I think I have found the perfect existence here with training and science. My regular schedule is as follows:
6:45am - wake up
7am - run for 30 minutes
7:30am - 8:30am - training (5 minute rounds, shadow, pads, bag, ab work)
9am - 4:30pm - do mineralogical research, crunch data, write papers, give talks
5pm - drive home (any later and I risk driving in the dark, not a good idea)
6pm - run 30-45 minutes, ab work, maybe bag work
7pm - supper at market
9:30pm - bed
Repeat 5 days a week. Weekends include an afternoon training session as well.
The museum is closed Friday and Monday this coming weekend so it's a 4 day long weekend. New Year's party on Friday night at Ajarn Chai's and then on Monday I am going to Pattaya with Sangtiennoi to watch his son, Moses, fight. All is good!!
Today the wife of the ex-Director of the Natural History Museum came to visit and offer her New Year's greetings, so Somchai, the current Director, took her and a number of his staff out for lunch so I was invited. We went to a restaurant in near-by Thanyaburi and had a big group feast - many dishes including tom yam kung (which I am developing a serious addiction to!), deep-fried whole fish, seafood salads and roast pork. Yum!!! I am now full and feel like having a nap on my desk. However, zircon data calls to me and there is a paper to write so a coffee it is and back to work.
Luckily, I made a coffee-friend here - Lek, a botanist (expert in grasses and bamboo). She saw me making instant Nescafe coffee and offered for me to join her at 11am every day for REAL coffee! This is a treat - most coffee in Thailand is instant and isn't all that great. Starbucks does exist here, but it's as expensive as it is in Canada, and since I don't stoop to drinking Starbucks in Canada, I'm not going to start here!! Lek owns a coffee shop with a friend and they support the Thai coffee industry near Chiang Rai (which supplanted the opium industry - one drug for another I guess!) so she has excellent Thai coffee here. After a pre-training caffeine jolt in the form of M-150 or Carabao, a good coffee late in the morning is perfect.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
Thailand snacks and motorbike pictures
Cream-flavored colon. Gotta love it!! They didn't taste half-bad either. :)
Here is a picture of my motorbike - all blue and shiny and new! I've put 140 km on it so far.
It's a great bike - easy to handle and I've actually managed to get it up to 60 kph in the last 2 days!And just a picture of a great bridge I saw on my way to lunch today.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Christmas weekend on Koh Larn
Deciding I was in need of some sun and the sea to cure my plague, Saturday morning I took off to Koh Larn, which is about 7 km off the coast near Pattaya. A 2 hour bus ride to Pattaya followed by a 45 minute ferry ride landed me on an island with white sand beaches and all the fresh seafood I could eat!! I had booked a room at the Sea Beach Gueshouse, near the pier, which ultimately turned out to be a mistake as it was next door to two bars which played music all night long. Nice place though – friendly staff and comfy room. 
I spent all of Saturday afternoon touring around to a couple of the beaches, having fresh grilled squid for lunch, and even doing a bit of rockhounding at Nual Beach. Totally strange rocks on the beach – sediments of some sort I think, according to the only geological map of Thailand I can find. But definitely highly hydrothermally altered by some secondary process. Some of it was heavy as hell, with a white, blocky mineral I suspect to be barite. But all the rocks were shot through with botryoidal hematite and goethite. The monks at the wat on the island actually use this material to make amulets as it’s black and shiny and hard. They either polish it down or leave it raw with the botryoidal habit showing. Of course I had to buy one of these when I stopped at the wat! Stops bullets from penetrating your body apparently.
Christmas Day supper consisted of sea bass and fried rice with shrimp, plus a Leo of course. Dinner right on the ocean – perfect way to spend Christmas!
Sunday afternoon I took the ferry back to the mainland and walked 6 km from the pier to the bus station, along the main beach road in Pattaya. What a place. The main strip consists of go-go bars advertising naked girls, Russian restaurants, the regular array of souvenir stands (some selling an amazing array of weapons including mace and tasers!), Burger Kings, a Hard Rock Café, and Starbucks. The other main phenomenon to observe on the main beach strip is the large white guy with a young Thai woman on his arm. After spending 6 weeks in Phuket, this should no longer surprise me, but it still disturbs me.
6 km of walking in the sun required a pizza lunch, followed by a stop at Fairtex Pattaya to see if they had hand wraps. It was as I went to pay for the hand wraps and shorts that I discovered that my Visa was missing. Shit. The last time I had used it was to get money out of the ATM at the gym. Realizing there was nothing to do about it, I walked the rest of the way to the bus station (sans handwraps and shorts). A short bus ride back to Bangkok and I was almost home! It was when I caught a taxi that the fun started.
I made the mistake of taking a non-meter taxi. But he was offering only 50 baht more than what the regular taxi would have been, and it saved me walking out to the taxi stand, so why not. I told him where I wanted to go, and he agreed. It wasn’t until we got to Rangsit that I realized that he thought I wanted to go to the Rangsit Stadium and didn’t have a clue where Baan Muay Thai was. I finally convinced him to get on the right road headed towards the gym, with him fighting and bitching the entire way. From what I can gather, he was utterly convinced I wanted to go to Rangsit Stadium and that I didn’t know what I was talking about. I tried to explain that I lived at Baan Muay Thai so I know that it existed! Past the freeway turn-off, I pointed across the road to the gym and the stadium (the stadium is still under construction, but the sign is up). He still didn’t believe me and was going to do a U-turn and take me back to Rangsit Stadium, 5 km away! That’s about when I lost patience. I told him to pull over, I’d walk from there (divided 6-lane road, but I figured that was a safer bet than staying in the taxi with this guy!). He argued, saying no, he was going to U-turn and take me back the other way. Yup, patience really got tested at that point! I actually threatened to call the police if he didn’t pull over and let me out. He finally did, after 5 minutes of arguing. I bet he still thinks I’m crazy, possibly wandering around the klong! But I made it safely to my room, happy to be out of the car. And that’s when the fun with the Royal Bank started!
Never forget your Visa in an ATM in a foreign country. The cell phone service on my own cell phone is spotty, and the reception isn’t great. It took me 5 tries with RBC to explain to them, with very small, slowly spoken words, that I needed my card cancelled and to have a new one sent to me. It was trying to give a Thai address that was the crux of the frustration. However, it’s done, and RBC has promised that I will have a brand new Visa within 6 working days, couriered to me at the Museum. Shit, that’s faster than receiving a new card in Canada!!
All in all, a bit of a schizophrenic weekend! So it’s nice to be back. And plague-free!! The horrid sinus infection/cold I had has disappeared, which I’m very grateful for. It’ll make working and thinking and training a lot easier!
Back to training and work tomorrow morning. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Koh Kret
Given the state of my sinuses, glands and over-all well-being, I spent most of yesterday sleeping. Not all that much fun when you know that outside there is so much to do - training, work, etc. But I felt like utter shit so sleeping seemed to be in order. I did take a few hours and drive west to Koh Kret, which is a small "island" in an oxbow of the Chao Phraya river. There isn't much there - a pottery village and a few wats. But I thought it was a good way to spend a few quiet hours. A ferry takes you from the mainland to the island for 2 baht. I spent an hour wandering around, bought a small round pot at one of the potters, then decided it was time to go home and sleep.
Most of the island was flooded, which made walking around quite tricky. Also, given that it was a Thursday morning, many of the shops were not open. I managed to find one which had coffee, relaxed a bit and then continued walking around. There are quite a few kilns on the island, and they make a wide range of pots, jars, goblets, etc. All hand-turned. Most of the workshops are open so I was able to watch a few of the local artists working with the clay.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Day 5 - motorbike time!
Day 5 in Thailand and all is well with the world, minus a serious sinus infection that has my eyes feeling like they might explode from my head. Massive headache and swollen glands on top of it. Not sure if this is something I picked up on the plane or simply was in the makings after being exposed to a variety of plague victims at work before leaving, but this one is a doozey. It’s enough that after waking up this morning and attempting to breathe, I decided a day off training might be in order. I’m sure the jet-lag doesn’t help. But I did sleep soundly last night. I feel a bit better this afternoon so plan on going for a run this evening when I get home. I generally arrive home too late to get in on the afternoon training session so am on my own.
The National Science Museum, much like the NHB in the beginning, suffers from a critical flaw – lack of public transportation. There is ONE bus that leaves here at 5pm, and a staff van which departs at 5:30pm and goes as far as FuturePark. Otherwise, getting here is not easy. Nor is leaving at any other time of day. Baan Muay Thai is 21 km from NSM. Two days of taking taxis ($12 each day) was enough to make me reconsider my transportation options.
I know I promised at least one person that I wouldn’t rent a motorbike in Bangkok, but really, this isn’t Bangkok, it’s Rangsit! (not that that really makes a difference, but maybe it can be my excuse?). But given the transportation system, or lack thereof, renting a small bike was the cheapest option. I solemnly swear to be extra special careful and not to get killed so that I can make it to the build!!!
Pook, the manager at the gym, hooked me up with a new bike at 200 Baht/day – a shiny new blue 110 cc Honda Wave. Yeah!! Today I drove to work, slowly, slowly, all eyes and ears alert for psychotic Thai drivers (the taxis are actually the worst!). 6 km in, and past the biggest intersection near FuturePark, and I relaxed and started to enjoy it. I love my new bike! It allows me freedom to come and go when I want, and to explore when I’m not working or training. After 4 years of driving motorbikes in Thailand, even driving on the left-hand side of the road seems normal practice (although 2 years ago I came back to Ottawa and found myself wanting to drive on the left-hand side there! Muscle memory and habit take over…).
So, with my newly acquired wheels, I drove up the road beside the klong and found a road-side stall to have lunch. What’s important to note here is that the NSM is in Pathum Thani. Not downtown Bangkok. Except the upper-level staff at the museum, few speak very good English. And there are very few farang around here, enough so that if I do see another westerner, it makes me pause. Pathum Thani isn’t a tourist destination – there is nothing here, other than the museum, which would bring farang from 45 km away out to what is essentially the Kanata of Bangkok. Actually, this fact pleases me – it means that I can experience real Thailand and not the busy, touristy side that Bangkok often shows.
That said, stopping at a road food stall means a great deal of pointing at various products, some of which I have no idea what they might be (animal? vegetable? other?) and attempting my limited Thai. What I have found is that this usually results in a great deal of laughing and an instant friendship with the cooks and other customers who seem to take it as their personal obligation to make sure the stupid farang gets fed and knows the Thai words for everything she is eating!! It helps to be able to make a fool of yourself trying to pronounce Thai words and smile a great deal.
Today’s lunch included chicken basil chili with rice, and tom yang khoom soup, which is ridiculously spicy. Lunch also included a sing-along with air-drums with chopsticks by one of the woman chefs (one of the customers had a guitar, and given the empty bottle of Mekong beside him and his friend, they were there for the long haul) language lesson, and a lesson in how to properly eat “kaw niaow” which is sticky rice – if you like playing with play-do, eat sticky rice – you ball it up in your fist (clean hands? oh well…) and dunk it in the soup broth.
I now officially have plans for New Year’s Eve. Ajarn Chai called me this morning and invited me to a party at his house that evening. I’m not sure how Thai’s celebrate New Year’s but I’m sure there will be good food and drink to be had! I also booked 4 days in Phu Noi the following weekend. I figure by then I’ll be ready for a few days on the beach, chasing dolphins and visiting the cave temples.
The National Science Museum, much like the NHB in the beginning, suffers from a critical flaw – lack of public transportation. There is ONE bus that leaves here at 5pm, and a staff van which departs at 5:30pm and goes as far as FuturePark. Otherwise, getting here is not easy. Nor is leaving at any other time of day. Baan Muay Thai is 21 km from NSM. Two days of taking taxis ($12 each day) was enough to make me reconsider my transportation options.
I know I promised at least one person that I wouldn’t rent a motorbike in Bangkok, but really, this isn’t Bangkok, it’s Rangsit! (not that that really makes a difference, but maybe it can be my excuse?). But given the transportation system, or lack thereof, renting a small bike was the cheapest option. I solemnly swear to be extra special careful and not to get killed so that I can make it to the build!!!
Pook, the manager at the gym, hooked me up with a new bike at 200 Baht/day – a shiny new blue 110 cc Honda Wave. Yeah!! Today I drove to work, slowly, slowly, all eyes and ears alert for psychotic Thai drivers (the taxis are actually the worst!). 6 km in, and past the biggest intersection near FuturePark, and I relaxed and started to enjoy it. I love my new bike! It allows me freedom to come and go when I want, and to explore when I’m not working or training. After 4 years of driving motorbikes in Thailand, even driving on the left-hand side of the road seems normal practice (although 2 years ago I came back to Ottawa and found myself wanting to drive on the left-hand side there! Muscle memory and habit take over…).
So, with my newly acquired wheels, I drove up the road beside the klong and found a road-side stall to have lunch. What’s important to note here is that the NSM is in Pathum Thani. Not downtown Bangkok. Except the upper-level staff at the museum, few speak very good English. And there are very few farang around here, enough so that if I do see another westerner, it makes me pause. Pathum Thani isn’t a tourist destination – there is nothing here, other than the museum, which would bring farang from 45 km away out to what is essentially the Kanata of Bangkok. Actually, this fact pleases me – it means that I can experience real Thailand and not the busy, touristy side that Bangkok often shows.
That said, stopping at a road food stall means a great deal of pointing at various products, some of which I have no idea what they might be (animal? vegetable? other?) and attempting my limited Thai. What I have found is that this usually results in a great deal of laughing and an instant friendship with the cooks and other customers who seem to take it as their personal obligation to make sure the stupid farang gets fed and knows the Thai words for everything she is eating!! It helps to be able to make a fool of yourself trying to pronounce Thai words and smile a great deal.
Today’s lunch included chicken basil chili with rice, and tom yang khoom soup, which is ridiculously spicy. Lunch also included a sing-along with air-drums with chopsticks by one of the woman chefs (one of the customers had a guitar, and given the empty bottle of Mekong beside him and his friend, they were there for the long haul) language lesson, and a lesson in how to properly eat “kaw niaow” which is sticky rice – if you like playing with play-do, eat sticky rice – you ball it up in your fist (clean hands? oh well…) and dunk it in the soup broth.
I now officially have plans for New Year’s Eve. Ajarn Chai called me this morning and invited me to a party at his house that evening. I’m not sure how Thai’s celebrate New Year’s but I’m sure there will be good food and drink to be had! I also booked 4 days in Phu Noi the following weekend. I figure by then I’ll be ready for a few days on the beach, chasing dolphins and visiting the cave temples.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Summary of the first days
I am currently sitting in my new office at the Natural History Museum, National Science Museum, which is in Pathum Thani. It’s approximately 45 km north of downtown Bangkok, and about 20 km from Baan Muay Thai where I am staying.
So far so good!! After a late arrival in Bangkok at 4am on Friday morning, I spent 6 hours at my hotel, trying to sleep unsuccessfully. I finally gave up, went for a short run, showered all the travel grime off my body, and then prepared to travel completely across the city to Ajarn Chai's house. I had the opportunity to meet all his sisters (I think I should have taken notes!) and have a bit of lunch before he called Sangtiennoi and had one of his trainers, Noi, come and pick me up to take me to Baan Muay Thai. I met Pook, the manager, and she got me settled in to my room – one room, AC, TV, bathroom with my own hose, and big bed. Sparse but comfortable for the time I’m here. I didn’t train Friday – being sleep deprived and totally jet-lagged, it didn’t seem like a good plan to start doing 5 minute rounds!!
Saturday I trained in the morning and in the afternoon. There are a couple of teenage fighters here, as well as 4 farang. It’s almost a TBA-affiliate school! Sangtiennoi is one of Ajarn Chai’s old students, and there are currently 3 TBA Kruu’s here – myself, Brian Popejoy (USA) and David (Mexico, don’t know his last name). Everyone is great – very friendly, the pad holding is excellent, and the training hard. Running before training of course (the boys do 13 km in the morning, which right now simply seems silly!) and then 4 km in the afternoon. 5 minute rounds, both pads and bag. So far so good! Although the first day almost killed me since I’ve been slacking for the last month or so. However, 5 minute rounds back to back to back in this heat after being in snow and -10 ฐC is enough to stop anyone short!
The gym itself is huge – two full-sized rings, two covered pagodas with about 8-10 bags in each section (and some of them are harder than the big old bag at home), a weight and cardio room, pool, Thai massage area, a Buddha room, open spaces for Krabi Krabong, and a slew of other buildings which I have no idea what they are for. There is a stadium on site – Baan Klang Stadium, but I’m not sure it’s completed or if there have been fights in it to date. The complex has room for 500 people, but I think many of the rooms/apartments are rented out to other Thais.
Yesterday I decided to go to Chatuchak Market and then downtown. Possibly a mistake! Where I am living is quite far from Bangkok, and not touristy. Getting downtown is an expensive venture – taxi to Chatuchak and then take the skytrain or MRT downtown. I spent a while wandering around Chatuchak (at 8am, it’s not that busy) and then headed downtown to Raja stadium as I wanted to get another pair of Thai shorts. Transportation for one day included taxi, skytrain, subway, boat, and motorcycle!! Quite the selection for an 8 hour period. My taxi driver arranged to pick me up from Chatuchak Market at 3pm (he dropped me off there at 8:30am), which was very nice – also gave me his telephone number so that I could call him if I need a taxi again.
I somehow found myself in the pet section at Chatuchak. It’s
amazing what is for sale there – squirrels and hedgehogs seem to be favorites. Lots of random fowl, mice, rats, other small rodents I have no idea what they were, and fish. Lots of fish!! I bought a Siamese fighting fish, a bright red and blue incandescent one. I have named him Bong-Bong, in honor of the Thai slang which means to kick hard twice! For $1.10, I bought a fish, a bowl and a packet of food! He’s a very cheap roommate! I’m not sure what to do with him when I leave, but maybe he’ll take a swim in the klong next door… J One of the fish pet stalls I came across had huge grouper-like fish for sale. The funniest thing was the woman in the stall was actually frying up some small silver fish in a wok right next to the tanks of pet fish!! Hmmmm…
Today is my first day at the National Science Museum. I arrived here this morning (going for a run but forgoing training this morning since I thought I should show up early on my first day!) and was shown to the Director’s office by some of the staff – apparently it was known I was arriving!! NSM has three museums on site – IT, Science & Tech, and Natural History. I’ll be working in the Natural History Museum building. The director, Dr. Somchai Bussarawit, is a marine biologist who used to work at the Phuket Aquarium. He’s very nice, and has been showing me around, introducing me to his staff, etc. I attended a staff meeting this morning (didn’t understand a thing!) and will go for lunch later. He has ~ 10 staff, one of which did his MSc (paleo) at the Paris museum and actually knows Francois! The museum community is a small world apparently.
I had lunch with all the Directors and Vice-Presidents – it was a very relaxed, friendly lunch and I feel very welcome here. I’ve been given a desk in the collection manager’s office (herpetologist) and have unpacked and settled in. Along with doing my own writing, Ganigar wants for me to help her with creating mineralogy-related programming, which sounds like fun! There isn’t a big geology component to the NHM, but that could change. :) I was also introduced to the President - lead into his huge office and treated very well - again, all very informal and friendly. I was shocked by this actually - being someone who is generally very nervous and shy around high-level people like museum presidents, I felt very comfortable with him. He told me about their new museum project - the Rama 9 Museum, which is actually 4 museums in one complex. He also suggests that I give public talks at their downtown Science Square (near MBK for anyone who knows BKK) for Children's Day in January, and also possibly go with them to the far north-east in Issan to see the future Science Square up there. These are off-site satellite museums which cater to the local public with their own specific niche. Very cool!!!
Back to work now. :)
So far so good!! After a late arrival in Bangkok at 4am on Friday morning, I spent 6 hours at my hotel, trying to sleep unsuccessfully. I finally gave up, went for a short run, showered all the travel grime off my body, and then prepared to travel completely across the city to Ajarn Chai's house. I had the opportunity to meet all his sisters (I think I should have taken notes!) and have a bit of lunch before he called Sangtiennoi and had one of his trainers, Noi, come and pick me up to take me to Baan Muay Thai. I met Pook, the manager, and she got me settled in to my room – one room, AC, TV, bathroom with my own hose, and big bed. Sparse but comfortable for the time I’m here. I didn’t train Friday – being sleep deprived and totally jet-lagged, it didn’t seem like a good plan to start doing 5 minute rounds!!
Saturday I trained in the morning and in the afternoon. There are a couple of teenage fighters here, as well as 4 farang. It’s almost a TBA-affiliate school! Sangtiennoi is one of Ajarn Chai’s old students, and there are currently 3 TBA Kruu’s here – myself, Brian Popejoy (USA) and David (Mexico, don’t know his last name). Everyone is great – very friendly, the pad holding is excellent, and the training hard. Running before training of course (the boys do 13 km in the morning, which right now simply seems silly!) and then 4 km in the afternoon. 5 minute rounds, both pads and bag. So far so good! Although the first day almost killed me since I’ve been slacking for the last month or so. However, 5 minute rounds back to back to back in this heat after being in snow and -10 ฐC is enough to stop anyone short!The gym itself is huge – two full-sized rings, two covered pagodas with about 8-10 bags in each section (and some of them are harder than the big old bag at home), a weight and cardio room, pool, Thai massage area, a Buddha room, open spaces for Krabi Krabong, and a slew of other buildings which I have no idea what they are for. There is a stadium on site – Baan Klang Stadium, but I’m not sure it’s completed or if there have been fights in it to date. The complex has room for 500 people, but I think many of the rooms/apartments are rented out to other Thais.
Yesterday I decided to go to Chatuchak Market and then downtown. Possibly a mistake! Where I am living is quite far from Bangkok, and not touristy. Getting downtown is an expensive venture – taxi to Chatuchak and then take the skytrain or MRT downtown. I spent a while wandering around Chatuchak (at 8am, it’s not that busy) and then headed downtown to Raja stadium as I wanted to get another pair of Thai shorts. Transportation for one day included taxi, skytrain, subway, boat, and motorcycle!! Quite the selection for an 8 hour period. My taxi driver arranged to pick me up from Chatuchak Market at 3pm (he dropped me off there at 8:30am), which was very nice – also gave me his telephone number so that I could call him if I need a taxi again.
I somehow found myself in the pet section at Chatuchak. It’s
amazing what is for sale there – squirrels and hedgehogs seem to be favorites. Lots of random fowl, mice, rats, other small rodents I have no idea what they were, and fish. Lots of fish!! I bought a Siamese fighting fish, a bright red and blue incandescent one. I have named him Bong-Bong, in honor of the Thai slang which means to kick hard twice! For $1.10, I bought a fish, a bowl and a packet of food! He’s a very cheap roommate! I’m not sure what to do with him when I leave, but maybe he’ll take a swim in the klong next door… J One of the fish pet stalls I came across had huge grouper-like fish for sale. The funniest thing was the woman in the stall was actually frying up some small silver fish in a wok right next to the tanks of pet fish!! Hmmmm…
Today is my first day at the National Science Museum. I arrived here this morning (going for a run but forgoing training this morning since I thought I should show up early on my first day!) and was shown to the Director’s office by some of the staff – apparently it was known I was arriving!! NSM has three museums on site – IT, Science & Tech, and Natural History. I’ll be working in the Natural History Museum building. The director, Dr. Somchai Bussarawit, is a marine biologist who used to work at the Phuket Aquarium. He’s very nice, and has been showing me around, introducing me to his staff, etc. I attended a staff meeting this morning (didn’t understand a thing!) and will go for lunch later. He has ~ 10 staff, one of which did his MSc (paleo) at the Paris museum and actually knows Francois! The museum community is a small world apparently.
I had lunch with all the Directors and Vice-Presidents – it was a very relaxed, friendly lunch and I feel very welcome here. I’ve been given a desk in the collection manager’s office (herpetologist) and have unpacked and settled in. Along with doing my own writing, Ganigar wants for me to help her with creating mineralogy-related programming, which sounds like fun! There isn’t a big geology component to the NHM, but that could change. :) I was also introduced to the President - lead into his huge office and treated very well - again, all very informal and friendly. I was shocked by this actually - being someone who is generally very nervous and shy around high-level people like museum presidents, I felt very comfortable with him. He told me about their new museum project - the Rama 9 Museum, which is actually 4 museums in one complex. He also suggests that I give public talks at their downtown Science Square (near MBK for anyone who knows BKK) for Children's Day in January, and also possibly go with them to the far north-east in Issan to see the future Science Square up there. These are off-site satellite museums which cater to the local public with their own specific niche. Very cool!!!Back to work now. :)
Thursday, December 16, 2010
3 leg flight turned into 5!
Ottawa - Vancouver = flight was late, computer troubles
Vancouver - Tokyo = flight was late, again computer troubles, therefore I missed my flight to Bangkok.
Air Canada's solution: take a shuttle bus to another airport in Tokyo (Haneda; remember, this requires actually landing in Japan and doing the whole immigration thing!), short 1 hour flight from Haneda to Kansai (Osaka), and I'm now waiting for a 6 hour flight to Bangkok on Thai Airways which puts me into BKK at 5am in the morning. Ugh.
Hopefully my hotel will still let me check in for a few hours to shower, change and sleep. I've already paid for the room after all!!
Oh well. I got to see some of Tokyo. But I am currently totally blitzed and in need of sleep!!!
Vancouver - Tokyo = flight was late, again computer troubles, therefore I missed my flight to Bangkok.
Air Canada's solution: take a shuttle bus to another airport in Tokyo (Haneda; remember, this requires actually landing in Japan and doing the whole immigration thing!), short 1 hour flight from Haneda to Kansai (Osaka), and I'm now waiting for a 6 hour flight to Bangkok on Thai Airways which puts me into BKK at 5am in the morning. Ugh.
Hopefully my hotel will still let me check in for a few hours to shower, change and sleep. I've already paid for the room after all!!
Oh well. I got to see some of Tokyo. But I am currently totally blitzed and in need of sleep!!!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Leg 1 of 3 done
Leg 1 completed - Ottawa to Vancouver.
There must be quite a few rich, spontaneous shoppers wandering around airports. Especially here in Vancouver (3 hour lay-over means window-shopping and wandering). Every second store is Gucci, Hermes, Cartier, Mont Blanc, etc. Given that this is the international terminal, we can safely assume that anyone in here has paid >$1000 for their ticket already. On top of that, who in their right mind is enough of a spontaneous shopper to walk into Cartier and buy a $3000 watch?? I consider myself a spontaneous shopper and have to generally rein myself in, but even I can stop myself at buying extremely expensive things in an airport. It has to be spontaneous - do people actually plan on coming here to buy thousands of dollars worth of bling and glitz? I am actually puzzled. I generally don't walk into these expensive stores - I figure I should be dressed up to do so or risk being shooed out as lowering the image of their clientele. And also fear walking into some breakable object which would cost me 3 months pay. But I figure an airport is a neutral zone and being a bit spaced out from travel and not dressed to the nines is excusable.
I saw an amazing sight at the Ottawa airport this morning - a 50-ish man wearing walking shorts which were imprinted with fluorescent polka dots. I was being accosted by the security woman at the time (apparently I was hiding something in my bra as it kept setting off the beeper - damn those underwires!!), and we both stopped to stare in awe at this man. Either he (1) is very secure in himself, (2) was venturing down to some Caribbean clime where he thought this was appropriate fashion, or (3) he simply was clueless about how BAD he looked! I am betting on a combination of 2 and 3. It was wrong, simply wrong. Especially at 6am in the morning. How is that acceptable attire in ANY country? Simply amazing.
Leg 2 starting in an hour - Vancouver to Tokyo. 10 hours worth of movies and tv shows.
Note: watch "Dinner for Schmucks" - simply hilarious. But maybe not a good plane movie as it induces quite a bit of laughter!!
There must be quite a few rich, spontaneous shoppers wandering around airports. Especially here in Vancouver (3 hour lay-over means window-shopping and wandering). Every second store is Gucci, Hermes, Cartier, Mont Blanc, etc. Given that this is the international terminal, we can safely assume that anyone in here has paid >$1000 for their ticket already. On top of that, who in their right mind is enough of a spontaneous shopper to walk into Cartier and buy a $3000 watch?? I consider myself a spontaneous shopper and have to generally rein myself in, but even I can stop myself at buying extremely expensive things in an airport. It has to be spontaneous - do people actually plan on coming here to buy thousands of dollars worth of bling and glitz? I am actually puzzled. I generally don't walk into these expensive stores - I figure I should be dressed up to do so or risk being shooed out as lowering the image of their clientele. And also fear walking into some breakable object which would cost me 3 months pay. But I figure an airport is a neutral zone and being a bit spaced out from travel and not dressed to the nines is excusable.
I saw an amazing sight at the Ottawa airport this morning - a 50-ish man wearing walking shorts which were imprinted with fluorescent polka dots. I was being accosted by the security woman at the time (apparently I was hiding something in my bra as it kept setting off the beeper - damn those underwires!!), and we both stopped to stare in awe at this man. Either he (1) is very secure in himself, (2) was venturing down to some Caribbean clime where he thought this was appropriate fashion, or (3) he simply was clueless about how BAD he looked! I am betting on a combination of 2 and 3. It was wrong, simply wrong. Especially at 6am in the morning. How is that acceptable attire in ANY country? Simply amazing.
Leg 2 starting in an hour - Vancouver to Tokyo. 10 hours worth of movies and tv shows.
Note: watch "Dinner for Schmucks" - simply hilarious. But maybe not a good plane movie as it induces quite a bit of laughter!!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
12 hours til take-off
All packed, likely more than I really need. Dog is ready. Cat is ready. Truck is parked (and hopefully won't freeze into one solid block while I'm gone). A few last minutes things done at work today... And we're off!!! Flight is at 7:30am tomorrow morning, which means a 4:30am rising to walk and feed Rebel before grabbing a taxi. Although this year is easier as I'm not flying through the States so no customs to deal with at 5am in the morning.
I don't suspect a greyt deal of sleep will happen tonight. I always fear that my alarm will not go off and I'll miss a flight. It's never happened, but...
Although I have had one very near miss of a flight - flying back from Paris after my post-doc. I went out that morning, wandered up the street to my favourite cafe for une petite noir sur la zinc, then wandered down to the internet cafe. That's where I decided that I should check the departure time on my flight, which I thought was the NEXT day. I had dinner plans and everything for that last night. I opened up the ticket only to realize that my flight was THAT day!! And in about 2 hours. Definitely an 'oh shit' moment. I dashed up the street, ran up the three flights to my apartment and threw all the remaining items in my bag. Luckily, I had already packed the days before, so that wasn't too time consuming. My land lady's husband was there, so I had him call me a cab. The instructions to the cab driver were "drive as fast as you can!", which if anyone has been in Paris, is simply the way they drive anyway, but this was an even bigger challenge through Parisian traffic to the airport. Amazingly, I made it there with 10 minutes to spare for my check-in time and collapsed into a seat to wait for boarding. NOT an experience that I ever want to repeat. I now check and re-check my ticket dates for weeks ahead of time!
The nerves have left but the excitement remains for this trip. I can't wait. One last dumping of snow today makes me want to leave even more! Not that I don't like snow - I do - I like skiing. But Ottawa winters, since it is so damp, are much more brutal than Sudbury winters ever were, even though temperatures in Sudbury could be -30 for weeks at a time. So leaving for +33 C is just fine by me! And having spent a few seasons skiing in the Alps, skiing in the Gatineau Park just doesn't do it for me any more, as spoiled as that sounds... :)
So farewell for now! More random entries when I get settled in in Bangkok near the weekend.
I don't suspect a greyt deal of sleep will happen tonight. I always fear that my alarm will not go off and I'll miss a flight. It's never happened, but...
Although I have had one very near miss of a flight - flying back from Paris after my post-doc. I went out that morning, wandered up the street to my favourite cafe for une petite noir sur la zinc, then wandered down to the internet cafe. That's where I decided that I should check the departure time on my flight, which I thought was the NEXT day. I had dinner plans and everything for that last night. I opened up the ticket only to realize that my flight was THAT day!! And in about 2 hours. Definitely an 'oh shit' moment. I dashed up the street, ran up the three flights to my apartment and threw all the remaining items in my bag. Luckily, I had already packed the days before, so that wasn't too time consuming. My land lady's husband was there, so I had him call me a cab. The instructions to the cab driver were "drive as fast as you can!", which if anyone has been in Paris, is simply the way they drive anyway, but this was an even bigger challenge through Parisian traffic to the airport. Amazingly, I made it there with 10 minutes to spare for my check-in time and collapsed into a seat to wait for boarding. NOT an experience that I ever want to repeat. I now check and re-check my ticket dates for weeks ahead of time!
The nerves have left but the excitement remains for this trip. I can't wait. One last dumping of snow today makes me want to leave even more! Not that I don't like snow - I do - I like skiing. But Ottawa winters, since it is so damp, are much more brutal than Sudbury winters ever were, even though temperatures in Sudbury could be -30 for weeks at a time. So leaving for +33 C is just fine by me! And having spent a few seasons skiing in the Alps, skiing in the Gatineau Park just doesn't do it for me any more, as spoiled as that sounds... :)
So farewell for now! More random entries when I get settled in in Bangkok near the weekend.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
3 more days!
3 more days until leaving for SE Asia - yeah!! The last days before leaving are always a mixed bag of emotions - excitement, anxiety, sadness, excitement again. The start of another adventure, this time 2.5 months of time to experience many new things, people, cultures, foods, etc. I always find that I learn more about myself than anything when traveling for long periods of time such as this. It may not always translate directly to regular life back home, but the lessons are always etched in the back of the brain somewhere!
December is a hard month for me. I think many people who have suffer from depression, whether it is mild or serious, have issues with the holiday season. Certainly I know many people who fall into that category - birds of a feather? I've never been a fan of Christmas. I remember one year during my undergrad where I got so fed up with the stress at home that I slept in the X-ray lab at Laurentian one night! I tell you, a computer desk is not a comfortable thing to spend the night on! Could have been worse, could have been the X-ray generator I guess... So for many reasons, most of which is baggage which with more therapy I might leave behind, I tend to become more withdrawn, impatient, and antisocial as the Christmas season draws near. Leaving the country over the holiday time might be seen as running away, but for me it's more personal survival.
December has become an even harder month for me in the last years. It was almost exactly 2 years ago that Abbey was diagnosed with cancer. Those 15 days were some of the hardest I have ever experienced in my life. To this day, I am content and at peace with my decision to let him go, but the pain hasn't gone away. It's diminished, and although Rebel isn't a 'replacement', he does help - you can't help but laugh at this silly boy all the time. But it still hurts. My father died the same week. Funny, but I mourn for Abbey still, but I don't mourn for my father. Maybe I had already gone through that part of the process while he was alive. Grieving for what could have been I guess. But you can't look back, you can only move ahead and hope that you've grown and learned from the past to better you in the future.
Anyway, all that to say that leaving at this time of year is a mixed emotional bag. But maybe this is a good thing - mixes things up a bit!! I am very sad to leave Rebel for this long however. He is very attached to me, and vice versa. It's going to be hard not to see the silly goober for so long.
December is a hard month for me. I think many people who have suffer from depression, whether it is mild or serious, have issues with the holiday season. Certainly I know many people who fall into that category - birds of a feather? I've never been a fan of Christmas. I remember one year during my undergrad where I got so fed up with the stress at home that I slept in the X-ray lab at Laurentian one night! I tell you, a computer desk is not a comfortable thing to spend the night on! Could have been worse, could have been the X-ray generator I guess... So for many reasons, most of which is baggage which with more therapy I might leave behind, I tend to become more withdrawn, impatient, and antisocial as the Christmas season draws near. Leaving the country over the holiday time might be seen as running away, but for me it's more personal survival.
December has become an even harder month for me in the last years. It was almost exactly 2 years ago that Abbey was diagnosed with cancer. Those 15 days were some of the hardest I have ever experienced in my life. To this day, I am content and at peace with my decision to let him go, but the pain hasn't gone away. It's diminished, and although Rebel isn't a 'replacement', he does help - you can't help but laugh at this silly boy all the time. But it still hurts. My father died the same week. Funny, but I mourn for Abbey still, but I don't mourn for my father. Maybe I had already gone through that part of the process while he was alive. Grieving for what could have been I guess. But you can't look back, you can only move ahead and hope that you've grown and learned from the past to better you in the future.Anyway, all that to say that leaving at this time of year is a mixed emotional bag. But maybe this is a good thing - mixes things up a bit!! I am very sad to leave Rebel for this long however. He is very attached to me, and vice versa. It's going to be hard not to see the silly goober for so long.
Monday, December 6, 2010
One week to go!
T-8 days until I leave for Bangkok again. Yeah!! But this year is different - it's not just a 3 or 4 week holiday - it's 2.5 MONTHS away from home. That's a llllooooonnnnnggggg time. I haven't been away for that long since living in Paris, and I fully remember what that was like for the first month or so. However, I can't imagine working at the National Science Museum will be anything like working in the labs at Marne-la-Vallee! Some experiences are best left in the past and learned from. I could have chosen to go back to Paris for my sabbatical - Francois offered and sent me a written invitation complete with offer to pay my accommodations and flight. However it would not have been a good idea. Anyone I mentioned this possibility to, anyone who knows what went on in Paris, asked me if I was crazy and why would I want to put myself in that situation again? But Paris calls me every once in a while - I liked Paris, I liked France, I liked being 5 hours away from the beautiful Alps for hiking and skiing!! The abuse and head-fucks I could do without however... :)
So! To the National Science Museum of Thailand I go! I'm uncertain what to expect - it's been a bit difficult getting definitive answers and information from my contacts, but I know it will all work out in the end. I don't require much - a desk, an internet connection, a printer every once in a while, a quiet place to write. I may have to call on favors from colleagues to get manuscripts emailed to me, but otherwise I'm pretty self-sufficient with my computer.
To date, I have a tentative schedule, for anyone who cares!
December 17th, 2010 - January 24th ,2011
Staying at Baan Muay Thai (Rangsit), training in the morning and working the rest of the day at NSM in Pathum Thani.
Weekends will be spent touring within 2-3 hours of Bangkok (Hua Hin, Phu Noi, Kanchanaburi, etc.)
January 25 - 26th, 2011
Bangkok to meet up with a friend from the Banff program (Alex, we meet in the strangest places!)
January 27th - February 2nd, 2011
Phnom Penh and Pursat, Cambodia for our Rockin4Tabitha house build (25 houses baby!!)
February 4-5, 2011
Bike tour from Battambang, Cambodia, to Chanthaburi, Thailand
February 6th, 2011
Rest day in Chanthaburi, Thailand
February 7th, 2011
Travel to Bangkok
February 8th - 26th, 2011
Flight to Chiang Mai, and travels around northern Thailand, possibly Burma and Laos.
It's after February 8th that that the schedule becomes sort of indistinct!! It will be spontaneous, spur of the moment, and in no particular rush to do anything or go anywhere.
February 27th, 2011
Fly back to (cold) Ottawa.
To date that's all the real schedule I have. While working at NSM, I'm sure other ideas and plans will arise, but I'm in no real rush to solidify them.
So! To the National Science Museum of Thailand I go! I'm uncertain what to expect - it's been a bit difficult getting definitive answers and information from my contacts, but I know it will all work out in the end. I don't require much - a desk, an internet connection, a printer every once in a while, a quiet place to write. I may have to call on favors from colleagues to get manuscripts emailed to me, but otherwise I'm pretty self-sufficient with my computer.
To date, I have a tentative schedule, for anyone who cares!
December 17th, 2010 - January 24th ,2011
Staying at Baan Muay Thai (Rangsit), training in the morning and working the rest of the day at NSM in Pathum Thani.
Weekends will be spent touring within 2-3 hours of Bangkok (Hua Hin, Phu Noi, Kanchanaburi, etc.)
January 25 - 26th, 2011
Bangkok to meet up with a friend from the Banff program (Alex, we meet in the strangest places!)
January 27th - February 2nd, 2011
Phnom Penh and Pursat, Cambodia for our Rockin4Tabitha house build (25 houses baby!!)
February 4-5, 2011
Bike tour from Battambang, Cambodia, to Chanthaburi, Thailand
February 6th, 2011
Rest day in Chanthaburi, Thailand
February 7th, 2011
Travel to Bangkok
February 8th - 26th, 2011
Flight to Chiang Mai, and travels around northern Thailand, possibly Burma and Laos.
It's after February 8th that that the schedule becomes sort of indistinct!! It will be spontaneous, spur of the moment, and in no particular rush to do anything or go anywhere.
February 27th, 2011
Fly back to (cold) Ottawa.
To date that's all the real schedule I have. While working at NSM, I'm sure other ideas and plans will arise, but I'm in no real rush to solidify them.
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