only (lonley) children

our trekking experience made us realize how well we get along with complete strangers.. analyzing this over another rice lunch I figured that our sociability has everything to do with growing up with siblings.. Caroline has 3 and I have 2. Also alot of love doesn't hurt. I just find it difficult to remember one only-child that I have met in all my life that wasn't awkward, socially challenged, insecure or had trouble being alone once an adult.. I shouldn't generalize, I am sure there are OK only-children out there and not so OK children with siblings, but for sure there is a trend here. I do feel bad for an only child, its lonely and does no good to an adult who can't be alone, needs constant attention and reminders of how important and great they are just because thats what they were told or even not when they were kids... its mental.

Trekking adventure

without much detail (I leave that for Caroline to elaborate in 49daze.blogspot.com) our trekking adventure was great. we returned to the city today after spending two days and a night in the woods doing woods-type-things. My favorite was bamboo rafting today, beats Great Adventure and Disneyland a million times. Riding the elephant was not my favorite part... it just seems wrong. We met some interesting people and one annoying british bitch. Oh and my other favorite part was taking a shower in a waterfall (freezing mind you).
there was a couple from Holland, a couple from Australia, a couple from California, and a few others including a girl from ohio and this very talkative British woman and her very quiet anonymous husband. There was also this older British man (whose presence confused me at first, then we thought maybe he is dying and this is one of the things on his list of things to do before he dies.. I don't know).
Before I forget, that British woman was so chewing my ear on our way back telling me about civilized this and chaotic that.. obviously she had issues but why do I have to listen to this garbage. plus if civilized to you means downtown Geneva then why the fuck are you going to Cairo and Bangkok? just to complain about how chaotic and uncivilized people there are.. fucking looser, limited! what a prude. she was complaining about some water getting on her pants when we were rafting so I said "it wasn't even that cold, you should have felt the waterfall water we showered in this morning, that was really cold," she responds "I put my hand in water 300 meters away from a glaicer, I know cold water." gees, what is this a competition.. reminded me of this other bitch I have the displeasure of going to school with.

On another note: last night I was uncomfortably close to a sexual encounter between our Thai group leader and one of the girls on the Trek. lets just say we were all sleeping together next to the fire (its freezing at night) when the girl starts giving the guide a hand job or something.. thank god he came quick. hahaha, it was just strange.. but it got wierder when a couple of hours later that same girl was spooning with me.. I had no interest what-so-ever, however, male physiology does wonders when one is sleeping, and I didn't want her to confuse a distended state of an organ for a sign of interest plus she just gave another man a handjob or something pretty much infront of me, so I turned my back towards her and move a few inches to express my disintrest. wierd. this whole situation may or maynot have to do with the amount of whisky I consumed around the camp fire.

Forth sex

I was having coffee across the street from the yoga studio the other day and I grabbed a random book off the shelf and I think it was called Third Sex about 'ladyboys' in Thailand. So traditionally in this region and especially Thailand there are not only two sexes (male, female) but FOUR!! (male, female, male-becoming-female and female-becoming-male) these do not involve physical alteration and are culturally accepted and recognized sexes with ancient histories. A male-becoming-female is a person born physically as male but who lives and feels as though he is female and fully adopts a female life loving males. A female-becoming-male is the exact opposite. This has nothing to do with homosexuality which is still looking down upon as it is traditionally seen as odd for male-male love but male-becoming-female loving a male is normal. I know it sounds complicated for a western mind, which is very rigid when it comes to sexual roles BUT you gotta appreciate this option of a third and a forth sex!! These sexes are also accepted by Buddhism as they are understood as having to do with one's reincarnation..
When we were in Sukhothai we met two male-becoming-females, one of whom is an artist painting traditional icons and selling them near by one of the major Buddha images. I wonder if its OK for two male-becoming-females to love each other or is that another twist to homo-relations since they are the same? Not sure.. Fascinating shit though!

Thai Standards of Beauty

Watching TV and seeing adverts everywhere in streets and in magazines in Thailand I find a different kind of Thai than most of the people I have actually seen on the streets. On TV and in Ads, Thais are very white, "typically" Asian-looking, and not exactly special in appearance. On the street I have seen such beautiful people, dark skin, beautiful eyes and features, women with sharp looks and men with strong hands. I feel like there is a beauty standard here that is sought by the entertainment and advertising business which is totally disconnected from the majority of people on the streets whom I find to be far more beautiful. Its like in the US, where there is an image of "the American" that is used in entertainment that is a bit misleading (as if everyone in the country is blond, in perfect shape and had perfect hair all the time) thats what the poor people in the "developing world" get to see.. besides Fear Factor I guess. The truth on the American streets is obviously much uglier.
There is alot of diversity in people in this region of Thailand. So many different kinds of Thais from different backgrounds and origins from all over asia have made their way here and formed their own unique cultures and distictive physical appearances.

on a related topic, I have seen guys with the best haircuts I have seen anywhere I have been. Totally naturally cool! no pretentions. alot of the guys here look like what every hipster and indie-rock boy in New Jersey would pay fortunes at Hot Topic in his local mall to look like. I just wanted to add that note about style.. I dig what I see here... all the way!

life in Chiang Mai

I love this city. Again I find myself enjoying easy life with not-so-complicated people, away from jelousy, envy, pity, just to name a few of what one faces on a daily basis in Cambridge. I just slip on my comfortable pants, go for a walk, sit in a cafe, have a well-made cup of coffee, meet some clear-minded people, some here for a while, some have moved here, some are just passing-by like myself. There are alot of writers here, seems like a good place to come and stay for a while during the process of writing a book. A few Italian writers, a few French and even a couple of Americans are roaming the internet cafes editing their transcripts. There is a street with a few bars, cafes and resturaunts with various writer-related themes: The Library, Ink, and Writers Cafe are just a few.
Got up at about 8 today, Caroline went for her morning run while I slept some more, then we moved to another guesthouse that we found yesturday, its brand new and gorgous and cheap too.. since we are here until the first of Jan we though we might as well move to an excellent place and enjoy it.
I went for a walk in the morning, alone, to enjoy the plathura of cafes, had breakfast at this french-diner-looking place, yummy omlette suffed with an onion/tomato mix served with the yummiest multi-grain bread and coffee all for 85 Baht, that comes to about $2.50, AWSOME!! I was missing some American-style breakfast. After my walk, met up with Caroline and we took a tuk-tuk to visit this amazing temple outside the city, set in the forest with these underground tunnels for meditation, I met another totally hot young monk, I just find it to be so hot to meet all these atractive, young, monks.. they are very shy and not very talkative even if they speak english.. but I must say, a few of them got me interested! total fantasy right now.

We had Yoga practice today at 5, it was really crowded but very nice, I just love the people that go to our yoga studio (called Yoga Studio), the instructor today was new but good. can't go tomorrow because we are leaving in the morning for a two day+one night trip out in the "jungle": water-rafting, elephant riding, mountain hiking, village sleeping.. its gonna be awsome!

after a meal in a popular local eatery, I thought I'd come blog the day.

Oh yea, how can I forget, Last night we went for a walk across the moat (Chiang Mai is a perfect square in plan with a moat all around) towards the Night Market and oh boy we passed a few interesting bars with lots of horney, usually ugly white men with their Thai girlfriends, it was bizarre watching the chemistry! took a few peeping-tom photos to document the strange phenomenon.

Thailand on Christ+mas

its Christmas and next week is Eid and new year.. its awsome being here during this time of year.. I love the type of tourists and expats that are here. there were three kids from the US singing christmas songs last night at the weekend night market, it was, interesting. We moved to a new guesthouse today where we have a split level room, I got the upstairs and Caroline downstairs.. its a really lively place with lots of fun people.. met two french guys there, very nice, they are here learning oil massage for a few weeks.. maybe I'll ask for a free trial run..

the way to Chiang Mai

its Christmas eve in Chiang Mai, about 2:20 in the afternoon. I'm about to go to Wat Suan Dok (a temple and monastery) where I am spending the night with monks, mediation will be the only activity.
Last night, we arrived after a 5 hour bus ride from Sukuthai (birthplace of Thai civilization/culture) and we found a bustling night market on a street a couple of blocks away from our hotel. lots and lots of shopping, the best fabrics, thai pants and scarves I've seen.
Sukuthai is my favorite town so far.. it has the most beautiful historical park with a mix of palms and pines and lilly flowers in ponds with temples and buddhas sprinkling the landscape. I headed out with my motor bike yesturday on a ride around the countryside after I dropped Caroline off at a Thai Massage hut where she spent most of the day learning the nessesary skills. It was gorgous out. we have been hanging out in with a german couple and an 18-year-old israeli guy and a dutch girl we met on the bus there.. the town is small enough that you run into the few tourists there all the time. The Coffee Cup is a cafe around the corner from our Old City Guesthouse where they served some amazing food. Food has been a theme on this trip, lots of eating, I love thai food. I had a red curry dish my first night in Sukothai that makes my mouth water when I think about it. the street food there was the best. that town had an incredible market with cheap yummy eats.. so much to say about the food (the good, and the bizarre)...
before Sukothai we were in Lop Buri, a town overtaken by monkeys who have lost any fear of humans.. it was great, strange, had a few funny incidents that Caroline will elaborate upon in our Thailand trip blg (www.49daze.blogspot.com) including getting in the back of a pick-up truck then going into a panic because we thought we were being kidnapped.
LopBuri was after Ayyutaya were the conference closing dinner was. we stayed there the night and spent the following day on bikes checking out the historical park shock full of temples and more temples.
its hard for me to have as much of a spiritual experience as usually happens when I travel alone because I am with caroline and we are always talking and laughing but its a different experience, I like it as well.. I just wish I can remember all the details.
just a quick note on architecture.. there is very little architecture in the traditional sense.. as in clearly defined plots with buildings set on foundations with some sort of regulatory structure.. most of what is built along the roads and in the smaller villages are hap-hazord wood and aluminum sheet structures, some of them are well-done and some are just frightening. most of the houses are on stilts. the aesthetics are entertaining with plenty of exaggurated columns and collaged facades. the ancient architecture is .. difficult to grasp. almost all of it is mass-oriented, more like sculpture with almost never any habitable space. they are like objects in fields, massive brick structures with a smooth skin. to my surprise most of it is not that old, the majority has been 400-500 years old however they look like they are prehistoric because of their primitive forms, and the serious damaged condition they suffer. there is something really beautiful about their age appearance but I have yet to be impressed. the buddha images almost always have no heads, and a buddha image is still holy even if all that is left is its lap.

I have to go pick up our plane tickets to Ko Samui (island in the south), we fly there on the first so we can attend the first Full Moon Party of 2007 on Jan 3rd.
exciting stuff!!!

From Chiang Mai with love.
49daze.blogspot.com

Hello from Bangkok where hairy pies are everywhere

Its Monday here and probably still sunday in the USA... this city is cracking me up!!
Caroline and I arrived on Sunday in the crazy oversized brand new Bangkok airport after 23 hours in the air plus 2 hours layover in Tokyo. We had arranged for a limo to pick us up and it was awsome! our hotel where the IASTE conference is taking place is pretty .. ummm.. hyperrealistic. from our 19th floor room where we have an entire wall of glass overlooking the city, the view is impressive. low market-style blocks with bars and pool halls mixed with tall tall high rise blocks. almost everyone is wearing yellow shirts. lots of sex tourists (almost all white americans, irish and australians).. and lots of "hairy pies" to serve them.

we leeeave tonight with the conference to Ayutayya where there is a closing ceremony of sorts and then we stay there and begin our own journey.. caroline and I are starting a new blog dedicated to this trip but I will keep posting on hereee once in a while. oh my god this is just exciting stuff, let me tell ya!

from bangkok with love.

god is god

seriously, god is god.. I just shared a spiritual experience on the bus from ny to boston with saima.. i usually don't meet people like that in the states but my god it was a sweet heavinly little meeting..I think i have two new special friends..
the whole thing makes me think of this amazing film (Sayat Nova) which has been used to make the video for Juno Reactor's "god is god" with Natacha Atlas vocals.. check it!
[videos only viewable on the original post on my blog]

strange things I see when i take a nap

some people have missed the train and they are mad about it. some people have a man's face when they are not a man. some people just eat hot pockets everyday and they are mad about it. some people are afraid of the gynocologist. oh people.. people who need people. sigh