On The Road South... Bangkok to Hua Hin

Well, so much for Chiang Mai! Unfortunately the call of some scuba diving, plus the fact I need to head south in a few weeks to meet up with the birthday crew means it makes more sense for me to go south instead of north. Besides, it's nice weather down south right now, and still a bit chilly up north, whereas when I'm back in Thailand in June and July, when it's scorching, it'll make more sense for me to go up north where it's cooler!

Had a nice last couple of days in Bangkok. I realised I never went to the Jim Thompson House so headed there for one afternoon before wandering for a couple of hours along some lovely canals and getting totally lost in Bangkok. Met up with Pete Bomber, a friend of John McCarten, a guy I used to work with at Bits Studios. Went out for a lovely meal near Khao San road followed by some drinks at the Shamrock. Watched some old dude sing some pretty mean songs. He's still got plenty of life in him! Not every day you see some guy in his late 50's singing Greenday, Red Hot Chillies, Guns 'n' Roses etc. Quite amusing!

Mel suggested heading down to Hua Hin for a couple of days to visit Terry, Kriss' father. So that kind of helped change my mind about heading south as well! We jumped into her Land Rover and sped on down to Hua Hin to stay a couple of days with him.

Click here to see the photos

This is my second time to Hua Hin, although the first time, 6 years ago, I didn't see that much. It has changed quite a bit though. There's a lot more development going on here. It's not quite as rustic as I remember it to be. We headed out yesterday to Sam Roi Yot National Park, which is gorgeous, to visit a well known cave there, Phraya Nakhorn cave, where a shrine and pagoda has been set up inside a collapsed cave. Stunning, although the hike up the side of the mountain in 36 degrees C made me sweat more water than Kosh spits out in 5 minutes of talking.

Heading down to Prechuap Kiri Khan on the train tonight. Mel will head back to Bangkok, so this'll be the first time since I left that I'll be truly left to my own devices. Can't wait! Not that I don't like people's company, but I've been dying to get away on my own now for quite a while.

Don't know if you should all believe me, since my plans seem to change all the time, but I should be heading down to Bang Saphan Yai after Prechuap Kiri Khan. It's supposed to be very quiet, with barely any toursits with some fantastic diving that has barely been exploited. From there I should continue south to Chumphon before taking the ferry to Koh Tao, then to Koh Samui to meet up with the birthday revellers!
That's the great thing about being away with no commitments. I can change my plans at a click of a finger without any consequences!

Oh, and Happy Chinese New Year to you all! Sorry to the London crew for not being there to organise the annual dim sum raid at Jade Gardens! By now, you should all be able to do it yourselves!

Lost in Translation

Click here to see photos

Here I am in Bangkok finally! It's nice to get out of Hong Kong. All the high rise skyscrapers just get a bit too much after some time. It's almost like every building in HK is a phallic symbol of someone's wealth or pride. "Look, the building I work/live in is bigger than yours!". Either that, or at least it's like a bigger middle finger to your next door neighbour's.
I finally feel like I'm away! Not totally, as I come here quite often! Staying here at the 5 star Siam City Hotel which belongs to my sister's in-laws. Very nice! Ok, so not really backpacking, staying in a hostel, etc, at the moment, but it's free (thanks to the Sukosol family! Much appreciated!).
Not 5 minutes in Bangkok and someone is already trying to rip me off. Got into a taxi at the airport, where you have to pay a 50 baht surcharge, and the cabbie tells me once we're moving:

"Sir, there 100 baht surcharge."
"Errr, no there isn't, it's 50 baht."
"Yes, but this new taxi! Older taxi 50 baht. You in new taxi, 100 baht!"
"Umm, no... I've always paid 50 baht for all taxis."
"You not first time Bangkok?"
"No. I've been here many times."
*silence*

50 baht paid. Nice try mate.

Some other cabbie also tried to charge me a pre-arranged fee of 100 baht (not running the meter) for a ride I knew cost only 60.

Went out for dinner with my sister and her friend Irene that night. Was supposed to see Kriss (my brother-in-law) play a gig in Siam Square, but we didn't quite make it! For those of you who don't know, Kriss is a mega rockstar in Thailand as the singer for his band, Pru.
After dinner, we headed off to the Bed Supperclub, a very trendy club with a lovely restaurant where you lie in beds to eat! Check out the photos.
Carried on afterwards to a VERY Thai bar, full of indie types. There was a big group we met up with full of music industry people, band members, critics, etc. Barely any of them spoke English! Mel and Kriss were heavily engrossed in conversation with some friends, and I sat there not understanding anything anyone said to me! You kind of sit there with your beer, laughing when others do, nodding your head. Everyone was pretty drunk. Felt very much like some of the scenes from the movie "Lost In Translation", especially the karaoke scene.... I'm going to learn more Thai here I vow! So far this time, I've learnt how to ask for an ashtray and where the toilets are.... This time round, I know NOT to ask for "Singha nom" (beer tits), but to ask for "Singha yai" (big beer). Knowing what "nom yai" means doesn't necessarily indicate the adjective is the first word. I was trying to be clever in Koh Tao last year.

Saturday, just chilled out a bit, did some shopping and got some of my innoculations at the BNH hospital. Unfortunately, I have to stay in Bangkok for a week now for a course of injections. At least the multi-coloured cartoon bandaids made up for it!
In the evening, Mel and I went to a nice chill out restaurant/bar called Spring Summer which has a lovely garden out front where you can sit on these huge beanbags by a garden bar. Nice food, wine, but most importantly, a chocolate fondue!

On Sunday, Kriss, Mel and I drove out of town to spend the day in Ayuthaya, the old capital of Siam before Bangkok. It was founded in 1350, and ransacked by the Burmese during an invasion in 1767. It was one of the most amazing cities of its time, populated by over 1 million people. Foreign visitors claimed it was one of the most illustrious cities in the world. It's a shame the Burmese destroyed so many of the temples and Buddha effigies there during the looting.
Some of the temples (wats) there are amazing. Almost all are in ruins, but that creates so much of the magic there. It just wouldn't be the same seeing them in all their glory in their heyday. Sure, they'd be spectacular, but there's such an air of mystery when they're all crumbled. Leaves much more to the imagination. You only have to look at some of the restored temples, or the ones that survived to feel the difference.
We had a lovely lunch by the side of the river before heading to our last temple, Wat Chaiwatthanarm, just after sunset. Its was the most beautiful temple I've ever seen. Sure, I'm still to see Angkor Wat, the Jain temples in India, etc, but so far, this blew my mind. Shame about the mosquito hordes after sunset, and the mass of Thai teenagers who recognised Kriss and mobbed him for photos and autographs when we arrived!

So I'm stuck in Bangkok till next Saturday. Sorry if I don't take or show any photos of the main sights here. This is my fourth or fifth time here, so I've done it all! You'll have to ask someone else if you want to see photos of the Grand Palace and temples here in Bangkok! I'm not going to all those places again!
I'll be off to Chiang Mai and some of the northern towns and villages next week. I'll post again when I get there!
Oh, and before any of you ask, NO I HAVEN'T GONE TO ANY TITTY BARS OR MET ANY LADYBOYS! ;)

Like Father, Like Son?

I spent my last weekend in Hong Kong with my dad. I haven't spent time with him for a long time, since my teenage days.
It was nice seeing him again. I must say it was strange in a way. We've not really talked or seen each other for so long, there's that inevitable disquiet for a while when we first met up.

Click here to see photos from my weekend with my dad

The weekend was relaxing, we spoke about ourselves and our plans in life over a few drinks. Also smoked some weed with him in a weird electronic 'vaporiser' he has. He's retiring to the Phillipines, north east of Luzon island, sometime later this year. He'll be moving there with my Filipino step-mum, Josie, into a small quiet village in the hills, away from mainstream civilisation.

He needs that. He's the kind of guy that really needs to create his own environment around himself. My dad's quite contradictory in the way he interacts with life around him. On the one hand, he's a quick learner, adapting to surroundings and cultures that suit his temperament, but on the other hand, he cannot abide environments that don't accomodate his needs or way of thinking. I have never met someone who critises or moans about so much in life. Every 10 or 15 minutes, he's correcting or objurgating something or other. It really gets tiresome.

I realise that I sometimes can be like that, but I tend to gloss over it and I don't let it bother me so much. Most of the time, I'll keep it to myself. That's why I think he really needs to get away. The guy is really laid back. He smokes weed, enjoys a little tipple here and now, is a great conversationalist and is also one of the most well informed, well read and intelligent people I have ever met in my life. I just wish he could let things be the way they are without seeing them in such a bad light.

Don't get me wrong, I do love him. All the things that have happened between me and him in the past is now water under a bridge. It happened such a long time ago. I don't wish upon any child, especially mine, to have to go through what I had to in my childhood in Hong Kong. But that's all in the past now. That's the person I am. I like to look forward, or see the good things in life (whilst being aware of the bad things that happen mind you).

I sincerely hope I'll be seeing him again sometime soon, in the Philippines. I miss having a father in my life (Rudy, my step father has filled in very well). Maybe when I see him next, he'll be more relaxed, in his element, and finally enjoying the life that he wants. I do admire him in so many ways. He's such an intellect, a real sponge of any factual items, but at the same time, he can be so intolerant of minor details or quirks, which I dislike.

So I've achieved one thing I wanted in my year out. I reconciled in an offhand way with my father. We never spoke about what happened between us in the past. I prefer it that way. I guess it's kind of 'ignoring' what occured. Sometimes that's the best way though. At least in my case I feel it is.

It's a big weight off my shoulders. I'm flying to Bangkok day after tomorrow, and I guess that's where my journey really starts, at least in the physical sense. I've been in Hong Kong for one month now, and I've resolved quite a few family issues that I wanted to, so I guess my emotional journey started a while back.

I'll be staying in Thailand for just over a month, trekking in the north for a few weeks before Ling and Dodgy's joint 30th in Koh Samui end of February. I'll then scarper to India straight afterwards to be on my own finally! It'll be nice seeing Kosh, Ling, Dodgy, Ed Catton, Adam K, Lucy and others in Thailand for a week. But until I get to India, I know I won't really feel like I've gotten away!

Happy New Sneer, Cheer, and Year

Click here to view photos

Sorry for the massive delay, but it's been a pretty crazy week since New Year's, and getting the photos together have been a real pain, considering they come from 3 different cameras!

Had a great pre-New Year's Eve night out with my sister and some friends. Nick Griffith, a friend from Uni, came out to HK for a week and a bit, and where ever he goes, chaos ensues. We went to a few places on the Friday (30th), including a fab Russian bar where they have a massize freezer in the middle of the bar, where you go in with (fake) fur coats and all just to drink vodka shots. Moved on to the Drop Bar for many more until the wee hours (6am!).

New Year's was kind of messed up from the massive row between my mum and step-dad at the FCC (Foreign Correspondant's Club). Had to leave the table in a blaze coz it was so embarrassing. It's amazing how a couple of adults can act like children. Gave them both a right bollocking, in front of their friends. Not only did they ruin our New Year, but everyone else (family friends) we were sitting with. I'm kind of fed up of a lot of things, and stupid rows like this is one of them. Recently, I've felt like standing up to a lot more situations than before. I guess I'm getting older now, and feel like I don't give a sh*t!

Met up with Ling, Caz, Nick and others after the clock struck. Went to Baby Buddha Bar after a drink at Finds, and had a whale of a time! Got so drunk, I even swapped clothes with Caz.... in the middle of the bar... Shocking.

Took a few days off to recover, went to the massive outdoor seated Buddha on Lantau Island, then met up with Chris Tomkins (one of my best and oldest mates) for a hotpot. Next day we attended the first day of racing at Happy Valley Horse Racing Course with Anastasia (the Russian lady I met!), Julien, and the usuals the day afer. Won a bit of money and went out on that Wednesday night (4th) to celebrate (oh ok, any reason to go out drinking!). Had a few hours of boozing at Typhoon's in Wan Chai where Caz eloped with more policemen's hats and even got given an email address from the cop so she could send the photos! Stumbled to Carnegie's shortly after for some mad dancing and more antics!!!!

Since then it's kind of been chilled. Had a nice night out with everyone on Saturday night at a drum 'n' bass club (Yumla). Spent Sunday taking Anastasia around Hong Kong before heading for a DIRT CHEAP spa in Wan Chai with Ling, Caz and Anastasia. 300 HK dollars (20 quid) for a 2 hour massage, jacuzzi (hot and cold), sauna, steam room, unlimited ciggies, food and drink, for as long as you want!! BARGAIN!

Gearing up now for my departure from these shores. I shall be flying to Bangkok 20th Jan, where I will be staying for a few days before heading to Delhi (cheaper via Bangkok than direct! Plus I get my innoculations cheaper there than HK). Still might stay in Thailand for a month before Delhi for Ling and Dodgy's 30th birthday. Details still being sorted out.

Off to Ocean Park (a theme park with massive rides) with Anastasia tomorrow. She's back off to Vladivostok on Thursday to finish her course before moving to Thailand this summer (will meet her there).

Hope the New Year is finding you all well, and that certain photos you see don't scar you mentally forever (you'll know which ones....).

Happy New Year y'all.