Back to BKK...or AM I?! ... ... yeah...i am...

What's up friends, I am safely returned to Bangkok after an incredible trip to Koh Tao. I have some new pictures up--click the link on the side (as usual). So...hmmm, what to say about my holiday? Koh Tao, or "Turtle Island" is a small island off the western coast of the Gulf of Thailand, located about 7 hours south of Bangkok, and about 60 km off the main landmass. A combination bus and high-speed catamaran ticket will run you about 700 baht, or just over $20--not too bad, huh? The island is famous for it's diving--it is the cheapest place in the world to get a PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructers) certification. In fact, I enjoyed myself so much while getting my basic open water certification that I decided to do my Advanced open water as well! I am now certified down to 30 meters, and can dive alone (well, with a buddy) whenever I want! Pretty cool, huh?

The dives themselves were wonderful, I logged about 10 different dives over a number of dive sites. Some favourites include the navigation testing dive, where my buddy (Kevin) and I were basically set loose on a dive site after proving we could use a cojmpass, and an INCREDIBLE night dive where we descended to about 16 meters in the dark, using torches to see the coral and marine life, which included everything from angel fish to morray eels to giant schools of barracudas to a few clown fish ie Nemo! This course was one of the most awesome things I have ever done; I highly recommend diving to each and every one of you. Kevin (my friend) got so hooked that he has cancelled his last month of travel in favor of staying in Koh Tao and becomeing a dive master! Crazy, huh? And apparently there is sensational diving off of Vancouver Island--although so cold that you surely have to use a dry suit, which requires special training of it's own. Ah well, projects for another day. Anyways, I had an amazing time but am glad to be "home" here in Bangkok to recover from my holiday...*sigh*...it's a tough life, isn't it? More updates soon, remember to check out the pics and leave me some messages! Or better yet, email! IE Matt or DJ or Chung or Khalid or Les or Ryan or Romus or ANYONE ELSE who SHOULD be keeping in contact with your absent friend/family member. Ok, ryan and romus have each sent an email. Better then the rest of you, but still deplorable. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to my "lonely" corner to sulk.

Swimming with sharks, and other blog titles to make your mother worry...

Hey, just a quick note, yes i'm alive, here in Koh Tao doing PADI scuba certification, just passed test today! I'm going to be in the south of thailand for at least another 4 or 5 days, big update when i'm home in BKK and out of this outrageously overpriced internet shop.

Rob

PS yes i did snorkel with sharks, as well as diving with all sorts of other marine wildlife. Including nemo. No kidding.

Life in Thailand--tales from the city of angels

Happy Ash Wednesday, everyone! Are we all getting ready for easter? Picked something to give up for lent? I'm a little behind, but i figure i got some time cause back home it's still early on Wednesday ;) I'm sitting here at school, killing some time before I go to mass, so I thought I'd try for a quick update. Yet another weekend in the big city--activities included lots of eatin', lots of exercise (in the form of basketball, weights and swimming), and lots of chilling. I went and checked out the Bangkok International Film Fest this weekend, which was awesome but a little strange. I picked out a Korean film called "The Duelist", which was based on a Korean manga and set in the Josean dynasty. It was a detecive/romance/action/tango film, imagine how difficult it would be to include all of these aspects in one flick--impressive! Anyways, i arrived about an hour before the film started to get my ticket--"So this film has english subtitles, right?"--these my exact words to the ticket girl, who spoke fluent english. "Yes, absolutely."--her reply to me. Confident in my choice, I went to grab some food. Half an hour later, while I'm sitting in the theatre, a man from the festival comes out to introduce the film and give some background. Just before he leaves, he says: "oh and just to make sure you know, this film will have NO english subtitles. And it's in Thai. Allright, enjoy."--leaving me, and the ten or so other foreigners sitting in slack-jawed surprise. Not only no english subtitles, the film had been dubbed into Thai. That ticket girl was lying through her teeth. I decided to stick it out anyways, and ended up loving the film--luckily the dialogue was minimal, so I could get the story from the pictures, but yet another example of "life in Thailand". The story gets stranger. As I am waiting for the elevator after the show, a 6 or 7 year old Thai boy decides to keep me company. As he munches on a bag of popcorn, he sees that I am woefully lacking in the snack department, and kindly offers me some. Now, I don't even like popcorn, but of course out of politeness I have some, and thank him. I chat a little bit with him as the elevator descends, and at the ground floor, he starts to follow me. Having quickly exhausted my knowledge of the Thai language, I look for a translator to ask where his parents are, or if he's ok, or where he's going. After some walking around, a couple of phone calls, and a trip to a roadside food vendor, I finally manage to locate a translator. I find out the boy's parents may be at home, which is a bus ride away. No idea how he got to the theatre or got the popcorn. So i bought him some food, gave him bus money, and left him with a matronly looking Thai woman. My translator shared a tuk-tuk with me to Khao San rd (where i was meeting friends), during which time I found out the boy may have just been bait, to lead me to his gang of older friends who would politely but firmly relieve me of my wallet, valuables and health. Like I said, "life in Thailand".

Anyways, other highlights include going to the awesome guitar bar (Parking Toys) in Kaset Nawamin for some Cat Stevens, Tracy Chapman and Jack Johnson covers, followed by an enthusiastic 7 piece Thai ska band. Also, I ended up going to hear a british soul singer named Simon Webbe, formally of a boy band called Blue? Remember the band competing for the Christmas record sales title against the old dude in "Love Actually"? Yeah, the black dude from that group! Weird. He also sucked, but meh, another experience.

All else is well except my internet at home is broken again, ah well. Send me emails please, or at least a comment or two. Love to my friends and family, and infinite slippery banana peels to my enemies. Hahaha, just kidding. Maybe not infinite.