Merry Christmas 2009 and Happy New Year 2010

Hello everyone

I know I haven’t been in touch for AGES! First thing to mention is I’m in Australia. And will be here until the end of April 2010 (if there’s no major change) To summarise my life this year, I thought about travelling abroad since the end of 2008. Initially it should be an Asian tour or just go to England. But somehow the plans went wrong and I decided to make a bigger trip. So I decided to ask for Work and Holiday Visa to Australia and I got it. Next thing I had to quit my job and I crammed to do some local trips in Thailand as if I was leaving Thailand forever! LOL Next thing you realize, I was in Sydney on the 2nd May. I manage to meet some of my old friends both Thai and non Thai in Sydney (New South Wales state (NSW)). I travelled with Josephine, my friend who were classmates 6 years ago …maybe 7 years now :-D

I met Trevor second time in the Latin Camp and third time in Brisbane (First time in Bangkok). Josephine went back to Sydney. I relaxed in Brisbane (Queensland state) and as usual I met my good friends whom I knew when I was in Sydney last time. Two weeks later I and Trevor decided to buy a campervan. Then we started our trip from there.

We headed back to NSW for a bit for registration thing. Then, we travelled around the national park and beaches in South and Central Queensland. We went back and forth to Brisbane for a few times just to sort out the van registration thing. That’s quite a pain, isn’t it?

Trevor and I have become a couple at some point and shortly after that, we almost ran out of money so we decided to do fruit picking because Trevor can extend his 2nd year visa. We got some useful advice from our French mate, Robin. We headed to Gayndah and we got a job within the first week! Phew!

We made some friends in Gayndah. Most of them are Germen and French. We found that Koreans are expert in this fruit picking business which I found it intriguing. Trevor picked the Mandarin (Orange) for a while before he changed to pack Mandarin like I did. We worked for about 1 month until the end of the season. Citrus packing is a heavy job but the money is not too bad if you have work all the time.

A week later, we got a new job, peach thinning in a neighbouring town of Gayndah called Mundubbera. Peach thinning is even harder for me. It made me missing Mandarin packing! LOL I earned pretty little as the farmer pay per tree!

One week is more than enough since we both earn less than $400 per week each. So we decided to head to Northern Territory to work in a mango farm. However, we replaced our 2 worn-out tyres before our BIG trip

East coast is amazing. I spent 3 weeks on the coast including 1 SCUBA diving in Yongala Wreck and 1 cruise to Whitsunday. Of course, we took the ferry to Magnetic Islands and Cape Tribulation. Just in case you want to travel the East Coast. You can start from Sydney, Byron Bay, Gold Coast (Surfer Paradise), Sunshine Coast, Gympie, Maryborough (Fraser Island), Bundaberg, Capricorn Coast (Seventeen Seventy, Gladstone, Rockingham-Yeppooon, Mackay), Arlie Beach-Whitsunday Islands, Bowen, Ayr, Townsville-Magnetic Islands, Igham, Mission Beach, Innisfail/Tully, Cairns, Port Douglas, Cape Tribulation. I visited almost all of the places mentioned above.

After the East Coast, I started crossing the state to Northern Territory (NT) where we found less civilization and the sky rocket price of petrol! (Including Diesel).

We began our travelling in NT basically from Mataranka. There are 2 nice thermal pool (hot spring) and then, we drove up to Katherine where we expected to see MacDonalds but no. Not available until the Christmas 2009. I didn’t go back to prove it though. The north of Katherine is great. We stopped by Edith Falls for a few days before we headed to Acacia where the mango farm is.

We finally got ourselves sort things out at the mango farm and we both worked in the packing shed. The job is alright but I found that my grading station is quite boring. In the afternoon, I almost fell asleep :-P Therefore, when I got a chance, I tried to pack the mango instead ;-)

Trevor and I spent about 1 month in the mango farm which was a pleasant time in terms of accommodation, foods and facilities. It’s just not enough noodles for me. And the accom is pricy! Hahaha After we were shocked about how short the mango season was (we arrived in the middle of the season again), we decided to leave to Darwin to find more job.

We stayed near Darwin city while we were waiting for a job. To not just wait around hopelessly, we travelled in two of the most famous national parks, Litchfield and Kakadu. When we finished the trip, our butts are on fire so we decided to go to Katherine (again) because there were more farming job there.

We arrived in Katherine safe and sound before finding out our van has serious problem with its shots. So we managed to buy and get the new ones replaced at the cheap garage.

Trevor and I signed up for a job agency which I sensed that the woman is pretty laid back and I felt we were unlikely to get a job in Katherine. My sense was right. Just 4 days in Katherine, our butts were getting ot again, eh! We really need a job before we cruise along the West Coast.

We left Katherine and crossed the state again to Western Australia (WA), the largest state in Australia. We passed the quarantine office that controls the vegetables and fruits carriage nicely. Only threw away few garlic and a bottle of honey. Of course, we prepared ourselves for this. And if you have to go into WA, you shouldn’t forget.

We arrived in Kununurra, the agriculture town which was nearest to NT, early in the morning (due to time difference). I told Trevor to go to the job agency straight away and it worked. We got a job in the same morning and we started working next day! So we quickly sorted out the accommodation and bought grocery and stuff.

We got picked up to a small mango farm together with another 2 guys. Later we found out their main business was sandalwood nursery farm. The mango took about 4-5 days to pick only. When the job was over, our boss kindly transferred us to sandalwood farm so where we work for 3 weeks more. Here we made friends with some Briton, Japanese and unsurprisingly Koreans. Sandalwood nursery is the easiest farm work I have experienced so far but because of the heat and sunshine and repetition, you might find yourself yawning sometimes :-D

Eventually, we had to leave Kununurra, our workmates and the kind boss. We wanted to work more but if we stopped moving, we couldn’t make it to Perth before New Year and couldn’t reach Sydney for Salsa Congress at the end of January.

We drove to Broome in 3 days passing little towns, Halls Creek, Fitzroy Crossing and Derby. After the magnificent Broome, we drove down south to Perth. Here we went (in order more or less) Broome, Eighty Mile Beach, Port Hedland, Point Samson (including Cossack, Wickham), Karratha (including Dampier), Exmouth (Ningaloo National Park), Coral Bay, Carnarvon,, Denham and Monkey Mia or you can call this area as Shark Bay (Xmas time here), Kalbarri, Geraldton, Pink Lake in Port Gregory, Dongara-Port Denison, Jurien Bay, Cerventes, and Perth!

So it was just 3 days ago that I arrived in Perth So far, we just sorted out our car problem, a tyre just got flat a day before our service day. Lucky us that it happened in the city! So everything was quite easy. Trevor changed the tyre for the first time in his life :-D He performed a decent job though

Tomorrow we will go to Fremantle. Then, on 2nd Jan or maybe a day later, we will go to Rockingham, head South of Perth and East. I will cross the state again. Now on to South Australia. I should be planning where and how long to visit each place really but the city keeps me busy especially our beloved Toyota Tarago!

I’ll try to update my trip more often but I can’t promise really. Only I can say is I don’t forget you guys. It’s just not a lot of time to be online. You can catch up my photos from Facebook at www.facebook.com. You can find and add me as a friend with Namrin Bussayadilokskul (the one the only) or namrinnet@yahoo.com My blog is a bit disabled right now hahaha! But I will try to catch up something in somehow. It’s http://namrinbussayadilokskul@blogspot.com My daily trip diary has failed since MAY!! Yep, that was 7 months ago! I hope some of you can finish this essay. Sorry for long story….this is already SHORT version :-D Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Lots of love! Namrin
P.S. My best Japanese friend is getting married so CONGRATULATIONS! You make it mate! XOX

11th May: Surfers Paradise- Parasail Heaven

Josephine and I got up late in the morning after our big dinner yesterday at a Korean restaurant. We booked the parasail and would do it in the afternoon. Jo and I parasailed for the first time in our life. Too bad that I was afraid I would drop my camera so I didn’t take the photos for the spectacular view of Surfer Paradise and its bay. It was amazing although it’s chilly. It’s not that difficult too. I recommended everyone should give it a go if you don’t have financial problem. What a lovely day!

10th May: Last day at the Latin Camp

We got up fairly late and found out that Mick has left since early in the morning. Trevor and Mick didn’t join the beach football. Most of the guys who played were from the Brazillian dance performance last night. Trevor, Josephine and I went to the beach after breakfast. It was quite warm under the sun but still cold and windy a bit. So we didn’t swim in the sea. In the middle of the walk, Trev decided to enjoy the sea a bit while Jo and I got together and then, we took some photos after that. We left the camp after lunch. Jo and I went to Surfer Paradise as our next stop. Trevor headed back to Brisbane and got ready to work for next day.

9th May Latin Dancing classes at Tallebudgera Recreation Centre

We learned Latin Dance all day. Started with Kazomba, Salsa, lunch break, Ladies and Men Styling, Zouk, Bachata after that the last class of Bachata on the beach. It was fantastic to dance on the beach and at the end of the day, we are all exhausted. We took a shower and got dressed for the latin dance party. Unfortunately, Josephine got injury during Zouk class so she couldn’t dance that much but still did some. We sort of made a new friend called William Tan who later added me on Facebook.

During the class, Trevor felt that he had been soaked too much into the crowd and we danced so much all day so he didn’t feel like dancing that much at the party. So we went to have a walk on the beach at night. It was very cold but it was a full moon so it’s nice a way.

8th May: Bye bye Byron Bay

Bye bye Byron Bay and kick out the Latin CampWoke up very early to catch the coach to Burleigh Heads. We needed to make a special request for this stop. We stopped but when we arrived. It was so early like 10 am so we couldn’t check in and anything. I texted to Trevor to come and join us.

Unfortunately, Jo left her mobile phone in the hostel in Byron Bay so she had to take the bus/train to pick it up. I didn’t go to save travel cost so I was by myself in Tallegeraba Recreation Centre. About 1pm, Trevor showed up. So he had pasta that he prepared and then, had a walk along the Burleigh Heads beach. This was my second time to meet Trevor after twice in Bangkok. It felt quite excited somehow. It’s like we met for the first time hahaha!

Jo was back with her mobile phone. We checked in and had another roommate called Mick. He danced Zouk and others but not Salsa. Dinner was sucked! We got dressed to dance the first night which was cool. I felt good to dance again.

7th May in Byron Bay for the last day

Woke up late and walked around the shop with Jo. I sent a postcard to Trevor but it was actually for myself. I just needed a lighthouse stamp. Had bicycle ride which was quite fun. Then we went out for cheap dinner.

Played table tennis (pingpong) with a French mate, Julien. I beat him 3 games in a row hahaha! Then, had a chat online with Trevor.

6th May: Byron Bay....I'm back!

Good morning Byron Bay. This is my 2nd time in Byron Bay. The first time I came here 6 years ago with Hiro, Ashleigh and Alix. It rainned for the first 2 and a half days....and this time it didn't change much. It rainned again!

Josephine and I waited for nearly an hour to find the guy who is supposed to pick us up at the bus stop. It’s quite a pain as it had no sign and I couldn’t reach the guy from the lodge.

Not quite a good. We arrived at the lodge as the rain started to pour down. We managed our things while some other girls in the dorm were still sleeping but this was 10 O’clock! Jo was quite upset and not happy with the clean level. I felt sorry that I should have explained more.

Met 2 lads in Byron Bay downtown. Caught up wit Jo in town and then, we 4 had a walk to Byron Bay lighthouse. I did this once with Hiroto 6 years ago. It was raining as well. Two new companions are Julien from France and Scotti from Australia (Melbourne).

Didn’t go out at night because I didn’t feel like I think and Jo didn’t mind.

Met a Japanese girl here. She was quite nice and very keen on fruit picking thing. Bad news is from her experience it didn’t seem to give good money at all. Just free accommodation and basic foods.

5th May in Sydney the last day for now

Jo is so kind to lend me her luggage so I can travel slightly more easily. Anyway, I need a few more things so I called my mother to send me sth to the place in Brisbane

Left Sydney to Byron Bay. The coach left at railway station. Jo helped to carry our foods and arranged our dinner and snacks. I felt easy and relieved. The coach was bloody cold. I think I have brought enough jackets but still so cold. In the middle of the night I sat separately from Jo so we both could stretch our legs.

4th May in Sydney still....

Supposed to meet Nick in the morning but I woke up at 10 am so by the time I left Josephine’s place it was 11 am. Nick called me that he was going to give me a lift! Wow! How generous is he! I was surprised and felt a bit guilty because I was late. From Wollstonecraft to Eastwood by motorbike. That’s quite a ride lol. Got the bike and came home to have LATE lunch with Jo. Rode the bike for a bit. It needs a new lock and some air for its tyres.

3rd May in Sydney

Went out to meet Yuu, my Thai friend for Japanese lunch. Caught up about things and shared experience we have had in Australia. Met P’ Duangporn and P’Ying and had dinner together at a Korean restaurant. Randomly met someone from Acer where I worked for. Good news for me all meals were treated by friends .

2nd May in Sydney

Arrived in Sydney. Met Josephine at the airport and stayed at her place. Met Yitao and his wife and had dinner together. We had Vietnamese cuisine which I doubted whether they served original taste. They bought a new car which is cool. I smell its newness. They said they were sick of 2nd hand car which was broken all the time. Called Nick (Former Andy’s housemate) but he’s out so I had to pick up my bicycle on Monday morning.

24

(Inspired from the series 24)
The last 24 hours before I caught a flight to Australia. This is one the longest days in my life!

1st hour: 20.00-21.00 Came back outside after buying contact lens and medicine for my friends. Chatted with T-bone on via MSN for a bit

2nd hour: 21.00-22.00 Continued packing (I started in the late afternoon) and I realized my stuff was everywhere in the room. Chatted with Peggy a bit.

3rd hour: 22.00-23.00 Kept packing and throwing stuff away. Getting very stressed that my luggage is too small for my things….I mean important things!

4th hour: 23.00-24.00 Removed some stuff out of my luggage and told mum that she needs to send me some packs after I arrive in Australia :-P

5th hour: 24.00-1.00 I was not getting anywhere. Copied files and pics into my external harddisk drive. Feeling tired after a long long busy day which was finally over!

6th hour: 1.00-2.00 I just realized I needed a larger luggage. I can’t fit my things into the small size of trolley bag. I underestimated myself lol. Anyway, I tried to remove more of my stuff.

7th hour: 2.00-3.00 Packing and rearranging my stuff again. Took more clothes out.

8th hour: 3.00-4.00 Gone to bed

9th hour: 4.00-5.00 Work up because I thought sth could be done better and went to bed again

10th hour: 5.00-6.00 Sleeping

11th hour: 6.00-7.00 Got up and decided to keep my office outfits at home for now. Met T-bone online and he told me to count each thing I need to limit my stuff. Anyway, I need more than 3 t-shirts hey!

12th hour: 7.00-8.00 Got back to bed for half an hour and I got up to pack again because TV sound was very loud so it was very disturbing.

13th hour: 8.00-9.00 Sleeping

14th hour: 9.00-10.00 Slept until 9.30 and pushed myself to take a shower and collected the leftover of my toiletry into my luggage.

15th hour: 10.00-11.00 Went out to buy a new luggage. I was hesitate between size 24” or 28” I wanted 26” but it’s not available in a soft case version.

16th hour: 11.00- 12.00 Came back with 24” by hoping that I could limit the weight of what I’d bring.

17th hour: 12.00-13.00 Put my things into the new luggage and went out again to exchange the last amount of AUD I wanted. Unfortunately it’s 0.10 baht more expensive than yesterday! And the place who gave me yesterday rate didn’t have AUD cash today. How unlucky! P’ Pocky called me for a proper goodbye.

18th hour: 13.00-14.00 Came back home to re-arrange my stuff a bit and that’s it!

19th hour: 14.00-15.00 Having lunch after all. Refresh myself and put make up on a bit. Relaxed and worried the total weight of my luggage. I have 3 kinda big bags and 2 hand-carry bags! Decided to go to the airport early just in case I have to re-pack

20th hour: 15.00-16.00 Mum drove me to the airport. Sin was with me too. Mai went to the airport separately. I was nervous because Mum drove very slowly like 60-80km/hr. Ployed called.

21st hour: 16.00-17.00 Arrived at the airport at 4.30PM and met our relatives, one of the families who came to pick their daughter who works as a flight attendant. Jackpot!!! My luggage is 12 kgs overweight to be precise! I definitely need to remove something out otherwise I have to pay 1,000 baht/kg (AUD40/kg). That is really a penalty fee, not a shipping fee!

22nd hour: 17.00-18.00 Removed a lot of stuff out. Got rid of a backpack. So I had only 2 big bags now with 2 hand-carry bags! Ploy arrived at the airport with her boyfriend. Finally 10 kgs were gone but oh o..the key of the lock has gone. I couldn’t find it but after checking, I think dropped it in my luggage. However, too late! Mai broke the zipper. How Brilliant (silly)! :-P

23rd hour: 18.00-19.00 Tried to weigh my luggage again even I had 2 kgs excess. Anyway, I passed. (YEAH!!) Technically I had 2 kgs over on my hand-carry bags too hush-hush! Got the bracelet gift and a box of custard tart from Ploy J Saying good bye to my family and Ploy.

24th hour: 19.00-20.00 Called my friend Sanjeev who was supposed to show up. He said it was a dayoff for him (May day). Boooo! Got the last call from my aunt Yi. Luckily, she called me today otherwise she would miss it. I didn’t seriously tell her when I was going to leave because I didn’t want to bother her to send me at the airport. Suvanhabhum Airport is very far.
Bought a bottle of drinking water and chilled out at Gate E1 by eating custard tarts. Getting excited and smiled to myself. Stress free for now. Gee! I’ll be in Sydney in 9 hours. I’ll meet Jo at the airport as to our latest plan :-P I felt a mixture of happiness, calmness and excitement after all was set. Ten to eight was the time to get on board on EK418, seat No 46B.

See ya in Australia, mates!

Namrin's 2nd farewell party at I - Karaoke

Finally we organised a dinner & karaoke farewell night with my ex-workmates from the previous company I worked for (Acer Computer and Servex)

It was a great to catch up and meet up old friends we haven't met for many months or some persons is years!!! You've got a baby for instance!! LOL

I've got a new Tee-shirt as a gift which I will bring it to Oz too. My friend who I love like my elder sister told me that since we have a political situation. It's hard to pick a colour for me because yellow and red tops are big no-no around now. LOL So she bought a lovely orange one for me and somehow got one for herself too in the same colour and same size! hehe

We have been through a lot of sad songs. Only 2-3 of them that I felt that my mates sang for my leaving. (How sweet!) The rest are those so-called classic, touching, heartbroken songs. They are nice but maybe too nice for me. I felt a little depressed and wanted to cry at some points. Together with drama music videos, I feel like the world isn't quite cheerful, is it? Oh...life! hahaha

Anyway, according to the age of people in this VIP room I should be able to understand something. I have another 2 farewell parties to go though ;-)

Thank you everyone. With love.

Namrin

The person who gave me an orange tee-shirt is in black top.

My first time in probably 4 years to meet this friend who brought her baby to Karaoke (the one in the middle). I thought it was a bit crazy idea. If you never meet her before, you may think she takes weed because she laughs every 3 minutes LOLOLOL. Actually she's a lovely and joyful woman. Another person in my link that wants to have only one child .... (Nam taking note)

Not the first boss in my life but the very first boss who I've been still in touch with. He bought me a Liverpool scarf. The authentic one from Liverpool :-) Did I tell you that? He was just back from England trip 2 days ago. I can't wait!! He forgot to bring it that night


Girl-Guy-Girl-Guy-Girl! Perfect but P' Frank betrayed us by not crossing his arms! He claimed there was not enough space. I doubt it LOL

Ampawa Floating Market

Ampawa Floating Market is a famous floating located in Samutsongkram province in Central Region, not so far away from Bangkok, about 1.5 hours drive. The highlight of Ampawa is the firefly watch at night. Ampawa is an evening market while the more famous floating market, Damnoen Saduak Floating market is a morning market. However, both places have their own charms. They share some similarities but they are pretty different in my opionion. You've been with me to Damnoen Saduak Floating market twice when Hiro's parents visited and Wakaho and her boyfriend travelled to Thailand.

With Wakaho and Masanobu in 2008
http://namrinbussayadilokskul.blogspot.com/2008/08/namrin-with-her-japanese-friends.html

With Hiroto's parents in 2006
(The story is too old. I haven't re-posted it)

My mum, Sin, my younger brother, Tip, Sin's girlfriend and I went to Ampawa market together. We finally snuck out of chaotic Bangkok during state of emergencey. We first stopped at Kunlin (meaning familiar taste in English) Seafood Restaurant for lunch. It was a cool restaurant. It's next to muddy area where it is worm shell farm. I closely inspected mud and found that there are millions of little crabs out there. I also found my lovely mudskipper! The real mudskipper! I'm so glad to see the live mudskipper with my naked eyes! I have been fond of it for a long time. So cute! :-)

Kunlin Restaurant
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=90542&id=592112018&l=ec7b31cb8f

In the late sunny afternoon, we reached Ampawa. We took a ferry to get into the market which were full of people but the officer said it's not as busy as New Year on 1st Jan. We stopped by Museum of Thai Desserts for the first stop as we expected that's going to be chilled in there (air con) but it's too crowded inside so the air con is not cool. However, I took quite many photos to present you how Thai desserts are like. We may not see everything they presented in the museum nowadays but most of them are available in Thai people's lives. I wish you could test it too!

Museum of Thai Desserts
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=90632&id=592112018&l=24d2dec9ab

Because it was extremely hot my brother and my mother didn't bother walking around. They wanted to find some shades and relax. So we split and we said that we would be back to a certain meeting point to catch a boat to see fireflies.

I walked around on my own and found a lot of nice things for you guys especially for whom are outside Thailand. There's a lot of things to window shop but because it was packed of people, my walking speed was slow. There are 2 sides of the river and I could finish only a side. This means one day I have to come back to this place to check out the other side of the river.

In the late evening, we were in the line waiting for a boat to see fireflies. It's 60 baht/person for 1 hour and 10 mins. It's great! We saw fireflies along the way. Not all the time though. The river is broad so you need to keep on your eyes open and spot on "Lampoo" trees or Sonneratia caseolaris plant (If anyone knows its common name, pls let me know). Fireflies sometimes get together at a few trees/plants and blink as if those plants are decorated with little stars. It was breathtaking how nature creates such a beauituful thing. Unfortunatley I can't take a photo because it's too dark. However, I shot some videos which I doubt whether they worked or not and after checking, 2-3 videos work! So I post it here at the bottom of this blog.

To visit Ampawa, if you have time, you can stay over night a home stay too. The market finishes at about 9PM so you can enjoy your whole afternoon eating, shopping, spotting on exotic stuff until late night. However, we planned for a day trip so we went home after firefly trip.

It was a good hot day with a few complaints from my brother and my mother that they didn't want to travel during Songkran again LOL. I didn't want to but my time is running out so I want to see more of my own country.

Sixteen more nights to sleep in Thailand in 2009


Ampawa Floating Market
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=90635&id=592112018&l=2e9a866cea

Firefly Video

Happy Thai New Year!

Today is Songkran. We started a day with State of Emergencey!!!

Can I skip this topic?

For this occasion, I also set my own New Year's resolution but within 24 hours, I broke my self-promise! He's back! Gosh! I can't help myself to say hi quietly. Is he meant to be my New Year's gift or what?

Let's overlook that topic

I am planning about the accommodation and activites with Josephine who will travel with me from Sydney to Brisbane. I realise things aren't cheap in Australia and now the exchange rate of Australian dollar is getting stronger against Thai baht. Must be because of the first topic above LOL! Why now ?!?! Damn it!

Surin Islands trip

About 6 O' Clock in the morning, my friend called me, "I and my brother and sister couldn't join Surin Islands trip, do you still want to go?
I gasped and asked "Oww. Why?"
"My brother is just passed away", my friend replied.
That's the 2nd shock. "How would that happen? He's ill?" I asked.
"No, accident. Well, but Moo is going so you two can go to this trip", my friend gave me a clearer idea.
"Oh, if she's going, I'll go then. I'm sorry about your loss" I told her
"Thank you, Nam. I gotta go. My phone is running out of battery."
"I'll talk to you more later then. Take care." I finished the conversation

During the day time, our friend, P' Moo called me she decided to not travel because of a few reasons she gave me. I understand and think I still want to make it but on one hand, I'm little scared of doing any activity related to water alone. I have bad history about it and it is also in my death prediction.

I got a chance to speak about this to a friend and instead of being encouraged to go, it was the opposite way. I thought hard for about a few hours at work. And think, maybe it is not reasonable to say but this could be a sign. I even tossed a coin!! I shouldn't go. If I go and something wrong happened to me, I wouldn't trade it with my great trip to Australia. Later in the same day, I went to a funeral of my friend's brother.

I have to say this is hard because I didn't expect this trip would be called off. I'm afraid it will be postponed to the time I leave Thailand so I miss it now meaning that I miss it for at least 1 year. On the bright side, I save some money from not joining this trip :-) I hope someday I will come back and go to Surin Islands with someone as a minimum requirement haha

I bought air tickets

Finally, the time has come and I managed to buy the 1-year valid air tickets to Sydney, Australia. I'll travel on 1st May and might be back on 30th April. Hopefully I'll fly back home to get more clothes & stuff or have a short break there LOL

I don't really know and my expectation has changed a bit from time to time.

I have got 2 babies

Hello! This must be good news! I have 2 babies delivered. One is a boy and one is a girl. The boy was born yesterday at 171 cms and 80 kgs. The girl is born today at 165 cms and 48 kgs. How skinny is that?? Now please do not tell me that I'm skinny because I'm not! And my baby girl is obviously skinnier! LOL

I will feed my babies by myself for 6 days and then I'll have to leave them in Bangkok because I'm going to Australia. I may never see them again but they should be fine. L'Oreal will take care of them.

And now when I leave, they've got 2 new comers! Hmm!!

Happy Birthday Pansin!

Today is my younger brother's birthday! Happy Birthday Sin! I know you love the wallet :-)

Your lovely sister

We had a great dinner last night at Baan Naam Kieng Din













Actually I'm the one who breaks the wing (right wing). Then, my mother wonders how can they crave the whole swan. So Sin found out that the wing is inserted into the body of the swan. Very nice dish decoration that we destroy LOL! (So the restaurant can't reuse, hehe)

Eventhough it's just a game, it is not a game!

It's another game I missed but Liverpool made me proud as they have reached the top of Premier League table! I'm so glad for their performance. It's just 0-1 from away game against Fulham at Craven Cottage but it means sth when it leads us to be No.1! Maybe this will be only a night before Man Utd takes No.1 position back but I would like to spend at least 24 hours to celebrate this moment!

Hopefully we will make it this season. It's hard but we are nearly getting there! Come on, Liverpool!! Com' on lads!

Zouk

Zouk is a Brazilian dance. It's not the first time I've heard of it. This guy, Trevor, introduced it into my brainwave. However, I can't dance Zouk but just caught a bit of how it is different from Salsa, Bachata and Merenge LOL

There are 3 performances
I'll show you only the first 2 then because I think the 3rd performance is similar to the first one.




The 2nd performance is not Zouk. It is called Axe' pronounced as ax-say or ax-chay. (Very new to me so I'm not sure LOL)

Here is the link. I hope it works. If not, pls kindly let me know.


And now, it's go refresh my Salsa skill after 2 months!

Koh Chang with my brothers and Tip

I finally arranged a weekend trip to hang out with my 2 younger brothers. I personally think we should do this before we're too grown up and too busy to travel together. And in a month, I'm going to Australia for at least 1 year so this is the offer they can't refuse (hahaha!) Note: we also have an invited guest who is my first brother's girlfriend, Tip.

We drove to Trad, the very eastern province of Thailand to take a ferry to Koh Chang (Elephant Islands). This is the first time we get there by ourselves so we a bit struggle. However, Tip has a few friends who've been here often so we check the road by a map and by phone! LOL

At first we arrived at the wrong pier (Oops!!) so I took a few photos as a good memory hehe (first 3 pics). At the wrong pier, my youngest brother, Mai, thought that it would be cool to take a photo with the Eastern Apex sign so he suddenly got off the car. My first brother, Sin, saw that so he drove to park the car besides a giant coach. We assumed that when Mai turned around, he would find that we left him behind, LOL! Damn it! Mai could guess the prank so you could see him making a victory pose while I hid to take him a panic-faced photo!! :-D I'm a great sister you see!

OK, even though we lost, we caught the ferry in time and arrived at Salakphet Seafood and Resort 45 mins earlier than the half-day snorkelling trip. So we had to rush to have lunch and checked in. I also didn't miss the chance to introduce you our accommodation (by photo). This is a 4-bedroom which cost 2500 baht per night (about AUD 100/night). Our accommodation is in Fisherman area so you can see that this place also have natural pools for fishes and crabs. Cool!

Our first day of snorkelling at Koh Wai was OK! Koh Wai is a small island near Koh Chang. It's about 45 mins by boat. The snorkelling spot isn't as colourful as Koh Tao to be honest but only 6 hours away from BKK (including ferry) I think this is the best you can ask for. After that, we had snacks on the boat and headed to Koh Laoya which is famous for swimming, sunbathing and beaching. I had a nightmare here about 10 years ago. I fell off the wood bridge at Koh Laoya!! I (again) and Tip went to the bridge and we both were safe this time :-D Phew...

After got back from a half day trip, we just realised nobody brought playing cards and then they started blaming me! That's what wonderful brothers do, right? LOL Anyway, Mai prepared a game which I don't know how to call...sth like tower I guess so we played that for a few rounds until we starved enough. We had dinner at our place because it's not only a resort but also famous as a seafood restaurant :-)

On the 2nd day, we had a full day trip (9AM-5PM) to Koh Rang. We visited the islands around Koh Rang which are Koh ThongLang, Koh Yak Yai, and Koh Yak Lek. Then, we stopped by Koh Wai again for an afternoon break. Today's snorkelling was quite awesome. It's more colourful and had a lot more to see than Koh Wai. Unfortunately I didn't bring my silly underwater camera with me. That was quite a big mistake :-S

There was a bit of rain at Koh Thong Lang (1st dive of today) but you know I always bring my own sunshine so after half an hour or so, it's gone. And the rest of the day was bright enough to give me a bit of suntan :-D

Sin realised we almost ran out of petrol so he had to fill up the tank a bit and we found that the petrol price on the islands is about 10 baht more expensive than the mainland. (25->35 baht/litre) And I took a bit of gas station photo just for my own memory!

We left Koh Chang in the morning because Sin had a meeting with his classmates and his lecturer in Monday evening. Our trip was safe but we got 2 tickets from the police -_-" ....and I'm writing this for our own records! hehe

Next trip is during 10th-15th April to Surin Maritime National Park, the best snorkelling site in Thailand....oh I can't wait :-) I wish I could take you with me

Namrin

Photos (more photos than Facebook): http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202009/Koh%20Change%20with%20bros%20and%20Tip%2021-23%20Mar/

I am dead

Do you know the person who writes this blog has been dead since 2 years ago?

She doesn't have heart. She wakes up every day wishing there will be no tomorrow. However, she has to wake up every day without her heart. She smiles because she is taught to do, she laughs because she follows others' reactions. She cries because she pretends. She asks and answers just to show that her brain is still ticking! But she has no feelings, no sympathy, no love, no likes, and no heart.

She's dead....

Cried myself to sleep#2

I'm afraid I cried myself to sleep again for..... many reasons... I hate it :'(

Potato Crisp test

Hi all

Not only I like hair colour test, but I also like other kinds of test and today I coincidentally bumped into a group of Potato crisp (chips) test. I think it should be a survey but what they asked me to do is like a test. I find it very challenging! Love it though, hehe!

They showed me a list of different flavours that are available in Thai market. Then, asked me which flavours I have tried. Here I found myself is a big fan of Lay's because I have tried all of 10 + flavours they have released and some of them is only a limited edition. I must mention here that my most favourite flavour of crisps of all time is Sweet Basils! And it's only available in Thailand!!! The second favourite one is in Oz...I think it's Sweet Chilli but I'm not sure which brand. I will have to find out soon!


The surveyor asked me to taste a few pieces of one flavour which I guess it's Extra Cheese Flavour or sth like that. Then, they gave me 5 plates and asked me which dish has the same test as the 1st dish. There are 2 out of 5 plates that have the same flavour!! To be honest, after the 3rd dish, I can't tell anymore. It seems to be similar with one another so at the end I guess. Well, they didn't tell whether I'm correct or not but from my experience, I get 1 dish right!

Or you think you can do better? LOL

A Wedding in Damneon Saduak, Ratchaburi

Hello guests.

On 8th March, you have been invited to my wedding day, remember? ...LOL Nah not mine! It's a wedding ceremony of my workmate and her groom. It was held in the same province I grew up, Ratchaburi but her hometown is in another district which is more famous than the main downtown I lived because it's very near the floating market! Just 1-2 kms away!!

Unfortunately, I and other workmates got lost a bit so we were late and missed the marching part which is the major reason why I came to this wedding, hahaha! I'm kinda expecting sth very traditional and local Thai wedding style.

The very first part would be related to monks and then, probably the marching ceremony. A later part of her wedding is held at home (see from photos). And the final part is the dinner & party but my workmate arranged it at lunch time. So it isn't quite like a party and it was VERY hot. We were sweating while we were eating. lol

OK let's enjoy the photos. Congratulations to the bride and the bridegroom :-)

http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202009/Wedding%20of%20Kob%20and%20Tee-8%20Mar%2009/

Survived from a dinner at a Korean BBQ restaurant

It's been always a great pleasure to meet old friends from uni (We're not old yet but just oldER). We don't catch up like this often because we're lazy I guess lol. A better excuse is one of our friends lives outside BKK so it isn't convenient to meet up and 2 of them got married so it's even harder!! However, in fact, I met my friend who lived in Pattaya most often than I meet the rest of the group so formerly it was a lousy excuse!! LOL

I was interviewed why I would be doing work and holiday visa and what is WHV and any special inspiration, etc etc... We talked about how our lives are going and a little bit about one of my best friends, Nitch who passed away from cancer in Feb 2008. It was a big shock for all of us.


All of us without Nitchaporn :-(
We miss you. We actually had a seat for you where I was sitting on it!! lol
I circled where the fan is


The so-called farewell dinner went well until we started talking about politics or sth and we seemed to speak too loudly now. My friend closed the door of this VIP room and another friend thought it wouldn't have a good circulation (we did barbeque) if we closed the door so she turned on the electric fan which it was hung under the air-con. I started asking for a group photo and then, I wasn't sure how the photo was like so I left the seat to get the camera from the waiter's hand. And suddenly, BIG!! BAM!! BOOM!! The electric fan fell off. My friends who sat in front of the fan were stunned and they barely moved whilst I was speechless to tell them to hide under the table. It happened and finished faster than I would speak!!

The noise is loud enough to get attention from the other outside the room and in a minute the owner of the restaurant came in to check out the damage. He apologised and we were teasing a bit about getting 20% discount or this meal should be free of charge, hahaha! My friend who turned on the fan got blame a bit for fun and we changed the topic to talk about what just happened and this was so lucky that everybody was safe. We found a fan blade on my seat which meant if I was sitting at that seat during that time, I might be in the hospital by now!! Phew!!

And it made me my day lol! What a night!

Check out more photos from this link:
http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202009/Korean%20BBQ%20with%20Chula%20mates/


Nothing happened yet

The fan fell off from the wall. OMG!!

How it looked on the floor! And one of fan blades is on my seat!! Luckily I moved to the other side of the table just a second before it happened


The owner checked out what was going on. Tae was relieved and puzzled how she could survive. It's nearly just above her head!


This is bbq beef and I proudly announced that I had most of it. I'm kinda proud of myself