Bangkok Theaters

Ya just gotta love the Bangkok theaters. Tui, Bryan, and I went to see "Tropic Thunder" recently (yes, it finally made it to Thailand) at the Nokia Theater in Siam Paragon. There are reclining couches instead of chairs, pillows and blankets, and people to bring you any food or beverages you might want. It's so comfortable that halfway through the movie Tui nodded off for 5 minutes. As for the movie itself, I loved it, especially Tom Cruise's crude character. I think my favorite scene was with the landmine...gold!



Sean

สวัสด

I just finished my last Thai language lesson. Meg and I have been taking weekly lessons since May but we have definitely not practiced as much as we should (isn't that always the case). I suppose we do know enough Thai to navigate Bangkok, order food, and have very basic conversations - and I mean BASIC!

Being a tonal language, meaning pitch defines the meaning of a word, it took awhile to train our ears to identify the tone being used (it's still very difficult to distinguish when speaking to Thais in ordinary conversation as they tend to speak quickly). And using the wrong tone can cause some major misunderstands. For example, "klay" spoken in a medium tone means "far" while spoken in a rising tone means "near". You get the idea.

Nonetheless, the Thai we have learned has made life easier in Thailand and, more importantly, gave us better insight into the wonderfully unique Thai culture. Next up, written Thai....

ฌอน (Sean)

STAcKeD

In terms of Thai cuisine, there's practically nothing that Meg and I cannot or will not eat. We absolutely love the food. I'm not sure how Meg is coping back in Canada at the moment without it. We eat out all the time! It's rare that we'll cook something ourselves. Since Meg left 2 weeks ago, I have yet to cook myself a meal. That changed tonight as I decided to stay in and break out a classic: STAcKeD - a.k.a Stove Top And Kraft Dinner.

When I was living in Ottawa 7 years ago with my cousin Chad, we took two of our favorite dishes, combined them, and added a little BBQ sauce for flavor. We cooked STAcKeD so often it warranted the acronym. It's probably a good thing I returned to NL when I did or Chad and I would have died from malnutrition.

I don't expect a repeat of the STAcKeD-only diet anytime soon, especially not when there's so much delicious Thai food outside my door. However, there is enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow...mmmmmmmmmmmmmm....



Sean

Motorcycle Diaries

Though my motorcycle adventure wasn't quite as extensive or life-changing as the biographical film "Motorcycle Diaries" about Che Guevara, it was nonetheless blog worthy.

Despite being extremely dangerous, there is definitely no faster way to get around Bangkok than taking a motorcycle taxi. While all the suckers wait for hours in their cars and tuk-tuks in horrible traffic jams, a motorcycle taxi weaves in and out, violating just about every traffic and safety law to ensure you get to your destination quickly. Though hazardous, Meg and I will sometimes take the motorcycles to go short distances.

Today, I jumped aboard and headed off to the Thai Immigration Bureau. As we neared our destination, a policeman standing outside a police station waved us over to the curb where he was already in the process of issuing a ticket to another motorcyclist. Our offense? I think it was because I wasn't wearing a helmet which a driver is required to provide and ensure the passenger wears. The policeman handed a ticket to the other motorcyclist who, upon seeing the fine, tried desperately to give it back, pleading that it was too much (please note that all dialogue occurred in Thai and this is my interpretation of what happened). Meanwhile, the policeman began issuing our ticket, attempting to ignore the other driver. At this point, a crowd had begun to take notice of our situation and gather - I was feeling ever-more uncomfortable. This did not stop the other driver from taking out his wallet and trying to bribe the policeman...in front of the crowd...in front of the police station. I could see the policeman was getting annoyed now as he firmly dismissed the other driver who slowly retreated to his motorcycle, mumbling under his breath.

Then it happened. The driver just couldn't let it go and probably made some vulgar comment about the cop's mother. I guess I'll never know what was said but the policeman reacted swiftly, grabbing the driver by the neck and literally dragging him into the police station. My driver and I kinda looked at each other and shrugged, glad to no longer be the center of attention, we took off.

P.S. If anyone tells Mom that I wasn't wearing a helmet on a motorcycle, I will vehemently deny it. :)

Sean

Thanksgiving

Although I'm missing Thanksgiving at home, I did go out for dinner at a friend's house yesterday with a number of my Thai friends. Well, it's more of a resort than a house. Located an hour northeast of Bangkok, it is nestled away in a quiet gated neighbourhood. Over the course of the evening, we enjoyed various Thai dishes, swimming in the pool, and gossiping about the latest Thai news. My Thai is still not at the point of being conversational so Tui and Nu spent a lot of time translating.



I brought my guitar along and spent an hour relaxing poolside. It honestly was like going to a resort.

On a side note, our kitties Gahnomee and Chochie will be moving to new homes very soon. They're going to split up for awhile until we return to St.John's - which I'm sure is fine by Gahnomee who is tortured endlessly by Chochie. :)

Sean

Bangkok Dangerous

No, I'm not referring to the movie "Bangkok Dangerous", I'm referring to the fact that things are heating up here in Bangkok again. Last night, anti-government protesters clashed with police, resulting in a couple of deaths and a couple hundred injuries (some of them very serious). My impression is that things aren't going to get better anytime soon. There is talk that the government might impose a curfew, making it illegal for people to gather in public in groups of more than 4 people. We shall see....

Below is a picture from Bangkok Post's website showing a scene from last night's violence. Not to worry though, I am making sure to stay well away from any of the protests.


Sean

HOME

After weeks of dreaming and wishing and hoping I am finally HOME. It's not that there was anything wrong with Bangkok...but I was just seriously homesick and needing a break from the big city.

The trip started with an almost tearful goodbye to Sean (we'd convinced ourselves that I was just going on "vacation" in order to keep me from starting my long journey sad and teary-eyed) at 6am. I flew to Hong Kong first and then boarded the LONGEST FLIGHT EVER. 14.5 hours is far too long for anyone to be expected to sit still.

Once I arrived in Toronto the excitement set in. People were speaking English! They were cranky and unhelpful! I was back in Canada! When I got to my gate it got even better. Newfie accents! Oil rig workers on the way back from Alberta! Ahhh home sweet home.

After a scary moment when we all thought the flight would be diverted to Halifax, the plane touched down in St. John's. And as is the case on most TO - St. John's flights, the cabin erupted in cheers and "woo hoo"s as soon as we landed. But the best part of the whole thing was stepping off the plane and feeling COLD instead of suffocating heat! Yay!

I'm still super jet lagged and constantly tired but that hasn't stopped me from starting in on my list of "things to do when I get home". I had a hot turkey sandwich with fries, dressing and gravy today (drooool) and went for a brief shop downtown. Tomorrow will be all about a drive to the ocean, signal hill, more downtown shopping and then of course, some serious time on George St.

Now, like Sean mentioned, the countdown is on. C'mon Dec. 6th!!!!