Heart Broken in Chatuchak

Yes, there were squirrels.  BUT they were not nearly as cute as the sugar glider.  Even Nathan was smitten with these beautiful complicated marsupials.   I wanted one.  Bad.  But, I was informed of several facts which ultimately convinced me that I can live without a marsupial for the time being.
1. Sugar gliders are sold young so that they have time to bond with their owner, which requires bottle feeding every two hours (through the night)
2. They sleep all day, and scream all night
3. They mark you with their scent when you hold them, and its a terrible one

Just in case anyone wants to know, you can buy a two month old sugar glider for 50 dollars (subject to bargaining) at the Chatuchak market.  You can also buy almost anything else. 
After the market we walked through China town.  It was chaos.  About fifty percent of the items being sold were completely unrecognizable to us.  I think I saw some intestines and Nathan was certain the same item was a brain.  He also claims he saw stomachs that looked just like the stomachs in pepto bismol commercials...I thought those were cookies. 
I attracted Chinese facial hair removing professionals like no one else on the street.  Nathan got a good chuckle..I'm OK with my cheek hairs and crazy eyebrows.  They chased me around with their chalk and torture string. 
We made our way to 'Back-packer-road' for dinner and beers.  I ate my first insect.  Grasshopper.  VERY good.  Nathan couldn't look me in the face while I chewed..nausea?  He one upped me by eating Durian fruit.  For those of you who have never heard of it, let me explain (I dared to take a bite):  Its the flavor of rotten onion mixed with pudding the color of pus and with a hint of dirty feet.   He actually ate four or five bites of this stuff.  Its illegal to sell in certain markets because it smells so bad.  I'm not kidding.
We topped off the evening with a 'Fish Massage'.
This is where you put your feet into a gigantic tank of water filled with tiny fish.  Massage is sort of a misnomer.  Its actually a tank of flesh eating creatures snacking on your dry skin.  It tickled so bad I laughed until I cried. Nathan is convinced that the carnivorous massaging fish were trying to kill him...to be fair, they did seem to want to eat him more than anyone else.
We're off tonight for the south on an overnight train.  Island hopping!  I'll upload more pictures when I can.

The Art of Baht Pinching

Top of the Peak Tram in Hong Kong

Its the year of the rabbit...Yum

We passed through immigration without incident last night around 730.  We became instantly aware of a cultural phenomenon in situations requiring a 'que'...Lines are for foreigners.  I think we spent 45 minutes waiting to get to the immigration desk while watching countless scoundrels sneak in ahead of us.  I was groggy from napping so putting up a fight didn't seem worth it.
It took us about an hour and a half to find our way to the hostel I booked for our first three nights.  Some guy who passed us on the street stopped to help.  When he saw where we were pointing on a map he said 'There is nothing out there.'
It had us a bit concerned, but we trudged on.  Upon arrival, the owner of the hostel took us out to dinner and explained some of the basics of Thai living.  The food was amazing.
This morning we got up early, because I was awake at 430 AM...poor Nathan.  It worked out perfectly though.  We quite possibly met the most helpful woman in all of Thailand on our walk to downtown.  She just happened to mention that riding the Tuk Tuk (three-wheeled, open air, traffic menace)

Nathan in our Tuk Tuk

was 20 Baht for an all day pass for tourists (less than a dollar).  She also mentioned that due to a National holiday we were eligible (as tourists) for free entry to all temples, and a special government promotion on all travel in Thailand.  Our Tuk Tuk driver brought us to the tourist information center where we booked our next two weeks and purchased our next three visas. We spent about three hours Tuk Tuking to five of the highlighted Temples in the city (donated to the Lucky Buddha fund in hopes of continued fortune on our trip).

Golden Buddha (45 meters tall)

From canal tour boat

Hiking the Golden Mountain.  Ring bells for luck!

We topped off the afternoon with a boat ride through a maze of canals. 

House boat done right

Traveling sales woman, 2 beers 100 Baht

 

Homes on the Western canal

gas station

We'll be heading south on Monday to island hop, first on the East coast, then the West, then we'll fly to Chang Mai in the North to ride Elephants and do some river rafting.
Tomorrow we hit the Weekend Market just north of Bangkok.  I might buy a pet squirrel.  Nathan thinks I'm kidding, but there are knock off purses the perfect size for such a tiny lovable pet.  Markets are a wonder...we stumbled across one this morning selling a number of live aquatic creatures.  I'm partial to furry pets though, I hear owls are also available.

Note:  30 Baht = 1 US dollar

Cathay Pacific

After a lovely visit with my friend Heather, I met Nathan at the airport in NYC. I checked in a bit before him, and was informed that if I wanted to be permitted into Thailand I was going to need a return ticket to prove I wasn't planning to out stay my welcome (30 days). Fortunately, my distress and gender inspired sympathy in my airline representative. Just this once he was going to do me a favor..have his friend over in ticketing print off a fake booking for a return flight at the end of February. I managed to get Nathan's name on our pretend flight home as well. When I met up with him after he'd checked in I was surprised to learn his airline rep hadnt mentioned a thing to him. She was probably thinking to herself 'I'lll be seeing this poor sucker again in about a week, once he's been deported.' It all worked out...I hope. We are waiting in the Hong Kong airport after spending last night and this morning in the city. We both loved Hong Kong. ..We fly to Bangkok in the next few hours.

Transitions

After some final pieces of advice from my parents

Pa:  "Be safe.  Have fun, and remember: if you are imprisoned and/or kidnapped, your father died years ago in a tragic farming accident and your family can't afford a ransom"

Mum: "Don't talk to strangers"

I flew to NYC to spend a day (Monday) with my good friend 'Crazy Heather'. She lived up to her nickname.  When she found me at baggage claim I was fairly certain she was going to be tackled by TSA before she reached me.  It was like being rushed by a muppet with props.  The guy sitting next to me slid three or four seats over to stay clear of the screaming, arm waving, glitter throwing, styrofoam-fish hat wearing fur ball with paint and glitter all over her face.  He managed to avoid the glitter explosion...but I did not.  I'll be pulling glitter out of my ears for another three weeks.  In addition to the props listed, Heather had also strapped balloons to her entire body.  The innocent sitting nearest to me caught two in the face as she frantically hugged me.
On the way back to her place she explained in a crowded subway tunnel that sometimes when traffic gets thick she likes to hold her hands out in front of herself one on top of the other, arms extended and chomp them up and down like a mouth while making monster noises.  "It really helps open up a path, for some reason it makes people feel uncomfortable"
Tomorrow should be an incredible day.

Matthew Peter Neves

Visiting with my younger brother Matt tonight.  He showed up smelling like cod with an enormous (seemingly empty) garbage bag slung over his shoulder.  He threw it on the floor, reached his arm then his head then his entire uppper body into this bag to pull out seven or eight cod fillets.  He anticipated my question when he saw the raised eyebrow.  With a smirk he explained,  "Ran out of zip-locks."

Mum and Pa packaged up seven cases of dried beans for him to deliver to Northern Maine when he heads home bright and early tomorrow morning. 
Pa:  Matt, do you have room in the back of your truck for seven cases of beans?
Matt: No.
Pa:  What the heck are you hauling around that you don't have any room?
Matt:  I had to shovel 800 pounds of snow into the truck bed to keep it out of the ditch on the way here.
Matt (under his breath):  I'm also hoping to fill the truck with firewood before I leave.

I watched, and encouraged Matt as he shoveled the snow from the back.  I was dressed in full eskimo gear.  Snow pants, -30 boots, two pairs of gloves, wool scarf, down filled jacket complete with fur along the hood.  I shivered and complained while Matt explained that working on the ocean he has learned the differene between being a little cold (he looks over at me) and being so cold you might die.  He shakes his head and laughs...I don't know if he even owns a pair of gloves.  If he does, they are not on his person..and the same goes for a jacket.
We finished up loading wood, and met Pa in the basement while transporting the seven cases of beans to Matt's passenger seat.

Pa:  So I guess you'll just pay me for both your half and your roommates half of the cost of the wood now?
We all have a good chuckle.

Home Sweet Home

Scene:  Pa sits in the living room across the house from Jenny
            They speak loudly to one another

Pa :  Hey Jenny!  You ever watch the TV show called 'Locked-Up Abroad' ?
Jenny:  No
Pa:  You should consider it.  Its about Americans stuck in prison for trumped up charges
       in countries like Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia.
Jenny:  Sounds like a show I don't need to watch
Pa:  Man, they just rot in prison until they can get someone to bail them out
Jenny:  Well, I hope there might be someone willing to bail me out if I get incarcerated for
            a crime I didn't commit.
Pa:  (Silence)

Welcome to New England

Setting:  Gas station in Massachusetts, 9:30 pm, January 15, 2011

Our first glimpse of an interaction between two of 'Our People', New Englanders.
After almost running down a guy with the nerve to cross the road infront of our single head lighted vehicle we pulled into a gas station to fill up and stretch our legs.  A man pulled up to the pump behind us.  He required a cane to get around and the lady behind the counter in the store saw him coming so came outside to help him.  How unsteady he was on his feet is unclear, but he was convincingly feeble.  As she held his elbow guiding him into the station he said casually,
"I could just hold onto your back pocket to steady myself." 
She did not miss his unsuccessful attempt at subtlety as he glanced at her posterior.
Her reply, deadpan:
"Or, you could grab my front pocket, which is where I hide my gun, and try to stop me from shooting you"

Home at last.
We leave the country in 8 days.  Time to get serious about the details.

Coffee?

We were just tying up a conversation about my impending existential crisis when the gas tank light came on.  So, we stopped to fill up and grab a little lunch in middle of somewhere Tennessee.   We had each been drinking a coffee from earlier in the day and mine had been stored between my knees on the passenger seat while reading chapters of my favorite Bukowski novel (Post Office) aloud and arguing the finer points of existence.  I got up to pay for the gas (my turn) and realized I had been sitting in a puddle of coffee.  My cup had been leaking slowly for hundreds of miles and somehow...somehow...I hadn't noticed.  Nathan was instantly skeptical of my story.  Things didn't add up.  I swear I saw him sniff the seat to make sure I hadn't lost control of my bladder.  When I called him on it, he claimed it was an act of faith..not disbelief..  If he'd truly believed it was an incontinence issue he wouldn't have gone near it.  I'm not convinced.  Either way, I had to remove my pants in a gas station parking lot as inconspicuously as possible.  Jokes flew fast and furious until I reminded Nathan that he was done driving and was about to be passenger in the soggy seat.  We managed to figure out a booster seat for him, which leveled the playing field...so easy to ridicule a grown man on a make shift booster.
We made it to Knoxville Maryland to spend the night with my Aunt and Uncle.  Tomorrow..more driving.

According to an Oklahoman

Alcoholism is defined as:

Drinking before noon.

Except:

Football Saturdays
If its cold outside and you're stuck in the house
Its summer
If the monster truck rally starts early
Church was cancelled

The Midwest

The trunk of Nathan's car

Side door.  I'm not sure why Nathan feels a tennis racket makes the cut for cross country transport...but who am I to say?

Hollis Oklahoma.  I love this town. They are re-paving all of the sidewalks downtown.  Downtown is totally deserted.  Not a single business in business. Your tax dollars at work Oklahomans!  Actually...we did see one business still operating.  It was a roofing company with a compelling set of signs all reading "WATERPROOF ROOFING".  Back east that's sort of a pre-req of roofing but down here it's apparently a bonus.

Stopped and collected some fresh cotton from the side of the road for a souvenir and Nathan gave it a good whiff.  Cotton smells like a barn he says.  He holds it to my face while I’m driving.  More specifically cotton you pick up off the side of the road smells like manure..which is likely spread all over my face.  Ah, the Midwest.  It does sure smell sweet in these parts though.  The Oklahomans know how to run a tight ship.  It was like crossing into another world from Texas.  Clean lines of green fields and irrigation as far as the eye can see. 

Cowboys.  What makes a good one?  Serious discussion while working our way through Texas. We narrowed it down to a few key factors which were confirmed and corrected by Cody and Liz who were kind enough to put us up for the night in Lawton Oklahoma

1. Ability to keep track of a lot of cows
2. Ability to look good or at least think you look good wearing boots, chaps, spurs and a hat. 
3. Know a good cow from a bad cow.
4. The ability to lasso.
5. FYI:  No self respecting Cowboy deals with sheep.

Easy Come, Easy Go

We've been on the road since ten this morning (slow start after a late night in Vegas).  Finally settled in at a hotel in Albuquerque New Mexico.  To sum up the last 36 hours:

We get free tickets from a random couple in the casino to go to  the show 'Divas'
We drink 32 oz strawberry daiquiris for dinner while listening to a man dressed as Brittany Spears sing 'Toxic'
Nathan wins 75 dollars at a penny slot machine
Nathan loses 75 dollars at a blackjack table
Jenny almost blacks out while suffocating in cigarette smoke clouds
Nathan's cold gets better
Jenny gets sick
A replacement low beam bulb is purchased for the headlight
We drive 800 miles

Tomorrow:  More driving

22 Hours

Thank goodness for Bella's, a restaurant that serves incredible bacon in the middle of Nevada.  Nothing revives this weary traveler quite like bacon.  We left Luis and Sabrina's house in University Place Washington at 830 pm.  I took first shift and drove until 2 AM on Saturday night/morning.  Nathan took his shift just in time to drive us through a blizzard in Eastern Oregon.  I slept through most of it but do remember the sound of gravel chips ricocheting off of our low riding cargo box of a car.  Third shift brought us to Bella's where we stuffed our grumpy, tired, and in Nathan's case, sick faces.  He slept another couple of hours then finished off our 22 hour drive to the Imperial Palace on the Las Vegas strip at 6 pm.  The timing of our arrival felt ominous.  What are the chances we'll arrive anywhere exactly when we expect ever again?  Unlikely..
We are taking today to recover (in Las Vegas of all places) from our poor sleep and head colds while also gambling and mastering the art of free drinks.  I turned a dollar at a penny slot into 0 dollars plus a Bloody Mary so I'm feeling pretty good.
Also on the agenda today is finding a high and a low beam for the left front headlight of Nathan's car.  His car is completely missing a right headlight due to a mysterious Seattle hit and run accident (another story all together).  I was informed just after dark on the second evening of driving that if the high beam of the one working headlight were to go out we would be in trouble.  No low beam bulb.  Fortunately for us we did not lose our sight..we just irritated every Nevadan driver that passed us heading west with our one blazing bright.
I am trying to enforce mandatory afternoon nap for Nathan who is oozing snot and spreading germs but he can't stop researching Sperm Whale factoids.  For anyone who's never heard of Ambergris, the squid beak digestive pearl regurgitated by these giant carnivores..Google it.
Tomorrow:  Texas

On the fly

Vegas.  Forget a Sunday morning departure.  If we leave now we can make Vegas by 6 pm tomorrow.  Done.  Nathan is trying to krazy glue his dashboard latch mechanism and I just dropped off my car for pick up at the airport.  Things are coming together.  We're burning dvds onto my lap top and about to stuff our faces with an enchilada entree.

Gone Postal

I woke up with super human strength.
On my first day as an vagrant I was slated to help Nathan (my travel partner) send some of his books to New England for safe keeping.  He left me with a very unwieldy box-full on his way to work.
I transported the books from the front seat of my car to my brother's house and plopped it onto a scale to make sure the Post Office would accept it.  NO.  They do not let you send 97 pound boxes. And... where is a safety officer when you need one?  I could have thrown my back out!  I was incredibly impressed with myself for about fifteen minutes.  The lady behind the counter at the PO at Fort Lewis-McChord brought me back down to earth when she insisted I open the four boxes I was sending to prove that they all qualified as 'media'.  Before driving onto base, my brother Luis set one ground rule:  1. Don't do anything stupid.  I was doing really well until the box opening ceremony revealed a WWII military issue knife (not media), and a couple decks of Tarot cards (credibility killers).  Needless to say, only three boxes went out and there were some fairly grumpy faced postal workers.