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!