Song of the Day : Timbaland feat. Nelly Furtado "Give It To Me"
Last Friday we hopped on a 2 hour bus ride North to the one and only BANGKOK! As we were approaching the bus terminal I started to feel nerveous as we were advised of the many scam artists we may encounter and of the fugliness the city has to offer. Reena was telling me that our guide book said that Bangkok is not the most beautiful city in the world. As I looked out the window I said out loud "Damn straight this city is ugly!". I forgot we were not alone on the bus and I got a few nasty stares from Thai people who understand English! I kept thinking about all the trouble I encountered when I was in Shanghai because I can be easily swayed and easily scammed. So I kept trying to practice my bad ass look so no one would mess with me.
We got off the bus and as usual we were surrounded by Thai men trying to get us in their cab. I had my game face on so they backed off as I gave them the hand. We asked a few cabbies what their going rate was and they all gave the same "fixed" price. So we hopped into a cab and asked him to take us to Siam Square. He told us that the cab fare was 150 Baht and as soon as we pulled away from the bus station the price suddenly went up to 200 Baht. So Reena and I started to argue with the guy...ok fine it was more Reena arguing with the cabbie that he had quoted us 150 Baht and we will not pay more because that is all we have. Had we had our backpacks with us, we would have hopped out as traffice was INSANE! But, our bags were in his trunk so we couldn't leave the cab. We finally agreed on 160 Baht as the cab driver knew we were lying about only having a 150 Baht because Reena was flashing her bills. We drove through the old part of the city and I was scared looking at the old, decrepit, mouldy looking buildings. I was afraid of what our hotel would be like. I never thought I was a diva. I always thought that I can handle ghetto-ness ever since I lived out of a car for a month with 2 of my friends when we drove across Canada. I never thought anything can be worse than eating macaroni and cheese straight from a can that was purchased in a small South Dakota store in the middle of nowhere, knowing that the can must have been sitting on that shelf for years! It only hit me when we were up near Burma in that ghetto hotel, crying and screaming "I don't care how much it costs, I want an upgrade!", that I am a diva.
So we finally got to Siam Square which is in the modern, richer part of Bangkok City and I just fell to my knees. I felt like this is where I belong. I felt like I was at home. Reena and I looked at eachother and we just felt like screaming with joy! We were so exited. It was nice to finally see "normal" couples , to finally see a variety of people not just nasty UFOs, to see children and teens in their school uniforms, to not feel like I am surrounded by poverty or to feel like crying everytime I step out onto the streets. It made me realize that ALL of Thailand is not on the fritz. That there is hope for the future.
After a few wrong turns, we finally found a strip of hotels and guesthouses that was filled with many backpackers. We got a few odd stares from people thinking, what are these NorthernThai girls doing backpacking in Bangkok? We went up and down the strip and the hotels were quite frightening and nasty. We finally settled at the RENO HOTEL which is the most expensive hotel on the strip. It was a whopping $26 dollars per night. It was pricy but the other places were scary and this hotel was newly renovated and ultra sleek and modern! We got up to our rooms and were trying to figure out what to do. It was 3pm and getting a little bit late to do anything big. So even though the guide book said China Town is something we should hit last, as it is BIG and overwhelming we decided to tap it! We thought, why not go BIG like we did by chosing to go to Pattaya (the BIGGEST city in Thailand for the sex trade!). We decided to be adventurous and hit the city bus. The fare was only about $0.20! The bus became our instant best friend!
So we were on the bus and we did not know where to get off. We were thinking we should stay on the bus until the city starts to look like China Town. Our book said it takes 1 hour, but the tourist lady told us it takes 25 minutes. So we weren't sure who to believe. So we asked this lady who looked like an Asian Martha Stewart type. She told us to get off at the next stop. We were advised not to trust 98% of the Thai people. I keep thinking that it is totally untrue. How can that many people be so dishonest? It's funny because I keep thinking that, despite getting constantly screwed....like we did from Martha Stewart! So we get off the bus and the place we got off looked soooooo sketchy. The buildings were so runned down and all the windows had wooden shutters that were closed. It looked like an old dirty south western style area. We did not see any women at all (clean or dirty) on the streets or men who wore clean clothing. We were afraid as we walked up and down the streets trying to figure out where to go. We got stared down by a lot of men who were trying to figure out who we are and what we were doing there. We did not want to look lost or want them to know we are not Thai. So it was really hard to communicate with eachother which direction to walk to and we did not want to take our maps out of our bags. We got a little bit frustrated because it seemed like we weren't going anywhere and the sun was starting to set real fast. We ended up arguing about directions and by then it was obvious we were lost so we decided to FCUK it and just whip out the maps. As Reena looked at the map I got a little camera crazed and started to take pictures of the scary alleys and old buildings. We saw the tiniest cat walking and meowing on the street. It was so sad because the cat was no bigger than the palm of my hand and it was walking crooked and one of his or her eye was beat up. It sounded like the cat was in a lot of pain, and I wanted to pick it up but I was scared the cat my freak out and scratch my eye out or something and I may end up with some cat infections. Reena said we should keep walking and it was hard to walk away from the cat but I did. I turned around a few times to see how the cat was doing. A huge dog approached the cat and I couldn't look anymore because I think the dog ate the cat because I could no longer hear the cat meowing.
We decided to just walk down one road and walk until we eventually hit a normal street with people of both genders. We started to see groups of police and soldiers with guns. So we started to feel safe knowing there were cops and soldiers everywhere, but then I thought this could be a bad thing because cops and soldiers are corrupt here, so you never know what they could do to us. We decided it was best to just stay mute and walk. At one point a cop started yelling at us and blocked us off from walking any further. We didn't understand a word he said so we got into our DUMB TOURIST act and he kept telling us to get on the next street. So we were thinking maybe there is some sort of hostage situation or something. We noticed a few locals standing at the corner trying to watch so we stood beside them but that cop kept telling us to leave. Reena kept insisting on staying at the corner and so I started to tell yell at her to leave because I didn't want trouble with the cop. I said when the cop walks off we can run to the corner to see what's up. So we walked away and started to hide in between the vans, trucks and SUVs and whip out our map to see where we are. I saw what looked like a big temple or palace so I started to freak out thinking maybe we are at the King's palace. Unfortunately, the cop was such a KJ(kill joy) and brought along a soldier and they both told us to leave. As we walked to the adjacent street we saw a few locals running to the street where we got kicked out. I told Reena we should try to walk a little bit further and then go back to the same street where we were kicked out of but stand at a different corner. I felt like something big was happening, that perhaps the king or queen were going to be passing by. So we got to another corner where there were about 30 people lined up waving the Thai flag and wearing the YELLOW POLOS (The shirt that many Thai people wear on a daily basis showing they support his Majesty the King). So we decided to stand by the road along with the crowd. A lot of people were looking at us in a disgusted way. I guess because we were the only Thai looking people not wearing yellow or carrying the flag. A soldier then came up to me and said something about my bag. I slowly opened my bag for him in fear he may take my video camera away and he stepped back and spoke more Thai. It looked like he was afraid there may have been a bomb in my bag. I was scared the soldiers across the street were going to open fire on us. Then a lady beside us, said we had to take our bags off our shoulder and hold it in front of us with both hands. I thought, how the hell am I going to whip out my camera?! A man across the street had his camera ready for snapping but a soldier told him to put it away. We stood there for about 20 minutes not knowing what was going on or what will happen. Then 2 cops on motorcycles drove by and flashed their lights, then 3 cop cars (all brand spanking new silver Mercedez Benz) drove by followed by cream colored limo like Cadillacs. The 3rd Cadillac limo approached and all the people put their hands together like they were praying and bowed their heads as the limo passed. We followed suit and I saw Her Majesty the Queen inside the limo. She waved at the crowd as she passed. I was so exited! We were so close to her! It was an amazing experience. I figured she was going to the temple to pray because the King and his sister are both in the hospital. They've been ill for quite sometime now. It's kind of eerie to be in a country where the people are so into the King. They wear the majesty polos all the time and his picture is EVERYWHERE! I wonder if they really do love the his Majesty the King?
October 30, 2007
October 25, 2007
Cry Me a River Cali!
Song of the day : John Mayer "Waiting On The World To Change"
We've been hearing a lot about the California flames on CNN for the past few days! (Ate & Chich I hope you guys are ok!) It is a tragic event, and AT FIRST I felt sad, but as the story unfolded on CNN over the past few days, I'm thinking BOOHOO! CRY ME A RIVER CALI! ARE YOU GUYS FOR REAL???!!!! I felt like calling CNN LIVE and just tell them to get a reality check! There are many other pressing issues in the world that are 100 times more tragic and more disheartening! Yet we keep hearing about this bullish for the past 4 days? It's like a broken record everyday! Yes we know there is a fire going on, do we have to hear about it 24/7? The reporter was saying how the evacuated victims were all gathered at some center where they offered YOGA CLASSES among other things. YOGA CLASSES??? Common now! The "victims" will be able to be covered for home insurance so really where is the loss in all this??? You may think I sound heartless but picture this : Try having to run for your lives in the damp, cold, jungle without shoes and be forced from your bamboo hut EVERYNIGHT. There was a 9 year old girl carrying her 2 year old brother on her back and her 4 year old sister holding her shirt and running alongside struggling to keep up. Their father running ahead with his ailling mother on his back. Their village had to run from the army who was torching their homes and killing the weak unable to escape. The family and other village members were running up the hill where they were greeted by the Burmese army with bullets at close range. In a way the 9 year old and her siblings were lucky they got away from the army this time, but are they really lucky? They already lost their mother and their father and grandmother were the first round of victims shot at close range. The saddest thing of all is that this story is common and it happens to thousands EVERYNIGHT as we sleep for the past few years. Do we ever hear about it? Have you ever heard about it? I haven't heard about it until now. I think we need to get our priorities checked! We have the resources and the funds to make a difference in the world and all we keep focusing about is which celeb is dating who? What are they wearing? Which celeb is now in rehab or is charged with DUI! I'm not perfect I used to be a celeb freak, I lived for reading the latest celeb juice but now....I've changed. Slowly but surely I am changing.
The other day at the office I was trying to contain my laughter because the first thing Justin told everybody to do was to pen their thoughts for the first 45 minutes and then we will have a discussion on our THOUGHTS & FEELINGS about SOI 7 (7th Rd.) I was not included because I had to work on our t-shirt and I haven't experienced SOI 7 yet. I drove past it on my first day via scooter during the day and it was bad! Women and young teenagers as young as 16 year old were lined up waiting for a "Farang" (Western man) to tap them on the shoulder to initiate sex. The worst is that inside the bars and brothels are even younger girls. They are inside because they are "hidden" from police. At night SOI 7 is a lot worse from what I've heard from Reena's experience. She said it was the scariest thing. Picture a small street ligned up with very aggressive prostitutes. These are the die hard prosties. To them, it's like DO OR DIE! Sleep with someone tonight or suffer consequences. Reena had to meet up with Justin and Ratanna to do bar work and she was alone walking up and down the street looking for them. The girls were sizing Reena up. Looking at her wondering if she is trying to steal their territory or if she was looking for someone to spend a lonely night with. Anyone of them could have felt threatened by her presence and beat or even kill her!
The other night Ben who works for OPENaid arrived from Australia, so we decided to have a surprise office party for him. We set up the front deck for an afternoon of drinks to catch up and for those who don't know him (Reena and I) , to get to know him. I had to mop the floor and Reena had a field trip with that. I felt like Cinderella and Reena and Ratanna were my wicked step sisters because they were just sitting on the chair trying to cool off while watching me mop the deck in the over 30 degree, steamy temperature. Ben and Wanna arrived from the slums around 5pm and that's when the drinking began. This time I decided to control my liquor however Ratanna seemed to enjoy filling my glass up all the time. After my 2nd Bacardi Breezer and my 2nd glass of Thai Beer I was really afraid of what's to come so I said to really stop filling my glass. I didn't realize till Reena pointed it out to just stop drinking so there won't be any need to fill my glass up. Luckily we all hopped on a scooter (3 adults per scooter) and head off to BBQ restaurant. It is like KOREAN GRILL style restaurant but it was an outdoor, ghetto-er version. Nonetheless, it was amazing and ALL YOU CAN EAT! Reena was dying because she had a flashback of the first time I went to a similar type of restaurant in Japan, where I got a little too exited and almost set the place on fire and then the staff told us half an hour before everyone else that the ALL YOU CAN EAT is over because I was just eating like a maniac and they did not want to "lose" money on us. They were all drinking beer like maniacs but Reena, Ben and I. Wanna was so drunk it was funny. She is 42 years old and is a mother figure to us, so it was quite amusing seeing her extremely loud and silly. They were all eager beaver and exited talking about Kareoke and the way they were, I didn't think they would make it to round 3 of the party.
So we get to the kareoke bar that Reena had chosen. It looked like a tiny dance club, staffed by all Yakuza looking boys who looked like they were 16. They had the long, messy hair and looked very metro-sexual that I was thinking we were at some gay bar because Reena, Ratanna, Wanna and I were the only females. So by this time they all seemed drunk and the place was dark, only lit by red lights and the strobe light. So I grabbed the mike where I kicked off our Kareoke fiesta by singing the Bangles' "Eternal Flame". I totally brought FUGLY (EFFING UGLY) BACK. I started to sing and got up and abstract danced while I sang. I really put a lot of passion into the song interacting with the audience as I serenaded the crowd. I even hopped on the pole where I did a Hairspray style hop and spin around the pole. I felt gross after thinking about the people who most likely dirty danced on that pole! So I ran into the women's room to wash my hand after, only to see the girly boys all in there fixing their hair. I thought for a moment, am I in the men's room?! So I ran out and checked the door and it was in fact the women's room. I felt confused and just lined up anyway so I won't look crazier than I already looked. That night the drinks were mad flowing and Justin kept ordering drinks for us like crazy! I did the Reena trick where I just slowly sipped, yet he still kept ordering drinks! So I kept drinking, ensuring I kept one bottle full so I can just hold it up if he were to order more. It's like the bottles came in 2 at a time for each of us! Justin looked so trashed that I was hoping he would have a major hang over so we wouldn't have to go to work the next day. Later on in the night the kareoke bar/club was packed with both genders and they took the mics off of us and turned the place into a dance club. I guess they couldn't handle our singing!
The next morning we get to work and everyone was in there all bright and bushy tailed. I was thinking how do they do it? We got home at 1am and they are in the office at 10am looking like nothing happend last night! I had a splitting headache and felt like I had a hangover. However, the creative juices were mad flowing and I actually finally finished the OPENaid tshirt. It looks really cool and I can't wait to print it. It'll be the staff t-shirt so it will be worn in Burma, North Thailand, Australia and here in Pattaya. The best part about yesterday is that we were told that the office will be closed Thursday and Friday so we have a 4 day weekend. We got so exited and we were trying to contain our exitement. Justin then asked all of us if we had any concerns or questions about the 4 day weekend. If we would like to SHARE OUR THOUGHTS & FEELINGS because he felt that it would really bother us. I was thinking is he for real? Is he on crack? But he really was serious and I don't understand why. Is it an Aussie thing to be upset when advised last minute that the office will be closed?! So after work, Reena and I rushed to the travel agent to book a 4 day weekend in Singapore. However, the flights are booked and the agent told us to book in advance. Arghhhhhh! Why couldn't have Justin told us in advance that we will have a 4 day weekend? So we were going to go to Phuket or Krabi 12 hours south but it is rainy season and the rainfall is heavier in the south. So we are just going to go to Bangkok for 3 days then hit KO LARN ISLAND on Sunday. It'll be good. The past few days have been emotional with being sick and sharing my thoughts and feelings. Even though Justin is annoying by making us share, in a way it's good because I am learning a lot about myself that I never noticed. Like Reena would be saying, "That's so true! I never noticed you were like that until now". I won't go into detail about what I am learning about myself. I'll let you all figure it out upon my return and see if you notice any changes about me! Well with that all said and done have a FANTASTIC WEEKEND!
We've been hearing a lot about the California flames on CNN for the past few days! (Ate & Chich I hope you guys are ok!) It is a tragic event, and AT FIRST I felt sad, but as the story unfolded on CNN over the past few days, I'm thinking BOOHOO! CRY ME A RIVER CALI! ARE YOU GUYS FOR REAL???!!!! I felt like calling CNN LIVE and just tell them to get a reality check! There are many other pressing issues in the world that are 100 times more tragic and more disheartening! Yet we keep hearing about this bullish for the past 4 days? It's like a broken record everyday! Yes we know there is a fire going on, do we have to hear about it 24/7? The reporter was saying how the evacuated victims were all gathered at some center where they offered YOGA CLASSES among other things. YOGA CLASSES??? Common now! The "victims" will be able to be covered for home insurance so really where is the loss in all this??? You may think I sound heartless but picture this : Try having to run for your lives in the damp, cold, jungle without shoes and be forced from your bamboo hut EVERYNIGHT. There was a 9 year old girl carrying her 2 year old brother on her back and her 4 year old sister holding her shirt and running alongside struggling to keep up. Their father running ahead with his ailling mother on his back. Their village had to run from the army who was torching their homes and killing the weak unable to escape. The family and other village members were running up the hill where they were greeted by the Burmese army with bullets at close range. In a way the 9 year old and her siblings were lucky they got away from the army this time, but are they really lucky? They already lost their mother and their father and grandmother were the first round of victims shot at close range. The saddest thing of all is that this story is common and it happens to thousands EVERYNIGHT as we sleep for the past few years. Do we ever hear about it? Have you ever heard about it? I haven't heard about it until now. I think we need to get our priorities checked! We have the resources and the funds to make a difference in the world and all we keep focusing about is which celeb is dating who? What are they wearing? Which celeb is now in rehab or is charged with DUI! I'm not perfect I used to be a celeb freak, I lived for reading the latest celeb juice but now....I've changed. Slowly but surely I am changing.
The other day at the office I was trying to contain my laughter because the first thing Justin told everybody to do was to pen their thoughts for the first 45 minutes and then we will have a discussion on our THOUGHTS & FEELINGS about SOI 7 (7th Rd.) I was not included because I had to work on our t-shirt and I haven't experienced SOI 7 yet. I drove past it on my first day via scooter during the day and it was bad! Women and young teenagers as young as 16 year old were lined up waiting for a "Farang" (Western man) to tap them on the shoulder to initiate sex. The worst is that inside the bars and brothels are even younger girls. They are inside because they are "hidden" from police. At night SOI 7 is a lot worse from what I've heard from Reena's experience. She said it was the scariest thing. Picture a small street ligned up with very aggressive prostitutes. These are the die hard prosties. To them, it's like DO OR DIE! Sleep with someone tonight or suffer consequences. Reena had to meet up with Justin and Ratanna to do bar work and she was alone walking up and down the street looking for them. The girls were sizing Reena up. Looking at her wondering if she is trying to steal their territory or if she was looking for someone to spend a lonely night with. Anyone of them could have felt threatened by her presence and beat or even kill her!
The other night Ben who works for OPENaid arrived from Australia, so we decided to have a surprise office party for him. We set up the front deck for an afternoon of drinks to catch up and for those who don't know him (Reena and I) , to get to know him. I had to mop the floor and Reena had a field trip with that. I felt like Cinderella and Reena and Ratanna were my wicked step sisters because they were just sitting on the chair trying to cool off while watching me mop the deck in the over 30 degree, steamy temperature. Ben and Wanna arrived from the slums around 5pm and that's when the drinking began. This time I decided to control my liquor however Ratanna seemed to enjoy filling my glass up all the time. After my 2nd Bacardi Breezer and my 2nd glass of Thai Beer I was really afraid of what's to come so I said to really stop filling my glass. I didn't realize till Reena pointed it out to just stop drinking so there won't be any need to fill my glass up. Luckily we all hopped on a scooter (3 adults per scooter) and head off to BBQ restaurant. It is like KOREAN GRILL style restaurant but it was an outdoor, ghetto-er version. Nonetheless, it was amazing and ALL YOU CAN EAT! Reena was dying because she had a flashback of the first time I went to a similar type of restaurant in Japan, where I got a little too exited and almost set the place on fire and then the staff told us half an hour before everyone else that the ALL YOU CAN EAT is over because I was just eating like a maniac and they did not want to "lose" money on us. They were all drinking beer like maniacs but Reena, Ben and I. Wanna was so drunk it was funny. She is 42 years old and is a mother figure to us, so it was quite amusing seeing her extremely loud and silly. They were all eager beaver and exited talking about Kareoke and the way they were, I didn't think they would make it to round 3 of the party.
So we get to the kareoke bar that Reena had chosen. It looked like a tiny dance club, staffed by all Yakuza looking boys who looked like they were 16. They had the long, messy hair and looked very metro-sexual that I was thinking we were at some gay bar because Reena, Ratanna, Wanna and I were the only females. So by this time they all seemed drunk and the place was dark, only lit by red lights and the strobe light. So I grabbed the mike where I kicked off our Kareoke fiesta by singing the Bangles' "Eternal Flame". I totally brought FUGLY (EFFING UGLY) BACK. I started to sing and got up and abstract danced while I sang. I really put a lot of passion into the song interacting with the audience as I serenaded the crowd. I even hopped on the pole where I did a Hairspray style hop and spin around the pole. I felt gross after thinking about the people who most likely dirty danced on that pole! So I ran into the women's room to wash my hand after, only to see the girly boys all in there fixing their hair. I thought for a moment, am I in the men's room?! So I ran out and checked the door and it was in fact the women's room. I felt confused and just lined up anyway so I won't look crazier than I already looked. That night the drinks were mad flowing and Justin kept ordering drinks for us like crazy! I did the Reena trick where I just slowly sipped, yet he still kept ordering drinks! So I kept drinking, ensuring I kept one bottle full so I can just hold it up if he were to order more. It's like the bottles came in 2 at a time for each of us! Justin looked so trashed that I was hoping he would have a major hang over so we wouldn't have to go to work the next day. Later on in the night the kareoke bar/club was packed with both genders and they took the mics off of us and turned the place into a dance club. I guess they couldn't handle our singing!
The next morning we get to work and everyone was in there all bright and bushy tailed. I was thinking how do they do it? We got home at 1am and they are in the office at 10am looking like nothing happend last night! I had a splitting headache and felt like I had a hangover. However, the creative juices were mad flowing and I actually finally finished the OPENaid tshirt. It looks really cool and I can't wait to print it. It'll be the staff t-shirt so it will be worn in Burma, North Thailand, Australia and here in Pattaya. The best part about yesterday is that we were told that the office will be closed Thursday and Friday so we have a 4 day weekend. We got so exited and we were trying to contain our exitement. Justin then asked all of us if we had any concerns or questions about the 4 day weekend. If we would like to SHARE OUR THOUGHTS & FEELINGS because he felt that it would really bother us. I was thinking is he for real? Is he on crack? But he really was serious and I don't understand why. Is it an Aussie thing to be upset when advised last minute that the office will be closed?! So after work, Reena and I rushed to the travel agent to book a 4 day weekend in Singapore. However, the flights are booked and the agent told us to book in advance. Arghhhhhh! Why couldn't have Justin told us in advance that we will have a 4 day weekend? So we were going to go to Phuket or Krabi 12 hours south but it is rainy season and the rainfall is heavier in the south. So we are just going to go to Bangkok for 3 days then hit KO LARN ISLAND on Sunday. It'll be good. The past few days have been emotional with being sick and sharing my thoughts and feelings. Even though Justin is annoying by making us share, in a way it's good because I am learning a lot about myself that I never noticed. Like Reena would be saying, "That's so true! I never noticed you were like that until now". I won't go into detail about what I am learning about myself. I'll let you all figure it out upon my return and see if you notice any changes about me! Well with that all said and done have a FANTASTIC WEEKEND!
October 22, 2007
I LOVE FOOD, BUT FOOD IS MY ENEMY!
Song for the day : Linkin Park "Faint"
Friday was a total waste of a day. I wasn't able to go in to the office to continue designing the new shirt for OPENaid International. I was in so much pain that I didn't even realize I was crying. Everywhere in my body hurt. I was scared. Luckily for me I had the AFRICAN CHANNEL to keep me entertained. I was able to catch up on GREY'S ANATOMY, PRISON BREAK, was able to watch Beverly Hills 90210, Charmed, Everybody Love's Raymond, Seinfeld and I am now addicted to this new show called WEEDS. I haven't watched television in sooooooooo long because I lost interest and I simply never had the time. Now with the African channel, I think my couch potato days are back in effect! Reena and I find it quite amusing that the African channel have all Caucasian TV shows.
So after much rest and much drugs I was able to get myself together in time for ISLAND SATURDAYS. We decided to go to the islands every Saturday to enjoy much needed fun in the sun. We hopped onto this ferry boat, that leaves every 2 hours to KO LARN ISLAND. They piled so many people on the boat to the point where I was kind of scared because of all those stories I heard about ferry's sinking. The boat was really rocky and I didn't get a seat because these 3 tourists (I won't say where they are from because I wouldn't want to offend anyone) were taking up all the space! I felt like my stomach was turning and I actually wished I had to throw up because I so would have loved to throw up on those 3 seat hogs! But my bitterness towards them quickly changed (WARNING! BEFORE YOU READ ON, THIS IS A REALLY CORNY & FULL FLEDGE BOPPER/HIGHLANDER-LIKE STORY, SO YOU CAN MOVE TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CAN'T HANDLE THIS) because I saw this really gorgeous guy. He was the first good looking, normal guy we've seen since we first arrived in Thailand. He looked like a younger Olivier Martinez. I quickly turned to Reena to tell her about the eye candy within a few steps from us but she saw him too. We were both in awe of his perfect, chiseled body! It was as if we've never seen a perfect body before and it is kind of true. Back home we're constantly exposed to perfect bodies wether it'd be on television, in magazines, advertisements and even our own friends! We've been here for over 2 weeks and all we see are UFOs EVERYWHERE, EVERYDAY! So this guy was definetly an eye opener for us. We were giggly and felt like we were in high school again going crazy for the Backstreet Boys! I told her it was best if we spoke to eachother in French since most of the tourists on the boat were American, German, Swiss, Russian, Japanese or Chinese. We shortly found out that the gorgeous guy and his friend are from France and understood EVERYTHING we were saying! This is how we found out....We were about to arrive at the port so "Olivier" had to tell his other friends on the boat who were sitting a few feet away from us so he had to make his way through the crowd and ended up scaling the wall where I was standing. He had both legs spread open and his hands pressed on the wall between my head and his bare body brushed upon mine and he said with the nicest smile ever "Excuse moi". I was blushing so much, that if I were white I'd be red! Before I was able to regain composure, he came back and did the same thing! I felt like I couldn't breathe. The funniest thing about that, was that Reena told me there was plenty of space for him to have walked past us without having to scale the wall. So that made my day in an instant and I felt like my spirits were up again.
So we get off the boat and we felt like celebs. We were greeted by a huge line of Thai scooter taxi men all screaming and fighting with each other for the tourists getting off the boat. So Reena and I asked how much it would cost to take us to the beach and they said 20 Baht. So Reena and I laughed and said we would walk. In Pattaya a 20 Baht ride is a 10 minute walk so we decided to be ghetto and walk despite the heat. So we started walking and these 2 guys wouldn't leave us alone. They kept harassing us to hop on their scooter. We were adamant about not caving in because they were so annoying. We decided to just walk towards where the other tourists were heading. We tried to act like we knew where we were going but we really did not have a clue. They kept coaxing us and said that the beach is really far that they will take us. I replied back saying "We love to walk, so just leave us alone". They cussed us out in Thai and drove off. So were happy to finally get them off our backs but then we realized we were lost and we did not see any signs of the tourists we were with on the ferry. On KO LARN ISLAND there are 4 different beaches. So then we started cussing because we should have just taken a scooter ride! All the fuss for only $0.60 cents! You may think that is cheap and yes it is but we have Thai mentality now so to us it is quite pricy! So we were just taking a break on this dirt road in the scorching heat and luckily a truck filled with Thai people pulled over and we hopped on. They took us to the beach. The car ride was about 10-15 minutes. We would have never made it to the beach. Well we would have but then half our day would have been ruined and we would have been in a bad mood.
So we get off the truck and we just looked at eachother with tears of joy because we made it and the beach was so beautiful and picturesque. It was mother nature at her finest! I thought I had died and went to heaven! We made a quick dash for our beach chairs. Took our clothes off and ran into the beach. The water was so blue and the surroundings was so serene. All you see are mountains filled with lush green trees. Ever watched the movie THE BEACH? Well that is what it was like. While we were swimming, Reena was actually quiet for a few seconds and was starring at the shore. I was like what are you starring at?! (WARNING! ANOTHER BOPPER MOMENT! GO TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU WANT TO AVOID CHEEZINESS! KEEP IN MIND, CHEDDAR DOES MAKES IT BETTER) So I turned and I saw "Olivier" in his tight speedo like briefs, bending down and intensely looking down at the sand collecting seashells by the seashore. It was like everything and everyone had disappeared off the beach and it was just him. He looked so perfect and I felt like I was dreaming because I never seen someone so perfect that close! I finally snapped out of it when a wave came in and I was choking on the salt water. "Olivier" must have heard me choking on the water because he looked up at us and smiled. We were thinking he is probably teasing us and was pretending to collect seashells to see if we would look his way because once we did he walked back to his friends. We were thinking his friends were probably having a good laugh at us going all ga-ga over their friend. We stayed in the beach for over an hour until we were pruny and ran back to our chairs where we were greeted by a Thai woman who asked if we wanted to eat or have a drink. We decided to splurge and I went for the Virgin Strawberry Daquiri. We also had a fantastic Thai meal that was served to us and she had put a nice flower in my hair. Then this Thai man came and asked if everything is fine. He was speaking to us in Thai and we said we do not understand. So he asked where we were from and I said we were from the Philippines. I did not want him to think we had money so we didn't mention Canada at all. So he said Ooooh you two look Thai. Everyone here thinks we are Thai so it's perfect because they do not harass us until they hear us speaking English! Then when they hear us speak English they think we are Thai snobs who think we are better than our "own" people. A lot of Thais think I am from the North East and they have a good laugh about that. Most people in the North East are Farmers who are dark skinned and poor. I am so dark now, that I don't think I can get any darker! I don't even think it is possible for me to get any darker!
On our way back to the port we realized we did not have enough money to get on the ferry back to Pattaya. We splurged a lot on food and drinks that I was 1 Baht short (which isn't even a penny!) We didn't bring a lot of money because we felt it wouldn't be safe to leave money around while we were swimming. So while Reena and I were arguing on the taxi truck about being short of funds a nasty British UFO stepped in and gave us all his unwanted change. We would have preferred not to have taken it but we had no other choice. His young Thai "girlfriend" didn't seem too pleased with us. So even though we hate UFOs he saved us from being stuck on the island with no money so we sucked up our pride and we were nice to him for the 15 minute ride back to the port. That night we felt we were on a high from the beach that we decided to hit the town and splurge on a $2 movie THE KINGDOM with Jamie Fox and Jennifer Garner.
The next morning I woke up feeling really paralyzed. I was in so much pain ALL over. I thought Friday was bad, but this time it was worse! I was scared and I wanted to get up but I couldn't. I had massive chills and felt so cold but I was sweating profusely. We were going to go to the hospital but I wasn't able to get up or even put on some clothes. Reena was telling me to keep popping my pills but I couldn't on an empty stomach and the thought of food did not (for once) seem appealing to me. She kept telling me to go downstairs to our "kitchen" (The hotel restaurant) to eat something. I was really annoyed with her because she didn't understand what I was going through. I told her it was not easy for me to just get up, that I couldn't even move! My head was pounding like never before, I was cold yet sweaty and my body ached. So she stepped out for a bit and I decided to just SWEAT IT OUT. I once heard that sweating it out is good for the body. I wrapped myself up, prayed for the best and just passed out. I woke up after 2 hours when she came back and it was as if a miracle had happend. My t-shirt, blanket, bedsheet and pillow was soaked in sweat but all my pain was gone. Not fully, but I was able to get up and put some clothes on and head down to our kitchen for breakfast (It was 2pm). After breakfast I popped my pills and felt even more better even though I had to make a mad dash to the bathroom to explode. For the past few days EVERYTHING that goes IN, GOES OUT! So as much as I love to eat the food here (they have the most amazing fruit stands with fresh pineapples, mangos, strawberries, watermelons wonderfully cut up for you for only 1oBaht which is like $0.30 CENTS) I can't eat anything fresh for awhile. For now and for the next week or so, FOOD IS MY ENEMY :'(
We then decided to go for a walk to get myself going again and we decided to stop into a Thai Massage Parlour. We decided to splurge and had a facial, neck, shoulder and back rub. It was an hour of pure bliss! At one point I fell assleep and awoke thinking I was back in my hotel bed until she slapped this cold cloth on my face and was smothering it all over my face. Then I realized where I was. We were the only female clientele in there. At one point, 2 Chinese men came in and one of them demanded that he wanted to be massaged by one of the Thai masseuses. One of the masseuses answered back saying that the woman that he wanted was busy with another client. So he said he would wait for her. I turned to see the guy and he was sitting on a chair like he was a king while he was unpurely watching the Thai woman massaging some other man. Damn UFO! Nonetheless, the massage was the best $8 I've ever spent and we decided to treat ourselves every weekend and make Sundays MASSAGE DAYS!
We felt disoriented after our heavenly massage that we decided to walk along the beach and hit The ROYAL GARDEN PLACE (The biggest mall in Pattaya). I decided to splurge and tap my $1.50 Blizzard at DQ! All was nice until we bumped into Justin and Rattana. We had too much togetherness with them that we wanted to actually have at least the whole weekend without having to see any of OPENaid people. I am beginning to think Pattaya is not that big of a city as we thought. We notice we always see the same people everyday. It is nice to see familliar faces but there are certain faces we rather not see all the time!
So today I played hookey and did not go in to the office. I did not feel creatively inspired and would have been useless at the office blankly starring at the computer screen. So I did some errands. I finally did a load of laundry! I've been wearing the same clothes at least 3 times already unwashed (knickers not included!). As you can see, I really did not pack enough or properly. I packed a pair of wool mittens! I don't know how that got in my duffel bag! We've been trying to find laundromat to do laundry but couldn't find any! Supposedly they don't have any here, what you do is drop your laundry at one of the service places and they do it for you, fold and iron your clothes! They charge per clothing item. 1 Baht per knicker and 2 baht per shirt or pants! It's cheaper than having to pay for laundry detergent, fabric softner and electricity! Well we are about to hit a really heavy rain fall so I am going to head back to shelter and tap the AFRICAN CHANNEL :)
Friday was a total waste of a day. I wasn't able to go in to the office to continue designing the new shirt for OPENaid International. I was in so much pain that I didn't even realize I was crying. Everywhere in my body hurt. I was scared. Luckily for me I had the AFRICAN CHANNEL to keep me entertained. I was able to catch up on GREY'S ANATOMY, PRISON BREAK, was able to watch Beverly Hills 90210, Charmed, Everybody Love's Raymond, Seinfeld and I am now addicted to this new show called WEEDS. I haven't watched television in sooooooooo long because I lost interest and I simply never had the time. Now with the African channel, I think my couch potato days are back in effect! Reena and I find it quite amusing that the African channel have all Caucasian TV shows.
So after much rest and much drugs I was able to get myself together in time for ISLAND SATURDAYS. We decided to go to the islands every Saturday to enjoy much needed fun in the sun. We hopped onto this ferry boat, that leaves every 2 hours to KO LARN ISLAND. They piled so many people on the boat to the point where I was kind of scared because of all those stories I heard about ferry's sinking. The boat was really rocky and I didn't get a seat because these 3 tourists (I won't say where they are from because I wouldn't want to offend anyone) were taking up all the space! I felt like my stomach was turning and I actually wished I had to throw up because I so would have loved to throw up on those 3 seat hogs! But my bitterness towards them quickly changed (WARNING! BEFORE YOU READ ON, THIS IS A REALLY CORNY & FULL FLEDGE BOPPER/HIGHLANDER-LIKE STORY, SO YOU CAN MOVE TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CAN'T HANDLE THIS) because I saw this really gorgeous guy. He was the first good looking, normal guy we've seen since we first arrived in Thailand. He looked like a younger Olivier Martinez. I quickly turned to Reena to tell her about the eye candy within a few steps from us but she saw him too. We were both in awe of his perfect, chiseled body! It was as if we've never seen a perfect body before and it is kind of true. Back home we're constantly exposed to perfect bodies wether it'd be on television, in magazines, advertisements and even our own friends! We've been here for over 2 weeks and all we see are UFOs EVERYWHERE, EVERYDAY! So this guy was definetly an eye opener for us. We were giggly and felt like we were in high school again going crazy for the Backstreet Boys! I told her it was best if we spoke to eachother in French since most of the tourists on the boat were American, German, Swiss, Russian, Japanese or Chinese. We shortly found out that the gorgeous guy and his friend are from France and understood EVERYTHING we were saying! This is how we found out....We were about to arrive at the port so "Olivier" had to tell his other friends on the boat who were sitting a few feet away from us so he had to make his way through the crowd and ended up scaling the wall where I was standing. He had both legs spread open and his hands pressed on the wall between my head and his bare body brushed upon mine and he said with the nicest smile ever "Excuse moi". I was blushing so much, that if I were white I'd be red! Before I was able to regain composure, he came back and did the same thing! I felt like I couldn't breathe. The funniest thing about that, was that Reena told me there was plenty of space for him to have walked past us without having to scale the wall. So that made my day in an instant and I felt like my spirits were up again.
So we get off the boat and we felt like celebs. We were greeted by a huge line of Thai scooter taxi men all screaming and fighting with each other for the tourists getting off the boat. So Reena and I asked how much it would cost to take us to the beach and they said 20 Baht. So Reena and I laughed and said we would walk. In Pattaya a 20 Baht ride is a 10 minute walk so we decided to be ghetto and walk despite the heat. So we started walking and these 2 guys wouldn't leave us alone. They kept harassing us to hop on their scooter. We were adamant about not caving in because they were so annoying. We decided to just walk towards where the other tourists were heading. We tried to act like we knew where we were going but we really did not have a clue. They kept coaxing us and said that the beach is really far that they will take us. I replied back saying "We love to walk, so just leave us alone". They cussed us out in Thai and drove off. So were happy to finally get them off our backs but then we realized we were lost and we did not see any signs of the tourists we were with on the ferry. On KO LARN ISLAND there are 4 different beaches. So then we started cussing because we should have just taken a scooter ride! All the fuss for only $0.60 cents! You may think that is cheap and yes it is but we have Thai mentality now so to us it is quite pricy! So we were just taking a break on this dirt road in the scorching heat and luckily a truck filled with Thai people pulled over and we hopped on. They took us to the beach. The car ride was about 10-15 minutes. We would have never made it to the beach. Well we would have but then half our day would have been ruined and we would have been in a bad mood.
So we get off the truck and we just looked at eachother with tears of joy because we made it and the beach was so beautiful and picturesque. It was mother nature at her finest! I thought I had died and went to heaven! We made a quick dash for our beach chairs. Took our clothes off and ran into the beach. The water was so blue and the surroundings was so serene. All you see are mountains filled with lush green trees. Ever watched the movie THE BEACH? Well that is what it was like. While we were swimming, Reena was actually quiet for a few seconds and was starring at the shore. I was like what are you starring at?! (WARNING! ANOTHER BOPPER MOMENT! GO TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU WANT TO AVOID CHEEZINESS! KEEP IN MIND, CHEDDAR DOES MAKES IT BETTER) So I turned and I saw "Olivier" in his tight speedo like briefs, bending down and intensely looking down at the sand collecting seashells by the seashore. It was like everything and everyone had disappeared off the beach and it was just him. He looked so perfect and I felt like I was dreaming because I never seen someone so perfect that close! I finally snapped out of it when a wave came in and I was choking on the salt water. "Olivier" must have heard me choking on the water because he looked up at us and smiled. We were thinking he is probably teasing us and was pretending to collect seashells to see if we would look his way because once we did he walked back to his friends. We were thinking his friends were probably having a good laugh at us going all ga-ga over their friend. We stayed in the beach for over an hour until we were pruny and ran back to our chairs where we were greeted by a Thai woman who asked if we wanted to eat or have a drink. We decided to splurge and I went for the Virgin Strawberry Daquiri. We also had a fantastic Thai meal that was served to us and she had put a nice flower in my hair. Then this Thai man came and asked if everything is fine. He was speaking to us in Thai and we said we do not understand. So he asked where we were from and I said we were from the Philippines. I did not want him to think we had money so we didn't mention Canada at all. So he said Ooooh you two look Thai. Everyone here thinks we are Thai so it's perfect because they do not harass us until they hear us speaking English! Then when they hear us speak English they think we are Thai snobs who think we are better than our "own" people. A lot of Thais think I am from the North East and they have a good laugh about that. Most people in the North East are Farmers who are dark skinned and poor. I am so dark now, that I don't think I can get any darker! I don't even think it is possible for me to get any darker!
On our way back to the port we realized we did not have enough money to get on the ferry back to Pattaya. We splurged a lot on food and drinks that I was 1 Baht short (which isn't even a penny!) We didn't bring a lot of money because we felt it wouldn't be safe to leave money around while we were swimming. So while Reena and I were arguing on the taxi truck about being short of funds a nasty British UFO stepped in and gave us all his unwanted change. We would have preferred not to have taken it but we had no other choice. His young Thai "girlfriend" didn't seem too pleased with us. So even though we hate UFOs he saved us from being stuck on the island with no money so we sucked up our pride and we were nice to him for the 15 minute ride back to the port. That night we felt we were on a high from the beach that we decided to hit the town and splurge on a $2 movie THE KINGDOM with Jamie Fox and Jennifer Garner.
The next morning I woke up feeling really paralyzed. I was in so much pain ALL over. I thought Friday was bad, but this time it was worse! I was scared and I wanted to get up but I couldn't. I had massive chills and felt so cold but I was sweating profusely. We were going to go to the hospital but I wasn't able to get up or even put on some clothes. Reena was telling me to keep popping my pills but I couldn't on an empty stomach and the thought of food did not (for once) seem appealing to me. She kept telling me to go downstairs to our "kitchen" (The hotel restaurant) to eat something. I was really annoyed with her because she didn't understand what I was going through. I told her it was not easy for me to just get up, that I couldn't even move! My head was pounding like never before, I was cold yet sweaty and my body ached. So she stepped out for a bit and I decided to just SWEAT IT OUT. I once heard that sweating it out is good for the body. I wrapped myself up, prayed for the best and just passed out. I woke up after 2 hours when she came back and it was as if a miracle had happend. My t-shirt, blanket, bedsheet and pillow was soaked in sweat but all my pain was gone. Not fully, but I was able to get up and put some clothes on and head down to our kitchen for breakfast (It was 2pm). After breakfast I popped my pills and felt even more better even though I had to make a mad dash to the bathroom to explode. For the past few days EVERYTHING that goes IN, GOES OUT! So as much as I love to eat the food here (they have the most amazing fruit stands with fresh pineapples, mangos, strawberries, watermelons wonderfully cut up for you for only 1oBaht which is like $0.30 CENTS) I can't eat anything fresh for awhile. For now and for the next week or so, FOOD IS MY ENEMY :'(
We then decided to go for a walk to get myself going again and we decided to stop into a Thai Massage Parlour. We decided to splurge and had a facial, neck, shoulder and back rub. It was an hour of pure bliss! At one point I fell assleep and awoke thinking I was back in my hotel bed until she slapped this cold cloth on my face and was smothering it all over my face. Then I realized where I was. We were the only female clientele in there. At one point, 2 Chinese men came in and one of them demanded that he wanted to be massaged by one of the Thai masseuses. One of the masseuses answered back saying that the woman that he wanted was busy with another client. So he said he would wait for her. I turned to see the guy and he was sitting on a chair like he was a king while he was unpurely watching the Thai woman massaging some other man. Damn UFO! Nonetheless, the massage was the best $8 I've ever spent and we decided to treat ourselves every weekend and make Sundays MASSAGE DAYS!
We felt disoriented after our heavenly massage that we decided to walk along the beach and hit The ROYAL GARDEN PLACE (The biggest mall in Pattaya). I decided to splurge and tap my $1.50 Blizzard at DQ! All was nice until we bumped into Justin and Rattana. We had too much togetherness with them that we wanted to actually have at least the whole weekend without having to see any of OPENaid people. I am beginning to think Pattaya is not that big of a city as we thought. We notice we always see the same people everyday. It is nice to see familliar faces but there are certain faces we rather not see all the time!
So today I played hookey and did not go in to the office. I did not feel creatively inspired and would have been useless at the office blankly starring at the computer screen. So I did some errands. I finally did a load of laundry! I've been wearing the same clothes at least 3 times already unwashed (knickers not included!). As you can see, I really did not pack enough or properly. I packed a pair of wool mittens! I don't know how that got in my duffel bag! We've been trying to find laundromat to do laundry but couldn't find any! Supposedly they don't have any here, what you do is drop your laundry at one of the service places and they do it for you, fold and iron your clothes! They charge per clothing item. 1 Baht per knicker and 2 baht per shirt or pants! It's cheaper than having to pay for laundry detergent, fabric softner and electricity! Well we are about to hit a really heavy rain fall so I am going to head back to shelter and tap the AFRICAN CHANNEL :)
October 19, 2007
Sick, Beat & Feeling Incomplete
Song for the day : Tupac "Baby Don't Cry (Keep Your Head Up)"
I am all drugged up since yesterday afternoon. I got chills, they were multiplying and I was losing control :) I was also feeling nauseous, had a bad headache and my stomach was feeling really upset. I got nerveous because up North malaria is rampant and I got bitten EVERYWHERE. So I googled the symptoms and I had em all! I was so scared, so Rattana took me to the pharmacy and the pharmacist gave me all these drugs. I am to take 12 pills per day. I hate taking pills and I avoid them at all costs but Malaria is something you don't want to mess with.
I hate to say this, but I am actually happy to be back in Pattaya. I think the only reason why is because I am finally free from Justin the psychologist. I swear if I hear "What are your thoughts and feelings?" "What do you think about that? How does it make you feel?" one more freaking time I will snap! I feel bad for anyone who is married to a psychologist (no offence to those who are, who are with one, or who would like to be one). I like to share my thoughts and feelings. I am not one against sharing how I feel. But to talk about feelings 24/7 about EVERYTHING?!!! Oh you went to the bathroom? How did that feel? What are your thoughts about your experience in the toilet? Arghhhhhhhhhhh! It got me thinking, that psychologists don't do anything but drive you madder than you already are!
So anyways, the other day we were supposed to go Burma....and the 3 did. I wanted to go so bad, but I stayed behind with Reena because she had forgotten her passport at our hotel and I didn't want her to be alone at the border because it is dangerous. So it was like be alone with the 3 people I am not too fond of, or stay with Reena! I gave her a lecture about carrying her passport with her at all times. In a foreign country filled with corruption, you really need to carry your passport at all times. There were so many military check points during our trip and some ask for I.D - We were lucky we got away with her not having one but in the case that the soldier was having a bad day or wanted to be a jerk, it could have been serious. The soldiers here have full control and can easily take advantage of people especially foreigners!
There is a lot of theft and a lot of people who monitor your every move at the border. We were advised not to make any phone calls or send out texts because EVERYTHING is monitored! I wanted to take advantage of the really cheap, name brand goods & really nice Ruby gems from Burma (sorry I couldn't buy you any Mommy!) we were advised not to show any cash at all. If one person knows we have money, they will tell others and we will be harrassed all day or even robbed! Before Justin, Ratanna and Wanna went across the border, we had lunch at a restaurant over looking the bridge. From the restaurant you can see so many children at the bridge begging border crossers for money. I was so hungry but in an instant I lost my appetite because I felt bad seeing kids ages 3-12 doing drugs, gambling with one another and begging adults for money. There was one girl who looked like she was 9 or 10 and she did not have any limbs. She was using her hands to move around and follow tourists walking while begging for money. I felt really sad and wanted to cry but I held it because I didn't want to "share my thoughts and feelings"! I was kind of annoyed when Justin and Ratanna were like "Eat! Eat!" I had completely lost my appetite seeing these kids hungry and hot getting high, gambling and begging when they should be in school. I later found out that as much as it hurts to see children begging money, we shouldn't give them any money at all. The reason is because these kids are kidnapped from the maffia and trained to be good beggars. That every penny they get from stupid tourists like myself, goes to the maffia. So we may think we are helping the kids and their families but in reality we aren't. We are just encouraging the maffia to kidnap more kids so they can get more money for themselves!
Justin told us that night time, even during the day we can see a lot of people from Burma sneaking into Thailand illegally. We actually saw a few while we were eating at the restaurant. I didn't think it would be as easy as it was. The bridge and the river that divides them is so small. It is seriously 10 steps dividing the 2 countries. However, the highways are heavily patrolled by the military so even though you sneak into Thailand, there is a great chance you will get caught and suffer severe, unimaginable consequences.
In one of my entries I said that the 2 Burmese tribes were at war with eachother but I got it wrong. The 2 tribes THE SHAN & THE KAREN (Kah-rin) tribes have been at war AGAINST the Burmese Military for years. The 2 tribes are farmers. All they know is how to cultivate land and farm. They don't care for technology, money or bling. Those mean nothing to them and are useless with their way of life. I don't understand why that is such a problem with the Burmese government? I don't know why they have to kill their own people? They are not doing anything wrong. They are just living their lives freely. The new Health Minister of Burma/Myanmar quoted "In 10 years there will be no Karen people alive. They will ALL be killed. If you want to see a Karen, you can see them in a museum". That quote is for real. There are thousands of villagers killed EVERYDAY. EVERY SECOND. On the other side of the beautiful, lush mountains
we drove by, there is a lot of pain, suffering and tears. No one is doing anything to help these people. That is why the Monks have decided to take a stand to overthrow the government and give the land back to its people. What you see and hear in the news is totally under-rated. There are a lot more deaths that are unrecorded. What is going on in Burma is serious and really really bad. It pisses me off that the U.N is not recognizing how bad it is and keep shoving the issue aside. It's been going on for years and years!
We met up with some Burmese migrants. I mentioned earlier how they fed us like kings and queens when they have nothing for themselves. All of us could agree that it is ironic how the poor are a lot more giving and appreciative than those who have money. I like to think the rich are rich because they are too damn selfish and too damn cheap. So anyways, we stayed with them and we got to learn how they live and how they are. They lead such simple lives. Working together to cultivate land and sharing with one another what they have. What wrong does the government see in that? Why do they want to kill that? What harm are they doing? We went to one of their church services. Most Burmese from the Karen tribe are 90% Christian. I didn't understand a word what they were saying but as a Catholic I have an idea of what is going on. It was really moving to see how passionate they were about their faith despite what is going on in their country. I felt like crying being there. I got a little teary and so did Reena. I never see Reena cry. I think maybe only once or even twice! There was one girl in particular who made us teary. She is 9 years old, very beautiful with the longest eye lashes. Half her face was bruised and it looked like she was beaten. She was praying so hard and belting out each song loudly and with passion. I have never seen someone so young, so faithful and so religious. It really too me by surprise! When I was her age I was singing for my church choir, but at the time I wasn't really into church and did not find it meaningful at all. I have to admit I only joined the choir because of the cookies and juice. As a child I went to church because I was forced to go not because I wanted to.
We went to a refugee camp where it is home to 65,000 Burmese in Thailand waiting to be placed in a 3rd country. We learned they have been there for many many years just waiting. To be placed in Australia or the United States. So it got Reena and I thinking....What about Canada? Why aren't we doing anything to help? The people at the refugee camp want to go back home to Burma but will most likely be killed if they go back. People who are 25 years and under do not know any other way of life but the life they have in the refugee camp. It's pretty bad because they are unrecognized.The government of Thailand does not consider them citizens of Thailand even though they are born in Thailand because they are Burmese. And they are not citizens of Burma because they were born in Thailand. So they have no citizenship status. It was so crazy being there. They have no sanitation. No water. No toilets. Diseases are spread so fast. The only way they can clean their clothes or themselves is when it rains. They are surrounded by barbed wire so they can not escape the camp. Even if they did, there are soldiers EVERYWHERE.
Seeing them walking around with their guns watching our every move got me nerveous. I wanted to take pictures so bad but we were not allowed. We couldn't even whip out our cells to make phone calls or send text messages. In and around the refugee camp it is heavily secured. Rattana and Wanna tried to talk to some to get some information about how they are being treated at the camp and if they are being fed, but none spoke Thai only Burmese. We wanted to leave because the heat was incredible and we felt that the soldiers were thinking we looked suspicious. We had lied telling them we were just driving by just doing some sight seeing. We had to stick around because Justin was doing a live interview at the refugee camp for some Australian radio show. To help raise money for the Burmese migrants.
The ride up to the refugee camp was so unbearable. It was a drive up the mountains so the road was like we were going around in circles. I felt so car sick and and wanted to throw up! I had my head out the window for air but we encountered a lot of road kill. Normally I wouldn't really be bothered by road kill, but the road kill we were seeing were BIG, FAT PYTHONS! I was scared a snake would somehow pop into our window and onto my lap or if I had my head out the window pieces of python will go into my mouth as we drive past them. Again, I felt like I couldnt breathe and I was experiencing major heart palpitations. It pissed me off because Justin knew how sick we all felt but he still drove like a maniac and asked us how we felt and why?! It's like, you bloody idiot why do you have to ask us how we feel when you can hear and see us complaining about how sick we felt!
Anyways, I have to go for now. I need to eat lunch and pop more pills! Peace!
I am all drugged up since yesterday afternoon. I got chills, they were multiplying and I was losing control :) I was also feeling nauseous, had a bad headache and my stomach was feeling really upset. I got nerveous because up North malaria is rampant and I got bitten EVERYWHERE. So I googled the symptoms and I had em all! I was so scared, so Rattana took me to the pharmacy and the pharmacist gave me all these drugs. I am to take 12 pills per day. I hate taking pills and I avoid them at all costs but Malaria is something you don't want to mess with.
I hate to say this, but I am actually happy to be back in Pattaya. I think the only reason why is because I am finally free from Justin the psychologist. I swear if I hear "What are your thoughts and feelings?" "What do you think about that? How does it make you feel?" one more freaking time I will snap! I feel bad for anyone who is married to a psychologist (no offence to those who are, who are with one, or who would like to be one). I like to share my thoughts and feelings. I am not one against sharing how I feel. But to talk about feelings 24/7 about EVERYTHING?!!! Oh you went to the bathroom? How did that feel? What are your thoughts about your experience in the toilet? Arghhhhhhhhhhh! It got me thinking, that psychologists don't do anything but drive you madder than you already are!
So anyways, the other day we were supposed to go Burma....and the 3 did. I wanted to go so bad, but I stayed behind with Reena because she had forgotten her passport at our hotel and I didn't want her to be alone at the border because it is dangerous. So it was like be alone with the 3 people I am not too fond of, or stay with Reena! I gave her a lecture about carrying her passport with her at all times. In a foreign country filled with corruption, you really need to carry your passport at all times. There were so many military check points during our trip and some ask for I.D - We were lucky we got away with her not having one but in the case that the soldier was having a bad day or wanted to be a jerk, it could have been serious. The soldiers here have full control and can easily take advantage of people especially foreigners!
There is a lot of theft and a lot of people who monitor your every move at the border. We were advised not to make any phone calls or send out texts because EVERYTHING is monitored! I wanted to take advantage of the really cheap, name brand goods & really nice Ruby gems from Burma (sorry I couldn't buy you any Mommy!) we were advised not to show any cash at all. If one person knows we have money, they will tell others and we will be harrassed all day or even robbed! Before Justin, Ratanna and Wanna went across the border, we had lunch at a restaurant over looking the bridge. From the restaurant you can see so many children at the bridge begging border crossers for money. I was so hungry but in an instant I lost my appetite because I felt bad seeing kids ages 3-12 doing drugs, gambling with one another and begging adults for money. There was one girl who looked like she was 9 or 10 and she did not have any limbs. She was using her hands to move around and follow tourists walking while begging for money. I felt really sad and wanted to cry but I held it because I didn't want to "share my thoughts and feelings"! I was kind of annoyed when Justin and Ratanna were like "Eat! Eat!" I had completely lost my appetite seeing these kids hungry and hot getting high, gambling and begging when they should be in school. I later found out that as much as it hurts to see children begging money, we shouldn't give them any money at all. The reason is because these kids are kidnapped from the maffia and trained to be good beggars. That every penny they get from stupid tourists like myself, goes to the maffia. So we may think we are helping the kids and their families but in reality we aren't. We are just encouraging the maffia to kidnap more kids so they can get more money for themselves!
Justin told us that night time, even during the day we can see a lot of people from Burma sneaking into Thailand illegally. We actually saw a few while we were eating at the restaurant. I didn't think it would be as easy as it was. The bridge and the river that divides them is so small. It is seriously 10 steps dividing the 2 countries. However, the highways are heavily patrolled by the military so even though you sneak into Thailand, there is a great chance you will get caught and suffer severe, unimaginable consequences.
In one of my entries I said that the 2 Burmese tribes were at war with eachother but I got it wrong. The 2 tribes THE SHAN & THE KAREN (Kah-rin) tribes have been at war AGAINST the Burmese Military for years. The 2 tribes are farmers. All they know is how to cultivate land and farm. They don't care for technology, money or bling. Those mean nothing to them and are useless with their way of life. I don't understand why that is such a problem with the Burmese government? I don't know why they have to kill their own people? They are not doing anything wrong. They are just living their lives freely. The new Health Minister of Burma/Myanmar quoted "In 10 years there will be no Karen people alive. They will ALL be killed. If you want to see a Karen, you can see them in a museum". That quote is for real. There are thousands of villagers killed EVERYDAY. EVERY SECOND. On the other side of the beautiful, lush mountains
we drove by, there is a lot of pain, suffering and tears. No one is doing anything to help these people. That is why the Monks have decided to take a stand to overthrow the government and give the land back to its people. What you see and hear in the news is totally under-rated. There are a lot more deaths that are unrecorded. What is going on in Burma is serious and really really bad. It pisses me off that the U.N is not recognizing how bad it is and keep shoving the issue aside. It's been going on for years and years!
We met up with some Burmese migrants. I mentioned earlier how they fed us like kings and queens when they have nothing for themselves. All of us could agree that it is ironic how the poor are a lot more giving and appreciative than those who have money. I like to think the rich are rich because they are too damn selfish and too damn cheap. So anyways, we stayed with them and we got to learn how they live and how they are. They lead such simple lives. Working together to cultivate land and sharing with one another what they have. What wrong does the government see in that? Why do they want to kill that? What harm are they doing? We went to one of their church services. Most Burmese from the Karen tribe are 90% Christian. I didn't understand a word what they were saying but as a Catholic I have an idea of what is going on. It was really moving to see how passionate they were about their faith despite what is going on in their country. I felt like crying being there. I got a little teary and so did Reena. I never see Reena cry. I think maybe only once or even twice! There was one girl in particular who made us teary. She is 9 years old, very beautiful with the longest eye lashes. Half her face was bruised and it looked like she was beaten. She was praying so hard and belting out each song loudly and with passion. I have never seen someone so young, so faithful and so religious. It really too me by surprise! When I was her age I was singing for my church choir, but at the time I wasn't really into church and did not find it meaningful at all. I have to admit I only joined the choir because of the cookies and juice. As a child I went to church because I was forced to go not because I wanted to.
We went to a refugee camp where it is home to 65,000 Burmese in Thailand waiting to be placed in a 3rd country. We learned they have been there for many many years just waiting. To be placed in Australia or the United States. So it got Reena and I thinking....What about Canada? Why aren't we doing anything to help? The people at the refugee camp want to go back home to Burma but will most likely be killed if they go back. People who are 25 years and under do not know any other way of life but the life they have in the refugee camp. It's pretty bad because they are unrecognized.The government of Thailand does not consider them citizens of Thailand even though they are born in Thailand because they are Burmese. And they are not citizens of Burma because they were born in Thailand. So they have no citizenship status. It was so crazy being there. They have no sanitation. No water. No toilets. Diseases are spread so fast. The only way they can clean their clothes or themselves is when it rains. They are surrounded by barbed wire so they can not escape the camp. Even if they did, there are soldiers EVERYWHERE.
Seeing them walking around with their guns watching our every move got me nerveous. I wanted to take pictures so bad but we were not allowed. We couldn't even whip out our cells to make phone calls or send text messages. In and around the refugee camp it is heavily secured. Rattana and Wanna tried to talk to some to get some information about how they are being treated at the camp and if they are being fed, but none spoke Thai only Burmese. We wanted to leave because the heat was incredible and we felt that the soldiers were thinking we looked suspicious. We had lied telling them we were just driving by just doing some sight seeing. We had to stick around because Justin was doing a live interview at the refugee camp for some Australian radio show. To help raise money for the Burmese migrants.
The ride up to the refugee camp was so unbearable. It was a drive up the mountains so the road was like we were going around in circles. I felt so car sick and and wanted to throw up! I had my head out the window for air but we encountered a lot of road kill. Normally I wouldn't really be bothered by road kill, but the road kill we were seeing were BIG, FAT PYTHONS! I was scared a snake would somehow pop into our window and onto my lap or if I had my head out the window pieces of python will go into my mouth as we drive past them. Again, I felt like I couldnt breathe and I was experiencing major heart palpitations. It pissed me off because Justin knew how sick we all felt but he still drove like a maniac and asked us how we felt and why?! It's like, you bloody idiot why do you have to ask us how we feel when you can hear and see us complaining about how sick we felt!
Anyways, I have to go for now. I need to eat lunch and pop more pills! Peace!
October 16, 2007
Emotionally Distraught & Sick :'(
Song for the day : Nelly Furtado "Powerless"
Thank god for the massive floods in Isan because our trip is now postponed till next week! I think everything that I've learned and experienced from this Chiang Rai trip is getting to me. It's like I feel so emotionally drained and just want to get back to our luxury apartment and just relax, rest, reflect and be CLEAN again! Living out of a suitcase not knowing where I am going, what I am doing or where I will be sleeping is tiring. I've been travelling with Reena and 3 OPENAID staff (Justin, Rattana and Wanna). I think the constant togetherness is driving me nuts and I just want space from all of them. Reena I can take but the others....I hate that they treat us like babies and ditch us all the time. Like tonight they got to stay in this really amazing, fabulous house. We are now in a small town called Maesot by the Burma/Thailand border and we got dumped in some really getto, nasty and scary hotel in no man's land. I've been having diarrhea for the past 3 days and I just want to go home already and what's worse is that I got some eye condition. All of a sudden I wasn't able to open one of my eyes and now that I finally have it open, it hurts like hell when I blink or close my eyes! I feel scared and don't know what to do because nothing is open. All I see is pitch black outside...Our hotel is pure nasty! Water is dripping from our curtain, there is bugs crawling on the floor, our beds are so gross and I feel itchy all over just sitting on the bed.
The other night Justin & Ratanna got me so tanked. I haven't been that wasted in sooooooooooo long. It was Justin's way of "getting to know me better" and sort of coerce me into designing the organization's new logo and new tshirts. So now I am commited to doing this stupid project of his when I already commited myself to design the school material for the Burmese migrants. I felt bad for Reena that night because apparently I was really loud and obnoxious and I shared a little too much to Justin, Rattana and Wanna. Our neighbors were also hating on us because I couldn't control my volume or my laughing fits. So Reena took me to the 7 Eleven to get something to eat so I wouldn't be so hungover the next day. While I was eating my snacks at the lobby there were prostitutes with these old, nasty British men having drinks and apparently I was yelling at them saying what they are doing is so wrong. This is what Reena told me but according to my memory I was just whispering my thoughts to her!
The freakiest thing that we learned and saw that night (pre-alcahol) was that the nice hotels in Chiang Rai are home to trafficked women. These women (mostly from poor villages or Burmese women who entered Thailand illegally while trying to escape the war going on there) are kidnapped and locked in the basement, and unable to see the outside world. There is a secret door behind these hotels where men can go inside and take their pick of the women and have sex with them. Justin made Reena and I go in to see it to believe it. We had to pretend we are lost, stupid tourists. So we go in there, and behind a glass wall we saw young women all dolled up. Some sitting, some standing. They looked like mannequins you see in store front windows but they were real! All they do is stand or sit behind the glass wall waiting for a customer to select them for sex. It looked like the hotel clerks (2 Thai women) were shocked to see us there and were trying to get rid of us in fear we may report what we saw to the police. The whole thing was insane! I felt like I was in a movie because the whole thing was unreal. I've never ever heard or imagine anything like that exists! I think that was by far the most shocking thing I've seen in Thailand so far!
There is so much more I want to say but right now my eye is killing me and I am sweating like a pig in this ghetto nasty hotel!
Thank god for the massive floods in Isan because our trip is now postponed till next week! I think everything that I've learned and experienced from this Chiang Rai trip is getting to me. It's like I feel so emotionally drained and just want to get back to our luxury apartment and just relax, rest, reflect and be CLEAN again! Living out of a suitcase not knowing where I am going, what I am doing or where I will be sleeping is tiring. I've been travelling with Reena and 3 OPENAID staff (Justin, Rattana and Wanna). I think the constant togetherness is driving me nuts and I just want space from all of them. Reena I can take but the others....I hate that they treat us like babies and ditch us all the time. Like tonight they got to stay in this really amazing, fabulous house. We are now in a small town called Maesot by the Burma/Thailand border and we got dumped in some really getto, nasty and scary hotel in no man's land. I've been having diarrhea for the past 3 days and I just want to go home already and what's worse is that I got some eye condition. All of a sudden I wasn't able to open one of my eyes and now that I finally have it open, it hurts like hell when I blink or close my eyes! I feel scared and don't know what to do because nothing is open. All I see is pitch black outside...Our hotel is pure nasty! Water is dripping from our curtain, there is bugs crawling on the floor, our beds are so gross and I feel itchy all over just sitting on the bed.
The other night Justin & Ratanna got me so tanked. I haven't been that wasted in sooooooooooo long. It was Justin's way of "getting to know me better" and sort of coerce me into designing the organization's new logo and new tshirts. So now I am commited to doing this stupid project of his when I already commited myself to design the school material for the Burmese migrants. I felt bad for Reena that night because apparently I was really loud and obnoxious and I shared a little too much to Justin, Rattana and Wanna. Our neighbors were also hating on us because I couldn't control my volume or my laughing fits. So Reena took me to the 7 Eleven to get something to eat so I wouldn't be so hungover the next day. While I was eating my snacks at the lobby there were prostitutes with these old, nasty British men having drinks and apparently I was yelling at them saying what they are doing is so wrong. This is what Reena told me but according to my memory I was just whispering my thoughts to her!
The freakiest thing that we learned and saw that night (pre-alcahol) was that the nice hotels in Chiang Rai are home to trafficked women. These women (mostly from poor villages or Burmese women who entered Thailand illegally while trying to escape the war going on there) are kidnapped and locked in the basement, and unable to see the outside world. There is a secret door behind these hotels where men can go inside and take their pick of the women and have sex with them. Justin made Reena and I go in to see it to believe it. We had to pretend we are lost, stupid tourists. So we go in there, and behind a glass wall we saw young women all dolled up. Some sitting, some standing. They looked like mannequins you see in store front windows but they were real! All they do is stand or sit behind the glass wall waiting for a customer to select them for sex. It looked like the hotel clerks (2 Thai women) were shocked to see us there and were trying to get rid of us in fear we may report what we saw to the police. The whole thing was insane! I felt like I was in a movie because the whole thing was unreal. I've never ever heard or imagine anything like that exists! I think that was by far the most shocking thing I've seen in Thailand so far!
There is so much more I want to say but right now my eye is killing me and I am sweating like a pig in this ghetto nasty hotel!
October 15, 2007
180 Degree Change... FREE BURMA!
Song for the day : Michael Jackson "Man in the Mirror"
Right now I am currently in Chiang Rai which is the most Northern Tip of Thailand...We are currently staying near the GOLDEN TRIANGLE which is the borders of LAOS, BURMA & THAILAND...They call it GOLDEN TRIANGLE because there is TONS & TONS of OPIUM here....so that equals to A LOT OF MONEY and A LOT OF CHAOS AND CORRUPTION! Biggie couldn't have said it better when he said MO' MONEY, MO' PROBLEMS.
I originally came to Thailand to volunteer at the orphanage in Pattaya...I went by the other day and saw how well the children are being looked after and how HUGE their "compound" is. Now, I am not abandoning the children but right now I decided to change itinerary and do what I feel is right in my heart. Since Friday I witnessed sooooooooo much. It's crazy to learn of all the corruption going on in Asia and we in Canada are totally unware of the real deal because the media choses to focus on Iran and Afghanistan. Now I am not knocking what is going on there...it is serious stuff but I mean there is a lot more that is going on here. SO PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE support the monks and the Burmeses' fight for FREEDOM. They have been suffering for too long. They are a rich country filled with endless amounts of oil and gems (Diamonds and Rubies) yet NONE of the money goes to its people. All the money goes to the MILITARY who goes around and raids and kills village after village and the MOFO ROYAL family.
Earlier today as we were driving to Burma (we were still on Thai soil) we saw the hills of Burma up ahead. It was so beautiful and so lush. It felt so fake. Like it was just pasted there. Reena and I were so amazed at the beauty of mother nature. Not knowing that we were a few kilometers from the BIGGEST WAR ZONE that has been going on for decades. The whole history is confusing and I am not going to give you all a history lesson about it, but to sum things up. The Burmese have many hill tribes. So there are 2 hill tribes at war with each other, and then there is the Burmese military who is basically at war with ALL Burmese and right at the border the Thai military is watching all the fighting and area unable to do anything as they watch the Burmese military killing ALL innocent villagers young and old. The Thai army were instructed to watch and if ANY Burmese touch Thai soil, they can kill whoever they want. They have the power to do as they chose. It is basically lawless....so what most of them would do it take in a young Burmese woman trying to flee the chaos and rape then kill or beat them and send them back to Burma.
One young Thai girl told us, that if she were to go back home to her mother she does not see a future for herself. It was touching and sad to hear her say that, but what is bad is that ALL of BURMA is thinking, that they see no future for themselves. No education. No hope. No goals. All they care and think about is wether or not they will see tomorrow.
We were lucky enough to spend the past few days in Chiang Rai with the migrants. The people who illegally entered Thailand. These people came here with NOTHING. Just the clothes on their back. They were able to build there little community of escapees. They want to go back home so bad because the Thais treat them so poorly and take advantage of them and rob them of everything they have. These people have NOTHING and are so vulnerable and scared of the Thais so it was an honor for them to let us stay and eat with them. As their guests they fed us like kings and queens at every meal. I felt bad because they would just watch us eat. I wanted to sneak some food to the little kids but that would be disrespectful. We were told to EAT EVERYTHING so I did. I ate soooooooo much and I was scared to ask what I was eating as I was told that they eat snake and dogs. If I knew that I was eating snakes, which I have a sneaky suspicion that I did. I heard it tastes like chicken....and so we had something that tasted like chicken but a little different. Even a little better I might add. So because of their kindness and generosity, with OPENAID INTERNATIONAL we will fund money to them to build up their commnunity and give the kids and education. I will be using my graphic design skills to create ALL English learning material for their classroom. Reena and I even taught the teacher a few children songs and educational games to help the children learn English.
While we were in Chaing Rai, we were walking through a little village of people who had escaped Burma for many years now. They had little shops set up selling their art and their work. I almost had a heart attack because there was a HUGE python in a glass case for tourists who would like to take a picture with it. Of course I freaked out and started running from the pack and they and other people thought I was crazy. I couldn't breathe at all. Reena asked to take a picture with it so when the tribe person took it out she freaked because she didnt realize that the size of the python was as HUGE as it was. It was seriously thicker than me! As for the length it was unknown as Reena told them to put it back in ASAP. So they decided to just take a group shot with the 96 year old tribe woman. I thought the tribe woman was carrying a snake so I started to run away from her screaming as she came along. EVERYONE was dying of laughter because they thought I was scared of this little old woman in her tribal gear. I finally had the group shot after I realized she was holding her walking stick. She was the cutest old lady with the biggest smile from ear to ear proudly showing off her black stained teeth. She was so short with major wrinkles. I felt rather embarassed screaming and running away from her.
So anyways I would say more about the Burma situation and my experices with the Burmese migrants but I am soooooo pressed for time. We will be in ISAAN for a few days. This is where GHETTO will begin. No electricity, therefore no internet connection. No showers...Let the stink fest continue! We will be living in a hut in no man's land filled with lots of mother natures wonders....SNAKES! I have a feeling I will stay in our truck but I will have to be brave as I do not want to insult or disrespect the people.
Right now I am currently in Chiang Rai which is the most Northern Tip of Thailand...We are currently staying near the GOLDEN TRIANGLE which is the borders of LAOS, BURMA & THAILAND...They call it GOLDEN TRIANGLE because there is TONS & TONS of OPIUM here....so that equals to A LOT OF MONEY and A LOT OF CHAOS AND CORRUPTION! Biggie couldn't have said it better when he said MO' MONEY, MO' PROBLEMS.
I originally came to Thailand to volunteer at the orphanage in Pattaya...I went by the other day and saw how well the children are being looked after and how HUGE their "compound" is. Now, I am not abandoning the children but right now I decided to change itinerary and do what I feel is right in my heart. Since Friday I witnessed sooooooooo much. It's crazy to learn of all the corruption going on in Asia and we in Canada are totally unware of the real deal because the media choses to focus on Iran and Afghanistan. Now I am not knocking what is going on there...it is serious stuff but I mean there is a lot more that is going on here. SO PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE support the monks and the Burmeses' fight for FREEDOM. They have been suffering for too long. They are a rich country filled with endless amounts of oil and gems (Diamonds and Rubies) yet NONE of the money goes to its people. All the money goes to the MILITARY who goes around and raids and kills village after village and the MOFO ROYAL family.
Earlier today as we were driving to Burma (we were still on Thai soil) we saw the hills of Burma up ahead. It was so beautiful and so lush. It felt so fake. Like it was just pasted there. Reena and I were so amazed at the beauty of mother nature. Not knowing that we were a few kilometers from the BIGGEST WAR ZONE that has been going on for decades. The whole history is confusing and I am not going to give you all a history lesson about it, but to sum things up. The Burmese have many hill tribes. So there are 2 hill tribes at war with each other, and then there is the Burmese military who is basically at war with ALL Burmese and right at the border the Thai military is watching all the fighting and area unable to do anything as they watch the Burmese military killing ALL innocent villagers young and old. The Thai army were instructed to watch and if ANY Burmese touch Thai soil, they can kill whoever they want. They have the power to do as they chose. It is basically lawless....so what most of them would do it take in a young Burmese woman trying to flee the chaos and rape then kill or beat them and send them back to Burma.
One young Thai girl told us, that if she were to go back home to her mother she does not see a future for herself. It was touching and sad to hear her say that, but what is bad is that ALL of BURMA is thinking, that they see no future for themselves. No education. No hope. No goals. All they care and think about is wether or not they will see tomorrow.
We were lucky enough to spend the past few days in Chiang Rai with the migrants. The people who illegally entered Thailand. These people came here with NOTHING. Just the clothes on their back. They were able to build there little community of escapees. They want to go back home so bad because the Thais treat them so poorly and take advantage of them and rob them of everything they have. These people have NOTHING and are so vulnerable and scared of the Thais so it was an honor for them to let us stay and eat with them. As their guests they fed us like kings and queens at every meal. I felt bad because they would just watch us eat. I wanted to sneak some food to the little kids but that would be disrespectful. We were told to EAT EVERYTHING so I did. I ate soooooooo much and I was scared to ask what I was eating as I was told that they eat snake and dogs. If I knew that I was eating snakes, which I have a sneaky suspicion that I did. I heard it tastes like chicken....and so we had something that tasted like chicken but a little different. Even a little better I might add. So because of their kindness and generosity, with OPENAID INTERNATIONAL we will fund money to them to build up their commnunity and give the kids and education. I will be using my graphic design skills to create ALL English learning material for their classroom. Reena and I even taught the teacher a few children songs and educational games to help the children learn English.
While we were in Chaing Rai, we were walking through a little village of people who had escaped Burma for many years now. They had little shops set up selling their art and their work. I almost had a heart attack because there was a HUGE python in a glass case for tourists who would like to take a picture with it. Of course I freaked out and started running from the pack and they and other people thought I was crazy. I couldn't breathe at all. Reena asked to take a picture with it so when the tribe person took it out she freaked because she didnt realize that the size of the python was as HUGE as it was. It was seriously thicker than me! As for the length it was unknown as Reena told them to put it back in ASAP. So they decided to just take a group shot with the 96 year old tribe woman. I thought the tribe woman was carrying a snake so I started to run away from her screaming as she came along. EVERYONE was dying of laughter because they thought I was scared of this little old woman in her tribal gear. I finally had the group shot after I realized she was holding her walking stick. She was the cutest old lady with the biggest smile from ear to ear proudly showing off her black stained teeth. She was so short with major wrinkles. I felt rather embarassed screaming and running away from her.
So anyways I would say more about the Burma situation and my experices with the Burmese migrants but I am soooooo pressed for time. We will be in ISAAN for a few days. This is where GHETTO will begin. No electricity, therefore no internet connection. No showers...Let the stink fest continue! We will be living in a hut in no man's land filled with lots of mother natures wonders....SNAKES! I have a feeling I will stay in our truck but I will have to be brave as I do not want to insult or disrespect the people.
October 10, 2007
From GHETTO to LUXURY!
Song for the day : Natasha Beddingfield "Unwritten"
My spirits are slowly lifting. I now feel like a local rather than a tourist and I am known in our little "village". The pool staff know me, the security guards and the staff at the local restaurant know me as well so everytime I pass by they wave and talk to me! To make myself feel better in the morning, I eat my American Style breakfast (toast, eggs, bacon with tomatoes on the side with coffee and O.J) Reena and I think it is a bit of a splurge 70 baht ($2) but I figured I should at least find ways to enjoy myself here. We are starting to think like Thai people. The old me and I am sure ALL of you (if not, then DANG DAWG you must be a cheap arse :P) think that $2 for a big breakfast is cheap but now I am thinking that it is splurging as most complete meals here cost only $1 or even less. Reena and I treated the OPENaid staff to dinner and we had about 10 dishes and it was 480 baht which is about $13 dollars. Why am I always talking about food?
So anyways, tomorrow I will start my first swimming lesson at 8am! I am teaching a 4 year old girl how to swim. I feel so nerveous coz A) She doesn't speak a word of English B) I don't speak a word of Thai (I've been here for about 6 days and today I am able to finally say THANK YOU properly) C) I am not a strong swimmer. I've been at the pool 2 days in a row ALL day but all I did there was nap, drink, read and do about 4 laps but within 1 hour intervals. So it will definetly be an interesting morning. I just hope she doesn't cry when we say goodbye to her mom and I hope she doesn't panic and freak out and in turn make me drown! My homework tonight is to write down all the possible phrases I may ask the little girl. I will be with her for 3 hours! I was advised not to talk loud as she is sensitive to loud people and loud sounds! She comes from a poor family and has probably gone through a lot for such a young girl and they pair me up with her....probably the loudest person she will ever meet! ; )
Yesterday Reena and I finally caved into luxury. We are such wusses and checked out of our non air conditioned house and traded it in for a 5 star hotel apartment. We couldn't handle our oven of a room and Reena got sick of having to sleep next to her half naked friend. Yes, it was I who was the nasty one between the two of us! I never had to be like that so you can just imagine how hot it was in our room! Yes, you all read right....I am actually complaining about heat! Our bathroom is gorgeous! Totally westernized (except for the hose beside the toilet), jacuzzi style tub with one side of the wall ALL window (it looks like ice cubes so it allows the light to come in but does not allow eyes to gaze in!) I am so picky with bathrooms so if they are stellar as that, I can handle ANYTHING. So our living conditions are now amazing! We now have cable TV with 50 International Channels like CNN, FOX, BBC, MTV ASIA, NHK (Japanese channel that is AMAZING) and the African Channel so we are able to watch BIG BROTHER AFRICA and so on. It sure beats our lovely Antenna that we had back in NYC (North York Centre).
So you'd think everything is fine and dandy but then you look out and our view is the SLUMS. So when I am in my air conditioned room and gaze out the window I see poor people sleeping in tents made of cardboard and trash piled up everywhere. It's sad because you see their clothes hanging from sticks and you see little kids' clothes and baby clothes...all dirty of course and old toys just scattered everywhere. It's hard. Especially knowing that is it kids and babies suffering and having to live like that. Poverty is one of the issues I would like to end because I don't think anyone should suffer in horrible conditions and to ever go hungry. Their little tents are not even shielding them from the nasty pollution or bugs or even the rain! To see it in my "backyard" makes it harder for me to put it aside from my mind because it's in my face and makes me realize that it is real and raw and just so wrong. I bet my parents are now wishing they took me to the Philippines when I was younger so I wouldn't have been as bratty, unappreciative and spoiled as I was. Thinking about how I was as a child, teen and tween makes me wish I could go back in time as my mother and beat myself sooooooooo bad. I am now thinking "SOMEBODY'S GONNA GET A HURT REEEAAALLLL BAD". Ok, I woud never beat my child or any child for that matter...I would just send them off in a plane to a third world country!
This is off topic but I just learned something yesterday....Reena was ridding beside me last night as we were going home and she was dying of laughter when she saw me holding my taxi man tightly and squeezing my thighs tightly around him. I didn't understand why and she told me....
Lesson number 5 : There is no need to straddle and hold the scooter taxi men, as the scooter rides are totally safe and there are handles that you can hold from behind the seat.
So I tried it today and it works and the rides are totally safe. So now I know how to avoid getting strange marriage proposals from Ong Bok 1, 2 & 3!
BTW (By The Way) I have so many amazing pictures I want you all to see and that I would love to download to make my blogs a little more interesting, but I left my USB wire at home and none of the computers accept my little memory card to upload pics...so until I find one, you will all have to remain without visuals!
My spirits are slowly lifting. I now feel like a local rather than a tourist and I am known in our little "village". The pool staff know me, the security guards and the staff at the local restaurant know me as well so everytime I pass by they wave and talk to me! To make myself feel better in the morning, I eat my American Style breakfast (toast, eggs, bacon with tomatoes on the side with coffee and O.J) Reena and I think it is a bit of a splurge 70 baht ($2) but I figured I should at least find ways to enjoy myself here. We are starting to think like Thai people. The old me and I am sure ALL of you (if not, then DANG DAWG you must be a cheap arse :P) think that $2 for a big breakfast is cheap but now I am thinking that it is splurging as most complete meals here cost only $1 or even less. Reena and I treated the OPENaid staff to dinner and we had about 10 dishes and it was 480 baht which is about $13 dollars. Why am I always talking about food?
So anyways, tomorrow I will start my first swimming lesson at 8am! I am teaching a 4 year old girl how to swim. I feel so nerveous coz A) She doesn't speak a word of English B) I don't speak a word of Thai (I've been here for about 6 days and today I am able to finally say THANK YOU properly) C) I am not a strong swimmer. I've been at the pool 2 days in a row ALL day but all I did there was nap, drink, read and do about 4 laps but within 1 hour intervals. So it will definetly be an interesting morning. I just hope she doesn't cry when we say goodbye to her mom and I hope she doesn't panic and freak out and in turn make me drown! My homework tonight is to write down all the possible phrases I may ask the little girl. I will be with her for 3 hours! I was advised not to talk loud as she is sensitive to loud people and loud sounds! She comes from a poor family and has probably gone through a lot for such a young girl and they pair me up with her....probably the loudest person she will ever meet! ; )
Yesterday Reena and I finally caved into luxury. We are such wusses and checked out of our non air conditioned house and traded it in for a 5 star hotel apartment. We couldn't handle our oven of a room and Reena got sick of having to sleep next to her half naked friend. Yes, it was I who was the nasty one between the two of us! I never had to be like that so you can just imagine how hot it was in our room! Yes, you all read right....I am actually complaining about heat! Our bathroom is gorgeous! Totally westernized (except for the hose beside the toilet), jacuzzi style tub with one side of the wall ALL window (it looks like ice cubes so it allows the light to come in but does not allow eyes to gaze in!) I am so picky with bathrooms so if they are stellar as that, I can handle ANYTHING. So our living conditions are now amazing! We now have cable TV with 50 International Channels like CNN, FOX, BBC, MTV ASIA, NHK (Japanese channel that is AMAZING) and the African Channel so we are able to watch BIG BROTHER AFRICA and so on. It sure beats our lovely Antenna that we had back in NYC (North York Centre).
So you'd think everything is fine and dandy but then you look out and our view is the SLUMS. So when I am in my air conditioned room and gaze out the window I see poor people sleeping in tents made of cardboard and trash piled up everywhere. It's sad because you see their clothes hanging from sticks and you see little kids' clothes and baby clothes...all dirty of course and old toys just scattered everywhere. It's hard. Especially knowing that is it kids and babies suffering and having to live like that. Poverty is one of the issues I would like to end because I don't think anyone should suffer in horrible conditions and to ever go hungry. Their little tents are not even shielding them from the nasty pollution or bugs or even the rain! To see it in my "backyard" makes it harder for me to put it aside from my mind because it's in my face and makes me realize that it is real and raw and just so wrong. I bet my parents are now wishing they took me to the Philippines when I was younger so I wouldn't have been as bratty, unappreciative and spoiled as I was. Thinking about how I was as a child, teen and tween makes me wish I could go back in time as my mother and beat myself sooooooooo bad. I am now thinking "SOMEBODY'S GONNA GET A HURT REEEAAALLLL BAD". Ok, I woud never beat my child or any child for that matter...I would just send them off in a plane to a third world country!
This is off topic but I just learned something yesterday....Reena was ridding beside me last night as we were going home and she was dying of laughter when she saw me holding my taxi man tightly and squeezing my thighs tightly around him. I didn't understand why and she told me....
Lesson number 5 : There is no need to straddle and hold the scooter taxi men, as the scooter rides are totally safe and there are handles that you can hold from behind the seat.
So I tried it today and it works and the rides are totally safe. So now I know how to avoid getting strange marriage proposals from Ong Bok 1, 2 & 3!
BTW (By The Way) I have so many amazing pictures I want you all to see and that I would love to download to make my blogs a little more interesting, but I left my USB wire at home and none of the computers accept my little memory card to upload pics...so until I find one, you will all have to remain without visuals!
October 08, 2007
Up & Down, Back & Forth
Song for the day : One Republic "Stop and Stare"
So today was my birthday and it started off really sad. Chiang Rai was in the agenda but it changed. I think because of the dangers going on in Burma/Myanmar! I feel like I am on an emotional roller coaster... It's like I am constantly UP & DOWN, BACK & FORTH! One moment I feel like I can conquer the world, the next I feel so helpless :'( This morning over breakfast which consisted of warm left over lemon green tea, chocolate almonds and wasabi peas (yes it is an odd and gross combination but that is all I had to eat) Reena and I were having a chat with Wanna/Juanna (not sure of the spelling of her name). She works at OpenAid and was a former prostitute. She really opened up fast and told us a quick version of her life story. I was in tears within minutes and when Reena told her it was my birthday she apologized for making it a Unhappy Birthday. I told her it was ok. I felt bad because she then asked us our story and I was like....well I actually don't have a story. My stories consists of stupidity and immaturity. To some things up, Wanna/Juanna was raped as a child when she was 7 years old by a family member or friend and she lost both her parents. She was saved when she was married however her husband physically abused her. When she got pregnant he promised not to hit her anymore and all was fine until her baby was about 1.5 years old and the abuse started again. She ran away from her husband with her baby daughter to Bangkok with nothing but 1,000 baht which is about $40. She wasn't able to find a job even though she was able to speak English because she did not work for 10 years. While she was married she was a stay at home wife. The only place she could think of going was here in Pattaya because she heard many tourists come here and figured she can use her English skills to get a job. Unfortunately, the only job that was available was to be a prostitute. She hated doing what she did but it was the only way she can feed her baby. So in response to the ones who asked, "Why not help the needy at home first before we tackle the international issues?" Well, the homeless people back home have many organizations and government programs to help the needy, whereas here in Thailand there is absolutely no one but the "kindness" of tourists.
So after that intense morning, I decided to gather my thoughts and relax poolside. The weather was hot but unfortunately we had sunny and cloudy breaks. So even though Reena and Ratanna say I am black, I feel I am not tanned enough! I wanted to swim so bad but the damn UFOs (UGLY FAT OLD) MEN were starring and I felt so violated. Many of the nasty men here are surprisingly not American, they are mostly from Germany or Finland. I feel like telling them to lose weight, fix and clean themselves up so they wouldn't have to pay for a girl to love them. Okay sorry if I've offended some big fellas....I am not saying it is bad to be big and that it is gross to be big! I'm just saying that the ones here are gross only because their sole intent is to pay for some good lovin' coz they can't get any back home! Also, it bothers me that they walk around like their big shit because they are sooooooooooooo not!
So after my day at the pool I decided to take a nap. It is sooooo hot that all I want to do is sleep! It's so bad! Then Justin, Ratanna, Reena and I went for dinner. We ate at our favorite Thai restaurant where I was finally reunited with my garlic chicken! Mmmmmmm, too good!!!! So we ate like kings and queens....had 7 dishes of chicken and seafood and it only costs 450 baht! Like $10 dollars!!! It's funny because everything appears so cheap for us. Yesterday I ate a LARGE Blizzard at DQ (Dairy Queen) and it only costs 45 baht ($1.15) and we went to watch a movie STARDUST (Which by the way is wierd but surprisingly really good) and it was only 80 baht which is about $2.10! The wierdest thing that they do here, is stand up for the national anthem before the movie starts with a slide show of the King/Majesty. I'm glad I read about having to do that because maybe people would have spit on us or kick us out of the theatre if we didn't stand up. Seems like people are really respectful of the royals. I feel like starting a revolution and tell people to wake up! That the Majesty is living large while the vast majority of the people in Thailand are dirt poor and having to pimp their young daughters to make ends meet!
After dinner we went out for "desert".... 3 inch COCHROACHES! It was actually my stupid idea so I was unable to back out of it once we got to the BUGS stand. There were several type of bugs for sale. The cochroaches were the "best" tasting but the worst smell. So I was advised not to smell the cochroach, and to just dig in. My stomach was mad turning but I never back out of a challenge and of course I wanted to do something daring and different for my birthday. This year's theme is CHANGE. So I want to get out of my comfort zone and JUST DO IT! So maybe perhaps I will get over my fear of bungy jumping and my fear of SNAKES! Hmmmmm, not sure if I will get over the snakes so fast but you never know!
Then Reena and I walked around "WALKING ST" which is the red light district. We were advised not to go out after dark but there were so many families out in the street and it is my birthday so we went out for a few drinks. We did a lot of people watching. We saw so many Ladyboys out and about. We have this game where we try to guess the gender of certain people. Reena is afraid of the trannies but I think they are harmless. They wouldn't mess with us unless we try to steal their man which will NEVER happen so we are definetly safe! We drank at some hip hop lounge and enjoyed the music from our chair as we are advised not to get up and dance or we may lure the wrong type of people. Reena and I had a few laughs as we saw so many tourists with their kids walking not knowing what "WALKING ST" really is and what it is about. I can just imagine how traumatized some of the kids may be seeing so many Ladyboys and half naked women walking around or dancing by poles. Even though the music was great, the lounge was nice, the drinks were gggrreeeaaaattttt, the vibe was not right. Seeing little 5 year old kids exposed and working the streets really dampens the mood and slaps you in the face real hard that this is life and the government is letting this happen. I don't understand why this has been going on for too long now.
So you can see why I am up and down...it's like you try to have a good time but it is hard when so many bad things are happening everywhere you look. It's like the only time I can be happy is when I am in my oven of a room! Where I don't see the elderly and children begging for money, where I don't see UFOs with young women, where I don't see the disabled selling items for pennies, where I don't see funny looking stray dogs wandering the streets looking at people in hopes someone will throw scrap food at them. It's pretty sad when all you want to do is sit in a room as hot as an oven when you are mere minutes from a beautiful beach (which is actually spoiled by all the young prostitutes lined up awaiting for their UFO to tap them on their shoulder and lead them to their hoe-tel rooms!).
On an end note, I have another question to ask...Is it really bad to sleep topless on a SEPERATE BED next to your best friend? (Keep in mind we are sleeping in an oven!)
So today was my birthday and it started off really sad. Chiang Rai was in the agenda but it changed. I think because of the dangers going on in Burma/Myanmar! I feel like I am on an emotional roller coaster... It's like I am constantly UP & DOWN, BACK & FORTH! One moment I feel like I can conquer the world, the next I feel so helpless :'( This morning over breakfast which consisted of warm left over lemon green tea, chocolate almonds and wasabi peas (yes it is an odd and gross combination but that is all I had to eat) Reena and I were having a chat with Wanna/Juanna (not sure of the spelling of her name). She works at OpenAid and was a former prostitute. She really opened up fast and told us a quick version of her life story. I was in tears within minutes and when Reena told her it was my birthday she apologized for making it a Unhappy Birthday. I told her it was ok. I felt bad because she then asked us our story and I was like....well I actually don't have a story. My stories consists of stupidity and immaturity. To some things up, Wanna/Juanna was raped as a child when she was 7 years old by a family member or friend and she lost both her parents. She was saved when she was married however her husband physically abused her. When she got pregnant he promised not to hit her anymore and all was fine until her baby was about 1.5 years old and the abuse started again. She ran away from her husband with her baby daughter to Bangkok with nothing but 1,000 baht which is about $40. She wasn't able to find a job even though she was able to speak English because she did not work for 10 years. While she was married she was a stay at home wife. The only place she could think of going was here in Pattaya because she heard many tourists come here and figured she can use her English skills to get a job. Unfortunately, the only job that was available was to be a prostitute. She hated doing what she did but it was the only way she can feed her baby. So in response to the ones who asked, "Why not help the needy at home first before we tackle the international issues?" Well, the homeless people back home have many organizations and government programs to help the needy, whereas here in Thailand there is absolutely no one but the "kindness" of tourists.
So after that intense morning, I decided to gather my thoughts and relax poolside. The weather was hot but unfortunately we had sunny and cloudy breaks. So even though Reena and Ratanna say I am black, I feel I am not tanned enough! I wanted to swim so bad but the damn UFOs (UGLY FAT OLD) MEN were starring and I felt so violated. Many of the nasty men here are surprisingly not American, they are mostly from Germany or Finland. I feel like telling them to lose weight, fix and clean themselves up so they wouldn't have to pay for a girl to love them. Okay sorry if I've offended some big fellas....I am not saying it is bad to be big and that it is gross to be big! I'm just saying that the ones here are gross only because their sole intent is to pay for some good lovin' coz they can't get any back home! Also, it bothers me that they walk around like their big shit because they are sooooooooooooo not!
So after my day at the pool I decided to take a nap. It is sooooo hot that all I want to do is sleep! It's so bad! Then Justin, Ratanna, Reena and I went for dinner. We ate at our favorite Thai restaurant where I was finally reunited with my garlic chicken! Mmmmmmm, too good!!!! So we ate like kings and queens....had 7 dishes of chicken and seafood and it only costs 450 baht! Like $10 dollars!!! It's funny because everything appears so cheap for us. Yesterday I ate a LARGE Blizzard at DQ (Dairy Queen) and it only costs 45 baht ($1.15) and we went to watch a movie STARDUST (Which by the way is wierd but surprisingly really good) and it was only 80 baht which is about $2.10! The wierdest thing that they do here, is stand up for the national anthem before the movie starts with a slide show of the King/Majesty. I'm glad I read about having to do that because maybe people would have spit on us or kick us out of the theatre if we didn't stand up. Seems like people are really respectful of the royals. I feel like starting a revolution and tell people to wake up! That the Majesty is living large while the vast majority of the people in Thailand are dirt poor and having to pimp their young daughters to make ends meet!
After dinner we went out for "desert".... 3 inch COCHROACHES! It was actually my stupid idea so I was unable to back out of it once we got to the BUGS stand. There were several type of bugs for sale. The cochroaches were the "best" tasting but the worst smell. So I was advised not to smell the cochroach, and to just dig in. My stomach was mad turning but I never back out of a challenge and of course I wanted to do something daring and different for my birthday. This year's theme is CHANGE. So I want to get out of my comfort zone and JUST DO IT! So maybe perhaps I will get over my fear of bungy jumping and my fear of SNAKES! Hmmmmm, not sure if I will get over the snakes so fast but you never know!
Then Reena and I walked around "WALKING ST" which is the red light district. We were advised not to go out after dark but there were so many families out in the street and it is my birthday so we went out for a few drinks. We did a lot of people watching. We saw so many Ladyboys out and about. We have this game where we try to guess the gender of certain people. Reena is afraid of the trannies but I think they are harmless. They wouldn't mess with us unless we try to steal their man which will NEVER happen so we are definetly safe! We drank at some hip hop lounge and enjoyed the music from our chair as we are advised not to get up and dance or we may lure the wrong type of people. Reena and I had a few laughs as we saw so many tourists with their kids walking not knowing what "WALKING ST" really is and what it is about. I can just imagine how traumatized some of the kids may be seeing so many Ladyboys and half naked women walking around or dancing by poles. Even though the music was great, the lounge was nice, the drinks were gggrreeeaaaattttt, the vibe was not right. Seeing little 5 year old kids exposed and working the streets really dampens the mood and slaps you in the face real hard that this is life and the government is letting this happen. I don't understand why this has been going on for too long now.
So you can see why I am up and down...it's like you try to have a good time but it is hard when so many bad things are happening everywhere you look. It's like the only time I can be happy is when I am in my oven of a room! Where I don't see the elderly and children begging for money, where I don't see UFOs with young women, where I don't see the disabled selling items for pennies, where I don't see funny looking stray dogs wandering the streets looking at people in hopes someone will throw scrap food at them. It's pretty sad when all you want to do is sit in a room as hot as an oven when you are mere minutes from a beautiful beach (which is actually spoiled by all the young prostitutes lined up awaiting for their UFO to tap them on their shoulder and lead them to their hoe-tel rooms!).
On an end note, I have another question to ask...Is it really bad to sleep topless on a SEPERATE BED next to your best friend? (Keep in mind we are sleeping in an oven!)
October 07, 2007
No A/C, 1 Meal for the Day & 18 hours of sleep
Song for the day : Switchfoot "Only Hope"
After a really traumatizing first day, I had a lot of time to reflect and think about a lot of things that is going on in my head. I think the heat is really causing me to be disoriented and unable to function. We don't have A/C and it is over 35 degrees here! I was lying down in my bed sprawled out on my back just starring up at the ceilling and I can feel sweat dripping all over my body. There really is no point to shower because as soon as you step out of the shower, your sweating. I guess the only point in taking a shower is to get rid of your smell. The other night Reena and I were at the computers checking our emails and I was like 'Dang what's that smell???? Then we came to a conclusion that it was me! I never thought I would smell so bad like this....EVER! I like to think the reason why I smelled bad was because I was straddling the scooter taxi man. He was all sweaty and his back was gross. As much as I would like to not touch him and straddle his back, I have to unless I want to fall off the scooter and die! Despite my nasty odour and our ill communication I was still able to receive a marriage proposal from Ong Bok 2. I said he should marry a Thai woman because there are so many pretty ones here and he said that the Thai women don't like Thai men!
Yesterday was a really chill and non productive day. We went to the mall around noon where Reena and I seperated. She had to meet up with Justin to discuss "business" so I went to explore the mall by myself. EVERYTHING is sooooo cheap. You can buy nice laptops for only $400. Really nice, small ones that you do not see in Canada. I wanted to buy one but the keyboard and the operating system was in Thai. They had a Dunkin Donuts and you can buy a donut and coffee for 49 Baht which is about $1.10 and I bought 3 scoops of gelatto for 79 baht...that was a bit of a splurge. A lot of the store clerks thought I was Thai so when they speak to me and I was like "HUH?!" they were like Your not Thai? and I said No. Many think I am Thai so Justin said it is a good thing because we blend in so we won't be prime targets for muggings. We do dress differently and our mannerism is different so they can tell we are not from around the area but as long as we don't talk too loud they won't bother us. I bought this cute Lacoste tshirt for $3 and Reena said it is fake. I thought it was real because they have the tags and everything but Reena claims they make the tags down to the T as well. If they are real they are most likely stolen.
Around 3pm we hooked up and ate at this restaurant where I decided to go all out! I ate Duck with rice and dim sum and 3 glasses of Orange Fanta. The meal was $2. It's a good thing we splurged because that was our one and only meal for the day. I knew it was cheap in Thailand but I didn't think it was THIS cheap. I guess there is an upside to this place. What I hate about going all out with food, is that I feel bad because I see so many poor people and little kids on the street. When I was sitting on a bench enjoying my gelatto, there was this little girl who was about 5 years old who was watching me eat. It made me feel guilty. Her clothes and face were dirty and she was sitting down watching her mother while she worked handing out flyers to people who rudely pushed the flyers away. I was like can't they just take the damn flyer and throw it out later? I noticed a mafia looking man across the street watching. I think maybe it is the woman's boss watching to see if she really is handing out the flyers to people. I wanted to drop some money beside the little girl, but I was thinking if I do, the maffia man might just take it from her. I wanted to go back in the mall and buy chocolate and a cold drink for the girl but I had to leave and meet up with Reena.
It started to rain like crazy and I freaked out because the rain was so strong that it made a really loud and thunderous sound, like someone breaking in! I never knew it could rain so hard like that. Supposedly it is monsoon season where rains are really heavy. Luckily for us we don't get hit as much and if we do it is only for a short time. I felt like running out to cool off but was too damn lazy to move. I decided to take a nap as soon as we got home around 4pm, as we were going to have a long night at the Market and Beach Road to befriend some hookers. For Reena's volunteer gig she has to try to befriend hookers so she can eventually get them off the streets.
My little nap turned into a really long sleep as I woke up around midnight to the sounds of our neighbor having sex with some Australian man. It's like we go to bed hearing it and wake up hearing it. Reena said in a way it is gross what these foreign men are doing but in a way it is good because they are providing money to the women to support their famillies. I know it is the way of life here in Pattaya and I guess it is quick and easy money, but I am still against it and think it is so wrong.
On Monday we may go to Chiang Rai for a few days to visit the slums and meet up with some of the poorest people in Thailand. It would be nice to see and help many of them there. It is 12 hours North of Pattaya by car/bus. It'll be my birthday so it'll be nice to actually give to others for a change rather than to receive! To all my bratty cousins...you should really think about that rather than always think of yourselves! I really do hope you come here one day....hopefully ASAP so you can appreciate all the things you have and what your parents do for you! I am still bothered by the time I was talking about how Christmas is now too commercial and all people think about are gifts, gifts and more gifts that we forget about the real meaning of Christmas and how it should be about celebrating the birth of Christ. You guys replied by saying it was all POOR PEOPLE TALK! I don't mean to sound preachy or mean but for real, you don't know how lucky you are.
So I have a little dilemma regarding Chiang Rai. It's like stay in Pattaya and be alone for my birthday in a snake free area or go to Chiang Rai with Reena, Justin and Ratahna and be face to face with my BIGGEST fear ever...SNAKES! I have a really bad phobia of snakes and worms. I am sure all who know me well can attest that my fear is beyond normal. My sister would have to give me piggy back rides to the bus stop up until we were in highschool because I was afraid of the worms on the street! I can't even go through the IKEA children's section alone because of those damn plush snakes. Just thinking about snakes give me the shivers and I feel short of breath! I should have gone to Hypnotherapy before coming here! So now I am not sure what to do. Being alone on my birthday would be rather depressing but the thought of being surrounded by snakes is making me panic right now! So with that all said and done, I think I am going to turn to my 30 cent ice cream to calm down.
After a really traumatizing first day, I had a lot of time to reflect and think about a lot of things that is going on in my head. I think the heat is really causing me to be disoriented and unable to function. We don't have A/C and it is over 35 degrees here! I was lying down in my bed sprawled out on my back just starring up at the ceilling and I can feel sweat dripping all over my body. There really is no point to shower because as soon as you step out of the shower, your sweating. I guess the only point in taking a shower is to get rid of your smell. The other night Reena and I were at the computers checking our emails and I was like 'Dang what's that smell???? Then we came to a conclusion that it was me! I never thought I would smell so bad like this....EVER! I like to think the reason why I smelled bad was because I was straddling the scooter taxi man. He was all sweaty and his back was gross. As much as I would like to not touch him and straddle his back, I have to unless I want to fall off the scooter and die! Despite my nasty odour and our ill communication I was still able to receive a marriage proposal from Ong Bok 2. I said he should marry a Thai woman because there are so many pretty ones here and he said that the Thai women don't like Thai men!
Yesterday was a really chill and non productive day. We went to the mall around noon where Reena and I seperated. She had to meet up with Justin to discuss "business" so I went to explore the mall by myself. EVERYTHING is sooooo cheap. You can buy nice laptops for only $400. Really nice, small ones that you do not see in Canada. I wanted to buy one but the keyboard and the operating system was in Thai. They had a Dunkin Donuts and you can buy a donut and coffee for 49 Baht which is about $1.10 and I bought 3 scoops of gelatto for 79 baht...that was a bit of a splurge. A lot of the store clerks thought I was Thai so when they speak to me and I was like "HUH?!" they were like Your not Thai? and I said No. Many think I am Thai so Justin said it is a good thing because we blend in so we won't be prime targets for muggings. We do dress differently and our mannerism is different so they can tell we are not from around the area but as long as we don't talk too loud they won't bother us. I bought this cute Lacoste tshirt for $3 and Reena said it is fake. I thought it was real because they have the tags and everything but Reena claims they make the tags down to the T as well. If they are real they are most likely stolen.
Around 3pm we hooked up and ate at this restaurant where I decided to go all out! I ate Duck with rice and dim sum and 3 glasses of Orange Fanta. The meal was $2. It's a good thing we splurged because that was our one and only meal for the day. I knew it was cheap in Thailand but I didn't think it was THIS cheap. I guess there is an upside to this place. What I hate about going all out with food, is that I feel bad because I see so many poor people and little kids on the street. When I was sitting on a bench enjoying my gelatto, there was this little girl who was about 5 years old who was watching me eat. It made me feel guilty. Her clothes and face were dirty and she was sitting down watching her mother while she worked handing out flyers to people who rudely pushed the flyers away. I was like can't they just take the damn flyer and throw it out later? I noticed a mafia looking man across the street watching. I think maybe it is the woman's boss watching to see if she really is handing out the flyers to people. I wanted to drop some money beside the little girl, but I was thinking if I do, the maffia man might just take it from her. I wanted to go back in the mall and buy chocolate and a cold drink for the girl but I had to leave and meet up with Reena.
It started to rain like crazy and I freaked out because the rain was so strong that it made a really loud and thunderous sound, like someone breaking in! I never knew it could rain so hard like that. Supposedly it is monsoon season where rains are really heavy. Luckily for us we don't get hit as much and if we do it is only for a short time. I felt like running out to cool off but was too damn lazy to move. I decided to take a nap as soon as we got home around 4pm, as we were going to have a long night at the Market and Beach Road to befriend some hookers. For Reena's volunteer gig she has to try to befriend hookers so she can eventually get them off the streets.
My little nap turned into a really long sleep as I woke up around midnight to the sounds of our neighbor having sex with some Australian man. It's like we go to bed hearing it and wake up hearing it. Reena said in a way it is gross what these foreign men are doing but in a way it is good because they are providing money to the women to support their famillies. I know it is the way of life here in Pattaya and I guess it is quick and easy money, but I am still against it and think it is so wrong.
On Monday we may go to Chiang Rai for a few days to visit the slums and meet up with some of the poorest people in Thailand. It would be nice to see and help many of them there. It is 12 hours North of Pattaya by car/bus. It'll be my birthday so it'll be nice to actually give to others for a change rather than to receive! To all my bratty cousins...you should really think about that rather than always think of yourselves! I really do hope you come here one day....hopefully ASAP so you can appreciate all the things you have and what your parents do for you! I am still bothered by the time I was talking about how Christmas is now too commercial and all people think about are gifts, gifts and more gifts that we forget about the real meaning of Christmas and how it should be about celebrating the birth of Christ. You guys replied by saying it was all POOR PEOPLE TALK! I don't mean to sound preachy or mean but for real, you don't know how lucky you are.
So I have a little dilemma regarding Chiang Rai. It's like stay in Pattaya and be alone for my birthday in a snake free area or go to Chiang Rai with Reena, Justin and Ratahna and be face to face with my BIGGEST fear ever...SNAKES! I have a really bad phobia of snakes and worms. I am sure all who know me well can attest that my fear is beyond normal. My sister would have to give me piggy back rides to the bus stop up until we were in highschool because I was afraid of the worms on the street! I can't even go through the IKEA children's section alone because of those damn plush snakes. Just thinking about snakes give me the shivers and I feel short of breath! I should have gone to Hypnotherapy before coming here! So now I am not sure what to do. Being alone on my birthday would be rather depressing but the thought of being surrounded by snakes is making me panic right now! So with that all said and done, I think I am going to turn to my 30 cent ice cream to calm down.
October 05, 2007
Learning to Breathe...
Song for the day : Fat Boy Slim "Right Here, Right Now"
I don't even know where to begin with my extremely loooooonnng and overwhelming first day / 2nd night in Thailand.....
The morning was hot, muggy and rainy and we had a hardtime lugging all our stuff to our taxi...We each have a huge backpacker style backpack and a duffle bag. I really think we overpacked! I so wanted to pack to the minimum but it was madness the night before departure and I just threw everything in my bag...I do plan to donate my duffle bag of clothes to needy folks! But anyways, I opened the balcony doors this morning to check the temperature and I got this nasty whiff of something extremely NASTY! I can't even describe the smell because it was just sooooooo bad. To this moment I am not sure if I will ever get used to the smell....
Before I continue I just want to share an extremely nasty story that happend last night. There was a lot of screaming in our room and I am sure our neighbors despised us! I wanted to take a shower before hitting the hay, so I grabbed a towel that was neatly folded at the corner of a table. So I grab the towel and guess what was underneath the towel???? A dead lizard that must have been dead for several days now. It was the nastiest thing ever! Speaking of nasty... I just want to know if you think it is ok/normal to sleep in your underwear next to your best friend? I would really love to hear feedback about that!
So we get to the bus stop totally hungry as Ong Bok did not understand us when we asked if breakfast was being served at the hotel. Our eyes lit up when we saw the 7-Eleven. We took turns watching the duffel bags and backpacks as the store seemed tight inside. So I go first and was totally loving that EVERYTHING there was sooooooo cheap! I bought a bottle of apple green tea, apple Mentos, a little box of Oreo waffer sticks, a box of chocolate almonds, 6 pieces of shrimp dim sum and a big glass of cold ice coffee and guess how much all that costs? 160 Baht which is equivalent to $4!!!! Reena and I got so exited that we figure we will never ever have to cook! So after that I learned :
Lesson number 1....NEVER DRINK ANYTHING COLD THAT IS UNBOTTLED. I don't mean to CHER-A-LOT but that yummy delicious cold coffee gave me the case of explosive and nasty.....You know the expression I HAD TO DROP THE KIDS OFF AT THE POOL??? Well after that cold coffee I HAD TO DROP OFF ALL THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN OF THE GTA OFF AT THE POOL! Yeah....HORRIBLE AND BAD! What's worse is that they did not have TOILET PAPER!
Lesson number 2....the hoses next to the toilets are to clean yourself off as they do not have toilet paper in most bathrooms. So be sure to bring your own toilet paper!!! I was able to hose myself down but I did not have anything to dry myself off! I am sorry to go into detail but I want you to share the nastiness I am going through.....
Being a tourist and all, everything seems amazing and new and as an Asian I was a little too camera crazed. I whipped out my digi cam and snapped photos and whipped out my video camera to video tape the scene and to tape my 2nd video testimonial. That drew attention to a really shady man who kept following us and trying to sit close to us! Once our bus came we had to make a mad dash for the bus so he wouldn't follow us!
Lesson number 3.... Try not to look like you have money as this is a poor country and people will do anything for money or valuables to gain money!
So after our gruelling 2 hour bus ride....although the scenery was beautiful and interesting the roads were mad bumpy. But it wasn't the gravel road type of bumpy it was like little bumpy deep drops as if you are on a roller coaster. I really do not fare too well with roller coasters...I avoid them at all costs! I did however ride a few after being coerced but the end result was really not too pretty! The stench, the heat and the cold coffee did not make for a pleasant ride especially with them bumps!
So we get to Pattaya and met up with Justin the OpenAid founder/cordinator and he took us to the office. Shortly after talking and meeting with one of the Thai workers named Ratahna (She used to be a former teen prositute but turned her life around because of OpenAid and is now working to get other Thai women/children off the streets) we hopped on scooters to take a tour of the city. Reena behind Justin and I behind Ratahna. Pattaya is a lot bigger than I thought and really nice despite the stench. We drove around the city and went to the beach. The beach was amazing but we have to pay to go there! This is now around 2-3pm in the afternoon and we ride down a little street that was lined up and filled with young female sex trade workers and "LADYBOYS". In other words Trannies (Transvestites)....
Lesson number 4 (EXTRA IMPORTANT FOR THE MEN) All extremely beautiful women in Thailand are men. I hate to disappoint you but the Ladyboys go all out and look very nice. So before you try to get with a nice looking girl....make sure there is no package! Most of them have boob jobs as it only costs 12,000 Baht ($300) for a nice set of girls! Removing the package costs way more, so most of them still have it!
It was really disturbing seeing all these old, jelly bellied, white men with young beautiful Thai girls. I don't mean to knock interacial couples, but when you see a 60 year old man with a 14 year old girl...I'm sorry but that is in no way LOVE at all. It's pedophillia and sadly enough it is common and you see it EVERYWHERE! Justin told us that Pornography is a major no no in Thailand but prostitution is ok. I felt sad for the girls....really sad. They shouldn't be sleeping around, they should be enjoying their youth. I used to be ashamed that I used to play chess and hide and go seek in the dark with my sister, LENNY & ALEX up until I was 17 years old but you know what? That is way better and cooler than sexercising with nasty old men. As you can see I am so disturbed and upset by what I saw.
So after our scooter tour, Justin and Ratahna ditched us to explore the "village" ourselves...So we walked around and started apartment hunting as we did not realize there was no Volunteer Housing! We saw a few that were ok but the fact that it was not secured got us nerveous. As a female tourist, you never know! As Justin said, DO NOT TRUST 98% of the Thai people! To cheer myself up we stopped at a 7-Eleven where I bought this amazing chocolate ice cream popsicle for only 12 Baht! That is like 30 cents! Again my spirits lifted up.... As Reena said, It does not take much to make me happy! It soooooo doesn't especially when it comes to ICE CREAM! :)
We finally made our way back to the office where we wanted to take a nap sooooooo bad, but Justin and Ratahna took us our for dinner. We went back to the city to eat...I was a bit hesitant as I do not handle spicy food too well, but our meal was AMAZING! I LOVE THAI FOOD! It tasted so fresh and so good. I had this amazing garlic chicken dish with rice and it was only 30 baht! I was like, did I see that right??? Because 30 baht is only about $1! With rent averaging $100 and meals at $1 you can live like royals for only $200 a month!
After dinner Justin said we should take a walk outside to see the night life. We were warned about going out after dark but we felt we were in good hands and of course we were, except for the fact that Justin took us out to 3 "Go-go" bars and 2 Strip joints! He wanted us to see the reality of what goes on at night. The Go-go bars were nasty because it was a place where foreign men go to meet Thai women for sex. It was gross especially since some thought Reena and I were sex trade workers! We weren't even dressed up at all! I was wearing jean shorts and a pink tshirt with flip flops! As we were there, I saw an old lady selling little toys for pennies. It really broke my heart and I started crying at the bar. It bothered me because I can't imagine letting my grandmother do that! How can anyone let their mother/grandmother go out in the night filled with drunk, sex crazed foreigners trying to earn a few pennies? I was so upset and I still am. It made me even more discouraged and hate being here!
To make things worse, Justin then took us to 2 strip joints! I felt so wierd being there and did not know what to do with myself. It's like you look around and you see nasty men drooling over these young girls, and you look up and you see titties bouncing up and down. I am so shocked at the behavior of these men! Don't they have daughters or grandchildren???? How would they feel if old men are starring at them with the most unpure thoughts? To hear about this is one thing but to actually see it... I'm so overwhelmed and speechless.
So we started talking to a few of these women as they are friends with Justin and Ratahna and a lot of them are only 19 years old. They are really nice and friendly and totally normal...until you look down and see their boobs. So when I talk to the girls I only look from the neck up! Supposedly there is a popular Indonesian pop singer that looks like me. All of the strippers said I do! None of them know her name (Geez what good are they for?! Just kidding!) so it is a mission of mine to find the name of the singer, so I can pretend I am her for some free stuff! And I am totally not kidding about that!
So that was my day in a nutshell.... I feel so speechless and in over my head. So far I am not liking Thailand. I really do not like the morale here. I know I am here to make a difference and I should stay but I don't know anymore. I feel so confused :'(
I don't even know where to begin with my extremely loooooonnng and overwhelming first day / 2nd night in Thailand.....
The morning was hot, muggy and rainy and we had a hardtime lugging all our stuff to our taxi...We each have a huge backpacker style backpack and a duffle bag. I really think we overpacked! I so wanted to pack to the minimum but it was madness the night before departure and I just threw everything in my bag...I do plan to donate my duffle bag of clothes to needy folks! But anyways, I opened the balcony doors this morning to check the temperature and I got this nasty whiff of something extremely NASTY! I can't even describe the smell because it was just sooooooo bad. To this moment I am not sure if I will ever get used to the smell....
Before I continue I just want to share an extremely nasty story that happend last night. There was a lot of screaming in our room and I am sure our neighbors despised us! I wanted to take a shower before hitting the hay, so I grabbed a towel that was neatly folded at the corner of a table. So I grab the towel and guess what was underneath the towel???? A dead lizard that must have been dead for several days now. It was the nastiest thing ever! Speaking of nasty... I just want to know if you think it is ok/normal to sleep in your underwear next to your best friend? I would really love to hear feedback about that!
So we get to the bus stop totally hungry as Ong Bok did not understand us when we asked if breakfast was being served at the hotel. Our eyes lit up when we saw the 7-Eleven. We took turns watching the duffel bags and backpacks as the store seemed tight inside. So I go first and was totally loving that EVERYTHING there was sooooooo cheap! I bought a bottle of apple green tea, apple Mentos, a little box of Oreo waffer sticks, a box of chocolate almonds, 6 pieces of shrimp dim sum and a big glass of cold ice coffee and guess how much all that costs? 160 Baht which is equivalent to $4!!!! Reena and I got so exited that we figure we will never ever have to cook! So after that I learned :
Lesson number 1....NEVER DRINK ANYTHING COLD THAT IS UNBOTTLED. I don't mean to CHER-A-LOT but that yummy delicious cold coffee gave me the case of explosive and nasty.....You know the expression I HAD TO DROP THE KIDS OFF AT THE POOL??? Well after that cold coffee I HAD TO DROP OFF ALL THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN OF THE GTA OFF AT THE POOL! Yeah....HORRIBLE AND BAD! What's worse is that they did not have TOILET PAPER!
Lesson number 2....the hoses next to the toilets are to clean yourself off as they do not have toilet paper in most bathrooms. So be sure to bring your own toilet paper!!! I was able to hose myself down but I did not have anything to dry myself off! I am sorry to go into detail but I want you to share the nastiness I am going through.....
Being a tourist and all, everything seems amazing and new and as an Asian I was a little too camera crazed. I whipped out my digi cam and snapped photos and whipped out my video camera to video tape the scene and to tape my 2nd video testimonial. That drew attention to a really shady man who kept following us and trying to sit close to us! Once our bus came we had to make a mad dash for the bus so he wouldn't follow us!
Lesson number 3.... Try not to look like you have money as this is a poor country and people will do anything for money or valuables to gain money!
So after our gruelling 2 hour bus ride....although the scenery was beautiful and interesting the roads were mad bumpy. But it wasn't the gravel road type of bumpy it was like little bumpy deep drops as if you are on a roller coaster. I really do not fare too well with roller coasters...I avoid them at all costs! I did however ride a few after being coerced but the end result was really not too pretty! The stench, the heat and the cold coffee did not make for a pleasant ride especially with them bumps!
So we get to Pattaya and met up with Justin the OpenAid founder/cordinator and he took us to the office. Shortly after talking and meeting with one of the Thai workers named Ratahna (She used to be a former teen prositute but turned her life around because of OpenAid and is now working to get other Thai women/children off the streets) we hopped on scooters to take a tour of the city. Reena behind Justin and I behind Ratahna. Pattaya is a lot bigger than I thought and really nice despite the stench. We drove around the city and went to the beach. The beach was amazing but we have to pay to go there! This is now around 2-3pm in the afternoon and we ride down a little street that was lined up and filled with young female sex trade workers and "LADYBOYS". In other words Trannies (Transvestites)....
Lesson number 4 (EXTRA IMPORTANT FOR THE MEN) All extremely beautiful women in Thailand are men. I hate to disappoint you but the Ladyboys go all out and look very nice. So before you try to get with a nice looking girl....make sure there is no package! Most of them have boob jobs as it only costs 12,000 Baht ($300) for a nice set of girls! Removing the package costs way more, so most of them still have it!
It was really disturbing seeing all these old, jelly bellied, white men with young beautiful Thai girls. I don't mean to knock interacial couples, but when you see a 60 year old man with a 14 year old girl...I'm sorry but that is in no way LOVE at all. It's pedophillia and sadly enough it is common and you see it EVERYWHERE! Justin told us that Pornography is a major no no in Thailand but prostitution is ok. I felt sad for the girls....really sad. They shouldn't be sleeping around, they should be enjoying their youth. I used to be ashamed that I used to play chess and hide and go seek in the dark with my sister, LENNY & ALEX up until I was 17 years old but you know what? That is way better and cooler than sexercising with nasty old men. As you can see I am so disturbed and upset by what I saw.
So after our scooter tour, Justin and Ratahna ditched us to explore the "village" ourselves...So we walked around and started apartment hunting as we did not realize there was no Volunteer Housing! We saw a few that were ok but the fact that it was not secured got us nerveous. As a female tourist, you never know! As Justin said, DO NOT TRUST 98% of the Thai people! To cheer myself up we stopped at a 7-Eleven where I bought this amazing chocolate ice cream popsicle for only 12 Baht! That is like 30 cents! Again my spirits lifted up.... As Reena said, It does not take much to make me happy! It soooooo doesn't especially when it comes to ICE CREAM! :)
We finally made our way back to the office where we wanted to take a nap sooooooo bad, but Justin and Ratahna took us our for dinner. We went back to the city to eat...I was a bit hesitant as I do not handle spicy food too well, but our meal was AMAZING! I LOVE THAI FOOD! It tasted so fresh and so good. I had this amazing garlic chicken dish with rice and it was only 30 baht! I was like, did I see that right??? Because 30 baht is only about $1! With rent averaging $100 and meals at $1 you can live like royals for only $200 a month!
After dinner Justin said we should take a walk outside to see the night life. We were warned about going out after dark but we felt we were in good hands and of course we were, except for the fact that Justin took us out to 3 "Go-go" bars and 2 Strip joints! He wanted us to see the reality of what goes on at night. The Go-go bars were nasty because it was a place where foreign men go to meet Thai women for sex. It was gross especially since some thought Reena and I were sex trade workers! We weren't even dressed up at all! I was wearing jean shorts and a pink tshirt with flip flops! As we were there, I saw an old lady selling little toys for pennies. It really broke my heart and I started crying at the bar. It bothered me because I can't imagine letting my grandmother do that! How can anyone let their mother/grandmother go out in the night filled with drunk, sex crazed foreigners trying to earn a few pennies? I was so upset and I still am. It made me even more discouraged and hate being here!
To make things worse, Justin then took us to 2 strip joints! I felt so wierd being there and did not know what to do with myself. It's like you look around and you see nasty men drooling over these young girls, and you look up and you see titties bouncing up and down. I am so shocked at the behavior of these men! Don't they have daughters or grandchildren???? How would they feel if old men are starring at them with the most unpure thoughts? To hear about this is one thing but to actually see it... I'm so overwhelmed and speechless.
So we started talking to a few of these women as they are friends with Justin and Ratahna and a lot of them are only 19 years old. They are really nice and friendly and totally normal...until you look down and see their boobs. So when I talk to the girls I only look from the neck up! Supposedly there is a popular Indonesian pop singer that looks like me. All of the strippers said I do! None of them know her name (Geez what good are they for?! Just kidding!) so it is a mission of mine to find the name of the singer, so I can pretend I am her for some free stuff! And I am totally not kidding about that!
So that was my day in a nutshell.... I feel so speechless and in over my head. So far I am not liking Thailand. I really do not like the morale here. I know I am here to make a difference and I should stay but I don't know anymore. I feel so confused :'(
Let The GHETTO times begin!
I am now in Bangkok and immigration went smoothly and so did meeting up with Reena! The airport is huge so I thought meeting up would be an issue. We were advised not to sway into the "friendly" people who step up to "help" us because apparently they would do the opposite! So within 10 minutes of meeting up and sitting down to figure out what we will do, we had 2 guys come up to me trying to "help" us. Reena got mad and told me not to look or smile at them. I couldn't help it! They smiled so I smiled. I have to remember that we are in Thailand and NOT to trust anyone. It's very hard but I have to be tough. When we were in Shanghai 3 years ago I almost got us into trouble numerous times because I was too trusting. I won't even go there because I don't want you all to think I am too gullible or too trusting ; )
We were going to spend our first night at the airport but we were without a shower for 48 hours and we couldn't go further without a shower! We have a 2 hour bus ride to Pattaya tomorrow so we did not want to be any nastier than we already are! Stepping out of the plane was insane because we had to get out on ground level and I felt a sudden gust of hot air as I stepped out! We are looking at 35 degrees celsius tomorrow!!!! I am soooooooooo luvin' it!
We were so clueless with the currency conversion so I gave the cab driver $5 American for our 10 minute cab ride and $1 American tip for carrying our bags to the hotel. I then gave the bell boys $1 American each for carrying our suitcases...We then realized we gave waaaayyyy too much! Our cab ride should have been only 30 cents! No wonder he was so nice to us and offered to pick us up tomorrow to take us to the bus station!!! So Reena said we should be ghetto and NOT pay him tomorrow! Hmmmm, not sure about that! LOL!
So our hotel is in a really dark and shady area....very quiet and dark. There are also mad bugs eating me alive as I type and there are tiny little, yellow, sticky looking lizards all over the place. I am trying to be brave and not freak out! I am scared one of them will plop on my head. If so the whole hotel will have a rude awakening with all my screams!!! I was complaining about the smell of our room because it smells like heavily sprayed old lady perfume. It seemed like ONG BOK ran up to our room before we entered and went on a spray-fest! Reena was telling me to enjoy it because it will probably be the nicest smelling thing we will be smelling. I stepped outside to video tape our view (Not a nice view at all....it is the back of a really crusty 2 level apartment) and I can feel the hot hair and a nasty smell. Not sure what it is...all I know is that I am scared for what's ahead as I am sensitive to smells.
With that all said and done....I hope I can handle the GHETTO times ahead!
We were going to spend our first night at the airport but we were without a shower for 48 hours and we couldn't go further without a shower! We have a 2 hour bus ride to Pattaya tomorrow so we did not want to be any nastier than we already are! Stepping out of the plane was insane because we had to get out on ground level and I felt a sudden gust of hot air as I stepped out! We are looking at 35 degrees celsius tomorrow!!!! I am soooooooooo luvin' it!
We were so clueless with the currency conversion so I gave the cab driver $5 American for our 10 minute cab ride and $1 American tip for carrying our bags to the hotel. I then gave the bell boys $1 American each for carrying our suitcases...We then realized we gave waaaayyyy too much! Our cab ride should have been only 30 cents! No wonder he was so nice to us and offered to pick us up tomorrow to take us to the bus station!!! So Reena said we should be ghetto and NOT pay him tomorrow! Hmmmm, not sure about that! LOL!
So our hotel is in a really dark and shady area....very quiet and dark. There are also mad bugs eating me alive as I type and there are tiny little, yellow, sticky looking lizards all over the place. I am trying to be brave and not freak out! I am scared one of them will plop on my head. If so the whole hotel will have a rude awakening with all my screams!!! I was complaining about the smell of our room because it smells like heavily sprayed old lady perfume. It seemed like ONG BOK ran up to our room before we entered and went on a spray-fest! Reena was telling me to enjoy it because it will probably be the nicest smelling thing we will be smelling. I stepped outside to video tape our view (Not a nice view at all....it is the back of a really crusty 2 level apartment) and I can feel the hot hair and a nasty smell. Not sure what it is...all I know is that I am scared for what's ahead as I am sensitive to smells.
With that all said and done....I hope I can handle the GHETTO times ahead!
October 04, 2007
Enroute to Bangkok and Finally Feeling Good!
My travels started off rather rough.... I had to take it ALL OFF at Pearson this morning and was rudely frisked and strip searched by a rather big woman I like to call Bertha or Bubba! I swear, me and immigration and security are never a good mix! Do I look shady? Why can't I ever go through security smoothly without any delays?!!! I guess they sense my fear and to them fear means that I am guilty of something.
As I was going through security, I kept on beeping. So they made me take my shoes and belt off yet I was still beeping. They couldn't figure out why and neither could I. They used that lil scanner gadget and as they ran it around my southern region and my chest it would beep...so that is when they made me go into a little room where Bertha / Bubba rudely shoved me in this little room and told me to take my clothes off and spread em. I was so scared. The worst was that she was watching as I took my clothes off... at least she was nice enough to let me keep my brazier and knickers on! I felt so violated when she was checking me! We later found out why I was beeping... I won't go into detail there just coz...I like to keep y'all in suspense and wonder why I was beeping : ) I'm mean like that!
So the flight to Frisco was so ghetto! I was enjoying my last Tim Horton's coffee EXTRA LARGE TRIPPLE TRIPPLE so by the time I got on the plane my bladder felt like bursting every 10 minutes or so. I had the window seat and my two tubby neighbors weren't so thrilled with me asking them to move so I can go to the bathroom. I felt bad so for them so for the next 4 hours I held it in as I noticed they had difficulty getting up from the seat. So I slept so I can forget about my need to pittle.
My ride from Frisco to Tokyo was really nice...too nice! The plane was empty so I had the whole row to myself. I slept for 8 of the 10 hours on the way so I missed both meals! By the time I got out I made a mad dash to a little sushi restaurant in Narita. Oh my god did I have an amazing meal. I forgot how good the sushi was here! So now I am waiting for my next flight to Bangkok. Everytime I come to Japan I have a sense of peace. It feels so good to be back here. I have 5 hours to kill so I was feeling a little adventurous and wanted to go out of the airport to tackle the city. It takes about 1.5-2 hours by train to get to the city so that would leave me with an hour to hit the FAMILY MART or LAWSON'S to eat my ice cream, pastries and my favorite drinks. Mmmmmmm, I miss the food soooo much! No wonder I had gained 30 pounds during my 1.5 year stint in Tokyo!!! As adventurous as I am feeling right now...I think it's best to play it safe and just stick around. Knowing my luck things might happen and I have no plastics (debit or credit cards) to save me if anything!
Well, I am out for now...I'm going to make some calls and give shout outs to my Tokyo friends! :)
As I was going through security, I kept on beeping. So they made me take my shoes and belt off yet I was still beeping. They couldn't figure out why and neither could I. They used that lil scanner gadget and as they ran it around my southern region and my chest it would beep...so that is when they made me go into a little room where Bertha / Bubba rudely shoved me in this little room and told me to take my clothes off and spread em. I was so scared. The worst was that she was watching as I took my clothes off... at least she was nice enough to let me keep my brazier and knickers on! I felt so violated when she was checking me! We later found out why I was beeping... I won't go into detail there just coz...I like to keep y'all in suspense and wonder why I was beeping : ) I'm mean like that!
So the flight to Frisco was so ghetto! I was enjoying my last Tim Horton's coffee EXTRA LARGE TRIPPLE TRIPPLE so by the time I got on the plane my bladder felt like bursting every 10 minutes or so. I had the window seat and my two tubby neighbors weren't so thrilled with me asking them to move so I can go to the bathroom. I felt bad so for them so for the next 4 hours I held it in as I noticed they had difficulty getting up from the seat. So I slept so I can forget about my need to pittle.
My ride from Frisco to Tokyo was really nice...too nice! The plane was empty so I had the whole row to myself. I slept for 8 of the 10 hours on the way so I missed both meals! By the time I got out I made a mad dash to a little sushi restaurant in Narita. Oh my god did I have an amazing meal. I forgot how good the sushi was here! So now I am waiting for my next flight to Bangkok. Everytime I come to Japan I have a sense of peace. It feels so good to be back here. I have 5 hours to kill so I was feeling a little adventurous and wanted to go out of the airport to tackle the city. It takes about 1.5-2 hours by train to get to the city so that would leave me with an hour to hit the FAMILY MART or LAWSON'S to eat my ice cream, pastries and my favorite drinks. Mmmmmmm, I miss the food soooo much! No wonder I had gained 30 pounds during my 1.5 year stint in Tokyo!!! As adventurous as I am feeling right now...I think it's best to play it safe and just stick around. Knowing my luck things might happen and I have no plastics (debit or credit cards) to save me if anything!
Well, I am out for now...I'm going to make some calls and give shout outs to my Tokyo friends! :)
October 03, 2007
PRE-DEPARTURE!!!!
I was hoping to write my first blog explaining why I am doing what I am doing...but right now I am finally calming down after a major panic attack! I'm not freaking out because I am scared or anything like that (actually I am a bit scared) ...I am freaking out because I LOST EVERYTHING!!!!!!!
The day started rather smoothly...doing my last minute packing. Then around 4pm, Reena and I stepped out to buy Baht currency, buy travellers cheques and buy memory cards for a our digi cams. We stopped at Subway to buy LUNDIN (Lunch/Dinner) as we did not eat anything ALL day. We get home and I got a little too exited to dig into my SUB and try to finish the 5 litres of ice cream we have to get rid of.
As we were preparing to head out again, I was unable to find my wallet with ALL my cards (Drivers licence, SIN CARD, Credit Cards, CASH!!! Debit Card....EVERYTHING!) in my bag and my DVD case filled with my travellers cheques. We turned our place upside down in a frenzy looking for my wallet and travellers cheques but with no luck! We had to end our search party early because we had to head downtown ASAP to pick up our Criminal Background Check Letters before the office closed.
So I get home and go crazy again...it did not help that I was getting calls left and right...I feel so bad for snapping and cussing out my friends (Sorry dawgz but yall called at the peak of my panic attack!!!) I started to wonder if all the craziness pre-departure is a sign not to go. I've had ill feeling about going for the past 2 weeks and I couldn't pin point the reason why. It made me think of the first time I had wanted to go to Thailand back in December 2003 after my Tokyo stint but I didn't end up going because of this wierd feeling inside telling me not to go. That was the year the Tsunami hit. So although I am thinking I shouldn't go, I am still going because I feel things happen for a reason.
So now I am at my cousins' house because my parents are in town and my aunt decided to throw me a going away party with a few of my aunts and uncles and cousins. I leave for the airport in 4 hours and I am still unpacked! So now I think I am finally going to eat something and get back to the grind. Hopefully the next post will be positive and I hope all this ish I am going through will be worth it.
DAMN WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN TO ME NOW!?????!!! Ok I am going to eat, BREATHE and pack! Peace!
The day started rather smoothly...doing my last minute packing. Then around 4pm, Reena and I stepped out to buy Baht currency, buy travellers cheques and buy memory cards for a our digi cams. We stopped at Subway to buy LUNDIN (Lunch/Dinner) as we did not eat anything ALL day. We get home and I got a little too exited to dig into my SUB and try to finish the 5 litres of ice cream we have to get rid of.
As we were preparing to head out again, I was unable to find my wallet with ALL my cards (Drivers licence, SIN CARD, Credit Cards, CASH!!! Debit Card....EVERYTHING!) in my bag and my DVD case filled with my travellers cheques. We turned our place upside down in a frenzy looking for my wallet and travellers cheques but with no luck! We had to end our search party early because we had to head downtown ASAP to pick up our Criminal Background Check Letters before the office closed.
So I get home and go crazy again...it did not help that I was getting calls left and right...I feel so bad for snapping and cussing out my friends (Sorry dawgz but yall called at the peak of my panic attack!!!) I started to wonder if all the craziness pre-departure is a sign not to go. I've had ill feeling about going for the past 2 weeks and I couldn't pin point the reason why. It made me think of the first time I had wanted to go to Thailand back in December 2003 after my Tokyo stint but I didn't end up going because of this wierd feeling inside telling me not to go. That was the year the Tsunami hit. So although I am thinking I shouldn't go, I am still going because I feel things happen for a reason.
So now I am at my cousins' house because my parents are in town and my aunt decided to throw me a going away party with a few of my aunts and uncles and cousins. I leave for the airport in 4 hours and I am still unpacked! So now I think I am finally going to eat something and get back to the grind. Hopefully the next post will be positive and I hope all this ish I am going through will be worth it.
DAMN WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN TO ME NOW!?????!!! Ok I am going to eat, BREATHE and pack! Peace!
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