Koh Samui (Part 2)

Most of these pictures are from a tour of Koh Samui that Ulala and i took on our second last day on the island.

Golden Monkeys never brought ME any fruit....


In front of the very aptly named "Big Buddha":


Wat Plai Laem, one of newest temples (and tourist attractions) on Samui.


And again with the pointy things....


Ulala in front of the many armed giant statue at Wat Plai Laem:


Near Grandfather and Grandmother Rocks (not as interesting as people seem to think):


MONKEY ON MY SHOULDER!!


Inside Wat Khunaram:


hiking through the jungle near Namuang:


Elephant trekking near Namuang:


In Chaweng:


In Bang Rak:


The Samui Airport, which is really just a series of open, thatched-roof pavillions. When we checked in before we flew out we were directed to the "International Terminal" and i almost laughed out loud right there at the check-in counter. But then Ulala and i walked across the road and lo and behold, there was another pavillion with a small white sign hung in front that read "Terminal 2: International."

Koh Samui (Part1)

Here are a few pictures from Koh Samui. The diving was awesome, the sunsets were spectacular, and the food was delicious!

Bangkok (Part2)

These pictures are of Wat Pho (the second largest temple in Bangkok) and more shots of our time in the city. Wat Pho is famous for its massive golden reclining Buddha statue. Those little covered-bike-taxi-things are called tuk-tuks (because of the noise they make. I enjoyed the tuk-yuks immensely but was somewhat less fond of the drivers, who were generally aggressive and obnoxious and would literally try to harrass you into using their service. Thailand as a whole seems to have a very different approach to "customer service," which is to say none whatsoever. It`s a sad state of affairs for the so-called "Land of Smiles" that by the end of the trip everytime a Thai person said hello to me i was safe in assuming that they only wanted to speak to my wallet. Fortunately, on Koh Samui we met a few Thai people who helped balance that poor impression with positive experiences. =)

Ulala making new friends:


tuk-tuks:


Now that`s a Big Buddha!


You know what they say about Buddhas with big feet...


More pointy things. They do love their pointy things...


Either the ancient art of Thai torture or Thai massage: "same same."


We ate lunch at this restaurant with a beautiful river view of Wat Arun, the last major temple of the three major temples of Bangkok:








We almost got caught in a sudden squal that soaked the streets (and the tuk-tuks), but we managed to get back to our hotel bar in time and sat under the canopy and watched the rain on KhaoSan Road. The rain only lasted about an hour but it was pretty intense. From what i understand this is a pretty regular thing in September in Thailand.


Street vendors selling fresh fruit in KhaoSan Road:

Bangkok (Part1)

These are pictures from our trip to Thailand (or as i like to call it - "Land of the Pointy Things"). Sorry it took so long to post them (but thank you to the people who`ve shown interest in seeing them!). I`ve got so many pictures that i want to post that i figure i`ll divide them into sections. This first section is from Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) and a few shots from around Bangkok. While i loved the temples and the sight-seeing, i found Bangkok to be quite loud, dirty and smelly. But hey, i just hung around the touristy areas... The whole trip overall was amazing! We spent one night in Bangkok (true! - not just an 80`s pop-culture reference), and then we went to Koh Samui for five days for scuba diving. Enjoy the pictures!

How To Breathe Underwater

or "Coup? What Coup?"

So this is just a quick (and rather expensive) note to let anyone interested know that Ulala and i are both now PADI certified Open Water Divers!! YAY!! What an amazing feeling to breathe underwater and to see all the fish and corals in their natural habitat! We had an excellent teacher and a great course. We were also able to dive at Sail Rock and at Koh Tao (Aow Leuk), which are two of the best dive spots in this whole region. The weather and the visibility have been amazing!

Also, despite the military coup in Bangkok we are still in Thailand and right as rain. The only reason we even knew that there had been a coup was because i happened to flip on the news in our hotel room. It was unfortunately FoxNews (an oxymoron to be sure) but all the Thai tv channels had been taken over by the military and shut down. It doesn't appear that the Bangkok airport is affected so i doubt we'll have any trouble getting out. People still seem to be flying in just fine.

So please, don't worry. We are FINE. And diving has been an incredible experience and i am hoping to do it again real soon. Tomorrow we're taking a guided tour of Koh Samui and then on the 23rd we'll do a little shopping and then catch our flights.

Hope everyone is well!! i'll post pictures heer when we get back to Osaka!!

-ian.

Thailand ikoh!!!

translation: Let`s Thailand!!

The Life of Ian continues to be busy: i am almost done packing for our trip to Thailand. we leave tomorrow morning (the 17th). we will be flying into Bangkok and spending the night and then wandering the city for a few hours before (hopefully) catching a flight down to Koh Samui for a four day intensive scuba diving course. Ulala and i will be (hopefully) taking our PADI Open Water Diving Certification. then we fly back to Osaka on the night of the 23rd arriving back at the lovely Kansai International Airport (KIX) around 6am on the 24th. it should say something about my state of mind that i spent significantly longer deciding what to pack into my i-Pod mini than into my backpack...

While on Koh Samui we will be staying at the (hopefully) lovely Samui Mermaid resort on Hat Bang Rak ("Big Buddha Beach") (no i didn`t choose it for the name!) here is a map of that section of the island so you can see where we`ll be. i would like you to note that our hotel/resort has a nice view of the giant Buddha statue that gives the area its colourful name and also pleae note that we are walking distance from a crocodile farm, a somewhat inaptly named "secret" garden, and a MONKEY THEATER!!! personally i`m hoping to see them do Hamlet but we`ll just have to see.... we`re also close to the "Samui shooting sport" which (hopefully) has no relation to the Monkey Theater.



Wish us luck in travel and scuba!! Jerry Seinfeld: "Scuba; another sport where the main object is to NOT DIE." singing: "don`t die... don`t die don`t die don`t die, look there`s a fish there`s a rock. don`t care, just don`t die. cuz living is good and dying ... not as good." i plan on humming that while i`m under water.

indeed, let`s Thailand!! (hopefully)

quick update

i`m flying out the door in a minute to go to work. it`s been a busy week but there are lots of unanswered e-mails in my inbox so here is a quick update:

-My first DJ gig on Saturday night went really well! yay!! (see pictures below) and i even got offered another gig in October! WOOHOO! to see the event announcement click HERE.
-My overnight stay in Kobe to work at Tarumi and see Gabe was also nice. He and Ayako and Hanano seem to be doing really well. (Thanks again Gabe for letting me stay!)
-Tonight Ulala and i are going down to Bentencho to take a preliminary look at scuba equipment and training (nothying in the water yet) before we head over to Thailand next week to take our Open Water Diving Course.

more later!