Mirror, mirror...

Well were here, Phuket. I have to say that this may have been what I was expecting/packing for last time I was here, but this time it seems strangely NOT what I was looking for. After being on Lanta and seeing Thailand through that lens this one seems oddly distorted. Like a Korea that is that I am not part of. This by no means will change my desire to get some sun and fun in the water but it does give it some hmmmm for me.

The BOHOL Time!

So have been in Bangkok for a day now and so having fun!

To work in reverse order and to keep it quick....

~ Have paid for a reservation and have no way to prove it since the charge has only shown up with my bank and not the hostel. Internet hotels and printers are never a great combo.

~ Angela and I are in the cab on the way back to the hostel and she see's a Korean Resturant along the way and asks, " You wanna stop for Korean food? Mmmmm, be bim bop?" Which causes a full 5 minutes of laughter and a comment about "When were in Italy I will remind you of this moment!"

~ Finally leave Koh San Road with the realization that it is just an overpriced open bar with too many furang that need to be taken advantage of.

~ Have dinner with new friends.

~ Meet new friends while sneaking into the Golden Mount/friggin' load of gold Budda's temple and realize that one is from KC (lives in Blue Springs) and the other I went to HS/JH/BHS with! HA HA!

~ Took a water taxi for the second time.

~ Spent and insane amount of time shopping at a wholesale mall and finally NOT getting ripped off in Bangkok.

~ Walked around the block for an hour and a half for no reason because we trusted a guy that told up the place didn't open until 1:00.

~ Took a water taxi for the first time.

~ Introduced Angela to Thai tea's again.

~ Ate an AWESOME yet simple breakfast.

~ Woke up at 8 AM after going to bed fully clothed at 6 AM.

~ Hung out with an Irishman and and American (why not Americanman?) till all hours talking politics, currency and "pontify sheep shagging".

~ Got into BKK without a hitch and no lines to speak of. SINCE WE HAD NO CHECKED LUGGAGE

~ Left town in a awful hurry so we could have some fun.

Hope that catches all of you up. More later when it's free.

This is it guys, all I'm taking on holiday. And it fits in one backpack. Scary, huh? I didn't think I could do it but it's for real. And just in case any of you were under the delusion that I wouldn't have room to buy stuff this trip check out that roll in the back. Yep, it's a duffle bag. Can't give everything up all at once you know. Kiss kiss and I'll see ya'll on the flip side!

Without a hairdryer...

It's amazing, without a hairdryer I really can pack a lot lighter! So I'm actually doing it, I'm packing for a trip before the 8 hours to departure mark. What strange demon has possessed me you ask? Well I think it's me TRYING to be on the ball. Or I'm trying to avoid some responsibility in my life. It may also have something to do with the fact that I am FORCING myself to pack for a week into a tiny daypack, Roberta I blame u ; ) . Anyway!

I also thought I'd give all ya'll the itinerary, JUST IN CASE... here it is:

FLIGHTS: (via Thai Air)
Outbound:
TG 657 TH 24MAR Incheon (ICN) to Bangkok (BKK) 2100-0050 *1
TG 217 SA 26MAR Bangkok (BKK) to Phuket (HKT) 1645-1805

Return:
TG 218 TH 31MAR Phuket (HKT) to Bangkok (BKK) 1855-2020
TG 656 TH 31MAR Bangkok (BKK) to Incheon (ICN) 2330-0655 *1

ACCOMMODATIONS:
Bangkok-Big John's Guesthouse
159/12 Sukhumvit Soi 55
(Thonglor - between Soi 7 & 9)
Bangkok 10110 THAILAND
Phone/Fax 66 (0) 2 392 6518

Phuket-Southland Inn Hotel
526 / 19 -20 Soi Islandia, Patak Rd.
Karon Beach , Phuket 83100

Van Walker

Well I said goodbye to a friend today. A few days ago I ran into Van at HomePlus and we walked back to the dong and I found out that he was heading out on Sunday so I offered to go with and help him get HIS insane amount of personal belongings safely on the plane as so many of you did for me. I have to say that though I don't understand all of the things that brought him to Incheon Airport today I know that he was genuinely excited about going back to Michigan. He said it was hard for him to believe that he would be in his Grandma's house that afternoon. I just smiled. I'm gonna miss him, he was an individual and always had a smile ready for everyone. He will be missed by many. (Man you'd think he was dead by the way I'm talking)

Better Radio than I get on the Radio

K found this inet radio through another site, great stuff. To quote their site:

If you listened to "alternative" music when there really was such a thing, then you've come to the right place. The Cure, Morrissey, The B-52s, They Might Be Giants, Dinosaur Jr, XTC and Depeche Mode were bands that the weird kids listened to. Were you a weird kid?

Checkout The Egg

No news is good news....

Well I suppose it has been a while since I have said anything to anyone. But sadly what's a girl to do. I'm emotionally spent, bad at 'bucking up', overworked and doing nothing worth speaking of. Really, nothing, locked myself away all weekend lived off of coffee, popcorn and PB&J. Before that I spent odd hours at work doing nothing in particular. Currently watching Knotting Hill and drinking yet more coffee.

But it's 'White Day' here in Korea. The sister holiday to VD. Where all the boys then hand out fuzzy, stuffed bears, and candy all packed into over dressed baskets. Ye-haw! If you think it can't get worse just wait April 14th is just around the corner.....



White Day Paraphernalia

The Old Adage is True....

Well Mike it seems that despite being 10 years gone the adage still rings
true;

"You can tell how things are with me just by looking at my hair. The worse things are the shorter it gets."

Yep the hair got a chopping. How bad is it you ask? Well.....the front is up to my chin now, but the back is about 2.5 inches give or take. Hee Hee! No really it doesn't look that bad. Check out all the complements that the kids gave me.

Direct quotes, "It makes you head look a lot smaller!" "Wow, you look a lot better!" and my all time favorite "You look very professional now." All of which though given with the best wishes make me ask, "What did I look like before? Could everyone see the eye in the back of my head?"

No, but really I had to get control of something and the hair was it, as usual. I figure it's the closest I'll ever get to self mutilation. I'm not big on pain you know and hair grows back pretty quick. Plus the short cut has already paid dividends, I woke up at 7:53 (oops), rolled out of bed, threw on clothes, RAN out the door an still made it to work on time. SCORE!

So that was my Monday, how was yours world?

Things that have nothing to do with Korea

So on a happy sidenote I found out that the insurance policy I currently have on a car that I don't get to drive but couldn't bare to get rid of was cut in half! YEAH! It's fun paying less for something that I don't get to use.

I also found this: Something that I should have read about 5 years ago. I may not have become rich but at least I would have had a better plan.....what am I saying?!? HA HA! If I really knew myself better I would know that despite the DESIRE to get my act together there are somethings that I would only allow life to teach me.

Looked up today

So I looked up today while I was walking home and suddenly felt lost. No, not lost like "What is my purpose in life ?" lost just plain old "Hmm where am I again? Did I make a wrong turn? How did I end up here?" lost. Yeah it's been that long since it was nice enough to stick my little turtle head out of my coat and scarf long enough to take a good look at the rest of the world. In my defense the last time I looked up people had a lot more foliage around there places and I couldn't count window's.

I also tried to by banana's today. The infamous "set" problem reared it's ugly head again. Unlike The States where you can purchase 1 banana at a time or 50 banana's in a shot here you get what they sell. The store I chose to stop at was selling them in like "sets" of 15-18. So it was either buy the whole set or call the whole search "fruitless" and head home. And never one to do anything that is fruitless I purchased the whole bunch.

So now I ask you what do I do with all these banana's??

Note-worthy Wednesday

So much to tell about today and yet it's friggin' late because I spent about 3 hours today just looking at other ppls blogs.

Here's the rundown:

• Got to go out for hot choco with one of my students today. Hope to do that more often since it makes me feel like I'm actually making a difference in someone's life. It's not often you get to know kids in a good way outside the school or have such an easy time making time for them. As a matter of fact it's not often that they want to you know?
• Reclaimed my Wednesday afternoons again. Korean class is done so no more stay at school from 4:30-5:30 when I would rather be doing many other things. I just kinda lost my learn Korean spunk sometime after Christmas and this class didn't start until the end of Jan so I can't attest to being the most studious person in the room.
• Had my AWFUL couch, chair and ottoman that did not match and were from the 80's picked up today to be recovered in a lovely tan & read canvas combo. Hope that turns out well.
• Am in the process of catching up on Good Eat's and Mythbusters.
• Contemplating moving the rest of my furniture around while the couch is gone.