SE Asia Time

Koh Phangan
Originally uploaded by wootang71

Thailand was off the hook. but let's start from the beginning. Transit in se asia, in my experience, is seriously unpredictable. every single bus, train, or plane i caught was delayed, late, or changed somehow. in fact, our flight from bali to sumbawa was changed to 2 hours EARLIER. "wtf" is the correct response. 10 hour bus ride from nha trang to saigon, vietnam. spent a night then caught a flight to bangkok. went directly to the bangkok train station. all trains south were booked solid except the 23.20 which meant 3 hours chilling at the station. this train, however, despite its overnight status does NOT have any sleeping berths. "wtf" is the correct response. arrive surat thani 2 hours late to miss the bus transfer to the donsak docks to wait for the ferry. it's a mass migration to koh phangan for the full moon party, no secret about it. but 2 days of straight transit has taken its toll. i meet up with quentin (belgium), jackson (paris), and nicole and lisa (swiss) and proceed to get drunk at the docks. we catch the ferry and kill more beer on the ride over. when we disembark on phangan 3 hours later, i'm drunk. following dave's directions, i scour baan tai on the south shore all afternoon looking for our hotel. which ended up being on the north shore. drunk, frustrated, and tired, i wander back to thong sala to see if marcin is getting off on the last ferry. apparently he did, but i missed him completely. ended this day splitting a room in baan tai for the night with a friendly german girl. 20 years old, of course. got more drunk, called dave, and made a plan for the next day to get my ass to the right hotel. and this was day 1 in thailand.

does it offend you, yeah? and we smoke fags were driving my pizzle.

Pre-Post Season Blues (and Greens)

Without a W-2 job anymore, I find that I have a lot more free time to do stuff. Like read a book. Visit shops. Snowboard all day. Plan out my year. Usually by this time of April, I've committed to post-season plans. This season, I'm lagging. I have to go somewhere. That's not even a question. And I've saved enough cash this season to do something from May to July for sure. I've toyed with the idea of going to South America. But we, Joe S, the Ninja, and I, have unanimously agreed that it would not be a good idea. Not this summer, at least. Then a trip to Indo fell into my lap. Yes! Indo! Surf trip! I think that's what I need. A couple weeks on Bali, maybe a week in Thailand. Could do a dude some good. Secretly, I'm a bit jealous of all the homies and homettes leaving Tahoe this spring. They're hitting the road. Traveling. Adventures. I remember when I was like them. In many ways, I miss the freedom. But life is dynamic and things have changed. Sleeping on sofas for weeks at a time puts a hurt on the hurt back. Drinking all night ends the following day before it even starts. Of the things that haven't changed includes my need for surf. Yes, need. It is necessary for my well being. Apparently, flotational devices are necessary for ninos.

Neon Neon, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, and VHS or Beta have been rocking the pizzle hard. Neon Neon also has an awesome mixtape that can be found here. Downloading it would be doing yourself a favor.