Following on from last time, we did make it to the Cinema for just under 4 quid for the VIP section in a massive multiplex. We saw The Inside Man which was good but would have been even better if it finsihed 20 mins ealrier - it really tailed off at the end. The most unsual thing about the cinema is that just before a film starts in Thailand , you have to stand up and observe the national anthem. As the long anthem is being played, a montage of the King of Thailand is played on the screen. The Royal family is very very important over here, they are massive pictures of the King(most of the time with a camera!) everywhere, there is certainly more of a attachment to their royal fmaily than ours. Did slip slightly from the no beer rule, whilst watching the Newcastle - Sunderland game, but nevermind.
The next day me and Paul explored Bangkok using the old and the new. We got a old style river boat for a 20 minute journey, which really gives you a chance to see the city and its variety; the old palaces, chinese buildings, mosques and many skyscrapers. The boat was really good, but we had to be careful not to stand or sit in the area reserved for Monks!We moved from the ancient travel to Bangkoks version of the tube, well sort of cause its actually overground and is called the Skytrain. It lets you see loads of Bangkok and is much cleaner, cheaper and comfortable than London underground. We got the Skytrain to MBK the massive shopping center and for just under 20quid I got myself a watch, pair of shorts and a pair of very comfy fake Birkenstocks. After a quick recharge of the batteries we headed out for a few beers, which proved surprisingly harder than on previous nights, because of the election the next day all beer sales were suspended. We heard various reasons druing the course of the night, the most plausibale was that the authorites want as many people as possible to vote so they take away the beer and subsequent hangovers the next day. After a lot of hunting and asking fellow travellers where they had got theirs we found a bloke with a van who was dishing out bottles and cocktails to all and sundry. Once we found somewhere we decided to stay there and we did until the early hours during which the number of fellow travellers had converged and made a Thai man with a van very rich indeed.
On the Wednesday just ambled about during the day and in the evening we went to the 'notorious' area called Patpong.Basically the strip is a collection of really horrible bars, with loads of tacky neon signs, expensive and watered down drinks even the ladies arent that nice. Walking to and from the terrible bars we were pestererd all the time with blokes shoving pieces of paper with various 'acts; that for the right price a lady will do for you. The place was horrible and after an hour or so we left and headed back to Khosan Road. The night didnt get much better as we ended up in a bar called Gullivers which could best be described as the Bangkok Chicago Rock. Still we have had our fair share of fun recently so cant really complain.
After checking out of our hotel on Thursday, I had to find myself a cheap CD player (as my ipod was still broken) there was no way I was going to have a 16 hour journey with no music! At 6 we boarded the sleeper train at Bangkok train station, the set up is that there are 2 big seats facing each other, the seats pull out to form a bed on the bottom and there is also a bed above them which is pulled out. Almost as soon as we got on the train people started putting the beds out! 7 oclock bedtimes are a pretty alien concept to us and perhaps most except the Thais it seems, so we decided to head down to the food/bar cart. We met 3 lads from Essex who had also decided that 7 was far too early to go bed and we spent a few hours swapping stories and pints. The bar shut at 10 so there was no choice we had to head back to our beds, which after the novelty wore off soon turned into a uncomfortable, hot and noisy sleeping area. It wasnt the best sleep I've ever had, but waking up at 5 and looking out the window and seeing the Thai countryside in a sea of mist was a pretty damn good view. Once our train stopped we had to get a 4 hour bus journey to Phuket which would have been okay if the bus wasnt crowded (basically natives can just jump on the bus at various points and stand in the aisle for the very long journey) very hot and if Paul didnt have a very very dodgy stomach. That problem certainly wasnt helped by the fact that the only toilet on there was padlocked, it was certainly touch and go for a while but Paul managed to hold on just! On arrival in Phuket we were met by Mark from the TEFL school and he took us to our home for the next 4 weeks. At first glance the rooms were really good, nice size big bathroom and plenty of storage but it soon became apparent that the 1 fan in the room wasnt going to stem the searing heat. Another negative was that the room was litterally yards from all the classrooms, it didnt really seem like you could just switch off from everything there. Paul felt the same and we both decided that we would have to find somewhere else, certainly with air con. Rooms aside the school and the people that worked were really impressive and we soon decided to explore the surrounding area. We soon met someone else on the course, Sean from Canada a really nice bloke who shall we say has similar interests...alcohol! We had a few that night but not too many, the travelling really took it out of us and it was a fairly early end to the night in comaprison to recent events.
Looking for alternative accomodation the next day proved alot harder than we anticipated, our frustration wasnt helped by the heat. However, the very last place we decided to check after a 4 hour search proved to be just right, its an unserviced hotel. For just over 70quid we got a large room, with a large bed, nice bathroom, a fridge(vital to keep all the water cool - I've been drinking like a camel) and most importantly air con. Its actually cheaper than the TEFL school, its only downside is that is in Phuket Town whereas the school is just outside the town - a 10/15 minute bike journey. I know its that long cause me and Paul decided we would hire a bike which again proved very cheap 40quid for a month so we could get around, Paul is more than an adequate driver, I just sit on the back and hold on! After the ardous task of getting a place, and with one eye on the course stating on Monday we decided to let our hair down one last time (well thats we thought then, it has since proved the opposite). Myself, Sean and Paul headed into Patong a 20 minute drive form the school, Patong is full of loads of bars most of which were descibred by the school staff as 'interesting'. It soon became apparent though that getting alchol would be a problem, as there were more elections planned so all the bars on the main strip werent selling alochol! Luckily we managed to find a Italian restaurant down a side street, where the staff greeted us with not a food menu but a cocktail menu which unfortunately included Long Island ice teas. Dan was keeping me updated with updates on the Yeovil score, which proved a demanding task as the Glovers tried their hardest to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, winning 4-3. The boost of a vital Yeovil win increased my spirits which were alrady well boosted by a few Changs and the old Long Islands. An interseting night followed, but Ill leave that for another time!!!
Sunday was a very delicate day, and primarily was all about recharging the batteries ready for the big day on Monday. We had a quick scout of Phuket on the bike, bought a few essentials from Tesco (sorry Dad) and was in bed for 10.
We arrived on Monday morning with 20 others, it was clear that the group was vaired with various aged people hailing from America, Canada, England India, Australian and a girl from Manchester. The 1st day was pretty much about getting to know the course and also our classmates, it was clear from the off that it was going to be a really well run and interesting alongside some top people. Paul likes to look after himself and so we had to find a gym to join, luckily there is a health spa 2 minutes around the corner from the school. Its amazing a very luxurous and realxing place with all the usual (steam room, jaccuzi, gym) and a lovely outdoor pool. As I have increasingly found in Thailand, it is very cheap and we got monthly membership for 20quid certainly looking at 3 maybe 4 times the price in England. Its so close to the school that there is no excuse to nip there to chill out or build them muscles - Paul is determined to teach me how to increase my rather gangly frame! All in all a really positive day which made me really hopeful of the next few weeks.
Tuesday was pretty much about getting to know the concept of teaching English to non-speakers. Its all very structured and there are loads of resources including some great staff to help us out which was good because we were told we would be teaching our 1st lesson on Wednesday. Despite a few nerves, the fact that we were so well assisted and prepared it went really well. Each lesson is split into half one half about Vocab the other grammar, luckily I was paired with Paul. My half was about teaching vocab related to people around you i.e step-mum, niece, classmate and acquaintance. My lesson was slighltly different from everyone else on the course cause it was a 1-1 but it went really well, inevitably I made some mistakes but I knew aftewards what I had done wrong so hopefully I wont do them next time. Each lesson is evaluated by a member of staff and the general conclusion was 'really good - 1st lesson' so I was pretty chuffed with how it all went. Teaching is split over 2 days so 11 people do 1 day and the other do it the next day, the beauty of that is that you get the next afternoon off. Luckily mine and Pauls half were pretty much the people were closest to on the course, and we all went out and let off some steam that night. The next day was greeted by a pretty bad hangover and I learnt a very important lesson, you need to have a pretty clear head to concentrate in lessons so late night drinking sessions probably are best kept to a minumum during the week anyway! The morning was pretty much spent looking at the clock waiting fro half 12 and the beach. The beach we went to was called Ni Harn (there are 5 or 6 in the surrounding area) and it probably goes down as the most beauitful view I have ever seen. Lush white sand, crystal clear and warm water, with big palm treed hills either side and its very quite. The boys amongst us well were boys and spent what seemed like hours messing about in the sea basically getting battered by some pretty big and powerful waves - we were very organised kept having a head count after each one so we didnt lose anyone! It was a really relaxing afternoon and much needed.
Friday morning was much better with a clear head and I really started to feel how much I have improved with regards to the course within just 1 week, bodes well for the future. A few of us decided we would start the weeknd off with a night in Patong, a few turned into actually 17. I soon found myself organising this large group with regard to what bar etc, but we pretty much all stayed together and by all accounts everyone had a great time - even my long island induced dancing didnt stop people talking to me. Its so good to meet people from so many different countries/backgrounds/situations, and I can genuinely say that there is no one I dislike. I got home at 6 and slept in the clothes I went out in so it must have been good!
Paul woke me up at 9 so I didnt have much sleep, basically just potted about near the school with the others, went to the gym for the steam room to sweat out the beer. We soon found ourselves back in the pub, which has quickly turned into the groups local 'E-Sarn'. Despite seeing the cheating diving champions beat Utd, the night soon picked up some pace. Huge games of Killer Pool soon started and then some silly bugger said shall we get some whisky. Basically over here you can buy whole bottles of spirits and people just sit and share, some nightclubs you can even take your own bottle in and you just pay for the mixers. So a group of us were soon on the '100 pipers' a snip at just 4quid a bottle. The night just carried on and on, and again I found myself back at the hotel at a time when some people are waking up! Today is defo going to be a quiet one!
Anyway, so far so very very good, everything seems to be going really well on all levels, oh and the bloddy Glovers only went and beat Huddersfield to ensure safety - life couldnt get much better!
Me and Paul on the River Taxi
Few beers down the line, even the camera went a bit drunk! (not really just off my mobile rather than my digital camera)
Paul on the train the seat opposite him pulls out to form the bed on the bottom. The silver ladder leads to the pull out bed on the top...as the picture below shows.
1 comment:
You forgot the part about your hot American runner and surfer friends!!!! So not cool, Seb. P.s. BC tonight?
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