I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. … I hope.

My intent upon initially leaving the States way back when was to engage in what I then called “The Bowl of Stupid World Tour” — a tour that started out in Singapore, made various pit-stops in Indonesia, Thailand and other bright and shiny destinations throughout Southeast Asia. From there, the tour made an unexpected stop in Boston, and would continue on through Sri Lanka and India, and eventually lead to various stops through Australia.

All of that was accomplished — and more.

The tour was also supposed to expand into and through the Pacific — to places like Guam, Palau, and Fiji. But somehow I never got there. Instead, like many people, I got trapped by the allures of Asia and, for the past 3-plus years, I wound up living in Bangkok, then Bali, and then back to Thailand — which is where I find myself today.

My intention upon returning to Bangkok was to make a life for myself here — in the past six (6) months, I’ve spent countless hours looking for work, making new friends, and networking with the Bangkok business community, all in the hopes that I would be able to find a paying job sufficient enough to allow me to stay here, perhaps indefinitely. Indeed, for all its faults and quirks and despite the fact that I constantly have to defend it to my friends back in the States who have a distorted view of the place, I love Bangkok very much. I really do. As do I love mostly all of Southeast Asia, the Buddhist way of thinking, and all the lovely people I’ve met here who have been gracious enough to let me into their lives, however briefly.

But like most things, permanence here is apparently not for me. My destination (if there is one), at this point seemingly lies elsewhere. I’ve not been able to find a decent job that would allow me to maintain even the minimalist lifestyle to which I’ve become accustomed. So I’m leaving Thailand, and Asia — most likely never to return, except perhaps as a tourist.

I really don’t mean to come across as a drama queen. But my experiences here in Asia over the past several years have altered me in ways I previously thought unimaginable. As a result, the thought of leaving Asia for good is obviously a bit daunting. The world out here is truly wondrous — with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. And I am also sorry to see this, yet another stage of my life, exiled to the relative oblivion of memories.

In contrast to that melancholy, I am also optimistic, since I’m returning to the original path that has been lost to me — I’m finally heading out into the Pacific. And I’m also returning to the practice of law. And I’m also heading back to the States (in a manner of speaking).

Less than two (2) days from now, I’m moving to American Samoa, the southernmost territory of the United States, with a total land mass about the size of Washington D.C., and a total population of approximately 70,000. I go there with the promise of a paying job, decent surf, tropical island breezes, a lush island paradise and, most importantly, relative peace and tranquility.

As usual, we’ll see how it plays out …

Wanderer, there is no path, you lay down a path in walking.
-Antonio Machado

I’m off for a few days, at least. I didn’t put things together very well (again) coming back from the States last month, so I’ve got to head to Kuala Lumpur for a few days to renew my Thai visa. Since there’s nothing going on here this late in the year — what with last weeks holidays here in Thailand and everyone else heading to their native lands for the Christmas holidays, I’m gonna make a trip out of it. Do some bus ridin’, do some train ridin’, do some divin’. All that kinda shit.

Should be back in several days, though. And I may update along the way, although — GASP — I’m not taking my laptop with me this time. We’ll see how it unfolds …

The Fifth of December is a huge day here in Thailand — it’s the birthday of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world’s longest reigning monarch.

Known in Thai as ‘Wan Chalerm’. The King has a very special place in the hearts of the Thai people. He completely revitalized and redefined the country for the modern era. As a foreigner, it’s my view that the most important thing His Majesty has done is provide a firm foundation for the modern Thailand we know today, allowing it to weather, relatively unscathed, the turmoil that beset other countries in the region since the end of World War II.

In celebration of The Kings birthday, buildings and homes all over the country are elaborately adorned with flags and portraits of His Majesty, predominantly in the color yellow. On the evening of the holiday itself, the streets around Ratchadamnoen and Sanam Luang are closed to traffic and thousands of people take to the streets.

However, for anyone in town not familiar with HM the King’s birthday and the intermittent week-long holiday associated with it, you may get a slight ‘Twilight Zone’ twitch when you notice everyone but yourself wearing pink shirts and randomly throwing lit firecrackers into the street. It’s just another of the awesomely quirky things about Thailand (much like being caught on the BTS train here at 0800 or 1800 each day, when everyone simply stops moving — they just stop — for the duration of the Thai National Anthem).

Since the King’s actual birthday fell on a Saturday this year, the official state holiday was yesterday (7 December), while Constitution Day, another public holiday, is this Thursday (10 December) to commemorate the start of the constitution monarchy in 1932.

The result of all this is that it feels like a mixture of July 4th and Thanksgiving (back in the States) — there’s essentially a 2-day work week, with most people not even going that far. So it’s relatively quiet here in Bangers right now. It’s a welcome change of pace, and it’s another reminder of why Bangkok is such a great place to live.

So, it’s been a whole year since I moved to Bali. Looking back, I can still (barely) remember my reasoning for doing so:

At the time, I was basing myself out of Bangkok, but throughout the extensive (Northern Hemisphere) summer, I was only staying there 2-3 weeks every other month and spending most of my other time jockeying around the Indonesian archipelago, looking for surf.

It was costing my heaps of money in terms of running back and forth to Bangkok for visa runs, to pick up clothes, pay bills, and other random crap. Plus, at the time, there were no inexpensive direct flights from Bangkok to Bali (which Air Asia now has), and I was spending additional moneys heading through Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, and elsewhere — most of the time heading to, or through, Bali for surf supplies before heading to another destination.

So, although I had never been a fan of Southern Bali (the over-commercialized center of the Indonesian tourist/surf scene), I decided to give it a go in the hopes the island would grow on me — I’d practice my Indonesian, be able to surf on a more regular basis, and save some much needed money.

One year later and, despite all I’ve learned in terms of Indonesian culture, the international surf scene, and my own surfing abilities … I am, quite possibly, less of a fan of Bali than I was before I moved here last year.

The main reason for that is (apparently) indicated in the Taylor Steele movie I referenced in my last post — now that I’ve been here and I’ve been able to get a feel for some areas still untouched by tourism, it puts into sharp contrast the tourist nightmare that exists everywhere else on the island. And the greed, crowds, and incongruous stress that has become indicative of life here.

It used to be a lovely island, a tropical paradise. But no longer. That era is long gone.

It’s getting far too tiring to live here. The positives no longer outweigh the negatives. And it’s time for me to go.

For the uninitiated, Thailand has been engulfed by political turmoil in the form of “colored shirt” protests which have been taking place, on and off, for the better part of three (3) years.

The protests took an ugly turn this week when Thai military troops cracked down on rioting protesters from the anti-government “red shirt” group. Now, in the latest news, the leader of the rival ‘yellow shirt’ faction was gunned down yesterday:

BANGKOK (AP) — The founder of Thailand’s “yellow shirt” protest movement that shut down Bangkok airports last year was shot and wounded in an assassination attempt Friday, just days after troops cracked down on rioting protesters from the rival, anti-government “red shirt” group. Sondhi Limthongkul was in stable condition after surgery that removed a bullet from his skull.

Thai authorities have just released the following photo of a suspect in the shooting.

Despite the mask, police have tentatively identified the gunman as one John “Ham” Burglar. Mr. Burglar has a long criminal history — mostly limited to petty theft of various fast food items — and is presumed to be armed and dangerous.

We will keep you apprised of the situation as events unfold.

P.S. This is the maid speaking.

Before heading to Vietnam in January, I’m going to the place pictured above — Koh Lipe, Satun Province, Thailand.

Since I may be out of pocket for the next week or so diving, climbing and taking a break from my strenuous schedule, I’ll wish everyone a happy and healthy new year.

Peace and Namaskar.

So I’ve got this really bad problem about not being able to sleep-in late when I’ve got a hangover. Which explains why I’m writing a blog post at 7 a.m. Saturday morning after only a few hours of sleep and with a pounding headache.

Yeah, my pain is your pain, fuckers.

It’s pretty comical (well, not in any kind of “ha-ha” way) in that when I’m in Indonesia, I really don’t go out at all, I eat healthy, I sleep well, I surf and do my yoga regularly. So I stay pretty even keeled.

But literally my first full night back in Bangkok, I’m drinking, smoking, clubbing, and finding dead hookers in my bed generally having a mess of things.

I love it here, I really do. But if I stay too long, I’ll probably be dead by next Thursday — my liver and lungs ruined, and my kidneys in the possession of some Dutch guy who bought them on the black market for 5000 baht.

You guys know that’s just a joke, right? Thailand’s not really not that crazy (well, sorta … ish).

I know the title of this post is probably one that will be, or has already been, used many times this week, but really … WHAT THE FUCK?

After months of (in my opinion) useless demonstrations, things have been taken to a whole other level of insanity. Specifically, the anti-government group People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has been leading protests against the government since May, accusing the government of being a front for ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and protesters surrounded the parliament building on Monday, forcing lawmakers to postpone their session.

Now, according to the latest from CNN:

Blasts at two Bangkok airports wounded four people early Wednesday, triggering the closure of the main international airport, authorities said.

The explosions come a day after thousands of anti-government protesters stormed the airports to protest the return of Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat from the APEC summit in Peru.

One blast occurred at Suvarnabhumi Airport at 5 a.m. (2200 Tuesday GMT), an airport official said. One person was wounded in that attack.

Continued protests caused authorities to cancel all incoming and outgoing flights there.

I know I kid a lot, but this is really fucked up — especially considering it’s taking place in a Bhuddist country (and somewhere I called home as recently as last week).

For the first time in a while, I’m glad to be anywhere BUT Bangkok right now. All I can do now is hope for quick and non-violent outcome, and of course that all my friends in Thailand emege from this unscathed … soon!

(Yours truly — sporting the latest)

สักยันต์ – Sak Yant; Sak – meaning “to tap” or, “to tattoo”, and Yant, meaning “Yantra”. Originally derived from the Sanskrit word “YANTRA”.

Through some sort of Google ’search engine magic’, this site — and, in particular, the posts HERE, HERE and HERE — has become some sort of pseudo-authority on the sacred Bhuddist art of ‘Sak Yant’ tattooing.

The bad news is that, as I stated in the comment section of one post:

Just to set the record straight, I pretty much know jack-shit about EVERYTHING.

My admitted stupidity notwithstanding, people STILL continue to be directed here by the search-engine gods in their quest for knowledge about Sak Yant. My apologies, everyone.

The good news, however, is that I too know know how to use Google to find ACTUAL authorities on the subject of Sak Yant tattoos and have posted links in my above-referenced posts to ACTUAL sak yant authories. Moreover, one of my best friends in Bangkok actually did a video piece for the Bangkok Post (see below) about Arjan Noo, one of the best know Say Yant artists in the — having given Angelina Jolie her well-publicized sak yant tattoos.

The other good news is that there has also been some faily interesting information posted by visitors in the commentary of my posts, including this latest comment by ujalakali:

I have a sak yant tattoo and I am a woman. I made a kind of pilgrimage to bkk to get it done. actually, i would have gone to anyone, but ended up at arjan noo’s to get it done in the belief that women cannot be touched by monks–which arjan noo is not.

later a westerner with plentiful sak yant told me that some bkk temples will put sak yant on women.

here is my experience:
I only have one and was not allowed to choose it. this is important! i think you often dont really get to choose. you tell them what is going on with you (i was on my way to afghanistan so i recieved the protection yant) and they give you the one that is best. also, i felt that they strongly encouraged putting the yants in the classic places. AJ’s is in the normal place for a protection tattoo. they put mine in a slightly different place. they were very clear that they were not going to do anything on my lower back, even though i didn’t ask for such a thing. this was a clear rule.

one final thing–this is for real. everything changed for me after recieving the tattoo. come correct.

This is all I really know, that which is my experience–i dont know about the other yants and dont know what the experience is for men.

i have a question if anyone knows– are there rules explicit for women? as far as i can see the rules are mostly for men, so i just try to stay on the right path as i see it. but if there are ladies rules, i would love to know them! thanks!

As I mentioned in those comments:

… it’s my understanding that the ‘rules’ on Sak Yant (in general) is that you cannot have an actual image of the holy Buddha anywhere on your body, and that the yants themselves are not to be placed anywhere beneath the waistline (which, for obvious reasons, is considered unclean — that’s also the reason monks are not allowed to touch women, as they are alleged to be unclean … sorry girls, I’m just the messenger.

That being said, I can also advise all of you fellow tattoo enthusiasts (read: freaks) that obviously Arjan Noo himself does sak yants for women (although when I went for one, he charges foreigners — ‘falangs’ — about US$2,000.00 per, and presumably more if you’re a celebrity).

Further, there was also a Malaysian woman behind me to get inked at Wat Bang Phra when I got my first sak yant. I assume she eventually got one there, although I didn’t stick around to confirm it, and it’s my understanding that women there are only allowed to get ‘invisible tattoos’ made with vegetable oil instead of ink.

Again, what the hell do I know, right?

So for those of you still interested in more info, you can go to the appropriately named Sak-Yant.com — it has just about everything you may want to know on the subject.

And who can (or want to learn to) read Thai, here’s a link to Arjan Noo’s website — actually, there are a bunch of links there written in English also.

Last, but not least, there’s this: the VERY BEST news story you’ll ever see about the subject — where my buddy, Desho Bernard of the Bangkok Post (a.k.a. Guru Bangkok), went to do a story on Arjan Noo and got tattooed instead:

That is all … freaks.

I’m back in Seminyak. Bali. I had an incredible 3 weeks back in Bangkok — essentially ‘closing up shop’ and packing up the rest of my things in my Bangkok apartment to bring to my new place here in Bali.

But, as always, I was also able to visit and spend some time with my friends in Bangkok (whom we sorta affectionately call The ‘Bangkok Brat Pack’ — I’m Judd Nelson). And while it’s nice to back to an island pace, I already miss my friends in Bangers. I really can’t describe just HOW lucky I’ve been in meeting the people I have in the past couple years (and beforehand too). My friends in Bangkok are simply amazing people and I love them dearly. I don’t know what’s gonna happen if and when I ever have to return to the States. I really don’t.

But that time is (hopefully) some time away still. And I’m back in one of the most beautiful tropical paradises in the world. And I have friends here, as well. So my goal is to try to continue to enjoy myself as much as possibly in the midst of missing my Bangkok friends, and so much doom and gloom elsewhere.

On another note upon which I plan to expand later, I’ve recently been contacted on Facebook by a number of people I grew up with back in Philly. It’s both interesting and a bit disconcerting. I haven’t thought about many of these folks for a long time, and while it’s interesting, I’m not sure exactly how I feel about having to explaining myself all these people I left in the dust decades ago — especially considering I’ve been doing it here — publicly — for the past several years.

We’ll see how it unfolds. I’m going for a surf.

The Beverly Hillbillies – The Next Generation

Now I know what my Halloween Costume is gonna be. I’m just wondering if anyone OUTSIDE Texas and Missouri would find it more entertaining than disturbing.

P.S. I’m actually celebrating Halloween the ‘Old Fashioned Way’ — I’m back in Railay, enjoying some great tropical weather, some good climbing, and a cocktail on the beach. God, I love this place.

P.P.S. Hey Dee, everyone here is STILL asking about you. What the fuck, did you buy all the people here new cars or something?

I know the tone of my blog of late has been less than optimistic, to say the least.

Rather, when I’ve posted at all, those posts have reflected the high anxiety of the world financial markets, the vitriolic advancing of the U.S. Presidential election, and my own general frustration about my continuing inability to find my place in the world.

As my friend here has told me, tho — get the fuck over it. There’s nothing much you can do about those things. But I am living in tropical paradise (of sorts) with immediate access to some of the best surfing in the world. I’ve enough money left to live like like royalty here for the next year, at least — so suck it the fuck up.

There is little reason for my high anxiety right now, expecially considering my current locale and my daily routine of surfing and eating cheap Indonesia food.

Ironically, I feel that much of this is tied to the fact that, for the first time in several years, I have cable television and internet at my home — incuding access to international news networks. I have, until now, been fairly segregated from the nightmares being broadcast 24 hours a day on these chanels.

I can’t help but feel that my immediate access to these outlets hs at least SOMETHING to do with my growing unease and anxiety. I really think I ned to lose the television again, and by implication, admit that my parents were right: “Television rots your mind” — especially during a U.S. Presidential race.

And that doesn’t even include all the political ads we don’t have to put up with here overseas. I can only imagine how miserable the people living back in the States must feel — being constantly innumdated with bad financial news and bitter campaign politics.

Yep, I’ve got it pretty fucking good over here.

For anyone paying attention, you may recall that several months ago, I got a Sak Yant tattoo (Khmer geometric tattoos, meant to protect the wearer, originally as protection during war/fighting times).

That first tattoo was the Yant Gao Yord (or ‘Nine Spires Yanthra’), which represents the Nine Peaks Mount Meru; the sacred mountain in the centre of the Universe, with the four Continents around it.

Well, today I went to get the second in a series of Sak Yant tattoos (while I’m sill here in Bangkok). Admittedly, I did not go to Wat Bang Phra this time, instead getting the tattoo from a local Bangkok artist who trained as a monk but no longer practices. As such, I’ll need to get this Yant blessed (or ‘charged’) by a Bhuddist preist when I return back here to Thailand in a couple months.

This time I got a Yant Paed Tidt, which is representative of the 8 directions of the Universe and has a kata to protect you in each direction in which you may travel. Mine is a variation, but it looks similar to the one shown and described at the Sak Yant Website, here.

I’ll try to have a picture up in a couple days.

Aloha you nutjubs, listen up: I’m taking the suggestions of several of my friends and heading up to Laos tommorow for a week or so. My first stop is Vientiane, where I’ll probably spend 1-2 days. Then my plan is to take a bemo to vang Vieng, where I’ll probably stay another 1-2 days. From there, I’ll be heading up to Luang Prabang, and then from there, I’ll probably take a slow boat down Mekhong river back to Vientiane.

These plans are tentative, but it’s a start. If I get sidetracked, I’ll let y’all know. But for now, that’s the plan.

If anyone has any other suggestions (ahem … Dee), please lemme know. I’ll try to post some pics and stuff from the road wherever there’s internet and such. Thanks kids, I’m outta here.