Chang Mai

Day 43: Chang Mai, Thailand
'If you're not happy children, travel wide'
-Soul Rebel, Bob Marley and the Wailers
Well said Bob.
It certainly does the trick as far as re-motivating yourself and having a good hard think about what you value in life, and what do you really need in life rather than what do you think you need. A clean bed, a bit of food to eat, after a while all the rest is really window dressing on what is otherwise a fairly pointless exercise unless you are really passionate about what you are doing. Time has a habit of slipping away when you are on the corporate treadmill, before you know it you've spent a lifetime without really knowing what it is that makes you happy and focussing on moving in that direction. As I said, it's been good to have the time to think about what's important without the constant sideshows that are ever present in this modern life and dust off the cobwebs in the enthusiasm generation plant.
I was in Malaysia for the weekend as an old mate was in town so thought it would be good to catch up on the way through to Thailand. Bali was awesome, I would really love to spend a month or two there or throughout Indo surfing and enjoying our northern neighbour's hospitality. I finally finished the rubbish book that I brought with me from Malaysia, as i have previously mentioned on this blog I am currently travelling with 14kg of luggage which keeps me in AirAsia's under 15kg weight price category but I need to be very careful not to pick up any additional things on the way which will put me over. I restrict myself to one book for entertainment and one book for self development, the self development one was so bad that I would chip away at it in 10 page sessions, I got over the line on the plane from Dempasar so I was glad to say goodbye to it so I could pick up something new.
Stayed in Kuta on Friday night so I would be close to the airport for my flight on Saturday morning, was ,eant to go out for Simon's birthday but I fell asleep watching the footy and didn't wake up until 4am. Must have been exhausted after all those early mornings and late nights in Padang Padang, when I was getting dressed on Saturday morning there was a massive earthquake which rattled the guest house I was staying in. My first thoughts were that maybe another bomb had gone off in Kuta fresh in the wake of JI mastermind Noordin Top's death on Java, fortunately this was not the case and as far as I know there were no fatalities from the earthquake.
Was nearly late for my plane because I needed some shoes for Saturday night (I dumped my old dress shoes to make more room) but could not find a single shop which sold size 11 shoes. I would be getting into Malaysia at 5pm with a view to catching up for drinks at 10pm so only chance was to visit Petaling Street (Chinatown) when I got into KL. I think I found the only pair of size 11 shoes in the whole place which was lucky, it turned out that the planned evening was cancelled due to sickness so I ended up going out with a few of the boys from the footy club instead, one of whom got in a fight with a drag queen and her(?) 5 Filipina friends, who all armed themselves with shoes as soon as the conflict escalated. When I put my jeans on Saturday night I realised the button was broken off the front, I then recalled that I did this in The Bounty on Kuta the previous Saturday night and hadn't noticed because I had been wearing shorts the rest of the time, in The Bounty they have all these Happy Hours, but with a twist... The drinks aren't half price, instead you get two of them, hence the button coming off as my marguerita filled tummy swelled under the strain of so much liquid.
Got into Chang Mai on Monday afternoon and checked in at a backpacker joint, treated myself to a private room because they are so bloody cheap here! The same goes for the rest of the city, Thailand has always amazed me by the variety of western food available to buy, I mean, Malaysia is the king when it comes to the amount of food available but it is mainly Chinese, Malaysian and Indian food on offer. Had a spectacular Ravioli al Raghu from an Italian Restaurant on the main strip, a few Changs then off to bed after booking a rock climb for the following day.
Good times.