Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Weekend
Fantastic weekend, Stayed at a Muslim fishing village, (damn it what happened to cocktail hour) but the sound of the call to worship in the morning was actually beautiful, melodic and achingly melancholic, much nicer than the tuneless pre-pubescent boys who wail out the call from some mosques I have had the displeasure to sleep in budget accomodation next to.
The tour the next day to James Bond Island and pottering by boat around the limestone Karst cliffs, in and out of mangrove swamps, lunch on the beach and swimming in the Andaman ocean was terrific.
Actually passed on the sea kayak in the end as they won't let you paddle your own canoe (and you all know how I hate anybody else to paddle my canoe)But it was a fabulous weekend if I had more time I would give more details, but flat out with mid-term exams at the moment and a long weekend to plan for, more soon.
Love Nikki Jayne.
The tour the next day to James Bond Island and pottering by boat around the limestone Karst cliffs, in and out of mangrove swamps, lunch on the beach and swimming in the Andaman ocean was terrific.
Actually passed on the sea kayak in the end as they won't let you paddle your own canoe (and you all know how I hate anybody else to paddle my canoe)But it was a fabulous weekend if I had more time I would give more details, but flat out with mid-term exams at the moment and a long weekend to plan for, more soon.
Love Nikki Jayne.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
19th July 2007
Sorry it's been so long cats and kittens, I am in deed still alive just partying too hard, you know how it goes.
Let me start at the beginning, well as I'm sure you all know by now, I have been struggling with the powers that be to restore my passport etc, etc to a level of legitimacy appropriate to my continuing lifestyle here in Thailand.
Phuket immigration really didn't want to know, I turned up there, shiny new virgin passport in hand. I told my tale of woe and the official (who was camp as a row of tents) look very perturbed said "This is very hard for me" and I sat for several hours as he pissed about trying to avoid doing his job. eventually he rang Bangkok then told me he couldn't help me and I would have to go to Bangkok.
So I went to Bangkok, I arrived at the airport and bumped into one of the guys who lives in the same building as I he chatted in my ear at the airport, he chatted on the plane, he chatted on the bus into town, my ears were pleased to get away from him, and then Bangkok happened, I went and stayed at Kevin and Ian's place, we went out we danced we drank we laughed, it was too much fun till too late in the morning it was daylight before bedtime it was rasberry mojitos it was electrolyte drinks before bed, it was Harry Potter and fuzzy days segue into fuzzier nights.
One night Kevin's friend Paul asked me to go and invite an amazonian style Blonde who was sitting alone to our table over, I did, she had a firm handshake a voice pitched several fathoms below feminine and he was a good sport about talking to her all night although she was not exactly what he had in mind when he had first spied her (he did get her phone number though so maybe he did know all along). The evening unfolding around me was one of the funniest events I have ever had the pleasure to be a part of.
So still muzzy I made it to immigration where I rode the emotional roller coaster at first it seemed a simple matter, then they discovered the original paper work for my visa is "missing" they decided they couldn't help me, but I say if you can't help me no-body can so several hours later Suvarnabhum come through for me, a subsequent visa issued at the new airport was traced and the paper work faxed over, they re-issued my visa and it didn't cost me a satang (yay).
I hear you ask. Why don't they just put all these records on one data base that any immigration/border crossing official in the country can access? Ahh you foreigner you, this is Thailand, the "It doesn't matter" attitude can be a real pain in the ass when you are trying to get anything done you just have to learn to live that way or go slowly mad.
When I arrived at the airport (to fly back to Phuket) they took one look at my passport with it's shiny new visa and immediately started chatting, talking and laughing, I was their long lost friend, they issued me with a new multiple entry visa on the spot, there was smiling and wai-ing. What it is to be popular, what it is to have no clue as to why I'm popular, oh I love the cultural chasm, it's like living in a dream, your never quite sure which tangent your life will veer up next, whether the street is made of water downed concrete or whether the wheel will fall of your bike it's a mystery.
It's a mystery, but it's a more honest reflection of the true instability of our lives, we deny this by building social institutions in an attempt to control the unpredictable nature of well nature, we lacquer the gaps with our own habitual "lifestyles" and then we're shocked when the fabric of this world is damaged. Here you can't build let alone maintain the comfort of these illusions, your living your life raw. Oh it's all getting a bit deep, better go.
Catch y'all on the other side of the weekend.
N.J.
Let me start at the beginning, well as I'm sure you all know by now, I have been struggling with the powers that be to restore my passport etc, etc to a level of legitimacy appropriate to my continuing lifestyle here in Thailand.
Phuket immigration really didn't want to know, I turned up there, shiny new virgin passport in hand. I told my tale of woe and the official (who was camp as a row of tents) look very perturbed said "This is very hard for me" and I sat for several hours as he pissed about trying to avoid doing his job. eventually he rang Bangkok then told me he couldn't help me and I would have to go to Bangkok.
So I went to Bangkok, I arrived at the airport and bumped into one of the guys who lives in the same building as I he chatted in my ear at the airport, he chatted on the plane, he chatted on the bus into town, my ears were pleased to get away from him, and then Bangkok happened, I went and stayed at Kevin and Ian's place, we went out we danced we drank we laughed, it was too much fun till too late in the morning it was daylight before bedtime it was rasberry mojitos it was electrolyte drinks before bed, it was Harry Potter and fuzzy days segue into fuzzier nights.
One night Kevin's friend Paul asked me to go and invite an amazonian style Blonde who was sitting alone to our table over, I did, she had a firm handshake a voice pitched several fathoms below feminine and he was a good sport about talking to her all night although she was not exactly what he had in mind when he had first spied her (he did get her phone number though so maybe he did know all along). The evening unfolding around me was one of the funniest events I have ever had the pleasure to be a part of.
So still muzzy I made it to immigration where I rode the emotional roller coaster at first it seemed a simple matter, then they discovered the original paper work for my visa is "missing" they decided they couldn't help me, but I say if you can't help me no-body can so several hours later Suvarnabhum come through for me, a subsequent visa issued at the new airport was traced and the paper work faxed over, they re-issued my visa and it didn't cost me a satang (yay).
I hear you ask. Why don't they just put all these records on one data base that any immigration/border crossing official in the country can access? Ahh you foreigner you, this is Thailand, the "It doesn't matter" attitude can be a real pain in the ass when you are trying to get anything done you just have to learn to live that way or go slowly mad.
When I arrived at the airport (to fly back to Phuket) they took one look at my passport with it's shiny new visa and immediately started chatting, talking and laughing, I was their long lost friend, they issued me with a new multiple entry visa on the spot, there was smiling and wai-ing. What it is to be popular, what it is to have no clue as to why I'm popular, oh I love the cultural chasm, it's like living in a dream, your never quite sure which tangent your life will veer up next, whether the street is made of water downed concrete or whether the wheel will fall of your bike it's a mystery.
It's a mystery, but it's a more honest reflection of the true instability of our lives, we deny this by building social institutions in an attempt to control the unpredictable nature of well nature, we lacquer the gaps with our own habitual "lifestyles" and then we're shocked when the fabric of this world is damaged. Here you can't build let alone maintain the comfort of these illusions, your living your life raw. Oh it's all getting a bit deep, better go.
Catch y'all on the other side of the weekend.
N.J.
1st July 2007
We went to Kata beach this weekend, I think I like it best of all the beaches, it has a nice shady area under some pine trees at the back of the beach and now in off season it's pretty quiet, the waves were quite surfy and I enjoyed a swim there, after we stopped off at "the green man" a brit style pub and watched a rugby game with Rick.
Rick is one of the guys I work with at school, American and younger than his 26 years he is having a break from med school to get some Muay Thai and beach time in.
Tony flair has been replaced by the stolid Gordon Brown and several car bombs have not exploded on London's streets, the media here is interesting, I came home from work and flicked on the t.v. "fox" was on talking with much anxiety and hand wringing about the "terror alert" in London so I figured I would head immediately to the BBC to get a less hysterical version of this exciting breaking news, the BBC had on a documentary news piece about American presidential hopeful Barac Obama and the state of America's education system??!? What does this say about the polarisation and focus of media sources, the value of localised news is now weighed according to the fears and interest level of it's audience, interesting.
My Mum of course was due to arrive in London that day I think, what is it with Mum and her timing of her arrivals in London to coincide with Bomb attacks?
Anyways, I'd better wander away. Take care, N.J.
Rick is one of the guys I work with at school, American and younger than his 26 years he is having a break from med school to get some Muay Thai and beach time in.
Tony flair has been replaced by the stolid Gordon Brown and several car bombs have not exploded on London's streets, the media here is interesting, I came home from work and flicked on the t.v. "fox" was on talking with much anxiety and hand wringing about the "terror alert" in London so I figured I would head immediately to the BBC to get a less hysterical version of this exciting breaking news, the BBC had on a documentary news piece about American presidential hopeful Barac Obama and the state of America's education system??!? What does this say about the polarisation and focus of media sources, the value of localised news is now weighed according to the fears and interest level of it's audience, interesting.
My Mum of course was due to arrive in London that day I think, what is it with Mum and her timing of her arrivals in London to coincide with Bomb attacks?
Anyways, I'd better wander away. Take care, N.J.
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