Kuala Lumpur May 25-27

I went to Malaysia this past weekend to renew my Thai visa and, at the same time, visit Kuala Lumpur. Canadians only get 30 days tourist visa when arriving by air (unless you pay for a longer one ahead of time).

Now, it seems like the local gods didn't want me to leave or something. My flight out of Phuket was Saturday early morning. I had to wake up at 4 AM. To keep the cost down I decided to take my scooter to the airport (40 min ride). So Friday night, as I'm about to run one last errand, I notice a flat rear tire. No problem, my landlord (Johan) takes me to a local shop and a new tube is installed for 8 bucks. I go to fill up the tank so it's ready for the trip. On the way back I hit a huge pothole with the front wheel but the air seems to be holding.

Well, guess what awaits me the next morning when I get up at 4 AM? Yes!! Flat front tire LOL. I woke up Johan and he was kind enough to give me his scooter but, with barely any gas. I hop on the bike and drive down hoping to find a gas station. Most of them were closed at this time but eventually I found one closer to the highway. The guy overfills it, sprays some on my leg and off I go to the airport. Thankfully there were no other mishaps!

The flight from Phuket to KL is just over an hour and with the one hour time difference I arrived in Malaysia just after 10 AM. I was there for 3 days after which I had enough. The city is huge and super busy. Considering it's still a 3rd world country you can imagine the polution is terrible. Add to that humidity and hot air and you will quickly forget that great feeling you had on arrival.

In any case, the city does impress with its skyscrapers. Here are some pictures

Photos from Kuala Lumpur

Gym Membership

I found a pretty cheap gym at about 30 bucks a month. Rusty and old equipment but what else do I need. The music is good and the weights are heavy. It actually motivates me to push harder for some reason. Checkout this short video if you wanna see inside the gym

Click here to see my gym

Here are a few pics from the gym. Read the sign!

It also has a mini-bar and martial arts floor

I always wondered where those funny picture collections came from, the ones you get in a forwarded email. Well, here is one that could make it into that collection. How do you fix a cracked toilet seat? How about some cheap paper tape lol. Oh yea, note the spray hose on the side. Very common around here.

Not much new to report. I've been out to Bangla road where all the nightlife is concentrated. It's VERY entertaining just to sit and watch the people, especially the lady boys haha

Click here to see some sexy ladies dancing

I also visited some new beaches around Phuket. Here is me watching the sunset on Kamala beach.

I haven't mentioned before but my visa in Thailand is only valid for 30 days. This means I have to do a visa run twice while I'm here. I'm thinking of flying to Malaysia next week. Until next time :)

Living on a Hill

It's been almost a week I'm here so time for an update :)

Yesterday I took some photos and videos of my hood. Not sure if I mentioned before but my condo is pretty high up on a hill. Initially I thought of walking everywhere but after seeing how steep the climb is I decided to rent a scooter for my whole stay in Patong. Here are some pictures of my building, one of a sunset from the rooftop.

I also took a few videos while driving around.

Drive up to my condo

Driving in Patong

Lost in a maze of scooters (parking inside a shopping mall)

Interesting sounds from my backyard

My routine is very simple. I wake up super early probably due to the time change. I like it that way as the mornings are much cooler. When the evening comes around I'm just too tired to do anything and the heat is unbearable.

So I've been pretty consistent with going for a jog down Patong beach every second day. Traffic is very light and the sun is low in the morning so the air is not too heavy for running.

After a morning jog (or some stretching if I'm lazy) I do about an hour or two of studying. Then it's work time. I'll put in 4 to 5 hours per day which leaves me with a bit of time to do other things like running errands or simply scooting around Patong. After a while though you get tired of the streets. Same old and congested with traffic. Sometimes you get a whiff of the sewers, which are clearly over capacity.

I found some safe and cheap places to eat. Normally I grab a meal for under 2 bucks. Some nicer places (meaning less flies and more stable plastic chairs) will be slightly more expensive. Apparently it's safer to eat from a popular street food vendor as opposed to restaurants so I avoid bigger places. These are also tourist traps and you'll be charged a North American type of price. Another safe and inexpensive place to get ready to eat food is a grocery store. You can find all kinds of cooked rice, cut up veggies and grilled meats. Surprisingly fruits are quite expensive. I pay pretty much the same price for mangoes as in Canada BUT ... they are delicious!

In Thailand

Hello Friends, I finally arrived to my destination. Yeeeey :) The flight was long and dreadful, nothing to write home about but I realized two things

1. It would be much nicer to stay a few days in Europe and relax before the next long flight.
2. I should have chosen my return flight through Tokyo. This would mean a flight around the world!

I will start you off by showing my condo. Here is the link to a short video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j1r1ZqYOJ0

And here is a picture of the common area. That's probably where I'll hang when working.

For more pictures check this link. I'll keep adding them there

Photo Album  

Oh, and if you're wondering about the name of this blog it was supposed to say "Say no to elephant rides and petting tigers" but the title was too long haha. Just making a statement that I'm against these ridiculous things that tourists do when they come here. I might play with a monkey though lol

Stay tuned for some pictures and more updates coming soon :)