Sydney

Got into Sydney a couple of days ago. After exploring the city for some time, it strangely reminds me of San Francisco. Like San Fran, it's a city by the bay, with a nice diversity of culture... and of course with that comes a variety of delicious foods (we had Spanish seafood the first day, and Middle Eastern tonight). The Australians are really friendly, everyone sort of goes about with a good attitude and a smile. Next Tuesday I will be heading up to Cairns, to see the Great Barrier Reef, I can barely contain my excitment.

Arriving in Sydney, my cousin and aunties picked me up. It's been a quiet a few years since I've seen my cousin, it felt good to catch up and see how he is doing. Today was Chinese New Year, we are entering the year of the rat. For me it's a bit bittersweet being out here. As much as I'm having fun I do miss home, family, and friends... especially during the holiday. It's hard to believe I'm already on the last leg of my trip. Here are some select photos from the last couple of days:

(From the top: View of Sydney from Darling Harbor, Me, Stained glass at the Queen Victoria Building, Jun and Evette at dinner, and apparently Australian spider don't mess around)

Koh Tao to Bangkok and then some

Last couple days in Koh Tao was pretty relaxing and laid back. Noah and I rented a kayak on our last day to kayak around the island. For the most part, this island is not very developed, we often pulled up to some rocky bank and snorkelled with no one around. The trip back seemed to last forever, as we had paddled an hour and half out from where we had to return the kayak. The trip back to Bangkok was pretty straightforward, just a boat and a bus.

After settling into Bangkok, Noah and I went out last night to some local clubs. We went to a hip-hop club (tons of foreigners) at first, where we met some local Thais that were really friendly. They talked us into checking out a local club where all the Thais go after curfew (there is a curfew for most night life in Bangkok, especially those that entertain foreigners). It was a blast to hang out with the locals and see where they go for fun. This also meant that we didn't get back to our hotel until about 4am.

After sleeping about an hour and half, we woke up to see the Super Bowl at a British sports pub. The game was really exciting, the G men and Eli came through big at the end. It was really funny to see the uninterested faces of some of the British guys there when they were watching the game. I guess its like that when I watch soccer. After the game, I slept until 4 in the afternoon.

On a separate note, I'm reading 'East of Eden' by Steinback. I've really been enjoying the read, and I think Steinback has got some great observations (sometimes sinister but always striking a chord) into the human psyche in this piece.

(From the top: Me on the dive boat to Sail rock, funny bathroom sign in Chumphon, Funky club in Bangkok, ridding the Skytrain in Bangkok)

... and the living is easy

Spent the day being beach bums out at shark bay. Rented scooters to get over there again, but this time I was careful to not permanently scar myself (by the way the wound has gotten much uglier with puss and blood). Anyways... can't leave island paradise without a few days of just laying out in the sun, reading a good book, and jumping in the water to cool off. Shark bay is a stretch of beach that is as picturesque as they come. Giant boulders rising out of the sky blue water to mark the bay on both the west and east ends. Across the stretch of fine white sand beach, there are small bushy trees spaced perfectly apart to provide the occasional shelter from the sun. The water is a refreshing 75 - 80 degrees. None of this is too much to ask for on Koh Tao.

As much as I love it here, it is difficult for me to picture myself here for more than a few weeks. Knowing myself, I would probably get bored of the easy island living. I remember reading one of those chain emails about "life explained". From my vague recollection it was about a dialogue between a businessman and a fisherman of some remote fishing village. A long story short, the business man tried to explain to the fisherman how he could make greater profits by expanding his small fishing operation into a conglomerate of many fleets of fishing vessels. To the businessman's suggestions, the fisherman replied with a string of "then whats". The epiphany is suppose to come when the businessman says "then you can retire and live the rest of your life on a small island and just fish all day". I guess the story never made much more sense to me. I can see how to some people fishing all day on a small island may seem like the ideal lifestyle. However, I feel like I need much more from life to be entertained, to quench my thirst to see the world, to have a sense of accomplishment, to connect with people, and just to feel more alive.

The point is that while spending some time at a island resort might be exactly what someone needs sometime, people too often think that it would be all they need... not that an island resort is the worse way to spend one's time. Here are some unrelated photos from the last few days:

Koh Tao

A week and half in an island paradise... I hardly know what to do with myself. Koh Tao has been beautiful so far. It is a tiny island off of the eastern Thailand, completely explorable by bike or moped. The sunset paints a new canvas each day, and the beach is about 50ft from our room. After getting settled in on the first day, we rented scooters to go around the island. We stopped at a bay to go snorkeling for the afternoon. About 500 feet out, we saw three blacktip reef sharks coming in the shallow to feed. It definitely got the adreneline going as they circled us while feeding on smaller fishes. Due to some mishaps with the scooter later in the afternoon, I gave myself a 3rd degree burn on my leg.

This island is amazing in another way. Usually at an island vacation town, prices sky rocket, but not here. I'm spending about $10 on food a day, $3-5 dollars per meal with drinks, and about $2 per beer. Noah and I did our first dives today, Noah is finishing up his cert dives and I'm getting used to the water again after a long hiatus. Very excited to check out some more advanced dives in a day or so.

One of the things, I've really enjoyed on this trip has been the ample time for reading. I used to read a lot for fun, but I've really stopped reading for myself these last couple of years in college. It's been great so far, I feel like I'm getting back in touch with myself out here.





























(From the top: Koh Tao coast line, beach bum dog, sunset from our hotel, Hin Wong bay)

From Siem Reap to Koh Tao

Well, we're leaving Camodia today. It's been a really good experience to see both the ruins and the way the people live. We finished up the day today by doing some of the out of the way ruins, shopping for some souvenirs, and getting an hour long massages for $5 a person (not a bad deal). My brief impression of the Cambodians is that they are extremely friendly to strangers and optimistic about their future despite what has happend to them under the rule of the Khmer rouge.

Koh Tao is the next destination... very excited to do some diving. The journey there should be interesting. It involves a plane to Bangkok, Train to Champong, bus to the pier, and boat to Koh Tao. I'm pretty sure that covers all major transportations. Here are some pictures from Cambodia, more from Koh Tao in a day or so:

Early morning in Siem Reap

Got into Siem Reap (Cambodia) last night and met up with Noah at the airport. It is good to have someone to travel with, especially since Noah has been here before. Our Hotel La Noria is very quaint, and comfortable.

This morning, we got up to see the sunrise at Bayon temple at around 4:20am. We arrived early at the temple at around 5am with another hour of night time left. At this point, we were the only ones there and the place was absolutely dark and secluded. Imagine, coming upon the ruins of an ancient temple in the dead of the night with no one else around. The fluttering of bats and other jungle noises kept pace in the background as we explored the empty temple grounds with a small flash light. It was absolutely an extraordinary experience.

Angkor Wat was the next stop, its sheer size was amazing. The amount of details that is carved on every brick shows the intense amount of effort that it took to construct something like this in the 8th century. At some of the other temples, the struggle between the forest growth and the ruins become more apparent. In certain cases, the bricks and roots are now holding each other up and keepign each other alive.

It was an action packed day today going from 4:20 in the morning to about 7:00 at night. I'm exhausted after trying to upload these pictures:

Next post will be probably form the sandy beaches of Koh Tao!!

Bangkok

Got in to Bangkok last night, and the warm weather was a pleasant change. The taxi from the airport tried to rip me off by not turnign on the meter; luckily I read my lonely planet on the plane and was prepared to only pay the fair price (about 300-350 baht). Did my day in Thailand today by myself, which I must say was really refreshing. The freedom and not having to worry about other people at all is quite liberating.

Visited all the touristy spots today: Grand palace, jade buddha, Wat Arun, Wat Po, Amulet Market. I think my favorite was Wat Po and the jade buddha. Impression of Thailand so far: people are nice and helpful, but at the same time there are a lot of people trying to rip you off as well. Thailand is really cheap, my lunch today was 90 including beers (less than 3 US dollars). I'm pretty beat sitting in this internet Cafe on my way back to my hotel. Meeting up with Noah in Cambodia tomorrow... I'm really excited for Angor Wat and Diving in Koh Tao. Pictures later...

(from top: Chaow Praya River Express, Jade Buddha Temple, Temple in reflection, Wat Pho)