The Journey(s) of Ian

Mobile Blogging from here . [Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

A birthday event—helping the orphans and socially disposed of Thailand Here, residing in the 3rd world, we can forget how relatively wealthy we in the first world are. While it is true that the ‘western world’ does have many problems and social injustices which should be addressed, it is equally true that we should also turn our attention outwards to others, in other countries, and do what we can to help. Or at least that is what I believe, in accordance with my humanist beliefs. Thus I decided, after consultation with the people concerned, to not simply give a gift to my family when each birthday rolled around, but to rather give a donation to a worthy cause in whatever region I found myself in at the time. Being in Pattaya near the time of my brother Brett’s birthday I decided that a donation to a school for orphans and deaf students would be the way to go. So, along with my two friends from the Gothia bar, Noi and Yee, I visited the school on the 11th Augu...

When I disembarked in Singapore I had originally planned to stay a few days in the gleaming metropolis that is Singapore, see a few sites and maybe make contact with an acquaintance or two, however, change of plan. When I was booking my bus to Thailand the guy behind the counter told me that there was a bus leaving in 1/2 an hour, so I thought for 1/2 a sec, and then bought a ticket. In reality, apart from shopping — and I am not much of a shopper — Sing is not terribly exciting. As soon as the prospect of Thailand beckoned, I succumbed. The plan was to travel from Sing directly through Malaysia to the Thai town of Hatyai. This journey consumed 14 hours, but as I did the trip overnight, the time went quickly. Also the bus was near deserted, giving me plenty of personal space, which I like The attraction of Hatyai is that it lies half way between Sing and Pattaya, making it a convenient stopping point, also it is relatively small and quiet, but it does have a few sites worth seeing. Not...