admatic 101

Another World

2011-07-06T13:32:00.000+07:00

This looks pretty darn good.

The Road More Traveled

2011-07-02T18:56:00.000+07:00

Cleo and I had some plans for a wicked trip this school break. We didn't have many days to work with but we organised it so we would have a good time.

On Wednesday the 22nd of June we would take a night bus from Medan to a town called Singkil on the southern tip of Aceh.

We would arrive in Singkil very early Thursday morning, have to wait a few hours, then take a ferry over to Pulau Banyak. The translation meaning 'Many Islands'. There are roughly 99 islands in the archipelago of Pulau Banyak and we were hoping to stay on only one.

After a few hours on the boat we would then arrive at Pulau Balai. If you're coming from Singkil you have to go there first before going to other islands. We would need to check in with an organisation called the Yayasan. They started up the conservation for sea turtles on Pulau Bangkaru. That was the island we wanted to get to.

You can see Pulau Bangkaru on the left of the small map above. We wanted to spend Thurs and Friday night there, where we would have a tent set up on the beach and be able to see some sea turtles laying their eggs and maybe even catch a few others hatching.

Saturday the 25th we would head back to Pulau Balai to spend one night there and Sunday head back to Singkil via local boat. In the early afternoon we would then get a bus, well in this case a Kijang, back to Medan and arrive in the evening.

Those were the plans. Just the plans. Sounds pretty cool right?

Here's what actually took place...

Catching the bus on the 22nd worked out fine. I shouldn't call it a bus really, it's a small SUV type vehicle called a Kijang. You can take a wild packed bus all the way there or you can pay a little extra for a seat in a Kijang which seats 8 when full.

I'd say we finally rolled out of Medan between 9:30-10:00... and started the journey to Singkil. After the other passengers were dropped off, it was our turn. By that time it had been about 9 hours I believe.

Thursday, June 23

We arrived here. The house of our Singkil contact, Febri.

Febri's House

He invited us into his home and offered drinks until it was time for the boat to Pulau Balai. At about 10am we headed to the dock, which wasn't far and got on our boat. It was a local boat headed to Balai mainly to deliver petrol aka gasoline. As we boarded, a man warned us not to smoke cigarettes on the boat and pointed to all the barrels. Neither of us do smoke but some of the other passengers did and the warning of gasoline didn't seem to bother them even as we passed a half sunken boat in the bay due to an obvious fire.

The boat ride to Balai is roughly 4 hours depending on the weather of course. All you can do is try to rest and catch a bit of sleep because there isn't much to see or do in the ocean on a small boat. Some of the waves were a bit rough and the boat was splashing water about and it was nice. It calmed a bit and I tried to catch some Z's. Most people did the same, but as we all did the waves picked up again and at one point there was this really loud bang that woke everyone up.

The bang had come from the boat crashing down really hard from a wave which sent a container or two flying off the boat. The small crew on the boat said the waves were too rough and they had to turn around.

Half way there and we had to turn around and head back to Singkil. This was disappointing because we knew we probably weren't going to get to Bangkaru that day anymore which meant one less night with the turtles.

After arriving back to Singkil they let us know they are going to wait for the weather to relax a bit and hopefully head back out at 3. We had a little over an hour to kill at Singkil which went by quickly with a small lunch.

3 o'clock comes and the weather looks clear enough so we head out again. 4 hours to go until Balai which meant we were going to arrive much later than we had planned. No chance of getting to Bangkaru that night.

Sunset from the boat

Once the sun went down lights came on in the distance at Balai. These were the only lights... I don't think our boat had any. Well I guess you can count the young lad with a flashlight.

We arrive in Balai close to 8 where we meet Febri's friend, Beju, who would help sort out the rest of the trip. We obviously weren't going that night so he showed us to a Guest House. We got cleaned up and we met him and a friend of his, whose name I forget, to get a bit of food and let them know what we were looking to do during our time in Pulau Banyak.

Like I said before the plan was to spend Thursday and Friday night in Bangkaru. Well it was already Thursday night and we were about to spend it in Balai so our trip to Bangkaru would have to be shortened.

We weren't just hoping to see turtles on Bangkaru, we were also hoping to do some kayaking and of course snorkeling. After chatting with the two fellas for a while we find out that you can't really go kayaking or snorkeling in Bangkaru because of the waves being too large there.

We both really wanted to see the turtles but not just that. So we inquired about another island I read about called Pulau Tailana. Go ahead, scroll back up and see if you can find it. This island is very secluded but it is one of the few that has bungalows to stay in.

After some amazing kopi aceh, coffee, we decided on the new plan. The next day, Friday, we would leave for Tailana about 11. Spend Friday there and on Saturday, close to noon, we would go from there to Bangkaru. Spend Saturday night there and early Sunday make our way back to Balai to catch a boat to Singkil so we could catch a bus back to Medan.

Again, here's what actually happened...

Friday, June 24

We got up on time in the morning and met the friend of Beju, whose name I still can't recall, it was really long and confusing. We went on down to the Yayasan to check in for our one night in Bangkaru and organised the cost for that night and the one in Tailana.

We were told that there is a package you have to pay for when going to Bangkaru. It's 800,000 rupiah per person for 3 days and two nights. This includes the transportation to the island and your food while you're there. On today's market that's about 90 dollars. The silly thing was that we wanted to only stay one night and they could not change the price! After a moment of pondering we decided we really wanted to see the turtles so we would pay that.

With that cost plus the night in Tailana with a rented kayak and snorkeling gear would run us close to 2.4 million rupiah total. Cleo doing some smooth talking, along with the fact that she is originally from the Aceh province, they brought it down to 2 million rupiah, 225 dollars.

We grabbed another amazing coffee and waited for the man to get the boat ready.

He called us over when he was finished and off we went to Tailana.

Heading to that small fueling station and then off to Tailana

Happy to finally be on our way...

...and so was he

After about an hour or so on this little boat in the middle of crystal clear waters, we arrive at Tailana.

About 20 steps from our bungalow

We came in on the grey boat

We ate and went swimming for a bit. It started to rain slightly but we were still able to see some interesting things underwater.We couldn't get a lot of good photos though due to the overcast skies!

We then went for a stroll around the island a little later in the afternoon to see how big or small it really was. We were able to walk around the whole thing in about 20 minutes with a few stops along the way.

While on our walk, he went out to catch our dinner

Can you spot the crab? It's actually quite easy

It started to get dark as we headed back to the bungalow side of the island.When we got back the man, whose name is lost, came over and showed us what he caught for dinner.

Cleo was very hungry...

The sun finished setting and dinner was ready. After we ate, there wasn't much we could do because it was completely pitch black outside. I grabbed my flashlight and we went down to the beach to check out the stars and we saw all these crabs along the beach as well. They all ran back in as we got close though and they were surprisingly quite fast.

Our plan for the next day, Saturday, was to get up early to see the sunset, go kayaking and snorkeling for a bit and then head off to Bangkaru.

Saturday, June 25

We woke up for the sunset only to see that it was extremely clouded over, so we went back to sleep. Woke up at 8 to start the day only to find a huge downpour outside. We were upset that we couldn't go snorkeling or kayaking but we still had hopes for Bangkaru.

We lazed around for a bit hoping for the rain to stop but it didn't. That didn't stop us from going for a swim though. We talked with the man without a name and he said we couldn't go to Bangkaru in this weather. He also said when it cleared a bit we would need to go back to Balai because we had no more food on Tailana.

It was a drag because we had to hope the rain would let up so we could leave Tailana and we had to go back to Balai, which was not where we wanted to spend our last night.

For most the afternoon we were trapped in out Bungalow.

In the end the rain didn't really let up much at all but we had to leave anyways because it was getting late. Everything we brought with us, including us, were put into giant bags. (We forgot to pack raincoats, so we wore big plastic bags as raincoats.)

We left the island on what Cleo and I both agree was the scariest boat ride we have ever been on. The boat really wasn't all that big and we were going through waves that were almost twice the size of it.

I was reminded of this painting...

With almost every wave we hit it felt like we were going to flip over. We were both holding on the best we could in the pouring rain just hoping we would make it there safely.

The ride took almost twice as long with the boat battling all the waves but in the end we made it there a little shook up and soaked but safe.

That night we had dinner and just went to bed a bit early because it was still miserable outside. There really isn't anything to do in Balai and it is no where near as beautiful as Tailana.

Sunday, June 26

We got up early hoping we could catch a boat leaving for Singkil maybe about 9. The ride would be again, 4 hours, but we would be in time to catch a bus at 2 back to Medan.

Remember that happy photo earlier when we started our boat ride to Tailana?

Here's how happy we were when we had to stop because of the rain on the way to the boat for Singkil.

Due to the wonderful weather again, no boats were leaving early in the morning. They were waiting for the weather to calm down before they headed out.

We waited and waited until they said they were ready. We weren't going to be making the bus at 2 back to Medan. We arrived in Singkil I think close to 5 where we were met by Febri.

We were hungry so Febri took us to a restaurant then back to his house where we waiting for the bus, Kijang.

We got on the Kijang about 8 and spent forever picking up the next few passengers. Once the bus was full, we were off to Medan. I felt bad for Cleo because we would be arriving in Medan, if the bus was on time, just a couple hours before she had to go to work. She said she is able to sleep at her work... apparently.

There were many winding roads on the ride too. So many that Cleo actually was a bit sick on the way to Singkil but on the way back the guy in the front must have hurled out of his window at least 5 times during the ride. Those were some wonderful sounds to try to fall asleep to.

Monday, June 27

The bus wasn't on time and so I wasn't dropped off at my door until 7am, then Cleo at hers shortly after. 11 hours in a Kijang with a very unpleasant driver is never much fun.

In the end the one day we had in Tailana was nice, even though it rained. The whole trip just felt like more 'trip' than anything else. We were on the move too much and didn't have enough time to relax and enjoy the beauty of the place.

I'd love to go again but I'd be sure to spend more time there and look into the flights they have headed that way once a week. I'd definitely do some research about the weather beforehand as well.

Here are a few links about Pulau Banyak if anyone is interested.

http://www.sumatraecotourism.com/pulaubanyak/index.html

http://tailana.webs.com/

http://www.acehturtleconservation.org

Darkest Hour

2011-03-18T15:21:00.003+07:00

There's no salvation
In a world where you worship proven fiction
And no redemption for a life of servitude
You bow and you heed
Unhallowed command
Your only care is the money we gain
It's the same place
A hollow escape
A palace of concrete and glass
Keep waiting, keep waiting
For no god
To erase you
No god
To make you fall to your knees

There's blood on these pages
And the war inside your head
Is with yourself
Through the ages, through every form of "Hell"
It's the same face
A hollow escape
A palace of concrete and glass
Keep waiting, keep waiting
For no god
To consume you
No god
To bear your burden
No god
To use you
No god
There is only illusion

The usurper of life
It'll bleed every last drop
And it'll suck all the breath out of you
And leave you forsaken

There's no god
To release you
There's no god
To make you fall down to your knees
There's no god
To deceive you
There's no god
To bear your burden
There's no god
There's no god
There's no god
There is only illusion

Give it a listen.

Film Updates

2011-03-11T16:38:00.002+07:00

These are a few movies that I have watched recently. All given high ratings by yours truly. You should watch them if you haven't already.

Dead Island

2011-02-21T16:20:00.002+07:00

This is so well done for a game trailer.

The Tree of Life

2010-12-16T16:47:00.002+07:00

2011 here we come.

Christmas Dinner

2010-12-14T10:55:00.002+07:00

Charlie, Tom and Daryl organized a Christmas Dinner for all the expats in Medan.
Here's the ticket I put together for the dinner.

Pub Quiz Posters

2010-12-03T16:11:00.008+07:00

For a while now Tom, Charlie and I have been doing a Pub Quiz at a German bar in Medan called Roland's. We have done two so far, with our third tonight, and we're hoping that someone else will do the next one so we can actually play.
These are the small and cheesy posters I made for the past quizzes and the two I made for tonight's quiz.

Scott Pilgrim

2010-11-29T15:10:00.001+07:00

This is worth checking out. I wasn't sure a while back when I first caught the trailer but it's really well done and not as cheesy as it looks.

This ain't the down it's the upbeat, make it complete.

2010-11-22T21:12:00.005+07:00

Got some photos out of the way finally. They were overdue but it felt good to finally complete a little 'project'. One of many.
Guitar is ummm... getting there. Gym is still the gym and it still feels good to be going. It's my longest stretch at the gym yet.
My TEFL course is coming along. I'm just about finished the largest portion of it and then I'll have just a few smaller ones to go.

I went on a Hash run last night.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hash_House_Harriers

It is basically an excuse to get drunk and socialize with a decent little trek before hand.
You show up, pay your fee 45000 rupiah (5 dollars Canadian) and you just gather around meeting the other 'hashers'. Once everyone shows up you head out on the hash. One member has already gone ahead and laid a paper trail on the route through the jungle so you know where to go. We had a group of about 20 plus heading out on this hash and it took a little over an hour to get through the trail. Once you're back at base camp there are showers, food, kegs of beer and someone who cleans your shoes for 2000 rupiah (20 cents). Once everyone's back, showered and had a few they had out punishments.
All the members form a circle around the ring leader who has a tray of beers ready. He basically just goes around the circle taking the piss out of everyone and giving these 'punishments'. The things they call you on could be completely true or just absolutely random. It could be something like 'you were the last one out of the trail so you get a punishment' or 'your shoes are new so now you have to drink a beer from them. When you get called to the middle of the circle they hand you a glass of beer, sing this little song and at the end you have to chug it back.

The new guys get called to the center quite a few times their first night and it was no exception for me of course. I got called in a few times just for being the new guy, no other reason. Once I got called in because I had my hand in my pocket. The ring leader just pointed at me and yelled 'he's wanking! there's no wanking allowed'. For that I had to chug another beer and also have cold water poured down my shorts. That happened to me 3 times. This goes on for quite a while until they announce 'social drinking' where you finally sit down and realize how much beer you just drank.
Got home pretty late and didn't get much done at work today. I'll have to make up for that tomorrow.

Been thinking about Christmas lately. I think it's because they have already put up decorations at my work... Can't decide what to do. I'm kind of wishing I went home for Christmas instead of in the summer. Maybe I miss the winter a little bit.

Anyone want to fly me back?

Arcade Fire

2010-11-19T14:52:00.002+07:00

Amazing song. Amazing video.

Stay Positive

2010-11-03T17:06:00.004+07:00

Cos this world swallows souls
And when the blues unfold
It gets cold silence burns holes
You're going mad
Perhaps you always were
But when things was good you just didn't care
This is called irony
When you most need to get up you got no energy
Time and time shit'll happen
The dark shit's unwrapping
But no-one's listening your mates are laughing
Your brethren's fucking and then you start hating
Your stomach starts churning and you mind starts turning.
So smoke another draw
It won't matter no more but the next day still feels sore
Rain taps on your window
Always did tho but you didn't hear it when things were so-so
You're on your own now
Your little zone you were born alone and believe me you'll die alone

Feels nice and still
Good thing about brown is it always will
It's easy, no-one blames you
It's that world out there that's fucked you
You know less of a person and if God exists
He still loves you
Just remember that - the more you sink the further back from that brink
Maybe you've lifetime scars and you think tattoos might be more fitting
But who's picking?
Searching for yourself you find demons
Try and be a freeman and grasp that talisman
Cos your the same as I am
We all need our fellow man
We all need our samaritan.
Maybe I'm better looking than you tho
Maybe I've got more dough - but am I happier... no.
Get the love of a good girl and your world will be much richer than my world
And your happiness will uncurl

Stop dreaming
People who say that are blaspheming
They're doing nine to five and moaning
And they don't want you succeeding when they've blown it
And you idols - who are they?
They too dreamt about their day
Positive steps will see your goals.
Whether it's dollars or control, feel the gold.
I ain't helping you climb the ladder
I'm busy climbing mine.
That's how it's been since the dawn of time
If you reach a cul-de-sac
The world turns it's back
This is your zone, it's like blackjack
He might get the ace or the top one
So organise your two's and three's into a run then you'll have fucked him son
And for that you'll be the better one
One last thing before you go though
When you feel better tomorrow you'll be a hero
But never forget today. you could be back here
Things can stray
What if you see me in that window?
You won't help me I know.
That's cool, just keep walking where you go.
Carry on through the estate, stare at the geezers so they know you ain't lightweight
And go see your mates

I hope you understand me
Just trying to stay positive
I ain't no preaching fucker and I ain't no do-goody-goody either
This is about when shit goes pear-shaped
And if you aren't or ever have been at rock bottom then good luck to you in the big wide world
But remember that one day shit might just start crumbling
Your bird might fuck off or you might loose your job
It's when that happens that what I'm talking about will feel much more important to you
So if you ain't feeling it, just be thankful that everything's cool in your world

Where The Circle Ends

2010-10-13T16:11:00.001+07:00

No one even lives here
We're too busy crashing our cars every morning in the same house
Paving the same roads
Unwilling to walk them
And even when we extend ourselves, its only to be included
In a moment that stands still
And so often we don't struggle to improve conditions
We struggle for the right to say "We improved conditions"
And so often we form communities
Only to use them as exclusionary devices
And we forget that somewhere man is beside himself with grief
And somewhere people are calling for teachers
And no one's answering

Hello Mister

2010-10-11T23:16:00.002+07:00

Again I feel I'm juggling too many things at once. I'm teaching myself how to play guitar, trying to get to the gym 3 days a week, working on photos I have been putting off for ages along with new ones I keep taking, working on school work outside of office hours so I can get a bit ahead with planning and I just started an online TEFL course which has already started chewing up more of my time! A little while back I started to write something as well but I don't really know where that's going at all...

Also a new friend of mine, who I feel I am just starting to get to know, will be leaving Medan soon so I've been spending most of my weekends with her. I'm not complaining about her taking up my time at all. If I did I would probably get a few angry messages back saying "bloody this and bloody that you bloody twat."

Another busy weekend coming up and I know for sure at least one day will be a complete write off... I'll just have to hope for some magical Indonesian holiday to appear, like they do, so I can have some extra time to knock a few things out the way.

Come on indo holiday!!

127 Hours

2010-10-08T14:40:00.002+07:00

My favourite director does it again.

Big City Dream

2010-10-06T16:42:00.005+07:00

The last words I heard before I slammed the door...
"You gotta be humble in this life."
But my shoulders tell me that ain't right
as I race down the stairs and step out into the night.
I scan the city skyline...
smoking like a neon mechanized Christ.
So I walk with intent towards my salvation.
Thoughts rise and fall... sharpen my mind into a razor.
I try to see into the future.
I try to sense impending danger.
There's a bum on the corner with his shopping cart filled with plastic bags.
Somedays I would wonder how he got there.
Not tonight, I don't care.
Steam rising up from the gutter...
shining in the headlights of passing cars.
The sound of distant sirens drowned out by thick concrete walls.
My state of mind makes me all alone on this platform in this subway station.
If you can make it here...
no one will care.
I see faces cut by lines of weariness.
Intelligent eyes hardened by cynical resignation.
I catch my reflection...
my face is changing too.
I find the reasons while I suffer just like all the others.
Up the stairs into a hazy dream.
I hear the neons scream.
I hear the billboards scream.
Fields of concrete stretching infinitely.
The industries that made us free...
with money to spend on all the wrong things.
I get down on my knees. The crowds rush past me.
I pray to no one and I feel nothing.

TRON TRON TRON

2010-10-05T14:56:00.002+07:00

The colours are a bit off in this but you'll have to deal with it.

True Grit

2010-09-29T12:06:00.004+07:00

A remake of a classic John Wayne film. It looks like the Coen brothers will do it justice.

Or you could watch the original.

The Fighter

2010-09-21T09:26:00.001+07:00

Jalan Labu (Pumpkin Street in English)

2010-09-20T15:48:00.008+07:00

The house I live in.

Empire

2010-08-31T14:54:00.000+07:00

Something to watch out for.

Radiohead covering Joy Division

2010-08-26T14:15:00.002+07:00

Awesome

Far too long...

2010-08-21T13:45:00.001+07:00

So in June it was my first time back in Canada for almost two years. It was good to be home and it was definitely worth not telling anyone that I was coming back so I could surprise my family.
I showed up at my parents house, had to wait a few hours for them to come home, but the look on their faces was priceless. It was a bit planned as in I told them I would be calling around 10 that evening. That was the time I would get to their house so they should have been waiting by the phone. It didn't work out perfectly which is why I spent a few hours waiting in the backyard but it was still a great surprise for them nonetheless.
The next day we drove up to Toronto to surprise my sister while she was at work. I really should have just kept doing surprise pop-ins with everyone I knew, that would have been interesting.

It took me a few days to get over the jet lag and get myself moving but when I finally did I was busy.
I wish I would have been a bit busier though. I got to see a lot of friends I hadn't seen in a long time but I didn't get to see everyone I wanted to see. I'm talking about people I have known for years but just didn't manage my time well enough to see. If any of you are reading this I'm sorry about that, you should know who you are I hope. Come out here anytime and I will show you some amazing places that you won't ever forget.

I am absolute shit at keeping in touch with people who aren't in the 'six inches in front of my face' (Pacino in any given sunday, anyone?). I have been telling myself this for years. I get so caught up in the here and the now, always have, that I often loose focus on other people and things.
Might have a new years resolution in the works here... Have I tried this one before?
I just hope that old friends are still friends and that new ones stick. Isn't that what we all hope for?

When I got back to Indonesia I dove right into work the next day and feel like I haven't stopped since. I have been doing my usual drinking/being a lazy sod on the weekends. I bought my first guitar ever when I got here. I have always wanted to play but never tried hard enough to get something going. I talked to a few people about it back in Canada and they kept saying "teach yourself", so that's what I'm trying. Picked up a nice acoustic yahama and have been pickin' away at it every week. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

Got my hair cut for the first time in over a year which was much needed due to the heat here. I'm much cooler these days, in a temperature sense of course. Speaking of hair, last night I made an interesting bet with Tom. Next week we are going to play pool, best out of 9 games, first to 5 is obviously the winner. Loser has to get a perm. The perm was probably sparked in Tom's head by a New Kids On The Block video we saw earlier in the night. So by next Sunday I may have a perm... Shit...

Will update this more, I hope. I've said that plenty of times...

Inception

2010-05-14T12:11:00.003+07:00

I can't stop watching this trailer. This looks damn good.

Java

2010-04-16T16:01:00.006+07:00

A few weeks ago I headed over to Java, the Province next to Sumatera, to see a little more of this interesting country.

My main goal was to meet up with Tom and Charlie in a city called Yogyakarta aka Jogja.
After meeting Tom and Charlie there we would rent some bikes and head up to Borobudur.

From Medan I flew into Jakarta, Indo's capital, on the 22nd of March. I would spend the night there and early the next afternoon head back to the airport, destination Jogja. In the morning I was left with a few hours before I had to head to the Airport.
I heading down to the National Monument which wasn't too far from where I was staying. It was basically this tall ass structure similar in shape to Brock's Monument but much taller. If you are from the Niagara Region you should get the reference.

It wasn't much to look at but you are able to pay a few thousand Rupiah to take an elevator to the top. When you get to the top to try and enjoy the view that's when you realize how polluted the city is. As you look around from the top of the tower you can see a fair distance but you also can see where the large parts of the city are heavily polluted.
By this time I was swimming in a pool of my own sweat. I had all my gear with me while I was strolling around the monument because I was heading straight to the airport after. I still had some time to kill so I took a walk through the diorama museum they have under the monument and learned about the country I live in.

There wasn't much else to see around that area so I headed for the train station nearby which has buses to the airport. I hoped on after being told it was only 50000 Rupiah. I saw everyone else was paying 20000. When the man came around collecting money he still asked me for 50000. I told him everyone else is paying 20000 so I will be doing the same. He just smiled and took my 20000.

My friend Christie said the bus ride was going to be a possible hour and a half to two hours because of crazy traffic. The bus got there in a little over half an hour. I was way too early for my flight. So early that the check-in counter wasn't even open.
I was glad I brought a book.

Finally my flight took off and I was headed for Jogja. I got there about 3ish and Tom was at the airport waiting. He had already hired out a bike so he drove me to the guesthouse him and Charlie were staying at.
It was a solid guesthouse. I didn't have to pay all that much and the place had a pool that was never busy. We took full advantage of that one for sure.

I was pretty beat that day after being up quite late the night before but after some decent food and a cold beer I got my energy back. Tom, Charlie and I felt we should go out that night because the following day was Tom's birthday. We headed to this "must go to bar" in Jogja which was just like any other average Discotheque I've been to so far.
It wasn't too busy so we just hung at the bar having some drinks and a bit of dancing. Tom got really into as he always does and at one point was dancing on the bar for everyone. Pulling a few new moves I hadn't seen yet along with a few of his classics.

The next day I hired a bike out in the morning so we could ride up to Borobudur. The ride was nice and we got there in under an hour. We spent pretty much the whole day there. We arrived early afternoon and didn't leave until the sun was going down. We stayed that long because we wanted to be on the temple for when the sun was setting.
Before the sunset we had the hecklers chasing us around trying to sell things. They were really aggressive but I still don't think as aggressive as China. We ducked into a market area to get away from them and grab a light meal.

The sun was on it's way down so we walked back over to the temple. We took a few good group shots of us in front of the temple then we thought we should start back up the temple. As we get back to the stairs we notice a ton of people are coming off it. The security tells us they are closing very shortly and we had time for a few more shots. We get to the top and as we do another security guard is telling us we have to leave. We snapped a few shots each and he kept saying we could pay him some money to stay a little while longer. He wanted about 150,000 (15 dollars) I believe. He called it a "sunset ticket."Charlie told him he was corrupt and we left, not getting any real good sunset shots.
We did however find out later that there happens to actually be a SUNSET TICKET, which if you buy at the gate is about double the price. The security guard was offering us a good deal but we didn't know it.

We rode back to Jogja that night. We took a dip to build up a hunger and then went out for food. We went to a restaurant we saw the night before that offered a few interesting dishes. They had Shark on the menu, which Tom and Charlie were both interested in trying. I was up for something I knew I would like so I stuck with something simple. I did end up trying there shark though. After doing so I wish I had ordered it. Don't pass up shark if it's on a menu.

The next day was our last full day in Jogja. We took our bikes around the city popping into different areas to do some shopping. The city was a little confusing as far as getting around but Tom seemed to have a handle on it so I just followed his lead. After being drained of energy we headed back to our guesthouse area for a beer. Tom and I knew that in the city you could find places that serve Kind Cobra and we had been talking about it throughout the day. After our beers we popped back into the guesthouse for a cool down dip. After that Charlie was pretty wiped so she went to bed. Tom and I still had our cobra mission to take care off. Tom also heard about this coffee that is worth trying in Jogja. The called it KOPI JOSS. It's coffee that they serve up with a burning bit of charcoal in it. We found a sweet spot that overlooked a bit of the city. Anyone can pull up and grab a seat on these mats on the sidewalk and enjoy the view and order some food or drinks. We tried the coffee and were both thoroughly impressed by the coffee. Imagine the taste of burnt coffee. It's damn good.

After that we hoped on our bikes and headed to an area near the train station where we heard the best Cobra would be. Everything around that area was closing down so we had no luck there. We booted around the city for probably a good 40 minutes looking for snake and exploring. We remembering seeing a restaurant near our guesthouse that did offer King Cobra so we headed back that way.
They had two options for King Cobra. I went for the steak and Tom, the satay.
We both had rather large portions of Cobra and we both really enjoyed it. I can't really compare it to anything I have eaten but if you get a chance, try it.
The next day I was heading back to Jakarta and Tom and Charlie were heading to Bandung.

I got back to Jakarta about 1 o'clock in the afternoon and found myself a guesthouse to stay in. I was meeting up with my friend Christie later in the evening to grab some dinner and not much else. We had some dinner in this kick ass buffet in one of the 10,000 plazas in the city.

Christie was a great tour guide, she took me to places I wanted to see and to places I would like to see. We did a bit of shopping that day in a few plazas, some better than others. Later on we heading north to check out this crazy packed market that was in a shell of an old plaza.

When we both got sick of shopping we headed a little further north to see 'old town' Jakarta. It was a pretty cool part of the city but we didn't stay too long, I think because we were just a bit worn out. We headed west from the 'old town' to the waterfront area to grab some dinner. We had dinner on this boardwalk restaurant and watched the sunset. It was a cool spot. Ended off the night just taking it easy and having a beer and going to see a movie. I was off the next day back to Medan.

I really enjoyed my trip. Jogja was amazing. I would really like to go back there again some day. Jakarta was alright as well. I can see why people can be drawn to it from other parts of Indonesia. It's the big city life. It was definitely still Indonesia but I felt like there were splashes of Toronto here and there. It made me miss back home a bit. I'll live.

Ever since I have been back in Medan it just feels like it's been non-stop. I had a ton of exams to mark when I got back to work along with other things to take care of. I am just now feeling like I'm back on track and ready for the few weeks ahead. Busy weeks of course.
My goal for this weekend though is to just kick-it old school. Watch a few movies I have been meaning to see and just take it easy. We'll see how well that works out.

The Force Unleashed II

2010-04-16T14:25:00.004+07:00

Big time geek.

The force is strong with this one.

2010-03-31T17:36:00.001+07:00

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1931187

Regulaters...

2010-03-22T15:51:00.001+07:00

MOUNT UP!

Java Trip

2010-03-10T16:54:00.009+07:00

So exam week is coming up and I'm taking a little time off to go see a few more places in Indonesia.
I have been wanting to head over to Java since my sister said she was coming out. She wasn't willing to do any heavy traveling when she got here so we took it fairly easy.

Speaking of fairly easy, when I go over to Java soon I won't be doing anything too heavy. I will fly to Jakarta the night of the 22nd, spend the night there, exploring a little, then fly off to Yogyakarta the next afternoon.

When I touch down in Yogyakarta I will meet up with Tom and Charlie, right away renting out a motorbike and heading to Borobudur to spend the night close by and see amazing views like this the next morning...

After spending most of the day at this beautiful place we will eventually head back to Yogyakarta to poke around there for a bit. On Friday mid afternoon I will fly back to Jakarta to see a bit more of it. I have some friends there that can show me around and let me see the best bits. I plan on hanging around in Jakarta until Sunday. My flight heads back early Sunday I really need to change that so I can come back later... perhaps now...

Should I Stay Or Should I Go Now

2010-02-11T09:32:00.002+07:00

It has come to the time where my school has asked me if I want to stay for another year. My second contract isn't finished until the end of September this year but they want to know soon because it could take them a bit of time to find someone new. I don't have very long to decide. I want to get a Job in Japan badly, China would be my second choice. So far it seems like it might be a bit easier to get a Job in China but I would much prefer Japan.

As much as I want to leave I know another year here would be a "piece of piss" as they say. I would have another pay increase and would have a real easy time of saving more money next year then I have this year. I could also have more time to better myself as a teacher. Work on getting some certificates and what not. That would give me a bit more confidence to go on to bigger jobs.

After typing this I feel like I am leaning more towards staying another year... I am just getting itchy feet. I could see a bit more of Indonesia if I did stay another year... aduh.

Kicks

2010-01-28T15:32:00.004+07:00

Someone please buy me a pair of these in Canada so I have them for whenever I visit...

District 9

2010-01-15T13:33:00.006+07:00

Listen to me. Trust me. Watch this film.
After watching the film I was really impressed by how unique it was and how it wasn't anything that I expected.
This version of the trailer couldn't be embedded so follow the link.
DO IT.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHihFA8q8xI

Lonely Santa Diaries

2010-01-04T14:23:00.003+07:00

Support Jeff Brontman and his friends. Watch all four episodes of Lonely Santa.
This is a very worthy cause to help out a group of independent filmmakers. writers, actors, etc. A lot of people had a part in the making of this project - help them get it out there!!!

EPISODE ONE

EPISODE TWO

EPISODE THREE

EPISODE FOUR

Lonely Santa : Part 2

2009-12-16T22:53:00.001+07:00

Support Jeff Brontman and his friends! Check out the SECOND episode of Lonely Santa!
If you enjoy it and wish to share with your friends you should. They are trying to get 1 million hits.

This is a very worthy cause to help out a group of independent filmmakers. writers, actors, etc. A lot of people had a part in the making of this project - help them get it out there!!!

The Thing

2009-12-13T14:57:00.001+07:00

I forgot how great this movie is.
Make sure you watch it, it's an oldie but a goody.

Lonely Santa

2009-12-10T13:20:00.003+07:00

Support Jeff Brontman and his friends! Check out the first episode of Lonely Santa!
If you enjoy it and wish to share with your friends you should. They are trying to get 1 million hits.

This is a very worthy cause to help out a group of independent filmmakers. writers, actors, etc. A lot of people had a part in the making of this project - help them get it out there!!!

Last Few Months

2009-12-07T16:43:00.003+07:00

Slacking with this just like most things…

Much has happened since I last updated this blog.

I fired my first gun back in August. 6 shooter. Tight.

Late September I ended up going to Pulau Weh which is a small island located just North of Sumatera. Tom, Charlie and I flew into Banda Aceh (still mainland Sumatera just south of Pulau Weh) and took a ferry to the island, then caught a bus to the area of the island we were staying at.

Once we got to the other side of the island things were extremely eerie. It almost felt as if that side of the island had been deserted. There was a long stretch of that side of the island with a ton of guesthouses but as we walked along we could rarely find anyone at any of these places. We needed a room and we had the hardest time trying to find an area that actually had people working. Eventually we found some signs of life and were able to book rooms. Tom and Charlie had theirs and I had mine. Both of our huts were right on the water and this was our view…

It was a holiday where all we wanted to do was relax and that’s all we did. It’s always nice to wake up every morning and move from your bed right into a hammock. Never bring “A Brief History of Space and Time” by Stephen Hawking when you are trying to relax, trust me. Other than lying in a hammock for most of the day we really didn’t do much else. We did find Monopoly and Scrabble at the Restaurant of our guesthouse which we did get quite addicted to. There wasn’t much alcohol on the island unless you were willing to pay through the roof for it so the three of us had ourselves a bit of a detox week.

Charlie and I did get to do a bit of snorkeling which was awesome. It was my first time so I was stoked. The reef was apparently “dead” due to the giant Tsunami that crashed through there a few years back but I still thought what I saw was amazing. We wanted to take photos with Charlie’s new underwater camera but right when we got it in the water it stopped working. So much for waterproof.

It was all good up until the day of snorkeling then things took a turn for the worse…

After the morning of snorkeling we met back up with Tom and he was complaining about something in his eye. He attempted to get whatever it was out of his eye but had no luck. As the day went on his eye seemed to bother him more and more. We made guesses about what it is but we really had no clue.

The next day Charlie and I had made plans to head to another side of this smaller island to do some more snorkeling. We heard the reef there was extremely alive and we were really looking forward to it. Like I said things took a turn…

Charlie woke the next day complaining about her eye. She was having the same problem that Tom was having. That was our last day in Pulau Weh. We had to get back to Banda Aceh that night because the next morning we had a flight from there to Medan. We got back to Aceh that evening and we booked a room for the night at this swank little place. Tom’s infection had spread to both eyes and Charlie’s one was getting worse. The next morning was when it reached me. I woke up having a little bit of trouble trying to open my one eye so I knew I had it. In the end we found out it seemed to be Pink Eye. You never want it. It’s hell. We got some drops in Aceh but had to take the next day off from work to sit in containment at their house. The trip was nice until the eye infection.

After the trip was when I started full time at my new job. I now work at the same school as Tom and Charlie, SIA (Singapore International Academy). I much prefer SIA over IEC. IEC is a language school but SIA is an actual school. The children seem like they actually want to be at school instead of IEC where if you are teaching an evening class most of the students don’t seem too happy to be there.

I do have a bit more work to do at my new job, i.e. marking and writing tests/exams but I’m getting use to it. It’s more work but it still keeps me interested. A big change with this school is that I have the same 6 classes every week at the same times. At IEC I would have, on average, 20 different classes in a week. It’s much easier to get to know your students when you have less of them and see them more often.

We celebrated Halloween at school which was fly. I was in charge of planning and building a Haunted House, first time ever, also fly. My main goal was to make the kids so terrified that they would cry. It worked. Tears were shed all through my Haunted maze. I was more focused on the maze then my costume though. My original idea was a bit shit, not worth mentioning. I ended up having an idea, kind of last minute but I knew it would work. I decided to ask the principal if I could try on the student uniform in the largest size they had. I actually didn’t need the largest I went down one size and was able to pull it off. Come Halloween I made sure to slick my hair down to the side and wear large nerdy classes and a tall pair of white socks. I don’t even think I have a really good photo of me in the get up which is a bit of a bummer. I thought the kids would think it was hilarious but most of them just asked me why I was wearing their uniform…

November just flew by. I did get a free “vacation” from the school, which was nice. I had to go to Penang Malaysia to get my new work Visa. I spent about 6 whole days there which was a great little break from work. I took out a bike while I was there and drove it all around the island on my last full day. I didn’t know what I would be back there so I wanted to make sure I saw a few new things while I was there.

The drive around the Island was great. There was nothing but endless winding roads on a really beautiful day. I stopped at a Butterfly Farm which was really interested and educational of course. Further around the island I found what was almost like a hidden waterfall. You had to park and walk a bit to this area with a really amazing waterfall rolling over these rocks. It was something else. Next I found a tropical fruit farm that held tours. I wish I took the tour to have the fresh fruit buffet after but I wasn’t sure how long it would take me to finish the rest of the island. I passed and just had some fresh juice while enjoying the view. The rest of the trip got me back to the heart of Georgetown, the more populated part of the island. It was pretty wild to open up that little motorbike on that small bit of highway they had.

That night was my last night in Penang. I headed back to the night market that night to take one last stroll through to see if I could find some Christmas gifts.

Since then I have been back in Medan just working and waiting for the Christmas Holiday when my sister gets here. She will be here a week tomorrow which is wild. I’m sure this place will blow her mind. I have put together a pretty intense itinerary involving elephant rides in the jungle, tubing down rivers, jungle treks, wild orangutans in their natural habitat, bat caves, volcano climbing and relaxing next to one of the world’s largest crater lakes. We are planning to do these 2 weeks of intense travelling the best way… on my motorbike. I hope our asses can take it. I’ll let you know.

...and again.

2009-08-26T00:40:00.003+07:00

I saw it again...

2009-08-23T10:30:00.002+07:00

Even better the second time.

Star Trek/Zombies

2009-08-19T23:27:00.005+07:00

The movie I have been waiting almost a year for finally made it to the city I reside.

I was at the Plaza with my BRAH to buy some much needed Sushi and take a little peep at the Cinema.
To our surprise the Cinema was playing Star Trek at midnight. I'm guessing the midnight shows here are used as a test run. They play a film for a weekend or two only on midnight shows and if people are willing enough to see it then, then they should still be if they swap it to a regular schedule...enough about me looking at the science behind everything.

We got our tickets then and there obviously, but had hours to kill so we saw another film a few hours prior to Star Trek.
It was called Quarantine. When I think of something that is Quarantined I think of a Virus, when I think of a Virus I think of Zombies. I can never get enough Zombies. EVER.
I wasn't sure if it was about zombies because the trailer didn't give anything away as to why there was a Quarantine. I just had to wish, and boy was a right.
Not the best movie in the world, but it had Zombies which made up for it. They always do.

Back to the Trek.

I have been watching the original series over the past little while and it was really cool to be so into that and be able to jump to the new one to compare EVERYTHING. I was also able to read the Star Trek "Countdown" Comic Series as well, which filled me in with some pre-film storyline.

All the new actors did a pretty decent job of playing such memorable characters. I thought the guy who played Doctor McCoy was spot on. I also really dug the tension between Kirk and Spock. That was really well played out through the film. All the others were there from the Original Series but didn't seem to be as large a portion of the film as Kirk or Spock. I'm sure the next one will bring them all together even more so.
If you haven't seen it yet, make sure that you do. Even if you don't know the characters all that well it is still a great Star Trek film to get you into the series.

Long Live Star Trek
Long Live Zombies.

Cigarrette Vocals

2009-08-09T12:53:00.003+07:00

Earlier this week I was asked from my friend Cindy if I was willing to have my voice tested for some video her friends were doing. I went to do the voice test on Wednesday and they seemed to love it.
I was told I needed to sound a bit more "upbeat" so after some adjustments to my vocal cords I was able to give them what they needed.

The studio was editing a corporate video for a very large Tobacco company in Sumatera which exports all the smokes they make. Some of the smokes make it to English speaking countries so my vocals are being used for the English Audio on their corporate DVD.

It was incredibly easy and I might be doing it again in a few weeks for something new. Hopefully something a bit more interesting because reading facts about a tobacco company was a bit dull.

Sigur Ros

2009-07-30T00:39:00.002+07:00

I'm on another one of my Sigur Ros stretches where I just can't stop listening to them again.

A few of my favourite songs/videos for you to peep.
If you don't like at least one of these songs or videos then you are a fool.
Watch them all, not just one.

Sigur Rós - Untitled #1 (aka Vaka) from sigur-ros.co.uk on Vimeo.

Sigur Rós - Glósóli from sigur-ros.co.uk on Vimeo.

Sigur Rós - Hoppípolla from sigur-ros.co.uk on Vimeo.

July 22nd 2009 = Crash

2009-07-29T23:40:00.007+07:00

It has been way too long since I have been on here... once again. I keep telling myself I will update this once a week but my life is so filled with Star Trek and X-files these days it is really quite hard to find the time.

So last Wednesday was a shit Wednesday. Reason : motorcycle accident.

I was heading to IEC (work) going my normal route and everything was going fine. Was about to pop my Honda into 3rd when out of no where an SUV comes into the road right in my path. It was a rainy day and what happened next was unavoidable. So with my options limited to crashing into the fender or crashing into the fender I chose crashing into the fender. I hit the front right fender probably at about 45km/hr, then hit the ground roughly at the same speed.

It was one of those accidents when you can see it about to happen but you also realize at the exact same moment that there is nothing you can do. Then the moment after you are on the road sliding down the street.

The accident could have been much much worse. I use to rock this shitty helmut that was meant to look good but wasn't really built for saving lives. A week prior to my accident I had purchased a new, much more protective head piece and that was what saved my life.
Right after I hit the SUV my head/motorcycle was the next thing to hit the ground. If I hadn't bought that new helmut my brains/body might be laying down somewhere else in Medan other than in my bed shortly.

Once I hit the ground I immediately got up I didn't feel hurt all that bad. It might have been the shock of it all. When I did get up I do remember my vision being extremely blurred due to the fact that my head had bounced off the road. Luckily some police where behind us in traffic and were able to assist with getting my bike off the road and talking to the driver of the SUV who couldn't speak much English.
After the small shock and rush wore off I noticed how much my wrist was in pain. I thought maybe it was broken but when the police took me to the hospital for x-rays we found out it was extremely sprained. For some reason though the hospital didn't supply and tensor bandages...
24 years old and not even a motorcycle crash can give me my first broken bone.

After a few hours there of being talked to by police and pushed around by doctors in a wheelchair we were off to the police station. I actually had to ride my bike to the police station with my messed up wrist. It was an odd day.
Considering I don't have a license in this country or any proof that my motorcycle is actually mine I got off very clean.

The driver of the SUV found out from one of the cops that I didn't have a license on me so he knew he had the upper hand. He was demanding that I pay for the repairs to his vehicle, mainly the headlight I took out on the way down.
I thought maybe he would just be cool and walk away. Like I was willing to do when the cops asked me if I wanted to press charges and I said no. He wasn't that cool.
After some chatting with my AC (academic coordinator) from my school, we were able to bribe the man off with 250,000 rupiah (about 25 dollars)

That's all the whole ordeal actually cost me. There were a few costs at the hospital for X-rays and medication but the school pays you back for things like that. I took my bike in to get repaired a few days later and that only cost 40,000 rupiah (about 4 dollars)

I love this country.

Baller

2009-06-07T23:33:00.002+07:00

In Indonesia if you go out on the weekend and spend 20 bucks you are an absolute baller. Seriously.

Holy Shit

2009-06-04T23:26:00.000+07:00

Two Weeks till CHINA.......

MAD MEN

2009-05-31T23:56:00.005+07:00

This is a show I am into huge right now and I thought I should share.

This is a quick littler teaser about the show, definitely check this and if you dig it peep the links below.

Seeing these a while back is what got me into the show.
The first link is for the first 8 minutes of a 15 minute behind the scenes look. The second is for the rest. Enjoy

http://www.amctv.com/videos/madmen/?bcpid=895162757&bclid=932485428&bctid=987199977

http://www.amctv.com/videos/madmen/?bcpid=895162757&bclid=932485428&bctid=987243574

Terminator Review (Brontman vs. McInnis)

2009-05-31T19:36:00.000+07:00

Brontman's Review...

yeah.....it was bad
It started half decent, but as the story progressed I found myself constantly questioning the logic of this and that, by the last 40 mins I kept saying over and over again that makes no sense, why would they do that, that is so stupid. Yeah, as the credits rolled I said to roomie " that movie was just an utterly pointless and stupid cash grab........then went and rented The Terminator to wash the bad taste of Salvation out of our mouths ......that sounded gay .......yeah it was just plain and simply stupid and gimicky....Bale was just kind of bad....he was too gruff and over the top....WHY THE FUCK DO PEOPLE KEEP CASTING Common, he's so bad! He just shows up and plays himself in every movie he does...lame...the guy who played young Kyle Reese was actually good, and Sam Worthington as the terminator was also really good......and as for the D.P. who took Bale's verbal abuse...well his work was pretty good for most of the movie...plenty o' digital finishing though.......why the fuck did they give this movie to the charlie's angel guy?????????
1.5 out of 5 stars

My Review...

Not the world's greatest film but it was decent all the way through. If you're a fan of the Terminator series you should be able to sit through this movie and enjoy it. Seeing this part of the story line should have been your dream since the first film.
There were two points when I questioned the film just like Jeff, one involving a Truck with a ball crane and another involving a fire. Those scenes didn't kill the film for me but I did read Jeff's review prior to going which had me watching for things I could question. When going to see this movie don't go putting it up on a pedestal. Keep in mind that you are seeing a Sci-Fi Movie about a possible future. It's well done for what it is. The story was rather interesting and when it wasn't the action kept you focused.
See the movie if you like the old Terminators or if you dig the Sci-Fi genre.

Come With Me If You Want To Live

2009-05-27T11:00:00.000+07:00

Holy shit the new Terminator movie actually came to Medan...

...details on the way.

From Then Till Now

2009-05-18T23:13:00.000+07:00

Haven't used this in a while...

I'm sitting here trying to think about what's been happening over the past month and all I can really think about is work.
That's all I have really been doing this past month.

I did do my taxes which ended up having a happy ending. I received quite a decent sum from our government. Most of what I claimed I didn't pay taxes on... can't wait for that audit...
When my return popped up in my account I took all of LABU (the house I live in) out for drinks and pool, it was a really good time. I felt like a baller that night.

Two of my housemates, Tom and Charlie, decided to rent a house in Medan for themselves. They picked a really nice place on the edge of town in a quiet complex. Getting a place there was pretty tempting. It's a single floor house with a garage and it only cost them 15 Million Rupiah for the year which translates into about 15o0 Canadian. It blows my mind because back in Toronto my place was 1150 a month...
I was later convinced that it wouldn't be the best idea for me to get one because I will likely be here only for one more year before I move on.

Speaking of which, when my new contract starts I will be moving from IEC (my school) to SIA which is IEC's "sister school". SIA is run like an actual school, because it is an actual school, where as IEC is just an English school. I am excited for the new challenge and the change of pace. My schedule now is basically all evening shifts which is 1:30 - 9:00. When I head to SIA I will be on 9-6ers.
It seems like it's the best option for me. I wouldn't have to worry about finding another job, and since my school is run by the same "MAN" I could transfer very easily. Another bonus is that I wouldn't have to move, and I should get a half-decent pay increase once a new contract is signed.

Next year will be JAPAN. That is a definite. I don't have a job set up yet but I am extremely determined to go live and work there. I have been or quite a long time.
I have been talking to a few friends from Japan that I use to work with in Toronto who are now back in Japan and they are on the lookout for jobs for me.
My one pal Kazuki hooked me up with a really good website for jobs in Japan and I have been browsing it a lot. It seems like most schools there are looking for 2 years experience minimum which I will have by then so I am stoked.

I will be off to China in a month which I am extremely amped for...
and damn I'll be 24 in less than a week... I don't feel 24

University

2009-04-07T12:37:00.000+07:00

So the University presentation was this past weekend and I was bit nervous the morning of because having to speak for an hour in front of 100 students can do that to you.

Things were a bit odd on the way to the university. Our boss straight up tells us he lied to us when he asked if we wanted to do this a few weeks back. He told us it would be doing the presentations for 100 people when actually it was more like 400... that son of a bitch!
That wasn't really the best news to hear on the way there but shortly after that we found out the presentation only needed to be about 20 minutes from each of us. I would be talking about Canada and Danny would be talking about England. We both dug the new time limit.

I was a bit pissed though because I had stayed up late the night previous to make sure I had about an hour worth of info to throw at these kids only to find out it was needed.
It did make the presentation easier though, I got to cut some of the "fat" from my presentation, the boring stats.

It was a really easy day. There were two presenters before us, then us, then a final presentation after the lunch break. The lunch break was a bit hectic though because everyone there wanted photos with us and some of them even wanted autographs, Danny and I even got to sign a shirt for one of the hosts. We were celebrities for the day. It can be a bit like that sometimes just walking around the city or going to the mall but this was intense. Autographs? Seriously?

They gave us each a nice framed certificate too, thanking us for participating which was really nice.
I would easily do it again if they asked...gotta get my money right, ya heard?

That Is That And This Is This

2009-03-30T00:02:00.000+07:00

This past weekend Andrew, Jason and I spent the weekend in Brastagi. A co-worker of Andrew's was getting married there and we were invited. That was the main reason for going but I think we all were stoked on the idea of getting out of the city, even if it was just for a weekend.

The wedding was huge as you can see...

...there was a ton of more people behind where I was standing too.

We didn't stay for long but we stayed as long as we thought was appropriate. The weddings here are a bit strange. You don't stay for the whole ceremony, you come and stop by and stay for as long as you want.

Andrew was asked to give a small speech when they were passing a microphone around. He used three classic quotes and that was all, Napolean Dynamite "I hope all of your wildest dreams come true" Star Trek "Live Long and Prosper" and finally Star Wars "May The Force Be With You." He did replace "Force" with "Lord" but we both knew what he really meant.

In Brastagi they have this "funland" called Mickie Holiday where all the kids we teach go on Holiday and talk about all the time. We were told the "funland"had paintball so we thought we would check it out. They did and we had to go back the next day for it due to rain, but the place was a blast. They had some half decent rides and a few cheesy ones but for and entry fee of only 25,000 rupiah which is 2.50 canadian you will have a blast no matter what.

Since I have been home I have been working on this Canada presentation I am doing next weekend that I don't think I have mentioned. On Saturday the 4th I will be doing a one hour presentation about Canada to 100 University students. When I first heard the number of students I was very hesitant, I can deal with my classes which are no more than 22 students MAX, but 100 is a lot. I have never been the best at talking in front of large groups, I will usually talk faster than the speed of light and that can really ruin things. I accepted this as more of a challenge for myself more than anything. There is also pay involved but thats seriously not the reason I am doing it. I want to try and do this semi-professionally without messing up a single thing. I'll let you know how it goes....
...Wish me luck

Converge/Darkest Hour

2009-03-26T01:37:00.000+07:00

New Converge and Darkest Hour albums out this year.
Stoked.

peep this preview of upcoming Converge...

BBQ

2009-03-21T01:19:00.001+07:00

This weekend is Tom and Andrew's and to celebrate we are having a day long BBQ. We all have invited pretty much everyone from both our schools. Most of whom probably won't come because they are too afraid to cut loose.

Seriously who would want to miss 12+ hours of booze and bbq? you?

Star Trek

2009-03-13T10:22:00.000+07:00

holy shit holy shit holy shit...

Of course this epic movie is being released in every country in May except Indonesia. Does anyone want to pay for a flight to Singapore so I can see this?

A Walk In The Park

2009-03-10T01:12:00.001+07:00

Andrew brought up the idea of walking the "ring road" of Medan probably about a month back, or "making history" as he put it. Tom and I had been pretty keen on the idea since the beginning and we all actually made an attempt at it on Saturday.

We knew starting early in the morning would be best so we could do a large portion of our walking before high noon hit. Our scientist Andrew estimated our trip would take roughly 12 hours, give or take an hour depending on speed and amount of stops. We set off a little after six, accompanied by an amazing sunrise. We hoped on a Becak to take us to the ring and from there we would start our walk.

The walk wasn't that bad in the morning it was cool out and the sun took it's sweet time getting up into the sky. We met a little old lady who fancied Tom but he kept trying to pawn her off to me. She was interested in having a Bule (white foreigner) as her husband. One day I am sure she will get what she wants, she seemed very determined.

My legs started to getting tired about 7-8 hours in. I figured I would push on and see how far I could take it, we had to get to the finish. Shortly after that I whipped it out "I don't think I will be finishing this today". Tom was in agreement due to his cut up feet from crummy flip-flops. We started the walk on the west side of the city and headed south. We were now coming on the north east corner of the ring road. That was when we parted ways with Andrew, he wanted to press on. He said something along the lines of "this thing was my idea so I think I should finish it".

So after about 8 and a half to 9 hours Tom and I headed home. In a becak obviously, we sure as hell were not going to walk back. Andrew pressed on but when he noticed he was getting slower and slower he also decided to pack it in. He came in the house about 2 hours or so after Tom and I got in. We were all in bed by 9 and in rough shape but it was worth it.
There has been mention of doing another big walk, but instead of around the city we would go through all the side streets from one end of the city to the other. I will need to get more sleep the night before next time...

Here's a map of the city to give you an idea of the scale of our journey.
The first X is where Tom and I quit, and the second is roughly where Andrew quit.

China

2009-03-04T23:27:00.000+07:00

So about two weeks back or so my housemates Tom and Charlie were surfing through Air Asia's website. They came across some kick ass deals on flights to China from KL (which is in Malaysia). The flights per person for a round trip were about 200 bucks. You can't beat a 6 hour flight to China for that cheap. They also found cheap ass flights to get from Medan to KL for only about 40 bucks and that's a round trip. So all the way to China from Medan for under 250 bucks isn't bad at all. We are going to have to pay something like another 50 bucks to immigration for leaving the country (which we though was going to be 250), but hell, how can you say no for that price.

They both thought right away that maybe they could go and asked the rest of us if we all wanted to go. I was stoked on the idea because I have been thinking lately about heading up to China in the next year or two to teach. This could be my sneak preview.
Then right after that thought reality hit, I didn't have the money to pay for the flight.
I then, being my usual self, starting to think maybe I shouldn't spend the money, I could put it towards something else. But like I said, how can you say no for that price.

My two housemates, being as amazing as they are, offered to front me the money for the flight and we could figure that out later. Whoever thought two "English" could have such big hearts...?
...kidding
I was unsure about it at first, thinking again about the money, but of course I said yes.

So come the end of June I will be taking a stroll along the Great Wall and training it through China with my two housemates. We all are incredibly stoked and will probably be loosely planning out itinerary soon.

Holy shit I can't wait.

word.

Danny Boyle

2009-02-13T12:16:00.001+07:00

If you haven't heard me mention Danny Boyle since I have known you then maybe we aren't all that good of friends. Maybe you need to get to know me a little better.

Ever since I first watched Trainspotting many years ago I have been following his career very closely. I finally got to watch his latest movie Slumdog Millionaire which has already won quite a few awards. I thought it was amazing, but you might here me say that about all his movies, some more than others.

If you haven't seen any of his films then you best get to it. I have taken the time to put up all the trailers of his movies that I have seen and really enjoyed. If you're interested in watching some awesome movies then you should watch these trailers and download or rent the movies asap.

Enjoy...

His latest SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE...

My personal favourite of his SUNSHINE...

MILLIONS...

28 DAYS LATER...

THE BEACH, the book is better but the movie was decent...

TRAINSPOTTING, the movie that started my obsession...

And finally his first full length film that started him off, SHALLOW GRAVE...

Aliphant

2009-02-08T23:53:00.000+07:00

So Tangkahan, this was about 2 weeks ago now but I need to keep you people up to date even if I am slacking with this.

Tangkahan is a small jungle village a little ways out of the city that we wanted check out. All of us here at Labu went. Of course we took the bikes, nothing will ever beat the open road our bikes, ever. The ride there took about 5 hours and it was a great day for riding, no rain in site.
The trip there was like any other, crazy traffic, shouts/stares from the locals and bumpy fucking roads. Makes for a great ride though.

When we got there we all parked our bikes then had to fill out this visitors form that took a while. I think they just wanted to have proof of how many white people actually make it out that way.

The place we stayed at while we were there was called the Jungle Lodge and their restaurant area was right above the river. Every time I ate I had this view to go along with it...

The first night we kept it quiet and just chilled. When you're in a place like this that's all you really want to do.
The next day we had planned to take the elephant trek through the jungle. We headed down to the river for about 2ish and we spotted the elephants down the river on their way to pick us up.
None of us had ever been on an elephant trek before but we all expected the elephants just to take a straight path on through the jungle. The path was rarely ever straight or level, it was all over the place. The elephants were taking us up and down this muddy hills like it was nothing. We had to hold on pretty damn tight in some spots just because of how steep the hills were.

Once we got through the jungle about an hour had passed and we were on our way to where the elephants get bathed and fed. We crossed this river that was pretty deep but once again it was nothing for the elephants. Feeding them was pretty awesome. They would open their huge mouths right in your face and you would just toss the food in. They would try to grab at your food with their trunks too. We then walked with the elepants back down to the river right when it started to rain. We washed and played around with the elephants for quite a while before it was time to head back.

The way back to our guest house was via tubes down the river. They tie enough tubes together for all the people in your group plus the two locals that will help steer. The river was mostly calm, a small bit rough in a few spots but we made it back fine and it was dope. That night we just relaxed again and got to some serious poker. We headed back to Medan the next day and back to work the day after that.

Since then I have just been doing my time at work and being my same old lazy self on the weekends. I will try to keep this thing more up to date for any of you who are reading this...

word

New Housemate

2009-01-29T00:27:00.000+07:00

So the story of the new housemate goes as follows...

Our crazy maids were over last week to do their usual maid things and the one girl decided to bring her cat. Pretty cute little bastard so I dug her. I kind of jokingly asked if I could have her cause she was pretty cool. The maid (i forget her name) talked about it for a minute with the other maid (name also forgotten) and she said yes.
Charlie (my housemate) and I just looked at each other and were like "really?" We made sure it was all good with the rest of the house and she is now ours. I was going to let the maids take her back home for a few days while we were away just so she wouldn't be lonely. While I was thinking about this I noticed that the maids really liked to poke at it and be pretty damn mean to it. When they wanted to pick her up they would do so by putting a hand around the kittens throat and carrying it around like that. Right away I was like fuck that and made sure she stayed here from then on.

The cat was pretty filthy and she was also crawling with fleas. I flew to the nearest pet shop and grabbed the goods to give her a wash and picked up a flea collar as well. She is doing much better now and seems to have gained a bit of weight. She is already noticeably stronger then when we all first met her.

Ladies and Gentlemen I am proud to introduce Lionel...

EDGE

2009-01-11T01:23:00.000+07:00

I forgot to mention that a few weeks back I purchased this little beauty...

If you or anyone you know owns a DS you must inform them of this device.
Don't buy games, that's silly. Buy this for the price of one game and play any others you want from then on for free.

DO IT.

Christmas Break

2009-01-05T22:42:00.000+07:00

My vacation was really cool. Once the weekend hit Andrew, Jason and I road our bikes about 2 hours out of town to Brastagi. We hiked up the volcano there, I had already been up to the crater but this time we headed for the summit. Last time when I headed up the volcano we walked all the way from town, and headed over the other side which took about 6 hours. The first part of that walk was really boring though. You just walk along this actual road for the longest time when you get to a point when you're like shit isn't this going to get any better. That's when you finally reach the base of the mountain. We road our motorbikes to that point to save some time and so we could spend more of that time at the top. Time to take a memorial like shot...

After climbing back down from the volcano and getting back to town we were pretty exhausted. We each had a few beers with dinner then we all decided we needed a nap before we did anything else. We all headed for a nap but none of us woke up until the next morning at like 8, we had slept for about 12 hours. After breakfast we hopped on our bikes and flew back to Medan.

After a few days of just hanging out Jason and I were headed for Lake Toba. We wanted to ride our bikes to make it a big trip. We decided to take the long way around the lake to get to the peninsula to make it an even bigger trip. We could of shaved a few hours by going to a ferry, which would take us across the lake to the peninsula but a ferry is never as cool as you think.
Leaving from Medan and taking the long way around to Lake Toba took about 8 hours.

Minus one hour for lunch, we were on the bikes for 7 hours. We would stop from time to time to take pictures and to stretch our legs, sitting on a bike for that long cramps you up quite a bit.

The best stretch of road we came across was when we about 3 hours or so away. It was a curvy ass road on this side of this mountain. We were just able to throw our bikes in neutral and cruise on down. This was the view from the top...

and this was the shot from the bottom...

...fucking dope.

When we first got to TOBA we stayed at this guest house with some friends we knew were there. For the next 4 nights we stayed at an even nicer guest house called MAS Cottages. Our rooms were about 10 steps away from the lake, we were able to wake up and just walk out the door then into the Lake for a swim. It was really awesome there. The Island is called Samosir and it's connected to mainland Indonesia by a small stretch of earth. Our guesthouse was on the Peninsula Tuk Tuk. The lake/peninsula is completely surrounded by huge mountains and the whole middle of the peninsula is a huge mountain as well. You can find roads that lead up to the top of the mountain in the middle but they are a bit tricky. One of the days Jason and I attempted to head up one route. We had made it pretty close to the top with our bikes when it got a litte messy with mud and crazy agressive. It was pretty intense but definitely worth it. At one point when we had stopped these two guys were heading by with a herd of cattle. They said they were heading to the top as well and would guide us the rest of the way, we followed on with bikes until it got way too impossible with muck, so we walked from there on.

Once on the top it doesn't feel like you're on top of a mountain because it is just valleys of hills, it's just that the top goes on for a long time. There is a fairly large lake up there too, they call it the lake within a lake. We hung out with the two cattle guys while they had their cattle bathing and drinking. We finished up there and headed back to our bikes and back to the guesthouse, we desperately needed to because we could feel our flesh burning. Always remember to re-apply kids.

Most of the week was just spent in or around the Guesthouse area, they had good food, good times and good vibes. We did to more biking around Samosir to explore but most of the week was spent relaxing just like we wanted.

We headed back to Medan on Sunday the 28th. We took a wrong turn at one point on the way back which took us on a little bit of a different route. It had us still headed to Medan so it wasn't the end of the world. It still took the same amount of time.

Once back in Medan we just did our usual day-day Medan business and we still had one more week till work. Didn't do much for New Years, I spent enough over the holidays already so I wasn't looking to spend much more. A few of us just relaxed at the house with some drinks, wii and fireworks. It was pretty chill and damn good.

Machine Girl

2008-12-31T00:09:00.000+07:00

I cannot stress this enough but you NEED to SEE this MOVIE.

What friggin' Christmas song does this remind you of?

2008-12-30T00:56:00.000+07:00

This is an old Nas song off of his 5th album. I wanted to find a video but he never put one for this interesting track.
What friggin' Christmas song does this remind you of? I think I know which song the beat comes from, but I want to know if you know! do you?!

This video is just the lyrics for the song along with the song, feel free to sing along. I know I did.

Also when I was looking for this I pumped into an older Nas song that was one of the first few songs I heard from him, the shit that got me hooked. Peep it.

If you ain't down with Nas then peace off my blog sucka.

Thailand

2008-12-21T00:00:00.000+07:00

In September Becky and I split. We had vacation coming up at the end of the month and I needed to get away. I ended up heading to Thailand with a small idea of what I was going to do. The main goal was to get to Ko Phi Phi, an island off the west coast of southern Thailand. From there I would decide what to do next.

I figured this would be the best tale for my first rather large post. Enjoy.

I took a ferry over to Penang, Malaysia on Saturday the 27th. I was hoping to catch a bus headed up to Thailand the next day but the company I was going up with was booked full for that day. So I was in Penang for an extra night, it wasn't the end of the world, I just wish I could of been heading up there ASAP. I made sure not to waste any money there just so I had it all for Thailand. So Monday morning I got on a minibus about 5am, they picked me up from the guest house I was at, then we headed to up to Thailand. Destination: ferry to Ko Phi Phi. (punch Ko Phi Phi into google maps if you want to see where it is.)

Ko meaning Island, and Phi Phi pronounced as Pee Pee. The money I paid for my bus also included the ferry boat over to the Island. There are a few Phi Phi islands, but the larger of the few and more popular are named, Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Lay. I was thinking it was going to go to Phi Phi Lay cause it has the beach from the movie "The Beach" based off an even better book by the same name. The ferry in fact headed to Phi Phi Don, the larger of the two. It didn't really matter to me but I think if I am ever heading to those islands again I will make sure I get to Phi Phi Lay somehow. I looked around for guesthouses to spend a few nights in and most things around the main area were all near really noisy bars and the small clubs. I walked to the end of where the guest house trail stopped, and found some stairs that went up to a look out point. I walked up all 300 or so of them and found some bungalows there. I asked about the price and he wanted 500 Baht for a night, but I told him I was staying 2 nights so he gave one to me for 400 a night. 400 baht would a little over 12 canadian dollars. If I was on the mainland of Thailand like Bangkok I would probably pay half that for a nights stay. I knew it was going to be a bit pricier cause of it being on an island. No biggie.

If I were to get something for 400 baht on the lower part of the island where all the noise was I would of got a very small bachelor type room. With the 400 I paid I got a full bungalow on the side of a mountain, with double bed, shower and bathroom. It had a nice porch too where I could sit and view the middle of the island which has two beaches on either side of the mainland. I spent 2 nights on that island and then I wanted to head out before I got way too comfortable there.

My next stop originally was going to be Phuket Thailand. My last night on Ko Phi Phi I changed my mind because I liked the idea of seeing another one of Thailand's popular islands instead. I bought a ticket Tuesday night that would take me on a ferry to a bus to another ferry to Ko Phangan (pronounced Fa-Nang). I think that ticket was about 800 baht so about 24 bucks. Left Ko Phi Phi around 9am then got to the other island around 6. There was a bit of a mix up at the ferry though. I asked the lady which boat I needed to get on and she pointed to the only one that was there. I hopped on and we headed out for what I though was Ko Phangan. Turns out it was the island just south of it called Ko Samui. (pronounced Sa-Moi). I didn't find out though until I was in my room at night and I was finally looking at this map I was given. Again not a big deal, but I wished I was on the other island because I had heard so many good things about it. I thought I might as well feel out this Island the next day and decide if it still is worth going to the other island.

I was asking around for rides to different parts of the island but all the local drivers and bus systems were run a bit crazy there and they wanted ridiculous prices to get anywhere and they wouldn't bargain. I was then frustrated so I figured I would walk the few hours north to get to some ferrys that I knew might be heading to Ko Phangan. Took about 2 hours to walk there from where I was so it wasn't too bad. I popped out on some beach and just a bit further down the beach I saw a bunch of white people getting on to a ferry so I headed down there to see where it was going. It was heading to Ko Phagnan so I payed the 200 baht to get me there. About 6 bucks. About an hour or so later I arrived on the proper island.

I didn't walk too far to find a place to stay due to being a bit tired and overly sweaty from my walk earlier. Found a place called Rainbow Bungalows. I paid for 2 nights there in advance and it was 300 a night, so about 9 bucks or so. I was in a town called Haad Rin and after strolling around there and heading to the beach, I stopped at one of the bike rental shops to see how much it would be to rent out a motorcycle. It was 150 baht for 24 hours. Average price for renting a bike in Thailand. I decided that I wanted to get one for the next day. I just told the lady at the guesthouse that I wanted my 2 nights paid to pay for Thursday night and Saturday night. My plan for Friday morning was to have a good breakfast in the morning and a decent swim then rent out a bike. I knew if I went around the Island I could find an even nicer place to stay for Friday and I thought it would be cool to see the rest of the Island. Once I got the bike I went flying around the whole island. Doesn't take a long time to get around it but I went around like 2 times cause the bike was dope. I stopped at this one place called Cookies bungalows on the North west side of the island. The lady took me over to see the bungalow and I almost said yes before she even told me the price. The bungalows were tucked down in this spot where they pretty much had a private beach. This was the view...

My bungalow was about 20 steps away from the water and it was only 300 baht so again about 9 dollars or so. After dinner there, I ended up going for another long cruise on the island.

When I woke up Saturday it was pouring like mad, couldn't go for my morning swim that I had gotten so use to doing. It was the only day it rained for more than the few half hour spurts I saw on Ko Phi Phi, so I can't really complain. Once it stopped I flew back to the other end of the island cause the bike had to be back by 12. I got there early and enjoyed a decent "American breakfast" even though it looked quite Canadian to me, then returned the bike. With my last day there on Saturday all I did was swim, relax, and read. Most relaxing week ever.

I had paid for a ticket earlier in the week to get me from Ko Phagnan all the way to Penang Malaysia on Sunday. I needed to catch my ferry back to Indonesia Monday morning for 8:45. The ticket back to Penang from the Island was 1200 baht so 36 bucks. After a ton of driving we got to Haydai Thailand. The bus driver had us get out and get into a local minibus that would take us to our next connecting bus. When I got dropped off at the company that was taking me the rest of the way the lady just looks at me and asks me "Where have you been?"
I explain to her that I just got here and then asked where the bus was.
She then tells me that I am an hour and a half late for the bus and there won't be any buses heading down there until tomorrow morning.
I ask her how they are going to compensate me for there mistake with getting me to her late. EXTREMELY rare to get compensated for anything like that anywhere in Asia.
She tells me that they can't do anything, and if I want to get to Penang, the next possible bus is in the morning and is another 300 baht. At that point I only had 100 baht with me. That was suppose to pay for my last meal and night in Penang that day, and I wasn't about to give this lady and her shitty company anymore of my money. I didn't have any more money with me, and no debit card or anything to take money out. I did call the companies head office but they weren't going to give me anything or a free ride anywhere.

I talked to this nice lady at this hotel and she tried to see what she could do to get me a cheap ride that way. I think she even called a friend who she thought was heading there. But with no luck I told her that I needed to know the quickest way out of the city to the main road heading for the border. She gave me a map and wished me luck and off I went.

I headed to the main road towards the highway and just started walking south, very pleased with myself for purchasing a compass a week prior. After walking for about an hour a younger guy on his motorcycle stopped to ask me where I was going but he wasn't headed that way. He felt bad for me and offered me 100 extra baht to maybe catch a bus headed in that direction. I refused to take his money and told him I could find my own way. After some arguing he forced it on me so I took it.

After waiting for a few local buses and finding out none of them were going to the border I continued to walk south. After about 20 minutes or so a Chinese guy and his wife picked me up and took me about 50K which was 10K away from the border. Right when I got dropped off I met this security gaurd on his motorcycle headed to this bar he works at near the border. I jumped on the bike and off we went the last 10 K to the border. Did all the customs nonsense then talked to a few border patrol people for a while who all had a good laugh when I told them I was walking to Malaysia. Shortly after the border this cab driver who was talking to the same border people came over to me and offered me a free ride a little ways down the road. He works at the border too and the other guys told him I was walking to Penang. He gave me a ride for only about 5K. We stopped at this restaurant where I lot of trucks and buses coming out of Thailand stop for food. He thought we could maybe find a cheap bus or truck heading that way. The crazy one eyed bastard actually stayed with me for 2 hours trying to help. Wicked dude. after about 2 hours or so we had no luck and he decided he would head back to the border and see if anyone that worked there was heading that way.

After about 45 minutes of waiting I just felt like I needed to move just to be making some headway. At that time is was about 1 in the morning and I had to cover another 300 k in 7 and a half hours. So I kept heading south.
About 20 minutes or so a young guy pulled over, said he saw me outside the restaurant and was heading my way. He drove me about 40K or so to this town called Alor Star and said I might be able to get a cheap bus there or a taxi with a few people. He dropped me off then I soon found out that the buses were way too expensive, but there was a taxi heading to Penang. The driver couldn't find the other 2 people that were there and wanted to go to Penang, so the price tripled on me in 5 minutes. I told him no deal and started walking south towards the highway.

30 minutes of walking and another car stopped. Two guys who looked and sounded 25, but were actually 32 year old construction workers gave me a lift. Told them my story and they said they could head that way for a bit. At that point I had about 180 baht to my name and half jokingly told the guy driving that he could have it all if he could get me all the way there. The two guys told me they were just out driving with nothing to do, I figured I had nothing to loose with throwing this out there. The driver, I forget his name, asked me if I was serious and I said ya man I need to get there. Right away he was like ok then, looks like we are going to Penang. I thought the guy was fucking with me, we had over 200K to cover but he didn't seem to care. Off we went to Penang. I did only tell him I had 160 baht though so I could still maybe get a really cheap place to stay to sleep for a few hours if I needed. We arrived in Penang right around where I needed to be a little past 4. We got a little lost in the town looking for the guesthouse area I was at a week earlier. We pulled out the wrong way on a one way street by accident and of course there was a cop car there. Cops are incredibly crooked out here in Asia. The crookedness varies from country to country. They usually just ask for money in Indonesia, probably ended up being the same way with the 2 dudes that drove me. The 3 cops that were in the one car talked to the 2 guys for about 10 minutes and talked to me for about 2. Searching the car and all this bullshit. The two guys that drove me got back in the car and said the cops wanted us to follow them. We did and we ended up at the Ferry that I mentioned I needed to catch. The cop then lets me know it's closed now and that it didn't open till 6. Information I already knew, what a fool. The driver then mentions that the cops wanted them to follow them down to the station next. That was my cue to leave. Told the dudes there was no way I am going down there and that I would walk over to the guest house area. I gave the dude the money I promised them, then gave the cops a salute and headed the hell out of that chaos.

Once I reached the guest house area I saw the the sun peeking over the clouds. It was a bit after 5 and I only had a few hours till I needed to check in for the ferry. With the little money left I had 2 options. Sleep in a bed for a little less than 3 hours or have a good breakfast and try to sleep on the ferry back to Indonesia. Breakfast it was. I walked around for a bit looking for a place that was actually open, then once I ate I headed to the ferry.

After that it was much smoother than it had been on my 11 hour hitch hiking journey. On a boat for a few hours then a bus back to home. I was surprisingly very awake considering how long I had been up.

So ya, that was my trip to Thailand. I need to go back and see more of it and I am sure I will in the next few years that I am out here.
Anyone wanna join??

I have officially decided to spill my brain on the web

2008-12-20T23:38:00.000+07:00

Yes that's right folks! You will be able to jump to this blog whenever you feel the urge to get an answer to the famous question of "what is going on in Adam's head?"

return when you wish...