rakish richard's rants...

"Beach day, ATM"

This was my only note by the date for Tuesday the 7th of September, what could this mean?

Was my day so lazy that aside from going to the beach, all I needed to do was go to an ATM to further finance my rapidly-spiralling-out-of-control grilled corn habit? Perhaps it's a note to self to slow down; Beach day At The Most?

Well - I can say with certainty that the idle pace of the quest has been banished to the place where guitar picks, hair-ties, and 5-Year Any Year diaries go to - because Smith Corp have arrived!

We last left our intrepid adventurers trapped in the hammocks at Nasri Nipah Camp off the west coast of Malaysia, with Jungle Twitches setting in rapidly. Since that fateful day my faithful volley ball called 'Julie' and I have progressed up the coast and into Thailand, completing my first ever overland border crossing. This consisted of driving up to the border, getting out (while our minivan drove up another hundred metres or so) and walking up to get back into our van, and Viola! - we were in Thailand.

Fortunately leaving Malaysia was nowhere near as nervewracking as entering it - as my tormented beard has now thickened out again - and let's face it, they just don't have those comforting signs that say 'WE HAVE THE DEATH PENALTY, HAVE A NICE DAY' like they do at the airports.

Our first stop was our glowing return to Krabi, due east of Phuket, where we deftly boarded the last boat over to Ton Sai bay and checked into the Andaman bungalows courtesy of the wonderful Mr. Tula. Despite my unkempt appearance, he warmly shook my hand, remembering me from the visit nearly two years ago, and after showing the requisite amount of thigh (he took a kind of liking to me) we had a room with a complimentary hammock.

Things weren't all going to plan however, and after doing a quick lap of the bay and not running into Aaron and Jodi (a.k.a. Smith Corp) we resorted to the evils of the internet and found that they were over on Koh Phi Phi island, staying in a 'Tonsai Bay', at one of three 'Andaman Bungalows'... hmmm, what are the odds? Hint, first line of the lonely planet about the Tonsai Bay where we were staying, "Not to be confused with the Tonsai Bay on Koh Phi Phi..."

yep yep yep, a bit of a bungle, but not to worry, we were greeted the following afternoon with a hearty 'Moshi Moshi!' from the dashing Mr. Smith (bearded also, but trimmed around the edges, tanned, and much more buff than I remember, whoooaaarrr!!!) and his beguiling mistress, the enchanting Jodi Wickes.

The famous foursome are now in place, and after a very lazy (and rainy) few days there we're now at an undisclosed location on the east coast of Thailand, shortly to head for another undisclosed location before making the trek up to Bangkok for visas and a trip to the River Kwai bridge. After some long meetings, map analysis (Flying Officer Jones, where are you when I need you?), and time management strategy brainstorming mindmapping, we've put some times to the various areas we're wanting to cover and it's time to get cracking!

So, big ups to my homies in the J-to-the-Pan, sorry to hear about the pounding you've been getting at the hands of typhoons and earthquakes. Damage prevention tip; Blu-tac is ideal for keeping vases, picture frames, and crockery in place, and it can't even be seen! Remember to roll not pull though.

I'll sign out with a question, which has been debated a lot lately. Actually, I've just thought of another, so let's call this a readers' poll;

1. Do lakes have tides?

2. What does the word 'wizened' mean?


Yours in gleeful anticipation,

Arch :)

posted by Arch @ 2:46 PM