xiamen island

nice, nice, nice!! great to be back. called my good old fren (literally 'old', but still very young at heart), mr.bon, to inform him of the arrival, and *snap* all has been arranged, from sleeping arrangment, dinner, lunch, meeting up with friends, etc. that is just wonderful. heeh..
xiamen has developed much after i left. though the last time i was here i wasn't spending much time on the island, but i could still tell that lots of development in terms of building, traffic system, etc. the air is alright, (compare to the rest of china, it's considered as clean here) weather's just like malaysia, so i predict going up north will b much colder.
the first night i stayed at laikwan's old place - mandy, sufern, naseem, we all hav stayed in that good ol' wan shou bin guan. tonight, i moved to bon's house which is near xiamen university, and the big wide window is facing the island-ring road, and of course, the beach as well. we could see some couples smooching away down at the beach from here, *remember i was telling about how couples are just EVERYWHERE in china?*
really pigged out at a sichuan restaurant, eating my favourite dish when i last came - shui zhu yu. it's basically spicy, pepperish fish cooked in tonnes of oil! yummmyyy... definitely not the healthiest, but i took chinese tea to cool my body down after. cheap cheap great food, love it. aight, that's sichuan for dinner, and for lunch we had hu nan food.
oh, wat was interesting.. is that bon has arranged a class to be taught to a bunch of 4-star hotel staffs here. the usual english teacher is away to do his visa so needed a replacement. aah...so we did english corner and english classes. and i made some pocket money! wuah haha..
nways, lovely ones back home, i'm all set for a good sunrise tmr morning here by the beach, and mayb hav some lovely lunch cooked by some lovely chinese friends, n some lovely cycling around the area, and some lovely... yeah, i'm bragging it all. *love my holiday! and it's just the beginning*

till then.

(pics uploaded 20102005)
That's Bon! and my lovely fish swimming in pepper and oil... yummy...
That's connie. bon brought us to some cool club to swim in the pool, just next to the beach which we took this pic.
that's the view out from Bon's house! the road on the bridge is a ring-road, it goes around the island.

getting around

It's definitely not my first time staying here in nonthaburi, or going around bangkok all by myself. but everytime i learn a new way of getting to my destinationa cheaper than previously. this time i took the mini van by myself downtown bangkok, never liked to do that coz it's scary getting down at the wrong place, or taking the wrong route n stuck in the city's infamous jam. but my little observation tells me that the thais are more receptive to english than before - the cab drivers, the strangers i asked by the road. probably a contribution factor would b the many 'farlangs' i see chilling in this land of smile. so i wont actually get lost.



Sara, my english friend whom i met up for lunch today, brought me to a nice outdoor restaurant along the chao phraya river. all we did was catching up about our lives for the past one year (we see each other once every year somehow). we talked bout her husband, her daughter n son, her expat life here in bangkok, and me, work, relationships, future plan... u know, a nice girlie chat but between 2 very different persons. this is one beautiful thing i love about travelling, i meet people and hear stories!

later i met up with two american youth who're doing their year of service here in bangkok. when i saw them... gosh, i'm no more just a youth. I felt a sense of responsibility to .. advice them, making sure things r okay. 18 n fresh from high school, they came to serve, like how we used to. it was a memorable time. also the best time to test our steadfastness and faith. the poor girls are pretty homesick. after meeting up with some other local youth, hope they felt bit more at east with english-speaking people around them. speaking the same language really does make us feel at home, doesn't it?

Bangkok Jam!

oh, how i wish i could upload my pics. now is 5.42pm thai time, and here i am in bangkok, nonthaburi Baha'i centre to be exact.
amazing! vaughan and sunantha are my hosts, everytime i come to bangkok i get to stay with them. since 5 years ago! (yes rosh, gin... remember?) it's like a studio apartment, where each unit is a room, and they occupied 3 rooms in a row, but now expanded to other rooms (they call it dorm) for visitors like me. travel teachers get to stay longer, n it used to b just extra room, with beds, bathroom n some stuffs, but now there's internet, phone, and fridge! there's even water filled up for me, and electric kettle to boil water.. and coffee/tea! greaaat.. ahah.
i hav always aspired to hav a place like this - a stop point for travellers or visitors. mayb one day. =)


20102005,finally got to upload these pics

p.s the BEST part is the shelf full of travel books, especially southeast asia, china, cambodia, even egypt n israel. not forgetting prayer books n all. and also, AN ALARM CLOCK.

Met up with me thai buddies for some thai dinner, end up in black canyon coffee, but it was still good. they served thai food too.

a day before...

can't believe i'm starting another blog!

it's 8.45am and i'm awake, slept at 4am religiously for few nights, last night wasn't spared. body is absolutely exhausted but mind is awake. tomorrow at this time i'll b all set to go! and here i m, not packed, bills not paid, work not done, and writing a new blog. insane~!

i hope to post some pics before i go and yes, this blog is to keep me (and YOU) company of my little journey to big-big world aka china. then later of course there's other adventures to places which i'll gradually reveal to ya! ;-)

sit back n enjoy da ride.