New Delhi, India

So around the time of Phuket, it might have been one month earlier actually in April 2012 the SEA Key Accounts team that I'm technically a part of because of my ties to the mighty - er - local and because of that connection I got to go to New Delhi in India as part of a 5 day event to discuss strategy and celebrate success, you know all that jazz.

The Dining Room @ The Westin, New Delhi

As the Key Account guys are pretty pimp in the corporate world and because India is outrageously cheap we got to stay in the five star Westin resort and spa. Apart from the fact that we had to share our rooms and I was sharing with the big boss, a burly aussie fella.

I'm not going to bore you any further by sharing details of this 5 day event and because of it I really didn't get to see much of Delhi so without further ado I'll share some photos of the trip..

The Lovers Statue at The Kingdom of Dreams

The Demon King at The Kingdom of Dreams

The Theater at The Kingdom of Dreams

We had one free afternoon where we whisked on a bus and taken though the insane Delhi traffic. I've been in some pretty mental traffic in both Bangkok and in Jakarta but this was horrendous, Indias roads are tumultuous and deadly. Vehicles overtake with low performance engines, dangerously risking the lives of those on board and those of the oncoming traffic. Everyone does it, cars, bikes, buses, trucks. The condition of the roads too, like 1940's Europe after the Blitz or a brief dose of the Blitzkrieg. The towns and villages we drove through were eye opening, they were the poorest streets and people I've ever seem. TV adverting and organizations such as Comic Relief are good at getting us tearful with starving African children montages doused with even more massive attack but I was really here, standing on my own two feet witnessing the poverty with my own two eyes, it was as much eye opening as it was dismaying.

These places that I visit and the experiences they provide me will have some positive impact on my life, I know it. I can feel it already.

One awesome thing about India trip, beside the food, was the Bollywood show we went to see at the Kingdom of the Dreams. The Kingdom of Dreams was a small entertainment village containing food hall and restaurants, shops and stalls, music and dance and a theater for live performance. Playing while we were there was a show about a Gypsy prince called Zangoora. Most of the work group left at the half time interval but I stayed to watch the full thing. How would I describe a live bollywood show? It's like a louder, more colourful pantomime. An amazing experience. I love Bollywood however I can imagine after watching 20 or 30 of them (or maybe much much less) the novelty sharp wears off.

I have to go back to India..

Phuket, Thailand

So where were we? I want to go back to May 2012, Thailand, Phuket with my family... been quite a while since the last post I've been meaning to continue the Ever Placid Journeys Across Asia by Jack Smith piece but usual story - bugged down by work.. but not fully, I've got good news to share with you for a change. First of all, let's talk about Phuket.

Father, Sister and Mother on Pa Tong Beach in Phuket, Thailand

 Singapore

So my parents came to visit me in Singapore, I'd been there 8 months excluding my Christmas Break back to Europe. For my Sister and Mother, there first trip to Asia and for my Father his second, after a clandestine business touring both Beijing and Shanghai some years prior.

I'd planned to plan the trip meticulously desperate to show them as much of South East Asia as possible in the 12 days they were here. My original plan was actually rejected by both parents who were not willing to Country Hop as frequently as I'd set out. So we settled on three places; we'd do a few days in Singapore and I'd let them relax and show them the basics of the little red dot. The second place would be over to Cindys place in Johor Bahru for dinner and drinks spending the night. The next day we'd hop on a plane and go to Phuket in Thailand for a few days before finally coming back to Singapore for the remaining 10 hours of their trip. It was done, all flights were booked, the itinerary complete. I'd surprisingly enough procrastinated little during this set up and was very much looking forward to see them. By this point, the 5 months from January through May was the longest single period of not being with my parents. When I'd lived in Amsterdam home trips had been frequent because they were short and cheap, but with Singapore it's the exact opposite, long and expensive.

I waited for them at Changi airport the morning they arrived, I had the day all planned out and I was looking forward to it, it was May 14th i think or there about. They'd come over because it was my birthday, turning 27 and being I think my first birthday away from home. I covered there trip on my post 'On Turning 27'.

So after three days of skulking around Singapore that evening after finishing work Cindy drove from Tuas to my place at Paya Lebar to pick them us up. She took us all the way back to the Tuas Checkpoint on the borders of South Malaysia towards her place in Gelang Patah. My sister of course fell asleep instantly in the car, she was probably warn out by the intense humidity of Singapore but it could also be the fact she'd been shopping at Orchard on the final day, the 5 file stretch of malls and department stores in Singapore. My mother and Father unusually quiet the back of Cindys car as we drove through the checkpoint putting rubber on Malaysian roads.

Gelang Patah, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Cindy with to be fair a minute amount of assistance for myself, I was swanningaround more than anything else. We had asparagas wrapped with bacom she made this Prawn Dish we'd been having recently, we got the menu from her friend Rajesha's house - Marianara Prawns Tamil style, something like that. We had friend been hoon and rice plentiful, with beers. I showed off that night to my hearts content with the chopsticks, impressing the parents, their boy from Sunderland can eat like the Chinese they probably though, wrong or right I loved every second of it. Seems a bit sad now when I look back, I've matured a lot since then. Really I have.

Phuket, Thailand

The next morning we jumped into Cindy's car and she took us across to Changi airport so we catch our flight to Phuket. Cindy would join us one day later not being able to get the Friday off from work. A couple of hours later and we were in a taxi from the disaster of an airport in Phuket to our hotel which was near Karon Beach. I remember booking it on Booking.com and thinking this place really cant be 15 GBP per night with breakfast included per room? Each rooming having a flat screen TV, en-suite bathroom with bath & shower and king size bed. I'd booked three rooms, one for the rents, one for my sister and one for me and Cindy. It was just short of a couple of hundred pounds for the three rooms for the 4 nights.

Temple Guard at Wat Suwan Khirikhet School - Phuket, Thailand.

The hotel was perfect, and walking distance from the beach with several shops, bars, restaurants and a small market near by. It had a rooftop pool with bar and pretty good buffet breakfasts. The view from the pool bar was pretty damn awesome.

I've got such fond memories of this holiday, being so far away from home, the feeling that I'd arranged all of this, I brought it all together, I'd paid for hotels and arranged flights and done everything in such a joyous manor. I was proud of myself for once and by god I love my family. I felt such emotions for Cindy during these few days, he tenderness was always there, no matter what mood she was in. She was such a wonderful girl.

Cindy and my Dad

We relaxed, we did a bit of sunbathing, we did some swimming, we did a lot of drinking, we did a lot of eating. It was a holiday full of emotion, it was a holiday full of abundance and of love.

Restaurant Seahag - Phuket, Thailand- Maybe the best Thai Food I've ever eaten.

Pa Tong Beach, Phuket

The night we went to Seahag, the food is amazing there if you're ever in Phuket you have to eat there. Try the Massaman Curry or the Monkfish Curry, both amazing. I remember too that I lost my patience with Cindy and I shamefully enough can't remember why. If you ever read this Cindy I'm so sorry for that moment in front of my parents, looking back it was a clear sign of my immaturity.

I apologized for the evening and we made up. The next day we did something I haven't done in eleven years years. We went shooting. Memories of Florida 2001 came flooding back. Me and my father that trip had gone out one day in the car on International Drive and we'd come across a shooting range. Having asking my parents for BB and Paintball guns every birthday for living memory and consistently being refused, knowing my parents never thinking it would be worth asking I gestured towards the shooting range and nodded to my father, in utter amazement he nodded accepting my gesture and we fired some low caliber handguns that day, that was the day I broke my firearm virginity.

Cindy getting her revolver 101

One of the fondest memories I have from this holiday is when Cindy and I decided to get a little, non-x rated 1 on 1 time. We took a taxi upto one of the most beautiful Sun Set spots I've ever been to, a placed called Promthep Cape.

Cindy embracing the Sunset at Promthep, Cape

Sunset at Promthep Cape

Despite having four full days in Phuket, time being it's useful bastard self went by ever so quickly and before I knew it we were checked out of the hotel and heading towards the airport bound for Singapore. How can I summarize my first visit to Phuket? A place stigmatized from the sex industry that saturates the city, beautiful beaches, beautiful food, beautiful Thai people and culture in gorgeous surroundings. Does the occasional tourist drunken Tourists and the lady boy degrade the City's image? I don't think so, for me it adds to the character of Phuket, it's noisy and sleazy but at the same time stunning and beautiful -a true gem of South East Asia.

An ornament in a locals yard

Cindy carving our presence but only until the next tide - Karon Beach, Phuket.

We landed in Singapore and Cindy went back home to change, I took my parents back to my apartment when they did all they took a last minute shower before we went for dinner. My parents had been pretty good with broadening their taste buds in Asia I decided to take them to one of my favourite fish restaurants in Singapore; fish & Co. We met up with Cindy again and had fish and chips on our final evening before collecting my families bags and accompanying them back to the airport. The trip to the airport was as if in slow motion, a massive attack soundtrack would have been an accompanying side dish to the journey. I think a lot all the time, too much I'm sure but I couldn't help thinking how lucky I was to have parents like these, to have a sister like I do. My family are truly beautiful people and so was Cindy. I was and still am a very lucky man.

Thank you to Phuket, Thank you for Cindy, Thank you for Family.

Special Soap

So I was on a recent trip to Bali with my girlfriend.. I'll give you the full download of the trip in my usual photo diary installments but wanted to briefly mention about a very specific thing that happened to me.

On the third day I'm sitting by the pool and the girl comes and sits down, legs in the water. I swam to her and got close and on contact was filled with a nose full of wondrous aroma from her shower gel and her multiple creams, washes and perfumes applied during showering and afterwards. A few hours passed and long had the fresh fruit aroma of Huangyi's skin faded when I needed to take a shower myself. When walking into the bathroom the remnants of her shower remained, wanting to smell super fresh for her I proceeded to investigate her stash of bathroom accessories and found two small bottless which I managed to identify as  'Shower Gel' and 'Shampoo' - I proceeded to shower.

Almost a direct representation of how many products the girl brought for a 5 day trip..

I walked out of that bathroom a new man - smelling like a fresh fruit salad. I walked outside in my bathrobe incredibly eager to show off my new scent and my shiny. The girl, she noticed instantly - her face puzzled as she tried to pin down what I'd used. Giving up she asked what I'd used and in my usual descriptive ways I said 'the small bottle with pink cap, with blue stuff in side - I used that for my face and the thin bottle with pink liquid for my hair' to which she replied 'Oh'. Her face calculating what I'd just said and very quickly a cheek to cheek smile formed across her face.

Turns out these were refillable bottles she carries round with her - the substance I'd used to wash my hair was not shampoo at all but a concentrated specialized face wash costing hundreds of dollars. The watery substance I'd applied in abundance across my body; assured it was shower gel was of course a vagina wash.

A tip for other men out there and a lesson well learned; if you're going to use a girls cleaning stuff - ask what it is before you use it.

Sawadee Krup - Bangkok, Thailand

The next location on my trip around Asia is the capital city of one of the few Countries in Asia that was never colonized. Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or Bangkok as we know it in the West houses 15 Million people in it's greater vicinity and is the capital city of the Kingdom of Thailand.

I visited Bangkok in February with Jack and Ken, two Singaporean friends of mine, more as a boys weekend than an embarkation on Asian culture. I went again a few months later with Cindy in April and enjoyed everything the City of Bangkok has to offer.

Let me start with the culture, let's start with the Temples...

The whole of South East Asia is full of temples, there's even small talk between Asian trailblazers that you can get "Templed-out" the sensation you get when you've spent too much time in Temples. Bangkok is no exception and contains some of the best Temples in South East Asia. It's too daunting to visit all the temples there is that many - focus on the largest ones, The Royal Palace, Wat Arun, Wat Pho are three of the largest and most popular (Wat being Thai for temple):

Row of buddhist monks at the Wat Arun temple.

We spent most of our time at the Wat Arun (Temple of The Dawn); I didn't plan enough time into our schedule for temple visiting.. we spent hours in this temple, a whole afternoon in-fact.

Wat Arun, locally known as Wat Chaeng, is situated on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River. It is believed that after fighting his way out of Ayutthaya, which was besieged by a Burmese army at the time, King Taksin arrived at this temple just as dawn was breaking.

He later had the temple renovated and renamed it Wat Chaeng, the Temple of the Dawn. During his reign (Thonburi Period), Wat Chaeng was the chief temple, and it once enshrined the Emerald Buddha and another important Buddha image, the Phra Bang, both of which had been removed from Vientiane.

A Temple Guardian shown to be supporting the main spire of the temple.

The temple has flourished throughout the Rattanakosin Period. The beauty of the architecture and the fine craftsmanship declare its status as a temple of the first grade and one of the most outstanding temples in Thailand. The spire (prang) of Wat Arun on the bank of Chao Phraya River is one of Bangkok's world-famous landmarks. It has an imposing spire over 70 metres high, beautifully decorated with tiny pieces of coloured glass and Chinese porcelain placed delicately into intricate patterns. Although it is known as the Temple of the Dawn, it's absolutely stunning at sunset, particularly when lit up at night.

Wat Arun @ Night

 When I was at the temple with Cindy we were lucky enough to catch the Monks praying. We were inside the room they were carrying out their ceremony and they allowed us to stay; I obviously took some photos while I had the chance:

Young Buddhists @ Wat Arun, Bangkok

The Temple Guard of Wat Arun

Despite Thailand's Red Light name it carries in the west for its open policy on sex and prostitution, religion and the soul of Thailand is conservation and honor. Cindy found out the hard way on our way into the temple..

No Scantily Clad Females Allowed

On the third day we took a day trip approx 90km outside of Bangkok to the Damnoen Saduak - the original floating market of Thailand. While on the back of a tuk-tuk powering through the streets of Bangkok me and Cindy were talking about going to the floating market, she was telling me there was actually two markets. One was inside the city skirts of Bangkok and the othhe other was a little bit further out, the Tuk-Tuk driver quickly caught onto our conversation and insisted he made a detour from our destination and take us to somewhere we good book the floating market visit. Almost against our will he took us to a place where they looked like they were waiting for a tourist, they sat us down and rolled on their best sales pitch. We booked two tickets to be picked up at 6.30am the next morning to be taken to the market.

Following day we got into the back of a people carrier; very Volkswagen T-2 Panel van-ish but wider. The van stopped at a few choice locations inside the inner city before we were onto a highway towards the market.

Damnoen Saduak - Floating Market, Bangkok

Floating Delicacies

The market was a spectacle of colour aided with the golden sunshine of the day. The local longboats congesting the waters carry general goods for sale such as hats, postcards and other tourists souvenir's other boats carrying women preparing all kinds of local dishes for sale and others fill up the river with colour from their boats filled with fresh fruits and vegetables. The market is a stunning spectacle however after you've tried all the food, gotten over the novelty of leaning over a boat to make your purchase and inspected all that the Damnoem Saduak has to offer you realize it doesn't really have much. I insist that all travelers to Bangkok who have more than a few days at their disposal go to visit the Floating Market, if you only have a few days I wouldn't bother. For me it was the colour and the theater of the day that made it special not the extent of the vendors wares. After viewing and experiencing the market we went on a mini-boat ride down the river through the back streams of peoples lives and houses, it was a beautiful experience especially beautiful as they boats with engines and not oars. Apart from seeing a dead dog floating in the river it was a perfect day and by the end of this day I was in love with Thailand.

Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok

Over the weekend in Bangkok you have to take an hour or two to visit the Chatuchak weekend market, the largest market in Bangkok and probably one of the largest markets in South East Asia? It's the largest market I've ever been to I know that. You can get lost so very easily inside the market with its seemingly endless corridors inside and out. The majority of the market is clothes but the variety is as big as your imaginations - all kinds of stores covering all fashion scopes possible except those who our attached to designer gear. Designer gear at Chatuchak is Guzzi rather than Gucci and Marvin Klein instead of Calvin Klein.

We got lost in the maze of corridors for a few hours but I enjoyed every minute of it; while Bangkok doesn't get as humid as Singapore it get's even hotter in terms of sheet numbers reaching 40 degrees celsius on a good day. Scattered throughout the food section of the market we found this incredible looking contraption. It's an ice lolly maker; the vendor sticks pre-poured tubes of liquid colour upside down with a wooden stick through the middle into this machine, magic happens and then hey presto you have an Ice Lolly in any color of the rainbow.

Chatuchak Ice Lolly Vendor and His Machine

The Ice Lollies are a good idea in theory but in reality unfortunately don't work, they're not properly formed when you get them and even if they were you've got about 5 minutes to eat that thing when its 38 degrees outside.

Khaosan Road

Another tourist spot that is a must-do is the famous Khaosan Road, Khaosan directly translates as 'Milled Rice' as back in the day this road was one of the largest Rice Markets in Thailand. Over the last 20 years however it has developed into a world famous 'backpacker' location with street food, mini markets and very cheap mattress only style hotels. It's not the safest place in Bangkok I must say but it's a great hangout if you've got company and with a little bit of leg power and keen eye sight you can find some fantastic bars and restaurants around this area too.

Susie Walking Street @ Khaosan Road

Bangkok is brimful of cultural and wonderfulness, you don't have to go any of the places I've mentioned above you can literally just walk around areas close to your hotel and I guarantee you'll see first hand random cultural extravaganza's. In the outskirts of the city, in the poor areas of the city, in the commercial and central business directs of the city - wherever you are in Bangkok you're constantly bombarded by beautiful sights.

One random morning, walking with my friend Jack Tan to find some food.. he wanted to stop at a shrine to pay some respects and I was privileged enough to catch a group of ladies doing a traditional Thai dance.

Thai Dancing @ Erawan Shrine

The very same morning, on the way back from the food (we had epic steamboat by the way) in the hustling bustling shopping mecca that is Siam Square; I saw a man praying at a Shrine of Hindu God Ganesh; the Destroyer of Obstacles.

Rose Prayers in Bangkok

I've got so many more photos (all on facebook) to show you but fearful this post is already a mammoth task to go through I'll skip onto something else I and many others love about Thailand. The food.

No matter which country or continent you are from I'm certain you're all aware of delicious cuisine of Thailand. The spices, the curries, the textures, the Mango sticky rice :) all of it.. before I'd moved to Asia I loved Thai food but when I went to Thailand I ate authentic Thai food. My mind was blown. Now, I'm not saying you can't get 'authentic Thai food' outside of Thailand because you can, some of the best Thai food I've ever eaten was in Australia.

There is a famous Australian chef called David Thompson who so poetically puts it:

"Thai food ain't about simplicity. It's about the juggling of disparate elements to create a harmonious finish. Like a complex musical chord it's got to have a smooth surface but it doesn't matter what's happening underneath. Simplicity isn't the dictum here, at all. Some westerners think it's a jumble of flavours, but to a Thai that's important, it's the complexity they delight in."

Pad Thai

Pad Thai is a dish of stir-fried rice noodles with eggs, fish sauce, tamarind juice, red chili pepper plus any combination of beans sprouts, shrimps, chicken or tofu garnished with crushed peanuts, coriander and lime.

Tom Yum Soup @ Chatuchak Weekend Market

Tom Yum or Tom Yam is a spicy clear soup typical in Laos and Thailand. Tom yum is widely served in neighbouring countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia and has been popularised around the world.

Fantastic Quail Eggs

Deep Fried Squid Eggs with Chili (of course)

Kanom Krok

Delicious Thai Sweet breakfast dish also widely found as part of their street food agenda is Kanom Krok or Khanom Krok directly translated into English as Coconut Pudding. It's basically a mixture of flour batter and coconut cream generally cooked in a pan over a charcoal fire. Delicious and so so cheap!

So to summarize I absolutely adore Bangkok and it has become a favourite place of mine to visit. Only 2 hours from Singapore this city is a mass of culture, food, more culture, more food, traffic jams and epicness.

I've tons more photos to share from my time in Bangkok but for now I'll leave it here. Once again if you're friends of mine on facebook check out my album for more stunning photos of this beautiful place. More from the Kingdom of Thailand to come soon.

Peace

Cool & The Gang

I've been meaning to get back on here with a few mini updates but I always fall into this trap they call overtime, robbing me of any personal time I used to have.

I've managed to steal some time back while I sit here in Sisowath Quay in Phnom Penh, Cambodia..on a weekend away with my good friend Claudio. The fact that I have this free time means the weekend has either gone completely tits up or we're 100% on track - if only we could remember the purpose of our trip..

Anyway, back to the post; I wanted to blog about another memory prominent in my mind as of late. It all happened when I went back to Europe for Shirley's funeral in August. While I was spending my few days in the UK I'd arranged a brief get together with a few old friends from College and beyond that I hadn't seen in a while. Through the joys of social media blurbs I haven't completely lost touch with my friends and family back in the UK, With the guys I'd arranged this meet up with I'd kept up with their general progression through life via the blue borders of Facebook but had a burning desire to reacquaint myself with these legendary people face to face.
 
I arranged to meet up with an old school friend of mine, a friend I'd like to place in the 'Life Long' friend category, a guy called Adam. I'd also arranged for two guys to be there who I first met in college; although I've known them a shorter time than Adam they're both legendary people whose friendship I treasure enough to put them in the 'Life Long' category too - these guys are Leyton and Martin.

Ever since I moved out of the UK in July 2009 on my return trips back home out of the three guys I see Martin more than Adam and Leyton, primarily Martin lives much closer to my parents place and the places I usually hang out when I'm home with Adam living across the river on the other side of the city. Also when I hang out with Neil and his friends they also are more well acquainted with Martin than the other boys. Back in college and Uni days we used to hang out together a lot more often before I was ostracized from the 'greater group' - I'll tell you all about it someday but not quite now - but as time passes, people start working, people move away you see each other less and less, it's natural, the last piece of the journey into adulthood.

It's late in the Afternoon on a hazy Wednesday in early August; I'm in my Mothers Turbo Diesel Charged Mini 4x4 with the one and only Niel Newcome. We had just been indulging in some herbal jazz before taking on the mission of finding a safe car park next to the pub we used to call The Ship Isis. It's been taken over recently and put out of its nasty misery being painted and refurbished into pub glory. It was owned by a Microbrewery in the nearby area known as Jarrow; these guys had a good reputation in both beer and hospitality giving us unquestionable reason that this was the place to meet. It was a quiet evening with only a handful in the pub but it was still early.

When I arrived I was late, a good 15 minutes late, fashionably late. As I approached the bar I started to feel strange, that feeling you used to get going back to school after your summer vacation; the feeling of looking forward to something while at the same time not looking forward to it. It must have been 3 + years since I'd seen Leyton and Adam and quite a while sine I'd seen Martin so just to see the guys again was fantastic, instantly memories of times spent together come flooding back as I sat down next to them. As I sat i became  uncomfortable around them, almost questioning my reasons for the catch up but then after a few minutes of warm up reacquainting chit chat the old bonds of friendship start reaffirming themselves and the uncomfortable feeling soon subsides. As the conversation continues elation soon floods my senses as I realize how awesome these guys are and how lucky I am to be able to call them friends. 10 Years since we were sitting together at College, 10 years since being vagabonds in the Rock Garden, it's scary how quickly time passes.

As is true with every time I go back home, my time is never enough and feels speeded up vs pace of time in Singapore. The night with the boys is short and goes by far too quickly last only two rounds of beers and being over before any of us know it. The feeling of just sheer brilliance lasts a long time this night, hours after I leave the catch up with the boys but from the night when I recall this memory three moments stand out in my head:

1) How much I love those guys, irrespective of it's reading on the gay-o-meter, this is the most prominent feeling I have when I recall the rendezvous with the boys. The memories I've got with these guys, the stuff we used to do together are totally priceless. Hope that one day irrespective of how our lives advance we get the chance to do that kind of stuff once more.

2) I can't recall if it was me asking or if it was me being asked but I remember talking a lot about myself. I'm not sure worryingly if it's a new personality trait I've developed since I began working overseas or whether I'm paranoid about how much I talk about my life to my friends and family who aren't or ever will be an expat and is it right or not to be paranoid over that?

3) The feeling I got when Martin told me he was going to be a Dad. One of my top 5 best people of all time, Mr Martin Blyth is going to be a father. His lovely Wife Steph is due somewhere in early 2013 (Feb I think). When he told me I was so happy for him, My mind ran through some of the great memories we've had together and I experienced one of those fantastic "isn't life amazing" moments. All the best to Martin & Steph.

Martin's Wife Steph choosing Baby Clothes

Friendship... is not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything  -  Muhammad Ali