Slept in the very nice Singapore airport last night. I think i got about 3 hours sleep. Got up at 5:30am and went to the desk and found that our tickets to Phuket don't exist. Either the girl at the desk in Honk Kong simply lied to us to get us to leave the airport or there was an error. A United person here said that United actually has us confirmed, but the other airline does not... they dont even have our names... so most likely there was just a communication issue. There are 3-4 flights today to Phuket and all of them are terribly full. We are on standby for our first and should know if we got on in just a few minutes. Needless to say, this was quite a blow and has been a very frustrating morning as of yet. But hopefully we will get some luck and get on a flight. I will update.
btw, I have no plans to go to Bangkok at all if possibly on this trip.
Will update later today.
UPDATE: Missed our first flight. wasnt even close getting on it even though we were told last night we had seats confirmed. :( next flight leaves at 1pm but we are on a VERY long list of standbyes.
UPDATE 2: After talking to the agent and seeing ALL direct flights into Thailand are heavily overbooked, we started pushing the idea of flying out to another city and catching a flight into thailand from there (the plan we had last night that got us to Singapore). Turns out we can catch a short flight to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia then 2 hours later catch a flight directly into Phuket, Thailand. Our seats have been confirmed and if all works out as planned we should arrive there by 6:30pm. Keep your fingers crossed. Will by my 7th flight since Monday! :) There are showers here for like $6, thinking of taking advantage of that. We have several hours before we have to leave.
UPDATE 3: Tickets in hand with seat assignments. Should be in Phuket by 6:30pm!!!
UPDATE 4: So waiting for flight. Not adjusted to time change at all yet. Its only noon and it feels like 10pm!!! I think i have only slept 6 hours since Monday. Seriously!!! Tired. I have moments where i just stare off into space and my memory is not too good. This airport is VERY nice though. It has a free theater, free internet, free gaming consoles, free massage chairs, etc. Funny cause a fellow stuck traveler in Hong Kong told us to avoid Singapore. He said the airport was dangerous. So landing I was picturing an airport with metal siding for a roof and sketchy slums around it. Far from it... its very nice. I paid $6US for a shower and that totally revived my spirits and the smell that follows me! Much better now. Sat and ate at some lunch and now we are thinking of napping before our flight leaves in 5 hours. There are about 7 travelers from our original Tokyo flight all here, all heading out on the same flight. I havent seen all of them today but ive run into others who told us where they are. Funny how getting stuck in random airports and getting bused out to hotels can make a group of people click. Most likely we will all stay in the same area and meet for drinks tonight. I doubt we will get too rowdy though, we are all zombie tired with only short moments of alertness. Some of us have a theory that Kuala Lumpur will not have a United Airlines desk and they are just shipping us all there so they wont have to deal with us anymore. Funny... kind of. :) OK time to get off this again.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
philippines tonight - phuket tomorrow
Flying into the Philippines tonight. Sleepin in airport, fly to Phuket Thailand tomorrow morning. Then, not sure, but avoiding the riots in Bangkok altogether. WIll update later.
UPDATE: Landed in Philippines. Without having any idea what this airport would be like I am pleasantly surprised. Its very nice and has free internet stations. 1,500 more miles under my belt on this trip. 3 days and 13,000 miles done, the end is in site. Have gotten to know several of my travel mates and we are forming our own little 'camp' in the airport where we plan to sleep shortly. Doubt we will even have to go through customs. VERY VERY tired as this has sort of turned into the trip that never ends... but it has been fun and definitely making friends. Me and one of my new friends Andy (andrea) are hoping on an 8am flight to Phuket. Probably find a place to stay there for at least one night and then possibly Kho Phi Phi. Not sure as this has totally messed up my rough plans to meet avery in Chiange Mai and slowly head south. But for now im just happy to be close to Thailand. Also on a bright note, sounds like we missed by a couple hours being stranded in the Bangkok airport where supposedly 4000 passengers are 'trapped' and were stormed by thousands of bat and club weilding rioters - who took over the airport (including the control tower and check in gates). Rioters have been friendly though and have been bringing in food for travelers and are trying to find ways to get them out of airport. Course you all probably know this all better then I as I have limited access to media.
Ok sleepy time. :)
UPDATE: Landed in Philippines. Without having any idea what this airport would be like I am pleasantly surprised. Its very nice and has free internet stations. 1,500 more miles under my belt on this trip. 3 days and 13,000 miles done, the end is in site. Have gotten to know several of my travel mates and we are forming our own little 'camp' in the airport where we plan to sleep shortly. Doubt we will even have to go through customs. VERY VERY tired as this has sort of turned into the trip that never ends... but it has been fun and definitely making friends. Me and one of my new friends Andy (andrea) are hoping on an 8am flight to Phuket. Probably find a place to stay there for at least one night and then possibly Kho Phi Phi. Not sure as this has totally messed up my rough plans to meet avery in Chiange Mai and slowly head south. But for now im just happy to be close to Thailand. Also on a bright note, sounds like we missed by a couple hours being stranded in the Bangkok airport where supposedly 4000 passengers are 'trapped' and were stormed by thousands of bat and club weilding rioters - who took over the airport (including the control tower and check in gates). Rioters have been friendly though and have been bringing in food for travelers and are trying to find ways to get them out of airport. Course you all probably know this all better then I as I have limited access to media.
Ok sleepy time. :)
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
My first night in Bankok... oops, no i mean Hong Kong
Got up early went for a jog, said goodbye to my friend lisa and ran home, finished pakcing, took the trains to airport. POrtland to Seattle on a puddle jumper. While in Seattle I called to change my flight. First guy with United couldnt find a cheap flight, called a 2nd time and she found me a good flight coming back the 16th. So 6 more days for the trip.
So, my flight from seattle to Tokyo went smooth enough for a 10 hour flight. Met a nice guy from chicago who is also traveling thailand so i will probably meet up with him. Did take an Ambien on the flight but not sure it helped much. ONly slept on and off.
Tokyo was fun, me and friend from chicago tried some Sopporo beer and a sake. Then onto the next flight. about 6 hours into the flight pilot comes on board and says that riots near the airport have closed the airport... so we have been rerouted to Hong Kong. Which looks like an AMAZING city.
Dead tired, only slept couple spread out hours in past 30 hours. Now its 4:13 in the morning here and probably 1pm back in the states. Got my room, looks nice, now palnning to me3et a group for some quick food... but i took another ambien and can feel it already...sleepty time.
Very important for me to get gong with thailand time!
I am safe and well and have already met cool people.
take care!
chris
UPDATE: next morning
WOW did I need some sleep. Me and my new friend Patrick are heading out to view the local sites for a bit around the hotel (which is pretty nice). Slept like a brick last night for about 5 hours. Feel pretty good now. All cleaned up and packed and ready to hike around. We have two hours before the shuttle is set to take us back to the airport. We should be arriving in Bangkok around 4pm (i think).
CNN here showed the riots from last night. Apparently someone in the Thai government ws flying into the airport and thats why the riots were centered there. Timing is bad but dont worry, the riots have consistently been non-violent and never directed towards ferangs (thai word for european/white tourists). Only problem is if it continues and I am not able to land in Bangkok for several days. I might consider a different approach if that is the case, such as a train into Laos and then Chiang Mai.
So far everyone has been very friendly. I am with a large varied group of travelers. Most are ferangs, but some are japanese or thai. There is even a friendly group of monks in their bright robes. Ive made friends with many seeing how this whole flight and ordeal took nearly 14 hours yesterday from Tokyo.
OK, i better go, Patrick is probably out waiting.
No worries on safety in Bangkok though. If any violence does esculate, i will avoid the city all together. Also i have no intentions of staying there any length of time, its just unfortunate that my flight goes through there.
I will update again asap.
chris
So, my flight from seattle to Tokyo went smooth enough for a 10 hour flight. Met a nice guy from chicago who is also traveling thailand so i will probably meet up with him. Did take an Ambien on the flight but not sure it helped much. ONly slept on and off.
Tokyo was fun, me and friend from chicago tried some Sopporo beer and a sake. Then onto the next flight. about 6 hours into the flight pilot comes on board and says that riots near the airport have closed the airport... so we have been rerouted to Hong Kong. Which looks like an AMAZING city.
Dead tired, only slept couple spread out hours in past 30 hours. Now its 4:13 in the morning here and probably 1pm back in the states. Got my room, looks nice, now palnning to me3et a group for some quick food... but i took another ambien and can feel it already...sleepty time.
Very important for me to get gong with thailand time!
I am safe and well and have already met cool people.
take care!
chris
UPDATE: next morning
WOW did I need some sleep. Me and my new friend Patrick are heading out to view the local sites for a bit around the hotel (which is pretty nice). Slept like a brick last night for about 5 hours. Feel pretty good now. All cleaned up and packed and ready to hike around. We have two hours before the shuttle is set to take us back to the airport. We should be arriving in Bangkok around 4pm (i think).
CNN here showed the riots from last night. Apparently someone in the Thai government ws flying into the airport and thats why the riots were centered there. Timing is bad but dont worry, the riots have consistently been non-violent and never directed towards ferangs (thai word for european/white tourists). Only problem is if it continues and I am not able to land in Bangkok for several days. I might consider a different approach if that is the case, such as a train into Laos and then Chiang Mai.
So far everyone has been very friendly. I am with a large varied group of travelers. Most are ferangs, but some are japanese or thai. There is even a friendly group of monks in their bright robes. Ive made friends with many seeing how this whole flight and ordeal took nearly 14 hours yesterday from Tokyo.
OK, i better go, Patrick is probably out waiting.
No worries on safety in Bangkok though. If any violence does esculate, i will avoid the city all together. Also i have no intentions of staying there any length of time, its just unfortunate that my flight goes through there.
I will update again asap.
chris
Monday, November 24, 2008
Flying for Thailand
I am up and packed. Just a couple things to finish up and I am off.
Backpack looks good.
My flight information:
Portland to Seattle:
United Express/skywest #5776 10:44am
Seattle to Narita, Japan:
United #875 12:56pm (10 hours duration)
Narita, Japan to Bangkok, Thailand:
United #891 6:35pm (7 hours duration)
Seats are picked, got my passport. All ready!
Backpack looks good.
My flight information:
Portland to Seattle:
United Express/skywest #5776 10:44am
Seattle to Narita, Japan:
United #875 12:56pm (10 hours duration)
Narita, Japan to Bangkok, Thailand:
United #891 6:35pm (7 hours duration)
Seats are picked, got my passport. All ready!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Thailand!
I haven't posted anything since February, 2008... over 8 months.
Writing clearly does not come as easy to me as others. I usually need to have something exciting to write about. Not that every day life is a complete bore, but its not as exciting as traveling.
That said, I am heading to Thailand two weeks from today for 17 days.
It was a last minute purchase after I realized that the prices from PDX to BKK dropped over $400. I am on a very tight budget and realized I could afford this trip... barely. :)
So, on November 24th (two weeks from today) at around 10am in the morning I will board a flight from Portland to Seattle, where I will catch another flight from Seattle to Tokyo, where I will catch one last flight to Bangkok.
Much like my last trip to Europe (which I was a week into as of a year ago today), I haven't much plans. I land in the city of Bangkok around 11pm and will probably be too tired to do anything. I figure I will probably not stay in the city for more then one day and might even leave the next morning.
As luck would have it, my friend Avery is in Thailand. We have emailed each other a couple times and it sound like we might meet up and travel together for a bit. This is great news because she has spent some time there and knows the routine and she is super cool... and will no doubt make a great travel companion. We have yet to establish much except that it would be great to meet up. She was suggestion in northern Thailand city of Chiang Mai which sounds great to me because I definitely want to see that area.
I also plan to spend at least 6 days on a remote amazing beach. Not sure where yet, but thats the plan. Other then that, who knows. :)
This trip is a long time coming. I applied for a 6-month sabbatical from work in 2005. It was denied. Last year I considered going to Thailand instead of Europe, but the time change would have caused problems with work. This trip, is all vacation. I am not even planning on bringing my computer (a decision that didnt come lightly). Actually this time I plan to pack VERY light. I am bringing my Canon Rebel XT camera but thats about the only thing of value I plan to take.
I will try to post often on this blog and expect too considering that internet cafes are supposedly easy to find in Thailand. I will also post photos here and even more on my flickr account.
I am getting very excited. My friend Lisa let me borrow a couple books on traveling in Thailand and I have been going through them. So much to see... 17 days does not sound long enough.
Now I need to buy some clothes for the trip, get my phone set up (with good music and a few videos for long flights) and determine what I want and need to bring.
14 days and counting. :)
Writing clearly does not come as easy to me as others. I usually need to have something exciting to write about. Not that every day life is a complete bore, but its not as exciting as traveling.
That said, I am heading to Thailand two weeks from today for 17 days.
It was a last minute purchase after I realized that the prices from PDX to BKK dropped over $400. I am on a very tight budget and realized I could afford this trip... barely. :)
So, on November 24th (two weeks from today) at around 10am in the morning I will board a flight from Portland to Seattle, where I will catch another flight from Seattle to Tokyo, where I will catch one last flight to Bangkok.
Much like my last trip to Europe (which I was a week into as of a year ago today), I haven't much plans. I land in the city of Bangkok around 11pm and will probably be too tired to do anything. I figure I will probably not stay in the city for more then one day and might even leave the next morning.
As luck would have it, my friend Avery is in Thailand. We have emailed each other a couple times and it sound like we might meet up and travel together for a bit. This is great news because she has spent some time there and knows the routine and she is super cool... and will no doubt make a great travel companion. We have yet to establish much except that it would be great to meet up. She was suggestion in northern Thailand city of Chiang Mai which sounds great to me because I definitely want to see that area.
I also plan to spend at least 6 days on a remote amazing beach. Not sure where yet, but thats the plan. Other then that, who knows. :)
This trip is a long time coming. I applied for a 6-month sabbatical from work in 2005. It was denied. Last year I considered going to Thailand instead of Europe, but the time change would have caused problems with work. This trip, is all vacation. I am not even planning on bringing my computer (a decision that didnt come lightly). Actually this time I plan to pack VERY light. I am bringing my Canon Rebel XT camera but thats about the only thing of value I plan to take.
I will try to post often on this blog and expect too considering that internet cafes are supposedly easy to find in Thailand. I will also post photos here and even more on my flickr account.
I am getting very excited. My friend Lisa let me borrow a couple books on traveling in Thailand and I have been going through them. So much to see... 17 days does not sound long enough.
Now I need to buy some clothes for the trip, get my phone set up (with good music and a few videos for long flights) and determine what I want and need to bring.
14 days and counting. :)
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Silver Falls State Park, Oregon
This past weekend I hit up one of my favorite hiking spots outside the city, Silver Falls State Park. It has been 5 years since I hiked there.
Sunday was the beginning of our wonderful sunny warm spell and so off we went!
The hike is about a 7 mile loop with nearly a dozen falls along it. Some of them reaching heights of 180 feet. I had to keep a hold on Kutya along some parts of the path for fear of him taking a fall. The area is a real threat to dogs and my friend Kate actually lost a dog to a fall at this park.
Some of the steep inclines really worked me and I have taken that as an incentive for me to start running again. Today was my first, tomorrow I am meeting my friend Rob for a run so the running officially starts today. Thats good as I have not ran regularly since before my trip to Europe in October.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Indianapolis
For the first time in almost 4 months I am back in Indianapolis...
My dearest aunt Janet, my mothers sister, has passed away. She was diagnosed with terminal cancer and passed relatively peacefully and unexpectedly before the cancer could take her this past Sunday from a blood clot. Though this fact alone is devastating to my family and all who knew her, almost everyone could agree it seemed that god had graced her with the ability to die with the dignity that slow death of cancer seems to rob from people. I had a hard time not thinking of this at her funeral. I had a hard time not thinking that she was lucky.
Hard to say.
Anyhow, my aunt Janet was a special person and she will be missed by many.
So, on the death of my aunt, I returned to Indy this past Wednesday for the funeral. I had considered coming back to Indy the week before for various reasons but had decided I was not ready. My thinking was that finally, for the first time in a very long time, I was happy... and I did not want to disrupt this positive momentum.
But my aunts death gave me little option. I bought my ticket and 3 days later I was in Indy.
Its not that I hate Indianapolis... To be honest, when I moved here 4 years ago I had such a negative impression of the city that when I finally got here I was very surprised at how cool the city actually is. But, there is no hiding it... I am in love with Portland. I always have been since I moved there in 2000.
So, being back in Indianapolis has been a little strange.
I am making efforts to visit my friends and visit with family as much as possible and it has been a good trip overall. Great quality time with my grandmother and grandfather, my mom, Richard, Dad, Lisa and many more...
And now that I am back, it is clear to me that I will never live in Indianapolis again. I moved here 4 years ago for a job and never expected to be here as long as I was. I never even really unpacked.
It wasn't a waste of time by any means, living in Indianapolis. During the past 4 years I was close to my family and made some great friends that I care for very much... But I can't say I was really happy during any of it. Not fully... And during it all, I wanted to get back to Portland.
So, finally getting back to Portland has been great. It has certainly lived up to my expectations. It is different and I am not trying to recreate my life from 5 years ago by any means. I have made new friends, been visiting with old friends and exploring the city like its completely new to me again. It is for the most part. Will I stay there forever? Who knows. But right now I am happy.
My flight back for Portland is in a few hours. The weather here in Indianapolis is COLD COLD COLD... There is probably 3 inches of snow on the ground and I am packed and ready to get going... Back to Portland.
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