Friday, July 22, 2005

Well I am still here, in Bangkok.

Last night was terrible, got home about 4pm in the afternoon from wandering about the city, then fell sleep. Woke up about 11pm wandered about abit then Alison phoned, so good to hear her voice when I am feeling alone.

I tried to get back to sleep but it was one of those nights where my mind wouldnt stop thinknig about stuff. I gave up trying to sleep and headed back to the internet cafe about 2am. Had to fight my way through the lady boys on Khao San Road but made it here in one piece. Chatted to folk on MSN for a while then headed back to the hostel and listened to a couple of cafe del mar albums until the sun came up. When the sun did come up, I fell asleep and slept through my alarm until 3:30pm! Now my sleeping pattern is a total mess and I didn't get to see any temples.

Decided to give up on sitting about Bangkok and booked my self on to a Trek. We leave the hostel in 6 hours from now and the itinery is as follows:

Leave at 7am in the morning (its 1:17 now!) and get a bus to the war cemetary of allied prisoners followed by the war museum. The we head to the Bridge over the River Kwai. After lunch we go an an Elephant Safari finally taking a train along Death Railway. The we go to see Tiger cave and finally make camp by the river kwai for some canoing, fishing, swimming.

On the second day the morning will involve a light trak to a waterfall for a picnic lunch. After lunch its a "streuous" paddle in the river kwai and then apparently we get "pulled" by the company river boat.

On the third and final day There is some walking and more war memorial stuff before arriving back in Bangkok in the evening. Anyway I am sure I will tell you all about what actaully happens and hopefully have some great pictures to put online. The reason I havent got any yet is that I don't know anyone who can hold the camera and don't trust a stranger in this city.

So after I woke up rather late today, I had some breakie, then went to collect my washing frmo the Thai family that were doing it for me. After that I went nline for a bit and asked the girl at the tour desk what I should do tonight. She recommended the market at Phadpong which is Bangkoks Redlight District.

Its the strangest redlight district I have ever seen. Fair enough there are "go go bars" but there were less prostitutes on the street than in any other part of Bangkok I have been to. Weird.

So I was at the market and I got some new shorts and T-Shirts and had some fun haggling.

Now I am here, back in the internet cafe. Heading in to the unknown tomorrow and the possiblilty of 3 days without a mobile phone signal or internet access terrifies me. If only I could afford a satellite phone with GPRS!

Look for updates on Monday night when I return!

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Yo!

I am now in Bangkok with no mates and no plan.

Left Glasgow at about 4pm on Tuesday 19th of July. Said the most painful goodbye of my life to my girlfriend Alison who I have been sharing my life with for the past 8 months. Then had about 24 hours of Travelling to get to Bangkok.

Travel was Glasgow -> London -> Dubai -> Bangkok. I had no where to stay upon arrival so checked the Lonely Planet book and got a bus to a hotel which appeared reasonable.

The hotel was called the Premier Inn and seemed to have a good review. It was 900 Baht for a double room with en suite and breakfast included. That works out at about 13 Pounds. Once I was in the room it was about 9:30pm local time. I gave Alison a call to tell her how much I missed her then went out of a walk. Turned out that phone call cost the same as the room for the night so my next priority was to get a Thai sim card for my mobile.

After a trip to the good old 7-11 I was sorted and had an Orange Thai sim card, (+6640446489 if you want to call or text). Next on the list was to get smoe food as I hadn't eatten since the plane. I had noticed a Pizza Hut some way back so proceeded to walk there (Have had too much Thai food over the last few months working in the Thai Restaurant).

I was in an area of Bangkok called Thanon Sukhumvit which is quite a new development. There is one very busy road going through the district and I walked the full length of it to get to Pizza hut. Unfortunately on my arrive Pizza Hut was closed :'( so I walked back to a 24hour Thai cafe.

The cafe served western food aswell but I figured I'd make a start on eatting Thai in Thailand so had some Chicked Garlic stirfry with rice and a Singha beer. Walking back to the hotel was quite interesting. As before when I was in Kuala Lumpur, I knew that everyone could see I was a white european and therefore a tourist with money to spend. It took me a little while to get used to ignoring everyone that shouted at me beacuse if you even glance over at them they won't leave you alone. This includes people who want to take you to have a suit made, beggars (usually with small children or missing limbs), taxi drivers, tuk tuk drivers (Who screach to a halt and try and get you in there cab, and of course prostitues and lady boys shouting "Hey sexy man, where you go!". I managed to get through most of this ok but one of the lady boys blocked my path and tried to get his/her hands in my pockets so I had to run away.

When I got back to the hotel I decided I didn't want to be here anymore so started thinking about where to go. The obvious choice seemed to be out of Bangkok but I couldn't decied where. After considering Pattaya, Ko Change, Ko Samet and Ko Samui I realised I needed abit more time to think and plan. I got the guide book out again and tried to decide which part of Bangkok would be best to stay in next. Banglamphu sounded interesting so I called up a guest house there and made a booking, then checked out my current lodgings.

I figured a Tuk Tuk would be an interesting way to get there as it was on the otherside of town. Finding one wasn't easy but the driver didnt speak any english and wanted to take me to buy some apples first. After some arguing and pointing at the map we where in our way. In the end I had to be a back seat driver and give the guy directions as he seemd to have no clue about that part of town. After getting to the guest house and checking in I realised I had made a mistake.

It was only about 2 pounds for the room for the night, but the bed was solid, the canal it looked out over was rank and worst of all there was no powerpoint from which to charge my iPod! I set of to put some washing on and familiarise myself with this part of town. I tried to get to a temple to check it out but couldn't find a way across the motor way so just walked aimlessly for a bit.

I eventually found myself on a busy road with lots happening. I check the guide book and found that it was Khao San, a very popular area with tourists. It was very busy with lots of stalls, shops restaurants and guest houses. I found a nice Air Conditions McDonalds (by this time was drenched in sweat with all the walking) and got a big mac meal (only 1.50 pounds) and read the guide book.

The guide book talked about afew different guest housesin the area which sounded ok, so I took a look around an eventually booked my self into a place called New Joe. This was more like it. A bit more expensive but it had a nice restaurant and bar on the ground floor, laundry services and a travel agent, as well as the all important friendly english speaking staff. I booked my self in for a couple of nights, £6.50 per night for a double room with aircon, shower, toilet and balcony.

The room wasn't the best, the shower had no cubicle for example, the whole toilet room was the cubicle which is weird. The balcony it about 1 square meter and looks over the hostel next door which is currently a building site. Aside from that the room seemed clean and so far free from bed bugs. I sat down for five minutes and work up 3 hours later, not the best as I almost had my sleeping pattern sorted out. Anyway headed out and found a Boots the Chemist, so got some shampoo and shaving gel and then headed to the internet cafe where I am now writing this.

So now I need a plan. I think I will head out of bangkok in the next couple of days. Ko Samui seems the best option at the moment. I could fly there for £40 or get a bus and ferry for about £7. Once there I can chill on the beach and hopefully make some friends. Alison has mentioned that she might beable to come over which would be amazing but I will have to wait and see what happens. Duncan has said he will come to but seeing as he never turned up to Majorca, Gatecrasher or Glasgow almost everytime he said he is coming for a visit I don't see this happening.

I am going to head for a walk along Khao San road now and see if I can find some speakers for my iPod, then back to the Hostel to have some dinner and maybe a lonely beer.

Tomorrow I will try and sort out smoe webspace and get some pictures online, as my University account has just closed down (not bad going seeing as how I left uni 2 years ago).

Anyway, stay tuned and hopefully I will have some Fantastic Adventures to report soon =)

Tuesday, August 31, 2004

Yo yo yo, not much happening here. Check out my pictures at http://homepage.mac.com/beakster

Working in Majorca again, oh well. =)

Wednesday, April 28, 2004

Wow! I had almost forgotten about my beloved blog spot. Looking voer it alot has happened and chaned in the last year since I started it.

Saddly life isn't too exciting just now and I'm not saving much money. I'm still working part time for Next Byte, the apple centre, and full time for an ISP called Swiftel. The ISP job is quite good, but not very challenging and abit boring =(. I have been offered sponsorship by the ISP so I can stay for up to 4 years, but I'm still unsure about what to do.

The faithful digital camera has now finally died. It lasted us one year and was only sent back to the manufacturers twice. I think the FujiFinePix A202 did well. Next weekend we are going to Melbourne for the weekend, and I will finally get to see the set of neighbours =).

Saturday, February 14, 2004

What's happening? Well.... My life as it stands:

Working for Next Byte Apple Centre. Part Time. Good job, but pay is not great. Planning to get another job to supplement my income soon.

Still living in Pyrmont, Sydney. Tommy, a mate from Magalluf has arrived so he is staying with us now. Planning to travel in afew months, but need to get more cash together.

Life ain't particularly exciting. Need to get out of this boring routine, but will hopefully have it large in afew months with some travelling in Oz, hopefully Thailand, then another summer working in the balaerics, maybe.

Eventually I'll be in London working a good job and paying my debts and buying lots of antique computers ;)

Thursday, November 27, 2003

Yo!

This weeks news is I have started a new job, working in an Apple Centre selling Apple Macs. I think this is the best job I have ever had as I get to play with and talk about computers all day long. I'm also still doing Property Assistance at the Commonwealth Bank which means people call me up and complain all day long.

Things are on the up tho, I have finally done my Responsible Service of Alcohol Certificate meaning I can now legally get a bar job here. If I find one then I'll have 3 jobs and should be able to save.

On Sunday JieBie and I moved rooms in our flat. We moved from the small room to the medium room, so again things are looking up. We have furnished our room with a desk and a chair we found in the bins we are indeed living like kings.

Saturday is JieBie's 22nd so my mission for the night is to get him so intoxicated he does something which will get him deported.

Tuesday, November 04, 2003

Had a most fantastic adventure on Saturday. It involved lots of underground exploring, followed by moving a sleeping jiebie out of the flat.

Heard about a group of people on the internet afew months back that regularly explore the hidden and forgotten places of Sydney. My self, Paul and Hunter went along to meet up with them for afew adventures. Jiebie was supposed to come but he opted for a night of hardcore drinking instead.



We almost missed the meeting with the guys, but when we got there we were lucky enough to meet a nice girl who drove us between the various exploration sites in her van. We started the night about 20:30 and were still going until 7:00 thenext morning. It's fantastic how much there is to see under sydney. Unlike an old city like Glasgow, the drains over here are actually big enough to walk around in.



Brough back some happy memories of going exploring back home. There are some pics of our Kelvingrove railway tunnel expedition at http://beakster.5u.com/expedition/expedition.htm

Upon returning home, I tried to wake JieBie, but due to his hardcore drinking I could not wake him up! I decided instead to drag his matress with him and his covers on it off the bed. I dragged him through the lounge and out to the balcony. He was so wasted he did not even wake up!



He did eventually wake up. He woke up when the landlord walked past the flat and saw him fast asleep on the balcony:

"Hey you! What you doing!? You cant sleep out there!" Shouted the landlord.

"What am I doing? I dont know!" Replied JieBie as he awoke and felt very disoriented.

JieBie tried to re-enter the flat, only to find the balcony door was locked. After afew minutes of knocking he managed to wake someone up to let him in, to whom he exclaimed: "Why was I sleeping on the balcony, how did I get there?"

When Jiebie came back to the room, I managed to have him believeing that it was thorugh his own choice that he had gone out to sleep there.

Hopefully more fantastic adventures next week, as I'm planning to go to another Sydney Amiga Users Group meeting, stay tuned!

Tuesday, October 28, 2003

Links Updated
Added link to Charlies Travel Journal,
Added links to archives of old blogs, so have a look at some of my older fantastic adventures.
Still very little news to report. So here is a fantastic adventure from a few months back:

One night JieBie were walking back to our flat in Bondi when we happened upon a church. The church had a huge banner out side advertising "Monte Fair". The though instantly struck us that this banner would look great in our flat. Of course we could not steal a banner which advertised a church event, but the date of Monte Fair was for the previous day, meaning the fair had passed as we would be doing them a favour by taking it down.

We took it down and carried the banner home, where we sellotaped it to the wall then fell asleep. When we awoke, the banner had fallen down, and in our now sober state, did not look as fantastic as it did the previous night.

It was a Sunday as we needed something to do. We thought about putting the banner our on our balcony, but that would just advertise the fact we took it. Struck by a sudden moment of genious, we decided to turn the banner over and write something on the blank reverse side.

Our first choice was of course "International Bawbag Society", but after writing the word International it was clear that we couldn't fit it on. Society was substituted with HQ and after one hour of outlining with a ball point pen, then filling in with a marker, the banner was ready.

We put it out on the balcony and stood on the other side of the road, admiring our handy work with great pride.

People walked past the flat, people looked at the banner, people looked confused. The poor Ausies have trouble wioth the word Bawbag for some reason, it does not seem to be in their vocabulary. Unfortunatley, even though they couldn't he understand it, the landlord took offense.

"What is this International Bawbag HQ?!?!" he asked, when we opened the door to him at 11pm.
"Ah, the banner, its just a friendly welcome message. It means we are international travellers. A bawbag is like a backpacker." I replied.
"You take this down now!" said the landlord.
"Why?" asked I.
"Why! Because the council will fine me $1000 for advertising with out a permit!' exclaimed thew landlord angrily.

I was quite upset by the landlords opinion of the banner. The International Bawbag Society is a non-profit organisation, and I don't see how our banner could constitute advertising in any way. The way I see it is that it is no different to having the name or number of your house on display.

We had to submit to the landlords wishes however, but atleast we have this photo to remind us of our old HQ:



Thursday, October 16, 2003

Appologies for not updating for ages. Current mission is to get an internet connection in the flat, once that is achieved I'll be back online 24/7

Recent developments:

Moved into a lovely new flat. It has a sauna, gym, pool, BBQ. Living with 2 guys from home, some welsh guy and 3 Irish girls we accumulated. Life is good, I have a nice Apple Mac I bought on ebay, which I play with at night when I can't afford to go out on the piss.

JieBie and I were friends with some lovely Kiwi girls for a while. We met them when we were staying in our crap flat. Sadly they have moved on to warmer weather:



Admittedly, life is not at it's most fantastic just now, don't have enough money, and therefore not drinking enough.

Things will get more interesting soon so stay tuned for more fantastic adventures!