Koh Samui

Made the big move this am. Decided last night to switch islands and see what happens. When to Koh Nang Yuan beach for the day yesterday. Not the worst day of my life. Didn't bring my camera because I didn't want to worry about losing it or getting it wet but I found this new website called Google or something like that and found this

Had Pad Thai because I knew if Kendra were here I'd eat it everyday and I definitely don't love it. I don't love anything food wise yet. Had mac and cheese with bacon for supper. Researched the island and decided to go for it. 650 baht got me my own room, double bed, tv, a/c. Took a cab with 2 girls from London and just decided to stay where there staying. Maybe 6 min walk to the beach. Bought 2 big Chang beer for 80 baht. Actually rained today, very strange. Favorite songs right now are Good Life by One Republic and Dog Days Are Over because it was the last song played at Alain and Jessica's wedding and loved it. Plans for the next few days involve a kayaking trip, not having a watch on and doing whatever, and seeing if I can watch any of the NBA and Stanley Cup Finals. I suppose I want Vancouver to win. I feel good about the switch, went for lunch with these girls I met so that was a plus. Just see what happens. Just in case anyone is wondering, I'm not even upset that I'm going to miss the Backstreet Boys coming to Ottawa this summer. Like I don't even care, hasn't even crossed my mind once....not even once...….

Day 10

Finally its the weekend, I can finally relax. The other day I went to Yoga in the morning where I sweat like an obese man waiting in line at a taco stand in Mexico then at night I had never seen the movie The Beach, so there are a bunch of bars on the water that play movies so I watched my first one that night, pretty cool and funny movie. I understand it is sort of douchey to watch a movie about Thailand while in Thailand but it made me feel good and gave me something to do. So Yoga and a movie took up a huge part of my day, not sure how I found the time but had some drinks after then went to bed. Yesterday I spent some serious time on the beach, not satisfied with my tan so far so I rented one of those 1 person man beds that float, it was great. I'd swim out, close my eyes and let the waves bring me to shore. Biggest problem of the day: not falling off man boat. Put sunscreen on twice but still managed to get burned. Had a great supper the night before, shrimp on a skewer with bbq pineapple and peppers so had that again but with beef this time. Very good. Supper and view.

Met a Canadian girl and 2 American girls on the beach, made tentative plans to meet up but didn't end up seeing them so that wasn't ideal. I find I'm having trouble just randomly meeting/going up to people and making them be my friend. I'm fine once I have a group, the problem is infiltrating that group. Seems like a lot of people are with their own little crew. So if i could just gain like 5 friends overnight that would be great then it would be perfect. But I'm not really going up to groups or people so I can't really complain. Keep doing what you've always done you're going to get what you've always got. Met some guys, told me they were in a band, classic line, called DAS Awesome, not sure how to spell the DAS, they were British. Oh, I found out I don't love darts. I was playing last night being like ya darts, grab a beer, throw some darts, people do it...not as easy as I thought, I blame the crosswind. And they have this game that is hard to describe so I will take a video of it and post it, just easier that way. Anyway, nothing crazy going on, liking Koh Tao, not sure I will leave anytime soon, don't want to leave just for the sake of leaving. Hot and sunny everyday, getting better sleep now that I have my own room, $12 a day. I find I've become crazy cheap like anything under $100 baht is good, anything over 500 is OUTRAGEOUS as Rose Mary would say. This is probably enough for today, things are good, need more friends but just need to put more effort in. Might watch UFC tmr morning, maybe game 7 of lighting game tonight.

Scuba Steve

Finished open water today so I can scuba dive anywhere up to 18 meters but apparently the best diving is under 30-40 and that cost more money...how convenient...so seeing how I'm trying to keep my baht account up I will be passing but it is fun. By far the worst in the group of 6 to start, had a mild freak-out during our second dive. The first dive was fun but my ears were popped and wouldn't pop back so that hurt so I'm trying not to be in pain and still remembering to breath and the instructor is motioning me to stay parallel to the ground..listen buddy, I can barely breath and I don't have too much interest in you sideways hand right now. So for the second dive, 30ish something minutes we started to go down and I just felt like I might die down there and couldn't deal with another 30-40 min dive so 10 sec in I had to come back up. The guy was good about it and talked me into it but i was definitely leaning towards going back to the boat, thought I would eventually regret it but definitely glad it happened. The next days 2 dives were way better, saw cool fish and coral. Obviously hot here again today. Diving is done so not plan from here, instructor said I'm good at our resort till tmr so that saves me some baht, probably watch the fire show again tonight, favorite part of the island. Lotus Bar, live music and crazy fire swining Thai. Watched a movie about sharks today and it said soda pop machines kill more people than sharks do each year. 100 are killed by sharks, I can only guess soda pop machines get at LEAST 4 to 5000 each year. Movie was basically how everyone hates sharks, nobody there to protect them, have been here longer than dinosaurs...which I love...and 15 000 were killed while I watched the movie about shark killing. They say if the shark goes, it will reduce the amount of oxygen we have because sharks kill something in the ocean that makes oxygen. website is  savingsharks.com and the movie is called sharkwater. Crazy. Missed people at home the most since I've been gone today, not sure why. Need to start looking for English teaching jobs. Working on my tan. I have read like 4 pages in my book so that needs to change. Top 10 beach in the world is very close by so I'm going to make a day trip doing that in the next few days. Tried getting pictures taken for my scuba certificate....took seriously 10 …all of them have my severe lazy eye in them closes, all eyes closed or one that I'm really trying to keep open and makes me look like I belong on an island full of people of my ilk. Going to try and watch the season finale of How I Met Your Mother now, internet is slow so we'll see. Posting pictures of Facebook soon.

Oh and I forgot to bring Q-tips. Big mistake....big mistake. So if you have Q-tips in your house right now, considered yourself more fortunate then some.

Scuba diving

1-Always nice out. The thought of rain or cold weather is a joke.
2-Scuba diving is something. I honestly struggled at it at first. I'm mildly claustrophobic and learning to breath in a new way underwater wasn't the easiest. It got better but for a second I thought I don't think I can do this for 3 dives.
3-Passed my diving exam today...I think everyone does...they basically let you talk to the other people in the group
4-I've seen a fire show the last 3 nights and I just don't get tired of it
5-My friends left today but apparently Ben and Tom from the bus ride from Bangkok are around and Scott's friend Liam is here so I might grab a drink or 3 with him
6-Going scuba diving in about an hour, water is crazy clear, instructor is a good guy

Favorite parts so far:
Not working. Not having to do anything. Not worrying about rain, snow, ice. The heat. Nobody is in a bad mood. Meet some intense people that love traveling and don't want to go home. Nobody does. When someone says oh we head back tomorrow, I actually feel sad for them.
Less favorite parts:
some days not being around cool people. Not seeing people you like and have been friends with for a while. Not sleeping 7-8 hours. Not being able to speak Thai hasn't been that bad but would definitely help.

People say doing this might change you so I really monitor how I feel and my outlook and I think at some point on the bus from Bangkok I think  I just realized I don't have a huge interest is going back home in the near future. I'd like to make this last as long as possible and if you just don't let leaving be an option, I think you can find a way to stay. Facebook and Skype make it easier and having almost everyone speak English is a huge help.

Picture outside a little bar

Have more pictures will try and post them soon but no complaints. LG.

Bangkok to Ko Tao

Alrrrrrright. So.Got to Thailand fine. Took a few hours, a few movies and a nap but finally got here. It is...hot outside. I knew that going into it but didn't expect it so late but not really a complaint, more of an observation. Going through customs here is very different from going to the States. Not sure the guy spoke English, just  stamped my passport and let me through. Wanted to take a bus but was too late so had to take a cab, guy was super nice, 500 baht which wasn't that bad. Got to my first hostel ever just before 1am. Pretty nice, clean, seems safe. Had to find my room in pitch black darkness, big room with thin dividers and bunk beds. Tried sleeping but no chance. Went on my computer, talked to Kendra for a bit, got very hungry, was my birthday in Thai time so thought I would make the most of it. Just started walking, found this  little place.



 Had my first Thai dish, rice and chicken. Just told the girl make it and I will eat it. Gave me a shot for free, set it on fire and make me drink it out of a straw. Food was good, walked down Khao San Road. That was intense. A lot of prostitution, a lot of drinking, got my first Thai foot massage for 100 baht.

Next day I woke up early, went to a temple, tried getting on a boat tour but didn't work 100% to say the least, I think that river may be polluted. Got another Thai massage near my hostel, the girl cracked my back in a way I didn't think was possible so I loved that. Had my first Thai street food, I don't love Bangkok, very busy and people just seem to want to take your money and will do there best to take advantage of you because you're a tourist. Googled places to go for my birthday, decided on Skybar and Vertigo, 2 rooftop patios. So I took a nap, thought it was 1am, it was 10pm so I got into a tuk tuk, went to Skybar. View was crazy, drinks were expensive but you're paying for the view, not so much the beer. Went to Vertigo, then went back to Khoa San Road, went to a few bars, met people who knew people so got free drinks. I find time goes by super slow here, I really want to leave Bangkok and hit up Ko Tao for some scuba diving. Next day I checked out, googled how to get to Ko Tao, wanted to get a phone and a suit so I wouldn't have to come back to Bangkok if I found a job teaching English. Went to MBK shopping center with a group of guys, huge mall. Ate food there, decided I just wanted to leave so went to train station, talked to people about how to get to Ko Tao, said the bus was the best option but I had to wait like 5 hours at the train station which was not fun. Crazy hot, just sweating being there. Long story short finally got on the bus, packed so they let me sit in this downstairs, more expensive seating with 7ish other people. Turned out to be the best part of the trip. Such cool people, bought beers and drank them on the 10 hour trip. Went by so fast. 4 Hour stop in some little port town, so we explored that a bit, found a sketchy dock to walk down, went into whatever body of water there is there, took some pictures, saw sunrise and took a boat to Ko Tao. Ended up staying with a couple from the bus who are from Chicago, very cool people. Ko Tao is beautiful, trip definitely turned around after I left the city. Got a hostel for 250 baht, drank that night with Scott and Rose Mary. Cheap buckets full of vodka redbull will get you, watched a fire show, which I took pictures of and will post when I have more time. Internet is everywhere here but I just would rather be doing stuff on the island than updating my blog or checking my email. Next day just swam, went snorkeling for the first time, that was cool, like being inside an aquarium. Booked my dive trip with Big Blue diving, got 3 free nights at there resort. Went with Scott to pick up his friend Liam from Korea, bus was 2 hours late, didn't bring money and turned very hungry, which is not a good situation for this guy. Had  a beer and some garlic bread with those guys on the beach, played some frisbee, went to my dive orientation, watch some diving movies, filled out study guide. Should be an experience. Weird thinking I have to wake up and do something at a certain time, but if my biggest problem is waking up to go scuba diving at the biggest scuba diving hub in the world, my problems aren't that big. Had a spicy chicken pita for supper,  watched fire show again because it is great.   Went to bed early, now I'm up, looking at the water and updating this for the first time in a few days. Will post pictures in a bit, but having a fun time. Being around fun people definitely makes it better and will just continue to meet people, really want to stay on the islands and met people who gave me some numbers to call. Post back after scuba diving with hopefully shorter posts.

Skybar

Toronto to Japan to Bangkok

THAILAND!

At the airport with time on my side so thought I would make my first entry. I really like keeping a journal so I thought this would be an easy way to document what I'm up to, how I feel about things then look back at it and see how things have changed. So basically, I will write this as I'm just writing it to myself.

Had a great last weekend in Toronto. Rehearsal dinner Thursday night was great. Good fun, fun stories, wore a suit...no big deal. Went and had drinks after, met people from South Africa, no rain which would not become a trend for the next few days. Told people about Thailand trip and everyone loves it. Either have been there or know people that have been and had an amazing time. Nobody has really told me I have made a huge mistake so that has helped. I just need to keep in mind things are going to go wrong but I just need to embrace it, not get too rattled and stay positive. Had breakfast Friday morning, got my haircut, took a nap. Slightly hungover. Went out Friday night with guys from school. Wedding Saturday was crazy fun. Emotional rollercoaster. Definitely didn't cry once.... food great, drinks free, knew a lot of people. Had fun taking pictures and got my dance on at the end of the night. After party till 6ish. Sunday was a little less fun, with getting lost a few times but brunch was a good time. Packed my bag, life getting smaller and smaller in terms of bags. Not that nervous, maybe a 2 out of 10. I just feel like there is a lot to happen in terms of airports and flights. My life was very boring before so having some excitement I am really trying to embrace. Love the idea of not working for a few weeks. Love the idea of being somewhere hot, missing a winter and just embracing a new culture and way of life. Krista is coming to visit me at the airport now so I will update this in Tokyo airport. Feeling good.