Summary from the last 1.5 weeks

For all you loyal (!!) followers out there, I apologize for not writing in the last 1.5 weeks, but my time spent down near Chanthaburi at Burapha University was quite busy and in the evenings, sleep was quite often more important than staying up and blogging!!

That said, this entry is actually being written from 35,000 feet on the Tokyo-Toronto flight, AC002, while awaiting the suspicious Air Canada hot supper that they are bringing shortly. I’m attempting to stay up for a while yet as it would be nice to reduce my jetlag by being able to sleep when I come home tonight. I was actually in good shape when I arrived in Thailand – jetlag didn’t really bother me, for the first time in a few trips. It may have had something to do with the fact that I didn’t sleep on the entire trip to Bangkok so was exhausted by the time I landed and hit a comfy bed!!

My time down at Burapha University was awesome!! I met so many great people and made many new friends. Everyone was very friendly and kind and fun to be around. It was certainly a full week! Each day was planned out and included trips to mines and basalt outcrops, visiting waterfalls and old 18^th century forts, and of course eating a great quantity of fresh seafood!! Surin, the dean of the faculty of gemmology, took me to a fruit market the first day and I got to sample every possible fresh fruit you can imagine. As well as visit many orchards and farms to see how some of these exotic fruit grow. I even tried durian, although I must admit it isn’t my favorite fruit – the texture is like custard and the fruit itself is stinky and very sweet – too rich tasting for me. But durian chips are okay. They are like potatoe chips, but they use young durian so the flavor and smell is quite reduced. I also tried snake fruit (or salak) for the first time – it resembles a miniature football with a bunch of spines on it. The fruit has a pit inside and is a bit sweet-sour in flavor. Very good though!!

I got to visit a number of corundum ‘mines’ in the eastern and western basalt fields. First off, they are not ‘mines’ as we envisage in Canada. They are simply large holes in the ground that they bulldoze through to pick up the lateritic soil and send it in a slurry to a gravity separator. The clays and iron oxy-hydroxides are washed out into the sludge piles, and the heavy minerals are concentrated in a sealed container beneath the separator – corundum, spinel, zircon, Fe-Ti-oxides, etc. The mine owner comes by every couple of days to unlock the container and collect the heavy minerals. He then sorts through it and takes out all the corundum and chucks the remainder back into the sludge pile. It’s a pretty simple operation. They dig the weather basalt down to the bedrock and then the mine is finished. What is good about this system is that they are obliged to fill in the large hole they have dug, and since the lateritic soil is so nutrient-rich, it can be used for farming after mining is done. To find an old mine, all you have to do is look for a square water-filled hole – some of the older mines weren’t filled in and filled with water.

The interesting thing about corundum mining in Thailand is that it’s actually ILLEGAL!! And it’s all under the table. The mine owners rent the land from farmers and agree to restore the farm land when they are done. The farmer gets money under the table. The police and officials know this goes on, but they don’t stop it. It’s actually the reverse – they profit from it! On a regular basis, someone associated with the police and government goes around to each mine owner and collects what essentially amounts to a bribe so that they may continue mining! The black market operations continue through to the gem market – buyers and sellers alike are all making money under the table and no one is reporting it. The police and government know all about it, but I guess they get enough in bribe money that they simply go along with it. It’s incredible.

Puwadon took me to the two gem markets in Chanthaburi. Burapha University operates an ID and gemstone assessment lab in one of the main jewelry centres. For 200 Baht, they asses your stone, its quality and whether it is real or not. It’s good business for the University actually, and they are doing the gem community quite a big service.

In two sections of town, buyers and sellers gather to do business. Puwadon pointed out to me all the people carrying satchels and bags in the area – all of them filled with thousands or millions of baht worth of cut and uncut gemstones from all over the world. Strangely enough, it is the buyers who occupy tables along the side streets, out in the open, or in private shops. These buyers are generally specialized in one or two species or varieties of stones – sapphires, tanzanite, tourmaline, etc. And the sellers know who is interested in what gem. The seller is only an intermediary – he/she is often acting as a middleman between the true seller, who doesn’t want to be seen on the streets, and the buyer. The middleman takes the risk of walking around town with a fortune in gems on his body, hoping to sell the gems at a high enough value that he makes a profit. The seller will tell the middleman what price he wants for a stone. For example, 3000 baht. The middleman will attempt to sell the stone to a buyer at a higher price. Whatever value above the seller’s bottom line that the stone is sold for becomes profit for the middleman. If buyers are newbies, the profit for a seller and the middleman can be quite high. Apparently newbies are easily spotted – they are at the tables which are being swarmed by sellers! It’s a learning curve – you have to know the market prices of the stones or you will be swindled. Fortunes are made and sold every Friday and Saturday in Chanthaburi. Definitely a world that I am not familiar with at all!! To me, ya, they are pretty, but worth the expense? No. Can I cut them or powder them for analyses? Then sure!! But not at those prices.

Puwadon did supply me with zircons from 5 different localities – one in Chanthaburi area, and the other 4 from Ratanakiri in Cambodia. Even unheated-treated, they are beautiful zircons; one sample is a dark, rich red sample and would make a great stone even without turning it the bright blue that Ratanakiri zircons are prized for after heat-treatment.

Along with science, I spent a great deal of time getting to know my new colleagues/friends – Wow, Tuk, Surin, Om, Puwadon and Bee. They took me to a national park to see a waterfall and all the river carp, and one two occasions, Surin took me cycling along the coast road and into the hills. The first morning we went, we did about 30 km, and towards the half-way point, we had to climb up and over the large hills near the coast. Now, I’m not the most enthusiastic hill-climber on the best of days, so climbing this steep, long hill in 37° C weather and 100% humidity while on a very heavy mountain bike made the situation even worse!! Halfway up, I thought for sure I was going to hurl. I was simply drenched in sweat and dehydrated. I had to stop halfway to gulp down half a bottle of water. But by the end of the ride, I felt great! The area around Burapha is fantastic for cycling. I went out with Surin on my last day as well. I gave a 2 hour talk in the afternoon to 1^st, 2^nd and 4^th year students about the mineralogy research that I am doing, focusing on Aris and Larvik. The students seemed interested, and even laughed for the time they were with me. Om translated for me, which made the talk last longer, but I’m getting used to these simultaneous talks! Afterwards, I felt like a superstar!! All the students wanted to have their pictures taken with me! It was kind of funny! After my talk, Surin suggested we do a 20 km bike ride – 10 km to Khung Wiman beach and 10 km back. It wasn’t a hilly ride, which was good since it was 5pm in the afternoon (our first ride, we started at 7am!). When we hit the beach, even though the surf was quite high and the current warning flags were out, I took off my shoes and socks and had a bit of a swim in the bath-water-temperature ocean of the Gulf of Thailand . I was only in long enough to get soaked and cool off, which was great for the way back – it meant I didn’t overheat. And it was one of the non-rainy days while I was there – blue skies and sunshine the entire time we were cycling.

My last evening at Burapha, we went out for a seafood feast southeast of Chanthaburi. It was fantastic – fish cakes, calamari, crab, raw oysters, some sort of crab dip, whole grilled seabass, you name it. The table was simply covered in different dishes! It was a great last supper as well – we laughed and joked for hours before heading back to the campus. The next morning, I felt sad to be leaving – I felt like I had been welcomed and accepted by the faculty and made some good friends. After a week, I wasn’t really looking forward to leaving! But I know I’ll be back in January, so that made it a bit easier.

The Burapha U. van took me back to Bangkok on Tuesday and I got off at a BTS station and took the skytrain to the hotel that Visut (Chulalongkorn U.) had booked for me, Krit Thai Mansion. It was directly across from MBK, and I’m not certain that I will ever stay there again. Possibly one of the noisiest hotels I have ever stayed in!! The AC unit sounded like an AirBus 320 revving it’s engines all night long, and right next door, a new building was being constructed and concrete and rebar activity could be heard all night long. That, and the staff simply weren’t all that nice – they always had a scowl on their face and looked like the last place they wanted to be was at work. Not entirely pleasant! But for 1000 baht/night, and within walking distance of the university and the NSM shuttle van, it was convenient.

Raan Jay Fai and arrival at Burapha University

Last night I decided to track down one of the more famous noodle shops in Bangkok – Raan Jay Fai. It’s got a bit of a cult following and apparently has the best pad khee mao (drunken noodles) anywhere in town. It’s nowhere near the regular tourist path, that’s for sure. Unless you’re like me and always search out the weird and the odd places like amulet markets and the monk’s bowl village, which is the neighbourhood Raan Jay Fai is in. Actually, I’ve likely walked past it a number of times in the last year.

Given that it was way across town in Banglampoo, nowhere near a skytrain or subway stop, I decided to take a motorcycle taxi. I know, many people will not get on these machines in Bangkok for fear of, well, death! But in Bangkok traffic, they are an efficient way of getting around – they can duck and dive between cars and buses and move much faster than the regular traffic. But yes, they are all maniacs and in the last week I have seen 2 motorcycle accidents along Sukhumvit. Well, the aftermath of accidents anyway… But still, it’s efficient and after this many years, I’ve learned to just go with it and be a good passenger.

My first mistake was not checking the sky in all directions as I left. It’s the rainy season here. It’s not a matter of *if* it’s going to rain, but *when* and *how hard*. I didn’t bring an umbrella or rain jacket. Half way to Khao San, the sky got nasty and black and it started to rain. Torrential downpour!! My mototaxi driver pulled over (thankfully) and we stood under an awning to wait it out. No such luck. I finally paid him and got a real taxi. Once I got to Khao San, I managed to find a $3 umbrella in the plethora of tourist crap, by which time the torrential monsoon had diminished and I could walk to Raan Jay Fai without being soaked.

For anyone out to find the place, it’s completely non-descript. Thankfully, the street number is visible on the outside of the shop, 327 Maha Chai Road, and I was able to ask one of the cooks if it was for sure the right place (there wasn’t anyone at the tables!). I ordered the pad khee mao with prawns, and a Singha. Spicy. I must admit, the food was good. I’m not sure it was 300 baht worth good, but definitely good. The prawns were some mutant strain of crustacean – there were huge! Three of them only, but had the equivalent meat as about 10 tiger shrimp. Fresh water river prawns I suspect. The noodles were thick (2 inches wide) and very tasty and chewy (not in a bad way) and the spices were good. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone headed in that direction. But for $10, it was expensive Thai street food! There are a couple of places along that strip that I would like to try – the pad thai place was packed with people.

Today I checked out of my hotel, stored the large duffle bag with Thai gear in the luggage storage, and took a taxi to BITEC where I was to meet my colleagues from Burapha University, Chutimun (materials science) and Vasin (VP of the university). We had lunch with Pichai and Thanakorn and then Chutimun (or Wow as her nickname) and I headed to Chanthaburi in the van. It was a good trip actually – we have a lot in common – scuba diving, climbing, hiking, etc., so had a long chat on the way down. She said she was a little nervous about being put in charge of me for fear that I would be one of those professors/scientists who only talk work and technical science all the time!! So I guess I was quite a relief to her!! I thought that was kind of funny, and a bit of a relief to me as well – I’m always very nervous and uncomfortable and insecure meeting other researchers.

The campus is actually 20 km away from Chanthaburi and pretty much in the middle of nowhere! It’s a small campus (2000 students) and has three main faculties – gemmology, marine engineering, and arts. Burapha has a 2^nd campus in Chonburi, an hour away. The campus here is only 10 years old. Most students and professors actually live on site, and I am staying in one of the residences on the top floor. It’s quite nice – huge room, AC, balcony overlooking the prawn farms and the briny marshes in the fields below. It’s a beautiful setting – mountains on one side and the ocean only 5 km away.

After getting settled in to my room, I met everyone downstairs and we took a university van to a fishing village on the ocean, about 20 minutes away, to have a seafood feast. It was a lot of fun – everyone was relaxed and friendly and laughing – like most geology departments I have been in! It’s obvious they are a tight-knit group, even with the VP of the entire university there and the Dean of the gemmology department. We feasted on squid, tom yam kung with soft-shelled crabs, deep fried and salt-baked sea bass, crab fried rice, spicy clam salad, and, my favorite dish of all time, chili basil scallops. But not just any scallop – possibly the best scallops in the world! Oh man, they were soooooooo good!!! Completely amazing. They had the scallop muscle, but also had the other parts still attached – the gills and ovaries – and those parts are incredible! Melt in your mouth, sweet, tender. I was in heaven. I also got to try snake fruit, or salak, which is a fruit that I have seen in the markets this trip but did not have the guts to try. It’s in season now, which is why I have never seen it before when here. It’s ugly, spiky, with a tough brown shell or skin, shaped like a football. Inside is something resembling a longan but larger, and with a pit. But they are good – kind of sweet-sour. Gonna find more in the market tomorrow, now that I know how to eat them!

Sak yant with Ajarn Thoy

This afternoon I decided that I would visit Ajarn Thoy at Wat Thong Wai to receive a sak yant. I'm working to complete my back but it will take me a few years yet, at 1-2 sak yant per year. As I near the more tender areas of the back, I feel less inclined to get more than one per sitting!

Ajarn Thoy is located at Wat Thong Wai, On Nut 25, near the On Nut BTS station. He has a small samansk at the back of the wat. I arrived around 1:30pm and waited with three other people - one Thai woman who had studied in France and was with two French friends - one from Montreal and one from France. Actually, it was good luck that she was there as she acted as a translator during my interaction with Ajarn Thoy.

I had chosen 4 possible sak yant to receive, but figured I would let him decide for me which he wanted to do. As the other three people were newbies and had not decided on what to get, I was chosen to go first. Ajarn Thoy chose Nai Khanom Tom for me. Nai Khanom Tom is a Muay Thai/Muay Boran hero who defeated many Burmese opponents in 1767 after performing a tradiation wai kruu and mesmerizing the Burmese army. March 17th is celebrated as "Boxer's Day" as a tribute to Nai Khanom Tom's achievements. A sak yant of Nai Khanom Tom is not common. In fact, it is considered too strong in most cases to tattoo on someone. Ajarn Thoy is one of the few who will, and I suspect only on nak muays (muay thai fighters). Although I'm sure the only people who know about him are those associated with Muay Thai in the first place!

Given that I have a few sak yant on my upper back, I had Ajarn Thoy put the sak yant below my Hanuman, on my lower back. He placed it centred on my spine, and did the entire thing freehand. Totally impressive!! No stencil involved here. And yes, it was painful. The lower back, along the spine, is not a good place to get a tattoo!! I was dripping with sweat, red-faced, and in considerable discomfort by the time he was done! Why do I continue to do this? But it is worth it - the sak yant is beautiful, intricate. I am very happy and honored to have it. He told me that when I train, I must meditate on my sak yant, focus, and it will make me strong.

Turns out Ajarn Thoy was a Thai boxer himself when he was younger (14) and even fought at Lumpinee! Here's a pic of him in his nak muay phase, and his Por Gae Ruesi phase.

It is throbbing a bit right now, but that's normal. Having been stabbed repeatedly for 1/2 an hour will do that to you!! But it's beautiful.

Chatuchak market and 'Lemongrass'

It's been a very full Saturday - short jog this morning, breakfast and then a full morning/afternoon full of window shopping! I decided to head out to Chatuchak Market and see what was new in the 1000's of booths that are there.

For those who are unfortunate enough to never have visited Chatuchak, it is probably the world's largest outdoor market and one of my Top 10 sites to see in Bangkok. It spans 27 acres with >15,000 vendors. It's absolutely HUGE! And I'm sure is quite overwhelming for most people on their first visit. I'm certainly no Chatuchak virgin, but I still am only good for about 2 hours within the crowded sois before I start to get claustrophobic and have to emerge into the daylight and find water and food. Most of the 27 acres are filled with clothes - new, used, fashion, ethnic, you name it. Clothes and shoes - those sections are endless and filled with the ubiquitous Chang, Red Bull, "Addidogs" and "Starfucks" t-shirts, used Converse, enough army clothing to outfit your own platoon, and fake silk sarongs. The rest of the market contains the more interesting items - antiques, housewares, pets (including a whole section dedicated to roosters and Siamese fighting fish), art, carvings, jewelry, leather goods, etc. If you think you need it, you can find it here. I try and avoid the clothing section and head for the antiques and other odd things. Today I did find some hand-drawn charcoal drawings of Muay Thai techniques which were pretty cool (200 baht each, $8). I also found a 60 year old water buffalo bell in an antique stall but they wanted 3000 baht for it ($100) and I couldn't justify it right then. If I have extra cash at the end of my trip, I'll go back and haggle for it. I collect animal bells. I know, it's a bit of a strange thing to collect, but c'est la vie. I have bells from Nepal, France, Switzerland, Burma and Cambodia. From yaks, cows, sheep, and buffalo.

The picture to the left was taken at one of the food stalls in Chatuchak. The menu was pretty easy to read, but the large sign above my head is a perfect example in how bad a translation into English from Thai can go!!

This evening I decided to treat myself to a more 'expensive' Thai supper at Lemongrass. It's located on Sukhumvit Soi 24. I read quite a few reviews before deciding to try it - mixed opinions from excellent to 'farang Thai'. I was actually quite pleased. Yes, it's more expensive than what you would get on the street, but it was quite good. I had Mieng Gai to start, which is minced chicken cooked with ginger and chillis. You eat it like a wrap in lettuce, cabbage and betel leaves (betel leaves are AWESOME by the way!!). I also had the Yam Som-O which is pomelo salad, one of my all-time favorites at any time. It contains pomelo, shrimp, toasted coconut, peanuts and chillis. So refreshing and flavorful. Awesome. For my main course I had beef marinated in a "black sauce", dried and then fried with garlic and chilli and basil leaves. I forget the Thai name. This was the only dish I wasn't 100% happy with, simply because I asked if it was hot and my waiter said yes, but it wasn't. Not for me anyway. Anyway, I give Lemongrass a 8/10. I would go there again. And probably will!!

Following supper, given that my feet were aching from 5 hours of shopping, I decided a foot massage was in order, so stopped along Soi 24. I have a love/hate relationship with foot massages. My hate/fear of them stems from the fact that every time they massage the muscles on the outside of my shins and my IT band, it makes me want to scream!! But afterwards it feels so good. I also have found that my calves get repeatedly poked and prodded and commented on whenever I get a massage here - yes, they are big! I can't help it! This time, I learned a bit of Thai from Lee, my masseuse, and shared info on our sak-yant (tattoos) as she has a gao yord as well. She also pointed at my breasts and said "you give me some?"!! Sure!! If I could, I would! As with the large shins, they aren't a blessing but only a hindrance! You're welcome to some of them chicky!! :)

Harry Potter in Imax 3D in Thailand

After a day of writing/editing an MOU with a lunch stop at the Boon store to buy belly protectors and gloves, I decided to head to Siam Centre and Siam Paragon. It's a huge mall complex but there are theatres at the top levels. Turns out that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was playing in Imax 3D so I decided to spend 400 baht and go see it. Ignoring the fact that the 3D glasses made my eyes hurt a bit, it was worth it - probably the best Harry Potter movie out of the last 3, most of which I have been disappointed with. But the special effects and the fight scenes were great. And hey, there were more lengthy sections with Alan Rickman than in most of the other ones, so I was happy! Headed back to the hotel afterwards and discovered that it's raining. Again. Rain. Rain. And, oh! more rain!! Welcome to Bangkok in August - it's still rainy season here apparently! So I stopped by the local fruit vendor and picked up a whole kilo of fresh mangosteens and a package of pomelo - yum!!!

Science and Technology Fair at BITEC, Day 1

I went to bed quite early last night - 9:30pm - and managed to sleep until 5am at which time jet-lag took over and I was wide awake. After contemplating tossing and turning for a while, I finally got up and decided that since the cafe downstairs was open, I would check out the breakfast buffet. Not bad actually - a good selection of fruit and museli and other hot items including an omelet bar, which is always appreciated. Afterwards, I decided to go out for a walk - given my imposed house arrest, uh, sorry, mandatory rest and recuperation period while on these antibiotics, I am reduced to walking. I headed down Soi 22 and then back up along Soi 16 to Asoke and back to the hotel.

Late morning I caught a cab over to BITEC. Actually, the 2nd cab I came across. The first cabbie was very nice and wanted to drive me and then suggested I pay him 300 baht to do so! Ha! Okay, I am no longer a stupid farang and know full well that on the meter, to BITEC was only going to be ~100 baht. Sorry buddy!! Go find another sucker. Turns out it was almost exactly 100 baht, plus the toll fee for the highway.

Walking into BITEC, I was completely SWARMED by kids!! 50,000 to 100,000 students go through the expo of the Science & Technology Fair every single day. Every day!! In 2 weeks, they get >1.3 MILLION visitors (mainly school groups) coming in to visit. From all over the country. Pichai was telling me that groups from far north and south will travel all night on the bus to get to Bangkok, visit the National Science Museum in the morning and then come to BITEC for the Sci&Tech Fair in the afternoon. Then drive back to wherever they came from over the next night! That's crazy. Can you imagine a school group from Canada doing that? It would be like driving from New Brunswick or PEI to Ottawa over night and then back again the next night! To attend a SCIENCE fair!! Incredible.

The Fair is actually an expo, not what we consider a 'science fair'. It has booths and displays and pavilions from private industry, government, universities, other museums and science centres, as well as international pavilions - this year from Germany, China, Russia, Japan and France.

The France pavilion was interesting as it actually represented a collaboration between Thai scientists and SOILEIL, the French synchrotron near Paris. The interesting thing I found out is that Thailand actually HAS a synchrotron souce! Check out the webpage for Siam Photon. I don't know who the scientists are, but I do know they have a crystallography line and an XAS line. Could be interesting and useful information.

Hopefully next year from Canada as well. We are working on an MOU between CMN and NSM and hopefully this will include our involvement in the Sci & Tech Fair next year.

I met up with the NSM staff - Bink, Thanakorn, Chanika and Cholawit - in the NSM office and then went to lunch with them where Pichai met us. It was nice to be back amongst people I know - to come all this way across the planet only to be met with colleagues and Thai friends. Pretty cool. They have done an amazing job at this expo - and have a huge amount of energy to survive for 2 weeks! After lunch, I was able to meet with Pichai, Bink and Thanakorn to discuss the MOU, catch up, and plan my trip to Chanthaburi next week. So far so good! Cholawit then showed me around 2 of the 5 halls of the expo before I started crashing at around 4pm. Jet-lag set in and there was no way I was going to visit the last few halls - we'll leave that until tomorrow!

After a quick recovery rest period at the hotel, I decided that heading to Ratchadamneon Stadium to buy gloves at Raja. Afterwards, I stopped in at the Issaan restaurant next door and had bbq chicken, som tam and sticky rice. But it was a bad chicken experience - still bleeding and cold. So I told the waitress and she took it back and I *think* she put it in a wok and fried it in oil to warm it up. Yuck. I got my bitten chicken chunks back and they were still oozing a bit of blood. Now, the fact that I am already on antibiotics doesn't mean I can play Russian roulette with sushi chicken! So I told her that I was not eating it. There was a farang guy in there who spoke Thai so I told him what was wrong and he translated. No chicken. They took it away, apologizing. So I finished the rice and som tam and am just getting ready to leave, when out comes the waitress with a plate of chicken!! The SAME friggin' chicken!!! Minus the few chewed pieces (except one leg which was what clued me in). No no no no!!! Okay, it was hot and finally cooked, but come on!! Thrice repeated chicken is not a lot of fun!! Nor appetizing. So if I get GI issues tonight, I know the cause...

Ways to spend a day in Bangkok

Possible ways to spend your first day in Bangkok:

1. Go for run in morning. Come back to hotel and realize that rash on back of left knee is bigger and redder than it was a few days ago.
2. Become concerned. Smack forehead as I did not listen to wise kate when she told me to see a doctor on friday.
3. Get taxi downtown to Citrus Hotel, soi 22.
4. Drop bags in nice hotel room.
5. Walk up to Soi 1 to the international clinic near Bumnangrat Hospital.
6. See doctor who expresses concern over big ugly rash.
7. Get antihistamine shot and blood taken for complete blood work panel.
8. Spend afternoon jet-lagged in room eating fresh pomelo.
9. Walk back to Soi 1 at 5pm for CBC results.
10. Be told your white blood cells are really, really high and you have an acute bacterial infection - acute cellulitis, likely a staph infection.
11. Acquire massive quantities of antibiotics for a week's worth of fun.
12. Have very nice long discussion with cute, friendly doctor, Nok. Get told to rest and not drink alcohol while on said antibiotics.
13. Take skytrain back to hotel, $100 poorer, with doctor's card in pocket, CBC results as a souvenir.
14. Walk back to hotel from BTS station in the rain.
15. Decide on what to eat for supper and ruminate on the thought of no Chang for the next week.

Back in the land of smiles - Thailand 2011 the sequel

It's much easier on the body to leave Ottawa in summer and arrive in Bangkok in summer - going from hot, humid weather to hotter, more humid weather is certainly less of a shock than going from -30 and snow to +30 and sun!

I arrived here last night after a mostly uneventful flight from Ottawa. Although I somehow managed to book my flight from Ottawa to Toronto to include a 4 hour layover in the Toronto airport before flying to Tokyo, so spent quite a while lying around, doing not much of anything. I couldn't sleep on the 12.5 hour flight from Toronto to Tokyo, even after taking a Gravol and Sleepeze, so spent the flight watching movies, reading and generally just staring at the seat in front of me! I had a very quick connection in Tokyo and on to a Thai airways flight to BKK. The day before, there was a huge Muay Thai event in Tokyo, Muay Thai Extreme, which featured both Buakaw and Yodsenklai, and I wound up seated across the aisle from Yodsenklai and his entourage on the flight! I thought about saying hi, but wasn't sure if these guys appreciate being recognized or if they simply want to fly in peace. He lost his fight on points and was limping quite badly so a flight in peace was likely in order. :) I'm also too shy to randomly say hi to a stranger!!

There is something very welcoming about stepping out of the airport in BKK and into warm, humid Asia air. The smell of the air is so different than in Canada and it definitely signals Asia. I got to the Best Western, my regular apres-flight stop, dropped off my bags and went up the street to find food. I missed the meal on the Thai Airways flight so figured that a meal was in order before attempting to sleep. As luck would have it, the first food stall I came across had northeastern (Isaan) food! Yeah!!! 120 Baht later and I feasted on som tam, laab moo, sticky rice and a large Leo beer. Oh so good! And welcome back to Thailand! Although my mouth and senses were blown away by Thai spicy after not having it for so long. But it was awesome.

I managed to get a solid 9 hours of sleep last night and got up this morning and went for my regular run along the main street to the khlong near the market. I always get nervous running on the 3-foot wide concrete khlong path - I fear falling into the murky, smelly canal! I'm always amazed at the motorcycles flying down this path, how they can manage to stay out of the water. If it was me, my nervousness about the cesspool of the canal would likely subconsciously mean I would wind up driving into the water! I stopped in the small market on the way back at the 7-11 for water and to browse. It's the simple things about Thailand I love - just wandering through the morning market and browsing at the fruit in season, the random trinkets for sale, and the guys selling amulets at the corner. I bought one small (1 inch round) clay amulet made in Singburi and had a Thainglish conversation with the amulet sellers. I don't think they often see a farang jogging in this suburb so running here means saying hello to every shop owner as you pass by!

Now it's back at the hotel and time for breakfast of some sort before heading to downtown Bangkok to get settled into to my hotel there.

Planning ahead - March 2013

The last 5 years I've used my holiday time to travel to Thailand and Cambodia. I love SE Asia - the food, the people, housebuilding, Muay Thai, the friends I travel with, etc. But something about Nepal keeps calling me back. I dream of Nepal. The mountains, the snow, the rocks. Not the food though! But there is something mystical about Nepal and the Himalayas.

So I've decided to go back. In spring 2013. Yes, it's far in advance! But the cost of those treks means saving for many months and planning. 1.5 years to plan and save the money required. I've decided to go with Canadian Himalayan Expeditions again and do a combined trip - Everest in Hilary's Footsteps and then tack on the Island Peak (Imja Tse) climb at the end. Island Peak is considered a "trekker's" peak, which means it has minimal technical climbing. It's 20 305 feet tall and a snow and ice climb. I can't wait! The thought of it just makes me giddy. I've always wanted to do it, ever since I first trekked in Nepal. The first part of the trek would be almost the same as the Everest Base Camp trek. And, truth be told, I have a bone to pick with Kala Patar! Making it to Lobuche the last time wasn't sufficient - I have to be up at the top. So I'm going back to try again! And hoping not to get sick this time around.

One of CHE's customers made a video of his summit of Island Peak - it can be found HERE on YouTube. It's pretty cool. Scary to a point, but very cool!!

I've always wanted to do mountaineering. And this is the perfect peak to start on. Now if I lived out in Alberta or BC, training would be easy and more accessible, but for now, the next year I will be doing a lot of hill training and hiking! That's the other thing about planning this trip this far out - training, training and more training.

Going to be so AWESOME!!

pissed off

What's the worst way to end a long weekend? Having your truck broken into and your wallet stolen. Yup. All credit cards, bank card, government cards, driver's license, Aeroplan card, you name it. And my prescription sunglasses. Cars along our street got broken into Saturday night. I don't usually leave my wallet in my truck, but for some reason I did and didn't notice anything until Sunday afternoon when I went to clean the truck and discovered a mess all over the front seats - everything pulled out of the glovebox and the storage box and strewn all over. Great.

I spent most of the afternoon on the phone attempting to cancel and replace credit cards. There isn't much I can do about my health and SIN cards until tomorrow when the offices are open. The main problem is that it's a shortened week and it takes a while for banks to courier credit cards. And I leave for Thailand on Sunday so need everything replaced by the weekend. Fingers are crossed this will work out.

I'm more pissed off that they took my sunglasses though! I can't afford to replace them right now (nor do I have the time to get to my optician and do so).

I'm more simply infuriated than mad at the break-in. I don't like being violated like this. In my own driveway. That's what has me the most mad. That, and the fact that I have to spend much of my week replacing all my ID because some dumbass crackhead in the neighbourhood went on a joyride breaking into cars in the middle of the night.