It's time to travel!

Well, I just passed the 1-month mark in Singapore, and it’s about time I get outta here. Next week I’ll leave Singapore on my first trip – this time heading up to Thailand. I’ll be heading up to Chiang Mai, which is in the Northern part of the country; up in the Mountains. I’ve never been there, so I’m very excited to see a new part of that wonderful country. I’ll be meeting up with my friends ReAnn & Jon (they’re in Thailand on their honeymoon), as well as my friends Pooklook & Brian (they live there). Pooklook used to work with me in MN, but she & her husband moved back to Chiang Mai with his work.

We’ll be heading out for a 2 night trek in Chiang Mai. I’m not sure what that all entails but it could very well involve an elephant ride (I hope it does), and seeing some beautiful landscape. I’ve heard many great things about Chiang Mai. We’ll also be going to the Night Bazaar there, and doing some other things around the city. I can’t wait!

After Chiang Mai, I’m flying back to Bangkok & then getting a ride up to Korat for work. I’ll be up there for 2-3 weeks, working & hanging out with my good friends. I’m very excited to see them again. On the weekends, I’ll head back to Bangkok to enjoy the big city & hang out with other friends there. (and I’ll have a cell phone this time!!! :-) ). I’m really lucky that my vacation to Chiang Mai happened to coincide with a business trip. Makes it a lot more cost-effective for me. :-)

It’s about time I start making my other travel plans for the year. There are so many places that I want to see. I probably won’t make it to them all, but here’s my wish list:

• Chiang Mai
• Bangkok - for Songkran (The annual water festival. Picture a nation-wide water fight) in April
• Koh Samui – an island in Thailand, with some great diving (that’s where Robert De Niro was trying to send his daughter in Meet the Parents)
• Angkor Wat – huge Buddhist temple in Cambodia.
• India
• Maldives – tiny islands south of India with picturesque waters. Only a few feet above sea level. Great diving!
• Similan Islands – islands off the west coast of Thailand and Myanmar
• Australia (again) – either Darwin or Perth
• Hong Kong
• Beijing / The Great Wall

I stumbled upon a fun activity for the weekend. I was upstairs today, talking with one of the admins, when she told me that there was a volleyball tournament down at the beach this weekend. Turns out, her team is short one player & I told her I love to play. So, I’ll be playing volleyball on the beach on Saturday. Should be about a million degrees with no shade. I’ll have to bring lots of water & sunscreen.

I also had 2 orientation sessions with the relocation company that I’ve been dealing with. They took me around Singapore, and showed me some fun places to hang out & fun things to do. I’m definitely going to take windsurfing lessons, but it will have to wait until I get back from Thailand. I also plan to do some kayaking (start out in one of the reservoirs, and then move on to sea kayaking – I have to be skilled to avoid the cargo ships). There’s also places to do wakeboarding, but it’s kind of expensive to hire a boat. So, I’ll start off with cable-skiing. As soon as I can do jumps, then I’ll hire a boat.

This weekend I’m going to go on the ‘Treetop Walk’ at the Bukit Timah nature reserve. Hopefully my camera won’t fog up (from the inside) like it did the last time I was at there, a few years ago. That was a humid day!

Incidentally, the temperature here has not been nearly as hot as I expected it to be. It’s been in the 80s to mid-90s since I’ve been here. Not too bad. But the humidity can be really bad – it’s usually 80-90%!