Oats and Iron

April 22

Hanging out on Arab Street in Singapore

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Goodbye Jakarta ~ I will be back

April 21

Hanging out with my little cousins at a coffee shop in Phuket, Thailand.

April 20

Meeting in Bandung near Jakarta - good tea here

April 19

Random Ramblings from Singapore Layover

* Flew out of Phuket this morning… I am here in Singapore at the airport en route to JAKARTA, INDONESIA!! Hell yeah. This is going to be an adventure :)
* The day I spent in Seoul was a great first look at that city. The days I spent in Bangkok were nice to UPDATE my city travel skills. I used the Bangkok subway for the first time, got a 5-year monorail pre-paid card, rode the river taxi, took some motorcycle taxis, got an honest massage at a Buddhist temple, went to some nightclubs, shopped at the massive Jatujak market, walked around the Backpacker district… really it was an ACTION-PACKED weekend in Bangkok.
* HOWEVER I got cocky in Bangkok regarding the food that I was eating, I was trying everything and anything and forgot some of the KEY SAFETY RULES regarding street food (and especially dairy and ice). So I got some kind of bug that left me with an upset stomach for a few days.
* Last Sunday morning I cleaned out my email In-Box, caught up on work tasks, then jumped on a plane and flew down to PHUKET - the beach island paradise of Thailand. Met up with my parents that night and my little sister on Monday. Stayed there for a week, just left this morning.
* Last Sunday in Phuket I met a random girl from www.CouchSurfing.com, she let me drive her car around the island!! That was awesome, I have now driven a car in Italy, South Africa, and Thailand… India if you count a moped…
* The rest of last week was spent very low-key, hanging out with my parents who prefer to relax at the resort instead of ADVENTURE through the unexplored. But my sister and I went on a cave kayak trip… which we posted the video yesterday I think.
* Also our family went on a snorkleing trip to Koh Phi Phi, that is where the movie ‘The Beach’ was filmed. We took a speedboat there and had this amazing lunch on this private beach paradise… so cool and great family time. We all love to snorkel.
* While snorkeling I saw some sharks! And sea snakes! And tons of fish and underwater plants.
* Papaya salad (aka som tam? I think?) = AWESOME, so good. My new favorite Thai food.
* Singapore airport has all of these free internet kiosks all over the airport. Seems like a great airport, can’t wait to explore Singapore in a few days.
* Now I have to go!! Off to Jakarta… where there are NO RULES on the roads, BRIBERY is expected, and it is the biggest economy of Southeast Asia. Meetings on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday… wish me luck!

April 18

Sea Kayaking and Cave Exploring in Thailand … went on an adventure with my sister on Thursday

April 16

I also uploaded two videos from my layover in Seoul — Random Clips and Coffeeshop Tour

April 15

via chelsaskees

April 13

Naive Notes on the Bangkok Protests

Thank you to everyone who emailed asking if we are safe :)

As scheduled, I am now down in Phuket, Thailand nestled safely on the beach with my family. I thought I would give some crib notes on the Bangkok protests:

Thailand’s intractable political crisis broadly pits royalists, the military and the urban middle-class against the rural poor loyal to ex-Prime Minister Thaksin.
(source: Financial Times)
Thais do not take western hostages. Other than normal crime or accidents, westerners will almost certainly be safe provided they avoid clashes between protesters and the government. source
“Around 80 percent of BACKPACKER tourists have checked out and more tourists are expected to leave after Songkran,” said the chairman of the Association of Khao San Business Operators. (MOST POPULAR STREET FOR BACKPACKER HOSTELS)
A government minister and medical officers said two people had died, both of them in skirmishes between residents and protesters, many of whom were bussed in from outside the capital.
(source: Financial Times)

In summary,

A lot of poor people from the North are being bussed into Bangkok for these protests. IT IS NOT LOCAL PEOPLE who are protesting. In fact the local Bangkok residents were the ones who killed the two protesters yesterday, not the military.
According to my American friend who has been here for 20+ years, this is the worst he has ever seen the political situation.

All that being said, I would not hesitate to return to Bangkok today. In fact I will be going back in ~12 days to see my tailor for a final fitting on some new slacks and shirts! Haha.

OK ~~ time to hit the pool with the fam. Despite all the news/protests/burning busses… this violence is only in one small neighborhood in downtown Bangkok (around the Prime Minister’s residence).

If you are thinking about coming to Thailand, COME! It’s fine… it’s fine. And there are some GREAT deals on hotels right now :)

April 12

Good Thai Movies

According to Lonely Planet’s Phuket Encounter:

OK Baytong — about a monk who leaves the monastery
Last Life in the Universe — suicidal Japanese man and a Thai woman in Bangkok
Satree Lek (Iron Ladies) — True story about tranny volleyball players

(Not watching movies at the beach - just wanted to write these down for future reference.)