Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Photos Thailand
Here's the photos from my brief trip to Thailand. I'll be publishing an embellished entry soon...
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
2006 est ici
Wow, that was Christmas! Hope it was good for everyone-I sure had fun.
For Christmas Eve, Francois and Catherine invited me to their friends apartment for a huge feast. Catherine can cook, that's for sure. Sometimes, when she has a surplus after an evening's meal, the bunch of lucky campers at the office get a special lunchbox. The best were the boneless chicken wings stuffed with ham and celery....Yes, Catherine has endeared herself to many.
And there was no stopping her on Christmas eve. The apartment of these friends was big and luxurious, and so it followed that there would be a big and luxurious kitchen. And when you clunk around in a normal tiny HK apartment kitchen like a caged tyrannosaur every day of the week it makes a welcome change.
Francois and I helped Catherine and her friend with the food shopping. Yes, there's nothing like watching a live giant lobster getting hauled out of the water kicking and (screaming?) and pinned down on the fishmongers chopping block. Then the cleaver comes down again and again until there are 4 pieces of still-alive lobster , limbs writhing, getting thrown into a big plastic bag.
We also bought some giant prawns, giant Squill(alien-like crustaceans with spines on every limb that taste much better than they look), whole squids. giant scallops and fish.
Such plunder!
The feast was difficult to finish. Met more nice people that night, in this apartment with views over the harbour and its two friendly cats.
We even got christmas presents. They were quite silly toys, but we used them like we were children again. Seeing a pay TV company businessman and a senior project architect playing with toy cars on the loungeroom floor and someone shooting pellets at cats with a toy gun was very funny. My present was something a little more useful-a business card holder. People go nuts for business cards here.
After the Christmas feast, I tottered off into Lan Kwai Fong for some late night amusement. Larry and I ended up drinking till sunrise, celebrating a most unholy christmas.
And as for my apartment, I think it's time I finally had a housewarming party. Sheesh, it's gonna be a mess, so many bodies in such a small space...intimate...
Exploring some new hedonistic endeavors on the weekends these days, namely the feared karaoke. Rooms full of boys and girls drinking jugs of green Tea and chivas with crushed ice, singing god knows what canto pop, jumping around and playing number games with their fists, the smoke hurts my eyes, the green tea mix is so easy to down for the inevitable drinking games, and probably so the guys can make the girls drink more. That's my speculation....I thought going out was meant to be...relaxing???? Haha.
Between Christmas and New Years I went on a short trip to Thailand on my lonesome for 5 days. I chilled out in Khao Yai National Park for a few days before heading to Ayuthaya and then to Bangkok for a few nights. I didn't really have many set goals before I went except to chill out in a forest, see some ruins and maybe check out some night life. I guess I got all of those. Thailand is a great place, and I'm amazed that I liked it so much after getting so down about it after reading Michelle Houllebec's "Platform."
In Khao Yai NP I basically got shown around with a small group by a knowledgeable guy who showed us, among other things, where cinnammon comes from, where we get sandalwood, and how we make tiger balm. He had a cool telescopic lens for looking at monkeys and birds high in the treetops. At nighttime we basically chilled out and dealt with mouth-numbingly hot thai curries. I found that I could handle the hotness better than most of the other visitors strangely enough, mainly because I think I'm used to the hot food in Hong Kong. I don't know...
Anyway, the highlight was swimming in a waterfall, so refreshing...I think I want to explore these national parks more, because the infrastructure is excellent for the trails and information, perhaps it will soon rival the infrastructure of the "Wandern"-obsessed europeans. I'm told there are a few tigers around still...
Speaking of tigers, I just finished reading Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, it's pretty amazing. That guy was born and raised in Poland, sailed the seven seas in his twenties, and wrote some of the finest english prose we will ever read. Amazing!!!
But I digress. My next stop after the park was Ayutthaya. I wanted to see some temples basically. What is nice is that some of them are still inhabited by monks. I cruised around the town by bicycle. It was do-able in an afternoon.
Now on to Bangkok.
By now my mouth muscles hurt from smiling so much. (Thai people are friendly). Tuk Tuk drivers are crazy and use their 3-wheeled vehicles as an extension of their manhood (there are no female tuk tuk drivers) by revving loudly at intersections, Touts try to sell you shit you don't need and evidence of a thriving sex trade is everywhere. I decided to check out the sleaze on my first night in Bangkok, having arrived in the evening, and headed to Sukhumvit Road. Seeing 50-year-old expat aussies and brittish and danish guys with their 18-year old (or younger) squeezes was slightly depressing. Here, of all places, I found any sense of patriotism I have to be under fire. So that was mildly a bit naff. A hideous madame tried to pick my pocket but hey, noone's gonna grab down there without my permission honey.
My first full day in Bangkok found me wandering around trying to get my bearings.
I was sick of "sightseeing" in the old quarter after only 15 minutes and decided I would wander around elsewhere. Parts of Bangkok could be in Paris, with tree-lined boulevards and canals etc. Other parts could be Las Vegas on the skids. Bangkok is so big-I want to cruise around there on a motorbike sometime. That would be the best...
Second day was more positive. I met a nice girl in a cafe, she recommended me some places to go in the evening, and I went there. It was giant night club called Route 66, in the shadow of some of Bangkok's highway spaghetti, next to some petrol stations. The night club occupied the length of an entire street. There was one entrance. There was a long corridor which functioned as an access spine to the various "rooms," each containing different music styles and atmospheres. It was like a clubbing supermarket, and it was AMAZING. Outside, the entire length of the street contained outdoor seating under floodlights. The place was crouded. I met some people there and ended up drinking with them for the entire night, after which they invited me to come with them to get some food. "So where do we hail the taxis?" I asked my newfound drunken friends, three boys and two girls. One pointed at his Honda Accord in the carpark, the other gestured towards a BMW. "Awe geez" I muttered, clambering in and forgetting all cares.
The cars pulled up in a dust cloud in a carpark adjacent to a post-apolcalyptic scene, a new tilt-up concrete nightclub restaurant with jutting angles and gleaming cladding. This sat next to an abandoned warehouse and another tarnished factory sat motionless away from the floodlit area as big as a stadium. Here we drank a little more and then ate more hot thai food (I've got to say that after a day in Thailand, the food becomes repetitive and the flavours do nothing but burn. And the MSG made my face swell until it seemed I could count numerous new yellow friends on my visage!).
But hey-that is pretty awesome for a night out in a foreign town I think.
Bangkok escapes description or pidgeonholing, it is constantly rediscovering it's identity amidst the durian groves and the moto fumes. I want more.
So I've got the emails of these guys, I guess it's about time I said hello.
My final day before I was due at the airport was spent in Bangkoks Chinatown, which was cramped but so vibrant and stinky and colourful. I never saw so many cinnamon quills, dried kiwi fruit and star anise in my entire life. There were lots of snacky looking things, and the covered walkways of the markets were surprisingly cool and shady. This place was definitely a highlight. I haven't been to so many Chinatowns, but this one was up there. Apparently many HK chinese go here to buy goods to take back and hawk for profit, it's so cheap here. Well, for those who know how to bargain. I need to work harder at this next time...
I landed back in HK on NYEve and headed straight to a club where Larry, his friends and myself found bottles of Screwdriver cocktails being launched down our throats by drunken over-zealous female Flight Attendants. People like to drink in these parts.
And soon there will be some visitors from Australia gracing these shores.
Isn't it exciting?
I met a girl who is studying in Adelaide. She is really sweet/friendly/gorgeous and I told her that I should give her the contact details of some Adelaide friends who can show her a night out. It would be more "clubbing" oriented I think, then again what about a decent pub, or maybe some karaoke to make her feel right at home. Any takers?
Soon it will be Chinese new year. I finally get to see my lion dance. Hopefully my friend Cedric will not be locked out of his apartment any more by then, haha. I sympathise. I did it too. It's always mighty funny in hindsight...
For Christmas Eve, Francois and Catherine invited me to their friends apartment for a huge feast. Catherine can cook, that's for sure. Sometimes, when she has a surplus after an evening's meal, the bunch of lucky campers at the office get a special lunchbox. The best were the boneless chicken wings stuffed with ham and celery....Yes, Catherine has endeared herself to many.
And there was no stopping her on Christmas eve. The apartment of these friends was big and luxurious, and so it followed that there would be a big and luxurious kitchen. And when you clunk around in a normal tiny HK apartment kitchen like a caged tyrannosaur every day of the week it makes a welcome change.
Francois and I helped Catherine and her friend with the food shopping. Yes, there's nothing like watching a live giant lobster getting hauled out of the water kicking and (screaming?) and pinned down on the fishmongers chopping block. Then the cleaver comes down again and again until there are 4 pieces of still-alive lobster , limbs writhing, getting thrown into a big plastic bag.
We also bought some giant prawns, giant Squill(alien-like crustaceans with spines on every limb that taste much better than they look), whole squids. giant scallops and fish.
Such plunder!
The feast was difficult to finish. Met more nice people that night, in this apartment with views over the harbour and its two friendly cats.
We even got christmas presents. They were quite silly toys, but we used them like we were children again. Seeing a pay TV company businessman and a senior project architect playing with toy cars on the loungeroom floor and someone shooting pellets at cats with a toy gun was very funny. My present was something a little more useful-a business card holder. People go nuts for business cards here.
After the Christmas feast, I tottered off into Lan Kwai Fong for some late night amusement. Larry and I ended up drinking till sunrise, celebrating a most unholy christmas.
And as for my apartment, I think it's time I finally had a housewarming party. Sheesh, it's gonna be a mess, so many bodies in such a small space...intimate...
Exploring some new hedonistic endeavors on the weekends these days, namely the feared karaoke. Rooms full of boys and girls drinking jugs of green Tea and chivas with crushed ice, singing god knows what canto pop, jumping around and playing number games with their fists, the smoke hurts my eyes, the green tea mix is so easy to down for the inevitable drinking games, and probably so the guys can make the girls drink more. That's my speculation....I thought going out was meant to be...relaxing???? Haha.
Between Christmas and New Years I went on a short trip to Thailand on my lonesome for 5 days. I chilled out in Khao Yai National Park for a few days before heading to Ayuthaya and then to Bangkok for a few nights. I didn't really have many set goals before I went except to chill out in a forest, see some ruins and maybe check out some night life. I guess I got all of those. Thailand is a great place, and I'm amazed that I liked it so much after getting so down about it after reading Michelle Houllebec's "Platform."
In Khao Yai NP I basically got shown around with a small group by a knowledgeable guy who showed us, among other things, where cinnammon comes from, where we get sandalwood, and how we make tiger balm. He had a cool telescopic lens for looking at monkeys and birds high in the treetops. At nighttime we basically chilled out and dealt with mouth-numbingly hot thai curries. I found that I could handle the hotness better than most of the other visitors strangely enough, mainly because I think I'm used to the hot food in Hong Kong. I don't know...
Anyway, the highlight was swimming in a waterfall, so refreshing...I think I want to explore these national parks more, because the infrastructure is excellent for the trails and information, perhaps it will soon rival the infrastructure of the "Wandern"-obsessed europeans. I'm told there are a few tigers around still...
Speaking of tigers, I just finished reading Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, it's pretty amazing. That guy was born and raised in Poland, sailed the seven seas in his twenties, and wrote some of the finest english prose we will ever read. Amazing!!!
But I digress. My next stop after the park was Ayutthaya. I wanted to see some temples basically. What is nice is that some of them are still inhabited by monks. I cruised around the town by bicycle. It was do-able in an afternoon.
Now on to Bangkok.
By now my mouth muscles hurt from smiling so much. (Thai people are friendly). Tuk Tuk drivers are crazy and use their 3-wheeled vehicles as an extension of their manhood (there are no female tuk tuk drivers) by revving loudly at intersections, Touts try to sell you shit you don't need and evidence of a thriving sex trade is everywhere. I decided to check out the sleaze on my first night in Bangkok, having arrived in the evening, and headed to Sukhumvit Road. Seeing 50-year-old expat aussies and brittish and danish guys with their 18-year old (or younger) squeezes was slightly depressing. Here, of all places, I found any sense of patriotism I have to be under fire. So that was mildly a bit naff. A hideous madame tried to pick my pocket but hey, noone's gonna grab down there without my permission honey.
My first full day in Bangkok found me wandering around trying to get my bearings.
I was sick of "sightseeing" in the old quarter after only 15 minutes and decided I would wander around elsewhere. Parts of Bangkok could be in Paris, with tree-lined boulevards and canals etc. Other parts could be Las Vegas on the skids. Bangkok is so big-I want to cruise around there on a motorbike sometime. That would be the best...
Second day was more positive. I met a nice girl in a cafe, she recommended me some places to go in the evening, and I went there. It was giant night club called Route 66, in the shadow of some of Bangkok's highway spaghetti, next to some petrol stations. The night club occupied the length of an entire street. There was one entrance. There was a long corridor which functioned as an access spine to the various "rooms," each containing different music styles and atmospheres. It was like a clubbing supermarket, and it was AMAZING. Outside, the entire length of the street contained outdoor seating under floodlights. The place was crouded. I met some people there and ended up drinking with them for the entire night, after which they invited me to come with them to get some food. "So where do we hail the taxis?" I asked my newfound drunken friends, three boys and two girls. One pointed at his Honda Accord in the carpark, the other gestured towards a BMW. "Awe geez" I muttered, clambering in and forgetting all cares.
The cars pulled up in a dust cloud in a carpark adjacent to a post-apolcalyptic scene, a new tilt-up concrete nightclub restaurant with jutting angles and gleaming cladding. This sat next to an abandoned warehouse and another tarnished factory sat motionless away from the floodlit area as big as a stadium. Here we drank a little more and then ate more hot thai food (I've got to say that after a day in Thailand, the food becomes repetitive and the flavours do nothing but burn. And the MSG made my face swell until it seemed I could count numerous new yellow friends on my visage!).
But hey-that is pretty awesome for a night out in a foreign town I think.
Bangkok escapes description or pidgeonholing, it is constantly rediscovering it's identity amidst the durian groves and the moto fumes. I want more.
So I've got the emails of these guys, I guess it's about time I said hello.
My final day before I was due at the airport was spent in Bangkoks Chinatown, which was cramped but so vibrant and stinky and colourful. I never saw so many cinnamon quills, dried kiwi fruit and star anise in my entire life. There were lots of snacky looking things, and the covered walkways of the markets were surprisingly cool and shady. This place was definitely a highlight. I haven't been to so many Chinatowns, but this one was up there. Apparently many HK chinese go here to buy goods to take back and hawk for profit, it's so cheap here. Well, for those who know how to bargain. I need to work harder at this next time...
I landed back in HK on NYEve and headed straight to a club where Larry, his friends and myself found bottles of Screwdriver cocktails being launched down our throats by drunken over-zealous female Flight Attendants. People like to drink in these parts.
And soon there will be some visitors from Australia gracing these shores.
Isn't it exciting?
I met a girl who is studying in Adelaide. She is really sweet/friendly/gorgeous and I told her that I should give her the contact details of some Adelaide friends who can show her a night out. It would be more "clubbing" oriented I think, then again what about a decent pub, or maybe some karaoke to make her feel right at home. Any takers?
Soon it will be Chinese new year. I finally get to see my lion dance. Hopefully my friend Cedric will not be locked out of his apartment any more by then, haha. I sympathise. I did it too. It's always mighty funny in hindsight...
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