On The Road

    Wednesday, March 31

    That's it, we've officially started the road trip. Will's scaring the crap out of me by insisting on driving in a made up lane somewhere between the slow lane and the hard shoulder, but at least we're moving. We've left Manhattan and New Jersey and going through Baltimore, hopefully with us ending at D.C with enough time to go and explore!
    We'd heard of reports of vast amounts of snow in Washington and the road conditions were supposedly difficult, but it was only to be a quick visit and to just drive onwards and miss it out would of been a shame.


    ...The cold though...we arrived as it was getting dark, and i've never been that cold in my life. I'm a complete sucker for site seeing but this was unbearable. We did manage to see the majority of the mall. We got to the capital building, Washington monument, Lincoln's memorial (which is much cooler than i anticipated, although we weren't allow upstairs due to ice), we also did the white house and well that's about it. Even with the newly acquired hat, gloves and scarf i had to bail and get back to warmth.....and bed.

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    Introducing................Will Maiden everyone!

    Tuesday, March 30

    There i was sat in New york airport (again) waiting for my friend Will to arrive from the UK. We met when we used to work together back at Sony and it was after a drive to Glastonbury that we thought it'd be a good idea to maybe try road tripping something bigger. Something like America say, 'coast to coast'.
    The idea simmered away as i went about organizing my little travel not really knowing whether this thing would definitely go ahead and to be honest it wasn't a certainty for me until i got the mail saying "ok, i've booked my ticket i'll be there on the 7th". I in-turn booked my flight for the day before he arrived and thought nothing more of it until a week or so ago, and now i'm actually here....

    First city New York.

    New york is one of those places you feel you've been to without ever actually stepping a foot there. Annie hall, Taxi driver, American gangster, die hard with a vengeance, just about every romantic comedy... just last night i went and watched 'Kick ass' and the first shot is a big pan of this city.
    Everyone knows the statue of liberty, times square, madison square garden. It is without question the most iconic of all cities.
    The day we arrived was also the coldest day of my existence. I had to go buy a scarf, a pair of gloves, a hat. we checked Will into the hostel and sat in a heated room attempting to restore feeling to our fingers. Will had brought me warm clothes from back home but in typical Will fashion something went wrong and the airline lost his baggage and wouldn't be with him till the following day.
    So there we where in New york absolutely freezing and an entire city to explore. The plan was to go to times square and see it in it's lit up glory and then when we get too cold; find a bar to watch the rangers game in.


    The next day, having rested up and ready to tackle the outside cold, we set off to do the usual touristy thing; Brooklyn Bridge, Wall St, Staten island, Greenwich village, world trade center site, times square...a big day of site seeing whatever way you look at it and it ended with us back at the hostel in time for the Superbowl party.
    We arrived just before the anthem's, so we grabbed a seat and talked about maybe watching the 1st quarter then moving onto a sports bar for the rest.
    "you want a free beer?" "What! Free?" "yeah sure, the rest of the crates on the table! help yourself"
    Seems the hostel was providing free beer! Ok maybe we stay till half time, drink all the beer then go to the bar. "FREE CHICKEN WINGS" this was getting better!! plus the beer stock just kept getting replenished. Once i'd drank my room price in beer and my fair share of chicken winged goodness the game had ended, not only only had i drank my self to a state of happiness (for absolutely nothing) but the Patriots had won as well... doubly happy, and then very sleepy.
    Next day brought a visit to the top of the Empire State building and Grand central and also a good look around the remaining boroughs. We did try to get tickets for the Jon Stewart daily show but nothing but failure with that one. We did get a nice look at the building it's filmed in though.




    For Tuesday night i'd bought myself a Knicks ticket to watch them play the Sacramento Kings, and sorry if this goes off into a rant but the Knicks over the past few years epically suck. They went up as much as 20 points at one time and still ended up losing in 1st overtime. So many classic players through the years before this slump. The main reason for going though was to see madison square garden itself, i had so many amazing memories of watching games taking place here (usually involving the Knicks getting beat) but things like Jordan's facial over Ewing or Kobe's 61 points are ingrained into my head with association to this place.
    Just looking up and seeing those names Like Ewing, Like Frazier on the retired Jerseys and it's just goose bump worthy. I also had a $10 beer which had a similar effect, just far less enjoyably so.
    A really good night, even with the loss.



    Snow. Lots and lots of snow... that's what greeted us the following morning in Central park. We hunted down the action and watched as everyone was sledding and snow ball fighting. It was pretty beautiful to see it in such weather conditions but i couldn't handle the cold for all the long and when i couldn't feel my feet anymore i had to retreat to warmer grounds. At night Will went off to watch the Rangers game while i hung around with a bunch of people in the hostel playing table tennis and having a few beers... My body doesn't cope well in the cold it was much better off in there.

    I absolutely loved New york, so much so i stuck a request on Facebook for an American sham marriage, just for the opportunity to move and work there :) i really do hope i get the chance to live here at some point in my life...... even with the cold the energy is undeniably addictive.

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    New York, New York

    Monday, March 29

    "i hope when i inevitably get stuck at an airport it's as clean and nice as here" That's what i wrote over 6 months ago on the plane leaving Beijing going to Japan.
    It's funny how karma seems to have a way of coming full circle seeing as i've just spent 12 hours sleeping in Beijing airport waiting for my connecting flight to New york.
    The start of the journey from Bangkok was spent still fairly ill on a mini bus to the airport. Traveling unwell is far from the best feeling in the world but i made sure i arrived with plenty of time, i didn't want another hong kong moment when in this state. I got to the check in desk and everything was fine until they asked me for the visa waiver form. Now i had actually filled this in and had the confirmation email on my ipod with reference number and everything .. "no we need it printed" "awwwwww crap!" He told me there was an internet cafe just over there so to come back when i get it printed, ok i thought that's not to bad.
    200 baht for half an hour 10 baht for each print out. [check wallet....10 baht] Now i was getting pissed off again, atm's charge 3 pound to withdraw money and i'd be doing it for just a couple of pounds. So annoyed. Then, like some sort of Internet angel, a girl said she had 3 minutes left if i wanted them. Sweet! I jumped on, logged into gmail (sure this thing was on dial up) clicked on the email, click print.....*error* "WOMAN IT SAYS ERROR WHEN I PRESS PRINT, WHY DOES SAY ERROR????" (i didn't actually refer to her as 'woman', but she was being an arse) "you have to email it to the email address on the wall" I had less than a minite.....gmail...new mail..click,click,click, 23 seconds left. Done. Then very smugly paid my 10 baht for the print out and went and got on the flight.

    The next 12 hours as i said where spent in the airport with me trying to get whatever sleep i could. I was in shorts and flip flops by the way, which everybody found mightily amusing seeing as it was -4 outside. I literally had my legs in my small rucksack which i'd then chained to the seat and was using it as the worlds smallest sleeping bag. As you can imagine i didn't exactly sleep great and i was up, ready and waiting for the next flight when it opened.
    The flight to New york was fine, as expected i still couldn't sleep. If there's one thing i've learnt about myself since setting off is i sleep better in my brothers Clio than i do on any bus, train, plane or even bed in all honesty.
    After arriving 12 hours after departure my initial thoughts on NY were, "i'm cold, i need a shower, and i need food". So a deli meal later, a power shower in the hostel (first hot shower in months), and i was tucked up in bed before the sun decided to set.

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    Highlight Reel

    Tuesday, March 23

    I know it's probably the question i'll get asked more than anything when i get back, "What was the best place" as people ask it to others all the time, god i think i've probably asked it to a fair few knowing that it's the most impossible of questions to answer.


    Everyplace has memorable things and events and even countries though that might not of been the most entertaining overall can hold a stronger single moment than a country i enjoyed from start to finish.

    Seeing as i'm on the plane and bored of watching the film 'Proposal' which is been ran on repeat at the moment on the single screen at the front, i thought i'd just have a go at listing a few of the Highlights instead.... in no particular order:


    1. Tokyo

    I'll be arriving into JFK in a few hours and into what i imagine to be the only city that could possibly rival Tokyo. Everything about the place had me grinning from ear to ear, the skyline from the government building, the absurdness of Tokyo Bay, the life size gundam, the efficient transport system, Shibuya at night....it'd be impossible to pick one highlight from this city so it'd have to go in as a whole.




    2. Hue to Hoi'an

    Definitely one of the best days of the trip so far. Biking was a new thing for me full stop and with the beauty of the scenery and unspoiled perfection of the roads it just made this the most rememberable of days. Going over the Hai Van pass and seeing the view from where we'd set off from, or going down the coast as the sun was setting or even the finale at the white cliffs and looking over Hoi'an in its entirety. Just special from start to finish this one.


    The next few are a bit obvious but hey there well known for a reason i guess.


    3. The Great Wall of China

    This thing is gigantic, when your on it it just seems unfathomable how this was built, it's not just the construction but the distance up from ground level it is.

    We got to experience it without the biggest of crowds over a fairly long distance and i think that that helped massively to the grandness of it all.


    4. Angkor Wat

    I know, i know, my list isn't exactly original at the moment but whatever, these ruins are just awe-inspiring.. i almost feel sorry for any ruins i see in the future if this is their benchmark.




    5. Diving License

    The only tangible thing i've actually achieved since being away and it's a nice feeling. Underwater life is something that now intrigues me more than it ever has and can't wait for the next opportunity to go back under.


    6. Tubing

    God this place gives me the chills when i think back. By far the most insane thing ever... never have i acted so stupid while so drunk and with so many others doing the exact same thing. 24 hr drinking for 5 days.

    Will barely came out alive and he's a borderline alcoholic!


    7. Full moon party

    I can't think of a better way to bring in the new year. It was epic and so much fun. The fact i got to meet up with a whole bunch of people who we'd met and left along the way and it being the start of a new decade and the first time it had fallen on a new years made it just even more monumentally big.


    8. Getting Stuck in Beijing for National Day

    "Can i book a train to Xi'an?" "no" "ermmm Datong?" "no" "anywhere...." "oh well can i book into here for the next 2 weeks?"

    Getting stuck in Beijing turned out to be brilliant. I got to know everyone coming through, i started doing the hostels barbecues and getting to know the owner Joe really well.

    Just being there for the National day itself was cool enough and not as restrictive as first thought. If not for getting stuck there i may not of met the people i did and the whole traveling experience would of changed.



    It really is impossible to do even this list, i mean i haven't mentioned the Yangshou bike ride, Osaka Aquarium, Sunset at Miyajima, Will, Emma and Lauren, the Terracotta army, Pandas in Chengdu, the skyline in Hong kong or Star ferry... it goes on and on.

    Asia has been amazing, the places, the people... shit i haven't even gone on about the food yet. Even the stupidly long 28 hour train journeys in China have special memories attached to them which I wouldn't swap for anything.

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    Ready, Steady, Cook

    Wednesday, March 3

    I would of loved to of been able to see myself as i arrived in Chinag Mai, i've probably mentioned it elsewhere but i have no luck in sleeping on the buses, so i'd basically been awake since leaving Phi Phi with only a few hours clocked up at best.
    I was meant to be meeting up with Toby and Sam from the rock and when i arrived at their hostel was met with somewhat of a sympathetic laugh and then told we where off to the tiger park, and that i was going with.

    So here i was looking in the face of a tiger with no cage, no wires, just a guy with a little straw whip. My body was still in Bangkok watching Avatar and my brain somewhere in Phi Phi, so to be here doing this was really a strange moment of surrealness.
    That night i slept for close to 16 hours and just wrote the day off as a whole, i did give me the chance to catch up on emails and facebook i guess, plus we'd all signed up to do a cooking course the day after and my cooking skills are questionable at the best of times so i really didn't trust myself doing it half asleep.





    Ok where next? Pai!
    Pai's a crusty little hippy sort of place. I was sporting a rather fetching hobo-esq beard and still felt far over dressed for this crowd, 1 in 2 had dreads and the other half just looked like they'd never seen soap in their life. I don't mean that as an insult or anything as these where just the coolest of people in a very relaxed, laid back town. It also so happened to be slightly busier than usual due to the annual reggae festival. It had people camping, fire shows, a load of food stalls....a proper festival for 2 whole days, and i was simply in my element.


    The day after that we had to take the bus back to Chiang Mai and then that following night a bus to Bangkok.
    The last few days here in Bangkok have been spent ill in bed, i actually thought i'd go the entire time in Asia without being ill once........ dammit, but I'm off to the states shortly and feeling loads better.



    [EDIT] I was probably a bit quick going through Chiang Mai on re-read, i mean have a look at the pictures and stuff because it's a stunning little place. Don Thiep is beautiful, the hostel (spicyThai) which i was staying at is easily one of the best and on top of that i got to spend my time with some of the nicest people i'd met so far.

    Sorry Chiang Mai :(

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