I was there. I would have taken a lot more but the Swedish girl got me sick and I spent a whole day home. I only saw about half the temples I wanted to see.

I won't go into much more detail about my favorites and such because without pictures it is meaningless. Needless to say, Angkor Wat was the coolest man made sight I have ever seen. I'll post pictures very very soon. If you are into history and ruins, Angkor Wat has to be on your list. It's better than Rome.

I'm leaving Cambodia today to head to Bangkok. It will be good to go back into Thailand. I miss the country and I am excited start learning Thai. Plus, it will be nice to settle down for awhile into a routine and just take a break. I am going to miss Cambodia though. I was really excited to come visit and am leaving surprised at how much I liked it. The people were amazing, the food great, the atmosphere lovely- all in all it was way better than Vietnam. The Cambodians are super nice and ultra friendly- most of the time they talk to you it isn't about getting your money. I had a conversation with a guy in Thai once. They are so happy and go lucky. I loved it there. Though I'm upset at myself because I started to become the tourist I hate- there were more days than I would like that were spent around the guesthouse watching movies and just hanging out. Granted, by 2pm it's about 37 (95ish) and humid out so who really wants to walk in that? but I still feel guilty about it. I fully plan to come back to Cambodia and make ammends. Plus I have a whole lot more to see. I never really left the capital because I was having too much fun and missed a lot of the country I wanted to see. I wouldn't trade my fun in though and now I have a great excuse to come back.

All in all Cambodia is an amazing country and whenever you are in Southeast Asia, make sure you visit. But skip the LokLak- it's like bad beef stew. but there is great Indian food here so try some of that!

-Matt

The heat is on in Saigon

2007-02-12T07:11:00.000-08:00

Good Morning Vietnam,

Here's a quick travel lesson for those who ever go to Vietnam: No matter how many copies of your passport you own, how much backup ID you have, without the real thing, never leave where you are without the original.

Right now, I should be cycling around the Mekong Delta. I was going on a nice four day trip with some cycling friends of mine but instead I am back in Ho Chi Minh City. Why? Because I lack a real passport. The real thing is at the Thai Embassy getting a visa stamp on it so I can stay there until June. (I used all my visa's on arrival.) No problem right? Usually, copies of your passport are fine anywhere I've been. So after biking 77k from Saigon to our first stop, I found no hotel would let me book a room or share a room without the real thing. A copy of the passport, the visa, the reciept from the embassy- none of it mattered. So I had to come all the way back to Saigon where they are less strict and would let me in with just a copy! (No I didn't cycle back either- I took the bus! 140K in 1 day is way to much for me!)

What a pain in the ass! So instead of enjoying the one section of Vietnam I really wanted to see the most, I'm back in Saigon and decided once I get my passport on Monday, I'm leaving Vietnam. No time or funds to go back and do any organized tour of the Mekong because I really want to spend as much time as I can in Cambodia before I go to Thailand. I'll be there for 3 months so if you go there from March to May, look me up!! I'll be living in Bangkok for most of that time.

So that is that. I'm no longer sick. When I die, I need to thank Pastuer for discovering penicillan. That stuff works wonders. I've been meeting a lot of Americans here on break from teaching English. Really weird. I never meet Americans when I travel. Saigon is a cool city. It's like a Asian version of LA. A lot to see, a lot to do- a little for everything. Yesterday, I found the Japanese section of the city so I might get sushi today. My friend Seth and I walked around for awhile. I like Saigon. It's not too bad if you can get over the crazy drivers here. 1000 people die a month from traffic accidents. Seeing them ignore traffic lights, go down streets the wrong way, and drive on the sidewalk makes you understand why. If you don't cross the road carefully, you'll probably die. No lie! I almost got hit 3 times biking out of the city! They just come out of no where! It's quite scary.

However, I am very ready to leave Vietnam. I don't think I'd come back here unless I was with someone who was never here before. There are too many places to see and Vietnam didn't grab as much as other places have.

Until Cambodia,

Cheers!

Matt

PS- If you can tell me where this blog title comes from, I'll give you a cookie!

Fight Club

2006-12-05T21:46:00.000-08:00

I'm currently in Krabi. It's not that great here. Touristy, over developed, and overpriced. I'm staying two nights before I move on to less developed and nicer looking islands in the south before I get to Malaysia.

I've been on Ko Lanta for the past 4 days. It's beautiful little island near Ko Phi Phi but much much less developed and way cheaper. However, I think that will change soon since Thailand is about to advertise the island next year. Soon it will end up like Phuket! The island was great though. I went with my British friend and two French girls we meet. Stayed in a bungalow on the beach so now I am nice and tan. We rented bikes one day and biked around. Interesting island and it was nice to see local thai life but biking in this heat is rough. I had to stop for water every ten minutes (plus I'm way out of shape) but getting to this secluded beach and this viewpoint of the island was well worth it. The French girls were loads of fun and sad to see them go but now I must be moving on.

The greatest story ever told:

On my last night on Ko Phi Phi, my friends and I decided to get pissed (like that Mo?). Plus it was my friend Marti's 23rd birthdaty and since I couldn't get to Miami in time, I had to drink a few for her as I promised! Getting drunk in Thailand usually means drinking buckets. (ie drinking a sand pale full of whiskey, red bull and coke). So after we drank about four of those (2 for 1!!), we left and meet our dutch friends at Thai boxing. There anyone who boxed would get a free bucket. Now, any time you think you have a good idea while drunk, usually it's a pretty bad idea. Well, I had a "good idea" and faster than you knew I was in that ring with gloves and a mask one facing another drunk tourist that was double my size.

We both agreed to go easy, especially since this was going to be my first time being hit by another human being. My "coach" was the Dutch girl. I think she was more pumped about this than me and I don't know why she didn't do it! But there I was. The first round went ok and I actually got a lot of punches him and got him on the floor. Then came round two and I think he stoppd going easy. After the first hit, I wondered how people could do this for a living? That shit hurts even when you are drunk!

After about five minutes, the ref called the fight in favor of the OTHER guy. This solicited a lot of BOOs from the crowd. I was excited that I may have officially lost but in the eyes of the crowd I won. Afterwards, people came up to me and congradulated me for getting up there with a guy twice my size. One bloke even bought me a drink. The word wanker was used a lot to describe the other guy. I won the hearts of the crowd. A good ego boost.

The next morning though was not so great. I am still sore in my jaw, back, and next from that night and the next day I could barely move. However, I'd do it all over again and this is the coolest thing I've done on my trip so far besides hike the Grand Canyon.

-Matt

ps- sorry for such a long wait between post. I forgot to copy my last post onto here.

No Money

2006-11-26T07:21:00.000-08:00

This is going to be a long post about: 1) Athens, 2) My thoughts on Europe, and 3) Some major trip changes. I conveniently numbered everything so you can skip to what you want to read. (However, I think you should read it all. That's just me though)

I. Athens

I end my trip in Europe in Athens. Athens...well, Athens is huge. It is by far the biggest city I've been to on my trip. I think it is way bigger than NYC. My guess is that it's about as big as LA. Looking out over the Acropolis, the city goes on in every direction for what seems like an eternity. (Good panoramic shots from the acropolis!) Athens isn't the greatest city I've been too. I can't quite put my finger on it but there is something...unclean about it. I wouldn't say it's a dirty city but it's not very clean. There's like a layer of grit that blankets the city. I didn't find the ruins that spectacular either. The Acropolis is cool but it's covered in scaffolding. Apparently, they have been doing work on it for 6 years. I wish they finished because the scaffolding totally ruined my pictures. I actually thought the best ruin was the Temple of Hephaestus. No scaffolding, complete, by itself on a hill- beautiful! Other than that, the ruins weren't that well signed, preserved, and there was a good lack of guides and information. I really didn't like how they rebuilt them all. I don't want a modern reconstruction!!! Rome was definitely better for ruins.

Athens is also famous for the Plaka, the area around the acropolis. Now, as you know, I love small, narrow, winding streets and that's what the Plaka is but it is also filled with tourists, overpriced shops and restaurants. It's a mixed bag. I found some parts in the Plaka that were a little empty but for the most part it's a tourist zone.

Overall, Athens was a nice place to visit (It's also a very very cheap city compared with the rest of Europe!) and if I came back to Greece, I'd go see more stuff in Athens but you won't be hearing me say "OOO Athens! What an amazing city!!!"

II. Europe

Well, after two months in Europe, it's time to leave. In some ways, I'm a little ready to leave. I'm tired of paying a fortune for everything, it's cold here, there's a lot less people, and I just feel it's time to move on. On the other hand, I love Europe and wish I could jet now to visit people in Barcelona, go back to Italy, or go back to my new home- Amsterdam.
I leave Europe so glad I finally came. I mean what the hell took me so long? Why didn't I do this when I was in college? Actually, why didn't I travel at all in college! Man, was I stupid!

I learned a lot while here. Such things like:

Except for the British and the Dutch, Europeans are some rude ass people. I always thought Europeans would be friendlier. I'm used to people being short and impolite- I grew up in New England! I didn't believe the Brits when they told me Americans are way nicer than Europeans until I got to Europe. Europeans will bump into you and not apologize, cut you in the cue then give you a dirty look, are generally rude and not helpful, and the waitstaff act like they have never known the word "service," and everyone acts like they are far more intelligent than you are. I was not a fan at all. While this is not true for all the Europeans I meet, I found the ones I interacted with to be quite rude, a sentiment shared by most Americans I meet. I have a new appreciation for interpersonal relations in the states.

British people are drunks but hilariously funny ones. They tell outrageous stories, are super un-PC but some of the funniest people around. (You should hear their soccer chants! I know why people get pissed now!) Those accents don't hurt either. I love traveling with the British!

The Dutch are super friendly. Have I mentioned I love Holland?

Italy has amazing food, weather, cities, and woman. It was everything I dreamt it too be.

They don't serve alcoholic beer at soccer games in Europe.

Europe may have a better train network but it's never...EVER...on time. Beware of strikes. They happen often. However, flying is a cheap alternative. Berlin to Amsterdam for 20 bucks? Why take a train!

Europeans aren't that anti-American. Everyone kept telling me to watch out in Europe because they hate Americans. I found that to be completely false. Sure some people hate Americans but they are few and far between. (Spain, though, is more vocal than other nations.) Mostly, they just hate George Bush. Europeans love Americans and America but hate the American government. Then again with Bush in charge, can you blame them? Most conversation revolved around me trying to explain the American political system and the electoral college to them so they could understand how someone like Bush could get elected. Don't be fooled by the lies at home- Europeans won't hate you for being American so wear that flag proudly!

So in the end, Europe was an eye opening experience. I meet people from around the world, saw lots of great history, ate lots of great food, partied at great bars, drank great beer, smoked great weed, meet some great girls(wink, wink), and had a great time. Next time I come back, I'm back packing around during the summer!

Ok, so maybe I will miss it here....

III. No Money

There's major changes to my trip. Why? Because I'm getting broke. Those extra months I added on are now gone and it looks as though I'll be cutting some stuff out. Why? Here's why:

My currency sucks. Why can't I be a Brit and live on a pound?!! The dollar feel to a two year low on Friday. I know- exciting stuff right? Well, when I planned my trip the dollar was worth .89 Euro cents. When I left it was, .78 and now it's .76. Against the Australian dollar? well, the US dollar wen from getting 1.40 AUD to 1.29 AUD. For New Zealand, it went from 1.65 to 1.45! Those are some major changes!! I factored in a slight currency change but those are pretty big. It's not a big deal when you are there for a bit but when you are living off the dollar long term, it hurts. I lost $700 just switching into Euros!

Also, I spent extra $2,000 in Europe. Having to buy a new camera, staying an extra 2 weeks, flying all over the country, living in Amsterdam, plus losing a bit in the end to the casino, I'm down a lot of money.

So, with those two powers combined, I'm fucked. This is going to require new and creative ways to get around. I still have enough to get to at least Australia. After that, I don't know. I searched Couchsurfing and lots of Aussies and Kiwis have it so I might surf my way through those countries to save money. I'm going to try to get a volunteer job in Fiji.

Japan? Well, Japan is gone. Unless North Korea nukes it, Japan isn't going to change much in the next few years. I'd rather go on a two week holiday when I have more money to spend so I can fully take it all in and buy lots of cool Japanese stuff!

That's long enough for now!

Until Asia,

Matt