Trick Or Treat

Another Halloween has come and past. We split up this year. I took Jacob and a couple of his cub scout friends out, Nalin went with her friend Sydney, while Tim took Aleena and McKayla. Seriously, did I even have to say that Aleena and McKayla were together?

Overall it was fun. The other two boys were definitely not as gung ho about trick or treating as Jacob. One boy was ready to knock off after only an hour, and another maybe thirty minutes after that. Jacob would probably have gone on all night if there was candy to be had and I let him.

Nalin dressed up as a witch, although I never actually saw her in costume. She took her costume to Sydney's and got ready there. Aleena was "Gabriella" of High School musical fame. Jacob had a really cool robot costume that Tim made. He got a lot of compliments on his costume. At the end of the night, one neighbor declared that Jacob had the best costume that he'd seen all night, and dumped three handfuls of candy in Jacob's bag.

I took a few photos but they are more like snapshots. Next year I'm going to set up my lighting and get some nice shots of the kids.

Telling It Like She Sees It

While we were at the "grandmother" and "grandfather" rocks at Koh Sumui, there was a Thai-falang couple with her teenage son. They were up at the grandfather rock for quite a long time. The area up there was small, basically preventing anyone else from going up there. Additionally, it meant that they were in every else's shot, as they were right in front of the grandfather rock.

It wasn't something that I was going to complain about, because I knew I could easily crop them out and I didn't actually care if I went up to the rock itself. Still, I'm not a big fan of people monopolizing a spot, particularly when they are spending a good deal of it reviewing the photos (most likely poorly composed :D) that they just took.

When we were about to head out, the teen boy had come down off the rocks and told Tim that the view up their was great, and that we should go up. Here is the synopsis of the conversation:

Boy: You should go up there, the view is great. You can get lots of great photos.
Tim: Yes, I know, but people stay up there so long and monopolize the spot. That would let other people enjoy it.
Boy: Wait, my mom is up there still.
Tim: Yes, I know. (smiles)
Boy (screaming to mom): They are complaining about you staying up their so long.


I was a little distance away from Tim, and didn't realize the conversation took place until we were back in the car. If the guy had been a complete ass and confronted me about complaining, I would have had no idea what he was talking about.

Illin' In Ko Sumui

After a long days drive  to Koh Sumui, our plan for the first day was to relax at the beach.  The customer service  deficiencies of the previous night not withstanding, the hotel was located right on the beach and boasted both fresh and salt water pools.

In the morning I had a touch of diarrhea, but otherwise felt okay.  By lunchtime, I was not feeling well at all and went back to room.  In ended up spending Monday, Tuesday and most of Wednesday in my room.  I had stomach pains and diarrhea.  The worst part was Monday evening and night.  I was exhausted and sleeping off and on.  When I woke up and looked at my watch, I couldn't quite understand what I saw.  I comprehended that they were numbers, but didn't know what they were for.  I just didn't grasp that they represented time.

Tim and the kids spent one day visiting parts of the island and another on a day boat excursion.  Unfortunately, after our second day there, it started to rain.  My understanding is that we were feeling the effects of the tsunami in Indonesia.

By Wednesday evening, I felt well enough to go to dinner with the family.  We had grilled seafood, that while smelling fantastic, was a little bit disappointing.  The grilled squid was greed good though.

Thursday we visited the beach with the grandfather and grandmother rocks.  The reasons for the name is that there are two rock formations there that resemble human genitals.  When you see the grandfather rock, it definitely looks like a penis.  The legend is about a grandfather and grandmother sailing to look for their grandchild and crashing and dying on the island.    

After lunch we visited the big Buddha temple.  We might have visited some other sites, but the off and on rain made it much less pleasant.

On our final full day, we stayed at the hotel.  There was quite a bit of rain that day, so we didn't get to spend as much time at the beach.

Nothing really exciting happened on our trip back on Saturday.  We did see some wrecked cars on the side of the road.  In at least one of the accidents, it would not be at all surprising to learn that there were fatalities.

This certainly wasn't my favorite vacation. The rain and sickness certainly dampened the fun a bit.  Still,  the family had a good time.

Koh Sumui Trip - Getting There

The kids were off school this week for fall break, so Tim and I decided to take them to the beach. We decided on Koh Sumui largely because we hadn't been there yet, and its a pretty popular tourist destination.

We hit our first snag before we even left. Our original plan was to leave on Saturday the 23rd and return on the 30th. Tim had some urgent business on Saturday, so we pushed the trip back a day.

In order to save a little money, we decided to drive instead of flying. Koh Sumui is an island, so we have about an eight hour drive (with stops), an hour ferry ride, and then a half hour drive to the hotel. The one "X" factor is wait for the ferry. A friend told Tim that on some weekends that the wait can be up to three hours to get on the ferry.

The way down was largely uneventful until we were about an hour from the ferry when suddenly Tim blared the car horn bringing me out of whatever day dream that I was in. For some reason I glanced in the side view mirror and witnessed something that I can still see in my mind. A motorcyclist had lost control of his bike which was lying sideways on the road. The cyclist was suspended in the air over the bike, one arm still on the handle as if he were doing some balancing act. Of course that "act" ended almost instantly and he crash on top of the bike.

I turned and asked Tim what had happened. She said that a motorcyclist was weaving between the two lanes as she was approaching in the fast lane so she honked her horn to warn him. Apparently this startled him and he lost control of his bike and wrecked. I glanced back in the side view mirror and saw the man walking over to the side of the road.

We didn't stop for a few reasons. The cyclist was at least able to walk to the side of the road and by the time we saw what happened, he was quite a bit away. I'm not sure how long it would have taken to find a u-turn to get back to him. We hadn't caused him to crash, as he was driving a bit recklessly and Tim had honked to warn him.

The other less pleasant reason that we didn't stop is that if we did, there is a very good chance that he would have blamed us for the accident and tried to get money out of us. Its a pretty common thing here. When I was rear ended by a motorcyclist, clearly his fault, the driver hinted that I should pay. In that case, it would have been difficult to claim that I had struck him given the damage to my rear bumper. Had we stopped, I have no doubt that he would have claimed that we bumped him or came over into his lane.

We arrived at the ferry at about 4:50 p.m. and purchased a ticket for the 7:00 p.m. ferry. We had considered trying the other ferry about a kilometer down the road, but as the 7:00 p.m. ferry was the last of the day and there were only six spots left, we decided to wait. It turned out to be a good decision because we actually managed to get on the 6:00 p.m. ferry.

After the hour and twenty minute ferry ride, we arrived at the Imperial Sumui Hotel at about 8:00 p.m. We were all tired and ready to hit our rooms and go to sleep. After about ten minutes of Tim talking to the clerk, I suspected that there was an issue. We had picked the Imperial because Tim had bought some vouchers at a travel trade show. The issue since there were five of us, the hotel wanted us to upgrade rooms or book another room. This was going to cost us about $150 extra per night.

Tim said that she had spoken to the sales person who assured her that even though most rooms only allowed four people, that it would not be an issue. Well, it was an issue. About thirty minutes later we were packing up the car and ready to find another hotel when a manager came and asked us to wait. About fifteen minutes later, we agreed to pay a little more for the extra breakfasts and came to an agreement.

Cub Scouts

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Originally uploaded by ebvImages

Last Saturday the Cub Scouts had an outing where they built the rockets and plane to use for the December outing.

More Vegetarian Photos

Through the Mirror

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Originally uploaded by ebvImages

When I was at ISB for Jacob's cub scout meeting on Saturday, I saw a mirror and took the opportunity to shoot myself.

Good Wrench

Good Wrench
Originally uploaded by ebvImages

This was one of my favorite sights at the festival. I was amazed that he was able to get two wrenches that large in his mouth at once.

One of the amazing things is not only do these guys put things through their faces, but they then parade around for several hours. Some of the items, like the wrenches, may not be heavy for a short time, but imagine having to hold them in place for several hours while walking around in the heat.

Ladyboys in Phuket

I was just struck by the number of ladyboys that I saw in Phuket. Most of the time its pretty easy to tell. Some are more difficult to discern from women, and there are those few who are just stunning.

You certainly can't miss them if you walk on Bangla Road and go past Soi Crocodile. Before their shows, they gather in the road and solicit customers to take photos for a fee. There may be some other solicitation going on as well. I pay two to take a few photos.





Another spot where there were a lot of ladyboys was on Beach Road. These individuals were not soliciting photos, but definitely massages and more. As I walked by, one quite striking individual propositioned me about a massage. When I politely declined, "she" asked me if I wanted "boom boom" (i.e., sex). Naturally I declined. I'll tell you though, if it were not for where this person was standing and the individuals around "her", I would have been sure it was a woman. I would hardly be shocked if some straight guys took her back to the hotel room only to find an extra "surprise" in that pair of panties.

Of course there were ladyboys at the Simon Caberet. The show was pretty good. The highlight of the show was an old fashion drag queen type. There was no mistaking this ladyboy for a woman. He did two songs, the first, Living in a Barbie World, where he was dressed in a pink outfit with fake breasts that looked the size of the orange construction cones. In the second, the performed I Will Survive. In both acts, he got involved with the audience and was generally hilarious.

It was pretty obvious that most of the Simon Caberet performers were not women. There a couple who looked fairly convincing.



There were also a few ladyboys at the "traditional" massage shops. I became aware of this because there was one particular shop near the hotel. Whenever I walked by, this particular ladyboy would run out and offer her massage services. I must have told her know six times. Of course she asked seven times. Okay, not really. I politely declined each time.

So Many Massage Shops

There are so many massage shops in Patong Beach. I laughed when I saw the sign for this one.



I did not visit the shop, so I don't know if they will actually massage your willy at Willy Massage, but based on its location, I think it is probably on offer.

Brave Men

On the days I took photos of the parade, I arrived at the shrines at 5:30 or 6:00 a.m.  There were already several dozen people there each day.  Most people wore all white, while those who would undergo the piercings would wear a colorful traditional garb.  It was pretty clear that the participants were getting ready for their ordeal, as they walked around, shaking their heads and often murmuring to themselves.

When it was time to get ready, the man would sit on a plastic chair.  Another man, usually one bearing the scars of having done this in the past, would stand behind him and hold his head with both hands.  Another man had an eighteen inch cone shaped metal rod with a point on one end.  He cleaned the rod with alcohol, then poured some kind of oil on it.  He then pushed the rod through the participant's cheek, creating a hole up to two inches in diameter.  Next he would withdraw the rod, and put in another object, such as a wrench, pistol barrel, knife, saw blade, etc.  Usually they would then do the same thing for the other cheek.

Most of the participants were pretty stoic when it was happening.  One guy left no doubt that it hurt as he yelled out 'uh uh uh" many times.

It was pretty crazy when this happened, as many photographers, both falang and Thai would gather around and try to take photos.  If you weren't at the right place at the right time, it was difficult to get the shot of the piercing happening.  Everyone wanted to get the photograph, and the crowds were sometimes 5 or 6 deep.

I really lucked out one time.  I having limited luck getting a photo of one piercing, when someone came over and placed a plastic chair within arm's length of me and a man in a traditional outfit sat in the chair.  I knew that this was my chance.  I actually stood in between the handles of one of the little platforms that are carried on the shoulder and display idols.  From there, I ended up getting quite a few shots, even some as it actually pierced the cheek.  It was kind of cool.

The wounds certainly did bleed, but there wasn't really a whole lot of blood around.  There were people around who would dab off the blood when it was happening.  As they marched, there were also people with each participant who would dab off the blood.

Phuket Vegetarian Festival

Got back on Wednesday from four days at the Phuket Vegetarian Festival.  Before anyone gets the crazy idea that I am eschewing meat, I didn't go for the food, but rather for the rather unusual ceremonies that are performed there.  Local Tsaoist of Chinese descent gather at the local shrines, pierce themselves with a variety of different objects, and then parade through Phuket Town.

By piercing, I don't mean that they make tiny holes like you might get for an earring.  No, they actually make  holes in their cheeks large enough to fit knives, saw blades, barrels of funs, and even beach umbrella stands.  Its amazing and disturbing all at the same time.

I went two years ago and took photos and decided to return.  Actually, I wanted to go last year, but it fell on the same week as the kids were off school.  While last time I did take photos of the parade, this time I managed to get to the shrine to actually see them do the piercings.  And yes, I have the photos to prove it.  I'll load them up as I process them.

I have a lot more to write about this trip, but wanted to share some photos first.

Row, Row, Row to School

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Originally uploaded by ebvImages

These Cambodian children live on floating houses on Lake Tonle Sap. Instead of biking, walking or riding in a car or bus to school, they instead row themselves.

More Photos From Cambodia

Here are a few more photos from Cambodia.







The current set is here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ebvimages/sets/72157624969274611/detail/

Fly Butterfly, Fly

When Tim and I were at one of the temples, I saw that a butterfly was on her back.  I walked over to her and gently lifted the butterfly off of her.  I then threw it up in the air, anticipating it fluttering away.  My eyes followed it as it ascended under the power of my toss, and then fall to the earth.  It was dead. 

I know, a very moving and touching story.