We went out for some ramen tonight at a place recommended by the owners of the hostel we're staying at here.
Oh. My. God. These ramen were amazing. A-MAZING! The pork melted in my mouth. The noodles weren't too thick, the broth was rich. So good.
We also had some gyoza which were by far the best dumplings I've ever had. This made me sad because I love Mother's Dumplings in Toronto and now I know their dumplings (eventhough they aren't the same kind) will never measure up to these gyozas! Ryan agreed that it was good.
We then noticed that this place has a location in New York! So if ever you're in New York and want an awesome ramen, try Ippudo NY (65 Fourth avenue - I have their card). Oh yeah, and the place was packed, completely unintimidating, not too expensive and was playing some pretty cool jazz. I know I'm going to look for it next time I'm in NYC. It may not be the same but if it's at all like what I had tonight I'd be happy!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
I love free internet!
Honestly, free internet is like the best thing a hotel can give me... okay... maybe not - I'd really rather not sleep with a rat again... or share a tiny bed with Ryan again... but free internet is pretty sweet!
So we made it to Fukuoka today. It was a pretty long day I have to say.
We ended up going out to the 'club' yesterday after all. It was pretty awesome once we realized that we're both really dumb and that the lobby wasn't the main room. It was the strangest venue I've ever been in. Think something like Palais Royale mixed with an actual concert hall... It was really nice. There were two rooms playing somewhat different flavours of techno. Both had surprisingly good sound (not too loud - you could hold a conversation and didn't need earplugs), wood floors, no smoking or drinking so they were clean. It was really impressive. The main room (the hall) was where Sven Vath was playing, Tiefschwarz (I'd seen them before at Boa in Toronto) was playing downstairs. When we realized that we were silly and that there were rooms other than the lobby / drinking area we started getting scared that we'd missed Tiefschwarz but then quickly realized he was playing a 4 hour set. The music itself was pretty good - nothing mind blowing but definitely solid. Only problem was that it was kind of expensive and far from our hotel. I couldn't keep my eyes open come 4:30am and so we ended up leaving and sitting outside for a bit waiting for the metro to start running again. In our state of exhaustion we made our way to the fish market which luckily was closed today! It was a pretty good night and definitely different that other clubbing experiences I've had. I'd like to check out an actual club when we get back to Tokyo in a couple of weeks.
Here are a few pictures from Tokyo....
If only I had the guts to take this from in front...
So many bikes everywhere! It reminds me of Amsterdam but they don't try to run you over with their bikes! Also, they use some weird wheel locks which seem like a really cool idea. Up until we went walking in the park on Sunday I hadn't actually seen any decent bikes - most of the ones you see are like these.
The man in the bar...
And this is right as he notices me...
(notice, I'm pretty far away here...)
SO MANY PEOPLE!
In front of Senso-Ji temple
this smoke is said to bestow health and according to a man "smoke make healthy, happy"
I started trying to get some of it on me and the man came back over to me and said "GOOD GOOD! You do it good!"
Reading my fortune. I got a regular fortune. It sounded pretty good to me.
Ryan got the bad fortune and hung it up on this thingy... this was a little confusing and required us asking someone which one of us should hang up our fortunes... (I half wonder if people are amused or irritated by our questions).
Weird lunch... is it pancake? vegetable? noodle? fish? pork? probably all of the above!
We went to Yoyogi-Koen on Sunday to see what was going on... and this is what we found:
These two aren't quite sure what to think about what's going on...
I couldn't stop laughing... is this for real??
These gangs of Rockabillly guys were DANCING on the street to music. It was so surreal.
We walked over to Roppongi and got lost in some of the side streets. We haven't been up the Tokyo tower yet but I kind of want to go.
So we made it to Fukuoka today. It was a pretty long day I have to say.
We ended up going out to the 'club' yesterday after all. It was pretty awesome once we realized that we're both really dumb and that the lobby wasn't the main room. It was the strangest venue I've ever been in. Think something like Palais Royale mixed with an actual concert hall... It was really nice. There were two rooms playing somewhat different flavours of techno. Both had surprisingly good sound (not too loud - you could hold a conversation and didn't need earplugs), wood floors, no smoking or drinking so they were clean. It was really impressive. The main room (the hall) was where Sven Vath was playing, Tiefschwarz (I'd seen them before at Boa in Toronto) was playing downstairs. When we realized that we were silly and that there were rooms other than the lobby / drinking area we started getting scared that we'd missed Tiefschwarz but then quickly realized he was playing a 4 hour set. The music itself was pretty good - nothing mind blowing but definitely solid. Only problem was that it was kind of expensive and far from our hotel. I couldn't keep my eyes open come 4:30am and so we ended up leaving and sitting outside for a bit waiting for the metro to start running again. In our state of exhaustion we made our way to the fish market which luckily was closed today! It was a pretty good night and definitely different that other clubbing experiences I've had. I'd like to check out an actual club when we get back to Tokyo in a couple of weeks.
Here are a few pictures from Tokyo....
If only I had the guts to take this from in front...
So many bikes everywhere! It reminds me of Amsterdam but they don't try to run you over with their bikes! Also, they use some weird wheel locks which seem like a really cool idea. Up until we went walking in the park on Sunday I hadn't actually seen any decent bikes - most of the ones you see are like these.
The man in the bar...
And this is right as he notices me...
(notice, I'm pretty far away here...)
SO MANY PEOPLE!
In front of Senso-Ji temple
this smoke is said to bestow health and according to a man "smoke make healthy, happy"
I started trying to get some of it on me and the man came back over to me and said "GOOD GOOD! You do it good!"
Reading my fortune. I got a regular fortune. It sounded pretty good to me.
Ryan got the bad fortune and hung it up on this thingy... this was a little confusing and required us asking someone which one of us should hang up our fortunes... (I half wonder if people are amused or irritated by our questions).
Weird lunch... is it pancake? vegetable? noodle? fish? pork? probably all of the above!
We went to Yoyogi-Koen on Sunday to see what was going on... and this is what we found:
These two aren't quite sure what to think about what's going on...
I couldn't stop laughing... is this for real??
These gangs of Rockabillly guys were DANCING on the street to music. It was so surreal.
We walked over to Roppongi and got lost in some of the side streets. We haven't been up the Tokyo tower yet but I kind of want to go.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Still in Tokyo
I'm doing laundry right now... exciting... I know.
The last couple of days have been pretty weird. I had this sudden feeling of being completely illiterate as we waited in line today to book our train ride to Fukuoka for tomorrow. All signs were in Japanese. The only sign that was in English was explaining that if you needed to exchange your pass you weren't in the right place. I have to say that this is probably the only time I've ever felt this way. It seems like everywhere else I've travelled always has either English, French or Spanish signs (I may not speak spanish but I can read it sometimes). I think this feeling will only get worse once we leave Tokyo.
Two nights ago Ryan and I opted to go out to a bar for dinner and some drinks. We went in, sat down, ordered something we thought looked good and then quickly started sipping our sake. Our food arrived - 5 skewers of 'random' meat. I quickly found out (as I tried chewing through one of them) that the one I was eating was chicken hearts. Ryan apparently got a liver one... The third one was chicken skin with fat. And the last two were pretty uninteresting - beef and chicken. By the time we were on the chicken fat skewer we were both laughing pretty hard because neither of us were particularly enjoying our food, a team of Lituanian Judo fighters (is that what you'd call them?) had just sat down next to us and kept looking our way and some Japanese guy had just said something strange to me (maybe it wasn't strange?? - I didn't understand) as he left the bar. It was a strange scene. At this point it had started raining and we decided that instead of getting soaked we'd just head back home. I forced Ryan to do one more pass through of this alley we'd found full of bars before leaving so that I could take a few pictures. This turned into some Japanese man sitting at a bar alone, turning to find me taking his picture from about 15 meters away (I really wasn't even close and it wasn't so much about him as it was this bar in the alleyway anyway!), getting upset and waving his arms frantically trying to get me to stop (which I quickly did). At this point I tried to explain (in English of course) that I wasn't taking his picture, that I was taking a picture of the alleyway... but this of course made no sense to him (we were still pretty far from him) and prompted him to take the empty stool next to him and wave it in the air at me. We quickly ducked out of the alleyway and went home.
Needless to say, I'm a little scared of taking people's pictures now. I'll have to talk about what we did yesterday some other time because the laundry is almost done and I need to get going... Yesterday was another very STRANGE day... but in a more funny kind of way.
Tonight we are going out to a 'club' - I really don't know what to call this place. We went and found it today (after Ryan and I both spent over an hour (seperately) trying to find it on a map on the internet - again, directions were all in Japanese!). The place looks like an expensive hall. It's burried in a bunch of very expensive looking stores. I'm really not quite sure what we're getting ourselves into. We'll see. The metro here stops running at midnight which will mean we'll be stranded on the other end of the city in a few hours. Walking isn't really going to be an option - we're pretty far away and my shoes just won't allow for it. We've also been told that taxis are pretty expensive so that may be out as well. So... right now we're thinking we should just stay out until it starts running again (5am) or go straight from the club to the fish market to hit the morning auction. Unfortunately I'm not bringing my camera so I'm a little disappointed about the fish market... I'll have my little point and shoot but it just won't be the same. Also, now that I think of it... I'm not sure how much I want to be wearing my shoes in a fish market... oh well, bring on the fish juice.
The last couple of days have been pretty weird. I had this sudden feeling of being completely illiterate as we waited in line today to book our train ride to Fukuoka for tomorrow. All signs were in Japanese. The only sign that was in English was explaining that if you needed to exchange your pass you weren't in the right place. I have to say that this is probably the only time I've ever felt this way. It seems like everywhere else I've travelled always has either English, French or Spanish signs (I may not speak spanish but I can read it sometimes). I think this feeling will only get worse once we leave Tokyo.
Two nights ago Ryan and I opted to go out to a bar for dinner and some drinks. We went in, sat down, ordered something we thought looked good and then quickly started sipping our sake. Our food arrived - 5 skewers of 'random' meat. I quickly found out (as I tried chewing through one of them) that the one I was eating was chicken hearts. Ryan apparently got a liver one... The third one was chicken skin with fat. And the last two were pretty uninteresting - beef and chicken. By the time we were on the chicken fat skewer we were both laughing pretty hard because neither of us were particularly enjoying our food, a team of Lituanian Judo fighters (is that what you'd call them?) had just sat down next to us and kept looking our way and some Japanese guy had just said something strange to me (maybe it wasn't strange?? - I didn't understand) as he left the bar. It was a strange scene. At this point it had started raining and we decided that instead of getting soaked we'd just head back home. I forced Ryan to do one more pass through of this alley we'd found full of bars before leaving so that I could take a few pictures. This turned into some Japanese man sitting at a bar alone, turning to find me taking his picture from about 15 meters away (I really wasn't even close and it wasn't so much about him as it was this bar in the alleyway anyway!), getting upset and waving his arms frantically trying to get me to stop (which I quickly did). At this point I tried to explain (in English of course) that I wasn't taking his picture, that I was taking a picture of the alleyway... but this of course made no sense to him (we were still pretty far from him) and prompted him to take the empty stool next to him and wave it in the air at me. We quickly ducked out of the alleyway and went home.
Needless to say, I'm a little scared of taking people's pictures now. I'll have to talk about what we did yesterday some other time because the laundry is almost done and I need to get going... Yesterday was another very STRANGE day... but in a more funny kind of way.
Tonight we are going out to a 'club' - I really don't know what to call this place. We went and found it today (after Ryan and I both spent over an hour (seperately) trying to find it on a map on the internet - again, directions were all in Japanese!). The place looks like an expensive hall. It's burried in a bunch of very expensive looking stores. I'm really not quite sure what we're getting ourselves into. We'll see. The metro here stops running at midnight which will mean we'll be stranded on the other end of the city in a few hours. Walking isn't really going to be an option - we're pretty far away and my shoes just won't allow for it. We've also been told that taxis are pretty expensive so that may be out as well. So... right now we're thinking we should just stay out until it starts running again (5am) or go straight from the club to the fish market to hit the morning auction. Unfortunately I'm not bringing my camera so I'm a little disappointed about the fish market... I'll have my little point and shoot but it just won't be the same. Also, now that I think of it... I'm not sure how much I want to be wearing my shoes in a fish market... oh well, bring on the fish juice.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Tokyo!
We made it to Tokyo without too much difficulty. We arrived at our hotel at about 11:15 last night thinking that we'd have time to do dinner before the door would be locked but quickly found out that curfew was midnight! We ended up having to eat at the dreaded... McDonald's (I don't do McDonald's)... last night's McDonald's was awesome though. We walked in. We pointed at what we wanted while the girl serving us seemed to ramble on and on in Japanese, clearly asking us questions we couldn't understand and then pointing at sections of the menu as a prompt. It was really straight forward... just weird. Seriously, I wonder what she was going on and on about? Because she didn't stop talking the entire time.
I think I'm going through a little culture shock. It has gotten better since I woke up this morning sleeping on the floor hearing the weird crows cawing outside the window. I'm definitely no longer in Thailand. It feels good... but there is definitely some culture shock happening. I think what made me realize everything would be okay was when we sat down for lunch in a soba restaurant, I ordered something I didn't know but wasn't surprised at all with what I got (some sort of rice noodle in soup with fish flakes and some weird eggy pancake-y thing). It was good. We went to a tourist information office this morning and asked them what seemed to be endless questions (some of which seemed silly - can you drink the water from the tap? What time does the subway open? ... that kind of thing...) and had them call and make reservations at a hotel for the next three nights. They were really friendly and funny (they were all older women). As we left, one of them saw Ryan's bag, gasped and then lifted it off his back while giggling a bit. It was pretty funny.
We've changed hotels now (we had to... it's the weekend right before Golden week and our other place was booked up). For a whopping $12 more than last night our new hotel has free internet (WOO!), an ensuite airplane-cabin-sized bathroom (alas, no fancy toilet... I want my heated, spraying seat back!! but at least the new bathroom isn't shared) and a tiny bed (I think it's a large single?) It is definitely not a double. Ryan offered to sleep on the floor if necessary... that's how small it is.
We were just going through the entertainment magazine of Tokyo and I realized that Do Make Say Think is playing tonight!! I got really excited all of a sudden (I've been wanting to check them out and have really gotten into their stuff). Then I realized that the event we want to go to on Monday night has a pricetag of $60 a person... Yikes... A $40 concert plus a $60 event? Can the bank account take this? I have to make my money last another three weeks here... I should just wait and see Do Make Say Think when they're at home. So sadly, no Do Make Say Think for me... I'd rather spend my money on something I can only experience here than something I can see back home.
I have so many questions about stuff I keep seeing everywhere. I think Ryan and I are going to try to do a volunteer tour (where you get to meet someone who's learning English and do a tour with them)... this'll allow me to probably ask a few questions... We'll see.
Oh, and it's cold here! Yesterday I had to switch jackets shortly after landing. I knew it would be cold but my 5 weeks spent sweating in 30+ degree weather have made me really sensitive to the cold. I'm feeling a little warmer today (maybe it's warmer? or maybe I'm getting used to it?) I think I need a long sleeved shirt. In fact, walking around looking at the way people are dressed is making me want to go clothes shopping... And luckily I didn't do anything to my hair which means it's still long and keeping my neck warm (hahaha)... and is actually looking kind of normal for the first time since I left home!
That's it for now... I'm sure Ryan's wondering when I'll be back from using the internet (he was showering when I left).
I think I'm going through a little culture shock. It has gotten better since I woke up this morning sleeping on the floor hearing the weird crows cawing outside the window. I'm definitely no longer in Thailand. It feels good... but there is definitely some culture shock happening. I think what made me realize everything would be okay was when we sat down for lunch in a soba restaurant, I ordered something I didn't know but wasn't surprised at all with what I got (some sort of rice noodle in soup with fish flakes and some weird eggy pancake-y thing). It was good. We went to a tourist information office this morning and asked them what seemed to be endless questions (some of which seemed silly - can you drink the water from the tap? What time does the subway open? ... that kind of thing...) and had them call and make reservations at a hotel for the next three nights. They were really friendly and funny (they were all older women). As we left, one of them saw Ryan's bag, gasped and then lifted it off his back while giggling a bit. It was pretty funny.
We've changed hotels now (we had to... it's the weekend right before Golden week and our other place was booked up). For a whopping $12 more than last night our new hotel has free internet (WOO!), an ensuite airplane-cabin-sized bathroom (alas, no fancy toilet... I want my heated, spraying seat back!! but at least the new bathroom isn't shared) and a tiny bed (I think it's a large single?) It is definitely not a double. Ryan offered to sleep on the floor if necessary... that's how small it is.
We were just going through the entertainment magazine of Tokyo and I realized that Do Make Say Think is playing tonight!! I got really excited all of a sudden (I've been wanting to check them out and have really gotten into their stuff). Then I realized that the event we want to go to on Monday night has a pricetag of $60 a person... Yikes... A $40 concert plus a $60 event? Can the bank account take this? I have to make my money last another three weeks here... I should just wait and see Do Make Say Think when they're at home. So sadly, no Do Make Say Think for me... I'd rather spend my money on something I can only experience here than something I can see back home.
I have so many questions about stuff I keep seeing everywhere. I think Ryan and I are going to try to do a volunteer tour (where you get to meet someone who's learning English and do a tour with them)... this'll allow me to probably ask a few questions... We'll see.
Oh, and it's cold here! Yesterday I had to switch jackets shortly after landing. I knew it would be cold but my 5 weeks spent sweating in 30+ degree weather have made me really sensitive to the cold. I'm feeling a little warmer today (maybe it's warmer? or maybe I'm getting used to it?) I think I need a long sleeved shirt. In fact, walking around looking at the way people are dressed is making me want to go clothes shopping... And luckily I didn't do anything to my hair which means it's still long and keeping my neck warm (hahaha)... and is actually looking kind of normal for the first time since I left home!
That's it for now... I'm sure Ryan's wondering when I'll be back from using the internet (he was showering when I left).
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Ko Phangan pictures...
I'm trying to catch up on my picture posting before I get to Japan. This should be the last set...
So... This covers pretty much the last week spent here in Ko Phangan.
Oh, before leaving for Ko Phangan we went to the Chiang Mai zoo - I'm really not sure how we ended up there... I have to say some of the stuff happening at the zoo seemed a little questionable (unnatural)... Like people just being able to randomly feed hippos.
In Thailand they like options... 75 pages worth of them. Aleks would probably die trying to figure out what to eat in a menu like this:
We went to a Thai Kick boxing match the first night we got here... It was pretty fun. I got really into it. To the point where I think I may have scared Ryan a little. There were a couple of knock outs, a few decisions and one clearly fixed match:
Fixed Match:
We walked back to the beach to find the party was starting a few days early
And this is what was left over the next day
My obsession with fire continues. The party just seemed to be happening every night except for the night before the Full Moon
Ryan's Birthday cake... no plates, forks or napkins available.
On the way back home from our island tour... Our first tour got cancelled about an hour in when the long tail boat died. Yep. And it was storming out. I actually started feeling a little sea sick... Anyway, we went back the next day (on Ryan's Birthday and on the Full Moon Party day) and had an awesome time!
The full moon party
Ungh... buckets. So many vendors... all selling the same horrible 'whiskey'.
Happy Birthday!
The aftermath....
Clearly, when your beach looks like the one above the answer is to... rent a scooter and go find another one at the other end of the island!
Let me just say... the roads on Ko Phangan are really kind of crazy (especially at this end of the island... 20% grades, winding roads.) There was a close call but we got back to the rental place without a scratch (which is good because they don't have insurance on the bikes here!)
And finally... Mountain Bar
We've spent a lot of time here. It started on the full moon party night and then we liked it so much that we've been going back for some evening drinks and relaxing over the bay. It's pretty cool up there...
Tomorrow we start heading towards Japan. We're going to Bangkok first and then on Friday we head to Hong Kong and then Tokyo. I'm looking forward to leaving the tourists behind... I've found that over the last week it's finally gotten to me. TOO MANY TOURISTS everywhere. I realize I shouldn't really talk... I am after all a tourist too... It feels like I've been in Thailand forever now (it's been over a month with a little bit of Cambodia in the middle). It'll be hard to leave but I think what's coming up should be pretty amazing (in a very different way).
So... This covers pretty much the last week spent here in Ko Phangan.
Oh, before leaving for Ko Phangan we went to the Chiang Mai zoo - I'm really not sure how we ended up there... I have to say some of the stuff happening at the zoo seemed a little questionable (unnatural)... Like people just being able to randomly feed hippos.
In Thailand they like options... 75 pages worth of them. Aleks would probably die trying to figure out what to eat in a menu like this:
We went to a Thai Kick boxing match the first night we got here... It was pretty fun. I got really into it. To the point where I think I may have scared Ryan a little. There were a couple of knock outs, a few decisions and one clearly fixed match:
Fixed Match:
We walked back to the beach to find the party was starting a few days early
And this is what was left over the next day
My obsession with fire continues. The party just seemed to be happening every night except for the night before the Full Moon
Ryan's Birthday cake... no plates, forks or napkins available.
On the way back home from our island tour... Our first tour got cancelled about an hour in when the long tail boat died. Yep. And it was storming out. I actually started feeling a little sea sick... Anyway, we went back the next day (on Ryan's Birthday and on the Full Moon Party day) and had an awesome time!
The full moon party
Ungh... buckets. So many vendors... all selling the same horrible 'whiskey'.
Happy Birthday!
The aftermath....
Clearly, when your beach looks like the one above the answer is to... rent a scooter and go find another one at the other end of the island!
Let me just say... the roads on Ko Phangan are really kind of crazy (especially at this end of the island... 20% grades, winding roads.) There was a close call but we got back to the rental place without a scratch (which is good because they don't have insurance on the bikes here!)
And finally... Mountain Bar
We've spent a lot of time here. It started on the full moon party night and then we liked it so much that we've been going back for some evening drinks and relaxing over the bay. It's pretty cool up there...
Tomorrow we start heading towards Japan. We're going to Bangkok first and then on Friday we head to Hong Kong and then Tokyo. I'm looking forward to leaving the tourists behind... I've found that over the last week it's finally gotten to me. TOO MANY TOURISTS everywhere. I realize I shouldn't really talk... I am after all a tourist too... It feels like I've been in Thailand forever now (it's been over a month with a little bit of Cambodia in the middle). It'll be hard to leave but I think what's coming up should be pretty amazing (in a very different way).
Monday, April 21, 2008
Cambodia Pictures - Part 1
FINALLY! Here they are... I thought I had picked out more to post but apparently not. This'll have to do for now.
On the river, on our way to the floating village
The floating village
Angkor Wat at sunrise
Monkey! (We almost got attacked by one as I attempted to take it's picture)
Oh, and a picture that doesn't belong in this set but I wanted to post anyway - Ryan, Anna and her friend (Florina I think?) the night that Ryan arrived in Bangkok. Anna was my roomate on my 8 day tour. We ended up making plans to meet up in Bangkok on the night that Ryan arrived. It was nice to see her again and exchange some travel stories.
On the river, on our way to the floating village
The floating village
Angkor Wat at sunrise
Monkey! (We almost got attacked by one as I attempted to take it's picture)
Oh, and a picture that doesn't belong in this set but I wanted to post anyway - Ryan, Anna and her friend (Florina I think?) the night that Ryan arrived in Bangkok. Anna was my roomate on my 8 day tour. We ended up making plans to meet up in Bangkok on the night that Ryan arrived. It was nice to see her again and exchange some travel stories.
Ko Phangan
So we've been in Ko Phangan for a few days now. It's been pretty crazy here. We've watched tourists arrive for the Full Moon Party and now that it's over everyone is leaving. For once the beach is actually quite peaceful tonight - a pretty big change from last night's craziness.
Last night was the Full Moon Party here - this was one of my reasons for wanting to come. It was pretty ridiculous and kind of turned me off of the whole thing. Ryan and I ended up 'finding' (it's hard to miss) the Mountain Bar and spending most of the night there. The music in the bar was really good (I actually went up to the DJ just before we left to let him know that I thought his set was really good and to thank him - I'm not sure how much of that he actually understood over the booming bass and his being Thai and all). The music on the beach was what you would expect... your top 40 house tracks repeating over and over until you just want to scream (I keep waking up in the morning with these horrible songs in my head!) The beach was pretty disgusting this morning - bottles, flip flops everywhere...
I wish I could write more but once again I'm being ushered away from the computer (the internet is closing). I went snorkeling for the first time yesterday and it was all kinds of awesome (once I stopped breathing in water). Anyway, I guess the rest of this post will have to wait until tomorrow... Pictures are coming... I promise... Argh... this is really frustrating!
Last night was the Full Moon Party here - this was one of my reasons for wanting to come. It was pretty ridiculous and kind of turned me off of the whole thing. Ryan and I ended up 'finding' (it's hard to miss) the Mountain Bar and spending most of the night there. The music in the bar was really good (I actually went up to the DJ just before we left to let him know that I thought his set was really good and to thank him - I'm not sure how much of that he actually understood over the booming bass and his being Thai and all). The music on the beach was what you would expect... your top 40 house tracks repeating over and over until you just want to scream (I keep waking up in the morning with these horrible songs in my head!) The beach was pretty disgusting this morning - bottles, flip flops everywhere...
I wish I could write more but once again I'm being ushered away from the computer (the internet is closing). I went snorkeling for the first time yesterday and it was all kinds of awesome (once I stopped breathing in water). Anyway, I guess the rest of this post will have to wait until tomorrow... Pictures are coming... I promise... Argh... this is really frustrating!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Chiang Mai - Songkran Festival Pictures
A few pictures from Chiang Mai's Songkran festival:
He was lucky it was just a small glass and not a big bucket of freezing water:
This game is totally awesome... think volleyball meets football (err... soccer) - the rules seemed pretty straight forward: no hands allowed. They kept doing some really crazy spinning jumps that were kind of like spikes:
I kept seeing these fly overhead... I convinced Ryan that we should go find where they were coming from:
Our elephant ride...
Unfortunately being on top of the elephant means we didn't get a picture of ourselves riding it. Our elephant was good and ensured that we were constantly kept cool by covering us in muccus every thirty seconds. Also, she got a little tired of having flies bite her head so she ripped a branch off a tree and just let it rest on her head for a few minutes. We thought she was going to try to swat us with it but no, she was all good.
This is after the river rafting... We were soaked... not because we fell in but rather because the river was so full of people splashing us (as part of Songkran) -we really couldn't avoid it... Also, our river guide thought it would be funny to tip our raft over. The water was warm so it didn't bother me too much... The rafting wouldn't have been half as fun had it not been songkran. It was nice to interact with the locals from our boat (and have all the kids screaming hello at us).
I'm getting fed up with the hair right now and I'm thinking that I'm going to have to do something about it... There are a couple of options - one of which would be fun but would require me shaving all of my hair off when I get home so that I can hopefully find a new job (eek... i don't want to say what I'm thinking because I know a few people told me not to come home looking like this), the other one is much more conservative and would probably solve all of my hair woes (good old short hair)... We'll see what I decide when I get to Ko Phangan.
That's it for now... more pictures to come soon.
He was lucky it was just a small glass and not a big bucket of freezing water:
This game is totally awesome... think volleyball meets football (err... soccer) - the rules seemed pretty straight forward: no hands allowed. They kept doing some really crazy spinning jumps that were kind of like spikes:
I kept seeing these fly overhead... I convinced Ryan that we should go find where they were coming from:
Our elephant ride...
Unfortunately being on top of the elephant means we didn't get a picture of ourselves riding it. Our elephant was good and ensured that we were constantly kept cool by covering us in muccus every thirty seconds. Also, she got a little tired of having flies bite her head so she ripped a branch off a tree and just let it rest on her head for a few minutes. We thought she was going to try to swat us with it but no, she was all good.
This is after the river rafting... We were soaked... not because we fell in but rather because the river was so full of people splashing us (as part of Songkran) -we really couldn't avoid it... Also, our river guide thought it would be funny to tip our raft over. The water was warm so it didn't bother me too much... The rafting wouldn't have been half as fun had it not been songkran. It was nice to interact with the locals from our boat (and have all the kids screaming hello at us).
I'm getting fed up with the hair right now and I'm thinking that I'm going to have to do something about it... There are a couple of options - one of which would be fun but would require me shaving all of my hair off when I get home so that I can hopefully find a new job (eek... i don't want to say what I'm thinking because I know a few people told me not to come home looking like this), the other one is much more conservative and would probably solve all of my hair woes (good old short hair)... We'll see what I decide when I get to Ko Phangan.
That's it for now... more pictures to come soon.
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