Happy new years everyone!

...And merry Christmas, Ko Lanta style!

I've finally left the islands of Thailand and am now preparing to enter Ling's hometown of Malaysia. I've parked myself in a city called Hat Yai which was just supposed to be a one night stop-over to Georgetown in Malaysia.

Nah, here's their xmas tree, a nice illuminated palm tree

However, after arriving, i soon noticed that right by my hotel there was a large festival going on. I went to go check things out and found a lovely night market and dancers performing on stage. Now i've seen plenty of markets since i've come to SE asia. Floating markets, night markets, weekend markets, fruit markets, clothing markets, etc... Now this one was by no way special. Except for the fact that since i arrived at Angkor Wat (mid Dec.) i have been in nothing but tourist ghettos. Going from one tourist venue to the next really gets tiring. When all you see surrounding you are young, loud British (sorry, UK people, hahah), Aussies, Israelis, Germans and Swedes, its nice to get away from it all and go to a nice, local city.

Sunny days over here

(its been like 30 days, 2 of which have rained, both times i was indoors, nice!)

Oh, and did i mention that things are cheaper here? In tourist areas, i was paying 400-600 THB for a place to sleep. Sometimes my own room, but usually crap if it was, or shared, which were of course, much nicer. Now i'm back to 250 THB a night, 0.75 cents for bowl of noodles, 0.75 cents for 1 hr of net, etc. I'm so much happier here.

Damn, the ship i came to Ko Lanta on, like a slave ship i tell you! Sleeping on hard floor...

Barely enough room to stand up

Finally got myself a compass as well! Damn that took a while. but this one has a thermometer as well, its 34 right now.

In addition, Hat Yai is also a city that is populated by a large number of Chinese and Asian Muslims. Its a nice change to see some culture again. And its a nice change to get some Chinese food as well. Some real chinese food (i'm dying for some congee). At least, when i'm able to order it. Most of the people that i've met speak Mandarin, but some will speak Cantonese. Almost all speak English which i guess is what really counts.

I will be here through the new years celebration (which is in less than 10 hrs for me) and probably for a bit more. This will be my last stop in Thailand and i will have to make sure i stock up on all that i need before going to Malaysia.

I think this is the first time ever in my life that i've spent new years alone. Its strange, but then again, feels quite ordinary. The usual build up to new years has been mild at best as I am always busy doing something else. So i guess i haven't had time to sit down and realize that its Dec. 31. What was i doing this time last year? Partying with Herbs and Ling. If you asked me then where will i be next year, i'd be damned if i knew. And quite disappointed at that fact too. But now, one year later, looking forward again, I ask myself, where will i be next year? I'll be damned if i know.

But this time, its what makes life so exciting.

Happy New years everyone!

-bk