new pictures!
so, as you can tell by the nature of the last few posts, i've been hanging low for awhile. i was sick for a bit in chiang mai which allowed me ample time to read (note book reports below) and enjoy some food. and then to bangkok for some "same same". i've really been lounging. but when my visa needed renewing (every 30-days in thailand) i jumped on a cheap flight to singapore. the food was the best i was told and thai food was becoming tiresome (can you imagine?).
singapore is a strange place. basically only 40 years old, what once was a fishing village of 160 people is now a thriving commercialized metropolis. there is some excellent architecture around; namely the esplanade arts center ("durian" as its called here because it looks like the treasured spiky fruit) that is really strikingly (i.e. spikingly) beautiful as well as a new 16 story library.
its so clean here its spooky. i think like most crimes here, littering must be heavily punished because there isn't a scrap or cigarette butt or anything on the ground. no graffiti either. Anywhere! its bizarre. chinatown is clean! what the hell? who ever heard of clean chineese? and everyone is tidy and clean and there isn't any poverty to be seen. its like one big social science experiment that i'm not sure i like. in fact, there's very little for me to do here since i don't shop and that seems to be what everyone does here. its really hot though and the best way to avoid the heat are the malls.
oh yeah, and everyone speaks english! everyone! whether they are thai, chineese, malay, indian, or arab. spooky. this is clearly what the global culture is becoming: everyone still looks different, they all speak english, and they seem to exist to consume material goods.
but the singaporeans eat. and that i can do. at the hawker stalls its common to eat with strangers and for them to offer you some of their food. in fact, the common greeting here is "have you eaten?" here is an example of what i ate yesterday:
char siew bao (steamed pork buns), grass jelly drink, pork innard soup, kaya toast with coconut jam, fishball soup, carrot cake (which is actually made of radishes and isn't sweet), rice porridge with fish, coconut juice (twice), and mee chong (an indian dish of spicy fried noodles with pork).
whew!
so not being able to take the mall scene and my (surely) expanding gut any longer, i'm off to bali. i've heard that they like littering so it will at least feel homey.
p.s. this is awesome
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Friday, March 18, 2005
ishmael
by daniel quinn. this book is so amazing i'm having a hard time coming up with the right things to say about it. i'm not sure how to even start. its about our global culture, and why its wrong, or why it might be. how there are messages everywhere that "Mother Culture" dictates the way we think the world operates. it deals with sustainability and living in harmony with nature and how we haven't been doing either for 10,000 years. it takes a novel look at the biblical stories of adam and eve and cain and abel. sean had recommended it to me years ago and i've just gotten around to reading it. everyone should read this book and give it a thought.
p.s. i'm in singapore.
p.s. i'm in singapore.
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
the fountainhead
by ayn rand. my first ayn read. it was brilliant. i devoured it in just over a week (it helped that i was sick). she puts forth her theory of objectivism wherein the individual's happiness is a result of their productive achievements. as she states it:
it is secondarily about architecture, which tickled me pink. the main character is a true modernist in his designs and his arguments against classical architecture are, in my view, dead-on. i'm definately going after atlas shrugged soon.
1. Reality exists as an objective absolute—facts are facts, independent of man's feelings, wishes, hopes or fears.
2. Reason (the faculty which identifies and integrates the material provided by man's senses) is man's only means of perceiving reality, his only source of knowledge, his only guide to action, and his basic means of survival.
3. Man—every man—is an end in himself, not the means to the ends of others. He must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself. The pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life.
4. The ideal political-economic system is laissez-faire capitalism. It is a system where men deal with one another, not as victims and executioners, nor as masters and slaves, but as traders, by free, voluntary exchange to mutual benefit. It is a system where no man may obtain any values from others by resorting to physical force, and no man may initiate the use of physical force against others. The government acts only as a policeman that protects man's rights; it uses physical force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use, such as criminals or foreign invaders. In a system of full capitalism, there should be (but, historically, has not yet been) a complete separation of state and economics, in the same way and for the same reasons as the separation of state and church.
it is secondarily about architecture, which tickled me pink. the main character is a true modernist in his designs and his arguments against classical architecture are, in my view, dead-on. i'm definately going after atlas shrugged soon.
Monday, March 14, 2005
corrupted incorporated
shall i say it?
do i need to?
it appears that the insurance giant AIG's chairman participated in a deal that "may have been aimed at artificially bolstering the company's financial position."
doesn't this sound a tad familiar? haven't we been through all this before? weren't the new "transparent accounting" principles supposed to curtail such acts?
i'm shocked. and not because people of questionable ethics in high places exist. i know they do. sadly, its more the rule than the exception. when will we re-invent capitalism so we don't reward people for their bullshit behavior?
i'm not shocked because this exists. i'm shocked that it will be brushed under the rug tomorrow and the machine will keep on polluting and nobody will bother to make a change.
is AIG in your portfolio?
i bet it is.
do i need to?
it appears that the insurance giant AIG's chairman participated in a deal that "may have been aimed at artificially bolstering the company's financial position."
doesn't this sound a tad familiar? haven't we been through all this before? weren't the new "transparent accounting" principles supposed to curtail such acts?
i'm shocked. and not because people of questionable ethics in high places exist. i know they do. sadly, its more the rule than the exception. when will we re-invent capitalism so we don't reward people for their bullshit behavior?
i'm not shocked because this exists. i'm shocked that it will be brushed under the rug tomorrow and the machine will keep on polluting and nobody will bother to make a change.
is AIG in your portfolio?
i bet it is.
Monday, March 07, 2005
skinny legs and all
by tom robbins. i can't say enough about this writer. why haven't i been reading him my whole life? he's a poetic genius. this one's about peeling back the illusions (or veils) of life. its about everything. although i'm tempted to buy all his books and read them back-to-back next up is some ayn rand.
Saturday, March 05, 2005
elephant nature park (part two)
new pictures!
i've just concluded my second week at the elephant nature park, and the amazingness just kept on coming. i was finally able to meet Lek, the park owner. She is so kind and sweet and has such a huge heart. I was able to learn most of the elephants by name and even some of the 35 dogs.
later in the week we went on what's called a "Jumbo Express" - we drove out to a remote karen hill tribe village. before arriving to the village we went into the forest and tied blessed monk scarves around trees to protect them from illegal logging. it would be nearly unthinkable for a thai to cut down a blessed tree. i chose some really big trees off in the distance that i thought needed a little extra karma.
when we got to the village we administered medicine to the children and a few residents. the kids happily lined up for their shots and we would give them sweets and balloons. they loved those balloons. i'm not sure they had ever seen one before.
the next day we bamboo-rafted down the river to an elephant camp that had some sick elephants. upon arriving we were ushered into the back - as it turns out they would allow us to treat the elephants (for free mind you) but we had to do it out of sight of the tourists. we treated about 5 elephants for cracked feet. because of over-working and extra dry conditions, their feet were cracking. some were worse than others, but you could see that they were very tenuous when it came to going up or downhill. we squirted this milky solution on their feet and coated their nails with iodine. they were'nt too happy about it.
another elephant had a huge hole in its head. their mahout said he didn't know what it was from but Pom, the one running the Jumbo Express, said the mahout probably hit him with his metal hook. the final treatment involved putting anasceptic on a gash on the side of an elephant, clearly from the harness used to carry toursists. it was deep and bleeding.
the hardest thing about this trip was that we couldn't say anything to the tourists. these elephants needed to rest for about a week with no work, but instead were going to be carrying more people in about 45 minutes. i'm sure, if the tourists had known, they wouldn't have ridden the elephants. besides, elephants are slow and terribly uncomfortable to ride on for any length of time. but if we had told the tourists what was going on, the park would not allow Lek and her group to treat the elephants at all, and they would be far worse off without treatment.
sigh.
i hope to return to the park if i can find a substantial project to work on. i feel like i've cleaned up my fair share of elephant shit. still looking for an apartment here with a kitchen - you wouldn't believe how hard it is to find one.
p.s. as far as those huge spiders are concerned, they're totally harmless (although still fast as lightning). i ran into enough of them at the park that i can now expertly shoo them away. a moment of silence for the poor guy who met his demise on the bottom of my shoe the other week.
i've just concluded my second week at the elephant nature park, and the amazingness just kept on coming. i was finally able to meet Lek, the park owner. She is so kind and sweet and has such a huge heart. I was able to learn most of the elephants by name and even some of the 35 dogs.
later in the week we went on what's called a "Jumbo Express" - we drove out to a remote karen hill tribe village. before arriving to the village we went into the forest and tied blessed monk scarves around trees to protect them from illegal logging. it would be nearly unthinkable for a thai to cut down a blessed tree. i chose some really big trees off in the distance that i thought needed a little extra karma.
when we got to the village we administered medicine to the children and a few residents. the kids happily lined up for their shots and we would give them sweets and balloons. they loved those balloons. i'm not sure they had ever seen one before.
the next day we bamboo-rafted down the river to an elephant camp that had some sick elephants. upon arriving we were ushered into the back - as it turns out they would allow us to treat the elephants (for free mind you) but we had to do it out of sight of the tourists. we treated about 5 elephants for cracked feet. because of over-working and extra dry conditions, their feet were cracking. some were worse than others, but you could see that they were very tenuous when it came to going up or downhill. we squirted this milky solution on their feet and coated their nails with iodine. they were'nt too happy about it.
another elephant had a huge hole in its head. their mahout said he didn't know what it was from but Pom, the one running the Jumbo Express, said the mahout probably hit him with his metal hook. the final treatment involved putting anasceptic on a gash on the side of an elephant, clearly from the harness used to carry toursists. it was deep and bleeding.
the hardest thing about this trip was that we couldn't say anything to the tourists. these elephants needed to rest for about a week with no work, but instead were going to be carrying more people in about 45 minutes. i'm sure, if the tourists had known, they wouldn't have ridden the elephants. besides, elephants are slow and terribly uncomfortable to ride on for any length of time. but if we had told the tourists what was going on, the park would not allow Lek and her group to treat the elephants at all, and they would be far worse off without treatment.
sigh.
i hope to return to the park if i can find a substantial project to work on. i feel like i've cleaned up my fair share of elephant shit. still looking for an apartment here with a kitchen - you wouldn't believe how hard it is to find one.
p.s. as far as those huge spiders are concerned, they're totally harmless (although still fast as lightning). i ran into enough of them at the park that i can now expertly shoo them away. a moment of silence for the poor guy who met his demise on the bottom of my shoe the other week.
Friday, February 25, 2005
elephant nature park
so i had heard a lot about elephant abuse in thailand but didn't really know that much about it. turns out there is an excellent elephant hospital/sanctuary/park an hour north of chiang mai. you can pay them a fee and you can volunteer there for one day up to two weeks. all housing and meals are provided and you help the permanent volunteers with their daily chores.
there are about 15 elephants in the park. most of them had been abused and come to the hospital sick, and some have been purchased by the amazing park owner, Lek. some of the stories of the elephants are truly horrific. one of the elephants, Jokia, used to work in a tourist camp. she was pregnant and probably because of the harness used to carry tourists on her back, she mis-carried. she became depressed and refused to work. so, her owner took a slingshot and blinded her in one eye. still not working (obviously) the owner sold her. the new owner, unhappy that she wouldn't work, blinded her other eye. so now she is completely blind and wanders around only by aid of another elephant. this is just one story. there are 14 others with equally horrific tales.
we also learned about the way the elephants are trained using the pedjan, or "crush". when an elephant is about 3 years old they are put into this bamboo contraption that totally immobilizes them. then they are beaten for many days and nights (usually 3 days for females and 7 for males) without food or water until they are able to do some rudimentary skills. this is commonly known as "breaking the will of the elephant." the videos we saw of this ritual are awful. the elephant screams and screams and is beaten constantly while men shout at it from all directions. The thing is, all domestic elephants in thailand go through this. This is likely why you sometimes hear of elepghants going on rampages and killing people later in their lives. Lek, the park owner, rightly objects to this treatment and is working to inform the Thais, and tourists about proper elephant care. In fact, there are two babies at the park that will never go through the pedjan, proving that elephants can be trained without it.
so after a week of volunteering, its been really great. we spend most our time feeding and cleaning up dung. but we also wash and ride the elephants (the proper way, along their neck) on occasion. i learned some thai commands for driving the elephants around. they eat constantly: pinneaple, cucumber, banana (trees, leaves, fruit, and stalks), papaya, figs, grass, corn. it never ends! i've taken care of an 80 year old elephant, named Mae Tong Bai. She is a real sweetheart.
Pictures here.
More info here.
i have a week left at the camp (unless they want me to stay longer), and then its on to a new adventure. i'm not sure yet what that will be.
there are about 15 elephants in the park. most of them had been abused and come to the hospital sick, and some have been purchased by the amazing park owner, Lek. some of the stories of the elephants are truly horrific. one of the elephants, Jokia, used to work in a tourist camp. she was pregnant and probably because of the harness used to carry tourists on her back, she mis-carried. she became depressed and refused to work. so, her owner took a slingshot and blinded her in one eye. still not working (obviously) the owner sold her. the new owner, unhappy that she wouldn't work, blinded her other eye. so now she is completely blind and wanders around only by aid of another elephant. this is just one story. there are 14 others with equally horrific tales.
we also learned about the way the elephants are trained using the pedjan, or "crush". when an elephant is about 3 years old they are put into this bamboo contraption that totally immobilizes them. then they are beaten for many days and nights (usually 3 days for females and 7 for males) without food or water until they are able to do some rudimentary skills. this is commonly known as "breaking the will of the elephant." the videos we saw of this ritual are awful. the elephant screams and screams and is beaten constantly while men shout at it from all directions. The thing is, all domestic elephants in thailand go through this. This is likely why you sometimes hear of elepghants going on rampages and killing people later in their lives. Lek, the park owner, rightly objects to this treatment and is working to inform the Thais, and tourists about proper elephant care. In fact, there are two babies at the park that will never go through the pedjan, proving that elephants can be trained without it.
so after a week of volunteering, its been really great. we spend most our time feeding and cleaning up dung. but we also wash and ride the elephants (the proper way, along their neck) on occasion. i learned some thai commands for driving the elephants around. they eat constantly: pinneaple, cucumber, banana (trees, leaves, fruit, and stalks), papaya, figs, grass, corn. it never ends! i've taken care of an 80 year old elephant, named Mae Tong Bai. She is a real sweetheart.
Pictures here.
More info here.
i have a week left at the camp (unless they want me to stay longer), and then its on to a new adventure. i'm not sure yet what that will be.
Saturday, February 19, 2005
night of the spider
so i recently had to change guesthouses. when you tell the thais that you expect to stay for "around 3 days" they take you literally. so, unable to extend my stay, i moved down the road to this semi-swanky place (i.e., $6/night instead of $2.50).
i immediately took advantage of the hot shower and went out for a bite to eat. when i returned, i found in the bathroom a very large spider. i'm not typically afraid of spiders. but then again california spiders had nothing on this guy. he was the size of my hand.
remembering that things like to kill you in asia, i took a .picture and went to show the receptionist to see if my life was in danger. the conversation went like this:
me: "is this spider poisonous?"
receptionist: {shakes head in the negative}
me: "good spider?"
receptionist: {shakes head in the affirmative}
me: "not bad?"
receptionist: {continues shaking head} "where you find?"
me: "bathroom"
receptionist: {laughs}
so i return to my room %30 confident that the spider will not kill me. besides, he'd have to crawl a long way out of the bathroom to get to the bed, and that seemed unlikely. he seemed happy sitting there doing what spiders that size do. eat water-buffaloes i thought to myself. i didn't want to kill him, so i fell asleep after some reading.
maybe because of this, i have a nightmare. think shaun of the dead without the comedy. i was killing (or at least running away from) zombies in some crappy suburban town. it was a bit freaky. i wake up and go to the bathroom.
i notice the spider is nowhere to be seen.
hmm
as i walk back to the dark room i sleep in, i'm spooked just enough to turn the light on and have a look around. sure enough, not 3 feet from my pillow is my new buddy. maybe because of my nightmare i wasn't super freaked out. i actually took some time considering my options:
1) pick spider up on paper and shoo him outside
2) leave him there and go to sleep (yeah right!)
3) shoo him away from bed and go to sleep (maybe)
4) kill him
i didn't want to kill him. really. mosquitos, yes - dead in an instant. maybe it ain't buddha nature to kill them but i hate those little bloodsuckers. this was a big, hairy, spider who probably ate mosquitos and, like i said, waterbuffaloes. but probably wouldn't bite me. 30% sure of that. so i attempt some combination of 1 & 3.
i approach him with some paper. he sees me move and twitches very quickly - closer to the pillow. wow, he's really fast. this makes me think he can jump and i'm suddenly reliving arachnaphobia with john goodman in my mind. that's it, i thought. the little, i mean big, guy has to go.
so after another hesitation - i really didn't want to do this - i smashed him with my shoe. picked him up with some tissue and threw his twitching lifeless body in the trash. i should mention that as he hit the bottom of the bin his heavy body landed with a thump. that's how big he was.
i fell asleep in about 5 minutes, despite learning that i now have a fear (or atleast dislike) of spiders.
welcome to thailand.
i immediately took advantage of the hot shower and went out for a bite to eat. when i returned, i found in the bathroom a very large spider. i'm not typically afraid of spiders. but then again california spiders had nothing on this guy. he was the size of my hand.
remembering that things like to kill you in asia, i took a .picture and went to show the receptionist to see if my life was in danger. the conversation went like this:
me: "is this spider poisonous?"
receptionist: {shakes head in the negative}
me: "good spider?"
receptionist: {shakes head in the affirmative}
me: "not bad?"
receptionist: {continues shaking head} "where you find?"
me: "bathroom"
receptionist: {laughs}
so i return to my room %30 confident that the spider will not kill me. besides, he'd have to crawl a long way out of the bathroom to get to the bed, and that seemed unlikely. he seemed happy sitting there doing what spiders that size do. eat water-buffaloes i thought to myself. i didn't want to kill him, so i fell asleep after some reading.
maybe because of this, i have a nightmare. think shaun of the dead without the comedy. i was killing (or at least running away from) zombies in some crappy suburban town. it was a bit freaky. i wake up and go to the bathroom.
i notice the spider is nowhere to be seen.
hmm
as i walk back to the dark room i sleep in, i'm spooked just enough to turn the light on and have a look around. sure enough, not 3 feet from my pillow is my new buddy. maybe because of my nightmare i wasn't super freaked out. i actually took some time considering my options:
1) pick spider up on paper and shoo him outside
2) leave him there and go to sleep (yeah right!)
3) shoo him away from bed and go to sleep (maybe)
4) kill him
i didn't want to kill him. really. mosquitos, yes - dead in an instant. maybe it ain't buddha nature to kill them but i hate those little bloodsuckers. this was a big, hairy, spider who probably ate mosquitos and, like i said, waterbuffaloes. but probably wouldn't bite me. 30% sure of that. so i attempt some combination of 1 & 3.
i approach him with some paper. he sees me move and twitches very quickly - closer to the pillow. wow, he's really fast. this makes me think he can jump and i'm suddenly reliving arachnaphobia with john goodman in my mind. that's it, i thought. the little, i mean big, guy has to go.
so after another hesitation - i really didn't want to do this - i smashed him with my shoe. picked him up with some tissue and threw his twitching lifeless body in the trash. i should mention that as he hit the bottom of the bin his heavy body landed with a thump. that's how big he was.
i fell asleep in about 5 minutes, despite learning that i now have a fear (or atleast dislike) of spiders.
welcome to thailand.
Friday, February 18, 2005
chiang mai (take 2)
ahh, chiang mai. cool(er) weather and awesome classes and markets. it was good to be back. i spent the first week mostly cooking - i continued the week long class i had started previously and made some really awesome (i mean really awesome kick-ass thai food). here are some highlights:
tom yum khung (clear hot and sour soup with prawns)
tom kha gai (coconut hot and sour soup with chicken)
gaeng phed pet yang (roast duck in red curry)
chiang mai curry with pork
som tum (green papaya salad)
cashew chicken sirfry
mango sticky rice
still, though there was something missing about the class. i guess i'll have to keep looking. shucks.
for now, i'm off to the elephant nature park where i will be volunteering for at least two weeks. picking up dung will consume the majority of my days i'm guessing.
tom yum khung (clear hot and sour soup with prawns)
tom kha gai (coconut hot and sour soup with chicken)
gaeng phed pet yang (roast duck in red curry)
chiang mai curry with pork
som tum (green papaya salad)
cashew chicken sirfry
mango sticky rice
still, though there was something missing about the class. i guess i'll have to keep looking. shucks.
for now, i'm off to the elephant nature park where i will be volunteering for at least two weeks. picking up dung will consume the majority of my days i'm guessing.
Saturday, February 12, 2005
pictures
i've posted more pictures of koh tao and chiang mai. unfortunately flickr isn't letting me create new groups unless i pay them money, so you'll have to live with the disorganization. ahh, entropy.
lying liars and the lies they tell
by al franken. this was a fun, and at times maddening, book. al franken is a funny guy and he spends the majority of this book going after the right wing media like bill o'rielly and sean hannity. these guys are idiots, but that's nothing new. what was new was learning about how john mccain got push polled, details about fox trying to sue franken, and how bush, although claiming to be a man of faith, really probably isn't. another interesting question franken asks is, why is john walker lindh such a big deal when there have been far more treacherous traitors in our past - they're called confederates, and they killed more americans than lindh.
ko tao
the island of ko tao is a mecca for scuba diving. i met sean and his friend rachel at the airport in bangkok. we spent a day hanging out and then we were island bound.
the island is pretty touristy in spots, and quiet in others. we chose the quiet southern beach to base ourselves at and got a failry decent room near the beach. the weather was pleasant and the water was as warm as a bath. sean got his open water certification, and i got my advanced. the dives on the advanced were really cool. we did a deep dive (30m = 100ft!) and a night dive that was absolutely surreal. we saw stingrays, batfish, damsel fish, urchins, moray eels, crabs, shrimp, and even an enormous puffer fish! i loved the diving there so much i'm considering going back to get my divemaster. in late march the whale sharks are supposed to be migrating and its supposed to be a life changing experience to swim next to those giants. getting my divemaster would require 4 weeks of diving, but after the certification i could lead dives and get paid to do so!
anyway, i hope to post some more pictures soon. sean and i are heading to chiang mai in a few days where i'll finally get to settle for a bit and take some of the classes i;ve been wanting to do.
the island is pretty touristy in spots, and quiet in others. we chose the quiet southern beach to base ourselves at and got a failry decent room near the beach. the weather was pleasant and the water was as warm as a bath. sean got his open water certification, and i got my advanced. the dives on the advanced were really cool. we did a deep dive (30m = 100ft!) and a night dive that was absolutely surreal. we saw stingrays, batfish, damsel fish, urchins, moray eels, crabs, shrimp, and even an enormous puffer fish! i loved the diving there so much i'm considering going back to get my divemaster. in late march the whale sharks are supposed to be migrating and its supposed to be a life changing experience to swim next to those giants. getting my divemaster would require 4 weeks of diving, but after the certification i could lead dives and get paid to do so!
anyway, i hope to post some more pictures soon. sean and i are heading to chiang mai in a few days where i'll finally get to settle for a bit and take some of the classes i;ve been wanting to do.
Friday, February 04, 2005
radiant cool
by dan lloyd. i think this book may have been written specifically for me. i had just finished a conversation with someone that i had been reading too much non-fiction lately and what i really was hungry for was a good romp with my imagination. this book delivered in a big way, and is the first fiction/non-fiction hybrid i can remember reading.
the book has two parts. first is a fictional account of a philosophy graduate student trying to uncover the mystery of consciousness as well as her advisor's mysterious disappearance. it is a delightfully playful quest for knowledge where point and counter-point allowed me to recall nearlyevery lecture of my cognitive science undergrad career. mmm, nummy nostalgia.
the second part is dan lloyd's own manuscript, putting forth his novel (get it?) theory. this part was more technical, and probably not as much fun if you're not familiar with the history of philosophy of mind. however, i loved it.
secret's out: i'm a nerd.
the book has two parts. first is a fictional account of a philosophy graduate student trying to uncover the mystery of consciousness as well as her advisor's mysterious disappearance. it is a delightfully playful quest for knowledge where point and counter-point allowed me to recall nearlyevery lecture of my cognitive science undergrad career. mmm, nummy nostalgia.
the second part is dan lloyd's own manuscript, putting forth his novel (get it?) theory. this part was more technical, and probably not as much fun if you're not familiar with the history of philosophy of mind. however, i loved it.
secret's out: i'm a nerd.
Thursday, February 03, 2005
escaping reason
most fortunately it happens, that since reason is incapable of dispelling these [skeptical] clouds, nature herself suffices to that purpose, and cures me of this philosophical melancholy and delirium, either by relaxing this bent of mind, or by some avocation, and lively impression of my senses, which obliterate all these chimeras. I dine, I play a game of backgammon, I converse, and am merry with friends; and when after three or four hours' amusement, I wou'd return to these speculations, they appear so cold, and strain'd, and ridiculous, that I cannot find it in my heart to enter into them any farther.-- David Hume
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
chiang mai
first, i've posted pictures! you can check them out here and let me know what you think.
scott and i took the luxury option to chiang mai - we flew. bangkok airways is really cool. very short flights and very tasty treats along the way. we arrived and everything was so pleasant, the weather, the prices, the town - wonderful. the old city of chiang mai is surrounded by a moat that is actually somewhat clean and not stinky. this was shocking because a lot of the water in thailand (and generally asia) is polluted and stinky. i was finally happy to be in a city that did not smell like feces.
the first day scott and i rented a motor-scooter and scooted our way around town checking out the various wats (buddhist temples) in the area. every town has its own wat and each was generally built in a different era, for a different king, and for a different purpose. so even though they're all kinda similar, they're all uniquely different. chiang mai has about 3 wats in the city center and a very popular one on top of a mountain overlooking the entire city. brilliant views when the haze/smog isn't terrible, and it wasn't. after the flatness of cambodia, it was refreshing to be around mountains again. at the center of the wat a huge stuppa (spire) was coated in gold foil (real gold!). it shone brilliantly as the setting sun cast its final glows on its terraced pointyness.
the next day we did an introductory cooking class (the main reason i decided to go to thailand in the first place) that did not dissapoint. a thai man and his english wife runa class out of their home out in the burbs. they are well setup and the class is well organized so even novices can feel successful. we cooked thom yum kheung (hot and sour shrimp soup), green curry with chicken, pad thai (noodles with egg and shrimp), minced chicken on cucumber, and a water chestnut desert with sweet coconut cream. it was a lot of fun. i hope to be back to complete the week-long series course where they cover the curries in greater depth.
the next three days we went on a trek to a hill tribe in northeastern thialand. despite a horrible pickup truck taxi ride that took 3 hours, we were tramped our way about an hour to a village stocked with elephants. i was a bit nervous about riding the elephants after hearing horror stories about how they can sometimes be treated, but this hill tribe (the Karen hill tribe) treated them very very well. it was a blast. a bit uncomfortable after 1.5 hours on their backs, but well worth it.
after leaving the elephants we walked another hour to the Karen village. their language is not thai but sounds softer and more polynesian. we learned how to say thank you, "dub loo". it was amazing to see how simply these people lived. very basic huts and a diet of mostly rice. they all kept pigs and chickens but it was explained to us that those were only for special occasions. mostly they ate small fish, birds, frogs, and vegetables. we got a tour of the village and got to sit in some of their huts. each hut was the most basic bamboo flooring and siding with banana leaf roofs. at the center of each hut was the fire used for cooking and warmth. it gets very cold in the mountains at night. during the day it would be in the 90s, but at night it would be near 40!
the next day was spent walking through the jungle and across riverbeds. our lunches were noodles with egg bundled in banana leaf packets and we ate fresh pineapple often. another night in a hut, this time without a surounding village. the following day we took bamboo rafts about 2 hours down river. very quickly and expertly constructed and pilotes by some karen boys, these rafts were flexible enough to get us through some rapids and shallow enough to skim across the falling river line.
the trek was awesome. i could have gone for many more days, but it was time to get back to bangkok and say goodbye to scotty and get ready for sean. he'll be here tomorrow night and i'm island bound again! more diving, sand, and sun!
scott and i took the luxury option to chiang mai - we flew. bangkok airways is really cool. very short flights and very tasty treats along the way. we arrived and everything was so pleasant, the weather, the prices, the town - wonderful. the old city of chiang mai is surrounded by a moat that is actually somewhat clean and not stinky. this was shocking because a lot of the water in thailand (and generally asia) is polluted and stinky. i was finally happy to be in a city that did not smell like feces.
the first day scott and i rented a motor-scooter and scooted our way around town checking out the various wats (buddhist temples) in the area. every town has its own wat and each was generally built in a different era, for a different king, and for a different purpose. so even though they're all kinda similar, they're all uniquely different. chiang mai has about 3 wats in the city center and a very popular one on top of a mountain overlooking the entire city. brilliant views when the haze/smog isn't terrible, and it wasn't. after the flatness of cambodia, it was refreshing to be around mountains again. at the center of the wat a huge stuppa (spire) was coated in gold foil (real gold!). it shone brilliantly as the setting sun cast its final glows on its terraced pointyness.
the next day we did an introductory cooking class (the main reason i decided to go to thailand in the first place) that did not dissapoint. a thai man and his english wife runa class out of their home out in the burbs. they are well setup and the class is well organized so even novices can feel successful. we cooked thom yum kheung (hot and sour shrimp soup), green curry with chicken, pad thai (noodles with egg and shrimp), minced chicken on cucumber, and a water chestnut desert with sweet coconut cream. it was a lot of fun. i hope to be back to complete the week-long series course where they cover the curries in greater depth.
the next three days we went on a trek to a hill tribe in northeastern thialand. despite a horrible pickup truck taxi ride that took 3 hours, we were tramped our way about an hour to a village stocked with elephants. i was a bit nervous about riding the elephants after hearing horror stories about how they can sometimes be treated, but this hill tribe (the Karen hill tribe) treated them very very well. it was a blast. a bit uncomfortable after 1.5 hours on their backs, but well worth it.
after leaving the elephants we walked another hour to the Karen village. their language is not thai but sounds softer and more polynesian. we learned how to say thank you, "dub loo". it was amazing to see how simply these people lived. very basic huts and a diet of mostly rice. they all kept pigs and chickens but it was explained to us that those were only for special occasions. mostly they ate small fish, birds, frogs, and vegetables. we got a tour of the village and got to sit in some of their huts. each hut was the most basic bamboo flooring and siding with banana leaf roofs. at the center of each hut was the fire used for cooking and warmth. it gets very cold in the mountains at night. during the day it would be in the 90s, but at night it would be near 40!
the next day was spent walking through the jungle and across riverbeds. our lunches were noodles with egg bundled in banana leaf packets and we ate fresh pineapple often. another night in a hut, this time without a surounding village. the following day we took bamboo rafts about 2 hours down river. very quickly and expertly constructed and pilotes by some karen boys, these rafts were flexible enough to get us through some rapids and shallow enough to skim across the falling river line.
the trek was awesome. i could have gone for many more days, but it was time to get back to bangkok and say goodbye to scotty and get ready for sean. he'll be here tomorrow night and i'm island bound again! more diving, sand, and sun!
Saturday, January 29, 2005
vote or die, or, vote and die
say what you want about the iraqi election, but those who are brave enough to do so are nothing short of heroic. fingers crossed.
khmer kulture
as i was leaving cambodia, i've realized that more should be said about its people. in short, they're amazing. they're so warm and friendly despite years of bloodshed, oppression, and terror. even in the relatively shocking border crossing incident we were directed where to go by the locals.
many are trying to learn english. my motorcycle guide kept asking me how to spell words. one night when i couldn't sleep i helped the night receptionist work on his english homework.
being the dumb american that i am, i didn't realize just how much of the vietnam war was fought in cambodia itself. many landmines are still left from the vietnam war, the pol pot regime, and the khmer rouge. they are tough conditions to live in, their consciousness must be scarred. but they keep smiling right through it.
many are trying to learn english. my motorcycle guide kept asking me how to spell words. one night when i couldn't sleep i helped the night receptionist work on his english homework.
being the dumb american that i am, i didn't realize just how much of the vietnam war was fought in cambodia itself. many landmines are still left from the vietnam war, the pol pot regime, and the khmer rouge. they are tough conditions to live in, their consciousness must be scarred. but they keep smiling right through it.
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
holiday in cambodia
so, i book this bus ride from the east coast of thailand to siem riep, cambodia. that was my first mistake. it was a lot of money ($25). they say that you will get to siem riep by 5pm. those people lie. we got to the border ok if not a bit late, then you have to transfer busses across the border.
as we entered no-mans-land: blind people, children, and cripples (from landmines evidently) are begging for money - its a tough sight, and if i had any doubt that cambodia is a third world country it was now gone. we were told a story by the visa officials that we pissed off our bus ride by being late. the only thing we could do was catch another bus (and thereby pay more money). There is no way to tell if we had been scammed or not, but we negotiated the last bus out of town for $10 each (also a lot of money around here).
the bus ride was horrible. imagine a steel crate on wheels with uncomfortable seats and windows and doors that rattle. it hardly worked but that wasn't the biggest problem. there are only dirt roads in cambodia (at least from the border to where we were going). the first 15 minutes were an assault on the senses. i asked how long the ride was. 9 hours. christ. so we bumped and rolled and slammed our way to siem reap - the bus bounced and rattled and was hot and dusty. it was so tiring, but falling asleep wasn't an option - if you fell asleep with your head on your right shoulder, sooner than later the bus would hit a bump, sending your head smashing into the window on your left. that's bumpy.
sleeping was a bad idea regardless of the pain it inflicted - there was much to see. we careened (sometimes dangerously so) through very very poor villages. most shacks are built on minefields here and there are signs everywhere warning of it. it was good for me to see the way these people live - the extreme poverty of it all. the dangerous situation. the dust from the roads coating the shacks in which they live and probably their lungs. there was so so much dust. but despite this, their spirits were very high. everytime the bus rolled through, children (and some adults) waved with big smiles on their faces. they knew were were bringing money to their country, and money is desperately what they need.
still, parts of the ride were beautiful and i'm glad i did it. the big red sun setting and the burning rice fields were surreal and reminded me of scenes from baraka. we arrived at 11pm and this proves how crafty these people are - they know you're tired, and so they drive you to their guesthouse and since they have beds and a shower (which is all i wanted at that point) and you can't even think about using your spine to walk away you say "i'll take it."
after a 24-hour battle with food poisoning, scott and i visited the many temples of the angkor wat area. these are absolutely amazing and defy description. i'm sure you've seen pictures (and you could see mine if these computers had a USB port), especially of Ta Prohm, with banyan trees growing on the ruins. monks, wrapped in saffron-robes leap from the grey scenes of the ruins. their smiles beaming, welcoming. its majestic, its awe-inspiring, and i feel blessed to have been here to experience it. it was worth it. more than worth it.
scotty leaves soon, so we're headed to chiang mai on friday (by airplane, thank god) to squeeze in a little more thailand.
as we entered no-mans-land: blind people, children, and cripples (from landmines evidently) are begging for money - its a tough sight, and if i had any doubt that cambodia is a third world country it was now gone. we were told a story by the visa officials that we pissed off our bus ride by being late. the only thing we could do was catch another bus (and thereby pay more money). There is no way to tell if we had been scammed or not, but we negotiated the last bus out of town for $10 each (also a lot of money around here).
the bus ride was horrible. imagine a steel crate on wheels with uncomfortable seats and windows and doors that rattle. it hardly worked but that wasn't the biggest problem. there are only dirt roads in cambodia (at least from the border to where we were going). the first 15 minutes were an assault on the senses. i asked how long the ride was. 9 hours. christ. so we bumped and rolled and slammed our way to siem reap - the bus bounced and rattled and was hot and dusty. it was so tiring, but falling asleep wasn't an option - if you fell asleep with your head on your right shoulder, sooner than later the bus would hit a bump, sending your head smashing into the window on your left. that's bumpy.
sleeping was a bad idea regardless of the pain it inflicted - there was much to see. we careened (sometimes dangerously so) through very very poor villages. most shacks are built on minefields here and there are signs everywhere warning of it. it was good for me to see the way these people live - the extreme poverty of it all. the dangerous situation. the dust from the roads coating the shacks in which they live and probably their lungs. there was so so much dust. but despite this, their spirits were very high. everytime the bus rolled through, children (and some adults) waved with big smiles on their faces. they knew were were bringing money to their country, and money is desperately what they need.
still, parts of the ride were beautiful and i'm glad i did it. the big red sun setting and the burning rice fields were surreal and reminded me of scenes from baraka. we arrived at 11pm and this proves how crafty these people are - they know you're tired, and so they drive you to their guesthouse and since they have beds and a shower (which is all i wanted at that point) and you can't even think about using your spine to walk away you say "i'll take it."
after a 24-hour battle with food poisoning, scott and i visited the many temples of the angkor wat area. these are absolutely amazing and defy description. i'm sure you've seen pictures (and you could see mine if these computers had a USB port), especially of Ta Prohm, with banyan trees growing on the ruins. monks, wrapped in saffron-robes leap from the grey scenes of the ruins. their smiles beaming, welcoming. its majestic, its awe-inspiring, and i feel blessed to have been here to experience it. it was worth it. more than worth it.
scotty leaves soon, so we're headed to chiang mai on friday (by airplane, thank god) to squeeze in a little more thailand.
Saturday, January 22, 2005
the victim
by saul bellow. beautiful urban fiction that, although difficult to read on a tropical beach, really portrays the ebb and flow of living in new york city by means of interlacing environment and the bizarre social scene it cultivates. the main character really pissed me off and i think that gives credence to bellow's ability. i'll have to try more, maybe in an urban setting. time for another mai tai.
Friday, January 21, 2005
koh chang
the biggest island in the gulf of thailand is koh chang. its on the east coast near cambodia. scott and i met a bunch of folks on the water taxi trip from the mainland. francois and jo (from england), jaime (from canada), and ernest (from holland). after checking out the fairly disgusting tourist mecca of white sands beach (why must german men wear bikini bottoms?), we decided to travel further south to the backpacker area of lonely beach.
apparently lonely beach used to be just that, unpopulated. however, in the last 5 years and still today, tons of development has been going on. we decided to stay at this guesthouse called "the treehouse" which has simple, rustic, thatched-roof bungalows for 250 B ($6/night). the treehouse has a huge deck that is built over the water as well as many hammock under a thatched roof - perfect for reading in the shade. the food is excellent and a bargain - the museli with local fruit is amazing.
there's a beach down the way, coconut trees to climb, and some decent scuba diving. we've spent 5 days here, but could spend many more. they have big, loud parties every night which i'm not so keen on. maybe i'm getting old. i think i'll be back though.
we're off to cambodia tomorrow, to see angkor wat. one of the 7 wonders of the world.
stay tuned for pictures, i'm waiting to find a computer that doesn't shock me when i touch it.
apparently lonely beach used to be just that, unpopulated. however, in the last 5 years and still today, tons of development has been going on. we decided to stay at this guesthouse called "the treehouse" which has simple, rustic, thatched-roof bungalows for 250 B ($6/night). the treehouse has a huge deck that is built over the water as well as many hammock under a thatched roof - perfect for reading in the shade. the food is excellent and a bargain - the museli with local fruit is amazing.
there's a beach down the way, coconut trees to climb, and some decent scuba diving. we've spent 5 days here, but could spend many more. they have big, loud parties every night which i'm not so keen on. maybe i'm getting old. i think i'll be back though.
we're off to cambodia tomorrow, to see angkor wat. one of the 7 wonders of the world.
stay tuned for pictures, i'm waiting to find a computer that doesn't shock me when i touch it.
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