Wandermusings

Transportation is the name of the game.  Seems like on a trip like this we spend almost as much time arranging travel as we do actually traveling.   Bangkok, Thailand has proved no different.

If negotiation has a home, I’m pretty sure he has set up residence somewhere here off Khao San Road, the heart of the tourist district in Bangkok.

Food no problem.  Pad Thai: 30 Bhat (less than 1 USD), or maybe Thai Banana pancake smothered in sweetened condensed milk, oh and let us not forget the fresh fruit, my favorite being the pineapple dusted with just a touch or red chili pepper.  Oh and if none of those make your mouth water there is a plethora of eatables on a stick you can purchase for under 1 USD.  More importantly no negotiation necessary, just go dig in the couch for 30 seconds and you have your lunch money.

Lodging.  Not particularly negotiable.  Well it probably is but really no reason to try because its fairly cheap.

Transportation・Well now that’s where things get interesting.  Taxi, or Tuk Tuk, doesn’t matter.  You never quite know what you are getting yourself into, even when you think you know what you are getting yourself into.  Taxis, even if they have a meter, may not want to use it.  But pick your destination, and haggle the price and thats about it assuming the driver does know where your destination is.  Note to self, its always good to have some idea where you are going even if its just the nearest metro stop.

Now the tricky one is Tuk Tuks, basically a small motorcycle front with a covered area in the back that fits 2 to 4 people depending on how much you want to squeeze.   That said, say you want to go from your hotel on Khao San road to one of the nearby temples.  You will certainly be approached by at minimum 4 drivers upon exiting your accommodation.   Now what you have to ask yourself is “what is my plan for the day?” because if you are willing to stop at some tailors, and markets, and maybe the tourist center you will have a Tuk Tuk driver for the day for under 40 Bhat.  The driver will take you to 5 or 6 tourist destinations, temples, etc and wait for your while you explore.  But say you don’t need a new suit and just want a ride to somewhere.  That’s tricky, because most drivers don’t make their money from your fare.  Rather its from their sponsors who give them petrol or some other compensation for getting you to visit their establishment.  So if you want a tuk tuk to give you a ride somewhere you need to not only negotiate a price, but also the number of sponsors you will stop at.   If that number is zero, good luck because in this part of town there is someone right behind you that doesn’t know any better.   In addition you may have troubles with drivers telling you that some of the tourist attractions are closed for some reason, because if you aren’t at a tourist attraction you have more time for sponsors.

But when it’s all said and done,everyone eventually gets where they’re going.  So slouch down in your seat so you can see the city go by as your driver tears through traffic filled streets, running between cars and into oncoming traffic.

And remember to keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle and pray that that touristy photo you just took is not the last photo is your last.

My first time diving I couldn’t help but give a nod to the alma mater. 

After two weeks of people in Sydney and Melbourne telling me I should try to go out to the Perth Hullabaloo swing event.  I finally was able to change my flight and add Perth to the itinerary of my "around the world" trip ticket.  It took talking to three different ticketing agents of Quantas to get this added correctly and for a reasonable price, but thats a whole other story just not worth telling.

In any case, I jumped a flight thurday morning from Melbourne and was greeted by some friendly faces at gate.  Yes, at the gate if you can believe that.  Darrin from Melbourne had ridden along with my host Lauren aka Loz, and Brian from North SF bay to pick me up at the airport.  Later that night I would meet up with Fiona as well as the rest of the motley crew staying with Loz that I would run around with all weekend causing trouble.   

The next 6 days we lived our exchange dancer double lives.  Spending our days being tourists around Perth, doing dim sum and exploring downtown, hitting up the Little Creatures brewery, eating fish chips on the beach, hanging out in Kings park; and our nights swinging out till the early morn. 

Tuesday afternoon Darrin and I arrived at our last venue to enjoy a few drinks with some of the die hard organizers of the event.  Chatting it up with the folks who worked so hard to plan this event and thanking Trevor one last time for lending me an extra pair of pants and shirt so I could blend in at the ball with the rest of the crowd dressed to the 9s. 

And when it was all said and done, this event ended like most huge dance events do, people passed out on the couch catching a few winks and resting their tired feet.

So I dont think I’m ever going to be able to get behind the beetroot or egg on a burger.  But I’m slowly being conviced of some of the toppings aussies offer up for pizza.  Artichoke hearts, ok, marinated ollives, just awesome…

The boys down at Piazza 51 on Sydney  St, one of Gary and Chelle’s regular haunts for dinner in their Brunswick neighborhood of Melbourne, were having a pizza party to cook up the extra pastry left over from the aussie holiday.  They supplied the pizza and only asked us to bring our fave beverages.

That night we ate way too much pizza and drank copias amounts of beer and wine leaving no inch of our stomachs with room for anything.  We were so full in fact, we were just short of dreading the dance we were headed to after finishing dinner. All and all a pretty great way to spend your birthday evening…

But to top it off Gary and Richard suprised me with my cake, the house special nutella and strawberry pizza.  How am I going to turn down a slice of heaven?  Espcially on my birthday. So in true Lisching style I un buckled the belt a bit and had a nice slice of the desert pizza pie, proving once again that you don’t need to be hungry to eat cake. 

So I spent a couple of hours in sydney learning the basics of aussie rules football: The hand pass, the bounce jump ball, dribbling a oddly shaped ball on grass, when does one get a free kick.  Most of the info coming off the AFL site.

But on the guys night out , the group of us caught the train down to the Telstra dome to catch the swans playing some team the raining champs were supposed to cursh.

It was a great night, we drank beer, ate meat pies, and I continued my AFL education.  The swans did in the end win but the most amusing part of the night, topping even Gary’s two beer drunkennes… The swan’s fight song.  Yes the fight song for the ol’ sydney swans is the same as that for ol’ notre dame. Just new words.

Start humming the tune and sing out the following words.

Cheer, cheer the red and the white,
Honour the name by day and by night,
Lift that noble banner high,
Shake down the thunder from the sky
Whether the odds be great or small,
Swans will go in and win overall
While her loyal sons are marching
Onwards to victory.

So i have been told Melbourne is one of the most liveable cities.  Not al lthat tough to belive really.  You can ride your bike almost anywhere around town, the food is yummy, there is plenty of fun dancing around town, as well as places to go for a late night cake afterward… And the there is the coffee, which no one in Melbourne will let you forget how good it is, barista or not.  And finally one of my favorites… the victoria markets.. where one can purchase everything from kangaroo sausage, and local cheeses to cutlary and kitchenware, not to mention souvieniers and other tourist ware at discount prices.  Even a nice selection of hats..

Ok maybe melbourne isnt very fashion forward but a great city to live in, none the less.

Bundburger Ginger beer $1

Tasty aussie style pizza with feta, marinated olives, and pine nuts $10

Harbor cruse $40

Dancing to three great bands every sunday after noon, priceless… wait that was free…

So he introduced the song that was the reason for me going to the concert by apologizing for the English backpackers carousing the streets of Sydney drinking too much.

Ok back up a bit… So after Michael (my gracious host in Sydney) talked up the state theater I had spent the weekend pondering whether to go to the surf camp with Steve or see Jamie Cullum in concert at the state… Still on the fence Sunday I started to come down with the flu, thus making my decision.  Only problem, the single seat I had my eye on was no longer available.  Sigh…

But as fate would have it I was walking by the theater on my way home from checking out the opera house and botanical gardens.  It was just before the ticket window closes so I popped in just to see if there was decent ticket…

Three hours and a huge basket of fish and chips later I was watching Mark Sholtez open for Jamie playing a cover of U2’s "all I want is you".  Mark was a nice opener but not half the performer of Jamie, but he got points for not making my ears hurt covering U2.  Jamie was probably the most captivating performer I’ve seen since Ledisi at the Monterey Jazz Festival… Diverse audience of young and old, including many mother daughter pairings gathered to hear Jamie’s amped up jazz standards arranged by his bassist.  He used the piano as a drum, and a spring board, and banged the keys passionately, living up to his reputation for beating up his instruments.  Apparently he started as a drummer, and somewhere along the line moved on to piano. 

Before the show the English couple seated next to me said that just 3 years ago they heard his demo tape when looking for a band for her daughters wedding, but deemed him too quiet.  Easy to say that somewhere in those 3 years he found his own voice and made it loud enough to make people listen. 

By the end of the show he had the whole theater standing and moreover jumping, even the folks in the balcony who had been warned against dancing before the show.  An inspiring night that left me missing my iPod and what’s more, my guitar.

No shave since Buenos Aires 4 weeks before this photo is taken in Santiago… scruffy, but not exactly grizzly Adams.

So it’s tough to believe that the same devil that bought Robert Johnson’s soul at the crossroads lives in the Concha y Toro wine cellar in Santiago Chile but here is the proof that in accordance with the winery’s legends the devil himself has set up residence in this cellar giving name to the Casillero Del Diablo wine.

But given this latest photographic evidence, either Robert Johnson’s a liar or the devil has helpers that don the horns and pitchfork… Not unlike a certain Santa I know and all his helpers who work at the mall… Drawing just one more Santa – Satan parallel.  "Well isnt that special"…