May I Suggest

Just some words I'm finding a lot of connection to lately.

"May I suggest

May I suggest to you
May I suggest this is the best part of of your life

May I suggest
this time is blessed for you
this time is blessed and shining almost blinding bright
just turn your head
and you’ll begin to see
the thousand reasons that were just beyond your sight

the reasons why
why I suggest to you
why I suggest this is the best part of your life

there is a world
that’s been addressed to you
addressed to you, intended only for your eyes
a secret world
a treasure chest to you
of private scenes and brilliant dreams that mesmerize

a tender lover’s smile
a tiny baby’s hands
the million stars that fill the turning sky at night

Oh I suggest
Yes I suggest to you
Yes I suggest this is the best part of your life

There is a hope
that’s been expressed in you
the hope of seven generations, maybe more
this is the fate
that they invest in you
it’s that you’ll do one better that was done before

inside you know
inside you understand
inside you know what’s yours to finally set right

and i suggest
and i suggest to you
and i suggest this is the best part of your life

this is a song
comes from the west to you
comes from the west, comes from the slowly setting sun
this is a song
with a request of you
to see how very short the endless days will run
and when they’re gone
and when the dark descends
we’d give anything for one more hour of life

may i suggest
this is best part of your life"

Blessed In This Life, Adventure seven, Railay Beach

Railay Beach is an adult playground. This place is where the Thai rastas and the climbing fanatics meet in one beautiful beach town. Put simply, this has been my favorite destination in Asia thus far (maybe even my favorite vacation ever).
Shelly and Carissa and I left Thursday night. Per usual, transportation took a long time and with many different types of vehicles. First was an overnight bus to Surat Thani, then a public bus to Krabi, then a tuktuk to the beach, then a boat to Railay. The first step once we got there was to find an affordable place to stay, so we found refuge at Rappala Rockwood and booked three nights in a cute little bungalow fit with three mattresses on the floor, an outdoor-ish bathroom, and a hammock on the balcony.
Friday consisted of hiking to the beach, meeting nice people, eating dinner, and seeing a fire show. On Saturday we climbed up a bluff that overlooked the ocean with our climbing instructor named Tom. Although he got a little rushed at the end, he was an excellent facilitator. Sunday we ocean kayaked. Not something I've ever done before, like ever. But we got a three person kayak and spent an hour and a half rowing our way to an island to snorkel. That is an hour and a half one way. Once on Poda Island, we snorkeled and got in a fight with a monkey for our bag; he got super territorial. On Monday Carissa and I deep water soloed. Deep water soloing, for those of you, like me, who had never heard of it before, is an activity consisting of climbing up cliffs that drop off into the water. You get on a boat, swim to a ladder, climb up the ladder, climb up the cliff, and then jump into beautiful blue-teal ocean (sans ropes).
Each day I was in Railay, I did something I had never done before. I pushed my mind and my body beyond what I thought possible. I'm tired and happy.

Cambodia, adventure five

This post is has been a long time coming, but I finally have time to reflect. Here it goes.
Almost spur of the moment, I decided to head to Cambodia (Siam Reap, to be exact) with a different group people than I normall travel with. The idea sounded super exciting because I was going to be able to travel with a new possy, and as I had recently learned, traveling with people really does bring a group together.
We left Wednesday afternoon and headed via minibus from Mochit to Aranya Phratet (a 3 hour journey), the last city in Thailand before you can enter Cambodia. Weary of the fake border scams, we took to the street headed for the real border which from far away looked like a large temple. Stop one was leaving Thailand, stop two was getting the Cambodian visa, stop three was entering Cambodia, stop four was getting into another minivan to take us to Siam Reap (another 4 hours from the border). We had a "guide" of sorts wearing a Cal hat take us through to make sure we made it into Cambodia safely, and then once we did, he tried to get us into a "free bus," which was another scam that we read about ahead of time. Once we got to Siam Reap and finally made it to Dynyka, we put our bags down and went immediately to Pub Street (Siam Reap's version of Khao San Rd) to get dinner. Shortly thereafter we went back to the hostel and passed out, 7 people in one room sharing 3 beds.
Thursday we went to Preah Vihear Temple, a temple that borders Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand to learn a little about the conflict between Cambodia and Thailand and to view of first of 5 major temples that weekend. We left early-ish in the morning, and after 3 hours in a mini-van, arrived at the base of the mountain. We quickly learned that we were going to be split into 3 pick-up trucks from there in order to head to the top of the mountain to view the temple ruins.
The next day we woke up at a whopping 4am to leave Dynyka to head to Angkor. We split again into three tuk tuks and drove with our guide to the most popular temple in Cambodia. Watching the sun rise behind Angkor was incredible, to say the least. At first, it was pitch black. Slowly but surely as the sun rose I could start to make out the outline of the temple, then the lotus flowers on the pond, and then finally the carvings in the temple. Although I was super cranky early in the morning, seeing the magic that the sun was able to do on Angkor was well worth it.
After touring Angkor we headed to 3 more temples that day-my favorite being the tree temple where tomb raider was filmed. The way the trees grew out of the stone was also so magical, the way life can blossom from nothing.
The next day after half the group departed, the remaining half spent the day waking up late (such a blessing), eating, and riding bikes to a beautiful lake. I biked like 15 miles!! WHAT? (Also I ate two bacon cheeseburgers).
The last part of the journey was getting home, and after the many hours from Siam Reap to the capital and spending 3 getting through the border and another 3 in the minivan (we sat in the way back, no leg room), we finally hit Bangkok.
What a long trip.
Things that surprised me: Cambodia is more expensive than Thailand, the Cambodians on the street were less friendly than the Thais were, Cambodians use American dollars as currency and rial (their own currency) as cents.

A Normal Day in the Life...

So here goes the post about a normal day in the life living as nak suk saa in Bangkok:
Wake up about an hour before class. Get dressed, usually in shorts and a t-shirt unless the weather dips into the high 80s. Pack my backpack, go downstairs. Get breakfast, usually khaaw phat kay (friend rice with chicken and veggies) or friend dough balls or fruit. Visit coffee lady and get americano yen, waan nit noy (iced americano, slightly sweetened). Walk and ferry or motorcycle taxi to campus. If I have two classes that day, I will be on campus from 9-4, if I only have one I will be on campus from 9-12 or 1-4. Head home. Hang out with friends. Get dinner with friends. Maybe study. Maybe read. Maybe watch tv. Maybe go shopping. Sleep time.

I know it doesn't sound super exciting, but laughing with friends and making plans and spending time with like-minded people is quite an amazing experience.

Kanchanaburi, adventure four

So it has occurred to me that I only really post about adventures, so expect something soon about a normal day in the life living as a Nak Suk Saa Thammasat (university student at Thammasat). However, this one could not wait. Kanchanaburi has been my favorite adventure thus far.
First things first: we got on a bus at a different bus terminal this time called Sai Tai Mai. The ride was about three hours, and once we got to the station in Kanchanaburi, we met our new best friend, the taxi driver. He said that for 15B each he would take us to the street with the hostels and wait for us to make sure they had a room available, and then drive us to the next destination just in case we needed to check out a new place. He was a life saver. And, it turned out that the first hostel we tried was all booked, so we used his services to take us to Blue Star Guesthouse.
Blue Star was beautiful. Bungalows right on the river. The shrubs and trees and water plants made the place look like something out of a movie. The staff was super friendly and I shared a room with Huong and Shelly. The first night consisted of seeing a spooky lit up bridge and going to a local bar.
Erawan Waterfalls is also something I cannot easily put into words. We went to Erawan on day two, and after a two hour bus ride from Kanchanaburi, we made it to paradise. Erawan consists of a seven-tiered waterfall and a hike that leads you all the way up. Each waterfall was more unique and beautiful than the one that came before it, and the higher up we got, the less people there were (the hike got a little too strenuous for the tourists of the larger variety, of which there seemed to be quite a lot). We swam, we slid, we hiked, we took pictures, we reveled in the beauty. We also stayed past the last bus, which led to our use of our taxi driver friend again who drove 65km away from Kanchanaburi to Erawan to come get us.
Sunday we went to two temples as per a recommendation from Shelly and the same taxi man. The first, Wat Ban Tham, is a cave temple. Not really any other way to say it. You hike through a dragon's mouth into the first cave and then you hike up a long distance to a lookout point, and then even farther to the next cave. It was one of the most spectacular and interesting things I have ever done or seen. Real live bats in a real live cave with real live dripping stalactites. We then went to Wat Tham Sua, a temple nearby because the taxi man said it was "suay maak" (very beautiful). Just like Shakira's hips, he did not lie. It was stunning. There was a huge Buddha statue and beautiful architecture that looked similar to Wat Phra Khaeo (the Grand Palace).
After leaving Wat Tham Sua, we headed back to Blue Star to collect our belongings and then headed to the bus station. Even though the bus on the way back took a lot longer than expected, we made it home safe and sound.


This weekend, I fell in love with Thailand.

Thursday, I plan to fall in love with Cambodia at Angkor Wat.

Thai Cuisine, taste test

Yesterday in Thai Cuisine, we finally got to eat! Instead of learning the theory behind food (don't get me wrong, theory is extremely important, just not exactly what I signed up for), we got to taste! We ate three different kinds of basil, a flaky coconut sugar, tamarind, and some more that I seem to be forgetting.
But, the taste that left its mark on me spiciness; and of course this came from biting into raw chili peppers. Raw. Chili. Peppers. The big green one tasted like a bell pepper, no spice. However, the smaller the pepper the more spice it has jam packed into its seeds. I was a little weary at first about biting into the third and fourth ones (the really small red one and the small greenish one), but after some Thai girls bought me some milk and Carissa peer pressured me, I finally gave in.
It. Was. Spicy. Wow. Phrik Maak (very spicy).
Wish I had the sour patch that Anya and Sarah Beth got me just for this purpose, but alas, I had to make do with the sour tamarind and the milk.

I did it. 

Koh Chang, adventure three

So far, I have spent four weekends in Bangkok, which means that my semester here is about a quarter of the way through. WOW! Time flies when you can't stop eating! Anyway, after the first weekend we spent in Bangkok (weekend three) we decided to go away for weekend four to Koh Chang. In Thai, "chang" means elephant, and the island was named "elephant island" because of it's shape, but alas, I did not have the privilege of having an elephant allow me to sit on it while it strolled through the river. Instead, the highlight of the weekend was a boat tour of five other island in the surrounding area. This was the complete package: cruise, snorkeling, swimming, kayaking, eating, and all for only 600 Baht! Although my typical sea-sickness did rear its ugly head on the first leg of the trip, I remained healthy the rest of the time and really really had a blast.
Even getting to Koh Chang was really fun! We ended up accidentally taking a VIP double-decker bus that gave us blankets and snacks and water, and even had an on-board flush toilet. Flush toilets are hard enough to come by when you are not on a mode of transportation, so this was a special treat.
Living and eating on Koh Chang was cheaper than on Koh Samet, but still not as cheap as Khao Yai. Carissa, Shelly, Lexi, and I split a room for 300 Baht a night and even though the food was more American-priced, it did not disappoint.

The sunsets were beautiful and spending two night away this time instead of just one was really worth it.

Moving into an Apartment

Even though I always knew that moving to Bangkok was going to be wildly different than living in Berkeley (to be frank, that's why I chose it), I never really took into account that I was going to be changing living styles. No longer are communal dinners scheduled at 7pm every evening or having to escape to my room to find solitude. One of the main reasons why I decided to move into Stebbins at the beginning of my sophomore year rather than an apartment is because I have yet to get along with alone time. Living in 3J is quite the opposite of living in a co-op. Plans to hang out or to share a meal with someone have the be scheduled (often time in advance) and the luxury of leaving my room to find all the friends has been pulled out like a rug from under my feet.
But, new challenges are exciting. I am going to read (for pleasure!!!). I am going to watch movies that I've always wanted to watch. I'm going to do Muy Thai (Thai kickboxing). I am going to write. I am going to do things by myself. WOAH.

Buckle up Aaron, it's time to discover what living in an apartment feels like (and if you survive you can move back into Stebbins).

Neighbor

I'm only next door!

China Town

Mini Adventure: China Town and Little India

So tonight just exemplified the sentiment I have been writing about and experiencing for the short time that I have been here: the universe wants us to experience Thailand to its fullest. I know it sounds cheesy, but it's true. We always travel with the right number of people for either the mode of transportation or the number of seats at a restaurant, and always manage to find little havens of culture and happiness that make the experience that much more amazing.
We decided to go to dinner tonight in China town and found a street that the Lonely Planet book recommended. We ate fried noodles with seafood that came on a steaming hot plate, and it was so delicious and so filling. Definitely got my 70 Baht worth (less than 3 dollars). We then decided to walk to Little India to get dessert, and made a pitstop at a 360 degree revolving restaurant at the top of a hotel, not to eat or drink, just to check it out. We finally made it to our destination, a small dessert shop that Lonely Planet also raved about, but alas, it was closed.
However, on our walk back, we found what looked like a lit up restaurant, walked in, and soon realized it was a Sikh temple. Instead of ushering us out because half of us were improperly dressed, we  were asked if we wanted to go upstairs. Without hesitation we agreed, took off our shoes, put on head coverings, and headed up gender-separate staircases to the fourth floor. Upon arrival, we were immediately given just what we had came for: Indian dessert. As it turns out, we decided to explore Little India during the celebration of the birthday of the 10th Sikh Guru, and this time of the year, the Sikh people read their holy book from beginning to end without stopping, normally a 64 hour process. At the temple throughout the entirety of the reading, different people tag in and out in order to not interrupt the reading and food and chai tea are constantly being served. A lovely woman who taught music at the temple talked to us and explained to us that we are always welcome in their space. Not only were we welcome to observe, but we got basically another free meal on top of the meal we had already paid for in China town only a 15 minute walk away.
I had never been treated so kindly by strangers.
The night ended in a tuk tuk ride back to 3J, 6 people in one tuk tuk.
What a night.

Koh Samet, adventure two

All I knew about Koh Samet before we embarked on this overnight adventure is that Koh Samet is an island because the word "koh" in Thai means "island." With a backpack full of the essentials, we hopped into a taxi, then into a minibus, then onto a boat ferry, and then after about 6 hours reached our destination: a beautiful beach resort island with warm blue water and sugary powdered sand. There were 12 of us this time, the California kids and a few international students, and we ended up finding a slightly overprices bungalow with enough sleeping space for all of us, complete with 3 king beds and 4 twin beds. We spent the first afternoon and evening on the beach, eating lunch at a restaurant on the sand, taking naps, and taking dips in the ocean. Once it got dark the island transformed into a completely different place: the restaurants turned into clubs, the lights were lit, and we stumbled across a lantern-lighting ceremony that may have been for a birthday celebration, but the language barrier was hard to penetrate. We took a walk away from the beach for dinner because the farther you are from the ocean, the cheaper things become. At the restaurant we met a very nice Thai man, our waiter, named Audi. He spoke with us in English and helped us with our Thai, and invited us to go clubbing with him later that evening.
To continue on the trend of things working out just perfectly by chance, we ended up at the club he recommended after spending about an hour at a smaller more relaxed bar. Once we met Audi at Naga (the club he recommended to us), we danced, got our faces painted in neon, and had a really really really good time. After we all had our fair share of moving around on the dance floor, we ended the night in a communal skinny dip.
Day two was slightly more frustrating because the 12 of us split into different groups, and even though I had a good time with Alexis, we both felt like we were being viewed more and more as as opportunity to get ripped off, probably because we were young and white and on a beach resort island. The locals, besides Audi, didn't really want to hang out with us and it seemed as though everywhere we went, things were overpriced or we were given attitude. It definitely detracted from the overall experience, however I would say it was a successful vacation overall.

Classes, in a nutshell

Thammasat University is divided into about 5 different colleges, and mine is PBIC, the international school. In that school, I am in the Thai Studies department, and each of the Thai studies classes consists of a single 3 hour lecture once a week aside from Thai language which is twice a week. Seems like a blessing from the outside, less time shlepping to and from campus, more free time, etc. But in this heat (and apparently it is not even that hot yet) I just do not have the attention span to focus for that long. Today was my second day of class, with lecture from 9-12 and 1-4, and even though each professor gives us about a 20 minute break in the middle, I still find my energy level fading towards the end. My favorite class thus far is Beginning Thai, with Thai Media and Society taking a close second, and I have high hopes for Islam in Thailand. Both professors allow their personality to show through in their teaching and learning Thai language has proven to be extremely interesting. I'm gonna haveta train my ear to hear five different tones and train my speech organs to make sounds they have never made before. Hopefully by the end I won't sound like such a falang (white tourist).

"I'm just gonna let something brand new happen to me" Khao Yai, adventure one

On Friday at the orientation, some of the California kids and I decided to go on our first weekend adventure to Khao Yai, the second largest yet most popular national park in Thailand. On Saturday morning, Carissa, Huong, Gabe, Shelly, Lexi and I all got in a taxi to the main bus station in Bangkok, and headed to Pak Chong, the bus station near Khao Yai. This was the first time I noticed that there must have been some force that wanted us to find our way to the park because we got to the station about 10 minutes before the bus left, and the next one would have been two hours later. At the bus station we tried to communicate with words, but since our words didn't work, we were forced to communicate without them, and did so more effectively than trying to use broken Thai or having the Thai people use broken English. Huong and I ran to get food before the best left and we ate probably the best bus station food I've ever even dreamed of considering bus station food in California usually consists of smushed sandwiches or chips. Here, we ate glass noodles with vegetables and chicken with a side dish of rice. We got onto the bus relieved to find it air conditioned and relatively empty. Per usual, I spent most of the bus ride looking out the window, listening to music, and talking to my new friends. Three hours later, we magically arrived at the intersection in which there was another smaller "bus" type vehicle with the words "Khao Yai" written on it, and the driver appeared to be waiting for us because as soon as we got on he drove off. This bus took us about another 45 minutes to the entrance to the park, but since it was already about 3pm we decided to wait until Sunday morning to enter so we could have a full day of adventure inside. In the mean time, we ate from local venders and Carissa helped us find a hostel to stay in for the night along the highway that leads to the entrance to the park. However, the catch was that the hostel was about 25 km from the entrance. Solution: hitchhike. We hitched rides in the backs of trucks until again, we reached a restaurant/hostel owned by the nicest people, all seemingly by magic. We got into our room (a very nice one with air conditioning), changed, and went to get drinks at a restaurant nearby. The evening took its course, and early the next morning we were back on the backs of trucks back towards the entrance of the park. Once inside, more hitching was in order so we could start our hike to the waterfalls. The jungles of Khao Yai were majestic, and the waterfalls were even more so. We hiked, swam, ate, and explored, and once we had our fill, we hitched back to the bus station at Pak Chong to make our way back to Bangkok. Luckily for us, we had Thanet and a little luck on our side, and as soon as we made it to the bus station in Pak Chong, we ran onto the correct bus and 3 hours later woke up in Bangkok.
All in all, this was one of the most fun adventures I've ever had because I was able to let my friends and  my trust in my experience guide me to all the right places. Special thanks to the planners and Thanet for making sure we got where we needed to go safe and sound.
For all the pictures, find my album on facebook. For the non-facebook users, here is the first waterfall we saw called Haew Suwat.

Language

On January 4th, we had an orientation at Thammasat about the university and Thai customs, and Ajarn Edward gave us a little lecture on Thai language and how it relates to Thai mentality. Ajarn, to start, is a title for professor or teacher and can be used in place of a name. Ajarn Edward has been in Thailand for 20 years but he hails from NYC, and he has a firecracker of a personality. The two most important lessons of the day were jai yen and mai pen rai. Jai yen translates to cool heart, and sort of matches the "go with the flow" attitude of most Thais. It symbolizes the idea that in the end, everything is going to end up ok. Mai pen rai translates to "no problem" or "it's ok." This has been my favorite lesson thus far because it contradicts the Western idea that we all have a right to get mad when something doesn't go our way. Instead, in Thailand, everyone has a right to control their negative emotions for the purpose of social harmony in order to reduce confrontation. Mai pen rai comes from the Buddhist notion that attachment to physical things can bring about conflict, so releasing such attachments helps bring about inner peace.

Quick Pics

So I have been generally lax about taking pictures, and that is bound to change. But for now, here are three of the most important ones: Bangkok from the sky, the bridge on my walk from my apartment to campus, and the best chicken (street food style) I have literally ever eaten. 

BKK, the early daze

So I arrived in Bangkok on January 3rd and my first stop was my new apartment building, 3J. I signed a billion papers and my first lease ever as an apartment tenant (Toto's not in the co-ops anymore)!!! My walk to school crosses over a huge bridge and an even huger river, about 15 minutes. The sights and smells here are unlike anything I've ever experienced. Street food venders are everywhere and one of the largest outdoor markets in Bangkok is basically on campus. Dividing all the prices by 30 is a weird conversion to do in my head, but very comforting to know that a huge place of food cost me 25BHT, less than one USD.
The rest of the EAP kids and I have gotten pretty close, which is very comforting because they have given me a small community here and a sense of belonging in a place that is so far away and different from everything else that I know. This coming weekend, some of us are planning a trip to Khao Yai, a national park 2 and a half hours away from Bangkok for some backpacking, hiking, animal observing, and water sporting; should prove to be interesting to say the least. The jetlag is starting to wear off and even though I've only been here for about 24 hours, I've started to get my bearings. Pictures will come soon once I figure out the internet situation at 3J. TaTa for now!

TPE

So I made it safe and sound to Taiwan after a really, really long flight. Turns out that 14 hours on a plane isn't so bad if your mom moved you to the emergency exit row and you have a bottle of ibuprofen pm in your backpack. I slept a lot, listened to music, did some thinking, and witnessed an interesting medical emergency (don't worry, the lady is fine now, I think it was just exasperated motion sickness although they never told us). The emotional roller coaster continues, leaving me with tears in my eyes accompanied by surges of adrenaline that when combined, have done all they can to make my body even more confused about this experience than my mind. Being in the Taipei airport is my first experience spending a night is Asia, and I have spent it "sleeping" on a couch in the terminal. Although not as exciting as I had hoped, the journey has only just begun.
And, even though they are not paying me, I would like to shout out to the geniuses who created whatsapp and viber (the apps) because they have made communication with family and friends so much easier than it would have been. Thanks y'all!
Over and out.