Rayong, Thailand II

I will never get accustomed to elephants roaming the streets. We stumbled upon a young elephant down the street from the hotel. I dropped 100 baht and bought some food to feed her.



Fact: Elephants feel weird. Their skin is warm but rough, and they have some hair as you can see from the picture, but definitely not full coverage. Also, their trunk is so strange. The end part of it, like a nose, smells the food and opens up, and then the trunk wraps around like an arm with no bones. It was a big meaty muscle. I put some food on her head, and she was able to smell it and retrieve it. Conclusion: Elephants are awesome.

A few more Rayong Pictures

I hope all of you reading in the midwest US are enjoying these pictures from December 21. 85F and it hasn't rained in a few weeks.



Unfortunately, this job is wrapping up within the next week. I don't know where I will go next, so don't bother asking. I might be lucky enough to come back to the U.S. for a week or so, but that's optimistic.

Anyhow, Happy Holidays!

Thanksgiving '08

Well, this Thanksgiving was about the same as last year. I spent Thursday at work, went to KFC with a coworker in the evening, and worked again on Friday. One of the few times during the year I wish I was back in the US. I miss out on delicious food, playing football, and watching even more football.

BUT, this year was different. On the following Sunday, another coworker, Bryan, had the hotel cook us a big chicken-turkey. His wife brought back a few supplies from the US, like cranberry stuffing, pumpkin bread, green bean casserole, summer sausage, etc. Dan even made an apple pie, which was really good. So I didn’t miss out on the food…just the football. Don't worry.

Bangkok, Thailand

On the heels of returning from Cambodia, I stayed in Bangkok to meet up with Novotny who decided to fly in from the Philippines. This was a good decision.



For those of you who are fuzzy on the details, Andrew is one of the 3 guys I lived with in Wrigley before traveling. That is him above with his change purse. Inside his change purse he keeps Thai Baht, Filipino Pesos, and a rather disturbing picture of Chase Utley and Ryan Howard wearing only knee-high socks, baseball cleats, and Phillies hats.

Bangkok Pictures

I arrived late on Friday evening, so it was straight to the go-gos and disco. First stop: Soi Cowboy. Good call. At least they aren’t trying to fool you.



A ridiculous night of bar hopping and clubbing ensued capped off with seeing the sunrise over a massive Santa sleigh. We also did some sight seeing...but not too much. Apparently the Grand Palace 'closes' at 3:30pm, but here is a nice view of one of the nearby temples.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

After spending a week waiting to be reassigned and basically living as a road wife in Pattaya, I took a week of vacation and planned a trip with Angela. Angela is my coworker's wife who travels and takes some really sweet pictures with her expensive camera. In fact, most of the pictures you see in all my albums from Thailand are from her. So, Thanks Angela!

Ok, we flew into Siem Reap on Tuesday and lazily watched "Just One of the Guys," on tv. You know that really horrible 80's movie where the main character cuts her hair and pretends to be a man in high school to research for her newspaper? Well, by this point Angela and I realized that we travel well together because neither of us have any sort of agenda to stick to. Besides, we came to Cambodia on one day's notice with nothing planned and 4 days to do it in.

Siem Reap, Cambodia Pictures - I haven't quite finished sorting through all of these yet, but I have posted some.

I suppose many of you don't know, as I didn't until talking to Angela, but Siem Reap is the city nearby some old Buddhist temples at Angkor.

Bayon Temple at Angkor Thom


Bayon is the temple portrayed in Tomb Raider...people say...I haven't seen it. We woke up for sunrise at Angkor Wat, but of course it was a cloudy day, pictured below.





We also visited Ta Prohm, famous for its winding tree and giant roots growing out of rocks, below.



I really liked Cambodia. I can see why Angelina Jolie stole so many kids from there - they were really cute begging for money. There were a lot of restaurant choices in Siem Reap on Pub Street, which also had a good night life. The food was similar to Thai food but less spicy, which is good for me. I like to avoid basement fires if at all possible. Also one really nice thing was how cheap the vacation was. We stayed in a nice hotel and bought a ton of souvenirs from the night market. They predominantly use the US Dollar, so I didn't have to convert anything in my head; plus you can bargain for everything. We got T-shirts bargained down below $2. They throw one price at you, and you counter with something insultingly low (Angela is especially good). Then walk away and they agree. It's beautiful. But it really was weird to get US currency out of an ATM on the other side of the world.

Lastly, in the back corner of the night market was a sign for a fish pedicure. Angela had heard about this before, and apparently somewhere in NY offers this for a ridiculous price, but it is fairly common in SE Asia. These 'doctor' fish don't have teeth and they eat the dead skin off your feet. For the hefty price of $3 (I think), Angela and I treated outselves. It tickles...a lot.

Fish Pedicure


Do you like my jean shorts? Back to work in Thailand.

Koh Samet, Thailand

One luxury of being in Thailand is all the beautiful beaches. (The beaches I go to are free.) One little island just a short trip away is Koh Samet, pictures below.



I have been here 3 times since it is the closest island to our city; maybe 25 minutes by car to the pier and 25 minute speedboat ride. The accommodations of choice are Sai Kaew Villa because we are cheap bastards ($35 per night)…but it’s a decent place. Sai Kaew means white sand, and it is also very soft. Angela has informed me that she read somewhere it is some of the softest sand in the world. I have all 3 trips combined into one album below.

Koh Samet Pictures

Generally these trips consist of arriving just after noon, getting some beach food, and tossing the football and frisbee while trying not to turn pink. After showering while the sun is going down, we reassemble for some grilled food on the beach to watch a fire show in the dark.



Afterwards, we head down the beach to Silver Sands for some more drinking on the beach, with more fire shows, and some late night dancing. Beware…after midnight, the crowd is predominantly gay men, but you can still find a straight section on the dance floor.

Rayong, Thailand

Rayong is the city that we live in located about 40 minutes from where we work in Map Ta Phut. Our hotel is pretty nice – I can’t complain – right on the beach, tennis court, two pools, work out facility, nice staff, more than adequate accommodations.



Rayong Pictures

The town is nice, with just about everything we need; a few bars, a lot of restaurants, a big European grocery store, hospital close by, IT mall, etc. The only downside is that most places are located too far away from the hotel to walk to. But that’s no problem for us; most of the crew bought motorbikes to get around when we do not have a driver. Yeah, that’s me with my sweet ass Honda Waverunner.



One weekend we had a Cook-Out on the beach in Rayong. Some members from the other crews in Pattaya joined us for some burgers and brats before we went out to on the town (choose between 3 bars). We chose the exceedingly classy establishment known as “The Love Club” since it is open past 2am. Thai people love Johnny Walker, so that’s what was flowing. You know what else Thai people love? Lady Boys.



Lakshmi has a knack for finding the most blatantly obvious Lady Boy and calling him/her over for some pictures. Couple that with some shisha and possibly some whiskey vomiting, and you have a summary of our BBQ night in Rayong.

Pattaya, Thailand

Fresh into Bangkok, I am faced with a choice. Should I go to my hotel in Rayong and relax for the weekend, or should I meet my coworkers in Pattaya and party in the sex trade capital of the world? OK, so not a tough decision.



Within the first 2 hours of being in Pattaya, I check into my hotel, meet up with about 7 people, and head to a go-go bar. Basically to sum this up without getting too graphic, the girls dance almost naked/completely naked and perform shows. Despite Thailand being a monarchy and a rather poor country, Pattaya is a city of consumerism where the money flows. You can buy whatever you want, from electronics to cheap knock off clothes to tiny gay Thai men to be by your side all weekend.

Pattaya Pictures

I saw some of the most fucked up shit imaginable in 48 hours in Pattaya, that I can’t even write about it. But I can provide details for the imagination – soapy water, oil, shiny poles, ice cubes, ping pong balls, darts, old men, whips, chains, whistles, yo-yos, my grandmother riding by on a bicycle…giving me the finger…and a duck?!? You can take it from there. If you want some stories, you’ll have to catch up with me for a beer sometime in the next 5 years.


Halloween on Walking Street

Well, I had a sweet weekend, and it was really nice to be with a big group of people from the office. I will be back.