You wouldn’t think this is a normal thing to do in a place like London, and its probably not, but I did it anyway. Cheers for taking me Gus!
Check out the video sequence which sums up the day.
1. Starting off… I suck
2. Pulling my head in, and making the call
3. Nailing it
Don’t fall asleep on trains. Especially in foreign countries.
My first stuff-up was bound to happen. I had been out pub-crawling around London Bridge area, and since I was still recovering from the heavy night before, I pulled the pin and decided to go home. So I got on the tube to Paddington, then on the 11:30pm train to Reading. When the train left I set my alarm for 20 minutes because I knew it takes about 25 minutes to get to Reading. Next thing I know, I woke up and the train had stopped at a town named Swindon. Too far. So I got out, and was then informed by the helpful train station people that there were no trains going back to Reading that night, and the next one was 8am in the morning. Its times like these when you really realise that you are a LONG way from home (perth, australia) …
I went for a walk around town looking for a hostel to camp at, and found none. I found some hotels but none had free rooms. Then I found the clubbing area which was spewing drunk lads and ladies into the streets. Eventually I found a bus station that had a service to Heathrow (via reading), leaving at 3:30 am. So 3 hours to wait, I wandered the streets a bit, and feared for my life because of all the drunks around. I saw 2 fights, and several women crying on the street. Sounds like a quality place huh.
So eventually I went back to the bus station and proceeded to freeze my ass off for 2 hours until the bus came. Yes I’m a dumb aussie and didn’t have enough clothing on. I’m just glad I decided to bring my jumper with me when I went to London that day, but it still wasnt enough! The bus dropped me on the outskirts of Reading around 4 or 4:30 AM. At that point I realised I didn’t know the number to call taxis here, so I started walking. About 1 hour later I crawled into bed, about 5 1/2 hours later than it should have been, and passed out 
Well I’m here in the UK… and its a long time since the last update!
I finished up work in Australia, ran around like mad trying to organise myself, but I was slightly distracted by the good surf in my last week at home). Then I boarded Singapore Airlines to Singapore, then boarded an A380 (the largest passenger plane in the world) for the trip to London.
Since we stopped over in Singapore, I picked up a bottle of Bombay Sapphire (bombay duck according to fielder!) and a new Olympus shockproof / waterproof camera, a 1030 SW.
Then it was onto an A380 which are the largest passenger aeroplanes in the world. I believe Singapore Airlines are the only ones to have them yet, but I could be wrong there. The flight was fairly uneventful, just long and uncomfortable! The A380’s have a really cool entertainment system which I think is based on Mythtv or windows media center, or something like that. There was about 108 on-demand movies to choose from! I had heard Singapore Airlines was the best airline in the world but I think Thai Airways kicks its ass in the food department.
So I arrived in London at 5:30 AM, and quickly found myself a coffee as I was slightly struggling. I was being picked up by Gus who is a new colleague of mine, and who I am currently staying with. Gus picked me up, and we headed off to Reading. Gus is into paragliding and was heading out that day. Even though I was seriously jetlagged I decided to go check out the paragliding. It looks pretty cool, and I think I’ll give it a go one day soon.
Check out these photos on flickr.
Saturday night, while even more severely jetlagged, we went for a bike ride so Gus could show me around town. I ran into Mike from Perth on the street, who is working over here. We ended up going to the Hop Leaf pub for a few pints. I had a second wind! Eventually I got to bed around midnight, absolutely exhausted, and passed out.
Sunday I met up with a friend in London, and we went to Hampstead Heath park since it was a nice day. Drinking Fosters in the park, awesome. People were swimming in the pond there but it looked pretty dirty to me.
Monday I started work. I’ve got a new Nokia E51 phone, and a Dell Latitude D630 laptop. Finally I’ve got a dual-core. The last few days have been spent getting myself set up on the systems here and trying to organise stuff like bank accounts.
Work is looking a bit quiet until I get onto a project. No idea where that might be!
Well thats it for now.. More to come soon!
Normally I wouldn’t write about any old book I’ve read, but this is a special occasion. I had heard alot of things about Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, and finally got around to reading it. Well today I finished the book, and I can honestly say its the best book I’ve ever read.
It is a novel written in first person. He was a prisoner in a max-security prison in Australia, and managed to escape and get to India where he lived for 10 years in Bombay. While there he did some crazy and amazing stuff. I believe most of the experiences he describes are true although he has invented the characters and dialogs.
The book has made me want to go back to India. I went there in 2006 for 1 week for work.
I recommend this book to anyone and everyone.
His website is: http://www.shantaram.com/ and you can read more about him at wikipedia.
Charlie
Well the trip is over. Heres the rest..
We left Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) and took a bus to Chau Doc, where we stayed a night. From there, we were supposed to be on the fast boat to Phnom Penh in Cambodia. We got on the slow boat. It took 3 hours to get to the Cambodia border. Then we waited about 4 hours waiting for another boat to pick us up. Then that boat took many more hours and finally we got a bus into Phnom Penh. We were originally supposed to arrive at 2pm but we arrived about 8:30 pm or so.
In Phnom Penh we saw several museums, and the killing fields. Its a very sad place. Then we went to some dodgey army barracks and Skippy fired an AK. At this place you could throw hand grenades for $35 US or fire a rocket launcher for $200 US. It was so dodgey.
From Phnom Penh we flew to Siem Reap where unfortunately i was very sick We spent two days exploring the temples of Angkor Wat. They are truly amazing but you get a bit bored of temples after two days. I was attacked by a monkey but i managed to kick it in mid air as it launched at me.
From Siem Reap we flew to Bangkok where we took an overnight train to Surat Thani, then a ferry to Ko Panghan for some party time! We stayed at Dew Shore bungalow which was really cool. Here we met the girls, Wados, and the Roarster!
The highlight of Ko Phangan was the full moon party on xmas eve at haad rin beach. It was the biggest and coolest party I’ve ever been. Lots of wierd stuff happening. Just google it.
The other highlight was scuba diving at Sail Rock, with our space cadet instructor Herman the German. He lost us all in the first few minutes. Long story. The diving at sail rock was excellent. Lots of coral / fish life, and the water was so clear. The only downside was that there were so many divers from different boats, it was hard to find your own people!
From Ko Phangan we cheesed it over to Ko Samui for some relaxy time. At this point Sarah joined us. We really didn’t achieve much here, just chilled out and drank lots of big Changs. New Years eve was awesome.. spent on the beach drinking cheap cocktails, shooting off lanterns and fireworks, then dancing it up at green mango club.
From Samui it was off to bangkok for the final part of the trip. We didnt really achieve much here except seeing some entertaining shows and eating lots of Phad Thai! Amber and I did a cooking course which was really cool.
Well then it was home time. The flight was long and somebody was vomiting. Excellent. I really didnt want to go home. I love SE Asia!
Back to the real world..
First day at work, and I’m sent to Korea that afternoon. Great. Not even 24 hours at home I hope my vegetable patch survives.
The trip has been great so far! Me and Skippy (Ryan) have taken lots of photos and some pretty good videos too. I will upload everything when I get some more time!
We started in Bangkok for a night. Then we heading into Laos, where we started in Vientiane, then headed to Vang Vieng, which was just awesome. Then it was back to Vientiane and a flight into Hanoi. From Hanoi we went to Halong Bay, and Cat Bah Island. From Hanoi, we took an overnight train to Hoi An, and spent a few days there. Then we flew to Saigon.
Right now we are about to go check out the wave pool. Then tomorrow we head off to Chau Doc then into Cambodia, where we will first go to Phnom Penh then into Siem Reap. After that, its party time in Ko Phangan and Ko Samui.
Heres some highlights from the trip so far:
More updates as soon as possible!
Charlie
Well, me and Skippy are off to SE Asia tomorrow. The time is finally here! First stop is Bangkok for a night, then Laos, then Vietnam, then Cambodia, then Thailand. Look out for any updates on facebook (if i manage to find some time!).
I get back on January 6.
Its been a great year 
Hopefully next can top it. Highlight of the year was definitely working/etc in Hong Kong for 3 months.
Hope you all have a merry xmas and a happy new year!
cheers,
Chaz
I’m in melbourne for work at the moment, and walking home from dinner tonight I came across a crazy street performer dressed like a space man. He has these crazy lights and sound devices all over him.
Hard to explain, but it was awesome enough for me to pimp him on my website! Heres his site: www.sonicmanipulator.com.
For those who didnt know, the new Radiohead album is out.
The interesting thing is, the only way to get it is to download it from their website. The thing that is even more interesting, is that you can pay what you think it is worth! I just paid 0.0 pounds for it. I know that is cheap, but I thought I would see if I could get away with it and I did.
An interesting way to make money!
I just happened to read this article. Its a really quick read, but I was really surprised by some of the points… Such as that mobile phone chargers plugged into the wall still draw power, even if the mobile isn’t plugged in!
http://one-size-doesnt-fit-all.blogspot.com/2007/10/3-things-you-can-do-at-home-and-work-to.html