From Singapore to Weddings to Bangkok

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Hey all,

Sorry but this will likely be a quick update without as much info as I would like to stick in a blog update.

I left Wollongong sad to see my friends for the last time in who knows how long. It was a sad departure but at least I got to spend some more time with them and have a mroe personal good bye than most of the people who left in large groups last semester. I jumped on the plane and flew to Singapore on the 18th of September.

When I first flew in I stopped to chat with some information desks to find out what was exciting down in Singapore. Luckily I had arrived before the start of a Chinese festival and was privileged enough to enjoy the opening festivities and the following week long party that ensued. I met two German girls who were fresh travelors and looked like they needed some help so I took them under my wing, and brough them to their hostel. It worked out for me as well considering I didn't have one booked 😉. The city was 'dirtier' than I had expected since Singapore was supposed to be among the cleanest on the planet but there was a ghost fesitval there the week before where people burnt stuff in the streets for the last week so it was littered with debris and ash.

The next day we took a bus around the city to observe the sites and then ended up walking home because we enjoyed the botanical gardens, the esplanade and waterfront too much so the bus stopped running. Since the city is hosting a Formula 1 race there were multiple parts of the road closed off which made getting home rather interesting and ended up pushing the time it took to travel home over another hour. We walked for over 2 hours to get home, stopping many times along the way to either enjoy the riverside or the numerous fancy architectures of the buildings because the ladies were tired of walking.

We had explored the numerous cultures within the city which in itself was a fascinating adventure. there was Little India, a China town, and an Arab sector and all noticeable changed within proximity to its limits. I made sure to eat food within all three sectors tasting their varying dishes and then adventured out to the Singaopore restaurants to enjoy their foods. I think the curries of the Indians were the best but they were all a pleasant change.

So aside from exploring these sectors I didn't do too much except explore downtown and the festival grounds. My last day I decided to apply for jobs but realized that a careers fair would be on wen I was back in Edmonton. I left early the next morning and flew ungodly long hours back to Calgary where I found that my surfboard had been lost, again, and then my mom drove me to Airdrie where I hitch hiked to Edmonton. I only waited for 20 minutes and got there by midnight. My friends picked me up and brought me a Canadian beer to drink then I went to bed. The next day I just lazed around enjoying friends company and had much needed GOOD beer and some North American hot wings. The next day was full of running around the careers fair re-realizing that comapnies wanted me to apply online not via physical resume. So in the next few days I will have to apply for resumes then hope I can get a phone interview here in Thailand which may give me an excuse to stay at a nice resort =).

That night I had people over just to catch up with and it turned more into a social come and go gathering which worked out better. I woke up the next morning to fly to Vancouver where I met my brother at the airport and we drove to various wedding photo sites before going to my bro's fiancee's sisters and spent the day there before heading to get tux's fir then the beach and then a meet and greet between the families. The next day we just hung around, had the rehearsal wedding and then went back to my bro's fianee's parents for dinner. I had a hard time sleeping that night due to excitement for the following day.

My bro's wedding was wonderful. I thappened with minimal stress and maximum fun. I was a little on edge with the preparating when the minister was late ebcause my brother got a little tense and I think this threw me off a little because I was so worried about things going right after this that I may have screwed up a line in my part of the wedding though it ended up being quite minor. I feel that it may haunt me for a whiel yet however...

Once that was all over I just had to worry about my speech. It seemed to go over quite well because people seemed to laugh at my jokes even when I thought they weren't jokes and fawned at my kind words. People seem to take you a great deal more serious at weddings because they know everything you are saying is heart felt even if you forget half the stuff in your speech. I was told that some people thought it was a great speech and thought it was a great way to end the evening of toasts. From thereon in we just met people, chatted with cousins and were merry. The newly betrothed couple left, I organize a small gathering afterwards at a pub, few showed up but those who did had a great time.

I had promised the brides dad that I would get the maid of honor back safe so I ended up bringing her home and just crashing in the spare bed at the hosue to get driven home early the next morning in a hung over state. I spent the remainder of that day catching up with a Norwegian lady on skype and hanging out with my family. I left back to my friends house because I had left all my travel junk there and then left her place at 3 am to catch my flight. It was terrible.

I wasn't too excited to leave because I was having so much fun. I really enjoyed my time in Canada but when I left I re-realized everythign I was leaving. that made it even more difficult. running off on my own, again. I flew at 6 am after having to buy a new ticket to ensure the airline had its bases covered ($1700 full refund ticket return so that United Airways wouldn't be liable for a deporatation) then few to San Fran, slept in the airport for 2 hours and waited another two, 11 hours to Tokyo, 2 hours in Tokyo then 7 hours to Bangkok where I caught a bus to a hostel and spent the night.

I got up and spent the day trying to refund my ticket to find that the airlines office closes at 11 am... shit... Never fly United Airways. I think they are crap compared to the others and have terrible PR.

So I just explored my area today and looked into some tourist info after meeting a British bloke and having some beers on the town. $3 for a giant beer at 6.4% was such a good deal compared to Australia so I can see myself having such a good time here. I will hunt down the stupid airline tomorrow to get my refund as I got my visa no worries and the airline just wanted to cover its bases which I understand but it is still stupid to make me go through that extra stress. It just made it harder to leave because it was so silly. So tomorrow I run off to do that then go see temples. The following day I head to the Tiger Temple and floating market then am tossing up the idea of heading to the full moon party and parading around down south.

Sorry for the quick update but there is so much to catch up on and such a short time. Keep me posted on your adventures! I am applying for choice oil companies tomorrow and the next day so I will have limited times for updates. Keep me posted on your lives no matter how boring you think they may be. I love to hear from you even if I have seen you recently or not at all. Any scraps you decide to throw me are appreciated and will solicit a personal response. Miss you all and love you all very much. =)

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Comments

[Gail Slack]

I'm new at this
Hi Nick, Enjoyed reading your blog. Your Mom got me started on this the other day and I'm still learning about Facebook and travel blogs. Our latest travel blog is going to the lake on Thurs for Thanksgiving and close up. It's supposed to be -13 here by Friday. Hope it's better our in BC. Sounds like to had a long, hard trip but am sure it was worth it. Keep safe and have fun. Gail Slack