animals and evolution..

Elephants (chained) on the side of the road waiting for a western "body" to jump on them, dogs barking and mating on the beach (and also getting stuck), monkeys fighting, running after each other and approaching fearlessly "clever" tourists that find funny feeding them not knowing the risks, snakes crossing the roads, huge and photogenic beetles and insects that you can eventually eat on street food stalls or in night markets, stray cats looking for leftovers outside or inside restaurants, very loud and hungry (of mosquitoes) geckos, impressive eagles up in the air and great racket-tailed drongos on the young palm trees calls' sounding as alarms.... russian tourists looking for some "warm and exotic emotions" and sometimes not welcome in some bars that proudly show "NO RUSSIANS" signs, local girls shouting (like monkeys) everytime a "white" passes by their "lady bar", even if they are at 30 km per hour on their scooter!!!
I am being confirmed that Koh Chang is actually a side of a quiet and moderate Thailand, yet not over abused and sexualised (or "lady boysed") as others according to what I hear from other travellers that seem to collect thai stamps over and over the years on their passports..
Even if here in Koh Chang I have seen many families and couples, I still believe Thailand is a place for older men travellers....I look forward to seeing, yet the other side of this country..
I guess tomorrow is gonna be the day that I will meet with Cambodia; I feel ready to add another of the poorest countries in the world in my list of travelled places and maybe keep learning that the direction we (western and capitalist countries) are taking is just not right and not a proper example for developing countries...
I keep discovering that I don't want to belong to this "world of sheep" and that I am fine following the world I am creating and living on, respecting my priorities and my views even if at times strict and nonconformist, that can sound weird to the people that love me or that just come across my path!
I want my life and the one of the people I still love to be perfect or at least healthy and balanced, pure and peaceful, exciting yet zen....

my philosophical post 2....timing

What are you waiting for?..why don't you get a break yourself!!!disappear for a while and let's get it sorted once and for all.....the more we keep doing things in the same way the more we will get the same results and nothing will ever change....either in good or bad......forcing has never done any good....see my mum, she tried to keep me close to her by enrolling me in the school where she worked instead of the school I wanted to do, located in a town 30 minutes away (too far!!), and look where I ended up with my life.....
The more we want something for ourselves, the farther will go away from us, the more we are addicted to something (or someone) the more we won't be free...I am honestly impressed to understand how far we can still go!!!
Koh Chang is seriously engaging me and I feel nearly as I belonged here since the first day I arrived....it's the 3rd day (in a row) that I go and postpone my check out at reception!!!
Days are passing fast and busy and I always seem to have no time for myself and my things since I am here, kinda under a spell, unable to control pretty much anything...
In this trip I am learning to confirm the meaning of the word "timing"!!...it should be carefully and thoughtfully taught to us when kids, I wonder why it's not (as usual, discouraged by the educational system)...
Events and meetings always happen for a reason and at a precise time.....one day things will be clear (and easier to remember and handle), but now we have to let things take their course....and we should know confidently it will be right the way it will turn out to be..I don't call it destiny, I call it circle of life, and we can, but little, interfere with it.....
When something is not happening the way you want it's because it's not ready to happen yet, or maybe is just not meant to.(dot)
Getting mad or obsessed about things as never benefitted anyone!!! am I learning that? maybe yes now.....
I had to swallow a heavy and deserved bitter pill (lesson) and obviously digestion is (unusually for me) taking long and I am still stuck in the wheel of comparison that is just another of the many mistakes or weaknesses to add to my list...
Attitude towards life needs to be reviewed and, most likely, hoping, waiting or pretending that things would change is not really (and obviously) right!!!
This is the way I am, and that's the way it will always be maybe...this is my path and I cannot force any other unfortunately....the same is for everyone, let's be honest to ourselves and let's see where we really stand......

island life....

I am finding hard to take pictures here in Koh Chang, or better I am taken by the activities that I am scheduling in my day and by the hostel life that I am using very little my watch, my camera and my money....island life I would say...
Yesterday we ended up renting bikes to discover the only road that follows the perimeter of the island that is big enough for things to happen...we came across a good variety of villages catering for anything a foreigner and local tourist might be looking for; yes Koh Chang seems to be a destination also for the vacation of mainland thai people.
The road hilly and twisty turned to be quiet challenging and interesting and the motorbike riding is always exciting, overall here where tuk tuk don't exsist and motorbikes are way more than cars!!
At times it looks like many local people are just tired of "farang" (foreigners), that cannot smile as much as they are known for, that they are bothered by us....others you get glimpses of beauty and energies but it's little disappointing as I got to feel it in Bangkok too and I thought it was just the capital problem!!!
Is it still me still carrying my negative energies around???maybe, but I have heard it from other travellers too...
Cambodia maybe can wait a little more as we are planning to have a tortilla night tonight...and Singha...am I also loosening up on my no temptations knot.......?

simple waterfall, pleasant swim

unusual "shell" gas station...

the peace of the place cannot be felt by looking at this pic unfortunately...

Elephant island...

After a tireless yet smooth journey I reached the Klong Prao beach in Koh Chang (literally island elephant)....a five hours long bus, a 45 minutes rusty and sturdy ferry and a 15 minutes shared taxi pick up....pretty intense but I was waiting for it after a week in Bangkok, and I enjoyed it and I also knew that a long white beach was waiting for us..I mean is cloudy and heavy rain poured soon after I have finished my early morning yoga practice.....today I also enjoyed of a beach run and a short swim in the company of some jellyfish and some early bird russian tourists....
Yes, we are on Thai soil but the second language seems to be russian and cyrillic is as common as the thai characters on shop signs and info leaflets..
I am glad I signed up for a super cool and fresh and white and comfortable brand new boutique hostel where I am excited to know that at 5pm there is footbal on the beach!!!
I am on my way to Cambodia after here, but I am fine spoiling myself for a while and spend some time indulging in beach life....
The island, named like this because its shapes reminds vaguely of the head of a elephant, is becoming the competing Thai option for the well known southern ones...
Green and lush with wilderness and diving possibility, as well as hiking and fishing villages it actually makes sense for what south eastern island life and vacation could be like...it seems right so far and I am on the up side again (at least for now...)...I am even planning of setting up and prepare my pumpkin risotto for lunch...so Thai wine....and happy chinese new year...

notice the Buddhist era 2555!!!

living area with pool and poufs (beanbags) and an amazing globe....

the only public way to get here ....

old, colourful and dodgy Bangkok....

...yes it's also possible to have some cultural and historical time in Bangkok, so in my week here I have visited the Wat Arun (temple of dawn) and the Grand Palace...
Thai people like colours and it seems obvious from pretty much everything around, the dresses, the taxi, the street food stalls and obviously the temples...
The city has got a river that cuts it from north to south and that is skillfully "abused" as a transportation route by means of long, colourful, boats reminding pretty much Venice steamboats system....
The river itself is also navigated by matresses, dead fish, other private boats, coconuts and pretty much any garbage that manage to merge from the city's canals into it, today I saw even a stuffed Mickey Mouse toy.....
I have come across very weird types around from the hostels to the touristic areas and it seems that Bangkok as city welcomes every type of characters; the amount of tourists and families is pretty impressive....I happened to understand from the news, just today, that they had 18% more arrivals than last year!!
After Pierpan, the korean in Bali, I have met today a chinese young boy from Chengdu that after a simple conversation of few minutes snaps a picture of me or asks me for a selfie with him...it must be a very asian thing to do, maybe to show their white/western "friends"?? it's very funny.....

Grand Palace: does it give the idea of how crowded it gets?

Wat Arun: just in the middle of a massive restoration, but still very beautiful...

mobile street food...(note the meat cooking, on the go, on the convenient barbecue installed at the back!!)....simply brilliant

today's late breakfast: vegetarian Pad Thai

malls and more..

When you plan to do nothing and you end up doing compulsive (for my standards!!) shopping, that's when you realise you are in Bangkok!!!
I didn't come to Thailand for the beaches nor for the shopping but then I got caught into both!!!!!!
I guess that's what Thailand does best, so when in Rome, do as romans do, people say!!!!...I mean another thing that Thailand does best must be the go go bars/girls, but that's something that won't get my partecipation...yet last night when visiting the Patpong night market I got approached by a men trying to selling me special massages from a leaflet with half naked girls on it, and when I said eloquently "FOOD" as I was actually interested in having dinner, he turned the page and showed me the price list of the very hot services instead!!!
For some reasons and maybe influenced by the shopping redundancy, I have to admit that Bangkok reminds me little bit of China...and that is not a positive thing....
The most remarkable thing of the day it was, though my visit to a rooftop bar for sunset during the happy hour, where I was "forced" into drinking the second pint of Chang and break my weekly 3 units limit in one shot!!

I just thought.... "it doesn't look right!!!" 

...upselling technique??

I decided to try the public bus: 9 THB (around 0,25 Euro) to spend one hour (or more) in the traffic!!!

NB: it would be appreciated, if you could also try to disappear for a little while, it would be healthy...ita

little bits of Bangkok....

It's 17:45, I am just exiting the Surasak BTS train and I see a book stall (a table with books thrown on it!!) hoping to find an interesting one as I seriously feel empty without one!!..obviously they are all in thai language so I turn back direction "way out"... everyone is static, motionless, I think of a flash mob, I smile, it looks cool, everyone is serious though!!...just a young tourist is looking around trying to figure out what's going on....I inform her that the national anthem is being played on the speakers and everyone here respects it dutifully, it's normal, the national anthem ends and everybody carries on doing what they were doing....it looked amazing, imagine to stop whatever you are doing, no matter what, for a minute!!!!
Bangkok is a very massive and going city, I am taking time to get to understand it, and I am honestly doing it very slow...I am not planning to move for the next few days, I scheduled some touristic visits and some "nothing"...yes maybe not even the "Bangkok's must do things" ...
Strolling around, tuk-tuk and moto finding their way in what I am learning to be a very jammed traffic(wise) city, the worst I have seen so far, but maybe somebody can inform the Bangkokers? (or Bangkokians?) that it cannot get any better if everyone is alone in their vehicles???!!!
Strolling around I come across so many unusual versions and options of street food that are so clever and simple as well as authentic and bizarre....I am up for some of them..
I am enthusiastic to notice, so far, the enviable integration of "ladyboys" or third genders in the everyday life...I am amazed to realize that if it wasn't for the Adam's apple they are actually extremely beautiful into their social role and, if I can afford to say, very presentable...
I am also challenged to learn the real name of the city:

"Krungthepmahanakhon Amonrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharatratchathaniburirom Udomratchaniwetmahasathan Amonphimanawatansathit Sakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit" or in thai "กรุงเทพมหานคร อมรรัตนโกสินทร์ มหินทรายุธยา มหาดิลกภพ นพรัตนราชธานีบูรีรมย์ อุดมราชนิเวศน์มหาสถาน อมรพิมานอวตารสถิต สักกะทัตติยวิษณุกรรมประสิทธิ์"!!!!
obviously you didn't expect me to write it myself (copied and past!!)

please explain me, if you know, what it means the magenta (english) service this agency provides!!

street sushi, just next (door !!!or street tile!) to a small street pizza!!!!

dried squid lightly roasted over charcoal, with sweet and sour sauce on the side.. (not as tasty as they sound!)

not even a glance or a smile!!! ...where are we all heading...

my philosophical post .... everything is gonna be alright....

Life is a journey, life must have hard times cause without hard times, we cannot expect good times, how unfair would be to wish and pretend just good times!!
I know we live in the era of facebook where you can post what you want, or better what you believe is best to show the world around us..is it reality? doesn't that sound fake? isn't that a bubble?
A must in life is making mistakes, as making mistakes is the direct and best way to learning, it looks like we wanna all be perfect avoiding doing things wrong as we wanna respect a social protocol of behaviours and manners..
I have made my mistakes as we all do, most likely we will realize that we have made a mistake when it's too late, other times we will have the lesson learnt telling us "hey, do you remember? here you go"!!!
We are living beings at the end and sometimes I like to think of us (humans) as plants where "the sun" are the bright times, the good moments that life can give us, a love, a birth, a special occasion and "the water" are the dark sides, the times we cry, a death, a loss or a defeat!!
Not much in nature would survive if one of them is missing....We are all part of this circle and it cannot be manipulated as if we owned super powers!! there are no secrets, no shortcuts!!
Follow your heart, yours only as it is the only thing that is right and we have to respect it, even if our head is not agreeing, because at the end the heart is always right!!!
We strive for perfection, for ambition, for a better job, a better life, a better travel, a better "something", even a better partner, how foulish.... but a better ourself? a better soul?
We need the essential, why don't they teach us the "basics" at school???? .... cause by looking, hoping, searching outside we lose contact with the inside, with what we have and maybe we neglect, I got my lesson too!!! and I should be sorry for myself but I am not, the path of life required it...
That's why I am here, the fase that is watering my soil (soul), so that when sun (.....) will come back (cause it will, I have no doubts!!) the photosyntesis will allow the life to continue his circle...
I am learning to trust the energies, in the last few years life has been also educating me about the flow of energies that surrounds us and most of the time we don't feel, we don't recognise, we miss, cause we don't know, we are totally ignorant about it...
We must be positive all the time, no matter what, wake up in the morning and get up with a wonderful smile on our face, that is always the best thing to do, no matter what (and then some exercises and a good healthy breakfast too...) and stick to it cause at the end don't doubt......."everything is gonna be alright!!!"

hidden in a small side closed street.....

zipping (thoughts) and to Bangkok...

left behind the palm plantations of Malaysia, rice fields are back as background from my bus (or in this case train) ride...
Palm plantations, maybe nobody realises the shame behind the production of palm oil in respect of our health and ecosystem; plenty of our everyday favourite things all have it as (main) ingredient, let me name "nutella", "colgate toothpaste", "kit kat", "dove soaps", "peanut butter", "pringles", "johnson's baby shampoo", "gilette shave foam", and also margarine and if you like I can continue so that we all feel bad....bad because is unhealthy for our diet and it's also destroying the natural habitat of orangutans...Ok, you don't care about the animals but knowing that 100 grams of it corresponds to around 50 grams of saturated fat that is more than 200% of your daily value how does make you feel?? would you at least care about yourself???
Maybe that's why from Canberra to Ottawa, from Tokio to Lima we always find this products on our shelves on reasonable prices??!!!
Anyway at the end I managed to get on the train from Hat Yai to Bangkok even if I was told in Malaysia that it was fully booked!!! obviously the train had a good hour of delay departing and a good two hours and half delay on arrival....but I loved it, a old japanese one, even if for the total 18 hours I felt shaken like in a dry dishwasher!!
I managed to sleep anyhow for a good 10 hours, it was needed and absolutely out of my ordinary resting times, but guess what!! I am in Bangkok at the end, even if the sky was not visible already from 3-4 stops before entering the city....

berths down in the tidy carriage 

curious snapshot and curious eyes (on me)!!

a warm welcome by locals (just relaxing half metre from the railway!! - I took this picture from the running train!!)

a hint of my Malaysia...

The plan says that a minivan will drive me to the first biggest city in southern Thailand tomorrow noon and as the chinese new year is in 10 days the trains till Bangkok are fully booked for the next two weeks!
I am leaving Malaysia to clock in at one of the most popular and most visited country in the world, yet I have encountered a very interesting and complex country in the stops I have made actually.
The diversity is at the base of the conviviality of the malay peninsula where chinese eat at indian stalls (not with the hands though!!), where the call of prayer and the veils are part of everyday life and where lanterns and Ganesha can be found in the same street, the same street where the pork that is an important ingredient in chinese restaurants is not on the menu cause the muslims don't accept it!!
I have come across a country (in the two stops I have made..) where you are not sure what language to speak even if malay and english are considered the national languages, that confused me whether using terima kasih (thank you in malay language) or xie xie (chinese mandarin) or shukran (arabic) or nanri (tamil)...confusing and interesting also that the word for water in malay is "air", while the one for lady is "wanita" and for a fireman "bomba", that recall latin american spanish to me...
The mixture of cultures sharing the same flag but at the same time enjoying/living different values, religions and behaviours has been pretty impressive...yet unclear how can peacefully just happen!!
In a picture you could see a chinese blatantly spitting (something that you wouldn't see done from an indian person), a woman with veil driving a public bus, or some transvestite looking for clients in the centre of the town, actually at the corner where my hostel stands!!, (something not really common in muslim countries), a indian with afro hair (not very common either), and maybe the german or british tourist with shorts and tank top shopping at "seven eleven" buying a bottled fruit juice when just outside a lady is selling freshly squeezed or juiced ones!!

in case you didn't believe...

this wall painting in Bangsar, KL gives an idea?

birds cage - first floor right (very chinese!),

malaysian flags - first floor left (malay?!),

plenty of colourful small t-shirts and underwear, I suppose a large family? - second floor left (indian?!) 

I liked this message alot!!!

snapshots from Georgetown..

teeth anyone??

this idea is amazing!!!! coloured screws for price, self cooking and service and vegetarian sauces!!

mashed garlic, rice cakes, soy sprouts, cabbage, spice sauce...egg, duck or chicken can be added....

very basic (and thin) coconut pancakes..

abandoned and crumbling buildings make a great hidden street art opportunity...

Lamborghini and mice...

if KL is covering her history with skyscrapers and shopping malls trying to be as American (USA) as possible, Penang, or better the old town of Georgetown is using her history (the colonial old town and interesting architectures) with a modern way to grow !!the rest of the island of Penang is actually just looking at KL by the way!!!!
The bus from KL turned to be a nightmare, as it landed me at destination with 7 hours of delay!!!!
I love my bus rides and I admit that at a certain point I couldn't take it anymore, even the indian driver noticed it but the only thing he could say it was "I'm sorry boss"!!!
The A/C broke down and we had to stop for few hours in a motorway service area, waiting for a new bus, writing and reading always help and they really did, also some freshly cut fruits did to be honest....
I will still love my bus rides, cause if you do love something (as well as someone) you do it, also in the difficult, intricate and annoying times, not only in the good ones!
The island of Penang is most likely the real tourist destination of Malasya and deservedly the old town is a little gem, at times looking more China than the real one, others elegant and colourful, and where the street food is captivating and a huge entertainment and attraction on her own!
And of course I am splurging little bit as it is too cheap and too cool to be true...yet very cool boutique and classy shops and dining places are available..
My entertainment though is flea markets and I went to find one a little bit out of town, amongst the second hand clothes and fruit, there was a stall selling teeth (I didn't investigate if they were used!!) and another one sex toys (I coulnd't investigate on them either as they were korean and japanese products!)..
Just a block away a Lamborghini parked on the side of the road and from the sewage two-three mice playing or maybe fighting or maybe just mating!!!

day trip to Pulau Ketam...

Pulau in malay language is island and this one in particular is famous for his crabs (Ketam)!!!!
After 90 minutes on a direct first world standards train from the Sentral station in KL we arrive in Klang a decrepit village where, from a small jetty of old concrete, a long and narrow (and A/C cold) ferry will take us to this unusual town.
The 30 minutes ferry ride pass through muddy coastlines of small jungle islands where crabs, but also birds and monkeys find their habitat....on the other bigger island though since more than a century a group of fishermen built their village on stilts high up to 10 metres....
That village today is a popular weekend destination for tourists and Malays alike that want to experience some good seafood and a car free environment!!
The village, in fact, has only narrow concrete pavements large enough for bycicles or electric scooters; little unreal the view as we approached the unsafe and polluted pier. We decided to rent for 5 ringgit (little bit more than a euro) a bycicle to explore as much as we could of Pulau Ketam.
Underneath the homes balancing themselves on wooden and concrete stilts there was just mud and rubbish, as the low tide had made everything visible...
Today I had also decided to shorten my beard so I entered in the only hairdresser in town; the short and self confident lady said in a broken english that it was not possible, but when I tried to use my broken mandarin she just handed me the electric hair trimmer she was using with a middle aged man and she pointed the empty chair, asking to help myself with it!!
It was just perfect, so very naturally and indifferent of the sights of the customers next to me I started to trim my beard as if I was in my own bathroom!!

Ann's hairdresser!

I should have mentioned that the majority of the village inhabitants are chinese so malay is not the first language, it really felt like we had jumped in a countryside chinese hamlet, with kids getting ready with their firecrakers, old men chatting next to the temples and the ladies running the shop businesses...the seafood restaurants cater for tourists and the others for the locals, the ambience was very relaxed and for few minutes we even considered to spend the night there!
Yes, I did have a sweet and sour crab dish!!!

clear and concise street menu

view of Pulau Ketam

Tomorrow morning I am planning on moving on to Georgetown, on Penang island, a 5 hours bus drive should take me there....

floating KL...

I must be taking it too easy over here, it's a week nearly and I have not really done that much, and delayed my leaving again....(what's happening to me)......the answer is maybe: very simple life, looking for rooftoops and street food between Little India and Chinatown...having a simple lunch for 4.5 ringgit (little bit more than a euro!!), sharing an aperitif with spicy chickpeas and fresh cucumbers outside of a spirits store, eating sliced fruit on the go, enjoying my daily fresh coconut water, tasting small barbecued clams, getting rejected from chinese food stalls when I pretend a vegetarian dish (these last two options are a contradiction, I know!!!!)...
Traveling is also discovering and tasting, being fanatic and non flexible would be not smart or wise, I am learning it too late, and maybe this trip will soften my strict diet views, who knows....hey it's my journey, this is where I need to get closer in touch with myself and teach myself to recognize and accept my limits...
KL at the end is a simple place and most likely without the right company and in a different physical condition I would have just passed it by much more quickly, I am glad, though I am getting to live it the way I am actually... soon will be time to go, Thailand's calling...

landmark building of the city

rooftop bar set up on a heliport!!!!

night view from up high....

Belief.....

It's all about believing or better having faith (in today's case)....everyone of us in our life is driven by something that makes our path, that moves our motivations, drives our enthusiasm...something that can be a partner, or a passion, a job or a dream, or for a Tamil the lord Murugan.
Today was for me a very intense and emotional day and also long....alarm rang at 6:30am as I had planned to get a train to Batu caves to assist at the chariots procession that devotees walk and dance from the temple in KL centre to the outskirt of the city where the big statue of lord Murugan stands tall at the entrance of the caves.
This is considered one of the most colourful and extreme celebrations of the indian communities in the world and maybe one of the most unusual too.
I had an idea of what to expect but the reality slapped me stronger than the thought!!
The tradition wants that the devotees have to carry containers with milk on their head or on "kavadi" that can be as high as 1-2 metres and decorated with flowers or peacock feathers for the whole journey of 15km....some of them tend to pierce their cheeks or tongues with skewers or hooks and it gets little nasty for our judgmental eyes.....
There were also hairdresser shaving people's head bald so that could then be painted yellow and blessed...food stalls and an amusement park!!!
The procession goes like in flow of people in trance, others supporting, bands with drums and megaphones arousing and motivating the tired devotees....it was surreal and for a moment I didn't believe I was there, on another I found myself weeping and in another I felt I was lucky to be there to experience it...
I felt there was a message for me too in all that..those people believed truly in what they were doing as weird as it might look or sound and it's amazing to be driven by what you believe or have faith in....and yes I still believe too!!even if I disappear....

hard to believe....

kid joining the celebration and intrigued by my outlook

colours and tradition

crowd and lord Murugan

news from muddy estuary....

A sunny and beautiful city has welcomed me in Malasya, KL or Kuala Lumpur (Kuala, malay word for "muddy" and Lumpur, malay for "estuary")....a Singapore wannabe entangled in a messed social and religious position that actually seems to be handled perfectly fine and smoothly..
Leaving aside some secrets that we might not ever know about the country, the thought goes to the three flights issues of the last year, the growth of Malasya is undeniable and as far (yet little) as I have seen is positive and the quality of life here in the capital (most likely just here!!) is higher than you might expect.
A strong chinese backbone, with a timid and colourful indian community and a growing and excited western expats group are supporting the muslim malay that have relegated the Orang Asli (original people), the indigenous people of Malasya to a very marginal and tiny position in the society....but I guess if USA has covered up their native american Indians "just fine" and Australia is struggling seriously too with their aboriginals it will be fine for the southeast asian country too to do it...as long as money goes in the pocket of the few..
In Italy we say "tutto il mondo e' paese" literally "the entire world is a village (meaning that some habits are common all around the world)....
I am using KL as the perfect recover from the hectic last week of Indonesia, fixing what needs to be fixed in body and gear and maybe shopping for missing things in the company of a friend that lives here..
I actually find myself casually in a strategic month here in Malasya, cause in little bit more than two weeks is the chinese new year celebration (sheep/goat year) and tomorrow is the very unusual and spectacular Tamil holy festival Thaipusam.

Kuala Lumpur skyline from the chinese Thean Hou Temple