lexathon

Notes on chopstick: Intimate stories from Tokyo and Me

2007-11-13T19:50:00.000+09:00

Everyone is so pleasant!
The air is very dry here. I am constantly drinking water.
There is an extractor fan *in* my toilet. It also has a heated seat, electronic bidet and a swirl action flush. The fan speeds up as you get off, I suppose to reduce risk of injury during the earlier sitting phase (Think dog jowls in a speeding cabriolet).
People in suits are always (nearly always) very smart and have good knots in their ties.
They drive on the left! Correct
Speaking of driving - There is a Nissan car model named 'Cedric'.
Many signs are in English as well as Japanese. Some signs are only in English.
I can eat cabbage for breakfast. It compliments the yoghurt they also serve in the morning, very well.
The buildings are cool. One looks like one of those fortress gate shaped monster robots from the movie Tron.
I speculate: Because it's not tradition, handshakes here are limp and correspondingly uncomfortable.
I am tall!
Blogspot has turned all Japanese on me and I don't know which button to press next.

temporary service problem

2007-06-09T04:11:00.000+08:00

Well.. This page should be fairly anonymous by now.

A far cry from the post below; home very alone on a friday night. Thank God for Pete Tong and Dirt magazine.

Adios Amigos.

Scotland Accommodation

2006-02-14T02:38:00.000+08:00

Ok the hostel is picked and looks good.. Budget backpackers slam in the centre of Edinburgh.

www.budgetbackpackers.com

For 3 nights it's £34.50 and for 2; £24. Just ring up (0131 2266351) and quote my booking reference, which you will have to ring/email me for. Then we will all be booked into the same dorms. Simple!

This trip is panning out to be chicken oriental :)

Al

Scotland flights

2006-02-06T05:38:00.000+08:00

Birmingham-Edinburgh-Birmingham

Flight out: Friday 14th April, British Airways, 15.40-16.50, BA 1828

Flight back: Monday 17th April, bmibaby, 18.05-19.20, flight 1004

ANOTHER new phone number

2005-04-11T19:14:00.000+08:00

Yes (as Kate pointed out) my last phone was shit (Jon how do you manage with it? I had the SPV and texting did my nut!!) so I have sent it back and now have a new phone number, again..
+447967 428970

With any luck it wont be changing again any time soon!

I have a job, as a driller! I will have an Orange coat and trousers and will be working near railway lines. Yay!

New phone number

2005-04-01T20:01:00.000+08:00

I have a new phone number and a lovely new phone, too.

It's +44 7814 037194

It doesn't take long

2005-03-29T04:51:00.000+08:00

to get fully bored of being at home, does it? I even have a tidy room and organised belongings.

I need to get a job :(

Hong Kong Burger King

2005-03-25T17:50:00.000+08:00

An interesting little side story.

I was very much impressed with the price of a large BK meal in Hong Kong airport. I bought a large Chicken Royal for HKD44. That's £3 to you English folk. Now a meal of that stature would cost the average Brit around £4.54. So I sat there thinking I bet others would love to be able to enjoy their burger King meals for less.. and then I realised, you all can!

The cheapest return flight I can find to Hong Kong is £769. At a saving of £1.54 for each meal, it therefore makes economic sense to fly to Hong Kong to purchase your large Chicken Royale meals when you are ordering more than 500 of them in one go. This does of course ignore the potential difficulty of exceeding your luggage limit on the return flight home, presuming you don't intend to eat all of the meals before you depart.

If you are interested even further, on a philosophical level the problem becomes more complex. I was in Hong Kong airport as a coincidental result of my travel route. I was in no way there for the purpose of buying a burger King meal. In this light I feel I could appreciate the saving I had made as a full £1.54. If you were to travel to Hong Kong specifically for a BK meal, then the effort required for this trip reduces the savings you have made, not just on an economic scale but spiritual also. Do you disagree? The same savings and satisfaction would not have resulted from a purposeful "BK run".

Still not convinced? I bought one meal and saved £1.54; the purchase of my meal was separate to the purpose of my trip. To save £1.54 per meal on a BK through the means of a BK run, I would need to buy an infinite amount of BK meals. Until this amount is bought, I am only saving a proportion of the £1.54 top limit. For example if I bought 500 meals, the breakeven point based on the Chicken Royale example, I am actually saving only a fraction of a penny per meal, and it is the total cost that is just less than if I had bulk bought from BK over the road from the cinema.

We all know, to buy an infinite amount of Burger Kings (with the exception of the appearance of Rick Waller) is impossible.

ps. One other thought, why don't they call it "Burger Kong" over there? That would be really funny.

NZ

2005-03-25T16:45:00.000+08:00

Right, I'm a little bit behind on what's happened. In fact I have a little surprise for you all at the end! How exciting.. But no cheating, you must read through this first..

Neighbours night was the final night for me in Melbourne and so I bode my farewells to my traveling compadrés and headed for the airport. After narrowly making the check in time I flew out to Christchurch, one of the main towns of the South Island. A little bit of banter with the [lovely] stewardess and a few drinks later, I were quite pissed! I met a couple of girls on our flight through discussing the lovely family in front of us (they were threatened proper infant school style with being left behind if they didn't stop causing problems. I think the steward might have been gay, he had a stern but camp tone about him) and that was the start of the most awesome 2 weeks of solo adventures...

Christchurch has a very similar English feel to it. But, as one would expect, it was far nicer: Weather, people, buildings. We should learn from this! But there isn't much to do there so I booked a Kiwi Experience tour of the South Island. This is a bus full of like minded individuals! 'nuff said.. Traveled down the East coast doing some cool things - for example, we learnt about the NZ method of catching deer (the country was once overrun with them) by jumping out of helicopters and tackling them to the ground! And I fed a BIG pig (see pics): a very scary moment for me.

Also, during this time I had left my wallet behind in Christchurch so thankyou to Laura for getting it back and Laura and Tracey for being my personal bank for 3 days! I would have been done for without ya help.

Queenstown, the centre of Extremeism in NZ. Was our next stop. Cos I'm your typical no messin' type of fella, I jumped the Nevis bungy (134m, or 440ft, whichever sounds more impressive (feet I reckon)), a lovely leap from a cable car into a huge valley. Surprisingly this was not as intimidating as I had anticipated. I think the pig actually takes the biscuit (geddit?). I also rode a motorbike up and down muddy hills for a bit, then hopped back on the bus to CT to fly to Auckland on the North Island.

There I stayed with Adam Griffiths' Mum and Sis for one night (thankyou people!) to be shown the sights and eats of the Capital city. (I had the nicest eye fillet steak, gorgeous). Thus proceeded my longest journey of all: the trip back home...

Yes, it's time for my surprise....

I'm back home! In Gloucester. One serious conteding city for the centre of the chav world. It took 22 hours of flight to get here and by 'eck was it worth it.

A perspective..

2005-03-11T12:34:00.000+08:00

So I have done some cool things since leaving the UK. Trekked through rainforests in Thailand.. Danced for hours on a beach at the Thailand full moon party.. Lived in tents for nigh-on 6 weeks in Western Australia.. I even made a Formula One Grand Prix. We've met cool people too. If any are reading this, then hello - It was undoubtedly a pleasure!

But, not to offend, it all feels insignificant since Monday night when we all met....

Toadie, aka Toadfish, birth named Jarrod Rebecki, in Melbourne's Neighbours night. It was a moment in time unrivalled by any others.

We've watched the guy grow up from a troubled school kid into a flourishing lawyer. There he was, greeting me with that chubby grin. I was weak at the knees! Magic.

And we met others too. No girls, unfortunately, but Stu (one for the girls, instead) and Connor - who seemed like a good bloke, incidently. Dr. Carl rocked the party for a good hour with classics such as Wonderwall and Brown Eyed Girl. All the stars take the time to individually meet every single person in the room (a good few hundred) which is nice. What with drink flowing all around, it made for a merry time and some good fun was had with Stu who didn't really know what he was doing all the time hence the very many piccies. And Toadie really does say that line if someone asks why he is so fat. We have video evidence. Hahaha....

I have since escaped the clutches of Australia and now I have 2 weeks to enjoy the South island of NZ all on my own. Tomorrow I get on the Kiwi Experience, a party bus that takes you to all the interesting spots around, and some uninteresting ones. It will be great! Then it's bollocks to all this and I'm coming home. See you soon my avid reading fans!

Oh yeah, and I bumped into Woody and Will from School in Christchurch Airport as I arrived. What a freakish coincidence.

ps. New phone number: +64211394523 - Get textin'!

Sydney

2005-03-02T20:03:00.000+08:00

We arrived in Sydney a couple of days ago and are in the process of seeing all the sights. It's a smart place, especially in the centre. It feels like what New York might feel like. And we made the wise choice to stay in the Red light District of town to save a couple of dollars. The "working girls" are out of order! Why people would pay for such service I don't know.. There are proper screaming arguments behind our hostel everynight. I guess it's the pimps and hookers.. They're quite fun to watch - like Jerry Springer without bodyguards. I might get a video of it tonight.

The two week tour rocked. Sailing was wicked, 4WD was wicked. Airlie beach was wicked, and Byron Bay was also wicked. 'Wotcha' to everyone who we met en route.

Going to walk around sunny Sydney now and have a look at what's what. I've only 3 weeks left. WTFuhh.

Joke

2005-02-17T11:20:00.000+08:00

The boss of a big company who needed to call one of his employees about anurgent problem with one of the main computers, dialed the employee's homephone number and was greeted with a child's whisper,
"Hello." "Is your daddy home?" he asked.
"Yes," whispered the small voice.
"May I talk with him?"
The child whispered, "No."
Surprised, and wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asked, "Is yourmommy? there?"
"Yes."
"May I talk with her?"
Again the small voice whispered, "No."
Hoping there was somebody with whom he could leave a message, the bossasked, "Is anybody else there?"
"Yes," whispered the child, "a policeman."
Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee's home, the boss asked,"May I speak with the policeman?"
"No, he's busy", whispered the child.
"Busy doing what?"
"Talking to Daddy and Mommy and the Fireman", came the whispered answer.
Growing concerned and even worried as he heard what sounded like a helicopter through the earpiece on the phone the boss asked, "What is thatnoise?"
"A hello-copper" answered the whispering voice.
"What is going on there?" asked the boss, now alarmed.
In an awed whispering voice the child answered, "The search team justlanded the hello-copper."
Alarmed, concerned, and even more then just a little frustrated the bossasked, "What are they searching for?"
Still whispering, the young voice replied along with a muffled giggle:
"Me!"

---------
cheers Pauls!

Eeeeeastsssssiiiiiide

2005-02-14T11:45:00.000+08:00

The story so far..

We arrived in Cairns and chilled there for a few days, during which we dived in the Great Barrier Reef (nice - but not as good as Koh Tao, although we did see a Cuttlefish and they change colour whcih is crazy on the eyes!)

Had a fun but heavy night out (inc. a Wet t-shirt competition - which quickly became a no t-shirt competition! Winner! And sorry, but this time no photos.) before leaving Cairns and we are now on a two week custom package with sailing and 4WD thrown in whilst making our way down to Surfer's Paradise (just South of Brisbane.) By then it'll be the 24th and I have to exit Oz by the 9th March.. Which leaves 2 weeks to do Sydney and Melbourne (Pronounced: "Melbun", else you sound like t**t apparently)

Have met loads of peeps over this side - it's far more urbanised on the East coast and it seems this is where everyone hangs out. It's also very expensive because unless you are spending a million dollars on doing some activity, there's very little else to do but drink! I never thought I'd say it but I miss having a job. I'm sure there are many people who would glady remind me how long it takes before being employed starts to rot though.. ;)

p.s. Books

2005-02-07T18:46:00.000+08:00

I have read 6 books since leaving the UK, which takes the total for this decade to 8.

So there.

Uluru/Ayer's Rock

2005-02-04T15:20:00.000+08:00

We have escaped Perth! It was a sad day, but traveling is just that, so we said our goodbyes and headed off to Perth airport for a bumpy flight to Alice Springs (right in the middle of the Oz).

Activities of late include socialising, mainly. There isn't much to do else in Perth. Mike and I reveled in a petrolhead ubermacho drag racing weekend last week and since then I have done v little.

Ayer's rock (or Uluru as it is now known, since it was handed back to the aborigines) is a big rock in the middle of pretty much nowhere. We have stopped halfway between the East and West coasts just to see it. We then drove 1100kms to get to and from it, and stayed just one night. A lot of effort for a big stone, but it is rather symbolic of Oz according to many! There are a lot of other travelers here doing the same thing. It was quite pretty this morning anyway. And there's a 200k stretch of unlimited highway so anyone who knows me will understand that I was a happy camper (haha!... sorry).

Of all events in this particular middle of nowhere, we have a Ministry of Sound night tonight, our first Friday out since I can remember. (Today I bought some anti-hangover Lynx too, so I can safely party with no fear!)

And then tomorrow we fly to Cairns to start the East coast adventure! Moving down to Melbourne 'til I leave Oz on 9th March.

As you can tell this entry is a bit of a gap filler. Plus, it's hard to write about many things I cannot actually remember... *belch*

More interesting are prolly the photos (esp. for the blokes - sorry Bing I know what I said! ;) so go check them.

Bye bye

Time out: Entertainment news

2005-01-25T11:35:00.000+08:00

Having recently read the book, I admit the piccy I had in my mind's eye of Sophie Neveu was a good one. So I'm a bit upset that Kate Beckinsale didn't get the female lead in the movie make of 'The Da Vinci Code'.

"While Howard, a former star of TV show Happy Days, wanted a French actress to get the part, US studio bosses were thought to prefer a better known actress, with Britain's Kate Beckinsale tipped as one of the possibilities."

That would have been awesome :)

Kangaroos are as stupid as Rabbits [Edit]

2005-01-19T10:02:00.000+08:00

Which is why I hit one last night. And before anyone assumes I was driving too fast I can honestly deny you the pleasure..

We were driving at night making our way up further North and were already aware that there were loads of 'roos about 'cos we had seen a few. We came up to this big dude on the left, facing away from the road, so I thought he was cool, just taking a chill pill as they all seem to be doing at that time of night. Just when it was too late he turned around, and I changed my mind about his chilling tactics as he looked at us with panic in his eyes and skipped into the road. I hit the brakes and we skid, boshed the 'roo one with a nice big bang and he bounced off the car (as they do, I suppose) and hit the road laid down sideways. At that point, I thought 'Shit! I killed a 'roo!' but he scraped himself off the floor and bounced off into the night. Mike then said he heard the light smash and we got out to see a busted left front light and dented bonnet, which sucks, 'cos technically we were still driving (although a long way from) the garage where we had just had the car fixed, and I joked that the car was about to be in perfect working order for the 1st time since we'd hired it.

So that's my 'roo boshing story. We're proper Aussie now..

We have a nice piccy of the offending animal traveling carwards just before the smash (thanks Mike..) so I will post that up soon.

18.1.5

2005-01-18T15:55:00.000+08:00

We are currently waiting for the air-con in our wonderful wagon to get fixed, as the belt fell off somewhere South of where we are now and it is very hot. So hot that I am a lovely red colour and it hurts to touch my belly... And shoulders, chest, knees, face, etc..

It got really hot in a place called Monkey Mia, a small resort on the tip of a peninsular 2/3 way up the West coast. We took a trip on a nice 60ft Cat to check the dolphins that all hang out there, and also the sharks, sea snakes, dugongs (odd things), turtles and more. It was a scorcher and there was no wind either, and so it became the place into the most beautiful place I have ever seen. This is not an exaggeration: I have photos and they are on my site, you will only do yourself justice if you check them! I think it counts as the nicest place I have been to, although we were on a boat so i dont know if it's bending the rules a bit.

Sounds like Glos is going to be a void of people just after I return.. so you should all change your plans and hang around. For me. Thanks.

Good day from Kalbarri

2005-01-15T17:41:00.000+08:00

To be fair there isn't much to write about since we left Perth.. It's all been 'you had to be there' kinda stuff: Views and places etc. We're living in tents for this journey making it right proper camping.

We're traveling up the West Coast from Perth to a spot called Exmouth. It's gradually getting hotter and windier as we do so, and decidedly more Outback Australian. Some of the roads here are straight as the eye can see. We've seen dried up salt lakes, beautiful beaches, sand dunes, huge gorges.. The list continues. I've got no pics 'cos I got no picture machine but Mike's got a load on his website.

As far as the big plan goes, I think due to having earned no money since my wonder-daze in brick cleaning and 'cos my visa application has been so full of hassle that I will be coming home earlier than once thought. I reckon mid-March, after I have been to the Ozzy GP... And just before my third summer in a row. :) Who'll be in Glos then?

So

2005-01-06T13:01:00.000+08:00

I was out last night, in a state as per.

I had a really long conversation with a gay couple about the contradictions a hetero faces when trying to accept gays. (Same old: Nice people, weird hobby.)

It was quite surreal actually as we talked very candidly. They told me that Dan, Mike and I are "gorgeous" and offered me things I cannot write down here.

Funny things happen eh?

ps. Don't worry Dad, I like girls.

"Do a Katie"

2005-01-04T23:31:00.000+08:00

So, to "do a Katie" - the new Gloucester rhyming slang for leaving a night early for fear of sick. Nice one Katie. Apparently also lucky for Rich that he didn't beat you to it? Sounds like glos is getting hardcore!

Happy New Years (ooof)

2005-01-01T15:50:00.000+08:00

Ooooof. I feel a bit confused/tired/lazy/blank/etc. Definately a predominance of blank. I think it's got to a point where I am beginning to lose the brain cells that I rely on for normal function when I go drinking.

Last night was good fun in Perth, have to say that although the place is different, the feel wasn't very different to being in Gloucester! So don't fret at home, it's not all that bad. Maybe less chavs, but more trouble from other types round here. In a small public square we managed to celebrate the turning of year at about 3 separate times, so that was nice. Good to speak on the phone to all I did last night, hope the party continued in good fashion... We drank some beers in a park, followed by house gathering and then our move to Perthan Suburbia was executed.

On a rather sad note, my camera joined the extreme tarmac jumping (ETJ to those in the know) club last night and failed to live it through to 2005. RIP little Pentax, good times were shared. There is a small ray of hope: Dr. Insurance might be able to cure him, but the outlook's not good.

As far as roadtrippin' goes, we have to get our car fixed (another hire vehicle broke - haha!) before we can set off to the North. Not sure how long that will take so could be in Perth for a few days longer than planned. That's about all for now. I am having trouble enough writing this.

Pinch punch first of the month to everyone. I'm off to watch Notting Hill.

Not great news from Asia is it?

2004-12-28T13:29:00.000+08:00

It's shocking really, and apparently a couple of people got caught out in Oz too, but I guess that was the North coast. Can't help but feel glad I'm not over there... was even looking at flights to Indonesia a couple of weeks back. Obviously thoughts go out to all those affected.

We're in South Oz at the mo, Augusta. Midway through a mini road trip. It is very hot, and yeah we spent xmas day on a beach in Perth. Ironically the first rain I have seen in Oz fell on that day. And last night, we watched a HUGE thunderstorm over the ocean from a beach in Bussleton. That was wicked and I have some piccies to show for it (see the side.) Apart from that though it's just hot hot hot.

Laters all

ps. tell me what's going on for nye!

Bah Humbug!

2004-12-25T13:22:00.000+08:00

It's christmas day and reeeally hot and we're going to the beach. Hahaha..

Hope home is nice and christmassy. I am actually missing the cold a little bit, it feels like a necessary ingredient for this time of year. That might sound odd, but the sentiment is echoed by other Brits over here so it's not just me! We'll get over it..

Seasons Greetings to everyone!

Al

Didgeridoo!

2004-12-22T18:25:00.000+08:00

Today I passed a busking "Abbo" playing a didgeridoo. Can't get much more Australian than that, can it.

I have my 3 minions again. They all arrived last Weds and since then we have had many great hours of fun together. We are doing secret santas and I am dead excited. ???What might I get???

Catalogue of events:
===============

1. Boys and Girl arrived.
2. Instantly became lazy once teamed up with Mike. Was doing ok solo, but I think I am a champ lazyman now.
3. Got pissed a few times
4. Hired a big car
5. Receive car tomorrow, drive the pants off it for fun. (It's a 4 litre)
6. Have xmas here and on beach ('here' is the hostel I've been staying in since arriving in Oz. http://www.planetinn.com.au/ for the curious amongst you)
7. Week long road trip south of Perth
8. New Years Eve! Back at hostel, celebrations and merryments all round.
9. Month long road trip North and South of Perth.
10. Fly away to Alice Springs

Health News
=========

The Australian immigrations dept have decided that I have only one month in which to sort my health status and visa application so it can be processed to a result. This means I have to leave Oz within a month so they can approve the visa. If I am present in Oz during this final review they have no 'choice' but to decline my application. It's impractical for me to leave so soon, and I can't afford to, so have appealed to them for their compassion in giving me some more time. I have yet to be involved with their reaction..

It's got to the point where I don't really care what happens next, and I guess I will not be out here for a year after all. Nothing's set in stone though, is it? I'll keep y'all posted.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
..And one final note to Robbijay - He's only gone and got himself engaged! Congratulations fella! How and why did she say yes? ;)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Warning!!!

2004-12-16T04:05:00.000+08:00

Beer bong tragedy has entire city of Perth in shock

A beer-thirsty Australian gentleman, inpatient with gravity, employed a mechanical contraption to rapidly deliver beer into his gullet using a pump powered by an electric drill. The device proved so effective that the high-pressure jet of beer shooting down his throat ripped a hole in his stomach. Authorities responded by warning people not to use high-pressure machines to drink beer this Christmas.

Thanks to Omar for that important news burst. You'd be a fool not to heed the warning.

Perth cont'd...

2004-12-14T20:00:00.000+08:00

So today I decided it was time to have a look around Perth. Been here nearly a week and not done any sightseeing. *Slap on wrist*

Thing was, that brick cleaning job (worst job I ever done, mate) knackered me out loooaaads, so was not in mood to do things after. Then we went out on Sunday, had some beers, and that was followed by the worst hangover I remember having. Add to that a proper stinky headcold (from brick dust, sympathy please) and Monday got messed up. So we get to today, and I did do some sightseeing! There are piccies of Perth for you to see. I suffered incomparable heat to share my experiences: It was 41.5°C - "The hottest December day in Perth since 1954." It really doesn't feel like Christmas is coming, despite the enthusiastic decorations around, and my meeting Santa too (see pics).

Being on me own has been a mixed, but defo good experience. Nice to do what I want to do but there a fair few gaps in the days that could do with filling. If I do stay here for long I think it'll be cool once I settle in somewhere and get involved with a crowd. Work is well easy to get hold of and can pay a lot better than at home for "heaps" less time!! All in all it's been a good week though, met some wicked peeps cos I've stayed in the same hostel and am looking forward to mixing it up when the boys (and girl!) get here on Thursday morning. A mad D'n'B night is planned for that evening too so I'm excited about getting a two-step fix for the 1st time in ages. In conclusion - it's quite like being at home, just not!
...Especially the "view" when we were on the tiles. All my Glos counterparts, my heart goes out to you. This place is mint for talent!! (HAD to get that in)

Anyway this read has prolly kept you going for loads of time! Congrats and many thanks if you made it to this point.

Happy 14th December

Al

New phone number again

2004-12-12T22:00:00.000+08:00

I have got another phone number due to messing up the last one I had. It's +61407253074.

Perth is a nice spot.. although Kate I miss you very much! xx

tara all

Australia

2004-12-10T01:32:00.000+08:00

I am in Perth. It's very hot.

Hadn't been here for 12 hours and I was on a building site chipping the cement off bricks! I got a blister on my thumb :(

!!!Different Mobby Number!!!
I have another new phone number - it is +61407253074 (00 61 407253074)

Don't know what's coming up next - Mike, Dan and Kerry are gonna be here for the 16th.. So I have a few days to kill. Need to do some medical things or else they will kick me out! Also I have to be up at 6.50 tomorrow morning for more brick work. Nooooo...

The area seems pretty nice but have not been here a day yet! Big roads and lots of space is what 1st hits home. And some super cool pick-ups keep driving by - revving their engines off the lights etc.. ahh the sounds of home.

See y'all

Al

hahaha

2004-12-05T15:03:00.000+08:00

Award for best note goes to Pez. (Check the comments on "Apres full moon"). Good work man!

Am feeling a bit unstable right now due to after effects of half moon party. See below.

I'm going to Oz a week before everybody else! I couldn't change my ticket to the date everyone else has cos of less availability on my half world ticket, so I am heading off to Singapore solo style from Monday (tomorrow - argh) which is all a bit of a surprise! Will be in Perth from the 8th.. the others catch up on the 16th.

FYI my phone number will be changing to an Oz one on the 8th so I will post that here.

Byeeee

A picture of Koh Phangyan

2004-12-04T21:41:00.000+08:00

Nice eh?

Quick note!

2004-12-03T16:04:00.009+08:00

We're now in some beach huts near Ao Nang. They are soooo basic it's untrue! Not even a sink! But, possibly my favoritest place so far cos the community spirit of our lodgings is well good. More to follow..

I have put up more piccies - easy to view, no need to sign up, just go look at:

www.flickr.com/photos/lexathon

Rich, sorry no more textin'.. phone bill came through today *gulp* 150 quid! Score. (mum'n'daaaaad...)

Happy Birthday Natalie!!!

Apres full moon

2004-11-29T04:10:00.000+08:00

Our fortunes changed for the better: The wind dropped and allowed us to leave koh tao on the day of the full moon party.

1st mission was to get pissed - success! Then an intrepid journey over many of the islands "roads" to hat rin where the party takes place. It's a lovely spot and you can look out to the ocean for as far as the eye can see. Anyway, bearing in mind I'm already pissed - the first thing we did was to buy ourselves a bucket each. These consist of a 35cl bottle of whiskey, a coke and a red bull, all neatly mixed a small plastic bucket and served with a straw. The red bull here is full of amphetamines and does funny things on it's own! Let alone being used as a mixer. Suffice to say after that small drink I appropriately passed out, lost everyone and spent the whole night on my own. Still had an awesome time though - all sorts of dance music was playing. Got home at 9am. Slept for three hours - felt sick for the rest of the day.

One point that sticks in the mind - was surprised to see a really fit chick with her wonderful breasts out! Of course we approached for closer inspection.. but were shocked to find that "her" pair were quite literally a lovely set of top bollocks. Very deceiving indeed.

Today, Mike managed to break a hire Jeep, and I have been practising more off road skillz on the bike. I might buy one when I get home..

Evening all.

Oh no!

2004-11-25T11:49:00.000+08:00

Well the weather has taken a turn for the worse and it seems that due to a typhoon en route to koh phangan (the home of the infamous full moon party, that takes place tomorrow on the 26th) has cut off all transport connections from the island we are on at the mo. That means no full moon party and more koh tao - but with nothing to do..

Anyhoo have completed the diving course and now am a PADI "Open Water" diver. It's good fun and I'd recommend it to anyone coming out here (Norm..) Dive with Crystal Dive and get a guy called Dave as your instructor and you'll have fun. The guy's non-stop!

Also have hired some motorbikes and have learnt to ride the bad boys - Little Honda Sonics.. might get one when I get home. Told the dude we didn't have a clue what we were doing. He just laughed and handed us the keys to a couple of his shiny new bikes.

gotta go!

see ya later y'all

al

that train ride I was on about..

2004-11-23T13:03:00.000+08:00

Swodikap,

The scary one from Bangkok to Chiang Mai? Well it crashed about 2 days after we were on it..

Koh Tao is wicked, We're doing our PADI divers courses the few days we are here. This island rocks, if anyone would like to be even more jealous, then take a look at the island on the net.

A big butterfly has just landed on my hand. How cute.

All those accustomed to late night/early morning Gloucester food establisments might like to know there is a "Best Pancake" takeaway stall here. Clearly a foreign franchise of our favorite apres-discotheque eatery, and a welcome sight.

All the notes are making me smile. Cheers all!!

photos

2004-11-20T12:17:00.000+08:00

Ok photos are available through a site that *clever* mike walker has set up.

The site is www.walkersplace.co.uk

You have to register as a user (doesn't take 2 mins) and then you can log in and view the piccies.

The thailand pics are under a section called thailand

I hope they entertain sufficiently

What with heading to the beach and all (nightmare) I don't know when I will be able to return to this trusty blog. I hear it's been snowing in england!! hope you're all having fun

al

friday (it's friday? blimey) 19.11.04

2004-11-19T23:29:00.000+08:00

lots has happened!!

redbull goes down like cough syrup
they drive proper kuh-razy here. it's a wonder we're still alive
mike was the sickest i have ever heard someone be sick. i thought he was possibly dying. very worried at the time. now it's just funny
buddhist monks are cool. i said "shit" to one cos he couldn't pronounce the "ch" noise. he was trying to say cheat. i rule cos i have sworn at a buddhist monk.
temples are placed everywhere
the norf is a beautiful spot.

a brief round up of the last few days: we went to chiang mai. much nicer place than bkk. then trekked for 3 days in the norf by burma. stayed at some old skool villages with no leccy etc. quite an interesing experience. saw some big spiders. have photos. one village had a really (sorry for the word): cute kitten.. just before we went to bed we saw this white plastic bag crawling around. they had selaed the bag with the cat inside it to keep it quiet for us! we protested: it was released. anyhoo.. met some cool guys on the trek; sacha and korine, and monti and henrik (hello!) and our trek guide louie was a legend.

then came south a bit. sukhothai is cool with some nice roads for bikeride and lots of temples. roadtrippin'.

ayutthaya is less cool, a small hybrid of dirty bits of bangkok and boring bits of sukhothai.

now in bangkok. going south to islands for the next couple of weeks. full moon on 26th!

i have to go now. sorry for the report style of update.

will be back soon

tara

ps thanks for all the notes you are very kind. it was good to read them all :)

Hello part II

2004-11-12T06:11:00.000+08:00

I have a little longer this eve to inform all of what is happening. I shall endure the pesky mozzies (they all got the munchies) flying around the room just for you guys.

Since yesterday we stuck ourselves in 1st class on the night train to Chiang Mai and I now sit in a little computer room with one lonely pc on the ground floor of our "Silver place" hotel. Telling a tuk tuk driver to go to "the silver place" is not a fun task.. "It's not a shop damn it. It's a hotel!" Anyone who's been here, you know what I mean.

The train ride comprised of a 14 long hour ride on a track dead straight for as long as the eye could see. How then, was it that with no corners, it was still a properly scary experience causing enough concern to wake us up reapeatedly during the night? Are trains meant to bounce around and heavily lean sideways when travelling in a straight line? I think I can count it as my first white knuckle experience. All the same we made it alive and well (maybe - food results pending, if you know what i mean).

Totally different place to Bangkok, is the north, and quite a relief it is too. Much calmer lifestyle, pretty scenery and blinking hot! Today we managed to make friends with Paulo, our new Buddhist pal. He was pretty cool and told us what Buddhists do. He didn't sell it very well, but he seemed happy about it so I do too.

We go trekking tomorrow... Promises to be quite an experience with elephants riding rafts or something.. I wasn't really listening.

Mum and Dad, I'm still alive.

ps. Oh yeah, them Australian bastids want my chest x-rayed before I get a working visa. I have asked them kindly if I have to, as Dad's TB was 46 years ago. Lets see how gay they want to be.

Peace out mo'fo's, tell me if anything interesting happens at home.

Al

Bangkok smells

2004-11-10T17:57:00.000+08:00

funny in a lot of places. They have one dish here (we haven't worked out what it is yet) that turns our stomachs everytime we walk past. I presume the same smell brings on hunger in many Thai people.

I'm currently sitting in a little internet cafe in downtown Bangkok. You can tell it's very different in Thailand but there is a lot of western influence in the mix in this central city. Our adventure proper starts tonight, as we take a posh railway for 14 hours up to Chang Mai. Not much time for hanging about as we have booked an itinerary for the entire month including the full moon party on the 26th so gotta do the north in quick time... Starting from now! Time to go.. somewhere.. Don't have a residence and got no plans for the afternoon. :)

Will update this as I have more time.

Mum and Dad, you can presume by this update that I'm still alive.

See ya

packing..

2004-11-07T23:30:00.000+08:00

To be honest, I'm f'cking scared. Seriously.

Right, got a bit more time..

2004-10-29T05:31:00.000+08:00

So yeah, I've made this blog so I can post stuff up here when I'm away that I think may be of interest to any of you lot, out there.

As you may or may not know/guess, I don't have a great track record for these types of things but I hope this is the start of something worthwhile.

I suppose it would be appropriate to inform thee of my current travelling-related news. We're still in the build up to the flight off to Thailand. I've not been too bothered about it so far but as we approach Nov 7th/8th (Mike, Dan and Kerry fly the Sunday, I go Monday) it's beginning to feel like this big fat brick wall (signifying change – I can be artistic too) getting closer and closer.

Adding to that the general questioning from others about my plans (be they polite questions or not, they get answers) and my reciting of the only bits I know: 'We are flying to Bangkok and then Oz about 4-6 weeks after that, and I might stay out there for a year' (let's see about that) I can feel the imminence of our trip increasing in volume.

So far in preparation I have borrowed a bag off Gina (cheers ol’ pal!) and applied for my working holiday Australian Visa. The two days they say it requires to return a verdict is up, and I’m a little worried my unnecessary honesty on the form declaring Dad’s TB as a kid is gonna cause me grief. Imagine if they didn’t let me in? Hahaha.. Not a thought for now. Maybe in two weeks, when I have to leave without a Visa.

So yeah, at the mo I’m just ticking over. No stress just yet. Although I did have a dream that I hadn’t done anything by the time I had to leave, so in her desperation Mum had packed for me. Then, while on some foreign train I realised she’d put all the wrong boxers in my case. At the time I was quite upset. A useful dream though, I shall be sure not to let it happen now

Blog: Go!

2004-10-28T11:14:00.000+08:00

This is my blog.
I have made it, and now I am going to the pub.