It's Beginning to get to Me - Snow Patrol

I want something
That's purer than the water
Like we were

It's not there now
Ineloquence and anger
Are all we have

Like Saturn's rings
An icy loop around me
Too hard to hold

Lash out first
At all the things we don't like
Or understand

And it's beginning to get to me
That I know more of the stars and sea
Than I do of what's in your head
Barely touching in our cold bed

Are you beginning to get get my point
They're always fighting with aching joints
It's doing nothing but tire us out
No one knows what this fight's about

The answer phone
The lonely sound of your voice
Frozen in time

I only need
The compass that you gave me
To guide me on

And it's beginning to get to me
That I know more of the stars and sea
Than I do of what's in your head
Barely touching in our cold bed

Are you beginning to get get my point
They're always fighting with aching joints
It's doing nothing but tire us out
No one knows what this fight's about

It's so thrilling but also wrong
Don't have to prove that you are so strong
Cos I can carry you on my back
After our enemies attack

I tried to tell you before I left
But I was screaming under my breath
You are the only thing that makes sense
Just ignore all this present tense

We need to feel breathless with love
And not collapse under its weight
I'm gasping for the air to fill
My lungs with everything I've lost

We need to feel breathless with love
And not collapse under its weight
I'm gasping for the air to fill
My lungs with everything I've lost

Krabi, Thailand

Just this past weekend, Steve, Phil, B. and I take a trip to Railay beach, in Krabi, Thailand. Railay is the place to go in Southeast Asia for rock climbing. Steve and Phil left on Tuesday to go climbing and Bernice and I followed on Thursday.

The flight went well, we took a cab from the airport to reach Ao Nang -- a really touristy beach with boats going to the different islands in Krabi.

Railay Beach is a peninsula which can only be reached by boat. Bernice and I join a few people who are waiting for a long tail boat which will take us to Railay. There are tonnes of these limestone caves and walls all over Railay, and this is where the climbers climb :). The beaches had white sands, that were so soft, and the water was so clear.

This trip was quite different from the other trips that I've been taking with my travel buddies, since we stayed in one place the entire time. It was more relaxing this way, and we spent much of the time roaming the beaches. There were 4 main beaches, 2 on the east side and 2 on the west. The peninsula was pretty small, and can easily be walked in about 20 minutes.

I got bitten pretty badly on this trip. I am now convinced that the tastiest part of me are my ankles. Its where all the mosquitoes head straight for! I can spray my entire calf, and leave everywhere above me knee unsprayed, and they would still find that ONE spot on my ankle with a little less bug spray and bite there twice! grrrrr ...

Other than that the trip went relatively smoothly. I find myself to be a bit irritated easily on this trip, I think that was due to a combination of my 30 something bug bites, and being a bit traveled out. I had to concentrate really hard to not scratch them... they were super itchy!!!

It was quite a relaxing little adventure, getting to Railay Beach from Ao Nang. We actually had to wade through the waters to reach the long tail boats, since it was low tied, the boats were further in the water. It was interesting. Later we find out that all the area that is sandy at night will be completely submerged in the late morning due to the high tide.

This is probably one of my favourites shots again the two limestone cliffs in the water.

Steve and Phil had found a beach bungalow for about 400Baht/night. Bernice and I also get one, but we get one with a washroom since it was only 500Baht per night. (100Baht = $5 Singapore). Our room came with a mosquito net, which worked pretty well. We also had a personal alarm clock, aka the rooster.

The little guy would crow every morning at 5AM, and would not stop until he saw someone come out of our bungalow. At the end of the trip, I would wake up after it crowed, at 5AM, walk outside, stand there for a few minutes to make sure it saw me, then go back to sleep! And it worked! :)

Yes! I'm able to outsmart the rooster! My life is now complete.

The food was really good, although not cheap. B. and I tried muesli, and our first attempt was quite unsatisfying. It was basically some mush mixed with yogurt and dried fruit. The second time we had it -- at a nicer restaurant -- was quite good. I think I'll take this back with me to Canada, its a really healthy breakfast.

We also had barracuda our second night, and it was a very interesting texture. Very firm meat for a fish. We also had curry every night! Awesome-ness. T

The Thai pancakes (aka Roti) was also very good, and that was often desert. I especially like the pineapple roti with condensed milk or honey sauce. We were on a mission for mango sticky rice, but unfortunately, it was not meant to be. We were either too early, or too late, or they had finished selling out for the day! :(

The guys mostly climbed, and B. and I entertained ourselves by chilling along the beaches, and enjoying the beach atmosphere. Our first day there, we slept in (despite the rooster), and spent the rest of the day on the beach. It rained in the afternoon for a bit, but the rocks shielded us away from most of the rain, but did not keep the mosquitoes away. Darn it.


Below is Steve and climbing with Phil belaying. Looks neat, eh?

The second day, we all went diving together. Steve and I did the introductory dive, and on our second dive, we dove with B. and Phil.

In Vietnam, where I did my first dive, it was one-on-one attention, and diving in a group made me more uneasy. The visibility was poor, and it was hard to look at the fish, because once I took my eyes off the dive master, I would be a bit panicky until I found him.

I even lost the group once, and kept floating towards the surface. I panicked at first, then tried to calm myself down, and told myself that I could always get to the surface slowly. I later started seeing some bubbles and followed them down to find my group. And then I stuck with the dive master the rest of the time.

That's myself and Steve on the long tail boat while Phil and Bernice did their last dive.
Although I was a bit disappointed in this dive, I still got to see some pretty cool stuff. I saw a sting ray, a sea horse, and a lion fish, amongst other things, such as corals and some pretty tropical fishes. I made sure to take a picture of myself in a wet suit, this time!

The third day, B. and I met up with Steve and Phil for a hike / climb to a view point at the top of one of the mountains. As we waited for the guys to finish their climb, we take pictures of the monkeys just hanging out in the trees near by. There are also lots of little crabs in the sands due to the low tide. I felt like filling up their holes with sand to see what happened, but I was afraid they would come out and bite me. Yes, I'm scared of tiny crabs.

Below is a view of the peninsula from where we climbed to the top of one of the "mountains."

The journey up to the view point was more of a climb than a hike, and I felt like I got a little taste of climbing. Although the climb was a bit of work, it didn't feel too dangerous, and there was rope and rocks to hold on to as we moved ourselves upwards.

I need to get a few pictures of me climbing this. The view at the top was gorgeous! We could see most of the peninsula from there. And we see even more monkeys. They even seem to "pose" for pictures. Smart little guys.

We head back down for some lunch, and play some Risk before the guys go off for more climbing. Dinner than night was more Indian food at our hostel's restaurant, and we watch MI:II.

Oh yes, that night was when I took a shower with a cockroach. I saw him just as I was starting to shower, and tried to wash him away but couldn't. He ended hiding under the sink on this little ledge. At that point, I felt a bit bad for scaring it so much, and decided we could co-exist during my shower. That was one of the quickest showers I've taken!

On our last day there, B. and I decided to get up early for some kayaking, but were unsuccessful in finding a shop open on the side of the beach we wanted to kayak on. So, we opt for a Thai massage instead.

It was an interesting massage. Some parts were just really relaxing, and other times, was very painful! I think, my favourite was the head massage. It was pretty painful when she stood on me. Ouch. I really thought my legs wouldn't be able to take it. I'm surprised I'm not in too much pain today!

This is a picture of me on the long tail boat on our way back to the Krabi, to get to the airport.

We head back to Krabi on a long tail boat and meet a couple other Canadians who are currently teachers in Bangkok. The boat ride back was really nice, beautiful scenery.

We went to Krabi town, which is pretty close to the airport. I get to do some souvenir shopping, but wasn't able to pick up too many things since I was out of money at that point.

Being on the long tail boats, I wonder how much tourism could be destroying the natural habitat of Thailand (and other areas), if people are not careful. These boats can't be good for the environment, but they are the main means of transportation for tourists.

The coral reefs, and the natural beauty of this island is amazing, but I notice that there quite a bit of litter on the beaches. It makes me sad that something so beautiful might not exist, if we don't do something to preserve it.

Below is one of my favourite sunset shots with the boats in the background. Very peaceful. Despite mosquitoes.

Vietnam (southern)

Phil, Bernice and I spent the longest part of our trip in Vietnam. We took the ferry along the Mekong river, and ended up at Chau Doc, Vietnam. We stay in Vietnam for one night, and catch the earliest bus out to Can Tho the next morning, at 5am (yes, we like to get up before dawn a lot on this trip :P).

Chau Doc was actually very nice. The part we stayed in was very bustling and there was tonnes of great food. We just ate at one food stall after another. Dinner was some really yummy rice noodles, and then came dessert (coconut milk and ice), then more dinner : the Viet subs - actually tasted really similar to the ones in T.O, some Pho - also tasted similar to the one my aunt makes, and more dessert!

I was actually quite happy, because most of the stuff I have had before, whether in T.O. or at my aunts house, and I am proud to say that they are very authentic tasting :)

Our hostel here is not as nice as the one in Siem Reap, well, I guess this is what we get for 7USD a night for 3 people. There were some bed bugs, so I tried to sleep as covered as I could... and Bernice said there was a lot of mosquitoes in the bathroom... but she scared them all away and it was quite safe by the time my shower came along! The little joys of traveling!

We leave at 5AM, the next morning on a Cycloe! Oo... those must be the most sketchiest thing I have ridden on. It's basically like bicycle with a seating attached to it with wheels, and all three of us, and our bags barely fit on it.

The ride there was actually quite an experience in itself! There isn't really a public transit system there, so the entire way by bus, the people would be trying to get more riders waiting along the road, and pick them up and drop them off, kind of like a transit system. Needless to say, it took us almost an additional 2 hours to get to Can Tho.

After arriving in Can Tho, we try to find where we can get a tour for the floating markets. We arrive in the city center and are very much lost as to where to head to next. As we ask for directions, we bump into a guy who happens to be the owner of family run guest house. He looks at our Lonely Planet guide map, shows us where he is in the guide, and offers a tour for us.

We all hop on the back of a motor bike -- there were no cabs around, and motorbikes was the only choice of transportation at that moment. I was so scared! I mean, this is dangerous! But, we didnt really have a choice. I later learn very quickly during my trip that this was how people in Southern Vietnam get around!

I believe in Canada, we call this suicide. Seriously.
We actually miss the busy time of the floating market, since we didn't get out onto the river until almost 9 - 9 30. The best time to see the market is around 7 am - 9 am, since most of the sellers want to avoid the heat. But, we still got to observe some the floating market, and it was definitely something interesting.

There would be boat loads of pineapples, or another fruit, and these people would live on these small boats! We later get scammed at a lunch place they took us to! Must be careful with these tours! But, the lunch was nice none the less, and it was definitely a cool experience having lunch in a boat floating peacefully along the Mekong River.
After Can Tho, we catch a bus to Ho Chi Minh city. We didn't spend much time at HCM at all, just took a public bus from one bus station to another (there is a seperate bus station for buses going to and fro from the south, and northern Vietnam).

Luckily, we catch the last bus from HCM to Nah Trang, the beaches of south central Vietnam along the eastern coast. It is a 11 hour bus ride, but since it was a night bus, we actually got there in 8 hours, and are kind of stuck at the bus terminal at 3 30 am!

Nothing like a nice bowl of Pho and some strong coffee at 3 30 am to keep us awake until we embark on our walk into the beaches and market area of Nah Trang. I must say that the mosquitoes were really bad for me in Vietnam.

They especially liked to feast on my left ankle! Even if my entire calf is exposed (wearing capris) they still only go for the ankles! GRrrrr..

We roam around looking for a room. It's interesting the networks of people in places like Cambodia and Vietnam. Everyone seems to be connected to each other.

For instance, the guy that brought you on the motorbike will bring you to a guesthouse of someone he knows, and the owner of the guest house might bring you to a restaurant of his friends... and so on.

We find a room for 13USD a night, with AC, satellite tv, hot water, own bathroom, everything that we could hope for! :) We settle down and then head out to the beaches like bunch of idiotic westerners only to be burned by the hot hot sun. Oo... my SPF 30 sunscreen failed me so miserably!
The next day, despite the amount of pain we are all in, we take a diving trip out to the coral reefs. Phil and Bernice are certified divers, but I am not, so I have to do down with a guide. None the less, it was a really cool experience!

It was so beautiful, I really only imagined such beauty existed in movies and books. I was honestly blown away by the beauty of the coral reefs. I felt like I was the Little Mermaid. I had never seen such clear waters, been so close to different fishes, touched so many marine plants.
It was just a really amazing experience, and made me want to learn more about it, and also preserve it. Its really amazing how you can watch things on tv (discovery channel, movies, etc), and think you have an idea of what something is, but when you come face to face with it, you are speechless, and realize that you really actually had no idea at all.

Ok, ok. Enough babbling about diving... but yea, it was the most amazing part of my trip!
We spend 3 days in Nah Trang, and it was actually really nice to relax and be in one place for a few days. The seafood there was amazing! We went to a pretty nice seafood place, and altogether it was 20USD. There were a lot shakes in Vietnam also. :) The bread here was also really good! Really fresh! I like Vietnamese foods!

After Nah Trang, it was time for Phil and Bernice to head up north to Hoi An, Hue, and eventually Ha Noi.

It was time for me to head back south to HCM to meet up with some of my relatives! 3 of my relatives are from North America, and just so happened to be visiting relatives here.

My grandma's sister has kids here, and we stayed with them :). They were really nice, and made sure that we had good food all the time! :D

It's getting late now, and I need to get up somewhat early tomorrow to do laundry, so I will end this post here and continue it another time!

This trip has been really fun, and I love visiting new places. The people I encounter on my trips continually amaze me. They show me, through overcoming their hardships, that the human spirit truly is stronger than anything that happens to it! (forgot where that quote came from...)

Siem Reap, Cambodia

So, we sort of took a little detour when we went to Cambodia. We flew into Phnom Penh (south), but take a 5 hour bus ride north to get to Siem Reap, so that we can see the ancient temple ruins of the Angkor era. We were scammed several times in the process.

My most vivid and scary memory of Cambodia was when we first got off the bus. A herd of 30 - 40 men stampeded towards us, in what seemed to be a mad rush to grab each one of us.

It turns out that they weren't out to kill or abduct us, as was my first impression, but to find a customer to take into town on their motorbike or tuk tuk. The bus stop was at a rural station, and we needed to get into the marketplace.

My modes of transportation expanded with my very first tuktuk ride. It was pretty much a little carriage thing attached to the back of a motorbike. I was afraid that I was gonna fall out of it, the roads were very bumpy and super dusty.

We had a little difficulty finding a guest house, since most of the ones we went to were booked. Which was alright, cuz we ended up staying in one that was slightly more pricier, but definitely nicer. When I say pricey, I still mean only $20USD a night for all three of us. Some places were about $10 - $15 USD.

I must say, that shower was probably the best shower in a long time.

We go off in search of some good Cambodia food for dinner, and try Fish Amok (curry fish dish).
We also bump into a little boy selling Lonely Planet guidebooks to tourists like us, I was impressed by his business skills. I later learn that kids here grow up fast, basically if you can learn to walk, you can sell something. Children in Cambodia area always selling things to tourists, whether it be bracelets, books, postcards, anything.

One little girl was following me for almost 15 minutes trying to persuade me to buy bracelets from her. I find it really sad that they live in so much poverty, no child should have to grow up with so much hardship.

Every child should have an opportunity to be a kid, although this is not the case in so many places. It really makes me feel so fortunate and appreciate my childhood. What I took for granted everyday, is the dream of so many other children in the world.

The fruit shakes of Cambodia are amazing. They are made of real fruits and taste super fresh and yummy. The best one by far was the banana shake I had a the temple club. It was super thick and very banana-ie! We have shakes with breakfast and dinner, and desert. Its always a little journey to search for the perfect shake every night. They are super cheap - even with the super inflated tourist price, only $0.50 USD a shake.

We only ate 2 meals a day, the heat makes you lose your appetite.

The next day, we head to Angkor! The temple ruins are amazing! They are so beautiful, and its hard for me to imagine what it must've been like during the construction of these temples. We go to a few temples, including Angkor Wat (my favourite) , Angkor Thom - Bayon Temple (another favourite), Ta Phrom (jungle temple where Tomb Raider was filmed!), and more.

Each of the temples had something distinct about it. For instance, the Bayon Temple had four faced Buddhas on top of their buildings, and the Ta Phrom temples had big huge trees growing all around them.
We got a 3 days pass, and we went back to watch the sunset, and the sunrise among the ruins. I find myself quite fascinated with the ruins. I love taking pics with the ruins, there is just something mystical about a ruin that still remains after a fallen civilization.

It's like I am stepping back into time. Of course, I took way too many pics of all the temples, too many of sunset, and way too many at sunrise. I'm surprised that I didnt run out of memory!
We take a tuktuk around the temples, and it brings us back to our hostel at the end of the day. The temples close at 6 30 pm everyday, so we have quite a lot of time to go chill before bedtime each day.

As mentioned earlier, chilling time usually consists of a few fruit shakes and exchange of stories and discussion. They will be missed dearly when I go back to Singapore and Canada... Must get myself a blender and make my own shakes in Waterloo!

We make plans to head back to Phnom Penh, and from there take a ferry along the Mekong River to Chau Doc in Vietnam. The Mekong River is one of the largest rivers in Southeast Asia and feeds many countries, including Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam to name a few. My mom actually grew up near where we took the ferry.

Unfortunately, I took a gravel (afraid of being seasick from my last ferry ride in Indonesia), and was sleeping for much of the peaceful and beautiful ride along the river. The sights that I was awake to see were amazing, and so beautiful. There is so much life along this river.

Bangkok, Thailand

First stop of our trip, Phil, Bernice, Akhil and I are on the same flight to Bangkok, Thailand. The flight went smoothly, we took TigerAirways, budget airline. One of the things I am starting to notice here in Asia is the emphasis on class differences here. For instance, there was a separate terminal built just for the budget airlines, which was painted in bright yellow, compared to the chic and modern look of the rest of Changi Airport.

They all had packs, except for me, but I manage to cram almost 2 weeks worth of clothes and other daily necessities into my good old Adidas backpack! I was quite impressed with myself! ;)

We take a taxi and head over to Khao San -- backpackers central in Bangkok-- and find a hostel for the night, and head for some food. Pad Thai street style is very different than the Pad Thai I was used to in Canada -- I prefer the westernized version.
Dessert was banana and chocolate roti. Yummie.


I had one mission in Thailand - to buy Thai pants! I really haven't done much shopping since coming to Singapore, but these pants were a must have for me! They are so comfy, and breezy.
After a good nights rest, Akhil met up with his travel group the next morning, and Phil, Bernice and I start our 10 day trip together. We spent the next day doing touristy things around Bangkok, including visiting the Emperial Palace and the Reclining Buddha at the temple.

The temples (especially at the palace) were beautiful. I really admire the architecture and the amount of detailing in each of the temples. All the outside of the temples, and statues were covered in colourful gems and crystals. The walls had murals depicting a story of a king or prince... I overheard a guide telling this. :)
We didn't get scammed too many times, just a few, that we knew of. There was the pigeon scam when we were walking through the park. Some people were offering us these packages, and I have learned to just cross my arms, wear my sunglasses, smile and keep walking.

Sometimes people try to thrust something into your hands, and then demand money for, so I'm always weary. Anyway, the people were trying to get us to feed the pigeons. Bernice and I walked away, but Phil stayed behind, and fed the pigeons, and was later demanded to pay $5 US -- for bird food! We don't even spend that much on people food!

Walking around and sweating the entire day, I could foresee that I would be very tanned by the end of this trip... :P

After the temple and palace, we head back to the marketplace for some food and relaxing. I also searched for my Thai pants! The people at the marketplace, and the temple, I found weren't too friendly.

The ticket guy at the temple said something then laughed at Bernice, and I was called stupid by one of the ladies selling clothes! Not to mention this other guy that got pissed off at us cuz he thought we were taking too long to decide on which pants to buy!

I am sure that not all of Thailand is like this, because where we were staying was very touristy. It's just unfortunate that those had to part of the memories we had of Thailand.

That night, we relax, and order fruit shade after fruit shake (a trend that will continue into Cambodia and Vietnam), and enjoy the rest of our evening before heading off to spend the night in the airport, to catch our early flight out to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Bernice and I ask Phil to exchange stories, sort of like a bedtime story to put us to sleep. Instead, he tells us a riddle that we spend half the night trying to solve! The riddle: A man walks into a restaurant and orders an albatross. After taking a bite, the man leaves and kills himself. Why?