Songkran Festival (Thai New Year)

Last weekend there was an extended holiday with Friday and Monday as days off. Actually some people had Tuesday off as well. It is the Songkran Holiday and one of the biggest holidays for the Thais. It is known as something like the holiday of water. They celebrate the new calendar year by going back home and spending time with their family. They also spend the whole weekend having water fights and putting a talcum powder on each others faces. One of the biggest parties is down on Khao San road where there are streets filled with people shooting water guns and putting this talcum powder on people. The actual ritual is to have an elder or person of respect sit with a bowl of water that is scented and has flowers in the bowl. Then, you pour water through the hands of the elder and make a wish or blessing for them for the coming year. After that you put the talcum powder on the person's face. I am not sure if the powder is part of the blessing or if it is something you do. I have pictures from our office and then Khao San road. I was flying out to Singapore this weekend so I only got to spend a couple hours at Khao San. I wish I could have experienced a little more, but there are still some good pictures.

Songkran Pictures

Songkran Office

Watch out Down Below - Pattaya Beach

My friend and I headed out a couple of hours southeast of Bangkok in search of rock climbing. Pattaya Beach is a decent sized tourist area in Thailand and it had a number of regular hotels along with expensive resorts but it's best known for its sex tourism. I would say overall I thought the place looked pretty dirty in many ways. There is a nicer beach Jomtien Beach farther down that is nicer than Pattaya beach because the beach there didn't look too inviting. But the beach was busy with many people in the water and hanging out. I didn't have my camera on me so I will have to get pictures some other time. We spent most of our time looking for the rock climbing and the place it was supposed to be turned out to be a bust. So we were looking for something else to do and we decided to go to the Bungee Jump.

I had been wanting to try Bungee jumping, but hadn't planned on doing it this weekend. I decided to do it anyway even though I wasn't really prepared to go. I thought, how bad can it be, it's only 50 meters up right. Well, I felt pretty calm and cool until the crane started to lift me up into the air. Then, I realized that I had to actually jump off the platform. I couldn't just fall off and it wasn't just like pulling a cord to go. Even though the crane doesn't look very high from the ground, it's a different story from the very top. By this time I was pretty nervous and I just kept telling myself that I had to relax and I could do it. At the top the operator tells me to step to the ledge and he will count down and then I jump. At this point, I looked below and thought, "Oh crap, what have I got myself into?" The operator started the countdown, "Three, two, one, jump!" I didn't move initially and the operator repeated, "Now jump". So I let go of the handles and jumped out into the air starting my fall. I also starting to scream like a little girl. The rest happened very quickly with me falling towards the ground getting shot back up into the air and repeating the falling again. I tried to catch my breath in between the falling and screaming. Once the falling slowed down,I just tried to enjoy the moment and the scenery bouncing upside down. They pulled me back and I was glad to no longer be dangling from my feet. It was quite a rush and a lot of fun but I don't know if I will be doing it again any time soon.


Bungee Jump Pictures

Starry Night Company Party

Well, I must say they know how to hold a company party here in Asia. I have never been to a company party as impressive as this one. The annual company party was held at the Conrad Hotel, which is one of the nicest hotels in Bangkok. They had a large banquet room with our own MC for the evening. The theme was to be like a movie star at the Oscars and everyone was in their top gear. I arrived in a Limo(Taxi, there are no limos in Bangkok)and was sporting my suit designed by Dillard's, accompanied with a Marshall's shirt and tie. Apparently, I arrived too late for people to notice because I wasn't nominated for the best dressed contest and didn't show up in any of the High So magazines.

There was a large buffet with all sorts of good food. Also, they gave a number of prizes away ranging from day spas, to ipods, to cash. Each group at DSTI had to put on their own performance and they really got into their performances. I wish I would have taken more video because most were really prepared and were really into their acts. I found the Diana Ross "I will Survive" rendition especially entertaining and funny. Dianna was being played by a man with a mask and his best evening dress. It was a little strange, but all in good fun. Of course there was a song done by Nsync(Not sure how to spell) and then a couple of popular Thai songs. Once the groups had performed, they had a semi-famous singer named Lydia put on a 45 min. performance. My pictures weren't the best so I am going to get more from the rest of the group. It was a fun evening and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

Company Party Pictures

Karaoke

One of the team members is going to a another company and so he wanted to do a Karoke night. Karoke is very big over here and it is seen as a social outing. Unlike in the states it is not held at a bar and done in front of a large group of people. We went to this restaurant with many different Karoke rooms that you rent out. It was a decent size room with couches, tv, and speakers. The first group of people arrived and we ate dinner. After dinner people to started to sing. Most everyone was a little reluctant at first, except for Dtao who put the party together and enjoys doing Karoke. Looking at the songs available for singing was quite entertaining itself. It was pretty hard to find decent American songs. They had a lot of western songs, but those were a lot of the boy bands or really old songs. I would like to say that I had the microphone all night long belting out hits, but I'm not much of a singer and so I helped out with a couple of songs but never took a solo. Jeremy has a good voice so he sang a number of songs. We did get the group going with a "We will rock you" song. Overall, it was a fun night with some good pictures. I can't say that it will be a regular event for me, but it was a fun Friday night.

Karoke Night

Typical Day of Work

At the begining of March our office moved to a new building. I liked the old office but it was very cramped and the new office is a better facilty long term for the company. I miss eating at the All Seasons Complex because there was such a variety of places to eat. You could always find something different to eat. The new office building is a limited on close places to eat within the building. Yet, there are still plenty of places to go outside the building. With the new office they have a company to cater food for 40 baht. The choices are limited, but it is good that it is so cheap. Close by the office is the Queens Sirkit Park and the Emporium Mall, which I will write about in the future. My typical day:

It starts at 6:30 am with me hearing the sound of beeping from my alarm clock, which is still my cell phone right now. Another thing to buy on my list. I admit that I hit snooze a couple times and then get up to get ready. I do the usual showering,ironing,etc and pack up my back pack with my laptop or whatever I will need for the day. I head out the door and out to the street where the security usually greets me with a salute and it still feels a bit akward. It's about a 10 mintue walk up to the BTS station. As I'm walking, I pass many people bustling to get to work and many street vendors serving all types of meat on stick, soup, rice, and sandwiches. I haven't built up the courage to try the street food yet. I get to the BTS and walk up the many stairs and the light sweat that I have going tends to pick up a bit. I hop on the Skytrain that is sometimes very empty or very busy, but it gives some relief with the air conditioning. The office is 4 stops away, which I sometimes pass by listening to my Zune. I get off usually with a large number of people and we hurriedly walk toward the exit of the BTS. When I wear my glasses, they fog up from leaving the train and going into the heat. It is just an odd observation. As I exit the BTS, there is a stand that serves baked muffins and pastries. I usually pick something up and then get some chocolate milk from 7 eleven. It is another 10 minute walk to the office. I usually get into the office around 8 to 8:30 and I try to dry myself off from the daily commute. In the month of April I may consider taking a cab.

The day in the office varies depending on what's going on for the day. My time is spent divided between prepartion for the training of the day and then any other things that need to be addressed. Usually I have different forms that need to be filled out, time entry issues, or whatever comes up for the day. Around lunchtime, I grab something to eat at 12 either at the lunch area or sometimes Subway. After lunch, we have training the rest of the day 'till about 5pm. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we go straight from training to Thai class from 5 to 6:30pm. So usually I get out of the office around anywhere from 5:30 to 7:00 pm. I head out of the office and back towards my apartment. At night the heat is not as bad and usually it's pretty nice. I stop and get dinner somewhere and by the time I get back to my place it is kind of late. A couple of times a week I try to work out or run. Other than that, I normally run some errands, check the internet, or catch a movie. The end of the night comes and I get ready for the next day. That is my typical work day in Bangkok. It is different from my old one, but I enjoy the change.

New Office

Housing in the Big City

Well, it has been a while since my last post, but it wasn't because there was nothing to write about. I haven't made the time to keep up with everything that has been going on. One of the major time consuming parts of the last month was searching for a place to live. Then, once I found a place it took a lot of time and some frustration getting the place set up.

In my search for a place to stay, there were many nice places to choose from and I have pictures to help me remember them all. At first, my decision was based only on how nice the actual apartment was, but as the searching went on, the location and facilities became a larger factor. My decision came down to the Embassy Place and my apartment. I ended up in my place and in a different apartment than I originally planned. The Embassy Place is where Jeremy choose to stay and it is a very nice place with a great location. I will post some pics from there, but I am sure he has posted additional photos as well. As for choosing my apartment it came down to having a good work out facility that most places were lacking, a closer location to the park, and the open style of the apartments.

Embassy Place

I had actually seen the perfect apartment for me at the condo complex on a Friday. I decided to think about it and let my realtor know on Monday. On Monday, I decided I wanted the place and started the wheels in motion. I went to go see it again and the realtor was working out some of the details about getting the deposit to them. As I am leaving the condo my realtor received a call back and stated that the seller's husband had already accepted a deposit that morning and she didn't know about it. They apologized but I was pretty disappointed about not getting that place. I will include some pics of that place as well. So the realtor said that there were a couple of other places in the same building I could look at. She showed me one with the same physical structure only a little different setup. The place isn't as nice as the original and would not be my usual pick, but I still liked the layout and the apartment facilities. The place needed some furnishings, but I got an agreement with the owner to purchase some furniture for the place and so I decided to go with it. I am glad that I went with the apartment for a number of reasons, but there have been some headaches.

First Apartment


So I have the place and now it is time to get it setup and have it furnished. Well, I went shopping with Puvanai and we went to go pick out furniture. I realized that I am not a decorator and that is why a fully furnished apartment would be a wise choice. Either way, most of the headaches came with the delivery of the furniture or should I say delayed and incomplete delivery of furniture. The shipments were delayed, not complete, and in one case incorrect. Also, a lot of the utilities have been a problem as they had an issue and were not working correctly. The hot water wasn't working and my air con unit ended up leaking through the ceiling. The setup of the cable and Internet also had some hiccups. I can say that I have been less than satisfied with the owner to this point, but I think he is the exception rather than the rule. A majority of the issue is when something isn't quite right I couldn't just call someone and tell them what needed to be done. It is hard to fix an issue when they can't understand you and you can't understand them.Anyway, I don't want to seem like the whole experience was a negative because I am happy with my place. It is starting to feel more comfortable, but not quite like a home yet.

My Apartment