I have yet to find a SINGLE open wifi network that actually works. If
this message is ever posted to the blog it will basically be a miracle.
————————
asia.shoelessone.com
(from iPod Touch)
Categories
Month: July 2008
Categories
better late than never!
so we made it!!! better late than never for a post, i suppose! i had great intentions of writing yesterday, but i just had too much to do in the good ol’ internets, and ran myself out of time (and money :)) before i could post!
so here i am!
day 3!!!! i can’t believe we’ve already been here for 4 nights, it’s crazy really.
so we’ve been having an awesome time so far. I’m not sure what kev has posted or not (so sorry if this is a repeat!)
we got in really late on saturday night — after a 16 hour+ flight, kev was too tired (or something!!!) to ward off the unwanted harassment of the non-metered taxi guy, so we jumped into his supped up honda accord, with fuzzy pink steering wheel cover for quite possibly, the longest taxi ride of my life. i’m not sure if it was because we were just totally whipped, or because we were getting seriously taken by this guy, the ride was long. veeeerrrry long. but interesting just the same. i even had 2 maps printed out, 1 for us, and 1 for the driver, so we would be less likely to get screwed, but after hearing “oh, very far!!! very long drive!” in his broken english, i knew no amount of maps, or “sir, it says we were supposed to turn on on nut road?!” would make us get there any quicker (or cheaper for that matter!:))
so we’ve been staying in a really cool little youth-style guest house. the people are really helpful and friendly, and overall, it’s been a great experience. we’re changing guest houses tonight though…time for something new. here’s a picture of my room the first night. they didn’t have anything “smaller” available, so TADA! big awesome bed ANNNND A/C for the price of just-about-nothing!!!
yesterday, kev adorned his newly purchased yellow “long live the king” shirt (the majority of thai’s wear yellow shirts on mondays to honor and respect their king…as monday was his day of birth! — i’ll try to post pictures later :)) and we went to see a movie in this ridiculously huge and spiffy cinema. (we’ve been seeking out air conditioned places like it is our job here!!!!)we saw hancock, which was honestly really enjoyable/humorous. although it was easy to get lost in the movie, and forget we were in a foreign country, we were snapped back into reality when we the national anthem began playing, and we all stood and paid respect (yet again :)) to the king at the beginning (and end) of the film 🙂
also, we have eaten some ridiculously good food. the first day, i had this huge plate of delicious noodles for seriously, 33cents (10 bht). craaaazy!
on a totally different note: after seeing only a hand full of white people so far, i have come to realize that i don’t need to darken my skin to fit in a bit better. no. i need bangs. and cute shoes. you would not believe how cute the shoes are here…and i am not even a shoe person!!!! but for less than $3 you can snaz yourself up with some cute little heeled shoes….and since kev has already done a little shopping of his own, i think it’s about time i “splurge” and buy myself some shoes….and bangs.
kev’s still sleeping as i type this. we’ve been on some crazy sleep schedules lately. i woke up 2 hours ago (6am) and haven’t been able to sleep….unfortunately by 8pm, i’m totally spent, and ready for bed. but, since i’m up, i’m doing a little research on where to go next…there are SOOO many places i want to see, so much i want to do. it makes me nervous that i wont be able to see everything in a month. one of the more touristy things i’m really excited for, is the full moon parties in Ko Phangan. it’s this giant beach party, where thousands of people come to hang out and celebrate the full moon. this month, it’s on the 19th…which might be pushing our schedule a bit to get there. we shall see. i’ll be trying to talk kev into it as soon as he gets up 🙂
anyway, i think this is enough of an update for now! i miss you all, and wish you were here to eat pad thai with us!!!
xxx
Categories
Another quick update
Quick update:
Lindsay told me that my post earlier didn’t sound particularly positive, which after reading it I’d have to agree.
Let the record reflect that it’s been an incredibly awesome, exciting, amazing, beautiful, and all around good day (now two days). I can’t REALLY complain about much, other than:
Today I was actually sick. I always thought I was supposed to get typhoid or diahrea or something similar, but I actually hve a pretty bad sore throught. Not exactly a deabilitating sore through, but not particularly pleasant. Lindz and I still had a great day, today we headed to Siam Square, which is sort of the huge shopping mall/shopping district – or so I’m assuming. The malls we went to were incdibly awesome, and the stuff in the malls was expensive – too expensive for us. There was even a lambergeni dealership (crazy). We had pad thai for the first time today.
It’s around 8:30 as I type this and I think Lindsay may have already headed to bed, I’m very tired but just got off the phone with my mom. I’ve gotta say with my sore through (in addition to my first “Singha” beer I had tonight in a little street square with two dudes singing/playing guitar on a stage – awesome) bed is going to feel really good. I’m trying to push back my bed time as much as possible so I don’t end up waking pu at 3 AM as I did today.
bar on the right. music up front. markets all around.
We are hoping to head on to a new hostel tomorrow, Suk 11 (suk11.com) but I haven’t heard back about our reservation yet.
Tomorrow Lindz and I are probably going to spend a few hours and figure out where we should go next after Bangkok.
For now, good night (actually, morning) to all of you in the US. To Anthea, good afternoon/evening/whtaever it is in Germany. To Brittany, same to you, except at the hospital.
<3
Kev
Categories
Day 1 down
Quick post, as I’m running out of internets: We made it through day one. We started out walking around our guesthouse which frankly didn’t do a lot for the spirit. I felt pretty out of place, not because we were the only farangs around but because every thing felt pretty depressing. We’ll get used to this type of thing probably. We then hopped on the “sky train” and went to the centerish of bangkok (40 baht for the 1 way ticket, roughly 1.25 US) which was awesome. Lots of street vendors with awesome looking food, fresh fruit, etc. We didn’t eat much from the street vendors and we avoided the fresh fruit and things as we weren’t sure what was safe to eat yet and didn’t want to get sick the first day. I worried a lot about where to find bathrooms, which I don’t think will be too difficult. Neither Lindsay or I know basically any Thai yet, which sort of sucks. I’d like to say “Thank you” in Thai, and I know how, but I don’t know when you actually say it. I haven’t taken many pictures, frankly I just don’t feel like it. I took a few just to have something to put up, but I’m seriously considering sending my digital camera back to the states as apposed to lugging it around for the next 5 months. We’ll see. Lots of stuff to look at, but I just don’t really feel like whipping out my camera.
here’s me eating breakfast our first day. we ordered “english tea, thai rice porridge, and boiled eggs.” it actually was, “english tea, salted rice soup and a ridiculously salted/preserved egg.” interesting.
I have terrible breath, I’m not sure why but it is. I just brushed my teeth, but it’s still here. I bought a yellow shirt yesterday for 6 bucks US as I guess Monday’s are the days everybody wears yellow in honor of the King. Money will stretch pretty good here, if we are somewhat careful. We had lunch/dinner for 33 cents yesterday, internet is 2.50 for an hour, sandals are 2 bucks, etc, etc. Our room is around 12.50 each (25 bucks total) for air conditioning, etc. Tonight Lindz and I are going to see a movie, hopefully the new batman movie. She wants to see the Will Smith movie though, even though she has no idea what it’s called, what it’s about (she said it might be about Will Smith being a super hero, or in a war, or something). We’ll see what happens I guess! Last night we went to bed around 7 PM. Well, Lindz went to bed around 6 PM, I went to bed around 7 PM. I think this may have been a bit mistake, as we woke up at around 4 AM this morning and couldn’t get back to sleep. It could be a somewhat tiring/tired/etc day today. Miss you all! Here are a few pictures I took just to post here: Here is my room: 
Here is the city sort of: 
Love and miss you all!!! Kev
Categories
Lindsay fliest business
Not sure the order these will get posted as we have no WiFi so they may or may not be sent in order – but we’ve made it to our connecting flight at Narita, and Lindsay and I are both going to make it on the flight (thanks again Jan!) but only she will be flying business this leg of the trip. So she is lucky. I’m lucky because it’s a shorter flight, only 5ish hours, so coach isn’t bad.
Edit: Actually I think I almost got an equal seating situation. Not quite, but I got a isle seat and of the 5 seats in my row, only one other was occupied. So I had three empty seats next to me. I think Lindsay’s dinner was a bit better though!
Categories
Truth about flight 891
I read what Lindsay wrote, for the most part, and business class really is awesome – Jan, thank you so much. I feel very lucky. Really.
Dinner was gerat, I honestly can’t imagine what could be the advantage of sitting in first class, business is just so awesome. I’m sure there is an advantage, but really this is great.
We decided to check our luggage – well, actually I had to and Lindsay figures she might as well also. I’m a bit nervous about loosing our luggage but I have all of my impotant/expensive stuff anyway, including clothes, so worst case I’ll need to buy a new pack or something (EDIT: we have our bags!)
As I type this I’m south of the tip of Alaska, it’s around 9 PM in Michigan, 6 in Cali, and 10 AM in Tokyo. We expect to be to Tokyo by 4:34 PM. I’m listening to XM satalite, in particular dance technoish music.
I’m wondering if I should try to sleep for a few hours now or something. I want to minimize the effect of “jet lag” but I also want to be awake/not miserable when we get to Thailand as it’ll be 11 PM there and could e a bit stressful (EDIT: it was a bit stressful, but not too bad).
Only negative thing I can say is taht while my dinner was awesome, the guy next to me had sashimi, crab, and fish for dinner, but I guess you had to order it ahead of time.
I’ve seen 2 movies so far on the flight, I forget the names. One was “Flawless” and another was about a smart english teacher who was jaded. I think it had Dennis Quade or something in it. Now I’m gonna watch some moving about treasure hunting, which frankly looks terrible but it’s a 10 hour flight and the movie has scuba diving in it so why not.
We seem to be losing altitude fairly quickly and the fasten seatbelt sign is on. Either we’re avoiding turbulence or I might be the next Sawyer+Jack. (EDIT: We didn’t crash).
<3
-kev
Categories
Wow. Wow. Wow!!!!
Wow. Wow. Wow!!!! We’re just getting settled in our Business Class seas, same row, just a few seats down. I snagged a window seat next to a Taiwanese man named Yi. He speaks no English, but tells me I spelt his name correctly. Step one: check. Good to know I can put my English degree to work and spell the man’s 2 letter name correctly. Go me. I just put on my complimentary slippers and blanket, went thru my “goodie bag” of Japansese soaps, lotions, sleeping mask, and ear plugs, all while looking out at the gorgeous LA sky, reclined back with my feet up AND sipping champagne (seriously)! Ahhhhhh!!!!I feel like the luckiest girl alive. Oh, and while I type this, I just got handed the menu… And since I have nothing better to do besides brag about my good fortune (THANK YOU JAN!!!:)) I just have to tell you what we’re oging to eat (because as we all know, there isn’t much that gets me more excited then food!!!):
To bring: orange and Ginger duck confit and soba noodle salad, fresh seasonal greens with sesame Ginger vinaigrette…
Main course: morel mushroom risotto and herb rubbed chicken breast
crabmeat in layered eggs, salmon temari, budock wrapped in gla
zed beef, shrimp with fish eggs, seared tuna with wasabi dressing and somen noodles…
Served with green tea.
Dessert: international cheeses and apple cobbler…
Midnight snack: sandwiches, Ghiradelli chocolate and hot noodles…
So I realize I’m getting all excited about airplane food, but seriously!!! I feel like an LA celeb… Fine, more like a Midwest celeb (I don’t fit in this crowd…I’m too lame:)) but I truly cannot believe I’ve been so lucky.
On a different note, my dad is having knee surgery today. Hopefully it’s going well for him. Oh, and it’s nick’s first day at Boeing. Too bad with a 16 hour time difference in Tokyo I won’t find out how either went until tomorrow.
I think this is enough iPod touching for me today. My finger is cramping up. I also think I’m weirding out my new friend Yi…. I haven’t stopped smiling and he keeps looking over, probably to see what’s so funny.
From the Pacific skies with love,
LGT
Categories
Just thinking about you….
Cali Coastline.
Portland, Oregon.
Glacier National Park.
Yellowstone National Park.
p.s. he’s already lost a foot.
Categories
450 miles from LA
By the time this is posted we’ll be close, if not in, LA – our final driving destination.
My neck is sore and I’m looking forward to swimming tonight. Hopefully.
I also hope that my moneybelt made it to the hotel alright.
It’s Monday, july 7, and as I type this I’m driving with nick and Lindsay (who’s sleeping in the back of course) through Montana, almost Idaho, on our way to Seattle Washington. It’s around 1:15 pm local time as I type this though it may not be posted until later this evening (no wifi in the middle of Montana, and this is no iPhone).
We just finished up our adventures in Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. We all had a great time, Yellowstone was beautiful though our camp ground was less than great (it was not bad, just not the wilderness experience we might have hoped for). Glacier was amazing and the camping was awesome.
Highlights include:
-Buffalo in the road holding up a LOT of traffic in yellowstone
-almost being rammed by a bull in the middle of a Montana highway (no joke)
-seeing a car hit a sizable male mule deer head on at upwards of 75 mph. This was actually sad of course, and we all felt very bad for the animal, but it was pretty interesting and quite an experience – the deer flipped well over 360 degrees in the air, probably a good 10+ feet up.
-the entire drive through yellowstone
-the entire drive through glacier
-dinner at Subway in Browning, Montana. This was probably the worst, most rundown city any of us have ever experienced. The Subway had the following issues:
*Half of the menu items were not available includingbthe things two of us ordered.
*Creepy man who does not work at subway holds large wood saw up to employees neck, while employee is making our food.
*No pepper in store – well they had pepper, which they were serving out of a big Gordons Food Service tub, but they ran out on Lindsay’s sub so no pepper.
*Nick had sub “toasted” but they microwaved instead, for two minutes as the toaster oven was broken.
*My Italian sub had peperoni and lettuce on it, that’s all.
*The ice machine in the corner randomly spit ice out on the floor.
*The bathroom door didnt have a lock on it.
*Only had two types of bread – white and wheat
I’m really not a big complainer and I don’t minding eating dirt, but the quality of this town was crazy. It was just a commical experience.
-camping at Glacier
-nicks coffee
-our plastic bag ommlets
-many more but I’m tired of typing on a small iPod.
We’ll check in again later – we’ve got some pictures to post when we get a chance!
Peace love and seashells,
Kev