Bangkok to the HK : A chronicle of events

Loyal Followers, welcome once more to an installment on the life of me.  As many of you know the past week+ I have been traveling for Chinese New Year.  I made my way down to Thailand on the 22nd of January for a bit of relaxation in the sun.  Well, I was relaxed but then I had to travel home (more on that later).  Lets rewind to that beautiful day in January when we left Hong Kong on one of the warmest days since my arrival.  After a half hour or so on the MTR (subway) we got to the ferry which took us to Macau.  From there we boarded a plane to Bangkok.  Some of you may say "Matt, why not just fly out of Hong Kong instead of taking a ferry for an hour to Macau?" In hindsight, you raise a very good question!  With all the extra expenses (ferry, taxi & food) that it took to get to Macau, it may very well have been a better choice to just fly out of Hong Kong.  You live and you learn though.  Many of you were/are students and know that impulse often takes over in certain moments and you fail to think situations through all the way.  I believe this is the first time I have experienced this though...(sarcasm).  Anyways, we arrived in Bangkok and after a 45 minute taxi ride we were at our hostel.  Let me tell you, nothing but 5 stars there!  3 stars for air conditioning, 1 star for a bed and 1 star for a toilet/shower combo.  See! 5 Stars!  Now I am aware of how the rating scale works.  About $7 USD/night.  Can't complain there.  2 nights in Bangkok.  Done, over, thank God!

Now that Bangkok is over, we board a bus to the Islands.  First stop - some random place at 4:45 am where they drop you off for 2 hours while you wait for another bus.  However!  You may be thinking "what will you do for food?" Answer: It is a company restaurant.  $5 USD for a pack of Oreos?  Might as well!  Don't worry, I waited to eat.  I'm too cheap to be suckered like that.  Oh, I must have forgotten to tell you that the first leg of the bus ride was about 9 hours.  Next leg is only 3 hours.  Now we only have an hour and a half long ferry ride and we are at Koh Samui!  Exciting stuff.  When do I get to sleep?  2 days in Koh Samui.  What did we do there?  Nothing exciting!  Can we stop moving yet?  Absolutely not!  We have to go to Koh Phangan for a day.  This day happens to be January 27th.  If you don't know what that means, immediately terminate reading this blog and return to your prior activities.  So we go out for dinner and a few drinks because I am legal in the U.S. of A. now (legal in China/Thailand since arrival but what fun is that?).  I reiterate my previous point...Can I go to bed yet?  NO!!! We have to get up at 8 am the next morning to go to Koh Tao!!!  After another ferry ride, we arrive in Koh Tao for 3 days.  YAY!!! SLEEP!!!  If you have ever traveled any distance over an hour with me, you know my tendency to fall asleep on any journey.  Pattern continued on current trip.  Koh Tao was the most relaxing part of the trip.  Myself and another kid left Koh Phangan early from the rest of the group as he wanted to become a certified Open Water diver.  I agreed to accompany him and contemplate making a dive or two of my own (already certified if you didn't know).  Wednesday...what did I do?  Arose from slumber at approx. 9 am.  Headed to restaurant on beach for breakfast.  Ate while reading Kite Runner (which is an amazing book if you haven't read it.  Very powerful message).  Finished eating...didn't move from table.  Ate lunch in same seat.  Moved to beach chair at approx. noon.  Moved back to previous table for fruit snack and remained there until I finished book.  Went and took a nap.  Awoke for dinner.  Very fulfilling day in my eyes.  Day 2:  Took refresher course in diving since I hadn't been in the water for 6-12 months (PADI Regulation).  Too tired to do anything else.  Retired to bed.  Day 3: Wake up time 5:45 am.  Dive Boat leaves in 30 minutes and I need my gear.  Get everything and am at the dive site around 7 for the sunrise.  In the water for a first dive of about 40 minutes to a depth of approx. 18 meters.  Second dive is about 55 minutes to a depth of approx. 16 meters.  Fun day.  Time to start heading back to Bangkok!  Taxi from hotel to ferry.  Ferry from Koh Tao to Chumporn.  Overnight train from Chumporn to Bangkok.  Bangkok for one night.  Plane at 7 am in the morning.  Are you getting bored yet from reading this?  Shake head Yes or No.  If Yes, stop reading and take a nap (my specialty).  If No, continue reading.  Our day in Bangkok is spent in the hotel room as we are exhausted.  Wake up call at 4:00 am.  Taxi to the airport.  Checked in by 5.  I wanted to take the 5:30 taxi instead of the 4:30.  An hour of sleep is always nice and we would have made it no problems.  Sunk cost now.  I can only look back and remember how I was right from now on! :) After a 2 1/2 hour flight we are back in Macau.  Another taxi ride, a ferry and some time spent on the MTR and here I am back at my computer writing you this descriptive and exceedingly long blog entry.  Impressed?  I didn't think so.

Total types of Transportation used on trip:  11 (Plane, Train, Subway, Taxi, Tuk Tuk (Google that if you don't know), ferry, small boat, moped, truck bed, bus, feet)

Average temperature: 85 (approx.)

Percentage of time spent in transit that I was asleep: 75% (best guess since we had an overnight train and bus)

If you made it this far, congratulations.  I am going back to watching Quantum Of Solace on my computer before retiring to bed after a bit of light reading via The Age of Turbulence by Alan Greenspan.  

Viva La China

Well the week is over and it is Chinese New Years time for Matt.  Matt will be traveling to Thailand to bask in the shade (Matt burns).  Many of you know that Matt's birthday is coming in a mere 5 days.  The vacation lasts until the 1st of February.  This means Matt will be spending his birthday in Thailand.  Very interesting.  Matt and others will be staying in Bangkok for 2 days and then going to an island...not sure which one.  Matt was going to go to Phuket but they are not doing that now (as of the current moment).

Matt did laundry today before he leaves (in 1 hour...and he hasn't started packing!) and accidentally put a red shirt in his load that had socks and a few white undershirts.  Oops!  Matt saw this and felt pretty dumb.

Matt isn't sure if he will have internet while in Thailand but if he does then he will update this with interesting stories.

Matt has nothing else at the current moment except to tell you that writing in the 3rd person is not going to happen again on this blog.

Mini Vacation #1

Last night we ventured to Macau for the night.  For those of you who don't know what Macau is, it is a city somewhat like Vegas with lots of casinos and such.  Saying this, Mom and Dad...I need money!  Not really.  I decided I would spend $20 (Hong Kong, less than $3 USD) on a slot machine just to add to the experience of being there.  I lost.  Shocking I know.  Anyways, we just sat there and watched some performers on stage sing American songs fairly well.  There were also these swing dancer people but that wasn't very cool.  I learned how to play a game after watching it for 3 hours and having 3 people explain it to me.  However, I wasn't about to place money on my new found knowledge.  When the performances ended we headed back to our hotel where we neatly packed 9 people into a hotel room with 2 twin beds.  I slept in a chair...if you can call it sleeping.  A little more interesting information...we had to take a 1 hour+ ferry ride to the island.  Now, before those of you who know certain ferry-related stories go all whoo-hah laughing, I didn't get sick.  Didn't even feel queazy.  Another kid got quite sick but my stomach was being a champion and decided to behave on the water.

The second week of classes are starting quickly.  I am still trying to get the perfect schedule so I have class at convenient times.  Another factor is I am trying to get in classes with some friends so when project time comes around, I can trust/rely on people I am more familiar with.

For those of you who have been having issues with the cold, please know that I am right there with you...in spirit.  I was having trouble today as the heat was just too much for the jeans I was wearing.  I needed a pair of shorts.  It was easily mid-70s.  I just want you all to remember that I have sacrificed my body to the heat so you don't have to...please, thank me later.

I know there are people who have sent emails or messages and haven't heard back from me.  I have realized that sometimes I read things and forget about them.  I am in the process of finding them mixed in 3 email accounts, facebook, etc.  If you just want to send a copy again or a new message, it will go to the top of my inbox and I will probably respond!

I will have another post coming soon...surely there will be lots of info to share.

The first 2 days...

So classes started (aka no fun).  I had 4 hours of class on Monday and 3 today.  The class today was 3 hours straight with a 15 minute break about 2 hours in.  It was long, boring, and I learned nothing.  Ahh the joy of Organizational Behavior on syllabus day.  The discussions have been so general and the accent/lack of proficiency in English makes class funny at first but then it just becomes frustrating.  Kids from other schools aren't as well versed in the joy of having international teachers as us folk from Purdue.

In case anyone was wondering (Brandon, Krin, etc.) I took a 5 hour nap today.  I felt proud of my accomplishment.  I think it may be a personal best for a mid-afternoon nap.  I got up a little before 5:30 and am currently tired again (9:34 pm).  

Tomorrow class doesn't start until 3:30 pm so I may try to sneak a bit of a nap in prior to it.  I want to be well rested and ready for an exciting lecture on International Management.  It should be quite the lecture tomorrow.  I am going to go ahead and throw this out there, but I am guessing that we will discuss the attendance policy, grading scale, group project, test(s), and a brief overview of how the class will progress.  Stay tuned for actual results.

All in all, things are fine here.  Meeting lots of kids from around the world.  I mainly hang out with  kid from IU (I know, I know...), one from Australia, and another from California State - Long Beach.  All great guys.  The larger group of exchange students has formed into smaller groups of friends.  It is funny how quickly it happens.  I have battled a bit of a cold and a small stomach issue.  The stomach issue was created by a sketchy Brazilian BBQ restaurant and solved by a solid night of getting sick (I'm sure everyone wanted to know that).  The cold will be solved with ample sleep.  By ample I am hoping to get at least 15 hours in a 24 hour period.  That is just how I roll.

Well, that is enough for now.  Emails are nice (gives me something to do in class).  Let me know if you like this idea or not.  I will probably keep doing it even if you don't but whatever.  I like your opinions nonetheless. 

The First Week...

Hey! I'm in Hong Kong! Haha As many of you know, I arrived safely (obviously since I am writing this).  Some basic info, I start classes Monday (1/12) and finish sometime around the middle of May.  I'm living in a dorm with a roommate, which is weird going back to sharing a room again.  I'm on the 6th floor of my building with a view of the courtyard and the city (just terrible).  We have been pretty active with various activities and meetings for the exchange students.  Most of us got here between the 5th and 7th but some stragglers are still coming in.  Yesterday we had lunch with the Foreign Service rep in HK from the US.  He just basically explained what not to do (lots of examples), what to do (fewer examples other than get out and explore), what they do (wasn't paying much attention here), and what careers and internships are available around the world.  I signed up to work in Tel Aviv, Israel for this next summer and will not be coming home before then.  HA! Not really...show of hands, who thought I was serious? :)  We have gone exploring somewhat to some of the more touristy spots (restaurants, nightlife, light show on the water, etc.).  The food is pretty good but I got a bit of an upset stomach last night... I think I was trying to do too much with my lovely stomach. 

I can't think of much else to share but if you have questions let me know.  I'm still figuring out how to use this thing and am only doing it because Krin is and he is cool and I want to be like him! Hahahahahaha...but seriously.  

I am going to try to keep this updated fairly regularly.  My email inbox has been quite full, which I enjoy but once school starts and I begin traveling more it will be much easier from my end to update this with what is going on.