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AUGUST 2003 |
31st August 2003
I bought an alarm clock yesterday (yay!), and today got my bike wheel sorted out at Cycle King near Rayners Lane (they are nice people, and it only cost a fiver as opposed to the geezer in Halfords who said it would cost 15 and booked me a slot in October). Met Jon at Baker Street, and walked about in Regents Park eating ice cream. It was a nice day, we went rowing too, it was great! I should really get into the habit of taking my camera everywhere I go. We'll do it again soon anyway :)
Track of the day: Cardigans - Please Sister
29th August 2003
I got back from Malaysia and Thailand on the 19th, and had a kickass time! Today I uploaded photos and things from the trip. There is a lot more to do...
- Finish up the IPSec VPN I was playing with at my dads shop
- Write the webpage for dads shop
- Buy an Alarm Clock
- Fix the rear wheel on bike, maybe new bearings, fit new brakepads
- Update CV with more stuff
- Get a Job!
- Install spamassassin on dmesg and write some more sorting recipies for myself
- Type up log from holiday
- Clean up PHPStats and document it (hahaa, still haven't found the time)
Track of the day: Freeland - Big Wednesday
19th August 2003 - London
Had a nice but short sleep and chucked all my stuff into my suitcase. I was packed in about 10mins. Earlier, while we were in Thailand Sids dad had my flight changed so I get the one that leaves at 12:00 instead of 9:00 and lands in London at 18:10 - much more sensible :) Checked myself and my suitcase onto my flight at the KLIA train station and then back to Sids for a spicy and filling breakfast. After that, I went over to get the KLIA Ekspres to the airport when Sid & I spotted a familiar face walking over to the train... It was Katie from hall in 1st year uni! How crazy! She is one the way back to the UK on the same flight as me after spending time teaching travelling in Vietnam. Wow! Its a small world.
18th August 2003 - Kuala Lumpur
*Sigh*, its my last day in KL. We went to KLCC, bought some last-minute presents and ate Roti Chanai, A&W, and a beautiful burger feast at Chilis! Whoa, I'm a mean eating machine :). Chilled out at the Royal Selangor Club in the late afternoon watching people play golf and the sun go down with a refreshing guava juice. Went to see Big Band for the last time with Sid, Kok Bin, Raveen and a couple of his friends.
17th August 2003 - Kuala Lumpur
Had a great sleep and spent much of the morning messing about watching DVDs and stuff. Briefly went to Midvalley with Sid & his dad but didn't really achieve anything. Had lunch at a wonderful banana leaf restaurant and gave Kok Bin a call when we got back home. We went to Kok Bins house, where I tried Durian (which is quite possibly the only fruit I don't like) and had some very tasty freshly made Guava juice. The three of us went to Bangsar where I had Badam Kheer at The Woodlands and Sushi at Genki Sushi. I had whole baby Octopus, which was interesting, though I think much of the flavour came from the sauce, but it was OK. Jellyfish sushi is absolutely lovely though, quite crunchy and very tasty.
16th August 2003 - Kuala Lumpur
Up at 5:15am, showered, packed and ready to roll at 6:00am in time to get in a minibus with four Irish girls and a few others back down to Hat Yai. Four or Five hours later we're finally there to have lunch at the little old lady on the corner that we went to last time. We transferred over to an amazing 24 seater luxury coach for the final ten hour journey to KL. Each seat on the coach is like a business class flight seat - very comfortable. Also, there were only 7-8 of us on the coach, thats less than the 12 of us in the minibus on the way to Hat Yai. It was a nice ride back, listened to Reindeer Section and others on my CD player and before I knew it we were back at Sids house, ready for dinner and bed.
15th August 2003 - Surat Thani
I didn't really get much sleep in the cafe, but it was still nice. We had some fruity shake and headed back to The Beach Resort on the 9:30am taxi. Had a shower on the beach (yes, there was a shower on the beach and it was nice compared to the smelly fly-infested one in our shalet), packed our gear and checked out by 10:30. Another taxi to the jetty to get ourselves a rushed (rice and tofu from lady on the street) breakfast and onto a ferry for the four and a half hour ride to Surat Thani (watched Murdercycle - the most ridiculous movie ever) and short coach ride to town. We wandered about town for a little while taking photos and drinking root beer before a wholesome dinner. Gotta get to bed early, we are up at an insane time tomorrow.
14th August 2003 - Ko Pangan
Although I woke at about 10am, it wasn't until about 2pm that I managed to get out of my pyjamas, have a shower and get out of the room. Sid had gone to the Full Moon Party and had lots of writing from random people on his cast :) Anyway, we had to make something of our final day in Ko Pangan, so we got in a taxi and headed for Ao Hat Yao, a popular short beach in the north west. The beach was beautiful. We met Mary and Elaine, two girls that Sid had met last night. They were lovely, we sat by the beach, watched the sunset, ate dinner and chilled out for hours and hours. We really couldn't be bothered to get back to our room. We played on the most amazing swing in the world - it was made from a log and some rope hung from a pair of very tall palm trees on the beach overlooking the sea. We sat in a comfy cafe and talked some more, the others and fallen asleep but I talked to Mary until almost 5am. It was great.
13th August 2003 - Ko Pangan
Left Ko Tao on the 10:00 ferry for Ko Pangan. Arrived a few hours later after watching the beginning of Disney's Tarzan and got picked up and taken to The Beach Resort in Siratanu Bay. We checked in, took our stuff over an old fragile looking bridge that crossed a stream and to our shalet. The beach was not all that good for somewhere called "The Beach". The bathroom in our room smelled fairly bad too, so we went to see whether they had another room available before we unpacked anything. Back over the bridge to reception, got the keys to a new room, and then over the bridge again to find it. On the way, we met a guy called Tom, who was from England and had been travelling for a while. He was a great friendly guy and we talked to him for an hour or so while eating slices of pineapple. Anyway, saw the new room, and went to move our stuff over. Over the bridge again... *CRACK*.
Shit! Something bad happened. The next thing I knew I was in the stream with bits of bridge falling on me, looked over and Sid was there standing in the stream too. The bridge had given way in a spectacular fashion. Felt a bit numb, but we both got out of the stream to check ourselves. The owner of the resort came running, but instead of helping us out, he started fixing his bridge. Anyway, my foot really hurt, there was some blood, and only when it was washed away with a hose could I see that my big toe was cut up. I also had a small nail in my arm, a splinter in my hand and lots and lots of scrapes and grazes - though really they were all superficial. Sid looked fine, no cuts or anything but he was ovbiously in pain, holding his arm up and not saying much. It was a hot day, and I was feeling a bit dizzy.
Sid is shouting my name, and I open my eyes. Wow, its bright here. There are lots of rocks on my face. Whoa, I'm on the floor! What the hell am I doing there? I sit up with a jolt trying to figure out where I am, and it takes a couple of seconds to realise that I'm not at home, I am in Thailand and I just fell through a bridge. Apparantly I had only passed out for a few seconds, but it felt like I had just had a full nights sleep, with dreams and all. Tom is there too, he must have come running earlier. After explaining to the owner dude that we should go to the hospital now and not in 10 minutes, we're in his pickup on our way. Its only 15 minutes away anyway, and we've got a form to fill in when we arrive. Sid gets seen to by a doctor, while I wait for a nurse to check my toe. The emergency room is filled with tourists breaking themselves. An Irish guy busted his foot after a climbing incident. Some english dude had stitches in his head after a drunken encounter with a rock. Some european guy was having minor surgery after coming off a motorbike, and there were a few other bike incidents too. Tom is with us at the hospital, we only met him a couple of hours ago, but we're definately friends. I'm sitting on a bed in the operating theatre, waiting for my turn - my painful toe is very insignificant compared to what some of these other guys have done to themselves.
There is a noise, some people shouting, a few people talking, it sounds busy. I open my eyes and I'm being lifted off the ground by about five nurses and laid down on the bed. What the hell?. Oh crap, I must have passed out again. Jeez, I feel like Rowan Atkinson playing the narcoleptic in Rat Race - I manage to keep the temptation to get up, look around and say "It's a Raaaacccee" at bay. The doc comes over, shines his torch in my eyes, checks my blood pressure and it all seems ok. I asked him, but he says he has no idea why I passed out twice today - its not like I'm squeamish or anything. Meh. Anyway, Sid turns up and says he needs a cast, he has broken his radius in his left arm. Like, bummer dude. The cast is a novely now, but he is going to have to wear one for six weeks. Once I had some antiseptic on my toe it was quite multicoloured, black green and blue nail, bits of red blood, white coming-off-skin and yellow antiseptic. We got back to the resort a while later and had a nice large meal while being hastled by some kid, damn I was hungry. Then again back to the hospital, paid our bill (mine came to about six pounds) and then hobbled back to our original shalet. It was like I was on auto-pilot, I had a shower, put on my pyjamas, took some painkillers and went to bed at about 7pm or so. What a day. I missed the Full Moon Party, but really speaking, I didn't care.
12th August 2003 - Ko Tao
Got up insanely early, say 5:30 or maybe 6:00. Lay in the hammock outside after my shower listening to Portishead album (Dummy) and watching the bay get brighter and butterflies going from bush to bush. It was the most beautiful morning ever. Once Sid was up we decided to see some of the island, explore, do something. Got the midday 4x4 taxi over to the small town. We found a massage place where we both had a full body massage for one hour. Although I was told it wasn't authentic Thai, It was quite relaxing. I was feeling great, and we went into a small coffee shop for fresh fruit milkshake. We met a German guy travelling alone called Anthony. He was on his way back from India, and an interesting and nice guy. He says A Leuk Bay has nice water and a good beach, and he also says scooters are cheap. Sounds like fun.
Found a place a couple of shops down the road that had new shiny blue Honda Dream Excess 125cc 4 Stroke scooters at the right price, so I pulled out my driving licence and hopped on one. It can't be that hard can it? I rode my bike everyday at uni, I drive a car, have ridden Quads a few times and lots of people here on this island are first time riders. Anyway, I kick-started it, moved the parking stand, clunked it into first and I was away. Gingerly I rode down the busy highstreet, the throttle is amazingly sensitive in first, every tiny little wrist movement when going over bumps sends the bike surging forward. Clunk into second and then squeezed the brake, the front wheel skidding about, so I hit the rear brake with my foot though it had no feel at all. Back to first and tried to turn the bike around in the road, but it was really top-heavy compared to what I'm used to and then I stalled it. Clunk back into neutral, chuck the bike over, start it up, and kangaroo up the hill with Sid laughing at me. The roads are rough, and I don't particularly want to ride it without practising first. Anyway, the dude from the shop was pressuring me to take it, and I hate that, I never succumb to pressure and told him straight up No Way. Anyway, it was Sids turn. Probably better if he rides it and I'm on the back anyway, he is heavier and it means the center of gravity is further forward. He is also not confident on it, its not as easy as it looks. We both think we should just take a taxi. Yeah, but they said its easy, and told us to have a go on the road. So I ended up as Sids pillion riding up the hill in the high street a couple of metres from the rental place. Clunk, second gear and then very very slowly up the hill (probably not enough gas), so not to stall it, Clunk back to first. Vrooooom too much gas and we do a wheelie up the highstreet! I fall off the back, and the bike becomes vertical with Sid holding it and his feet on the ground. It hits the ground, and since he can't let go of it (its a runaway bike, and there are people and shops right there) it wheelspins like crazy, doing two doughnuts around him and almost wiping me out (i'm on the floor behind) before it is somehow stopped. It was an amazing stunt bonus style 2-hit combo trick. Damn. We'd smashed the rear light, mangled the mudguard and scratched the chrome handrail. Like, total wipeout dude. It was crazy, but the Thai guy outside was still encouraging us to have another go! We legged it after paying for the damage and got a taxi to find A Leuk Bay.
A Leuk is a small but beautiful cove with great water. We swam for a while, floating and staring at the clouds. There were schools of tropical fish all around us, it was amazing. We played frisbee in the sea with a couple of frenchmen - it was a great laugh. As the sun started to set we left the bay and walked back. On the way, we stopped at a treetop-level cafe where I drank coconut-banana shake, and funky black and white striped mosquitoes drank my blood. Still... what a day!
11th August 2003 - Ko Tao
Picked up from the hotel at 7pm, and breakfast from a lady on the street selling food before boarding a brightly coloured bus with 20-30 other tourists for the jetty. On a ferry for about four hours with a lot of british and german people who mostly got off at Ko Samui and Ko Pangan. Finally got to Ko Tao after getting a bit of a tan on the upper deck and watching the first hour of The Matrix in Thai on the lower deck, making up our own hilarious dialogue. We were picked up at Ko Tao and drove across the beautiful island in the back of a 4x4 pickup to our simple hut in A Tanote Bay with gorgeous view. After dinner at extortionate prices we went to play in the sea, swimming, floating and kayaking. Kayaking is awesome fun. Drank lassi and chilled in the hammock made up the great evening.
10th August 2003 - Surat Thani
Got up, shower, checked out, breakfast, return car, get taxi and on the ferry to Satun by 9:30 with precision military timing, every minute counted. Got in a taxi with a Thai driver that spoke Malay and listened to Indian music for the two hour journey to Hat Yai (the border of Malaysia and Thailand). Had a ultra-spicy curry and rice from a lovely old lady on the corner of the street (first Thai meal), which was lovely. Then we were off again after our 5 minute break into a full 9 seater minibus for the five hour journey to Surat Thani. Found ourselves a Travel Agent, booked the rest of our trip and booked ourselves into a hotel for the night. We found the night market which was a great place to find more random tasty food. Not looking forward to the early start tomorrow.
9th August 2003 - Langkawi
Had a really good time in the early afternoon parasailing (wearing a parasail while being attached to a powerful boat via a long rope). Takeoff was fun being yanked into the air, and it was a fairly clear day so the views were lovely. Then messed about in the sea for quite a while, floating and swimming. We drove around for quite a while exploring and looking for the canopy adventure place (er, which you couldn't drive to, cos it was in the forest). We found the Black Sand Beach which was kinda as you'd expect, just a dark sand beach which was not all that nice and was quite deserted. The massive Kedah Cement factory was an imposing view on the left of the beach to complete the effect. We found a cable car that takes you to the highest point on the island. The views were lovely, and I got some nice photos though the sunset was ruined as a massive cloud came in the way at the crucial point. Ah well, we walked through the forest trail from one skystation to another and then back down to the car. Earlier in the day, I managed to max the car, and it does a earth shattering 110km/h (about 70mph) downhill with the A/C on. Somehow, Sid managed to wheelspin the thing as well - like a true Tesco-carpark gangsta! Back at the Irish Bar where we were staying, we met Trish & her boyfriend who lives in the same town and went to college with Ruth from uni! Crazy stuff. Anyway, we then had dinner at Bob's near where we were staying before heading straight for bed.
8th August 2003 - Langkawi
Hired a car in the morning, a white 660cc Perodua Kancil supercar. We checked out of the place we were in and moved somewhere much nicer which was the same price. The four of us got in the car and after much flooring the car and not going very fast we got to the bottom of the hill that would take us to the Seven Wells. The Seven Wells is a freshwater stream that has created little wells where it is nice to take a dip. It was a really hot day and a monkey stole Raveen's Ice Lemon Tea. The view from the top by the Seven Wells was amazing, and the water was pretty cold! We had fun, and were almost dry by the time we got back down to the bottom of the hill. We dropped Raveen and Vinod off at the airport as they needed to get back. With only Sid & I in the car, it felt so much faster! We saw a fruit stall as we were driving about and bought some Mangostines and Rambotans to try. It was fun driving around the Island, and we found the small town Kuah where we had dinner. It was Friday night so we drove about to find somewhere to go, but it was amazing how quiet the island was. We ended up on a beach eating our fruit and throwing the pips and shells at a "Do Not Reserve Deckchairs" sign. It was fun :)
7th August 2003 - Langkawi
The coach ride was not good for Sid, as he had a pretty bad case of food poisoning. By the time we arrived in Kuala Perlis at the crack of dawn, we had to get him to a doctor. A family friend doctor was not very far, so we took a 15min taxi ride to Kangar to meet him where he looked after Sid and sorted him out. We had Nasi Lamak breakfast and a couple of hours later, Sid was very much better. Back to Kuala Perlis, ferry over to Langkawi and then booked ourselves into a shalet. It was a great day, Langkawi was beautiful and we had fun messing about on the beach and Jetskiing. We spaced out in the evening eating barbecue, listening to Bob Marley and then lying on deckchairs looking for shooting stars. Bliss.
6th August 2003 - Kuala Lumpur
Went to Midvalley again with Sid, Sid's mum and Kok Bin. I bought a Kodak underwater disposable camera and a 128MB Sandisk Ultra compactflash card. It was fairly cheap, but not amazingly so. Packed up my new rucksack and then off to Sid's uncles house for dinner. After a little while, we had to move quickly to the coach station to meet Raveen and Vinod and catch our coach to Kuala Perlis (the port to Langkawi). It was an 8hr journey stretched out to 10-12 hours overnight.
5th August 2003 - Kuala Lumpur
Went to the Forest Reserve Institute Malaysia (FRIM) and mucked about for a little while, looking at butterflies, stickinsects and driving the Honda Civic about on the offroader course. We had some traffic on the way back but made it for satay dinner at the Royal Selangor Club.
4th August 2003 - Kuala Lumpur
Got up late, had lunch at home and ran a few errands. Then went to Midvalley on the LRT to catch Tomb Raider 2 with a couple of Frappuchinos. Met Kok Bin after the movie and then to town to see Big Band again :) Met some people from England, a few girls and a guy from very near where I live. Also spooky is that he also went to Nottingham Uni and graduated around the same time as us! Its a small world. We also met a random guy from Labwan who we talked to for a while before getting a bit tired and catching a taxi home.
3rd August 2003 - Kuala Lumpur
Did a little bit of shopping in the day, bought T-shirts and things. In the evening, we went to the night market. It was great fun, there was all kinds of food imaginable, lots of snacks too. And of course the obligatory mobile-phone accessory stalls, and fake CDs and DVDs, toys and all manner of other trinkets. After that Sid, Raveen & I sat in Coffee Bean for a bit, and then to a random bar where I had the strongest tea in the world.
2nd August 2003 - Kuala Lumpur
Went to see the Batu Caves early in the day, this is where the annual Thai Pusam festival takes place. I met more of Sids family and we went out for a lovely Biriyani lunch. Had dinner at Sids house. Later in the evening we met Raveen and friends and played table football for a while. Somehow we ended up back in Bangsar eating a 2nd dinner at a stall while watching the end of some bad anonymous action flick and Tomorrow Never Dies. It was comfy and we were there for a very long time, and we drank a lot of Lychee Juice. Before we knew it, it was 4am!
1st August 2003 - Kuala Lumpur
