tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77593094988087072702024-03-13T19:03:24.256+07:00The BludgerAn intermittent attempt to document where I have been and what I did.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12924042236227656173noreply@blogger.comBlogger164125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7759309498808707270.post-61830898799751484012016-05-13T08:32:00.001+07:002016-05-13T08:32:58.063+07:00Wheat free diet from now on?For years I have put up with heart burn and gastric reflux, generally either ignored or treated with antacids. This has made it uncomfortable to lie down after eating, which is why I don't like to eat late at night and some days I just get through by drinking lots of water and hoping to flush out whatever it is. Lots of water does help as does "going to the toilet".<br />I was diagnosed in my late teens as having a duodenal Ulcer and a weak sphincter muscles that stops food going back up the Esophagus after eating. After treating the ulcer, which in those days was not actually treatable, I was told to modify my diet and to "live with it."<br />When talking to Doctors about continuing heartburn in later years I was told to keep off booze, coffee and fatty foods. Never once was wheat, gluten or wheat products mentioned. I never really pushed for answers or solutions.<br />More recently I had a lunch with a long term friend and he mentioned that he also had regular heartburn. Like me he had been told to drink less, eat less rich foods and eat less. We commiserated with each other and moved onto other subjects. But this raised the priority in my subconsciousness.<br />Over the next few weeks I seemed to be bombarded with information and messages about gluten, proteins in wheat flour and people suffering from allergies. It began to make me wonder if I was mildly allergic to either gluten or the wheat proteins. So recently I took myself off food that I knew contained wheat or might contain wheat. No breads, no pasta, no cakes and no dry biscuits. No burgers, no Pizza, no sausage rolls, no toasties no battered anything.<br />At this stage I can say that after 2 weeks I have only had one instance of acidity, that was mild and could be attributed to a bite of Garlic Bread that I started to eat without thinking.One incidence of feeling bloated that could be attributed to too much food or too much fat.<br />My self diagnosis is not truly scientific in many ways, I have not kept a food diary, I have not noted details of symptoms, I have not had any blood tests or medical input. But I can say that my "movements" have been more solid, but that could be attributed to a course of antibiotics for a dental procedure also incidentally cleaning out my gut bacteria. I have not suffered heartburn. I have not suffered from discomfort when lying down.<br />The way to test this is to go and eat some bread. To be honest though it is so nice to be heartburn free that I am reluctant to take this step.<br />
I enjoy eating fresh bread or Vegemite on toast, or a toasted sandwich as a quick snack. Missing out on eating cakes or biscuits is not a big deal to me, although I do like to bake those when I have a chance. Burgers are good too.<br />
I am not sure where to go with this. A lifetime without bread seems a bit harsh, on the other hand a lifetime free of heartburn will be very nice. Maybe my diagnosis is wrong and other factors are causing the heartburn. Maybe there is a level of wheat that I can eat without triggering too much discomfort? Who knows.<br />The Bludger may be slightly intolerant to wheat proteins or gluten.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12924042236227656173noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7759309498808707270.post-81867856614586586572016-05-11T11:50:00.000+07:002016-05-11T11:50:06.443+07:00Getting a Tourist Visa for China from ThailandYou have reached this page because you a Foreigner in Thailand and want to work out how to get a Tourist Visa for China. Personally I found information hard to find and so I have written this post to help others.<br />
The <a href="http://www.chinaembassy.or.th/eng/" target="_blank">Chinese Embassy</a> web site has some information. I found that it was not complete however.<br />
All Visa Processing is actually done at the Visa Application Service <a href="http://www.chinaembassy.or.th/eng/gdxw/t1298948.htm" target="_blank">Centre</a> not at the Embassy.<br />
This <a href="http://www.visaforchina.org/" target="_blank">link</a> leads you to a form where you can select which country you want to apply from and which city, or you can go straight to the <a href="http://www.visaforchina.org/BKK_EN/" target="_blank">Bangkok</a> page.<br />
I strongly recommend that you read their step by step process on that page.<br />
For me it took 3 attempts to get things right. This was because at each stage my paperwork was insufficient, I learned a little bit more each time until I got it right.<br />
Here is the official list of what is required, but that is not quite complete either. Click on the image to see it larger.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjafZakDgIpwE36bKRyDLAbzB6PvAZBCN0meJ0qlL_eWxDbH6u9B_f0Dyt7Pa-eGtGlqXLqAQxiaL6p2sW5a9gL1ZZ5bMjDoqgBHdqFIYCcsewgRhgj3hVVXwPDwyyyXyNZb5p193LkmZE/s1600/cnvisareq.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjafZakDgIpwE36bKRyDLAbzB6PvAZBCN0meJ0qlL_eWxDbH6u9B_f0Dyt7Pa-eGtGlqXLqAQxiaL6p2sW5a9gL1ZZ5bMjDoqgBHdqFIYCcsewgRhgj3hVVXwPDwyyyXyNZb5p193LkmZE/s200/cnvisareq.gif" width="137" /></a></div>
As well as that list you may need a <u>Declaration</u> that you are not intending to work in China. I suggest that you prepare and print one along with the other Documents<br />
<ul>
<li><h4>
You can apply for the visa up to 90 days in advance.</h4>
</li>
<li><h4>
!!!!!You can only get a 30 day Tourist Visa in Bangkok!!!!</h4>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>
Preparing your Documents</h3>
All documents must be typed, not written in hand. In fact the Visa Application form says typed in Uppercase.<br />
<br />
<h4>
1. Passport</h4>
<h4>
2. Visa application form.</h4>
You fill this out online it is a PDF document. Note that it says typed in uppercase.<br />
You can get the form is several locations here is a <a href="http://www.visaforchina.org/BKK_EN/System/278165.shtml" target="_blank">link</a> but I suggest that you check that it is valid before using it.<br />
Note that before starting this form you need an itinerary, some hotel accomodation booked for at least the first night or an Invitation Letter. You need to put these details in the form.<br />
If you have a laptop or tablet with Acrobat reader you can save the form, otherwise you need to print it out. If you make a mistake you may need to start all over again.<br />
<h4>
3. Photocopy of Passport ID page</h4>
<h4>
4. Photocopy of Thailand Immigration Stamp</h4>
If you are not permanently living in Thailand this is your tourist visa.<br />
If you are permanently living in Thailand this is your Non Imm B, retirement, marriage or whatever Visa you are on.<br />
Your travel plans should show that you are leaving Thailand before this expires <br />
<h4>
5. Photocopy of Previous Chinese Visa</h4>
If you have been to China before, otherwise not needed.<br />
<h4>
6 . Letter of Certificate Yourself or 7. Work Permit - photocopy</h4>
If you have a Work Permit in Thailand you do not need this, show the work permit details instead.<br />
This is a simple statement of who you are, where you live, what work you do and passport details. The following information is required. Remember this is typed and not hand written.<br />
<ul>
<li> 1. Your name <br />
2. Country<br />
3. Passport Number<br />
4. What is your job? <br />
5. What do you do in <a class="internal auto pid3182" href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g293915-Thailand-Vacations.html" target="_blank">Thailand</a>?<br />
6. What is your purpose to go to China?<br />
7. You stay in China since.…until….<br />
8. You will pay for you trip<br />
9. Sign your name</li>
</ul>
<h4>
8. Flight Ticket (go and back)</h4>
Booked and confirmed flights into and out of China. It says return I didn't want to return so they accepted an onward ticket. (To Hong Kong for me).<br />
You are going to have to pay for these up front. So if you change plans make sure that flights can be altered or refunded.<br />
<h4>
9. Hotel reservation in China</h4>
Or alternately an Invitation Letter plus relevant details. (Look elsewhere for Invitation Letter requirements.)<br />
This part was frustrating, eventually I obtained an Invitation Letter from someone I knew.<br />
The Visa Processing Service Centre seems only to want to have the first night accommodation booked. It seems to be a tick in the box situation. No accom, no Visa.<br />
However your travel itinerary, part of the Visa Application form, wants addresses of hotels in the places you visit. I wanted to freewheel my travel and not have a set itinerary. This did not sit well.<br />
I offer no advice on how to meet both those needs.<br />
<h4>
10. Photocopy of Bank statement</h4>
Ultimately they did not ask me for this. I offered it but it was not required.<br />
<h4>
</h4>
<h4>
11. Wording of the declaration that you will not work.</h4>
Something like this will do. You will need to make it look pretty.<br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-AU</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>TH</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:ApplyBreakingRules/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0cm;
mso-para-margin-right:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0cm;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>Declaration</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To whom it may concern.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My name is <u></u>xxxxxxxx. My nationality is xxxxxxxxx, I hold passport no: xxxxxxxxxx</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>employer is xxxxxxxxx</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am normally employed as an xxxxxxxxx</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-AU</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>TH</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:ApplyBreakingRules/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0cm;
mso-para-margin-right:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0cm;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
While in China I will not work as an xxxxxxxxxxx. I will
respect the laws and culture of China.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Date: xxxxxxxx</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Signed xxxxxxxx</div>
<h3 class="MsoNormal">
At the Visa Processing Service Center</h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You can look up the address. I normally went to Petchaburi MRT station and walked the rest of the way. Use Exit 2 and turn left along Phetchaburi Rd when you exit the station. About 7 minutes walk. There are motorcycle taxis if you are lazy or in a hurry.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I found the staff to be very friendly and very helpful. You go up the lift to Level 5 and the office is easy to find. A person at the front does the initial assessment. If your paperwork is in order you will get a ticket to be processed. If not they will tell you what you need to do.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The guard at the entrance can do minor photocopying e.g. ID page of Passport, but not big jobs. He also had glue to stick pictures to the application form.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On level 2 of the building is a general store with a couple of PCs and a photocopier. If you have overlooked something they can normally help out. But they do get busy and you are requested not to tie up the PCs for too long as others are waiting.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you find this useful let me know. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
the Bludger is all done.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12924042236227656173noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7759309498808707270.post-62137092961378307362014-10-03T05:08:00.000+07:002014-10-31T05:23:26.519+07:00USA - Here I come<h2>
Getting there.</h2>
My last working school day of the semester. I was very busy as I was trying to get things organised for second semester and ensuring that I could have a holiday and come back to school ready to go. I was pressed because when I booked my holiday in the USA, the school was unable to give me the dates for second semester and so I guessed the return date. As it happened the second semester started early and I did not actually return in time to start it.<br />
<br /><b>Friday </b>night there were some drinks with Expats but overall a quiet night. Cat, my girlfriend, joined me from Ayutthaya at about 10:30pm. We had a quiet night.<br />
<br /><b>Saturday </b>was my day for getting organised. Cat was both a help and a distraction. By mid afternoon bags were packed, clothes had been washed and dried and we both headed off to Ayutthaya. On a good day if the connections are working and traffic is light this trip takes about 4 hours door to door. This trip was a little longer, as we had to wait for a long time to get the minivan. It was late when we got to Ayutthaya.<br />
<br /><b>Sunday </b>was spent with Cat and is already a blur of temples, drinks, meals and a little relaxation.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-NGFJvs0iRp-3VjBd95XuIwa0I0CdJtpXkYtfLkP4aWcfDRy9oss_P1nMsVh1RvKE0KYNKoiJ-Zn0ROqOzFDwcFYOUW6er8RGpVKX9foVZ_pRawRiUZL5yBZDfHf9nQfgOl6_rgIzs-A/s1600/2014-10-05+13.21.36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-NGFJvs0iRp-3VjBd95XuIwa0I0CdJtpXkYtfLkP4aWcfDRy9oss_P1nMsVh1RvKE0KYNKoiJ-Zn0ROqOzFDwcFYOUW6er8RGpVKX9foVZ_pRawRiUZL5yBZDfHf9nQfgOl6_rgIzs-A/s1600/2014-10-05+13.21.36.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<br /><b>Monday </b>Cat went to work and I made my way to Bangkok. I had an early flight on Tuesday and a hotel booked near the airport. The hotel offered a shuttle bus service and I was booked for the 3am shuttle. Cat joined me in the evening after leaving work. Rather than do the sensible thing and have a quiet night we went out for a meal and stayed up till late watching "sing a song". We left about midnight, maybe we should have stayed longer and gone straight to the airport.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOoLNsgLnKm-I3R1M5Ah4qn6UC4C6sw8iZfLbN2ahRXQ-4CZpoWpMP_Ts0f19SISZd9iEuwvZZHqWgWrkvCtPcUkUSRQxNKYuS2S4VjLhSCasUkAiUKNT7_YeF70uR5SpUKCrMU_Ec3FM/s1600/2014-10-06+20.38.48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOoLNsgLnKm-I3R1M5Ah4qn6UC4C6sw8iZfLbN2ahRXQ-4CZpoWpMP_Ts0f19SISZd9iEuwvZZHqWgWrkvCtPcUkUSRQxNKYuS2S4VjLhSCasUkAiUKNT7_YeF70uR5SpUKCrMU_Ec3FM/s1600/2014-10-06+20.38.48.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /><b>Tuesday </b>was an early start, and a long day spent in aircraft. I departed Bangkok at 6am on a 10 hour flight to Tokyo, my connection was delayed an hour and then a further 7 hours to Seattle. With time zone changes it was only 9am Tuesday morning. "Three" hours after I left BKK.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaqmNnznRRBLGex5NhM6bFv_GMY1HOEuzP1kHeVAo7q9Ik2jGWjGcu677EBkokT0DeBSp2qsy2pKCMMsTj8lEid0_DApROIrrm9BLlQp0h6GcjvfmX7gjK3FY8GSqcarNcirsS6Nn2K-U/s1600/2014-10-07+07.02.22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaqmNnznRRBLGex5NhM6bFv_GMY1HOEuzP1kHeVAo7q9Ik2jGWjGcu677EBkokT0DeBSp2qsy2pKCMMsTj8lEid0_DApROIrrm9BLlQp0h6GcjvfmX7gjK3FY8GSqcarNcirsS6Nn2K-U/s1600/2014-10-07+07.02.22.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />At Seattle Airport I met Susan and we then headed to New Orleans with a change of aircraft in Salt Lake City. We arrived at our hotel in New Orleans about 10pm.<br />By this stage I had managed maybe 5 hours sleep and neither of us was certain how I would be feeling. As it was I was wide awake and feeling good. Well I was after a long hot shower. New Orleans time is exactly 12 hours different to BKK, so for my body clock it was 10am.<br />So naturally Susan and I headed off to Bourbon Street. We were in search of food and music. We put our head into a few places just to check things out. We eventually settled in a bar with a Jazz band, no food and an extensive drinks list. We stayed until 2am when the bar shut down. The music was good, but somehow not inspiring, 3 musicians on stage who left you with the impression that they had been doing the same routine for far too long and were bored to death with their gig. Only the drummer who was quite younger than the other two seemed to show any signs of animation.<br />Bourbon Street itself was pretty quiet that night, we walked back along it to our hotel, decided not to try any other venue, had a late night hot dog and went to bed.<br />That was the first and last time that the Bludger spent any time in Bourbon Street! We avoided "hand grenades" and "hurricanes".Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12924042236227656173noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7759309498808707270.post-24601463357167581672014-07-03T21:16:00.004+07:002014-07-03T21:19:33.776+07:00A small(ish) wingeThe last few weeks have been difficult for me.<br />
An already busy job became even busier when one of the teachers fell sick, left work, and ultimately decided not to come back. I started picking up some of his classes from the first morning that he didn't show up.<br />After a couple of weeks I realised that this was going to be a long term option and put some effort into managing some of his classes on a permanent basis. I chose classes that I could fit into my schedule and that I had already been covering. A few days later the school administration came to the same conclusion and ultimately classes were re-arranged and distributed amongst all the teachers. <br />Unfortunately for me all my extra work was for nothing as I was assigned different classes. I was able to hand over some material, grades and assessments to other teachers, but no one was organised enough to return the favour. That rankled a little bit. These were teachers that claim to be highly experienced and on top of everything, but ultimately, to my eye did a poor job of covering the necessary work beyond turning up to a classroom prepared to keep the class engaged for the required time.<br />This extra workload came on top of an already busy schedule. I have not completed a full year at the school yet. In my first Semester I was working 70 or more hours per week, just to keep my head above water. This, my second semester, I am more on top of things. However I am still writing training and study guides for work that must be done in the following week. Most weeks I put in between 50 and 60 hours. That seems a bit of a joke when officially I have 18 teaching hours, 20 with the current overload. <br />For most lessons it takes the equivalent of 1 or 2 lessons to prepare the material and then further time afterwards to do marking, assessment and grading of the students work. Once again it galls me when I see my fellow teachers arriving at or just after the official start time, leaving the second that the clock reaches 4pm and never seem to do any marking or planning. In fact those around me seem to have plenty of time to sit and chat and take life easy. <br />It makes me wonder about the quality of their teaching and the experience that the students are getting.<br />To be fair, there are teachers that appear to be very diligent in their work. It is not just me doing long hours.<br />I just became a machine and just plowed through my work, socialising just about zero, not going away on weekends and trying to avoid any distractions. I thought that I was just keeping on top of things but as I now start to prepare for submitting mid semester grades I can see that I have failed to assess a number of classes adequately.<br />To top it off we then had 2 Teachers go off Sick at the same time. One was off for a week, the other for 2 days. I could see the grey hairs growing on the course Director's head. I wasn't feeling too good myself while this happened as I had caught a heavy cold and had root canal therapy on a tooth. No way could I take time off, so I just battled on and felt like crap for 3 days.<br />But I am almost at the end of it now. My cold has abated, the pain from my tooth has abated the two sick teachers are back at work and a replacement teacher starts next week. On top of that we are in mid term exams. I have to do assessments and grading and supervise exams but at least I do not have to prepare and deliver lessons for a week.<br />On the positive side, I am having some good times with my students. Recently I bumped into one at a counter of a coffee shop. She stepped in close to me and laid her head on my shoulder. That was heart warming.<br />
The Bludger has just stopped whining.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12924042236227656173noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7759309498808707270.post-81113920015283412822013-12-05T09:41:00.000+07:002013-12-05T09:51:50.650+07:00Customer Service - Thai StyleOne of the things about Thailand that constantly surprises me is the high level of Customer Service that I encounter.<br />The patchy nature of English literacy and language skills can make any commercial transaction a somewhat daunting experience. I know that I, and no doubt many foreigners, do not go into some restaurants and cafes and shops and businesses because it can be daunting. Many foreigners take their Thai wives or girlfriends or a friend to help deal with the challenges. <br />I do not have that luxury so I have to boldly go where others fear to tread. Food is often easy if you can point at what you want. Most food stalls in markets, food halls and on the street sell a narrow range of products which limits the choices. But even a street vendor can have many variations of what they provide. Below is a photo from the menu of one of my local vendors. For a small cart it is a bewildering choice. I, and no doubt many others, eat just a small range of what is available based on food that I have learned the words for. As a side note, it is my current goal to learn to read such menus and learn how to ask for what I want, not just what I see.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ67b0j5VgjzMfCiBvktTjwkh3rSDVKrb4mD2MqiSqlhlSSO5JFaek81LQoJWu51BuhXXOodG78n0JbvszyI3E8-H9qYUyH5eHJgcOI5iEjapSi6nZqx1MDKyX2E5xIHjmwZ-BaYoDdyk/s1600/ThaiFood.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ67b0j5VgjzMfCiBvktTjwkh3rSDVKrb4mD2MqiSqlhlSSO5JFaek81LQoJWu51BuhXXOodG78n0JbvszyI3E8-H9qYUyH5eHJgcOI5iEjapSi6nZqx1MDKyX2E5xIHjmwZ-BaYoDdyk/s400/ThaiFood.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />But the presence of English is often surprising, the person in the market who I bought Coconut milk from ended up having very good English skills. There is a lady in a restaurant nearby who speaks fluently, I get surprised at times when I buy something and get told the price in English.<br />What triggered these thoughts however was a recent experience to buy a new mobile phone and put it on to a plan. <br />On arriving in Thailand I purchased a Thai SIM that connected me to a prepaid service. It is pretty easy to top this up at 7/11's and a range of other businesses. Earlier this week however my mobile phone died unexpectedly and it was time to buy a new one. Pretty easy to do in Thailand as there are phone shops everywhere. However I also considered it time to get on to a post paid plan which included Internet and retain my current number. While that is a pretty common and relatively simple task, even in Australia that would take a bit of time and effort, filling out forms, proving my identity etcetera. So the same process done in Thailand was a little bit daunting.<br />I spent some time wandering around shops looking for phones and settled on a make and model with the features that I wanted at a price that I was interested in.<br />I then checked with my current provider to see if it was available through them. What I discovered was that it was available and that they had a special deal where I could get onto a phone/data plan at a huge discount for 12 months if I transferred in from another phone service or I had a particular exisiting service. Which by chance I had.<br />So last night I fronted up at my local Phone provider office and took a number to wait for service. The wait was about an hour. I had come prepared with a printout of the phone and plan that I wanted, plus my passport, plus my Work Permit, plus my address written down in English and Thai plus some cold hard cash.<br />I was served by a young girl who spoke no English. The two of us battled on with pointing and the occasional help of a cashier who did speak a little English. I bought the phone which involved the cash transaction plus a check of my Work Permit.<br />We then proceeded to setting up the plan. There was a small hitch when I could not understand that she wanted me to confirm that I wanted to switch from prepaid to post paid. But we got there. All the while she smiled and worked diligently and showed great patience. At one stage she thrust a form at me to fill out in Thai. I just looked at it, then at her with a helpless look. She got the message, smiled and we both had a bit of a laugh. She pointed out where I needed to sign and then completed the form herself.<br />She had to make some changes on her computer on their systems. She then assembled the phone for me and burnt me a new SIM. I thought that she copied my old numbers across, but I either had none on the old SIM or I was mistaken. In any case I lost all my phone numbers as I cannot read the old SIM (different size) in the new phone and my old phone is completely dead.<br />I was then done and finished. <br />All that time I had been treated with courtesy and respect and patience. No sign of annoyance and no problem too difficult to overcome. Not a word of English spoken by the customer service person other than common borrow words like "passport". I guess that I helped by bringing all the information that I might need. But overall great Service from my local Telewiz (AIS) Office and a daunting experience became an enjoyable one.<br />I also have a similar experience whenever I go into my Bank. I always feel that I am well treated and people go out of their way to help. It would be easy for the staff to "not understand" but they are always helpful and friendly.<br />The Bludger likes good Customer Service.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12924042236227656173noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7759309498808707270.post-73693012652326117162013-12-01T18:08:00.000+07:002013-12-02T21:52:12.252+07:00Teaching EFL in Thailand - Part 1<b>A day in the life of an ESL Teacher in Thailand.</b><br />
Disclaimer: Every day is different and this is a composition of several days and weeks of teaching to give a flavour of how it works.<br />
6:00 am I awake and check the time. It is just getting light outside. I have slept well but been aware of noise throughout the night. I am literally 100 metres from the train station. Periodically trains come and depart on their way to or from Bangkok. I hear their whistles and the station announcements over the public address system from the privacy of my bedroom. Also Roosters have been crowing most of the night. I thought that the Cock only crowed at dawn, but this lot seem to have lost all sense of time. It is not a burden however, I actually quite like what I hear.<br />
I should mention that I live about 200Km from Bangkok in a semi rural area. <br />
My bed does not have a mosquito net over it but the doorway and windows are protected by netting and I am rarely troubled by insects. Some nights however I wake up and feel tiny bites on my body. I have never seen what does it, but I believe that it is minute ants. Ants are every where in my house. Drop the smallest crumb and in a short space of time there is a trail of ants taking it away. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghdTmOZFS07wbeGKz77E9WBKqEEfOAGI3wehjWFLdAgBnOrbdmwxDqst2HVCXMwPZ6mD6RVYAgJuzkJHnwMmCETVRlNf1kebqQ1QPXDCoxolJnkuDJu1rqHKskXGpQ2OkbTeDw99f0LmE/s1600/House1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghdTmOZFS07wbeGKz77E9WBKqEEfOAGI3wehjWFLdAgBnOrbdmwxDqst2HVCXMwPZ6mD6RVYAgJuzkJHnwMmCETVRlNf1kebqQ1QPXDCoxolJnkuDJu1rqHKskXGpQ2OkbTeDw99f0LmE/s400/House1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Bedroom</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I live in Thai style accommodation. I have a downstairs living area, a small bathroom and have made a kitchen outside. The ground level is a concrete floor that has been tiled and concrete pillars and walls supporting the upper story. Doors and windows are mostly protected with insect screens. The house has settled since it was built and there are large cracks at corners, and where the floor meets the walls. There is no way to keep the insects out. My bathroom has a regular supply of slugs and millipedes, it is a daily chore to collect them and throw them outside. Or just let them be.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi54y3TAg8r1aIcFavw6NYjX-AO-ImAiSJti8c2Z6ypar0ACtU86UGZ5fOeJDkL15EL4GLDIlWqM5I7oKPJeqKyui1kZMsAjSSV2CQFvRaqjXK7iejrjYe2kRUCevnvLEf9ti2a06FD7P8/s1600/House2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi54y3TAg8r1aIcFavw6NYjX-AO-ImAiSJti8c2Z6ypar0ACtU86UGZ5fOeJDkL15EL4GLDIlWqM5I7oKPJeqKyui1kZMsAjSSV2CQFvRaqjXK7iejrjYe2kRUCevnvLEf9ti2a06FD7P8/s400/House2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">House from the front</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp6x5A5686RzXpXFdfEp3q4PIzLlQWaG0tBo9fVb5DvS6PUlEM9Yh3EyIOpHi61BSKBrVWXf31P1g2JVhrLZspZ5c4o5xvgBN1_0RMvgvVK3Gq_IMrCpDJM7b45O7bEfy5N_75lZHIjhQ/s1600/House3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp6x5A5686RzXpXFdfEp3q4PIzLlQWaG0tBo9fVb5DvS6PUlEM9Yh3EyIOpHi61BSKBrVWXf31P1g2JVhrLZspZ5c4o5xvgBN1_0RMvgvVK3Gq_IMrCpDJM7b45O7bEfy5N_75lZHIjhQ/s400/House3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back of the house showing the kitchen. The flooding was temporary.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
By western standards this is not great but by Thai standards I am in luxury.<br />
I have no hot water and I have to pay Electricity and Water bills and fill up the gas bottle when it is empty. Water for 1 person having 2 showers a day plus flushing toilet etcetera costs about 85 Baht per month. Electricity is costing about 450 Baht per month. Mainly air conditioning and lighting as I have no hot water system. Yes I shower and wash in cold water. If I want hot water I heat it in a saucepan. I did buy a small electric jug for making Tea and Coffee.<br />
I have a gas bottle connected to a single gas burner. That was in a shocking state when I got here but after a thorough clean it is working considerably better. Cooking facilities are all outside. There is a small external sink and I have scrounged tables and bought some pots and pans and cooking implements to make a rudimentary kitchen. Ants, birds, slugs, millipedes, squirrels, mosquitoes and various insects rule outside. It would not pass any health inspection in Australia but is sufficient for basic cooking needs. On the plus side the ants clean up any food stuff that is dropped.<br />
The upstairs section of the house is all wooden construction "Queenslander" style for any Australians and has 2 bedrooms, both with air conditioning. It is pretty cool at the moment with night time temperatures in the mid 20's so I am not using the air conditioner.<br />
I get up, shower, shave, have a drink and get ready for work. I try to check Facebook and email but most of the time the internet is down. This is a specific problem with a shared internet connection that I am using, not a general problem with internet in Thailand.<br />
I live on the school grounds in provided accommodation. This has benefits with cost as it is free and ease of access to work, but some down sides with lack of privacy and anonymity. The school grounds are large and quite lovely. I walk by a fishpond with lovely shaded seating on my way in and past a soccer field and basketball court. Some of the children that I pass call out to me and say good morning. The general greeting is "Teacher" but the last syllable is drawn out and it sounds more like "Teachuuuurrreee".<br />
......to be continuedAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12924042236227656173noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7759309498808707270.post-3457121664128074492013-12-01T16:00:00.000+07:002013-12-02T20:55:49.355+07:00Teaching EFL in Thailand - Part 2...continued.<br />
I am normally in the office before 7:30am. I set up my laptop, turn
it on, then go to the main entrance and sign in. If I fail to sign in I
get no pay for the day.<br />
On one day of the week I am rostered for "gate
duty". I need to be there by 7:20am and I watch the students walk in
through the gate. There is one other English teacher also rostered on
and 3 Thai's. I think that they are administrative staff rather than
teachers. We get on fine. The Thai staff have a bit of gentle fun with
the students, calling out to favourites and sharing a joke, sometimes
they enforce the boys to pull their socks up (nothing has changed since
my school days) or the wearing of identity badges.<br />
The students give a
Wai as they walk past. They have it a bit tough as they Wai to the 5 of
us in turn and a religious object behind us. Some do each one in turn,
some do a sort of continuous Wai some avert their eyes and hope to get
away without doing it. Now that I am known and familiar a number of
students call out "good morning teacher" to me as they pass.<br />
Two
days a week all of the English teachers also have to attend assembly.
This starts at 8am and we stand to attention during the playing of the
national anthem, flag raising, prayers and then the school song. This is all run by the students plus one Thai Teacher who lead the singing and prayers and raise the flag. I am constantly impressed at the self confidence that the students display when in front of over 2000 fellow students. After
the formal part of the ceremonies we English teachers are allowed to leave.<br />
The students stay and are talked
to by the principal or various others. There seems to be an inordinately large number of announcements. Sometimes this is finished by 8:30 when
first lesson starts, sometimes first lesson is considerably shorter than
it should be.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbrjRBn669zx0FPDT3iMihtTXn5v0ehrRIMsX7KjwyK_cRa-lS6sB1g-7w3GY09Te6JilcupIUtxyzgiJ1u6ftth4YztaaK775mgCfcbyiqwYhbuMCEeLkyQC29VCpJJ-zWYFzT3txZ3I/s1600/Benchama1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbrjRBn669zx0FPDT3iMihtTXn5v0ehrRIMsX7KjwyK_cRa-lS6sB1g-7w3GY09Te6JilcupIUtxyzgiJ1u6ftth4YztaaK775mgCfcbyiqwYhbuMCEeLkyQC29VCpJJ-zWYFzT3txZ3I/s400/Benchama1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raising of the Flag during the National Anthem</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There
are 10 Foreign teachers in our School's English Program. Actually one is a French Teacher. But we like him anyway. Our School is a
High School, Matiom, and has a formal English Program that is a little
different from many schools. The parents pay extra to get their children
onto the English Program. We teach Science, Maths and Computing in
English plus various English classes such as Grammar, Fundamentals and
Conversation. I have 19 Classes each week, 8 of which are Computing for
Matiom 3 and 4 the rest are all English Conversation for Matioms 1 - 4.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-7tV7Dd9N7AH06s4LjRxr7d3adra3s6eT8TZCXElj80F2u8LkLT2gK3m8tjmHx6CgfMo7nqk4D13CWTGRM8ZdOE0mQ7EOUi5BYzaNpAbW2ek-YZf4bJUULLAC_MP_xy_AoT0t5UlKkL8/s1600/assembly1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-7tV7Dd9N7AH06s4LjRxr7d3adra3s6eT8TZCXElj80F2u8LkLT2gK3m8tjmHx6CgfMo7nqk4D13CWTGRM8ZdOE0mQ7EOUi5BYzaNpAbW2ek-YZf4bJUULLAC_MP_xy_AoT0t5UlKkL8/s400/assembly1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Assembly from the far back.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I
have no idea what other subjects the students get but I do know that there
are Thai teachers who teach English and Computing in Thai. It would be
wonderful if we could coordinate our efforts, but there is no scope or
desire to do so. Even amongst the English teachers we rarely coordinate.
I know that some of my students are also getting English Grammar
lessons and it seems obvious to me that I should be structuring
Conversation classes to complement their grammar lessons. It is not to
be. Given time maybe I can make a change in that respect, but the English Program Administration do not seem to see that as a priority, even if they recognise the problem.<br />
<br />
I have a busy schedule. Monday I have 4 lessons, Wednesday and
Thursday 5 each, which makes Tuesday and Friday relatively easy days.
All that spare time is spent on lesson planning, preparation, marking
and some administrative chores. I generally work until 5pm then take
work home and spend time on weekends doing catch up. <br />
Lesson
planning takes a long time. It will get easier as I build up a body of
work that I can draw upon. I am easily doing 60 - 70 hours a week at the
moment. I started in October and have not had a weekend off yet, but it is getting easier.<br />
My
class sizes vary. The smallest is 20 the largest is 45. Some students I
only see for 1 class per week. I question how much I can teach in one
50 minute lesson with 40+ students in it. Besides it is never 50 minutes as some students arrive up to 10 minutes late. I put these students on the spot, in a gentle way, and make them recite the Alphabet or something like that before sitting down. Even at Matiom 4, (about 15 years old) many have trouble reciting the alphabet. They can sing it as a song but have little understanding of the letter order.<br />
I have a number of double
lessons. These are good. It does mean a lot of preparation to keep people
engaged for 2 lessons, but overall it is easier than doing planning for 2
shorter lessons.<br />
Lessons are often disrupted. Already this
Semester we have spent 2 weeks on "special time". During this period
each class is 5 minutes shorter so that there is extra time at the end
of the day for the Thai Teachers and Administration to do "stuff". The
first time was for teacher meetings. At the moment it is to schedule
retesting for students who failed subjects in the first semester. I did
not see one of my classes for 3 weeks for a number of reasons.<br />
The
classrooms I would rate as good. The English Program has air
conditioned classrooms. It is part of our contract that we teach in air
conditioning. The Thai students often find them too cold and wear
jumpers, while I am still sweating. Each room has a PC connected to an
overhead projector and a sound system. I prepare a lot of my lessons in PowerPoint and take them into the class on a memory stick. I can play
videos and music, display Tutorials and information and use those
resources to enhance learning. We also have white boards and a clever
device that has a camera and will project things like hand written notes
or book pages onto the overhead.<br />
In the computing labs each
student has a computer with a wide selection of software on it. The
computers are ancient and regularly break down but there is some nifty
stuff. Whenever the PC shuts down it reverts to an inbuilt image. This
is virus free and wipes out anything that the student did. You cannot
save work between lessons but you always know the configuration of the
PC to start with. The Teacher's PC has some clever control software. You
can control every computer in the room either individually or on mass.
You can blank screens, prevent internet access, send files to the
students and even interact 1 on 1.<br />
The PCs always boot up in Thai and I have had to learn where the controls are that I need. I still cannot read Thai.<br />
I should also mention that each
classroom has a microphone attached to the Audio system. It prevents
shouting and is a great attention getter.<br />
.....to be continued........Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12924042236227656173noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7759309498808707270.post-61178808395714458612013-12-01T14:00:00.000+07:002013-12-02T21:32:32.361+07:00Teaching EFL in Thailand - Part 3....from part 2......<br />
As far as materials go I
consider myself lucky. We have 2 onsite printing operations. Any
material that I prepare I can get duplicated. Small quantities are done
at a photocopy booth. No more than 40 copies, but they will take
multiple pages and print them back to back or copy pages from books
etcetera. Bulk printing is done in another section, minimum 50 copies. (Yes a disparity there, where do you go for 45 copies? Cheaper to print extras so go to the place that prints 50 or more).
Costs are tightly controlled and all printing needs authorisation from
the Thai administration. I routinely take in mini booklets of several
pages and make 120+ copies. I do have to collate them and staple them by
hand however. My printing needs are fairly light as I use PowerPoint a
lot, so I never get questioned. I have seen the equivalent of multiple
trees go through that place however.<br />
I have to provide my own
laptop and stationery. I could use the School PC's but the convenience
of a personal laptop makes it almost mandatory.<br />
My fellow English
teachers are a mixed bunch. Some have Thai wives and teaching is a
convenient way to earn money and stay in the country. Some are single
and there for a multitude of reasons. Some are obviously escaping a
past. All are unique in some way. This school does attract long term
stayers however.<br />
I have an assigned desk and a very hard wooden
chair. It is made from a lovely bit of wood well made, varnished, heavy
and it would be worth some money elsewhere. I am cramped in amongst 5
other teachers and we all have to squeeze in to allow others to pass
behind us. My desk has draws and I have no storage space. All of that
has been nabbed by the existing teachers, as the newbie I have started
at the bottom of the pecking order. We have 2 shared PC's, for 10
teachers and 2 Thai leaders and a printer. We are under orders to
minimise printing on the local printer. Of course we need to print originals for duplication
and lesson plans. Multiple copies of a document are frowned upon. We
recycle paper and where possible we have to print on the back of
previously used paper. I was issued with a Whiteboard marker. All the
rest of my stationary I have bought or scrounged.<br />
We have a Thai
Leadership and 3 Thai Administration assistants. They are all nice and
friendly with varying levels of English skills. I have no idea why we
need three assistants, they spend a lot of the day eating, chatting and
watching things on YouTube. The Thai leaders are also Teachers and do
lessons like we do, except they are in Thai. I have no official contact
with any other Thai teachers or staff, but I am slowly forming
relationships with a few. Mainly those who speak a little English or
that I have bumped into for some reason or another.<br />
The Students.
Isn't that what this is all about? Our School is a former all girls
school and the number of girls far outweigh the boys. There are over
3500 students. Assembly is a sight to behold as they fill the assembly
area and spill out to the sides. <br />
Once the ice has been broken the
kids are lovely. They are polite and generally respectful. They like
sharing a joke or having a bit of fun. Many come up to me and say hello
and then are lost for words as despite all their training they have
exhausted their conversational ability. Some are cheeky and cross
boundaries that they would not dare to do with a Thai teacher. One girl
recently walked out of an art class and proudly showed me her
drawing. I don't believe that she was one of my students, she was just
happy to show her work to someone.<br />
In a week I see something like
400 students, some for only 1 hour. There is no way that I can learn all
of their names. As I walk around the school grounds I have to stop and
wave or say hello or practice a bit of English. It is good. But it does
mean that I have to be early for lessons as I can be held up along the
way.<br />
In the classroom it is almost impossible to keep the kids
quiet. The Thai teachers rule with an iron fist and liberal use of the
cane. We foreign teachers do not use the cane and must use force of
personality to maintain control. It is somewhat easier for a bloke as we
tend to tower over the students. But overall we try to engage the
students not dominate them. In a class of 45 students who are crammed
into seating so that you cannot even get to some of them it is difficult
to do much. Often it is more about keeping them amused for 50 minutes.
Some rooms are so big that I doubt people at the back can hear you
speak/shout. The smaller classes I prefer to get into a semicircle. Or
several small groups. I have found that walking around the room is
useful. If you are behind their backs they tend to stop the chatting and
obvious things like texting on their phones. But if you do 1 on 1 with a student you can assume that the rest of the class are chatting not working. I try to talk with at least some students before the class is formally started while waiting for the latecomers to arrive.<br />
I really enjoy spending time with the kids - sorry I mean students. I
have never had my own children, it is wonderful interacting with people
who are on the edge of adulthood and want to engage with you. There are some real characters. A tiny boy in one of my classes is nicknamed Big. This is an obvious joke by his parents. He walks around with broomsticks for legs and trousers that would fall down without a tightly done up belt. And he grins such a disarming smile that I just want to laugh all the time.<br />
Academically
I set my own Curricula. No one has ever given me direction, checked on
my progress or shown more than a passing interest in what I am doing.
While I am an independent person I would actually like some guidance and
oversight.<br />
I have to submit 3 levels of written documentation.
These are a Semester Plan, a Unit Plan and a Lesson Plan, for each
class. Three levels of bureaucracy of which one is redundant. <br />
The
Semester Plan is a good thing, it sets general directions. It is very
generic. One of my Computing classes merely says that the students will
learn Photoshop.<br />
This second semester is nominally about 20 weeks
long. It needs to be broken up into Units. The reality is that I will be
lucky to have 14 teaching periods with each class
during that time. I thought 2 units, which would be the weeks before
Christmas and then the weeks after, would be sufficient. It was pointed out to me that some
people have 7 or more units per Semester. A unit that lasts 2 or at most
3 weeks! Get real.<br />
Then we have Lesson Plans. We are supposed to
submit these two weeks in advance. What I find in practice is that the
Plans get changed dynamically on the spot in the Lesson. I go back and
find that half the lesson was not completed or that I have had to divert
on a tangent. As a recent example I had to stop a lesson and explain the
word "else" (as in 'what else did you do?'). I was floored at such a
basic gap in knowledge. But I don't mind if a lesson is not completed as
that means that I have material for next week or I have struck an area
of misunderstanding and I can spend the next lesson trying to repair the
lack of knowledge. Whatever happens I need to re-write the Lesson plan
to match reality. I do this assiduously because next year I will have a
ready made set of Lesson plans tried and tested.<br />
All I need to
submit for these plans are a single printed page of information that gets stored in a folder. The actual plan
is about two sentences. This is done to satisfy audit requirements, nothing to do with supervision or tracking what you teach.<br />
My actual lesson plans have the required
information on page 1, which I print and hand up, and then a detailed set of notes
on subsequent pages, including any tutorials, materials or assessments
that need printing. These are my lifeline for getting through a lesson. I often also have a run sheet to keep me on track during lessons.<br />
I find that I have to improvise a lot. I had a double lesson today for example. I found that I had run out of work half way through. Partly because I had under prepared, but also partly because I had to skip material that was obviously too difficult. I had a reading printed and the students were struggling so I stopped and asked them to circle all the words that they did not know. I had a lot of circles and had obviously pitched the difficulty of the lesson too high.Too much to try and teach all of the words on the fly and I will probably abandon the exercise for this class.<br />
Always have a video on hand for times like that. I found a copy of "A Bugs Life" on the PC, the kids were happy to watch that till the end of the lesson.<br />
There is a constant battle to remember that the students have to do most of the talking, not the teacher. But then the other constant battle is to get the students to talk. Generally 2 or 3 leaders do all of the work.<br />
School
day ends at 4pm. We are required to be onsite until that time even if
we have no lessons. We need permission to leave the school in working
hours, even if you are just going across the road to the 7/11 in our lunch time.<br />
Having said that there is no formal lunch break.
Lessons start at 8:30am and continue until 4pm. Both the students and
the Teachers eat when they get a break in their lessons. This is a good
thing as the students eat over a staggered time period spread between
about 10am till 1pm. There is very little food left after midday
however. (See below). Due to my teaching schedule I tend to eat about
11:30 ish. I consider 12 noon or 1pm a normal lunch time, but I have had
to adapt to local necessities. Some days I can take time, others I have
to squeeze a quick break in between lessons. At our school there seems
to be a rush between 11:00 am and 11:30. Best to avoid that time. Teachers
buy their food at the same place as the Students and there is no
preferential treatment, a teacher cannot walk to the head of the line as
happens in some schools.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRPsCrPqlOH8y7foTyVrexMcOGFoErdFeaPO5Qh4nSvitSaqO0bijNCJGGt2vkKMdTgZmBnrf9qrLpS8UpUWRdl_NPCJuPjxqQ90mg_WN4smToEQ6FnHa2sFYaRw7WvJ4hTufjnJHvD4w/s1600/foody1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRPsCrPqlOH8y7foTyVrexMcOGFoErdFeaPO5Qh4nSvitSaqO0bijNCJGGt2vkKMdTgZmBnrf9qrLpS8UpUWRdl_NPCJuPjxqQ90mg_WN4smToEQ6FnHa2sFYaRw7WvJ4hTufjnJHvD4w/s400/foody1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Typical Thai lunch time fare. Noodles with Chicken, 20 baht!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As far as food and eating goes we have a huge
onsite eating hall and a smaller one for first years (M1) who eat
together in a group. There are a number of food stalls selling all
manner of Thai standard fare. The type of food that you will get in any
Thai food market or see being sold by street side vendors. There are
over 14 stands. Food is cheap and consists of all the Thai staples.
Noodles in various formats, rice with curries and various options,
fruit, deep fried stuff, the lovely Thai sausages on sticks, even a
Sushi Bar. Plus a bakery run by the home economics students and a shop
that would rival a 7/11 except that it does not sell beer and is mainly
packets of chips and soft drinks. An unhealthy dose of fat and salt and
sugar.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPz_PGVdbdMpaLzW8O4LloZzm9TrOJbdcWJZjXVPls7I_CMGQ-tkV-vRXhBgBqqiVCimtFIRGX73zn6YFYzWdNovNP44fcqm-Bxv6NAljeI65Z0Y6ZvU_SCv7cbP8bNOgVHXqpAiGjMaI/s1600/foody2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPz_PGVdbdMpaLzW8O4LloZzm9TrOJbdcWJZjXVPls7I_CMGQ-tkV-vRXhBgBqqiVCimtFIRGX73zn6YFYzWdNovNP44fcqm-Bxv6NAljeI65Z0Y6ZvU_SCv7cbP8bNOgVHXqpAiGjMaI/s400/foody2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Food hall - without students. I had to wait to get it this empty.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7DbmzE-YdMeZnacyL4ifB6hq26SVof9emyXvpx9cG-ZzoiWmhssHlE1u8koME2iopbx4v6ybKkk5GgFszXciWMFV2X4IVC6t6UVWONFl_Rp-zmpSrFDQpq9UfeGnGTw_XXFmmxB8ucuQ/s1600/foody3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7DbmzE-YdMeZnacyL4ifB6hq26SVof9emyXvpx9cG-ZzoiWmhssHlE1u8koME2iopbx4v6ybKkk5GgFszXciWMFV2X4IVC6t6UVWONFl_Rp-zmpSrFDQpq9UfeGnGTw_XXFmmxB8ucuQ/s400/foody3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Foodhall - fruit vendor.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUEYlQC7qkCxCXlTawkyEQ11F4OeUSYCbwXCzcBdcctkkhMO0sb0nr0aecFoxTIy4I5H7yu1HWOPZCd33xXQI4FztOMMPX9eIKYzfW_wysDloxVZUKEJNA7Jk_o9_ZBCktcTOxwwK2duA/s1600/foody4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUEYlQC7qkCxCXlTawkyEQ11F4OeUSYCbwXCzcBdcctkkhMO0sb0nr0aecFoxTIy4I5H7yu1HWOPZCd33xXQI4FztOMMPX9eIKYzfW_wysDloxVZUKEJNA7Jk_o9_ZBCktcTOxwwK2duA/s400/foody4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Onsite shop. Junk food mainly,</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I am slowly learning to be able to talk food, rather than
just point at what I want, and had a small victory recently when I could
ask for yellow egg noodles not the standard white noodles. Plus there
is a local business that will deliver sandwiches and subs at a very
reasonable price.<br />
At the end of the day I walk home. I routinely
stay until 5pm. Partly because I have a reliable internet connection at
School and partly because I am running hard to keep up with marking, and
planning. After 4 weeks it is starting to become easier.<br />
My
evenings tend to be quiet. I do not have a TV and it would be useless
anyway as without a Satellite dish I could not receive English language
channels. At the moment I tend to have a meal and then get back into
lesson planning. The meal is either bought from nearby or now that I
have made a kitchen area cooked at home. The reality is however that
going out and buying Thai food is far cheaper than making it myself. So
home made is becoming stuff that I cannot buy locally such as pasta.<br />
If
not doing school work I tend to read. I have already run out of reading
material but there is a lively community amongst the teachers of
swapping e-books and I am now getting new reading material. However I
dislike reading on a computer screen, I prefer curling up on the couch
with a proper book.<br />
On Monday night there is a market literally
outside the school gates covering an entire block. I go there to find my
evening meals. If I wanted to I could buy pretty much anything that I
wanted in the way of clothes, music, shoes, household items. But I want
so little.<br />
After School on Friday I take all my school clothes to a
local Laundry. They wash, dry, press and fold my 5 shirts and one pair
of trousers for 90 Baht. My only concern with this place is that my
shirts feel slightly damp when I get them back. I need to hang them up
to complete drying pretty quickly. The rest of my laundry I take on
Saturday morning to a different laundry and wash them myself in a pay
for use washing machine. I normally take all my bedding, towels, casual
wear and underwear and do two machine loads for 60 Baht. I have set up a
washing line, made from string at home where they can dry.<br />
I bought a Motorcycle shortly after getting here. Public transport is not very good. It is not always easy to get a Tuk Tuk or Motorcycle Taxi when you need one so it quickly became obvious that I needed transport. The Motorcycle is 125cc and is great for around town but far too slow for highways. I had a frightening experience on the highway when I took a wrong turn and was in the midst of cars and trucks doing well over 100km/h. I pushed my bike up to 90km/h and was in constant fear of being side swiped by passing trucks.<br />
That pretty much covers a usual school day. Plus some extras.<br />
It is all good. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12924042236227656173noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7759309498808707270.post-85058787484058095262013-10-14T15:56:00.000+07:002016-06-06T04:59:11.393+07:00Renovations: Master Bedroom #2Having got the cupboards out of the way it was time to tackle the painting. <br />
I like to work in a top down fashion. Do the ceilings then the walls and finally the room trim including window frames, skirting boards etc.<br />
First task is to strip out what I can, light fixtures, picture hooks and other crap left by previous occupants. Then patch the holes this leaves behind plus fix any other defects. After that it is supposedly a simple task of cleaning walls and ceiling and then re-painting. If only.<br />
I had been aware of some flaking paint on the ceiling, so I did an experiment of sanding and repainting a small patch. It improved the look, but I had doubts about the longevity of this solution. So I did a further experiment and used a scraper on the flakes. I soon found that I could scrape off a fair bit of ceiling paint. It was only loosely bonded to the drywall above. I began to think about two things, firstly why was it doing this and secondly how was I going to fix it.<br />
My first thought on the why was moisture or water. The bathroom and kitchen both have much more serious paint flaking. Water from below was not an option for the bedroom, whereas it could be for the bathroom and kitchen. So next step was a trip into the roof crawl space to see if there was evidence of water. My gutters had been blocked and overflowing, maybe it had come into the roof.<br />
Gratifyingly the roof space was dry and showed no evidence of water penetration.<br />
So i had a closer look at the paint that I had scraped off. The first thing that occured to me was that the paint was coming off the paper covering the drywall. Basically it had only bonded lightly to the ceiling. Also there were patterns, a lot of the flaking was near to joints in the drywall.<br />
I will never know, but I suspect that the ceiling was never primed or undercoated properly. Possibly it was a bad mix of paints, possibly the jointing compound between the drywall sheets had not set properly, possibly moisture is coming through the join. Whatever, I scraped and sanded off what I could, but I think that the problem will re-occur.<br />
But this gave me a problem. Painting over the cleaned area would leave a noticeable ridge line. I had no idea how to overcome this.<br />
Google is my friend. I quickly discovered that I needed to skim coat the ceiling, or at least the parts that I had exposed. This involves spreading a thin layer of jointing compound on the ceiling to even it out. Oh dear, the Bludger is expected to do this? You expect me to spread a thin coat of stuff on a ceiling so that it does not fall off neither that it is too thick nor too thin? Warning impending ceiling disaster.<br />
I dutifully headed off to my regular hardware store to purchase the items that I would need. I felt vaguely uneasy about this however. Had I taken enough of the loose material off? Are there other patches that will fail inside a year or two, and I will need to repeat the exercise? Can I even do it?<br />
{note: Posting a half completed blog from 3 years ago} Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12924042236227656173noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7759309498808707270.post-55867962824180760522013-10-10T17:00:00.000+07:002013-10-14T15:45:51.517+07:00Wat Huay MongkolWat Huay Mongkol is one of the tourist attractions in the vicinity of Hua Hin. It is a rather large temple complex built along the banks of a river and features a large statue of Luang Phor Thuad who is a very famous monk in Thailand.<br />I approached and parked with rain threatening to fall. I began a walk around the temple complex.<br />There are a number of temples and pavilions and it had a very quiet atmosphere, at least on the day that I visited.<br />As I write this large parts of Thailand are under water and flooded. The river next to the Temple was in flood and obviously well above its normal height. Some areas were under water and what I assume were flow control barriers or mini dams were all totally inundated and overflowing.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7jf_TclDPlxKm-3r01_OTlUjga6CJHSJysgEbnmloenqmj5UCK4d5xzizaikvlKorAc9Od4BPVRUivHh_9Yy3Mn-4zluxD9RrGXtIkM2jhVyPCgjcFTWhMgzSobRJ-UOJOZZTwPFJsQQ/s1600/WatHuayMongkol03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7jf_TclDPlxKm-3r01_OTlUjga6CJHSJysgEbnmloenqmj5UCK4d5xzizaikvlKorAc9Od4BPVRUivHh_9Yy3Mn-4zluxD9RrGXtIkM2jhVyPCgjcFTWhMgzSobRJ-UOJOZZTwPFJsQQ/s400/WatHuayMongkol03.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flooded Pavillion</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbbwPaWDxkJIOC7bL0TT4DQcG1tq6BVbHF_fQwErzZc8F6Zqb8ZOgvegAYiO2a2JtzNEo42XRRupF4oiasrv3z21gXnhnu3HCBtJCzLPXU5SLw1-WjtlruTvaoHpKTw-jVk-bTgJFIFAs/s1600/WatHuayMongkol05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbbwPaWDxkJIOC7bL0TT4DQcG1tq6BVbHF_fQwErzZc8F6Zqb8ZOgvegAYiO2a2JtzNEo42XRRupF4oiasrv3z21gXnhnu3HCBtJCzLPXU5SLw1-WjtlruTvaoHpKTw-jVk-bTgJFIFAs/s400/WatHuayMongkol05.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwKa0s94cvSPwOypUFvomW4L4vCwHBdFDJTyal9QLeenHZG7c1CdosT5hKNolm1LXPPMYL93ut0uO_usF35PCc4eqfFijXPmuso_Ye5mDtqCqJlO_LSpWU2UFa7og1TuuM9hEOzHuGD1M/s1600/WatHuayMongkol06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwKa0s94cvSPwOypUFvomW4L4vCwHBdFDJTyal9QLeenHZG7c1CdosT5hKNolm1LXPPMYL93ut0uO_usF35PCc4eqfFijXPmuso_Ye5mDtqCqJlO_LSpWU2UFa7og1TuuM9hEOzHuGD1M/s400/WatHuayMongkol06.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQDkHvYTCpyvKSmqt_3RyzUyAysZOKI2B525uUsF2OyIofUlkEHtREpWmXdDpLB4YuFKtZFpocdoEbzlUglDQcEiMoVlJr02TWObV_6QHi7ziq2vhaniu4XyY8exhjBxqROr7Y2h-Jys/s1600/WatHuayMongkol09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQDkHvYTCpyvKSmqt_3RyzUyAysZOKI2B525uUsF2OyIofUlkEHtREpWmXdDpLB4YuFKtZFpocdoEbzlUglDQcEiMoVlJr02TWObV_6QHi7ziq2vhaniu4XyY8exhjBxqROr7Y2h-Jys/s400/WatHuayMongkol09.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Overflowing dam</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />At one stage I walked across a floating bridge and had to leap across a gap at the far end to make it to the temple at the end.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinzSzlD_6lspsY2O1YTJvLU2PzCxwcKQ2iuHYSlNQuRgHYjby1AgRouJ8XlwYUv778f2wJmKEP1bTfG_qRa5Y0qrELixQ4Y3KRk-66SfM1MjV1I50k-AeJjs9bWNfQ7dHKbFptTmMWh0U/s1600/WatHuayMongkol13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinzSzlD_6lspsY2O1YTJvLU2PzCxwcKQ2iuHYSlNQuRgHYjby1AgRouJ8XlwYUv778f2wJmKEP1bTfG_qRa5Y0qrELixQ4Y3KRk-66SfM1MjV1I50k-AeJjs9bWNfQ7dHKbFptTmMWh0U/s400/WatHuayMongkol13.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Floating bridge</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJS1pZovTC0r5Nb9FVzTHKM694vSkAWI7rtycvmTWrUQPolRzjdRMBeNTkjLwZW7K3bVvv7ON2wqy0i0gBfKFuDztBYEkI4OZ6ZjzDajcOx5yQJuz7qvn-j9YT_U7Ynpc5VrU_w4ELuu0/s1600/WatHuayMongkol16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJS1pZovTC0r5Nb9FVzTHKM694vSkAWI7rtycvmTWrUQPolRzjdRMBeNTkjLwZW7K3bVvv7ON2wqy0i0gBfKFuDztBYEkI4OZ6ZjzDajcOx5yQJuz7qvn-j9YT_U7Ynpc5VrU_w4ELuu0/s400/WatHuayMongkol16.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The prayer area once safely across</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This was a nice quiet spot and I spent some time there sheltering from the rain. While there I was attended to by a friendly dog who seemed to like licking the salty sweat from my arms and legs. Did I mention it was a hot humid day?<br />After the rain eased I made my way via a pathway back to the main temple complex and so to the Statue itself.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQH_L2FV21mWhHrZUdHsXX2bu470yEx4umzbtvUcGqVdd7fk9hOKztE5evRh6SozATXFep7O11-MaU86cRSJRSyaq1Wsfaz1BbGA9t5AqS5DL7SNossN-lXWArYerlPvfJGZKRXsu6JF8/s1600/WatHuayMongkol24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQH_L2FV21mWhHrZUdHsXX2bu470yEx4umzbtvUcGqVdd7fk9hOKztE5evRh6SozATXFep7O11-MaU86cRSJRSyaq1Wsfaz1BbGA9t5AqS5DL7SNossN-lXWArYerlPvfJGZKRXsu6JF8/s400/WatHuayMongkol24.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAmJRkGOIKUiF2bpZImQDSyJJqTHL8WsZr-RFd6xbo7S-VcIiU_wjKee8DBpYHi8YdnTfvGIQZQZmsBFDC-Q6verIfVLhfTzbEYRW5eOpA07BgTi_OGDIqgtoQOLTlKmL8bDgVppT2txM/s1600/WatHuayMongkol26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAmJRkGOIKUiF2bpZImQDSyJJqTHL8WsZr-RFd6xbo7S-VcIiU_wjKee8DBpYHi8YdnTfvGIQZQZmsBFDC-Q6verIfVLhfTzbEYRW5eOpA07BgTi_OGDIqgtoQOLTlKmL8bDgVppT2txM/s400/WatHuayMongkol26.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Luang Phor Thuad - statue</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I am suffering from "yet another Wat" complex, but I have to admit that this statue was pretty awesome. The large carved Elephants at the bottom were hollow and you could poke your head inside the belly, carefully avoiding its anatomically correct carved "woody", and leave a small donation. Trojan Elephants maybe?<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFmpAll-yvExZ57RK2qXZJp_TcjkQmNBMGsBWpLy7NbWLSBQSXY4lTtBxSJgx36XSb5tFrRp0iKSxH_FmFQdaRghFO4rFJ6ZeFNtQDE2cyZCdtwnBPkBqWLww-bcwVITWGeViNhOJbSMU/s1600/WatHuayMongkol36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFmpAll-yvExZ57RK2qXZJp_TcjkQmNBMGsBWpLy7NbWLSBQSXY4lTtBxSJgx36XSb5tFrRp0iKSxH_FmFQdaRghFO4rFJ6ZeFNtQDE2cyZCdtwnBPkBqWLww-bcwVITWGeViNhOJbSMU/s400/WatHuayMongkol36.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taksin at the charge</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />I then wandered around the remaining area, checked out another temple, saw the statue of King Taksin the Great on horseback and basically called it a day.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKeFP9kZZ9ukznxfSZz7B27enDKtgGBGV3o8dUKs5hG39SdxMJzdeSIdP0PBAM_7lle57FW3qGpX1F64nPADpcHlE3zVUcfcMPrNsc7t1yI1bWMf4vpv7Kx_WUgkz6hJhWzzA4yUiRWDs/s1600/WatHuayMongkol37.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKeFP9kZZ9ukznxfSZz7B27enDKtgGBGV3o8dUKs5hG39SdxMJzdeSIdP0PBAM_7lle57FW3qGpX1F64nPADpcHlE3zVUcfcMPrNsc7t1yI1bWMf4vpv7Kx_WUgkz6hJhWzzA4yUiRWDs/s400/WatHuayMongkol37.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Guardhouse</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtjV4x-_AbbXOLPwHXKEyk5n-9HLYcXMWh4swMA7X6CsUyEO4t3tyim5oZ49uT_jCEhhEonw__V8_jjUPPuGUeec-LU7DQycitV8cNfumpblvGHiAlCOVCzq6gARWkZMS_VCQFWvyx6m8/s1600/WatHuayMongkol44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtjV4x-_AbbXOLPwHXKEyk5n-9HLYcXMWh4swMA7X6CsUyEO4t3tyim5oZ49uT_jCEhhEonw__V8_jjUPPuGUeec-LU7DQycitV8cNfumpblvGHiAlCOVCzq6gARWkZMS_VCQFWvyx6m8/s400/WatHuayMongkol44.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />The Bludger was hot sweaty and has pretty much had enough of Temples.<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12924042236227656173noreply@blogger.com0Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand12.5910636 99.94091960000002912.4670896 99.779558100000031 12.7150376 100.10228110000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7759309498808707270.post-73867112735461714972013-10-10T12:00:00.000+07:002013-10-14T13:05:29.074+07:00Floating Markets near Hua Hin. Part 2<b>Hua Hin Sam Phan Nam floating Market</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig8VqTNNOOX9mx86MpWigLP0RvwxxxEh4TLTd89CARzxdHIxtJYPg-vN3tpSkeBNrwwmiwjw0b-ZPOLuI8Swf5iDE36_nyH0tSp9BCR9J49FnmDBtxx9ipo-aNLQgTFmm-_aJe0XrOM3E/s1600/SamPhanNamFloating+Market01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig8VqTNNOOX9mx86MpWigLP0RvwxxxEh4TLTd89CARzxdHIxtJYPg-vN3tpSkeBNrwwmiwjw0b-ZPOLuI8Swf5iDE36_nyH0tSp9BCR9J49FnmDBtxx9ipo-aNLQgTFmm-_aJe0XrOM3E/s400/SamPhanNamFloating+Market01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hua Hin Sam Phan Nam Floating Market</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After the Hua Hin Floating Market I rode to the nearby Hua Hin Sam Phan Nam floating Market. To me it seems crazy to have 2 floating markets in such close proximity, but that is commercial interest for you.<br />
Sam Phan is considerably bigger than Hua Hin and was also much busier with several busloads of tourists there and a large school group just turning up as I did. There were also more open shops and a busy series of restaurants.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD6w-0N_pfRxlMeXtvo4nJXOlWQXSwWtij2GBEeErTDmzYxsk7rrlS_YcBPmsocnOiv2YRiQYLws-BVIi6Dn0PEfYx_UNuwkwSWMnx5PGUldctmW0VHk1nc9tBSLW0F4LjBlgZTCehJE4/s1600/SamPhanNamFloating+Market02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD6w-0N_pfRxlMeXtvo4nJXOlWQXSwWtij2GBEeErTDmzYxsk7rrlS_YcBPmsocnOiv2YRiQYLws-BVIi6Dn0PEfYx_UNuwkwSWMnx5PGUldctmW0VHk1nc9tBSLW0F4LjBlgZTCehJE4/s400/SamPhanNamFloating+Market02.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Superman was not in sight</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI7Vl8OY4ufIusMMqUVEcL07Jvx20ywmsTwY5qgIkWzGqY9wH-qWazln0WTbQGeFVVq43vFtkK3KpqiNv45z1D3Xs798gHoly3fFK-Ay9nEmaOw7fhTR-fswuWfdi4yd1NmQj5TNIMmgI/s1600/SamPhanNamFloating+Market03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI7Vl8OY4ufIusMMqUVEcL07Jvx20ywmsTwY5qgIkWzGqY9wH-qWazln0WTbQGeFVVq43vFtkK3KpqiNv45z1D3Xs798gHoly3fFK-Ay9nEmaOw7fhTR-fswuWfdi4yd1NmQj5TNIMmgI/s400/SamPhanNamFloating+Market03.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Generic view of decking and shops</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7bBIJB4-RzpHMOgWZJiz9DpDIIyqiAoYJq7L7d0DQUBCnfaKXRUP2UpRRzptOiKJnpjcTm4Upqc5x2N9vCXOwMVbkSKh5ImJrj8ykER8kd_rMjfCsPJvEK29xwPNsioAlgRWY-ojygMM/s1600/SamPhanNamFloating+Market09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7bBIJB4-RzpHMOgWZJiz9DpDIIyqiAoYJq7L7d0DQUBCnfaKXRUP2UpRRzptOiKJnpjcTm4Upqc5x2N9vCXOwMVbkSKh5ImJrj8ykER8kd_rMjfCsPJvEK29xwPNsioAlgRWY-ojygMM/s400/SamPhanNamFloating+Market09.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Keeping the floating theme intact</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
It is a large complex with a central eating area built onto the lake and what turned out to be a stage also built onto the lake. I managed to miss the main performances but did catch some glimpses of dancers in beautiful costumes as I wandered around.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiltb-keuROcrlZD75uVoqQWwgWa70MegVJQ2oCuk3AbcJfqjBTvE9XN8S532CSM90CIT9JCRytT_4BY8YyP_lpK0Ekc2CkVbE9nH23FWRaamTYziXV9ttlUdxAYxGWKU50wrwUUHrFKNk/s1600/SamPhanNamFloating+Market11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiltb-keuROcrlZD75uVoqQWwgWa70MegVJQ2oCuk3AbcJfqjBTvE9XN8S532CSM90CIT9JCRytT_4BY8YyP_lpK0Ekc2CkVbE9nH23FWRaamTYziXV9ttlUdxAYxGWKU50wrwUUHrFKNk/s400/SamPhanNamFloating+Market11.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dancers on a floating platform</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio-uxM7pAymHyspP82ampINS5PhMFp1cQMA_A2jKnWDTElJoH_yR3Y6DJkDcjvxQfZeQq_4iXiwcOFw6ANlYTeUOTgGQ_PBHh-s-5W1UuRmeongIvrpWUe8NIOCZ8J2LlbRbRjP81H1dk/s1600/SamPhanNamFloating+Market10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio-uxM7pAymHyspP82ampINS5PhMFp1cQMA_A2jKnWDTElJoH_yR3Y6DJkDcjvxQfZeQq_4iXiwcOFw6ANlYTeUOTgGQ_PBHh-s-5W1UuRmeongIvrpWUe8NIOCZ8J2LlbRbRjP81H1dk/s400/SamPhanNamFloating+Market10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
There is also a passenger train that runs from one end of the complex to another. <br />
<br />
I found this much more exciting than the first market that I had been to. This is a place where you can take the family for a day out and do some shopping, watch the shows and have a nice lunch overlooking the lake. It caters for both locals and tourists. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIzgYYQAzovP-pZrfks5xAK3IvWUHe5k8SUmtPEyjeNPNI5TK8RVyHgFb1kY3J-md7qBVtxvThQVVUGFU5-jFp-uv6xNeHaoMnPHH025q6pBmwEDnJ15UOJ1O1R1VN3btUQCNC7KtcG60/s1600/SamPhanNamFloating+Market14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIzgYYQAzovP-pZrfks5xAK3IvWUHe5k8SUmtPEyjeNPNI5TK8RVyHgFb1kY3J-md7qBVtxvThQVVUGFU5-jFp-uv6xNeHaoMnPHH025q6pBmwEDnJ15UOJ1O1R1VN3btUQCNC7KtcG60/s400/SamPhanNamFloating+Market14.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and my heart went "boom boom boom"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Once again though it is a clothing, trinket and souvenir market and is built around the lake. You can take boat rides around the lake also.<br />
<br />
<b>Huay Mongkol Floating Market</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMhdCXdtpNpT0Sfr5espvTT9JU8tOUymVKhbcgo9Wk60gxQtziNrlG4ql5pfSakvSA3YDa55fYWswE-aek3KjrKGZggzajCrSmPcyOomhMY3nC5blMENeYnVGwgqye3_NkSm1YGjF5C8o/s1600/HuayMongkolFloating+Market09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMhdCXdtpNpT0Sfr5espvTT9JU8tOUymVKhbcgo9Wk60gxQtziNrlG4ql5pfSakvSA3YDa55fYWswE-aek3KjrKGZggzajCrSmPcyOomhMY3nC5blMENeYnVGwgqye3_NkSm1YGjF5C8o/s400/HuayMongkolFloating+Market09.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
This market is so new that it has not hit many of the guide books and online travel guides yet. <br />Not a lot further on, maybe 10 km from the previous markets it is about 1km from Wat Huay Mongkol (see next post).<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBLD8P7jAclaDkQo_Mdiup-i5hP-qaU4wi6Vxse9zORf5sQ3PEp-zI1BOVA3yv3daSsxKpYiBC6Mmth5GtQH9Au9zCiIznOA8TdSbrkCvJy8Wdes_finVWjRHOOFiDBUVl7ZyS3MuTSa8/s1600/HuayMongkolFloating+Market01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBLD8P7jAclaDkQo_Mdiup-i5hP-qaU4wi6Vxse9zORf5sQ3PEp-zI1BOVA3yv3daSsxKpYiBC6Mmth5GtQH9Au9zCiIznOA8TdSbrkCvJy8Wdes_finVWjRHOOFiDBUVl7ZyS3MuTSa8/s400/HuayMongkolFloating+Market01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxc2FjfoNDqJ6RtN9r_QsF14yrlFjr4sB3yCrAKOkDuTPuSP01xqDezZX0DXkPGk7pZoKP_r1AKcQt6fAuskC2HMt-rfYu_evynFp-qB-MdbME-tgwyldWMs3K4O3k4fLTl0Ta2vzGEtU/s1600/HuayMongkolFloating+Market05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxc2FjfoNDqJ6RtN9r_QsF14yrlFjr4sB3yCrAKOkDuTPuSP01xqDezZX0DXkPGk7pZoKP_r1AKcQt6fAuskC2HMt-rfYu_evynFp-qB-MdbME-tgwyldWMs3K4O3k4fLTl0Ta2vzGEtU/s400/HuayMongkolFloating+Market05.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />When I went there the place was almost deserted. Most shops were closed and still looked vacant, only a handful were open. I spoke with one lady and if I understood her correctly the market does not officially open until November 2013. I was 2 or 3 weeks too early!.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Still it is a pleasant spot and I can see the potential for growth. It is so close to the Wat that it makes a good day trip from Hua Hin you can knock off a temple and market in one go. There are also other attractions in the area that could make a full days outing.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOLd_tuEUmV-kMuPDGZcWnksMycu7e0J2c2f6Ih7iqgQPbs36uxyLaCnVG10H97uqY-d4r4sbRmM0UpKQ87laK6g0P-t5kTfLURaMnwFFuEGHQxhXKj2JrQRkiquvH8oRgdn_jFUsiP9Y/s1600/HuayMongkolFloating+Market08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOLd_tuEUmV-kMuPDGZcWnksMycu7e0J2c2f6Ih7iqgQPbs36uxyLaCnVG10H97uqY-d4r4sbRmM0UpKQ87laK6g0P-t5kTfLURaMnwFFuEGHQxhXKj2JrQRkiquvH8oRgdn_jFUsiP9Y/s400/HuayMongkolFloating+Market08.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWbM7w6gCZayFYamsNhwHWA6Ah9Ofe_rsSSz_UKUoCbsE1RO95-O5ZJ025v51FE0nVI7dCZLDXh003_nfqOAJuXAS0MSbwxkJLHutBiDeCuQwC7H8WtZLluo3bWaYyi83QD_k1sRVTpdc/s1600/HuayMongkolFloating+Market06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWbM7w6gCZayFYamsNhwHWA6Ah9Ofe_rsSSz_UKUoCbsE1RO95-O5ZJ025v51FE0nVI7dCZLDXh003_nfqOAJuXAS0MSbwxkJLHutBiDeCuQwC7H8WtZLluo3bWaYyi83QD_k1sRVTpdc/s400/HuayMongkolFloating+Market06.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />However there is not a lot to report. A large complex with bridges linking sections together and providing shortcuts from one section to another. I saw a bored person using a sling shot and ball bearings to try and shoot fish in the lake. Not the most clever way of using time.<br />
The Bludger was finished with markets for the day.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12924042236227656173noreply@blogger.com0Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand12.5910636 99.94091960000002912.4670896 99.779558100000031 12.7150376 100.10228110000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7759309498808707270.post-1944386639157311272013-10-10T11:00:00.000+07:002013-10-14T12:03:14.634+07:00Floating Markets near Hua Hin. Part 1The original Thai floating markets were literally boats filled with groceries, market goods, fruits, vegetables, fish, meats, vendors selling cooked food and a plethora of other things. There are still some of these markets operating in Thailand, with a large market on the outskirts of Bangkok which is a huge tourist attraction nowadays.<br />
<br />
The more modern floating markets are designed as both retail and entertainment areas for the Thai people. They also attract many tourists. Rather than boats filled with goods they tend to be clusters of shops built around a small lake, often man made. These are not grocery markets, these are places to pick up your clothes, shoes, souvenir items, hand made goods and find a spot to have lunch. They tend to be family friendly and while alcohol is readily available I have not seen the traditional group of Thai's getting drunk around a bottle of Whiskey.<br />
As I had hired a motorbike for the day I decided to take a trip out into the country and explore the markets.<br />
Please note below that I visited in low season on a weekday, the numbers of tourists both Thai and Foreign were very low and many shops simply did not bother to open. The experience in high season will be markedly different.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheGQzow9JFCyjzQOdKGTrj00OTyGaqpCJvaUnpFtJ_hHgFQJyLrtwoqYeaULvJPQpe8KSJVPnXP48GV6L9eLGgwras-xRAB6Qr7wEtU2p-X0Lq18wDvkrBJuiEDF-9WihwvSTjzo2RNCw/s1600/HH_Float_Market01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheGQzow9JFCyjzQOdKGTrj00OTyGaqpCJvaUnpFtJ_hHgFQJyLrtwoqYeaULvJPQpe8KSJVPnXP48GV6L9eLGgwras-xRAB6Qr7wEtU2p-X0Lq18wDvkrBJuiEDF-9WihwvSTjzo2RNCw/s400/HH_Float_Market01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Entrance to Hua Hin Floating Market</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>Market 1. Hua Hin Floating Market</b>. This is about 12km from Hua Hin proper, along Soi 112. Confusingly it is right next to another floating Market (Hua Hin Sam Phan Nam Floating Market ) so you can kill 2 birds with one stone. If you follow the signs to the Sam Phan Nam market you will reach Hua Hin Market first. My map was out of date and the Market was much further along Soi 112 than I had anticipated. I had actually tried walking there the day before and given up. I believe that it may have moved from the original site as the buildings all look very new and modern.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmACbcPyWtDnRTJcX_GZflyWt16lOIlBDrR8kC_fx-d19NAf7mVnr2sQsgYiFGIk_-A4sKMuaU769UyTj77VUq94TyLwRd2sys2H59MRSSuhBXGm0BkWAR_OqRkfEYzs0I9zNnbHl7wUc/s1600/HH_Float_Market06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmACbcPyWtDnRTJcX_GZflyWt16lOIlBDrR8kC_fx-d19NAf7mVnr2sQsgYiFGIk_-A4sKMuaU769UyTj77VUq94TyLwRd2sys2H59MRSSuhBXGm0BkWAR_OqRkfEYzs0I9zNnbHl7wUc/s400/HH_Float_Market06.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNvPZX3bNXe_q_pLWGi3P3ShwBuU0tmjdbZBjHFkTMQGfHohAcrpKwXQ3M6Vgr85zivx4ckFGlfZ1PoAXLz1lSGndBEHUxJ-uPrgBGzEY0AQ4HDWJs-JcSwmPF133exy_tAs22FcgMti0/s1600/HH_Float_Market15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNvPZX3bNXe_q_pLWGi3P3ShwBuU0tmjdbZBjHFkTMQGfHohAcrpKwXQ3M6Vgr85zivx4ckFGlfZ1PoAXLz1lSGndBEHUxJ-uPrgBGzEY0AQ4HDWJs-JcSwmPF133exy_tAs22FcgMti0/s400/HH_Float_Market15.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
While the lake and buildings are pretty overall I did not find this very impressive. On the day that I went it there were only a handful of shops open and only a handful of other tourists. But there are certainly some nice looking food stalls, I did stop at one to get a cold drink but the disinterested staff could not be bothered getting off their seats so I gave up on the drink idea and walked away.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf9E7c50ZztPK8x4rM9grUnSc0Dq4dGuBUtg9t4uEdeGynQtgHnm5wGD02BpUua2rmPeMrJFt0PkI1CKQEntS9ogUFMmVZTD3M_6zmc6GlFb8YyhMETDycHeXp3Qi_OZYRFGEdtkBpxOU/s1600/HH_Float_Market20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf9E7c50ZztPK8x4rM9grUnSc0Dq4dGuBUtg9t4uEdeGynQtgHnm5wGD02BpUua2rmPeMrJFt0PkI1CKQEntS9ogUFMmVZTD3M_6zmc6GlFb8YyhMETDycHeXp3Qi_OZYRFGEdtkBpxOU/s400/HH_Float_Market20.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goats in the Animal Farm</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There is an animal farm at this market which is attractive to children. The animal farm consists of a small souvenir shop, a coffee shop and the animals themselves. These consist mainly of some tired looking goats, a few parrots and a bunny rabbit. You can buy bottles of milk to hand feed the kids.<br />
I walked around the whole complex in about 30 minutes and was on my way.<br />The Bludger was not overly impressed.<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12924042236227656173noreply@blogger.com1Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand12.5910636 99.94091960000002912.4670896 99.779558100000031 12.7150376 100.10228110000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7759309498808707270.post-74274356804143691332013-09-21T17:09:00.003+07:002013-09-21T17:34:07.696+07:00Floods?Ayutthaya is a city at the confluence of 3 rivers namely the Pra Sak, the Chao Phraya and Lopburi rivers. The old town is built on an island formed many years ago by building a canal to link the Pra Sak and Chao Phraya rivers.<br />
This area is low lying and flat. In 2011 it flooded extensively when Bangkok and other parts of Thailand were also flooded.<br />
There have been extensive rains in the catchments of the above mentioned rivers and local authorities have had to release water from dams to alleviate the high water levels. Parts of Ayutthaya province are already flooded and although we are not officially on flood watch I have met some worried locals. It reminds me of the atmosphere of Brisbane just before the floods. One lady that I know has left to look after her mother who is in a flooded property. We drove by her mother's place only yesterday and all was well. Today I have been down to the ferry terminal on the Pra Sak river. Normally you walk down a floating gangway to reach the ferry terminal, today I walked up it.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-QbDqdNQMifYvDfU7WIC9AiapL6Q3iQbKPbPHh7rQzVSksfaH97MvxfV01sUFex7RgQvp1sZ3BdbK6S_OinRje_vxdiMVq5D0bTdq49KdL44VENCiwe1P9nx0OS65oBa-LzjMEzLUplc/s1600/DSC00286.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-QbDqdNQMifYvDfU7WIC9AiapL6Q3iQbKPbPHh7rQzVSksfaH97MvxfV01sUFex7RgQvp1sZ3BdbK6S_OinRje_vxdiMVq5D0bTdq49KdL44VENCiwe1P9nx0OS65oBa-LzjMEzLUplc/s400/DSC00286.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Normally you walk down that ramp. Not today you don't.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The river is in spate. Ordinarily Tug boats tow several large barges in a chain full of building materials down the river to Bangkok. Today there are 2 tugs, the one at the front is barely making headway and is just going with the current and keeping the barges on track. A second tug at the rear is facing backwards and slowing the barges down and preventing the rear most barge from swinging out of line and overtaking the other barges.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3oJs_bL1JZwPWeIX18k7P03XIN970tFYO4U-0IK1KHb3w_oxh6SOdExBRsY0MOnuyk93HVB5CM7DARovJg-gLTt6PaPUdfrbLY06Gk1fALkRkZClOh0umLvpA4JWSYB7W6xi8U80g208/s1600/DSC00291.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3oJs_bL1JZwPWeIX18k7P03XIN970tFYO4U-0IK1KHb3w_oxh6SOdExBRsY0MOnuyk93HVB5CM7DARovJg-gLTt6PaPUdfrbLY06Gk1fALkRkZClOh0umLvpA4JWSYB7W6xi8U80g208/s400/DSC00291.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front tug. Slack tow ropes. Just maintaining headway.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKBEGlnZ1ir0z8xX3jQBz7MGELJgmOFDtEqtRjbjwWD-HOpwpA9mHLTeV5vAXVzmymjWba0F6VirXk5nsj7Doim_FaxiDHQzC5NWD3c-G1NUYn_Y29FenFz_SlMB87QdfakAt1cnQ80tQ/s1600/DSC00293.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKBEGlnZ1ir0z8xX3jQBz7MGELJgmOFDtEqtRjbjwWD-HOpwpA9mHLTeV5vAXVzmymjWba0F6VirXk5nsj7Doim_FaxiDHQzC5NWD3c-G1NUYn_Y29FenFz_SlMB87QdfakAt1cnQ80tQ/s400/DSC00293.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The chain of barges</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZJp5Tkch_9n5lPC55-_AQQJeagGYIc3fJDSWuC2GMYmXikarrhP3x0X6sR0Q4jtY7UH3_ssRjxNzetc7LZ8SyY1ct3jTup4kxEfgqfrpDnZfQVUbmzVoFpelSiBVtjb6lAFrLvh6nMMk/s1600/DSC00295.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZJp5Tkch_9n5lPC55-_AQQJeagGYIc3fJDSWuC2GMYmXikarrhP3x0X6sR0Q4jtY7UH3_ssRjxNzetc7LZ8SyY1ct3jTup4kxEfgqfrpDnZfQVUbmzVoFpelSiBVtjb6lAFrLvh6nMMk/s400/DSC00295.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The rear most tug, being dragged backwards.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I ate lunch in a restaurant overlooking the river today. The restaurant owner spent many minutes looking at the river obviously assessing the potential danger of flooding to his property.<br />
Otherwise all good here.<br />
The Bludger is irrigating his stomach with beer.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12924042236227656173noreply@blogger.com0Thailand14.360191158370354 100.57983398437513.375754658370354 99.288940484375 15.344627658370353 101.870727484375tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7759309498808707270.post-2636784189392196022013-08-22T15:31:00.000+07:002013-09-09T15:33:16.263+07:0010 Days in Bali - Days 6-10 part 2I really wanted to show PeaPa a little bit of the north of Bali, so we engaged our friendly driver, Rahde, to take us on a day trip to the north.<br />
Our first stop was a temple complex, called Pura Ulan Danu, built on the shores of a lake. It is a huge tourist attraction and we were there in time to see some ceremony of which I have no idea what it was about. But the participants certainly looked wonderful in white tops and yellow sarongs.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEietP8aE4GHlQZI_wOAai-kJbzyiyIGFXSgNzfQANgTQQKU0sw97mboSQnovVZqygkZBHlmycA72YV86w8hLVMR0L2mKp1y9aj8rIp0-zU1KEZL5djFa4nL7Cuqc1inEr9a2YKe_32TaUs/s1600/PuraUlanDanu05.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEietP8aE4GHlQZI_wOAai-kJbzyiyIGFXSgNzfQANgTQQKU0sw97mboSQnovVZqygkZBHlmycA72YV86w8hLVMR0L2mKp1y9aj8rIp0-zU1KEZL5djFa4nL7Cuqc1inEr9a2YKe_32TaUs/s400/PuraUlanDanu05.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Get those tourists with their cameras out of the way</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEBC_XAH0ccbeIWpfmZGrSXyw4e-u30eSzcM4yhtG-skIIumhGIae-g-6SDrVryrzc82rtszanV-Qtqpmo04gp8FN-JFFdhTurqT8cEFYZbYL5mE6ppxCKhB4VFE10AjY8f5wttonqBh0/s1600/PuraUlanDanu17.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEBC_XAH0ccbeIWpfmZGrSXyw4e-u30eSzcM4yhtG-skIIumhGIae-g-6SDrVryrzc82rtszanV-Qtqpmo04gp8FN-JFFdhTurqT8cEFYZbYL5mE6ppxCKhB4VFE10AjY8f5wttonqBh0/s400/PuraUlanDanu17.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnUDK2JOgWwq_JmHTilo4445iZZVvny2WZXWDpXUgMntmtyKzO6cdvTDdJaPzz4ubGCL99ejwhfG2UkE8Jg7PgNzb5qaAl01scnWofqMtr61w7pMcwJaOIWuVx-0U1QLpYuNGr1bWr3ag/s1600/PuraUlanDanu23.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnUDK2JOgWwq_JmHTilo4445iZZVvny2WZXWDpXUgMntmtyKzO6cdvTDdJaPzz4ubGCL99ejwhfG2UkE8Jg7PgNzb5qaAl01scnWofqMtr61w7pMcwJaOIWuVx-0U1QLpYuNGr1bWr3ag/s400/PuraUlanDanu23.JPG" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">PeaPa survived the savage attack</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Rahde then took us up a hill to give us elevated views of lake Batur and then on to lunch.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNp2tntkX2ERrM01aYLcBARA-3XDIH-UD3IDmwFCC-vEPKmt9x4uVgVT_o1X3Eooo5GESENBaMWbLg1ZK_Xq_stBWMFAWM6IMTooIVQ-sFK33Do1uWOwVspXVeJTPDyjrDRUjyJR2oC0w/s1600/NorthBaliViews12.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNp2tntkX2ERrM01aYLcBARA-3XDIH-UD3IDmwFCC-vEPKmt9x4uVgVT_o1X3Eooo5GESENBaMWbLg1ZK_Xq_stBWMFAWM6IMTooIVQ-sFK33Do1uWOwVspXVeJTPDyjrDRUjyJR2oC0w/s400/NorthBaliViews12.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake Batur</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaMLEBcQXSAPV19WeBsn3iHdp1TP6AxY19DhI09pdl6uaX0dQnXfVlLn9pTA-dbnD9qDIctFG6rXqAQ_hJJs8RmqDlWiO4xVM5RDQ53cutvWm8YKh_dC6mLxkCcuecF_QUXS2x1nrAMFw/s1600/NorthBaliViews13.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaMLEBcQXSAPV19WeBsn3iHdp1TP6AxY19DhI09pdl6uaX0dQnXfVlLn9pTA-dbnD9qDIctFG6rXqAQ_hJJs8RmqDlWiO4xVM5RDQ53cutvWm8YKh_dC6mLxkCcuecF_QUXS2x1nrAMFw/s400/NorthBaliViews13.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panoramic views from our lunch spot.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We then headed down to some hot volcanic pools, Banjar Hot Springs, and had a swim. Well PeaPa chickened out and I swam. Apparently I was purified during this process. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipGQc66rGhvtItRyb1J3KAPL4duIVN0yM7is7V-fMkLbcon_1uB-gS7Fzz_LwAD8XDoPugYGUoevXO_iwGdEAiyGZ2aIGvaFFFv51GMrIsWbVKDos_Wf-VfehuDO6azSSdUw1aV87aEDc/s1600/BanjarHotSprings02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipGQc66rGhvtItRyb1J3KAPL4duIVN0yM7is7V-fMkLbcon_1uB-gS7Fzz_LwAD8XDoPugYGUoevXO_iwGdEAiyGZ2aIGvaFFFv51GMrIsWbVKDos_Wf-VfehuDO6azSSdUw1aV87aEDc/s320/BanjarHotSprings02.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Our next stop was one of the most delightful Buddhist Temples that I have ever been to. That was the one time that I did not have a camera with me. Brahma Arama Vihara Buddhist Temple is extremely well maintained and covers a large area built onto the side of a hill. It is used as a meditation retreat and it is meticulously maintained. If ever in North Bali put it on your visit list. It has little courtyards with trees and pools, fountains, a large communal prayer area, various temple areas and it feels really peaceful.<br />
The day was progressing so we had a very quick stop at Lovina beach and then headed back to Ubud.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeI3BG1X4dlhzKgnkvD2Qsj1TkRj_dIawcxGs2rqQ4HXXf0Puml3MJ2UGhvauIbM9RDVJG-W0oU5hX6p6jm5rrWY6L_Lr8CpsmKpEWxfW-5JD5xQ6Kx-98aoXYXbDNjbdPjuhEdY8Wa6A/s1600/LovinaBeach02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeI3BG1X4dlhzKgnkvD2Qsj1TkRj_dIawcxGs2rqQ4HXXf0Puml3MJ2UGhvauIbM9RDVJG-W0oU5hX6p6jm5rrWY6L_Lr8CpsmKpEWxfW-5JD5xQ6Kx-98aoXYXbDNjbdPjuhEdY8Wa6A/s400/LovinaBeach02.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black sand on Lovina beach</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The Bludger was pretty tired but we did have yet another excellent meal.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12924042236227656173noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7759309498808707270.post-59366634301048178702013-08-22T00:50:00.000+07:002013-09-09T15:34:12.722+07:0010 Days in Bali - Days 6-10 part 1Leaving our lovely accommodation in Seminyak we moved to Ubud for a change of scenery. Along the way we visited Taman Ayun. A large temple to the west of Ubud, I think that it may get the title Royal Palace.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLlIdkG-TUOJNHTfLJGKwEJHheAGpLhBNAp3Z_WX-AQWSDnPHd1GUQvdVPFhXXZrkKy0MJJgCZUz9g02KISpucTkvCifLHnT3WCTWnG4lYtnnRzjecEWaDH4chxXJkJCADE0l5hDZgZOw/s1600/TamanAyul16.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLlIdkG-TUOJNHTfLJGKwEJHheAGpLhBNAp3Z_WX-AQWSDnPHd1GUQvdVPFhXXZrkKy0MJJgCZUz9g02KISpucTkvCifLHnT3WCTWnG4lYtnnRzjecEWaDH4chxXJkJCADE0l5hDZgZOw/s400/TamanAyul16.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A moat and a wall prevented closer inspection</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPG-ATQcLYZmtZ3YoJv1jpTVLxeHH_fVl4H6MZNJcg18-c_JJ0HzrjeU2qYJ8f_nMRLgtfojXeUbwB5dvOz2QwJ5eT7mDJRF5u9Djq3ZJDcJDEQwjP_LxkAIz43Jz8E9XnADIVh7rT8aY/s1600/TamanAyul19.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPG-ATQcLYZmtZ3YoJv1jpTVLxeHH_fVl4H6MZNJcg18-c_JJ0HzrjeU2qYJ8f_nMRLgtfojXeUbwB5dvOz2QwJ5eT7mDJRF5u9Djq3ZJDcJDEQwjP_LxkAIz43Jz8E9XnADIVh7rT8aY/s400/TamanAyul19.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scene at Taman Ayun</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
From there we made it to our new accommodation at <a href="http://www.sulyresort.com/" target="_blank">Suly Resort</a>. This place was fine, my only minor criticisms are that it was a little too far from the centre to walk to Ubud and they needed a pop up toaster at breakfast time! The resort does have a shuttle bus service which we did use but found it more convenient to organise our own taxi. But I did spend some time in their lovely pool and enjoyed talking with the hospitality students who are employed around the resort.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFMp3J0-IqToQew1J7L1fveaAlk6u04bTRlkznZFz1mIWNUFzhuBv8cNZ1xARPU825fXKxOcoeJGY6Mc1szNMnEVFe5TgzSwFSxP6OiWtNxmOfFlOyy2ZnNQhFbjxgIx26cl0NEJII0Rs/s1600/SulyResort05.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFMp3J0-IqToQew1J7L1fveaAlk6u04bTRlkznZFz1mIWNUFzhuBv8cNZ1xARPU825fXKxOcoeJGY6Mc1szNMnEVFe5TgzSwFSxP6OiWtNxmOfFlOyy2ZnNQhFbjxgIx26cl0NEJII0Rs/s400/SulyResort05.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The better of the two swimming pools.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Unfortunately PeaPa had picked up a cold and that limited our travel experiences a little bit. But it was certainly good for her to have a couple of days rest as she works long hours 6 days a week. Holidays are not just about seeing everything and doing everything sometimes doing nothing is good also.<br />
However we did get out and about. We engaged a friendly taxi driver, who ended up becoming our regular driver for most of the days. He had a nice clean taxi, was a responsible driver and spoke sufficient English to be able to explain some of the sights that we saw. <br />
Our first trip was to the nearby Goa Gajah temple. Known as the Elephant cave it is a site that now encompasses the cave, a surrounding temple and walks to other temples and waterfalls. We spent a couple of hours there and I even managed to get PeaPa to take a walk along some of the paths.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirCj2RS_Q-I0Eejnn4ss9a9IyufV7fBGNzcORgho0qlCGcCYPQAYy_j6Y4-1wG07jEr2g8pB0YUxZX5WnybMo-rr6-VmTM72zHxkPqhb4NZK3EYzlSzjITCzGUuIXJ6DuIFK7CYJKGkUg/s1600/GoaGajah07.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirCj2RS_Q-I0Eejnn4ss9a9IyufV7fBGNzcORgho0qlCGcCYPQAYy_j6Y4-1wG07jEr2g8pB0YUxZX5WnybMo-rr6-VmTM72zHxkPqhb4NZK3EYzlSzjITCzGUuIXJ6DuIFK7CYJKGkUg/s400/GoaGajah07.JPG" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entrance to the Elephant Cave</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZVWYP6Pbpq7_uLjKpd1y-ui-Wn64Llmrj9XNhin7GKF9zhRXyTLcT_VN5HASc20xIV9jD6eNCBFnfyNkOVvBwni8UWeOfw1F_kWOwsem97p_kjyWY9pqO0o-D_i7koRVdKCbBoT_XmSE/s1600/GoaGajah09.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZVWYP6Pbpq7_uLjKpd1y-ui-Wn64Llmrj9XNhin7GKF9zhRXyTLcT_VN5HASc20xIV9jD6eNCBFnfyNkOVvBwni8UWeOfw1F_kWOwsem97p_kjyWY9pqO0o-D_i7koRVdKCbBoT_XmSE/s400/GoaGajah09.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the cave</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggSmW7n38rbpWNWcMP5EJtzBpTekEaDDRiNBmJ_1S59dsU4VREdO2wo8ZYaz4Y3ALouE4BLc5pT5-N7hBYD5qgO-lBwAx1gY_lJ4LNCRl4suaxY0iSwpTYq3yl1atD687XehbRxtNnCSU/s1600/GoaGajah19.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggSmW7n38rbpWNWcMP5EJtzBpTekEaDDRiNBmJ_1S59dsU4VREdO2wo8ZYaz4Y3ALouE4BLc5pT5-N7hBYD5qgO-lBwAx1gY_lJ4LNCRl4suaxY0iSwpTYq3yl1atD687XehbRxtNnCSU/s400/GoaGajah19.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Children play in the pools outside the Cave. Sacred water.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXuljGarwTtlnUIAVPHflk_FVoAWGQuZ9BrRSA5hYgd7P-58maLwPfLhyphenhyphenS9_zeEoVnL6ZLsdOvaiz9Kf_d8m-qiDYTy9a-PROQjAwv7eR2pYqRmcASkn0G8zP5DgZfk5w9UtXV25XQVNY/s1600/GoaGajah42.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXuljGarwTtlnUIAVPHflk_FVoAWGQuZ9BrRSA5hYgd7P-58maLwPfLhyphenhyphenS9_zeEoVnL6ZLsdOvaiz9Kf_d8m-qiDYTy9a-PROQjAwv7eR2pYqRmcASkn0G8zP5DgZfk5w9UtXV25XQVNY/s400/GoaGajah42.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On our walk around the temple</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
That particular drive also took us to a Coffee Plantation which makes the Luwak Coffee. In this process the ripe coffee fruit are eaten by a small animal and the beans extracted from the faeces before cleaning drying and roasting in the normal way.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRnoVxybyGXz7JTAi_Y2zqZS0fnjGcrihHrbcJaz8o5G4H8hrzVS-f2VddldUcx9qQzMZkrz1NEXEEf7XecZiypEQGcn_PWMSOJ3OcOYQMYlRmaiN42jB3dRT1YaxE2U0o_0CgUYZqfdw/s1600/Luwak03.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRnoVxybyGXz7JTAi_Y2zqZS0fnjGcrihHrbcJaz8o5G4H8hrzVS-f2VddldUcx9qQzMZkrz1NEXEEf7XecZiypEQGcn_PWMSOJ3OcOYQMYlRmaiN42jB3dRT1YaxE2U0o_0CgUYZqfdw/s400/Luwak03.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two baby Luwaks. Pooper scooper required.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
According to those who know best the enzymes acting on the coffee beans removes some bitterness and alters the taste of the final product to make it the "best" coffee in the world. Personally I find that you can do more damage to coffee in the roasting, grinding and boiling processes that far outweigh any small benefit from an animals gut.<br />
But who am I to know. The driver insisted that we go there, he was obviously on a commission, but neither PeaPa nor myself were very interested. I sampled their teas out of politeness.<br />
That ended our first outing, the driver dropped us at a restaurant in Ubud and we made our way back to the resort later. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
The Bludger realises that he needs a 3rd post for the rest of the trip.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12924042236227656173noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7759309498808707270.post-5083200550194690722013-08-21T07:38:00.000+07:002013-09-08T07:40:21.555+07:0010 Days in Bali - Days 1 - 5Or maybe I should say a whirlwind posting of our Balinese Holiday.<br />
Departure from Don Meuang Airport 6:20 am. That meant being at the airport at 4:20 am which meant leaving Ayutthaya no later than 3:20am. As it was we left at 3am, had a dream run to the airport with no traffic, almost no wait at Check-in, and Immigration and had far too much spare time to wait.<br />
I would rather be early than late.<br />
Once again our arrival in Denpasar was a dream run with only a slight wait for baggage, but that allowed us to use toilets etcetera.<br />
Our hotel had sent a driver to pick us up, who apologised for keeping us waiting (he didn't) and delivered us to the hotel in time for us to have a shower and then consider lunch.<br />
Our accommodation at <a href="http://www.alizeevilla.com/sallybungalow.html" target="_blank">Sally's Bungalows</a> was lovely, we had a Bungalow designed for 2 couples and the other couple had to cancel. So we had a huge place to ourselves.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg78ZYvOSDWNm6I7m-HVC7G3IrdP8R2OGosx9cPSwGnobCX2ZY0n8-0ZbzswBKxtU-_xrOg1LUnbE8EgXVyL6-Wd6cXZmeqzDci6juyvxc1wbyvIN-YfNE_Psyb4wAyB1AAzpqUJ1eCEDI/s1600/SallysBungalows1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg78ZYvOSDWNm6I7m-HVC7G3IrdP8R2OGosx9cPSwGnobCX2ZY0n8-0ZbzswBKxtU-_xrOg1LUnbE8EgXVyL6-Wd6cXZmeqzDci6juyvxc1wbyvIN-YfNE_Psyb4wAyB1AAzpqUJ1eCEDI/s400/SallysBungalows1.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">PeePa in our living area</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The accommodation included a swimming pool shared, but rarely used, with the other Bungalows. Often I had it to myself as PeaPa rarely swims.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh66uFYSZ2h_8D1ciEguK6XNO9HmXR88UpTQcESX538t-L45VKe0gLLsx4a8uJjTKBU2AlJZRMEJOStbdeaVi_LW26Ld0ACaKZ2OU9FcUe6DvOr7FAi9TLnWqGIKJxQ63wfliVlEeeYguE/s1600/SallysBungalows6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh66uFYSZ2h_8D1ciEguK6XNO9HmXR88UpTQcESX538t-L45VKe0gLLsx4a8uJjTKBU2AlJZRMEJOStbdeaVi_LW26Ld0ACaKZ2OU9FcUe6DvOr7FAi9TLnWqGIKJxQ63wfliVlEeeYguE/s400/SallysBungalows6.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The pool, with a child wading area in the foreground.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The next few days were a bit of an odd time. Ostensibly we were there to help a friend celebrate a significant birthday. Due to cost we had decided to stay seperately, although very close, and so did not see as much of them as I had anticipated. We also were working on different time schedules, their breakfast time was 10am, where as I was up and about by 6am and finished breakfast by 7am.<br />
We did catch up that first night and went to a Moroccan Restaurant which featured some Belly Dancing.<br />
We also caught up the following evening, Saturday, which was the official party, and the final night for Pizza.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjEWr_0nuyaigmXYk3oUfsm03l6UC5FX91b1hXr-9QAc6BlonPFs05o4YuP2rtEB6AwBFTk7RFDAn_cds5y29UaBOe2jqpB6KAnf3SQcqk2zV7jz2kMxIjJc0KY63PftjDW1NkCwJk27c/s1600/DeliaParty15.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjEWr_0nuyaigmXYk3oUfsm03l6UC5FX91b1hXr-9QAc6BlonPFs05o4YuP2rtEB6AwBFTk7RFDAn_cds5y29UaBOe2jqpB6KAnf3SQcqk2zV7jz2kMxIjJc0KY63PftjDW1NkCwJk27c/s400/DeliaParty15.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Significant Birthday party</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So instead PeaPa and myself entertained ourselves.<br />
One night we headed to Jimbaran Beach for a Sefood BBQ, which was held on the beach, it had a lovely atmosphere but the food was unfortunately not very inspiring.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6FxrsGLwBQufB8bJyq_SH4KFKPSIi-aTStxm4oASqeDEx4lhoTusWNCFya61HQGU0s6b8BwNgvOe-lBwbhTNUHC1rlyoasLv7brdQfx13Jt_f-WeOeSJEtSpq5eWXVsEFNPe2BmRCJBU/s1600/JimbaranSeafood06.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6FxrsGLwBQufB8bJyq_SH4KFKPSIi-aTStxm4oASqeDEx4lhoTusWNCFya61HQGU0s6b8BwNgvOe-lBwbhTNUHC1rlyoasLv7brdQfx13Jt_f-WeOeSJEtSpq5eWXVsEFNPe2BmRCJBU/s400/JimbaranSeafood06.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seafood right on the beach</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
We also had a rather lengthy tour of the Eastern part of the Island and took in the sights at Tirtaganga, a series of pools fed by underground water, visited a couple of temples including Goa Lawah and had lunch at a lovely restaurant enjoying the cool sea breeze and views at Candidasa.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYpMN-dc20Sr4WptW5InGbMoRuIEkf-pCCUZJuMdsSXWsnBZ9wqpVJx4V8ISsGs9AhIBcowW6m-MNHaON1XUk0jAiYOl3dUPBKGOD9eBt3CvjIZahxxUUDG0BXtqehFxxsOZU_buAcfuk/s1600/Candidasa18.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYpMN-dc20Sr4WptW5InGbMoRuIEkf-pCCUZJuMdsSXWsnBZ9wqpVJx4V8ISsGs9AhIBcowW6m-MNHaON1XUk0jAiYOl3dUPBKGOD9eBt3CvjIZahxxUUDG0BXtqehFxxsOZU_buAcfuk/s400/Candidasa18.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seawall at Candidasa</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Z7hD-JQhFxqyLwaXSmdfqKEC1Oz48uGP9vhiggwynXOQDgSrzomeQKgziLzBZ9LJAmNSgFN9OCHgvqDkJUuxFSc8BEnrmBNLpDqQnb6hoDu5VF_1uuj4uQG2v28i9NVnT7IB1DrpTn8/s1600/GoaLawah02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Z7hD-JQhFxqyLwaXSmdfqKEC1Oz48uGP9vhiggwynXOQDgSrzomeQKgziLzBZ9LJAmNSgFN9OCHgvqDkJUuxFSc8BEnrmBNLpDqQnb6hoDu5VF_1uuj4uQG2v28i9NVnT7IB1DrpTn8/s400/GoaLawah02.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dressed in the height of fashion at Goa Lawah. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbauXPzFvFGiWTKylsZgiuKnfDn9_f7IEJ-dggvXmokD30fv4kIryV4fL56nlnhVJMfps-zW6qPS2E01f3-YOb5tusiDvher9MZGU49pJef0cangcWd5_AN3lC0jx0i8WLXUb5fW4RQRo/s1600/Tirtagangga14.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbauXPzFvFGiWTKylsZgiuKnfDn9_f7IEJ-dggvXmokD30fv4kIryV4fL56nlnhVJMfps-zW6qPS2E01f3-YOb5tusiDvher9MZGU49pJef0cangcWd5_AN3lC0jx0i8WLXUb5fW4RQRo/s400/Tirtagangga14.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exploring the pools at Tirtaganga</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On another day we visited Tanah Lot another lovely area with a Temple built out on a rock and headland overlooking the beach.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwrmKy_S8qVs-EOKRgMMQQ98s8ofBYNEKZv7mLjIOAaqKmVBXwoXNowmwbuTLhaJ4FwwqaSeR4mnIgzlraBCj7apRem1kY5SVHy9bo2MMMOVtDpx-t9xfpYfFYCT5k6QqzsBQCBv-SLjo/s1600/TanahLot07.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwrmKy_S8qVs-EOKRgMMQQ98s8ofBYNEKZv7mLjIOAaqKmVBXwoXNowmwbuTLhaJ4FwwqaSeR4mnIgzlraBCj7apRem1kY5SVHy9bo2MMMOVtDpx-t9xfpYfFYCT5k6QqzsBQCBv-SLjo/s400/TanahLot07.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE8FczVN6MIGsJ_3QMeub_suOA2NWHN5jLgABBj0zOqKDnyJ-GuumEa1GJnKU4kzaF3xr950-zncdrJ0W-AGY-L7yacenSNX114O6e-u0RmzG9EzpUB0kSSecoZUHUpGbhzAAW6lQp_GA/s1600/TanahLot01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE8FczVN6MIGsJ_3QMeub_suOA2NWHN5jLgABBj0zOqKDnyJ-GuumEa1GJnKU4kzaF3xr950-zncdrJ0W-AGY-L7yacenSNX114O6e-u0RmzG9EzpUB0kSSecoZUHUpGbhzAAW6lQp_GA/s400/TanahLot01.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
We also visited world famous Kuta beach briefly.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCCmGUxVzzYljbBEI8NO7hqePCA0DXXYp9zXuQ6YcjEl7pHbrw9K6bYDsTIg5kQ6Bmj3K17oAohG9AymB-tem1cqGDz_-w7phTOYXajFAvdbDv1F2F-hm4kI9hzh8nHTEXmQ6b3kPfAOs/s1600/Kuta08.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCCmGUxVzzYljbBEI8NO7hqePCA0DXXYp9zXuQ6YcjEl7pHbrw9K6bYDsTIg5kQ6Bmj3K17oAohG9AymB-tem1cqGDz_-w7phTOYXajFAvdbDv1F2F-hm4kI9hzh8nHTEXmQ6b3kPfAOs/s400/Kuta08.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-aABpNwRymFObrbrLfhM8ri5VtSEjmnpT3koUPFZ8KabU8ieuDYS0znyObI2av3Ykru5ocwur8e6qiTrZ0wg2PxHbqaETrb4F0TDKZo16fnzAaV1kTqnV7cl0x_p269IY_0J34isouvI/s1600/Kuta20.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-aABpNwRymFObrbrLfhM8ri5VtSEjmnpT3koUPFZ8KabU8ieuDYS0znyObI2av3Ykru5ocwur8e6qiTrZ0wg2PxHbqaETrb4F0TDKZo16fnzAaV1kTqnV7cl0x_p269IY_0J34isouvI/s400/Kuta20.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The Bludger was playing Tour Guide. <br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12924042236227656173noreply@blogger.com0Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia-8.65629 115.22209900000007-8.9074435 114.89937550000008 -8.4051365000000011 115.54482250000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7759309498808707270.post-6220370618378421792013-08-13T18:32:00.000+07:002013-08-15T15:45:16.901+07:00Surat Thani - Night Market<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">On our journey from Koh Samui to Bangkok, Alan and I had a little time to visit the Surat Thani Night Market while we waited for our connecting bus.<br />
As we walked there Alan mentioned that he didn't think that people here
were quite as friendly as on Samui. Thirty minutes later our view was
totally different.<br /> We entered the market and looked at a few stalls. It was fairly standard night market stuff with a food section selling traditional Thai snacks including deep fried chicken, various meats on sticks, curries, noodles and rice meals etcetera. We did see some some foods that we had not seen before<span class="text_exposed_show"> in particular what looks like a waffle folded in half with various fillings.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc-3o8-4wBOWTQtmh57kMySNJ1iEqqlVCZNtZiZr1h0_1M2ckaZ0in1Y13gK6rcXOnmeScRj47dFvx8ZPHMY7YxCHdyQulC7lMb6fTRNv_5kmjHsUNSORDrHlzhjzUkC8TV675tkhRCzg/s1600/DSC00202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc-3o8-4wBOWTQtmh57kMySNJ1iEqqlVCZNtZiZr1h0_1M2ckaZ0in1Y13gK6rcXOnmeScRj47dFvx8ZPHMY7YxCHdyQulC7lMb6fTRNv_5kmjHsUNSORDrHlzhjzUkC8TV675tkhRCzg/s320/DSC00202.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show">In that browsing period we spoke a few quiet words with some of the vendors, who were friendly enough. But then Alan decided to buy himself a new wallet. Once the transaction was completed you could feel a buzz of excitement go
around the market, as we were now not just tourists but tourists who bought stuff. We could
see and overhear the girl who sold the wallet turn to the next stall holder and issue a string of Thai with the word "farang" thrown in. Farang means foreigner or Westerner and we guessed that the gist of the conversation was that a farang had just made a purchase from her.</span></span><br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show">From that moment on as we walked around picking up little bits of foodstuffs from the various stalls people were eager to
speak with us and show us their goods. One lady with very good English and she told us that she had worked in a hotel in Samui for some time. A man tried to encourage his daughter to speak with us and another lady showed me her baby.<br /> A nice group of people, we left that market with everyone having their lives enriched just a little.<br />The Bludger was happy to spread some good will and enjoyed the food greatly.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12924042236227656173noreply@blogger.com0Surat Thani, Thailand9.1382389 99.3217482999999677.1323899 96.739961299999962 11.144087899999999 101.90353529999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7759309498808707270.post-23340448745401130302013-07-28T21:00:00.000+07:002013-07-29T07:57:09.591+07:00Sunday, last day of freedom. Location Lamai Beach, Koh SamuiJuly 28, 2013
I awoke early and had a walk along the beach. At this time the day was cool and the water felt warm. A solitary fisherman was casting his line from some rocks, joggers ran by and the local dogs lay there protecting their territory. The water was calm, the sky overcast, there was little or no wind and the sun had not yet risen to heat the air. Despite this it was warm and I built up a sweat walking along the sand which is quite soft underfoot.
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnFz_JiICLuHtIBTBdvVHKK-yQ1yxrkCm8c4srcR1qZOKbu_8iiaKBePS3VTlpYsqHMzntL20wDNAZA1sD4FZrVfpvhwOjbsw23DJoS1ypPI35bK75-ztJeSZTrtZHs9Iqzem8uYHvzBo/s1600/2013-07-28+07.03.21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnFz_JiICLuHtIBTBdvVHKK-yQ1yxrkCm8c4srcR1qZOKbu_8iiaKBePS3VTlpYsqHMzntL20wDNAZA1sD4FZrVfpvhwOjbsw23DJoS1ypPI35bK75-ztJeSZTrtZHs9Iqzem8uYHvzBo/s400/2013-07-28+07.03.21.jpg" /></a></div>
At this time of day there is little open and I ended up in a bakery for a breakfast of omelet and a plate of fruit. Getting breakfast before study looks like it may need some forethought and preparation as the hotel does not include breakfast other than Tea and Coffee and some bread and a toaster.
Later I took a longer walk and visited a nearby waterfall and a viewing platform part way up the nearby hills. It was a slow walk up the hill due to the heat and my lack of fitness. The view was not spectacular but worth the effort.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLnzVm_dywvnIj5l_pQCn1LrF5M9mzWFb_GSc6NaBDSZEv5pQf31wfI9GztN03rBvBNPWXE5tt17nerVJj4BjKb1gMOFhOuMuFG_K7qYAalZloQDvLIEeLumVsTm01OYsLOsI298i4JJU/s1600/DSC00026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLnzVm_dywvnIj5l_pQCn1LrF5M9mzWFb_GSc6NaBDSZEv5pQf31wfI9GztN03rBvBNPWXE5tt17nerVJj4BjKb1gMOFhOuMuFG_K7qYAalZloQDvLIEeLumVsTm01OYsLOsI298i4JJU/s400/DSC00026.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
At the viewing platform I noticed a man coming across the valley on a flying fox. Until then I had not noticed the cables. After dismounting he came up to the platform and we talked for a while. It turned out that his family own the property and have an extensive section of the mountain side that they are turning into an adventure park. The flying fox was in process of being installed and he was testing the run. He took me up to see the start. At this point in time it is a series of cables bolted into
the rock, but he explained that they were going to build launching and landing platforms and stairways to make the climb easier.
I made my way back to the hotel and picked up a selection of fruit along the way that will become tomorrows breakfast.
At lunch time I ventured out for a healthy meal and ended up having an excellent Green Papaya Salad at "Grill Bar". I asked for it spicy and they got the chilli just right not too hot to start with but by the end of it my lips and mouth were on fire, but not overly so.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNvR6XMAPAjBGds_bNWk4zqK87o8WndBTauX3VSAyB5zGpfzLU4jzrsJKzxQ2YAozwETFDH8K1V2KB618MlfAIFNfr8VXR2shHCMBK_FNr-1nIFGRxBlVoLKr4Kv3P5JfrEzVzwy2JtPA/s1600/2013-07-28+13.32.24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNvR6XMAPAjBGds_bNWk4zqK87o8WndBTauX3VSAyB5zGpfzLU4jzrsJKzxQ2YAozwETFDH8K1V2KB618MlfAIFNfr8VXR2shHCMBK_FNr-1nIFGRxBlVoLKr4Kv3P5JfrEzVzwy2JtPA/s320/2013-07-28+13.32.24.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
After lunch I had a massage that was not very good. Despite saying no sex I spent the entire hour warding off the advances of my masseuse.
Then it was time for a swim and I spent some time in the Ocean. Tick in the box I have swum in the Gulf of Thailand, both from Vietnam and Thailand sides.It was so hot that by the time I had walked back to the hotel, which is not far, I had to cool off in their pool.<br />In the evening we had our first function for the TEFL course. It was a social evening for us to get to know each other. We assembled at 7pm and walked to a nearby restaurant where we had a reserved area and an open bar. There was also a huge spread of finger food consisting of fairly typical Thai nibbles including Fish Cakes (Tod Mun Pla), Deep fried Prawns, "no name" - which is a vegetarian patty and a few others. Pretty good all up.<br />After that first night madness ensued and people were seen at various bars over the next few hours.<br />The Bludger behaved himself.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12924042236227656173noreply@blogger.com0Ko Samui District, Surat Thani, Thailand9.513301199999999 99.9688635999999639.0121666999999981 99.323416599999959 10.0144357 100.61431059999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7759309498808707270.post-68360251087517598532013-07-27T22:14:00.001+07:002013-07-27T22:14:31.353+07:00Ayutthaya to Koh SamuiIn Koh Samui I will spend 2 weeks obtaining a TEFL/TESOL certificate. I have already done several hours of online training. The next 2 weeks are the practical side.<br />
To get to Koh Samui at reasonable cost was a small challenge. A direct flight from Bangkok was more than I wanted to pay.<br />
I packed and left my Hotel first thing in the morning. After a quick breakfast with PeaPa, consisting once more of Pork Noodle Soup, we walked to the ferry to cross the river to the train station. PeaPa had to work so we parted company there. The next available train was at 8:27am and the trip cost 11 baht, not even 50 cents. The timing was well within my schedule and I had a good buffer for possible delays.<br />
The train arrived on time and I found a seat, sharing a booth of 4 with a Thai couple.<br />
Images of Thailand: <i>The ticket collector came by and punched my ticket. He then moved on, stopped, came back and spoke with the couple in the other seats. I could tell by the actions that he was telling them that I was heading for Don Muang airport and asking them to make sure that I got off at the right station.<br />I love those small unexpected acts of kindness.</i><br />
As it happened the train was delayed one stop short of Don Muang and it was after 10am when I arrived at the Station. The airport was a short walk, basically on an overhead walkway across the tracks and main road to the terminal. <br />
Checkin was quick and easy. My water bottle was removed at the security screening and I made my way to the departure lounge.<br />
I was having flashbacks to a previous visit to Thailand. I have only used Don Muang airport once before on my first visit, all other entries have been through the new airport. But I had these strong flashbacks of a restaurant that I had eaten in and I am pretty sure that I ended up in the same departure lounge at gate 73.<br />
It is spooky the way memory works. I could not have described these areas at all immediately prior to visiting them again.<br />
My destination was Surat Thani. Surat Thani is on the coast of southern Thailand with nearby ferries to Koh Samui. The short flight was smooth and without incident. I scored a set of 3 seats to my self in the emergency exit row. I wished that I was 3 foot taller so that I could have used all that space.<br />
The next part of the journey was to get to a ferry terminal. There are several. I did this with a bus/ferry combined ticket and I was led like a sheep to the terminal. All up that took about 2 hours from the airport to the ferry and cost 350 baht.<br />
The ferry trip was nice. I love being on the ocean. Safety was a concern however. It was a car and passenger ferry a "roro" i.e. "roll on roll off" or "roll on roll over" as they got renamed after the Herald of Free Enterprise (google it). I could not see any life jackets, nor lifeboats and only a small number of life rafts that were so degraded I doubted their ability to stay afloat.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg10LStTp1fh2IjRLjmocEAlkFoO1SYXGErnqPaJ1OIR1YnJA1xSiCdFINOFfWjfxMIHgj4NHQVSWyHgfC3HUWXl90Ju8TrIncxEt2liaYxYTKqPhZBs8abbygJA_rzlssNbmhfCfZvTEI/s1600/DSC00008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg10LStTp1fh2IjRLjmocEAlkFoO1SYXGErnqPaJ1OIR1YnJA1xSiCdFINOFfWjfxMIHgj4NHQVSWyHgfC3HUWXl90Ju8TrIncxEt2liaYxYTKqPhZBs8abbygJA_rzlssNbmhfCfZvTEI/s400/DSC00008.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And I have to trust my life to that in an emergency?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Still the seas were calm and I was seated on the open deck with the better chance of survival.<br />
For the record this was a 4 beer trip, was tempted to make it 5.<br />
At Koh Samui I walked through the barrage of people offering taxis and hotels and called for a minibus driver who would share the van. By the time he had rounded up more passengers it was the overloaded ark with 13 passengers, driver and a pile of luggage. Never the less for only 200 baht I was delivered safely to my hotel.<br />
Note for future TEFL participants: The Holiday Park Hotel is lovely, based in the heart of the party district of Lamai beach. Even though we are in budget rooms they are comfortable, clean and roomy. They are air conditioned, have a small safe and a bar fridge. All that you need for your stay. The staff are lovely, warm, friendly and helpful also.<br />
First item on my agenda was to fill the fridge with fruit juice and beer. Job done, there is a 7/11 across the road (technically a Family Mart, but you know what I mean). Then it was into the pool. A minor concern there - insufficient sun beds.<br />
And that means that this post will have to be finished later as I am just having a quiet beer in the hotel communal area and getting ready for dinner.<br />
Later:<br />Dinner was at the Bikini Bar, on the beach. According to the advertising it is famed for "jerked" chicken and ribs. I have no idea. I had some spring rolls that transmogrified into Onion Rings as they had run out of Spring Rolls and a Tom Yum Goong, hot and spicy prawn soup.<br />Images of Thailand:<i> Two young boys were having a rough and tumble in the sand. Their mother moved to another table and shared "a fag" (her words that I overheard) with another couple. The boys stopped playing and one sat near to meet. I was disgusted to see him spitting in the sand. He moved away and then started to spew. I have done similar after eating a meal and then exercising so I didn't think it too out of the ordinary. His mother was still "fagging on" totally oblivious. Eventually I decided that she should be told so I attracted her attention. There ensued about 30 seconds of motherly concern, the boy was pronounced OK and mother went back to her fags. Daughter took a photo, no doubt for facebook.<br />I am honestly not sure whether this was good parenting or not.</i><br />The Bludger ate too much and has left no room for beer so has retired for the evening.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12924042236227656173noreply@blogger.com0Ko Samui District, Surat Thani, Thailand9.513301199999999 99.9688635999999639.0121666999999981 99.323416599999959 10.0144357 100.61431059999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7759309498808707270.post-38702817327152996042013-07-26T14:26:00.001+07:002013-07-26T14:45:22.993+07:00Sights around AyutthayaOne of the distinguishing characteristics of Ayutthaya is the distinctly shaped Tuk Tuks. Some of their owners take great pride in them and there is one generally waiting around the Ferry terminal called Batman. These three look to be new.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF9s3argR9Wbumc9B09WuNTkp636R0j8XXrG8yaF5bu6ZfnClOBw6u16SaD4F0GyhZrMZmUOE5_BoYSwPCdYyyXYUGEa2JbOs-ph9VrGLnQRjvn0Nv4JeBapq7FLynhIg5WDmMe33PHwM/s1600/Thailand01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF9s3argR9Wbumc9B09WuNTkp636R0j8XXrG8yaF5bu6ZfnClOBw6u16SaD4F0GyhZrMZmUOE5_BoYSwPCdYyyXYUGEa2JbOs-ph9VrGLnQRjvn0Nv4JeBapq7FLynhIg5WDmMe33PHwM/s400/Thailand01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tuk Tuk's lined up and ready for action.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Of course all good Tuk Tuks eventually need to go somewhere to retire. These have not moved in 12 months since I first came here.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoFvD9SNsvcNHBrfnN-lFbuUw8SZmItHAh80UCsbc-XQgghLZ7kucTp4RxWQVZRi4R6iOvSEef076lak19T8zXebNTTc8nTJqqgahLMzeIpoTAVULF2MrriR6WH-TeK1g_wxYFJz1lh_g/s1600/Thailand02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoFvD9SNsvcNHBrfnN-lFbuUw8SZmItHAh80UCsbc-XQgghLZ7kucTp4RxWQVZRi4R6iOvSEef076lak19T8zXebNTTc8nTJqqgahLMzeIpoTAVULF2MrriR6WH-TeK1g_wxYFJz1lh_g/s400/Thailand02.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
A deserted and decaying building provides a background for some very artistic graffiti.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvva0cT4GWLa7K3bc8KDkkY7rfEkp00ndrSWgidrWuyG9T1VPhqnmRorV8uW7j7UQQ61jlUvCawXN7mWD7A4wTJZ6E6jx3yVJ1kw5n-shOvzd1-wxgfUjCrqm4XMEkp9ORh9Tf21vWW5Q/s1600/Thailand03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvva0cT4GWLa7K3bc8KDkkY7rfEkp00ndrSWgidrWuyG9T1VPhqnmRorV8uW7j7UQQ61jlUvCawXN7mWD7A4wTJZ6E6jx3yVJ1kw5n-shOvzd1-wxgfUjCrqm4XMEkp9ORh9Tf21vWW5Q/s400/Thailand03.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
And it would seem that council workers are universal.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3LdNaWC4IIXGgy1JK5CeHHWHVnlYdp8XUNIt89HP9ZRajIuBTvEv3W7AUHFUxy334jjrFzEWQVfHGR661fbxjDMs9KuJXk125K4UamVeCBSHQ6sBzz_9K67dy53rDR6sphI9_rmy3zQ4/s1600/Thailand04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3LdNaWC4IIXGgy1JK5CeHHWHVnlYdp8XUNIt89HP9ZRajIuBTvEv3W7AUHFUxy334jjrFzEWQVfHGR661fbxjDMs9KuJXk125K4UamVeCBSHQ6sBzz_9K67dy53rDR6sphI9_rmy3zQ4/s400/Thailand04.jpg" width="280" /></a></div>
<br />
The Bludger is playing at photography.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12924042236227656173noreply@blogger.com0Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Thailand14.3532128 100.5689598999999813.3689188 99.278066399999986 15.3375068 101.85985339999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7759309498808707270.post-81553800728634273582013-07-25T16:30:00.000+07:002013-07-26T09:18:44.310+07:00I wish I could understand ThaiI spent the morning trying to organise a Thailand phone number with Internet for my Smartphone. Technically not difficult but being me I tried to find the best deal which turned out not to be too easy in Ayutthaya as I could not find a store for the major service providers. I wanted a post paid service to achieve better per MB rates. Foreigners cannot sign up to long term plans, unless they have a visa that allows a long term stay. But there are some short term plans that you can get. Too hard to explain to people what I wanted, I eventually gave in and got a prepaid service from a local shop. I have no idea if I got a good deal or not.<br />
Later that afternoon I discovered a whole range of phone shops that probably could have got me a better deal. Such is life. <br />Setting up the phone was not easy as all the instructions were in Thai and I relied heavily on the daughter of my girlfriend and various others to help me out. But I now have internet and voice & text working. In places where there is no free wifi I can link the laptop to the phone and use it as an internet gateway.<br />In the process of the search I had a long walk around the streets which helped with my orientation and getting my bearings.<br />Breakfast was Duck Noodle Soup with a drink for 35 Baht and lunch Pad Thai, which was really nice, for the princely sum of 40 baht ($1.50). That made dinner which was 2 large beers (60 baht each), 1 small beer and a red chicken curry for 290 baht quite expensive.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ruA3PypvKqPtCkMva0_hihJmql9iIalATcuaRwQ1UYVV5p9YuGnTBplVUzSPqk9xb2Kkm43HdRe9rFpINDa-ZGuidNdyTWs1c05BDvqZvkw_80n4Xi3G0YXxEL5d9542FFFMGB52_YM/s1600/2013-07-25+13.03.36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ruA3PypvKqPtCkMva0_hihJmql9iIalATcuaRwQ1UYVV5p9YuGnTBplVUzSPqk9xb2Kkm43HdRe9rFpINDa-ZGuidNdyTWs1c05BDvqZvkw_80n4Xi3G0YXxEL5d9542FFFMGB52_YM/s400/2013-07-25+13.03.36.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pad Thai - <span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="th"><span class="hps">ผัดไทย</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />The Bludger had an early night as both he and gf were tired.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12924042236227656173noreply@blogger.com0Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Thailand14.3532128 100.5689598999999813.3689188 99.278066399999986 15.3375068 101.85985339999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7759309498808707270.post-57272109637203020002013-07-24T17:09:00.000+07:002013-07-25T07:09:48.745+07:00Bangkok to AyutthayaThe included hotel breakfast was filling but a reminder that my stomach is still tender. I have since learned that I probably picked up this bug while visiting a friend in the Intensive Care Unit before leaving Adelaide. As my symptoms are relatively mild I will rely on a good strong stomach flora to see me through.<br />I completed module 10 of the TESOL course over breakfast, I had done the readings on the flight over. So that is pretty much complete, the last module is about finding a job, not academically important as the real test of that course is finding a job.<br />I was driven back to the airport and then made my way by train and Taxi to Hua Lumpong train station. Here I booked a ticket to Ayutthaya (15 baht) and had a bowl of noodles before proceeding.<br />My gf who had promised to meet me at the station failed to appear again so I made my way by foot and ferry (4 baht) to her residence. There I was greeted by her friends and family and PeaPa eventually turned up.<br />The rest of the day was spent catching up with people and dinner in the early evening where I enjoyed a really nice Fish in Black Pepper sauce and then later drinks. I renewed a lot of acquaintances and met some more locals. I notice that I am now being treated as more than a tourist and gaining lots of approval from people as I am now considered the partner of one of the popular locals.<br />The Bludger had a traditional soldiers "welcome home".Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12924042236227656173noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7759309498808707270.post-20017600892656998752013-07-23T16:50:00.000+07:002013-07-25T06:55:49.732+07:00Adelaide to BangkokThe first real day of my new adventure. I didn't sleep well due to an upset stomach and in fact could not face food. I forced down a meal just before the flight departed Melbourne for Bangkok on the basis that it was going to be a long flight without a meal.<br />I had spent the night at a friends and in the morning he took me to the airport for the flight to Melbourne. Check in was quick and so was the security screening. Fire alarms sounded while I was waiting for the flight but it turned out to be a false alarm. The flight to Melbourne was uneventful.<br />A longish wait between flights gave me a chance to settle the stomach a bit and the opportunity to complete another Lesson in my Online TESOL course.<br />We left 35 minutes late. Good old Jetstar, boarding was delayed a little at the Captain's request and then the Captain allowed us on board. We sat for 35 minutes while a "technical problem" was resolved. I have a low opinion of aircrew and airlines that treat their customers with such lack of respect. Leave us in the departure lounge if you have a problem as there we can eat, walk, drink and use the toilets and electronic devices. But instead we are confined to our cramped seats with no air conditioning and other freedoms.<br />Other than that the flight was uneventful. Stomach behaved itself.<br />I decided to eat a snack on the plane. I had planned to eat in Bangkok but worked out that it really would be late by the time I arrived and cleared the formalities. As it happened that took a long time and then my gf was not around to meet me. It turned out that she had confused the dates and I would be waiting a long time for her - like until tomorrow night.<br />I organised a ride to a cheapish hotel, The Great Residence, and as my body clock was telling me that it was about 2 am I slept.<br />The Bludger has arrived in Thailand.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12924042236227656173noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7759309498808707270.post-11769043027055002912013-07-16T18:30:00.000+07:002013-07-17T11:43:20.641+07:00Griffith to CallingtonToday was a day of uneventful car travel. The roads were free of traffic and well maintained. I set the cruise control as soon as I found open road and the car just ate up the distance. There was little to do except watch the kilometers tick away.<br />
There is very little radio reception in these areas and what can be received I did not find of interest so I pulled out the iPod and grooved away to some old favourites.<br />
The day was foggy and I felt cocooned in a private world with only occasional evidence of a greater existence around me. The road runs Westward and loosely follows the Murumbidgee river which rises in the Snowy Mountains and runs close to my house in Canberra. Eventually it joins the Murray which also flows nearby my parents property. This is a bit coincidental but also an indication of how important this river system is to Southern Australia.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QHKh8ySFLPw/UeXVjIKm9qI/AAAAAAAAIc8/EYjkL7klbmw/s1600/DSC00560.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QHKh8ySFLPw/UeXVjIKm9qI/AAAAAAAAIc8/EYjkL7klbmw/s400/DSC00560.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />At one stage I had to pass three caravans travelling in a loose convoy. My car has plenty of power and I accelerated and overtook the three with ease when the fog lifted a little. The speed was well above the speed limit by then and I felt a little naughty so kept the foot down. I was pleased to see that my car was still good for 160+ Kmh without straining. (The old "ton" , 100 Mph for you modern readers).<br />
I had lunch in Ouyen a rather odd Lamb Yiros.The Lamb was soft tender and juicy, although cooked on a hot plate not a rotisserie. This area is famous for the quality of its lamb which eats a lot of saltbush and I also picked up a rib roast for dinner at my destination.<br />
It was during this stop that I discovered that the property manager had found a good tenant for my house and that I had been rejected for my recent job interview. There are no impediments to me going to Thailand now.<br />
The rest of the trip was uneventful and I rolled into Callington just in time for the sunset.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qRtWfWGhCOg/UeXVsb9ZJrI/AAAAAAAAIdc/HVsaBzwSKDA/s1600/DSC00564.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qRtWfWGhCOg/UeXVsb9ZJrI/AAAAAAAAIdc/HVsaBzwSKDA/s400/DSC00564.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />The Bludger is at a way station both in life and in his journey.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12924042236227656173noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7759309498808707270.post-24151130200392296112013-07-15T18:30:00.000+07:002013-07-17T06:29:41.855+07:00Journey Canberra to GriffithI closed the front door of my house at 12 noon and got in the car. Destination Griffith to spend a night with a friend, Anna.<br />
I had a couple of things to do first, dump some rubbish which was left over from clearing out the house and cancel a post box and redirect mail. I also had a quick lunch and then was on the road.<br />
I left Canberra on a cold wet afternoon. The rain and later fog was with me all the way to Griffith. It was an uneventful journey with a couple of brief stops to stretch the legs and one longer one for a power nap.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rAKvYTZBoYg/UeXVmn8h_0I/AAAAAAAAIdE/qR9Sug9Ac_U/s1600/DSC00557.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rAKvYTZBoYg/UeXVmn8h_0I/AAAAAAAAIdE/qR9Sug9Ac_U/s400/DSC00557.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
I arrived in Griffith just after 6pm.<br />
Anna and I had dinner at the local Services Club and shared a bottle of wine with a good long chat to catch up.<br />
The Bludger slept soundly in a real bed for a change. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12924042236227656173noreply@blogger.com0Griffith NSW 2680, Australia-34.2872974 146.04583690000004-34.3922669 145.88447540000004 -34.1823279 146.20719840000004