Livin' Large...

OK, folks....tomorrow is moving day. Goodbye Temporium! Hello overly spacious apartment for one person! (but hey, more room for visitors). A lot of you have asked about the apartment and some of you have already seen photos that I took when I signed the lease, see below.

So here's the scoop....190 sq meters / 2000 sq feet of ridiculous luxury. 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, laundry room / pantry, storage room. Much more than I would ever have in NYC. But funnily enough I have chosen a "NY style" modern loft with 15 foot ceilings and floor to ceiling windows.

The building is called The Domus. I know the Turkish speakers reading this are having a chuckle at my expense now because "domus" means "pig" in Turkish. So "The Pig" is located in a central expat area called Sukhumvit, with more beautiful restaurants and shopping malls than I will ever have time to frequent. It's right at the interchange of the 2 major public transportation systems, so anywhere they train goes in Bangkok, I can take it from my apartment.

I will follow up with more photos after I move in and give the place a bit of a personal touch.

The Lobby & Pool

The View from my Balcony


The Interior


NEXT POSTING: I will tell you all about my trip last weekend to some Thai beaches. The teaser is....crystal clear water, white sand beaches, cheap massage...with some interesting stories about the characters I came across in my travels - a Thai rastfarian who ran a beach bar, an Aussie Rules Football Team, an English hen party, and a tattooed Malaysian musician who had 90% of his body covered in tattoo art (so he told me, and from what I could see, it seemed so).

Until later,
Joanna

If I had known...

….what I was in for, I might not have gone to Chiang Mai, but in the end it was a really rewarding experience. Now that I think about it, I guess that is a typical euphemism for things that are difficult that we ultimately post rationalize.

Let me explain…

Myself and a Brazilian woman from worked named Carol heard about this guided trip to Chiang Mai from a coworker. The coworker says… “oh, it is a bit of hiking and you swim in a waterfall and ride elephants and it is really great fun, you should do it!” So we did – and here’s what happened.

Chiang Mai is in Northern Thailand – Chiang Mai itself is the 2nd biggest city in Thailand and is notable in a few ways. It is known for the beautiful mountain vistas, the best university in Thailand and it is a weekend destination for many people who want to escape the frenzy of Bangkok.

Well, Carol and I didn’t see much of Chiang Mai. We flew into Chiang Mai on a 1hr flight from Bangkok and then drove 2 hours north to the mountains. It was a lovely morning, we rode elephants, see below the photos. It was actually a little scary in the sense that elephants are pretty tall and we were teetering on their backs on these rickety saddles (saddle is a very, very generous term for the contraption we were on by the way). Here’s us crossing a river on the elephant. And of course the elephant gets a treat afterward (where's my treat?!?)



Then, we visited a village where we saw the Longneck tribe whose women stretch their necks with brass rings and do traditional weaving. They also seem to make a tidy living by selling overpriced scarves to tourists… once you see where they live you feel guilty and buy a few scarves….I guess you all know what you are getting for Christmas now! Here’s me with a Longneck girl.

So it was all fun and games until we were told we were to complete a 5 hour hike to the traditional village where we would stay with a hill tribe for one night. At first Carol and I nervously giggled thinking “gee, 5 hours is a long time” then we saw the trail. Again a generous description…the guide walked in front and cut branches with a machete whilst we traipsed up the mountain. I say traipsed because the first hour was like a pleasure stroll compared to what happened next. It started to rain and I mean REALLY rain. I’ve been in showers where there was less water pressure. So, I could go into the gory details, but I will just short hand it for you…

- the so-called 5 hour hike turned into 8 because of the rain
- my waterproof, super high tech North Face back pack was not so waterproof after 5 hours in the rain in a Thai jungle – my camera and phone were destroyed by water damage
- it was so bad a woman sat down on a rock and cried, begging the guide to carry her or send in help because she simply couldn’t go further – she ended up walking (if this were Survivor, she definitely would have been voted off!)
- there were some areas not passable by foot so we climbed on ropes or laid bamboo poles across and walked them tightrope style
- I found myself knee deep in a few streams

etc, etc…. and no, there are no photos of this, because my camera was swimming in a pool in my backpack about this time.

So by the time we arrived at the hill tribe the straw mats of the hut looked pretty inviting and even more so after a few strong local brewed Thai beers. I didn’t even care that there was no running water…I plopped on my mat, pulled some mosquito netting around me and slept soundly until the village rooster rudely awakened us at 6am.

The next day we whitewater rafted down the mountain. Which all things considered was like a cake walk after the previous day’s events.

So here’s what I learned:

1) Ziploc bags are one of man’s great inventions, they will come with me everywhere I go in the future.
2) When you are halfway up a mountain in the Thai jungle and water gushes out of your shoes with every step, the only thing to do is laugh. Laugh hard, laugh loud.
3) Beer is a suitable sleep aid, especially when one finds oneself sleeping on the floor (uh...I think this is actually a prior known lesson I have reaffirmed).
4) It really is an underrated daily luxury to have a hot shower and sleep on clean sheets in a bed.


So for all of you who believe me to be a bit of NY fashionista, I will have you know that I am made of tougher stuff than we all thought. Too bad my camera and cell phone were not.

That’s it for now. Next weekend, Phuket - - beaches, scuba diving, resorts, spas, massage, cocktails, dinner, dancing and whatever trouble Carol and I can manage to stir up.

As ever,
Joanna

The Office - Expat Style

What is the office like, you ask? Well, it is very different from the CT office.

There is an open floor plan for starters. Translation: no offices, no privacy, desks crammed in bedside each other, everyone can see exactly what you are doing at all times. You'd think this would make us more interactive, but it is quite the opposite somehow. My desk neighbor sends me emails. If I had bad breath she could probably smell it, that's how close she is and yet she actually will write and send emails. But she is not alone, EVERYONE does this.

Is this a Thai thing? No, it is not. Because there are very few Thais in the office. The make up of the office is quite international and includes people from Spain, UK, Mexico, Netherlands, India, Singapore, Philippines, China, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, France, Indonesia and USA.

Another oddity. No one uses the land lines, they use their cell phones for all calls. In fact, when I got my land line I asked how to activate voicemail. No one in my team knew because none of them have operational voice mails! Now, my cell phone.....is amazing. I got a super fancy phone that does everything - in fact it is so capable that I suspect if my work permit does not come through, my cell phone could be programmed to do my job.

The office building itself is in an office park about 30 minutes from the residential area where I live. Despite the fact that we have thousands of employees here, there is no cafeteria. Instead we eat downstairs in one of the many American chains including Starbucks, McDonalds, Au Bon Pain, Western Sizzler -or- alternatively at sit down restaurants which can be best described as international cafes.

But the thing I love the most? They turn off the air con at 6pm every night. So this means there is no one upmanship culture of how late one stayed at the office - this I love. Doesn't mean that I don't do work from home in the evenings. But it is so nice to leave at the same time everyday. I could get used to that.

Until later,
Joanna

News from Asia

So I have been reading a local English language newspaper called the Bangkok Post. It's no New York times, but it pretty good at covering world events, local news and has a pretty robust sports section including American football, baseball, golf and more! (Although I have to say European soccer appears to be the sport of choice here - especially UK Premiere League)

I couldn't resist sharing one of the more odd snippets though that was in this morning's paper. Just further evidence that it is very different here!

Excerpt from Bangkok Post, Oct 2, 2007
Snake bite kills drinker
PHNOM PENH: A Cambodian man who took off his trousers, tied the legs at the bottom and wrangled a 2 meter cobra into them, died when it bit him through the fabric. Chab Kear,36, saw the reptile in a river and captured it in the hopes of selling it. He tied the animal inside his trousers and a scarf around his waist, but as he continued drinking the snake managed to bite Kear three times. His last words were "Don't worry, it's nothing a drink can't fix."

So, I promise more reports from BKK soon....some future entries I have in mind include:

- Expat office life: the who's, what's and how's of my office culture
- It's good to be king: the constitutional monarchy in Thailand
- Chiang Mai: I am headed to the north this weekend and will report back
- The new apartment: moving in soon and will send photos
and more.....


Until later,
Joanna