how many school girls can you fit in a tuk tuk?

me: err hi can i take a ride on your bike?
jap guy: get away from me crazy asian chick
well, actually the real story is kinda embarassing. haha

the LRT alike is called the BTS system which was frequently used, until calculating that its the same prices as when we took a cab, of course minus the horrendus jams

this should be the way to travel, on an expensive, painful, slow, and dont forget the poor elephants back.. 

creative?

tralalala 

saengtheaw's - danger when he packs 30 people into that thing and goes uphil to Koh Chang 

now this is the way to travel 

at the end of the day it was the good ole bus 11 that did the most work, two blisters and a back ache, sigh

nO shiTtiNg iN tHe ToiLeT!

Dear jess,

Im thirsting for travel books and looking into the reality of other people dreams whilst mine remains on hold for savings and preparations. On my right, an inspiring book of solo female travels, on my left, Peter Moore, who comes up with a travel guide, called no shitting in the toilet.

My purchase was based on the fact that i burst out laughing in the midst of MPH from a man whose traveled 90 countries and sees this sign in a toilet in China, equipped with crude drawings of a squatting man, and lets just say more!

He's going to be up there with my Coehlo ;)

Chapter One. WHY?
I need a holiday isnt that reason enough?

Travel is not about relaxing or taking a break. Its about throwing yourself in the deep end and hoping like crazy that you don't drown. The word 'travel' for example comes from the latin word 'travail' - meaning spending ridiculous amounts of money to be miserable, homesick and frightened.

No seriously. I just want to stay in a five - star hotel and be waited on hand and foot.

That's not travelling. That's just transplanting your current lifestyle- or a projected image of how you want your lifestyle to be- to another country. If that's all you want out of your trip, why not use the money you'd spend travelling to put in a jacuzzi out the back and hire an out-of-work actor to bring you drinks?

OK. I want to live dangerously. Hows that for a reason?

Travel will certainly provide ample opportunity for you to do that. And the good news is that you dont have to travel to world's trouble spots to do it. Every time you climb into a tuk-tuk in Bangkok, eat from a roadside stall in Egypt or wander the streets of a major American city, you are taking your life into your own hands.

Ive been thinking alot about what traveling means and 'should' be. My standing would go as far out as to say that traveling on a tour is not travelling at all? That there is no sense in having someone tell me what to do and how versus me doing it by myself and at the end of the day if i got lost, didnt see any sights and came home a loser, i would have still gained more than the chap next to me who has had his escort shown him all the seven wonders of the world, and he is now satisfied with all the 'must sees' in the world.

I flipped through another book, and this man who sails said this. He wrote a book as a collection for his daughter, that when she has read it she too would be inspired to search out her own adventures. He then says, but be warned, once you've begun, you wont want to stop, and there is no antidote to want to stop travelling.

Now, back to sinking into my travel guide book.

yours giggling,

jess

Freneh Fries anyone? 

this is my fav. Please do not put paper(other than toilet paper) tampons, dogs, cats, used condoms in the toiet bowl. 

To here have coconut 

even in thai, this one prob meant put your feet here, it was in the cab on the way to bangkok. can you see the smile face?  

A 2002 review of the scientific literature by Professor Heaney concluded that “There is no evidence that caffeine has any harmful effect on bone status or on the calcium economy in individuals who ingest the currently recommended daily allowances of calcium"

i live another day to shorten my life all over again..

the two halves 

awesome 

this is how far phi phi stretches out 

i search, therefore i travel..

dear jess,

this is the statement behind my beloved lonely planet that has been a loyal travel partner that i had to part with. I sold it for a really good price (pry as the thai's would pronounce) and on that day i almost teared. Really. Was trying to hide that fact from my bro who so brilliantly helped me sell it off...

Regardless, this letter wasnt meant to tell you about my lonely planet, but my discovery once again on how human beings are. This is what ive been doing since ive got back. Counting the amount of people who went "how's your trip" without me going hey i just got back from thailand. So far? two, okay maybe four.

Now what on earth could this reveal anything to me?

When I was in Thailand, how many strangers have asked me where ive been? So far? More than two. The funny thing about people is, that we are selfish. And we always make things about ourselves. Perhaps thats a reflection of who iam too.

You’ve been to pattaya? Oh well let me talk about half an hour about my experience in Pattaya…. You’ve taken pictures? Oh let me talk about the way I take beautiful pictures.

A good friend asked me whilst I was away what wonderful things ive discovered? And I told him too many, my journal pages were finishing, he told me to keep those to myself, and not reveal everything because there should always be an air of mystery to my discoveries in life. Well, I suppose I wont have to worry about that.

The funny thing is in the short span of time I was away, ive had so many thoughts and experiences, and I don’t mind keeping them confined to the memory space of just my heart… In fact im rather lazy to tell people how my 'trip' went, maybe because sometimes my jurnal understands me better, without criticizing or lecturing, and never telling me all the should have's and shouldnt have's..

However, ive seen the face of the demon of expectations not too long ago, and human behaviour in any form surprises me little and even better dissapoints me less.

Not many will know from now on what will possibly define a lot of things in my life. Its no wonder why people leave..

Yours not looking back,
jess

thE kO's oF thAilaNd

dear jess,

whilst im sure my withdrawal symptoms of travelling are going to last me a long while until i get to leave, and never return; and whilst so many million thoughts and wonders are racing throught my mind, i shall go through the motions, of showing you, this is where i went.

however, my heart is heavy and maybe one day i will tell you why and what ive discovered. in the meanwhile, these are the motions...

the islands on Thailand are known as 'ko' and we went to the famous Ko Phi Phi (Lay & Don) whis is also known as Maya Beach and the second biggest island Ko Chang. I also went to Pattaya, the much infested with umbrellas and tourist and rubbish everywhere, which whilst i was ready for, was worlds apart from the pristine beaches of Maya and Ko Chang.

now im off to the pool, with some new suits :) i miss it too much..

ps. for some unseen shots and more indepth stories later, please see cynicalwayfarers blogspot

yours,

jess

Phi Phi Lay, site for the movie, the beach

there are no stretches of beach at the place they shot "the beach"?? hardly, almost thought we were going to die having to go snorkelling from the boat..

first steps on Patong beach.. hawaiian thongs, 3 out 4 backpackers have em.. tsk tsk

Phi Phi Don, where the sands stretch so far out you can walk to no end, before its too deep! pretty!

Koh Chang sssssssunset's were beautiful and romantic in more ways than one ;)

more beauty and romance..

some ancient settlers on ko phi phi

pattaya, horrid horrid..

tHe gRuB of tHaiLand

dear jess,

im amazed at the amount of food pics i have (there will be a part two) considering i skipped so many meals, because my cynical half and i was so busy walking and doing, and on my second half of my trip, it didnt help that we did the same either.. literally had to makan angin.

whats the best thing i liked in terms of food? oddly enough, the fruit shakes, thai's can be so healthy and on my soi (street), theres a stall that opens every night and blends a whole, half, or mixed fruit shakes or juice for only RM2-3. they put on a whole mango, ice and thats it! no sugar. im so sad that i discovered this little store in front of 7-eleven ( if youve been to thailand, there are two things that should never be used as a landmark, the 7-e and tatto parlours, theres one everywhere!) too late, i would've drank one every night otherwise..

On my last night i had my long awaited fresh avacado shake, and got to talking to an american and an israelite, about countries, religion, books, work, travels, and all in that short time. Plus the american and israelite decides to drink my avacado.. this goes beyond the 'bond' of travellers, but what the heck i probably had more germs to give them than they me..

fruit deprived,
jess

a combination of crickets, larva and grasshoppers or something. the cricket was by far the nicest, ill give you prooves i ate em later ;)

green curry

everything and anything else is bar-b-qued

water? always bottled, never boiled.. stay away from the pachipan brand, haha it sounds as funny as it tastes

food is always served with dried chilli, chilli padi, fish sauce, and sugar! i saw a thai man put some sugar in his look alike kuey teow soup

tom yam looks like this or like a pale soup, either way? it rocks

char kuey teow? noodles come in three forms here. thick thin and thinnnner?

looks so chinesey..

small thai coconuts, selling at the road sides for 10 baht, or 20 baht, not 1 baht :) haha.. ps. the use of chunky jewelry addictin is a desease that spreads when travelling together

the wAt's of ThAiland

dear jess,

could think of a many few lame titles to this one, but resisted, not as hard a thing for me to do as for some :) actually i only went to one 'wat' meaning temple. reason being, me and my half was always late before the temples closed and also too busy being conned by the lady at the 'khlongs' (sampan shaped things) to do her wonderful 'river' cruise down the teh tarik chao phraya..

Wat Pho houses the longest sleeping buddha.. what more is there to say?

yours,
jess

steps to taking this picture :-

1) spot white men walking

2) quickly jump in their tracks

3) be demandin and tell them the details of what you want in it

tHe guard at the teMple thinks im thai..

longest sleeping buddha..

thE sOi's oF KhAo SaN

dear jess,

its pretty hilarious, one white aussie, another white, err dutch? a load of helium balloons on backpackers ghetto, Khao San Street sellling them to a bunch of tourist. We sat and watched a wager between two white men to see who could sell off the load of balloons they bought off the thai vendor. What a sight!

We humoured him for a bit but failed to support his effort and we continued to watch the drunks, and all the other colourful people on the street. After a day of touristing to a forensic hospital with stillborn babies, dead bodies, and yes all the other quirky stuff, walking endlessly till 12 midnight, it was a sight worth coming back to.

Ive been thinking about the way i would love to journey my trip for you, but maybe ill let the pictures do the talking later for you and the thoughts suffice for now. To be honest, ive had enough of thai food, my stomach is disturbed, and apparently even my cynical half's too, whos already back in melbourne.

No more pad thai's and people telling me all the 'must see's' in thailand, please. Im happy with preserved dead bodies, and all the other things that most 'pad-thai-ers,' 'massager-ers' and 'tom-yam-ers' have yet to see. Yes, maybe ive been here too long. I think id like to go back to the beaches now...

ps. this tan isnt fading off anytime soon, and neither is the rumblings of my very upset stomach..

yours rushing to the loo,
jess

anYthiNg bUt tHai..

dear jess,

there are two things in life that cripples you. Fear and expectations. I was crippled by the first when i got here. Being in a strange land, with every other thai thinking im thai, apparently i look like one. One would think this is a good thing, until you attempt to speak thai, and they speak back. There are so many things about thailand i wish to tell you, but maybe ill save it for another letter. Facts and sights surpass the wonders of thoughts when you're on the road.

my love and my cynical half's love for the beach has given us more than we bargained for, with overtanned bodies, except for bikini lines, that make stripping a hilarious event every single time. We went to phi - phi islands, Phuket and Koh Chang. Being the biggest and second biggest islands in Thailand; we've had mre than enough tom yam's, green, white and all sort of other curries.

But this is what i want to say to you. On the bus back yesterday, and being aware of the second thing that crippled me in my journey, i look out of the window to a landscape that looked so much like Malaysia. I was finally, finally happy to be here. The last many few days i was just being a tourist, grabbing bargains and living in some amount of paranoia avoiding getting cheated and still failing at that.

Thinking about our italian friends we left at Koh Chang, I've passed my second demon in life- expectations. So here i am now, sitting in the guesthouse, whilst its raining outside, and being back in Bangkok, where KL's traffic jams look like joke in comparison, tuk-tuk drivers hassle you, and dodgy streets with too many white people in braids, and rasta hair try to get bargains; i feel like i'm home all over again. I feel like i could be here forever or leave to some other place without having to look back, in either fear or expectation.

wishing i was always away and back at the same time,
jessica

goNe baCkpacKinG!

dear jess

Between the disposable underwear’s in the backpack, my forgetfulness, and both our unprepared ness for Thailand we are home at 5am after the failed attempt to look for Bar b q chicken wings!

The checklist range from changing cash, to sleeping. Tomorrow we plan to not sleep, or at least the birthday bash at zouk might have us think that, then its on to getting our asses to the airport on time.

For one second, my pathetic life almost sounds glamorous. Then im slowly or rather quickly humbled by my paper underwear’s. It’s a hilariously beautiful technology.

I haven’t even gotten excited and skipped or danced by myself in the room due to the lack of sleep. Come to think of it, its been a while since I danced by myself in my room, but you don’t want to hear about that.

Brains numb and any attempt to sound profound will fail miserably. Still, I’m more excited about going to the airport for now. I still haven’t figured out that one.

See you in 16 days, or more, depending on how tired I am when I get back. Would like to capture my official goodbye to munster, in our unsatisfactory ‘forced’ hugs just now, just wanna say thanks for everything, listening, talking, working together, traveling, and everything else.

God Speed.

Sawadika!
jess

wake me up when september ends....

desperately missed, aunty marie; its exactly a year today, and mama...