I am Thompson Boy

The clock is ticking. I am getting nervous, so many things to do and I have done nothing yet.

This is the first installment from my travel tales which was inspired by Give Live Explore who described his published book called Tales of Iceland as sort of like an anti-guide book for traveling, I have nothing against guide book and in fact some of my travel become easier thanks to them. But like everything else I learn from advertising and branding, there's just no point doing what everyone else is doing - you can get a summary, review or guide somewhere else but you won't get my experience and some misadventure anywhere but here. As some of you might have known and read by now, I've planned out my Laos and Vietnam trip down to almost military precision - having done that since India and then during my New Zealand trip with my friends. Most people are more than happy to follow along because lets face it, planning is a bitch. While there is a concrete plan, I do allow rooms for slight changes for example, too tired to go to yet another attraction or rather stay in t...

According to Tripadvisor anyway - Kebaya, the restaurant at the now super famous and IT place to be, Seven Terraces - people who knows me know that I swear by TA and since this place came highly recommended, what a boy to do but go right? Esp since I can't afford the rooms. Maybe I've been backpacking for awhile now so my standards are higher if I have pay 10x more than usual for meals. its around RM100++ for one selection from starters, main, vegetables and dessert menu. Wine - prices are decent with a small selection Cocktails - decent enough, pricing standard for the typical chi chi places Food - it's ok, not great tasting, pork was dry though everything was beautifully presented. My foreign friends seems to like it so maybe it's just me. I've tasted better fried kangkung/vegetables. Like some comments from the other reviewers - environment is pretty uptight and we are totally locked off from the hotels, would be nice to have a look around this is ...

The fact that this part of Indonesia eludes the dangers of overcrowding from tourists is beyond me. This place is beautiful, historical (I don't need to talk about the ancient and many UNESCO heritage sites though some people I know doesn't even know what it is and why it exists) and extremely affordable. But what's more important are the people - kind, warm and generous. Nicest people I've meet during all my travel and just as good as the Taiwanese. It's not hard to lose your heart to such a place, lost between time and culture and mainly frequent by the locals. Oh, I don't have to talk about how good the food was - it's beyond words. "Biarkan orang berkata beda, kau tetap yang utama. Biarkan orang berkata beda, kau tetap istimewa." - Kau Seperti Jogja

Only 4 more working days and then I am off. As with many of my trips, alot of them are done last minute and based on the cheapest flight. Might sound great to be going for one trip after another and then another but it is actually quite whack. I need to get my cough in check and plenty of rest - resisting going out and eating like a grandfather. But like all things in life, you learn and I learnt that I need to take things slowly. Must drink plenty of water and take care of myself. Credit: http://world-hunk.blogspot.com/

Day 1  Hostel check in (with the jam and the delayed timing with Zest Air, reached at 4-5pm) Malate Church - just to have a look see Baywalk Dinner at Aristocrat Restaurant at Malate Drinks around Malate area - too many girlie bars in the area Day 2  Woke up early to have breakfast at the hostel Walked up to the Quirino station and stop at Central Terminal Got lost and finally reach Intramuros - visited Casa Manila, St Augustin Church and Museum, Manila Cathedral was closed for repair, walk around the old town area until Fort Santiago. It rained like mad and had to take shelter in a cafe. Walked out to Rizal Park and back to hotel via United Nations station. Went back hotel to freshen up before we hit the stations again. Dropped down to take a jeepney to Divisoria Night Market. Nothing much to see there and had dinner at one of the roadside stalls. Day 3  Took a train to Edsa station and then exchange over to Ayala. It's quite a distance away to reach Gre...

Perhaps. Who knows? But I will find out soon next week. Can't wait actually. Time to put BBDO Guerrero multiple award winning campaign for their DOT which features the Duck Sauce song to a test. Here's a rundown: Day 1  Flight at LCCT - 1055 Arrive in Manila - 1435 Hotel and check in - 15.35 Quick Lunch No plans here or maybe SM Mall of Asia Manila Met Museum Dinner Day 2  Rizal Park Intramurous Back to hotel Manila Baywalk Dinner Day 3  Chinatown Greenbelt and shopping area Ayala Musuem Day 4 Flight at NA Airport 0645 Reach Malaysia 1025  For sure no chance to meet any hot Pinoy (like June Macaset) since I am with a friend. Oh well...

Long weekend break, I was looking at some of the photos from my past travel and one set came from England. It's been awhile. Gets me more excited everytime I look at them. There might not be a ticket to Heathrow as yet but LAX is in the making. Meanwhile back to life and back to reality once more to toil for the monies that will support a dream. Can't wait for the day I can go, fuck this shit goodbye!

So another weekend of I-had-to-be in Ipoh for something. Old place but seeing it through fresh eyes. Now that's realness. Have you seen anything like that at all?

Medallions with St. Christopher's name and image are commonly worn as pendants, especially by travelers, to show devotion and as a request for his blessing. Miniature statues are frequently displayed in automobiles. In French a widespread phrase for such medals is "Regarde St Christophe et va-t-en rassuré" ("Look at St Christopher and go on reassured"); Saint Christopher medals and holy cards in Spanish have the phrase "Si en San Cristóbal confías, de accidente no morirás" ("If you trust St. Christopher, you won't die in an accident") - Wikipedia

Thanks to then Internet, traveling has become so much easier with the help of social media and sites like Tripadvisor. Gone are the days that you only rely on Lonely Planet (a guide that is becoming more and more hated - though I still refer to it as my first point of entry, I never really do believe in 100% what it says, after all through experience I have found places that promotes themselves as listed in guidebooks to be more expensive) or a travel show. Which is why I found the latest campaign for MAS pretty - lame. It's pretty no doubt - I even knew the people who did that but while it's a frilly touchy type of proposition of we are all travelers moving from point A to point B in our lifetime bla bla bla journeys are made with the people you travel with - this revelation is nothing new. Hell, I can use that back in the 80s and its still true. Isn't there anything new that they can use? Like I said, social travel is like sooooo huge, what is MAS's role in it? How ...

“Travel is never a matter of money but of courage.   I spent a large part of my youth traveling the world as a hippie. And what money did I have then? None. I barely had enough to pay for my fare. But I still consider those to have been the best years of my youth. The great lessons I learned has been precisely those that my journeys had taught me.” -Paulo Coelho

For the past one year since my return from India I have been plotting and thinking and truth to be told that while I was supposed to save up as much as I can muster, I haven't been doing it properly. Since then, there was yet another a bag (or two or three or four) and also some trips in between which are great. Sometimes you just can't plan for things that just happened like trips. I don't regret taking them as anything and any place new is a plus. But to be honest, I have not been doing it properly. And I sometimes get carried away with how things are - I didn't expect all my plans to fall flat on my face, one after another and last weekend was the last straw. I just felt so tired for trying and boy, I have been trying even though I know chances of making things happen are next to zero. I nearly want to just breakdown and cry but I didn't. Instead, I just went shopping and try to forget about trying so hard for just one second.Ok, so the shopping bit isn't e...

Thinking Paris, France – 7 days (Loire Valley/Versailles/Provins) Bruges, Belgium – 3 days ( Brussels ) Amsterdam , Netherlands – 5 days* (den Haag/Delft) Berlin , Germany – 5 days Kraków , Poland – 3 days (Auschwitz) Prague , Czech Republic – 3 days Budapest , Hungary – 3 days Vienna, Austria – 2 days Salzburg, Austria – 4 days (Hallstatt/ Innsbruck ) Munich , Germany – 4 days Madrid , Spain – 7 days (Toledo/Segovia) Barcelona, Spain – 5 days (Montserrat/Sitges) Nice , France – 2 days (Eze) Florence, Italy – 5 days (Pisa/La Spezia/Cinque Terre) Venice , Italy – 3 days Rome, Italy – 7 days (Vatican City/Ostia Antica/Orvieto) Sorrento, Italy – 5 days (Amalfi Coast/Pompeii/Vesuvius) Tuscany? Milan? Portugal Athens, Greece – 7 days (Marathon/Schinia/Vouliagmeni/Santorini/Mykonos) Egypt - Nile Tour Morocco Jordan, Saudi Arabia Turkey Greece Cyprus Nepal, Tibet, Kolkatta - Kerala - Goa - Mumbai - see India during Holi Sri Lanka Shanghai, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Beij...

Going out of the country to experience new things is all fine and good but if you are confined here and get no chance of doing that then the next best thing is to make the best out of everything. One of the things that I don't do often these days are going for shoot. I think I am just too old for that shit, just let the young kids go for it. It's long, tedious and sometimes fun but I've always felt that I got better things to do but once in awhile, going away to weird and funny places can be of an experience. Well, that's me - all about new experiences this year. Can't wait for end of this month to go for one that has this quaint village house next to a paddy field and a river.