when King Bhumidol makes it... No, not entirely true - the rain falls quite frequently during the rainy season without any intervention by the King, but the King of Thailand is able to make rain fall. I kid you not. Right now, it is bucketing down in 66 provinces of Thailand, including Bangkok, because it's been incredibly dry and the King has made it rain. No, it's not hocus-pocus. The King, who invests a lot of money in researching sustainable agriculture and development, funds the Royal Rain-Making Research and Development Project. The King has been researching artificial rain since 1 [View Full Entry]

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For the last two weeks, I had the pleasure of my darling friend Tree (also known as Nina 2 & 3) staying with me. This was the last leg of a 3-month world trip, so of course, it commenced with a two-hour massage at my local massage parlour. We also went shopping at Chatuchak market, which is pretty impressive for someone's first day. I took yet more time off work for Tree's stay, and so we went down south - first to Koh Samui, and then to Khao Sok National Park. On the coach down to Samui, Tree and I met [View Full Entry]

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Courtesy of work, I just spent two weeks back home in Melbourne, with a day trip to Sydney. It was very strange being home - probably the worst culture shock I've ever experienced. It wasn't just the extreme quiet of the streets compared to Bangkok, being out in the 'burbs again, the cleanliness, the lack of pollution, the weather, the wide streets, the different trees, everyone looking very white and overweight, the dreadful accents, but, most of all, the relaxed and comfortable nature of life, the much higher cost of goods and services, and the ability to spend lots of money [View Full Entry]

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"The temples at Angkor are spread out over some 40 miles around the village of Siem Reap, about 192 miles from the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. They were built between the eighth and 13th centuries and range from single towers made of bricks to vast stone temple complexes." While the whole temple complex is referred to as Angkor Wat, Angkor Wat is actually one particular temple. There are two main sites for the temples - the City of Angkor and Roluos. The temples are both Hindu and Buddhist, and Indian methods of architecture as well as Hindu mythology were influential in [View Full Entry]

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My mother has been here for almost three weeks; I travelled with her for two weeks which means that I have lots of travel stories... 1) I Love You.After Mum and I arrived on the beach at beautiful Rai Leh, we set off on a trek to our accommodation. Before we flew down south, I booked us 'beach bungalows' - it wasn't so near the beach, but they certainly were bungalows. I would have booked something a little nicer - maybe with a toilet that flushed, a shower with hot water, and actual bases for the beds rather than just [View Full Entry]

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Dear all, Sorry for not having sent a massive group email earlier - I'm alive and kicking in Bangkok. My mother is visiting me here, and we went to Rai Leh and Ko Phi Phi - two of the areas affected by the tsunami - but left there the 24th, and were safely in Siem Reap, marvelling at one of the 7 Wonders of the World (Angkor Wat) when the tsunami hit. It's now almost seven months that I've been working in Bangkok, and in honour of this, and the New Year, and the fact that I *may* shortly be returning [View Full Entry]

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I was fortunate enough yesterday to go to Rangoon for work - quick stop at the office in the morning, followed by sightseeing - Shwedagon Pagoda and Bojok Market - then a delicious lunch with my Burmese colleagues before flying back to Bangers. I didn't really expect Rangoon to be depressing, from reports I'd heard from friends who've been there. But it was so totally normal and quiet, which I didn't expect either. The streets were ordered, there were big green parks, nature strips next to pavements - nothing like Bangkok or Phnom Penh. What was particularly striking was the lack [View Full Entry]

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I’ve just spent the week in Phnom Penh, a city I love. It’s small and easy to get around, the restaurants have great food and beautiful décor, great atmosphere - far superior to Bangkok’s restaurants - the wine doesn’t have a tax of 400% like in Bangers, the Cambodian people I’ve met are friendly, the motodops (motor-taxi drivers) charge us foreigners double what they would a Cambodian with a smile and there’s a sense of justice about it, and the roads are scenes of hilarious chaos. The rules for driving in Cambodia can be summarised as follows: 1) stoppin [View Full Entry]

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I’ve just been to Ko Chang, which means Elephant Island. Ko Chang is Thailand’s second biggest island after Phuket, and two years ago Taksin, the evil Thai Prime Minister (he's friends with little Johnny Howard and Dubya - hardly illustrious company - and boasts that he's a 'Texan Cowboy' because he studied there... *spew*), said that he wanted Ko Chang to become the next Phuket. So lots of government ministers bought land there and resorts and beach huts started going up all over the place, lagoons were filled in, forest areas were cut down. It still looks like a tropical islan [View Full Entry]

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This month in Thailand, the Vegetarian Festival took place. It goes for nine days, which was Bliss. The food was soooo good. By the end of the Festival, I was having curries or noodles for breakfast and two dinners, because I realised that otherwise I wouldn’t be able to try everything before we returned to the Fascist Carnivorous State. I wish we had Vegie Festival more than once a year. Apparently the main place for the Festival is Phuket, where the monks - Vegie Festival is actually during Buddhist Lent, so the vegetarian diet is considered cleansing and purifying - stick [View Full Entry]

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