Out and Away with a BANG!

Fare thee well, Massachusetts. I am leaving to travel the country (and more importantly get a job)!

The weekend before I moved, my friends and I went to Cape Cod for a weekend of grand laughs, beach time, seafood cookouts and yard games.





Sunday came before we knew it, and my sister and I loaded up her Wrangler with all of our belongings. We only purchased the car a week before, so we were just getting used to the idea of the Jeep "zipper" world. And that's when we realized that we didn't know much of anything, and we couldn't zip up the back windshield. When in doubt, without a clue? Use duct tape. Isn't that always the solution?



It seemed to work until we were on the road for about 2 hours, when the back suddenly flew open on the highway.

Luckily we stopped at Bell's Auto Interior in Greenwich, CT where the nice guy fixed it for free! And what a pleasure it was- because a few hours down the road it started raining like crazy. Not sure the duct tape would have held up in a storm...

New Vids.

From Omaha, NE to San Francisco, CA we drove through seriously gorgeous scenery in The Great Plains and The Rocky Mountains. We managed to have our fair share of exhausted laughter on this 28-hour journey over two days.



After spending the weekend in California, we headed West for my first time in Vegas. We only had 30 hours in this sin city, so we had to cram in as much as possible before leaving for Texas.

Last Weeks in Thailand

Delayed, I know. But bear with me...

I feel like my blog wouldn't be complete without a synopsis of my last couple weeks in Thailand. After I finished English Camp, my teaching obligations were done, and I could do whatever I wanted with my last 30,000 Baht... And I picked island hopping! I had already been to the islands on the West side of Thailand in the Andaman Sea. Now it was my chance to check out the islands on the East: Samui, Phangan and Tao. Talk about a whirlwind of events.

I set sail on an overnight ship with my friends Simone and Amy where we slept in a room with 30 people on small mats covering wooden decks. At sunrise we arrived on Koh Samui and took a taxi with two Brits- Faye and Tom. We liked them so much that they stayed with Amy and me for the remainder of our island hopping adventures. Samui was perfect for kickin' it on the beach, going to drag shows and going on exhausting runs in the middle of the day (hey, equator heat).



We learned that a half-moon party was happening at Koh Phangan that night, so we quickly hopped on a boat to the next island for this epic party in the jungle. Thailand is all about "moon parties" - half moon, full moon, new moon. It's crazy. Phangan is known all over the world for having the best moon parties, so obviously we had to go. We showed up to drum&bass tunes, neon colors, and wild travelers from all over the world. It was the most insane party I have ever imagined.





And last, but not least was the island of Tao- famous for the sea turtles and crystal clear water, perfect for scuba diving. We took a taxi to the opposite side of the island where we stayed on a private beach. Instead of going on an expensive tour, Simone and I rented a kayak, fins and masks for an afternoon of snorkeling. Man, I wish I had an underwater camera. After we beached our kayak on some rocks out in the ocean, we swam with the most exotic, colorful fish of all sizes. The coral looked like a cross between The Little Mermaid and a Beatles movie. I kept thinking, is this real?

Creativity Galore

The best part about downtime- from life, from work, from school- is trying new things.

I've been doing small projects for my Dad, but I still have a tremendous amount of free time in my unemployed state. This has given me the opportunity to focus on my creative outlets... writing, singing, painting, creating personalized greeting cards like these...






And the newest addition- acting.

This past week I had two consecutive night shoots as an extra for Anna Faris' latest flick "What's Your Number?" It was really interesting seeing how much behind the scenes work goes into a movie. Plus, I got to see Anna Faris and meet Joel McHale!! IMDb says the movie will be released in 2011- so I'll let you know if I'm seen at all....... big screen style.

Road Trip Goals

Our goals on this grand road trip were simple- save&enjoy.

What does that mean?

Save.
Free lodging. The entire 2 week trip we stayed with family and friends... and sometimes friends of friends of friends.

Sometimes halfway into our 16-hour driving days we thought, Wait, we don't know anyone in [fill in city name].

And that's where social media came in.



And it worked like magic every time. We never had to pay for a hotel. Thanks friends! (And friends of friends of friends)

Enjoy.
With the money we saved, we did awesome things! Like buying crepes in Haight/Ashbury... and purchasing $13 dresses at a thrift store for Vegas... and grabbing fresh produce at roadside stands.

Roadtrip 2010- California Style

Amy and I decided to go on a 2 week cross-ish-country roadtrip in this general route: Chicago, Omaha, Salt Lake City, Sacramento, San Francisco, Newport, San Diego, Vegas, Flagstaff, Amarillo, Waco, Dallas, St. Louis, Chicago.



Please enjoy our video from California- eating food, enjoying the scenery, catching up with friends and being the ultimate tourists. Mission: Go South for Coachella tickets.



But sometimes when "foolproof" plans... well, fool us... we get to make new and equally exciting plans. After missing out on Coachella tickets (if you watched the video), we called my friend Adam and stayed with him in Newport for the weekend. We spent the weekend at the beach instead of the desert and had mimosas instead of bottles of water. Sadly, the days in California were over. Next stop: Vegas.

Here are some shots from Newport.

Leave it beaver

Sometimes I'm amazed by just how little control I have over travel circumstances.

Like a good, traveled road tripper, before embarking on my 3 week cross-country roadtrip, I got the car checked out- making sure it was prepared for the journey.

But alas on the first day, almost out of PA, I heard a thud and immediately lost my power steering and brakes. There goes the belt.

So a majority of my day was spent people watching truckers... And trucks. And trucks on trucks- like a truck dance party.


But an awesome thing: I got to drive through Scranton, PA- home of The Office.


Even better, the car shop had it fixed the next day, in time to make it to Chicago for a good old deep dish pizza pie. Delish.

Cook Like the Thais

One thing I wanted to accomplish in Thailand is to learn to cook Thai food. It was coming down to my last month in Thailand, so I thought Now or never.



I took a course through Baan Thai in Chiang Mai, Thailand. After a trip to the local Thai market to learn about the produce I would cook with, the course began with a meet and greet accompanied by refreshing Thai snacks.



It was a great course, because I was able to choose exactly what I wanted to make...

Pad Thai


Chicken in Coconut Milk Soup


Penang Curry


Spring Rolls

Red Shirt Frenzy

Right now, there's a lot of political tension in Bangkok from the Red Shirt Party. At Government House yesterday they spilled 1,000,000 cc's of blood, donated by the Red Shirt protesters. They dumped blood again this morning at the Prime Minister's house, begging him to step down.

There were constantly parades going stopping traffic all over Bangkok, and I was interested to see what these rallies were all about. So I headed down to Government House to spend a day in the heat with the Red Shirt Party.

Below are some photos I took...

100,000 protesters at Government House


Carting jugs of blood through the cheering crowd


Showing me where they had blood drawn that morning


Party card-holders

Chiang Rai Excitement

I took a day-trip from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai, which is the Northern-most part in Thailand.

First I went to the White Temple, a famous recently-built temple signifying Heaven and Hell. In Hell, people are reaching up trying to get out. Inside the temple there are disturbing paintings with references to modern culture (9/11, etc) on the walls showing Buddha conquering all.




I traveled to what's known as "The Golden Triangle," where Thailand meets Burma and Laos. I got a border pass to Laos where I had to try their famous Laos whiskey. I could choose between some killer "flavors" if you will: tiger fur, lizard or cobra. With options like that, how could I go wrong? I opted not to have a hair ball coughing fit later and stuck with "cobra".



Then I went to a tribal village, where I met the Long Neck Tribe, famous for growing their necks up to a foot long. They were really welcoming to me and let me try on one of their neck braces. In exchange for their kindness, I bought some hand-woven scarves.

Why didn't I teach in Chiang Mai?

Reasons I love Chiang Mai, Thailand:
-It's significantly less sticky than Bangkok
-They actually have a cool season
-The city is easy to navigate and drive
-It closely borders 3 countries: Laos, Burma and China
-The people are totally laid-back

Tiger Kingdom

At Tiger Kingdom in Chiang Mai, Thailand, I got to play with tigers of all sizes for 1,400 baht (about $45). They raise all of their tigers in captivity, so there were even 3 newborn tigers. The facility was kept-up, the staff spoke English- fabulous experience. It was the best day of my life. Here are some of my favorite shots from the day.

  

Khao Yai

This weekend I visited Thailand's second biggest park, Khao Yai. Here are the highlights...



On the way in we were harassed by monkeys who stood outside our taxi begging for food. I think tourists feed the monkeys and their families.


On the way out of the park, we stopped by a pork roast on the side of the road. Two things about this incident: 1) Notice the stuffed gorilla pretending he's roasting the pork 2) I ate my first piglet that day. It was actually pretty good.

Strange Reminder

I've been working on another blog to introduce other foreigners, specifically the next round of Baylor teachers, to Bangkok. I've been consciously walking through the city taking note of anything that used to be "foreign" to me... like these...



Screw napkins, give me a roll of toilet paper! Most street vendors and cheap restaurants in Bangkok offer toilet paper to wipe your mouth (or sweat, I mean, it's Bangkok).



Don't worry. Just because there are crazy wires hanging everywhere doesn't mean you'll get electrocuted. Oh no... it's rainy season.



And now... to the squatter potty. Talk about awkward.

Looming on the Loom

I passed by a store for... looming... the other day. So I, randomly as usual, walked into the store to ask if they had lessons, specifically lessons in English.

They did. So I scheduled a lesson for a couple days later.

What is a loom, you ask? Let me transport you back to 1891 before the Industrial Revolution. (I know you're thinking and why did you do this? I don't really know either.)



The one-on-one lesson was awesome. The lady was an absolute sweetheart. She showed me how to use the pedals and strings to operate the loom. Seriously, it was quite the sight.



I showed up and for the next 2+ hours, I learned how to weave silk into this beautiful masterpiece below...

JJ Weekend Market... Where Everything Goes

JJ Market, or Chatuchak Market, is Bangkok's famous outside weekend market. This market is so massive that it covers 35 acres and has, literally, everything you could ever want: bags, souvenirs, trendy clothes, exotic pets, furniture, art, cutlery, ninja stars (c'mon, like you don't want ninja stars......). You name it- It's there.



It's about 30 minutes away, located at the Mo Chit BTS stop. So if you're going to travel that far, you really have to make a day of it. I know there has to be a map of Chatuchak somewhere out there in the universe, and every time I go I wish I had one. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten lost.

"Outside? Outside? How do I get to the outside?"
...As they laugh at another lost tourist.
"I speak nit-noi Thai. Leo qua or leo sigh?"
...As they laugh even more.

So here are some of the amazing things Chatuchak brings to my life...


At the same stall, you can buy cowboy boots, country flags and hanging sculpted plumber butts.



And here you get some steals on fake fruit. See that- 3 for 100 baht!!!