Saturday, May 20, 2006

Home

Just a quick post to let all my faithful readers know that I am home. The return date was always on my website, but it seemed that very few people ever went there. I touched down Wednesday evening (May 17th). Thankfully, I haven't been suffering from jet lag. Almost no effect at all. Strange but good. I'm driving again and back to wearing sweatshirts, socks and shoes. The weather is cooler for sure but not as biting as I thought it would be (it's so much drier).

I'm looking for a new job. So... If anyone knows of a company looking for an electrical engineer (with an interest in computers, networks and servers). Let me know. Even job websites are welcome!

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Layover

You would think that with the thousands of bookings that an airline handles each day, they should be pretty good at what they do, and you would think that they wouldn't just change the time of a flight and not tell the person flying until he comes to the counter on the day of the flight. Well that's what happened to me. My 4 hour layover instantly became a 10 hour layover with no advanced warning. I was not amused. Bad China Airlines! No fortune cookie for you!

On a positive note, I have become well acquainted with the Taipei Airport. If you ever have a layover there, be sure to go to Gate C7 for some free wired and wireless internet. They also have a subway and starbucks upstairs (in the VIP lounge area).

Here are some signs I found around the airport:
Dude! This restaurant serves gruel! And dishes. Mmmm, dishes.
He dances, he pukes and he wants to be your friend. It's Puki!! (Well maybe not, my Taiwanese isn't that good).
Is that what they call a recursive sentence?
I found it on the wall in the bathroom. It is informing me that I should not bring fruit into Taiwan. That's fine except it's a little late since I'm already in Taiwan. The funniest thing is this was in the bathroom on the departures level. Everyone who sees this sign is leaving Taiwan. Silly.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Shopping in Bangkok

Well I'm pretty sure that Bangkok is by far the biggest city I have ever been through. It has about 12 million people and it sprawls as far as the eye can see in all directions. With that said, it is no wonder that they are the home of some very large markets and malls.

I joined the TREK team for a day of shopping in Bangkok. First stop was Jatujak market. It is HUGE, and impossible to see the whole thing in one day. It is home to thousands of little shops with thousands more of people, walking down aisles no wider than 6 feet (that's before they let their merchandise spill into the aisle. If you are claustrophobic, you might not want to dive in too deep, there are a lot of rows and some of them get pretty crowded.

Next stop was a congregation of malls (or flock of malls?) We think metrotown in Burnaby is a big mall. It is but that's just one mall. Imagine like 5 or more malls like that, all side by side or across the street from each other. And that's just one part of Bangkok. It just makes the malls in Canada seem puny (ok, except West Edmonton). The malls took the other half of our day and we only scratched the surface. Shopping in a city that size with that many people is definitely an amazing experience.

Rush Hour

Bankok brings a whole new meaning to rush hour.

When I got back to Bangkok from Lopburi, I took a motorcycle taxi through Bangkok during rush hour. We were traveling between cars with fractions of an inch of clearance between my knees and car mirrors. I prayed a lot during those 10 mintues. It was one of the scariest things I've ever done! But I gotta say, it sure got me to my destination in a hurry.

A Trip to Lopburi

Took a quick trip to Lopburi. Stayed only one night and was back in about 24 hours. Just visited the Griffioens who are busy in language school. Also I just wanted to see Lopburi and see the monkeys. Over the course of two days I traveled by: MU7 (SUV), taxi, bicycle, foot, train, tuk tuk, motorcycle taxi and van.

I saw the Lopburi monkeys. Indeed there are a lot of monkeys in Lopburi.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Day Trip


Ya, some friends and I took a day off and traveled to a nearby island. We rented a giant 6-passenger tuk-tuk for the day (driver included) and toured the whole island. The island is pretty big and it has one or two small towns. It also has at least one BEAUTIFUL beach. The scenery was picture perfect, and it was as nice in person as it looked. The sand was clean and soft, right into the water. The water was clear and WARM. It was great.

Afterwards we toured around a bit and visited a site that was a vacation spot for one of Thailand's ancient kings. They keep it up, and it is a beautiful park.

All in all, it was a great day. And I worked it out, it only cost me about $12 Canadian for all food and transportation. Best 12 bucks I ever spent!

Lots of pictures on my website.

Monday, May 08, 2006

Picking Mangos II


Picked mangos again. This time I got a close up of the picker itself (refering to the object on the left--not me).

Grain Jai

Ok, say it was your turn to do the dishes and you forgot, and your roommate went ahead and did them for you. You say, "Awe, you shouldn't have." and you kinda feel bad that they went to the effort to do something that was your job (note that you are a GOOD roommate). How would you describe how you feel? "I feel...." what? Ok, I'll tell you. You feel "grain jai".

The Thais have a word for it, but I don't know of an English equivalent, and frankly I don't know how we've gotten this far without it. It is a distinct feeling. It's a little bit of embarrassment. It's a little bit of feeling bad. It's a little bit of helplessness. It's wishing you could do something to change it so it didn't inconvenience someone else, but you know you can't. Thats grain jai.

So I'm going to start using grain jai to describe the feeling. English needs that word. When you finally see a grain jai emoticon, you'll know what that is.

Cambodia Visa Run

This blog entry is not like my usual entries. This one is for documentation purposes, so that it exists somewhere on the net. This was originally written for teams that are staying at The Life Center church in Chonburi, Thailand. But it could be adapted to almost any group. Prices are accurate as of April 2006. Pictures are by Dave & Shannon Harder and me.

If you are planning to stay in Thailand more than 30 days, you will most likely be taking a trip to get out of the country and right back in again, to renew your visa. We call this a "Visa Run". The nearest country from Chonburi (and Bangkok) is Cambodia. Once you've been there, you'll know why we wrote these instructions. It is it quite (some would say intentionally) confusing.

Prices:
  • Air Conditioned 15 passenger van with driver (from Chonburi): 1800 Baht/day (regardless of number of passengers)
  • Gas for the van: 1000 Baht
  • Cambodian visa application (with photo): 1000 Baht
  • Cambodian visa application (no photo): 1100 Baht
  • Guide: 200 Baht/person
Times:
  • About 3.5 to 4 hours travel time each way
  • About 2-4 hours for paperwork and standing in lines (depends on the lines, AVOID SATURDAY)
Step 0: Checklist BEFORE YOU LEAVE
  • Passport
  • Pen
  • 1000 Baht (or $20 US) for Cambodian Visa
  • Make sure you have a Thailand departure slip stapled inside your passport (and filled out).
  • Passport Photo: You will need one on your Cambodian visa application form. If you don't, it will cost an extra 100 Baht. You can get passport photos taken at a photo shop (Kodak). Getting photos ahead of time is the cheaper alternative.
  • You may want to bring a book, pillow, food, water, diskman, portable dvd player etc. The ride is about 3.5 hours. There are gas stations along the way for bathroom breaks.
  • You can leave stuff in the van or take it with you. They don't check your luggage/backpack.
  • ...and finally your Passport!
  • Tip: Leave early to avoid long lines. We left from Chonburi at 5:00am
  • Tip: Go on a weekday to avoid long lines. They are open Saturdays but it is busy!
  • Tip: Note that $20 US is a better price than paying 1000 baht for a visa. If you have US money, now is a good time to use it (exact change required for either currency).
Step 1: Getting to the border
  • Shortly after you arrive and park, one or more "guides" will come up and say that you pay them and they will guide you through. Others will say that if you let them guide you, it will be faster than if you do it yourself. That isn't true. They may also tell you that they have a special relationship and you will save money by going through them. That is not true either. BUT if you want someone to hold your hand through the process, they WILL do that. And they cost about 200 Baht extra per person.
  • From the parking lot you see a huge market. The road forks. Take the left fork. A little ways down you will see a dirt hill that has lots of people with carts. Go over the dirt hill.
Step 2: Exit Thailand (customs)
  • Make sure your departure slip (stapled in your passport) is filled out.
    You will first walk through what looks like a border crossing station, but that isn't the border.
  • Head to the departure building. This is on the LEFT side of the road (looking into Cambodia)
  • Wait in line (You have a "Foreign Passport")
  • The Thai customs will remove the departure slip and stamp your passport, and you'll be on your way.
  • Note: If you overstayed your welcome (stayed longer than 30 days, you will be fined 500 Baht per day for every day beyond the 30 days.
Step 3: Apply for Cambodian Visa
  • Walk across the street and down the road to the Cambodia Visa Office. This is on the RIGHT side of the road (looking into Cambodia) and it has rows of chairs out front.
  • Fill out the visa application form:
    • you are a tourist
    • you are entering at POIPET
    • you came from Thailand
    • If you don't know the answer to a question (like address in Cambodia), leave it blank
  • Hand in your visa application along with your passport and 1000 Baht (or $20 US)
  • Wait for your passport to be processed (about 20 minutes)
Step 4: Enter Cambodia (customs)
  • You can walk or take the free transport service into Cambodia (it's a diesel, open tour bus--not the guys with the carts). It's not very far so it's not a huge deal. But it will stop right in front of the Cambodia customs office.
  • The customs building is on the RIGHT side of the road (looking into Cambodia).
  • As you enter the customs building, someone should be there handing out Cambodia entry/exit slip. You need this to get in and out of Cambodia so find a guy with the slips.
  • Fill out the Cambodia arrival/departure slip:
    • You are a TOURIST
    • Your visa was obtained in POIPET, visa number is not important
    • If you don't know the answer to a question, leave it blank
  • Tip: Fill out both sides of the entry/exit slip, because once the exit slip is stapled into your passport, it's harder to fill out.
  • Then you're IN CAMBODIA! Do what you like, but if you want to keep things moving, you will walk across the street to the other customs building to exit Cambodia.
Step 5: Leave Cambodia (customs)
  • Same basic line, different direction.
  • This building is pretty much directly across the street, with a giant DEPARTURE sign.
Step 6: Enter Thailand (customs)
  • Walk the back to the Thai customs "building" (actually it's pretty open). This is on the LEFT side of the street (facing Thailand). It is past the Cambodia visa office, right after the bridge.
  • As you approach the line, there is a table with guys handing out Thai entry/exit slips. Pick one up and fill it out while you are in line.
  • Fill out the Thailand arrival/departure slip:
    • Read the instructions!
    • For address in Thailand, use TLC's address: P.O. Box 25, Bang Saen, Chonburi 20130
    • You are a TOURIST
    • You are NOT on a group tour
    • If you don't know the answer to a question, leave it blank
  • Tip: Fill out both sides of the entry/exit slip, because once the exit slip is stapled into your passport, it's harder to fill out.
  • Tip: If you have a 60 day Thailand visa, make sure they see the page in your passport. Otherwise they will stamp it with a 30 day visa and you will have problems on your next visa run (voice of experience).
Step 7: Go home
  • Go back the way you came. Go through the big building in the people lane and over the hill.
  • When you go over the hill there is a tent with one final check. Men go through one side, women through the other. You must go through this on the way back.
  • You can spend some time in the market if you like. You will be harassed by child beggars and sunglasses salesmen.
I hope this helps. I know I sure would have appreciated a guide like this. If this helped you, leave me a comment eh?