<A Stepford Girl>

Saturday, November 26, 2005
Finally, Back to Earth

Yes... No more updates about my Thailand trip... I'm finally back on Earth.

Yup, I've put on a new blogskin lately and managed to get the music up and running. I'm not really a fan of Final Fantasy but I just think the graphics are fantastic. One of the best. Story wise, haven't have time to find out about it. Seems pretty complicated... I like this blogskin a lot... Very simple, very elagant.

Today was St Andrew's Family Day. Signed up for touch rugby. My my, what a tiring game it is! Defys all logic... Got to pass the ball backwards. Took quite some time to get used to it. And it was run, stop, run, stop, run, stop, etc... More tiring than netball or captain's ball when all you have to do is run and throw the ball forward. Lots of strategizing involved but what the heck, we just tried to ram our way through. Didn't score any touchdowns but we were damn good at defense. Ok, maybe not that good. Just consoling ourselves.

Then it started to rain. Very heavily. But the refree told us to continue playing. I guess they're really pro! I dun mind getting wet but I just can't stand soggy shoes! Wasn't in the mood to run after that. Just let one of the girls run past me. Felt so lazy to chase her cos I didn't want to fall in the mud. Selfish me right? I just brought the whole team down. Oh well. But we were supposed to let them win so they can get into semi-finals since they have more chance than us =) Haha... All in all, a pretty enjoyable day!

3:49 AM
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Monday, November 21, 2005
Shedding benito flakes

Ok, I'm really too lazy to continue describing my journey in Chiang Mai. Perhaps just a a short summary. Went for one-day trek consisting of jungle trek, elephant ride, white water rafting and visiting of Hill Tribe village. Almost died suring the jungle trek as the ground was slippery and steep and my sandles were rubbish quality. Maybe I'm just deluded into thinking that I'm very fit. The group was quite fun though. Miriam and Julia, the mountain gals from a small contry in the Alps (can't remember the name). Tik and A (I dun know how to spell but it's really pronounced like the letter 'A'), uni students from Bangkok. Really wierd to see native Thais joining such a tourist-like trek. The cosmopolitan Iskandar who has worked in South Africa and Australia and his friend Dan, the seasoned backpacker. Surprise surprise!!! Both are Singaporeans! Anyway, white water rafting was the best but I didn't get to paddle cos I just can't be bothered to switch places with Miriam or Is. Ya, I was just sanwiched in the middle for the whole time.

Phew! Finally got to do some shopping on the last day! Tada! So now I'm back, and my skin's shedding like there's no tomorrow... Not necessarily a bad thing I hope. Yup, the shedded sun-burned skin looks like benito flakes. Yup, the dancing flakes found on top of tako pochi balls.. Never ventured to taste it though... =P

9:21 PM
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Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Day SEVEN @ Chiang Mai

Yawn!!! It's 7am and most people are stirring from their restful sleep... Beds are folded up and breakfast is served for those who wish to have them. We decided to just eat at our guesthouse as the in-train menu seems pretty expensive (by thailand's standard...) Yup! We hopped onto a tuk tuk and came to Julie's! Put down our bags, took a shower and had an early lunch at the guesthouse. I had phad thai again but it kinda sucks... Tastes quite westernized (got tomato sauce) and not like those which i eat on the streets

We went to NL's massage school and I tried thai massage (1.5hrs) for the first time. Quite comfy! Although it seems like they're trying to contort your body, it's actually not too uncomfortable. Just a good stretch! Very relaxing, can put you to sleep. But perhaps it'll be a good idea not to go on a full stomach. NL tried their foot massage and decided to take up the course which runs over the weekend.

Visited more Wats in Chiang Mai City... Very gold and very elaborately decorated. Some have murals depicting battles and the life of Buddha. There was one which was made entirely of teak. A point to note: stray dogs were everywhere! However, these strays were far from dirty, scraggy and hungry. In fact, they all looked very healthy! Most dogs are large and have a very beautiful coat of hair... Seems like the locals really do take good care of them... I don't see many cats though, perhaps just one or two and they were quite afraid of humans, unlike the dogs... Hmmm... wonder why? Never see cat meat on any menu what... Anyway, we wanted to visit some museums but they were all quite out of the way...

We walked along the streets and stopped at a cafe (finally! modern civilization!) for coffee. It's called Black Canyon Coffee and kinda resembles Coffee Club in S'pore. I ordered a frappachino sort of drink and almost died of sugar overload. NL tried iced green tea with milk. Not bad but also loaded with an equally fatal amount of sugar...

After that, we went to the Night Bazaar. It's shoppers' paradise! Though not as cheap as you can get at Chatuchak Market (Bangkok), it's kinda alright... Yeah... Lots of ethnic stuff, clothing, accesories and art houses. Mainly for tourists, i guess. But i can see that NL is not really in the mood for shopping... Just walked on and on and on...

2:54 AM
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Saturday, November 05, 2005
Day Six @ Ayuttaya

Day Six! Still at Ayuttaya but we went to their museums instead. Got to know quite a bit of the history behind Ayuttaya. It used to be an important city in the past. Very cosmopolitan, and many different people came, traded and exchanged cultures. Chinese, Jap, Portugese, French, etc etc. There was an exhibition about most of the town's attractions at the tourist authority of thailand (TAT), very well done indeed! Should have went there to find out about the attractions first before walking around. Nice weather today, no sun! Gee, there is actually a day where i looked forward to a cloudy day... U can imagine how hot it has been for the past few days...

Started to rain all of a sudden and we just went back to Tony's. Chilled out for a few hours before taking the train. NL read her book (LOTR) and i just read the Lonely Planet Guidebook... Actually the overnight train is quite fun, collapsible double decker bunks on both side of the train cabin. Walking space was a bit cramped due to all the backpacks but the bed was quite comfy... And the rocking motion of the train just puts u to sleep...

8:38 AM
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Friday, November 04, 2005
Day 5 @ Ayuttaya

Oh man... I'm glad we left that ghostly building early in the morning... Happily sat on the train and went on our way. Halfway, the police (yes, they have train police) came to check our tickets and told us we bought a standing ticket. What!!! So we gave our seats to an old lady and her grandchild... Geeze... Lucily we only had to stand for about 45min... Checked in at Tony's guesthouse. Nice place, better than Apple =) Friendly staff too...

Went around, looked at various temple ruins and got to know some of their history... Super hot! No cloud cover. Don't care. I used my umbrella even though i looked a bit silly. All street signs were in thai. Not very tourist friendly... But we get by, with NL's beginner thai and thai looks.. And everyone thinks i'm jap or korean. Konichiwa! Annyung Haseyo! are some greetings i get. The locals will just blabber to NL directly in thai and she'll be like Huh?!!! No. 1 thai phrase she has to know is I'm not Thai... Heee...

Dinner at Macs was not bad. They had this black pepper pork burger which was very tender and very nice. The fries taste funny though.. Oh and they had many different types of sundaes n mcflurry. Some with jelly... We tried berry oreo mcflurry. Sugar overload... (*o*)

8:54 AM
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Day 4 on River Kwai

Yup! it's the kayaking trip. Happily put on sunblock and went to kayak. Haha... I guess i kinda overestimated my self. 4 hours kayaking under the merciless sun (and the guide told us it was abt 3 hours. Perhaps we kayak too slowly...) My arms were aching and the sun provided no relief. My goodness! What was i thinking of...? Anyway, when i came back, i realised i had serious serious sunburn. My legs were like half cooked with funny patterns cos i didn't apply sunblock evenly (again!!!!). My face was a bit burned too. Looked like i put blusher across my nose and cheeks...

Anyway, we took a train back to Bangkok (3hours!!!) and stayed at one of the lousiest guesthouse ever. Cos it was near the train station (early train the next morning...) You know what it looks like? Good enough for a chinese ghost story aet in the 1930s. Yup, even NL had reached her tolerance limits. So why did we stay there? Good question. Oh and i finally had a MOST EMBARRESSING MOMENT of my life. You can ask me about it when i get home...

8:44 AM
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Day 3 @ Erawan

Today's the day for trekking at Erawan National Park. Hopped onto a bus at the interchange and went happily on our way there. En route, the bus broke down. First, the driver tried to rectify the problem. Didn't work so he drove to a mechanics shop and got it fixed. Well, kind of waited for about 45min before we could continue our journey. Anyway, reached there and started to explore the place... My gosh, i think i spent more time trying to catch up with my dear friend (NL) than enjoying the scenery. Such treks are chicken feet to her, i see. Quite siong actually, much more difficult than Bk Timah (of course, what the heck was i thinking of...) We had to walk across running water several times to get to the variouys waterfalls (7 levels in all) At the last level, i didn't want to climb anymore as i'm just too tired from chasing NL so she went ahead on her own. But she came back and told me the view was worth it so i just went ahead anyway. I've never ever touched so many plants and gotten my hands and feet mudied so thoroughly before!!! Well, some nooks and crevices were just impossible to walk over. Got to climb them... The locals however, could trek over easily even when they're in slippers! So agile!!! Oh yes, the view of the last waterfall was great! Many people were swimming in the pool as well...

On my way back, i slipped and fell, knocked my head and went into a coma. Yeah right. Just kidding. Only scratched my arm a bit. I know i was just an accident waiting to happen. Mylegs were wobbly (too tired) and the rocks were slippery (so are my sandles)

8:32 AM
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Day TWO @ Kanchanaburi

Morning! Woke up, packed up and left Khao San. Walked a bit, took a ferry across the river, hopped onto a swangteaw (public transport in the form of a truck) and came to the train station. Bought some mini youtiao, toasted banana and soya milk from the market. The soya milk actually came with various condiments. Can choose from red bean, pearl, etc. Just like bubble tea... Zoom! 3hrs later, we reached Kanchanaburi! Stayed at a guesthouse called Apple. Visited the Death Railway Museum, WWII cemetry and saw a small section of the Death Railway. Bought one young coconut and one large pomelo along the way (it sucks!!! Worst pomelo i've ever eaten, so hard and dry and not sweet) Come to think of it, It's really sad, once you know the history behind the railway. I mean... it's all book knowledge to us but imagine all those atrocities actually suffered by those POWs. Most died in their prime, as observed from the cemetry. Youngest was 18, oldest was just a bit over 40.

Well, we walked a bit around the town (quite sleepy in the afternoon, mostly auto shops) and booked a kayak trip 2 days later. Went back to Apple and ate at a nearby market. Had Phad Thai again! And there was this thing that looks like chee cheong fun wrapped with sweet chai poh. And bread that looks too much like hotdogs (that's why i bought it in the first place...) Later that night, we sat down at another guesthouse and chilled out for the night...

8:18 AM
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Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Day ONE at Khao San

Hello people! Time to update my blog... Yup, finally found a place where there's cheap internet... And I've been in Thailand for a couple of days now... Too bad, couldn't blog everyday so just have to backtrack.

Day One. Got out of the airport, waited for a whopping 55min to clear immigration! Argh!!! After that, hopped onto an airport shuttle and came to Khao San, the backpacker's ghetto as they call it. Yup! Lot's of guesthouses and eating places. Something like a more happening Holland Village. Everyone looks suspiciously like Jap. Otherwise, that place is choke full of angmohs... We checked in to Nat's guesthouse (spartan!!! No hot water, not even a mirror), lazed around and went out for dinner. My favourite? Phad Thai (Lots of vege with noodles)!!! Just so delicious... Oh and there were plenty of fruits too. Esp love the young coconut. Great juice (and everything's so cheap)! So happening at night! There was the Asahi Band Competition so it was loud trashy techno music all night long. And yes, our guesthouse is just along the main street where the action is... (*_*)

7:25 AM
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