Sunday, December 26, 2004
Merry Merry Merry CHRISTMAS!!! Hope u guys have had enjoyed this festive seasons with your love ones with joys n loves..... I had mine at home with my Christmas Crew...It was our 1 Year Anniversary... We remembered, we shared, we had fun, we had laughters.. They are:
*Christmas Crew**
The couples of 2004:
The Classic pictures of 2004:
*sexy lil thing**
*ruhua**
*lin yi lian in the making*
*fei mei**
2 years ago, we made a pact to meet under the christmas tree of taka, under the mistletoe. it was juz a casual remark, but it was deeply etched in our hearts. 2 years later, NOW, we met up, Hanchen n Xinli. I love them! I did not see hanchen for 2 years, man he changed so much!
*xinli& me n my imaginary santa hat**
Attachment ending in a week time. Time flies. Memories hold in Changi Airport, it was with all the fun n laughters that tide me through!
*Abt to go Phuket Next monday, but with the sudden earthquake tht hit 8.9 on the richter scale on Indonesian waters, tidal waves that wreck phuket, the airport is now close. I am not sure if i could carry on with the trip. Hope there will be a refund or a extension of flight or redirection of destination** Arghhh
Posted by HERE! at 7:45 PM
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
........... the trip continues............24/2 Sun 830 am
Old Men's Land
Sunlight burst into the interior of the bus that is shrouded behind drawn curtains. One by one, including me, the sleepy passengers lying on their seats inclined to the maximum, turn away from the sunlight. The journey thus far was fairly comfortable. I believe that after the " Lin Dai" music had lulled us into intermittent sleep, the passengers can sleep under any harsh jungle conditions. It is that bad.
We have so far sleepily stopped for lavatories three times, several times of Malaysian road tolls and two customs. At that time of the night I did not have any vivid memory of the customs as I was a zombie throughout. But I dutifully alighted at all toilet breaks to pee. Its imperative to pee even when you got no piss because the bus toilet is locked and I think you will be stoned to death by the passengers if you request the bus to stop by the roadside for you to take a leak. Absolutely important.
The bus rolled into the dusty looking roads of border Thailand after clearing the customs. By that time, around 7, I was snuggling on my seat under the blanket casting a glassy eye on the thai terrain. Its looks a lot more undeveloped than Malaysia at that point. Until the bus approached Hatyai, the buildings increased and I began to see 7 elevens stores, schools and Thai girls waiting at bus stops to go to schools. And ya, I saw this "Collateral Damage" giant poster that did not resemble Arnie in any freaking way. It looks like, looks like, ahhh, anyway it doesn�t look like anything near him. Lousy artist I must say.
First Contact
The bus finally stopped at this busy street in Hatyai, opposite this " O " 3 star I reckon hotel. The tour agency which I stopped at is called "Coachland". Beside it are numerous agencies, including the "Green Land " bus agency endorsed by Moses Lim. I was greeted by this Chinese speaking Thai lady and promptly booked my boat tickets from Koh Pi Pi to Koh Lanta, and to be more kiasu I also booked a ticket home to Singapore on Sunday 1230pm. Phew, I spent quite some baht on the tickets, I felt safer this way because I could now spend my money to the last note without having to worry about not having money to get back. I don�t have a credit card you see and I don�t want to end up being a ladyboy in Thailand to pay for my journey. However the minus point is that my itinerary is plotted and so its takes the adventure feeling off a bit. Anyway, I requested the aunty to leave the ferry dates open so I can leave the islands anytime I like. For now, I got to wait for an hour and half for the mini bus to take me to Krabi, another 4 hours way.
I looked around and the two Caucasian backpacker girls have disappeared. Maybe I should talk to their really nice looking silver backpacks. Utterly dejected, I decided to look for food.
The heavy traffic outside and noise is quite Chinatown like. I wandered around and saw nothing really interesting. This few make shift stalls selling fruits, a few Thai women squatting by the road side selling swallows( or sparrows or some other small birds). I didn�t know whether they are for consumption to be used as pets or both, consumption after pets. It crossed my mind to buy all the birds then free them from their cages. And while the birds are flying out of the cages, the cute back girl from my bus would have seen everything from one corner of the street and she would go " Oh, your so kind! " and I would reply straight faced " Nah, its just something I have to do, I couldn�t bear to see the birds look so sad in their cages. It�s really nothing compared to what my friends in the 'Nature Conservation and Prevention of Cruelty to Poor Birds Society' have been doing for the past 6 years". Damn am I crappy. Nah, freeing the birds would be too arrogant, as if condemning what the locals are doing. Nobody from other context should impose their values on them. This parallels what the first world countries love to do to third world countries and end up screwing up other people's way of life. I will not be like that. Besides I'm sure the birds are not endangered and the women need some income too.
Walking back from the end of the street as there was nothing worthwhile to see, I passed by this Chinese dim sum coffee shop for the second time and decided to abandon my well balanced diet to go for siew mai, cha siew bau, ha gao. Served with sweet sauce, the piping hot dim sum tasted heavenly after a long bus journey. Pleased with my delicious breakfast in my hand, I walked back to the agency.
There they were, two of them, munching apples sitting in the agency, looking quite stoned. They smiled at me, probably because I'm like the only young fellow on the bus backpacking like them. I introduced myself as " Kerfei ". It�s a name I always wanted to use in Singapore but somehow don�t feel natural using. But I decided to start using in Thailand and be my real self.
In case you guys didn�t know, my parents and relatives call me by this name. It is a translation from my Chinese name. I used this name till I was like primary 6 when my Chinese teacher called me up because she couldn�t register me for PSLE because my IC spells " Guohui" in Chinese characters instead of " Kerfei". So my parents decided to use back 'Guohui' for legitimate purposes but continues to call me " Kerfei" up till today and forever! To be honest, I have never felt close to the name "Guohui" or even " Anthony ", which is another story, I shall spare u guys from it. Maybe I should introduce myself as "Kerfei" from now on. Sorry for the digression.
I sat down beside them and started a conversation. Looking at them eating fruits, I kindly offered them some of my heavenly dim sum. When they asked me what's onside, I gleefully replied " Oh pork, they are really delicious". Monica gave me a strange look, even then, she looked really pretty. She said ' We're vegetarians'. If the aunty sitting at the counter near me understood English, she would have flipped over her red stool and died laughing. Red faced, porky Kerfei could only muffled up his replies with sorries. What a carnivorous impression they have of me now. Luckily they did not seem too bothered, or at least they gave the impression and still wanted to talk to me.
Monica and Linda are Swedes, 21 years old, very good friends, waiting to go university or something like that. They have been traveling for 6 weeks, been to Singapore, Bali, Kuala Lumpur and are going to Koh Samui, Eastern part of Thailand. Well, my interest fell drastically as I knew they weren�t going Krabi. I would be the only one. But they were nice and smiled a lot. Before long, my mini van came and I bid them goodbye. One of them shouted " Enjoy your trip" while I was getting on the van. My first contact with backpackers and it was heartwarming. I sincerely wished them all the best too.
Bared Bodies
After 2 hours of van traveling through expressways and winding rural roads, the van pulled up at this restaurant for us to take a break. As I was sitting right in front of the van, although I knew that there were only Caucasians in the bus apart from this Asian couple and this two Thai girls sitting in front. It was very cramped but I sat beside this cute kid, I think she's a girl, around 6 and had short hair. At least her nursery songs and childish antics kept me entertained throughout the boring journey.
I was standing in front of the mirror freshening up when this yellow haired petite girl came up beside me. " Where you going?" she asked. I answered Krabi. In retrospect, that was a dumb answer because the van is going to Krabi and so common sense tells you it's passengers would be going there. Genius. She replied an "ok" and walked away. She was traveling alone also but with no luggage. She has this very independent, almost detached persona, like a veteran traveler, but she looks too young for that. Curious character. I couldn�t really make up where she's from and didn�t asked as she looks a bit unfriendly sitting by herself smoking away. At this point I didn�t really know what to make of her and before I knew it, I was resumed my seat I the van and traveled for the next 2 hours.
Krabi is a coastal town south west of Thailand. It is a popular gateway for tourist who want to island hop. The attraction of these islands are their beautiful beaches and clear blue sea for diving and snorkeling. There's this exotic feel to it even before I boarded the ferry as the open decked ferry is packed with topless sweaty Europeans, mostly Swedes, Danes, other Scandinavians and the occasional Americans and Australians. Asian backpackers are rare commodities. The Europeans are sun deprived and pale in skin. That�s why they love the beaches in Thailand where booze and accommodation are also cheap. And also, the coin Thai baht ( I'm not sure if it�s the 5 or 10 baht ) can fake the Euro coin machines back home.
" The Asians sit inside in air con while the Europeans like it in the sun " Kate said when we boarded the ferry as we had a choice to sit inside or outside on the deck. Kate is the "indie" girl who I had a brief exchange at the restaurant stop earlier. It turns out that she is also going to Pi Pi island and is like a leader to me and this Japanese couple, Poi and Yuko. Kate is French with some Italian blood ( her dad is Italian ), she is working illegally on Pi Pi island. She was returning from Kuala Lumpur after renewing her passport. She is one of those "farangs" who have fell in love with the islands and decided to stay on. Considering that she's only 19, I can only admire her spirit to be free and courage to do what she wants. I knew too little of her to pass judgment if its folly or wise to stay alone so far way, especially if you�re a girl.
" Look ,shark!", Kate exclaimed, pointing vaguely towards the sea. The sea has turned from grayish blue to deep blue, and Kate says it will turn even clearer when the island approaches. I rose sharply and squinted my eagle eyes on the horizon. A childish giggle gave her away. Damn it, I've been fooled for the second time. A 23 year old fooled by the childish pranks of a 19 year old girl. Kate isn�t a stunner, but she's still cute by my measurements. Sea breeze caressing her quite wild looking tresses, blue eyed and giggling, I could only give her a mock bite on her neck for revenge." Your quite tanned." she said while stroking my arm with her fingers. She still got this sweet innocence in her despite the rugged devil may care attitude. Quite smitten by her, I didn�t really care if the other passengers were looking at us. I would ask her to stay with me for the next few days.
Finishing her cigarette, she gently puts it on the deck instead of littering the sea. PiPi was in sight and Kate animatedly went about describing the unique formations of the islands. I gained valuable tips though, Charlie's beach, Maya bay, Long beach, rock climbing cliffs, reggae that boxing bar, and the place where she works, Tin Tin bar.
PiPi pier is within sight. The water is already the clearest I've seen even though is considered dirty already because of the pier. There's this sense of heightened expectations on the ferry. Its infectious. Everyone's just ready to step onto this little island. This island Kate calls.' My island". Kate turns and says " I got to meet my boyfriend" and disappears in the throng before I could even say goodbye. This is how attractive she is. I smiled to myself and stepped off the ferry.
Pi Pi here I come�
*the ability to illustrate exactly how he felt and what he see. Its fabulous! =) ****
Posted by HERE! at 1:50 PM
Monday, December 13, 2004
*interesting**there is something interesting that caught my eye as i was checking my Yahoo e-mail acct. I saw a folder that stated "Journal", well its been two years dated from 14 March 2002 to 31 May 2002. It was journals sent to me from my ex-colleague (lifeguard). So i began to re-read what i had read and forgetten over the years. It caught my attention, i realised what he wrote was really interesting, and i decided to share with YOU guys. Yes! U! ahaha... i was holding my sides as i read it in the office, this guy juz had this gift of writing and bitching! this was what a 23years THEN could write.
Ppl rock on with the Thailand journey as i will unveil it daily.....
Enjoy... *smiles**
_____________________________________________________________________________________
23/2. 6.34pm
Set off from Golden Mile without a hitch.
The whole day has been in waiting for this to start. Its more than a physical journey, far more emotional and psychological. I can almost hear my breathing, breathing in anticipation. Maybe its just over hyped, or is it my character to be cool about everything and take things in my stride. I'm quite, I mean, quite excited
The sent off wasn�t as romantic and cinematic as I thought it would be. I knew it wasn�t to be yet I hoped for it. Hasn�t life been under dramatic when your most expectant, but wilding exciting when you lower your fences?
The bus rumbles past Victoria school, PIE, Singapore's artery, and I'm puncturing it now with my journey. The trembling of the bus is like the throbbing of my temple, flowing in my veins. I do not feel like this often. Its surreal. Cultural gateway comes in sight: customs. It always amuses me to see grey Malaysian buildings juxtaposing Singapore's unshamingly squeaky clean Woodland flats. Ha, railway sagas, price water hike. How amusing.
I was hoping for some hot Caucasian girl to sit beside me. Ahh, please refer to my previous point about expectations. Fell like a hallow rock. There were in fact two of them,.one looking especially sweet, but they were sitting right in front of the television at the front of the bus. Good luck to them. That�s what you get for not sitting with me ; cheap entertainment blasting in your face for the next fucking 14 hours to Hatyai.Hehe.
Lady luck must be shining bright on me today because the toilet door is locked. I must have been a genius to choose the second seat from the toilet. No wonder the lady at the tiny ticketing booth at Golden Mile gave me a wryly smile when I insisted on this single sit in gung-ho. Bitch.
Adam, ( this transsexual whom I met on Golden Mile when I was doing voluntary HIV screening for Venezuelans at Golden Mile Shopping 16 years ago, who is also coincidentally my band mate ), was damn right! I peered over my seat and the bus is filled with inconspicuous old men, some were not balding but with the 70s short curly perm. Damn fashionable. They seem to have this secret agenda. Hmm, what's the deal about Hatyai? Enticing hot thai pussycats?. Or are they getting cute fluffy soft toys for their grand children? Ohh, you mean they are already grand fathers? awww, how thoughtful of them. I sat the whole journey in quiet respect for them. Somehow, I aspire to be good grandparents like them next time.
Now, this Chinese girl on my right is absolutely annoying me with her fucking American twang. You see, she's with her Caucasian boyfriend, cozing up to him, totally revolting. Maybe its just me.,conservative and cynical. Please don�t tell me Chinese guys are boring, I know I'm not , I hope so, hehe. I believe that love holds no physical barriers: race, ethnicity, religion, blah blah blah, but all men and women share universal traits. ALL MEN ARE HORNY. One look at the angmo guy tugging his dressed up china doll and you know that love is not what he is in for. Maybe the girl is also in for sex but some girls are just plain stupid. What the heck, let them get screwed and dumped and cry their mascaras out. At least I can see that this girl's boyfriend is already regretting bring her along by the look of his forlorn face.
Ok. Past the Malaysian customs and the bus is in cruise mode up the North South highway. Picture this yellow bus on the map, crawling up the crooked line towards Hatyai. Grey foliage becomes a blur when you look out of the window. Its like 8pm already. Shit. The infamous "B" grade movie is starting. The girls in front are in deep shit.
Ekin and Shuqi began singing karaoke at this seedy lounge. The bus operator started the movie on second disc. I think he is trying to make an artistic statement: That Hongkong movies are " B" grade , and so he plays them repeatedly for the next fucking 4 hours of second disc only to drive home his point. Having experience the satisfaction of this high level of understanding, I went to sleep with a sweet smile on my face.
More shit. I was rudely awaken by the sound of 60s " Lin Dai" sort of Chinese music. Fuck man. This classic genre of Chinese music was eagerly lapped up by the old men. The girls in front, the annoying Chinese girl and her angmo boyfriend , and me, the loner Japanese looking but absolutely cute Chinese guy , could only�..suffer in silence. I really do not know what to expect when I'm sober. This music is making me high��������.
Upnext�..Hatyai!!!!
PS: more juicy stories tomorrow
Posted by HERE! at 5:34 PM
Sunday, December 12, 2004
TIRED..... FATIGUE... yes..... thts how i felt thru this week. But who can i blame but myself for going out daily till the wees den work! but work been rather relax this week, wasnt in the office much!Aight, i caught two movies yesterday! Blade and National Treasure. Blade was a waste of money seriously, with the drac killed in less than 3 minutes but i like Ryan Reynolds in the film. He seriously is one funny guy in tht show with his washboard abs to drool after. Hot bods to flaunt i give 6/10 for tht show, hehee, 4marks for tht gorgeous body!
I love National Treasure, its a thrilling and exciting show. It kept me awake thru out, though the movie is like 2.30am! Nicholas Cage being the smart and intelligent with charimastic eyes. I love tht joker in the film, Justin Bartha, without him in the show it will all be different he is one charming bloke too. He enhanced the show and made me laugh uncontrollably! They had to decipher all the clues they had found and to discover the ultimate treasure. The film is realli impressive and the plot is good. Whoever had the mind of tht story is worth admiring.
Nice week with all the movies BUT i haven caught the long awaited Bridget Jones diary! ArGhhh for tht.
Posted by HERE! at 11:29 PM
Monday, December 06, 2004
a precious saturday off! from well Fat Wallet.Headed to school for SIP briefing.. The last meeting, and i MISS school! It will be all over in another semester. It time to face the working world.
Saw Jing n Ying... i MIss the gurls lotsa! it's nice to see them and their hugggs!!! hehee...
School starts tomorrow for many, i know many are excited! Well, u guys can see me ard sch a month later~! still having my attachment but no worries, it will be over than i realise.
Went malaysia with Dick n Leong, seriously i was bored to tears. The stuffs they sold aint realli my taste. The customs queue is a killer! In the end i bought a pair of emerald coloured earrings and a bangle. Yea! call me an Accessories Freak! i love em'.