Some photos to start us off

Well, a bit ironic that I had Greg, Swiss camera toter, to send a DVD full of pictures to me only to post them on the WWW (^^), but here it is. A few to start off, and then I will be posting randomly, so check and see every once in a while.




Here are two landscape photos that capture what we saw in Laos. These are near Vang Vieng, which was a complete tourist trap, but a good time and, as you can see, a tourist trap for a reason...beautiful scenery.





Hiking through the rice paddies, on our way to a restaurant that barely functions anymore. We ate some sticky rice full of ants with some soup with flowers in it, which was a little bit better than the ant soup. Below, Luang Prabang at the breakfast haunt. This wasn't the best, but the view of the Mekong was cool, so we kept going back.

Biking and hiking...and funky little bridges. More on bridges in a later post.

The bearer of the light. A little battery with a light. Mine wasn't leaking acid, which was an advantage. Aaron wasn't so lucky ^^.

Vang Vieng and the surrounding caves. I was caved out after that day, but it was cool. Hotel view on the top left.

Finish off with a few winding roads that are so typical of Laos. Miss it. After looking at these, I want to go back. Soon enough.

Tastes Like Corn

Well, this is the little guy I ate in Thailand. Not the exact one--I was munching on his brethren. I wonder what PETA thinks about that? Are they pro-insect eating? No, it is not a cockroach, but sure looks a little like one. They call them "Meng Da". You can just call them delicious.

Thinking back to China

Noodles in the making.


A couple of random China shots from John, my friend in Xi'an. Sometimes wish I were back there (or that I could go back for a few hours to stuff myself on Chinese dumplings). Seoul is good, but wait for a later post to get some explanation. If you haven't noticed, I have no time.

Nok in Seoul

This is Nok around Jong-no a week or so before Christmas.
A few photos of Nok in and around Seoul. Courtesy of Jay's new digital camera, which I haven't quite figured out yet.


These are in Dan's apt, which is more or less the same as our place now. His is a little newer and nicer though...ㅠㅠ

The update

Well, a slowdown on the blogging front. Work has been a killer. Things are going well, but I seem to be consumed with work. Mostly, it is probably the contrast with my last 8 months.
Classes are going well--I have really interesting stuff to go through now: I am teaching Brave New World in a literature class. Next book is Waste Land, followed by Pygmalion and, oh yes, the Great Gatsby. I also have a history class, which is cool, as it gives me a chance to brush up. Of course, there is too much material to cover in such a short time, but it is great to go over it and focus on the interesting bits as much as possible.
The appartment has been found and rented. It is nice to have a place to go back to that isn't cold and full of noisy people who get angry at you when you make a little noise. We are cooking up lots of Thai food and eating well. I found an international food market that has lots of great food from everywhere, even the stinky fermented fish (oh jess).
Well, off for now, but will be posting pics later.... Take care, all, and merry Christmas.

Thialand Number 1 ?!?!?!

Just something I saw the other day to add a bit of statistical background to the immigration issue with Nok. Apparently, Korea has deported more people this year than last year, and Thais top the list!!! So, of the 8, 700 some odd deportees, like 3,000 something were Thai. That explains a lot.
The link above is to a horribly written summary in the Korean Times, which is famous for poor editing, and it is actually quite a gem of a piece. I think it was actually an AP or Reuters piece, but they just copied it and called it their own. Well, so it goes in Korea. What it means in the last paragraph is that the largest number (around 6,000) were denied entry because they didn't present a clear reason for coming, which is the category Nok would have fit into. Anyway, my Chinese and Mongols are up there on the list, too!! Not to mention Bangladesh.

My Nation State

The time has come to put an end to my experimentation with www.nationstates.net . It is just taking to much dedication for me to go to the site and update my government all the time. Still, it was fun, and I have to thank Mr. Winters for showing the site on his blog. My region started out cool, but has become lame, and in the end I am not so into role-playing games where there are no real repercussions for anything you do. I mean, in the end, you can just make up any crap you want and it goes. Guess that's why I never did D&D and all that.

Anyway, below, my country, in all its greatness. May its legacy live on in the hearts and minds of all peoples the world round. I do dig that my nation is listed as an "enforcer".

The Nomadic Peoples of Sko al"Come be nomadic with us...."
UN Category: Inoffensive Centrist Democracy
Civil Rights:Very Good Economy:Strong Political Freedoms:Below Average
Location: Scion
Regional Influence: Enforcer

The Nomadic Peoples of Sko al is a huge, environmentally stunning nation, renowned for its punitive income tax rates. Its compassionate, hard-working population of 599 million have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.
It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent government stops and the rest of society begins, but it juggles the competing demands of the Environment, Education, and Healthcare. The average income tax rate is 91%. A tiny private sector is dominated by the Book Publishing industry.
It is illegal for police officers to carry out searches due to strict privacy laws, the government has cut its subsidies for all special interest groups, pharmacies close down as medicinal drugs are sold freely by the government, and guns are banned. Crime is totally unknown. Sko al's national animal is the ch priit, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its currency is the sko a.
Sko al is ranked 2nd in the region and 5,907th in the world for Most Cultured.

Korean Immigration Tale

Our entry story:
Travelling with a Thai has definitely been interesting, if a bit frustrating. My first question / suggestion to all governments who issue visas and then give people hell about them : Why did you issue us a visa in the first place? Counterfeiting aside, isn't the visa document enough to get into your country anymore? It is stated on the website and at the embassy, but the borders don't trust us. Maybe your embassies are full of idiot automatons who stamp visas on any paper in their vicinity and the hillbilly border guards actually are in the game with their full faculties. I tend to think it is the other way around.
That is mainly for China, which blocks this blog anyway, so no harm no foul. (For this and other banned/blocked sites in China you can use www.flyproxy.com ...for now)
So, after the entry problem, the exit turned out to pose a problem as well. The guy scanned her passport, looked around, looked at her, and then raises his handin that lazy official sort of way, hands loosely closed but index and middle fingers extended. He flags another official behind him, saying "There is a Thai here, come take a look at this."
Strangely enough, we were LEAVING. I was wondering what this guy had in mind. Was he thinking she was Chinese, but had purchased a Thai visa to get out? He did talk to her in Chinese to see her reaction (she knows no Chinese...so there was a blank smile, I assume). Was he wanting to detain her in China since she was Thai and likely to have trouble in Korea? I am just not sure what he was looking for, since we had legal visas and were departing within the validity of the visa.
I finished about 30 seconds after she had been taken aside, so I went up to the table. The guy looked at me and ask in English if I was travelling with her. What was my relationship with her? How long had we known each other? I have never been interrogated so much upon LEAVING a place. Maybe he thought we had drugs crammed up our orifces.
Once he saw that I was taking her, it moved along. I didn't risk asking why the suspicion, as I feared that would start us back into everything. The flight to Seoul was uneventful, lasting about an hour and a half. Upon arrival, however, our names were on a list of about six people. We stopped and gave the girl our pp info and boarding passes. She wrote everything down and smiled saying thanks. I asked if there was a problem, but she said no. I am not sure if this was related to immigrationor not.
I passed through the check with no problem, and then Nok got up to the counter. After about 5 minutes of looking at her passport and going through the computer, deja vu : into the special room for special checks. WOW.
NOTE : Korea has signed a treaty allowing ASEAN countries to enter without a visa. This is obviously not the case, which means the treaty IS A PAPER VOID OF MEANING. So, you sign the thing to make everyone feel better or to get some benefits for yourself, and then you just keep doing things the same way.

THE INSPECTION ROOM

I waited for about 30 minutes outside of the inspection room, waiting for word. They would not let me in with her. I couldn't see her from where I stood, but I tried to remain present and visible in the hopes that they would call me over. Finally, a woman did come out and ask if I was the boyfriend. She then proceeded to ask me a series of questions about where we had met, how long we had known each other, and lots of other details. I am sure this was to see if we answered the same way, which we did. After this questioning, I was allowed into the room.

The room was fine, not some dank interrogation spot. A couple of other travellers were in there getting questioned. A Chinese-Korean guy was having his documents questioned. An African guy was sitting there saying nothing. A few more Chinese came in, and a Nepali guy was also taken in. I tried not to pay too much attention to them, but it was interesting to see who got pulled.

Basically, I was told that, although Thais are eligible for visa-free entry, so many of them stay that they require more. Again, wish it said that everywhere else. Well, I signed an agreement saying that if she didn't leave I would go to jail and pay loads of money. It seemed like that would be enough, but later an old guy showed up, and said a Korean guarantor would be required. Jung Hoon's number was the first one I found, so we caled him. It did help that he works for a famous company. He was nice enough to sign the guarantee for me to guarantee her. The officials looked more or less happy with that, and we were on our way.

Now, if I could just get started with work...

Getting here.

We got here. Headaches and Chinese vendors and missed and delayed flights but we got here. Immigration is a story best left untold, but Nok is here. All in one piece, stamps in the passports (Thanks to Jung Hoon).
Photos on the way....legs still hurting from the great wall.

funniest youtube video ever

We Just Obliterated These Two Dogs

"You sound like you quite enjoyed that."
Actually, I didn't but I was sleep-deprived and in shock after seeing what happened. A line of dogs (and a chicken or two?) sitting in the highway in the middle of Laos, about six in total. Our bus rolls around a bend and there they are. I don't recall the driver beeping or anything, but most of the dogs managed to get out of the way. BUT, these two dogs just didn't get the message and were still sitting while we plowed over them. I had never been in any situation where I was so sure we had completely decimated two animals.
One was stuck to the bus, and was carted off later. Nok joked that it would be for lunch the next day. Considering where we are, I am not so sure it was much of a joke.
Good eats to all.

I Love India

What has happened to quality programming in the US? Make sure you give yourself at least 30 seconds of viewing to ensure hysterical laughter starts.
Also, for more Asian goodness, we laugh at the gamers but the Chinese make money off of them.

Fire's a burnin'

Well. Thailand. September 20th. Somehow, yesterday in the wee hours of the morning, the military decided to take over the country.
This doesn't mean the place is in chaos. Yesterday was calm, people were working in the market like regular. Watched it on TV. Not even really discussed much.
Downtown Chiang Mai, near the Night Bazaar, had some soldiers with M16s walking around. Besides that, the only evidence of the coup was the TV. I saw it on Thai TV and then on CNN. Seemed as far away as Iraq.
For those who don't know, the Prime Minister had been elected in what many people say were fraudulent elections (the opposition also boycotted the election), and there were irregularities all over the place, and big money being tossed around all over the place. Well, he kept power as a "caretaker" Prime Minister, the most ridiculous title I have ever heard of. Basically he is a guy with a ton of cash who controlled the media, got a hold of the country, and uses it for his personal gain. Recently he went and had a meeting in Burma. People speculated as to why he went, but it is pretty unanimously agreed that he was securing some contracts with the junta members. Well, this guy is obviously running the country into a hole, and should be out of there.
Supposedly, the kind has made some grunts of some sort that reflect his consent of the coup. This will certainly help it become accepted, because in Thailand, if the king is doing it, it must be cool. More on that tomorrow. Wear yellow and be good.

Driver friends in Phnom Penh

Here is a good pic of my motorbike driver friends in Phnom Penh. These guys are out every day looking for work. Busses show up and they are there trying to get a rider. Most of the time the busses empty and they don't get a fare.
Doesn't stop them, though. They stick around and wait for the next bus.
The guy in the fatigues is a police officer. He was cool and was one of the people who helped me mangle my way through a bit of Cambodian. Too bad you can't see his machine gun--although I was never sure if it was loaded or not.

2Pac and kids

Above, or left, depending o the whims of blogger and your browser, playing a game.... run!!!!!
I am so angry at this blog site for its messy layout tools that I am rejecting formatting completely and just letting this post evolve as it may.

These are the kids at the dumpsite. Pretty cool little guys. Work picking up trash day and night, and when they have some cash or rice, they go to school. The NGO next door serves 480 families, I believe, trying to get them trained to do other things and get them to school.

Notice the kid with the 2Pac hat. I have another one where he is smiling, but I won't post it out of spite.

Also, you can see the smoke a burnin'. I assume this is stuff they cannot sell, so they are making room for the next loads. More soon. Too lazy for more today.

Angkor Wat

Well, here are a few more pics of the temples. I mostly took them because I thought I was supposed to, haha, or that I would regret it later. Here they are: Above, a Buddha in the mist and halways of a fairly deserted temple (for Angkor Wat). Below, one of the marshy near-canals that seem to be near many of the main entrances. Later they fill up with more water, apparently.
Here, on the top, is the so-called Lady Temple, but I think that is a misnomer by the locals (sop I heard). Will have to check on the facts for that one. Regardless, it is beautiful and has much better carvings than the other temples. On the bottom, of course, the main temple at Angkor. So there you have it, I lined up and took my photos with the thousands of others there.


Ok, then, here we have a redified area at the main coplex which was cool. I took it right behind a Naga (snake head depiction) which I think makes it looks cool, but I am sure a true photographer would slaughter me for my composition. To finish off, a sunset that actually hurts your eyes if you look into the photo for a few minutes. More to come.

The Animals Bite Back

As I am sure Hoops knows, I will shed no tears for Steve Irwin. The world loves this guy, apparently, as he tortures animals for his own profit and fame. Ok, he ran some museums and /or organizations. Great. I don't hate him. As far as I know his father started them. Whatever. The point is, a human being maimed by an animal bothers me far less than the crap he walked around doing. Sorry for the family. I guess a sting ray got him in the heart. Experts say this is highly unusual, and makes me wonder if this particular sting ray was getting Mr. Irwin back for all the crap he had done to other creatures.
I think South Park struck closest to the essence of Mr. Irwin in this clip.

South Park - Crocodile Hunter

When the natives are restless, give them photos

Following my regular protocol, I managed to take 4 rolls of film without appearing in a single picture, haha. Here, my absolute favorite photo I got from the dumpsite out of Phnom Penh. The kids were great, even if their lives are very difficult. Later I will try to put up some more that show the conditions better.


These two: top, Bayon, one of the complexes at Angkor Wat that I liked the most. Bottom, a really blurry one of Nok (she is on the right).

Tweaking consumerism

Short post about something I don't feel has much to do with my life anymore, but is interesting.
Some basketball player, Stephon Marbury, who must be extremely famous, has created a line of basketball shoes that people can actually afford, and he says he is going to wear them as well. Interesting. Maybe this is the end of inner city kids killing each other or mugging to pay for their $175 Nike Jordan's? Status and its workings being what they are, I doubt it, but at least it is hopeful. I mean, sure, the guy will make money out of it, but, it seems a little more reasonable. Here is his page.

Thoughts before departing

Not about Cambodia, though. Just inspired by conversations I had here. Was talking with Miwa. Eric, if your African connection allows you to view this, I know you will freak out when you realize she used to work at Messhuga's, which was so much crazy fun back in the day, although many reports say it sucks now. Oh well, remember and forge on.
During the conversation we ended up talking about blogs, and I remembered going to a site that I reached somehow through Hoops' site. Benjamin, Hoops, somebody knows The Git. Not sure who. Or, you can go to my favorite story on the site: the Ballad of Carl Wilson. Anyway, just an example of something great found through these blogs. Might put a permanent link on it.
One last thing, has anyone got the scoop on these 911 photos? Interesting, just don't know what the story is behind them coming out. Worth a look if you have time.