Ak in Thailand

Words

2009-03-19T22:13:00.001+07:00

Mos Def - Words - The Ecstatic - in stores Spring 2009

Sports at APIS

2009-03-18T00:39:00.005+07:00

Girls Varsity Volleyball: Lost a heartbreaking semi-final in the third set.

Disappointing results in U13 boys futsal. Sometimes it's not your day.

3rd place in U13 girls basketball. If you could have followed this team from the 45-3 loss in their first game, to the 9-6 OT victory (yes, that was the score) in the consolation finals, after being a couple of missed free throws from the finals. A HUGE accomplishment.

Varsity futsal. Note: Varsity means under 20. Most of these girls are from the U13 team.

Finalists.

The Cinderella story unfortunately ended at midnight.

It's soccer season now... stay tuned.

Phang Nga

2009-03-17T22:30:00.009+07:00

The crew.

Eunseo.

This pic made the cut because I realized on this trip how cool of a human being she is. She joined my class later in the year.

On the trip, I asked her to bring me a little container of homemade kimchi. The next week she brought 5 large trays of various Korean foods... and a huge container of kimchi.

Sheer joy.

Life is about having these kinds of moments regularly.

Droppin some knowledge on Ken and Donghyeuk. These two gems told me I was "The best teacher ever." I was told that by my students last year in Toronto... but this was the first time a student verbalized it here. They say the kids will take some things you say with them for a lifetime. It works both ways.

The grade 7 crew, minus my BOY Hide and his twin (but completely opposite) Masahiko. Unfortunately they couldn't afford the trip. They were missed dearly.

YES! X 3

And the point of the excursion? Aside from a free vacay? Sea Kayaking.

Mangrove trees.

Beach and cave action.

Had to be there to really appreciate the scene here.

After a 7km paddle

Appreciation.

Fishing. Hardcore.

All good things...

Gotta credit Miss Paula for this pictoral masterpiece.

More Philippines

2009-03-08T20:12:00.002+07:00

T-Dot stand up!

2009-02-19T20:06:00.003+07:00

K-Os - 4,3,2,1

K-os - Yes (?)
K'naan - Troubadour (Feb 24th)
Drake - So Far Gone (already released mixtape which is more like an album)

Is it me, or does Toronto have three of the most original and anticipated artists out there in hip hop land? And none of them can be boxed in as straight "hip hop". Drake had over 76,000 downloads of his mixtape in the first 6 hours of release. Crazy.

Manila

2009-02-17T21:00:00.004+07:00

Hangin out in the burbs

"Tricycles" causing all sorts of pollution.

To mourn the dead, week long funerals take place. Family members hang out, enjoy eachothers company, and gamble - with proceeds going towards the payment of the funeral. I spent some time with a family that I befriended in the hood, and it was really a wonderful way to bring the family together to celebrate the life of someone they loved, instead of "mourning" it.

"See what those guys are doing? That's why dad doesn't let us hang out on the street."

Boyz in the hood.

A "Sari Sari" store is basically a mini-7/11 inside a barred-up window. They are literally on every street in the neighbourhood.

Local bicycle taxi

The neighbourhood kids hold a meeting on the steps. She in pink seems to be their leader.

Selling cigarettes out of a box on a street corner in Manila.

off the top of the dome

2009-01-26T23:14:00.003+07:00

Charles Hamilton freestyling (rhyming off the top of his head, for those not familiar with the term) better than many emcee's can write.

first run-in with the law..

2009-01-26T22:51:00.004+07:00

I tend to keep the words to a minimum on the blog, and let the images (still or moving) tell the stories. But this event has no image to share, except the one I shall paint now.

After a wonderful long weekend spent in the city, Dave and I went to the night bazaar area to indulge in a pizza. We parked our bikes in the nearest free area we saw, as one does when parking a motorcycle in this land. After our meal, I went to buy some bootleg DVD's and Dave headed home. A few minutes later I get a call that went something like this:

"Yo, you've got a boot on your back wheel."
"Geez. What about you?"
"I got on my bike and just dashed before the cop could put it on. He did yours first."
"Geez. Alright thanks. Peace."

So I walk to my bike and see the cop writing up my ticket. I speak to him in Thai to earn a little respect and not be treated like a stupid farang (foriegner), he points to a sign down the street written IN THAI that read "no parking". I laugh. He continues filling out the ticket.

"You have license?"
"Nah."
"No license plate?"
"Nah."
"Ok. You come with me to police traffic station to pay ticket."

As I turn around to put away my ATM card and money, it continues,

"Ok, but I only have 200Baht (6 bucks)."
"Ok let's go, I take you." he replies.

So now the cop is doubling me on my bike. He's making small talk with the usual "Where are you from? What do you do?" talk. Nice enough guy.

We get there, I sign some paper as "Alan" and he asks me to fork over 200Baht.

Illegally parked, no driver's license, no plates. 200 Baht.

The cop rides me back to where my bike was parked, says sorry, shakes me hand, and off he goes.

Only in Asia.

Related Sidenote: DVD's purchased include LOST-Season 4, The Simpsons-Season 19, The Happening and Doomsday.

K'naan

2009-01-26T21:46:00.006+07:00

Above: Somali-Canadian artist K'naan speaking on the Pirates in Somalia.

Below: Two new vids from K'naan - one of my favourite artists out there in musicland. This is real as music gets.

Somalia

ABC"s f/ Chubb Rock (click the link to see the real vid. The big record company machine won't let the common man embed the vid and thus spread their artist's music and message.)

ABC's - The official video

Pai

2009-01-18T19:43:00.006+07:00

A few visuals from a weekend getaway to a small city called Pai that just sort of fell into place.

What would you do different if you could start again from her age?

Nice..

All the Thai's were jumping for pictures, so we joined in the fun.

Fun it was..

...

View from our room. Not bad..

The ability to travel to and stumble onto places like these on a long weekend is among the best things about living in Southeast Asia.

...

Talent

2008-09-26T21:43:00.004+07:00

The good ol' "All About Me" project to start the year. I can't fathom how Eric's printing is chicken scratch, yet he can create art like this.

Eric

More

Dao

No Parking

2008-09-14T11:38:00.003+07:00

Saturday

2008-09-14T10:38:00.005+07:00

On a random Saturday afternoon, we decided to cruise up the mountain and see what we'd find. This is what resulted.

Found a beautiful waterfall.

Drank some water, just because.

Saw fresh elephant footprints.

Found some random chickens/roosters just coolin out.

Found and posed with some elephants.

"Mai Pen Rai"

Noticed how much an elephant's eye looks like ours.

More A.P.I.S.

2008-09-14T01:38:00.001+07:00

Warlord

2008-09-10T19:39:00.001+07:00

A 10 year old boy declares war on the world.

Room C204

2008-09-09T11:15:00.005+07:00

Knowledge

2008-09-06T14:11:00.000+07:00

KRS-ONE and Doug E. Fresh

KRS "The teacher" is dropping some knowledge on the people.

Olympics

2008-09-06T13:52:00.007+07:00

Mantis

2008-09-06T13:42:00.002+07:00

Check out how he's looking straight into the camera.

Houseguest

2008-08-19T19:30:00.002+07:00

The Tuk Tuk

2008-08-19T19:03:00.002+07:00

Doing a similar job to the taxi is Thailand's ubiquitous tuk-tuk (ตุ๊กตุ๊ก). So named because of the sound of their engine, these are motorized rickshaws and are popular amongst tourists for their novelty value. Without any luggage, 3 people can fit into one fairly comfortably - it's possible to fit more in but it gets a bit cramped. Fares always have to be bargained for, and it is sometimes possible to bargain tuk-tuk drivers down to less than the taxi flagfall of 35B when they make good value. Most times, they offer no savings over a taxi, except perhaps if you're good at bargaining and can speak good Thai. The initial price they quote is likely to be well over the going rate, but it's easy to bargain it down to a more reasonable one if you know roughly the equivalent taxi fare.

It's essential to bargain the price with tuk-tuks before getting in. If you only ask after the ride, it's likely to end in a request for an ridiculous fare which can obviously lead to an unpleasant situation.

Just like taxi drivers, the tuk-tuk drivers mostly come from the rural northeast of Thailand and don't have to undergo any training (some will not even have passed a driving test), so don't be surprised if they sometimes have no idea where your destination is.

As tuk-tuks are open-ended, they expose passengers to the high pollution levels in the middle of Bangkok's roads and offer almost no protection in case of an accident. There is theoretically a ban on new tuk-tuks as they are so noisy and polluting, but it doesn't really seem to be being enforced at present.

--from http://www.into-asia.com/Bangkok/tuktuk/

*The key to bargaining with these guys was to just set a price about 1/3 of what they ask and not budge. It never failed. They're mad fun to ride in at night when there aren't many cars on the road, but Bangkok during the day is just ridiculous with traffic and the amount of exhaust fumes you're exposed to in these things.

2 Wheels

2008-08-10T22:30:00.003+07:00

Fun With Food

2008-08-10T21:49:00.005+07:00

The ketchup came out a little faster than expected...

Corn sundae?

Sunday Walking Market

2008-08-10T17:29:00.004+07:00

Bantawai Market

2008-08-09T14:03:00.007+07:00

We Balllllin'

2008-08-05T22:30:00.003+07:00

Dave and I dropped some G's at "Big C" which is Thailand's equivalent to Walmart. You know how we do. HAHA.

American Pacific International School

2008-08-04T14:47:00.007+07:00

Where I will be teaching, living and loving life in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

(Click picture to enlarge)

"TEN TEN"

2008-08-03T13:44:00.000+07:00

So while shopping in MKG shopping centre in Bangkok, I withdrew 10,000 Baht ($300 CAN) from the ATM, with the intent of that money lasting me for quite some time. Dave and Shawn obviously decided to blow it out of proportion claiming I was "bougie" or "a baller" for withdrawing "ten thousand dollars". Amongst the jokes they referred to me as "Tens".

A few minutes later, what do we see?

My newfound nickname:

YYZ to HKG to BKK

2008-08-03T13:07:00.000+07:00

Operation Cloudhopper V3.0 has begun.

"One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things."

- Henry Miller

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

- Mark Twain