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I’ve been in Thailand for almost a month now, on island southeast of Bangkok, called Koh Chang. I’ve been wanting to blog about my experiences without inciting jealously at my lifestyle, which is pretty amazing right now. But being the crafty lady I am I manage to turn positives into negatives and then just as easily back into a positive again. The yoga way and the only way I know how.

I’ll tell you some of the experiences I had that were not so glamorous. Though not glamorous, they are not horrible either. They are just what they are. Experiences, lessons, you make what you want out of them.

Part 1: What it took to get here

I departed Calgary and had a long layover in Vancouver, where I stuffed my face with Chinese food. Then I flew from Vancouver to Guangzhou on China Southern Airlines which was pleasant.

I flown to South East Asia more than a dozen times before and this experience was probably one of the more physically taxing experiences I’ve had.

When I arrived in China, I saw there was an hour flight-delay due to a storm, which was fine with me. I even told myself, good for me, safety first. That 1-hour delay turned into 3-hours. And the strangest part was that us passengers at the gate looked completely puzzled as we watched several other airlines board and take off to Bangkok, Phuket and other Southeast Asian cities, leaving our China Southern airlines still on the ground. How very intriguing.

As I watched another flight take-off to Hanoi, I asked a ground staff if he knew anything about our flight. He told me, “Not this gate, downstairs, go now, leave now!”

“Why didn’t they say anything?!” I thought. I announced out loud so others would know, “They changed the gate, it’s downstairs now.” And I rushed to the next gate, which was a good 10-minute speedwalk away. Other passengers followed suit. When I got there, I checked with staff at the gate to make sure that it was place I needed to be. Nope. They changed it again.

Finally we were in the right place. It seemed. And so we waited. Then, they put us on a bus and ushered us onto the tarmac and waiting for about 30 minutes as we watched planes take off and land all around us, without feeling a single raindrop.

I met a Thai girl and we started chatting and she decided it was time she started giving the staff a hard time. She asked if we could wait on the plane instead, they said, “No.” And then she asked if she could smoke on the tarmac, they said, “No.” Then she asked if she could go “kaka” on the plane, they said, “No.” It must have worked because shortly after, he radioed a bus to pick us up. So we got on and we were ushered back on it and sent back to the terminal.

A two hours later, we finally got on the plane and took off.
I felt exhausted by the time I arrived in Bangkok. I was due to arrive at my hotel at 9PM, thinking I could shower and rest before my 8AM bus ride. I got there at 4AM instead, had I known, I would not have booked the hotel and waited the 4 hours at the airport. But since I already paid for it, I went anyway.

Exhausted with 2 large suitcases, 1 roll-on suitcase and a laptop bag, I arrived at the cheap airport hotel and checked-in only to discover there was no elevator to my floor. Exasperated after a 30-hour journey, I left the largest suitcase at the front desk, too tired to care if it will be tampered with or not – thank goodness it was not.

Got to my room, showered and got an hour of sleep. Then checked out.

Got to the airport, and got the last seat on the minibus/van to Koh Chang. Since I am getting married in February, I brought along extra stuff that I needed for my wedding, including a wedding dress in my roll-on. Usually, I travel with a backpack. And most of the passengers on the van were backpackers. They stared in disapproval as my suitcases took up most of the luggage space and I shot them an apologetic look.

I almost said out loud, “I’m in Thailand for 6-months, then I’m getting married, I brought my dress. I’m sorry, I really need this stuff.”

But I didn’t, and they must have thought I was a pretty big jerk. Meh, I’ll never see them again. Then, since I stayed back to help load my suitcases, all the other passengers piled into the back and I got to ride shotgun. Shotgun for all 6 hours to Koh Chang. Yeah, I got the evil eye for sure.

When I arrived on Koh Chang, I told the driver to leave me on the pier and my resort would pick me up. The driver who spoke very little English said, “Bag.” As in, I’ll help you with your bags and a British guy chimed in with, “Yeah, don’t forget your three suitcases!” I wanted to respond and explain, but smiled sheepishly without a word and got off, thinking, “Meh, I’ll never see him again.” Sometimes you need to choose your battles, and this one was not even close to worth it.

And besides, I had arrived!!! I was excited, nervous but mostly in need of a good sleep.

And at the time not knowing that I wouldn’t be able to get a good sleep for another week.

To be continued…

No matter what cards you are dealt in a poker game, you can still win.

Just like in life, keep playing, you never know what you might end up with.

Happy Monday!

Although I haven’t done many travel posts, I love travelling. I was born and raised in Malaysia, went to New Zealand when I was 16 and spent a year there and lived in Canada ever since.

My first long distance flight was when I was 4 years old and my parents took us to Australia and New Zealand. Then we travelled to different countries every year or every other year. Sometimes, back to the same country.

So far, I’ve been to Australia a few times (spending about 2 months of total trip time there) and Thailand (all over about 3 months total). Some other countries I’ve visited include India, China, Indonesia, Cambodia, Singapore, America, Mexico, England, Republic of Ireland, Spain and Portugal.

This list isn’t exactly extensive, but mind you I’m not a “cross-it-off-my-list” kind of traveller, meaning that I actually have been to most of these countries a couple of times to different regions to actually see what it’s like and not just “been there, done that, let’s go somewhere new.” If I like a place, I tell myself, “The next time I’m here, I’ll see that thing I didn’t get to see this time.” This makes me visit different countries at an alarmingly slow rate because I keep going back to the same ones.

I am NOT the kind of traveller who exclaims excitedly things like, “In India, they are so poor they like in houses made of poo.” Although that may be true for lots of unfortunate Indians, saying this is to an Indian, or anyone from a developing country, is very rude and ignorant. They have more than just poo houses. India is full of diversity and they also have plenty of billionaires. They are actually number 3 when it comes to having them – billionaires that is.

There is a huge disparity between rich and poor in developing countries, but that’s why they are called such (by the way saying third-world is way outdated and wrong in this day and age). It is developing, meaning they are working on it and becoming a better place for their citizens. Yes there is corruption, yes there is poverty, but pointing at it and mocking it will not help. Think of slavery in Americas, ruling of kings in Europe, these are growing pains of a country. Yes, it shouldn’t be happening in this day and age, but European powers had invaded most developing countries in the world, where they found independence only in the last 50-60 years, while others are war-torn. They had a late start and still figuring things out. They’ve endured some horrible politicians and yes, they do bad things. But please do not lump us all in the same category as our politicians.

This issue is so dear to my heart, because as an immigrant in Canada, some of the things I hear Canadians say makes me want to buy them a good book and force them to read it all the way through, so they understand how to see things from a different point of view.  Sometimes, when people find out I’m from Malaysia they immediately say my English has no accent at all. They think that I must have worked so hard to speak English. This hurts because English is my first language and to be honest, my family is actually more wealthy than most Canadians I hang out with, my first international trip was when I was four, which not a lot of people can say. The first time I flew business class when I was 12 (with some connections). My international tuition alone, minus rent and cost of living, cost $80,000. Yes, just tuition. I’m not bragging about how rich I am, I’m just trying to get through to some snobs out there, that immigration for some, like myself, is a choice. I am lucky to have that choice, yes, but I was not desperate to see the bright lights of Canada, the Kuala Lumpur skyline is so much more amazing. And I feel that it’s my responsibility as an educated individual from an undeveloped country, to educate you this matter.

Do not misunderstand me. I love Canada. But Canada is my second home because my first home is under renovation. But my first home is where all my childhood memories are, and it is what makes me who I am today. Sure, it needs some fixing up, but it’s still my home so don’t you dare call it a dump.

Another strange thing is the moment I pick out problems in a developed country (after they’ve insulted mine), they get very defensive and start to use the “why don’t you go back to your country then” tone. They don’t say this to the Australians, Kiwis or Europeans. It’s so discriminating and unfair. I have to remind myself, this is just one Canadian, and not everyone thinks like he/she does.

My point is when you pick on the pollution that developing countries create, tell me what about the Industrial Revolution? And how come with all the political stability and education on environmental issues, how come each Canadian on average produce 4 pounds of garbage a day, totalling to 30 million tonnes annually? North Americans are largest producers of waste in the world as well as methane. Yes, it is still wrong and it is unacceptable. But before condemning the developing countries, look inwards to your own and realize that at every stage in the world there is room for growth. Every country can be better and this fact alone should stop you from pointing fingers at what everyone else can do better.

To end this post, I urge that you please do not come back from your vacation claiming how strange a culture is, like you just came from the zoo. Be better than that. Read up on how old the country is and its history. As I’ve mentioned, most developing countries have been either war torn or colonized. In other words, they haven’t had the time to blossom into what is deemed a developed country. Malaysia is turning 58 this year while Canada is 148 this year. That’s a 90 year gap. A lot can happen in 90 years. Change takes time and of course good people can make that happen faster. Be encouraging and travel wisely and respectfully.

Finally, I do want to spend a month backpacking Europe though, but it will have to wait as I plan my 5th trip back to Thailand.