That's all folks!

C'est fini.
I got to Bangkok on the 14th with the intention of catching a flight to Malaysia thus resetting my Thailand visa and allowing me to stay another 30 days. After looking into a few different places to go and see in Malaysia, it dawned on me that everything was starting to feel the same again. Jungle tour in Malaysia, shopping district, beautiful islands etc. I'll concede there are certainly worse ways to spend your days, but I felt that it was time to make some decisions. When I looked at my bank account, that helped spur on the idea of heading for home.
After a little searching I found a cheap flight to Vancouver that left the next day. This was pretty sudden for me, but all the later flights would have been too much or would have taken me past my visa expiry, which is not that horrible but a pain in the butt. After some last minute shopping on Khoa San Road, too much drinking with some Danish girls and a 2 hour bad sleep, I arrived at Bangkok airport by 6:30am to catch my flight to Tai Pei and then Vancouver. It was a long flight. It left at 8:30am Thailand time and arrived at 9:30am Vancouver time on the same day. I'm not sure how many hours I was actually flying for. I couldn't figure it out on the plane as I was exhausted from the partying and I can't be bothered with Quantum physics right now. When I got to Vancouver, I was a complete zombie, fortunately Ryan had seen the last minute email, and picked me up from the airport. Due to a strange coincidence, my sister called Ryan later that day to go for a drink with her and her boyfriend John. It was my pleasure to surprise her first with my arrival, but then I had to go drinking again. Good grief, my poor liver is going to climb up my esophagus and strangle me.
I had intended originally for this trip to last a lot longer. As the trip progressed I realized that the goals I had were, in part, goals I made as a different person. My outlook of things changed as I traveled, and though I would have liked to do a few more things, now isn't the time. Besides, I need an excuse to go back ;) I got what I needed from this trip, and trying to force more out of it would be a waste of time, money and effort. I've had lots of great times, met lots of great people and will remember this trip for the rest of my life. This is definitely not the last trip for me, I will use this as a foundation to make each and every other trip even better than the last.
There's still more photos to come as my CD of Eastern Europe photos is in the mail, and I'm waiting for my waterproof camera prints to get transferred to CD at a ridiculous price.
I would have written this sooner, but as I turned up in Vancouver with no warning whatsoever, I wanted to surprise a few people before letting the cat out of the bag - which this entry would do...
I'll write at least once more when I post the remaining pictures, and I'll recap my overall feelings and impressions of the places I visited on my little adventure.

Still Surphin'

Well, I'm not going to win any style awards, but my surfing has been fun. I can stand no prob, but I'm still on the big boards, so turning is a bit of an issue. If you see me surfing - stay outta my way! It's been really good. I met a fellow Canuck on a tour who lives in Las Vegas, Eli, and we drank half the island's supply of alcohol. Fun times - I think. I took some time to do a tour of Koh Phang Nga other wise known as James Bond Island. Roger Moore filmed "The Man with the Golden Gun" there. We also went to a bunch of surrounding islands. Unfortunately my camera battery died early into the trip and I missed out on a lot of great shots. I was pissed. I took my spare out of my pack as when I was surfing all I wanted to bring with me was spare shorts, towel and water. I didn't want to leave valuables on the beach... I took some shots with my waterproof disposable, but I'll have to wait until I process the shots before I can post them... I also met some people from Singapore and Holland who said they would email me some shots too. Crossing my fingers. Anyway, the islands were stunning. Too bad the shots I did get were before the weather improved. Pictures won't do them justice anyway. We canoed through caves located at the bottom of massive shear cliffs. Some were so small we had to lie down in the canoe! Pretty cool. We saw some beautiful lagoons, cliffs on all sides, tall mangroves growing out of the water, and all sorts of neat plants. Heard some monkeys, but I didn't see any. We stopped for a swim on a perfect (but busy) beach in the middle of the sea.
The devastation brought from the Tsunami, (in Phuket - I haven't seen further south or the surrounding areas), while noticeable, wasn't really prominent. The touristy areas have really bounced back quite quickly. There are some resorts that are closed for repairs and such, but if you didn't know there had been a tsunami, you would just think of it as off season renovations. What isn't obvious without talking to locals is the non physical devastation. Tourism is Thailand's number one industry and the number of visitors has seriously dropped. Thus a huge percentage of Thais, especially in the south, are unemployed. Just by visiting you can help bring back their economy. Thailand is perfectly safe to visit and still incredibly beautiful. Before I left I came across a lot of ignorant objections to my going to Thailand based on fear mongering by bullshit media.
My visa was set to run out on the 17th, meaning I had to leave Thailand or at least 24 hours to renew it. I had previously booked a cheap flight out of Bangkok to Malaysia back when I booked my ticket to Thailand from Budapest for the 15th. This meant I had to head back for Bangkok. It came up pretty quick and I was disappointed as I had booked a 2 day 1 night surfing trip around the island that I had to cancel. Two full days of instruction would have helped a lot. Oh well. I wasn't looking forward to Bangkok. It's neat the first time around, but it get tiring pretty quick. It's the hub of transportation in Thailand so you don't really have a choice about going there, and I've been through it too many times.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to my close friends Todd and Jacquie for their first son Kyle, born on Friday. I'm sure you'll make great parents, I'm super happy for you.
As for me, I'm still in Phuket on Kata Beach trying to drink the Andaman Sea. Surfing's tough! Actually the surfing (standing) part is okay, it's the catching the waves that's a lot of work. Timing the waves and paddling like mad wear you out pretty quick. I can't do more than an hour/jour and a half at a time. It's good though, I was out agani this morning, and I'll head out again this afternoon. Now that I have the basics, I won't forget them. I think I'll stay in Phuket a few more days. There's just so much to do around here. I just haven't wanted to stop practicing my surfing. Still haven't gone SCUBA diving or snorkeling yet. It's about the same price as home which is really high for Thailand. Why do I have to like the expensive sports? Maybe I'll take up yachting.
Happy Birthday Ryan - you're gonna catch up to me at this rate. I'll have a drink for you. - Jim, buy him a couple Flaming Lambourghinis for me, and chase them with B52's...

Surfing in Thailand

So you can surf in Phuket. It's expensive compared to other Thai activities, but it's wanted for a long time so here I am. I'm kinda living it up here. My bungalow over looks the ocean, has 2 bedrooms (that's all they had) a kitchen (which I won't use) and a nice TV - not that I watch it much but it's nice at night. It's ฿400 a night. I also rented a real bike this time. Well sorta real. It's a Honda Phantom and it's ฿300 a day. So far that's ฿700 a day. Then surfing lessons are about ฿700 and hour and then board rental is ฿150 and hour so if I take a lesson a day and another hour of practice later on after (which is plenty as learning is exhausting) I'm looking at ฿1550 a day plus food and drink. Let's say ฿2000 which is about $60cdn a day. It's actually a great deal all things considered, but for Thailand where you can live on $15cdn a day if you're careful, it’s pretty high, and the bank account is getting pretty thin... Whatever. With surfing under my belt I'll have no qualms about going home if I have to.
I met 2 girls, Kristy and Kate from Washington DC (they didn't vote for him either) a couple days ago that were really cool. It was nice to hang out with different people for a few days. Kate already knew how to surf, but Kristy joined me in some lessons which was cool, and we got a better deal because of it. Surfing is pretty cool, especially drinking the salt water. Yummy. Just can't get enough ;) I've booked another three days here with the intention of surfing every one of them. I'm gonna sleep like a baby for the next while! If I can handle (afford) it I may stay even longer, though I'll trade in the big bike for a cheaper scooter. Having a real bike is awesome. Riding down the highway with the teal ocean on one side and palm trees on the other it sweet. Too bad it's only 400cc (I think, but it doesn't feel that big). The helmet is a joke. It's like a plastic toy. A lot of people don't wear them. I do only because the cops will charge you ฿300 if they're in a bad mood, but it barely protects you from mosquitoes let alone a head on collision with a Tuk Tuk :) Time for dinner and then off to bed, I've got another lesson tomorrow morning. Surfing is not conducive to a drinking lifestyle...
Oh yeah, Ali got my CD for me. Phew.

Phuket

So I'm in Phuket now. I got here in a rather round about way - at least in my head. The last week or so has been rather trying, to say the least.
I had finally made it to Koh Chang with its pristine and mostly empty beaches. Problem was, it turns out I don't like being alone. Not that this was a big surprise to me. Nor should it be for anyone who knows me. It was very depressing to see all the couples sharing their experiences together. My drive was completely shot. I couldn't meet anyone (male or female) in my frame of mind. The weather was not improving, and the one store in town that rented surf boards was closed. The water didn't look very good for surfing anyway.
I had given up. I was depressed. I missed Sally and I was home sick. I decided it was time to go home. After 3 lonely nights in Koh Chang I booked a bus back to Bangkok.
I had called in sick for the week at Telus (my leave of absence expired on July 1st), thinking l could weasel another week of pay. Plus l was low enough to consider going home sooner than planned. The next day as l was booking my ticket I got an email with the following in the body: “As your request for an extension to your leave of absence was denied, you were expected to return to work effective July 2nd. As you decided not to do that we consider you to have abandoned your employment with TELUS. When your back in town feel free to reapply on External Temp Positions. It was great working with you.” Nice way of saying I'm Fired. Ha! That made me re-think going home. With no decent paying job I have absolutely nothing to go home to. I had said many times before I left that the prospect of returning and starting from scratch didn't bother me. And it didn't. I had not considered what it would be like alone. As long as Sally was with me I knew things would be fine as the most important aspect of my life was already taken care of. Now it's different. I've lost confidence in what to do when I get home.
THE ABSOLUTE WORST way to break up with someone is to do it overseas (if you’re against the idea of course). At home you have work to distract you. There's a ritual to go through. (Yes, I’ve been dumped enough to have a ritual - great eh?). Out here, every moment I spend missing Sally feels like I'm squandering current opportunities, thus making me feel more guilty. Relaxing is out of the question. I need to keep active. Bloody hell.
Anyway, I digress.
So I changed my mind. Next stop Phuket. If anywhere is gonna have surfing it's gotta be Phuket. Then l realized that my CD with all the pictures I took from Belgium to Budapest was missing. Lovely. Back come the depressed feelings. Nothing's working out, why me etc... You've gotta understand, that was a huge chunk of my trip. Over 500 photos. The last place I saw it was in Koh Chang and by a miracle I found the phone number. An even bigger miracle was when they told one they had it. Of course now I have to figure out how to get it back. I'm hoping that when/if Alison goes there she can grab it for me. We went separate ways back in Chiang Mai by the way.
I paid $60cdn for a forty minute flight instead of the fifteen hour $15 train trip, and here I is. It's been raining all day. So no more pictures yet. I hope a change in the weather will come with a change of feelings for me. At the least if surfing is available, maybe it'll help fill the void.

On my way to Kho Chang

I'm writing this on my new PDA. It's great. I can write the most part by hand and it changes it to type. Of course I have to write legibly which is hard. I'm glad to be leaving Pattaya, I'’m finally on my way to Kho Chang. Yesterday l hung out on the beach and read for most of the day. It was nice but too busy.I was tempted to rent a SeaDoo, then I saw a CBR Fireblade but I didn't even have the $15 for the day...
Well I'm at the dock heading for Kho Chang and I'm pretty worried about my lack of cash situation. What if they don't take VISA on the island? I've got less than 100 Baht on me and that won't get me very far. I should have waited another day to get money from the bank (I can do cash withdrawals with 2 pieces of ID from my VISA). They must have a bank. Duh. I'm sure it'll be fine. Still, with my luck...
Some stupid American bastard just sprayed mosquito repellent in my eyes. I'm tempted to rip his loud ass tongue out of his throat and watch him suffocate while his tongue wags uselessly out of his neck. I could take pictures of him and show him what he looks like as he chokes on his Boston necktie. Hahaha. He won't shut up. I guess I should give him some slack - after all he is the most important person on the boat. If I kill someone for the mutual benefit of everyone else do the means justify the ends? I'll have to read Crime and Punishment again.
There he goes with the repellent again. I would say something but I know my temper at the moment wouldn't allow for a pleasant outcome. Now his mother is talking about menopause. I wish I had money for a drink. Or a gun.
I need ear plugs. I don't have any music on my PDA yet.
I suppose I should mention that the majority of Americans I've met abroad are fine. They're open minded, and embarrassed as hell to be associated with that prick in D.C. This wretched family is obviously affluent, oblivious to the rest of the world around them and probably helped put the twit in office.
I love being able to write "in the moment". I think it will enhance my website. Though judging by my above comments, perhaps I need the filter that time away from a computer offers.
For the record, "Pocket" Word sucks. Why does Microsoft always do things half-assed? I'll have to find me an after market program.
Well I made it. No prob. Found a bank that let me pull moolah out of my credit card and I can eat again :) The ride to where I am staying was pretty hairy. The truck was full so me and this English bloak had to stand on the platform sticking out the back of the truck and hold on as our driver passed people going up hills and around blind corners. It was worth it though.I got myself my own little bungalow to call home. Perfect.
So I got all that squared away, so it was time to rent a Hog. Yup. 100cc's of pure unadulterated power! Oh yeah! That's probably a good thing as it's been a while. I started my tour on the wrong side of the road despite my conscious effort not to. I pissed off some scooter folk heading my way. I think I've got it now. It's so beautiful even though it looks like it wants to rain. The picture I got of me with it is pretty dark. It was starting to drizzle so I didn't want to try again. It's so beautiful here that photo taking is almost impossible. I mean how do you differentiate what's photo worthy when every thing is gorgeous?