Gullible's Travels: Ireland - And on the 7th day, God created GPS and he saw that it was good

Holy Jesus, Joseph and Mary!

I have been enjoying my visit to New Poland...er, Ireland (honestly, I think there are more Poles here than native Irish), but there have been some interesting developments...

Can you believe that single phrase, uttered in a public place, can net you a €25,000 fine? Yep, its true! On July 10th, Ireland established an (get this) "anti-blasphemy" law. This development, of course, SUCKS because I probably broke the record for longest continuous stream of cursing in the World thanks to my first few minutes on the Irish roadways struggling to stay alive. I guess the government is pretty needy for cash, as there are a LOT of commercial vacancies visible everywhere and the government is slashing services at an unbelievable rate as the country's debt is skyrocketing.

Surprisingly, driving on the left hand side of the road and shifting with my left hand instead of my right took no time at all to get used to. What did confound me for a bit was the ettiquette for roundabouts (traffic circles). And then there are the incredibly narrow and harrowing roads themselves. In the cities, there are barely enough room for parked and roving cars; in the countryside, every field and every road is lined with 1 meter high rock walls covered in ivey barely 30 cm from the lanes...as you can imagine, this affords you ZERO forgiveness and some of the maneuvering can leave you white knuckled. They didn't flatten ANYTHING in the construction of the roads, just threw down the asphalt over the bog. I'm used to it now, three days later, but the first day was a little nerve-wracking.

I'm not sure what the greatest thing was that preceded sliced bread, but I'm pretty sure the modern day title belongs to GPS navigation systems. I cannot imagine having found my way around the country on its twisty, convoluted and thoroughly confused (and poorly marked) roadways without my folks' TomTom. My God, I'd have driven straight into the ocean without it and wouldn't have enjoyed the driving experience at all. As it is, it practically takes me anywhere I want to go with zero hassle.

Well, I could go on about what I have seen in terms of sights and so on...and they are generally pretty amazing...but its mostly a collection of Anglo-Norman ruins and artifacts from the various Irish rebellions against the bastard English over the years (Cromwell was a bigger prick than I'd ever suspected). Although, I will say that I was suitable impressed by two sights in particular, the Rock of Cashell which is a huge castle settlement on the top of a craggy hill and was the home of Ireland's first High King, Brian Boru. The second was the Hook's Head Peninsula lighthouse; on a warm and sunny day (only one of two so far), and at 800 years and running on an unbelievably picturesque craggy coastline, it puts pretty Peggy's Cove to shame. The camera is getting a good workout with 8GB and counting.

More impressive, by far is to describe what I experience in terms of the people. And man, this country has a SERIOUS drinking problem. It isn't generally apparent during the day, but once the 5:30 work day ends, its almost like half the population undergoes a transformation and are absolutely BLITZED by 9. Pubs are an interesting place to be...in the early evening, good times for all. By closing, you'd best be sporting for a fight. Things get pretty entertaining in some districts, to be sure. Not really a problem with the ladies, whom seem to have their heads screwed on straight in this country, but the blokes are a little out of control. No wonder the past two Prime Ministers have been women.

In Cork for the evening, saw the new Harry Potter movie (Cork isn't that exciting in itself) and comes highly recommended. Off to the West Coast tomorrow.

Gullible's Travels, Ireland: We're not in Kansas anymore...

But it sure as hell does look like Kansas...or, at least how I expect Kansas would look if I had ever been. But I digress...

So, its July 9th, and my first day in Dublin. I'm so fagged (picking up the lingo already) that I can barely walk, having slept only 10 hours in the last 4 days. But, I have enough still going on upstairs that I can offer a few first impressions of the city.

First, I MAY just want to come back and do a little wife hunting. There is no shortage of raven and fire-haired beauties in this land.

Second, the Irish speak two languages that I cannot understand. The Irish dialect is apparently experiencing something of a resurgence, as it is written all over the city signs and encouraged by every public institution. For on-campus accommodation at Trinity College, apparently the difference between heat and no heat can be your ability to speak the native language. The second language I don't understand here is, apparently, English. The women I can understand for the most part, but the blokes are incomprehensible. I was in line at the local market today for quite some time enjoying the spectacle of a gang of 20-something local boys stocking up on beer for the Oxegen Music Festival (apparently a huge European concert stop that kicks off this weekend) and laughing and shouting amongst themselves. When I asked what language it was (assuming Irish), they all looked at me like I was stoned...I guess that is what passes for English among the boys.

Spent the day touring the University of Dublin (Trinity College), that only accepts 6000 of 65,000 applicants every year. Admired the famous Book of Kells (incredible) and then headed over to Temple Bar district for some live music and wildly overpriced food. Eating in Ireland is not cheap...not if one eats out, at least. I'll be spending a lot more time in the markets from here on in....

Long time comin'- Gullible's Thailand Part Deux

I apologize to all of my "readers" (HALLOOOO! Is there anybody out there?!). It has been a long time comin', this blog. Things have been pretty crazy since the last entry, when I was about 5 days into my Thailand trip. I was having entirely too much fun in the sun to spend time in a cramped little cafe at a crappy little computer writing about the fun times in the sun. Anyway, Bangkok was fun...to a point. Somewhere along the line I just got a little bored with the scenery, the noise, the rather nasty afternoon smog, and that feeling in the back of my mind that I was ultimately gonna end up on the front bumper of a tuk-tuk. So, in that state of mind, I took a quick day trip up to see the floating market outside of town, which is a market run on longtail boats on a canal. No doubt it would have been fabulous to see in an authentic condition, but with hundreds of camera-toting tourists (ahem) everywhere it totally lacked any semblence of authenticity. Bridge over River Kwai, which was a fairly non-descript bridge over a rather large but non-descript river. But it DID have a sign...and some cool pictures of the nasty history of the forced labour behind it. The real gem of the trip was the Monk-run Tiger Temple, the only wilderness park I've been to where they let all of the wildlife run amok. Deer, wild boar, peacocks, full-grown tigers. Ok, well the tigers that were running around weren't full grown. The little cubs were given run of the place but ma and pa were chained down. Easily one of the coolest experiences of my life, sitting with and *playing* with 300-lb tigers is something to last the ages. The whole time I had a female with her head in my lap, purring (well, it sounded more like distant thunder), I was thinking that all it would take is a bad case of gas for this little mama to work up enough energy to separate me from my entrails. I am happy to report that I got out with both intestines intact and also some FABULOUS pictures of the event.

The following day, I headed north to Ayuthaya, a place famous for the encircling canal and temples. But, having already been oversaturated with temples, there wasn't much to keep me there for more than two evenings other than the evening tour itself. The next stop was Sukhotai, outside the daytripper zone and therefore far more ambitious in its vision. The new city itself wasn't much to write home about, though there are a few cool bungalow-style guesthouses along the canal; the one I stayed in was set around a fabulous garden and had a first rate home-run restaurant. The Old city, 7km outside of town was really fabulous. Aside from being backed by some lovely hills, there seemed to be no end to the temples both big and small, of all styles, to explore on foot and by bike. Actually, being able to tour the whole place by bike (about 20km) is what made the whole day worthwhile...though I nearly passed out from dehydration a half dozen times. I had a great time in Sukhotai.

Last stop, Chang Mai. Great place...AWESOME place. Five times as much fun as Bangkok and 1/10th the pollution. While you might think twice about renting a scooter in crazy Bangkok, it is a truly great way to see Chang Mai and the surrounding area. The downtown core, surrounded on all sides by canals is fun to explore on foot or by scooter. The shopping, especially for crafts, is outstanding in terms of quality, selection and price; the night market alone is the size of a small town. The food selection is excellent and the city is by and large pretty clean, with lots of cheap,very comfortable accommodation. On top of that, Chang Mai is the hub for a plethora of 2 to 5 day jungle treks into the west and north country where the hill tribes dot the landscape. I spent the first three days exploring the city, mostly by scooter, and reading/people watching. The most fascinating experience, by far, was one that happened completely by accident. I was coming home from having taken a number of pictures of the city and,hearing a good deal of commotion in the grounds of one large temple, poked my head inside the gate to discover the fabulous sport of Takraw. Its hard to explain other than it takes place on a court the size of a badminton court, with a net of about the same height. Three players to a side, and played with a plastic or woven bamboo ball. The action is crazy, and best described as what you might expect to see if you took a group of hacky-sack crazy kungfu masters playing volleyball with no hands. It's one thing,and an impressive thing at that, to block and kick a ball back and forth over the net. It's an entirely different thing to watch a guy spike the ball by doing a back-flip handstand kick. BLEW...MY...MIND. CRAZY CRAZY SHIT. And, to think the tournament announcer repeated everything in English just for moi...the honoured and humbled guest.

My last major endeavor in Chang Mai was a trek out to the jungle to visit some hill tribes. It started out as a three-day'er, but I quickly discovered that hiking 6 hours a day exposed to 40C heat is not a lot of fun. So, after arriving at the first village with 14 other young Euro travellers, I discovered to reduce my commitment to two days (all the fun, a whole lot less uphill walking). The village was amazing, practically falling down the steep hillside, and full of *interesting* experiences. It was the first place I ever got the courage up to eat insects (honey bee larvae, to be exact), the only place I've ever ridden an Elephant or seen one put to work, and the only place I slept under a mosquito net to wake up bite free but with a scorpion hiding in my pants. Yep! I discovered the little bugger when I put on my pants and felt something clinging to the inside leg that wasn't familiar. I pulled the pants off quickly, turned them inside out and noticed the little white critter sitting contentedly there. In the dim morning light, under the mosquito net, it took me a little while to even identify him...that was, till he clicked the ol' pincers. I have experience with scorpions in the dessert...mostly finding them in my shoes...so I didn't freak out. However, my bungalow mates made for the door when they found out!

The last day of the trip was the most fun, by far. We swam in the pool of a small waterfall, though I went in rather "accidentally"...meaning fully clothed when I slipped on a rock. Once in, though, I loved it and between spending time under the waterfall and diving off the short cliff, I could have spent all day there. Fortunately, there was some whitewater rafting and bamboo rafting at the far end of a 3 hour hike to motivate us all. The rafting wasn't QUITE as advertised, however, mostly owing to the lack of water in the river. More than once our knees were smacked by boulders, and we spent a lot of time jumping left to right and front to back to get off of shallow shoals. It was hilarious, though more exhausting then it should have been. The bamboo ride was more relaxing. That is, except for when we got beached, when I had to get off the raft to free it, then was unceremoniously dumped onto my face when I was tripped up by the cross member of the suddenly speedy platform. Well, it was painful but the real pain belonged to the Latina on raft whom suddenly realized her passport and Cambodian visa were not safely stored in the jeep but actually submerged underwater in her pocket. Oops! Well, we were able to at least dry out the pages of her passport...they are remarkably durable, but the visas were toast. That pretty much was the end of the trek. It would have been nice to be out for a couple of more days, but hiking in the dead heat of day in Thailand, with the 95% humidity is not much fun.

And, 5 months later, I nearly have this bloody tale done...(I'm posting now because this draft has been sitting here for ages...I think I'm getting very blog-lazy with so many better things to do).

Gullible's Travels Vol.8 Issue 3: Wat Tha Fok?

Man, I'm only into like the 4th day of my trip and I'm already over-saturated by visits to temples. Wat Arun, Wat Po, Wat This, Wat That, Wat Tha Fok? Certainly, the first few dozen Buddha's were interesting, but aside from differences in scale, there are really only 4 Buddha "types" that I can perceive; sitting, standing, stepping, and reclining. And, amidst these poses, only three or four types of hand positioning; soothing Mara (the serpent upon which he sits) with one hand up and the other down over his lap, one or both hands up (like a traffic cop) to dispel fear (or alternately, calm), and both hands up in the lap (meditating). Actually, I heard somewhere that there is a Hindu rule book that says you can't vary too far from these basic designs; top marks for spreading the faith, but I'm giving Buddhism 2's all around for artistic impression. The Wats (temples) themselves are a little repetitive as well. Some of the more recent designs from the 16th to 19th centuries are more creative, borrowing heavily from Chinese art and colour and, to a much lesser extent, plaster and wood methods from the European baroque period. But, go pre-16th century and it doesn't seem to matter whether it is from the kingdoms of Ayuttaya, Sukohai or what else...aside from differences in what they call the spires ("prang" for Ayutthayan or "Chebi" for Sukhotaian), it all pretty much looks the same to me. Lots of poor quality brick, headless Buddhas (in collections somewhere, I'm sure) and lotus forms. In the absence of any real English labeling or brochures of any kind, I'm fairly hard-pressed to discern one from the other except where I can easily tell an early temple as being more Hindu than Thai (elephant figures are a pretty good hint). Anyway, it doesn't much matter as I'm fairly ruin'd and templed out already; my experience here reminds me of my time in Egypt where after the first 10 days I'd seen all of the pyramids and hyroglyphic-inscribed temples I cared to. Like Egypt, though, I'm hoping for a good outdoor experience once I get a little further north, and then when I'm combing the beaches and bays in the south. Looking forward to mix up my experience, so to speak. That said, I have about 500 pictures of Buddha, so one will make it to the wall of whatever house I buy this year.

My second-last day in Bangkok was spent visiting first the big old Teak mansion of Vaminmek, at Dusic Palace in the north of the city (built by a Thai king with a love affair of 19th century Europe) and the "new Bangkok" of Siam. Siam was interesting mostly for its ability to showcase the contrasts of the new Thailand, which has one eye on its history and one eye on ultra-modernization. Only here can you take a Tuk-Tuk more appropriate for transportation in the 1940's, to get to the most upscale mall I've ever seen (Siam Paragon). Or, watch a recently-released Hollywood flick in an uber-elegant full-digital projection cinema...but not before standing to pay homage to the king before the movie.

Outside the mall and just around the corner is the strangely oasis-like former home of US expat-turned-Silk magnate-turned missing person Jim Thompson. This surprise gem of architecture represents what can happen when a truly inspired mind decides to meld traditional thai stilt houses with Western experience and conveniences. The guy took 5 or 6 of these old derelict Thai homes and brought them together to create what is essentially a large house on stilts with long corridors, big common rooms and unbelievably charming bedrooms...all done in teak and all surrounded by a garden that is more of a micro-jungle. Really, a beautiful place to visit and made that much more remarkable by the fact that it exists within a much larger concrete, steel and glass jungle that fails to encroach on its charm. Speaking of which, I don't think I've visited a city anywhere else in the world with such little thought put into urban planning. There is a huge disparity between riverside neighborhoods (poor, with ramshackle stilt homes) and the more dense and permanent neighborhoods further from the water; and, it seems as though the roadways are set up to keep them separate. Looking at a city map, and then again from on high near the Golden Mount, the city is a labyrinth of short, crooked, dead-end side streets. Getting from one area to the other pretty much requires staying on the few main boulevards until you reach the two or three block area of interest.

Anyway, I had a lot of fun this particular day of the trip with the sole exception of the last hour of the evening. I'd actually spent a good deal of it wandering around with a fellow Torontonian (El Salvador immigrant), whom was pretty decent company overall...until she started drinking late into the evening. And the more she had, the more she wanted to have...to the point that within three hours she'd consumed nearly 3 litres of 6.5% beer (the big beers here are 700mL each). I know I had a pretty serious buzz, but she was way gone before it was midnight and it became a big problem. She went from being this really nice, sweet woman (nearly 40 I think?) to tonguing everyone within reach, to being an outright obnoxious and offensive embarrassment. She drove away the Koreans whom we had been drinking with, when they tried to get her off the booze, then got us kicked out of the restaurant with a rant when I tried the same thing. Sadly, she decided to go her own way after that on the arms of two guys whom she'd met five minutes earlier and could hardly believe their good luck. I'm pretty sure that ended in a threesome with a couple of questionable minutes and a whole hell of a lot of regrets (maybe the excessive drink might serve one decent purpose, at least). Being the (generally) good guy that I am, I actually tried to intervene, thinking she had no idea what she was getting into in her state of mind, but she'd have nothing of it. Ultimately, you can't help someone who doesn't want help; and, as the one asshole put it, "Hey man, its Bangkok". Indeed it is. If she didn't wake up with her dignity, I at least hope she woke up with possession of her wallet and passport.

My last day in Bangkok, I missed my pre-arranged Tour because of a brain fart in setting my alarm, and instead took a river boat north to a place called Koh-Kret; interesting from the point of view that it contains the whole of the local Mon population (great at pottery) whom live on the edge of the Island in the midst of the river. Ok place to take a bike, but there is absolutely no way to hide from the sun and the roaming packs of dogs were pretty aggressive and discouraged getting off the bike for long.

Next up: the River Kwai, my time in the company of Tigers (really close company) and the over-touristed Floating Market.

Gullibles Travels Vol 8., Issue 2: Buddha wear your sunscreen!

Yah...bad play on words. But seriously, this place is an oven...well, more like a kiln...and a richly overfueled one at that. I find myself looking forward to the "cool" mornings when the scorching midday heat (which leaves me smelling like a worn saddle and tasting my own sweat) eases to a comfortable 27°C. Honest to god, I feel like a Polar Bear that took a wrong turn at Alert and ended up in Cancun. I am way, WAY too well insulated for this kind of climate, and all the high-tech quick drying clothing in the world won't save my fat, sorry ass (though it does dry well overnight in an a/c room). I have discovered that McDonalds may not be great for food, but it sure as hell is great for hanging out to soak up the a/c...just long enough to dry off and stink the place up, of course! I'm not really helping my own situation, though...I really can't keep away from the red-hot Thai spices...its like eating suicide wings when you know damn well your lips will burn off. I swear to God, if you aren't careful with the peppers, your whole plate could go up in flames. But seriously, I don't know how people whom live in a such a desparately hot climate can bring themselves to eat food that verges on thermonuclear. More to that point, I can't understand how the country can have so many people...who would have sex in heat like this? Gross! It would be like having sex back home...but rubbing oneself in bacon fat beforehand...only the bacon fat version would taste better (worth a try?).

I'm also not sure what to make of this Buddha fellow...for such a modest fellow he sure does have his share of golden temples. Catholics take heart; we are not the only ones to waste goldleaf and precious stones on the idolation of our God. Seems like a nice enough fellow, though...I feel a strange connection to him...probably because we're both fat. The only difference being, of course, that people love fat Buddha and people have nightmares about fat Chief. HA HA...oh, so sad but so true. And I can't figure out what the deal is with having to wear long sleeve shirts and pants into the temples, and having to refrain from pointing our toes at the old guy. I was at Wat Pho (Po) yesterday and the reclining Buddha (46 meters in length and about 10 meters high) was practically naked and quite clearly pointing his 3 meter feet at me. HOW RUDE! Today's journey to Wat Arun was far more entertaining...first for having met and spent the afternoon with a "very" cute and chatty 26-year old German, and secondly because the grounds were far less crowded being across the river and all. The Grand Palace was a tough place to get into, as it was playing host the past two days to the funeral ceremonies of the old King's sister, whom apparently died recently. Once inside, though, I was speachless..."Grand" doesn't begin to describe the place. It was 260,000 square meters of plaster, tiny tile and inlaid glass. The famous emerald Buddha in the main temple was only a meter or so high and barely discernable amongst the grandiose statuettes and altar that occupied the 5 or 6 meters below and to each side. If I had only one complaint about the decor, it was that each one of those millions of glass shards seemed to be focusing the daylight straight onto my easy-burn whitey skin.

Tomorrow I head to Siam neighborhood to check out some old teak houses and the ultramodern shopping district with its sky train...a day to relax in the a/c in midafternoon before heading on a daytrip to the River Kwai and Tiger-Monk-Walking-Thingy on Monday. Then, its time to make my way north to Sukhotai and Chang Mai...the arrangements for which have suddenly become much more convenient with the purchase of a cheap GSM phone which I can use on any of my trips worldwide via a SIM card swap. No more searching for change to use in the mostly-inoperable public phones, and at 1 Bhat (about 0.03 cents) per minute, you won't go broke on the long-distance plan.

Cheerio!

Gullible's Travels: Vol.8, Issue 1: Bangkok, Oriental City

First off, let me say that Murray Head is full of sh*t! Bangkok may, in fact, be an oriental city but there is no chess to be found anywhere! Maybe it went out with the 80's...ah well.

So this vacation didn't exactly start out with all the auspicious signs of a great vacation. I decided to travel the week I left Honda, which is to say, only a few days before I bought my flight. I then realized I was not FULLY up to par with my shots and had not one, but two, Hep B boosters in the span of three days...needless to say, my immunization record is looking a little hit and miss these days and the clinical doctor made sure I knew it. I also had to pay full $$ for the Malarone (anti-malaria pills) that I should have bought while I still had my drug plan...bloody things cost me $8 a pill and I only have 11 (not sure why the clinic proscribed so few...need to try win a few from another 'packer in a game of poker this week, or buy 'em outright). And finally, having ...*ahem* "outgrown" my other cargo pants, I had to make a last-minute purchase of some funky lightweight Tilly pants. So last-minute, in fact, that I didn't have time to get them hemmed and had to rely on Masha's skills with a needle to get me through the first couple of days. Yep, I am well-prepared for this one...

So first off, why Thailand? I decided on Thailand because it was warm and few places this time of year, with interesting culture, are. Truthfully, I have never had any particular "craving" to visit Southeast Asia, being neither a fan of the architecture or culture, but I felt the need for something different than arabesque and european culture. I might have enticed to make the journey earlier, but Thailand has a rep in backpacking circles as being overdone and being given the "Lonely Planet" treatment. That is, to say, it became too well liked by backpackers, whom then wrote for Lonely Planet, which then attracted the attention of tour groups. Its days as a backpacker Mecca was years ago in the mid to late 90's before I started traveling. But, seeing as I didn't have the shots for Laos, nor the necessary Visa for Vietnam, Thailand it is...and a short stay in Cambodia.

The night before I left I was up packing both my bags and my apartment, which needs to be emptied out the day after I get home; the sad result of that reality is that I had barely hit the sack (4:30am) and it was back up at 5:30am for the trip to the airport. As luck would have it, Toronto (and Detroit) was due for a big snowstorm. I thought for sure I'd be stuck in Detroit over night...I always get stuck in Detroit overnight...but fortune smiled upon me and I not only got out of Toronto in the thick of the snow, but also made my connection in Detroit(though narrowly). From here, I thought for sure it was a milk run...straight to Narita airport in Tokyo and a quick changeover for the final 6 hours to Bangkok. Enter Murphy's Law...whatever can go wrong, will, and when you least expect it. I was supposed to catch the 6:30pm to Bangkok and get in just after midnight (still time to sleep) but our brand new Airbus A330 had an engine oil pressure problem (Mike, does Pratt make that POS?) and after 90 minutes of sitting on the Tarmac, we were deplaned. We eventually made it out at 9:45, but that meant hitting the ground at 3:30 am...and by the time I got past customs and into the city (30km away), it was nearly 5am and I'd had about 6 hours sleep over the prior 40 hours. At this point, I would like to thank Northwest Airlines for the $25 voucher they handed out...that made up about 1/3 of my first night's nearly-wasted accommodation charge. Actually, it could have been worse...there was another Canuck I met on the plane who'd lost his reservation because of the late arrival and I was able to rent out the other double bed in my room for the first night. Brad was rather entertaining, actually, bein' just a lad and all and on his first trip away from the Motherland. He made a bunch of newbie mistakes in his first 6 hours on the ground, from letting the customs agent nearly walk off with his passport to trying to speak in colloquial English to the Thai taxi driver whom had enough on his mind just trying to unravel my mangled pronounciation of the Thai address of my guesthouse. Coming from the farm outside of London, Brad had, predictably, packed nothing but jeans to wear, which begged the comment "Dude, first off, you're going to sweat your BALLS off. Secondly, you KNOW that it'll take weeks for that crap to dry, right?". He then proceeded to open the not-so-complimentary complimentary rice whisky, which promptly cost him his first 100 Baht. 'Atta boy, Brad. Well, suppose I made a few SNAFUs on my first outing as well...these aren't called "Gullible's Travels" for nuthin'. :D

Anyway, beyond sleeping the morning away, I didn't accomplish much of anything at all the first day. I did manage to rouse myself long enough to wander around Banglamphu, track down a street-side seamstress and drop off the zip-off legs of my trousers for hemming. Nice, wizened old lady...well, that is until she rather rudely gestured to my groin (while sitting) and cackled something incomprehensible. Then gestured again....and again, until I finally felt self-conscious enough to inspect the area and find my zipper wide open. GREAT. I did a full frontal to a Thai senior at 11am in the morning of my first day in Thailand...a full 6 hours on the ground is all it took to sacrifice my dignity. A new record for me, to be sure.

I did wander down at night to the infamous Khao San road (a shameles collection of trinket hawkers, restaurants and bars catering to the farang [westerner] crowd) for an hour, and stuff my gullet with pork and noodles. Yep, that's right "pork and noodles"...for all of those dozens of times I ate Thai in Toronto, it never occurred to me to actually learn the names of what I was eating (why, when the English ingredients are so much easier?)...kinda would of come in handy here... I was a little surprised to find that gobbling "street meat" is kind of the normal thing in Bangkok, as opposed to eating in sitdown restaurants...doesn't anyone in Thailand eat at home? Ironically, I tend to trust the street vendors a little more than the restauranteurs. At least I can see what's going on with the food preparation this way, and make sure it's served piping hot; what's good enough for the throngs of locals is always good enough for me (traveler's dining rule #1), though I politely decline the glass of "fresh ice water" that is offered straight from the pail (traveler's dining rule #2). I am half-inclined to try the swill, though...I have this fancy new UV sterilizing pen light that is all the rage!

Anyway, before I end post #1, I'd like to say that my first experience sitting in a Tuk-Tuk (motorcycle-powered open-air carriage), in the midst of Bangkok traffic, was a real "experience". As multiple streams of oncoming traffic parted around us, narrowly missing our cart-o'-death on several occasions, I was reminded of that scene from Empire Strike's Back when Han Solo pilots the Millenium Falcon through dozens of oncoming Tie-fighters without a single collision. I was then reminded of Seth McFarlane's "Blue Harvest" episode of Family Guy when, somewhat appropriately, it was commented "I wonder why they call them Thai-fighters" (click here to view)...and understanding dawns. Obviously Mr. Lucas had a similar experience in his younger years.

New Chapter in the Life o' Greg

Well, I went and finally did it. I quit my job. I decided that I'd had enough...enough of letting my skills languish and my ambition be thwarted at every turn while I waited for something resembling opportunity to be provided to me. And, I'd had enough of 70-80 hour weeks and working like a slave, endlessly, for virtually no reward. So, I'm off to pursue a new career...finally taking the dive into the Family Biz...crossing my fingers that I'll have something resembling a social life and an urban environment reasonably close to Toronto in terms of quality of life. God help me if I'm stuck in that small town for more than a few months. Anyway, I celebrated my newfound unemployment with a 10km ski through some trails and back country in the Halton Hills area with Masha on Sunday...twas a wee bit cold to say the least, but it was an awesome workout. Followed that up with a potluck with a half dozen of my friends in Mississauga; the farewell tour is under way, you might say. I went to Ottawa last weekend to see a few people, and took a few pictures of Liam, Wayne and Sheri's 1-year old. Cute kid...sharp chompers!!! Now, all that is left to do is somehow get all my crap home, whether it be driving (3800km) or shipping it, and to decide on a location for the 4 or 5 weeks I'll have for vacation before starting the new job April 1. More to come on the job later...