Here's the thing...

Hey everyone,

Back home in the good ole US of A now. The trip to Malaysia was a blast. Sorry I couldn't write more about it in the blog - time and circumstance did not permit, and I'm WAY busy cleaning things up to write anything big about it now...

However, myself and Yian's brother James took a LOT of pictures, and I was able to upload them online so you can take a look (see links below). I've separated the galleries out by the person who took the pictures.

NOTE: In the links below, you'll see "Darroll" & Jeff. "Darroll" is Yian's English name, just so you know :-)

Enjoy!


James's Pictures:
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Chinese New Year Day 1
Chinese New Year Day 3
Chinese New Year Day 4
Chinese New Year Day 5
Darroll & Jeff


Jeff's Pictures
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Days 1 - 3
Days 4 - 8
Days 9 - 10
Days 11 - 17

Hey everyone!

Pictures from Days 1 - 3

So ok - its been like 1,000 years since I've updated my blog. But just so you know, I am currently traveling with Yian in his Hometown of Kuching, Malaysia. We're here for about 2 weeks and staying with his family. Unfortunately the days have been pretty busy and there are soo many people coming and going in the house that it's difficult to get computer time (I did not bring my laptop with me). So even though a few days have passed, I'll try to remember some highlights and write them down...

Fights to Kuching:
Wow that was the most traveling I've ever done in my life! It went by the following schedule:

Tampa (TPA) --> Charlotte (CLT): 2 1/2 hours
Charlotte (CLT) --> Los Angeles (LAX): 5 hours
Los Angeles (LAX) --> Taipei, Tawan (TPE): 14 hours
Taipei, Taiwan --> Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (KUL): 5 hours
Kulal Lumpur, Malaysia (KUL) --> Kuching, Malaysia (KCH): 2 hours

Grand total travel time (without layover delays!): 28 hours
With layover delays: ~35 hours

Things were mostly uneventful during the flights, which is a good thing. The craziness really started when we got to the Tom Bradley Intenational Terminal in LAX to check-in for our Malaysia Airlines flight. Holy cow - what a madhouse! Ten thousand people pushing and shoving, each carrying a cartful of enormous luggage, babies screaming, lines to Timbuktu - I really wanted to take pictures but I was afraid security wouldn't like it, so I did not. The Malaysia Airlines counter had like 20 people working the counter, speaking what sounded like dozens of different languages. The young lady who took care of us was very cordial and helpful, and answered all our questions thoroughly. When we got through the 10,000th security line and into the terminal departure gates, we waited for a couple of hours before boarding the Malaysian flight. It seems that most of the Asia-bound airlines fly first to Taiwan, then continue to their home country (I guess they get more business during the Chinese New Year timeframe). So there were about 5 different airlines all departing to Taipei within 30 minutes of each other! I don't know why I found that amusing, but I did...

Anyway, once we got on the flight, I think I have a new favorite airline (thus far, anyway). Malaysia Airlines rules! The plane was a gigormous 747-400, the food was pretty good, there were at least 20 - 25 (seriously) flight attendants to serve your every need, they come around with food and drink very frequently, they serve free alcohol, and their seatback video entertainment system is awesome. Usually Video on Demand (VOD) is reserved for first class type of passengers, but we had it all - a TON of movies, music, television shows from around the world, all starting when you want them to...

Once we got to Taipei, we took a breather and had some noodles (pictured in the gallery above near the beginning). We brushed teeth, freshened up a bit, and then got back on the plane to go to KL (Kuala Lumpur - the Malaysia people always call it KL for short). Then in KL, we transferred to the domestic terminal and boarded the flight to Kuching...

It is here that I really started to notice that I was no longer in Kansas (so to speak). I was the ONLY white male within the airport (it seems). They have a heavy population of Muslims - all in the traditional dress. They like to congregate on the floor wherever you see them. Yian told me that I would be stared at a lot during this trip (just b/c I am THE outsider), and it was in the KL airport that I first noticed that. Most people just stare at me and watch me as I go about my business - it was a little freaky at first, but now I'm used to it...

once in Kuching, we were earlier than we expected, so Yian's family was not there yet to pick us up. We waited outside for about 15 minutes and then saw his dad and nieces come to get us. It was gratifying to see Yian's face when he first saw them - he hasn't seen his family in a year or 2. We then drove home and I met his mother and later that evening additional brothers, sisters, cousins, etc. - 17 people in all (I think)..

I feel so warmly welcomed by his family - they really seem to embrace me as I try to learn various parts of customs and languages. His mom doesn't speak much English at all, but is very sweet and kind to me. I wish I could communicate with her more and get to know her, but I'm extremely limited with my vocabulary. She has a great sense of humor though :-)...

His father is a good storyteller and an interesting man with a lot of life experiences.

Each day we get up, shower, go out to breakfast, and do various errands and travels. Much of the days are spent in his parents car traveling around...

Ok I have to go running now, Yian says - so I can't finish writing this right now, nor can I upload the pictures until later. I'll write more later... :-)

Bear with me - it's hard to get computer time...

Gallery from Day 3

Gallery link above - more text to come later :-)

Gallery from Day 2

Here's another gallery from today - didn't really do much picture taking but I did get some awesome shots of downtown Portland early in the morning before going to Yoga ;-)

I'm really tired tonight and I don't feel like writing a lot. I just hung around and did stuff on my own. Went to Yoga and then ate breakfast ate the Blossoming Lotus Cafe. Then went home and crashed for like 2 hours! Then went off to Powell's Bookstore, then went back to the hotel and slept again.

Finally I went to the Nia class with Elisa, and then her mom and I went to the Swagat Indian Restaurant in the northwest district - really awesome Indian food!

Now I'm sitting here in the hotel lobby, as that is the only place that - for one day only - I could use their wifi for free and be able to upload the pictures. I don't understand why the hotel won't just give you free WiFi - it would make life much easier. Oh well...

Ok back to my room :-) Yay Portland!! :-D

Gallery from Day 1

In Portland again :-)

I do love this city - walking around it and hanging out with my friend Elisa again, I'm reminded of the cool vibes, the beautiful scenery, the awesome food and the fun culture of this place...

I'm still on Orlando time so I'm pretty tired - but a brief rundown of today:

I flew from Orlando, connected in Houston, landed in Portland around 11:15 am (PST). Don't have a car this time so I'm taking the Max everywhere - it's worked really well b/c one of the stops is adjacent to my hotel. Then I got cleaned up and met up with my friend Elisa for a late lunch, followed by just general hanging out around the city with her and her friend Jeanne Marie. We had martini's :-) It was fun...

So I came back to the hotel and I'm chilling for now. See pictures above for more - maybe I'll write more as I get the time / inspiration :-)

WOW! More than 3 months since my last update! It keeps getting longer and longer. I'm finding I go through these periods where one of 2 things happen in relation to this journal: 1) I don't have time to update 2) Nothing interesting is going on in my life, and if I wrote stuff it would just be me bitching or 3) I forget to write in it. I'm going with # 1 for the past 3 months - been really busy!...

Ok the highlights - Yian, of course :-) He and I are going along great in our relationship. A few weeks ago we decided to go a bit deeper to the "boyfriend" status :-). We see each other practically every weekend, and just last week we had our first long distance trip together - to see my best friend A.J. graduate with his M.D. in south Florida! It was great to see him, and it was great to introduce Yian to some of my past and childhood people / places. I feel really good about him - and it's such an awesome feeling to have that reciprocated back to me (finally)...

Also - one weekend in Februrary I got my power bill for my place and realized it was like $250. After I resuscitated myself from the heart-attack, I decided it was time to move. I know, the last time I DID move into the downtown place, I decided not to move again unless it was into a house that I owned, or it was out of state, or I absolutely had to for finances, etc. But I decided enough was enough, and I looked around all over Central Florida. I really wanted to stay downtown, however, as I like the location and being close to most everything. Lucky for me, one of the places behind me opened up - it's a lot cheaper in rent, a bit smaller, but I feel a lot better. So I grabbed it - moved in late March / early April, and I couldn't be happier with the place!...

As for travel, I'm going again to Portland in a few weeks! I will be out there for around 6 days, 2 - 3 of which will be mostly on my own. Sean joins me in the middle of the trip and leaves just before I do, so that should be really good. I'm looking forward to seeing him again and to checking out the city - I won't have a car this time so I'll have to depend solely on the Max :-)...

So basically that's it - work is work, of course - same ole same ole, nothing really new there. I got my travel coming up, Gay Days in June, and the whole summer to delve ever deeper into my relationship with Yian :-)

Good times...

Pictures from Miguel's Move

Wow - been a while since my last update. I guess I'm back into the swing of things, eh? :-) Actually, I feel like I am. For a while, just after coming back from Thailand, I didn't know where I was or what I was doing. My work started to slip, I was very unhappy, and things just didn't seem to go right. But, as often happens, time passed and allowed me to re-integrate myself back into society. Things aren't so bad now - actually they're pretty good :-) I'll explain...

Prior to Thailand and graduation, I had big plans for how I thought my life will go. Things would just "fall into place" - the confusion about moving to Portland, the lack of a relationship, whether I should buy a house or not - everything that was so uncertain I was expected to be solved. But it wasn't - in fact, it seemed exacerbated and I was even more confused about the direction my life was going. It's hard to write a lot about it now, since it was over a month ago, and I was very negative, and I'm not really feeling that way now. So let's just say that my outlook on things was very glum...

Somehow, things seemed to get better as the month went on. I realized (rather, re-affirmed again) that I don't HAVE to have it all figured out right now. If I rent again, so what? I rent again, save some money in the short term, and not have a huge mortgage over my head to carry all on my own. I can stay in Orlando longer too - I have it pretty good in this town, and there are a lot of benefits to me staying here. And maybe I'll change my mind again in the future and want to leave - and then change it again and want to stay - and again - and again... LOL you get the idea. It's all ok - I just need to be HERE, and be here NOW. The rest will work itself out...

And work itself out it has, so far anyway. I've been doing a lot of Mysore style yoga at the Ashtanga Yoga Shala Orlando - a new studio that opened up in College Park. I still go to Full Circle and I love it there too, but something about the Mysore style is particularly attractive to my life at this point. It's so personal, you can really delve deeper into your practice, go at your own pace, and get a lot more instruction / attention. Sometimes it's tough though - I get pushed a lot deeper and harder than I used to, but it was that way in Thailand as well. Though you always want to keep safety and mindfulness in your practice, there are also benefits to re-defining what you thought your limits were...

Speaking of new beginnings, Miguel has gotten one :-) He is now the proud owner of his very own home up in Sanford, FL! I helped him and his partner Michael move in last weekend (click on the link above for pictures / video). I LOVE his place! It's in a great community, near the lake / river, and it's perfect for him - I totally see it. I'm immensely happy for him and I want nothing but the best... :-)

And for me - I ALSO have some new beginnings. I recently met a guy :-) His name is Yian, he lives in Tampa, and he is awesome! Sweet, caring, cute, intelligent, active, funny, an all around great guy who I feel a good connection with. So far we're seeing each other only on the weekends - mostly him coming to visit me, but sometime soon I hope to go and visit with him. I really enjoy hanging out with him, and I'm excited to see where things lead...

So yeah - life is good! :-D

I just read a blog entry from a yoga teacher who lives in Jacksonville, a city near where I live in the States. Similar to me, she has recently come back from Thailand, only her tour of the country was for 6 months, doing yoga and massage training. Check out her blog here...

In this particular entry, she is asked various questions from friends and family concerning how she is feeling from the trip, but is finding it hard to verbally express the changes she's experienced. The closest expression would be "... I'm floating in a sea of abstraction right now... that I feel more like a palette of colors and less like a clear, easily identifiable rendering of something"...

I think that expresses my current feelings perfectly! Many people have been asking me how my trip was, and I of course tell them "it was amazing", "so many different people, cultures, and ways of life", "the yoga was awesome", etc. All of these are true, of course, but don't encompass the sum of my feelings quite as well as her quote. Big trips like these are life changing - you don't come back the same person, and it can, in fact, take months to fully integrate into your system...

I sit here, not really sure what's going on with my job. Other co-workers seem to have more clearly defined pictures. One is getting married, another just bought a new car, another is talking about home improvement projects... Is this what life turns into? Do we sit around and do bullshit work for the rest of our lives, never really wanting to stray too far outside our bubble of comfort? Do we not want more? I'm not talking about a bigger LCD television or a vacation in the Bahamas. Isn't life supposed to be larger than something? Than us? Don't people realize what they're missing???

That's not to say my canvas is completely blank! On the contrary - I have some big plans for 2007 and I intend to make the most of them. But they are simply plans right now - nothing is manifested, nothing is real (yet). It's like an impressionistic painting - blots of color that are jotted down as fast as possible so as to convey that single moment that is lost forever once it is realized.

I'm not sure this makes sense - it's just jotted down as it comes out. But that's ok - it needs to work that way sometimes....

Hey guys! Well just a quick note to let you all know I arrived home safe and sound. I got in late Saturday afternoon (1/6/2007), and am currently at work (so I can't write much as I have like 300 emails to go through). The JFK / Orlando flight was fine, and my sister was there to pick us up from the airport. I'm pretty jet lagged (better today but pretty bad yesterday - I kept waking up all hours of the night, even though I went to bed relatively early)...

Will try to post the last of the picture / video set as soon as I can. My internet has been down ever since I arrived home - the cable guy is supposed to come out tonight though and fix it...

The trip was - in short - AMAZING!! I'm so glad to have met all the wonderful people I did, and have the amazing experiences. World travel really broadens your perspective on things, so I intend to keep on doing it! Thinking about India soon - not sure when, or how yet, but it might happen...

Ok back to work. :-)

Namaste. :-)

Hey gang. Well - I'm like 80% home to Orlando as I write this :-). I'm sitting in my hotel room - it's a long story, I think I'll write more about it when I get back to Orlando and have some time to think. But here is what happened in short form:

--> We left Samui and headed over to Bangkok, where we stayed in the Shanti Lodge again (had our nice dinner as well :-) I love that place!)

--> We got up WAY early in the morning and headed back to the Bangkok Int'l Airport for our flight back to the States. We flew China Airlines, so that took us through Taipei, Taiwan, which then lead us over to Anchorage, AK (our first stop in the States) with continuing service into New York Kennedy Airport. I have NEVER had to go through so many security checkpoints in my life - starting with the flight from Taipei. Any flight in-bound to the U.S. has a LOT of security to go through (passport checks, re-checks, etc.)...

--> Once we got to JFK airport, we waited nearly an HOUR by the baggage turnstile waiting for our bags. It was kinda crazy how SLOW it was going, and our bags were among the last of the pack. But at least they made it - so I'm happy about that :-)

--> We took our bags, went through Customs (again - we did it already in Anchorage - see that's what I mean!), and then re-checked our bags to continue all the way to Orlando (China Airlines would do this on our behalf with our final Delta-operated flight).

--> Here's where the fun comes in. We were about 1 1/2 hours late arriving into JFK - so many, many people missed their connecting flights. As a result, lines were pretty long, and china Airlines decided to give most every disrupted passenger (they had a list that included Steve and I) a hotel voucher to spend the night in New York. So we checked our bags, and got our hotel voucher, and then I went to look for Nico, my friend who was to pick us up at the airport. However, after a number of text messages with no response back, and phone calls / voicemails, Nico did not answer. Nor did I find him at the airport - I assume he got tired of waiting for our combined 3 hour delay and just went home - I'm not sure though, as of this email he still has not gotten back to me. I'm pretty bummed that I did not get to see him - I really wanted to. But I guess that's the way it went - and at least we had a hotel near the airport for which to stay (paid for)...

--> So it's about midnight, we get to the hotel from the shuttle, and there is a HUGE, HUGE line wrapping around the lobby of affected air travelers waiting to get a room. The weather was pretty bad landing that night, so I imagine we weren't the only people affected (most were from our airline though). After about another hour of waiting, we finally get our rooms (Steve and I have our own, since we had our own ticket bookings), and then head down to eat something at around 1 am. The only thing open was a bar downstairs, and they didn't really have any food either, but decided to allow people to order turkey or ham sandwhiches, given that so many were affected by the flights. So Steve and I each had a $12 sandwhich with chips - welcome back to America, where price gouging is the norm :)...

--> Needless to say I didn't get to bed until 2:30 or so - and my internal clock is still pretty messed up. I did sleep some, but probably not enough. Hopefully it will resolve itself within the next day or so...

There is probably more I missed - but I'll write that later. AND - we have some neat pics / video we took on the last day, including a few when we were in the Taipei airport about to get on our 18 hour flight back to New York. Kinda funny :-)...

All in all - freggin AMAZING experience this Thailand trip has been! AMAZING - nothing short of it. I would do it all over again - in fact, someday soon I might :-D...

Happy Travels for now! Namaste... :-)

Pictures and Video from Day 20

Last day to spend at Yoga Thailand! Getting packed and ready to leave for the Samui airport in a few hours. Our flight leaves at 6:15pm tonight, gets into Bangkok around 7:15pm, then we spend the night in Bangkok at the Shanti Lodge again. Then, the following morning, we leave Thailand on an 8:30 am flight to Taipei, then over to New York, then 18 hours later into Orlando!! Yeah - a lot of traveling...

So this is going to be my last blog entry, unless something extraordinary happens and I get more time to update. Hope that you have enjoyed the pictures, and please email me / comment on the blog if you like!

See you back in the States :-)

Om Shanti & Namaste :-)

Pictures and Video from Day 19

Good evening! Today was the final day of the Yoga Thailand 2006-2007 Christmas/New Year's retreat. Many people have left and are on their way back to their homes, or on to other adventures and travels. It was a little emotional today, as I have made a lot of friends here over the past few weeks. But it has also been eye opening - mostly to realize that I am at the tail end of one of THE most amazing, most dynamic, most adventurous journeys of my life thus far. "It was brilliant", as many of my european friends are fond of saying :-)...

Today was my rest day, so I didn't have any practice this morning. Instead, Rube and I packed our bags and then headed to breakfast. We took some goodbye photos as well (see link above), and then we headed over to the Big Buddha pier for Steve's boat trip to Koh Phangang, the location of the full moon party. He is spending the entire day / night there, and will return late morning / early afternoon tomorrow. As I write this, I know he is having a blast... :-)

After Steve was on his way, I drove the bike back to Yoga Thailand and had lunch. Then I had my session with Dorien - it went REALLY well, I got a lot out of the session with her :-) Later, I realized I needed more money for closing out my room bill tomorrow (you need to pay in cash, they don't take credit cards), so I decided to head out again to find an ATM. This time my friend Geraldine (spelling? I hope it's right :-) ) went with me. We drove ALL the way down to Tesco Lotus, down near Chaweng Beach. It's basically the Wal-Mart of Thailand, only this place is bigger - not only does it have all the same kind of stuff that Wal-Mart does, but it's also attached to a mall - MORE shops and stores, MORE food courts, movie theater, bowling alley, MORE, MORE MORE!! It's so freggin huge. The Thai culture likes to merge everything and anything into one giant building - it's kinda funny :-)...

So then Geraldine and I drove back to Yoga Thailand for dinner. Since so many of the original people from the retreat have left, it's pretty quiet, but we did manage to meet a few new people. One couple from Hamburg, Germany and another girl from Melbourne, Austrailia...

This might be the last entry I can do for a while. Tomorrow we leave for Bangkok and are staying another night at the Shanti Lodge - the same place we stayed at in the beginning of the trip. I don't know how much time I will have to update anything between the late flights from Samui, to going out to dinner at Shanti and seeing all the people there, to waking up EARLY in the morning to get to the Airport for our international flight back to the states. We leave Bangkok around 8:30, connect through Taipei and then arrive in New York about 18 hours later :-) Yes it will be a LOOOONNNNGGG travel time...

This trip has been nothing short of AMAZING. Perhaps the most life changing trip I've ever undertaken. I have such an appreciation for all that we take for granted in the U.S. now. Plus I feel my perspective on this is a bit broader than it used to be. Orlando, FL is not the only city on the face of the earth - you know this conceptually, now I know it experentially - a big difference :-)...

Kop Khun Kap, Om Shanti and Namaste :-)

Pictures and Video from Day 18

Hey everyone! Not too much to write about today. Practice was really challenging, as usual. Paul lets me get away with nothing :-D LOL - well he's probably the same with everyone else, I just notice it with me. And you know - that's how it should be. I'm here to learn and to grow...

Today was the practice, then I headed over to Na Thon on my own to do some shopping. I still have the scooter, so I took that - I'm getting pretty good at it! I don't freeze up like I used to, and I'm starting to get more comfortable with it. In fact, they replaced my other scooter with a newer one (for some reason) - I LOVE the new one, it rides so much nicer...

After Q&A and restorative asana, we had dinner and then watched an episode of 30 days. Really cool show - I think I'm gonna get a few seasons on DVD when I get back to the states...

Ok that's it for now. Namaste and Om Shanti friends :-D

Pictures and Video from Day 16 (New Year's Eve)

Pictures and Video from Day 17 (New Year's Day)

Happy NEW year everyone!! I must say it has been one of the best New Year's Eve and Day celebrations I have ever had. Actually, it's also the most exotic, the most heartfelt, and the most memorable. Paul, Jeff, Harmony, Neil, and the entire staff of Yoga Thailand prepare a ritual that we all took part in. First, during the restorative asana portion of the day, we took 2 pieces of paper - one was goldenrod and one was blue. On the goldenrod paper, we were asked a series of questions, to which we had to write immediate responses to (without the aide of analyzation in the mind) - one word responses, or maybe a few words. I don't remember every question, but it was something like "How would you address the challenges that were overcome in 2006?", or "How would you describe the best feelings you had in 2006?" LOL - I don't remember, I'm probably messing them up. But that's the point - they're gone, 2006 is done. They shouldn't be around in my head anyway. On the blue piece of paper, we did something similar, but instead applied to our intentions, proclamations, etc. that we wish to carry with us in 2007. I got the impression it was a bit different than simple New Year's resolutions - somehow it was more special - at least to me anyway...

So after we wrote these down, we held on to them until the evening (after dinner), at which point we had what I believe to be a Puja, for which we opened with some chanting, and then did a small ritual. We placed the goldenrod, 2006 paper into the fire and "burned away" the year - it is gone, we have released it from ourselves, we were then a clean slate. After that burned for a little while, we placed our 2007 blue paper into the fire. It burns on top of the 2006 paper - that was the foundation, we are continuing to build upon what we have done, where we have gone and who we choose to be. Then we all sang and chanted - it was perhaps one of the most beautiful ceremonies I've ever participated in...

What made it most special was Paul - the man exudes genuity, grace, stature, and kindness. He truly cares - you can feel the energy he creates in the room. I was moved to tears at one point - I still am as I write this. I have an enormous respect for him, as does every single one of the yogis here. We all comment on it while at lunch / dinner / breakfast. I'm truly blessed to be witness to that...

So after the ashes burned, we went to bed and woke up around 5:30 am or so. At 6am, the sun started to rise, and many of the yogis decided to watch it out on the beach. At 6:30, Paul came back with the ashes, and scattered them on the beach. In a cyclic fashion, that which was, is returned to the earth, and that which will become, is released to the universe and heavens for manifestation. 2007 will be a great year - I can feel it :-D...

Afterwards, we had a small session of Qigong, which reminds me a bit of tai chi, but I've not had prior experience in either, so I can't tell you the difference. It was taught by another yogi who lives near the shala by the name of Dorien Israel. It was really cool - she's a neat soul and a good energy :-). Then the usual - pranayama and asana practice. Today's asana was REALLY challenging - my backbends didn't come so well, and I struggled through a lot of the 2nd series poses. At one point I was in tears. For those who don't practice, sometimes yoga can release pent up emotions that you didn't know were there - that is especially true of backbends. So it's not uncommon for someone doing backbends to burst out with an emotional response - crying, laughing, etc. I didn't quite BURST out, but I certainly felt it. It was hard - but it will pass, and I will work through it. That's why I'm here - that's why I practice :-)...

The rest of the day was fun though. After breakfast, Steve and I hopped on our bikes and headed down to Fisherman's Village. Basically a bunch of shops and tourist restaurants. We ate at a really cool place called The Coffee Junction, then did a bit of shopping / bargaining. I'm definitely getting better at it - I got a really cool velvet painting for 2,500 baht (like $80 USD? It's a bargain, I think). Then we came back, had a really good Q&A session with Paul, then an awesome RA (Restorative Asana) practice with Neil. Then a bunch of us went down to this funky restaurant called "I Do U Eat". The food was alright - wasn't the best I've had, but it was nice enough. The most fun is hanging out with my new friends here. :-) Click on Day 17 picture link to see some interesting renditions of some 80's songs from America :-D...

Ok that's it for now. One more full day of the retreat, then rest day on Wednesday (when the retreat ends). Also, Steve will head out to the Full Moon Party on Wednesday and return sometime Thursday morning (hopefully safe, but I'm expecting he will be wrecked :-) It's an intense party, I'm told). I decided not to go, and instead I'm doing one more day in Yoga Thailand as a day stay. It's just not my thing, I think - besides Steve will be able to leave his bags here and not have to worry about them...

Om Shanti and Happy 2007!! :-)

Pictures and Video from Day 15

Ahhhh - the joys of living on a tropical island :-) Not only do you hear the waves crashing on the beach (they're sort of background and therapeutic after a while), but you can also do a lot of activities that involve water - one of which would be snorkeling :-) And that is exactly what we did - a group of Yogis and I went down to the south side of the island and did some snorkeling and some beaching...

We used longboats to get from Samui to the snorkel site - we were really close to the reef, and you could feel it as soon as you stepped out of the water. I saw lots of tropical fish, eel, and coral - it's cool to watch the fish congregate together when you throw out a piece of bread :-) Some of those suckers are aggressive too! They jump out of the water and tackle each other and the food - interesting to watch...

After a bit of snorkeling (short really, only about 20 minutes) the boat headed over to another island ( Koh Mudsum I believe). It's pretty deserted really - just a few tourists, no real inhabited parts to the island (at least that we could see). It was really beautiful - lots of crashing waves, white sandy beaches, and really intense sun! Man it was hot - good thing I kept applying sunscreen. Hopefully I did enough - I'm sure I did :-)

Ok time for dinner, and then on to watch a movie again. This time it will be What the BLEEP do We Know? - one of my favorites! :-D

Namaste :-)

No pictures today - I didn't do all that much during the day after practice. Practice was pretty good, though I must say it was intense! My back is really feeling the efforts and work I've been putting into my practice. That and Paul decided to give me the 5th pose in second series, which is Dhanurasana. So that coupled with everything else - I was feeling it!...

Breakfast was good - the usuals, toast, fruit and we had eggs today (scrambled). Tomorrow is banana pancake day! At least we think that's the case (Saturday mornings) - all the yogis are looking forward to it! Most will be lining up directly after practice - yes they are THAT good... :-D

So in the afternoon I basically just lounged around and read a little bit. The day was a bit gloomy, and it has been raining off and on since last night, so I didn't really go out and get any sun. It was nice to just chill in the outdoor shala, take in the breeze off the ocean and relax... :-)

Then this evening, we went to a restaurant called Betelnut, a California - Thai fusion restaurant in trendy, touristy Chaweng. The place was pretty good - we had a total of like 15 people, and full course meals with wine (like 2 - 3 bottles of it!). Afterwards, most of the people walked around Chaweng and took in the spectacle that is that place. Basically a lot of tourists, bars, party goers, lady boys (a.k.a. drag queens), shops with heckling shop keepers (like REALLY heckling - they shove things in your face), etc. All in all was a good time, but i left a bit early cuz I have to be up for practice early in the morning...

Ok that's it for tonight. Might have something more interesting to write about tomorrow ;-D

Namaste :-)

Pictures from Day 12

Pictures from Day 13

"If you're going to do something, embrace it. Doing it half-hearted really doesn't get you anywhere."

Those wise words were spoken today by Paul, one of the teachers at Yoga Thailand (and also the owner of the place), and coincidentally, have described much of the experiences that I've had over the past 2 days...

Yesterday Steve and I decided to rent motorbikes. You can easily get them through Yoga Thailand - all you have to do is tell them you want one, and they come and have it delivered right to the retreat center. It's 250 baht a day (like under $10 USD), and you really need to have one for transport around this island. Otherwise, you're riding on the back of sketchy songtaews or even sketchier cabs (who happen to be missing their meter inside the car)...

At first, I was very hesitant. I've been in this country for going on 2 weeks now, and the motorbike thing is the very reason traffic is so absolutely insane here. That plus I was not acclamated to the thing at first, even though Steve seemed to handle his with ease - both of us never having touched a motorbike before in our LIVES. So the first few hours on the first day of rental were rough - start, stop, going slow, etc. I did ok when there wasn't a lot of traffic, but it was hard (at first) to navigate through heavy traffic. Cars honk at you (and a honk doesn't mean the same thing here as it does in America - here everyone honks all the time for no reason, and it's usually a quick *Beep* instead of loud, obnoxious American honks. Yes we aren't perceived with the highest regard in a lot of places, I'm coming to find)...

We started going from the center towards Na Thon (to the west), and then looped around to the south of the island. That part is really nice - very nice homes and villas up the mountain side with awesome ocean views. We continued on the ride towards Lamai, where we stopped for a quick drink...

Here's where the fun part begins. In between Lamai and Chaweng (the latter of which is the big party place - the one where all the single males will go to get their Thai girls and party on), there are a number of mountain passes (not really huge ones, but they have some landscape). Anyways, I was following Steve and he was able to pass a taxi cab that was in front of him - this was accomplished by quickly veering into the lane with oncoming traffic. Yes, yes - American driving is NOT the same as Thai driving - there are NO rules here. Seriously. No one follows them - half the time they don't even drive on their side of the road...

So now I have a decision - I should follow suit? I don't want to lose him. So I quickly glance around me and check out the situation - no cars, looks ok. So I go for it...

Whoops - a taxi comes in my direction and I veer off to the side of the road, and fall off my bike. Thankfully I'm ok, as is the bike - no real damage to either party. I have a pretty bad scrap on my knee though - it will probably be my war story for later on. Check out the pictures above (Day 12) to see what that looked like...

Needless to say, after that, I simply wanted to go home. So we did, and I returned the bike. My original feeling was - "Ok I did it - never again, no more bike for me"...

"Embrace fully...."

That made me think. Did I really embrace this situation fully? Not in the least. I didn't want to get on that bike from the get-go, yet I felt I had to do it if I wanted to get around the island. Plus, everyone else does it - men, women, all ages, entire FAMILES! I'm serious - 4 people on a bike - it's nuts...

"Embrace fully...."

I said - fuck this - I'm doing it! I rented another bike today, this time with a little better attitude, and that has made ALL the difference. I'm much more confident - I don't do stupid things like go into oncoming traffic anymore, even if EVERYONE in Thailand does it, and regardless of the notion that you have to think like a local all the time. But today really wasn't bad at all. Steve is proud of me :-D...

So after the bike ride yesterday, we came back and then headed out to a place called The Love Kitchen. It's this little vegan restaurant inside Absolute Yoga near Fisherman's Village on Samui island. Actually, Absolute yoga is the same place we went to for practice in Bangkok - they must be a really big chain in Thailand. The food was FABULOUS! So good - and everything was good FOR you. That has been one of the BEST parts of this trip - nearly all the food has been so healthy and so tasty. It was a group of like 16 people at dinner, so it took a while for the little restaurant to accomodate that large of a group. But they did a good job...

Me and 3 other ladies took a cab (with 3 other ladies) to the restaurant (ha ha - stop laughing Omar and Miguel :-) ), so we also took one to get back to the shala. That was most interesting - not only did we do it in like 10 minutes (when getting there was like 20 minutes with traffic) at breakneck speed, but we had entertainment along the way. The Thai Cabbie was a young guy - like 21 maybe - and talked on the cell phone for the first few minutes. Then, he BLASTED - like BLASTED - this boy band type of music to which he attempted to sing. It was in English, and it was obvious he didn't know what the words were or what they meant, but he was singing them off-key anyway - REALLY loud. I kept looking back at the other girls with a crazed look - then we busted out laughing once we got out of the cab. It was really funny - I wish I would have recorded it to video with my camera. Seriously that would be going on American Idol ...

So that was yesterday (Day 12). Today (Day 13) was a bit more relaxed. We had a great practice, a great breakfast, and myself, Steve, Mary, Paul and Sophie decided to go lay out by the pool at a resort that is right next door to yoga Thailand. It was fun - we went for a swim, layed out in the sun, and chatted for a while. Have I mentioned how many cool people I've met on this trip??? Seriously - everyone rocks! So chill, open, liberal - just good people...

After laying out, they convinced me to rent a scooter again (explained above), so we all headed over to Big Buddha Beach, the site of a really cool Buddhist temple and a bunch of tourist shopping areas. We checked out the temple, took some cool photos and video (above) - and I got a blessing from a Buddhist Monk! Steve recorded it to video, so you should be able to check that out...

Afterwards we came back home and did Q&A and resorative asana practice, followed by dinner and then watching The Secret, which I've already seen and have on DVD at home, but it's really good...

That's about it for now...

"Embrace fully..." - it's my mantra :-)

Om Shanti :-)

Pictures from Day 10

Pictures from Day 11

Sawadee Krup and happy belated Christmas everyone!

Just a quick update on the goings-on for the last 2 days. First, I felt a lot better all day than the previous days - my sinus congestion was greatly reduced and I didn't have a fever anymore. However, I still feel a bit of it hanging around in my throat and sinuses, so I'm being cogniscent of that and just being with it until it passes...

Yesterday (Christmas day) was really laid back and chill. I did the practice, of course, and had breakfast, but didn't do a whole lot after that. Instead I sat talking with some other yogis for quite some time - well actually, all the way into lunch! We had lunch then a bunch of us continued our conversation out on the beach. It was great - I SO love the people I've met here - such great souls, really warm and loving :-)...

After a little while, Adam invited me to go and take a walk with him. We didn't go any place in particular - just outside the campus of Yoga Thailand, then turned left on the Main Road of the island and started walking. We had a great chat about life in general, things we've experienced, places we would like to go, etc. We walked quite a ways and eventually found a little convienence store-like kind of place to stock up on a few toiletries and even some candy :-) (yeah I caved and had some chocolate :-) )...

When we decided to turn back, we walked a bit of the original path, but then chose to take the rest of the way via the beach instead of the main road. That turned into quite a little excursion - because the tide was so high, there basically was no beach in some parts - just rocks. So we did a bit of climbing over wet rocks with our backpacks and gear in our hands - was quite challenging, actually. All this climbing that I've done over the past few days has made me think I should take up some rock climbing! I might be good at it! :-). We were late for the evening asana / restorative practice, however (sucks to walk in late to a yoga class - no way you can hide :-) )...

Later that evening, we were treated to a special presentation of Thai dancing by a few of the girls of the staff at the retreat center. They were really good, and it was a lot of fun to see the traditional dancing. I took video, but it's just over the limit that LiveJournal will let me upload :-(. So if you want to see it, you'll have to email me and I'll try to figure out a way to get it to you...

When Day 11 rolled around, we had our usual morning meditation and practice. However, in the afternoon, we headed over to a Tree Top Tour on the south part of Koh Samui. Basically it's a network of cables that run from various platforms that are stationed at the tops of very large trees. You start at the top of one particular tree on a big hill, then literally "slide" you way down each platform until you reach the end of the course. About 12 of us went on this little trek, and it was LOADS of fun! There are a lot of video clips on this (see Day 11 picture gallery up top). After the tour, we went for a brief stop at Secret Buddha Garden, which is a collection of many beautiful, stone buddha statues. Check out that link I just gave to get a little overview of the gardens...

Ok that's about all that has gone on! Having a FANTASTIC time on this trip! Great yoga, great people, great food, great fun - can't ask for anything more :-D. Tomorrow I am taking off of practice, as it is the 7th day (traditionally, in Mysore, you would practice for 6 days and rest on the 7th (usually Saturday, but our practice at the retreat started last Thursday). Also, today marks the end of the 1st week of the retreat and the transition into the second week, so many people are leaving and a few new ones should show up by tomorrow. It's interesting - most EVERYONE that was here for the 1 week only are not going home right after this - they are traveling MORE! Everyone we meet - they travel all the time - everywhere - for very long periods of time. It's really cool - I'm thinking about doing it myself, to be honest. Take a year or so off and travel Asia or whatever - go on a Yoga quest, perhaps :-) (Such as our friend Jay here ;-))...

Hope all is well in the states - write if / when you get a chance :-)

Namaste,
- Jeff :-)

Pictures and VIDEO of Day 9!!

Hey everyone. Not feeling well at all tonight. In fact, I have a bit of a fever and a headache - not sure what this sinus / cold thing is doing to me. If I continue to feel as bad tomorrow morning, I might skip the asana practice - which will SUCK, but I'm not sure what else to do...

After practice this morning, we had breakfast and I decided to go and lay down for a little bit. That never actually happened - instead I played around with the new camera :-) I took an 8 minute video touring the bungalow that I'm staying in as well as around the Yoga Thailand campus. It's so large (~180 MB) that I can't upload it to LiveJournal, so I decided to open an XDrive account online - if you want access to it you have to let me know so I can add you to the shared list...

Later in the day, we had our group outing / excursion! Normally, it's supposed to be a boat to Koh Tao for some snorkeling and/or diving, but the seas were too rough today (you'd never think it, as the weather was really nice). So instead, they booked us on a tour of the 2 major waterfalls that are on Koh Samui - Na Muang and Hin Lad. They were really cool and a lot of fun! We did SOO much hiking though - the rocks are really steep, and I think one of the reasons I feel so bad right now is related to that intensity. Heck everything on this trip is very active!! But I love it :-)

Also - we saw some interesting things along our hike. One of which was some wildlife. Well, not really wild - there were elephants giving tourists rides and monkeys that were tied to chains. It was really sad, in partcular, to see the monkeys. You can tell they are miserable and just want to get out and stop having tourists screw with them. I feel so bad for them :-( One of them, however, swung up right next to me and grabbed my arm, swinging and hanging from it. I was a little nervous, as I'm not sure I'd like one of those things to bite me. But it was neat none the less - their palms on their hands and feet feel really rubbery - and boy are they the little gymnasts - they flip and turn all over the place, you never know what they're going to do...

The view from the top of Na Muang was georgeous - just amazing. You can see a lot of the island from there, as you'll notice in the pictures. It was a HIKE to get up the mountain, but it was worth it...

Also - make sure you check out the 2 videos on the last page of the pictures - one is of us fooling around at the top of the Na Muang waterfall, and the other is a group of us riding in the van back to the Shala. They may take a little while to download - when I test it on my machine, for some reason my browser wants to grab the entire file before it plays, rather than play as the download is continuing in the background. Not sure why - but you guys should have broadband by now :-)...

Ok I'm retiring early tonight, as I'm hoping to get more sleep than I did last night. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!! (It is Christmas eve here - you'd never really know it, except for the fact we had Chai after dinner)...

Namaste :-)

Good evening everyone - I figured I'd write a little in my blog tonight before I go to bed, so I don't have to be rushed to do it in the morning...

Today I actually started to feel under the weather :-( My throat is a bit scratched, and my sinuses are stopped up. I had a bit of a fever, I think, earlier today, but honestly I think that was attributed to dehydration. I know, I know - I gotta keep up my strength, so I'm making an effort to be SURE I keep drinking plenty of water...

Speaking of making an effort, I have been absolutely IMMERSED in Yoga Thailand. The Ashtanga practice and instruction here is so amazing - Paul, Harmon, Neil and Jeff seem to have this unique grasp on the principals, the applications, the meditations, the sprituality, and the practicality of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. We start out with meditation and centering / breathing exercises early in the morning, followed by a Mysore style practice with Paul, Harmony and most of the time Neil doing the assisting, while Jeff leads a beginner-level class in the outside shala. I have never been quite so pushed, pulled, twisted, prodded and poked in my practice quite as much as I have been here. It is INTENSE - a level of intensity I've not had before. And the BANDHAS / BREATH - I thought I had that part at least somewhat under control - man do I have work to do in the core area! Paul's overarching advice to me, specifically, from his observation of my practice - "Loosen shoulders, Strengthen the core, and BREATHE"...

So aside from the amazing yoga here, I've already mentioned the fabulous food. Though I enjoy lunch and dinner immensely, I think Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day here. We always have fresh fruit, yogurt, juices, toast with homemade jam, and sometimes a specialty like eggs, etc. Today's specialty was banana pancakes - holy SHIT - I will die here, I'm putting it in my will. No seriously I need to learn how to make those, they are unbelievable...

So as I mentioned, yesterday I lost my camera to the backseat of a cab :-( So today, I was pretty much on my own, as Steve and 7 other girls (yes 7 girls - he was liking the odds :-) ) went to a spa to get facials. LOL - that Rube, I love that guy :-) So, I decided to head out into town and try to find me a camera. For people who know me well, they know that I was probably pretty nervous (yes I was) - in a strange place, where no one speaks your language, the signs on the road are all in Thai with small English wording at the bottom (sometimes just Thai). I walked along the main road, just me and my backpack, and a few cabbies honked at me to see if I wanted a ride. Someone at the center recommended I check out a place called Tesco Lotus. Basically this store is like a Wal Mart - part supermarket, part clothing store, part electronics, part hair salon, part restaurant, part travel agency, part banking (3 banks!!) - you name it, they sell it or have the service. So I figured they HAD to have cameras, and that was easier than trutting around Na Thon looking for a "deal" (which they don't really give tourists anyway - they RIP YOU OFF!! I hate that - they don't budge here, they overcharge and that's it. It is NOT the same in Bangkok)...

Anyway, so here I was, walking along the road, hopefully going to get a ride to Tesco (I knew it was about 20 minutes from Yoga Thailand). Eventually I got picked up by this pick up truck taxi thing called a songtaew. These things are everywhere, especially in Samui. Riding in one of these things is a cultural experience to itself - you sit next to Thai, European tourists, children, etc. In my particular case, even the europeans (German I think) didn't speak much English (or didn't seem to understand me when I tried to talk to them). That part is wearing me down a little on this trip - but not to a really bad point yet...

Anyway finally the Songtaew stops in front of Tesco - I was nervous b/c I told the driver that's where I was going and I didn't even know what it looked like or how far down the road it was! Lucky for me I took the Songtaew - it was a 25 minute drive (with traffic)...

That's one thing you notice about Samui - it's really getting overbuilt. So much construction for new condos and resorts - even next to Yoga Thailand, we have construction sounds from 8 - 5 time frame. I'm sure it was beautiful and unspoiled at one time, but now it reeks of tourists, exhaust and a little bit of poverty in some areas...

Anyway, as I mentioned before, Tesco is HUGE - it has everything. "Basically the Thai version of Wal-Mart, except with Trance music" - that is how I heard someone put it once, and that is pretty accurate. I found the electronics dept. and they had a TON of cameras! YAY! Oh wait - now I have to pick one and converse with the Thai lady behind the counter to give me information about the features of the cameras. Luckily the prices were in plain view, so I didn't have to work at that..

I ended up getting a really nice Olympus camera - don't remember the model # now, I can look that up later if you like. It has a huge LCD preview screen, yet is pretty small for a camera. Costed me like 14,000 bhat (~$385 USD) - OYE, I didn't really want to spend it, but there was no way I was going to continue this trip without a camera! So I'm hoping it's worth it...

I got back a little later in the day and missed lunch :-( Plus I had started to feel worse while walking around Tesco - so I had some tea and just chilled on the beach for a while. Basically there IS no beach this time of year - you hear waves crashing against the seawall 24 hours a day, and sometimes they are REALLY strong waves. Tomorrow it's supposed to be worse - we normally would have our group excursion to Koh Tao for snorkeling / swimming, but none of the boats are going out in those really rough waters. So I think the plan is to rent a bus or something and head over to the 2 waterfalls on the island - which will be REALLY nice...

Following the afternoon practice and Q&A session, we had dinner, and a really awesome yogini named Melanie (British I think? based on the accent, anyway) offered to give me a Thai massage (for FREE, as she is a student). Now in Thailand, you can get massages like anywhere and everywhere - seriously there are signs for them anywhere you turn, and Yoga Thailand has some pretty good masseurs (though I've heard there are better elsewhere on Samui). Melanie is a student though and needs the practice, plus she seemed to have a pattern of treatment she wanted to try to help alleviate my feeling like crap. So she worked on me for about an hour, and it was REALLY good I must say :-)...

So that's about it - I need to go to bed now and get my rest. Hope all is well - I expect that I will post some pictures within the next blog or 2 (that's my intention anyway)...

Om Shanti :-)