Border town

The mid-90s Toyota Camry tears along the highway leaving nothing by a faint trail of dust in its wake. We sit, slouched and broken from sheer fatigue on what appears to be a seat that has been well used. Thankfully there's air-con. A muffled drone fills the car, a combination of the car's engine and the hum of our car moving at 100 kilometers per hour. Occasionally a car will overtake us but for the majority of the drive we pass countless trucks and motorbikes. We alternate between broken sleep and the clichéd gaze out of the car window. There's very little conversation, the Taxi driver is focused on the road and we each sit with headphones in our own head space. The music of Julia and Angus Stone keeps me entertained, I can only guess what the other two are listening to - Adele, Chris Brown, JJ Lin, who knows...

Our adventure into the Kingdom of Cambodia started a day earlier on the morning of Tuesday the 2nd of August when we casually checked out of our Bangkok apartments. Determined to get to Cambodia by road we unanimously voted against the ridiculously early 7:30am coach and agreed on a 2500 Baht private Taxi. Private taxi meant we decided to depart Bangkok at the more accommodating time of 2:00 pm. The drive from Bangkok to the Thai border town of Aranya Prapet took a little over three hours and was comfortable and I can say that I slept through most of the journey. We were abruptly awoken by the driver who informed us this is as far as he could take us. We had arrived at the Thai border town of Aranya Prapet. Almost instantly the taxi was surrounded by locals in green shirts each bidding for us to use their service, we hadn't even left the car but they could smell a tourist a mile away. The service of course was to help us cross the Thai/Cambodian border. In return for a small fee, they would fill out the necessary paperwork and show us where to get the Cambodia Entry Visa. Despite their pitches and desperate protests we decided to sort the Cambodian Visa out for ourselves and headed towards Cambodia.

Leaving Thailand was easy enough, pass through immigration, get your exit stamp and literally walk out of Thailand. The Cambodian Visa was slightly trickier, the Visa issuing office was separate to the entry point. Which means you buy the Visa (20 USD) take or provide a photo, wait for the Visa to be issued and finally walk to the Immigration check point. The confusion was quickly sorted by following the large number of backpacking tourists that were doing exactly the same thing.

So there we found ourselves in the dusty Cambodian border town of Poipet. The change in scenery was a welcome sight. The main road was all dirt, there were people were pulling carts of loaded with fresh produce, traffic was continuous, both leaving Cambodia and leaving Thailand. There were beggars about and almost every foreigner was being approached by some local trying to sell something and every corner had a casino. It was raw and and very confrontational. The steady stream of tourists were all heading onwards to Siem Reap we wanted to be different, we wanted to stay the night here in Poipet. Since we had not arranged accommodation we wandered around town and inquired about walk-in rates at the various Casinos. We eventually decided to stay at Grand Diamond City. At 1000 Baht a night with a complimentary 500 Baht Casino Chip it was a no-brainer (we would later spend a lot more than 1500 Baht at this Casino).

Poipet is a strange town. It has a hauntingly, transient feel and yet there's a certain charm. During the day it's all hustle and bustle, there's always a backpacker on the main road, there's always a haze of dust at least 1 metre high and there's always noise. Yet, once night falls, the town shuts up and only local street boys roam the streets with the occasional street food vendor.

Our first night in Cambodia and for dinner we had the tasty Khymer BBQ. After which we met some local street boys would acted as tour guides and Foreign Exchange merchants who kindly took us out to some local party on the back of their bikes. As with most of the trip so far in involved a bottle of liquor and some soda water. We ended up at the Casino later that night and gambled the night away.

The following morning still half asleep we head to the Poipet Bus Depot to start the journey towards Siem Reap. The thought of catching a bus with backpackers for the next 3 hours does not appeal to us so again we opt for a taxi. After purchasing the 40 USD taxi voucher a driver approaches and motions for us to follow him to his car, a mid 90s Toyota Camry.

"Do you know mister, of this place?" - Julia & Angus Stone

Please do not disturb!

Way back in 2005 Bangkok revealed to me the insanely hedonistic and almost contradictory spiritual side of Thailand. This year in 2011 Bangkok presented a completely different experience. There were no bustling markets, no seedy tourist trips, no pseudo-ladies, no Pad Thai, no boutique-filled malls and no blue skies. Due to the unaccommodating weather majority of our time was spent lounging about our Sukhumvit serviced apartments (4000 B/Night) occasionally leaving the comfort of our lodgings for some nearby street food. It's a different experience when you have no intention to sightsee.

It was a short two days in Bangkok but still managed to eat plenty of food, check out some new bars, take an excellent photo (MeltMe), listen to live Thai music and most importantly catch up with old mates from Highschool and London.

"I know you!" - Me

Malaysian Road Trip - Yeah (x3)

With a couple of days to spare we decided upon a mid-week road trip. Armed with a car and an insatiable appetite we ventured north towards Penang with a customary stop through Ipoh. Ultimately, it would be a journey in search for for Chendol and Kuih sound-tracked by the likes of Ke$ha, Chris Brown and Pitbull.

As you can see, it was mostly driving and eating. I remember driving up to these parts of Malaysia when I was a child and eating a crap load and always wanting to go to Komtar shopping centre. Years later, happy to say, not much has changed. Thanks for the trips lad!

"Ain't no mountain high enough" - Marvin Gaye

Home Sweet Home (Part II)

Departing Taipei with less than 2 hours of sleep and a belly full of delicious Din Tai Fung generally indicates a successful trip. With the bulk of the crew heading back to Hong Kong I was lucky to have found myself a travel buddy to keep me company on my AirAsia flight to Malaysia. Despite being afforded luxury of not sitting next to a complete stranger the majority of the 4 hour flight was spent sleeping. We arrived in Kuala Lumpur just after 8:30 am and I was generously offered a lift from LCCT back into Central KL as well as a quick snack in Petaling Jaya. It feels good to be back in Malaysia!

First two nights were spent at Swiss Inn just off Petaling Street which was convenient but not so comfortable. The final nights were spent at Furama, Butik Bintang and a customary night spent on my friend's couch (I've become a professional couch surfer). My time was spent catching up with old London faces, relatives and of course, eating periodically at every waking hour. Hawker food around Bangsar, Petaling Street as well as delicious sit down meals at Green View and Loong Foong. Unfortunately during our Malaysian Road Trip I had missed out on kuih which meant I obsessively spent my days searching for it around KL.

I definitely have an affinity with Malaysia. I wonder if I could live and work here for a while? In any case, I've probably put on 5 kgs in the last few days and need to get out of here ASAP! I miss the caramelised pork from Seng Kee already ...

It was all white, everything

I don't think I'll ever tire of visiting Taiwan. Another weekend trip to Taipei to celebrate a friend's Birthday at the Godskitchen 2F White event.

Excellent weekend - although a little heavy on the partying. Pleasant surprise. Met somebody this weekend who also, by coincidence will be on the same flight with me to Kuala Lumpur. So begins the start of two weeks of travel. Bliss.

"We can make fast or we can make it last" - Lupe Fiasco, All Black Everything

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

I sit in an unfamiliar, well lit conference room. The air conditioning unit humming in the background on full blast. The door opens and HR drops two ledgers on the desk. "I'll give you some time to read over the contract. Then if you're happy, please sign both copies". Momentary panic, I was about to give this company the next x years of my life. It's a strange feeling when you see a monetary figure on piece of paper. This figure is what this company values you at, this is how much you are worth to them on a yearly basis. I'm Yours!

There I sit, not completely enthused to sign the contract, I wonder if this will bear any influence on my time here. Despite the hesitation I am looking forward to starting work. I sign and leave the office that will soon become very familiar. Provided I pass the UK and Australian Background checks (I have no reason not to) I am now a Hong Kong employee!

I had wasted almost half of 2011! This was undoubtedly the period I was waiting for, to travel around Asia. I have a little bit of time between now and my tentative start date of the 8th August. Work has estimated a 3 week Visa turnaround, secretly I hope it's a little longer just so I can spend more time abroad. Flights booked. See you back here in August!