Saturday 26 December 2009

So this is Christmas.......although not entirely

With Christmas fast approaching that also means Christmas prices looming and therefore a lot of people said their  farewells this week. Monday was easily the main night with Phil and Julia leaving and Phil with the help of others put on a rather lavish feast. It was rather impressive to say the least having an absolutely huge piece of ham, sausage rolls, platters of cheese, dips, booze, goon and everything in between, it definitely gave new definition to the term "spread". It was a rather memorable night as the whole hostel came together to get involved and it was a nice way for the new arrivals to meet people too. They must've thought they'd hit the jackpot hostel wise with all the free stuff and were slightly spoiled with all this going on but it was a nice send off  and the majority of us then headed over to the Sugarmill for the last free drinks. After that it was much the same as usual, much craziness into the middle of the night, a few having too much, a few tears by some but all in all a good night.

The run up to Christmas here has been quite odd to say the least, it's just not a big thing over here at all so you kind of forget about it. Obviously back home everything is slightly over the top once Halloween hits but here there's no lights, no songs in bars or shops, few decorations and just no overriding "feeling" of it being Christmas at all; it really is like i've missed it this year.Back home we always go out on Christmas eve so it was nice to keep that tradition up here, the day was excruciantly spent for me following Melanie, Pemilla and Chelsea round Paddy's Market as they went "shopping" and for the first time in over ten years i had that feeling in my legs i used to get following my Mam round C & A or Marks & Spencers, where i just wanted to lay on the floor on the spot.
On the return to the hostel we discovered that Rich had put on a ham and lots of drinks for everyone which was cool, once again bringing everyone together. We made the most of it with the Christmas songs (and Butcher Boy) to try and catch the mood plus catching Paul McCartney live put the ever so few of us who like "Rock & Roll" in good spirits. Everyone headed out while  Lee, John, Steve, me and "Dutch Girl" headed round The Empire, O'Malleys and finally World Bar. On O'Malleys we encountered easily the jolliest man in history, originally we just thought they had the radio on but turned around to see a black fella sitting on his chair singing perfectly in the most casual manner of all time with a constant beam to his smile. He was eating food, on the laptop, holding conversations all while singing and not missing a single note. Just a happy happy man. He really added to the night and girl told  us she'd come ten years ago and he was singing then so he really must be a draw, i can see why too. We all then headed to World bar and i can't tell you enough how refreshing it is to not hear Black Eyed Peas or Pitbull all night and some actually good songs like The Kinks, Interpol and some actual proper Christmas tunes. As per usual though the heat and sweat got too much so at different intervals we all headed home for a bit of a sing song more drinks and plenty of carnage.
Christmas Day was a bit of a quiet affair for me really, i'd planned to go to Bondi but when it actually came to it going to the beach wasn't appealing at all, the rain hardly compelled me to go either. So i just spent the day round the hostel and it was a little bit odd really and a bit sad that it was just like any other day. Obviously though i'd never exchange the last three months for one day back in England though. New Year seems to be a much bigger thing over here with the harbour and everything else so we'll see what that brings, it should be a good one i think. .....still not got a job.

Saturday 19 December 2009

Farewells, Avatars and Howling Bells

With the run up to Christmas being in full flow the Hostel is now full of people coming and going all the time, the core group of "long termer's" dwindles down everyday as nobody wants to pay Christmas prices or they're just moving onto another travel destination. Last weekend was rather good but a bit sad as well, Dave and Kelly were moving on the Tuesday and coupling that with Decky, Owen, Paul and Andrew leaving a few days prior it meant that the hostel was losing much of it's atmosphere. We all made the most of the weekend though and Saturday night through to Sunday was some of the funniest and best times i've had since leaving. Everyone made an appearance in Francois, Nina, Marie, Owen, Decky, Kelly, Pemilla, Melanie, Guy, Stefan, Joe, Phil, Julia as well as the hostel randoms and it was actually quite nice for all of us to go and sit in the bar for a few drinks instead of being on the goon all the time (for the unaware, goon is a 4 litre case of wine for 10 dollars. It's rank but a half a lager is about 5, what would you choose?). Monday had a bot of a solemn feeling as it almost felt like the end of a chapter and it would be awhile before i hear my new nickname of "ENGLISH!" (everyone here is french, german or oirish)again . Being traveling your constantly saying goodbyes but there's always new people coming in and already the hostel has got some new sound people in and Francois, Jerome, Nina, Penilla, Iwan, Guy and Mel are all still  here so it retains its old charm.

On Wednesday i went off to to see Avatar in 3d at the iMax here. I rarely go to the flicks but it's the biggest screen in the world and Avatar is meant to be made for these places so i thought i'd may as well do it properly. My previous iMax experiences were limited solely to Kennedy Space Centre and my 3D to shows like T2:3D, Spiderman, Honey I shrunk the audience and that fucked up Captain EO with Michael Jackson that for some odd reason Coppala directed all at either Disney or Universal so i didn't know really what to expect from a "proper film". It took awhile for my eyes to adjust to everything (as well as combating the problem of "do i put the 35 specs over my glasses?", i wasn't the only one) but after they did the film was quite the spectacle. I wasn't completely blown away as the media were calling it a "game changer" but the level of depth in the world he created was pretty unbelievable. I couldn't help but think you'd have to be a genius just to envisage the type of stuff going on, the 3D effect suited the film too and i'd definitely recommend it. I can see how Cameron spent so long making too as it is so visually stunning and intricate, plus on the trailer i felt the characters looked fresh off a video game and that would make it stupid but Weta really raised the bar in the effects and i  believed there were actual 8 foot humanoids running around. Im not entirely sure how the story would translate to just a normal 2d viewing and if it would stand up on it's own, you really need to see it in 3D. It was nice to see a few nods to Aliens too with a role for Sigourney Weaver, the big robotic gun suits and Giovani Ribisi basically playing the Paul Reiser role of "company man"; can't believe there was no Bill Paxton though. There are a few cringe worthy moments, especially the scene that's almost like the rave sequence in the matrix reloaded as well as a nonsensical "here we come to save the day!!!!!!!!!!" bit and the social commentary is a bit hippiesh (humans are bad, kill the earth alas Wall-E, love the trees) but all in all it was perfectly acceptable entertainment. Special mention has to go to Stephen Lang as the Colonel though who doesn't just steel every scene but chews his way through it. There was a couple of odd moments in the cinema too, the first being when the Col makes a remark about killing all the "Aboriginals" on Pandora and the whole Aussie cinema started pissing themselves and then again at the end when everybody bloody applauded. I felt like screaming it's not fucking Cannes to everyone and it went on far too long, awful.
On the menu for Friday night was Howling Bells at The Gaelic club just outside Central Station, it was like a flashback to the early days of Sydney finding the place as i managed to somehow go up the wrong side street for about two hours in the wrong direction. I really enjoyed the first album but not gave the second one much of a chance so played it during the week and i was pretty surprised how good it was, i dare say it was better than the first which only increased my anticipation for the gig. There was a bit of bother getting in the place as EVERYBODY gets I.D'd here to a level that's ridiculous, the bouncers (and police) are constantly walking around the bars and clubs to the point you can't relax and they throw people out for any infraction stating you're "intoxicated". That's if you get in of course which is no mean feat in itself, if you don't have a female escort in some places you're not getting in. Case in point being at the gig too where the lead singer related that the bouncers wouldn't let her in to her own bands gig as she didn't have I.D. on her, that's the level of patheticness you face here. The venue again was perfect and probably just a little bit bigger than the Cluny or a little bit smaller than stage 2 at Northumbria back home so it was a nice and intimate place. The gig was great , Juanita Stein is an incredible front woman, her voice was probably better than on record and completely faultless, her guitar playing was surprisingly great, she looked fantastic and was completely charming too. Definite wife material haha. I'd compare her to PJ Harvey a bit which is a pretty high complement, only problem i guess is she overshadows the rest of the group to the point they almost become a backing band. The audience was a bit subdued but i noticed that at Animal Collective too so it could be reflective of the place rather than the bands, or maybe they just prefer shite like Jet who were playing on the other side of the city. Highlights of which there were many was Low Happening and Cities Burning Down.

Saturday 12 December 2009

Animal Collective

Just returned from the Animal collective gig and it was rather resplendent all round despite not exactly feeling 100% up for it. The day had been a wipe out due to the usual Thursday night/ Friday morning events but for the first time since leaving home i actually felt proper rough all day, i did manage to pull it together around seven and then head out to find where the gig was it. The venue was named the Enmore Theater and situated; coming off the train i was immediately met by scores of police and sniffer dogs so i guess they stake the station out every time there's a gig on to deter touts and drugs, not the worst of ideas bearing in mind how stupid the police usually are. After passing through the "blockade" I could tell that this area was much more my scene and a lot different to the rest of Sydney i've seen with the exception of my initial foray into Paddington. There was just as many bars, cafes and people there but the place seemed a lot more laid back and there was a definite change in atmosphere. I'd say it's like drinking around Central rather than the bigg market or Quayside, the clientèle were much more "my people" too. The theatre had a capacity of about 1600 and was a great venue for this type of gig, just the right size, well laid out so it wasn't too wide or narrow and the sound was spot on too. I was sitting on the balcony and quite happy to do so as i'd probably not have been able to stand for any length of time.
Usually I try to avoid support acts as a rule since they tend to just bum you out while waiting for the main act, I can't really think of anyone ever who's made me want to pick up their album or see them again live; saying that The Mooney Suzuki played their part to perfection when they supported Kings at Northumbria Uni. It really was a sad day for the north east when the academy opened. Anyway a New Zealand girl going as Bachelorette was supporting and she actually turned out to be quite charming. Her setup was fairly typical of others these days utilizing keyboards, drum machines, loops, laptops, image projections et al and doing it all just be herself. I wouldn't say she was extraordinary but she played her part well and i definitely appreciated what she played, i'd definitely look her up again if she was playing a festival i was at.
It's taken me awhile to get into Animal Collective as there was a lot of hype surrounding them and i prefer to find stuff in my own time, however since i've left for traveling i've been playing them a lot and was quite curious to see them as i couldn't imagine them having the usual guitar, bass and mic set up. I have no idea what they actually were using to play the songs, as it seemed to be all electronic with the ocassional guitar and one drum but it was quite amazing how well they created the tunes with such little to use. The show was brilliant and they took advantage of having a small stage by using great lighting and a simple set up which really added to the music visually too. My only slight criticism is the same one i always have in that i think they played a bit too long, most people disagree with me wanting "value for money" but i just think if you trim a few "ok" songs it really makes the difference to the set. If you're going to see a big act like Springsteen or U2 then obviously you'd want an at least 2 hour greatest hits set but i think too many band stretch it out. Other than that great gig though, I couldn't really say any highlights as i'm useless with song titles since i just leave the album rolling. I'm going to try and hunt out the set list though as there was a few brilliant tracks i'd never heard before. One thing i must say at that Animal Collective are truly unique, most bands are derivative of others but they really do stand on their own i think. Off to Howling Bells Next! *Setlist Here

Wednesday 9 December 2009

A bit of bother

My predictions were all too correct unfortunately, Saturday i was up bright and early, leaving me the only person in the common room/kitchen munching on my cheerios while watching comedy central i'd imagine. A new arrival in the form of a Scotsman came in carrying all his gear and without any introduction asked if i could do him a favour and go get him my adapter so he could borrow it. Bit odd i thought but fair enough, no major harm in him using it for a bit, i'd not be leaving the room without it back in my hand though. We had a bit craic on and he'd just literally got in from the U.K as he'd had a few problems in getting into Australia due to him holding a Canadian, British and New Zealand passport as well as a criminal record. For kidnapping. Quite the character this guy was. He knew zero about laptops so i set his up for him, installing various programs and configuring his iPod so he could plug into any pc and choose the tunes without it getting wiped. I'd say i've done this for about fifty people now and it baffles me how people don't know about it, all you do is plug it in then when it pops up asking if you'd like to sync with this p.c noting your current songs will be wiped, click cancel. Then when iTunes is loaded select your iPod from the left hand bar and make sure the check box "manually mange songs...." is ticked and jobs done. You can know pick and choose of any p.c., hopefully the world knows this now, i highly doubt it obviously. Anyway he told me about the kidnapping, basically someone owed him money and he saw him at a petrol station so kidnapped him, tied him up in a garage and left him there for two nights as you do. He also took great pleasure in showing me a crack den he stayed in while hostelling in London, he actually seemed ok apart from all these glaring warn signs and was incredibly grateful for me sorting his stuff out. He went off to spend the day at Bondi while i headed out myself for to Hyde park.
On my return to the common are he was laying passed out in between about 6 peoples legs and clearly sun burnt, ah a day at the beach and jetlag i thought. Wrong, he was off his face. He woke up, sat about an inch from my face asking what the craic was and when i replied "oh not much i'm skint" you'd think i'd slated his mother his face contorted that much. Apparently this was the worst fucking answer he'd ever heard and wanted to know why i was being a cunt and let him buy me a few beers. Well i though, you did tell me just this morning you kidnapped someone who you let money too and found him covered in his own excrement so i think i'll pass, i don't borrow money off people anyway. It can only lead to bother and hate someone having something over me. He quickly changed again saying "fair enough mate, i don't like doing it either" then waddled off, schizo much?
I stayed in on the evening and it was insane, just shouting all night and you can never tell with the Irish if they're fighting or if that's just how they normally talk to each other, i did hear someone clearly scream "i'll fucking bury you, ya cunt" so yes, i didn't leave the room. Turns out that a chap who used to stay at the hostel got thrown down the stays by someone and my old mate the scottish guy went schizo on the wrong people getting battered and left in a pool of blood. Ah i was beginning to thik i can't stay here till January but thankfully they all got thrown out the peace was slightly restored.
Except it wasn't. The football had been on on the Saturday night too and you'd think a war had been going on rather than a football match, i'd imagine it would be only comparable to watching a game at Galatasarays stadium in the mid 90's. Due to this someone made the decision to lock the t.v room door on the Sunday and that just caused more bother, doors were kicked in to no avail and more arguments were had, with threats of headbutts and clothes being burned. Life in the room seemed quite serene in comparison. However it was impossible to get any sleep in this environment so i decided i may as well just join in the party anyhow and thankfully Monday brought cheese and goon night which is exactly as it sounds. Free goon, free cheese and then over to the sugarmill for free beers and it was a really good night with the hostel all going out together and it gave me the chance to meet some people stopping there outside my own little "group".  Our room got rather settled with Melanie moving in, Mohammed, Guy, me and the nice french couple moving in too. It seems everyone is rather envious of our dorm but i think that's more to do with theres being in a mess than ours being so good. The hostel is like a massive family now too with the long termer's Myself, Jan, Melanie, Mohammad, Guy, Jerome, Francois, Marie, Pinalla, Dave, Kelly and many many more. The Irish are moving out today though which will bring a massive change.
There's not much of anything else to report really, all we've being down is drinking on the evenings and myself looking for a job during the day. I guess i'm not traveling anymore as i'm just staying in the same place so i'll only update this if anything eventful happens or a visit a particular place. I've got a lot of gigs lined up and can hopefully borrow someones camera from the hostel to put some photos up soon too. One more "argy bargy" story that involved myself is worth noting as i met the biggest tit in the world on a level with Ben Elton, Danny Dyer and Joss Stone. What happened was we had a rather nice Sunday, a few drinks in O'Malleys, a nice steak and mash from down the road and then back to the hostel for some goon and a few tunes on the iPod with The Smiths providing the soundtrack. Everything was great, met more people and everyone just having fun, that was until an Aussie and Kiwi stormed into the hostel. The Aussie sat in the middle of everyone commenting how "ghetto" the place was and proceeded to ask everyone there nationalities followed by "i love this place...we've got a German cunt here, Irish here, danish.......and finished with i like to drink and fight". He instantly made everyone uncomfortable and you could see trouble was brewing so a lot of people went outside to get out of the way including myself. When we came back he was still going and talking in a L.a slang while spitting rhymes he had blasting on his iPod, he didn't find it too funny when i asked if he was originally from Compton and less when i stated i wasn't "his mothers brothers" or "brothers mothers", i don't really understand "gangsta". His mate was sound though and very embarrassed stating he does this all the time and he has to watch him constantly, they me on the "inside" too. The Aussie got overtly "friendly" with one of the girls leading to her kicking him which  was about all i can handle so when everyone was making eye contact as if to say "what a prick" and when he sat on the table putting all the weight on my arm, so i decided to lift it up my arm and it "accidentally" threw him off the table. His t shirt came off and he challenged me and then Paul after we all said nobody wanted him here, we stepped "outside" and i basically just said "look, everyone wants to have a good time so why aren't you in a bar or club if you're looking to drink and meet girls or what not"  and after much debate he finally left and we all went back inside. I did get a bit pissed off the next day when someone told Rich I'd caused trouble and we were noisy; i always find the hypocrisy laughable when people complain just cause they want a "night off" then they're back on it the next day making more noise than anyone else. Plus everyone stated they didn't want him here and asked him to leave and that all i did whereas everyone else just sat back. Terribly vexing. One of the girls said she didn't need people to fight her battles which annoyed me too. It was a different story when some pillhead threatened to nut one of them the week before and nobody even whispered leading to whingeing all week. The guy was the biggest prick in history though. Ah these are freak occurrences though and happen everywhere i guess, Bedlam is a really nice sociable place really. Just the weekends get a bit cRaZy but i've met some really good friends here. I still need a job...............

Thursday 3 December 2009

Bedlam is Bedlam

No bother finding Bedlam for a change but that's probably more to do with the fact I'm quite familiar with Sydney now but in moving hostels i was changing from the central  downtown area up the famous coca-cola sign and infamous Kings Cross. The difference really couldn't be much greater in many ways, Base is a very professionally run, well staffed, corporate, well maintained and rule heavy unfun place whereas Bedlam is well....Bedlam. They're no rules really except don't overtly take the piss, it's incredibly sociable, parties are an occurrence every night, it has sky (foxtel) so all the sport is on and it's just mass insanity really. Kings cross is a reflection of that too, casinos, dive bars, yuppie bars, hotels, hostels, clubs, red light district, restaurants cafes and everything else all just splattered together in one area. It really is quite something. O h and i mustn't forget the crack heads running about with tourettes it seems, they're a lovely bunch too. One of them challenged me in a "karate stance" after i told him to stop walking with me while i witnessed another one sprint down a main road just after catching site of a convertible Ferrari and then attempt to jump in the passenger seat. The only response the driver had was to rev his engine as if that could somehow put him off, a mega fail that one was.
Checking in was as smooth as ever, finding that  Rich had only put me down for one evening rather than till January which we'd agreed prior, he wasn't around till the next day but i just imagined that he put me in a different room for one night as i'd originally planned to come on the Monday. My initial dorm had two French girls in it but one was actually from Melbourne i soon found out, they seemed rather nice and chatty which was a nice change from the week prior. There was another bed taken but whomever it was, wasn't around at the time. However on my return later in the day i found an Asian man just casually sitting in the dark, slightly unsettling, I popped in and out over the next few hours and every time he was just sitting doing nothing in pitch black. I don't think i've ever had such trepidation when simply asking someone if it was ok to turn the light on.
It wasn't much longer till i discovered what they actually meant by the term "party hostel", i guess the rock was one but the whole of phi phi was just a party island anyhow. On my first night anywhere i like to " get involved" but i was a bit wrecked and skint so i decided that hiding in my room just for one night was probably the best option and the only real way to avoid spending lots as one drink in these places always leads to many drinks. Well  i manage to avoid spending but that was about it, from 8 - 5 the place was absolutely banging, people screaming, falling over, glasses smashing, all outside my door and sound tracked to Nirvana (I never realized how much i loathed their studio albums until this point). The Korean kept storming out at various intervals to complain but i'd quite simply rather suffer for eternity with it then be the guy to say "can you keep it down a bit please, there are people trying to sleep here", it's pretty much everything i hate and would also make me a complete hypocrite. Inside the room things weren't much quieter either, the Korean while he wasn't storming about or sitting in the dark was also the loudest snorer in human history; now I'm aware I grind my teeth but I've done that for so long there's no noise left to make  but this guy was truly something else. It literally drove me "bat-shit crazy", i found myself sitting up with a pillow wrapped round my head and gave serious consideration to jumping down and punching him in the face. Obviously my methods were not sound. The girls came in and thankfully opened the windows which had a mechanism just too baffling for myself and the air conditioning was broke too, however this prompted Korean guy to jump up, slam everyone shut and then go back to bed shouting "too noisy". He soon reversed his position when i got up and opened them again while accepting my position of authority. The girls then explained to me he'd been there for for over two weeks and all he ever did was sleep or sit in the dark no matter what time of day it was; i'd been here 12 hours and picked that up already. The party still went on and i have to admit i had a bit of a feelong of i've moved into the wrong place, i couldn't here one English voice and a lot of people seemed like dicks to be honest.
I got up the next day to the aftermath of the party while the girls vacated for Melbourne, the outside of my door was pretty much like you'd find Leeds festival when you emerge from your tent on the Monday. Carnage. Met up with Rich and everything was cool thankfully, just as i'd imagined i'd be moving into another dorm and was praying it wasn't 1A with the nut jobs, there was much relief when the words 1d came out. Payment was another worry, a bank transfer would cost me too much in charges, the bank wouldn't allow me to withdraw large amounts of cash and the debit card refused to work at Base, not a problem here though as everything went through first time to both mine and Rich's shock so that was a sign of things turning around here at least! Paying up for a two month stay did however leave me rather incredibly skint but at least i was safe in the knowledge of having a home till mid January no matter what my work situation turned out to be and I wouldn't be spending cash i didn't really have.
Having paid up that meant my next priority was getting a phone sorted, pointless applying for any jobs if they can't get in touch with you. One of the perks with my visa was that i got a free sim card which i could pick up from a hostel named Legend has it.....on George street. George street is easy enough to find but actually one massive road that's probably at least a couple of miles long, i walked from one end to the other and back again and just could not find the hostel anywhere. It's such a relief how nice Sydney is and that i enjoy walking about or i'd be miserable with the amount of hours I've seemed to have wasted wandering in the wrong places. I went back to Bedlam to double check i had the correct name only to find it was actually called "Legend has it...Westend" once i went back i found it instantly and low and behold it just had Westend written in massive lettering, constant name changes are incredibly common in Australia it seems. On popping the Vodafone sim into a Vodafone handset i was informed that it wasn't suitable with this phone....super more cash to spend and a visit to a phone shop which i despise. It's a very well known fact the biggest cunts in the world work in phone shops. After again much wandering i found the Vodafone shop where he informed it would be 40 dollars to get unlocked elsewhere or i could get a handset for 49 with 10 free credit so i thought i'd may as well just go for that then although Vodafone are on my list of people who i have a personal vendetta against so it was rather begrudgingly. I soon remembered why this was as when it came to pay all the usual add ons appeared....."you need to pay 40 to unlock the free ten blah blah blah".....this is why i hate these places, they must think everyone is a complete moron. Anyway i told him since the handset had just instantly shot up to 90 then he could stick up his arse and i'd just get it unlocked elsewhere. Onward to the Sydney repair shop it was then, they seemed like a rather professional bunch so i was more than happy to pay the 40 and get it back in an hour, that's what they told me anyhow. I came back after an hour an was told it would be another fifteen minutes so i sat down and watched bad boys 2 for a bit (it was on a constant loop on a wide-screen TV in the shop, cleasrly a lot of waiting occurs here i thought), after getting through about half an hour of that they came to tell me they need to keep it overnight. Ok then, so i came back the next morning and sat down for a "fifteen minute wait" and watched more of Bad boys 2 only to be told again to come back in the afternoon. And i did and i waited again for "fifteen minutes" and i again watched Bad boys 2 but thankfully this time i actually got a working phone back. I reckon i've probably seen bad boys 2 about 2 and a half times now and never in the right sequence. I was happy to find they threw a free telstra sim card though meaning that my vow for the fuckers at vodafone to never get any more of my dollar was still in tact.
During these ever so tedious escapades i did manage to meet my new dorm mates for the next few month and everyone seemed cool, there was an Iranian, Taiwanese,  Turks and a guy from England who was at the pub while the girls who previously were in the room had left in Rich's words as "they just couldn't take it anymore". It turned out the turks were from Istanbul and massive Fenerbahce fans, i took massive delight in asking there thoughts on when Graeme Souness planted the Galatasaray flag in the middle of the pitch after the cup final. The mood turned to anger instantly, speaking now in turkish to each other clearly agitated before finally turning to me shouting " we hate this thing very much and we hate him as well, he shall never come back there!". You really do have to admire the tuks ferocity when it comes to there football, it was exactly the reaction i'd hoped to provoke mind.
The rest of the hostels seemed incredibly multi cultural to put it mildly, Serbs, French, Swedes, Italians, Dutch and a mass of Irish; i've actually been suprised with just how little English i've met outside the islands in Thailand. It did turn out the English guy in my room was actually called "Guy" and he was from Boro which was cool a girl from Whitley Bay and another from Durham were stopping here too. One suprisng thing i've encountered is how big the north south divide actually is, it's not apparent when they're one or two of each but if theres a group of people from London and you're the only northerner then it can be difficult as they just become repulsive and start all the old "The North" bullshit as if you're a second lass citizen. Its an understatement to say northerners are incredibly more laid back, obviously there's exceptions to every rule as i've met some really good people from down there but it is apparent.. Bedlam was going full steam ahead with the partying, getting more and more like the bigg market with every day, from my room arguments were heard every night so i decided to keep out of it till Thursday when Loaded and Teenage kicks were on which are basically my surrogates for Jukebok back home. One of the things i got stolen in bangkok was my usb drive that had my c.v. on, this meant i had to write a new one from scratch and it aint the easiest thing to do with a blank piece of paper. I finally managed to get up to standard though and registered with agencies and applied for a few jobs. This was pretty muchh the end of all the "stuff i needed to get sorted" so i could get back to having fun again.
Thursday nicely coincided with Guys birthday too so the whole hostel got together and had a mass party with actual cake and decorations which was like luxury here. I also had my first experience with the infamous goon and also just why Matt referred to VB as vomit bomnbs due to the fact it was absolutely disgusting. I couldn't handle listening to any more Irish folk songs or dirty dancingesque music so i took upon myself to do the djing and i think i did a pretty stellar job myself, it's no bad craic actually having taste. I'm not one for staying in so i trotted off to loaded and teenage kicks where i managed to have another of those random nights meeting some people from Yorkshire and having to walk back from my starting point of Edgecliff at 5am. Bad times, especially when the hostel was locked on my retun and i had zero clue how to get the door open. Jerome came storming out at half past luckily so i could get back and straight into bed. On waking up i realised that i left my iPod on the speakers since everyone was staying in, mild panic set in once again but i managed to find a Japanese guy had took it for me and then he passed on to Rich. Luck again, some tit did pinch my top though while i was sleeping....unless i walked home semi naked....hmm surely i'd have realized though and i'd have at least gotten a dirty look. Who steals sweaty clothes though?
Due to phone bills, bank charges and Sydney being really expensive i spent the next couple of days in book reading mod while applying for jobs. It was good to see that not everyone was crackers on the hostel and as soon as i get a job it will be a complete 180 and I'll be laughing. In the meantime I've been having some rather intense philosophical discussions with the Iranian on everything from sport, conspiracy theories (all his), history, religion, culture, energy and anything else, it is hard to get away sometimes like. The parties are still going and on Friday night i got a feeling it was all about to blow up big style......well that prediction turned out to be all too true.

Saturday 28 November 2009

Turn the base up

The long incredibly steep walk with backpack in tow wasn't exactly what i wanted to do first thing on Sunday morning, the blazing sunshine left me pretty much covered in sweat on arrival which is never great for first impressions. On arrival there was quite a queue of multiple nationalities at reception and it soon became apparent that this was a fairly massive place to what i'd been used to and much more corporately ran. Check-in didn't go exactly smoothly to say the least which ain't what i wanted the state i was in, firstly they didn't have my reservation, took an age to get that sorted. My card wouldn't work in the chip and pin machine for some unknown reason so a slight panic occurred but thankfully I could withdraw cash, after i went wandering the streets looking for an ATM of course. She decided at this point to tell me she required a 20 dollar deposit for the room key too so i had to go back out for more cashola, as you can imagine i was pretty happy when i got in my room and could dump my bags.
My home for the next week was to be a shared 8 bed dorm and it wasn't too shabby at all really but at the same time hardly value for money. The only person in was a French guy called Pierre how was just arriving then too, his English was rather non existent so all i could get out of him was that he came from Nice, he hated Parisians and had zero clue what beds where free so was just picking any. I picked up a definite "this guy is not all there" vibe instantly. Got a shower and then headed out for the day, The sun was absolutely blazing so i just sat in Hyde Park mostly, reading listening to some tunes and soaking up the sun. One odd thing was that i got stopped by an oddly healthy looking tramp to ask for some cash and i've noticed that a lot here, the homeless are remarkably well kept and even overweight in some cases, the Aussies must be an unusually charitable bunch.
On my return to the dorm there was two Irish girls but it quickly  became apparent that they were the inclusive travelers who don't really talk to others, even when i cracked my head off the bed which i thought would be a suitable ice breaker brought very limited commentary. The dorm was almost making me ill from the dullness so i went to the common area downstairs and that was another surreal experience. There was plenty of people about but the most reaction i got from anyone when saying hello was a raise of the eyebrows, this certainly wasn't like the Thailand places and freaked me out a bit to say the least. In hindsight Base is just a corporate yuppie hostel full of pretty boys and wag wannabees, you can't drink or do anything remotely fun and they just want you to waste all your money in the affiliated bar next door; the internet is a rip off too so i really wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I checked out the tv room but it was more of the same with everyone shooting you looks like you'd just done something terrible, evidently i didn't hang round long and went back to the room to find a couple of swedes there but i assumed they were German for some reason. That happens alot really, indistinguishably  foreign equals German in my brain. Pierre came in pissed on the night in a manner only describable as goose stepping, i tried telling him he's taken one of the girls beds but it was useless. "Girls? they are girls here?" He then proceeded to pat down every bed and look in dark corners as if they were hiding, it was pretty fucked up to say the least. The penny finally dropped for what i meant and he just replied "Well maybe girl comes home, she comes in bed and she likes me" haha, needless to say that didn't happen. "The Cheeky fucking bastard" was the response on returning home.
I went to Darling Harbour the next day for a wander and to book tickets for Avatar at the iMax since it's the biggest one in the world. It didn't look that impressive from the outside but the harbour certainly was. It includes a collection of the most fantastic, boats, bars, museums,aquariums and the harbour itself is partly a floating museum of old early 20th century ships, battleships and various other boats from through the century. I checked out the maritime museum with it being in my price range (free) and inside was relatively underwhelming. Australia is pretty much an infant in terms of what we know about it so most of it's immediate history seems to be associated with dealings with other countries. The majority of the place was  taking up by an American donation of various artifacts, in the early 20th century Roosevelt in an effort to flex the military muscle of the states sent his fleet on a world wide trip and it's entry into Sydney is apparently a big part of their maritime history it seems. I guess if you have none of your own you're gonna have to steal others but it's hardly suprising given the remoteness of the country and like i said it's relative infancy.
On the evening we got interrupted by some "reps" for the bar trying to swindle us into going there all night as it was going to be cRaZy, they were basically the same as any student entertainments officer or holiday rep i've ever encountered so the only way you can deal with these people is being blunt, thankfully they took the hint rather quickly. The swedes (Mattias and Johann) and i were rather bored though so decided we may as well get drunk and use the drink vouchers for the bar downstairs. I'll sum the bar up this way, it's 5 dollars for a drink with the drinks voucher and what you get in return is a half a pint; yes we clearly moved on elsewhere with great haste. We quickly came up with a plan of action being to go to a bottle shop (the only place you can get booze outside of a bar) and then go old school and drink in the park like a right bunch of tearaways. We then headed up to a club called the Gaff where Mattias' bullshitting skills were rather amazing, within an instant of being told we had to pay ten dollars each he said "yeah we're on a pub crawl with the backpackers" and we all got stamped instantly, not bad work at all, we even bumped into Pierre who was as insane as ever dancing "hip to hip" with anybody (un)fortunate to cross his path. I think him and Andre would have got on like a house on fire. Really good night though although frighteningly expensive, it's never nice to hand over 50 dollars for three jaegerbombs and then getting only coinage in return. The taxi ride home was incredibly disturbing though, we were pretty drunk and ended up getting separated so i just jumped in the taxi as it was only about a five minute ride back, half way there the taxi driver decide to comment how "sexy" i was and then tried to lift my top up! To say i freaked out was an understatement, i told him to shut up and drop me off round the corner which he thankfully managed to do. However as i exited the car the cheeky bastard then tried to stick his hand down the back of my pants and then drove off! Losing lot's of weight is always nice but it clearly has it's side effects when it leaves your pants hanging off you. I don't think I'd be offended if he was such a fat old tramp like, and it's not the first time its happened. I'll never forget putting some stock out at work and an elderly woman did it as well only to comment "i couldn't resist son". I was literally left speechless, mental.
Not much was achieved the next day due to being a bit rough but a couple of Germans moved in named Dennis and Daniel of all things and they were here solely to surf and buy anything billabong or quicksilver. They were rather disappointed to hear i wasn't doing the same but to be honest i couldn't really pay attention to anything they said i as so caught up with the fact one of them was the double of the weird ginger kid from The 'Burbs, it took all of my mental strength not to get him to offer me sardines but i think the reference would've just flown over his head anyhow. I manage to extract half a conversation out of Pierre regarding Henrys handball and the genius of Lorik Cana since he was a Marseilles fan. This was quite the achievement and nobody else came close to repeating.
I thought it would probably be worthwhile to e-mail a few hostels to see if there's any decent long term accommodation deals going and it was just as well i did. The first five places i contacted all told me they were fully booked up from December 22nd so mild panic set in and i decided to e mail pretty much everyone in the city. The majority on return were fully booked but all of them hiked there prices up to extortiante levels, i had zero clue that it was such a popular christmas and new year destination, one hostel even wanted 900 dollars just for the privelge of staying ther and then i would have to pay for the room on top every night. The rates everywhere shot up from 2o to at least 50 dollars per night too so i basically spent the next few days trying to find anywhere that did a reasonable deal and thankfully i managed to find a whole two that did. Balmain was a bit too far out for my tastes, the reviews were poor to so it left Bedlam as they only real choice and the guy who ran it Rich seemed sound. I managed to negotiate a pretty ok deal so that was a weight off the shoulders andthen i could continuie on with the job search.....or so i thought. For some unknown reason Halifax decided to put a block on my account again meaning i couldn't get any cash, view my accounts or do anythig really. Before i had the chance to even contact them the next day they sent me an e-mail stating i could now view my account and it had been unlocked, this was rather ood as if you're going to do that then surely they should wait till i contact them? Strange. At least i knew i could pay all my accommodation money up front so i wouldn't be spending cash i didn't have.
Thankfully it wasn't all just boring during this time and i did manage to visit the Harbour bridge, Sydney Opera house and royal botanical gardens. All of them are just fantastically beautiful places and even with high expectations none of them were at all slightly disappointing. The thing is with places like this is that it's almost impossible to describe what it's like being there, you just have to experience it yourself to appreciate it.
The dorm went through a bot of a change as the swedes unfortunately moved on but thankfully there replacements were two of the soundest people i've ever met in Jared and Dave the kiwis. Within in an hour of meeting them they had me, the Germans, Pierre all in the bar meeting another eight of their girl mates who were heo see Britney of all things and were quick to get the drinks in despite me having little cash. The theme for the night in the bar (there's always one, beach night, karaoke etc) was ladies night and Pierre came prepared for the free champagne as all of a sudden he produced a dress out of nowhere in hope it would get him some, i don't know if the guy was a genius or the stupidest person i've ever met. it really is such a fine line. One of the Germans despite being a midget one the "stripping" contest but that was basically due to he now knew the most people in the bar due to the kiwis, 50 dollars bar tab is no bad prize here though, even if it is hardly two rounds. A group of us managed to make it to Kings cross but the early start was too much for some and we were unfortunately back at around midnight,; thankfully i heard some one shouting my name and it randomly turned out to be the swedes! They clearly agreed it was too early to go home so we headed back to the cross at world bar and i found a really cool bar playing much more my kind of music. This made me rather happy as there is only so many times a saner man can hear David guetta and the black eyed peas so the sound of the strokes, YYY's, justice et al  was rather grand. To quote Mark i soon got "tuned in" and had another really good night. However when i saw one of the irish girls the next day she was quick to enquire with "Bad head this morning?". Knowing i'd not seen her out this clearly meant "you woke me up when you came stumbling in last night ya bastard", it happens. I spent the next few days trying to avoid drinking and despite the great efforts of everyone else in the dorm i managed to show remarkable willpower till it came time to leave on Sunday morning. I was slightly fed up of the constant job/hotel search and since i didn't have a c.v. or phone i decided to break for a day and head to Bondi junction on the recommendation of the kiwis and germans. It's again a rather nice extravagant place and just like the metro centre but more condensed and a higher class of shops, the free diet coke was a delight though. I said my goodbyes on the evening and then headed onto bedlam where i shall be till January. It is definitely not Base......

Monday 23 November 2009

Hello Australia..........Hello Sydney

And now back to the originally planned programming........I've been in Sydney for around eleven days now so it's about time i got caught up with ye olde blogging again...
I left Bangkok on the twelfth and per the usual Thailand standards it wasn't without incident. Firstly i paid for a minibus to pick me up at the Merry V at around 2ish to take me to the airport, the guy turned up on time and helped me to the vehicle which wasn't a minibus at all but a simple taxi. Hmmm i thought well i do hope there's not many people getting picked up as you're not going to be able to squeeze many into here, that certainly won't deter them from trying though. Firstly we picked up a foreign girl from round the corner, I have no idea where she was from as when i said "Hello" she just looked at me with one of those faces that said "i don't understand anything so i'm not going to try and speak", there's no other way to put it than saying she was "a big girl" too. This and our backpacks meant the taxi was pretty much full already and anymore pick ups was clearly going to mean pretzel time for me again. Unfortunately we did make another stop on Khao San Road to pick up a latin girl(who i randomly bumped into today as well), to say she packed excessively would be an understatement along the lines of saying Mel Gibson wasn't really a big fan of the Jews. Her main suitcase was like a coffin which barely could get in the boot on it's own never mind with all our stuff too, she also had a massive wide screen laptop, 3 over sized shoulder bags and a satchel; you'd think she was checking into Beverly Hills not hostel central and tramping around Thailand, she was only there for three weeks too!  The taxi driver spent about fifteen minutes trying to fit the bags in the boot, using various combinations while i grew more agitated at the fact that "This is not a minibus". I eventually went outside and in about thirty seconds had everyone organized and all the bags in the car, studying decision maths for a   module or two with maths at college clearly provided some actual "life skills" then....... Or maybe just not everyone's retarded. 
The drive to the airport seemed overtly long but we managed to get there relatively hassle free, i got talking to the Latin girl and found she was on the same flight to me so i helped her to the right place in the airport and to check in. However thirty seconds later I  discovered that some point in the last eight days between Koh Phagnan and Bangkok, i'd been robbed of all my foreign currency. Now i must have been pretty visibly enraged as the latin girl made a rather quiet exit as i threw all my stuff out of my backpack in the middle of airport in the desperate hope it had just been misplaced but this was to no avail. The annoying thing was that i'd been so paranoid about getting robbed that i always carry my valuables at all times (cash, passport, iPhone, iPod etc) as in my own strange logic i'd much prefer to see someone rob me in front of my face and at least take a beating rather then slyly doing it. I'd not needed other currency in Thailand though so just left it in a small pouch inside my backpack at all times, there was a few hundreds pounds worth of aussie dollars, euros as well as Dubai money too. Curiously the Dubai cash was left in the bag and when i tried to exchange that so i could get some food i was informed you can't in exchange it in Thailand; this made me think it was a Thai that did it as only they'd know the cash was worthless there, unless somebody left the notes so i'd not realise it was gone. My money was on it being the horrible little woman from Koh phagnan doing it, she clearly had an unnatural vendetta against me so was a prime suspect. I spent the next hour storming about wishing i had something to smash up but soon calmed down and thought "shit happens" and i wasn't going to let it put a dampener on the trip.
After a few hours spent looking at lots of luxurious items I wanted but couldn't afford we soon were on the plane again. I can't articulate how delighted i was to find i was sitting on a fire exit which means not only i don't have to consider some other schmuck not being able to open the door but no seats in front and actual leg room! Any anger left from the cash going was soon quickly erased and the flight was once again rather comfortable. I didn't manage to get any sleep whatsoever but did manage to get through three films to pass the time, G.I. Joe was hilarious in its awfulness and not a patch on the cartoon Action Force the movie (that did have a character called Nemesis Enforcer too so it was always going to have a head start), Transformers 2 was also absolutely stupid and seemed to be directed by a desperate geeky 14 year old boy ( Testicles on a transformer? that's humour) and finally (500) Days of summer which thankfully was much more my thing and really enjoyed. He was the man in 3rd Rock and ten things....but Joseph Gordan Lewitt has really become the stamp of approval for quirky indie films....actually no, he was Cobra Commander in G.I. Joe, how did that casting come about?
The plane touched down around 9:30 am local time and i managed to pick my bag up and get through immigration rather rapidly, obviously someone here had read my airport security rant. I knew a taxi would be expensive but i unfortunately had no clue where i was going so a bus was out of the question so i had no choice really. All i'd heard for six weeks in Thailand was " Oz is really expensive" and i found this out straight away, I sat in horror watching the taxi meter go up as it ended up costing 48 dollars for a twenty minute ride. At one point we sat in traffic for a good five minutes and the meter still went up and up, complete and utterly sickening. I soon got dropped off at the hotel and was quite releaved to find i could check in straight away, since my room was ready. On my print out it stated i may have to wait four hours so this was a big relief as all I wanted was a bed at this point. However one of things Bill Bryson noted in "Down Under" ws that they don't really do customer service over here, i'm glad i had this knowledge as the guy at reception was a complete arsehole so at least it was expected. He was training a new member of staff too so was trying to impress him for some reason by being inattentive as well but i was too tired to moan so just went to my room and crashed out for about 20 hours. Not all of this time was spent during sleeping and i did have the chance to watch some Aussie tv. From what i could gather all that was happening was that "Superstar" Michael Buble was appearing on every single daytime, morning and primetime show during the next week, there was a immigration crisis involving some hunger striking sril lankans on a boat and that Australia is home to the most unfunny shows of all time, specifically their version of "Have I got news for you", "good news week". Nothing but "big" humor where unfunny people think if they shout or talk louder and louder then the joke will suddenly become funny (it never does), the female comediennes just act like blokes and bloody Ben Eltion was a guest shilling his book. I really despise that tit.
I managed to get up for a bit of an explore the next day and pretty much fell in love with Sydney straight away. I had no idea where i was or what direction to go in but it seemd i had two possible routes so picked one and headed on. I had a fifty fifty chance of going the right way so obviously picked the wrong one but i was more than glad to do so. The weather was lovely and i stumbled across a really nice part of town i would probably never had found, it was mostly suburbs and  i think the area was Paddington but everything about it was rather resplendent.  There was lots of victorian houses, boutiques, galleries, cafes and quirky little shops all over so spending two hours wandering around in the sunshine was rather enjoyable. I managed to come across a street i recognized from maps so promptly followed it down only to find it took me out 3o metres away from my hotel as well as a sign being there showing me the directions i should've went. Ah well it was worth it and i guess when they say you're never really lost when traveling proved to  be true.
The main things i was trying to find was Kings cross, O Malleys bar and Base backpackers that i was moving into the next day. Well i found the first two straight away but spent the next few hours going up, down, left and right round the streets of Sysney in the completely wrong direction but found out why everyone loves it here and once again "discovered" some cool places and parks. It sounds like a trivial thing to say but one of the best things about it here is you can literally walk anywhere from one side of the city to another. The streets are built so there's no motorways passing through and you can wander round parks, shopping malls, musuems, harbours, bars and everything else for as long as you wish. I managed to realise that i'd basically had the map the wrong way and once i got my bearings i found Base pretty quickly indeed. Time was getting on so i walked the few miles back to the hotel, watched some more crappy tv and then left to move onto Base the next day. And i'll write all about that next time.....

Thursday 12 November 2009

Regarding Thailand and Airport Ranting

After a rather rapid six weeks, the first leg of my initial foray into traveling is complete and Thailand is in the books. It really doesn't seem two days ago i was bidding farewell to everyone back home and walking around the departure lounge looking slightly stupefied so the time really has flown over. I'm off to Sydney in the morning so no doubt i'll probably be doing the same again wondering quite what the next seven months shall bring (hopefully). I can safely say the decision to go traveling has definitely been one of the best i've ever made, admittedly i'd probably say that regardless but i've had nothing but a great time and just the thought of what i'd be doing back home now is quite troublesome.
As for Thailand it's pretty obvious that i thought it was a rather lovely country; the thais are so incredibly honest and even if you give them the opportunity (and i've given them plenty) they'd never take anything from you, something i certainly couldn't say for back home. Yes the Tuk Tuks, Taxis, suit pushers and ping pong "agents" are a massive pain but you do learn to just ignore them and look at the bigger picture really, it's nothing in the grand scheme of things. It's pointless me repeating superlatives and thoughts i've already said but i'd probably say my favourite places were Railay and Phi Phi for rather different reasons. Both amazing beaches, the former as it was so laid back while the latter was quite different, both incredible places. Full Moon was also a quite obvious experience like no other. The only disappointment was not being able to visit Chang Mai after hearing so many good things about it, unfortunately being ill prevented that but it was probably for the best as my wallet was wearing thin. Plus i'm feeling a lot better and my chest has cleared up just in time for the Australia trip. It's not too bad either as i now want to do Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and North Thailand can easily be included with them if i make it back over, it's not an overtly long trip so should be easily planned. Going diving in Phi Phi is also something i'd like to come back and do sometime if possible. Overall i'd definitely recommend it to anyone to come here, the range of accommodation and food covers all so you don't just have to slum it like myself.....it is the best way mind haha.

Since i'm off to the airport tomorrow i may as well rant about some things that really piss me off about the place, it has been awhile since i've ranted anyhow.
Airport Security is clearly one of the biggest bullshit facades put on people in society today. I'm sick of some sweaty, double digit I.Q simpleton going through my bag as if he's a F.B.I agent and never finding anything while asking the stupidest questions. Whats this? er a iPod. What does it do? Blows things up genius....thats another thing, you certainly can't joke in an airport. I very much doubt that in the history of bag checks they've ever found anything. No bombs, no guns, no knives, no crossbows. It's just a waste of fucking time. If you wanted to take a plane down then you could, all you need is big hands and a bit of strength. They even give you a knife and fork, those could easily take an eye if you were so inclined. And what's with the security questions? Do these protect anyone?.....Did you pack your bag by yourself? .....No, i enlisted the help of a group of Nigerian pirates to help me get the job done. Has the bag been in your possession at all times? ....Erm no actually, I placed in a back lane for a few days then feasted on some boar just as a tradition really and went back to pick it up. Has any unknown person approached while in possession of your bags? No unknowns but these too rather lovely gentleman wearing Islamic clothing were a delight to converse with and a happily let them carry my bag for a bit.....it's all just bullshit to make rich people feel safe and give them a false sense of security. Smugglers certainly don't have any problems getting things on planes do they? You're more likely to get killed by a Donkey then a terrorist, now those are the fuckers you need to watch out for......Oh and hand luggage is called that for a reason. You're meant to be able to carry it in your hand! Why people have decided to start carrying 5 foot bags with them i don't know and they don't even get anything from them when on board. Surely you can't be that close to the weight limit with your luggage? I was so delighted to see a woman freaking out because they wouldn't let her on the plane with a suitcase. Idiot. .......ah Sydney should be fum mind! haha....Also, is literally all that has happened back home is X Factor and the continuing saga of Katie and Pete?

Tuesday 10 November 2009

Bangkok Redux or nothing really happening

Well not too much a happening in the last week and since my return to Bangkok. My Phagnan cold has turned into a chest infection and coughing up phlegm is not really the best thing when talking to people, it also means i haven't slept properly for about a week making me washed out. Ah well, it can't be the best of times all the time and it's hardly a nightmare. Thankfully the weather has been pretty erratic so it's not like i've missed out on anything and i can't afford (or have the time really) to make it to Chang Mai and back.
That's not to say it's been bad times, far from it. I needed to "recharge the batteries" before Australia and didn't really have the energy for anything to exhilarating, it has given me the chance to catch up om my reading and writing too which is always so easy to neglect. I managed to race through Four Feathers and The Road in a day respectively and very much enjoyed reading both of them. As noted before i do enjoy a bit of bleakness so The Road was especially good, the film looks like it could be rather harrowing and brilliant too http://www.apple.com/trailers/weinstein/theroad/.
So yeah, not much happening at the moment, Sunday was a rather lovely day though so i decided to go for a wander and follow down any street i'd never ventured before. One thing i'd not seen while in Thailand was a park of any sort so i was quite pleasantly surprised to stumble upon one, the thought of just lazing about reading and listening to the iPod was rather appealing so that's just what i did. There was quite a cast of characters in there, an elderly woman with the help of who i assumed to be her son was trying her best to walk around with a zimmer frame, a giant of a Thai was sweeping through the park and there was also a 5 a side football tournament going on. It was quite surprising how good they actually were, Thais are raised on Muay Thai from a very early age so the majority of them are incredibly fit but they were quite good technically too. Obviously Peter Reid and Bryan Robson hasn't set football back too much yet here or got them on any pub crawls. I kept wandering about coming across the usual park like things, fountains,statues, flower displays as well as a miniature lake complete with Lighthouse. As i wandered more i could hear the sounds of screaming and grunting. Quite odd for a Sunday afternoon in a park, so you could say i was rather relieved to find it was an outdoor fully fledged weights gym in the middle of the park, not what you always expect to see.
On the way back i noticed that the street stallers were throwing up their covers despite it being sunny, this could only mean it was about to piss it down any time soon, the Thais seem to have a precognition for this. Thankfully I made it back before the heavens soon opened. I was a bit wrecked so crashed out for a bit and woke up around nine instantly thinking i need to get out of this room. They're alright for sleeping but not much else. I found a good bar and settled down to the football watching the Hull vs Stoke and Unitedvs Chelsea games. The latter was just about as frustrating as the Liverpool match and may anger towards Carrick, Anderson and players of the ilk seems to grow with each passing day, I really need to write a rant on it, i'm sure i'll feel better afterwards. Got chatting to an English bloke and an Italian in there who were both seasoned travellers. They had nothing but good things to say about Myanmar and Phillipines respectively and this was the firsti'd heard anyone really mention them. The guidebooks are a great helpinitially but it's only through chatting topeople you find the really cool little places to go and get a feel for what you'd like and dislike. I think this may be the most boring post of all time but it can't all be Full Moon parties and beaches all the time.....just most of the time.

Saturday 7 November 2009

FULL MOON PARTY

Onwards to Full Moon Party then, if you've never heard of it then Google it but it's basically 30'000 people on a beach partying till the last one standing I'd imagine. The day time was pretty quiet but you could tell something was happening or about too, a definite feeling of anticipation. The four of us (that being, me, Mark, Becky and Phil) went out towards town in search of "UV Rave Paint" for Becky mainly (she ended up with the least amount on) and T-Shirts/vests for us "boys" to ruin on the evening. Speaking of us walking down together reminds me of an "event" i forgot to mention in my previous post. We were all sat watching Arsenal give Tottenham a spanking when suddenly we heard a loud bang outside the bar; a taxi  (more like a pick  up truck) had collided with a moped. They're rampant here, Thais and Farang alike use them all over the country, sometimes with a whole family on one bike including babies. They'll go on them too in any state, it doesn't matter how paralytic they get, they'll still jump on and speed off into the dark of the night. That's bad enough in itself but when you've hot all manner of cars and trucks rattling round blind corners at 70 mph then it's just creating an environment for mass crashes. Vietnam is meant to be even more crazy but i'd personally not get on one anywhere, i've got plenty of scars off just riding bicycles round the estate as a kid already and if you fall off you don't just get hurt but badly hurt. Thankfully people were quick to jump to aid when the accident happend and an ambulance was on the scene within minutes. The investigative journalist in Becky was of too great a size so she went to find out what was going on; a Thai girl had collided head on with the taxi and landed head first on the bonnet leaving a rather sizable mark. The people around couldn't tell if she was incredibly drunk or just in shock but a bit of both would probably be the answer i bet, i'm sure the taxi service was trying to pin blame on the booze to cover their own backs anyhow. A guy remarked he was sitting in the same spot earlier and another crash happened, he clearly needs to find a new spot but it's definitely no mopeds for me or renting cars.
Back onto Full Moon front a guy at our hotel who  told us of an incident he was involved in the night before. He'd been in a taxi with a few people coming back from had rin and was the last person to get dropped off. The taxi drivers (there's always two in the front) pulled over about half a mile from our resort demanding "more money", he told them that he'd just as well walk but they never went for that. They then proceeded to grab him and take him behind a sign of sorts where there was some wooden weapons and demanded all his money. Luckily he only had 100 baht on him so he handed it over and left with them driving past laughing and waving. I was actually glad to hear this as it was a reminder to keep my wits about me as crime was rampant at full moon, Thais pick off stragglers and if you put thousands of people and alcohol into any situation then trouble is abound.
We booked our return taxi and then headed out for a night that was very likely not going to be like too many others. The beach was already pretty jammed with faces in various colours of rave paint and it really was quite a site to see, some had clearly started far too early too as they were passed out already. Unfortunately i took two photos and then my camera broke which wasn't really the best of starts, especially as i've only had it a month and couldn't really afford that one never mind another. I wasn't going to let that bother me though as a great night was to be had s we headed to "Mushroom Mountain" for some of the fabled mushroom shakes, we managed to bump into Charlene and a friend on the way too which was pretty cool. I'd decided before i set off for traveling that if i was going to get the best experience then i definitely had to get involved and do things i wouldn't back home and if you're going to do full moon then you may as well do it properly so i got Becky to paint a visor on my face and it went down pretty well. She did a stellar job and after some initial eye watering and fear that everyone would run off while i sat with my eyes closed ofr 15 minutes i completely forgot about it. Everybody else got some on too as the night picked up pace and i had a couple of the shakes. Now anyone who tells you that these shakes are good are full of shit, they do nothing and are twice as expensive as anything else. I made a snap decision and realized buckets would be the way forward for the rest of the night as they'd served me well so far.
The party moved up the beach towards the many, many bucket stalls where the proprietors squat like chimpanzees, arms swaying, hooting and screaming for your attention as they each offer you the best deal. No negotiations are necessary as they fight it out between themselves. The evening took its first casualty as Charlene left to go to a 7 - eleven with the last words of "don't move from this spot", so we didn't for the best part of an hour and that was the last we ever saw of her. Thankfully she turned up safe and sound the next day which was of great relief. The next part of the night i spent mostly people watching as the buckets went down, it's always an enjoyable activity but was a bit annoying too. The majority of the guys there were just complete arseholes walking around as if they had a stick up their arse, thinking they're King Shit like Phil Brown and just waiting for someone to accidentally bump into them so they could start shit. I couldn't believe the overall aggressive nature when surely everyone just wants to have a good time but Phil summed up with "if you put a load of people anywhere and add alcohol then there's always going to be aggro". Too true. The low point for me came when in an attempt to prove there manliness or something two guys started a press up competition against each other while a gut 5 feet away was giving someone a wedgie. Their mothers probably didn't love them enough i bet. Just do some Tim Allenesque grunting like the rest of us please. Or how about them Bears?
Back home when on a night out I always end up wandering off by myself and much prefer too once we're in our "Final Destination" so thought that was exactly needed here. The many buckets kicked in, the Jesus Boots got flung and i went on too have some of the most enjoyable hours of my life. The tunes at the top (Underworld, Basement Jaxx) were much more my thing then trance at the bottom (no indie or electro here for me) so i headed back up towards there. Calvin Harris was in full swing and i was soon dancing with many randoms of all nationalities, high fives were doing the rounds (Stevie you'd have been in your element) and everyone was just having an amazing time. I made my way back towards cactus bar where most of' the crowd seemed to be and they'd erected these 20ft stands that fit about ten people on so of course i was soon climbing up on there. The site of seeing both sides of the beech and just every bouncing was truly brilliant and i can't see me seeing anything like that again, i must've been up there a hour and once again everyone was cool. I ended up skipping again with these to Spaniards who were handcuffed together by rope and in kids swimwear for some reason, random as it gets. From the view i had i couldn't help but think of the episode of Peep Show where the guy goes "he's taking it down......he's taking it down....he's taking it up, he's taking it up" but being there it actually was so good and i didn't think anybody was tossers at all for a change haha. The top went at this point and i headed back up to the top and joined some more randoms on a stage up there, i'm pretty sure we reenacted praise you at one point but it wouldn't be the first time that ones happened....next i ended up on the water where more randoms were scattered and decided i may as well swim out into the sea since there was one person out there, they were absolutely delighted on my arrival and after another "up top" i made my way along the shoreline. Somehow i managed to stumble across Becky, Mark and Phill and all i could reply with when they asked where i'd been was "pretty much having the best time ever" Mark and Phil looked nothing like how i left them as it looked like five buckets of paint had been poured on their faces. Amazing. The sun was coming up now and the sight of peope raving away in daylight was rather odd but it was quite funny watching some half dead people hanging on in there clearly thinking "keep going....you've gotta be the last one". Becky hadn't been a 100 percent for a few days and i knew the night had peaked for me so we left the rest and got back around sevenish. The rest soon followed and Mark coming in with an "alright mate" like he'd just been to the shops but looking like a clown was pretty fucking funny. So that was full moon, it might sound awful or just a few people getting drunk but again it's definitely one of those things you have to see for yourself.
We were awoken the next day to the sound of the rather nasty woman from the resort banging on our door, for some reason she was always arsey with us but it could just be her general demeanor. She wanted us out as we'd planned on leaving that day but coincidentally a more expensive room was available, we got up anyway and crashed at Becky's for a bit. It wasn't too long before she came banging again though, they must've thought we'd left our bill and done a runner so i'm sure they were happy to find us. Mark soon left for Sydney via Koh Samui while i was told it was too late for me to get a boat to the mainland so had to stay on another night. A storm had entered the region so the waves were bad and no sleep was had on the evening due to the banging on my bungalow. The last thing i wanted the next morning was a ferry ride followed by a long bus trip but i thought it could be the same tomorrow so may as well get it out of the way. Becky and Phill had to stay on another day while i made a hastey exit for the ferry.
Despite being one of the first to get there i was made to wait an hour carrying my awful backpack while hundreds went before me, only to eventually be let on at the end. This was pretty bloody vexing as i had to sit outside on top of the ferry with all the rough weather. I spent most of the next two hours with my head in my hands willing myself not to be sick and thankfully it worked. After another few hours wait i was soon on the night bus back to Bangkok, the journey was one of the better ones as i had nobody sitting next to me and more leg room then usual so at least i was just uncomfortable rather then in pain. Plus i've become obsessed with The Rolling Stones in the last week particularly, Angie, Wild Horses, Streets of Love and you can't always get what you want so they provided a good late night soundtrack. After a quick ten hours we got dropped off on Khao San Road and left to fend for ourselves. I couldn't find a reasonable guesthouse anywhere that wasn't full so had to fork out 500 baht for a place which was a record for me. I justified it though as it was basically two night so 250 baht was what it was and my thriftiness in accommodation was intact. Despite the rare pleasure of a hot shower and aircon the place was shite. I barely slept as they put me next to the loudest steps in human history with every step shaking through my room, i could hear drunkards singing and all manner of noise. I nearly cracked up at 6am when someone was whistling, bad times. Thankfully i'm back at the merry v now and at 150 baht my conscious is clear. I think the zig zagging about the country, full moon and just being "on" all the time has taking its toll though and tiredness has caught up. I'd love to go to Chang Mai so going to relax here for a few days and hopefully fit it in before i fly out o Australia in a weeks time. I've found a good bookstore and managed to trade a few so that should keep me occupied for a bit as well as having caught up with my journal and blog. I'm a lot more relaxed up here now then last time i was here, i think i was a bit too wired thinking i had to be meeting people every second of the day and always initiating conversation but it's not like that at all. In the five weeks i've met some rather cool people and made some good mates so it's all been worthwhile. I have been shocked at some travelers at how bigoted, miserable and arsey they can be but thats just the way it is everywhere really! Not everyone's out to have the best time it seems, ah well. Thats their problem i guess,....i do hope to see "the bitch" again mind haha.





 
 
 

Friday 6 November 2009

A bit of Koh Phagnan

Tommy Cooper was known on  more than occasion to utter "Just Like That" and today i find myself doing the same with another nine days gone just....like.....that. The days really do seem shorter here but that cab\n only really mean i'm having a great time. I do wish I could write a bit more frequently as it seems nigh on impossible to recall everything that happens after a few days but i've just been having too much fun to sit down and talk about having so much fun.
As I remember it the first couple of days on Phagnan were a bit of a washout to say the least, it was a bit disappointing as i'd fancied a few days chilling out on the beach but the weather's been pretty lovely so far so I couldn't complain really. The "Holiday Beach Resort" which we were staying at had seemingly plenty of DVD's and a rather large projector screen so the evening's were always easy to fill and it also gave me a chance to catch up on my travel journal. I did manage to catch a few good films although on closer inspection the collection wasn't as expansive as first thought due to them being damaged or more likely stolen, in a week we managed to catch Quantam of Solace and 21 twice respectively as well as get through Narc, American Gangster, Rescue Dawn, 1408 and a few others so yeah, it clearly rained quite a bit. Narc was suitably bleak for my tastes and 21 was pretty enjoyable too.
Mark had went for a bit of a walkabout earlier on the day we got there, and informed me that some bars up the road looked quite promising. I needed to look for an ATM machine so thought i'd do my own traditional scout about and have a gander at the bars in the process. "Promising" soon turned out to be a phrase that set me up for disappointment as there was nothing the bars were just like Kata with their scores of Thai girls and Ladyboys standing outside hollering at you as you pass, if you manage to find yourself on the wrong side of the road to then you'll just get grabbed or find one of them suddenly linking in with you. Not as much fun as it sounds when by yourself looking for a cashpoint. The first of these bars was named the rather classy "Big Wills" (Others include "Fanny bar" which i pretty sure waas ironically full of Ladyboys.) in it contained a grotesquely obese man behind the bar who i assume was "Big Will", another obese man sitting with a petite Thai girl and finally another Thai girl propping up the bar. She must've have caught me walking past and then turned shouting "Come sit here" while pointing at the chair, I have to say i've never seen anyone so delighted to see me in my life. She then preceded to lift her legs up on the air, pretty much above her head in hoping that would sway me.....yeah i'm definitely not in South Shields now, you only see girls with their knickers out there if they're drunkenly "squatting" in a back lane haha. I manage to trek on passing numerous other bars and finally found an ATM about 20 minutes down the road, on my way back as i approached the corner that was full of what pretty much had to be prossies a black window tinted car approached me sidling along the curb. This definitely made me feel like I was in the wrong part of town so it was with some relief that a "normal" looking woman stepped out to go to a shop. I finally made it back unscathed, greeting Mark with a "Thanks for that", to be fair Kata is identical. During the day it looks like a family resort but it all changes when the sun goes down.
Wednesday was a pretty similar affair in the sense that the weather wasn't too hot for long periods so little was achieved outside a stroll down to the pier, I did manage to bang my head about four times on the way challanging the Krabi record in the process. On the evening we met a rather nice girl from Croydon named Becky and she soon became the latest member of the group, it quickly became apparent she was the unluckiest traveller possibly ever. Despite traveling roughly the same amount of time as myself she managed to catch E Coli, a parasite, various bites as well having the misfortune of previously traveling with a spoilt, stuck up condescending cow but none of this seemed to bother her too much and she could laugh about it which is always a good sign. The now three of us decided to check out the bar the hotel regulars frequented but it soon turned out to be another shitty Rasta/ Reggae bar, I don't recall if i've mentioned it but Thailand is full of these places. It seems like every single place you go to must have some reggae undertones, i personally don't see the connection between Thailand and Bob Marley but they sure love him here.
Talk soon turned to my experience of the bars the night prior and we decided we may as well go and brave them to satisfy our burgeoning curiosity if nothing else. The group dynamic and having Becky there certainly made it more appealing then going in by myself, we decided to try and visit each bar on the strip which initially sounded like an absolutely awful idea. It turns out that they couldn't have been any nicer or pleasant once we got inside; no hassling to buy them drinks, outside an arse pinch and a leg run no groping and they were just rather normal people. To be honest neither me or Mark got a look in with Becky getting all the attention. They loved her "white skin", looks, make up, everything and were very keen for tips as well as telling her not to get too tanned. Its quite ironic here that all the Thais want to be whiter, their creams, soaps, lotions all contain "whitening" and their magazine covers contain the whitest Thais you'll ever see. Meanwhile we're all obsessed with tanning and view that as looking healthy but they just want our skin, funny world. They also informed us that the reason they like western men isn't based on looks (there's a shocker for nobody) but because they're so tall and broad compared to short skinny Thai guys, so if your old and fat you can't really be blamed for coming here really. I have to admit while looking around the mall in Krabi i did feel rather odd, not only being the only "farang" there but i was about a foot taller then everyone else and really got the feeling everyone was staring at me. I guess it's a short glimpse into the life of a minority, nothing more than that obviously. I have to admit i did enjoy the feeling mind. We went to a few more bars and had a good laugh really, we decided to open our own named "The Clunge". On the way back home we went for a bit of food to find a young guy staring at us over his shoulder with  look of "oh shit, i've been rumbled" The reason was he was dining with two ladyboys, i say ladyboys but that would be an injustice to them, these were two blokes with plucked eyebrows in a dress really. He kept glancing over but still drunkingly sped off into the night with the men in tow.
Thursday finally brought blazing sunshine so most of the day was enjoyably spent cooking in the Sun, since i'm off to Sydney soon i thought it was about time i got my head stuck in Brysons "Down Under". I've not even stepped on the plane yet but the man's got me paranoid about stepping anywhere in Oz with all the talk of Jellyfish, Spiders, Snakes and everything else in between. The area we're staying on Koh phagnan is called Ban Thai and is about 11km from Had rin the home of full moon party, to which we were all on the island for; more of that one later. Anyhow we decided to go there for a night out and check the place out so we weren't going in blind for full moon. Becky had randomly bumped into a girl she'd spoke to online her before she left for here so Charlene became the newest member for the night and was again another great girl. It turned out to be a rather random but great night in the end, Becky was fire breathing and despite the fact I can't skip a rope i decided to do some skipping with a rope set on fire. I woke up with no hair on the left arm and smelling of burning so that tells you how well i did, Mark had the better tactic of getting in and out and that being the end of it. The sun was out on our return so that told me a great night was had as it literally seemed we been out 2 minutes but obviously the next days events were going to be lazing about and watching dvd's.













It soon became Saturday 31st and Halloween, this means nothing to me but obviously a lot to everyone else so we decided to venture out looking for a bar called Jumanjy we'd heard good things about that was putting on a party for it. During the day Mark mentioned one of his mates named Phill from traveling elsewhere was on his way to Ban Tai, literally mid sentence he appeared walking down the beach. It's quite amazing how much this occurs over here, it's a truly massive country but you're always bumping into people you've already met. Funnily enough it was around this time i realized i'd messaged Becky a few months back while planning my trip on travbuddy. I'd only messaged 4 people and met up with one and randomly seen the other 3 so it's a pretty massive coincidence, she'd hadn't bloody replied to my message mind haha. The two of us went for a walk and came across a stray dog with a litter of new born puppies barely days old, obviously everyone wanted to keep them but they looked healthy for now at least, they soon became the celebs of the island too. The four of us with Phil (once again sound guy) the latest addition headed to Jumanjy, after some initial mishaps (including our driver coming within an inch of sending us into a massive drop with no chance of the car getting out) we found it. To borrow a Mark term the place was rather "funky" and they'd made it look great, it was amazing to see peoples costumes too given that i doubt most backpackers carried one with them prepared. Either there was a shop on the island or a guy was carrying a six foot tampon around with him for months haha. But yeah, another great night out coupled with random photos and events. We rested the next day to get ready for Full Moon Party but that deserves its own blog, a rather surreal night indeed.....






Tuesday 27 October 2009

Here and There

Somehow in my previous postings i neglected to mention my initial encounters with the girl whom became affectionately known only as "The Bitch". I'd seen her walking about Krabi Town and she immediately stood out from the crowd, not due to her incredibly pale completion, fair hair or hippy attire, all of which were eye catching in this climate but it was the fact she wore the most angry and aggressive face I've ever encountered that set her apart. A permanent scowl fixated and eyebrows constantly furrowed, a real treat. On the evening i went wandering looking for Mark i had a meal on the night market, if i'm ever by myself i tend to find my self sitting up with head set on swivel, not just so it makes me more approachable but i can see what's going on around me and if anyone's clearly looking for company. "The Bitch" walked past me and as per usual here was offered to sit down for food, she was a bit rude at first but after walking around elsewhere sat down on the table opposite me in my direction to look through the menu. I contemplated a "Hello" as i always at least acknowledge anybody by themself but something about her put me right off. Selecting from the menu is a relatively simple procedure here, the dishes are written in English and each dish has a corresponding number. You simply write the number down on a pad they give you and jobs done. Evidently this was too difficult a task for her and she preceded to talk to the Thai's like crap to hide her own misgivings. "EH", "I WANT THIS ONE" " DO.....YOU......UNDERSTAND ME?" " THIS ONE!?" "WHAAAT" "AH...YOU...WANT ME TO WRITE.....THIS....DOWN?" "ON THE PAPER YEAH?" Jesus christ, stupid and obnoxius much? Thankfully this wouldn't be the last time out paths crossed and she'd live up to her name again.
I should also mention another character i've met on my travels during Phi Phi but once again neglected to mention him and in doing so provided a great disservice to the man. His mane was Andre and he was a Russian....and he liked to get drunk, despite having the lowest tolerance for alcohol of any human on the planet. I first bumped into him as i was coming out of my room on the rock, i said the usual "Alright Mate?" and his reply was surprisingly along the lines of "when is everybody going out and getting facking drunk". Russians are always to the point. I informed him a few of us were going out and to the beach first for some drinks so he should come. Shortly after arriving he became visibly agitated at the lack of getting hammered so we suggested he get his own bucket, i went to the 7 eleven to get a cheap beer and could have only be gone a matter of fifteen minutes. My return was met with what can only really be described as a grope, that was a bit odd i thought. I could tell if he was gay or one of them drunks who like to hug and kiss everyone, surely he couldn't be that bad already? We spent the next five minutes trying to work out if he was hammered after just one bucket (a bucket with vodka and mixer) or just insane, he was probably a combination of both really. Even Ledley could handle his drink better than Andre and he's clearly allergic to alcohol. He then went on a weird rant/ conversation with himself and funnily enough has a lot of anger towards people from Sunderland of all places. "Why do they talk like this? they're so stupid?" Obviously i agreed and thankfully he didn't take it too bad when i informed him i was from fifteen minutes from there and had a very common dialect.
We then went onto the Irish bar to see Claire's DJ set and it was only about a five minute walk, during this time Andre managed to by and consume about twelve red bulls all while bouncing off every stall, shop, person and bar. He managed to keep it together for a brief moment in the bar before unleashing the most disturbing dance move in history. It didn't have a name but was a strange combo of "stirring the pot" while simultaneously doing hardcore porno grinding, it was horrific but genius. I had an early night and when i saw him the next day he had that look in his eyes of " i have no idea what i did last night and i'm in pain", i've had that one a lot too, not just after one bucket mind. It didn't deter him though as he was on it again that night, a group of us were at one of the beach bars when suddenly someone ran up and hoisted me up (no mean feat) I turned to find it was Andre looking what like can only be referred to as a neon pussycat. He had facepaint in the style of whiskers a button nose and various other characteristics a man should never bare. He then ran off to the beach chasing someone and that was the last i saw of him, i'm sure he'll bring chaos wherever he goes.
Back onto the travel front i checked out of my guest house in Krabi on the Friday, i went to a internet cafe to check for hostels on Railay as well as see my favourite warcrafters of course when i bumped into Mark again. He was going to Railay and Koh Phagnan too so it seemed stupid of me to be going a day ahead all the time and it would be cheaper too together so i decided to stay in Krabi another night and head off the next day.
I thought i'd been to both the night markets but discovered on the evening i'd managed to miss the main one so the extra night was worthwhile although a certain eye opener into other cultures. The market was your pretty usual affair, stalls of food, drink, candy floss, cheap knock off clothing, fair style games for prizes like toys, teddies and beer for the dads. However they were two stalls that set this apart from any market in Westoe or any other one in England for that matter. The first was an awful "pet shop" selling rabbits, squirrels, dogs, puppies and various other animals. The cages were so small that all the animals were too cramped to move, they're water supply was depleted and i'd be shocked if any of them actually got a proper feeding. It was on the whole awful but the most disturbing image was that of the old female shop owner casually rummaging through the overcrowded rabbits, picking up the dead ones and tossing them into a black bin liner. No discretion here and a rather tragic sight to see, thank god Holly wasn't here to see it at least i thought.
The second stall is probably best referred to as  "The Weapons Section". Crossbows, machetes, swords, bb guns, a randomly and amusingly placed baseball bat and various sprays were the name of the game here. The knives were very comprehensive but it was the can of the brilliantly titled "Hell Spray" that stood out for me. The stall certainly made you think twice about getting in any arguments i'll say that.
One of the images you're given here is that literally everything is up for negotiation, food, hotels taxi's....everything. Obviously there are always exceptions and we came across one of these while trying to get the longboat from Krabi to Railay. We were initially quoted 150 baht so obviously tried to get this down a bit on principal if nothing else. All i'll say is that whoever wrote in the Lonely Planet guidebook that Thai's will do anything to avoid confrontation and would rather walk away and save face is full of shit, they love an argument like anyone else. They refused to budge on the price and when Mark merely commented that it would be cheaper for us to jump on the bus and then get a longboat from elsewhere, one of them responded by angrily telling us to basically piss off and go there and get off his pier. Yeah, very laid back the Thais, clearly a union thing going on here was my thought. As we walked off a more reasonable member of the clan informed us that it was a set price by the Thai King and they could get locked up for charging lower or higher. Obviously this was a stretch at best but since everyone else was paying 150 or more we caved as long as the isiot got none of our cash.

The trip to Railay was rather uneventful until we pulled up to what can only be described as a muddy, dirty swamp of a beach known as east Railay. I just hoped the people who referred to Railay west as the nicer of the two where not understating this. The boat actually pulled up about 25 metres from the shore, so knee deep in water i had to negotiate may way to land with a ridiculously over sized backpack on, a bag round my neck and each step leaving my leg past ankle deep submerged in swampy sand. Any misjudgment or sway would result in nothing but bad times but thankfully i made it ashore safe. We found a cheap place to stop, dumped our nags and managed to bump into Claire of all people. We also discovered "The Bitch" was staying here. She greeted me with a "I KNOW YOU, I'VE SEEN YOU EVERYWHERE" i responded with "yeah at the night market" then she just marched off. Strange girl.
Thankfully Railay west wasn't  disappointing and was clearly much much nicer than its ugly sibling. We didn't get there till mid afternoon but the weather was till beautiful so i soaked up what i could and managed to witness an ethereal sunset to say the least. I can't say if the beach was a nice as Phi Phi but it was less crowded coupled with the fact that the tide was in during the day gave it some advantages. After hitting the beach we went back for food and surprisingly found the bitch in the "chillout area" conversing with another girl. Surely this girls never been chilled in her life? However the conversation didn't last five minutes as the girl exited only to return with a book to bury herself into, clearly the bitch didn't disappoint again. The bitch then stormed through our eating area with a face of thunder and started shouting at the staff. "WHAT'S THIS?" "I HAD TO PAY EXTRA?" YOU MUST TELL ME IN FUTURE" "OK WELL YOU'VE GOT TO TELL ME FROM NOW ON" "TELL ME OK?!" Any idiot can tell that some dishes come with rice and others you need to order seperate but this was missed on our girl. Clearly paying for the privilege at an extra fifty pence greatly upset her, she's obviously got a lot of issues when it comes to menus. Despite her horrid nature i actually found her quite interesting; if for nothing more than how can such a person be travelling by them self? Maybe she was in a group but got shunned leaving her bitter and agressive.....or maybe she's just a cow.

The next day was spent at a beach i can't recall the name of but it was again beautiful, half it was privately owned by a resort who's villas were priced at a rather nice 30,000baht a night. I'll stay with my 150 dumps thank you. The rest of the untouched beach was free to roam and was one of the nicest i've witnessed so far, the only slight was that they had kids constantly hassling you for drinks to keep that trend up. Haggling with what is basically child labor never sits well either. We stayed there all day and managed to witned the best sunset i've seen yet, the photos never do it justice.

Watched the United Liverpool game which greatly annoyed me. I have various grievances but Michael Carrick is possibly the most overrated player in history. He doesn't shoot never mind score, can't  pass forward, bottles tackles, never has his head up and doesn't break up play. What is his point? I feel another rant coming on.
We left Railay on the Monday to head back to Krabi and book a night bus and ferry to Koh Pahngan. The journey was fine although it baffled me how we got to suratthani in two hours but the journey from there to Phuket seemed to take about six previously. The ferry left at 11pm and despite not being able to stand fully in it, that was ok too. I managed to get a bit kip and arrived at Koh Phangan at 6am. As per usual we were greeted at the pier by the mass of charlatans trying to rip you off or take you to a hotel they get kick backs from, we managed to knock over half the price of a taxi off but still managed to feel robbed which is always terribly vexing. On arrival our accommodation was closed and we had a three hour wait till reception opened but this was expected. Thankfully they had a lounge area to kip in but we were soon disturbed by the loudest storm in history. I've seen heavy rain but the thunder literally felt and sounded like the sky being nuked. It's drizzled pretty much all day but the accommodation is nice and we got a good deal i think so all is still good. Six days and then it's fill moon madness.....