ban jia liao.moved house.plian ban liao.

blog moved..
chinese new year approaching.. for new luck and better feng shui..time to move =)

http://kat23qi.wordpress.com

sabaai dee mak..

children cabaret show..

Day 42, 43, 44, 45

Time is passing really fast.. been back at Takuapa and helping at the orphanage..

did handicrafts-sewing little cashew nut key chains.. (since when do i sew??) took a lot of patience..kept getting knots with the thread.. and the ladies in charge were so good at it! by the time i finally finished 1..they did 4.. haha. oh well. there's always a first time.
swept the floor.. tidied their stuff.. did some admin work for the english ones..


sunday was really cool.. 2 volunteers from australia were leaving.. and they actually had a surprise party for them..

we were all in for a huge treat! there was lotsa food.. a cabaret show by one of our own children!!! a lady-boy to be..definitely. 15 years old. he's very good!

more dancing by the girls.. it was hilarious and entertaining.. really sweet. the 2 volunteers were very surprised and impressed! so were the rest of us!


today.. the children were in for a treat too, 3 huge boxes of clothes were delievered from an organisation supporting the orphanage. there were both new and second hand clothes.. and each of the 60 children received an avg of 4 pc of clothings!
I was very impressed to see that there wasn't much arguing of the clothes during the hand-out by the "Mother" of the children. They sat and waited patiently for their chance, and even excitedly shouted out suggestions of who can fit the clothes!

It is really adorable to see a 4 year old folding her new clothes, and putting the neat pile into her wadrobe.. independence and responsiblity is something most children of the "modern" and well-to-do families lack of..

being here has taught me many lessons.. an experience i think everyone should go through.
last night while reading the profiles of the children.. i felt my heart ached and broke many times..
it's the 3rd time i read it since last year..but it never fails to teach me how strong they all are..

"D" was 8 years old when the tsunami hit. was swept away to the sea by the waves.. clung on to a log for 20 hours alone ..n ended up on an island with dead bodies around.. he was very lucky to survive and was finally found by the rescuers..
was brought to the orphanage (which were only tents, not a nice building as now..) and have been here since then.
some of the children victims lost their entire family..some never found their bodies.

now..i understand why he is so brave, always helping with the "dangerous" tasks such as setting up fire for cooking etc.
he is quiet but always take the intiative to help the staff and the younger ones..like a big brother.
even those left with a parent after the tsunami didn't seem like a "blessing"..
some of them were abandoned, after their parent remarried, and the new step parent didn't "want to have anything to do with them"(quoted from them).
some were abused, both physically and sexually, even at the tender age of 3.
the lucky ones were found by neighbours who called the orphanage to get help.
i am very sure there are hundreds or thousands even, out there who are still suffering in silence.

most of the children have not been to school until they came here. their families were too poor, and education is the last thing on their mind when they only have a proper meal every 3,4 days.

im helping to look for sponsors too.. cos funds are running low as more children have been coming in.. and the funds are now shared among more..
it's really affordable to sponsor a child actually, only 800 baht (S$35) for the young ones and about 2000 baht (S$100) each month to sponsor the elder one through education at a vocational college to learn working skills which is very helpful.
otherwise you can also do one time donation (even S$50 can go a long way to buy rice, cooking oil etc.)
if anyone knows ppl interested, let me know. at least im here to make sure things go smoothly and money well spent!

had a call from home last night. nice. :) miss family but im having a wonderful experience here.
been 45 days but i learnt so much already.
let's see some...
-travelling on my own (all the precautions to stay safe..),
-making decisions,
-managing budget,
-pick-pocketed,
-going to the police and discovering corruption,
-got match-maked by some lady (i only met her for 10 mins!) to her son,
-understanding what it means when the shirt says "Good men go to heaven, bad men go to Patong"
-trying to understand how the thai culture works..
-trying to understand what sustains a thai girl-ang moh man relationship...
-seeing how "powerful" females can be when men are hum sup (whine and u get A LOT OF expensive gifts..)
-not to mention the wonderful children's strength and love.. as well as the noble staff that work like mad on a very little allowance to help these children...

more to come, i m sure..just wish for health and safety to be with me.

love love,
sabaai dee...

job job..n the holy man in a turban..

Day 41

chilled somemore at the beach..tried to absorb as much sunlight as possible..but a pity it was quite cloudy.. gave up after an hour..
went to the police station to try to get a statement for the theft.
was refused "indirectly" after a long "beat around the bush" lesson about the "new" law.. but it wasn't an up-front "im sorry i can't do it." but more like a ..."maybe..maybe not"
i guess i could get my way if i pay them some money.. for sure. but the whole point is "i lost my valuables and i need a report." paying them wouldn't make sense... i lose more money in that way!sheesh.
got a bit pissed off by the policeman's attitude. in fact he's quite a high rank one. gross.
guess i have to forget about the report for insurance claim.. sigh. esp. my new thumbdrive..n ALL MY MUSIC FILES. 4GB!!! the other was just full of resume shit...

Day 42

was supposed to head back to Takuapa..but got a last minute mail for an interview.. for a tour operator.. referral by another company i applied to..
quite a nice time actually. very informal.. since i had none of those formal wear with me.. had to go in shorts..with track shoes! haha.
the owner's an Asian..with family in spore too. very nice man. learnt quite some stuff about working here from him... the good and the ugly..
got to try out working for an hour plus.. since i had absolutely no idea what goes on in a tour operating company before... it was really quite an experience. learnt a lot just in that hour. the lady GM taught me so much..
a lot of paperwork, follow up and making sure everything goes smoothly so customers get to enjoy a nice holiday...
and i learnt that... some people can be very nasty.. very rude and try to take advantage of others to save money.... i got feedback that sporeans are generally quite easy and nice customers.. only that have to be careful of their "complaints" tendency.. haha. (as if we don't know....)
so you see.... please be nice to others always..esp. when you are overseas... and ESPECIALLY when you tell others what country you are from.... you are almost an ambassador..

havent accepted the job yet since ive got another to follow-up next week (2 good news last night!) for the hotel that i was interviewed last month..
but from what i can expect, there will be a lot of things for me to learn which is good, and quite safe too. growth opportunity for sure and less politics (i hope!) compared to working in a big company...
will have to weigh and decide after.. man..i hate making decisions..
small medium "family-like" company (more flexible, less politics, learn to multi-task) or big company (less responsibilities, more transparent but politics, less flexible..).. both have pros n cons.. oh i really hate making decisions.
will update soon.

after the "work" session, chilled out @ the hostel with 2 other cool sporeans and the lady who's in-charge of the hostel.. talked a lot about spore n thailand and their diving experiences.. oh..if only i don't get claustraphobic underwater..AND if i get the money....i will certainly try diving.. haha.

oh yes, i forgot to blog about the "mysterious man in a turban"..
was having lunch last month with my australian friend.. this man in a turban came up to me and tried to tell my "fortune".. said he has special psychic power.. a holy man..
played along with him just to see what he could predict. apparently by looking at me.. he saw that i was feeling happy (DUH!!!!).. better than before..have good karma (i really hope so!) and (this is the important part..) love and money will come in February 2009.... luck will apparantly be good in Feb.. haha. maybe i will meet a thai royal prince?

have always been skeptical about such "fortune-telling" but at the same time afraid to know..
don't really trust but it was quite a strange experience..
anyway..he "indirectly asked" me to do more good karma by giving him some money...haha. i expected that really.. maybe i should have given him some for the effort...

but i didn't.. he needs to really do some good karma by getting a proper job..n not conning people. in fact, if i give him money, it ll prob be bad karma cos im encouraging cons!
haha. but anyway.. whether it's true or not...im looking forward to February now!!!! :)

will be heading back to Takuapa tmr. hate to leave here always.

looking forward to be back here soon..

sabaai dee..

jellyfishy time..

Day 38 (sunday)

Another children's day celebration..this time it's an excursion to Phang Nga National Park.. a 30min drive from the orphanage..
set off @ 9am..everyone was really excited. esp. the children since it's a huge thing, with games and picnic and swimming!
volunteers joined in the games too! we were separated into 6 teams.. and for the 1st game..we were blindfolded and had to walk through "obstacle courses"! imagine the little ones (only age 4,5,6) blindfolded and joining in the fun!
had to walk slowly since we couldn see anything! had to crawl too holding on to a rope.. n got really messy with the grass and little mud.. course ended with paint drawn on our faces..
oh, before we could take off the blindfolds....we had to stick our hands into a vase filled with jelly-like stuff ...gross.

then..we played lotsa fun relay games ..running with spoons in the mouth that held the eggs etc.
the children really enjoyed!

had picnic lunch after.. we brought food along and the housekeepers prepared thai papaya salad (som tum) on the spot!

then..the best part was the "swimming" time.. some of the little ones dressed in costumes were sooooo cute. (you must check out the photos in my facebook..) ..
myself and the older kids went swimming @ the waterfall.. a REALLY huge and amazing one! honestly..i felt quite suaku when i screamed at the sight of it.. i mean we don't get much of that in spore.. so i was really impressed!
we all jumped in even though the water was freezing cold! didn't bring extra clothes but i didn't care.. it will dry anyway!!
so much fun!

went back to the orphanage around 4pm..all the kids had a prezzie each.. and certainly enjoyed themselves..i felt happy too..and was really glad to see the children so happy! i like to see people here being happy with simple things... im starting to do that too.. it's something i definitely learn from my stay here..


Day 39 (monday)

decided to take a little break.. off to phuket..
visited my friends @ Patong.. finally a beach run after a week of missing it..
stayed in Phuket Town though.. the same hostel (Old Town hostel).. it's wonderful..really cheap.. only 250 baht ($12) own room with only a bed and a fan..common toilet and showers but it's clean and homely.. i like it.


Day 40 (tuesday)

decided to go Karon Beach for a change.. love the place.. a very long stretch of beach.. and even though it's crowded too, it's very different from Patong.. more of couples and families.. so none of the sleazy stuff..
white clean sand.. and very very clean water.. you can almost see everything underwater from the top...

oh yea.. i realise it's the jelly-fish season or smtg. because there are LOADS of jelly-fishes washed up the shore.. and because the water is soo clear, you can see all the jelly-fishes around.. it's quite scary..
but..i still went for a little swim, the water was just too tempting! was careful not to "offend" any of the dangerous stuff..
lying on the sand @ a beach is so simple but i really enjoyed..it's so peaceful.. and..of course i got my tan! was there only for an hour (didn't want to get skin cancer..)..but my cheeks are a little red now! so satisfied! haha.

job search is looking up. got a lobang somehow..referral from someone i applied to.. but yet to interview. hopefully it ll go smoothly. though i really wanna do some travelling first, but it's good to know i can settle down eventually. money not enough. haha.
from what the locals tell, thailand's tourism seems a little lower than usual this year.. probably cos of the airport closure thing.. plus economy's bad everywhere, so it's tougher.
so.. it's gonna be hard to find work in the hotels.. i just gotta try harder or something else perhaps..

btw have finally bought the cables i lost after much searching..(had to go to SAMSUNG service centre to buy the original for my camera..no cheap pirated ones around for that..)
have uploaded lotsa photos on facebook.. check it out yea? =)

sabaai dee..
metta..

thai dek dek (children) day..

Day 36,37
harrasseed by mosquitoes.. there are just too many around here. im surprised they don't have a "Fight Dengue Fever" campaign..there are prob too many to actually control it..
ive gotten so many bites my arms and legs look disgusting! (okay..maybe a little exaggeration..)
couldn't sleep cos of that too. if only im that attractive to humans, as with the mosquitoes..

anyway...10th Jan is Children's Day here.. so....the kids had a HUGE celebration/party.. with the children coming from another centre nearby. lotsa dance performance, games and food! the children love it.
what a pity my camera's down (since i lost the wires to charge etc..) would have taken lotsa photos.

the day before the party, helped with blowing up the balloons etc. was really quite cool, mouth sore though.hah.

tomorrow's (sunday) going to be exciting too. we are going to a waterfall(an hour drive away) for ANOTHER party.. haha. little picnic and stuff. will blog bout it soon.

love
sabaai dee.

pickpocketed..drives lost..4GB of music gone..

Day 33

Back to Phuket after another 13 hours on the bus.. ass hurts.
found a cheap backpackers' "old town hostel".. i know the name sounds a bit creepy, but the place is fine. clean and the owners are friendly.
just a simple room with a bed and a fan. shared showers and toilets. for just 250 baht ($12)

was tired after the long ride.. decided to pamper myself with a massage @ my fav place. (200baht)
went back to hostel and slept.

Day 34, 35

Back in Takuapa.
Missed the children.. did some painting.. for the old playground so it looks new! i actually enjoy painting..except we were under the sun..so it was a bit hot..
had paint all over myself and clothes..had a hard time trying to scrub it out after...

the children has already moved into the new building.. so now the girls sleep in the new building while the guys conquer the whole of the old building.. (they all used to sleep in the old one)
to save money, i decided not to rent a room. so i crashed in with one of the housekeeper, slept in a room in the new building..
had a rough night though.. was very hot and i was a buffet for the mosquito.. free flow of blood for them..
couldn't really sleep..

a little lost now.. trying to work out my short-term plans.. a few ideas, just have to keep working back to the budget.
should work out fine.
feb will be exciting. think i ll head to Krabi for a while. change of environment and since im here, i should explore as many places as possible. it's not too hard, since it's much cheaper than surviving in spore.. haha.
and...i have till march to worry about the job thing. now..no one's replying to me!

eating too much here. every other time, it's "kin kao"(eating time).. think i ve gained 2kg at least.
pants getting tight. sob. and..except for the runs @ the beach, i havent got much chance to work out and exercise.. this is thai life..hah

bad news.. realised ive been pickpocketed.. lost my little pouch which had my new thumbdrives(contain ALL MY MUSIC FILES!!! 4GB!!)...and my MP3 and camera connectors.. shit. now I can't upload photos nor charge my mp3 until I go buy a new one.. really sad. sigh.
it must have been the bus.. i had to leave my HUGE backpack @ the end of the bus.. and i guess someone took it.. sigh. at least it wasn't too much money i lost.. *be thankful*

sabaai dee..

Selemat Datang ke Penang..

Day 30,31

There's this attraction that keeps pulling me back to Patong..it's just wierd. although it's sleazy, crowded and touristy, I kinda feel abit "at home". haha. maybe because Ive made many friends there, with the people working there.. and mainly, it's the beach. I love running on the beach there. It's not too short, and the crowd is also quite cool since I won't be alone.

A big prob there is the accomodation.. I mean the super overpriced accomodation. esp. since it's the high season now, all the prices are jacked up real high.
Had to spend 1 hour plus walking around trying to find a decent place within my budget. the average "cheapest" room was at least 1000baht ($42). and sometimes that's only a fan room, with shared shower.
thank gosh I managed to dig out a cool room to rent. it was 500 baht! with my own hot shower!

had another free ski ride from my ski-shop friend! super fun! haha. it's really cool how people are so friendly to everyone.

I think Im quite thankful I have been quite lucky so far. Made a few backpacker friends, and heard of "horror" rip-off/cut throat scams. esp. if you are a caucasian...

some of them had their money stolen from the guesthouse, when they were sleeping in the room!!! the camera caught some old lady going into each room to steal. it's quite wierd actually if you think about it.. how can she even dare to go in when it's not empty...

some were forced to pay ridiculous cover charge after drinking their ass off at the clubs.. or they couldnt leave the place.. (Im avoiding pubs and clubs since I don't drink anyway..)

some were "persuaded" to buy and tailor clothes while they were half-drunk..

lots more.. you just gotta be careful..and this time..Im lucky to be an asian here.. haha.

Day 32, 33

Set off to Penang from Patong. Had to apply for a tourist visa @ the Thai embassy in Penang, so I can stay for 2 months without leaving the Kingdom.
Mini-van set off @ 730am... it was initially a really "lok kok" van.. covered with layers of dust, and very "squeaky".. I was gonna "cry" thinking of the 10 hours trip in that thing..
half hour later... this "ang mog" man shouted at the driver to drop him and his wife off immediately. declared to the entire van that it is a "CRAPPY BUS" and " I DID NOT PAY FOR THIS!" poor driver was stunned and didnt know what to do.
I mean I know it's quite a crappy bus but you really dont have to behave like an abnoxious big shot. shouting and insulting is just NOT polite in Thailand.
Anyhow, they got off... and ten minutes later, the rest of us were transferred to a much better van. cool.
transferred bus 4 times (Phuket, Hatchai) before we finally arrived in Penang at 9.30pm... that's 12 hours of ride..my ass hurt.
and the worse thing was... I OVERSTAYED AGAIN AND PAID 500BAHT FINE!!!!
it's the 2nd time.. not a good record.
I honestly thought the visa expired on 5th Jan..but it's actually 3rd. I better watch out before they throw me to "Bangkok Hilton"-jail.

Checked into a backpackers' place in Chinatown of Penang. It's owned by a Chinese family who was surprised when I spoke Mandarin to them. costs RM 35 (S$17) per night, and I think it's considered exp. for a backpackers' place. Aircon but common shower and toilet.
Chulia street's like a backpackers' place, lotsa guesthouses, and services for tourists.

In fact, it's really easy to find a shop that does your "visa" stuff for you. Instead of going to the embassy yourself etc, they get your passports and documents necessary, get them done and return to you at the end of the day.. for that you pay a fee of Rm20-Rm50. realised i was over-charged quite a bit. Why issit that Chinese are usually the "profit-oriented' ones and tend to overcharge...
Walked around and check the place out, realised Chinatown and Little India here are just almost side by side, so it's pretty cool.
The last time I was here was almost 10 years ago.. still pretty cool. Lotsa shophouses.. and more shophouses.. very history-rich and cultural place. definitely recommended for history geeks.
nearest and probably one of the few shopping complexes is Pranglin Mall.. it's like a Sim-Lim Square mixed with Far East. Beside it, is Komtar Mall which is honestly quite wulu. Very quiet and dead.
One thing cool here is that after being in Thailand for a month, it's funny seeing signboards and words written in Mandarin, and hearing people speak in Madarin and Hokkien. With the old shop houses and kopitiams, it feels like Ive been transported back in time into the 70s.
Food is cheap here too, esp for those of you into chinese food like wantan mee and prawn mee, it's almost everywhere @ RM 2.80- RM 3.50 (avg. $1.50)
but.. thailand is still cheaper in terms of food and drinks really.

Vegetarian wise....Im glad to realise it's quite easy to find vegetarian eateries.. in fact, Penang's a veg. paradise in Malaysia. Many chinese and taoists live here, so there are lotsa veg food around.
You can get them in Little India too.
On that note.. I had quite a horrible experience.
was walking down a lane back to my inn..when I smelled smtg bad.. It was drizzling so I just kept walking.. the smell got worse. out of curiousity.. I turned to the side to see what the shops were selling... and I saw a HUGE PIG hanging down from a hook @ it's nose ... totally skinned and butchered. it was the top half of the body!! i almost threw up.
it was almost my size!

a lot of blood in the shop and i didn't dare to look somemore, so I kept walking .. then I realise... the ENTIRE LANE was filled with "BUTCHERY". More pigs hanging from hooks.. I almost fainted..
I think they need to put a warning sign on both ends of the lane.. "Not for the faint-hearted, vegetarians and muslims"
Nothing against that, since it's their work, and it's part of the process to your "Bak Kut Teh" etc.
But from some one who has a soft spot for animals (alive, not dead), and who doesn't like the idea of dead stuff.. it was a total nightmare..
honestly, I think if everyone has to hunt for their own food, more people will be vegetarians.. haha.

alright, time's up. that's RM 2 for an hour of internet.
will update when I get back to Thailand.

Selemat Jalan..