Jason's Trip Around The World, and now life in Singapore - Thailand

Tribute

jason@willock.org (Jason Willock) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 23:48:35 -0400

In early January I found out I was going to be a father, at first I was a bit scared, but then the thought of having a cute little kid of my own made me happy, and I was excited that me and Tan were going to start a family together!

As the weeks grew on, and Tan's belly started to grow larger, I was more and more excited, and curious about what he or she would look like. Excited to teach, and learn both at the same time! I was talking to the baby inside Tan's belly, not sure exactly what to say, but talking nonetheless.

All this happiness came to an end however, as due to complications in the pregnancy we had to terminate it 18weeks 2 days in, on April 27th.
This has been the most emotional event in my life, just utter sadness, and emptiness. It certainly will take some time to heal these wounds, the healing begins today, with a ceremony for our little girl today at a temple in Bangkok.

Little One-

First Smile, First Step, First Word.
Won't get to be seen or be heard.

Wanted to teach you all I knew
Now that I just can't do.

You will always be in our heart
Didn't wish to have to part

Hope you are happy up above
For it's you I will always love

Rest of Mom's Trip In Thailand

jason@willock.org (Jason Willock) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 20:53:42 -0400

Well time just zipped by, and now my mom is back home already!

We left Singapore to go to Phuket, Tan picked a really nice apartment/hotel for us to stay in, it was very nice, I recommend it if you go to Phuket. BYD Lofts is the name. We introduced mom to some Thai food, and relaxed on the beach. There was a Biker Weekend festival going on, there were tons of Harley's from all over Thailand and Malaysia there, even saw a couple from Singapore.
Tan has a cousin who is a Physical Therapist there, I have a pinched nerve in my hip that acts up sometimes, so Tan took me there to have me checked out, also gave us some insight into Medical Tourism. I apparently need to stretch more, as I am a little crooked, and need to straighten myself out, so I will try to start some stretching routine. Her cousin was also nice enough to lend us a car for our time there, which was handy to see the rest of the island!

We did a day trip to Koh Phi Phi, did some snorkeling, it was quite lovely water, I took some cookies from the boat into the water, and the fish attached, there were so many, it was pretty cool, I really need to do a diving course, but I have been saying that for ever. I really should get around to it though!

Our last night in Phuket also marked the start of Songkran, the Thai New Year, and a water festival, where basically everyone has squirt guns, or buckets of water, and everyone just sprays each other. My mom wasn't too keen on that, but me and Tan headed out for a little fun. The worst is when people have buckets of ice water and you get soaked. They also apply a talcum powder paste over you as well, I tried to avoid that part as much as possible.. Songkran is pretty fun, I hope we get to go again next year. One downside of Songkran is the traffic accidents, and it's not surprising, people will stand on the side of the street, and spray mopeds with water. Here are the stats for this years festivities, taken from "The Nation" 2009-04-18

Songkran's "seven dangerous days" ended yesterday with 373 deaths and 4,332 injuries in 3,977 road accidents nationwide

Pretty Scary!

We then headed to Bangkok, which at the time was having some protesting going on, we were a bit concerned, but Tan's friends said it was fine as long as you stayed away from the Government houses. There was a military presence there when we arrived, but nothing to major, and after the first night they had resolved there conflict for the time being. We did a lot of shopping in Bangkok, and took in the Grand Palace, which I had never seen before, it was so crowded there, and they are saying how there tourism numbers are down do to the conflicts, I certainly didn't notice! We then took a cruise along the river, it was quite nice and relaxing, and then we hit a residential area along the river, and people were standing on the sides of the river, just drenching everyone in the boats. My mom did not enjoy that, it was refreshing though, since it was in the low 40's that day in Bangkok. We had a nice Thai Seafood dinner along the river, very good and very cheap. I am sure it came to under $50 for 4 people, including a couple drinks.

Then it was time for me and mom to go to Malaysia, and Tan headed back to Singapore.

Dentist in Bangkok

jason@willock.org (Jason Willock) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 01:04:52 -0500

Well I just came back from a visit to the dentist here in Bangkok. This is my second visit to him here. One of my fillings had come loose and was causing me a bit of discomfort, so I had it replaced. The dentist is unsure that will solve the problem though, and I may require a root canal!! Hopefully the filling will solve the problem, I have to come back in a month or so for a follow up and a cleaning.

The bright side is the dentist is very inexpensive here! I had an X-Ray and the filling replaced, and that came to $20cdn. A full thorough cleaning is $35cdn. Back home a dentist won't even say hello to you for that price! It's a very modern, clean office, and everyone speaks perfect English. So if you don't have dental insurance, and are in need of some serious work, perhaps it would be worth while considering a trip to Bangkok! If I had known a few years ago when I had some major work done that I could have had a week in Bangkok, and got the work done for around the same price, I certainly would have jumped at it.

Myself and Tan have talked a few times about trying to arrange some sort of medical tourism package in Calgary, or Canada. After my experience in the hospital and the dentist here, I would highly recommend it! There are already many medical tourist companies, but I am sure there is room for one more. Perhaps I will look into it a bit more.

Heading back to Singapore tomorrow, it will probably feel nice and cool compared to here, we went out last night to Khao San Road, and it was still 32 or so at 2am!

Thoughts.

jason@willock.org (Jason Willock) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 22:40:35 -0500

Well today marks the 2nd anniversary of my fathers passing. A tough day, but I talked to my mom, and she seems to be handling it much better than last year. It doesn't really seem like that long ago. I still think of him lots, and am often reminded of him in daily occurrences. I think it is ok to be sad on this day, but the rest of the year I like to remember the happier moments, and the times we spent together.

I am in Bangkok, came here for my monthly escape from Singapore. It's insanely hot here, nearing 40 with high humidity. Even at night it doesn't drop below 30! Bangkok is so much cheaper than Singapore for pretty much everything, however Singapore is a much nicer city, much cleaner and lots of green. However Bangkok has more character, and is more exotic and wild, and much cheaper alcohol. We have talked about moving here after a couple years in Singapore, but who knows what the future will have in store between then and now. Regardless I think I should be learning Thai, I get a bit annoyed when Tan and her friends are in conversation and it switches over to Thai. They are pretty good most of the time in keeping it in English, but I understand that it's just much easier to speak your native language! I'm just to impatient to learn a language, I really wish you could just download the language pack into your brain, I like quick results! Either that or I am just lazy.

I went to a hospital here in Bangkok, nothing serious, just had a unsightly growth on my big toe which I have had for quite sometime. It apparently turned out to be a wart. So I had some liquid nitrogen sprayed on it. Hospitals here are private, and I must say way more pleasant then hospital back home, very modern, and very clean. Walked in, filled out a form, saw the doctor, had the liquid nitrogen sprayed on, paid the $75cdn, and was on my way in under an hour. I could only imagine how long the procedure would take in Canada, it certainly couldn't be finished in one day by just walking in, and certainly would cost much more if you didn't have insurance! Tomorrow I am off to the dentist, for a cleaning, and to check on one of my fillings that I think have come loose. So it's a pretty practical visit to Bangkok.

Miss you dad!

Searching For A Home

jason@willock.org (Jason Willock) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 04:02:34 -0400

Well I think I am going to have to rename this website, as the Trip Around The World is coming to an end, I am sure I will still do some travelling here and there, but for now we will be based in Singapore. It took a while of searching various condos in Singapore to find one we liked, there are so many to choose from, and well we both seem to have expensive tastes, and Singapore condo's can be quite expensive! $3000cdn for something in the 1000 Square Foot range. But we got one, it's new and pretty nice, with nice facilities, swimming pool, gym, and tennis court, so I also hope to get in shape with lots of daily exercise. I will post some pictures once we get settled in.

For now we are in Bangkok, as we had to leave Singapore, as hotels were too expensive and we don't get possession until the 1st of October. Would have been fun to stay in Singapore this weekend, as the first ever Formula One Night Race is being held there, and it will be quite the party, however with a cheap crappy hotel costing at least $200 a night, decided it wasn't really worth it. Plus well I am not really a F1 fan.

So back to the website, I think I will start blogging about my life in Asia, talking about the differences of the way of life from here and home, along with any interesting and strange things I encounter along the way. And of course any little trips I take to various places in S.E. Asia. Vietnam, Laos, and Indonesia are still places I have to see! But for now I am looking forward to starting a new home with Tan, it will be an interesting experience, and hopefully a good one!

Having a home base also will make it easier for friends and family from back home to come visit. (Hint Hint). The place in Singapore is pretty small, so not really much room to host people for longer than a couple days, but really there isn't much to see tourist wise in Singapore, it's mostly just shopping, shopping, and more shopping! But it's a great hub for traveling S.E. Asia, I can give pointers and tips, and maybe even tag along for a while if need be!

Well that's it for now, we are off to do some shopping for a few household goodies here in Bangkok, as it is cheaper here.

Krabi

jason@willock.org (Jason Willock) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:46:52 -0400

We flew to Krabi, a resort type area in the south of Thailand, fairly close to Phuket, and this area was heavily damaged by the Tsunami 7 years ago. For the most part it has been rebuilt, but there are areas where the damage was the worst, where they are still in the rebuilding phase. It is a very nice area, huge limestone cliffs, and small little bays, which make for a nice relaxing swim in the ocean, since the tide is not too rough

We went on a little day trip, a 4 island hop by Long Boat, which is a long wooden boat, powered by a small little propeller, which is turned by a huge V8 engine, not overly quiet, but a fun cheaper way to travel around the area. We did some snorkeling, and swimming, it was a pretty fun day. It was very hot though, and I got a bit sun burnt, and a small case of heat stroke I think, as I was just exhausted by dinner time. My camera got drenched at the end of the trip by a large wave that hit the boat, so I am hoping my camera will still work once it is dried out.

We took it easy that night, and just relaxed and watched a movie, still the next day I was feeling the effects of the heat stroke, and not feeling so great fortunately the weather was a little cloudy with some rainy periods, so it was a good day just to relax and stay out of the sun, and Tan was able to get some work done, and I was able to do some planning for the next little while, and get some tickets purchased.

Yesterday we went rock climbing, it was fun, tough, but fun. It's a lot harder than it looks, my arms were so tired after a few climbs, I think I was doing it wrong as I was using my arms much more than my legs. Tan did better than me, but then again she weighs half as much as me, so a lot less weight for her to pull up!

Today is our last day here, we fly back to Bangkok tonight, so just going to relax and try to work on my tan..

So here is my plan for the next while, Saturday I will be flying to Taipei, Taiwan, as Tan will be heading to Europe for training, then I will fly to Korea, and Tan will fly to Houston. From there I will make the long journey and meet Tan in Vancouver on the 31st of July, we will spend a couple days there, and make our way probably to Kelowna, for another couple days, before heading back to Calgary. Tan will stay until the 10th, and I will stay until the 19th, so I can help my mom pack up the house, and get rid of some of my junk, and decide what to let Tan take back with her to Asia.. Then from the 19th I will fly to Tokyo, and spend 3 weeks in Japan, I am looking forward to that, however it will be a long time away from Tan, so that will be a bit sad, then it will be back to Bangkok for a short while, then we will try to find a place to call home in Singapore.

One Year Ago

jason@willock.org (Jason Willock) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:46:38 -0400

Hard to believe that one year ago today, I first met Tan in Bergen Norway. Meeting her certainly put a change of plans into my original travel plan, but part of the plan was not to have a plan, and I am indeed happy that I said "So Where Are you From?" to the cute girl that sat next to me at the hostel pub.. Strange how life works..

Anyhow just wanted to write that, and make another little comment on life here in Asia. Having a Credit Card here actually gets you benefits, like 5-20% off at restaurants and shops, free parking, or vip parking spots. Also another thing nice is the service in shopping malls, there is so much staff on hand, all there to happily assist you in finding a size, telling you what they think looks good on you, and they will even gift wrap your purchases if needed, all for free. Not to mention if you purchase enough you will get free gifts, or gift certificates. Asia truly blows away N. America for shopping mall experience.

Just been planning the next couple months of travel, and am getting excited, Korea and Japan are on my list!

Happy Canada Day

jason@willock.org (Jason Willock) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:01:39 -0400

Well here in Bangkok it is now July 1st, Canada Day. I might be a little home sick, sometimes I wish I was back home having some beer and wings on 17th ave, especially since the weather has been nice in Calgary lately. However I am trying to learn to appreciate the differences of life here in Asia. I have a few things I have wanted to comment on, but don't always remember them when I am writing my updates, I really should jot them down on my phone or something when they come to my head.

The other day we went to Ayutthaya, it was the old capital of Thailand, but was captured by the Burmese in 1767, and rather pillaged. So we wandered through the old ruins of the temples, it would have been quite a place I think, with lots of gold Buddha's, they weren't as old as Angkor Wat in Cambodia, 400 years or so, but the design was similar. Had this strange snack there, there were these bags of colored stringy stuff, which was actually Sugar, like cotton candy, you take some of the string, and put it in a green like crepe, and roll it up and eat it like a fajita, kind of a weird texture, but tasty.. Which reminds me of another strange treat, sometimes while sitting at Tan's house someone will drive by the small little street we are on, selling fruit, vegetables, meat, and Ice Cream, one of the ways they sell Ice Cream is the Ice Cream Sandwich, not to strange you say, however the ice cream is served in an actual thick bread bun, I tend to stick to ordering it in the cone or cup.

Saturday night we went out to the RCA District, an area with many large nightclubs. They are quite large, and very popular with the locals, however I wasn't too keen on the two we tried, I liked the music, and the sound system was great, and they played the video's of lots of the songs on a giant screen. However there is no real dance floor, the entire club is just rows and rows of these little hip high tables, that the Thai's use to put there bottle of Whiskey on and mixers and they just stand at the table and drink and do a little dance, and if you don't have one of these tables, there is no real place to stand, so you are always in the way, not my idea of a nightclub, but it was interesting to see.

I am starting to get more accustomed to driving here in Bangkok, and yesterday I even navigated my way home on my own as Tan had a work meeting. The traffic here is crazy, it is always crowded no matter what time of day, and people just dive in and out of lanes, but the thing I hate most are the 1000's of mopeds that are on the streets, they drive in the middle of the lanes, so you have them zipping by you on the left and the right, making it quite a task to change lanes sometimes as a moped could suddenly just appear from nowhere and be right beside you. I saw one get knocked over the other day..

I do like the people here, they are friendly, and always smile, I wish I could just download the Thai language into my brain though, I will have to keep working at it though, the food here is good, I do get sick of Rice & Noodles though, but it is nice to know western food is available, even if at a more premium price, it was nice going to the Sizzler for a nice big Hamburger and all you can eat Salad bar the other day.

They are filming a Hollywood movie just down the street from Tan's at a movie studio here. Shanghai, I applied to be an extra as they need some white people, so will just have to see what happens, it would be neat to see the behind the scene action. It's neat driving by the Studio and seem them building the set for the movie.

Friday we are heading to Krabi, for a week on the beach, and probably some rock climbing, since it is world famous for rock climbers, I of course will be doing the beginner climbs! Then I think I will go to Taiwan for a little while as Tan has to go back to Europe for work for a week or so.

Trouble in Bangkok

jason@willock.org (Jason Willock) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 04:57:50 -0400

Don't let the title alarm you too much, there recently has been some interesting political developments here in Thailand, and there are large protests in Bangkok, and some unrest in various areas of the country. Not to worry though, it's safe as long as you stay away from the protests and the crowds, which I certainly will do.

That aside the last week in Bangkok has again zipped by, with a little Badminton, and dinner with some of Tan's friends, and one night out drinking at Khao San Road, this is where I first was in Bangkok, the backpacker zone, it was a fun night, played some pool, drank some Thai Rum, and a few beers. The next day was a certainly a little lazy though. We also took a little trip to a little island in a river called Ko Kret, basically it is just an island that still is clinging to traditional way of life, lots of wooden houses, and little vegetable farms, we rented a couple bikes and road around the island, it was rather hot though, 37degrees or so, which sucked the energy out of me by the end of the day. Tan tried her hand at pottery, but pottery and having finger nails don't seem to go hand in hand!

Tan has been in Singapore the last few days, so I have been here in Bangkok, given me some time to work on the website a little, and try to learn some programming so I can perhaps develop some websites of my own.. Feel free to click the advertisement on the right of the screen..

Not sure where we will go next, depends a bit on Tan's work, perhaps an island here in Thailand, or maybe Vietnam would be nice as well. Stay Tuned!

Badminton

jason@willock.org (Jason Willock) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 02:11:02 -0400

Wow, it's been a week since my last update, time flies! We went to the KL Forest Reserve, it was quite a feat getting there, I read on the web that there was a bus that went there, so we went to where they said to catch the bus, but no one had heard of that bus route number, nor the forest reserve. We finally found a taxi that would take us there, he of course wouldn't use the meter, so we had to pay him a flat rate, which was way to expensive 50rmb = 17cdn, for the 16km ride, but I was tired of looking for a bus, so we just took the taxi.. The forest reserve itself was confusing to find your way to the main information desk, so it was another hour of walking before even starting the trek.. The trek it's self was not quite what I had hoped for, but it was still pretty nice, lots of tree's and plants, but not much in the way of animal life, I think you would have to go farther in off the beaten path, which we were not equipped to do. However it was a nice relaxing few hours in the jungle, and a good little work out.. The taxi back to the center of the city was half the price, as the driver used the meter this time..

Than had a little rest, and then went out for my birthday dinner, and for a couple drinks, although we were just way to tired to party to hard, but it was still a nice evening.

Next couple days were just spent wandering around KL, I must say I am not a big fan of Malaysian Cuisine, it's often served cold or room temperature, and everything is kind of mushy, the locals often eat everything with there right hand, (since there Muslim, and don't eat with the left), so that would explain the mushy food to roll up in a ball.

Sunday we flew back to Bangkok, it was noticeably more warmer here, only a few degrees, but that makes a big difference. We went to go play some Badminton, as myself, Tan, and her sister are wanting to get in a little better shape, so it's a fun way to do it. It had been many many years since I had played Badminton, and I didn't recall it being so difficult, while it is easy just to get the birdie over the net, it takes some practice to hit the birdie with any force, and place it in the right area. Slowly I am getting better, but I am a long ways off from some of the other players who are in the other courts that hit the birdie at lightning speed. It's a fun game, but I must say I prefer Tennis.

Other than that not too much going on, I have been very bad with my Thai lessons, it just got to difficult, so I got frustrated and gave up, I will have to try to get motivated to start them again. I also have been planning a trip to Japan, I have always wanted to go there for as long as I can remember, so I am getting excited to spend a few weeks there, probably late August. Not sure where I will be heading next, as Tan has to travel to Europe next month, so I will head somewhere nearby, perhaps Vietnam, but I will have to see.

We Love Our King

jason@willock.org (Jason Willock) — Tue, 27 May 2008 21:41:01 -0400

Well I did a little shopping in Cambodia, but didn't buy too much, the clothes that fit westerners are rather tacky here, not really my style. I wouldn't mind going back to Cambodia and seeing some other parts of it, and since it's right next to Thailand, it's possible that I will do that. But for now, I am back in Bangkok.

Haven't done a great deal here since I came back Friday night, we did some major house cleaning, it's a very dusty city, so lots of dust makes it way in. Tan had a few friends over for dinner, it was a bit strange with everyone laughing and speaking in Thai, I haven't been keeping up with my lessons, it's a bit confusing, but I should keep at it.

Went to a fancy shopping mall and went to see Indiana Jones, I certainly prefer the price of tickets here, 8cdn for 2 tickets, with pretty comfortable seats. You could spend an extra $10 and get leather reclining chairs in the VIP section. Another interesting thing is you buy a ticket you get an assigned seat, makes for buying a ticket online in advanced a very handy feature! After 30 minutes of previews and advertising, (that is the same as back home), they then tell everyone to stand up and they play a little video about the King, and how much they love him, and how great he is, showing some of the great things he has done for the country. It was quite moving even though I didn't understand it, Tan even had a few tears in her eyes after it.. The movie itself was ok, a little cheesy, but all in all was worth the money.

Next day I had to go shopping for Tan's birthday present, since her birthday is on Friday, she went to get her hair done, so that gave me a few hours to complete my mission, very exhausting.

Yesterday we went to the dentist! Pretty exciting, I just had a quick check up and a cleaning, here the dentist does the actual cleaning, and not a hygienist like back home, was a pretty quick visit, but my teeth feel happier!

Koh Samed

jason@willock.org (Jason Willock) — Tue, 13 May 2008 03:56:24 -0400

Saturday me and Tan decided to go to a little island a few hours from Bangkok for a couple nights. So we drove for a couple hours and then took a 30 minute ferry to a nice little island called Koh Samed. Most of the places were already booked, so we had to stay in a little fancier of a place than needed, but it was still pretty reasonable, and quite nice. I went for a nice swim in the oh so warm ocean water, and Tan had a massage. We had a nice seafood dinner, Crab, Shrimp, Squid, and a couple different Shell fish I had never seen before. Quite tasty, and nice and fresh! Then we went to a little outdoor club, and partied it up. Perhaps a little too much, as the next day neither of us were feeling so great, but it was fun!

Tan wanted to get a foot scrub, pedicure, and manicure, and since I have never tried any of the pampering things, I figured I might as well give it a go. I must say my feet are much happier with all the dead skin removed. The manicure didn't do much for me, perhaps because I take pretty good care of my fingernails anyways, but all in all it was a nice relaxing hour well spent, and it was only $30 for the two of us including a tip! Sunday we decided to have seafood again for dinner, again nice and tasty.

Monday we had to head back to Bangkok, but of course we had to get one last seafood dinner in, so on the way home we stopped at a nice small little outdoor place and had a huge seafood lunch, I think I am all seafood'd out for a little while.

Today Tan had to leave for Beijing for a meeting for work, then she has to go to Singapore for another meeting, so that leaves me alone for a while, so I have decided to take a little trip to Cambodia, so tomorrow I will take the 8 or so hour bus ride to Siem Reap where I will spend a few days exploring Angkor Wat, from there I am not sure where I will head. I have mixed emotions about traveling alone again, it will take a bit to get used to again, but this is a heavy backpacker route, so I am sure I will meet some interesting characters on this little trip.

Meeting Tan's Mom.

jason@willock.org (Jason Willock) — Fri, 09 May 2008 09:57:44 -0400

Monday me and Tan went and did a little shopping, and I got a much needed haircut, it had been over 4 months, it was the longest my hair had been since I was a little kid, I wanted to try to grow my hair out long, but it would take to long, and I think I would go nuts with it, so I got it cut, keeping it longer than normal. Since it was Cinco De Mayo (May 5th), I suggested we go for Mexican food, the first Mexican Restaurant we went to was closed! So we tried another and it was not very busy, but we ate there anyways, it was way to expensive, and not great, it wasn’t bad, but it was the same prices as back home, which for here is very expensive.

Tuesday we headed with Tan’s sister to go visit there mom, who lives about 6 hours south of Bangkok, a pretty nice drive, I took the wheel for part of the trip, slowly getting used to the traffic here, and driving on the wrong side, the biggest thing was the signal changer is on the opposite side of the steering wheel, so every time I wanted to change lanes, on went the windshield wipers! Eventually we made it there, and I met her mom, who speaks very little English, so it made for a little bit of awkwardness, but things seemed to go well, and she cooked us dinner, which was pretty good, she was very worried about what I would eat, and what not, but I tried it all. Tan’s mom said I should stop traveling and stay with her for a while, and she would teach me Thai. I said that would take too long, but I will still try to learn Thai, slowly learning new words every day.

The next day we had a nice seafood lunch in the middle of the jungle, there was 5 of us, including Tan’s older adopted sister. The food was very tasty and fresh, crab, shrimp, squid and fish, and very cheap, about $15 for the five of us to eat! We then dropped Tan’s mom off back to work, she works for the government, doing planning of various projects. Then we went to go visit a couple of Tan’s old friends, which was rather amusing, because they all immediately said how fat and dark she is, by our standards she is quite slim, but here she would have to buy Medium sized clothes! We then headed to the beach, I forgot how warm the water was here, it was so nice to walk along the beach and feel the sand in-between my toes again! There were lots of jellyfish floating about though so I decided against taking a swim. We then had dinner and a couple drinks with her friends at a restaurant on the beach, it was quite nice, but very quiet, and her friends soon said they had to go, because there was a series final of a popular tv show on tonight. As we drove back into town all the restaurants were quite empty, and people that were there were all glued to the tv, even the outdoor street vendors were all huddled around tv’s watching the show. It’s like a soap opera, with over dramatic acting. When we arrived home, both Tan’s mom and her younger sister were fixated on the actions on the tv, rather amusing.

Thursday was very similar, a lunch with Tan’s mom and friends, but this time it was at a Laos Style restaurant, very spicy food, but quite good. After lunch me and Tan went for a drive and went to a Buddhist temple, and made an offering, and did this fortune thing where you shake some sticks with numbers on them out of a container, and the one that falls out first is the number of your fortune, oddly enough mine said not to invest money right now, and to be very careful when travelling, so I will keep on my toes for a while I guess. We then went to a national park, in the mangroves it’s good to see that the Thai government is creating national parks. It was quite nice with mud crabs, shrimp that live in the mud, and make really loud snapping noises, and some monkeys that eat the crabs. There was also a great view of the sea and mangroves on top of a large hill.

Today we are heading back to Bangkok, Tan can only take so much of the teasing from her mom and friends! I must say though, everyone here is so friendly and hospitable, it’s hard to lose the weight I put back on because everyone keeps making me eat! At least most of the food here is very healthy. I quite dig all the fresh fruit. It is Mangosteen season here, and there are so many of them, quite tasty and cheap. We have been given a couple boxes of them to take to Bangkok with us, so I will be eating those for many days to come I imagine.

Back In Bangkok

jason@willock.org (Jason Willock) — Sun, 04 May 2008 21:49:56 -0400

Well after a long plane journey I have arrived back in Bangkok. Tan and her younger sister picked me up from the airport, and we drove to Tan's house here, where her sister who is going to University is staying, and looking after. It's certainly nice to see a different part of Bangkok that is away from the tourist areas.

Saturday I awoke just before noon after a very long sleep, I didn't sleep much on the plane here, and with the 5 hour time difference, I had to catch up on some sleep. I then helped with a few house hold maintenance handy man chores, and then we were off to the I.T. Mall where we bough a wireless router and I set it up so there is wireless internet in the house again.. It's good to feel useful sometimes.
Then we met a few of Tan's friends for a nice seafood dinner, and then took it pretty easy for the evening, the heat and a little jetlag took it's toll.

Sunday again slept in pretty late, I do enjoy having fresh fruit for breakfast, so tasty and cheap here! Hopefully it will help me lose some of the pounds I managed to put back on in Europe, 6KG's!! We then went for lunch, and then made our way south of Bangkok to Tan's aunts house, passed a sea salt farm, which was interesting, it was a nice drive even if they do drive a little crazy here, I am not sure I am ready to get behind the steering wheel yet, as in most of Asia they drive on the opposite side, and the lack of road rules will take some getting used to. When we got to Tan's Aunt's house they took us to a Terracotta shop where they make very nice hand painted dishes. If you ordered now, you would get it in September, so they must be doing well! Then we were off to a small floating market, where boats sell various things on the river, but there weren't that many boats there, but lots of neat shops along the river. We then went for another tasty seafood dinner right along the river, this time tried some more adventurous foods, including squid eggs, which were interesting, but I can't really say I enjoyed them, however the huge fresh shrimp were very tasty! Then we took a boat ride down the river at night to see Firefly's that live in a certain type of tree along the river, quite nice to ride down the river, and see houses right on the river, the only way to get anywhere is by boat. The house owners are not pleased with the new found tourism in the area (mostly Thai Tourists, I was the only Farang (White guy) on the boat. As the boats have huge engines, and make quite a bit of noise!

I am looking forward to my time here in Thailand with Tan, we are going to soon make drive down south to meet her mom, should be interesting, as she speaks no English, but I am slowly learning some Thai, a few words a day, it is a difficult language!

Now that I am back in new areas I will be trying to update the website a lot more, as I know it hasn't been overly exciting as of late, and that my readership is down!!

December?!?!?

jason@willock.org (Jason Willock) — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 22:36:01 -0500

Well not a whole lot to report, just been relaxing on the beach, eating good food, and taking it pretty easy. Went to a Muay Thai fight which was pretty interesting, a couple good fights, watching the young kids go at it was interesting, lots of young kids go to boxing camps at an early age, as it is one way out of poverty for a lot of them, so there is a fair amount of pressure on them at an early age to win all there fights.

It is neat to see Christmas decorations being put up around the town, even though people here are mostly Buddhist, I guess the idea of Christmas appeals to them. Also there is a lot of shrines and monuments going up for the King's birthday which is on December 5th. I was going to stick around in Thailand for that, but that would mean staying on this island longer, which I am getting bored of, or going back to Bangkok, and that would involve a long bus ride. So instead on Monday I am heading to Hong Kong, as that is where I will be flying home from. I can't believe it is December already, and Christmas is just around the corner. I am looking forward to seeing everyone back home, but really not to keen on the weather that I have been seeing there! I have only worn pants one day in my nearly three weeks I have been here in Thailand.

Hong Kong will be a little cooler, I am looking forward to going there. Not sure if I will like it or not, it looks so crowded, but I guess that is one of it's charms, I also plan to hit the mainland area for a couple days to do some shopping, might as well load up on some cheap clothes and other goodies while I am there.

Time to go to the beach!