Tuesday, February 28, 2006

I say Holiday

And so I said… I want a holiday, I need a break. I went. Hua Hin was where I decided to be. Well not exactly Hua Hin, but a place further down south known as Ta-Kiab or something like that. Have time will travel. Gig and me explored and found this next town. Quiet and peaceful - tranquil.

Resort near Hua Hin
I worked by the pool on my notebook. The wind so strong, the coconut tress swayed in coordination like synchronized ballerina. My working holiday and if only everyday could be this good. Not a soul to interrupt my concentration, a far contrast to office. Only the sound of breaking waves and the gentle soothing roar created by the breeze that blew passed my ears. Broadband in nature enabled me to upload my work. It was nirvana for the programmer.

In the morning, we walked by the shore among the debris of sea shells. The breaking waves caressed our every step on the powdery beach. Five horses stood nearby as a tout came to approach. No… ain’t gonna pay for some stupid horse ride meant for tourist. In the night, we ate around town. Drove over to Hua Hin which was of completely different atmosphere. Whole street full of foreigners. Lights, pubs and music, very touristy. The placed had turned Pattaya. Drove and explored the locale, a place stranger to many Singaporeans. Secret beaches and local restaurants sprawled on the sand, temples amazingly embedded on the mountains. It was like reliving Perth where once I was the lone Asian schoolboy adventure among friends who discovered nature spots too many for scenic pictures and good fishing.

Now… the trip was not all sweet like glistening honey. I drove for two hours and then kaboom. Tire exploded. When I came to a stop, my front left was smoldering and the rubber fumes was foul. The rubber had dislodged and my rim was close to scraping tarmac. We had to walked under the blazing sun and discovered a kind hearted car detailing workshop guy who drove us to get new tire and even helped with the replacement. Speeds of 140 does amazing things to your rubber. It melted. Tire was deformed when the mechanic removed it.

And… last Friday… someone stole my camera. I left my room unlocked. Some idiot walked right in and took my camera from my bag. There is theft in our office since last year and till date, we have not caught him/her yet. Wish his father mother die and his son and daughter born with no backside. Nin nambeh.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

I Eat Kee Lee Co

Kee Lee Co…. what the heck is kee lee co???? That was when I figured gig was talking about the Glico snacks. It is strange how Thais name the foreign products. Then there was Why-rus…. My brain hangs in the middle of my training. Then I realize my students are talking about computer virus. Virus = Why-rus. I conducted my training nowadays in Thai. Must be doing something correct here in Thailand if I can conduct lessons in Thai language. Stressed out flat though. From nothing I learned to finally speak their language. Half fug still I am, but communicate my knowledge through I did. My students understood me.

Bangkok Boat
The past weekend I had to dig time out from nowhere to go with gig for a boat trip. Hot as hell the weather was. But kinda enjoyable was the trip. A holiday that never ends as I did mentioned before, my life in Thailand. See photos here under Bangkok Boat Trip.

Bangkok Bus Ride
I had to rush to my customer’s place on Tuesday. With my colleagues I went, but no one sent me back as they had to continue on to visit other customers up north east. So I had to take the bus back. 6 hours. 32 seater coach, not even VIP to my standards. But little specks of luxury are scattered in the midst of Buddha land. The seats on the coach had massage features built in, but it was hard to figure out operating as everything was in Thai. Seat might have snapped shut and ate me alive if wrong buttons were pressed.

Kee Lee Co….. still ringing in my mind. Time to pack… time to go home. I am tired.

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Thai Pubic Holiday

Nothing pubic or regarding groin area here.... heheheh

Tomorrow is another Thailand holiday, yet again. Oh yeah… all employees happy like bird. But me… now working in the office on a SUNDAY. As usual….

Asked gig what holiday tomorrow is… some royal birthday again? Buddha came down from sky day? Some big holy monk’s birthday? … And she tried to explain to me in her best English Thai vocab.

Once upon a time long long ago, in a land so far far away, there was a great meeting where many monks attended. Then the Buddha came without invitation. That’s the juice I roughly got from her… something like that. So… in essence, Buddha came from sky and crashed ZoukOut for monks… They made it a holiday.

Monday’s holiday is where last year, I went to temple and walk three rounds and had bloated eyes from all the incense fumes. No temple for me this year… no way… no thanks, especially with my infected wisdom tooth.

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Error 500 Internal Brain Error

Wisdom toothache + headache + can’t eat solid food + work = fuck the world. Next week dental appointment to correct equation.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Reptilian Dinner

Last Saturday night… dinner in the south of Bangkok where sea meets land. Took gig and me forever to get there as we were lost most of the time. This place, known only by locals, has numerous seafood restaurants build above swampy waters.

As we had our outdoor seafood dinner, a brownish house lizard pop onto the table walked around among the dishes ignoring our presence and hunted for insects. I “boo” the lizard and it stared back at me. Then it walked away only to come back onto the table again later. Weird. Most house lizards would have scrambled in the near presence of humans.

We were sitting by the edge of the water. Then a water snake came out of the murky depths and entwined itself on a stick that was less then two metes away from us. Pretty wired outdoor dining experience aye? If this was back in SG, you would have seen panicky parents pull their child so fast away from their seats that their underwear drop out. You would have seen loud mouth bossy human nature demanding the presence of the manager to complain about the unhygienic lizard or girls screaming and flipping the tom yum soup in their hasty arms flinging state of hysteria.

This is Bangkok… welcome to a day in my life.

Monday, February 06, 2006

Nightmare

Nightmare means waking up from a dream and feeling all tensed, scared, and fearful of those fresh images still so vividly imprinted, your heart rate at a no reason high in the middle of the tranquil night. I dreamt that I woke up, in Singapore.