um. am constantly thinking of new and interesting lobangs that will make me money..... so my latest idea is to get into the book review business. isn't it great? people send u books, u read and write a review, and get paid! good deal, and get free books too. unfortunately, I'm not sure who would actually pay for my opinion, important as it is... i've googled 'paid book review' and didn't get many hits.... a lot of sites actually wanna see a CV. which kinda sucks. so mebbe I won't act on this lobang afterall.
Mark said that we shd set up a business together. interesting, except all my business ideas involve illegal activity. and i've promised my dad to stay on the right side of the law. darn. shd change the law lah. and does two lefts make a right? as we all know in San Francisco, 3 right turns = 1 left turn.
hhmm. i think any business idea right now has to be web based, so that we can run the business and still go to school.... a previous idea was to provide a Green library DVD pickup service, to help ppl return their DVDs to the library in order to avoid the $5/day fine. but the logistics quite hard... how can i pick up DVDs frm the dorms without needing the ppl to be home? perhaps a central dropbox for each dorm?
how about an essay writing service? breaks the Stanford honor code, but not the law.... but that involves real hard work.... bad idea. a homework databank? also against the honor code, i guess. plus might not be too useful if the profs don't recycle hw questions.
i know. make little GPS trackers for ppl to put on their bikes! no fear, even if it gets stolen, just report to the police and track it down.... good for ppl who have $500 bikes... they prolly don't mind paying another $50 for peace of mind? how much are GPS trackers anyways? must go ask Tzewee if this is possible.
aiyah. i think i'll just stick to my karang guni business till autumn. but am open to any good suggestions...
Friday, August 27, 2004
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
day8
today is slacker day!!! spent the day at the beach, either on a tire out on the water, or on a deckchair on the sand.... *beam*... pity got bitten by sandflies.... the bites didn't seem bad. little raised bumps with red dot in centre..... but a scratch or two and they become big pus-filled things.... =(.... so. don't even think about touching sandfly bites.
found a 7/11 yesterday, but 7/11 prices are higher here....
day9
back to bangkok! yay, going home soon. got a hotel in bangkok, walk ard a bit, try again to find a club. we go to some place near suhumvit, supposed to be very happening. er.... still all bars, no clubs. quite disappointing. raining some more. in the end we give up and decide to eat instead. had a papaya salad that had mucho chilli padi... extremely spicy, Sumin n me were both in need of serious fire fighting...
day10
last day last day. need to maximise. spent the morning at Tops supermarket! buying instant mee, peanuts, random stuff. in the afternoon decided to we had to do our tourist duty and go to the Wats. went to the Grand Palace, but found that tickets were 200baht. too expensive, we were very very very low on cash.. just take pictures lah. Went to Wat Pho to try again. ah. this time tickets only 30baht, can do can do. there's this massage sch in Wat Pho, were we all got 1/2 hr massages... they were Excellent. best massage i've ever had. Thai massage is a mix of pressure point massage n assisted yoga.... felt relaxed for the rest of the day.... until we tried to get thru thai passport control and learnt that we needed to pay a 500baht airport tax. In Cash. Each. I think we had about 5mins to boarding and 200baht total between us. it was a mad dash to the atm, thru passport control and helterskelter thru the terminal to get to the gate... sigh. so boh-seh. but did finally get on the plane and back home!!! note about air asia... we like their uniforms, esp the guys'. slightly oriental, but got style....
thinking back on the trip, hmph. didn't think the travel diary would take so long. *grin*... definately felt good to be on holiday, loved it that thai food is oh-so-spicy. chilli flakes or chilli padi always provided on the side. very pleasant after the dearth of chilli in the US.... but i was very glad to be home. haven't been home in a while, shdn't go running about over SEA. =)
today is slacker day!!! spent the day at the beach, either on a tire out on the water, or on a deckchair on the sand.... *beam*... pity got bitten by sandflies.... the bites didn't seem bad. little raised bumps with red dot in centre..... but a scratch or two and they become big pus-filled things.... =(.... so. don't even think about touching sandfly bites.
found a 7/11 yesterday, but 7/11 prices are higher here....
day9
back to bangkok! yay, going home soon. got a hotel in bangkok, walk ard a bit, try again to find a club. we go to some place near suhumvit, supposed to be very happening. er.... still all bars, no clubs. quite disappointing. raining some more. in the end we give up and decide to eat instead. had a papaya salad that had mucho chilli padi... extremely spicy, Sumin n me were both in need of serious fire fighting...
day10
last day last day. need to maximise. spent the morning at Tops supermarket! buying instant mee, peanuts, random stuff. in the afternoon decided to we had to do our tourist duty and go to the Wats. went to the Grand Palace, but found that tickets were 200baht. too expensive, we were very very very low on cash.. just take pictures lah. Went to Wat Pho to try again. ah. this time tickets only 30baht, can do can do. there's this massage sch in Wat Pho, were we all got 1/2 hr massages... they were Excellent. best massage i've ever had. Thai massage is a mix of pressure point massage n assisted yoga.... felt relaxed for the rest of the day.... until we tried to get thru thai passport control and learnt that we needed to pay a 500baht airport tax. In Cash. Each. I think we had about 5mins to boarding and 200baht total between us. it was a mad dash to the atm, thru passport control and helterskelter thru the terminal to get to the gate... sigh. so boh-seh. but did finally get on the plane and back home!!! note about air asia... we like their uniforms, esp the guys'. slightly oriental, but got style....
thinking back on the trip, hmph. didn't think the travel diary would take so long. *grin*... definately felt good to be on holiday, loved it that thai food is oh-so-spicy. chilli flakes or chilli padi always provided on the side. very pleasant after the dearth of chilli in the US.... but i was very glad to be home. haven't been home in a while, shdn't go running about over SEA. =)
Sunday, August 22, 2004
day5
hm. can't remember what happened beyond finally managing to wake up at 10am instead of some early ungodly hour. caught another sleeper train to Bangkok. we got bottom bunk beds this time. definately more spacious.
day6
Chatuchak market!!! wanted to get there early (9am) so that we can be first customers and be able to drive hard bargains etc etc. walking to sky train station when this cab said that he wld get us there for only 20baht, as long as we waited for him to get petrol.... or something like that. so we get on, n he drives us aimlessly ard b4 bringing us to this jewellery export centre. apparently taxi drivers get 5 free litres of petrol for bringing in tourists that stay for more than 15 mins or buy some jewellery.... definately a bad choice to bring us man.... perhaps seeing our jewel-less state the taxi driver surmised that we were def in the market for some? anyways. so we didn't stay long enuff so he didn't get his petrol. so he brought us to a different jeweller(!) and said he wld get us to chatuchak for free if we got him petrol. I guess gas prices being at ard 20baht/l, it's def a gd deal for him..... wah cor i didn't know this kind of scam existed in Bangkok.... although this has good milking potential.... we cld go ard offering ourselves as petrol-obtaining accomplices for free taxi rides....?
anyways. finally got to the market. wah it was HUGE. selling everything. was wandering ard when we noticed that all the shopowners were kneeling on the floor, facing towards the walkway. really weird. then all this commotion started and we realised that some Thai princess was visiting the market. A whole bunch of ppl walked by, accompanied by guards, soldiers, policemen etc.... caught a glimpse of the princess. very normal, wearing a blue suit. was a bit disappointed. but then again can't really expect her to go ard in traditional ceremonial dress, right?
so. she finally left the market, n all was back to normal. i got jeans, t-shirts, a backpack etc etc etc. completely depleted myself of the 2500baht i brought out. thank heavens i didn't bring out more money, else also sure gone. saw the cock fighting section. hhm. the fighting was ok i suppose. never seen cock fighting b4... but it seems pretty cruel to fight them for sport. saw other cocks in cages, most of them were nursing battle wounds... at least i kill mice for some obscure purpose that can be sort of rationalised. next we saw the puppy section. OMG they were SO CUTE!! *grin* really paiseh jostling with the little kids to pet n play with the puppies.... but Hey, cldn't resist.
finally got back to the hotel, went out in search of a club. went to Khao Sun rd, suppose to have night life. yar i guess got lar, but it's all bars n ppl watching soccer. no dance floor. went to Suan Sorn(sp?), near the infamous PatPong area, to try again. Still no luck, cannot find dancing. only saw stuff like 'Pussyfoot club' or 'Go-go Bar', subheaders like 'our exciting hostesses will bring u to the moon' etc etc. all very enticing i suppose but ah... not what we were looking for.
day7
bus to Koh Samet, 124baht. quite high class bus, fare inclusive of biscuits n coke n water n pirated vcd screening of King Arthur in thai. 3 hrs later, catch ferry to NaDan, then Vong Duern beach. ferry cldn't land on beach, so this little floating thing ferried us over, 10baht/person. fine. we land on beach, this official sez we're in a national park. entry fee 200baht/person. WAH COR. qiao za!! esp to poor folks who spent all their money at chatuchak, really hurts! no mention AT ALL in the guidebooks. *grumble* *mumble* *rant* *complain*
explored the beaches, quite nice. sand very white, n fine. picked a place for seafood. not too bad, but somewhat far frm our lodgings. went to Tak's Bar. quite a happening place. many ang mohs. then had to get back. in the dark. no streetlights. was pretty nervous. 7th mth some more. got lost for a bit, didn't know how to get back without scrambling across rocks n potentially falling into ocean.... finally found a track through some undergrowth... Kelvin was leading, and used Sumin's camera for light. he wld occasionally take a picture, just to use the flash. Man Oh Man i always expected to see longhaired women in white standing just in front of us..... *shudder*. dat was the longest walk i ever took. Ever. finally made it back though. decided to switch accomodations to be closer to the night life, so we won't have to do that ever again.
hm. can't remember what happened beyond finally managing to wake up at 10am instead of some early ungodly hour. caught another sleeper train to Bangkok. we got bottom bunk beds this time. definately more spacious.
day6
Chatuchak market!!! wanted to get there early (9am) so that we can be first customers and be able to drive hard bargains etc etc. walking to sky train station when this cab said that he wld get us there for only 20baht, as long as we waited for him to get petrol.... or something like that. so we get on, n he drives us aimlessly ard b4 bringing us to this jewellery export centre. apparently taxi drivers get 5 free litres of petrol for bringing in tourists that stay for more than 15 mins or buy some jewellery.... definately a bad choice to bring us man.... perhaps seeing our jewel-less state the taxi driver surmised that we were def in the market for some? anyways. so we didn't stay long enuff so he didn't get his petrol. so he brought us to a different jeweller(!) and said he wld get us to chatuchak for free if we got him petrol. I guess gas prices being at ard 20baht/l, it's def a gd deal for him..... wah cor i didn't know this kind of scam existed in Bangkok.... although this has good milking potential.... we cld go ard offering ourselves as petrol-obtaining accomplices for free taxi rides....?
anyways. finally got to the market. wah it was HUGE. selling everything. was wandering ard when we noticed that all the shopowners were kneeling on the floor, facing towards the walkway. really weird. then all this commotion started and we realised that some Thai princess was visiting the market. A whole bunch of ppl walked by, accompanied by guards, soldiers, policemen etc.... caught a glimpse of the princess. very normal, wearing a blue suit. was a bit disappointed. but then again can't really expect her to go ard in traditional ceremonial dress, right?
so. she finally left the market, n all was back to normal. i got jeans, t-shirts, a backpack etc etc etc. completely depleted myself of the 2500baht i brought out. thank heavens i didn't bring out more money, else also sure gone. saw the cock fighting section. hhm. the fighting was ok i suppose. never seen cock fighting b4... but it seems pretty cruel to fight them for sport. saw other cocks in cages, most of them were nursing battle wounds... at least i kill mice for some obscure purpose that can be sort of rationalised. next we saw the puppy section. OMG they were SO CUTE!! *grin* really paiseh jostling with the little kids to pet n play with the puppies.... but Hey, cldn't resist.
finally got back to the hotel, went out in search of a club. went to Khao Sun rd, suppose to have night life. yar i guess got lar, but it's all bars n ppl watching soccer. no dance floor. went to Suan Sorn(sp?), near the infamous PatPong area, to try again. Still no luck, cannot find dancing. only saw stuff like 'Pussyfoot club' or 'Go-go Bar', subheaders like 'our exciting hostesses will bring u to the moon' etc etc. all very enticing i suppose but ah... not what we were looking for.
day7
bus to Koh Samet, 124baht. quite high class bus, fare inclusive of biscuits n coke n water n pirated vcd screening of King Arthur in thai. 3 hrs later, catch ferry to NaDan, then Vong Duern beach. ferry cldn't land on beach, so this little floating thing ferried us over, 10baht/person. fine. we land on beach, this official sez we're in a national park. entry fee 200baht/person. WAH COR. qiao za!! esp to poor folks who spent all their money at chatuchak, really hurts! no mention AT ALL in the guidebooks. *grumble* *mumble* *rant* *complain*
explored the beaches, quite nice. sand very white, n fine. picked a place for seafood. not too bad, but somewhat far frm our lodgings. went to Tak's Bar. quite a happening place. many ang mohs. then had to get back. in the dark. no streetlights. was pretty nervous. 7th mth some more. got lost for a bit, didn't know how to get back without scrambling across rocks n potentially falling into ocean.... finally found a track through some undergrowth... Kelvin was leading, and used Sumin's camera for light. he wld occasionally take a picture, just to use the flash. Man Oh Man i always expected to see longhaired women in white standing just in front of us..... *shudder*. dat was the longest walk i ever took. Ever. finally made it back though. decided to switch accomodations to be closer to the night life, so we won't have to do that ever again.
Friday, August 20, 2004
day4
went on a day trip with this tour company. first stop was an elephant ride through the jungle! we had two baby elephants with us-- a male about 1 yr old, very independent, wanders ard by itself + a female a couple mths old, gets stopped by small branches, and very distracted by wayside leaves, needs much prodding by its mother.... we bought bananas to feed the elephants! the baby elephants needs the bananas to be peeled b4 they will graciously accept our humble offerings... elephants have very small eyes. 2 small dots on the sides of their heads.... no wonder their eyesight is so bad.
also went to a Karen village and saw a waterfall. not bad not bad, although the elephant wins, tusks down.
went on a day trip with this tour company. first stop was an elephant ride through the jungle! we had two baby elephants with us-- a male about 1 yr old, very independent, wanders ard by itself + a female a couple mths old, gets stopped by small branches, and very distracted by wayside leaves, needs much prodding by its mother.... we bought bananas to feed the elephants! the baby elephants needs the bananas to be peeled b4 they will graciously accept our humble offerings... elephants have very small eyes. 2 small dots on the sides of their heads.... no wonder their eyesight is so bad.
also went to a Karen village and saw a waterfall. not bad not bad, although the elephant wins, tusks down.
day3
The Queen's birthday!! National holiday and Thailand's mother's day. so i guess if u're printing the Thai calender u can't print too many yrs ahead.... in case Thailand gets new royalty.... then all the holidays gotta change? hhm.
Tom brought us ard to see
1) Wat Chiang Mun: very old temple, set up when some King decided to set up the city of Chiang Mai (New City) 700yrs ago. The Chedi's base is madeup of 15 stone elephants.... there are also 2 small buddhas.... 1 marble 1 crystal... apparently really old and sacred... so back in the days when Kings go ard conquering other Buddhist kingdoms, they take the most sacred Buddha statues and bring them over to their own kingdom.
2) umbrella making factory: not bad, the artists really skilled, no need to sketch anything, just paint incredibly intricate designs on umbrellas, or your jeans, caps, bags etc etc.
3) cave/temple: huge stalagmite and multiple Buddha statues.
4) hot springs: hhmm.... 5 mins of immersing ur feet in the hot water is Quite A Feat. (all puns intended). bought eggs in a little rattan basket to boil in the water. delicious with soy sauce.
day4 reports to follow....
The Queen's birthday!! National holiday and Thailand's mother's day. so i guess if u're printing the Thai calender u can't print too many yrs ahead.... in case Thailand gets new royalty.... then all the holidays gotta change? hhm.
Tom brought us ard to see
1) Wat Chiang Mun: very old temple, set up when some King decided to set up the city of Chiang Mai (New City) 700yrs ago. The Chedi's base is madeup of 15 stone elephants.... there are also 2 small buddhas.... 1 marble 1 crystal... apparently really old and sacred... so back in the days when Kings go ard conquering other Buddhist kingdoms, they take the most sacred Buddha statues and bring them over to their own kingdom.
2) umbrella making factory: not bad, the artists really skilled, no need to sketch anything, just paint incredibly intricate designs on umbrellas, or your jeans, caps, bags etc etc.
3) cave/temple: huge stalagmite and multiple Buddha statues.
4) hot springs: hhmm.... 5 mins of immersing ur feet in the hot water is Quite A Feat. (all puns intended). bought eggs in a little rattan basket to boil in the water. delicious with soy sauce.
day4 reports to follow....
Thursday, August 19, 2004
*crack fingers*
ok, need to blog about my Thailand trip b4 I forget everything (which could happen Really Quickly).....
day1
arrive in Bangkok. bewildered cos everything in Thai. flight was filled with daiti and thinking about people.... (ok ok mainly about 1 person-- you know who u are).. thankfully Sumin n Kelvin seem to know what they're doing. took train to Lampong Station. got conned into taking 100baht tuktuk to Wat Phra Keow (Grand Palace). stupid place was closed, and anyways we weren't wearing shirts with sleeves and pants with legs, so couldn't have gone in. wandered the place looking for FOOD. thought that Bangkok streets shd be thronging with delicious edibles, but no where to be found. some local guy got us a tuktuk to this other temple (with a big buddha statue-- very National Geographic) and back to train station. Only 30 baht! next time will not get cheated.
day2
train arrives in Changmai. the top bunk of the sleeper train is somewhat cramped... good thing i don't take up much space.. we meet Tom, who is a friend of Kelvin's friend. he's some super high flyer who actually speaks decent english(!), has a BA in PoliSci, doing another BA in Law, working parttime at the U, volunteers as a DJ in this english radio show. he gets us a taxi up to the mountains, and we go to this Hmong village and to Wat Doi Suthrap (i think).
The village is interesting. it's pretty westernized (we see ppl wearing fake adidas trackpants on motorcycles lurking about), but there are all these other ppl wearing bright traditional costumes wandering the streets. we suspect they take turns to wear the costumes and walk ard for the tourists. the street is lined with shops selling handicrafts. saw a tiger penis for sale (the guy assured us it's real). it's pretty long. we wander further into the village to see this small waterfall cascade. the place looks like a Malaysian kampong. The temple is ok too. the 300 steps up weren't as bad as expected. got free samples of fried pork skin. crispy, crunchy, but very bad for horizontal over-acheivers. View of changmai frm the top is much touted. but come on. it just looks like a city. not too impressive. the gold-plated chedi (pagoda) is indeed very big. was more interested in the multiple-buddha-oil-offering-thinggy. so there are 7 different buddha statues, each with an oil lamp in front of them. u put some $$ into a donation box, and get to pour oil into the lamps. was wondering what the difference b/w the buddhas were, y do some get more oil than others? they are all the same buddha right? there was this 'museum' also at the temple, which also had the different statues, labelled monday-sunday. so the statues represent what Buddha does each day of the week? (one shows him meditating, one with animals knelt b4 him, one of him on a Naga throne etc) so u just pour oil on the one rep the correct day of the week? *shrug*.... mysterious. need to ask someone.... mebbe leonard will know....
went back to Changmai U (CMU)-- toilet has no toilet paper!-- Tom brings us to a guesthouse run by his fren. pretty good. only 200 baht/rm/night. got aircon but no toilet paper. apparently toilet paper is not a neccessity in Thailand. had to buy some frm 7/11.
Went to Warorot market, where Kelvin buys And Consumes some fried crickets and locusts. I refused to try any.... sometimes i regret not trying.. he sez they taste pretty good... but i remember the black oily things and am really thankful for my presence of mind. heh heh. many other stalls with all sorts of stuff. a lot of fried foods. most commonly fried banana and fried fish.
at night we visited the radio station!!! very exciting becos have never been in a recording studio b4. we got to go on air live and everything!! *beam*.... the show was to encourage Thais to speak english. people call in to request songs, and are forced to chat a little in English.
after the show we went to the night bazaar. the food court had free live Thai traditional dance performances. looks very Indonesian, except mebbe costumes and hand positions slightly different. ate 'sukiyaki'-- some chicken and kangkong and various ingredients fried with egg. pretty oily. not that good. we also had papaya salad and tom yum soup, both excellent. saw this guy selling flowers carved frm soap. really intricate, smelt good too =).... orchids were particularly beeyoutiful.
ok lah. break to sleep b4 continuing with this travel diary....
ok, need to blog about my Thailand trip b4 I forget everything (which could happen Really Quickly).....
day1
arrive in Bangkok. bewildered cos everything in Thai. flight was filled with daiti and thinking about people.... (ok ok mainly about 1 person-- you know who u are).. thankfully Sumin n Kelvin seem to know what they're doing. took train to Lampong Station. got conned into taking 100baht tuktuk to Wat Phra Keow (Grand Palace). stupid place was closed, and anyways we weren't wearing shirts with sleeves and pants with legs, so couldn't have gone in. wandered the place looking for FOOD. thought that Bangkok streets shd be thronging with delicious edibles, but no where to be found. some local guy got us a tuktuk to this other temple (with a big buddha statue-- very National Geographic) and back to train station. Only 30 baht! next time will not get cheated.
day2
train arrives in Changmai. the top bunk of the sleeper train is somewhat cramped... good thing i don't take up much space.. we meet Tom, who is a friend of Kelvin's friend. he's some super high flyer who actually speaks decent english(!), has a BA in PoliSci, doing another BA in Law, working parttime at the U, volunteers as a DJ in this english radio show. he gets us a taxi up to the mountains, and we go to this Hmong village and to Wat Doi Suthrap (i think).
The village is interesting. it's pretty westernized (we see ppl wearing fake adidas trackpants on motorcycles lurking about), but there are all these other ppl wearing bright traditional costumes wandering the streets. we suspect they take turns to wear the costumes and walk ard for the tourists. the street is lined with shops selling handicrafts. saw a tiger penis for sale (the guy assured us it's real). it's pretty long. we wander further into the village to see this small waterfall cascade. the place looks like a Malaysian kampong. The temple is ok too. the 300 steps up weren't as bad as expected. got free samples of fried pork skin. crispy, crunchy, but very bad for horizontal over-acheivers. View of changmai frm the top is much touted. but come on. it just looks like a city. not too impressive. the gold-plated chedi (pagoda) is indeed very big. was more interested in the multiple-buddha-oil-offering-thinggy. so there are 7 different buddha statues, each with an oil lamp in front of them. u put some $$ into a donation box, and get to pour oil into the lamps. was wondering what the difference b/w the buddhas were, y do some get more oil than others? they are all the same buddha right? there was this 'museum' also at the temple, which also had the different statues, labelled monday-sunday. so the statues represent what Buddha does each day of the week? (one shows him meditating, one with animals knelt b4 him, one of him on a Naga throne etc) so u just pour oil on the one rep the correct day of the week? *shrug*.... mysterious. need to ask someone.... mebbe leonard will know....
went back to Changmai U (CMU)-- toilet has no toilet paper!-- Tom brings us to a guesthouse run by his fren. pretty good. only 200 baht/rm/night. got aircon but no toilet paper. apparently toilet paper is not a neccessity in Thailand. had to buy some frm 7/11.
Went to Warorot market, where Kelvin buys And Consumes some fried crickets and locusts. I refused to try any.... sometimes i regret not trying.. he sez they taste pretty good... but i remember the black oily things and am really thankful for my presence of mind. heh heh. many other stalls with all sorts of stuff. a lot of fried foods. most commonly fried banana and fried fish.
at night we visited the radio station!!! very exciting becos have never been in a recording studio b4. we got to go on air live and everything!! *beam*.... the show was to encourage Thais to speak english. people call in to request songs, and are forced to chat a little in English.
after the show we went to the night bazaar. the food court had free live Thai traditional dance performances. looks very Indonesian, except mebbe costumes and hand positions slightly different. ate 'sukiyaki'-- some chicken and kangkong and various ingredients fried with egg. pretty oily. not that good. we also had papaya salad and tom yum soup, both excellent. saw this guy selling flowers carved frm soap. really intricate, smelt good too =).... orchids were particularly beeyoutiful.
ok lah. break to sleep b4 continuing with this travel diary....
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