Thailand

December 22

Made it to Thailand fairly easy but getting to the hostel off Khoasan Road was a huge pain. In large part it was due to the mob protest that is blocking off traffic.  I ended up taking a bus, the subway, taxi and walk by foot before I arrived at my destination.

My friend Christian from Dallas flew in a couple of days earlier to travel Thailand with me. Its nice to see someone from back home after being away for so long. We ended up going to the Mob rally to check out the festivities. Im still not sure what to make of the protests and what their actual position is. With most things, I think some people are serious about the cause, some are looking to profit, and some are treating it like a party. Afterwards we walked the bar and club areas. I think ive always had some wild and crazy impression of Bangkok from movies, but what we saw was a bit tamed or maybe we just didnt find the right places.

December 23

Spent the day walking and exploring different parts of Bangkok. To me, its much more modernized than any other place in southeast Asia. The department store rivals the ones in the US. The street food is priced similar to Vietnam but I think I still prefer viet food.

While walking back to our hotel we saw a compound area for protesters that had living accommodations in tents, free food, showers and even services such as free haircuts. So I went ahead and got a free shave. It was great except for the part where she nicked me a few times and drew blood.

Later in the evening we boarded a long bus and boat journey to Koh Samui.

December 24

We checked into our hotel after lunch time after the 17 hour trek from Bangkok. The hotel is owned by Italians and apparently that is a common thing in Koh Samui as evidenced by the number of pizza and Italian restaurants. We spent the day hitting the beach, walking the main road and talking to random people.

In the evening we went to this place that served tradition Thai BBQ called Mukata...and owned by an Italian of course. Mukata felt like a combination of Korean BBQ and hotpot. Overall not bad for ayce under 5 dollars.

Happy Christmas Eve.

December 25

Merry Christmas everyone. Sometimes it's hard to imagine spending Christmas in a foreign country without family and friends, but I think I'm at the point where I'm used to being away now. The only thing that sucked was not being able to call Riley because talkatone was not working.

We spent the day riding motorbikes around the entire island. There were many good view but I will say that the waterfall was a bit of a letdown. It felt more like a small stream running over some rocks. We ended the evening hitting some bars and clubs. You have to be careful though with all the propositions from ladyboys and hookers.

December 26

Traveled to Krabi during the day and chilled around JP Mansion. Owner was pretty cool and laid back. We hit up yet another Mukata restaurant, but this time it was Muslim style. Food def was not as good and the selection not as vast. Afterwards we tried our hand at hitchhiking in lieu of taking taxis. Surprisingly it was fairly easy and we managed to go 3 for 3 in our attempts. We checked out a couple of local bars but didnt manage to have much luck talking to locals. There was the language barrier of course but also many just wanted to keep to themselves.

December 27

We did the 4 island hopping tour today and I must admit that it wasn't bad. A couple of the beaches had great smooth sand beneath the water and a couple had tons of rocks and corral that can nick your feet. I think I enjoyed the beaches too much as evident by the sunburn on my back. Later in the evening we hitchhiked some more to get to another Mukata...they are getting progressively worse, but our hitchhiking skills are great. Called it an early night afterwards.

December 28

Easy day since we had to board a long bus to Bangkok in the afternoon. I spent the morning walking around town and even helped a bottled water delivery truck unload a couple of crates of water into a warehouse. Yep that was the highlight.

December 29

We arrived in Bangkok early morning and found Joy's place with relative ease due to her great directions. We got a chance to meet the entire family...plenty of aunts, uncles, cousins and little kids. Later in the day, one of Joy's cousins took us on a road trip to see the elephant show and the floating market. Its pretty amazing to see all the things the trained elephants can do. In the evening we went back home and took park in this feast that Joy's cousin Jan made. The tom yum soup was fantastic.

December 30

We did another road trip and this time it was to some other town where Joy's friend lives so Joy can drop off some clothes he ordered. We saw thai moon cakes made at the guy's warehouse and even pitched in. The rest of the night was relatively quiet as we hung around the compound and same some karaoke.

December 31

We all woke up early to go to the market at 4 am. There were tons of people buying vegetables and meat for the Nye's feast. The family made an early lunch and invited 9 monks to take part and received their blessings. Then in the evening, there was a NYE party for all the locals who lived in the compound. The Thai Whiskey and the Karaoke were a wicked wonder. I might have had too much to drink. Not really sure there was a countdown.

January 1

Happy New Year everyone. Spent the entire day bumming in Pattaya recovering from the night before.

January 2

Feeling much better after sleeping all day. Woke up bright and early to take a walk at the beach. I do feel bad that I have not had a chance to really enjoy Pattaya. I ended up checking out around noon to go back to Bangkok by van. Had lunch in Pattaya with Christian before parting ways since he would be taking a bus straight to the airport.

I made it back to Joy's house after taking a local bus from Victory Monument. The walk to her compound area was pretty easy with the illustrated diagram she sent us. When I arrived back at the house, I was greeted by a lot of laughter and jokes from her relatives. Apparently I was had a really good NYE and they kept reminding me that with Mod Kiew, which is Thai for bottoms up. Later in the evening I met about 8 of Joy's old high school friends at Century Mall, which happened to be the same one that Christian and I went to when we snuck into the movie theater. I think its been about 3 years since Joy had seen her friends and they were all super excited and chatty. I tried to make out the Thai conversation using context clues and body language, but it was a bit of struggle. Overall, a pretty fun night. We had to go home early because we are leaving for Koh Kood the next morning.

January 3

I have not heard much about Koh Kood, but I agreed to tag along on a trip with Joy, her mom, and about 7 of her mom's friends. The drive to Koh Kood took about 4 hours and then another hour by ferry to the island. I have to admit that staying on a resort is much much better than the hostels I have been at in various islands. I thought I would be more conflicted given the bare minimum lifestyle that I have followed the past couple of months, but nope it felt nice to have some luxury :)
The resort includes all meals, use of the facilities, waterfall visit, fire show, and trip out to the sea. The first day we went to a pretty nice waterfall where I got to swim in freshwater and do some rope swinging into the water. Very fun indeed and the food was nice...they even made some non spicy dishes for me. I really like how the bungalow that I stayed in is mere steps from the beach and water. Walking the beach at night and staring at the stars...good stuff.

January 4

A boat took us to this nice spot in the sea to do some snorkeling.

Now ive tried to snorkle in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Philippines without much luck. I just couldn't get the breathing by mouth down. I figured it would be the same result in Koh Kood too but somehow Poseidon was on my side and it just started clicking. What an amazing feeling to be able to not have to Bob my head up every few seconds to spit out water and catch my breath. I was able to see the sea floor and swim with all the little fish around me. Really cool! After snorkeling, we went to another island that is much smaller but had a beautiful area where bungalows were built right above the water. I just sat and relaxed there for a bit.

Back at Koh Kood, Joy and I tried our hand at kayaking  at sea, which is much more difficult than in the streams that im used to. After a while Joy got bored and I kayaked alone. It was great to just rest the kayak in the middle of the sea and watch the sun slowly descend from the sky. The brilliant colors that radiated from the sun and splashed through the sky canvas is indescribable. This is one of those times that I'm left in awe of Creation. I tried to make a mental note so that one day I can paint that scene.

January 5

I felt very rested today and even did a 6 am jog along the beach, just as I had the previous day. It's been hard for me to get a real workout in during my travels, so I have been improvising and making up some routines. I just need to be more diligent. I really do enjoy my time early at the beach because its so quiet and peaceful at that hour. I have really enjoyed Koh Kood and I'm glad that I decided to go. I almost forgot that the gentleman whom I roomed with brought with him a long white canvas cloth and a set of paint and brushes. He had it set up on the beach and invited everyone to take a stab at painting anything they wanted. The end result was a beautiful collage of random people's work. Very nice idea!

We checked out of the resort and made the trip back to Bangkok. Since it was my last night in Thailand, Joy took me out and we did some sightseeing. I told her that this Xmas season, I really had not had the chance to see decorations, so we ended up doing that at the mall. I do miss the holiday season...just not the same when you are away from your family.

I can't believe that it's now been over 3 months into my journey. I'd like to pause and do some brief reflections before I forget my thoughts. At this point, I have deviated much from my original travel plans. I had originally wanted a short trip in China, but it ended up being 30 days. I had Macau, Singapore, Oz and NZ in my plans, but decided to drop them all. I was able to find the village where my paternal grandfather lived as a boy in China. I was able to find the home that my mother lives as a child in Saigon. I learned to ride a scooter, hitch hiked, sew, say broken phrases in many languages, and many other countless things. I crashed a musical concert at Angkor Wat for the prime minister of Japan. I shaved my head and grew a beard. I have had highs and lows. Time would fly and time would stand still. I have been freed and I have been shackled. I have been in new company and i have felt alone. I have procured new items and lost a few old ones. I can go on and on, but I think the takeaway here is that life will take you on these wild swings where one moment you find yourself like Leonardo and you're the King of the World, and in another moment you find yourself in a trash field in the slums of Pattaya with your fingers down your throat in an attempt to puke out the 15 shots of Thai whiskey you had the night before. You learn to take everything in stride and not get too high nor too low because life can change in a blink of an eye. In times of trouble, just know that the sun will rise again tomorrow and with it comes another day.