So anyway, there's a bit of a story (assuming a story is the ability for my readers to laugh at my expense). Woke up this morning with just enough time, went downstairs, and my car wouldn't start. Have been having battery problems lately, and from the moment I got up to the moment I heard the "click-click", I was thinking positive thoughts. "My car will start. My car *will* start." But it didn't. So after swearing for a couple minutes and calling the only 2 people I knew with cars that might be up at 7:15am (of which neither of them were awake/available), a car pulled into my driveway and I was able to get a jump. But then it started to rain. So, there I am, pulling jumper cables and attaching them to batteries while the rain is pouring down and I'm drenched (electricity and water - the breakfast of champions). Anyway, got the car started, got to the airport, got checked in, and got on my plane. Everything was uneventful until I got to Singapore. No problem at customs and all that, got in a cab and told him I wanted to go to Brewerkz. I'd already done my research last night (of course) and figured out what I wanted. But all he could say to me was "it's really far". "I've already flown here from Thailand... a long drive isn't going to deter me" I told him. So what does he do? He drives for a bit, then pulls into some sort of mall with a foodcourt and says "there's lots of places to eat here".
REALLY?! Your fare (that you picked up at the airport) asks you to go to a specific restaurant, and you take him to a foodcourt? Anyway, he sat there for awhile calling people trying to get directions, and eventually took me to a Brewerkz at some stadium. It looked a little suspicious (as in nothing looked open), but he seemed confident so I paid him and got out of the cab. He drove away. I walked around the building to where the Brewerkz is and it was CLOSED! So then I had to walk a few hundred metres to a taxi stand at another building. And I stood there for a long time before a cab came. But my new taxi driver was awesome. Had a nice conversation with her about the crazy red-shirts in Bangkok and arrived at my destination with only a $7 and change cab fare (after the nearly $20 from the airport douchebag). So, I lost about an hour of quality time with my stout(s). But I vow to finish this post now and play a little catch up. Then back to Phuket tonight.
So excuse me now whilst I enjoy my burger and stout.
Well, I must say this is about the most challenging situation I've gotten myself into yet. For some unknown reason I had it in my head that the 31st was Sunday, but it's not. It's today. So this morning the front desk called me up and told me I had to check out. I called Ken's friend Davide, and he offered to let me crash at his place tonight (he's a super nice guy if you haven't figured that out already). However he's wakeboarding until 3 or 4, so I figured I'd just leave my bags at the front desk and grab a beer while I waited. Even until I got down to the front desk, after packing up all my things, I still thought it was their mistake and that they were making me check out early. Then when I got down there they told me that today was the 31st. So, by that time I'd missed my flight to Phuket.
Used the internet and verified that yes, I had missed my flight. Booked a new ticket for tomorrow. Only cost about $107 CAD, so not a big financial concern, but without a working credit card I had to use my mom's (thanks mom!). Emailed Tiger Muay Thai to let them know so that a cab wasn't waiting for me, and so that I could schedule a new one for tomorrow. With $6 SGD in my pocket I went to the nearest ATM. But it was out of service and the guy fixing it said that it'd be about 30 mins, and didn't know where another one was. So, here I sit in uber humidity, writing this post on my Kaiser, sweating my balls off while I wait for the ATM to be fixed.
This better not be a sign of things to come. Hopefully this experience will knock the stupidity out of my system.
Well, I've been here almost exactly 2 weeks. And following is a list of things that have gone wrong with the "loose ends" that I thought were tied up but apparently weren't. This post is more a means for me to vent than anything, so to all my loyal readers, just bear with me.
- I bought Ken some headphones when I was in Bermuda. Had them shipped to Gillian. She forgot to bring them with her when she came to Canada. No biggy, right? She shipped them when she got back to Brooklyn, but they never arrived. Got bounced back to her for some reason (she presumes it was because she shipped them in the Amazon box). So, time to spare, she shipped them again. Or rather had a friend ship them. They didn't arrive before I left, so the usage that Ken intended for them (his return flight) was lost.
- Mike tried to pick up the headphones from security today. They have them, but told him that a) they were addressed to #1101 instead of #1011, and b) they don't have the authorization form that I specifically signed to let him pick up my packages. So he's got to go to the management office to sort things out. PITA.
- Had an offer on my condo. It was low. I modified the offer and sent it back, but so far haven't heard a peep. Dunno if it'll go through. Hope it does, cuz I could use the cash (see #4 below).
- This one's the big one. I requested a new Visa card before I left Canada (points, better travel stuff, etc.). It didn't get to me before I left. Had my mail forwarded to my mom. She got the card on the 21st. TD told me that my old card would be functional until I activated the new one. No problem. Told my mom to hold onto it until I got to Thailand. However I tried making a purchase on it today and it was rejected. Just got off the phone with TD and it seems that my old card was "closed" on the 27th and that my new card was automatically activated. So my new, active card is in Waterloo, and my old, useless card is in my pocket. And I have no functional credit card. And apparently there's nothing that Visa can do to reactivate a closed card. Not the best feeling when I'm on the other side of the world. In addition I had to have them "block" the new card cuz I don't want an active card shipped to me in case it gets lost, which means once I have it in my hands I need to call them back and get the block removed. Did I mention PITA?! Not to mention worrisome. Oh, ya, and it's probably gonna cost a couple hundred dollars to express ship the new card to Thailand. Thanks TD!
- Xdrive, the online backup solution I was using, blows chunks. Their desktop client which lets you schedule automatic backups (and which was the only reason I chose them over the dozens of other free online backup solutions) sucks. Every time my laptop loses internet, be it from Ken's flaky connection (i.e. Vista) or cuz it went into sleep and woke up, the client executable XdrSmb.exe chews up 50% cpu and never reconnects. Just sits their chewing up horsepower and making my laptop run hot, not actually doing anything. And when I emailed them for support (which I had to google endlessly even to find the address) I got an automated response and still haven't gotten an actual person response yet. So now I'm running backup-less until one of my friends installs FolderShare so that I can back up to their machine.
Found in Ken's bathroom. Who knew they had sprays for this sort of thing? In North America all we have are pills.
In an attempt to capture the view from Ken's place as well as play around with panoramic stitching, I took a bunch of pictures and stitched 'em together. The freeware app Autostitch did a pretty decent job, and I'm sure I'll be using it again.
Now let's compare that to the app that came with my camera (and that they want to charge me $24.99 to upgrade to the latest version), ArcSoft Panorama Maker...
Hmm... I wonder which one I'll continue to use.
In search for something to mix with rye (Canadian Club to be specific) I decided to try out limeade, since ginger ale isn't that easy to come by here in Singapore (nor likely in other countries I plan to visit). So here's my new drink concoction which I've deemed the "Canadian Abroad". Also, limeade isn't readily available in Canada, so I figured the "abroad" bit made sense.
Recipe
1 shot rye whisky (Canadian Club used in testing, but I think Crown Royal or something of higher quality would be preferred - though the Canadian in Canadian Club helped me to decide on the name)
Some amount of limeade (not more than 4 or 5 ounces unless you like your drinks watered down)
Mix rye and limeade in a glass. Add some ice. Drink.
Seeing as I didn't post (nor eat) a new food yesterday, I figured I'd do 2 today.
Char Siew Pau
Basically a doughy bun with pork inside. Tasty. Very tasty. And cheap too. I think this might be my new staple in Thailand if they're available there.
Mangosteen
Some sort of fruit with a hard shell that you crack open to get to the meaty goodness. The taste was good, but I wasn't a fan of the texture. Not sure how to describe it. Each piece was kind of like a little loose sack containing the "meat". So when you bite into it the sack sorta bursts, but has a bit of a rubbery texture to it as well. Not sure I could do this one again, or at least frequently, but only due to the texture. Also the fruit overall has an odd look to it that sorta creeps me out.
Yesterday's new food of the day. If a snack food can be considered a new food (which I say it can). They're made of corn and rice and somewhat resemble a Cheeto. Except they're not as tasty, nor cheesy at all (though that could be because I bought the BBQ flavor). Overall I think I'd prefer Cheetos, or BBQ chips, or most other snack foods, even those shrimp chip things I had the other day. Have to give this one a thumbs down.
Went wakeboarding today for the first time ever. The first round I managed to stand up (sort of) about twice, but fell flat on my face before I could, well, really do anything. Somewhat frustrated I chilled out on the boat while the other guys went, then it came to me again. I almost didn't do a second round, mostly cuz I was still a little frustrated at my inability to stand up and maintain it for more than a half a second, but since this is a trip of exploration and trying to make the best of every situation I decided to try again. And whaddya know, I was able to stand up and even board the wake. For a few seconds anyway. But doesn't it look like I actually know what I'm doing? It was a lot of fun, and I guarantee that the next time I go standing up won't be an issue.
I need a new name here. Asians seem to have a lot of trouble pronouncing the "arth" in "Garth". Also, I had my first Garth Brooks reference tonight. As in:
"Hi. I'm Garth."
"Like Garth Brooks?"
"*sigh* Yup. Like Garth Brooks."
I'm thinking Steve (for obvious reasons if you've seen The Tao of Steve), but am open to suggestions in the comments.
Why do I feel like I'm setting myself up? Likely cuz my friends are dicks.
UPDATE: So I'm thinking "Red". Still might be a little tricky to pronounce (might come out as "Led" in some cases) but easier than "arth". Also, if I actually follow through with some time at Tiger Muay Thai then my Muay Thai name would be "Red Tiger". Much cooler than "Garth Tiger". Also cooler than "Gingerballs Tiger", but <sarcasm>thanks Vinh for the suggestion</sarcasm>.
Ok, I know it's weak, but that was my new food for the day. Apparently bacon isn't available in Singapore due to religious issues with a large percentage of the population. So Ken and I went to Burger King and got BBQ Turkey Bacon Cheeseburgers. It was tasty, but if I have the choice I'll stick with the original.
At the airport in Tokyo I was thirsty and so purchased something that looked like a bottle of water but was called Pocari Sweat. I don't know what a Pocari is, but their sweat is pretty tasty. No wonder the Japanese decided to bottle it. It was a slightly carbonated, slightly citrusy water which apparently included electrolytes like Gatorade or such.
Out at some rocker club with Ken and David I ate a fish ball. It's kinda like a chicken ball but made from fish. I don't like fish. And it tasted fishy. Have to give this one a thumbs down.
Yesterday I tried a bunch of new things at some Thai restaurant with Ken. In no particular order I tried shrimp chips, Tom Yum Gai (Hot & Sour Chicken Soup) and fish cakes. The shrimp chips were odourless and had a consistency similar to rice cakes. Apparently the "shrimp" portion is just flavoring (according to Ken anyway, my resident Asian expert), and really they just tasted a little salty. I'd eat 'em again. The Tom Yum Gai was tasty but one spoonful and the back of my throat was burning... and not from the temperature. And apparently this particular bowl was quite mild. I fear Thailand. But it was tasty and I'd eat it again... slowly and with a lot of water. The fish cakes were far less fishy than the previous day's fish ball, and seemingly more breaded and deep fried (hence automatically tastier), but still tasted like fish (duh). They're something I'd eat late at night if I was really hungry and didn't have a lot of options, but not something I'd go out of my way to find.
Looks like I'm going to be seeing Thailand sooner than I thought. Ken has to go there on business from Tuesday til Saturday so I'm gonna tag along and actually check out Bangkok (which I didn't really have any intention of doing originally). Then he leaves back to Toronto on the 29th, but his place here (which is pretty stellar and rents to the tune of ~$6300 CAD / month - thank god for corporate expense accounts) is paid for til the end of May, so I may stay here a couple days after he leaves. I'm sure it's by far the nicest place I'll stay in while I'm in Asia, so may as well make the most of it.
I've acquired a Singapore SIM card for my phone (# posted on Facebook in case anyone needs to reach me). I'll likely do the same in Thailand and any other country I visit unless I'm only staying for a day or two. But we'll see how it all plays out. In the meantime my body simply doesn't seem to be able to adjust to the time difference. Didn't sleep until 9am yesterday morning. Went to sleep at 6am last night / this morning, and woke up now (9am), seemingly unable to get back to sleep. Weird. At least I'm awake during the day today, but it's a holiday here tomorrow as in Canada and we're planning a pretty late night tonight (bars/clubs seem to be open til at least 3am here, 6am in a lot of cases). Wish me luck!
Went to a club with Ken and his friend/co-worker David tonight. I got groped more there than I have in my entire adult life. I dunno why women hate it so much... I kind of enjoyed it :)
Disclaimer: I was seriously drunk when I typed most of this, but I figure I may as well post it in it's entirety than to try to sugar coat it. Sorry (sort of) if I offend anyone. Also you should read this post bottom to top. Mostly.
- bob saget... "gimme my cookie bitch!".
- bob saget... "i have 3 daughters" ... "and little kimmie gibbler"; "i'm sorry i fucked her"
- OMG! 12 fucking hours to go. WTF?!
- as an aside... 39-year old asian mother... reasonably attractive. 19-year old daughter... hot. call me what you will... but a+b=c... is it wrong of me to think that "asian copilot's" daughter is off limits? seriously? she's late 30's... daughter is late... teens (i.e. 19). but really... REALLY?!
- OMFG I WANT A SMOKE! it's literally 12 hours since i had one... and i want to exit the plane via skydive doors, and coast down. wtf... where's my ground cigarette?
- i'm really excited to see ken. not in a gay (that's "AY") way. but seriously... this is a friend i've had for 13 years, have lived with for probably 5 of 13 years (might be higher, but that's a conservative estimate). and he rocks. one of the best friends a guy could ever have. seriously excited. maybe i should sleep for 12 hours. then i'd almost be there.
- also again... i REALLY want a smoke. it's been a theoretical 24 hours since i had one (translation: it's been about 12 hours). smoke = good. goooood. can't wait to land.
- also... it's gonna be 14 hours til i see ken. way too much. i can't deal with this crap.
- a little drunk. been drinking since 11am "yesterday". i don't even know what "yesterday" is given my current geopgraphic location. but seriously, i'm seeing 9:06am on my phone, which implies it's been 10 hours since i started drinking. watching the wedding singer. "all i want is for somebody to hold me and tell me it's gonna be alright" (dunno his name but it's the main guy from grandma's boy). REALLY?!?! that's really NOT what i'm looking for. am i shallow?
- "chopsticks or fork"... this is what the air waitress presented to me (and the other passengers) before "noodles" were served. i still haven't seen the noodles and so am reserving judgement. however, even though i'm relatively capable with chopsticks, i chose fork. i need to get out of this western mentality. stat! ... update: the noodles were a mr. noodles equivalent. low budget. weak.
- apparently the stewardess button means jack shit. accost them in the aisle and they're happy to please. bing the "air waitress" button and nada. boo.
- OMG! Effing "stewardesses" (i.e. air waitresses) suck ass. seriously, WTF? i've been binging (every 20 mins or so - basically when the light goes out) for the last hour. this is retarded. it's comp'd drinks. she told me to bing rather than stock up. and anything i say at this point will come across as beligerent rather than constructive. so i need to kiss ass even thought i am soooo in the right. Bull-Shit! seriously. bullshit. where's my effing drink you air waitress?!
- "that guy". i hate to be him. but i've "binged" the stewardess going on 3 times now and no one's come around (and to my defense, the light's gone off each time). i figure at this point it's ok to be a little obnoxious. especially given point 7. see below.
- the order of these thoughts might be a little backwards. i type top down on my kaiser, and it's easier to create a new bullet at the top than to scroll down 50(+) lines and THEN type something.
- i was gonna say something else about "the perfect storm", but a) it sucks, b) i'm drunk, and c) it's soooo not worth a blog post, let alone a fraction thereof.
- coast guard guys (perfect storm again)... who the fuck cares? not mark wahlberg, not george clooney... why the fuck do i care that these theoretical coastguard dudes (i.e. actors) are drowning? cuz they're not. and it's ghey.
- there's a lot of hot chicks on this flight. did i mention i have yellow fever (figuratively, not literally).
- i'm not used to long flights. 5 hrs is about my limit. so at the 3 hr mark i'm usually looking for landing gear. not so much right now. it's about 2.5 hrs in (to a 12+ hr flight) and i'm... um... drunk would probably be the operative word. only 9 hrs to go. the "only" was sarcasm. seriously. boo.
- i'm a lush. me: "is it better to get a bunch of drinks now or buzz you as i need them?"; stewardess: "i'm not getting off til tokyo so feel free to buzz". nice. and, as a sidenote... was she being dirty?
- the perfect storm is a ghey movie. everyone is wearing hipster hats (john deere, cat, red sox) and the "big plotline" is that george clooney is a sucky fisherman with a loaner boat. who the fuck cares?
- overseas flights with comp'd drinks rock. drank 5 double JD and cokes before i got on. total = $72. drank 6 double rye and gingers since sitting down. total = $0 (note that this number will be (or has been by the time you read this) incremented over the next 12 hours). thanks ken for your aeroplan :)
- p.s. to the last bullet... stewardesses get far more beligerent as the flight wears on.
- the security guys searched my carry-on. why? not sure. initially it was because of a 4-module travel power adapter. but they took it out and re-scanned my bag and i was still red flagged. turns out it was cuz i had 8 AA batteries. WTF? when did AA batteries become a terrorist weapon? sidenote: i didn't have to remove my belt or shoes. but batteries... whoa! watch the fuck out!
- though typing out blog posts on my kaiser is slower than on my laptop, it's soooo much more convenient. the risk is that if i'm intoxicated i might forget something while i'm typing... but on the flipside i might forget EVERYTHING if i had to wait for my laptop to boot up.
- there's a 3-prong plug in the seat beside me and a USB plug in my seat. i no longer fear running out of power. nice.
- for the road... does anyone actually give a shit when clooney plows his boat through the uber-wave in "the perfect storm"? seriously? does anyone care? clooney is a bit (translation: A LOT) of a douchebag. yes? no? somewhere in between? i vote A LOT of a)... a little bit of b).
It's been awhile since I updated here and I'm sure that all of my adoring fans were wondering what's going on with me. Well, my departure date is set for tomorrow. As of Friday night I'll be in Singapore, embarking on my tour of the far east. I'm gonna do my best to keep this blog as up-to-date as possible, but who knows where/when I'll have Internet. At any rate, hopefully this meager post will tide the fans over until I have something more interesting to say.
