Matt Fong’s Blog

My co-workers from the International School took me golfing at Burapha Golf Course the other day and I had an awesome time. The ISE (the International School I teach swim lessons at) campus is actually located on the grounds of Burapha so it makes for a convenient post-work activity. Prior to the other day, I had only goofed around a few times at the driving ranges in California. Needless to say, I was quite the laugh and will be spending sometime at the nearby driving range practicing my newly found correct golfing technique (apparently swinging a golf club is nothing like swinging a baseball bat ). Anyway, I managed to only lose one golf ball to the water. I?ve been told I?m spoiled learning to golf in Thailand with the easy access to caddies and cheap greens fees.

Otherwise life in Si Racha, Thailand is slowing down to a normal pace. My landlady has introduced me to a few of her younger tenants who attend Kasetsart University a few kilometers down Sukumvit. I also purchased a USB TV tuner so I can tune into the free cable TV that is provided with my room. It has about 50 channels with 6-7 of them being in English. I?m also becoming a familiar face at the corner food stands. The other day the ticket collector on the bus even remembered my destination from a prior trip! Things are also going smoothly at my jobs.

Oh yah?I?m returning to the states for 10-days from March 7th-17th?if you?re stateside, hope to see you then.

I had two first days in one as I started teaching swim lessons at a local international school during the day and teaching English at a local language center during the evenings. Both turned out like most typical ?first days on the job? with a few kinks but by the end of the week things were running smoothly. The staff and students at the local international school are a joy to work with.

Otherwise, I forgot to mention that I have a travel tip being published in Budget Travel magazine in the March 2005 issue. If you happen to glance at a copy, look for my tip about backpacking around Southeast Asia! I also had a mailbag article published about the feasibility of converting Thai script into Roman characters in the local English language newspaper. I get the feeling though, they publish anything people write in?but I?ve got to start somewhere.

I managed to find a cozy apartment in Sri Racha after finding out that my first two options were full for another month. I pay 2700 baht (about US$67.50) a month for a furnished studio apartment that includes a once a week room cleaning (a must if you?ve ever seen one of my rooms!). It?s a 3 minute walk to my job at a local English/Computer school, a 4 minute walk to the movie complex/western shopping mall, and an 8 minute walk to the newly developed ocean front park. The building has keycard access, and a lady that does a week worth of laundry for 30 baht (or 75 cents US). If that isn?t enough to sell you, there?s a massage place down the street that gives massages for 99baht/hr (or US$2.50). (Things I?m selectively leaving out: The apartment only has a fan, no hot water, and is next to a main highway with way too many cars that need new mufflers)

Otherwise I?ve accepted a medley of part-time jobs 1) at an International School teaching swim lessons 2) at ECC, Thailand teaching English and 3) being a Business/IT consultant for a large real estate company in Jomtien Beach. Unfortunately the payroll of these jobs is below that of western standards, but at US$2.50 for a massage?I think I?ll survive J. I?m actually in Penang, Malaysia now, waiting for the Thai Consulate here to issue me my Non Immigrant Business visa for Thailand so I can legally work. I?m getting tired of visa runs?but hopefully this will be it for a while.

I had a peak at Sri Racha today, a town about 1.5 hours from Bangkok and in between Thailand?s eastern seaboard cities of Chonburi and Pattaya. Sri Racha is likely going to be my home and I like it, with its pleasant sea breeze, close proximity to Bangkok (and its new International Airport), developed waterfront park area (reminds me of Southern California), open aired bars, and its very own Western movie theatre & shopping mall. There are many Japanese businessmen who end up here, working for one of the many import/export companies that have business with the surrounding deep sea ports. Best of all, I can get a modern executive style studio for $200/month but I?m still considering a sub $100/month apartment down the street.

For those of you who rely on my blog for your only source of news J, Thailand was recently struck my a major tidal wave caused by a 9.0 quake in the Indian Ocean. The death toll keeps rising but last I heard it was at 40,000 (that?s 12 times the number of people who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and almost 40 times the number of American soldiers who have died in the recent Iraqi conflict). If only lives in developing country were worth as much as an American life. Anyway?really sad day.

After three unsuccessful days of attempting to paragliding, we finally completed our introduction class. The private class is only suppose to take a single day but a lack of proper wind and ridiculously hot south bay summer temperatures made the first two days ugly. The lessons were given in the hills of Milpitas overlooking San Jose in a park frequented by many paragliders and hang gliders. The lessons only covered basic takeoffs and landings, much of which are similar to skydiving, but the class only guaranteed a basic flight from a 30-50 foot mountain. Essentially, there was way too much work (walking up and down the hill carrying the parachute, opening the parachute, and packing the parachute) for the amount of joy I received out of the final 30 second flight. In contrast to learning to skydive, we had already completed two individual jumps by the end of the first of 3 training sessions. Wally, our instructor however did give us each a free tandem Paraglide from the top of the 1600ft mountain. This was the most enjoyable part of the 3 days of instruction but that?s not saying much. Paragliding canopies are purposefully made to be large, slow, and difficult to make sharp turns on! Anyway, you get my point.

Also in the spirit of remaining active and shedding these pounds, I took a bike ride up to Tiburon across the Golden Gate Bridge from my house in the Richmond District of San Francisco. The day was perfect and the view just the same. At first I was worried about the hill climb on the return ride but it turned out not to be a problem. Apparently (my friend claims it?s because of terrorism) they close the west facing pedestrian (although I think only bicyclists use it) sidewalk of the bridge until 3:30pm on weekdays. So if you want to bike across the bridge before 3:30 on a weekday, you?d better get used to swerving between dumb tourists on the eastern facing side of the bridge. As if terrorists only strike on weekdays before 3:30.

There?s a Giants baseball game at SBC Park this Thursday against the Colorado Rockies. The Giants are bringing awareness to children with learning disabilities/dyslexia and my old middle school (that specializes in teaching children with dyslexia) purchased a bunch of tickets. You should come out and support a good cause, plus I?ll be there. Go Giants.

I hopped in my car and drove back to the Bay Area last week. It was a long drive but it?s good to be home. Not much has been happening?I?ve just been hanging out.

In my endless pursuit to find something to do, we went to a hookah lounge on Height and checked out the hookah. Actually it was the first time I?ve been to one of these lounges and it was cool. I haven?t seen any of these places in the Northwest but I?m sure it?ll catch on. HookahCulture.com has a complete list of hookah lounges near you.

I also started this paragliding class. So far, I?m not too satisfied with the class and my future with this activity will probably be short lived. A friend was taking the class and convinced me to take it with him. I?ve skydived several times, (almost a 100) so I?ve had a significant amount of canopy time. Overall paragliding is like skydiving except extremely slow and lacking any adrenaline (the sole reason I find skydiving enjoyable). The ram air parachutes are twice the size of a typical skydiving rig and likewise are twice as heavy to carry around. We haven?t been allowed to do anything besides practice takeoffs, but we?ll see how the next day goes.