sebscorner

Well. here we are again. Today in the process of reorganizing my luggage I found a almost fossilized frog. The poor thing must have floatet in when I was wading through the rivers of Iriomote. Anyhow - with all the bones sticking through the dried up skin it made me think of life, death and finally reminded me about this blog. All the time that’s passed again without an update. Shameful. So before I start updating at highspeed I wish you all a grand new 2007. Go, finally do some travelling you lazies!

So now quickly - from Okinawa. I’ve

• travelled to the very south tip of japan, Yonaguni shima, almost seeing Taiwan ( but sadly too cloudy!)
• saw some of the worlds best beaches at Kerama island just off Okinawa hounto, postcard style
• walked the mysterious woods of Yakushima. Special, special tip for anybody coming to the south. The island, which is landscape model for Ghibli’s “Princess Mononokee” is only 2 hours from Kagoshima, the southtip of japans southern island - Kyushu. It’s probably my favorite piece of nature in all of japan. Forrests with huge, ancient, mossovergrown cedar trees (including japans oldest tree Joumonsugi at 4000 years), and higher up strange mountains with round boulders lying scattered about. Imagine up on some summit in the afternoon sun, shimpansees quarrelling in the woods below and deer grazing right in front of you, myysterious!
• walked the volcanoes of kirishima in kyushu, all quiet just a bit of fumes. Reminded me of good old New Zealand.
• soaked in the onsen (hotspring) together with old wrinkly yakuzas (cool tattous!)
• finally took the boat from Beppu back to Osaka.
• saw the “Kouyou”, the leafchanging time in Kyoto. Amazing how red those ahorn leaves get. Amazing how many japanese want to see them. But who can blame them, it’s an awesome sight.
• returned to my favorite city Tokyo!

And i’ve been there ever since. I love Japan. I love Tokyo. I love doing 3d and my legs are getting a bit weary. You see whats coming here - time to take a longer rest. There’s about a month till my visa here expires so I use the time to check out the cg market around here. And yes, it’s just as tricky as you expect it to be. Anybody not interested in getting a cgjob in japan can skip this part by the way .

on jobhunt:
I know nothing about companies in japan - only that they’re damn “kibishii” - strict. and that failed bosses do harakiri and people on the tube in tokyo look wrecked. A friend here worked at a bank and told me they actually beat employees here. Slap in the face!
Well, Clothes? Suit? English? Japanese? Bowing? So many big questionmarks. Well I thought, it’s design after all so it can’t be that bad.

I don’t even know any postcompanies in japan, well of course theres the big gamescompanies like nintendo and sega and whatnot! My lead is Onimusha 3, whose amazing cutscenes was done by a company called Robot.
I contact them via mail and they actually agree to see me and my little portfolio. It’s so amazing - I actually printed some of my work and put it all into a neat little book! I also invested in a jacket and a scarf - there’s still holes in my jeans but there’s got to be a limit somewhere. Anyhow, it turns out they just produced and other companies did the actual 3d. The good man was so kind to recommend me to all his favorites so I could visit a couple of japanese companies in the end! Well, well.

The situation is dire:
The average workschedule is 10/11 hours and only 2 full weekends per month. Ouch.. sounds like imagined working in Japan. Not my thing right now.

So - theres plan B. Teaching 3d!! That’s what I’m going to do. Teaching 3d at 日本電子専門学校　an artschool, Shinjuku, Tokyo - and all that in japanese!! Halftime, plenty of time for exploring tokyo (and doing lots of nice new art), ok-ish pay and my own little (ok-supertiny) place. There you go, that’s the current plan!

My visatime is almost over, tomorrow I’m flying back to Bangkok. From there it’s quickly quickly to laos, through northvietnam up to china. From Bejing back to hongkong and finally back to japan in march. I’m still sad leaving… buhuhuh. sniff.

Guess what, for the first time ever - we’re back in REALTIME!!
See you again from south east asia.

ps: Some photos of Okinawa, yakushima (many missing still) and kyushu!

yes, its ME, seb. Do you remember? I’m still alive and almost embarrassed - it’s been MONTHS since the last update. The thing is I’m enjoying japan just too much and there’s was hardly any time for writing at all! Putting all those memories down for you in detail is a sheer impossibilty so I have to take grand inaccurate steps to catch up with reality!  So lets see…

I’ve -

• seen Kyoto, Japans templepacked former capital. Amazing. The perfect mix of tradition and modern city, including geishas and everything. Fake touristy and even some real ones. Well, every guidebook will tell you this is THE spot for sightseeing in Japan and its true, see for yourself here and there!
• walked the mountains of kansai (Omine san) with 100 monks of the Shugendo sect. Woke me up a couple of times with their chanting - starting at 4 am, blocking the way, walking slow, outragious religious fanatics. Beauutiful nature though - seriously!
• travelled to Hiroshima and seen the “genbaku dome”. damn americans. luckily the city prospered well tho and theres good nightlife! here some photos!
  
• on the way south changed my mind and went back north to go hiking in the “Kita alps”. I encountered 2 toads, 5 (apparently very rare) mountain chickens and 2 bears (!).  Japanese normally walk with “anti-bear-bells” but thats just too boring! They’re quiet small anyway.. and.. i was not afraid at all! It’s true! There was also one taifun and I got almost blown away in my little tent.  All in all it was 6 days up there. Got pretty beardy.
  
• went back to Osaka and by ship cruised (not to be confused with “luxury cruising”, its simply the cheapest way) to Naha! That’s Okinawa, some islands in the south of Japan. Remember the map in Battlefield? aw, memories. Well, they still don’t love Americans that much over there. The good thing is it’s unlike the rest of Japan still really warm and you can swim almost all year long!  The bad thing was that suddenly my hsbc debitcard stopped working. Ahh.. Stranded on Ishigaki island (aka “Sicily of Japan” ) without any cash and no means of getting any. When I think back now it really makes me laugh. not. hsbc SUCKS! hsbc is a bunch of damn, unprofessional retards, costing me a hell of a nerve and geopardizing my beautiful journey!! without the helps of good, trusted japanese friends I’d still be dishwashing. first thing to do when getting back: change bank. (read about it in the register, and look for me in the article!)
  
• almost got eaten by the snakes of iriomote island: Ok this actually a good story and telling it doesn’t grow me grey hairs like this hsbc crap. I know you all love to read of seb getting into lifethreatening situations - so here in more detail:
  Going trekking on that island was one of the reasons to go to okinawa - praised in my little trekking book as especially dangerous. Just a must do really. Together with my mate tomokun we set out for a pleasant day in the jungle. You have to register at the police before you go but for us thats  just another case of japans safetycrazyness (see fuji and fuji). And yes there was no time, and nobody picked up the phone. lalalala. Im not liiistening! The way in is by boat and with many tourists who want to see the mangroves and the cute waterfalls. We walk past those into the bush which soonish gets thicker and thicker. Many taifuns have blown over many trees and there is hardly any way at all. It’s more like hide and seek with the waymarkers - anyhow after the first 2 or 3 hours we get seriously lost. No waymarkers anymore. For going back it’s too late, we can’t make it to the last boat either. The only way is forward,  going upstream, jumping from rock to rock (on my little map the way roughly follows the river). It all works well until the landscape flattens and the river suddenly gets a bit deep. Nippledeep. So it’s a bit of swimming since scrambling through the bush is even slower and it’s getting scarily late.   

  After an hour or two of this fun we actually find the way again. Amazing. We come to a fateful wayfork - our guidebook says go this way but the signpost says “DAME” (forbidden) in big red taped letters. So we go anyway.
  This is where we then get really lost all I know is that we’re pretty much in the center of the island (beautiful nature - I’ve seen a wild eel in a pool. so graceful!). Time progresses and slowly, really slowly it’s getting dark. 

  emergency plan: find back to the wayfork and stay over the night. There’s no way we can make it out of the jungle that day. Easier said than done though. It’s getting dark quickly now and wading, jumping and scrambling gets a good deal harder (difficulty: nightmare). Headlight doesn’t help that much and after I’ve tumbled down a few meters a couple of times there’s only one thing to do.
  emergency plan B: Stay over the night. Anywhere. Easier said than done though. In the thicket there’s no space for a tent to see anywhere, especially because it’s pitchdark now. In fact I almost fall into the river because it looks so faaar away with just the small moon reflected in there. Eerie! Well, we finally make camp next to the river (well “a” river really, since “our river” turned into a proper network of streams). At least some fresh water. Camp, as in squeezing into an uninflated tent on a slope but still better than eaten by snakes in your sleep. (since the island is said to be infested with the deadly “Habu” )!
  So now the REAL problem now is that we left a third friend behind, telling we’d be back right smartly for 5 pm. So ridden by remorse and especially fearing that he might go to the police - that theyd send an army including helicopters and tanks - that we’d have to pay for it all and be send out of japan and never be allowed back - we fall asleep. 
  It all sounds pretty funny right now but it wasn’t at all - the first time I really thought (yes, just on a trek!), seb you fool, you did a stupid thing and now you’re finally paying for it. Anyway, considering the circumstances I slept really well, dreaming of boats shipping us to safety. The next day there’s a blue sky and so, hope. With help of my gps and elite navigationskill I find the way back to the crossing and from there we make it back to the boatlanding in a mere 5 hours. I’ve never been so happy to see all the cute, little japanese tourists looking at their waterfalls (who give us some looks too - all the dirt and the SCARS). The other friend left because his lady was coming unexpectedly and didn’t notice our absence at all. Even that worked out in the end. So let it all be a warning to you - don’t believe your 6 year old guidebook, believe the taped letters on the roadsign. Don’t underestimate the japanese jungle (well, in case you ever get there ). Sorry no photos of this whole thing, I’m rather happy that the camera is still working!

I’m sure you’re as exhausted from reading as I’m from writing this so I can make a quick break and continue striding in a soonish followup post (promise!)

See you all soon!

alive and kicking - seb

Going south: After the dissapointment of Fujisan I move further south. I travel to Nagoya, have a quick look at the fireworks and the castle in Inuyama (dogmountain!?). Fireworks, “Hanabi” are incredibly popular in japan during the summermonths. Everybody is coming out at night wearing “yukata” (a light version of the kimono) and clattering about in sandals with wooden soles. It’s a great sight - so much tradition next to all that fancy technology! 

Next stop - Osaka. Gritty city of japan. The people are supposed to be more friendly, funny (most comedians come from osaka!) and they talk different. Sometimes this  ”osaka-ben” sounds like a mix of japanese and spanish and it’s even harder to understand . I’m checking into the cheapest hotel in the cheapest area. “Airin” is the slum of japan and people are scared of going there at night. It’s true I’ve never seen so many homeless but they are well behaved and extremely tidy! Once I came home late and the station looked like a little hotel. In rows sleeping at least a hundred people, everybody with their belongings neatly arranged, shoes lined up. No dirt anywhere - that’s japan for you.      
The next big thing here is Summersonic - my second musicfestival in japan. There’s no camping though so it feels more like a collection of concerts than “the real thing”. Still great though - finally I can see DJ Shadow!! Awesome! The weather is much better too and on sunday theres Metallica playing the whole Master of Puppets album (almost 3 hours!) It’s cool but in no way it cannot reach to Fujirock. 

Osaka is not really a sightseeing city. There’s the impressive Osaka castle, I’ve been to “America Mura (village)” which is the equivalent to Tokyo’s harajuku district. And Dotonbori,Soemon-cho, osakas (BIG!) redlight district is intresting.. Tons of manga character looking guys with crazy hair trying to sell you entertainment and people with big yakuza style tattous passing by. Osaka isn’t the prettiest city I’ve been to but it sure is an experience..

I’m not staying too long here - japans most beautiful and cultural city, Kyoto is just 1 hour away by train!

There’s a couple of Osaka photos here and here.

Fujirock festival :  Finally - I waited for months and now the weekend is here. Thursday I meet up with my friend yuki in harajuku and with the next shinkansen we’re off to Niigata. (they moved here after a taifun blue away half of the tents some years ago) . It’s also my first time in a “bullet train” and they’re indeed fast, the landscape is blurring by and 2 hours later were there.

The festival is huge! It’s sitting right in a valley in the mountains - awesome location! There’s already thousands of tents hugging the hills - we’re late and I have to build my tent at an angle. With my experience sleeping uphill is not a problem though. On this “warmupday” theres just beer and some performance.

I had big plans making lots of pictures of all the cool people there but as you’ll see theres almost none! I have to realize  it’s either photos or fun and beer and I go for the latter . Words have to do!  I’ve been to a few festivals now and this is (together with roskilde) my favorite. Waterflushing toilets!! Just imagine that. I’ve never seen a more peaceful crowd either (and the few foreigners stand out terribly - yes like me!!). Decoration is beautiful, livevideofeeds incredible (hey its japan after all) and then theres some cool bands of course. Mogwai is still my favorite - if you ever have the chance to see them live go for it!! some special recommendations to check out:

The Cooper Temple Clause 
The Hives - best thing that crawled out of sweden for sometime ;)
rinôçérôse - cool french rock/electro band
ISIS - monotone goodness
TUCKER - japanese crazy one man dj/acrobatic performance (set his keyboard on fire!) 

Here’s t he full menu! Weather is a mixed bag but that’s OK. There’s djs till 4am every night (scratchperverts - awesome!!) and beers at a steep 500 yen. ouch. Another thing that’s very different - there’s no casual relationships!! (Now I’m not so sure if I like that or not…) I’ve seen exactly one kissing couple. It’s not really woodstock thats for sure..

Anyhow - another great festival under my belt. Monday morning it’s back to Tokyo and shortly after to the REAL fuji!

Fujisan: Japanese nature where are you!? For now all I’ve been seeing is neon neon neon and tons of people! Mount Fuji “Fujisan” is japans highest mountain, its also a volcano and its got a cool shape. A perfect cone! That’s just amazing. I pack my tent and my sleepingbag and off I am (in fact i walked through my hiking shoes and had to buy new ones!).  

The bus arrives at night - fuji hides in darkness. I can’t see stars either, a bad sign and yes, next morning I awake to a moody drizzle.  Fuji is now hiding in fog and clouds, people tell me there’s a taifun in the area.
Not to worry though - I buy some provisions at the next “supa” and walk through the shrine at the bottom of the mountain. The thing is, walking from there to the  summit is an old pilgrimage - in tiring 10 steps! Nowadays however most people start from halfway, the 5th station (because japanese people are just too busy). That’s as far as the touristbuses go. The first part of the hike is beautiful, in the shelter of the forrest there’s hardly any rain and the fog is giving great depth to everything. I only meet one person, a korean. The poor chap ran out of food! 
Around 5 hours later I arrive at the “tourist port”. For a rainy day like this there’s an amazing amount of buses. It’s all quiet strange anyway - it’s not just some souvenirshops there. It’s a shiny souvenirshopcity! You can buy gifts, expensive food and most importantly your personal monk-wander-staff. There’s also a small postoffice to send off your cards right away. Efficient!
People here are walking mostly in big groups a 20 people, all in terribly good gear and usually two guides. Not that those would be needed really. Let me tell you why.. It’s not a climb - this is a paved road! After the first hundred meters there is a set of speakers reminding you not to stray from the path and that there might be stones falling from above. That you are on a dangerous mountain and that you have to be very careful. (there are signposts at every corner too just in case) The ”road” is gravel and it’s winding its way slowly up fujisan secured by a heavy, manhigh betonwall (so much for falling stones). Halfway up and looking down the whole scenery looks like a ww2-fortress maze (oh.. battlefield!). Every 500m or so I pass a bunch of lodges that squeeze at the side of the mountain. “Resting” for one hour, 10$. Many people are using oxygen spray to get going (!!!).

The weather doesn’t lighten my mood either. It’s been pouring down for some hours now and the view is a steady, thick grey. No view whatsoever. While walking its usually hard to dampen my spirits but this might just be the ugliest trek I’ve ever done. ever. but I’m not quiet finished!!
It’s 7 pm now, it’s getting dark and the weather worse. I’m set for staying a night in my trusted tent but where?! There’s of course no space for cheapskates in tents. This place is a moneymachine. At the 8th level is the last “hotel” and due to the weather staying over is a must. 80$!! I can’t quiet believe it really. After long struggling it’s 50$ without food. This gets me half a tatami mat and a checkout at 6 am. Wicked.
The really cool thing about mount fuji is watching the sunrise from the summit .. after checking the last time at 1am I’m giving up on that. The taifun is right on top of us and it’s impossible to do anthing but descent in the morning. I’m rushing down in 4 hours, exit through the shrinegate. The drizzle has stopped, the sun is coming out slowly and in the course of the day it’s clearing up further. Fujisan is staying the clouds, defying me! Twisted mountain - I never want to see you again! (for those who think about going: even in good weather i wouldnt recommend it. there’s much nicer mountains in japan as you will see later. maybe a few hundred meters lower but a 1000 times prettier.)

So that’s 2 fujistories for you - both times I met alot of cool people and that’s the mainthing!

There are some few photos for you here. (at the bottom of the set)

sayooOnara!

ps: yes, i know fujirock festival has been LONG ago - I’m giving my best to catch up here!

Early morning, Japan. That’s where I stopped last time. I’m still tired, still happy and full of grand expectations. I am also scared - people coming from dodgy countries like Thailand are treated with extra care by the japan customs. So I have to wait a short while in the interrogation room before they let me off to Narita express.
The first thing i do on the train is falling asleep and missing my station. Of course, ill prepared as always I only have a vague idea where to stay for the night anyway. So at shinjuku I (still pretty dazed) fumble trhough the pages of my lonely planet ー the underground plan looks like a right maze. Confused. The first thing I need is an internetcafe. A save harbour. This, however is not as easy as in Thailand where you have one on every corner. “Intanetocafe wa doko desu ka” takes me about an hour to find one. Lush tho! Internet cafes here are more like little private spaces - to read (manga), watch films well and browse the internet - in your own little cozy cubicle. The toilets have warmed seats and if you’re really bold you can automatcally have your bum washed. Needles to say Its a geeks dream.

Anyhow -  the Internet helps.  Asakusa is the cheapest part of tokyo and the cheapest hostel is ”Kao san Tokyo”. Coming from exactly that road in Bangkok I think it might be a SIGN. so - Tokyo here I am!!

Mmh. so now. what should I write, theres nothing really special I’ve looked at in tokyo, its more the city as a whole. You have to live it.

• seeing the most fashionable people ever and not only in ”Harajuku”, known for it’s fashioncrazyness. so many cool people. so many amazing girls.
• wonder around in akihabara, geekheaven - computerstuff  and a sexshop on every corner. (buying a dictionary yay). There’s also special cafes where you get served by cute girls in gamestyle costumes.
• trying to engage in conversation and fail mostly. Speak one word in japanese and people expect you to be fluent. Youre in for some machinegun japanese.. In fact, for some reason most people seem to think speaking japanese is the most natural thing in the world!
• indulging in sushi (mhh) and all the other foodgoodness ( and I thought they eat fish all day..) . slurping udon (thick noodles in soup) for example. While eating, the more noise you make the better and it’s harder than you think. All I get is a meak sound and stomach full of air.
• watching beautiful “hanabi” , japanese fireworks - there’ tons of those all over japan in the summermonths.

Just a few things that pop into my mind right now (now as in a month later because Ive just been too busy enjoying it all!). Anyway it’s hopeless too describe Tokyo here.
The best thing for me though is that it’s just so DIFFERENT. I never had that feeling of “culture shock” in southeast asia. Japan was isolated for ages and you can so feel that. It still is - unlike any place Ive been before. The immense politeness, etiquette, the cultural traps you can step in. (I’m sure I’ve unknowngly offended about tenthousand people.) Being here is a challenge and real exploration! If I had to describe it all in a few words it would be “a beautifully neat, extremely contractionary well-oiled clockwork” of a society.

Just before I close a small nightlife episode: (one weekend I need to see it all - 2 allnighters in a row). 
Friday evening - cool harajuku is slowly closing down and Seb is running around getting recommendations and a bunch of flyers. There’s of course tons going on. D’n'B isn’t that popular here but there’s a good gig at “Air” in Daikanyama so I decide to go there. A bowl of  katsudon (rice topped with meat)  and a can of energy drink (those are IMMENSELY popular here) and off I am. The club is neat, nice and small - the music is good (some uk-dj).  
In the course of the night I meet some people, among them a scottish couple with their japanese friend. They too stay in Asakusa and we decide to share a cab home. It’s still early. 2:30am when we leave to flag down a taxi. No taxi but another girl we meet and she turns out to be a friend of the other. Apart from that shes pretty damn stunning and her clothes are sparse.. She says she’d be on her way to another bar and invites us too. It’s just around the corner really, the building being just another anonymous skyscraper. The elevator takes us right into somebodies flat which is made into an intimate bar. This is where it all gets a bit bizarre: There are only 2 tables with couches and the bar itself. The walls are decorated with stuffed animal heads, the furniture 60ties style, dimmed red-orangy light. It’s cozy alright.
Everybody, which is not many, is looking at us, not saying a word. The guys wear black suits and in funny partyhats (vikinghelmets, funny noses etc..you name it). Everybody is smoking cigars. There is yet another girl who is our guides friend and equally stunning. We get drinks and I’m off for the loo - not really surprised theres laserbeams coming from the ceiling into the toilet. When I get back the two girls are closely engaged in erotic dance (playing with strange tiny fans) - we all sit down with our drinks, gazing. All this is just taken straight out of some David Lynch film I’m thinking. The girls, Momo and Mai (talk about names) lounge and snog all over the guys in their suits (who stay totally cool). When it’s 5.30, its light outside and everybodies leaving. We deccide we’ve never seen anything like it and make a move.
Over here its bad style to kiss your girlfriend in public - welcome to contractionary japan!

 See you all next time, there’s a couple of photos.

taking off troubles:

There’s not much time left, just about a week. Fujirock festival draws near and I’m getting properly excited. There’s a few days in Bangkok left, I collect the ticket I booked almost 2 months before (just to make sure everything is going to be alright!) The cheapest flight is “Biman - Bangladesh airlines” - I have to admit the name doesn’t have the best ring to it.

So all that’s left to do now is spend some good time with my japanese friends - if I haven’t told you - those people travel even more than the swedes! There’s drinks, and food - including a traditional thaisnack - grilled bugs, cockroaches and plenty other vile carbonated stuff. Then a bit of packing and at 10 pm sebs off to Bangkok international airport, and so very excited! There’s a big wait and finally check in - I whop my big backpack onto the conveybelt just when the checkinlady picks up the phone. The chief checkinlady arrives and asks where my returnticket back to germany is (my ticket return is to bangkok) . 
Whatwhat? - I tell her that I actually don’t intend to return to germany right now. She says that’s no help at all because rules are rules - and one rule is that everybody needs a return to their homecountry!  That this doesn’t make any sense whatsoever doens’t really concern her either.

Apparently a letter has been sent to all agencies many, many months ago to warn unsuspecting travellers. I wail and shout angrily but theres nothing to do but return to that crappy hotelroom in Khao San, accepting defeat. You cannot imagine how much anger was inside of me - I wanted to destroy something, beautiful or not - especially the guy from the travelagency. There’s no sleep in it for me, I have to think all night how to channel my fury into the right words…
First thing I do in the morning is order 2 coffees, then call the japanese embassy - luckily it’s only that one airline that’s been raising that sort of fuss. So at least I’ll get there alright!To spare you the details: 1 hour of argueing later I have a (more expensive) ticket of India airlines on the same day and my money back. 

This evening, a good deal less confident that first time (in fact - almost shakeing) I’m in line again. When the guy looks at my ticket and grabs the phone my heart slumps right down into my left foot. NOooo way. (shaking now) Luckily all  I need is a printout of my bankstatements - SAVED. 8 hours and a couple of (very silly) bollywood films later I touchdown in Narita airport. There we are (awefully tired), a dream has come true - finally JAPAN!

sorry - no photos this time.   
next: lost in translation

Where’s Lara?: After some relaxing days in Chiang mai (further curing was neccessary!) I take the nightbus back to Bangkok. Finally a proper city! Just one day though and its off to Cambodia - there’s not much time but I really want to see Ankhor wat! The rest is dangerous ground. Just 50% of the 10 million mines have been cleared. It’s an extremely bumpy road to Siem Riep. Actually it’s not really a road, rather a long, gravelly band of holes! The journey is around 7 hours once we arrive in the dark my backside is numb. Siem Riep is a mix of glamorous spa-temples and a bit farere away - out of site lots of dirty shovels around them. It’s dusty, there is hardly any good road. Many beggars, most of them miss limbs from stepping into mines. Arms, Legs, Eyes. Cambodia sure is a mixed bag to visit. Ankhor Wat is an amazing experience. Some scenes from Tomb Raider were filmed here and you soon realize why. Crumbling temples, overgrown with vines are slowly reclaimed by nature.
The perfect setting really. Thinking away the crowds you could almost feel like Indy Jones. What I like best here is that the “templeart” here is actually really good! I mean don’t get me wrong but normally if you look at old temples or the pyramids sculptures and fresco usually look pretty basic or childish. Here is not so - I love the designs!! You can feel that this was a florishing cultural and religious mekka until it was deserted.

The best way of getting around is by trike or bike (it’s not just a temple but a huge city of temples!). Once you arrive at the next spot you get rushed by a band of wristband/books/postcard selling children. It’s sad but you can’t really help and they all sell the same things too. “If I know your countries capital you have to buy my book. Just one dolla!”

After 4 days and another back-killing roadtrip I return to Bangkok. That’s that done. Enjoy some photos!

Chiang mai:
Hello back - a loong silence I know, but you see I am alive after all (soso!). No worries!!
Chiang mai is very popular among travellers. Already back in NZ people were telling me how great it was and my expectatios are high. CM offers beside an abundance of temples (more than Bangkok while being much smaller!) tons of activities. Jungle treks, “longneck”-visits (yes those women with the rings aorund their necks..), Riding elefants and whatnot - no thanks. Suffer pain 6 days a week? Sign me up! There’s some good Thaiboxing gyms here and I’m choosing a tiny school with 2 teachers, 1 ring, 10 punchbags and the same number of students. Sangka School of Ancient Muay Thai! I like the name anyway! 200 $ for the course 50$ hotel-expenses for one month. 4 $ for training shorts. Affordable.

and heres the drill:
one day in the life of a muay thai student aka bloody beginner (in the sense of the word)

06:30 wake up (real fighters have to go for a run now. i’m not!)
07:00 wake up again
07:15 get up, buy coffe (Nescafe extra strong)
07:20 cycle to gym, right behind temple “wat suan dok”, get some fresh fruit on the way
07:45 bow to the houseghost-shrine, ropes - 10 minutes, stretching
08:05 chanting. you read right! Every morning and evening we say buddhist prayers. since its all thai I only have a vague idea of what it all means. It’s mainly to honour the teachers of the past, some “great healer” and the god of war.
08:10 foot work, technique in lines across the floor. for a looong time
10:45 finish first session, great relief, bow to the shrine, cycle home. One the way stopping for a quick plate of “boiled pig thigh” yumm. i always have the same dish and they know it by now. Dessert: Waffles. I’m their only customer. At least for waffles - they mainly sell pictureframes.
11:15 through the door, into shower, fall into bed. rest.
12:00 go to eatery across road, hey I get “handsome man” discount! desert: strange yoghurt drink with black jellies - you suck them through extrathick straw. then check email. (the cafe is conveniently located across the street!)
12:20 back upstairs, rest more, read, trying to memorize kanji - fail!
15:00 back to the gym, on the way stopping for the japanese guitarman. he’s selling second hand ones and jams all day long (and strangely reminds me of Juan Siquier).
16:00 bow to the ghost, stretching, ropes, bags. This is the tough part of the day, one round hitting the bag, then down 25 pushups. 10 times. arrr. more technique, clinchtraining. my neck hurts. why is it not 7 yet?! 10 to seven - chanting to close the day and then “stomachwork”. bow to the ghost. last time for today.
19:05 i run. noodlesoup as fast as possible. then a banana-ROTI for later (I have to get those calories back in somehow!) cycle home, shower, rest, digest.
20:00 those portions are just so damned small! 2nd dinner: sushi. i was lucky to find a neat, cheap and close sushi joint (best in chiang mai - and I tried many). I’m a returning customer and they’re very polite (cook: “How are you, Sir?”, me: “Fine thanks! Self?”, cool:” Most excellent, Sir!” - it amuses me anyway!)
21:30 back, internetcafe (sad huh). There’s no real time for going out. I can count the beers I drank this month on one… maybe 2 hands
22:30 back into bed. sleep (if i can) the room is CHEAP. for 50$ you have to accept a loud aircon..
24:00 wake up
02:00 wake up
06:30 and a brand new day, hurray!

obviously there are variations to this schedule (sometimes its “buddha day” and then there’s no training. i love buddha days) but you get the big picture. pain, food and writing emails. I have to admit after the first week of training I am completely wasted, and so after the second, I get slightly ill and miss a day of week 3. now i’m used to it but kicking against somebodys shin still fucking hurts. (not even mentioning the blisters! I thought my soles were strong after all that walking but I was very wrong). enough whining!

on the road in chiang mai: I’ve never never seen so many scooters! Everybody who doesn’t have enough money for a car got one. The only ones who cycle are either too young or too old to be motorized or they are doing it for sport. Or they are me!
In traffic I get many compassionate smiles and thumbups. (Especially when I cycle up 9 kms to the Temple “Wat Doi Suthep” which is looming in the hills above chiang mai. Just like a professional on the tour de france I tell you! and the first time people take my photo and not the other way round..).
Almost nobody is riding scooters alone. 2 people are normal, then theres three and the record is 4!!! (i wish i had a photo for you but i dont). It’s all pretty chaotic here but it suits me well. There’s no problem with riding on the wrong side of the road (well, 2-wheelers). Nobody ever honked at me anyway.

details:
i’ve been travelling, hopping from place to place, for almost 6 months now and it’s been great! Now for the first time settled down for a while, obviously one reason is to learn some thaiboxing. The other however is to see details! For example that today the internetman is offering some dry donuts to the houseghost’s shrine! Or 2 women kneeling infront of a buddhist monk at a bustop, praying. That the foodstore girls suddenly know my name although I never told anybody. That the “boiled pigleg” man sings out loud all day long, no matter how funny people look. (english classics). Theres also some candles for the king on his birthday.
I’ve also made a friend over the road, running a small design studio. He and his mates took me out a few times - the few little times I could drink! Thais here are crazy about drinking. People seriously get pissed every day and all they drink is whiskey (you order it by the bottle).
and a fun bit to close:
while i was waiting for my roti the other day (kind of a pancake but deepfried. yum!) the other day a moth got thrown off course by the sweet banana-fat-smell (like me!). It bellylands in the frying pan and begins to drift in circles - everybody looses interest, the cook didn’t care in the first place “adds to the flavour”. Suddenly a startling BANG, the moth has disappeared. overdone, exploded. Moth bits everywhere. Relieved smiles. Now who can come up with a witty, philosophic pointe that’s not lame?
Well there’s of course tons and tons to write but I’m lazy. Better look at the photos:
Set 1, Set 2 and another one from the thaiboxing stadium (one of our people had his first fight!)

Laters!

Welcome to Sukhothai!
Welcome to the raining season in thailand!

I arrive at night by bus. All I hear is a lot splashing against the tires - in the light of streetlights I see people wading. There’s a couple of streams going Sukhotai and all that rain turned the city into one big river. The people take it easy though. From the bus I can watch people fishing and children bathing - it’s only convenient really! Luckily neither my lodge or the ruins are underwater, I’m staying dry for now. The old city is a bit out of town, the journey leads through ricefields (there’s ALOT of ricefields in thailand!!) I love the colors - the rice is really green and the sky is blue. Such saturation! The temples are red. So much about sukhothais palette. 

The ruins are awesome! There’s nobody there really, just me, walking about in the light drizzle. It’s a crazy feeling if you think all this was built more than 2000 years ago - and the phantasizing works all the better without tourists. (Wow, I wish I’d have venice for myself just for a day!) The best way of exploring here is by bicycle since everything is rather spread out (after all its a whole city!). Theres many buddhas to see, little shrines and of course remains of temples.

All in all I spent 2 days here - good days with good food. With my appetite they wanted to keep me forever at the guesthouse but I have to press on!  To Chiang Mai.

The mission here is: Learn Thaiboxing (and train off the good food)!!

Bye,bye again - less words, more pictures is the motto.

Bangkok: only 30 hours train and here we are. Grittiest city of the southeast. First things to notice - its cheap! Sooo cheap. and I thought Malaysia would be cheap. Eating is between 20 and 50 baht and sleeping is below 150. 1 dollar is 40 baht.
Next thing - It’s all so much better than Malaysia! No really. No governmental beersuppression but a cool, geeky king whom everybody loves! Rama IX has been on the throne for 60 years now and doesn’t spend 50 000 pounds on shoes each year. People love their king and he’s on posters everywhere, people wear “Long live the king” wristbands. 6 pm everybody is standing still with arms at their sides (me too) and in the cinema there’s a special advert to honour the king (again standing up). To that the special royal anthem. If it sounds funny, it’s not!

Women are prettier and very fashionable (yes, I knoow - half of them are actually men..). There’s a lot of style in Bangkok and everything feels more professional than down south, even compared to KL. To cut a long story short - if you have plans for SE-Asia, skip Malaysia spend your extratime in Thailand!

We’re staying in Kao San road, that’s the touristy backpacker center of Bangkok. There’s alot going on there - its very busy. The whole area is packed with: Souvenirshops, Pubs, foodstalls, stalls with pirated music and software and women selling wooden frogs that croak like real ones. I actually bought a couple - they’re awesome and they do work!

Then there’s the cab drivers - I’ve never seen as many taxis anywhere. And there’s “Tuk-a-tuks”. Those are taxi-lowdistance-trikes and they are annoying. Common conversation:

him: Tuk tuk, tukatuk?
me: No thanks!
him: Where do you want to go?!
me: There and there. How do I get there?
him: (Looks and doesn’t know) But. Why do you want to go there anyway?!
me: I just want to. Bye bye!
him: But it’s closed today! Location x, just 10 baht. Friend!
me: Bye!!
him: Tukatukatuuuuuk! (so never ask them for directions!)

About business. You have to haggle in Bangkok - it’s expected that you do. Normally you get a prize which is more than double or more. Sometimes even 10 times more.
I said before there’s style here. People look good. There are design shops I haven’t seen anywhere in Europe, with huge screens on the walls and a dj on site. You can buy Ferraris, hightech gear and whatnot. The mad thing is that probably less than 1% of the population can afford any of it. Not my good, old friend the sweet-sticky-rice man whos selling at 20 baht the piece! The gap between rich and poor is gigantic.

but stop the serious talk: Nightlive is fun in Bangkok but you already knew that. I’m not even talking about the famous redlight district - just been there once and only for looking. Promise! Thais are just amazingly friendly and great party people! Music is good too.

Thailand is a development country but it’s striving. Where’s the catch(es)? Not that many. Mmh, annoying sextourism. serious traffic/smogissues. Too many taxis.
What can I say - I’m lazy, check it out yourself. Quit your job, go to thailand!

more bits:
the weekend market at mo chit. something londons camdenmarket would like to be. It’s massive, thousands of stalls and you can buy anything. cool clothes by small bangkok labels, gold and animals. everything you might want!

temples, temples, temples. With lots of buddha statues. come in all sizes and poses. lots of statues in general.
sushi galore: all you can eat - sushi for 240 baht? HAI!

I spent one week in bangkok and it was fun - the way leads north to Chiang Mai, passing SukhoThai, an ancient thai city. Time for some culture!

I bought a real camera - hurrah! Many photos for you. Set1(mostly old), Set2(new). Soo many people, I know!