Grub Ma Eek Krung

“Return Again” in Thai

First of all, I hope that all of my American friends had a Happy Thanksgiving! Fortunately, I was able to find a way to celebrate again this year.

It’s been a busy month and a half. I wrote my last blog entry while I was in Thailand. Since then, I’ve gone back to Singapore, only to find myself on another business trip already – first to Malaysia, and now back in Thailand… full circle, in only 6 weeks.

My last trip to Thailand was a lot of fun. Fortunately, I was able to make the trip at the same time that my friends Ann & Chris were visiting Thailand with their son. It was great to be able to hang out with them again. We went out to eat a lot, and I finally made my way down to Pattaya beach. I learned an important lesson on that trip too… take the first class bus.

I was going to meet Ann & Chris at the beach, since they were going down with her family. So, I made my way down to the bus station & bought a ticket to the beach. I was told that the trip would only take about 2 hours. Well, I knew there was going to be trouble about 10 minutes into the trip, when the bus made its first stop! We stopped for about 10 minutes while the driver & crew (not sure what the crew did, other than talk with the driver while driving) got out for a snack. After that break, we started driving again, only to stop 5 minutes later for gas. After that, the journey continued on – stopping every 10-15 minutes to pick up or drop off passengers. 4 hours later, I reached the beach. I later learned that if I had paid 60 baht (about $2) more, I could have been on a first class bus, that didn’t make any stops.

Oh well, the beach was a lot of fun. I went swimming & jet skiing, and we played in the water with Ann & Chris’ son. We also were visited at the beach by our friend & former co-worker Kittiwan. She quit & moved to a city closer to Pattaya with her husband a few years ago. It was really nice to see her again.

Another new experience for me in Bangkok was my trip to Safari World. My friend Aor took me there with some of her co-workers. I thought it was going to be like a zoo, but it actually was much more like a real safari. Safari World is a large park that you drive through – you never get out of your car. There are tons of animals wandering around – able to walk right up to your car. Probably my favorites were the full-grown rhinoceroses. One of them walked right up to our car, while the other passengers were yelling “CB, roll up the window!” :-) I don’t think the glass would have stopped him, if he really wanted to get inside the car.

There was another section of the park that I did keep the windows up – the dangerous cats section. We had to drive through another set of double-gates to get in, and there were signs everywhere saying to keep your windows up at all times. Outside there were full-grown lions & tigers, just feet away from the car.

Bangkok was fun, but I was there for 4 weeks & was ready to go back to Singapore. When I got back, I made a last-minute decision to do a triathlon. It was a Sprint distance race (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run), which was good because I hadn’t done any training. Probably my biggest obstacle, though, was that I didn’t have a bike here. :-) So, it was time to hurry up & buy some wheels.

I had been planning on getting a mountain bike, since I don’t have a decent one back in the US, and because it’s probably better to mountain bike in Singapore than to risk riding on the roads. So, I shopped around a bit, and wound up getting my new ride just 2 days before the race.

The race was a lot of fun. I was really happy with my time! The swim seemed really fast, especially considering that I hadn’t swam any distance in more than a year. But, I think I was helped by the fact that it was salt water, and I was more buoyant. The bike leg was really good too – I was surprised how fast I was able to go on the mountain bike. The run leg sucked… but that’s because I’m not a good runner. :-) All in all, though, I was very happy with how the day went.

Incidentally, my times were:

Swim (750m): 13:15
Bike (20km): 50:59 (including T1 & T2 times)
Run (5km): 31:29
Total: 1:35:43

It’s nice having a bike here – I wish I had bought it earlier. It’s a fun way to get around, although I try to stay off the streets unless it’s pretty early in the morning. I used my bike the next weekend to go from my place out to the airport (about 15 miles). It was a nice trip, and a fun afternoon, but I had another motive. I wanted to see the A380!

Singapore Airlines is the first to fly the new Airbus A380 – the double-decker jumbo airliner. It’s a very big plane, but it’s super quiet. It’s an odd looking plane, though – I think the 747 looks better. I had taken one wrong turn on my trip out there, so I was a little late to the airport & was only able to see it landing from a distance. Next time I’ll see it up close!

Before I knew it, I was heading out on another business trip. I started out in Penang, Malaysia – an island off the Western coast of peninsular Malaysia; close to the border with Thailand. Penang’s an interesting island. The Northern end is resorts, and the southern end is a huge industrial park. It’s amazing to see all of the companies here – many of the world’s largest electronics companies have factories here, all next door to each other.

On the weekend, a few co-workers took me out to go hiking on Penang Hill. I thought it would be a leisurely climb up to a nice lookout point. Wrong! It was much steeper & higher than I had expected. We hiked for about 2 hours before we reached the top, and by that point I was totally drenched. Fortunately for me, my leg held out to the top of the hill before it cramped up. Ouch! At least I got a spectacular view of the entire island, not to mention the Penang Bridge, which connects the island with the mainland. It’s supposedly the longest suspension bridge in SE Asia.

After Penang, it was time to head back to Bangkok – the 2nd time in as many months. I had been a little annoyed that I had to be in Thailand this week – I was planning on celebrating Thanksgiving in Singapore with a few friends. We had gone to Brewerks last year, and had a great time. Fortunately, I was able to find a turkey dinner in Bangkok, at a bar called Bully’s – complete with potatoes, cranberries, etc… The only thing was – I was a little late to dinner, and they were out of pumpkin pie! D’oh. It’s amazing how much a meal can affect your state of mind – I was so happy to have found a turkey dinner! I only wish I could have shared it with some friends & family. Rest assured – I thought of you all while I was eating.

Well, it’s only a few more days for me in Bangkok. I’m heading back to Singapore this weekend… and just in time. I’m running in the Standard Chartered ½ Marathon this weekend in Singapore. And, I’m doing it on about a quarter of the training that I should be. :-) My only goal is to finish it & have a good time. It will be interesting running in this heat.

BTW – Good news! I’m looking forward to seeing most of you again soon. That’s right – I’ll be back for a visit in January! Man, these 5 months have gone incredibly fast. I’ll be back for about 2 weeks, and then it’s back for my final leg in Singapore.