The Journey(s) of Ian

In reality, I cannot guarantee either of these, tomorrow or even right now—as you are reading this you might be hit by a meteor or suffer some other fatal accident—however, in this blog post I will provide to you my condensed and distilled advice on how to have the greatest probability of living a long, healthy and happy life—baring accident or misfortune!  Nothing here is rocket science, these ideas have been pieced together by me from many sources. Read, think, and modify your behaviour. Social and political side note:  The western world faces an ever growing health care burden. Much has been said about how to deal with this. The simplest and cheapest is to encourage people not to get sick. Humans have a maximum life expectancy of 125 or thereabouts. This assumes no genetic problems and no accidents, illness or disease. Only a handful of people will be able to reach this, but the advice given here will allow you to maximise your potential lifespan, and, more impo...

My plans were (though they have changed several times this year) were to by now to be in central Thailand, exploring the small and quiet provinces which lie between the bustle of Bangkok and the provincial grandeur of the northern Thai city of Chang Mai, however ... in 2011 (2554 in the Buddhist Era) Thailand has been afflicted with severe floods, first in the south of the country, now in the north. Thus, I am still in the resort city of Pattaya. Not a hardship, but it can be a little wearying for a travelling man. As at the 28th of October there is no major sign of distress in Pattaya, however, there is little if any bottled water to be purchased in the city. Road transport is being hampered by the floods. Also, there has been an influx of (wealthier) Thais into the city, comfortables refugees from Bangkok. Apart from this, things go on as before in the City on the Bay. My plan now is to remain here until the end of November, and to then reassess. If I can I will travel north for ...

I regret to write that Thailand has been suffering the ill effects of flooding for most of 2011. In the first half of the year the southern regions of Thailand were flooded. Now, in the second half, it is the north and central regions that are suffering. Since the middle of the year the Chao Phraya River, the main river of Thailand, has been carrying an ever increasing amount of water, due to heavier than usual monsoonal rains. This River runs 400kms from central Thailand southwards to and through the capital of the Kingdom, Bangkok, and then discharges into the Gulf of Thailand. The floods began in the northern province of Chang Mai mid-year, but became serious in the province of Nakhon Sawan—the point of origin of the Chao Phraya River. Since then over 300 people have been killed to date, billions of dollars of damage has occurred as houses, buildings and industrial estates have been flooded. The main roads leading north from Bangkok have been closed to traffic since mid Septembe...

A shock. Steve Jobs was always there. An innovator, a trier of new ideas, a man who pushed. An interesting man for us to watch. A figure. He deserved a longer life. He would have enjoyed watching the next few decades of tech unfold, and been part of it all. A good man. RIP.

Thailand, Bangkok, Pattaya, and Me—early October. Sad to say, Thailand is suffering the worst floods in 50 years. Maybe 1/5 of the country is affected, largely the areas to the north of the capital Bangkok, along the Chao Phraya River. For me, having returned to Thailand from Cambodia, no great problem. Staying in Pattaya, where now, there is no flooding. Best wishes for the future.

medicine: Most people will take more meds than they need, and never use them. good habits: Most people seem to drift through life, repeating endlessly habits and customs, however, as a traveller, this is not for you. You must develope good habits

Last year I was shocked and saddened to hear of the death of my friend and former neighbour Claire. I met Claire when I moved into my new home. She and I were different in outlook, but I could see that she was a good person. We shared an interest in computers, hers was at a complete starting point. To begin she knew nothing, however, over the next few years she mastered the wintel computer and learned to use sophisticated photographic software far better than I ever could. She also taught herself digital photography, mastering the skill, and turning her hobby into a business. She left two sons. You are missed. Claire RIP.

Light speed, as we all know thanks to Albert Einstein is something approached asymptotically. The closer we get, the harder the next increment—or to put it another way—perfection is something we can aspire to, but never hope to reach. This is true for space ships, and it is equally true for hotel rooms. In south east Asia I have stayed in everything from one to five stars in a half dozen countries in, but have never found a perfect room.  However, for your edification, here, I shall outline what I see as a perfect room. First the basics, for me a room must be clean, and well laid out. In short, what I refer to as a ‘western room’. Something where I feel at home and in which I can relax. Admittedly, much of what makes me feel comfortable is what we I am used to, what I grew up with, but there it is. I am content, in fact, happier with a single room, a ‘standard’ room in hotel parlance, big enough for what I need, small enough to be unburden-some. And in this room ...

It is widely regarded as a truism that people in the 3rd world lead a healthy life—that they rarely if ever suffer 'western' lifestyle diseases. This perception is based upon the belief that 3rd worlders eat simple, natural foods, and lead an inherently healthy lifestyle. This belief is a myth—the reality is the opposite—people in the third world, or at least the population of south east Asia (SEA), have a poor and unhealthy diet and lifestyle, and, as a consequence, suffer form a wide variety of diseases. This poor lifestyle manifests in many different forms, but the most obvious: the large majority of people in these countries smoke excessively, drink too much alcohol, eat too much fatty food, conversely, they do not eat enough of the more healthier foods, and avoid exercise as they would the plague. All of which results in, or or at least exacerbates, a wide variety of illnesses. For example, the number of Thai women who suffer from osteoporosis is astound...

Just to bring you all, and myself, up to date. Journeyed from Pakse in southern Laos to Phnom Penh. The bus trip began early in the morning, and we arrived in PP around about 21.00. We were delayed over an hour with a blown tyre. The stop was interesting, just south of the Cambo border, maybe 100kms in. We had a chance to chit chat and visit locals living in wooden houses along the highway. The bus was only half full, even with a dozen or so backpackers we picked up, who were waiting at the Laos/Cambo border for a ride. Road was a bit bumpy, and the trip a bit noisy, but no hassles (foam ear inserts). Phnom Penh is as I remembered it (here one year ago). Stayed at the same hotel, BJs, one street back from the Mekong River. Pleasant, small room, breeky, wifi, good service, $21 a night—what more can one ask for? The city itself, PP is a small city, based upon my baseline of Australian cities. The population is anywhere between two and three million, depending on who you ask, howeve...

It has been a while since I posted a personal blog entry, so here goes. For the past month I have been enjoying time in Pattaya, that jewel of a city, nestled on the shores of the Gulf of Siam, however, time to move on. Things to see, places to visit, visas to get. My second Thai tourist visa was due to expire in late August, thus, I needed to acquire a new. Several options available, but I decided to go with visiting Laos, via Savahhakhet. Sannakhet, is a quiet, poor, visually run down city on the Mekong River, directly opposite the Thai city of Mukdahan. I had visited Sav in 2008 and was interested to see just what changes had taken place. To get there I first arrived in Muk, via the Yellow Bus (which runs from Rayong—south of Pattaya to the city of Mukdahan), a 12 hour trip, best done overnight. I spent a day in Muk, waymarking and generally hanging out and looking around. My hotel this time was the Submukda Grand Hotel, not sure about the 'grand' part, but a solid 500b ho...

Another two years go by, another Mac osx upgrade, thusly do we measure the passage of our years. My thoughts. I was not in a hurry to upgrade. First, I did not see a huge improvement between 10.6 and 10.7. Second, I was not in a locale which allowed for large downloads, however, this has all changed and last night I did the deed.  First thoughts: not much to get excited about, and a few minor annoyances. The reverse scrolling for one. Back in the old days, when one scrolled downwards with two fingers on the trackpad the window in which one was scrolling moved upwards, with 10.7 it is the opposite. This mimics both ios and ‘real’ life, so I am told, however, I do not like this ‘feature’, which I reversed. There is also a general dumbing down present in the new os. Apple wants to make the os transparent, akin somewhat to ios, where file and folders do not exist, at least for the user. For example, where is my drive? By default it is not visible in Lion. I am long past the geek phase ...

A little over a year ago many people in Thailand—certainly in Bangkok—believed that the Red Shirts were over as a political force. After occupying the city centre for months and shutting down several major shopping centres(!), in May 2010 the Thai army ‘swept’ the city of Bangkok clean of red shirt protesters, killing over 90 in doing so, including a 16 year old boy. The city, or at least its ‘elite’ quickly got back to the business of making money and tried to forget that for several months the streets had been dominated by protesters from the rural provinces, however, this death knell was premature, the red shirts did not give up, nor forget. The basis of the red shirt power is a seemingly unlikely combination between an emergent capitalist class, which came into existence in the previous generation riding the wave of Thai industrialisation, and the rural poor, those who believe that they are getting the sharp end of Thai economic progress. Impatient with the restrictions, which the ...

The Kingdom of Thailand is a constitutional monarchy, with a free and democratic government—that is what the constitution says. The Head of State is the King of Thailand, King Rama IX, as he is usually referred to in the west. Under him there is an executive consisting of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, an elected parliament, and an independent judiciary. In accordance with the Thai constitution, which requires an election every four years, an election is currently underway in Thailand. On Sunday, the 3rd of July, the people of Thailand will elect a new government.  The modern Thai government structure dates back to 1932 when an unlikely combination of traditional aristocrats and a westernised upper middle-class Bangkok group compelled the Thai King to agree to a written, democratic constitution, which moved Thailand (Siam, as it was then known) from an autocracy to a democracy. All well and good, however, peace and domestic tranquility was not to ensure. Since that date there have...