We're at Udom Xai today. Internet is expensive, but I decided that I should just blog about what happened in the last 2 days.

Today's a fairly rough ride. Yours truly gave up after walking 30kms... I biked at least the first 10kms tho! HAHAAHAH... But it was too much for me today. It rained the whole morning, we set off only at 11am when we couldn't wait very much longer.

I put myself onto a bus, since my objective for the trip is to see the world at a slower pace (not to accomplish it by human power). Minutes after, it poured! CATS, DOGS, PUPPIES AND KITTENS (that's what my cousin always says)

The locals were great, they put my bike up onto the top of their minivan! Amazing feat, I'd say. It would have been a good bus ride, but there was something that happened. The bus driver's boy happened to have Down's Syndrome. And the rest of the passengers were wrongly encouraging that boy with their laughter over the lewd actions he was doing. It made me realise that they might not actually have special schools here to help special children. And even if there are special schools, there's just no money to finance it. The boy went on to pretend smoke a cigarette butt he found on the bus and the locals continued to look entertained. It wasn't a good moment for me.

Found myself at Udom Xai soon enough, tired out sufficiently to just quickly book into the first hostel I found. It was actually the second. Well, it was just familiar grounds - A CHINESE RUN GUESTHOUSE! I tell you, being overseas chinese and able to speak the language is great! (PY, time to pick it up proper!) It got me a free dinner! How about that? HAHAHAH... Anyways, its the whole "Wo men dou shi zhong guo ren" thing at work (We are all Chinese). And somehows (even if it sounds wrong), I am glad my mother made me do all that Chinese in school! It worked out!

I'm trying hard to tutor Jason with Chinese, at least an hour a day over dinner, so that he can survive China, if I exit at Kunming. The expedition is good, but I don't want to hold him up longer than I should.

We're out of Luang Prabang tomorrow morning! Earliest you would hear from me again would be 2 days time... *cross fingers*

le wunderous sunsets of lao



boten - the lao-china border town... why is it still so far!!!



just look at how tired i am!



its so cold when it rains at the mountains that the kitty cats huddle near the little woodfires!



flying pox into the river at vang vieng! (no, that's not me)

En route to Luang Prabang, I hailed a local bus and hopped on. It was impossible for me to bike/trek with bike, with my crazy cough. It rained early this morning for a couple of hours and after walking/biking in the rain for nearly two hours, I decided to just call it a day. No more of that crazy bravado. My lungs refused to work and I knew how tired my body is already. Its working hard enough. I'm losing weight without meaning to do so.

Upon boarding the little bus and finding Jason more than 10km down the road, I was glad I did what I did. He was resting so faraway from where I hailed the bus. And it would probably mean that I am slowing things down significantly. From where he was, it was approximately another 80km to Luang Prabang and it was already nearly 1pm.

Soon after, I dozed off on the bus, shivering from the cold wind blowing from the storm that soon started again. I felt feverish and realised that it was a good call that I made. I think I'd probably even take a bus down to Udom Xai, our next big stop... Just so my lungs can have a chance to recover.

The terrain's not going to get any better and if I'm going to press on with my lungs in this state, I'd probably die of bronchitis or pneumonia. Bronchitis, because I've been coughing and blowing my nose for nearly a week, while still on the expedition. To put my body thru such physical stress, its as good as telling it to drop dead soon. Pneumonia, because of the flu and the rain.

Food had been less than desirable. We ate whatever we can find in towns and if we are lucky, we find noodles with eggs in it. Its become some sort of a staple diet. I reckon I'd die of high cholestrol anytime soon. Hahhaha...

It had been very trying. But I'm crossing my fingers that I can recover to get to Kunming at least. It would be an ending on my own terms (as usual, I like to do so). Like what Jason said “You can't possibly walk all the way to Kunming.”, to which I totally agree. (Actually I think I can, but I just need at least 6 months to cross such terrain.)

Muang Phu Khun - The dumping of my toiletries begin

Lucked out totally today. Didn't make it to Luang Prabang at all. For most of the 46km journey, I was pushing the bicycle. The mountains made it impossible for me to bike at all. Jason did a lot better tho, which is good for him.

I made an estimation that I've biked around 800km as of today! Its good to know that I've actually succeeded so much so far, despite the crazy urge to just put the bicycle onto the back of some bypassing truck. My mind had been through an entire war and I'm glad to know that at least I've given up the thoughts of packing up to go home early.

My backside is kind of sore right now and I can feel a bit of abrasion on my arse as well. As we biked from Kasi to Phou Khun, we ran low on water. Since Jason was a good distance ahead of me, I took water from the waterfall and dripped iodine to clean up the grubby water. Yes, I actually did so. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Especially since there was no little shops to buy anything from at all! We didn't even eat lunch. I had 2 Clif bars, with compliments from Jason and Clif Bars. I ate 1 initially since it was getting beyond lunch time and there was no hope of finding any food along the road. Towards 3pm, I was getting crazy hungry. I grabbed that extra bar of Clif Bar from my handle-bar bag... And there was this shimmering kind of look on that Clif Bar. And when I finally ate it, it felt oh-so-good! The sad news tho was that I am unfortunately running low on power-bars like these and looking at the rate that I'm eating and drinking at... Its not good news for me on expedition. Jason's like a camel of sorts – doesn't have to eat a lot, doesn't have to drink a lot. He's probably a camel in his last life! Hahaha...

The bad news out of things is that I'd have to start casting stuff away to lighten the bicycle. I'd be starting with the toiletries. Probably have to wash myself with more soap and chuck that bottle of powder :( Sadness. The nice roll of toilet paper would probably have to go soon. The anti-dandruff shampoo I brought from home especially will have to join the club. I might smell really bad soon if its going down that way. But to survive the rest of the trip without my backside tearing, there's just no 2 way around it.

Also, over dinner today, Jason and I had a discussion about how behind time the expedition is – 2 weeks at least. If we were cranking 100km a day, its all fine and dandy. But because that I'm a lot weaker on a bicycle than I realised, I would have to throw behind the bravado thoughts and put myself onto a truck soon just so the expedition gets to move on. Sometimes, it does take more to just give in.

So we are in this small town called Muang Phou Khun tonight. No internet or even mobile access. Its approximately 1500m above sea level, based on Google Earth and the calibration on my Suunto Vector. Going to be a chilly night. Even the locals have whipped out their fleece jackets. I took out my fleece pants and socks, just in case. Sleepy sleepy... Been so tired. Gonna hit the sacks now.

Kasi and the Shampoo Story

We arrived at Kasi around 2.30pm today after biking for about 5 hours. So its really a little trucker town with minimal facilities, but thankfully with a guesthouse. The ride to Kasi was rough as usual, made worse with a bout of heavy storm.

Before the storm hit, there was a barrage of questions in my head like “What am I here for?”, “What is my objective of being here?” and “Have my objectives been met?”. I realised that there is just no easy answer or way out of all these and gave up thinking too hard. There's always this question about “What is in it for me?” I found myself irritated and even somewhat disgusted by why I can actually think of such things when my initial objective is to get to Kunming and not Luang Prabang.

Of course, I had shortened my personal expectations on how far can I go. The distances that we cut day to day is rather inconsistent, because of the terrain. The hills are unyielding, the heat is relentless and there is just that really strong temptation to say “I give up. Time to put the bike onto a bus and go home/next stop.”

But when the storm hit, it awoke me a little. I recall telling my kids at work all about “The Shampoo Story”. Belinda was the first to share that story with me. Its about 2 different perspectives by kids when a rainstorm hit them. The first group was demoralised and depressed. All they wanted was to go home and they threw down their backpacks to cry. The second group threw down their backpacks too. They whipped out their shampoo bottles and started shampooing their hair in the rain. The moral of the story was simple. When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. When a storm hits, you wash your hair and enjoy it.
After thinking through this story, I guess I was a little less uptight about my diminishing abilities to spin. We might have spun only 64km today, but it was a good ride, considering the conditions surrounding us.

We are going to try spin our ways to Muang Phu Khun tomorrow. With some luck, we might even arrive at Luang Prabang.

Vang Vieng

Been taking it easy today. Sleeping, shooting photos, went tubing and tried to go visit the caves. The most exciting thing that happened was this weird Laotian man's proposition.

So there I was on my own to try visit the caves in Vang Vieng, pushing bicycle with sunnies on and sweating it out (since it was so hot), and this Lao man came up from behind with a bicycle as well. He seemed friendly initially, wanting to practise his English. Then it became w-e-i-r-d. In a span of less than 5 minutes, he tried to get my mobile number, give me his mobile number and invite me to his home. Yes, yes... I might actually seem cynical at this point, but here's the deal... I met this guy in less than 5 minutes and he's getting a little too friendly for comfort. I gave up trying to reach the caves, citing that the roads was too muddy (which it was) and I don't want to go anymore. Then he tried to get the name of the hostel that I am putting up as well. I pretended that I can't remember the name and snuck out of the situation.

Eeeks.

I mean most of the Laotians we have met so far are pretty friendly people. But this OVER-friendly guy was just a bit over the edge for me. And as a lone female traveler this afternoon, it just didn't seem that safe to hang out that wee-bit longer.

So anyway, we are on the road again tomorrow to a little trucker town called Kasi. Its not supposed to be a long ride, but looking at how the terrain is from Vientiane, I think I'd prefer to err on the safe side and just take it easy. I could be wrong of course, but well... Better safe than sorry.

Don't think I'd be getting much Internet till we arrive at Luang Prabang. So it would be in 3 days before you hear from me again.

Some nice sights I see along the road :)

Today's one of those days where there is a lot of climbing. Long and steep hills where I just cannot crank anymore out of it. I had a good mind to drop dead and take out my USD20 bill to wave for a bus to just pull up. My mind started working against me, since I was running on my reserve energy supply – aka body fats already and the water supply was low as well. I didn't buy bottled water at the last stopover. I can literally feel myself going from high morale to low morale, as my body slowly burned itself while I was crawling up the hills. I lost count of how many there were. And all I did was just roll from one hill to the next, huffing and puffing my way up.

Most Laotian children are very friendly. They'd shout “Sabaidy!”, which means hello in their language to foreigners who are actually traveling at a slow enough speed for them to do so. It was nice for a change to meet friendly little children (quite unlike work at times). But as my mood changed while I was crawling up the hills, I wished and prayed secretly that I won't actually have to respond to any of their hellos. It was only polite for me to greet them back anyway.

Well, at least here we are at Vang Vieng. Its a touristy area where lot of foreigners come around for some adventure stuff. There's trekking, caving, kayaking and tubing. I'm going to tube tomorrow! Been looking forward to it, cos I won't have to crank or even row :) * Beam! * Just sit on one of those giant truck wheels and spin down the river! YAHOO!!!

We had been struggling with the Laotian language previously. But thanks to my discovery that the pronunciation is actually similar to Hokkien, we now have a means of communications with the locals – beginning with asking for directions to even ordering food. Not that I'd have to use this skill tonight... Now that we are in tourist wonderland.

I'm wondering how long can my legs take it on the road at this point. The mountains are getting pretty frightful. I am just praying that my physical strength would grow and I would begin to enjoy it. Fitness is VERY important for anyone to enjoy journeys like this. I thought I actually have a slightly above average fitness... Now I know I'm probably an average. Well, lets see how things go by the time we arrive at Luang Prabang – the next big town.

The good news of today came from Discovery Travel and Living. I'm in their Round 2 for the travel journalist selections! Whoopee Doo! Jason's kindly agreed to help me make up some kind of a video blog. Now if only I can brainwave something out... Especially before the damn accident. Now ugly already :( Haiz. Suggestions? Email me at themountainelf@yahoo.com ! Much appreciated people!

Vientiane Day 2

Its a fairly quiet day, where the rain had been going close to non-stop for the whole day, since last night. Had a slow morning where we had breakfast till 11am at this really nice cafe that had the freshest garlic bread I ever ate. It was so just so fluffy! I tell you, if its the only thing that the French had done well, its probably with the cafe culture and all that breads, pastries and cakes. I had a nice bowl of tomato soup to start off as well.

Went back and took some time to plot out the next leg of the expedition thru Laos. The distance count right now is around 510km. But my guess is its really closer to 600km. Just imagine how much zig-zagging I would be on while trying to cycle thru the mountainousness regions of Laos. There is snow here one hoh. I had checked off on Google Earth and yes, it did freak me out a little.
Post-planning, I took time to go down to the Singapore Embassy to meet Kuan Yew. No, no... Not the Mr Lee that we know. Its one of the staff members there lah. Hahaha... He was nice and told me a good spot to get some decent Singapore food as well. Which is great cos I haven't actually realised this till today... That I've been away from home for 2 weeks already.

The home-sickness (or what I'd personally define as missing home to the kids who cry and whine all about it at work) hasn't quite set in. I don't really miss my parents at this point, just the friends and the company that I have around me constantly. Sometimes I think this whole “I-miss-home-and-family” thing doesn't quite apply since we stopped having the family dinners. Of course, it would be good to taste my aunts' home-made chinese dumplings and that ramen. I've not have had a lot of noodles since I left home. And I can't wait till I get to China – the land of la-mian noodles and dumplings.

Went to the 4th hospital of this trip in 2 weeks. Its just to get my rabies vaccination, 3rd dosage. The Australians run this ambassadorial service for their citizens and most of their white Commonwealth counterparts. I was a little disgruntled initially that they did not serve other Commonwealth countries, since I did take close to an hour to locate them. But the usual issue, about how they are funded after all by these countries and not mine (that I pay taxes for), emerged victory. I guess there's no 2 way around it and gave up my protest. Bought the vaccine from them nonetheless, because the other hospitals around these parts do not actually carry the exact vaccine I need.

Healthcare (here we go again) in Laos is a very simplified affair. There are people who do not actually get those saline bag stands. They get their family members to stand there with the saline bags. People take turns over things like this. Their family members probably surround them every moment because right outside the hospital, there is actually a whole market on its own just to make things easier for those who need food and stuff.

I must say tho, the nurse who injected me has got good technique. Even better than that doctor at te Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok.

An Aussie lady at the Aussie Clinic advised me the same things that Lonely Planet did. If you need proper healthcare, the nearest place is actually in Udon Thani, Thailand. The nearest SOS evacuation centre is all the way in Hanoi. It did scare me for a moment since I am crossing both my fingers and toes that I won't actually crash again. You know how you'd never know when such things happen what you need to do.

By the time I finished all these little tasks, I was chuffed out from the amount of walking I did. I took time off to the nearest massage parlour. Its pretty cheap, only USD3 for a full hour of massage with oil. I dunno if its cooking oil or proper massage oil. But hey, its cheap! Can't beat that now, can I?

Ello Laos!

We crossed the Thai-Lao border pretty early on, at about 11am after 4 hours of peddling. We really arrived in our hostel in Laos only at 1pm, because it was hot and we weren't sure where we were going to try put up the night at. Anyhows, trust Jason to take a good pick. We are located at this hostel called Thawee Hostel. Clean and nice little rooms. Doesn't smell funky, has some character and most importantly has got sitting toilets. HAHA.

First impressions of Laos – DUSTY. Its kind of a regional feeling actually. Having been to Vietnam and Thailand prior to this, I just felt like these whole part of the world is really dusty. As I cycled from the border into Vientiane, my whole face was caked with dust and the white bandanna I had turned brown the moment I swotted my face with it.

Most of the roads here are undergoing works. And imagine my surprise when I found this relatively clean street, dust-free and all... Then I realised why it is so. Its along the stretch of Asian Development Bank and the other she-bang NGO organisations. No wonder it looked more orderly than usual and even dust free! Which goes to make me wonder all about where aid money goes to at times.

Still, the country seems very much intact despite its communist rule. Its English is surprisingly good and better than what I've seen at most places and the streets are somewhat more orderly. There is a good amount of Chinese influence over things here, no doubt thanks to their common political background and of course the trading around these parts.

In a rather short span of a couple of hours, I think I'm beginning to like Laos actually. There's a healthy amount of “old world charm”, kind of like Thailand in the 1990s when it was about to take off; and there is also a good amount of Westernisation for now – good cafe, wine and food culture going around. Its quite a hotspot with backpackers, ala Khao San Road of Bangkok in the 90s. Well, you should really come see it before it turns all modern like Bangkok!

Anyways, there is apparently a good amount of eco-tourism around. They've got lots of unspoilt sceneries and outdoor sports would do well here. There's rockclimbing, kayaking, river rafting and trekking. Prices aren't too bad if you've got friends with you as well. I did think about going kayaking tomorrow since its only USD 22 (around SGD35) for a day paddle around some rivers up north. The only thing is that there's not been a lot of rain, so the level of challenge just isn't there. I've done some level 1 and 2 whitewater rafting in Brunei, and it wasn't that fun. (This is despite the fact that my row is only 70% successful). I'm still trying to decide if its worth the price. Works out to be around $8.75 per hour (excluding transportation time). Well, at least it would be something different from cycling, despite the fact that I really don't like kayaking.

So the food around here... Checked it out. I've stopped being too fussy an eater and just eat whatever that comes served onto my plate. Just as long as its nothing exotic and its not made up of some animal's innards. Like I have mentioned earlier, its got a good cafe culture, thanks to all that foreign investments made into this place. A good sandwich would set you back around 16,000kip (SGD 2.66). Well, its not too costly for something decent to eat. A NORMAL sandwich costs around 7,000kip (SGD1.16), but you probably won't know what the heck you are eating (the bagette is pretty hard somehow).

Picked up a new skill from Jason today – how to wash a bicycle chain with petrol. It works wonders, I'd say. Goodbye to chain degreasers that are way too costly. I'm going to siphon petrol from my friends' cars! HAHA.

We're gonna stay put here for a couple of days to wait for packages to be dropped. So you'd be hearing from me for a bit :)

Udon Thani (cannot eat kind of Udon... sad)

Today marks another ground-breaking day where I broke one of those personal bests! I have rode for 127.79km! Wow! As usual, there are lots and lots of back-breaking hills. I was surprised that I rode without much complaints this long for today. The ride didn't take that long either, somewhere like 7 hours? We did start off very early, tho with ample breaks between.

I did suffer from headaches, as if my head is pressured by some internal force. I am still wearing my helmet and sticking to my guns about wearing it. I'm not sure what's the exact reason for my headache yet, but I figure its not going to kill me yet and I'd be observing how things go... If it disappears in a couple of days, at least I'm sure its not a horrible concussion from the crash.

Riding this long a distance, I had imagined some nice fancy snazzy hostel to be at Udon Thani. Well, we could have had it, if not for the fact that it didn't have a sitting toilet! Its boiled down to this fact that I need sitting toilets till my knees completely heals up. Its just horrible to try bend your knees as you try to pee-wee.

Udon Thani isn't exactly a very fantastic town. It looks incredibly 60s and yes, it smells kind of like 60s too. However, the town's economy is in very good shape. The shops carry virtually everything... Even Twinnings English Breakfast tea-bags that Jason can't do without. Now I know that the whole tea thing for English is not just a stereotype... ITS FOR REAL! Hahaha... The one thing we couldn't find tho was a dri-fit material long sleeve shirt for him. Well, there was one, but it was a Manchester United soccer jersey. He's sticking to his guns that he rather get malaria than to try wear that. English are funny people. Or maybe... its just him! HAHAHAHAH...

Anyways, I am looking forward to arriving at Vientiane and hopefully finding a decent hostel. Jason and I have been staying in rather grotty places to date – hostels that “lack character”, reeks of odd smells, small-ish, “spartan” and blah blah. (Those in brackets are Jason's comments) We've been tightening both of our purse strings. Jason knows that its something usual for him, while I'm just trying to conserve funds to last longer now that I want to ride till Lhasa and take that very exciting train ride to Beijing :) But yeah, we are looking forward to decent accommodation at Vientiane! It shouldn't be too costly around there.

THIS POST IS DEDICATED TO PEIYUN (wa eh ai kong hokkien, but buei hiao kong hokkien eh peng yu), Dee Dee (wa eh hokkien way ah beng buddy) and mrbrown.com (that plovide that few minutes of familiar Singaporean accent online).

Pwah. Welcome to the age of the Internet man! I've been missing out so much about stuff at home that I've resorted to downloading episodes of Mr Brown's show. I've become a convert of his “Zhng My Car” programme. Missing the Singaporean Ah Beng accent. Want to “kong hokkien way, but kong liao hoh, wa eng ang mo peng yu buei hiao tia” (want to talk in hokkien, but say already, my English partner dunno how to listen). Sibeh sad.

I think when I come back hoh, got angmo accent already. Ok lah, not say don't have before I come. Now only become even more angmo only mah. Mai kia, wa boh jiak kantang eh. Jit dao boh kantang jiak eh... Bii jin zui, jiak ka sian liao. Kuah liao mah si sian.

( Don't worry, I don't eat potatoes one/speak only English. Down here no potatoes to eat one. Rice a lot, eat until bored already. See already also sian...)

Wa kia khe Laos hoh, ai jiak roti liao. Wa boh jiak roti eh. Wa eh peng yu Jason hoh, kua roti happy liao. Angmo lang jiu si ah ni kuang eh lah, simi mah si roti, kantang... Wa eh peng yu Stingray kong hoh, roti and kantang jiak liao zhin bui... Kua liao boh swee, jin pai kua... Wa mm zhai lah, wa boh jiak roti eh.


(I'm afraid that once we arrive in Laos, I'd have eat bread. I don't like to eat bread at all. Jason's going to be really happy, since its all part of his culture to do so. My friend Xinrui says that eating bread and potatoes ala Caucasian staples makes people fat, but I'm not sure since I don't actually like eating bread.)

Aiyah, jit dow jin sian. Simi mah boh. Ai kua movie hoh, cinema mm zhai si doh loh eh. Ai kua DVD, DVD mah si Thailand eh. Ai tiah lay-lio hoh, mah si mm zhai gong simi way eh lah. Aiyah. Jin sian.

(This is a boring town. There's not much around here. Want to catch a movie, but I dunno where is the cinema. Want to buy DVD to watch, but its all in Thai! Want to listen to radio, but I dunno what they are talking about. Ah, boring!)

Wa tiah Mr Brown show hoh, sibeh hot ah! Wu sponsor eh leh! Jin zai loh! Wa eh peng yu Jason hoh, website eh journal hoh, boh kau sponsor... Wu sponsor lah, mm si jin zhui. Wu lui hoh, sponsor a video lah... Mai kiam siap, Sing-ka-poh-leans wu lui eh... Mm si jin gwee eh lah. Ma si sha-jak-gor meh kim lui.

(I hear that Mr Brown show is very popular! So popular that he even has sponsors. Jason's journal sites would do a lot better if there is an increase of sponsorship. Its only USD 35 to sponsor a video!)

Solly if I seemed somewhat loh-soh. Just missed talking in hokkien way man. Hai. Sibeh sian ah!!! And judging by how bored I am, I actually had the time to think in hokkien and write even. I guess my literary skills is increasing by the day man. Haha. Not to worry, not much boring crap going to come out of me for some time. We're off to bike tomorrow!

To UDON THANI!

Jason has arrived at Khon Kaen today! Hurray! Someone who can actually understand what I'm talking about! (Since I only can speak that much Thai-lish to actually order my food, buy things and use the Internet)

It was good to catch up over dinner what's happened so far. I guess it is a good thing that we have each other to talk to... Lest we go bonkers trying hard to communicate with the locals separately. Its really important to find people to unload everyday as I realised. So this means that I'd have lesser blogging diarrhoea everyday.

We're expected to leave Khon Kaen only on Monday, because his bike's bottom bracket needs a bit of a look by the local mechanic. We aren't too sure how lucky we can get to find a decent bicycle shop that carries all the parts and still conduct a proper servicing along the road after this. I am trusting this shop because at least it does decent sports bicycle stuff... quite unlike the usual mom-and-pop kind of bicycle shop. Its ok to get some things from mom-and-pop, but decent servicing MUST be done die-die by some actual pros. (Or so I've chosen to believe after being a bike owner in the last 2 years)

ADVERTISING MOMENT: SCH AT TAMPINES (NEXT TO HOLY TRINITY) IS MY TRUSTED CHOICE! Best in the EAST of Singapore! And I do mean it. Especially since the guy, at this other bike shop which sold Scott bicycle stand, actually forgot to help me attach back my brake cable after doing the stand. Could have gone for a long spin around that neighbourhood. Choose your mechanic wisely people... Choose them wisely. My mechanic of choice: Winson of SCH!

Looking at how things are, we are probably going to arrive at Nong Khai (Thai borders) on Tuesday. The crossing to Laos should be done on Wednesday.

If only Mrs Kong – my home economics teacher from TKGS, can see what I'm doing now... That would be great. She'd be glad to know that “that girl who cannot use the sewing machine and makes it break down just by touching it” can sew very well by hand now.

I used to be a real poor seamstress back in high school. I was the clumsiest girl in class with the sewing machines and its true... I break the machines more often than get to use it. I can't even thread the bobbin at all. Turns out that's a blessing in disguise.

Cos I just had to repair a lot of torn items... There was my cycling tights and shirt from the accident. There was also my favourite OB long sleeve shirt with just too many holes near the pits... Oops. My little daypack had holes and the strap was torn (not from accident, from my abuse of it for the last 7 years).

Thank God for the moments back in school when I had no idea how to use the damn sewing machine and had to learn better technique by hand sewing everything. There was even this project for sewing a shirt of sorts, which I ended up doing by hand. This is when everyone else was either good at machine sewing or their moms/maids were doing their homework for them. Well, the shirt came out many sizes too small for me. But it was an achievement nonetheless.

So, cheers to that as my greatest achievement on 14th July!

Wah. Cannot believe it man. My travel funds of SGD3000 is nearly breached. After a week in Thailand I made some new calculations to realise that I've been busting my budget! That's not good news, even though most of the funds are actually from the gameshow winnings... Its a long road to go man. Haha.

Where did the money go....

1)Buy bicycle parts to make it for the trip – SGD500
2)Travel insurance – SGD 350
3)Vaccinations – SGD 370 (so far... still got 1 more rabies shot to take)
4)Flying to BKK and excess luggage – SGD180

Ok, only accounted for about half the money. The other half is just for expenses, which is a sum that's yet to be tapped. I've spent nearly 500 bucks in Thailand over the last 9 days. Most of it were wiped due to the bicycle add-ons that I bought at CannAsia and of course, from the DARN accident. Quite sad actually.

Well, the good news is... I've still got reserves from the car sale! HENG AH!!! If not sure die. Or in the worst case scenario, I'd have to find another gameshow to win more money! (Thai gameshows aren't exactly the most fantastic either...) And of course, I'm still on paid leave technically... Wahahah. Thank you, OBS! Woo hoo... (Sounds almost like the slogging out had paid off... NOT!)

I was just thinking how I can actually try to fund myself...

1)Sell postcards of trip. (ala Johann/Alex with their words of wisdom @ USD5)
2)Sell t-shirts? (ala every other SG expedition)
3)Sell my soul?
4)WIN GAMESHOW!!!

Wahahah... See the choice is obvious.

I just need another gameshow.

Ok, was just kidding. But anyways, think my face is still intact enough to try out for Discovery Travel and Living's 5TAKES? I wonder if I'd actually get called. Another 4 weeks to find out.

Jason calls the 2 of us media whores. Because its true!! He needs publicity to feed the expedition. I need the gameshow money to finance my trips most times (since university days anyways). If there's anymore gameshows hoh, can lemme know? :P

***ON A MORE SERIOUS NOTE, thanks for all that smses during the crash period. The scabs are coming off the face nicely... hopefully not too much scarring (its a bit too early to tell still). I will not be sending too many SMSes from now on, cos I just realised that its a very draining expense. Thank you again!

the face is significantly less swollen and i bought some vitamin e cream to help with the recovery of my face... and yes, nobody wants to marry me by now (even amos swears he doesn't)... the scabs from my face is coming off. the knee scrapes somehow refuse to dry up.

Anyways, I realised why healthcare isn't so wonderful around these parts. I found a pharmacy that carries modern bandages that we use back in Singapore. It had this small Opsite patch that comes with a non-stick gauze. Guess how much it is.... 25 baht, which is around 1.01SGD. Its too costly for them to even bandage people like this... So how on earth can they afford to up their healthcare standards?

The annoying thing is how there is actually an increase in medical tourism. There are now 3 good international hospitals running in Bangkok itself. Yet the people in the other parts out of the big city cannot access good medical healthcare. Its ok to help fight for survival, but its not ok when you realise that your new skin is stuck onto some gauze pad that is 10 days old! I do hope that these big hot-shot international hospital has a charity arm to help out these poorer states. The doctors in the poorer states are by no means worse doctors, but they are handicapped by their equipment.

Nearly a week ago when we were at the Human Development Foundation (run by Father Joe Maier and his team), Father Joe declared that he should have gone to march against the American trade agreement. If this trade agreement goes thru, it would mean that a lot of medications made by all that big US pharmacetical firms would go up in pricing. Its not good for a lot of the AIDs/HIV patients at all. They can't even afford it in the first place. The drug cocktails are paid for by the government and the government in turn passes it to the citizens thru tax. How on earth can it even dig its way out of this vicious cycle?

This is one of the reasons why I wanted to get involved into public health and learn how I might actually help to circumvent such events. Its all about political strategy. The poorest countries are those who need such medications the most, yet they are the ones who truly cannot afford it. They get deeper into debts, which would require writing off by who? The G8 and other big regional groups. But we don't have to go thru that... Only if there are people who are willing to create drugs at a lesser cost. Less inflation, less mark-up. Sell it to the people without a profit. It would take a lot of Warren Buffets to do so.

Many big corporations are already posting high profits year upon year. It seems like all they need to do is to be answerable to their stockholders. What about making the stockholders of their firms some charity group? Dividends that feed straight to the charities, funding them and financing them. Of course, it will need to be accounted for. But it sure beats having good charities go into the red and closing just because of funding. Or even for the simple fact to just allow more people who deserve to live.

Jason thinks that humans are parasites on earth. We DO take up a lot more resources than we need to at times. But here's the thing... Much as there are those criminal kinds who don't deserve to live, there are a lot more people who deserve the chance to live.

There is so much frivolity going around. There is even a Thai channel dedicated to just nothing but FASHION. If the profits from this channel is going to save some poor child's life, its good. It just sickens me to watch the rich socialites hob nob around on television with the fortunes that they can't finish in the next lifetime even. Do they even need to look so glitzy? I think something needs to be done to straighten these people's thoughts out.

anyways, that aside, thank you all for the concern. i found that having my laptop is good. cos i get to watch cars (the newest pixar flick) again and again... replaying the parts of luigi the italian car go crazy about the ferrari visiting his tyre store! its just hilarious... and also, i found time to figure out how to play spider solitare! i never had this much time to while away usually...

i just thought of blogging about this rather interesting topic while i'm into my 3rd hour of internet cafe-ing...

the entrepeneurial spirit in thais

i realised from nearly a week in thailand that these thai people really are have this business spirit going on. a simple pick up can be converted into a bus service, after adding a bit of a sunroof. if you have got shoulders, you can carry goods onto your shoulders to sell. if you have hands, you can actually cut some fruits and peddle it onto the streets.

i think i am very amazed by them.

there are still beggars and the odd con-artist. still, looking at how hard most of them work to earn their living, i guess i can't complain too much about them being lazy and all.

the only thing that makes me a little annoyed is just this cabbie who actually billed me 80 baht for driving me less than 400m to my Khon Kaen hostel. kaoz. that was nearly 4 bucks in singapore dollars... but.... as one of my gracious seniors from JC said "aiyah, its only a few dollars to us, but to them, it can mean the world... maybe you have saved someone from starvation without knowing leh?" well, can't beat that statement somehow right?

well, the internet cafe is pretty much flooded with lots of youngsters after school all playing some internet game. looks like its a pretty common language we have around these parts.

looking forward to meeting up with jason and continuing on the journey. the boredom is killing me!!!

i tried reading straits times interactive only to realise that they freakin' charge for it! so wounded up with channel news asia interactive, thanks to sharon's great suggestion.

so what's new from home?

teh tarik men who needs certification??? oh my god. so what's next? ISO for the teh tarik man? what about the fried kway tiao man? and the chicken lice stall? and soon, we'd see ISO boards all over the hawker centre stalls that are already plastered with all that "City Beat", "Makansutra" and blah blah sign boards... unbelievable stuff. like the magic formula of teh tarik can be captured just by a certificate... bleah.

and if that IR is going to charge freaking higher rents than orchard road... how on earth is there going to be any business there? have they even hired the local consultants like mr brown and miyagi or the likes to give them the insights on how KS and cheepo singaporeans can be??? hello... sounds like another sentosa, going to go down. (sounds quite like my last prediction over how crazy horse won't last till year end... and that one about how life science as a degree is probably the same bull**** as engineering... just look at how many engineers end up engineers... and how attractive the field is...)

ok, enough of nonsensical ranting. going to try see the world outside the internet cafe.

Now at Khon Kaen, dying of boredom slowly...

The good news is that its such a big town (4th in thailand) that it has a cheep cheep internet cafe that bills 15THB per hour. So I can afford to hang out here as long as I want to... and especially since my small little 250THB per night hostel room is less than desired with its thin mattress. Haiz. I'm getting spoilt!

Jason and I had been putting up at nice little hostels. There was this little homestay that sprung out of nowhere the night before Pak Chong. It was quaint, like a little house in the forest. Had a very good's night rest there, after being badly disturbed by some English boys who were watching World Cup finals.

I'm here alone at Khon Kaen. Found a nice little replacement for my bicycle computer and realised that CannAsia - be it in Thailand or Singapore, sure has got high prices.... You know what I mean...... Damn. But can't complain too much, cos they are a good source of information, home away from home and I won't have found the bike computer if not for Rasa from CannAsia Thailand's help. So yups.

Was having a bunch of thoughts running thru my head as I was on the bus to Khon Kaen.

Planes help you to travel around the world.
Ships help you cross the oceans.
Trains help you get across lands.
Buses help you get from point to point
But bicycles help you see the world slow enough... Cos otherwise everything else goes in a flash.

I won't advise walking around the world, cos its just too long to travel.

But yes... I'm still on this expedition and I will be continuing once my knees heal up a bit. Will try to put up photos soon...

I decided to end my self-imposed imprisonment at the hostel in Pak Chong, just to get out there and see people. Test the reactions as well to my ugly mug.

The swelling's gone down a fair bit. The scrapes are still ugly as before, and not drying up as quickly as I had hoped. Should have nicked that bottle of Anaflex powder from my bro's first aid pouch before I left. Didn't expect that I'd need it. I realised that I actually will need to top up my supplies, cos otherwise, I'd be eating up Jason's one soon. I'm hoping to find some decent supplies up at the next location – Khon Kaen.

I was supposed to take a bus up to Udon Thani, but it sounded all too boring with little to do around those parts. Hostels there not that fantastic for a bored patient either, so I figured I should move to Khon Kaen where there is supposed to be a hostel that comes with cable teevee... where I can rest my mug and hope it will get better soon.

From Khon Kaen, it should take us another 3 days to arrive at Vientiane. Jason's supposed to turn up in about 1-2 days time at Khon Kaen. Its 193km and he figured he can try to do a full day to arrive there. Oh dear... Hope he doesn't try to pull it off too hard. He would need crates of beer just to recover from it. Haha...

Anyways, I'm hoping that the hostel takes me in, cos otherwise... I'd have to foot a pretty large bill to some fancy-schmancy place that is willing to take me and this ugly mug (looks remotely nothing like my passport photo)...

And I begin to wonder if I can even pass the borders... Judging by how disfigured I am from the fall ... So different from passport photo. Haiz. Not even my nearest ID card. :( Sadded.

I've cheered up significantly. Got myself out of doldrums, cleaned up my messy spot of dirty pans and laundry... Wanted to sit in depression for a bit, but looking at how hard Jason was trying to put everything back on track again, I decided that I shouldn't be such a runt. (sounds a bit Brit-y there, eh?)

I'm still crossing my fingers that some of you people would fly in to Laos next week... With supplies of medical stuff (Melolin, Tedagerm, Bactigras and my favourite... Anaflex), dvds to watch (the dvd quality here no good!), chicken rice and ice lemon tea (its way too much sugar here!), Dilmah/Twinnings English Breakfast teabags (for Jason – English bloke who just can't do without their daily dose of tea), another 1.75 Panracer Tserve tyre would be good... Haha. Of course, its just a perk to have these stuff. I'm just carrying what I can. The weight's starting to lighten up, since... I'm using my shampoo and soap regularly? (Or at least I figure its lighter now)

I'm estimating the timeline like this for now.

Khon Kaen – Jason to arrive on 14 July
Udon Thani – 15 July
Nong Khai - 16 July (Thai border)
Vientiane – 17 July

Maybe we'd get in there only closer to 18 July.

Oh yes, I need help. Can anyone just help me ring up Tan Tock Seng Hospital's Travel Health Centre? I need advice on getting my rabies booster shot number 3. Turns out that my next shot is due on 24th July, but I'd be already in Laos (where medical facilities are less than brillant) by then. Please help me find out how early I can take the jab prior to 24th or how much later I can take the jab after 24th? Reply me by my email, cos I should be able to take emails at Khon Kaen. Thanks, nice people!

I was watching Cars for the 3rd time running in my little hostel room in this town called Pak Chong about 200km away from Bangkok. Watching Cars makes me think of things.

I had a phone call last night from PSA that I've been selected to be one of their Operations Executive. Which means that I would have to return by 29th September 2006... As I was watching Cars, I was thinking thru my head about what I've seen and learnt from Jason this far.

The hour, before I actually crashed my bike, was the most beautiful hour ever. The sun wasn't hot at all. There was so many little hills to see. There was an amazing white Buddha statue in the middle of a hill (probably 200m) above ground. I had so much fun spinning that I actually smiled and wanted to go on this for a long long time. I didn't mind how much difficulty I had to climb those hills anymore. I didn't care if I had to pedal thru this stuff for anymore hours. I just wanted to see it.

And that's precisely why I decided to join the expedition. Buses just rush past towns, you can't stop wherever you want to. Cars, you've got to park it somewhere before you can get into things. Bicycles, you can be a pedestrian or a vehicle anytime. Walking is a bit too long and kills your legs.

I've learnt a lot from conversations with Jason. He's got the same 2 eyes, 1 nose, mouth and 2 ears like all of us. What's so different is just the whole perspective in mind. His determination and belief in things are incredible. I had no idea what Steve wrote in the book, Pedalling to Hawaii, about Jason was actually this true. He mentioned about the loyalty that Jason has to his friends, holding true to his words and promises and never letting people down. Its REAL. The amount of care that Jason's shown to this 7-day long friend is equivalent to even what some of my friends of a longer time offers.

He's a gracious person who is a good team leader and player as well. When Steve left Expediton 360, Jason continued on his own – finding new reasons why he is in this and stands for it. He doesn't eat meat as much as possible because he doesn't see the point in killing animals, due to the environmental harm that farming animals cause and how he loves animals.

I started thinking about whether I would be happier staying on this expedition a bit longer than I should. I might not stop at Kunming, I might actually want to stick till we reach Mumbai. Even though I'd have to fly home for a week to get the bike repaired from Kunming and re-activate my travel insurance.

This is what life's about. Seeing things you never expected to see. Loving things you never expected to as well. I wish I could have some of you here with me and go through what I am, because I think you guys would actually love to go thru it.

I can't really check the Internet now, because I'm too shy to get out there with my ugly crashed mug onto the streets. So please don't send me any emails for now. If you'd like, dropping me a sms would be great.

I had some messages from Terence and Linda from MIR after Ernest told them about my crash. I am glad to receive their messages, because I love these people and they love me too. I miss some people from home pretty much badly and I wish you guys can be here to just experience what I've seen just over 2 days on the road.

Candy: I sure hope you can fly in here next week... But we'd be in Laos by then. If you can, drop me an sms about flying into Laos. Missing you and the JB4 (with honorary members like CKD and CCY) very much.

Usually I would celebrate the 12th of every month... Cos its pay day! But not today, cos of the accident.

Well, today's a lot better than yesterday. The swelling on my face has gone down a bit. The pus on my knees are drying. Everything besides my shoulder that probably rolled up a bit too much during the accident is pretty much ok.

I still don't dare to step out of my little hostel room, for fear of scaring people off. So the blogs are coming to you from Jason, who's made the effort to help me update stuff.

While the medical facilities here are rather basic and good enough to save lives, I realised how modern and even well-equipped Singapore hospitals are. The first aid that we give is already a notch higher than what they have to offer. We use all that snazzy Melolin, Bactigras, Tedagerm stuff to do bandaging, while they are still on regular gauze. Its all for the same purpose, but it made me think about how levels of healthcare around here can be improved. If only some rich schnick from some big pharmacetical company gave supplies and money like Warren Buffett did... I think a lot can be done to help these little hospitals to improve their healthcare standards.

I am looking forward to getting back onto the bicycle, because everything before the accident was great. I was starting to enjoy the sights and sounds, the cycling on the hills, the huge sense of freedom that riding always gives to me. The funny thing is that my bike's really a tank. Everytime somethings happen to me, it gets away with a lot lesser... The bike computer is down. One of the spokes busted. A tube ripped. One lens from my spectacles was shattered from it.

I guess I'm just glad I'm alive.

One of the funny things was that... I didn't get any of those near death kind of flashbacks. So I figured that I'd live. But I kept on crying. I actually felt how Candy must have felt after her nasty motorbicycle accident. When I thought about her and Kenny (from work) who dropped me a note after they got hold of my cards, I cried quietly at the hospital overwhelmed by the event that took place. Candy's a real strong girl, she got back onto her feet and became the greatest cheerleader that I know amongst everyone. She's the Cheer Bear (think Carebears) that we all need in our lives – optimistic, cheerful and bubbly.
There was a time when the kids at work were surprised that Candy is my bestest friend at work. “HAH? Candy and Melissa are like so different! Melissa is so strict and boring, but Candy is so bubbly and cute! How can they be bestest friends?” Haha. I guess being thru a lot matters.

Busted Up

11 July 2006

Yes, I'm busted. Quite literally. About 9am, 9km off Pak Chong (small small town about 80km from NKR), I was thrown off my bike. The hill was pretty steep and long. I wasn't careful enough and rolled down the hill too quickly. I kept trying to engage my brakes, the speed got worse and worse. I couldn't brake and got thrown off the bike.

I live to tell.

Now my face is all smashed and bruised from the fall. Thank God for the lesson that Kennieth from work once taught me... He insists on wearing his helmet every time that he bikes. I wore my helmet and its smashed on the right side now. It probably saved my life.

The rest of my body parts are pretty much ok, minus the majorly big scrapes on both my thighs and right elbow. Looks like I've beaten Chu'ai (from work) to the records of largest “bah kwa”.

It was pretty painful initially. I cried and cried in pain and shock. At least for an hour solid till they shot me with painkillers (probably morphine) in the hospital. I took some Ibuprofen and Panadol once I returned to the hostel that we are going to put up for a couple of days just to wait for me to recover. Serum's kind of pouring all over me now. Think its time for a cleanup.

Had a relatively short catnap. The body is trying to cough out all of the dirt in my body thru the serum and pus.

Well, for the record, I had 3 stitches on the left side of my face. A large piece of gravel got stuck between my helmet and my head. If not for the helmet, I would have died.

Jason's been great so far, taking very good care of this bashed and bruised team-mate. He's actually out trying to get my bike computer replaced. It was smashed along side with an inner tube that was ripped about 6 inches long. A can of my “celebrations only” Coca Cola was smashed as well and it splattered all over my handlebar bag.

I actually feel bad about holding up the expedition, especially when Jase has got a really tight timeline to meet. His visa is only till 21st July. Counted the days from now, its about just 10 more days. The longer that I get stuck, the worse the situation it can be. :( Sorry man.......

Heeled by Hills

We biked out of Ayutthaya on time today at around 5.45am, which is when its first light in Thailand. It wasn't too bad getting out of Ayutthaya and I swear that I was biking at around 25km/h after plugging onto my MP3 player. Music is every bit a source of motivation for me. But after a while, it just didn't quite work anymore.

The hills got hiller and hiller. Its like 30 degrees slope for about 300 to 400m. I climbed the first 2 hills with a couple of stops, cos it was just super hot (like 39 degrees celsius recorded on my Suunto Vector). By the 3rd hill, I just had to stop. There was a nice little dingy sidewalk food stall. We sat there and I had like 2 Fanta oranges, besides 1 full litre of water after. Jason had like 3 beers to go even! That's how hot it was out there. After sitting there for about half an hour, there was an excellent proposition to just eat there. Which was GOOD, cos the 2 ladies who run that joint really can cook a mean fried rice. Either that or I've actually gone beyond starvation stage 1.

The hills just got worse and worse. Think somewhere along the 5th hill, there was a petrol station where this nice cafe owners told us that there was a home-stay just 2 to 3kms down the road or another around 8km down. I thought that I can actually do the 8km one. But by the end of another km, I was so busted that I started walking with bike in hand. I just couldn't spin anymore, simply for the fact that I was already on the smallest of my gears and I can't bike in a straight line anymore. My bike computer recorded something like 7km/h. The hard shoulder on the highway was too narrow as well. So it was futile trying harder. I walked somewhere like a few more hundreds of metres where finally...

The homestay appeared. Man, am I glad to see it.

Today, we've done 96.75km. Location now: Muaklek (a small town 30km off Saraburi). Time taken: 5 hours 36 minutes.

Its going to be even more hilly tomorrow. Jason figures that my fitness would kick in soon. Maybe we'd get lucky to arrive at Nakhon Ratchasima (the next big town), which is some 103km with oodles of hills. So NKR or bust! (think my legs will bust first tho...)

i'd have to apologise for all that lines thats actually appearing on this blog. its because of a formatting error which my open-office software is on. well, its like this. i don't have microsoft word on this machine at all... so too bad. live with freeware. free things can't be all that good every time right?

Hurray! We've actually arrived at Ayutthaya at sometime near 3pm. It was... NOT 79km at all. (At least not with all that deviation off road I did, swerving from side to side thanks to traffic.) It was actually 81.6km. Here's the good news, we actually pedalled something like 4 hrs and 11 minutes.

We started off at 6am this morning. So what the heck did we do between 6am till 3pm?

There was me trying to gain balance over the bike with all that 26kg of pannier load on my bike.

There was me actually developing a headache from overheating. Something new really, since I thought I'm good working with heat and all... considering the Outward Bound background.

Fortunately, Jason's got a trick up his bag. Its called ice-creams at petrol kiosks. So thank you to Esso, Shell and the likes! After a 1 hour long break where I basically had lots of Fanta orange juice and ice-cream, I was stocked up and good to go again.

The heat was really getting to me. 37 degrees celsius. Little shade in sight. And there was relentless pushing by myself to get to the ancient city of Ayutthaya. (cos the earlier that we arrive... the longer the break. Or at least that's what I usually tell the kids to motivate them).

We had a pretty long lunch break at one of those petrol kiosks again. Sitting in air-conditioning actually makes you forget how warm it is actually out there. Same theory goes for sitting in a nicely heated place to forgetting how freakin' cold it is out there. In fact, I even forgot to pay for my meal! Hahaha... Yes, that's how bad the heat is.

While sitting at the petrol kiosk, Jason shared with me why he is actually vegetarian or opts to take as little meat as he can. One of the things he realised while on this 12 year long project was that it takes up a lot of earth's resources just to rear cows, pigs, chickens and the likes. You know how forests are cleared for grazing grass that cows eat? That's the kind of thing that he's talking about. He's not a tree-hugger fortunately. And I still eat meat freely. Tho I must say... This may be one of the few opportunities for me to go vegan for a while. Maybe I'd just try harder.

I was glad to arrive in Ayutthaya, tho the main town is a good distance away from the highway. So we have a nice spot to stay at... Tony's place. The room's are clean and actually pretty well decorated. Its only 400 baht a night! Can you beat that? And it doesn't smell as musty as the last rooms we had in Bangkok. That was crap. This is good.

Speaking about the highway, did I mention that the drivers here are a lot more pleasant than those in Singapore? Nobody actually tries to shove you off the kerb by coming really close. Nobody honks at you and thinks that their grandfather owns the road. That's how pleasant the drivers are. Tho there are the weirdos who honk for fun actually. I should have brought one of those funny vehicle signs and stuck it behind my bike. How about “HONK if you are HAPPY?”

So sitting in the air-conditioned hostel room now really makes me forget that I'm away from home and all. Food's good so far, even tho I tried eating grubs :P NEVER ever go buy phat thai from one of those roadside stalls. Yanting was right. You are better off getting phat thai at any cafes. You pay around THB70 (3 SGD) and you get actual seafood in your phat thai. As versus the 80 cents version, where you eat crap and you feel crap-ised after.

I'm hungry now. Time to go look for food.

Had a late start today from planning the route out. Turns out the journey may well end up 700km instead of that 616km listed on Lonely Planet. * gasp * And our first destination may not be Nakhon Ratchasima... Its the boring... dusty... city of Ayutthia. Yes, I've been there back in high school. I can almost remember what it was like back then. Miss Nyugen, with Mrs Yeo and that whole gin-gang of TKGS classmates, pretending to be interested in looking at countless monuments, wats (temples) and all that relics. We wounded up shopping at the nearest shopping mall we can find. Can't expect too much out of a bunch of girls' school girls, can you?

So anyway, back to the story of the day. I went to Chatuchak Market to try shoot some photos. And I actually did! There was the one with the goldfishes inhumanely kept in little plastic bags filled with air, the one with crickets and grub as snacks (which I had gamely eaten yesterday already), the one where there were poor huskies that enthralled the passerbys in this heated Saturday and here comes the catch of the day... COCK-FIGHTING! I actually walked/wandered/roamed so deeply into the markets that I saw a cock-fighting ring! (And its just when we all thought it was outlawed)

I couldn't stay long cos I really wanted to get out and watch Pirates 2. So I wounded up walking round and round the pet section of Chatuchak. It was NOT good at all. I kept seeing poor little animals cooped up in cages. You name it, they have it. There were birds, fishes, snakes and the worst of all... SQUIRRELS. And the squirrels are not just regular squirrels. Its the little baby ones too. I was really really emotionally worn by seeing these poor little creatures taken away from their natural surroundings by these people to sell.

And yes, just to make a point – I don't like the Visa ad where Richard Gere paid to “free some birds” just so somebody gets good luck. You know why? Cos the birds are caught right back! Its a negative reinforcement by this ad, cos soon enough more people will try to “free more birds” by buying it from this really sad trade of bird-catching.

I tried to get over it by watching Pirates 2. But no, this was way beyond Johnny Depp to rescue. I meant both my emotions and the movie. The movie was well made, well produced and damn... it looks too well finished. And there was the ending cliffhanger... Looks like I've no choice but to catch Pirates 3! Good movies come in 3s now eh? Still the movie was way too long and draggy, tho the plot was sufficiently developed.

We're aiming to start off early tomorrow morning at around 5.15am, when its first light in Bangkok for Ayutthaya – the first stop. If we're lucky, you'd hear from me soon enough.

Was asked by Jason to do a bit of a write-up about who I am and what-in-the-world I'm thinking of when I asked if I can actually join the expedition.

So here we go.

I'm Melissa Mak, 25, Singaporean Chinese. I am/was with Outward Bound Singapore as an instructor for the last 3 years. While I was at OBS, it occurred to me that while I was in the line teaching all about adventure, I had never quite had one before.

The ones in university where I went New Zealand and Australia are pretty much “safe” since everything's easy to get in and out of, locals speak your language and kind of like... comfortable to me. I think that whatever I had teach/preach before was not quite complete somehow.

And so late last year, I actually saw this poster that one of my colleagues put up in the office all about Jason Lewis from Expedition 360 doing a talk with one of the adventure clubs in Singapore. I totally missed it due to work (as usual) and instead wrote to Jason about cycling in Africa (a leg yet to be completed).

Why Africa? Not because it has boundless safaris, lions and cats that kind of thing; but to really see for myself how do people there live. You know how there's always stories about starvation, strife and wars in Africa on the media. I wanted to study public health as my Master degree, so it made sense that I did try to get to know this place at least.

Eventually when I did meet Jason, we agreed on cycling from Thailand to China instead, lest we do not actually get along, its easy enough for me to fly home. Also, it would be a good opportunity for myself to see the lesser known parts of the world. Jason, on first impression, is a kind of down-to-earth, patient and nice British; not like erms... some of the overbearing expedition project directors I use to meet back in university. :P

Anyway, my 3 years contract with OBS was on its way to completion. I had oodles of leave to clear (around 3 months) and so I packed up my bags and bike to come along. Everyone was great when they heard that I was going on this expedition.

My aunt, who lives in the same apartment block, went out of the way to get me an amulet. Belinda, my colleague, loaned me her tent and sleeping bag. Johann (of the 1^st Singapore Transcontinental Cycling Expedition and Everest 98) loaned me his spanking brand new bike panniers! There were the many people who took time out just to see me off by organising the parties. I even caught 2 of my close friends who were working in Shanghai before I left.

Had lots of nothing but good luck since I decided on leaving to do this whole expedition. Won some cold hard cash from a gameshow. Yes, I should have listened to Jane (my hostel mate back in university) and not gone into OBS, but turned into a professional gameshow winner. Won enough for holidays in university, buy stuff and all that jazz.

I consider Catherine Hartley (the 1^st British Woman to do North and South Pole) as my biggest source of inspiration. Imagine her definition of herself - a media bunny doing all that trekking in the world's coldest and remotest areas!A good friend of mine, Teo Yenkai, summited Everest himself with the NUS Centennial attempt too. We're pretty much the same in terms of our character, so I suppose whattever he's got built into him, I've got it too.

Well, I reckon I'd survive just as well. And like my boss likes to say “Come on lah, you are an Outward Bound instructor. This should be nothing new to you!” (Ah, the usual all-mighty instructor prep talk we always get.)

So lets see what's new.€

The couch adventure to Pirates didn't quite work out today, but we were off doing something really meaningful.

Jason and the crew from Aberdeen - Robert and Jan (along with me) went off to Khlong Toey, this area made really famous by a priest... Father Joe for all the work he's done for HIV patients, slum children and people doing drugs. Well, Aberdeen had been very generous to donate THB300,000 (SGD12,459.37)to a very good cause - Human Development Foundation that operates a kindergarten out of a slum area, takes care of HIV infected children and adults alike. I've read his book and man, I think it has attracted a good amount of positive publicity for the Foundation. Its clean, its well run and pretty accountable for the work done. The children looked happy in school, the teachers were very enthusiastic. The government actually funds a portion of its operation as well, much as the dimensions of the school isn't approved by them ie illegal.

Robert from Aberdeen was a star with children. The most astonishing part was... he's actually Deputy CEO of their Thailand branch. He's just so down to earth, not so much of a pompous guy who thinks the world about himself. And as a new father, he's great with kids. I should have taken more photos of him in action.

So this whole charity thing that comes with Expedition 360's really taken off. Unlike the other typical expeditions which tries but doesn't manage to pull it all off successfully with even their own fund raising, Jason's been doing great!

After the morning visit, I was off pedalling thru Bangkok alone cos Jason had some stuff to attend to and I needed to rush back to the hostel to make payment for my room. The good news is, I didn't get lost and cycling in Bangkok itself wasn't as bad as how Joe made out to be. I was imagining endless traffic that I had to squeeze myself thru. Well, I still had to put up with the traffic, but I managed to get back on my own - navigating the place and keeping safe. Its a great confidence booster, I'd say.

I was so confident that I even bought grub and crickets from a roadside stall today. So I ate the thing/s. Its nice with just a bit too much flavouring actually. I like the crickets and grub, but didn't like the other bugs in my little THB20 packet.

So, the plan tomorrow is to try catch Pirates again. Just before I leave on Sunday and feel all sad about it. And its off to Chatuchak.

Its been a blast starting from trying to order Thai food, only to find that I'm kind of turned off by this particular ingredient which they put into their salads, to something not as crazy like figuring out how to put my bike together again after its been taken apart to fly to Thailand with me.

Discovered that I am quite an ass, cos I can't do anything without my bike mechanic, Winson of SCH. I don't know how to reassemble the bike, tune the bike and blah blah blah... But the good news is, I know how to do it now. (Just that I'm crossing my fingers that I'd get lucky and find someone who knows how to take it apart for me to ship it home.

Freakin' overweight luggage costed me an arm and a leg. 80 dollars! 80 freakin' dollars. NOTE TO SELF: never, ever bring the toiletries again. Blardy hell.

I've yet to test the load, but I figure I'd try tomorrow after we're back from visiting this orphanage at Khlong Toey. Its a very sad one, cos its called the Slaughterhouse. Father Joe Maier runs it anyway. Drop by this site to find out more about what he's done so far at www.mercycentre.org . He's got this whole book all about this area and the sad stories it had. The good news, however, is that he's starting to get attention on the work he's done and... Aberdeen, the sponsor for Expedition 360 (www.expedition360.com) is actually going to try do some donation works!

We're gonna start cycling off towards Udon Ratchashima only on Sunday cos the traffic here is crazy. How crazy is it? Crazy enough for me to be stuck on a bus (without it budging more than 10m) over HALF AN HOUR. And it was freezing from the air-conditioning on board. Worse still, it was raining outside. So I got off the bus and walked in the rain for nearly 2km back to the hostel. That means I've walked somewere like 4-5km today.

It wasn't too bad - wandering around and finding all that nice stuff to buy (only not to buy it) and realising that I've already started missing people like Candy (who'd love to shop here) and all that fun lot of you who would love to be here on this adventure. It would have been great if more of you are here. Not to say that Jason Lewis of Expedition 360 is boring... BUT he's been very nice and good company to hang out with.

The only sad thing out of walking that long a distance today was my arms. I went to Bumrangrad Hospital today to get my vaccination shots. And man, the hospital's a freakin' hotel! I ain't kidding ya! But the doctor really had poor technique. After the rabies jab, I can't even lift my arm!

So imagine poor Mel with 2 big bags of stuff (food supplies from supermarket and equipment for cycling from Cannasia Thailand)... struggling with her aching arms and all. Its SAD. really.

still freakin hurts now.

I think I'd do a bit of a couch adventure tomorrow by watching Johnny Depp save the day off Pirates of the Caribbean 2. Yeah, so that's the plan.

Met Jason at the airport with this taxi that he rented. Then I realised how different the approaches to things are between us. He's not used to the whole messy Bangkok yet, while I've been here, faced off with it sufficiently. And I still think he'd do a lot better than me in the long term since he's more used to traveling road, while I'm still an amateur.

The bike's traveled fairly intact to the hostel that we've got. Its a lil more pricey than what you would find at Khao San Road, like 18 dollars a night here. Well, the good news is there's air-conditioning to help you beat the Bangkok heat in the day and there's an attached shower. I'd probably downgrade to a non-AC by tomorrow, since I probably won't use it all together.

A minor accident happened while I was back in my room trying to catch up with some sleep (long lost since Sunday night). I burnt myself :( Sadness, while trying to find the correct universal adapter... Damn beeping painful loh. Blardy electrical point.

Anyways, going to try catch some long lost sleep. Till tomorrow. Stay tuned for my adventure to find the Bumrungrad Hospital (touristy hospital)

Oh, my lucky stars!

In the long and short of things, I guess today's been my lucky day. After days (not even months!) of preparation (separated by all that partying prior to my leaving), finally I'm seated on a plane and off to Bangkok where the biking adventure begins.

I'm saying I'm lucky because everything just fell into place, nice people kept helping me out and made my expedition possible.

Firstly, I would like to thank the guys at SCH – Sebastian, Gerald, Winson and Jerome. They have not only generously given me discounts, but helped me at no extra charges to bring my 24kg overloaded duffel bag and bicycle into the Budget Terminal! Of course, not to forget the Chua Couple – Kevin and Serene who assisted by driving the SCH truck all the way into the terminal. Gosh. It could have been a lot worse! I couldn't find a taxi (as usual, the taxi theory about how it never comes when you need it most holds) and couldn't book one because of all the good and bad reasons (bag too heavy lah, bike too big lah, call too late lah... you know what I mean).

Secondly, friends who have generously helped me by encouraging me, despite their worries that something untoward can happen. I think none of this would have been possible without these extremely positive people. Promise to bring home great photos for them.

I'm extremely worn right about now and dying for some rest. But I figure I won't get any (cos the wicked normally don't), since I have to assemble the bike at the Bangkok International Airport and put it onto a cab most likely. Sigh sigh sigh. I hope I remember how to do so, otherwise... next stop – the local Thai bicycle shop.

Terence (my ex-manager at OB) figured that I should have learn some Thai. I agree, cos now I'd have to survive on the only Thai food I ever know how to order – Phat Thai. Never mind if its not quite Thai Express or if its some really sub-standard roadside stall. I figure I'd live to tell.

So here we go. The amazing 3 months (and I hope no shorter) journey to Kunming, China begins.

The beginning of All the Parties

so like every other pre-expedition procedure, there are endless parties that good friends, close friends and every other friend will throw for you, in honour of you or even after you are gone, still all in the name for you.

today i've met my friends from the NUS Student Mountaineering Club. we've been friends for donkey ages, seeing each other thru quite a fair bit of things from the serious like expeditions, family affairs like parents in trouble to matters of the heart ie love. so most of the gang turned up with well wishes prior to my departure. which is really cool.

i was supposed to do my test ride tonight, but due to my chest discomfort (a childhood ailment which hasn't appeared for years and actually doesn't have any cure to it), i'd have to put it aside for some other time. sorry to kenny lee, who's been excited about doing it.

there's more farewell parties in the next few days. tomorrow, my batchmates are holding a steamboat party at my new home for dinner. and another on monday night with university old pals....

i love these people. they are great.